Saturday 10 November 2012

MY ANNUAL CRAFT SALE AND GARDEN PARTY
On the 3rd of November I had my Annual Craft Sale and Garden Party.  About 50 ladies came to shop, chat and enjoy afternoon tea of lovely home cooking, with their friends.  I had a very successful day.

 A picnic lunch in the back garden before the ladies arrived.
 Time for a quick family shot having all the girls and grandchildren together in one location.  A rare thing.
 Tassy made the paper bunting.  The topiaries having their annual airing having served at weddings and birthday parties too.
 The delicious home baking by the girls, me and a very dear friend who makes her famous mushroom tarts for me.
Afternoon tea served in the Boat Room.
 Charlotte, Yvette and Tassy taking care of sales.


 Alicia and Felicity serving afternoon tea.

Some very tired children at the end of the day having 'quiet time'.  Nice time for us to relax as well.

Friday 9 November 2012

MORE OF WELLINGTON
 This is Wellington Cathedral where we went to church on Sunday.  It was lovely to hear the pipe organ and see the clergy in their vestments again.  I miss that.
Unfortunately the choir was on holiday as it was a long weekend for New Zealanders.
St. Paul's was built in the l960's.   I didn't particularly like the architectural style but the size was impressive.  It was great being able to worship with three of our daughters again and to hear them sing the old hymns with great gusto.
 Morning tea after church was in a gorgeous cafe in a really old building that had been shored up with steel girders after several earthquakes.
Hummingbird Cafe had stuffed pheasants and birds up high on the walls.  Actually we saw a lot of stuffed animals as display in Wellington.
 Next was the Fresh Food Markets for lunch.  Charlotte and I enjoyed  German Bratwurst and sauerkraut on a bun.  Jeff are venison on a roll and the other girls ate Italian Woodfired Pizza and Roti.
 Jeff and Yvette choosing some bananas.
 Charlotte at her farewell dinner at Logan Brown.  It was our 'fine dining' night.  See Charlotte's Blog.
 More of Wellington's statue around the harbour foreshore.

 We went to the Museum of City and Sea where we watched a film of the Wahine tragedy that happened about l968.  I remember he news reports at the time.  The film was very sad and moving.  It was amazing to think that it occurred only 1/4 mile offshore when the ferry hit rocks.  Wellington harbour entrance is notoriously narrow and treacherous.
Some of the gorgeou timber house on Mt. Victoria, an exclusive part of Wellington.
 On our Lord of the Rings tour with Todd Rippon our guide.  Just Jeff, Yvette, Alicia and Me plus an older American couple with their 55 year old daughter.  They were on a Pacific Cruise and had started in Alaska's Inside Passage last August.  They were astounded at how many countries they had visited in the Pacific where Queen  Elizabeth's face appeared on the currency.
 Yvette explains more on her Blog about the tour.  It was lovely doing a forest walk, albeit Mt. Victoria, just a spit from Wellington city centre or CBD.  Todd had to explain that one to the Americans.
 Todd would show us a photograph of the scene in the movie and then point out the differences in the real life scene, explaining how they put in fake trees, and how they made them.  It was so interesting and really made me appreciate what a work of art a movie film really is.
 Two of my beautiful girls in the Spring sunshine.
 Todd showing us the tree Orlando Bloom stood beside for some publicity shots.
 Jeff caped up with some props Todd brought along, beside the same tree.

 They filmed Frodo's bedroom at Rivendell which is a National Park.
 I always find myself doing things overseas that I would really think twice about doing back home.  This suspension bridge didn't worry me at all.  They scenery was really pretty here.
 Our last morning.  Chilly and breezy.  The girls fooling about with a statue.  We really enjoyed their company over the 6 days.  They made all the decisions about what we would do and where we would eat.  It was totally relaxing for Jeff and me.  The roles were reversed.  We felt like the children.  It was lovely to see the girls deep in conversation with each other without the distractions of husbands or little children.
Alicia looking like Jacqui Onassis.
MORE OF WELLINGTON
 Jeff, Alicia and Charlotte early in the evening walking to dinner.
 Foxglove on the waterfront where we just ate Tapas.  It was really delectable.
 At Concrete Bar where Jeff and Yvette had a voucher for a cocktail.  It was nice to sit and relax after a busy day on our feet.

 Walking along the harbourside to the Handmade Markets.  I love the sculptures along the walkway.  This section is like being on the deck of an old sailing ship.
 There are many statues and fountains in Wellington.  It really is a lovely city.
We were amused by this sign for the ladies toilet.
 We caught the cable car up to the Observatory where we had booked in to see a special weather show.  I might have enjoyed it if it was the weather on earth, but it was the weather on every other planet in outer space.  I HATE outer space.  I think it might be agoraphobia!!  I HATED THE SHOW.  But everyone else enjoyed it.  The theatre was amazing.  It had an overhead circular screen.

 Jeff in the children's activity room which he thoroughly enjoyed.  At 6pm at night there were no children to contend with so he got quite a go and the flight simulator. 
 What you can do in a mini theatrette when you are the only patrons and you're dog tired after a full day walking.  Jeff actually went to sleep and Yvette was close to it!  The film was the Maori legend as to how New Zealand came into existence.  I enjoyed that one.
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND
On the 18th October we Jeff and I flew to Wellington New Zealand with Yvette, Alicia and Charlotte for a weeks holiday of shopping, eating, walking, museums and a Lord of the Rings Tour.  We stayed in a three bedroom apartment at Chews Lane, right in the middle of Wellington which enabled us to walk everywhere.
The weather was cold and windy with temps around 16cdeg and with a wind chill factor.  It was colder than when Jeff and I were in Alaska in April/May with snow on the ground.  We wore our Alaska clothes in NZ and were quite comfortable.  Several of the locals were wearing short sleeves because "the sun was out" and it was Spring!!
 Yvette was the first one to buy something in the shops.  These gorgeous red suede shoes.
 Shopping on Lambton Quay.  The waters edges originally was at Lambton Quay but after several earthquakes the land heaved upwards creating two more blocks before the waters edge now.
 Trolley buses were a novel interest.  We caught one a couple of times when we were tired of walking and when we went to church as it was quite a distance to walk.
 Yvette christened this statue "Dapper Chap" as she sees a man in Tuggeranong Mall often dressed the same as the statue, in his top hat and long jacket.
 The beautiful General Practitioner restaurant where we ate dinner on our first evening.  It was built as a residence and surgery for the general practitioner in the 1800's.  The first was lovely and the decor stunning, complete with display cases of ancient medical instruments.
 Inside the trolley bus with it's New Zealand silver fern fabric seats.  They were exceptionally clean buses.
 Sweet Mother's Kitchen for breakfast on two mornings.  Charlotte chose it because it served Mexican food. 
 Sweet Mothers Kitchen looks nothing like any of my friends kitchens!!
 A statue dedicated to Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  Wellington honours Peter Jackson and all the finance he has brought to the city with his film making.

 "Lunch" at Floriditas.  No room for anything else after a big breakfast.  We just loved the vintage, mismatched china they served everything on.  My red and white plate sporting a Portuguese Custard Tart is sitting on a Royal Albert 'Canterbury" plate matching our dear Elva's tea set which Felicity inherited.
Charlotte's gorgeous cup.  I have never ever seen another like it, but I will now be on the lookout.  I can't remember what it was now.