After 12 long years....

 And waiting a week for him to get home.

I finally got my arms around my boy again. 

My girl is due to land today. 

We've arrived.

Well, we made it!

The very long journey from Timaru to the Isle of Man is finally over. I've now had two good sleeps and am feeling recovered, functioning on Manx time once more.

We left Timaru on Saturday lunchtime and drove to Christchurch Airport. From there it was a flight to Sydney on an almost empty plane, followed by a very full 14-hour flight to Dubai.

By the time we landed in Dubai, all thoughts revolved around one thing: sleep.

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We had a 20-hour layover in Dubai and had booked a hotel room, hoping to catch up on some much-needed rest. Unfortunately, sleep proved elusive. Between the excitement of travelling, unfamiliar surroundings, and body clocks that had absolutely no idea what time it was, we managed little more than an hour or so at the start, followed by another couple of hours later in the day.

Fortunately, we had packed toothbrushes, travel-sized essentials, and a change of clothing in our carry-on bags. That turned out to be a wise decision, as our main luggage wasn't available during the stopover.

Dubai itself was hot. Very hot.

The temperature was around 35°C, but with the humidity it felt closer to 44°C. A short 7–8 minute walk was enough to convince me that air conditioning was one of humanity's greatest inventions. We were more than happy to step into the cool comfort of the Metro station.

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One of the cabin crew had suggested a trip to Dubai Mall, so we decided to take the Metro and have a look around.

The train ride itself was fascinating. I attempted to take photos through the windows, but the decorative patterns on the glass had other ideas. The pictures didn't work out, but the views certainly did. Dubai's skyline is something else entirely.

After another walk—this time through covered, air-conditioned walkways—we arrived at the mall. We could have used the moving walkways, but chose the old-fashioned method instead and stretched our legs.

The mall is enormous. I don't think we saw even a quarter of it.

I had heard there was an aquarium, though, and that was high on my list.

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As luck would have it, The Cheesecake Factory sits right beside one of the huge aquarium viewing panels, which is open to the public.

While eating my burger, I found myself watching sharks, rays, and countless smaller fish glide past. It was certainly one of the more memorable lunch views I've ever had.

There was something oddly relaxing about sitting there, tired from travelling, watching the fish go about their day while the world bustled around the mall outside.

We spent a few hours wandering, window shopping, and taking in the sights before eventually heading back to the hotel.

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The shorter flight from Dubai to Manchester passed in a blur of snoozes and David Attenborough documentaries. Anyone who knows me won't be surprised by that. I could happily listen to David Attenborough talking about almost anything.

When we arrived in Manchester, we managed to get onto an earlier flight to the Isle of Man, which turned out to be a very good thing indeed.

The weather over the island was dreadful. Thick, thick fog.

As it happened, our flight was one of the very few to make it in at all, and the last plane to land that day. The pilot found a gap in the fog and somehow got us safely onto the ground. I was very happy to see Ronaldsway Airport appear out of the murk on Monday lunchtime. That's Monday midnight NZ time.

Unfortunately, our arrival wasn't entirely trouble-free.

When the luggage started appearing on the carousel, my suitcase arrived safely, complete with Jiffy's wedding quilt. Tony's suitcase, however, was nowhere to be seen.

That was a worrying moment, as his case was carrying Kaiy's quilt.

Thankfully, the mystery was short-lived. We discovered that the suitcase had been left behind in Manchester, and the following day we received a phone call to say it had arrived and was ready for collection.

What a relief that was.

By then, Tony was very pleased to be reunited with both his belongings and his razor, and all of the quilts were once again where they were supposed to be.

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I did take plenty of photographs along the way, but thanks to Tony's current photo-management system, which involves uploading all images to 'the black box' at home, then downloading them to this machine, then, then, then. I haven't sorted them out yet, in fact I swore and gave up!

To be perfectly honest, it's all far too complicated for me right now.

I'll save the photographs for a proper photo-dump post once we're back home in New Zealand.

For now, I'm concentrating on enjoying my visit.

My brother already has a list of treats he'd like me to bake, so I suspect there may be some kitchen adventures ahead.

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The most important reason for this trip is, of course, Jiffy and Josephine's wedding.

At the moment, Jiffy and my dad are away sailing somewhere along the west coast of Scotland. They'll be back next week, and then the real family catch-ups can begin.

Until then, I'm settling back into island life, enjoying familiar faces, and appreciating the fact that the journey is finally behind us.

I'll be back with more news soon. Right now, I'm going for a walk. I might visit some of my old haunts. 

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From chores to treasures and back again.

 Phew — what a weekend. After seven short‑staffed shifts in a row, I was more than ready for some days off… though they turned out to be just as busy as the workdays.

Saturday started early when the first of two loads of laundry went into the machine before I went walking. Then the moment I walked back in from my early stroll I headed straight into the kitchen. A lemon cream pie was assembled, a huge roast of lamb tucked into the oven, a batch of feijoa jam bubbling away, and a chocolate slice cooling on the bench. Chooky was on Zoom, so I perched the laptop on the window ledge and had cheerful company while I worked.

Once the kitchen marathon was done, I claimed my chair and stitched hexies for a while. Then it was back to chores until our friends arrived — ready to help us tackle that enormous piece of lamb.

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And about those friends…

While I was working last weekend, Debbie and Ange went to the Altrusa craft sale — and they thought of me.

Ange gathered a bundle of batik pieces.

I’m sure I’ll find a use for them, but for now they’ve been squeezed into the batik drawer. Funny thing: I just took two queen‑size quilts out of that drawer, but you’d never know. It’s still very full. Shh… don’t tell Tony.

Debbie scored on my behalf too — a quilt kit.

The fabrics in the kit are batiks of course.

Debbie also found these two bundles of fabric.

She knows I'll use them up. 

Then came the big find. The pair of them were poking about together when Ange spotted a box tucked under a table. She pulled it out for a look… and they both agreed instantly it was a Loulee box. For the bargain price of $10, they brought home someone’s abandoned scrappy hexie project.

The papers are made from old school exercise books — little maths problems and rows of neat handwriting on the backs.

Some hexies were sewn into strips.

Some into larger pieces and there were piles of individually stitch basted hexies too.

Of course I tipped the whole lot out for a play and a tidy and then packed them neatly back into the box

A treasure, truly.

I have some incredibly thoughtful friends.

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We had a lovely evening with our friends, and after dinner we even played a game of Snakes and Ladders. Simple fun, but so good.

This morning it was back to chores — plenty to do before the children arrived. I got a chicken casserole into the oven, then we headed outside to finish the last few jobs before our big trip. The children came, lunch was eaten, more games were played, and now the cleaning up is done. Another quick trip out to the garden saw all but one task completed. That will have to wait until a trip to the hardware store.

Time at last to sit and sew. I need just five more hexies on my latest creation, and then it’ll be ready for quilting.

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2 more shifts at work.

6 sleeps.

A Different Kind of Morning Walk

This morning’s walk was a little different. It was still dark when I left the house, the kind of soft, in‑between darkness that feels like the world hasn’t quite made up its mind about waking. I turned left at the end of the road and headed down the hill into the scenic reserve.

The rain must have visited overnight — puddles glimmered faintly on the path — but the sky held itself together while I walked. Under the trees it was very dark, a deep, quiet sort of darkness that presses close but never feels unfriendly. The canopy above me turned the world into a shadowed tunnel, but the first hints of dawn were gathering behind it, just enough light to guide my feet.

The birds were waking too, shaking sleep from their feathers and chattering softly as they prepared for the day. Across the ravine, human life was stirring: warm squares of light blinked on in distant windows, and the faint smell of woodsmoke drifted toward me as someone coaxed their fire back to life.

As the daylight grew stronger, the reserve began to reveal itself. Colours slowly separated from the darkness — greens, browns, reds and gold.

By the time I climbed back up the hill and headed toward home, it was fully light. Not a bright, sunny morning — more of a soft grey, the kind of overcast day that feels gentle rather than gloomy. I’m perfectly fine with that. I did my garden chores yesterday in the sunshine, and my town chores are already ticked off.

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While I was in town yesterday, I looked out over Caroline Bay from the rooftop carpark.

The circus is in town. No, I didn’t visit.

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Today feels like a kitchen‑and‑sewing sort of day. On the sewing front, I’ve laid my crochet aside for now and picked up my hexies again.

Three of the four sides are now straight — well, as straight as a hexie can be. A little more work on the final side and it will be ready for quilting.

But first, I have a bowl full of feijoas waiting for attention. Some will become cakes, and some will head for the freezer.

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Nine more work shifts.

15 sleeps.

I might be getting a little bit excited. 

Crochet progress and counting down.........

Between work, walks and chores I've been picking away at my crochet projects. Retro Rescue is complete.

It's not huge, a nice lap throw size, or maybe even a good size to keep a little person warm in a cot.

I did a few rounds after joining the squares and finished it off with a cute shell edging.

Tada!  Done.

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Next, I pulled out a bunch of squares I made last year?

Maybe the year before?

Whenever, they have been sat waiting for me to use them. I figured I could do something similar.

After joining them I did a couple of rounds, then decided to add a round of smaller squares. They won't all be the same, I'm still using up scraps and leftovers. So this is going to be a very colourful and scrappy piece.  I have no plan regarding size or where to go after this round of smaller squares, I'll keep you posted once I decide. For now, I'm happy to have it on my lap on cool evenings. 

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We've been busy in the garden, today we cleared the small greenhouse. I picked 4 ice cream boxes of chilli peppers; they have all been diced and popped into the freezer.

The feijoas are starting to ripen, but I suspect that I will miss out on the main flush of them due to our trip. I'll let the neighbours know they can collect them. 

Our veg beds had a good tidy up and a mulch of leaves laid on them to keep the weeds at bay. 

There are one or two other jobs that need to be done before we go, but not today, time to sit and have a cuppa and pick up my hook.

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Has anyone else noticed that more and more comments now have a 'no reply' email address on them? I get my comments forwarded to my outlook inbox and usually reply from there. I generally manage to find the correct address as we have been emailing each other for more than a few years now, but it is so frustrating when we used to be able to just click on reply.

I do wish Blogger would get it's act together and stop changing things. 

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3 weeks today.

21 sleeps.