relocating

Well... It looks as if I just ran out of photo credits on Blogger. Since I'm a bit of a cheap ass rather than upgrade and pay a monthly fee I thought I'd try something new. Check out my new blog here: http://pioupioukids.wordpress.com

Thanks Blogger!

chairs revamp

Josh has been dreaming of having a set of matching chairs. Don't ask me why, I can't understand either. He'll happily wear mismatched socks, use the floor as his wardrobe (he calls it "floordrobe") and put all sorts of nails and screws in one big box that has to be tipped out every time you're looking for a specific size of nail.

So we've had these chairs that he found second hand, with some ugly paint. I added some padding to make them easier on the bum (see here), and now that he was threatening to throw them out again I decided to take action and give them a new life. I'm not particularly attached to them, but they are good enough to be sat on, so why throw them out?

I set to sanding them, then found some cool lime green paint lying around in the garage (Josh was horrified, didn't even remember he had that!) then stuck some music scores on the front panels (found at the op shop for very cheap). The varnishing took the longest, each chair probably has at least 20 coats of shellac! I was going to do more to give them a good thick layer but Josh got sick of waiting for some decent chairs to sit on so back inside they went.

 The scores have neat titles: "Love's Garden of Roses", "Il Trovatore", "Friend O'Mine" and "A Gaiety Girl". Most of these date from before the second world war. Crazy.
The cut out paper is from a stack I bought in China 10 or 15 years ago and that I've been using up slowly on special projects like this one.

 I'd been wanting to revamp these chairs for a while and initially I was going to paint them in various bright colors. Then I found a book about paper crafts at the library and got inspired...

Of sheep and shearers

Josh helped a friend design a set for a local play and as a thank you gesture they gave us some tickets.
I haven't been to a play since I can't remember when. And I've never been to one in Gisborne.

The set. Truer than true shearing shed.

So what was it like? Well it was better than I expected really. Obviously the actors are not professionals but they were overall very good. The play was enjoyable and a real touch of kiwiana, which I wasn't expecting. Called "The Learner's Stand", it's the story of a B grade shearing gang composed of a law student, an old timer and a transsexual (what is it with New Zealand plays and transexuals?).
Very far from my european play experiences... a good laugh. I love how New Zealand has this way of doing things differently.

I took some photos for the said friend, but our camera was a bit too noisy so I was asked to stop half way through. I still got a few good photos, it was a fun experience (and nice to get out without the kids!).

The play had this "Animal Farm" element to it, embodied in two sheep that popped up every now and again and made some revolutionary comments about taking over. 

That's a sheep in the foreground.

Who would have guessed Gisborne had so much talent?

Shop update and baby expo

Things are a little crazy around here. No the vege patch is still on slow mode. Meanwhile I'm sewing like crazy this week getting ready for Gisborne's baby expo. I'm hoping to have a bit more than I had for sale two years ago, and of course really hoping there will be some buying!

Meanwhile I still have some custom orders waiting to be finished and am slowly updating my etsy shop... My to do list hasn't shrunk a bit, the workshop is still full of fabrics. My aim this year was to get rid of all the fabric in the workshop before buying any more, luckily I didn't give myself a deadline.

Reconnecting with summer

Aaaahhh, summer, you are on our doorstep, please come in. The equinox winds have picked up again but the sun is definitely a tad warmer. We had our first (windy) day at the beach today, the kids were stoked and ran around, splashed in the water. Nice.
We bought a big tent from some friends and tried it out (on a windy week end, eeeek!), it's nice and roomy, with an opening in the middle (I can stand!) and two little alcoves on each side. I can picture us freedom camping this summer  up the coast, by the beach. Super nice.

A few weeks ago we spent the night on a farm where Josh has been doing some building work. Spring here means lots of baby animals everywhere. This farm was no exception and they had three cute orphan lambs hanging out in the back yard. Tahi and Miro had great fun playing with them and Tahi fed them their daily ration of milk very lovingly. Baby lambs are super cute and we were very tempted to take one home... maybe one day...

Milkface I

Milkface II

Miro and the egg

Add caption

If you thought there was only one way to eat a soft boiled egg, Miro will prove you wrong. There's the nice tidy clean way, and then there's... well this.

PS. Do your kids go completely nuts when it's very windy outside? Mine seem to turn their energy levels to max and go completely hysterical. Is this normal???

inspired by: paper

I spent quite a few holidays in Hong Kong and China. Paper cuts are one of the many exotic things you can buy as a souvenir. I've always like the beautiful simplicity and intricacy of them. I doubt they are still handout as they probably were once. This book introduced me to other creative ways of paper cutting. I can only imagine how many hours these artists spend on each piece. Crazy.