Salt...

Watched the DVD of "Salt" last night - brilliant movie, with a great twist at the end. My 13yr old was entranced - very action packed, great story line, the downside was that the move was over before you knew it. Angelina played a great part. Totally recommend for holiday viewing.

Well the weather here in Wellington today is horrendous, makes you wonder what happened to Summer. We have gale force winds some up to 150km/hr, and rain that is so heavy. The Rimutaka Hill Road has been closed, and emergency services are being called out for blown down trees, and accidents on the roads.

Looks like it will be a day spent inside. Planning on cleaning out the wardrobe and tidying up the sewing space ...

Have a great day everyone.

Hugs

A very happy christmas to all...

Wishing you and your families a very safe and happy christmas... may you be spoilt with love and hugs (and a few crafty items)... , remember to eat well; know that leftovers taste even better for Boxing Day lunch; slip slop slap if you are lucky enough to be somewhere in the sun; don't drink and drive, and above all else enjoy being in the company of your loved ones.

Christmas wishes from Diesel... and a not so impressed Bella ! xxx

"Arrgh get these things off my head"...

Love to all

Ooh lucky me...

... tonight I was given a bag of selvages from my quilty friends who went to retreat over the weekend, and one of the quilty friends decided to also give me her secret stash - wahoo !!

(Image taken from Google)

This adds very nicely to my secret stash... nearly enough to start working on the quilt I'm wanting to make - design yet to be decided ;)

Hugs

Taupo Cycle Challenge... photo heavy

Arrived in Motuapa (approx 30 mins before Taupo) on Thursday afternoon - beautiful clear blue sky, very warm... Friday turned out to be warmer still - boding well for Saturday... awoke on Saturday to a stunningly gorgeous morning. Chris dropped myself and Sandra off to my girlfriend Heath's motel around 7.30am - then we biked to the start line (3.3kms) - from there we queued, chatted about how hot it was already, found other members from GearShifters, then went for the nervous toilet stop and by 9am we were 3,2,1 GO... about 46km into the ride I got my first puncture in rear tyre!

Now I've ridden on these tyres for 1,500km and never had a flat or puncture and so why does it happen on the most important day! LESSON # 1- make sure next year fit new super-duper puncture proof tyres week before event.

Thank goodness a crash course on tube replacement shown by DH a couple of months previously came back to mind - checked the tyre, put in new tube, inflated with stupid handpump. LESSON # 2 - buy some of those gas bullets or better pump! Got back on the bike and started peddling.... about 10kms later - thud, thud - puncture number 2 on the rear tyre again. So off comes the tyre completely this time - running finger around inside and out - can't find anything wrong, started getting ready to put in another new tube - then blessings were answered "Service Van (SV)" arrives - yes please we'll have a lift (me and Heath), Sandra was way ahead of us by now, SV drove us 20kms to the 76km relay change point where a cute bike mechanic was there fixing damsels in distress (and the distressed blokes)! So he checked the tyre and couldn't find anything wrong, put in a new tube, pumped up tyre, then after a shovelling down of food and drink we headed out again.

Me & Heath - approx 120km into our challenge, reapplying sunblock and getting cold drinks from DH and girls...

Sharing a laugh along the way...

In the finishing chute...

About to cross the finish line...

We did it!!

The day was HOT, heat from the road made your feet feel like they were burning, the tar was melting on the roads which made for a sticky ride, water stops were like heaven. DH and the girls were waiting at about 120kms with ice cold drinks and words of encouragement. Hatepe Hill loomed at the 135.5km mark - OMG it is a nasty hill! Heath and I managed to bike halfway up then common sense and total lack of energy meant we got off the bikes and walked the rest of the way to the top... after managing to get the coordination together and swing the leg back over the bike, it was a magic downhill most of the way to Taupo with only another wee mean hill to keep you honest right till the end.

We both crossed the line in 9 hrs 4 mins... was disappointed I didn't get past the finish line in 8hrs and miffed that bike cost me an hour in repairs... though every cloud has a silver lining... the SV ride meant we missed two nasty hill climbs! So in all we rode 140km which is the longest I've ever biked. I have no idea what the temperature was yesterday in Taupo though it was so very hot!

Highlights were: Heath sticking with me through 2 bike breakdowns, repair and then the long ride to the finish; seeing my family waiting with cold drinks, hugs and 'you can do it' at the 120km, seeing the people on the roadside in many locations cheering us on, the amazing riders (especially the enduro, unicycle, hand bikes & heart kids), coming down the finishing chute (to tired even to cry), the volunteers at the water stations. Sitting in Lake Taupo after the finish that cold water was amazing on a tired body, then we went to DeBretts Thermal Pools - heaven, this worked magic on the body and am sure that is why I feel pretty damn good today.

We drove around the course before we headed home today - gosh it gives you a true appreciation of what we achieved.

Would I do it again... damn right I am... I have unfinished business with that Taupo Challenge - one I've got to complete the whole 160km and two, I'm determined to do way better than 9 hours... watch this space!

We just had a shake...

Upper Hutt has just had an earth-shake.

Crazy that it is, I'd said to my work colleague this morning "its earthquake weather". Has been really muggy in Wellington today, grey skies and that odd feel about the day!


Reference Number: 3409613/G
Universal Time: November 19 2010 at 7:31
NZ Daylight Time: Friday, November 19 2010 at 8:31 pm
Latitude, Longitude
41.09°S, 175.10°E
Focal Depth: 30 km
Richter magnitude: 4.2
Region: Wellington
Location
Within 5 km of Upper Hutt
20 km west of Featherston
20 km south-east of Paraparaumu
40 km north-east of Wellington

Hopefully that is all for us tonight. Reminds you what it must be like for our Christchurch friends and families who are still having to cope with daily earth-shakes.

Hugs

My family & I...

Hope your day has been happy :)

Eat, Pray, Love...

Last night went and saw Eat, Pray, Love with a large group of girlfriends. Was a wonderful movie, one of those ones where you feel like you are reading the story as you watch and absorb. There were parts where it was a little slow, though overall a lovely story of finding your inner self and being comfortable with who you are and believing in yourself.

What I like about Julia Roberts is that she looks incredibly natural in the movie, messy hair, not much makeup, she played a great part and her handsome devil of a co-star for the Bali (love) section of the movie, it wasn't just his accent, those rugged good looks ahhh...

I think the book will be one to seek out at the library as I'm sure there was more to the story not covered in the movie...

Hope you've had a happy day.

Hugs

Tour of Waikanae...75kms

Woke to blue sky, cold chill, heavy dew and GUSTY winds - eek!

Left home at 7am to head to Waikanae and to pick up registration pack - the day not much better in Waikanae - thankfully NO RAIN :)

Met up with some of the people from GearShifters, time for loo stop and then join the start line - have a photo on my mobile phone I'm trying to download or email to self - not succeeding so far.
The event was great, well run, lots of marshalls to point you in the right direct as it was a street circuit would have been very easy to head off the wrong way without them. The wind gusts were a challenge at times... however am very pleased with myself - came in on my speedo at 2hours 58mins - will need to wait till later in the week (this is the hardest part as you are dying to find out how well you did and where you got in your age group).

Pleased with the body too, the bottom wasn't as sore, felt really good at the end and just starting to stiffen up a bit now - so will have to get stretching!

As I'm typing this I checked the website, and wow the preliminary results are up already!!

So it looks like official time is 2 hours 59 mins 39 sec's - am still mighty pleased with making it under 3 hours :)

Hugs

Lots of cycling...not much quilting...

Well not much quilting has been going on as it is under 8 weeks to Taupo Cycle Challenge now... training is going great with GearShifters on a Saturday morning, and Sundays have been rides with training buddies, or no rides cause the weather is too bad.

I've sold my SUB Lime 1.0 bike, and am now the proud owner of a spanking new Giant Avail 2011 model (above, pre-fly)- she's gorgeous - white and teal. She did grow wings after our 2nd outing (a couple of weekends ago when it was gale force winds - yes we biked in that!), where she decided she didn't like being tied to the bike rack on the back of the car and flew off on the motorway! I kid you not... anyway leaving out the stress and long story - I had an angel looking out for me as the damage was incredibly minimal and she's as good as new with a new black seat, gear shifter and a few minor repairs - incredibly only one tiny paint chip - not bad for flying off the back of the car at 100km - and thank goodness no damage to anyone behind me or no accidents caused.

GearShifters' focus is hills, Hills, HIlls, and more HILLS. For people who know Wellington - this morning we left Freyberg pool area, headed out to old Hutt Road, up Ngaio Gorge Road, up and around somewhere still heading up until we got to Makara, then through Makara and then up this long up, up and up narly hill road to Karori, through Karori, Aro Valley, city centre and back to Freyberg for restorative coffee! All up only 41.78kms - though god the legs felt it!

Tomorrow is the first real bike event for me... is in Featherston and classed as a fun ride, I'm doing the 64 km loop. Update: This was a fantastic first event the weather was gorgeous, with only a little head wind... here's the official time below:

The following Sunday is Tour of Waikanae which is a 25km street circuit and you do laps for the event you've entered - I'm going to do 75km. Then the next event for me at this stage will be early November for the Martinborough fun ride which I'll do the 115km event. This mixed in with the training should have me in good stead for Taupo on 27 November which is 160km !

I have done a little stitching and sewing - I made a gorgeous apron from "Leanne's House" apron pattern, and and used a metre of gorgeous Heather Bailey fabric from Sawmilller's Quiltery - this was for my lovely MumS for her birthday.

Let me know how you all are, and what you've been focussed on for the last month or so, as I'm still in catchup mode with everyone's blogs to see what you all have been up to :)

Love and Hugs

Dear Jane Update A11, A12, A13...

YAY - Row A is now completed...

Here is A11 - Pebble Protest
(Note the tiny little squares these are about 1/2" finished)


A12 Framed Fancy
(Even tinier triangles to contend with through the sewing machine)


A13 Starlight Starbright
(surprisingly this block went together without a hitch and no reverse stitching required!)



I also added the top sashing and bottom sashing to Row A to keep the squares tidy as some of the fabrics where starting to fray. LOOKS AMAZING... is good motivation to keep growing the quilt.

I've already got 4 blocks made for Row B... hope to update you more progress soon!

Hugs

Butterfly Garden Update...

Have been quietly working away on Leanne's House, Butterfly Garden - I laid out the blocks joined so far 1-6 am loving the look of it...

Completed Block 7 (below) at my stitching weekend away the other week...

Am now working on Block 8 - then one more block to go, borders, sandwich, quilt and bind!

Hugs

Pencil Art c/- email photo's currently circulating

My sister sent me some great photo's through email that are currently circulating in cyber-space - here is just a few of them.... one word sums it up really.... AMAZING

Some person is just way too clever and must have an incredibly sharp knife and steady hand!

Hugs

Mr FuzzyMan...

Have you met Mr FuzzyMan? He is the cute large blue toy on the Purina Beneful tv ad's... check out the video clip below to get an idea...


Well in the groceries last night I had to get Diesel more bikkies and it so happens he eats Beneful and they had a mini Mr Fuzzyman as a promo gift - couldn't wait to get home to see what Diesel thought...

I think he likes him...

Not the best pic of DH, however Diesel just wanted to share the 'love'...

Then Bella had to climb over the towels to check out what on earth was going on...

Diesel just loves "Mr FuzzyMan"...

Have a happy week
Hugs