What to do first

Hard to believe it is the 9th already. I am trying to get out of 'holiday mode' and back to active, creative mode. I will probably procrastinate for another day or 2, prioritising and setting deadlines, between the quilting/textile projects, and the 'other' things - family histories, collection catalogs, gardening, scrapbooks, converting slides and photos to digital and so on. My camera is getting slower to respond, so I think looking for a new one can be added to that list, and there should even be a bit of house cleaning in there too...
The first deadline is luckily for a 'calamity' postcard - a nice, small project to get started on.

I took these shots on the beach a couple of weeks back - a bit different to last week when we went for a swim with visiting family members during the hot, 40 degree, spell.

You can drive on the section in the background, behind the boat trailer and when it is hot it is hard to find a spot to park. There could have been 100 cars there, even after 5 pm - there were certainly 100s swimming in the water.

This looks a bit like a collection of beads, but is a close-up of those brown patches on the water's edge. Not leafy seaweed, but millions of pods, and a couple of tiny coral flowers - and all beautifully colour coordinated.

Happy New Year everyone

I am late with a Christmas Greeting, but I will share one of the photos that I used for the Christmas cards I made. While out walking I happened upon a New Zealand Christmas bush coming in to bloom in November, quite close to home. It took three visits (three walks had to be good for me!) to get several good shots.

 

I didn't use this for a card - it is a close up of a bee, one of hundreds enjoying the pollen which was plentiful and a obviously a better option than stinging me as I took the close ups of them.

 

The last few weeks have flown by with Christmas preparations and a last minute decision to make a small quilt as a present from a ufo - a wall hanging kit top I put together about 10 years ago. I added the border outside the boat fabric, just managing enough blue squares out of my stash.

Max hasn't been well and we bought another car that is easier for him to get in and out, and I have also been gardening. It was exciting to pick the first beans on Christmas morning, and have them for lunch. They are the interesting purple ones, that start green, turn purple as they grow and ripen, and then turn green when you cook them. I like to have a small patch of flowers near the front door, and tried some portulaca this year. They too have been looking good this week - this one had an unusual purple flash/petal.

Our magnificent pepper bush, now in its fifth season, is covered once again with peppers. We still have a few left on last season's ristras to last until they ripen. I thought the other day that the old ristras looked like they could pass for a piece of art...

Had a very nice Christmas - quite relaxed with family, with 4 for lunch and 8 for dinner. I have only had the public holidays off but did manage to complete my 'annual' 1000 piece jigsaw. I dare not start one at other times as I don't want to stop until I finish them! Back at work at the moment is very busy. While we have some staff on leave, being near the beach we have lots of customers with holiday houses in the area, and we only see them at this time of year.
I have quite a few quilt projects to get stuck into for the next few months, for our friendship group, and coming shows and exhibitions. I'm feeling that I will be very busy, but I have just read Michele Hill's blog and looking at her prioritised list of things to do over the next few months, mine should be a breeze! I don't know how she gets it all done. I also have jug and echidna catalogs to update and family history to do...

The weather forecast for New Year is hot, hot, hot, so we may be sitting tight at home rather than celebrating too much. I wish everyone a happy and healthy year, and one of my resolutions will be to make some changes to this blog and post a bit more often. See you again in 2012.