A perfect day in Byron bay....

We spent a perfect summers day swimming in the crystal clear waters of Byron bay and sunbathing just a wee bit too long . 

After lunch at one of the many local Cafes we drove up to the lighthouse to take in the breathtaking views of beautiful blue ocean and coastline.

From this vantage point we watching whales and dolphins playing in the water.

You wouldn't guess by looking at the photos but at about lunchtime a thunderstorm came across with thankfully no rain just loud thunder.

Sculpture by the sea..

Yesterday in the early evening we went to a very cool sculptural exhibition held every year at Currumbin beach. The weather was coolish with brief showers and just a little windy which all added drama to the photos taken of some of my favourite exhibits. I love this one of the word 'Mum' with all the people running around in the wind trying to get a photo quickly and the dramatic sky and breaking waves in the background.

This was one that first caught my eye as the wind made these 'jellyfish' sway as they hung in the tree which is how they would look in their natural setting under the sea.

An exhibit that needed to be viewed from front to get the full effect of what it was. It was interesting to see how each feature placed in exactly the right position made up this comical elephant.

This dragon was very cool and quite cleverly made from what seems like chains joined together.

A very simple idea but definitely not what you expect to see on the beach. Once again the wind blowing the washing around and the dark clouds hovering over the cityscape on the horizon gives this whole scene a little drama.

This beautiful lion was my favourite exhibit and was very cleverly made from chicken wire. The details were amazing and I can only imagine the number of hours put in to create this exhibit. He was very tactile as there seemed to be a constant flow of children around him making it difficult to take a photo of him on his own.

And I couldn't help but take another couple of shots of the sea and the darkening sky.

A coastal walk....

On clear sunny days it seems like you can see for miles from this lookout overlooking our town of Whangamata. These photos are taken on another walk I did a couple of weeks ago with my daughter Amelia and her boyfriend. I felt grateful to have had the afternoon off on such a stunningly beautiful day...

Clark island on the left can be accessed by foot at low tides..

A couple of paddle-boarders taking advantage of the waves coming in on the 'bar'. I tried paddle-boarding for the first time last summer and I am addicted and looking forward to doing more this summer...

A little known, secluded beach in between Onemana and Whangamata..

 Feeling blessed to have been able to spend some quality time with these two...

Untouched and peaceful....

For the past couple of weeks I have had my eldest daughter Amelia, home from university for the mid semester break along with her boyfriend, Bayley. Its been really lovely to have a full house again and to hear her and her sister Caitlin, have there normal sister banter going on and to also have a male voice added to the mix as well. Their visit home also coincided with Caitlin's 16th birthday and Caitlin's first school ball which was nice for them both. 

 Unfortunately I was working most of the time they were here but I did manage to get a couple of afternoons off to spend some time with them and show Bayley around our part of the country. These photos are taken at Opoutere beach, an untouched and often deserted beach north of Whangamata. Its easy to take the scenery around where you live for granted so when you show visitors around its like seeing those places with new eyes. Plus it's also a reminder of how fortunate we are to live in such a beautiful part of New Zealand. 

 The afternoon we did this beach walk was quite windy and it had showered intermittently all day hence the dark clouds in the photos which I think adds a little moodiness to them. 

Amelia's quilt....

 My eldest daughter Amelia turned 18 last month and since it's been a few years since I've made a quilt for her I decided an 18th birthday was special enough to make her one. This year has been a big year for both her and I as she moved out of home and into a Halls of residence in Wellington. She is doing a Bachelor of Arts degree at Victoria University majoring in Film and Theatre. It was so very hard to leave her in Wellington once I had helped move her in but it has been so very rewarding to see her grow and mature into an independent young adult. She loves her new life down in Wellington as a student and loves what she is studying. She has a sign on her bedroom door at home that reads "Sorry out living the dream" and that is exactly what she is doing. I am so very proud of who she is becoming and what she is achieving so far. I can remember when she was just a few weeks old, pushing her along the road and commenting to someone who had stopped to admire her that I couldn't wait to see what and who she was going to grow into. I was eager to see the future her but also enjoying that first time motherhood period. 

When we were choosing items for her new room she had a definite colour scheme in mind of tuquiose, aqua, green. Once all her room was dressed with all her new things it looked fresh and modern which helped me choose a fresh, simple and modern quilt design. It had to be fairly simple as I didn't leave myself much time to complete it.

 All of the prints are from my stash of fabrics so the only purchase was some more solid grey print and the aqua and white spot for the backing.

I gave myself added pressure by being determined to hand-quilt it but I just love the look of a hand-quilted quilt.

 It should keep her nice and warm in Wellington's slightly cooler temperatures with it's inner layer of wool/polyester batting.

And of course a quilt isn't complete without a label. "Inez and James" is my new Etsy shop.

Making tomato sauce

I think I mentioned here before that I had planted twice as many tomato plants as I normally do because I planned on making tomato sauce. Over the weekend I picked a bucketful of tomatoes (approx. 6 kgs) and on Monday I made what I think will be a years supply of tomato sauce for us since Amelia is off to university in a couple of weeks which leaves just Caitlin and I. Might have to give some away....along with some fresh tomatoes as there are still many more tomatoes to ripen and pick. The recipe I used is an old recipe given to me by a friend but can also be found in the Aunt Daisy cookbook.

Abundance.....

  Summer seems to have finally arrived in my part of the world and my garden is looking very lush and almost jungle like especially around my veggie patch. The potato plants are now too heavy to keep upright and are covered with flowers so freshly dug spuds will be on our menu in just a couple of weeks. The self seeded pumpkins have taken over the spaces in between a couple of the raised beds and if all the flowers turn into pumpkins I shall hopefully have enough to give away to friends and neighbours. 

 The tomato plants are laden with ripening tomatoes with more flowers still being produced. Looking forward to an abundant crop so I can make my own tomato sauce!

 Have just harvested my first crop of beetroot ever. 

 I grow strawberries every year and have previously bought new plants every 2 years which the 'experts' suggest you do. This year being on a limited budget I decided to ignore that expert advice and just take the runners off my old plants and re-plant them in as many pots as I could find along with a few mixed in with my raised herb garden. I used mostly purchased compost to plant them in and have fed them regularly with some strawberry food leftover from previous years. All that work of dividing and re-planting is now paying off as each plant is laden with fruit and every day there is a small handful of good sized berries ready to pick and eat :-)

 When the weathers good I often spend a couple of hours in my garden on a Sunday afternoon. Its a nice time to spend alone lost in my own thoughts although I'm often not quite on my own as Leo likes to follow me around resting in the shade where he can. 

And when its just too hot outside he puts himself to bed.....yes that would be my bed in exactly the spot where I sleep with his head resting on my pj's because I hadn't quite got around to making my bed that day....

Meet Leo....

 A few weeks ago now Amelia's cat "Boots" also known as "Fat-cat" was run over on the main road which is on the other side of the grove of redwood trees that borders the back of out property. This of course left us with just one cat who seemed a little lost at first without her sister but then seemed to enjoy being the 'only cat' in the house. We decided she needed some company so yesterday Amelia adopted "Leo" who was free to a good home.

 Our other cat "Shimmer" is not that impressed but I'm sure she will come around eventually...how could she not??

 "Leo" was originally going to be "Misty" but then the girls noticed 'she' was actually a 'he' ;-)

Yes this little ball of cuteness has us all captivated with every move he makes.