June in New Zealand

June for New Zealand is the first month of winter, its when the cold really starts to set in and everyone gets out their heaters, crank up the fireplaces and start giving us Northlanders grief about being the 'winterless north' because we don't get snow

 

I disagree, zero degrees = frost = freking cold!!!

 

If you lived in the tropics and it got down to 15 degrees, you'd be freezing cold

 

My point is, you acclimatise to where you live

 

Anyway....

 

June is also my birthday so obviously the best month of the year

 

This year was pretty uneventful in the way of gifts. I'm a gift giving/receiving person and refuse to give anyone random crap they don't need/want

I also don't like to receive things that I didn't need/want because then I have to pretend I like them

 

I'm not going to give you an example, because those many gifts may have been from someone who reads my blog - eek!

 

Some of my great presents:

 

This bee suit (you may recall an earlier post where I said I had bees)

I'm very excited ot be leaning about getting the honey out of the hive!

 

 

My Mum's going over to Bali in July so she's said I have to wait for her pressie. I know she's looking for yarn stores so I'm expecting something great from her. (hint hint Mum if you're reading this)

 

My brother however, rocks

Full stop

He always gets me something awesome

(mostly because I provide the list but thats another story right?)

 

Over the last few years, he's started asking me for birthday presents and since his birthday is a few months before mine, its easy to remind him that he is required in return to buy me a present. After all, thats only fair right?

 

So after giving him many options, THIS is on its way to me right now!

It's a pack of three colours: Red, Blue and Yellow.

 

 

I'm sick and tired of looking at beatiful yarn on the other side of the world where 100grams of yarn is $24 NZD and postage is $24 NZD (I'm giving the cheapest figures I've found) and then to make it worth-while it's more like you have to buy six skeins.... and so on and so on

 

Yarn from here I've found out is even more expensive (what?!?!?)

 

So I've found a cheaper solution. Buy yarn from here and dye it myself

 

Tomorrow's mission - rumage through the second hand shops and find a large stockpot because these are acid dyes and I can't put them in my food stockpot

 

The best present (which wasn't an item that I could store away in a cupboard) was from my Husband and so far the best present ever - A trip to Samoa!

 

I'm going to put up some pics on facebook and shall put some on here once I'm able to sort a few of the under water pics

 

Lastly, my bestie who is awsome and always gets me the most beautiful presents, sent this cake to me at work the week after my birthday

 

I work for a media company so was very grateful to the photographer downstairs who offered to take  a proper photo

(thanks John)

 

Can you tell? It's a yarn ball with knitting needles in it! Everything on the plate is edible

 

Here's a close up

 

And the cake insides - mmmm

 

This was so massive, there's still some left in the fridge!

 

Love tank = Full

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas 2011

Okay so I know its after Christmas but here's my story in pictures anyway

I've been away on holiday, since Boxing Day so I have a good excuse

This is my colour-co-ordinated Christmas tree

Its red, gold and purple

If its any other color, the decorations stay in the box cause thats the way uh-huh uh-huh I like it

This is me, with my scary-excited face on

For present time, I had an idea

My husbands family sits and takes time ( one at a time ) to open presents slowly and make it last ages

My family is more of a ready-set-explode type of whoever ends up last to open a present is the loser

So for my sister in law, I bought her a Tupperware beetroot container. Yawn

Hey, it was on her wish-list so thats what she got 

( among other things ) 

To jazz it up a bit, I hunted around work and town for boxes

This wee box was originally for coffee sachets

and went into this box which paper comes in 

which went into this box for who knows what but my huge stationary order arrived in it at work

which went into this huge box which I sourced from Supre clothing store 

( I got some strange looks carrying it home, those people were thinking "shopping spree" - I wish!!! )

so you can imagine opening each layer and finding another fully wrapped present inside - FOUR TIMES!

and here's the delighted recipient 

 Here's a pic of husband and I during "Family Christmas No.3"

( there were four in total including Christmas Eve night and by the end of the day, we were well and truly full )

 

and this is my brother, trying on everyones cracker hats, because thats what you do at Christmas time

 but I've saved the best for last, because this ladies and gentlemen, is a crochet hook bag!!!

man did I score on this one

my bestie made it, MADE IT!!!

her birthday is in September, I've got 8 & 1/2 months to top this

eeeeekkkkkk!!!!