What To Do With Feijoas?
Chocolate Feijoa Cake.
I live in the South Island and we have to import the little suckers from up north. I'm sure that they send us malnourished, under-sized scrawny little specimens. But who's to know? I've never seen a live one on the tree!
Oh.My.Goodness. Was this ever moistest and richest and chocolateyest cake I have ever eaten? Worth the outrageous price I was overcharged for the 8 wizened feijoas that went into the mixture.
Some Days Are Just Better Than Others.
Especially the days when you arrive home from school, exhausted and hungry, and there is a delicious treat waiting in your mail box!
Good enough to eat. And your 10 year old pays it the ultimate compliment... "Lookit all those Pandora beads, Mumma!" 
And then you get out a pen and sketchpad because surely such a gorgeous bracelet of liquorice allsorts deserves a new outfit all of it's own. Maybe a little something with pink and black stripes...
Cross Country Is Not For Wimps.
Sport was cancelled all over Christchurch today. The rain was torrential. There was no rugby, no soccer, no netball and definitely no hockey. Cross Country Runners, however, are a tougher breed so despite the fact that the resident soccer players were lying around in their pyjamas watching TV, Sophie got out her spikes.
Cross Country Runners' Mothers, on the other hand, are not so together. It took several layers of thermals, two woollen jersies including this gorgeous, chunky, hand-knitted affair, two pairs of socks, an hilarious hand-knitted scarf which I love, a fluffy hat and a huge knee-length waterproof jacket over the whole ensemble before I was ready to leave the house.
It was not enough to stop my hands from turning purple as I tried to record lap times for the 10 year old girls' teams.
While the rest of the city sensibly stayed inside and watched movies in their warm homes with hot coffees and dry socks, the Cross Country Runners and their Mothers were out there doing battle in the snow. I think I should get the trophy today.
Blue, crinkly bri-nylon stuff made into a cardy. 
Used to belong to Beryl. Now belongs to me.
Quirky Little Thrift Shops.
I love that even the chain thrift stores like the Salvation Army have their own shop rules and what seems like it might be a mundane thrifting day can turn into something unexpectedly delightful. Like yesterday when we visited a little Sallies shop not far from home and discovered that it was "$1 Wednesday". Everything on the racks was... you guessed it... $1. It was a chilly day and my bones were feeling cold so I splashed out and bought 4 jersies. Here we have:
A hand-knitted pink vest and a floaty Lady Lichfield blouse (it's not a shirt, it actually is a blouse!) worn with the oldest jeans I have, holes in the knees but fit like a glove:
And Sophie had an Anne of Green Gables moment when she discovered a nightie - a real, old-fashioned wincyette nightie hand-made in England with pearly buttons down the front. You can't actually buy wincyette nighties in New Zealand, it's illegal to sell them so this was a true treasure.
Look how wonderfully it twirls!
And the visit was complete when we found a dressing gown pattern, circa 1973, in her very own size.
It seems I have a date this afternoon with my sewing machine and a pile of quilted dressing gown fabric we inherited from Grandma. Pinkness.
Here's Holiday Project # something or other. A Pussycat bag made from this Melly and Rosie pattern. I've had it in my cupboard for a while, just waiting for the right rainy afternoon.
And some random pinkness. I found a skirt yesterday and the linen fabric was the prettiest floral print. I would have bought the skirt for the fabric alone but...
"You do realise it's HANDMADE," said the girl behind the counter with a sneer. As if somehow that devalued the pretty fabric and the clever design. Because the person who designed and made this skirt was clever. There was some trickiness with ribbon and a way of making a frayed hem I've never seen before. I would have bought the skirt for the pattern alone but... 
The whole package of design and fabric and embellishment was just to good to resist. It doesn't fit me but I've taken off a pattern which can be easily tweaked and now I've got this marvellous linen to do something else with.Holiday Project # 5
I've been wanting to try this linen apron tutorial from the impossibly elegant Anna since she posted it last week. Linen shifts are easy to find but I usually chop them up to make pencil rolls - I can get 4 pencil rolls from one shift which is bargain in my eyes! It took me a while to find the right shift but when I did it practically jumped off the rack and yelled take me home. It's a natural colour and sprigged all over with little daisies.
The apron turned out to be one of those magical projects where everything goes right from start to finish. I used 30cm of red dotty cotton from my stash for the waistband and ties, and I interfaced the front waistband for extra stability.
Stylishly elegant... just like Anna.
