Catching up

Finally - the jigsaw is finished!

I almost gave up about halfway through 

when none of the pieces fitted together :)

But I decided that a few bits of coloured cardboard

 weren't going to beat me, so I kept at it.

In all it took six weeks!

I said I thought it would take all winter, 

well it took half the winter.

There is one piece missing but my daughter, 

who owns it, didn't think that was too bad 

as she bought it about thirty years ago.

Claude helping

One day this old fella decided to give me a hand.

I was worried he would leap off and take it with him, 

but no, he just sat and inspected it, then 

 slowly stepped onto the couch and went to sleep.

Mack having cuddles

Do you remember Mack, my grand daughter's wee Chihuahua?

He is finally out of his cage and walking again.

It was a long three months for him and everyone looking after him.

He still has to be careful, try telling that to a dog 

who has been locked up for so long. I'm pleased all is well.

Monica and Ben

Now this same grand daughter has just become engaged :)

Her and her beau make a really nice couple 

and we are thrilled for them. So I need to go shopping 

for a nice engagement present for them.

Not easy as they have been living together for 

a couple of years now, but I will find something.

Eldest daughter is moving house, she going into a smaller place because it will just be her at home before too long.

What has a crocodile got to do with that you may well ask?

Well I don't know whether there is any lawn at

 the new place and she loves this piece of garden art.

But knowing her she will find a home for it,  

she's much more creative than I am.

 I haven't joined Martha at Tea Cup Tuesday 

for a while so I wanted to today.

The tea pot is made in Japan and was a gift.

The tea cup is Queen Anne bone china, 

quite a pretty cup with the dainty blue daisy pattern.

It once belonged to my middle sister who left it 

with me when she moved across the ditch to Aussie.

I have one or two others she left as well 

and I will show you them another time.

Joining Martha at:

Tea Cup Tuesday

and Stephanie at:

roses of inspiration

That's it for today.

Have a lovely week 

and I'll see you again soon.

Diana

A quick dash through Toitu

This week we're back in Toitu,

 otherwise known locally as The Early Settlers Museum.

We are doing a quick dash through today as there is so much

 to see and do I thought I'd just give you a taste.

Josephine

Josephine is the very first thing you come across

 as you enter the foyer.

She is loved by old and young alike, if you mention seeing Josephine at the museum we all know what you're talking about.

If you go to the link on her name you can read about her.

And I do apologize for cutting her nose off when photographing her. Once again there is a great photo in the link.

Turn to the right and you have a little gift shop 

with lots of cool stuff in it and on the sunny side of 

the foyer is the cafe/tearooms

 where you can get a nice meal or hot drink. 

Or a cold drink if that's what you prefer.

Maori kite made from flax

Through the door to the museum 

and you have a short history of Otago 

from pre-European times through to the current day.

A little further on and we enter the passenger section of a sailing ship, complete with creaking and groaning boards as

 the ship moves up and down across the waves. A weird sensation. 

Around about are the passengers bunks, goods and utensils. 

There is a section devoted to fashion, men's and women's, 

as well as a few children's pieces. Again a great range of clothes.

And a dress up section if you wanted to don a whale bone petticoat

 and see how you would look in a crinoline.

Another display houses the appliances, gas, coal and electric. 

It doesn't seem that long ago that these

 old coal ranges were in homes.

My grandparents had a gas stove top but the oven was coal fired, 

and it sent out a lot of heat in the winter,

 and probably too much in the summer.

It was a wetback and heated the hot water

 so had to be on most of the time.

(Now I'm definitely showing my age,

 that was nearly 70 years ago, haha).

Everything from these ranges to old irons and 

more modern milk bar equipment and everything in between. 

We laughed at the old typewriters, computers and dishwashers etc.

How life has changed :)

Now this fellow was atop a butcher shop in the city 

when I arrived here in the late '60s.

He was in charge of a herd of little pink pigs

 who ran around the veranda, also neon lights.

 They were quite a landmark.

In the Smith Gallery there are paintings of some of the settlers.

 Also an index so you can find your ancestors

 somewhere in the crowd.

Or maybe they are hidden away somewhere in the archives.

My GKB's ancestors arrived on one of the first boats 

and I've recently discovered that my father's were on one of the early ships as well.

At the opposite end of the museum to Josephine 

is this display of feet.

A modern sculpture on temporary display,

 commemorating the men who went to war and didn't come back. 

I find it quite strange even though I 'get' what 

the artist was trying to say. I think. 

I should have put this photo in the post I did 

about the transport on display here.

This is the arrival and departure platform at the bus depot.

Exactly as it was when we used to catch the buses 

after a night out on the town or day out shopping.

It is midway through the museum and a nice place 

if you want a bit of a sit down

and there is also a corner for the littlies to play in.

And that is it for another day. 

I hope you enjoyed having a quick poke around Toitu with me.

linking up with Stepanie at:

roses of inspiration

Have a good week.

See you next time,

Diana

This is the day...

We had another dump of snow over the weekend. 

Now don't laugh at me you people who live where snow

 is a feature every winter. 

We don't get a decent dump very often but this winter

 I've lost count of how many snowfalls we have had. 

Five or six I think. 

At the weekend it was below 200 metres, 

which meant that it settled here.

Little mother decided she wouldn't go to church, 

she didn't want to risk falling. Very wise.

 

Out town is in a rural area although it is now classed as a city suburb and we are on a plain surrounded by hills and mountains.

Which still have quite a bit of snow on them.

The higher hill suburbs are still covered as well and I'm pretty sure

 the kids have had a day or two off school this week.

Earlier in the week when we went outside, 

the snow had gone from around about but it was still cold.

We'd had minus 7 C. overnight and a good, hard frost on top of it.

The picture above is of frozen raindrops on a small tree next to the fence.

Today I noticed the aloe vera was turning black,

I rather suspect it had frozen solid with the frost

 and cold and died when it thawed.

I'll have to get in and cut that out, but not for a day or two,

 it's too cold for me to do any gardening yet.

I thought I'd go for a walk along the flood bank today.

Let me tell you it was very a short walk. 

The wind was very cutting.

I stayed there long enough to get a couple of pictures of the ducks,

 who didn't appreciate me coming along and disturbing them.

They went down the bank, into the water and up the other side.

Oh well.

Then it was back home for a hot cuppa,

which is one of the pleasures of the colder weather...

...along with not having to make excuses for reading,

 watching telly, doing jigsaws, taking up knitting again

 and just generally slothing about.

And it's a good time to eat all that comfort food

 you go without in the warmer weather!

I think I told you that our Claude has only recently 

discovered chairs, couches and beds.

 During this cooler weather our outside cat 

has been found occasionally on the end of our bed,

 particularly if I won't move and let him sit in my chair.

I know, I'm mean.

But despite the cold, most days I still manage to say

'This is the day the Lord has made, 

I will be glad and rejoice in it'.

Ps. 118:24

Joining in with:
roses of inspiration

Have a lovely week,
keep well until next time,
Diana

A visit to Toitu

Earlier in the week my GKB suggested we go into town for lunch.

Okay, I said, but I don't want to go to the Warehouse,

I'd like to go to Toitu and have a look around 

now that they have finished the renovations.

Toitu was, until quite recently, 

known as the Early Settlers Museum. 

So in we went, had lunch in the cafe there and went exploring.

The building above houses the transport 

 part of the museum - and where else would you put it 

but in the old New Zealand Railway Road Services bus depot?

Very appropriate. 

Some of the exhibits were behind glass for obvious reasons,

some roped off and others you could try out if you wanted.

my GKB on a tram he used to ride occasionally 

trying out a penny farthing for size

Have I just dated us? never mind, onward and upward!

Some gorgeous cars were on display,

 I think I've said before that have a bit of a thaang for classic cars. 

Along with some old trams, trolleys and buses.

As well as horseless carriages,

 trucks of different types and petrol pumps.

But, the best thing of all (for me anyway) was...

...this beautiful Buick Eight towing 

this...

tiny caravan.

looking in through the back window of the caravan

Isn't it fantastic?

Sorry about the last photo, it was so hard to get a good photo through the glass. I had my flash turned off but because it was so dim in the museum it came on automatically.

If you'd like to take a look at more of the museum you can go to a link here.

Of course the museum doesn't just house transport, it is a wonderful visual history of Otago from Maori times through the arrival of the sailing ships and early European settlement and on up to the present day. I think it is great and shall go back one day without my GKB as he doesn't enjoy these things quite as much as I do :) That way I will be able to dawdle where I wish!

joining in with:

roses of inspiration

Well that's it for another week.

Look after yourselves and I will

see you again in a few days.

Diana