Christmas and a Sindy

I've started my Christmas shopping. I was looking at a local notice board and saw these cute children's baking sets for sale. Apron, little bowl and utensils, cookie cutters, and a baking pack and it all comes in a little bag that the child can colour in. Coloured pens are provided. Alice and Sitiveni will enjoy them, Dad is a chef. There was a limited number of them, only twenty, so I was pleased to get a couple.

And on a Christmas theme I was in town doing some shopping for my friend who is in a rest home and spotted these Mrs Santa mugs. They are very festive but I don't need any new mugs and I'm never sure how they would be to drink out of. I think if I had something like this I'd have to fill them with candy canes or chocolates although I guess they are meant for hot chocolate or cocoa. But we don't drink that at Christmas in this part of the world.

On the way home we called in to visit Jacqui. She was very excited to show us her new bargain buy. She been browsing in one of the local op shops and found this almost mint condition 1960's Sindy doll. With a bed. Original clothing and bedding and not a mark on either. She only paid $12 for the lot. Jacqui collects dolls, Daisy though, not Sindy. But she said she couldn't leave her behind. They were on a high shelf behind a couple of other things and she wonders whether someone had hidden them and was planning on going back for them later. Whatever the reason, they now reside at Jacqui's with the Daisys that are already there.

And I think that's about it for today.

Until next time,

Diana

 

A photo scavenger hunt

I am joining in a photo scavenger hunt this week with Hawthorn and friends over at I live, I love, I craft, I am me. Some of the photo's are from the archives, some I have used recently and some of you will have seen them before but I hope you still enjoy them.

1:  The setting sun

We had been up the coast to visit the blowholes and the pancake rocks. At the end of the day we headed back to daughters holiday accommodation for a pizza tea. This is the view we had of the sunset over the Tasman Sea from the upstairs sitting room :)

2:  My local wild place

This is a garden in the town where my GKB grew up, so although it is local it is not local local. It is on a hill on the other side of the city. It was established by the artist Ralph Hotere and overlooks the Otago Harbour. All of the plantings are native trees and bushes and those legs you see belong to a sculpture by Shona Rapira Davies titled They do cut down the poles that hold up the sky. A lovely peaceful place to sit and relax and enjoy the native bush without leaving the city.

3:  Mug of favourite drink in the garden

Christmas Day 2016. The family had gathered at youngest daughter's home to celebrate. Dinner was over, the dishes were all cleaned up and put away and it was time to take a cup, or glass, of our favourite drink and relax somewhere and chat. The photo below is me, my daughter and grandaughter sharing a quiet moment together in the backyard. The other two possibly had a glass of wine but my drink of choice was instant coffee, made the way I like it :) Goodness knows where everyone else was, there were at least 20 of us there for the day.

4:  My kind of beautiful

Isn't she beautiful? Well I'm guessing this is a she, cos she looks pregnant to me. Anyway I love these big draught horses and you don't see them around much these days. Don't ask me the breed, I couldn't tell you, I took the photo from the car while we were doing some sightseeing last time we were up Middlemarch way .

5:  Look to the skies

On the same trip up to Middlemarch this was early evening sky at the camping ground we stayed at. My GKB took this photo and some people have said the cloud formation looks like a giant hand in the sky. Anyway I think it is quite dramatic.

6:  Mini beasts

Well you can't see the mini beasts as they are inside the nest. 

This is the nursery web of a nursery web spider and the babies stay inside for couple of weeks. I guess if you don't mind spiders you won't think of them as beasts but if you see them magnified they are very definitely little monsters.

7:  Rain

One evening late last winter we had a shower of rain. Or maybe it was early in spring as I see new buds on these branches. Overnight we had a good old frost. In the morning my GKB took a sequence of photos. The raindrops had frozen on the bare branches of this bush and it looked rather pretty with the early morning sun shining on them. A little like the spindly little bush had been draped with a string of diamonds :)

8:  Something summery

Flowers always say summer but this is 
a photo I love, taken one hot day last summer.

Wouldn't you have thought it would be easier to just get under the table instead of clambering up on top of it to find the little bit of shade afforded by the sun umbrella? This puppy is a real character :)

9:  Urban wilderness

What can I say? An urban area in the wilderness. 

Queenstown, New Zealand.

10: My own choice

Parked up for the winter, caravans on a
 bleak winter's evening in Central Otago.

I hope I haven't been too wordy

See you next week.

Diana

Coffee mugs and teacups

Coffee mugs - I love them.

The trouble is I have had the same ones 

for years, the blinking things won't break!

And my sis and my SIL have both said

 the same thing to me since Christmas.

They won't break! 

So when I saw these ones in the 

Warehouse I decided to buy them regardless.

They are thick glass but I think they are fun.

Good for every day use.

And then I pulled these ones out. 

I have had them for years, my youngest

 daughter gave me four of them several years ago.

Of course you'll probably recognise them

 as Avon breast cancer fundraisers.

Really nice to drink out of, quite fine china.

This pretty pair came from Korea. 

My son brought them home after he had been

 in Seoul on a three month mission stint.

They are Hankook Fine Bone China.

I've only had them on display so far

but they are nice and fine as well

 - and don't you just love the delicate pattern?

Now I just love the rich autumn colours in this

 beautiful pair. The photo really doesn't do 

them justice.They were a gift from my DIL 

the first time she came over from Japan.

It has a rather ornate stamp on the bottom 

ringed with the words BEST HOME PORCELAIN.

Eldest daughter is a tea drinker,

 I may just get them out next time she's over :)

And she's the one who gifted us these two coffee mugs.

First to come along was the big mauve one - it says:

my Mum can make the smile 

on my face come straight from my heart.

Nice sentiments you say. 

But then a little later she gave her Dad the one that says:

I don't need Google, my wife knows everything.

Mixed messages from the cheeky child, haha.

 Now you might be wondering what I did 

with all the old coffee mugs - well they have 

been cleared out of the cupboard, cleaned up 

and will be taken to the op shop 

the next time we head down there.

joining Amy at:

Five on Friday

and Martha at:

Martha's Favorites

Keep well until next time,
Diana