New Zealand cruise

Ma, Jeni, Paul and I had a great time on our cruise to New Zealand. Even though Ma had to be in the wheel chair most of the time we still managed to have lots of fun and to see lots of lovely scenery. We all ate too much as the food was really good and far to tempting. It was a lovely time of relaxation with a bit of reading, stitching and snoozing time! We were very lucky with the weather too and had fairly smooth seas other than the first and last days, which were a little rocky. Here we are leaving Sydney.

Here we are on our first night after dinner. We took a sneaky picture of this photo!

 We were so lucky in Milford Sound as it was so sunny and beautiful.

 Our first port was Dunedin so we headed into town in a taxi and Ma came too.

 Here is Ma enjoying her first yummy mocktail.

 We enjoyed a cooking demonstration in the atrium.

We went to many shows and enjoyed the music all around the ship.

On the 8 January we were in Akaroa. As it was a tender port, Ma couldn't leave the ship. I ducked out of a quick visit as it was another lovely day.

In the afternoon the bad weather rolled in!

The next day we were in Wellington. We hired a car and headed to the Wairarapa. Gorgeous countryside! We had morning tea in Greytown and then visited Masterton, Featherston and finished with lunch in Martinborough.

Happy New Year

It is hard to believe that another year is over. 2015 has been a lovely year with wonderful family times, the birth of little Jack, some holidays, plenty of stitching and lots of special times with friends and family. Thank you to all those who have continued to visit this blog. It is a fun way to keep track of the days that certainly fly by!!
It was exciting on Tuesday as Anni Downs' new book arrived! I am heading away in a few days so enjoyed getting some of the stitcheries prepared to take on holidays.

Ma headed home on Monday but it was so special to have her here over Christmas. The great grandchildren enjoyed time with her very much. Alice visited yesterday and wanted to know where Ma was!

Ma also loved having a special cuddle of little Jack.

On Sunday, Ma and I and Paul and Jeni are heading away on a cruise to New Zealand. I am preparing lots of stitching to do and taking some books too! Looking forward to a lovely, relaxing time away on the Dawn Princess!

Lovely gifts

It has been so nice to relax over the last few days and think about other things besides Christmas. Nice to get some stitching done too. Just needed to share some lovely gifts I have received recently. Lynda from the Wednesday afternoon class came on the last day with these gorgeous crocheted and knitted decorations for me! Thanks so much, Lynda. They look great on the tree.

 Paddy popped over recently and gave me this lovely little bird decoration and this very special little cushion.

 Even the back looks great!

 Lovely to have Penny and John visiting from the UK and Penny gave me this delightful little bird for my tree.

 I was so excited to receive these lovely stars which were crocheted by my daughter, Lyndal. They are so gorgeous!

 One special gift this year came from my girls and is this gorgeous silk scarf in liberty fabric! I just know I will wear it so much!

Happy Christmas

I forgot to wish all of you a happy Christmas in that last post. I hope you have had a lovely time of celebration with your family and friends. It has been special here though I must admit to being very tired tonight! We celebrated here at home this year and had Ma come to stay, which has been a delight. She is a bit incapacitated at the moment as she has a problem with her knee that means she has to stay off that foot! Crutches and a wheel chair make life a little difficult for her. On Christmas eve we had presents and dinner with our family and Ma too. The presents were a bit of a riot as the little people were very excited.

 The little men are not easy to photograph these days so there are less pictures of them.

 Love this one of Ma and little Jack. He was such a good little fellow at his first Christmas.

Today we headed to church and then hosted Christmas lunch for us and the Lamonts too. Some of the children had a lovely swim before lunch. We had far too much yummy food!