linen and a vase

Linen napkins - I bought the linen as a bundle labelled "place mats" at an op shop last summer. Hardly used, colours still bright. I'm particularly keen on the mustard. I cut them down to simple everyday napkin size and then hand stitched them with narrow hems. I decided this was easier than winding bobbins for the six different colours and mitering corners. Plus, as you know, I like hand stitching. It's quiet, relaxing and can be done almost anywhere.

Doodle stitching on some of the left over napkin linen. I don't know where this is heading but it's another pleasant thing to do.

And something new for the kitchen window sill - a lotus pod vase by Auckland potter, Ann O'Sullivan purchased from my new favourite local florist, Here among the wild. I like that it's handmade and can hold just one stem or many - especially at this time of year when there's not much happening flower-wise in the garden.

Reading:
The flower workshop : lessons in arranging blooms, branches, fruits, and foraged materials by Ariella Chezar with Julie Michaels
Styling nature : a masterful approach to floral arrangements by Lewis Miller
Bringing nature home : floral arrangements inspired by nature by Ngoc Minh Ngo

all the good

Some recently re-potted cactuses - some are new plants and some are newly painted pots.

And some purchases from the Grey Lynn Park Festival on Saturday

• slippers for me for next winter. They are fair trade, handmade in Mongolia from local wool. They are my favourite slippers - warm and hard-wearing. I try to get a pair each year from the festival. This time I didn't have enough cash so the seller gave me her bank account number and said I could do the transfer when I got home. How amazing that she trusted me. I felt so overwhelmed by her kindness and generosity.
• a new cookbook for my collection, Everyday easy eats, produced by Balmoral School in Auckland. Also available here should you want a copy.
• a little blue dog made by blind artist Juliet Jackson - a friend for the elephant I bought from her last year. 

Saturday night we went to a Thanksgiving dinner hosted by our American neighbours. During the evening guests were asked to share something that they had felt grateful for during the year. The responses were heartfelt and I felt blessed to have these friends and to be living in such a peaceful country.

I'm not usually so mushy but it was quite a weekend and it reminded me of this quote by John Wesley

Do all the good you can,

by all the means you can,

in all the ways you can,

in all the places you can,

at all the times you can,

to all the people you can,

as long as ever you can.

museum

A recent visit to the Crown Lynn museum (te toi uku) with my granddaughter (who tells me she is very cute. I can't deny it.) The museum is small but fascinating especially for kiwis - most of us grew up with Crown Lynn. My aunt had a full dinner set of Fiesta Ware - white with multi-coloured spots randomly scattered across a grey (sort of) grid pattern. With pastel coloured cups to match the spots. All displayed in glass-fronted cupboards. As a 12-year-old it was my dream kitchen.

The museum has lovely crowded displays - cup handles rescued from the rubble of the old factory and cups and mugs showing the huge variety made over the lifetime of Crown Lynn. I love the child's cup. The little green cart being towed along by the sleepy looking snail has Express Parcels Co. written on the side. I guess life was a little slower back in 1955.

Plus some Crown Lynn I bought recently for my own small collection. Happy days for Tasman Pulp and Paper when the number 2 newsprint machine was officially opened on 8 May 1963. I just like the sailing ship logo.

Reading: The stories of Bill Manhire - collection of short stories by NZ writer

Eating: Figs from our tree

plates

Some Crown Lynn treasures - "staccato" side plate and a pair of "narvik" dinner plates - found on our last holiday at Matakana. And a plate by Pauline McCoy purchased at the Big Clay Day Out held by the Auckland Studio Potters on Sunday.

Reading: Between you & me: confessions of a comma queen by Mary Norris who is a copy editor at The New Yorker. She started working there in 1978 so you could say she's an authority on spelling, punctuation and grammar. Which is what the book is about. Sounds pretty dull but, actually, it isn't. Review here.

elephant

I bought this sweet little elephant on Saturday from the Toi Ora stall at the Grey Lynn Park Festival. It was made by blind artist Juliet Jackson. He's quite a weighty little elephant with a bluish grey and chocolate brown shiny glaze. So sweet. He fits so neatly in my hand.

Reading: Ru by KimThuy

vessels

Some recent pottery purchases. The black bowl was made by Kirsten Dryburgh and bought from her studio. The bowls are by Peter Lange and the pink vase by "JD" both purchased from the Clay Works Potters' market back in August.
The Auckland Studio Potters annual fair is coming up in December for those of you living in Auckland and in need of pottery.

Reading: First lady: from boyhood to womanhood by Liz Roberts with Alison Mau. Elizabeth Roberts was the first New Zealander to undergo full sex-change surgery. Listen to her radio interview here on National Radio.

Watching: Slow West. I love a western.