Hosting the Te Pahu W.I group

Two ladies in the Te Pahu book club I belong to are also members of the Te Pahu Women's Institute. At the beginning of the year I had our book club members here for lunch so that we could all get our first book of the year. I was asked if I would mind having the Te Pahu WI group here to see the crafts etc that I've made and a look around the garden, I said yes.
Yesterday was the day nine lovely ladies turned up at my door and after their WI business was done they had the guided tour.
It wasn't until I started pulling things out to show that I realised just how many things I'd made and just how many things I've still to finish!!
After the tour we all had afternoon tea and had the longest of chats, they all brought afternoon tea which was delicious.
With everything displayed, I took the opportunity to take photos, and here they are.....

Flax weaving, from a course I did

Mosaics

Two quilt tops waiting to be professionally quilted

 

Scrap wool blanket things! a UFO

Cats, another UFO

Calendar quilt, needs embellishing

Some repair work needed

Wall hangings

Still to be hung, a rug I did the finishing touches to

An old ladder displaying quilts

One of the first quilts I ever made

Arty farty stuff

Quilt made from op shopped fabric

Left: crocheted mohair blanket, right: scrappy blanket

Some early crochet and a scrappy quilt

Hexie quilt, a work in progress

Dogs on a crocheted blanket

Dolls

Cushion corner

A multitude of mixed colours and textures

Cleopatra, the door stop

Another early wall hanging quilt

Op shop found stitchery and stash fabrics

A riot of colour, a cosy spare bedroom

 

Op shop found stitchery and fabric

Made from my stash of yarns, simple crocheted stitches but the texture makes it look spectacular, it weighs a ton!

Hexagons

Made from doilies and lacy scraps, filled with lavendar

 

Clay bust

Cross stitch dragonflies

Crocheted lacy scarf

Wool blanket quilt, warm and snuggly

One of two quilts the same, quilt kit found in an op shop then weeks later I found more of the same fabric,crocheted bag

warm crocheted wool throws

bags, crocheted, knitted and free form crochet

Patterns for the outdoor furniture

Bright colours and picnic blanket

Painted project

The revamped outdoor furniture I did last year

Welcome and thank you for afternoon tea ladies

Thank you gifts

A day full of pretty things

As I left my house this morning

Right, before you start reading, go get a hot beverage or a tipple of your choice, put your feet up and feast your eyes upon some of the pretty things I've seen today.

Yesterday as Sue was leaving mine she said, "Come in early, the earlier the better"
So I did, that'll teach her lmao 😁😂😋
We had quite a bit planned so best to get on with it I reckon. Before I got to Sue's and cleaned out the bank account  got a little bit of cash 😇out of the hole in the wall, grabbed a large flat white, I called in to see if Sue was coming out to play.
First on the itinerary was the Craft fair at Te Awamutu, as mentioned in yesterdays post, I said that we hoped to catch up with Julie of My Threadbear Life as she was having a stall there selling her wonderful creations. As you can see it was really busy.

 

It was a great fair, lots of stalls with good quality products and it looked like plenty of people buying

I was one of those buying, from Julies stall I got these:

 Isn't she lovely?

 These cinnamon trees are so fragrant and remind of Christmas and mulled wine

 A bag of potpourri

 And this sewing stand made from recycled treasures is bloody awesome

From other stalls I got these:

Dragonfly ornament made from a spark plug

 And some wondrous perfumed soaps, I have to say that even though they smell wonderful, I thought I was buying locally made produce, turns out it was made in Aussie!! Didn't realise until I got home.

Okay, so now is where it gets picture heavy. After the fair we drove to Hamilton Gardens, I wanted to go to the Daltons Rose show which was being held in the Pavillion. When we arrived I noticed that the Pacific rose festival - public voting was still on. I had intended to go Thursday but the weather wasn't great that day. I was pleasantly surprised when I realised that is was on all weekend. So vote we did and literally stood back and smelled the roses. Below are just a small selection of the many roses in the gardens. No idea what half of them are called now, so just enjoy.

 

Blondes definitely have more fun

We did, with all good intentions, go to check out the rose show in the Pavillion, but neither of us really wanted to pay $5 to get in, besides Wairere Nurseries beckoned and rose buying was on the cards. I did the same last year and bought 2 roses for my garden, this time though I thought I should really buy the Silver Anniversary rose, only 3 years after the fact! It's has a huge bloom and so pretty.

Once that and another plant I bought was stashed in Sue's car we went for a wander around the nurseries gardens, there aren't many plant nurseries that have huge gardens to wander around, not that I know of anyway. Photo heavy again, you might need a top up by now:

 

Bluddy tree huggers 🙏

 I hope you enjoyed all that, I had a great day but now it's time to open a bottle of bubbles

Have a great weekend
I nearly forgot, all that beauty is free! Apart from the $60 spent on flowers!

Sue 

xxx

Thanks to my computer which makes me wee videos every now again, here's one I thought worth sharing, enjoy.