Matroyshka Dolls,Roses,Apples and Chickens.

Hello,

I bought these lovely Matroyshka Dolls in the Trade Aid shop in Whangarei while I was on holidays. These were made in India. They have found a new home on a set of drawers in my sewing room. The Trade Aid shop had a lovely range of items for sale. Both Lucy and I managed to find several things for ourselves to bring home. I have been doing a fair bit of work in the garden lately, must have something to do with the slightly cooler weather. Next week I am having several ladies around for morning tea and a walk around the garden here at Kainga.

This rose is a David Austin called "Heritage". I have three of these outside the lounge room window. Heritage was introduced in 1984 it has sprays of beautiful, perfectly cupped blooms of soft pink. It has a strong old rose fragrance with traces of honey. Good foliage with very few thorns on a tall and bushy shrub. It is a vigorous bush or can be used as a small climber. I always plant my roses in groups of 3 5 or 7, uneven numbers in the garden look better than two of everything.

Our apple trees have had plenty of fruit this year. Homegrown organic apples that haven't been sprayed have the most flavour,very crisp to eat. You haven't lived until you have eaten a fresh apple straight from the tree. We have five variety's of apples producing fruit. Luckily this year the parrots haven't discovered them. Although we do net the trees.

Meet our egg producing hens, although they all turned there head away when I took the photo this morning. We bought these hens from a poultry farm. The poor things had lived in cages and didn't know how to scratch, there combs were a dull colour but after a week or two of fresh food including lots of silver beet there colour came right back. You can certainly tell the difference with home eggs to some bought in the shop. The colour of the yolk is such a bright yellow.

On the sewing front I have been quilting my brown quilt. I do this in the evening while watching television. Lucy is doing Textiles at school this year and thoroughly enjoying it. Last Friday night we sat and stitched together. She was making a sampler in a heart shape doing different stitches. She told me she knew most of the stitches. I had sent her and a friend to some embroidery classes that were run by the Embroiderer's Guild a few years back and she had remembered how to do them. Yesterday she did tie dying at school and this was going to be made into a cushion.

Happy days.

Bev C