Tully House... A Treaure Trove in Akaroa...

 I've been in Akaroa again for a few days. This time the weather

was sunny and warm... Perfect for being out and about and walking.

I walked into the village for coffee then kept walking...
And came across Tully House...

What a place... An old historic house where the owner lives

amongst collected treasures in every room...

Up the garden path...

To the veranda... Even this outside but undercover area

was packed with all sorts of things. Pots... Treasures...

A swing seat... A beautiful quilt...

The other end had more stuff and lots of books...

I sat for ages looking through all the books...

 

Inside every room was full... Over full...

Bric a brac... Linens... Bottles... Candle sticks...

Everything you've ever dreamed of wanting... Or not!

More books...

Treasures even in the bathroom...

A lifetime collection... all for sale...

Was I tempted... Well of course.

I went back in the afternoon and sat in the

garden with a glass on wine... And learned all

about Kirsty the owner... And her passion for

French Country and Scandinavian...

The address - Villa Vangioni, 23 Rue Balgerie,

Akaroa, Banks Peninsula.  An absolute must if you are

in Akaroa... allow plenty of time.

Operation Cover Up...

I met Chris a while back... We had dinner... And I learned

about Operation Cover Up.  Read about it... But be

prepared to cry and/or start knitting...

This is Chris's spare bedroom. When it is

time for all the knitted blankets to be sent

to be packed and shipped, her bedroom is

stacked floor to ceiling with all the multi

coloured blankets that so many people

in Rotorua have knitted.

Part of her garage is stacked with bags and boxes of wool and

second hand jumpers waiting to be unpicked to the wool

can be re-used and re-knitted into blankets.

This is a snug warm little jacket that has been lovingly

knitted for a cold child who has nothing.

Here are some figures... Of how many blankets and

garments have been sent to the children

 in the orphanages...

This is Liz Clarke of Taupo... Visiting children in Pluzhne Orphanage

in the Ukraine. Read more about Liz and the children...

During the past 10 years, Liz Clarke has overseen the delivery of 67,000 

knitted blankets to orphans in Eastern Europe, many knitted by 

Presbyterians. All from placing a newspaper advertisement that requested 

‘‘67 blankets for an orphanage in Moldavia where I sponsored 

an orphan through Mission Without Borders’’.

Liz had discovered that orphans living in temperatures as low as -30°C 

had little to keep them warm. “They had a thin cotton bed cover. 

I just cried thinking about it. Then I asked God what I could do. 

A wool blanket is more than warmth; it’s comfort, God’s covering and God’s love.”

Liz started Operation Cover Up under the umbrella of 'Mission

Without Borders'

 In addition to the beautiful, many coloured blankets, all of the children 

were given hats, gloves, scarves, winter jackets, and boots.

For our photos we dressed up two of the classes and took them 

outside into the snow. The bright colours contrasted 

starkly with the pure white snow.

Want to get involved... Get knitting... Start a group...Or give money 

for the enormous cost of shipping? Read more details here

Dolly... My New Friend...

 This is Dolly. I found her abandoned in a basket in a shop in Auckland...

Lonely... Nameless... And looking very forlorn.

She was so soft and cuddly, how could I leave her there?

I carried her round the shop for a while to see if

we could get on together, named her Dolly and

of course had to take her home.

 She now lives with me in my bus... She likes

helping me drive...

 She's fallen in love with Ted...

 She loves reading... Or doing anything really...

And time out sitting on my cushions.

We haven't tried fishing together yet!

New Boots... For Her and Me...

 We both needed new boots. Licorice Allsorts

has had the same boots for forty-three years.

Now that's a long time for boots to last so I

couldn't begrudge her some new ones.

This is the old boot round the gear stick... A

very sorry state of affairs... Held together

with a paper clip to try and keep out the draught

when driving... Cracked, sagging... What more

can I say!

 This is even worse... A blue chux cloth

held on with rubber bands... Underneath is
the old boot more holes that anything else

as the rats took a fancy to it and saw it as

a tunneling project into the bus where

they might find?  Well who knows!

So the day had come, an auto upholsterer recommended

and an a booking made... For new boots.

 Here is the new boot round the gear stick... Specially

designed in black leather to suit the situation and

occasion and allow for plenty of movement...

 Done up round the top with state of the art Velcro.

Beautifully stitched... Screwed in for another

forty years service.

 And here's the new boot round the brake...

Again black leather and superbly stitched...

 The top detail... Hemmed with a cord and toggle

to allow for movement up and down.

 And here's the dressed up pair... Ready for the road...

Many more miles and many years of adventures...

And this is where we got the new boots. I highly recommend them
if you need new boots or any upholstery recovered or
squabs made or seats fixed. The head rest on my passenger seat was
falling apart... After the boots were made and fitted
an offer was made to fix the head rest... A five minute
job Daniel, the amazing designer and maker of boots said,
and it was done... The charges very reasonable.

Next were boots for me. My boots were only four months

old... Not forty or even four years! I wear through a pair

of boots every winter. I must say it's nice choosing

new boots but I'm beginning to wonder what I do to them...

Apart from walking of course and wearing them every day.

Four months... that's hardly any time at all. I wondered

why I kept getting one wet foot and found the sole

on the boots I bought at the end of April had cracked right

through. They weren't cheap but these new ones were...

I wanted to try out a Doc Marten style but didn't want to

pay the price so found these at the Hornby Shoe Outlet...

Not only outlet prices but also on sale. A great place

if you are passing by.

So off we go... I think Licorice Allsorts boots

will last a lot longer than mine...

I'm Back In Christchurch... In My Bus Again!

After a month away in The Far North and Auckland

 it was lovely to be 'home' again in my bus. It was

fantastic seeing friends and doing different things

and going different places... But I did miss 'home'.

First thing I did was light my fire!

It takes me some days to unpack and put things

away and settle in and stock up my fridge again.

I had left my bus parked at a friends farm. I was

worried about mice and rats so had 3 traps set inside

and a well stocked bait station outside but no

rodents showed their face thank goodness.

I spent a week parked at my Dad's again...

On the side of the road... Again!  

Then moved to Weedons NZMCA Park... Again! 

It's lovely to be surrounded by open space and distance. 

The only thing that's not lovely about being back in 

Christchurch is the cold, but then that's an excuse to light my fire.

My first day back at Weedons it rained and rained

and was cold. I put all my wet weather gear on and

got the bus at the gate and met a friend at

the Botanical gardens for coffee. It was pre-arranged

or the weather might have put me off. It was

actually really nice splashing in the rain and spring

has sprung in the gardens and all the beautiful old

Camellia trees are in full bloom.

 The next day started with a misty/foggy morning...

 The view from my bus...

 But the sun was coming... And I got out my deck chair and

spent the whole day sitting in the sun reading.

A few things have happened since I was last here...

A new paling fence has been erected... Part of the resource

consent as the lady who owns the farm behind the NZMCA

Park doesn't like caravans and motor homes and doesn't

want to look at them as she drives past to her place!

But makes a good wind break and shelter.

Some posts have been put in the ground to separate the long

term storage parking area. I don't think it's finished... I'm told there

are more to be put in and there is a big coil of fencing wire on
the ground... Talk is of gates at each end with a code - for 

security I guess... Wait and see!

 On this side of the park is another paddock, not fenced off,

and the pine trees in the distance seemed a likely source

of firewood... And they were...

 The pine cones and wood cut up by my sharp saw and blunt

axe filled up my firewood bucket. I have put 'get my axe sharpened'

on my 'to do' list!

This was the view out my window this morning... Fresh snow

shining and glistening in the early morning sun.