This past month ...

Whew! I didn't mean to let almost a whole month pass by before I posted here, but that's what happened! The first two weeks are easily explainable, my parents and I travelled to New Zealand on a RC cruise. It was just lovely, and I'll share some pictures:

We flew to Sydney the day before, so we were able to explore. There was a ship in port, but it wasn't our ride, this one was pretty fancy:

We always stay in The Rocks, so on the day we simply have to drag our bags across the road to the overseas passenger terminal. This means that there's always lots to see, and the view from the roof of our hotel is pretty spectacular:

On Wednesday 21st, was our day to board, and this is our chariot. Though this picture was taken in NZ (I think Wellington) as I forgot to take one on boarding day.

We've travelled on the Ovation before, and always love it <3

This was my room, a balcony cabin on deck 8, my parents had the room next door, so we had the balcony opened up between them, and also the adjoining door unlocked, it always makes it feel more spacious.

Day two at sea and a lovely lunch at Jamie Oliver's Italian - a tradition now, we always enjoy it so much!

I'll share a sprinkling of my many many photos, and try to recall where I took them ...

Our first stop - Picton NZ. So pretty, and I may or may not have bought a long necklace of the most lovely pearls from a darling jewellery store here. Can't prove anything ;-)

Two days later in Wellington NZ, we jumped on the gorgeous vintage hop-on hop-off tram and toured around the CBD.

The driver narrated as we travelled around, and we learned all about rebuilding efforts in the city, I have so many picutres if you're interested. And I was fascinated also by the beautiful interior of the tram, which we learned was about 100 years old.

The next day in Dunedin, also such a beautiful place. This is the train station - stunning in person. While in Dunedin, we stumbled across the most darling vintage store - Two Squirrels Vintage. I could have purchased every single thing in the store, but settled on this beautiful vintage apron and sweet little set of beads:

On our way home we travelled through Dusky Sound, Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound, all simply stunning!

And on the last sea day while heading home, we did a fascinating tour of the kitchens and a yummy brunch. We definitely never went hungry.

Before we knew it, it was time to start heading home - it was a long day travelling and I was really glad to finally be able to sink into bed. The next morning I didn't feel right, and took 'that' test, and sure enough was positive. First time ever for me. Next minute I received a message from Mum having had the same result.

The past two weeks have been spent largely resting, and with very little energy, I'm just now starting to feel like I'm getting back to some normality. In moments with energy, I've been baking - Pantry Mama's Sourdough Discard Loaves, one with rye, and one white:

I've been painting heads for my Etsy store, this is the second lot I painted for orders after I got home:

And for the last picture of the day, a little fabric delivery that arrived while I was away:

Darling fabrics that I'll be able to use in my Morrell quilt when I get back to it. And speaking of quilts, this past month I've done virtually no stitching - the only thing I've really had energy to work on since I've been home is a little hand quilting. I hope to remedy that soon, as I'd love to get a quilt made for the new grandbaby that will be here before we know it!

Well, that's been my month, apologies for the radio silence, here's hoping I have the energy to get back to my posting schedule going forward! Chatter soon xox