Difficult Days for Dog Lovers

The picture of Dr. Phil & Max that appeared in Wednesdays Dominion Post

As an avid animal lover & a passionate dog owner I have found this past week to be particularly difficult. Firstly came the attack on a five year old girl in Taneatua by their friends Pit Bull terriers, dogs that were reportedly well kept & behaved, & on the same day in Wairoa, a three year old was attacked in similar circumstances.


The latter had great personal significance for us as Dr. Phil was the man tasked with putting this wee mite back together. It was heartbreaking, her facial injuries were extensive, but luckily for her, as well as Dr. Phil being the Ophthalmologist on call, he is also the only ocular plastic surgeon in the region. Usually this is the sort of surgery that he relishes, but this time it was made more poignant by the fact we have a child of a similar age & are so smitten about our dearly beloved pooch. The thought that any well cared for dog could wreck such savagery is just beyond us. I am pleased to report that she is now doing very well, the eyelid injuries look great, but the emotional scars will take longer to heal.


The icing on the cake was the canine massacre in Wellsford. I was almost sick last night when I saw what had transpired. I'm a country girl & have much more pragmatic views on these matters, but there is a right way & a wrong way to do things - this is definitely the wrong way! I whole heartidly give my full support to Bob Kerridge & his team at the SPCA it their moves to bring those responsible to justice.


It just leaves one thing to do, gather good friends around this weekend & eat, drink & be thankful for the beautiful bounty of Hawkes Bay. I might see you at Harvest HB, I'll be the one with the knitting!!

New Life, New Year

Louis first Monarch Butterfly hatched this week - he was transfixed at the process of transformation. We still have two left to hatch.

It's been nice the first few weeks of this year being able to get more knitting in than what I would usually do during the Summer. Largely spurred on my the birth of some new babes in our circle of friends. First for the new year has been Alexander, born ten days ago. I haven't knitted any baby bit's for several months, so Alex's arrival saw me diving into the stash cupboard to find some inspiration.

Inspiration was found in the form of some Regia Silk Color sock yarn purchased from the delicious James Herbison's J.O.Y in Greytown about 6 months ago. The splendid blend of subtle off tones, which are gender neutral, are perfect for Alexander & also wee baby Faith, which is due any day now. I have had great fun buying some matching stretch & grow's, cluck, cluck, cluck goes this old bird!!

I used a picot edge, just for something a little different.

Knitting by the Pool

Whilst I love all the hubbub of the festive season, also like the renewed mental freshness the new year brings. I have an optimism that all the tasks I set will be no problem & am motivated to get stuck in making things happen. Since returning from Gisborne I got stuck into my blanket, even taking it to my cousins to sit & knit whilst the kids escape the 30+ degree heat. I have had plenty of comments about the blanket, especially from those who want the pattern. I have adapted the Log Cabin blanket from Mason Dixon knitting, instructions can be found here on their blog, I have chosen to do mine in stocking stitch as I plan to have a backing sewn to it, however the garter stitch version on their site is a great reversible, multi purpose blanket. Well worth a look.

The most exciting thing though to happen this week was the first 'unofficial' meeting of the Hawkes Bay Knitters, formed via Ravelry. A small group of us have been knattering & we have finally got things organised to get together. In typical fashion this hardy bunch couldn't wait for the first official meeting, taking place next week, so we had a sneaky trial run over coffee yesterday. There is nothing better for the motivation than getting together with other knitters. We are all now fizzing for the next 'official' meeting & are even looking at doing some evening meetings over an intoxicating beverage or too (yipee!).

Lifes a Beach.

Somehow it seems strangely appropriate that my 50th post is also the first for 'twenty - ten'. It is a great relief to be through another Christmas, to have peace restored to the household & most importantly happy children. Poor Louis acutely felt the weight of expectation that Christmas bought. He was ecstatic with all the offerings from Santa & all that was left was to pack the kids up & head to the beach.

Louis just blown over at his 'Dino Hot Wheels'

The hot holiday destination in NZ this year certainly seemed to be Gisborne. This is my home town, so I am more that used to throngs of holiday makers making a path to it's golden shores, what I wasn't prepared for were the tens of thousand festival goers who came for Rhythm & Vines. However this mattered not. My parents lived in the country & even better was my brother who lives beach front on Wainui beach.

Mum, bless her, had the boys, so I (far left) could enjoy New Years Eve with my brothers.
Now before you get visions of a grand beach palace, my brother literally lives in the worse house on a very affluent street & he loves it! He had made great preparations for the many visitors who arrived for festive season. Louis & Hugo just adored the beach & having time with their cousin Nina.

View from Stuarts Deck, pretty hard yakka really!

I managed to get some time to unwind & catch up with family & friends who I hadn't seen for a very long time. I bearly had time to knit, just a couple of panels completed on the Ahuriri blanket.