china

I am visiting my son Daniel who lives in Shanghai, China. I've been here 10 days and now have some time to attempt to do a blog post. What a mission! Google does not work in China without a VPN, they blocked it recently. This is of no concern to the Chinese as they have their own alternatives and are very IT savvy but for a Kiwi used to 24/7 Google it's a whole new world. Apple works (iCloud - China likes Apple I suppose because it's all made here - nearly every young trendy has a iPhone 6+) so you spend your time turning the VPN off and on depending on what you are trying to do. And then Google notices you are suddenly logging in in China on a random computer and their security kicks into gear and you have to answer so many questions to identify yourself - they know more about me than I do! - and they want to verify you using your cell phone number but you have a new one cause you can't use Vodafone in China........get the idea? I spent all of yesterday just trying to get my stuff to work. What does work is Mega - thank you Kim Dotcom - so I can upload my images (Flickr, Picassa, Instagram all need the VPN on and that slows things down). It has been an exercise is problem solving. Thank goodness I am already a proficient user of Wechat, China's alternative to most social media and a wonderful app. Go China!
This image is not a 'pretty' photo but it kind of sums up my first impressions of Shanghai - an eclectic mix of old and new, east and west, grimy and luxury.

Fwd: blogpost

This is my attempt at posting to my blog using email.

is it art?

This quilt called Is It Art? by Melanie Martin was the Best of Show winner at the New Zealand Quilt Symposium in Palmerston North in January.
As you can imagine, it caused quite a stir within a somewhat conservative quilting community.
The maker had apparently done considerable research around street art tagging and all it's subtleties before embarking on the project. Personally I loved it and the fact that it challenged our thinking about both graffiti and quilting, and how both are viewed in both society and the art world.

hydrangeas

My garden is full of hydrangeas and I have take a zillion photos of them over the summer. I love hydrangeas. Once upon a time I hated them. My grandmother had them in her garden when I was a child and I thought they were flowers 'just for old ladies,' like lavender. Now I love both.

christmas is for kids

That's one of my mothers many truisms which I have tried not to buy into all my life. However it is nice having kids around on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.

All ready for Santa with a beer and cherries plus a carrot for Rudolph. Sorted!

It's taken me over a week to get this published. 

Maybe my New Years resolution is to be more on to it!

kinda looks like christmas

The cake is iced, the tree is decorated..kinda looks like Christmas.

christmas cake - √

The Christmas cake is made. I bake it in a wooden box which cooks it perfectly with no burnt edges. It has been 'fed' with brandy top and bottom, wrapped and put away. I will feed it once more at the beginning of December then again when I ice it. Feels good to be organised and I know it will taste all the better for it.