Family time

I always enjoy my family time. Stephen and I returned yesterday afternoon from a night away, staying with Michael in the house he is renovating. And today I watched my grandson play soccer at the local fields. The family came out for lunch afterwards. Neither of them long visits, but refreshing and uplifting just the same.

I was happy that I was able to help Michael with his curtains. He had some left over from his new-build a few years ago. These were too long for the ranch sliders in his current house and I had promised him I would take them up for him when I visited. I packed my sewing machine, plus a whole drawer full of sewing accessories. I was so pleased I had done this as I did need lots of things to do this job, including marking chalk, pins, sharp scissors, an iron and a tape measure. Every thing went well, we decided the length we wanted the curtains, marked them, cut off the excess material and hemmed the raw edge before hemming the length. The only drawback was the sewing machine, which kept breaking the cotton. These curtains were long and it was frustrating to get to almost the end of the row only to discover that the machine had stopped sewing at the beginning. The breakages got worse as time went on, so I stopped using my machine in favour of one Michael had picked up at a garage sale. It immediately felt a superior machine, only the tension wasn’t quite right as it was puckering the rows of stitching. However, it was still ok and certainly much quicker than my machine. We finished the curtains before going out to dinner at the Thai restaurant in Paihia.

I really love Michael’s house now that he has given it a complete makeover. He is expecting the new bench top to arrive on Monday and the plumber for the final fixtures next week, then he will be all but completed. There is new flooring, carpet, showers and bathrooms, as well as painting inside and out. Sometimes I wish I could afford a house like this one, but the stairs would not be a good thing at my age. The view over the Bay of Islands is amazing and being north facing, the living area attracts so much sunshine. I think this was my favourite feature of the house, as there were windows on three sides. It was light and very warm. I could see my computer set up there. It would be so conducive to lots of writing.

I hadn’t seen my other son’s grandchildren for quite some time, so this morning’s visit was extra special. I asked what they would like for lunch, pizza or macaroni cheese, their two favourites. The pizza won, so that was our lunch. They didn’t stay long, but it was a lovely visit just the same.

It is raining again now, with a forecast for more of the same for most of the week. Perhaps I will get lots of writing done this week.