New Dawn, New Day - Michael Buble

Time moves on... some things change and yet other things remain the same. 

I used to be an active blogger but stopped a few years ago. I decided to close down the Fibre Alive blog because I felt that I had lost my voice and no longer had anything of relevance to say or contribute. It didn't help that life was throwing more than a few challenges my way at the time and I was struggling on many fronts. That was how I genuinely felt at the time so I found it a little strange when on a couple of occasions at fibre events this year people have come up to me to say how much they used to enjoy my blog and how they miss it. It was lovely of them to let me know that the blog had been appreciated for what it was. 

After some consideration I'm dusting off the cobwebs and tentatively stepping back into blogging again. I'm the same person I was yet I've changed in many ways so I'm sure that this blog will have some similarities to Fibre Alive but it will also head off in it's own direction.

So welcome to Kiwi James, my new blog... I hope you enjoy the ride.

Winter has lost it's grip on Scarlet Oak Cottage at last and we're happily moving into Spring. I decided to celebrate the season change by jazzing up one of my trees. After a quick rummage through my yarn stash I chose a pink tweed yarn and spent a couple of evenings knitting three bows. Now that the tree is dressed and tressed it's putting smiles (and a few looks of consternation) on the faces of people walking by. The Spring weather has seen my blossom trees start to bloom, early cheer flowers have popped up in the garden and I'm looking forward to warmer days with more sunshine hours to top up my vitamin D levels. However my annual balancing act between enjoying myself outside and managing my hay fever is about to begin. Having said that it's still nice to sit by a roaring fire and relax into the evening with a knitting project on my needles and Miss Jaffa on my lap... evidently it's called middle aged domesticity.

Speaking of which my current knitting project is a cushion cover. It's a fun piece of colour work featuring the tumbling blocks pattern and it is knit using the intarsia technique to create a smooth surface to the knitting. Once completed it will end up being a surprise gift for a good friend of mine. Surprise gifts are always fun but I tend to be better at giving gifts than receiving them.

I finished reading Fifty Fifty by James Patterson and Candice Fox a few days ago. Hmmm well... what does one say about this type of book. It is what it is... a page turner with words arranged on a page. It won't change the world and my life is no better or worse for having read it. Being set in Australia and having a strong female protagonist certainly perked up my interest. Perhaps I'm a little biased as I used to be a big James Patterson fan until I discovered that he's more of a marketing guru than an author. His name goes on the cover despite the fact that he doesn't actually write them but because his name is on the cover the novels sell in the millions. I'm sure he is laughing all the way to the bank but good on him, he's created a very successful business where many people fail. I suggest you borrow his books from a library instead and save your pennies for other literary temptations.

Next up on the bedside table is my latest book club title 'As The Earth Turns Silver' by Alison Wong. It's a novel about Chinese immigrants to New Zealand in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Looks quite interesting but I need to get a wriggle on with it as the book group meeting is next week!