One of the rocks in the bush around Lake Rotoiti.So much texture and colour.  So . . .   I left Ballarat and flew to New Zealand to catch up with friends I had made two years ago when I was over here last. Denise Cleghorn was one such friend. We had been planning a nine day trip around part of the South Island for the past year. We drove up from Christchurch to St Arnauds on Lake Rotoiti, surely one of the most beautiful places on earth. Even in the lashing rain (the tail end of the cyclone that had hit Australia two weeks before). It was so wet I had to buy wellington boots and water proof trousers. But I didn't care - I was in New Zealand!    The view from one of the jettys on Lake Rotoiti. Just stunning. Denise and I went to stay with Bob and Christine Marks who I had also met two years ago. They have a 'bach' or holiday home very near the lake. We had a tramp through the bush in the pouring rain and ended up at the lake shore. I took hundreds of photos

Emmaline and Rose The Crafty Cafe is one of the businesses at The Old Needle Works in Redditch. It is a great place to meet friends and when I am teaching Experimental Textiles we always have our lunch in there. Joan and Sharon are very funny and fabulous hosts - they make wonderful cakes and sandwiches and you can choose your own tea pot and cup and saucer from a display on the dresser. It really is all very civilised. When I was there last weekend Michelle Edinburgh was running a sock monkey class in the cafe.  A happy group creating gorgeous monkeys. Michelle is an art therapist and uses the making of sock monkeys as part of the therapy - however the class in the cafe was purely for the joy of making monkeys. Any kind of sock can used. The decoration is always the fun part, deciding what kind of hair and eyes. Do you use buttons or beads? Decsions, Descions . . . . I love the spots and stripes that are being used. The creature on the left i