AT PLAY
We are never too old to play. Mind you, you will not find me playing on the tennis court, or even the golf course. I am not even all that keen on a game of cards myself, although I just love to hear the whooping and laughter from Greg and Kik and others when they play Jaero at White Oaks.
A good game of Scrabble really gets me going, however, and you will not find any better playmates than Joy and Paulette, seen here in the photo.
Joy has a wonderfully astute mind, and usually manages to get the winning word and letter combinations, even though she always takes on the job of keeping score as well. (her maths are as quick as her language skills!) Paulette, meanwhile, really holds her own in the game, in spite of the fact that her native language is French, and her failing eyesight makes it impossible to see the whole board, or even whole words at one time.
When I am at home, it is also important for me to take time to play.....here, it is with threads, fabric, beads, buttons and lace. I love to arrange them, manipulate them and create a harmonious composition with them.
The other day I was having a game with some new dyes and pieces of lace. I found myself dyeing several lace motifs in a lovely greeny turquoise colour I had created by mixing a particular combination of blue and green.
I left the lace pieces on a piece of paper near a window to dry. The next morning, I was inspecting and admiring them, when I felt a piece of lace stuck to my hand. I went to flick it off, when I realised it was a little grasshopper, almost the same shade of green. Perhaps he had jumped through the window and thought he had found some lace-bug cousins!
I am really sorry I let him jump back out of the window before I could photograph him.

You may like to see what I did with some of the lace.

This is a "Healing Heart" for Noeline, an Auckland lady who recently lost her husband. Noeline belongs to an "on-line" Crazy patchwork group I am a member of, and when one of the group is going through a hard time, members send an appliqued heart on a 6" square, to show they are thinking of the person. The hearts may then be made into a quilt, either by the recipient or by someone else in the group. Noeline has been receiving hearts from all over Australia and New Zealand, mostly from people she has not met personally. Isn't the Internet wonderful for bringing us together?

I have just a bit more beading and embroidery to add to the heart before I post it off to join the others.