All posts filed under: Miscellenia

Five for Friday: Things I love (that you might not expect)

1) IRD. This one is first because it’s probably the most unexpected thing to like. What is IRD? IRD is the NZ Internal Revenue Department, i.e. the tax man. Seriously, I like the tax man. I don’t mind paying taxes – I’m a practical person and appreciate my roads and my health care and the museums I visit and don’t mind subsidising other people’s kids going to school (well-educated kids make better citizens), or even other people’s sports arenas, ’cause, hey, I have my museums. And IRD are nice, and sensible. I’ve never talked to an IRD representative who hasn’t been polite, well informed, and able to help me with my query in a logical, practical way. And they get to talk like real people, not like auto-bots following some script. And they make taxes do-able, on your own. All of these things mean that when I talk to IRD, I actually feel happier after I do. Yep. IRD leaves me with that warm fuzzy feeling (the same does not apply to the US …

Taking tea with the Wellington Sewing Bloggers

Published by The Dreamstress

The afternoon tea* craze is well established in Wellington, with at least one dedicated afternoon tea shop, and various restaurants doing their own afternoon teas. And a new afternoon tea shop has just opened in Kilbirnie (a suburb/village on the eastern side of Wellington, near Weta Workshops), and I’ve been meaning to try it. You know who else likes afternoon tea? The Wellington Sewing Bloggers. We also like fabric shopping, and meeting non-Wellington Sewing Bloggers. So when Penny from Dresses and Me (OK, only kind-of a sewing blogger, but close enough!) let us know she was coming to Wellington, of course we had to meet her, and take her fabric shopping, and to afternoon tea. And of course I suggested the new tea place so we could try it out.** But first, to work up an appetite, we went fabric shopping: (many thanks to Silly Billy Sewing for all the photos in this post that include me) I completely blew my fabric budget at The Fabric Warehouse, buying silk-merino blend jersey (I’m actually wearing a …

The Sunshine Dorothy Lara 0Degrees frock

Published by The Dreamstress

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve done a Wellington Sewing Bloggers 0Degrees post (read all about it and see the other links here) , and the challenge has hit some slight hiccups in the form of jobs, children, and viruses (as is inevitable), so we’re still trying to catch up and fill in some of the links, but there is quite an impressive chain formed. And now, time for my link! This is my ‘Sunshine’ Decades of Style Dorothy Lara dress: Sunshine is definitely something that we need at the moment – the weather prediction for the next 10 days is all 12 & 13 degrees, and I’m huddled in front of the heater in layers of merino looking a lot like this. So it’s nice to remember that not that long ago it was warm enough to wear little silk frocks and bare legs, and that eventually, a long time from now, that kind of weather will come around again. This dress links to both Nina’s Dorothy Lara (along with my feathered Dorothy …