What a weekend.......

I've made it home again after the most amazing weekend in Auckland for the Rugby World Cup semi-finals.  Myself, my two brothers and our Dad all flew up together on Friday.  We checked out the Fanzone, The Cloud on the waterfront and had a wander around the viaduct harbour.  We were supporting the Welsh on Saturday night(like most of the kiwis in the crowd were) against the French, but they were unlucky to lose by just one point.  And of course our All Blacks played Australia on Sunday night.  That game would have to be the most exciting game I've ever seen live.  I think most Kiwis would admit to being very nervous about the game as the Wallabies are a great side, but the AB's were awesome!!!   And now we're in the final, this Sunday night against France ................................... I'm going to be a very sad girl when this is all over.

 The French and Welsh warming up before their game

Teams lined up for the Australia and New Zealand National Anthems

The first (and possibly only) time you'll see a pic of me here on this blog LOL

This is the four of us at the All Black game in our black gear and wearing our Silver Fern flags............... it was fantastic to spend some time together, brother on the left lives in London, Dad lives down South near me, and brother on the right is in Perth, Australia.  We are all mad about rugby, so what a great excuse to all get together........... these 3 are all going to the final this Sunday ............. wish I'd decided to now too.

I have lots of blog reading to catch up on, and I am seriously behind on replying to email so I will get that caught up in the next couple of days, and hopefully some stitching time at the weekend. 

Thanks for stopping by today.............................. Nicky

GO ALL BLACKS !!!

No more sleeps to go

Huge excitement at our house today ........................ mostly me though I'd have to say LOL.................... my other big interest outside of stitching would have to be sport ............. any kind, but my favourite of all is rugby .........and in rugby it doesn't come much bigger than Rugby World Cup 2011.  

RWC kicks off in Auckland tonight with the opening ceremony and the opening match, our All Blacks v Tonga.   It's been 24 long years since we won the inaugaural World Cup also hosted here in New Zealand.
24 long years of 4 yearly heartbreak as we miss out on the big prize.     Surely this will be our year??  The tournament runs for 6 weeks, with the final on October 23 at Eden Park in Auckland.

People all over the country are getting in to the excitement, decorating houses, shops, schools with flags and banners from their favourite country.  There's been a very successful campaign to 'adopt a second team' where everyone is encouraged to support one of the other teams along with our own All Blacks.  Down south most are supporting Scotland who are playing a couple of their games here.  But for me, my heart is black!!

I've been keeping a little secret for a couple of months - I'm going to Auckland for the semi-finals in mid-October ....... both of them!  My two brothers both live overseas and are coming home for the RWC, and they have four tickets for the semifinals so have invited our Dad and I to join them for the weekend.  So I am like a pig in mud at the moment ......... it's going to be so wonderful to have a family reunion of sorts for us all.  Now I just have to hope that we make it to the semis - surely we couldn't not make it again!   My prediction(This is where I may look silly in about 6 weeks lol) is for a New Zealand v Australia final.... sorry to the South Africans, French and English who are also possibilities, but you know me I have to open my big mouth and lay it all on the line.

The other positive to RWC is that with lots of evenings on the couch watching games, I might get caught up on some more stitching too............

Rugby World Cup NZ 2011 - BRING IT ON!

Go ALL BLACKS

Birthday Girl

Here is my baby on the night of her eighth birthday, don't worry, the wine glass isn't hers, those rosy cheeks are genetic!  She had a great day at school, and then we were joined by grandparents for dinner, so a lovely evening too.

On Friday night we went to the rugby in Invercargill, Southland were playing North Harbour in the ITM Cup.  Southland are also the very proud holders of the Ranfurly Shield, or "The Log of Wood" as it is affectionately known throughout Kiwi Land.  It was a fabulous game, lots of tries scored and plenty of action.  First time we had ever taken the girls to a game, we were worried they would get bored but they had an 'awesome' time, and best of all we defended the shield and now face Auckland in the next Shield Challenge in two weeks time.  Here is our youngest talking to Joe Tuineau, and getting a signature from Robbie Robinson on her 'GO STAGS' poster that she made to wave at the game.

Also on the rugby topic, what a great All Blacks vs Wallabies game last night, we managed to get away with a win in the end, by 23-22, but it was incredibly close, bring on the World Cup, only 1 year to go!!!

Not too much stitching happening here this weekend, lambing is in full swing and I have been having a big tidy-up in the garden, mowing lawns and spraying etc.  Thanks for stopping by today, hope you are enjoying a great day too!       Take care,   Nicky