Hamilton Central, Hamilton

844 days ago

For the Love of Velvet

Robert Anderson from Curtain Clean Hamilton

For anyone wanting to add everlasting interest to their home, you can’t look past velvet! This is a fabric that’s as rich in textile history as it is in texture with incredible durability that may surprise you.

Velvet fabric fuses a historical sense of luxury and indulgence with a plush, … View more
For anyone wanting to add everlasting interest to their home, you can’t look past velvet! This is a fabric that’s as rich in textile history as it is in texture with incredible durability that may surprise you.

Velvet fabric fuses a historical sense of luxury and indulgence with a plush, practical comfort that has a timeless style, sure to outlast any momentary design trends. With its silky sheen and rich colours, velvet holds a specific seductive quality that no eye for elegance can resist the allure of.

For a fabric that feels like a soft, buttery hug the unique piles have a hard-wearing quality that will ensure your velvet curtains, cushions or furniture will continue to be loud and daring or subtly sophisticated for years to come.

History of Velvet
The history of velvet is one of luxury and meticulous construction. It is believed the material was first introduced in Baghdad around 750 A.D. The original velvet material was made from silk and therefore naturally reserved for royalty and other notably wealthy classes that could afford the exorbitant cost.

Velvet eventually travelled to Europe on the Silk Road and gained popularity during the Renaissance. At the same time, new loom technology lowered the production costs and therefore widened the availability to fabric lovers of all classes. Fast-forward to the 21st century and velvet fabric can be found in almost every home, transcending and outlasting interior trends to suit any home decor for years on end.

How is Velvet Made?
Velvet is made in a very unique way. It is woven on a double piece loom that makes two pieces of fabric simultaneously with the velvet pile encased in the middle. It is then separated, creating the three-dimensional texture velvet is known for.

While the first velvets were made from silk, more recent adaptations in the production process means velvets can now be made from natural or synthetic fibres such as polyester, nylon, viscose, or rayon.

Classic plain velvet will then be sheared to ensure the pile is a consistent length and often brushed while moist to achieve a nice uniform grain across the fabric. If the fabric is destined to boast a pattern, at this point in the process it will be crushed, embossed or snipped to different lengths to ensure this pattern is part of the pile’s identity for the life of the fabric.

Velvet is then dyed to produce amazing, rich colours that are accentuated by the three-dimensional texture.

Durability of Velvet
Due to the aura of luxury surrounding velvet and the fact that it was originally made from silk, there’s a preconception that it’s delicate and requires gentle, loving care to stay pristine. We’re here to set the record straight!

Keep reading: www.curtainclean.co.nz...

Image
844 days ago

Do you have a great asparagus recipe?

Mei Leng Wong Reporter from NZ Gardener & Get Growing

Dear neighbours,

Every month, NZ Gardener runs a series of tested reader recipes using a seasonal crop. We are now on the hunt for asparagus recipes, so send your best ones to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz before August 21, 2022.

Every published recipe wins a copy of our special edition Vegetable … View more
Dear neighbours,

Every month, NZ Gardener runs a series of tested reader recipes using a seasonal crop. We are now on the hunt for asparagus recipes, so send your best ones to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz before August 21, 2022.

Every published recipe wins a copy of our special edition Vegetable Growing Made Easy.

Image
844 days ago

Addictive Eaters Anonymous

The Team from Addictive Eaters Anonymous - Hamilton

Fourteen years of bingeing hell
I have noticed and been aware of food as early as I can remember. Even now, as an adult, I can recall different types of food at friends’ birthday parties as a child. When I was eight, I first became aware of my body. My stomach was sticking out and some friends I… View more
Fourteen years of bingeing hell
I have noticed and been aware of food as early as I can remember. Even now, as an adult, I can recall different types of food at friends’ birthday parties as a child. When I was eight, I first became aware of my body. My stomach was sticking out and some friends I was with, were talking about their flat tummies - I immediately pulled mine in – as we were dressed to go swimming in our togs.

Image
844 days ago

Maths Week

NumberWorks'nWords Hamilton Central

Maths Week is a week-long celebration of all things maths! ?

It is a premier mathematics event in the New Zealand school calendar, and sets out to encourage children to pursue maths by promoting a more positive and inclusive approach.

Visit the Maths Week website to learn more! … View more
Maths Week is a week-long celebration of all things maths! ?

It is a premier mathematics event in the New Zealand school calendar, and sets out to encourage children to pursue maths by promoting a more positive and inclusive approach.

Visit the Maths Week website to learn more! www.mathsweek.co.nz...

Image
844 days ago

Subscribe to Stuff's First Time Buyer's Club

Stuff

Making it onto the first rung of the property ladder can be an incredibly rewarding journey – and Stuff is here to help you through.

Stuff Homed has launched the First Time Buyers’ Club, an email series to help you navigate the equal-parts exciting and terrifying process of buying your first… View more
Making it onto the first rung of the property ladder can be an incredibly rewarding journey – and Stuff is here to help you through.

Stuff Homed has launched the First Time Buyers’ Club, an email series to help you navigate the equal-parts exciting and terrifying process of buying your first ever home. When you join our six-week LearnStuff course, you’ll get an email every week giving you all the basics on what you need to know, who you need on your side, and what you need to do at each stage of the journey.

We can’t make the houses any cheaper, but we can guide you through the process, share some tips from the experts, and help you avoid some of the trips and traps.

Sign up (it's free) and get started on your house-buying journey.
Sign up now

Image
C
845 days ago

The Broons Annual 2016 (80 years)

Cordwainer from Melville

The Broons Annual 2016 (celebrating 80 years)

2015. DC Thomson, Card covers, excellent condition.

Comic strip of Scotland’s happy family.

Price: $8

Image
C
846 days ago

The Handmaid's Tale (book)

Cordwainer from Melville

The Handmaid's Tale (book)
Margaret Atwood

2017 edition. 324 pages, excellent condition.

The bestselling dystopian classic that became a cultural phenomenon and inspired an award-winning TV series

The Republic of Gilead offers Offred only one function: to breed. If she deviates, she… View more
The Handmaid's Tale (book)
Margaret Atwood

2017 edition. 324 pages, excellent condition.

The bestselling dystopian classic that became a cultural phenomenon and inspired an award-winning TV series

The Republic of Gilead offers Offred only one function: to breed. If she deviates, she will, like dissenters, be hanged at the wall or sent out to die slowly of radiation sickness. But even a repressive state cannot obliterate desire - neither Offred's nor that of the two men on which her future hangs.

Price: $8

Image
C
846 days ago

American Aircraft of World War II (book)

Cordwainer from Melville

American Aircraft of World War II (book)

David Mondey. Hardcover, 256 pages, colour illustrated. 2000 reprint

Excellent condition.

This colourful and compact volume provides a useful guide to some 120 aircraft that served with the US Air Force from 1939-45. Both combat and non-combat … View more
American Aircraft of World War II (book)

David Mondey. Hardcover, 256 pages, colour illustrated. 2000 reprint

Excellent condition.

This colourful and compact volume provides a useful guide to some 120 aircraft that served with the US Air Force from 1939-45. Both combat and non-combat aircraft are covered by text detailing each type's origins, history and variants, followed by a full technical specification.

Additionally, each type is illustrated in colour and with a three-view diagram, the more important types also receiving large-scale colour treatment.

Price: $12

Image
847 days ago

Aged terracotta pot

The Team from

It’s easy to age a brand new terracotta pot using Karen Walker Chalk Colour and Vintage Wax from Resene.
Find out how to create your own.

Image
847 days ago

The local elections are coming up!

Orange Guy from Electoral Commission

The countdown is on! Make sure you’re enrolled and your details are up to date by 12 August to make voting in the local elections easy.

Visit vote.nz or call 0800 36 76 56 to find out more.
Find out more

Image
848 days ago

It’s Youth week at the Red Cross Shop Five Cross Roads

The Team from Red Cross Shop Five Cross

We have all sorts of good things for the youth of our community in store! Be it warm clothing for these winter days or books and toys to keep them entertained.
Come on in and browse around there really is something for everyone here.
We are open 9-4.30 Monday to Friday
9-4 Saturday
10-3 Sunday

A
858 days ago

HCC Land Grab

Arthur from Melville

Am I the only one bothered by Hamilton City Council’s land grab? Yes emotive talk but that’s the way I feel about the Significant Natural Area (SNA) designation that has been placed over part of our property. If you have trees and a gully aspect it’s likely you’ve copped it too.

Check … View more
Am I the only one bothered by Hamilton City Council’s land grab? Yes emotive talk but that’s the way I feel about the Significant Natural Area (SNA) designation that has been placed over part of our property. If you have trees and a gully aspect it’s likely you’ve copped it too.

Check out the SNA provisions of Council’s District Plan Change #9.

The Council proposes that I can no longer manage my trees as I see fit despite having done so for close to 30 years. My trees, I sourced them, I planted them, and my time in caring for them since. Now the council has wrapped them in red tape and I can’t do anything, or practically so, without first having a resource consent from Hamilton City Council.

A stated purpose of the District Plan’s SNA provisions:

“The Act identifies the protection of areas of significant indigenous vegetation and significant habitats of indigenous fauna as a matter of national importance. This chapter of the District Plan identifies areas of significant indigenous vegetation, biodiversity and habitats of indigenous fauna which qualify as Significant Natural Areas – these areas can be held in public and private ownership or ownership may be split.”

Which is all very well but over the 2 to 3 decades of living in Hamilton all I’ve seen is enhancement of gully vegetation, so why do we do we now need red tape to achieve what’s been happening anyway?

Another statement in the “Purpose” rubs salt into the wound.

“The costs of protecting areas and habitats are local and often specific to an individual, yet the benefits may be local, regional and national.”

So all this cost of getting consultants to survey for bat habitat and prepare resource consent applications and planting plans and management plans should be borne by the community as a whole. But no, the boffins involved side step the reality of the cost imposed by this red tape.

Like many things that are young, little plants are easy to adore and give you a warm sense of having done well by the environment. But they grow up shutting out the sun and block roof gutters with leaf litter. You now need an expensive planning consent before solving such problems.

It’s all just more cost and bureaucracy to contend with.

849 days ago

Bake new friends

The Team from Red Cross Shop Hamilton East

Bake a bargain and get 25% of all cook books,casserole dishes

and platters

This week only,so don’t miss out !

😄

Red Cross Shop Hamilton East

849 days ago

Come and take a look!

Wintec

Wintec Open Day welcomes people from around the rohe and beyond to our City and Rotokauri campuses.

This whānau-friendly event is the perfect opportunity to explore our courses, meet our tutors, tour our campuses, discover our student support services, visit our on-site accommodation, and even… View more
Wintec Open Day welcomes people from around the rohe and beyond to our City and Rotokauri campuses.

This whānau-friendly event is the perfect opportunity to explore our courses, meet our tutors, tour our campuses, discover our student support services, visit our on-site accommodation, and even enrol on the day!

There will be free kai, games, prizes, and interactive activities across both campuses.
Know more

Image
849 days ago

Bring Hope to the table!

Life

It’s time to start thinking about what you can do to help out those who need it most this Christmas. 1 in 5 Kiwi children are currently living in households that don’t have enough food. Christmas Box is a food box that caters to a family of 4-6, helping supplement breakfast, lunch and dinner … View moreIt’s time to start thinking about what you can do to help out those who need it most this Christmas. 1 in 5 Kiwi children are currently living in households that don’t have enough food. Christmas Box is a food box that caters to a family of 4-6, helping supplement breakfast, lunch and dinner meals over a week.

For just $40 you’re not only providing food essentials and treats but you’re also giving hope to families in need.

To sponsor a box, go to christmasbox.co.nz.
Know more

Image
Top