The Photo Gallery | Colour – on my Birthday

There has been colour from afar, by way of gifts and cards, and colour near to me, by way of nature, food and art. There has been colour in my children’s creations and in the candles, lit to warm the dark. I have been spoiled with loving gifts and thoughts this week, in celebrating my 41st Birthday.

This time last year I was in sunny California, celebrating my big ’40’ with dear friends in Santa Monica. This year I am ‘home’ – where my children were born and are at their happiest, in Wellington, New Zealand.

The colours on my Birthday, that filled the sea, sky and flora all around me, where a gift of Mother Nature at her finest. I am so thankful for that gift and the sunshine that made me so happy.

My three daughters all returned to school, to begin their second term for the year, on my Birthday. It would have been a day tinged with sadness, at the quiet of the house after the fortnight’s holiday, but my dear hubby took the day off work and we spent it beautifully.

After dropping the girls off at school we headed to Mount Victoria’s town belt for a gorgeous walk, with our puppy Cocoa.

We then headed home to hang a gorgeous piece of artwork from the artist Fleur Wickes (whom Dan and I met in antenatal classes, prior to the birth of our first daughter, nearly twelve years ago!). I have long been an admirer of Fleur’s work and when she put this piece up for sale I dropped a few hints to Dan!

I absolutely adore the scale of this artwork and the bold red colour of the words, which call out to me every time I climb the stairs of our home. We have hung the artwork on a large wall on our upstairs landing. It is a beautiful space and somewhere I have often sat to read a book, gazing out the large windows to the garden. The light in this space is bright and welcoming, a perfect place to appreciate how beautiful it is, in our home, in our hearts and in the love we share with friends and family near and far.

The rest of the day was filled with lunch at the gorgeous Shed 5, on Wellington’s waterfront, a stroll through the city and then it was time to collect our girls from school.

I love this photo of them with their Daddy, which I took on the last weekend of the school holidays. It’s full of smiles, colour and happiness, a moment to cherish whenever the clouds cast a shadow on life.

My family, happily together, living back in their home in New Zealand, is the best Birthday gift I could wish for.

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