The colour of summer is blooming in the coastal sand dunes around New Zealand. This hardy, introduced Ice Plant, the Hottentot Fig, blooms along the coastline in startling beauty. Its colour stands defiantly bright, on even the wildest spring days in Wellington; scattered along walkways and through coastal dunes, as the wind bustles on through. […]
‘Where’s puppy gone?’ I asked, having become quickly accustomed to him sitting by my feet and following my every move. No one answered. No one had seen him. It was then I realised how quiet it was – and remembered that I’d left our new bunny, Fudge, to free roam upstairs (he’d quickly learned to […]
Documenting our learning journey; with two children learning from home and one at school. Last week I visited the ‘Tyrannosaurs – Meet the Family‘ exhibition (currently on at Te Papa museum, Wellington, till 8 February 2015) with my four and eight year old daughters. It was really fascinating to stand up against a real T-Rex […]
spectacular (spekˈtak ula) adjective Beautiful in a dramatic and eye-catching way. Before we left California, we spent a final few days at Disneyland. It was the end of September, but the whole place was bedecked in ‘fall’ colours and pumpkins. In true Disneyland style, it was spectacular. Dazzling shows of colour, light, water, fireworks and […]
The Spruce Goose, in Lyall Bay is a relatively short stroll from our home. Since returning back in Wellington we’ve had this restaurant, cafe and bar, on our list of ‘must do as soon as possible’! I was lucky to have a lunch date with a wonderful friend (who writes wonderful poetry, amongst other things, […]
Halloween last year was as it should be – in the northern hemisphere, in autumn (albeit living in Santa Barbara, California, wasn’t quite the northern hemisphere type of Halloween I remembered from my apple bobbing youth growing up in England, UK). It was lovely to be living somewhere where pumpkins were plentiful (as we experienced […]
A sunset on a Saturday, at beautiful Princess Bay, on Wellington’s South Coast. The gift of light, in all its entirety – from dawn to dusk and every filtered stream in-between. The luminescent glow of light, reflected off the greenest canopy, in the New Zealand bush. Light filtering through the canopy, to shine on a […]
There’s a room in our home that I’ve always loved, ever since we first bought the house – back in 2006. It’s the laundry room, off the back of the garage, and is a sun magnet in the afternoon. It’s a large room and a space I’ve always filled with paint, paper and craft materials […]
An inspiring home-school, Mum, friend invited my two younger children and I to a shadow workshop at the City Gallery in Wellington last week. It was the perfect distraction from the troubled start to our week (I’ll get around to the ‘magic moment’ alluded to in the title of this post after a slight detour…!). […]
We’ve been back in Wellington, New Zealand, a fortnight and are quickly reacquainting ourselves with favourite haunts. The weather has mostly been conducive to outdoor activities and our children are loving playing with their friends. Here’s five outdoor favourites from the last fortnight… 1. Rock pooling, climbing and beach play at Scorching Bay beach. This […]
Our last month in Santa Barbara, California, coincided with the start of the ‘Fall’ season (though the temperatures and local foliage were hardly indicators of autumnal weather!). With only weeks left, before our return to Wellington, New Zealand, (just in time for spring) I definitely felt the need to indulge in some autumnal fair before […]
Where do I start?! The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of saying goodbye to our life in Santa Barbara, enjoying a last few days in Disneyland California, and then finally boarding an Air New Zealand flight for that final flight home! It’s been weeks since I have written anything on this blog. I’ve […]
We were practically frying in southern California last weekend, as the temperature rose over 100 °F (close to 40 ºC). Our main reason for being down in Anaheim was for our 8 year old daughter to see a live game of baseball with her Daddy (she’s really enjoyed going to the ‘batting cages’ and slogging a few balls […]