Travels in New Zealand and beyond, going back to 2003!
PAWS Floorboards marked with mud and sand telling stories of the land; adventures in the rain muddy tracks, sodden fields blades of grass sticks and twigs – all brought in on his paws. Days of sunshine spent on beaches sand on beds and couches, remnants of a day well spent. Grass spurs from country walks,…
Last week, after dropping the girls off at school, I drove back to the south coast, with my dog on my lap, and decided, on the spur of the moment, to do a walk I’d often thought about doing, but hadn’t yet got around to doing. I wasn’t best equipped. I really should have taken…
For the third week, in a row, I’ve had at least one of my three daughters home poorly from school. They have been hit hard by some flu type virus, that is doing the rounds across the country this winter. They are all slowly on the mend, though still not at full energy. In the…
The past couple of weekends have given us some calm, sunshine weather to get out and enjoy the outdoors, despite it being the onset of winter here in New Zealand. We live near the south coast of Wellington and since getting our puppy, in October last year, we have good reason to get out for…
Running and walking the gorgeous trails of the Wellington town belt (with a touch of housework, school drop-offs, pick-ups, and other organising in between) has quickly become my term time ‘go to’ whilst all the girls are at school. The autumnal weather has been beautiful and mild. Having a gorgeous puppy to share my time with…
Black and white is the theme this week on ‘The Photo Gallery’ and it is especially poignant as I struggle to let my youngest child ‘go’, and settle her into school. I feel like my wild butterfly is being closed up in a box, of sorts, and having her wings clipped. The vibrant colours of…
There have been so many momentous changes in our family life this year so far. This week, by far, has been the biggest. I have experienced, for the first time in nearly twelve years, having all three of my daughters AT SCHOOL! I have soooo many feelings about this. My emotions are on a non-stop…
Wellington’s coastline is a rugged one, with a mix terrain of beaches, from sandy to pebbled and everything in between. There are well known bays and others so small they have no mapped name, but are undoubtedly given names with affection by locals. This past week we’ve taken a few strolls from our home to…
Wellington to Martinborough, in the Wairarapa, is a one and a half hour drive, skirting the beautiful Wellington harbour, continuing along the highway, through Lower and Upper Hutt, before reaching the beautiful area of Kaitoke Regional Park and then ascending the Rimutaka Hill on State Highway 2. There are a couple of beautiful places to…
I’ve not blogged for more than a fortnight and one of the delightful reasons is having a couple of new pets in the home! The less than delightful reason; all our container load of belongings finally arrived from our year and a bit living in the USA. So, in between unpacking well over one hundred…
‘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…
When nature reveals its beauty in such a way, my mind cannot possibly comprehend what my eyes see. It is miraculous, beautiful, incredible, literally breathtaking. A child cannot help but want to reach out and touch – as if to convince their mind that what they see is in-fact real. I almost have to pinch…
They’re not too bad for adopted owners. It was about four years ago when they moved in and the smell of their summer BBQs drew my cats whiskers to their home. I couldn’t resist hanging around, especially since they already had a cat that got fed regularly. The photo up there was taken at the…
Nature has been very kind this month. It’s been so warm that even the bulbs have been confused. Our daffodils decided to pop their heads out the ground thinking it was spring come again. But winter isn’t to be kept at bay for ever. Dark clouds have rolled in this weekend, bringing heavy rainfall, floods,…