The ‘Me’ I am today, in 2015, as a forty year old parent to three daughters, is a very different ‘Me’ to who I was eleven year’s ago, before I became a parent. I wouldn’t have hesitated to head out the door then – for a run, a kayak, a night out, a weekend away – […]
We’ve got the tree up and are feeling festive. The Christmas CD’s have been dusted off and we’ve had our first sing along around the piano. The weather (it’s supposed to be summer in New Zealand now) is very northern hemisphere… with a few days of sunshine to remind us that summer is ‘here’, it’s […]
The theme on ‘The Photo Gallery‘ is ‘Babies’ and I couldn’t resist a trip down memory lane… Each of them entered this world with a unique birth story (as we all do!), which I do think has contributed some what to their personalities. They were made with the love of my husband and I, both of […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
In a few weeks time we will say farewell to a year of Californian blue sky. It’s as though you could walk into a paint shop and pluck that exact colour off the shelf. It’s been practically unchanging all year – apart from at sunrise, sunset and night-time. Having grown up in England, followed by […]
How do you choose one photograph to summarise a year? World Photo Day is celebrated every year on the 19th August, (but to understand more head over to the website and escape into a thousand images from around the globe). Between August 19-26 the website opens for submissions and, for me personally, it’s a wonderful moment in the year to […]
It’s been a fortnight since we returned from the UK to the US. We are heading back to New Zealand to live at the beginning of October, but for now we’re in limbo; between the two places we love. I haven’t felt like writing anything much, but have tried to fit in a little reminiscing about […]
There’s nothing like a run in a new place to put an extra zest in the legs. Having a couple of weeks in Copenhagen, accompanying my husband on a business trip – but with three children in tow – has meant day time activities focused on keeping the young ones happy and entertained. Ever since […]
We are currently in Copenhagen, Denmark. In this city of bike loving, apartment dwelling, contented people are numerous gardens and playgrounds. We are still recovering from jetlag and all the children are on different body clocks – but we have managed to get out and explore one little playground in the central city, called ‘Skydebanehaven’, […]
It’s normally at this time of year, in New Zealand, that I’m rugged up with a Pinot Noir, glaring at a flickering candle and wishing I was somewhere warmer. There’s a certain romanticism of tucking up and hunkering down for winter – but it wears off pretty quickly (unless of course there’s a ton of […]