Loving… ⤠Open, friendly and welcoming neighbours, with children that play easily with my children. It’s great to see the children running in and out of each others homes, enjoying their unstructured time together in safety and comfort. ⤠Quotes like this that crop up on my Facebook feed… ⤠Friends that visit and take us as […]
School hols
Slices of life | 7 – 11 | #PhotoADayJuly | School hols
7. garden | 8. lunch | 9. big | 10. my favourite colour | 11. letter (all taken on my phone – which has taken a few tumbles for the worse – multi-tasking with little people does that – hence dodgy, out of focus quality!) 7. GARDEN This is the view I see every day, […]
Slices of life | 1 – 6 | #PhotoADayJuly | School hols
1. self portrait | 2. busy | 3. best part of my day | 4. fun | 5. on the floor | 6. chair Playing along with this month’s ‘Photo A Day’ challenge at ‘fat mum slim‘ blog, because it’s fun to see the day through a different perspective (especially when much of the day […]
Week in the life | Tuesday
A lie in of sorts – past 7am. Happily lazing in bed with Alice chattering away and nuzzling up to me. A shower by myself – a treat – whilst Alice played with her Daddy. It wasn’t long after I’d finished my shower that she found me again – whilst I was trying to decide […]
Week in the life | Monday
Cosmos flowers, fresh from the garden, filling a vase in the kitchen on Monday morning. Picked with Alice, whilst the rest of the house slept, just after 6am. Bare feet on dewy grass. My windowsill littered with shells, crystals, gem stones and jewelry. A gift from my Mum, a reminder to live every day to […]
Nearly Wordless Wednesday: Rapunzel, let down your hair!
I can only manage bullet points. This afternoon has been… (and gone and now I’m drinking red wine – faster than I should be): 7 children (3 my own, 2 soon to be neighbour’s children – no parent help – busy moving in next door, 2 friends – with their Mummy) 2 adults (myself and […]
Things I’m Loving: My sister is here!
After nearly five years she’s here! I felt dazed when she appeared from behind the sliding door at arrivals on Tuesday afternoon. She was like a mirage. It’s taken me till now, Thursday, to truly believe she’s real and not a figment of my imagination. The first day I kept touching her, but not really […]
Flying into February
A visitor to my garden on Monday marked the start of a new school year and the end of the summer holidays. I have a special affection for Monarch butterflies. To me they are spiritual guardians, carrying messages from loved ones. After Charlotte set off happily to school on Monday the butterfly soared into the […]
Loving not being outnumbered
I’ve lost a few of my regular jobs these past few weeks, thanks to my wonderful parents being on deck to keep me sane these long summer holidays in New Zealand. It’s going to be a major shock to the children and I when they return to the UK on 4 February. The bench tops […]
Do what you love, one day a week: A walk in the bush
The wind ruffled our feathers wildly, whilst the sun teased us with blue sky, oyster clouds and dashing streaks of white. A sky that if painted wouldn’t look real. A day that held promise but so easily could have been spent hidden, sheltering from the gale force winds. Not a day for being whipped by […]
Bouncing into the New Year at a beach house on the Kapiti Coast
I’m writing this on return from seven wonderful nights away on the Kapiti Coast. The sleepy beach side settlement of Te Horo welcomed us with rural tranquility and bird song. For seven nights we forgot about work, school and house-keeping and focused on making every moment about spending quality time together. Time was the biggest […]
At arrivals…. Grandma & Granddad touch down in New Zealand!
Such an exciting week! Tuesday morning we woke to sunshine and blue sky. Perfect weather to welcome my dear Mum and Dad to New Zealand. Their three little granddaughters were so excited and wanted to dress in their best clothes straight away (even though the flight wasn’t due in until 2pm!). I headed out with […]
A piece of my heart is about to be freed
I keep a small part of my heart cocooned from my day to day life. It is something I do sub-consciously. I’ve noticed, over the years of living as an expat, so very far away from my country of birth, that I do this. Today I felt like a caterpillar, preparing to transform into a […]
LOVING the school holidays (shame about the rain!)
So the irrigation system isn’t working and we’re waiting for a plumber, but at least we don’t have to worry about the plants – it has barely stopped raining all week! New Zealand’s native Christmas tree, the Pohutukawa, is blooming around Wellington city and brings the promise of sunshine soon – hopefully in time for […]