It’s been a scorcher today and after our Saturday morning ritual of Charli’s swim class and splash fun after with Sophie and Dan, the girls had great fun in the garden (thanks to Dan for mowing the lawn first and getting the water-slide out from the depths of the garage)… I’d usually be in the […]
family
Forget Me Not
Join me today as I share a very precious memory of my beloved Grandfather… The old man looked out to sea with a faraway look. The eyes, which once sparkled, were empty, but he retained something of his handsome youthful looks: His white hair swept gracefully over his head and his neatly clipped, white moustache […]
ABBA – Spanning Generations
There is so much music that spans generations and holds a special place in the hearts of families. I was born in the early 1970’s in the height of ABBA mania. Every Thursday evening I’d stay up to watch ‘Top of the Pops’ and dance around my parents living room. Of all the songs I […]
Proud of my home-town
I was so fortunate to grow up in a lovely area of Hampshire, England, with rural villages aplenty. From an early age we felt safe to take off on our bicycles with friends along the country lanes and along the Basingstoke Canal. My father would take my sister and I on 16 mile bike rides […]
We Are Family
What a weekend! Spring really is upon us and here’s a little video clip of our family fun on Wellington’s Waterfront on Saturday (with plenty of hooning around and shoddy camera work!): Sunday was a trooper of a day too. We always love chilling out at home on a Sunday morning (and catching up with […]
‘Wish you were here’ photographs
We’ve received so many beautiful photographs from family overseas this year and all of them very much make us ‘wish we were there’. Life here in NZ is simple, easy and very, very pleasurable. We’ve been here since August 1996 (Dan) and February 1997 (Sarah) with a year living back in the UK (1998/1999) and […]
Rain free Saturday!
News break: It didn’t rain on Saturday! Pitches across Wellington actually had players on them. Children danced on the side-lines, cheering on their sporting hero’s (in our case – Daddy O!)… Dan only played half a game (as there was such a surplus of players keen to actually get a game in) – but it […]
Thank you Grandma and Grandad
Thank you for… All the cuddles, kisses, tickles and love; Grandma for gentle combing of tangled hair (a purple comb would be brilliant!); Grandad for his jokes, tickles and crazy fun in the swimming pool; Grandma for story telling and messages of love from the heart; Grandad for taking photographs of a nursery-web spider’s web […]
An incredible few days to cherish till the next time…
My parents, aka ‘Chicken’ Grandma and Grandad, arrived back in Wellington from the South Island on Monday afternoon. They said not to worry about picking them up, but how could we resist! To see the look on their faces as we surprised them on arrival was a moment to cherish. On the way back to […]
A Week of Celebration
I’m feeling great and I’ve got my ‘mojo’ back (uh oh, best be careful now!). I always find the first year after having a baby my sex drive takes a total dive; what with all the extensive breastfeeding, sleep deprivation and recovery time (I don’t have easy births!). But, thankfully my hubbie is the loving, […]
Sailing on Lake Taupo
There are numerous ways to enjoy Lake Taupo. When the girls are older we’ll look forward to taking our own vessel out on the water; but in the meantime we enjoyed a sail on a yacht named ‘Barbary‘, once owned by Errol Flynn. It was an extremely peaceful way to enjoy the lake. The girls […]
A Blogging Break: Tons to Report!
Chez Lee has enjoyed a blogging break due to good weather, no Kindi, the arrival of our beloved pianos (resulting in lots of late night jamming sessions!) and making the most of the light evenings. It’s so brilliant not having to be out the door by a predetermined time and family harmony is so much […]
Jamming all weekend… and for a lifetime!
We can’t thank my dearly departed Grandmother enough. She’s brought music to our home in a way we could only have dreamed about. Our pianos arrived on Friday – a classical upright to fulfill my love of the traditional; and for Dan a digital piano with all the bizz for him to compose a masterpiece! […]
From Snow to Surf: Happy 70th Aunty Olga!
We woke this morning to an e-mail from ‘Chicken’ Grandma and Grandad (because they make brilliant animal noises on the telephone!) with photographs of them in the snow and Grandad having some beers with his big sister, Aunty Olga, on her 70th Birthday. Grandad Aspinall is one of seven and they are all absolutely brilliant […]