As a family, on holiday, we tend to have a day of all action, thrills and spills, followed by a quieter day of simple fun. Whenever I look back on holidays those simple activities, and smaller side-trips, are often what stay in the mind more than the action packed days. As a Mum it’s seeing […]
Dare I say, ‘I’m getting used to this place’? Where the weather barely changes – apart from the length of light in a day. Where clouds are cause for exclamation – and rain is a rare, yet welcome, distraction. I’ve come from a place that knows big weather, where a person learns to dress in […]
Tomorrow school starts for the year. Two of our three children will start at a new school, in a new country, in a completely different hemisphere. Our Miss 10 is coming from a private girls school in Wellington, New Zealand. Our Miss 7 is coming from a couple of years of free-spirited ‘natural learning’ (home […]
For this week’s ‘The Photo Gallery’ theme of ‘Beauty’ I stepped out in the sunshine before the storm with my daughters. I love to watch the weather change and Wellington has plenty of great vantage points (and rapidly changing weather!). Below is a storm cloud, sitting over the north of the South Island – before […]
Wellington you have me wrapped around your little finger. My heart is a pressure valve, fluctuating in feeling like a barometer. I used to tolerate your moods a little better, when I had the freedom to escape at pleasure. Now I am trapped, with my young charges. They have a hold on my time. I […]
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, […]
The first week of a new term is never without a hitch. Â We only had a two week school holiday to enjoy together, after a long, 11-week, first term. We were just getting into our stride, and really enjoying ourselves, when the end of the holidays hit us with a bang. It felt premature that […]
It’s that time of year when the weather toys with us and we flit from board games and bagels to ice-creams and boules at the speed of a flying frisbee in a southerly gale. Last night the chest of board games was dusted off, hardly touched since last winter. Charlotte and Sophie reveled in the […]
A poem from ‘Chicken Grandma’ too 🙂 Weather Sun, rain, wind or snow All have a beauty to put on a show Warm summer sun makes our hearts glow Rain waters the garden and helps plants to grow Wind moves the trees and makes kite flying fun Snow falls so quietly upon the soft ground […]
Well thankfully we’re not camping! This morning’s rain is torrential. Here’s the Pohutukawa tree in the garden, battling with horizontal rain in windy Wellington. The perfect tonic to a rainy morning was doughnuts freshly made before breakfast… and eaten with fresh coffee… Building with lego… Crafts… Beading… (Charlotte loves her ‘aqua beads’ from Aunty Sue […]
This was Dan’s tweet on Twitter on his bike ride home last night. He said he just had to stop and take a photograph as it was so awesome. Wellington is great at throwing us days like this to keep us going through the winter. Days that make you stop in your tracks and feel […]
Wild weather blasted Wellington this afternoon. Forecaster Chris Noble said that, when the storm hit Wellington, temperatures plummeted from 18.5 degrees Celsius to 8.5 degrees in Kelburn within ten minutes, with a similar drop recorded at Wellington Airport. At 4.30pm, wind gusts of up to 130kmh were reported in Kelburn, and 120kmh at Wellington Airport. […]
On Tuesday we headed out to the Botanical Gardens in gloriously, hot sunshine. We parked at the top of the cable car, with a plan to walk all down hill, via the playground, duck pond, Sound Shell, Rose Gardens and into the city, before riding the cable car back up. However, poor Sophie had a […]
It is absolutely incredible to have Grandma and Granddad here! This week we’ve been blessed with warm weather and even the showers on Wednesday morning and Thursday weren’t enough to dampen our spirits. In fact we spent Thursday at Zealandia (previously known as Karori Wildlife Sanctuary) where we walked for over three hour’s through the […]