The Red Monster – Our Jim by Chinese Grandma We have a little monster, Who came to visit us, All the way from England, On a plane and on a bus. He is a little devil, And likes to move about, In the trees and bushes, Of that there is no doubt. He hid inside […]
Charlotte
Lyrical Sunday – Week 4: Bags
Sorry for being a day late for Lyrical Sunday. We stayed away on holiday an extra night (to avoid a rough crossing of the Cook Strait). We are now back home and had a beautiful crossing. It’s nice to be home… but we’ll be happier once all the bags are unpacked! I’ll be back tomorrow […]
Lyrical Sunday – Week 3: Flowers
Fragrant Embrace by Sarah Sweet peas through my window climb, Descended from the vines of time. Growing wild, in the mountains of Sicily, Reaching out, with tendrils, so sisterly. I watch the green shoots, stretch out and grow, a Vision of my sister and her love doth flow. Climbing those hills, where sweet peas wind, […]
Our baby turtle & a shark sighting
It was a surreal day at Lyall Bay. The fog rolling in banked up on the horizon and engulfed the hills around the bay. News of a shark sighting only hours before added to the erie feeling. A fin had been spotted for a few seconds. The beach was closed for swimming, as a precaution, […]
Lyrical Sunday: Week 1 – Christmas
CHRISTMAS Kiwiana Style by Sarah Carols in the sun, Hammocks in the garden strung. Relies gather round, In Aroha they are bound. Seasons come and go, Though stories linger so. Mary and Joseph loved God’s greatest gift, And so we give though times have shift. Sand not snow, us Kiwis know, but same the world […]
Having my girls home is gonna add inches to the waist line!
Can we bake please? Can we make cupcakes? Can we make doughnuts? Today we made both, but added a dose of berries for good measure and balance on the side 🙂 Charlotte made cupcakes. And Sophie made doughnuts. Whilst Alice played with her toy cooker. I am so impressed with their baking skills these days […]
Lyrical Sunday: Week 1
Welcome to Lyrical Sunday. This is Charlotte’s fabulous idea, which was inspired by learning about poetry in school. She has come up with some wonderful themes to inspire our lyrical creations. Every Monday Charlotte and I will post up a theme, prompts or ideas for the week. This week the theme simply had to be […]
School’s Out for Summer!
Last day of the school year today! It was an early start – 5.30am for Sophie, Alice and I! Dan crawled in at 2.00am, after his work Christmas drinks (much merriment was enjoyed at The Cross, where they sat sheltered from the rain in the outdoor courtyard playing giant Jenga and Trivial Pursuit). I tried […]
The Gallery: Sparkle – Carols by Candlelight
Darkness falls late in this part of the world at the moment, so catching some northern hemisphere traditional Christmas sparkle isn’t easy. The little’uns are going to bed later and later (but not lying in much in the morning to compensate), but rarely up late enough to see the twinkling lights on the Christmas tree. […]
Charlotte’s ‘Happy Holidays’ gift at the end of the school year.
Last Friday, home from school with a nasty cough and feeling under the weather, Charlotte sat for ages making these beautiful little gifts for all her class mates… She couldn’t wait to share them out. Her school breaks up for the long summer holidays on Friday; but today she walked up to school with a […]
The Gallery: White
‘I’m dreaming of a white Christmas… just like the ones I used to know…’ But actually, I’m not! Though I still love that song and it does make me feel all squishy and nostalgic. In our garden we have plenty of white, but of the flowering variety. I find my eye is especially drawn to […]
Christmas in the garden & at the beach
National Jandal Day couldn’t have asked for better weather. Wellington was bathed in sunshine with collectors reaping the rewards for Surf Life Saving NZ. Charlotte spent most of the day with her entire school at the fabulous Wainui Summer Pools, whilst Sophie, Alice and I had a quiet morning at home and in the garden. […]
1 December and up she goes!
With all three of my lovely cherubs at home with snuffly summer colds today we took the opportunity to dig out the Christmas decorations from under the stairs. It was fun, messy and a little bit tiring… The big boxes made for some fun dens and helped to keep Alice distracted long enough for me […]
4 Seasons: Riding the first wave of summer
Officially the first day of summer in New Zealand is 1 December. This past week summer has come early. Normally we have a fair bit of unsettled spring weather all the way up to Christmas, but not this year. Calm, sunny skies have made for some primo beach visits. For the first time ever Charlotte […]