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 […]
Garden
The Gallery (Week 35): Before and After
In the past four years, since we moved into our new home, there has been much growth. The garden, once a section with nothing much than a lot of grass and a couple of trees now looks lush and inviting. A little 9 month old Sophie, that chuckled in her Daddy’s arms on the swing […]
Growing in the spring sunshine: The Gallery, Week 34
Today was a blissful day of sunshine. It felt GREAT! Spring is of course a tumultuous time of year. One day I’m reaching for my summer skirt thinking the worst is behind me – only to find my lilly whites shivering and knees knocking as an unexpected southerly blows through; the next day I’m putting […]
Running in the spring sunshine
There’s a feeling in the air, Which tints fair skin that’s bare, Turns pretty petals to its stare, And makes children want to run without a care. The school field fills with bare footed running, On daises and clover that bows to their chanting, Potato and spoon races, high jump and long jump, Sack races […]
Digging up worms and spring planting
There’s talk of Halloween and even Christmas in the air. My own children are already counting down the days till they can start opening the doors on their advent calendars and are walking around with ‘trick or treat’ buckets anticipating a load of treats this coming Halloween weekend. They would love to go knocking on […]
The Happy Den
Where we live is surrounded by trees and close to the sea. The garden is what really attracted us to the property. It’s not easy to find a flat section in the hilly topography of Wellington. And to find somewhere set back from the road with a safe driveway for the children to ride their […]
Kids Click – Animals: Charlotte’s Fish
The theme currently running on Kids Click, till 10 October, is ‘Animals‘. I mentioned this to the girls on a rainy day of the school holidays. Sophie said to Charlotte, ‘But you can’t enter, cause you’ll win! I won’t stand a chance!’ This is because Charlotte won once before with her ‘Green‘ entry. Charlotte has […]
Day 2 of the hols – chilling out
Day 2 of the school hols was all about chilling out and embracing the p-jays. So nice not to have to rush out the door. The girls creativity is coming out in bounds and they’ve completely taken over the garage with cardboard boxes, glue, glitter, tissue paper… the car is officially parked on the drive-way […]
The bog’s dried up, time to play!
It seems like ages since we’ve simply ‘played’ in our garden. For months and months it’s been too cold, windy and wet. But, finally, there’s more finer days and the grass is actually drying out enough between drenches for us to give it a good mow. We can actually put down a picnic rug and […]
Spring is nature’s way of saying, “Let’s party!” ~ Robin Williams
I think that no matter how old or infirm I may become, I will always plant a large garden in the spring. Who can resist the feelings of hope and joy that one gets from participating in nature’s rebirth? ~Edward Giobbi And Spring arose on the garden fair, Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere; […]
Monarch Butterflies flourishing in our garden
The wonder, mystery and awe of nature is always a treasure to behold. We have all delighted in watching our Swan Plants grow and be visited by Monarch butterflies. Little eggs have grown into baby caterpillars, which we’ve watched grow day by day. A magical Chrysallis now hangs in the wind, waiting to reveal its […]