In less than three weeks we fly away from our home of some fifteen years, New Zealand, to start an adventure living in Santa Barbara, CA, USA. Our new adventure may be for just a year, three years, or possibly more. In this past week we flew up to Auckland, from our home in Wellington, […]
Life in action – Videos
The winter solstice storm that struck Wellington, June 2013 | A Poem
The past few days in Wellington have witnessed the destructive force of nature at a magnitude not seen in decades. Debris litters the south coast, with sand dunes and sea walls obliterated, trees torn from their roots, slabs of concrete cracked and moved like putty in a giant’s hands. Many thousands of people have been […]
Things I’m Loving
Always a pleasure to end a week by reflecting on the ‘loves’ from the week (especially whilst sipping a delightful Pinot Noir from dear hubbie!). The little things are often what make a good week, such as finishing a good book. This week I’ve been consumed with, ‘The Sisterhood‘, by Helen Bryan. It holds a […]
B.M.W.B | Putting face paint on & singing in the bath before coffee!
Browsing Facebook on a Saturday morning in bed doesn’t always make for a peaceful time – but it can create a lot of fun! After coming across an old school friend’s face painting inspiration on Facebook – and sharing it with my three year old – I found myself turfing out cupboards looking for our […]
B.M.W.B. – Keeping everyone moving
This week we’ve had so much spontaneous fun and physical action in the home that I thought it would be worth tying in this post with the ‘Becoming the Mama I Want to Be’ linkie, over at Miriam’s ‘Create Hope Inspire’ blog. The Mama I want to be is one that says ‘yes’, wherever possible, […]
Sharing a final fix of New Zealand’s flora & fauna in Wellington
After six wonderful weeks together, my parents flew home to the UK on Tuesday evening. Their visit was particularly poignant, as it might be our last time together – or at least for a long time – in beautiful New Zealand. The man of the house started a new job mid-way through last year and, […]
From health to sickness overnight
Poor young Alice has been sick since 1am this morning. She’s not held down anything, food or liquid, and has a temperature. It’s one of those darn 24-hour tummy bugs. I’ve been ill too (thankfully not actually spewing!) and have spent all day Sunday cuddled up with young Alice (who is thankfully a ‘happy’ sick […]
Things I’m Loving
As I sit down this Friday evening, and reflect on the week that has been, I acknowledge the tougher moments of family life that have been – but let them go now. This is time to capture the magic, the moments to hold on to, to keep us strong, to see us through. The moments […]
Waitangi Day at the Farm & the Beach on the Kapiti Coast
Waitangi Day falls on 6 February every year in New Zealand. It’s a public holiday and fell on a Wednesday this year, making for a lovely mid-week break from weekly routines, and a nice chance to reconnect as a family after a busy start to the new school year. We drove up the beautiful Kapiti […]
Finding Love
Some weeks are harder than others – that’s just life. Last week, with the man of the house away on business, my children weren’t quite themselves. There was no time for me to mope about, but rather I had to ‘step-up’ and be strong for them (not that I felt very strong) – particularly for […]
A scorching Christmas for Wellington, right out the box (along with melted chocolates!)
Not since 1934 had Wellington had one as hot and we spent Christmas dressed minimally, seeking shade and deciding a late avo dinner should be taken indoors, where it was a lot cooler! We enjoyed a relaxed morning of present opening (the children were good and resisted opening anything under the tree until 9am – […]
Christmas Eve 2012 in Wellington, New Zealand
It’s been a great build up to Christmas here in Wellington, and this Christmas Eve we’ve had a lovely day with something for everyone in the family (even a couple of hours one-on-one time specially for hubbie and I!). This morning, whilst Mama stayed home to put away copious piles of laundry, hubbie went to […]
Loving the build up to a Sunshine Christmas
Just in case the world does end tomorrow (personally I reckon the Mayan who was writing the calendar decided to knock off for a beer and never got round to writing more dates) I thought I ought to write a quick blog post and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas from us folk in New […]
Wedding New Zealand Style
On Saturday we were treated to a wedding in true New Zealand style, with a touch of Indian flair. Balanced on the edge of a cliff, 250 metres above the Tasman Sea, with sweeping views of the South Island in the distance, we gathered to celebrate the love of two special people coming together in […]