On the last three months

Oh, did three months just go by? Hmmm.

Well we have moved again, and are now living in my childhood home- which was also my Dad's childhood home. It has been a big change for Mum and Dad in particular- he lived here from the age of about 4 until just the other week, with a 4 or 5 year gap when he was at Uni, and when Mum and Dad first moved home.

So again with the unpacking, and the moving furniture around and let's put it here, no let's put it over there.

And we are living another house to renovate! I am so excited about picking paint and fabric and design ideas. So I'll have a few before shots to put up soon, then after Christmas some after shots.....

Self Portrait in China Cabinet

I looked over and saw some red things in my kitchen so I took a photo to put on my blog.

I like red.

Some Love Songs for Love Day

Obviously, this song is the top of the list because I walked down The Aisle to it.....

It's a version with an ad in front, but it's got the video clip which is very lovely.

Have you heard this song? Apparently it's on the TV2 ad, but I wouldn't know because we've stopped watching t.v. I can tell you it's on the radio alot though!



This one is just whimsical and lovely.....



And this one isn't strictly a love song, but it is so beautiful. So so beautiful.



Go hug someone you love.

A note on comments....

Blogger works really well for me, except for one thing which makes me grrrr..... It's quite tricky to follow up comments.

I've had some such wonderful, lovely comments lately, and mostly how I'd like to respond is to whip off a quick email reply- I know I don't often check back where I've commented unless I've asked a specific question. Unfortunately unless you activate your email in your privacy settings on your Blogger profile, I can't see your email address.

So maybe you might like to turn this on? You never know what might come your way......

(Also investigating a switch, maybe typepad? Any thoughts on what platform you like the best?)

Dinner's in the oven.

I totally stole Clare's dinner tonight. Except hers looks a little more professional.

Unrelated photos of the pre-Christmas strawberry jam affair, because if I don't post them, let's face it, it's likely I never will.

Eat your veges!

Resolute

We had a long and quite wonderful holiday in Golden Bay for 4 weeks over Christmas and New Years.

{The weather the morning we left Wellington on the Ferry}

We had Family, Fun and Flooding, and managed to piece our car back together in time for the drive home last Saturday morning. We got home on our one year wedding anniversary to a hugely overgrown vege patch, in particular the pumpkins which have gone for miles and are threatening the tomatoes.

{The weather the afternoon before we left Golden Bay.}

The interwebs are full of people's resolutions for the year ahead. Mine is quite simple this year, to give up my shameful 7pm habit. I'm doing quite well so far, aided by the fact I don't think the season has started yet.

This year our goals are also to eat more simply and mindfully, make a real dent on the aesthetic side of our renovation, and my last one is to have summer at home this year, in order to stay on top of the delateralling!

Swinging myself back into the saddle

A photo a day for a few days, and maybe some words to go along with some of them. They'll all be black and white, with the exception of today's, for obvious reasons!

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The silk/merino line up I took to Thames on Monday. In the shop (or what's left!) Friday

Spring Cheer

I've been thinking a lot this week about my friends and family in Christchurch, after the ongoing earthquakes they've been experiencing. Tash is giving away some 'Cheer up Christchurch' packages, and I've offered to put together a couple as well, one for a knitter, and one for a spinner. If you know of someone in Christchurch who could stand to have their day improved by the unexpected arrival of fibre, head over to send Tash an email with all the details.

We did some drastic pruning of some stone fruit trees a few weekends back. I don't normally cut branches to bring inside, as I'd rather enjoy the flowers as fruit in the summer, but as these were just going into the skip, I thought it a shame to waste them. The plum branches are spent, but the peach are just getting going.

Reno-brain

Life is so full, and busy right now. In a good way though, the kind that makes you grateful for that moment of calm as you lay back in bed at night.

Kitchen goes in Friday week. We will spend the weekend frantically prepping the walls!

I'm hoping to get a chance to catch you up on Cambridge, but I might have to content myself with just saying it was a fab day out. I made one wee purchase which I'll photograhise and show you soon I hope. It was lovely to meet crafty people from a different part of NZ, and welcome to anyone who has found their way here since then.

Here is a couple of photos of Dad's birthday cake from last month. (It was a big one, ending with an '0')

We heard some lovely stories about the farming blood running through Dad's veins- the time he went to check on the calving cows down the paddock before anyone else was up, and came back announcing 'it's spring' because there were 3 cows and calves. He was 4!! Nana used to have to tie him to clothesline to stop him wandering off to be with the cows.

Happy Birthday Dad!

A lovely dream

I had a lovely dream last night. I was op-shopping, looking specifically for a new sewing machine?!

I got a bit distracted, I found some really neat tea cups, they were Japanese and had blue-grey swallows on them.

Then I found some great frames.

***side note: I've been thinking about thrifting some frames, and spray painting them all black to display the photobooth photos from the wedding in. Sign from the Thrift Gods much?***

And then Michael's alarm went off- I was quite disorientated and asked why it was so early!! I felt really disappointed to leave the cups and frames behind!

::Blurry photos are of the mountain of fibre I'm currently labelling for Thursday::

Crafternoon Tea

Thanks for all your encouragement about Crafternoon Tea! All in all it was a fun day out, and it was neat to put some faces/names etc, but not successful on the fibre front- I didn't meet a single spinner!!

I learnt a few things:

1. Advertise a bit sooner- I should have given people more warning on Ravelry, and maybe here too. Maybe I should make a mailing list people can sign up to?

2. Craft markets are not really the right place for me and my fibre- people are looking for 'things'. I knew this really, but thought the altered format might suit this time round. Maybe if it gets more established?

3. So....I think I'm going to focus on the Fibre specific markets around the place- there's one in Cambridge next month. More details to come.

I did buy a yummy cupcake though:

And a beautiful print- it's going into my collection of things to frame for a *future* baby room. Isn't it sweet?

'in the presence of magic'

I got nothing!

It's fibre Friday, and I've got nothing for you. I've got plenty going on, just no images to share, sorry.

Feeling flat, a bit grumpy and annoyed. Not really sure why. But I think it would be nice to fly away in a hot air balloon one day.

Have you ever been in a hot air balloon?

images taken while driving through Hamilton, the weekend before easter.

Farewell Friday

Fibre Friday is on hiatus while we pack up, we're off on holiday!! I might get a couple of opportunities to post while we are away, otherwise I'll see you in a fortnight!

Let me leave you with some fibre I dyed for a special order. Some of it will go up in the shop when I get back.

Have a good Easter break, see you on the other side!

Technical difficulties

I'm having trouble getting my photos from the computer to the interwebs, and no one likes a post without photos!

So, sorry to be away from this space until I resolve the issues!

And thank you for all the love you have been giving my photos lately, I plan to write a wee post about the gear I am using and how I take my photos when I get things running smoothly again.

And now, a sink full of dishes, and sleep to be had.

Peace x

I am enjoying

Finding out the sun is reaching over the rooftop in the afternoon to come into the bedroom as it gets higher in the sky.....



Digging the garden in preparation....



Discovering plants unfurling...



The anticipation of blossom...

Some cards, and a holiday.

I made a couple of batches of cards to give away on our trip south at Easter. We are staying with my Aunt and Uncle in Wellington tommorow night, then heading to Golden Bay on Thursday. I've queued up a Wedding Dress post for later in the week, and may sneak in an update from GBay. I'm hoping to take lots of photos, eat some yummy food and catch up with family. See you back in the daily grind!

The way he loves our dog.....

.....makes me love him more.

My favourite picture from the evening.

I just really love this picture- look at those crazy eyes! He knows where the ball is, he just can't get to it! Pedro looks like this about 90% of the time we throw the ball straight up for him to catch- slightly manic.

Hello There

Hi Guys,

Been a bit slow lately- I got home thursday and started a new job today...yay me but it's left me a little tired! I hope to get all my holiday photos uploaded by the weekend, but for now, here's hoping I can find something in Picasa web albums!



Ooh here's something you haven't seen before- artwork from Penny, my good friend who I boarded with for 5 years. When she gets back to NZ I'm going to commision a (big!) piece. It looks so good hanging in my kitchen!

I also just want to say thankyou to everyone who's stopped by lately, whether you've left a comment or not! I particularly love the comments though (who doesn't?!) and the one thing that disappoints me about blogger is that it doesn't incorporate an email, so I can't get back to you unless your emaill address is added to your google profile. Maybe you might want to consider adding yours?

Hope everyone is basking in the glorious sunshine, or staying rugged up against the cold. Enjoy the season while it lasts!