ROAD TRIP

Well not strictly a road trip as we will not be meandering too much on our way down to Dunedin today.  I am staying for 5 days to attend our annual library LIANZA conference but the dudes are coming down for the ride and also so we can spend time with Jasmine.  They will repeat the journey again tomorrow which is a bit of a drag but that's how it is.  It has been cracker weather this week so setting out in the cool of the morning to hit the road before the rest of the world is our aim.  Looking forward to everything about the day

• stopping in Timaru to see Marie-Anne and luxuriate in her stunning garden
• tasty treats in Oamaru
• egg sandwiches and gingernuts as we go
• gasping at the stunning Otago coast line 
• Dunedin!!! Yay

A total shitty shitty day

Nothing happy about today, finally accepting after another massive explosion at the Pike River Coal Mine, that all 29 miners are dead.  This is so heartbreaking for everyone on the Coast and all of us who in this little South Island who feel like one big family.  Everyone knows someone who is grieving today. We are all grieving with them.

colour my world

I feel great this week after a days of fun, friends and sun.  Heading to the Your Home and Garden/Dulux event on a 31 degree night was just gorgeous.  Alex and I went to Hinton's vineyard and enjoyed a glass or two of wine and lovely nibbly things.  On top of that we got to meet the Dulux chic and the lovely Sarah Kerr interior designer and very excitingly Denise L'Estrange-Corbett from World fashion label.  It was just great indulging in fashion, interior fabrics, design and colour.  Very uplifting.

Today I had the very great pleasure of joining Nic and his class on a visit to the beautiful Issac Theatre Royal to see Royal NZ Ballet's latest Christmas ballet, The Nutcracker.  It was baking hot and I did have parental bus duties to perform but I was as mesmerized as the children with their interpretation of the ballet.  Stunning and beautiful with some real originality especially in the set and lighting.  The kids from Nic's class were fantastic.

Continuing the theme of colour and creativity Karen and I indulged ourselves in a repeat viewing of 'The September Issue'  It was great sitting there with a chic talking about the clothes and the people and just indulging in all that fashion.  Grace Coddington is my new hero and Anna Wintour is just plain fascinating.

Add this to a double episode of Project Runway AND a stunning new resin bracelet I bought at my hair dressers on Wednesday night and I have had a great visual delight of a week.  I wish every week was this rich with colour.

Ron Mueck

 Way back in October we spent a lovely afternoon with our Waiararapa family at the Christchurch Art Gallery.  To our delight we got to see the Ron Mueck exhibition.  An amazingly crafted and moving collection of tiny and outsized sculptures.The 2 metre tall pregnant woman was breathtaking and I am sure I was not alone in feeling quite overwhelmed by the emotion of it.  The children were fascinated and Nic a bit freaked out but very intrigued.

Enjoying lunch at the Arts Centre

Anniversary weekend

What gorgeous weather we have had this weekend.  Although our memory tell us this is what it is always like, it actually isn't.  I know this because this is the weekend we celebrate our wedding anniversary and eleven years ago this weekend was freezing, really freezing and wet.  When I say celebrate I would have to say, we don't actually celebrate, we acknowledge.  This year, we just had our mates in town so up we scooped the wedding party and off we went to the best Thai restaurant in Christchurch.  Chinwag Eathai is just gorgeous.  Then we wandered down to the Crown Plaza for coffee and cake.  Very tame and friendly evening.  This is what we looked like 11 years ago

 

...and this is us now...lovely I think.

Thanks for a warm and loving evening everyone

Just finished reading #36

I really did just finish reading this book ...

while sitting in this chair under the apricot tree....

 watching Nic play with the hose and this fantastic blow up stuff, which I did help blow up by holding the nozzle.  Sadly, I have no pictures of this event as although we have more cameras than people in this house, things are not going well in that department.  (I did manage to get these pics after the fact which is a bit of a fluke)

This is my second Maggie O'Farrell and if I didn't love her before, I really do now.  Tears are welling just thinking about this story.  I loved it and I am not sure why.  Basically it is about mothers and children but not so obviously until you say it out loud.  Lexie comes to live in London in the '60's and has a great life in Soho writing for a magazine and meeting fantastic people.  Elina lives in London too (about now) and we meet her shortly after a pretty intense birth experience which I would say she is handling much better than her loving partner Ted.  I am not going to tell you any more than this as the story needs to tell itself.  However, these two women are lovely interesting and warm characters.  Not soppy by any means, in fact not at all but something about them is very very compelling and I just had to read the last half of this book today at every opportunity I could.  The story of their connection unravel in a way I was not expecting but that is not to say you wont as I am an endearingly gullible reader who has been known to gasp while reading plot twists and turns.  I bought this for my bookgroup as recommended by my friend Erica and it has to be a winner.  Read it!
 
The Hand that first held mine - Maggie O'Farrell

Show Day

This is not a post post, it is a pre post.  Fantastic Canterbury Anniversary day here today.  Stunning warm morning with a little dew on the lawn, the roses are looking awesome, the strawberry flowers just dying to turn into shiny fruit.  We are heading down to Lake Hood (not The Show) for a picnic and taking the boat so I expect a very hot and relaxing day.  Have a great day at work everyone else.