What makes you happy?

If you click on the photos you get some really lovely detail. Nature - can't beat it

Fantastic Weekend

This weekend was like a breath of fresh air. Lovely Jasmine was in town for two short days and it was wonderful having her and her energy in the house. It was wonderful being a full family for a couple of days. the weather was on our side so we were able to do lots of things. Saturday's list

• Great food and old friends at the Lyttelton Market
• Family dinner and delicious food
• Playing on the computer and finding out all kinds of interesting stuff
• Rhubarb and ginger clafoutis

On Sunday we headed for the beach and lying on the warm sand was such a wonderful release. I thought I was coping with work stress really well with no pains in my chest but lying on the sand and listening to the sounds of people playing and waves gently turning, released something which I am assuming was pent up stress. Good timing for a sign. Other good things on Sunday

• Mother and dad came over to the beach too, so great for them to see Jasmine


• First swim of the season - Nic and Jonty, not me


• Fantastic Cumberland sausage sandwiches


• Visiting Vanessa at her gorgeous new business, The Complete Garden in Hornby. You must visit this store...stunning

On Monday we headed over to Taylors again knowing that we all needed the chill out time. The Southerly wind that was hammering the city barely touched the bach so we were baking in the sun - well under the brollies. So what was good about this day? Well, everything but here is a list of the highlights

• Spending time with Kim and the children on the beach


• Watching Jonty sprint to Black Rock to see the Southern Right Whale in the bay...it was really cool


• Watching that mad child of mine jumping waves for one hour straight...the water was freezing and he thought he could stay in until he turned blue...


• Stunning dinner with more delicious ingredients from the market

What a great weekend. The only down side was getting up for work this morning and the absolute state of the house. Small problems really

On the road again

After a very ordinary weekend I was thrilled to be on my bike again today. After a week of wetness I was absolutely gagging to haul my bike out. I am no hero so don't bike in the rain. For the first time in ages, the prevailing easterly was a whisper and I enjoyed roaring along keeping up with the lights on the one way system.

Had a fab day in the garden on Saturday and went over to Ruth's for dinner and had a lovely smoked chicken salad and a Villa Maria Chardonnay. Yum. Nic used his new gardening tools sent by Granny Phil which he loved and I must say I found useful as they are teeny and fit in the tricky bits that are hard to get at. Marie-Anne visited from Timaru after visiting her gorgeous new nephew. Sorry MA, I just can't run to a trip to Hawaii before Xmas. I really tried to get the numbers to work for me but it is not a goer. Bummer about that. Sunday was a dullish day at home hanging out and doing crafty things and cleaning out shelves and boxes. Popped out and visited Granny and Grandad and had a brief visit from Alex and the boys but overall a pretty low energy day. It was the rain. I am ready for summer now. Some days are just like that.

Blog therapy

I can't believe I wasted my 100th post on a boo hoo about the rugby. The reason I started this blog was to celebrate the really good things in my life so this entry is me deviating from the bloody rugby and chatting about some good things that have been happening lately.The family assembled at the bach a few weekends ago to farewell our faithful plum tree. Farewell is a romantic term meaning cutting it down, heaving it all down the hill on to trailers and getting very sweaty. I took a quick last minute photo of Nic and Olivia together under it. We have another photo of my mother standing next to the tree when she was a child and with her being 6 months off 70, I am guessing the tree was pretty old. We spent years in the shelter of that tree. Afternoon sun baking the concrete through the leaves. Rainy days sitting out under the tree smoking cigarettes or getting some air. Squishing the plums under foot as you scrambled to get to the outside loo in time. Getting hit on the head by plums when it was really windy. Every Autumn we swept up the hundreds of yellow leaves and early spring we skidded on the rotting ones fallen over winter. Now the bach is open to the elements, especially the afternoon sun, the gusting nor wester and the rare southerly rain storm. It will be interesting to see how we get on without the old plum tree.Today we had our first family bike ride where we all had our own bikes. Nic on his new red machine and us on our old red machines. We had a fab time biking round Hagley Park, both north and south. On the return journey we popped in the to the Arts Centre to get a muffin for lunch and headed back to the car in the gusty nor wester. Although not at all onerous, we did have fun and this bodes very well for future rides. Alas, there was grazing and tears but nothing too dire. We stopped in the Helipad in the park to play with our rocket balloons which was a hoot and then we watched some young girls practising softball. Nic also got sprayed by the Peacock Fountain.



After our ride we headed back to the airport for the second day in a row to watch the planes as it was really windy and we love watching them fly sideways and bump about. Funny aren't we? Saw heaps - AirNZ, JetStar, Pacific Blue, Emirates and a Chatham Is plane. Enought plane spotting.



Ahh that feels better; who cares about the bloody rugby?

This is the very last time...

I invest any emotional energy into the All Blacks World Cup ....I JUST CAN'T STAND the disappointment.

Wowed by WOW in Welly

At last, I have made it to the World of Wearable Arts awards and it was worth every cent of getting there. I still wish I had experienced the Nelson WOW but my inaugural show was amazing. Both Liz and I were a bit stunned with the whole thing as were most others I think. There wasn't a lot of clapping because there was so much to see that you had to really concentrate. It was intense and theatrical and REALLY loud and fun and lovely. I loved it.

The winner of three or four sections, and the ultimate winner, this was pretty wonderful. They way the costume moved when the model walked was brilliant.

Liz and I had a great weekend hanging out together shopping and wandering about. I didn't buy much ...only presents for Nicholas...but I loved watching Liz buy gorgeous clothes. Wellington was teeming with well healed middle aged women shopping. The money in that place was palpable.

Winner of the Shades of White section...made from 550 m plastic corded strapping, acrylic, beads and material. The white section was beyond stunning and there were 20 great entries

We fitted in a quick visit to Te Papa after a delicious, value breakfast at Caffe Astoria, a Wellington 'place to be' in the city for Sunday breakfast.

Marie from Sumner library, who has always been very creative and capable in the art department recieved a commended for her first entry in the Pacific section. This is made from cable ties and blue plastic binding. Yay Marie

This is made out of wood veneer by a chap in Alaska. Won an award. Very cool.