It surely must be magical ...

but we couldn't decide exactly what it was!

Maia was convinced it was a fairy house.

Is that a door just behind the leaf?

Cassia thought it could be a fairy tramp (I see her point!) or it could be a fairy dining table

Maybe a fairy rain shelter?

What do you think? x

The Desert Road

When we left our house to head up the island there was thick ice on the car. We travelled through sun, fog and cloud and then we came to the Desert Road. It was spectacular. I love the road at any time but had never been through it in the middle of winter so it was great to see it in all its glory.

Mount Ruapehu

Mount Ngauruhoe

Cassia and Maia enjoying the snow!

If you see in the foreground of the above picture there is a grey grainy scree on the ground (I'm not a geologist so bear with me for the right words!). When you walked on it it crackled and your footprints left this on the ground:

It was like little ice needles under the surface of the ground. I've never seen anything like this before and it was fascinating and beautiful to see.

If anyone knows the correct term for this phenomenom then I'd be much obliged!

My creative space

We're off on holiday (and a little bit of crafting is coming too!)

We're going away tomorrow for a week's holiday - hurray!!!! Up to the sunny Bay of Plenty (oh please let it be the sunny Bay of Plenty!). Although there'll be lots to do up there I still might have the urge to be crafty so I've packed a little case (in fact it's the first and only thing packed so far!).

The case's contents:

2 embroidery hoops

linen offcuts

embroidery silks

scissors

material marker

ball of chunky colourful yarn

bamboo knitting needles

And the best about it to me? The case was found at a garage sale for $1, the embroidery hoops, linen and silks were all received via Freecycle, the yarn is new but was reduced and the bamboo needles cost me 50c, yes that's right reduced to 50c. So a whole case of loveliness for very little money - what more could you ask?!

All packed and ready to go! Until we get back - au revoir! x

PS To check out lots of other lovely creative spaces take a peek over here.

An unexpected walk

We set out yesterday to drive through the Manawatu Gorge and explore the other side. We got as far as Ashhurst and the car started making funny noises. Things didn't seem as though they were going to turn out very well when we opened the bonnet and there was some smoke/steam - not a great sign. Needless to say it doesn't put you in a very good mood and a few choice words were aimed at all and sundry!

Fortunately for us we had pulled into the parking area just by Ashhurst Domain so I thought we could all do with getting out for a walk and cooling off. I'm very glad we did. There was a track lined with eucalyptus trees. I love the scent from the leaves and Maia was amazed that you could just bend the leaf in half and such a beautiful smell would come out. I also love the way their bark strips off revealing the pure trunk behind it. Now if only I could think of something to do with all the bark strippings that were on the floor!

There was quite a chilly wind blowing but in the sun was glorious. These little fellas thought so too!

We don't get cicadas in England so I'm entranced by them. I only recently saw one as close as this and the colours on them are amazing. I can't believe how much noise just one of these creatures can make. The girls, of course, find them fascinating but want to prod and poke them - what is it about little ones little fingers?!!!!

Then we came across this lookout. The wetland area was awash with pukekos, which I think are amazing. I remember when I first saw one I thought they were so cute and the name is great. They have blue feathers with a white dash underneath their tail and bright red beak and legs. I guess you could say they are a bigger, different colour version of a moorhen! - although I don't think they are the same family. The mountains on the left are the Ruahines and on the right are the Tararuas - the Manawatu Gorge runs through them. On both sides there are wind farms. If you look really closely you can see the windmills on the left! My girls are fascinated by them and so am I. I think there is some majestic beauty in them standing tall on the mountain ridges. The fact they can provide electricity from a renewable, 'free' source is just awesome. Apparently you can get close to them up another road so will have to explore further.

And you can't go on a walk like that without bringing something home. 4 beautiful big pine cones still attached to the branch!

Aren't the colours wonderful?

And the car? When we got bak we were able to check everything in the engine and it looked as though the coolant levels and power steering fluid levels were low. We hadn't checked them recently but it had just had a service so you don't think you have to! Lesson learnt there. Luckily there was a garage in Ashhurst with someone who knows about cards working. Topped everything up and made it home. Fingers crossed we've figured out the problem! x

More post, including an invite ...

We're now all doing much better -many thanks for the good wishes! I managed to go to Martinborough Fair even though I should have known better. I took painkillers to get through the drive but it was worth it once I was there!

Last week was very bountiful in the post department, on Monday I posted about what was in the letter box, click here.

Then I received an invitation to a powhiri. I have decided to do a Maori language course, Te Ara Reo Maori (I know there should be accents on some of the vowels but I don't know how to do that on blogger yet!). It starts tomorrow but I was invited along today to be welcomed to Te Wananga o Aotearoa. I have always been fascinated by the Maori culture and so took the opportunity to go this morning with Cassia in tow. It was just amazing! I don't know all the correct words for the protocol yet so bear with me, but we were welcomed onto the site by two ladies 'singing' and a lady at the front of our group 'sang' back - the karanga. We were then walked through the campus to the karakia room (literal translation is prayer) with this interchange going on. It gave me goosebumps! When we entered the karakia room there were about 60 people welcoming us with the most amazing 'song'. I'm certainly not doing this justice it was spellbinding and spine chilling at the same time! I also did my first hongi - Cass was somewhat shy for hers. The course runs for the whole year and I attend one night a week but I believe there will be weekend workshops on a marae aswell. I am so excited by it all! I guess that this counts for number 7 on my list of 37 things - "Learn something just for me". No doubt I will be updating you as I progress.

On Wednesay I received this:

not something you usually see on an address label!!!!! Lots to tell you about here but will do another post.

I also received a lovely letter from one of my nieces with photos of the family from Christmas. It's always lovely to receive such letters and to physically have something to read and show the girls (as opposed to a computer screen!).

And last, but by no means least, I received a lovely little parcel from Janelle over at Heart Felt. I bought her Kiwiana patches on Trade Me and they are wonderful. Many thanks Janelle! I had thought that each of us girls would have one but now I've got them I WANT THEM ALL! Once I've decided what I'm going to do with them I'll let you know.

A tui in our feijoa tree - now I know they like native trees but I don't think that includes feijoas! These are really awesome birds with a very distinct call. We had one at the back of our house in Tauranga and it was great to know when it was nearby.

A fantail, also in the feijoa! I just LOVE these birds. I've only ever seen these birds whilst tramping in the bush. When we've done the Lake Papaitonga walk, just south of Levin, a couple have always followed us through the bush. I like to think of them as our little guardian angels, in truth they follow you to pick off the bugs/insects you disturb when walking!

And finally, a tiki. I love this imagery. There is an awesome big carved tiki in Te Papa which I seek out every time I go.

The feijoa was full of blossom and looks to be bearing a whole load of fruit - unfortunately I don't like the fruit so the girls and Craig can have their pick and then I guess the rest will be passed out at Kindy! If anyone's got a chutney recipe maybe I'd try it.

New beginnings ...

So I have finally found a way of accessing blogger - hurray!!!! We most definitely can't get broadband where we are and although I have now signed up for dial-up it is most definitely not to be used for anything with pictures! I signed on to blogger the other day and sat waiting for 3 minutes and the dashboard still hadn't fully appeared. So I am currently sitting in a cafe that does the most amazing flat whites, these are similar to the English latte, and has a wifi connection.

So much has been going on and I've really wanted to keep a record of it. I realise that blogging has provided me with a fantastic way of recording our daily life and I've noticed that since I haven't been able to post I haven't taken that may photos - strange how something creeps up on you and you only realise how much when you don't have it anymore.

The girls are all well and truly settled in, in fact I have just dropped Maia of at her first kindy session this afternoon. A couple of days after arriving she asked me if there were schools in NZ and so we have found a lovely little kindy which she'll attend for 2 afternoons a week. Cassia seems to have grown up overnight since arriving here. The freedonm they both have is just amazing.

Big differences I noticed so far:

1 No cars parked on the roads - they all have a drive and/or garage!

2 The pavements and roads are really wide so the girls have freedom to walk on their own on the pavements (and there's also way fewer cars where we're living!)

3 The quiet - we have peace at last - just birdsong and the sound of surf (in fact we are wondering why we would want to move form this area but more of that later!)

4 The coffee is fantastic - there are a lot of coffee roasters in NZ and they roast the beans quite differently from Europe to give a much mellower taste but they make it stronger in the cafes - just the way I like it!

5 The big sky - the sky always seem bigger over here, even when the weather's not great!

6 The great outdoors - we've spent loads of time outside since arriving - in the garden, the park, the beach, eating etc, etc

Things I've missed so far:

1 The snow - what was that? I've been sent photos of the snow that came at the end of October and the girls would have loved it!

Is it bad just to have missed one thing?!!!!! We've not been gone long enough to miss anything else but I'm sure it will come. Now I need to catch up on everyone else's going's on!

PS Got some fanastic bargains to share but just need to get organised with the camera!

We're here ....

and safe and sound!! So a very quick post to let you all know that we're are all happily on firm ground again. I wouldn't say that we are all with it yet but no doubt that will come over the next few days! The flight, of course, was very, very long but the girls were wonderful. I think Cassia has developed a defence mechanism and every time the plane took off she fell asleep and stayed asleep - no complaints from me!

It's very surreal to be back here with both girls and to know that it's not just a holiday. The weather was freezing when we arrived and I hadn't packed any winter woollies but luckily the sun is out in full force today and I must go and get some sun block!

I'm posting this from the library because we have no internet access yet and we can't get broadband where we are - aaaaarrrrghhhhh what am I going to do? How am I going to keep up to date with all the lovely blogs I read? I see myself finding an internet cafe with good flat whites and no children - not so bad eh?!

Baking and memories ...

We had my sister-in-law and her children around for afternoon tea today which is always greeted with great excitement from Maia and lots of baking from me! I wouldn't usually condone writing in books but my recipe books are an exception. It's nice to make notes on how a recipe went or if you made any variations and also the date you made it and if it was something special.

The first thing I baked yesterday was from my trusty Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook - rock cakes. The note by the side reminded me that I had first made it for friends in Tauranga after their second child was born. Just seeing the few notations bought back the whole day and the celebration of the occasion.

The next recipe also bought back huge memories but of a very different kind. When we were in New Zealand last year overseeing the sale of our house I made a bacon and apple loaf to take for morning tea at Pop's - Craig's grandfather's. He lived in Waihi and always used to bake the most amazing things himslef but at 94 we thought we'd take the food! It was also the first time he would meet Cassia. I was always overwhelmed when I thought about it because I never knew any of my grandafathers and yet my girls had a great-grandfather. He loved the loaf which was a great compliment and he thought the girls were amazing! Sadly that was the last time we saw him. Shortly after we returned to UK he headed up to Auckland to a home and quickly deteriorated. He turned 95 on Boxing Day and slipped away the next day. And with him went a whole part of the pioneering spirit of NZ - but that's a story that could fill a whole blog in itself! My life was immeasurably enriched by knowing this man and I am in awe to think that his blood is running through my children - if they do a quarter of what he did in his long life they will have done well.

Pop (94!) and Cassia (6 months), Waihi, April 2007

Pop (93) and Maia (17 months), Waihi RSA, February 2006

Rest in peace Pop - we love you and miss you terribly. xxx

Aaaaarggghh .... I've now got 'it'!

So Maia had 'it' first and she passed 'it' onto Cassia who has had 'it' for 10 days and now I've got 'it'. What is 'it'? A horrible, snotty, achy cold! I had woken up with a sore throats every day last week but managed to keep it at bay but it's now here in full on strength. We're heading off on the big bird 3 weeks tomorrow and there's still soooooooo much to do. Any tips for getting rid of it quickly?!!!!!!

Things about me meme ...

I was tagged a while back by the lovely Gabes over at SweetP Knits for a random things about me meme. So here it is!

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know your entry is up.

1. I have been somewhere on this earth where no-one else has ever been (probably!). When I was 17 I went on an expedition to Iceland. The main aim of the expedition was to map the lava tubes for the Icelandic government and carry out some botanical studies in the region. Lava tubes are underground hollows/tunnels caused after a volcanic eruption when the surface of the land cools in contact with the air but the lave is still running underneath. So one day 3 of us went to do some plotting in the most fascinating underground environment. We crawled through spaces that just took our body width and found caverns and caves - awesome! Although when I think about it now I don't think I could do it!

2. I hate celery!!!! We went to an ante-natal get-together when Maia was about 15 months and they had celery sticks there. She found them and thought they were great. Luckily for me the dads were at that one too so that Craig could pick her up and put her in the car - when I tried I really gagged and couldn't do it!

3. I really want to be a 'surf chick', although I'm not sure that's the word now that I'm a mother heading to 40! When I headed to NZ to see Craig before we got married I was convinced I was going to become a surfer. He has surfed since his teens and I thought he could teach me. How wrong could a girl be?!! I first paddled out on his board at Pekapeka and caught a wave in and so had the bug and bought my own 2nd hand board. I had fun learning in the shallows at Lyall Bay and could paddle out and catch the waves but couldn't get up. Craig would be with me for all of 5 minutes before spotting sets out back and having to head off! I'd still love to do it but would probably now settle for a surf school and huge long board!

4. Although Craig and I travelled before we met we have never travelled together - something that we'll have to rectify in the future.

5. Not including when I've been travelling, I have lived in 28 different houses! I have physically moved more than this because I/we have lived in certain places more than once! So another international move is just another feather in my cap!

6. I would really like to be able to play the guitar.

Now as I'm pretty new to this I don't really know 6 people to pass this on to. So if you read this and think you'd like a go then please do - and let me now your entry is up.

What mothers do ......

.... especially when it looks like nothing!

This is the title of a great book I borrowed from my LLL meeting library (click here to see book) and also what I've been upto the last few days! Since having two children I've found that sickness seems to linger - one gets it, the other gets, one gets a relapse etc, etc and we all go stir crazy!

So today, whilst it may have seemed to me like I was doing nothing, I was in fact:

• making playdough flowers
• making a hospital from playdough - and a boat to get the patients to the hospital!
• doing jigsaws over and over again
• making friends with a spider, who Cassia called Toad and despearately wanted on her hand - this actually took over half an hour!
• reading, reading, reading lots of books to Cassia
• drawing, gluing and sticking
• making and eating food

amongst all the other day to day things us mothers do!

And we sold a car. It was due a service this morning and then we got the news that the repairs were going to be over a thousand pounds - ouch!!!!! So we sold it and got an OK price for it. Now all that's left to do is sell another one, rent out the house, sort, organise and pack and then get on that plane to NZ!

Oh we also found these:

Vintage Rupert the Bear snap cards - aren't they just awesome? And great to see a golliwog!

A big move in the offing ...

It's already been a week since I posted a photo of packing boxes and I've not got back to it since - where does the time go?! For those of you who don't already know we're heading back to NZ. The whys, hows and wherefores are not all worked out yet but the flights were booked yesterday - so we've at least got one definite!

To cut a very long story short we have decided to rent out our house in the UK and head back to NZ - whether it's 'for good' or not we don't yet know. Although what is 'for good' these days? Permanent doesn't seem to feature in our family dynamics - the longest Craig and I have been in one place since we met is about 18 months (and that's not all in the same house!). We have been called eternal gypsies, foolish, brave and much more by various people over the years and so it's not that much of a surprise to people that we are once again uprooting and moving back to the other side of the world! Of course one thing that is different now is that we have two children so they must be considered and it also sharply increases the price of any travel we do (this time they'll both be over 2 so have to pay 75% of adult fare - ouch!!!!!!!). I thought by the very fact of having children we would become rooted but 4 years later we're still not.

Lots of things have happened over the last 2 1/2 years, which aren't really suitable for public broadcast, but which mean that I have to focus on my immediate family - Craig, Maia and Cassia. And the decision has been made to return - an extremely hard one to make in some respects but we think it is the right one. However, we are not going with all guns blazing - we're going to rent out the house here and put our things into storage (those same things that were only shipped back from NZ last year!) and take some time to visit a couple of places we've dreamed about. It would, of course, be very easy to head straight back to Tauranga and our friends there (who I have missed dearly whilst in the UK) but we're after 'the dream' and so are heading off on our own modern quest to find it. Lots of places to visit, lots of questions to be anwered but I'm sure we're going to have lots of fun in the process along with some tears, heartache and frustrations!

No doubt I'll be keeping you posted - the whole nature of this blog will change for a little while because I don't see me having much time to be very crafty for the next 5 weeks with everything that needs sorting, packing and organising! Yep, 5 weeks until we go - so we'll make the end of spring in Aotearoa and are hoping for a lovely summer in which to explore the land of the long white cloud!

On the mend

Thank you for all your kind thoughts - we are now all on the mend. In fact Cassia hasn't had any ill affects from her accidents and I'm now able to walk again albeit with a limp! Enforced inactivity really doesn't sit well with me and I've got incredibly bored. One thing I have been able to do is crochet. It seems to have become somewhat addictive at the moment - to the extent that when I was out with the girls last week and they were happily playing with other children I found myself thinking "I really should have bought my crochet with me and I could get some things finished!" I've a couple of swaps going with some ladies on the GP Forum so now I've nearly finished them. Also made a beanie for each of the girls:

Maia has made some invitations to her birthday party - she told me she was drawing lots of balloons - she's into this handmade malarkey young!

I just love the kind of drawing she's doing at the moment. As with all the development, I've been amazed at how it happens with very little input from us. One day she was just scribbling really and then all of a sudden she was drawing what were recognisable figures. The first time I had to ask Craig if he'd been drawing like that with her but he hadn't. Aren't they miraculous little creatures with all this innate knowledge and understanding? If I think to hard about it makes my head spin!

We went for lunch at my parents yesterday and my uncle was there. We have seen him quite regularly since we returned from NZ which is great as we hadn't seen much of him over recent years. He was asking us all about NZ and the geography of the land and I mentioned that Edmund Hillary had learnt to climb mountains on Mt Cook, in NZ South Island, before he went on to conquer Everest. Uncle Jim replied - "Mmm, I met him once" .......!!!! I was gobsmacked but apparently he was working at a hotel in Liverpool and met Edmund Hillary - I thought that was soooo cool.

Reading material from New Zealand

We had my in-laws arrive from New Zealand at the beginning of the month. They hadn’t seen the girls for over 12 months so couldn’t believe the change in them, especially Cassia. She was 9 months when we left NZ last year and is now a walking, talking, jumping, singing 21 month old!!! Not only did they bring the girls presents but I had also put in my shopping list before they boarded the plane.

I’d never really read magazines regularly whilst in the UK but whilst resident in NZ I started reading Next and NZ House & Garden. Both of these were warmly welcomed into my home and I set out to read the July 2008 edition of NZ H&G. I don’t normally read the letters pages but did on this occasion and a lot of the letters referred to an article in the May edition. That article was about a New Zealander called Melissa Wastney who was making beautiful items from pre-loved clothing. It whetted my appetite and of course I had to find a copy of the May edition. There’s a shop behind NZ House in London called Kiwifruits The New Zealand Shop and it was only a matter of minutes before I was on the phone to them asking if they happened to have a copy left. Fortunately for me, unfortunately for my bank balance, they did and it duly arrived within a few days. Now not only could I read the article on Melissa Wastney but I had another full magazine to get my teeth into. Melissa has a lovely blog, tiny happy, which has become something of a regular read for me now. Maybe it could inspire you too!

Quilts, blankets and work in progress

The first blanket I made was a puff patchwork one. It was after the birth of Maia and I was feeling all creative so I started making some puff patchwork pieces with fabric I bought from Spotlight. The store was an hour from where we lived but it was in an amazing town, Rotorua, so it was a great excuse to visit. First port of call was always breakfast, usually at the Fat Dog for french toast with bacon, banana and maple syrup, followed by Spotlight and then maybe another attraction if Maia allowed! I had made lots of the puff pieces but didn't know quite how to put it together so it was lovely that when my Mum and Dad were visiting from UK that Mum and I finished it off together. It was made primarily for Maia but it's now in communal use through the living area.

The blanket at the time became Maia's blanket for reading under, snuggling on and it came on any trips we made as her reimder of home. One day after she was sick all over it I realised that we needed another for when this one was in the wash! I had been lucky enough to inherit a bag of fabric remnants from my mum, which contained loads of fabric from each of our houses which we lived in whilst we were growing up. My mum was very fond of Laura Ashley and so the pieces lent themselves perfectly for a quilt. I had done patchwork as a child but not on the mahcine so having read a gew books from the library I thought I'd start with a simple square pattern. This one has also become a handy addition to our household and when we travelled back to NZ last year I had it in the handluggage so the girls had something nice to play on in transit and I had something to snuggle Cassia up in whilst feeding on the plane. It was good for the soul to have something so pretty on such a long journey.

This last one is a work in progress! I started it before we left NZ (2 years ago) and it was going to be my mum's 70th birthday present. Then we returned to UK and I was actually at her 70th so it didn't seem quite so important to get it finished and so it remains today. I'm having a lot of trouble with the finishing - every time I try to get the backing piece on it all goes out of shape and really hard to machine quilt. I actually just used cotton fabric sold for dressmaking so I don't know if that's something to do with it but I must try to get it finished and in use.

The heart motif at the centre of the quilt:

The grass is always greener!!!

We had a visit today by a friend from New Zealand. She’s a English girl who met a kiwi over here (in fact best mates with my husband) but has lived in NZ for the last 9 years. She moved to the area that we were living in shortly before we returned to the UK. The visit was bittersweet. It was, of course, lovely to see her and catch up but also brought back all the memories I have of living in ‘the Bay’. Maia was born in Tauranga and so it holds great memories for me – the birth of our first child and the subsequent journey and adventure of parenting. With no family close by, and no friends to begin with (we moved when I was 6 months pregnant) we became very reliant on each other and once Maia was born the three of us had the most amazing babymoon and her dad was around constantly for the first 4 months of her life. The bond between them was wonderful and still is and if ill, upset or scared she calls equally for her dad as she does for me. However, life wasn’t a bed of roses. I really missed the UK. It was no surprise to me that I would miss my family but I actually missed the country itself and things you can do here (oh and of course some of the shopping!).

Since returning I have, of course, loved seeing family and friends and watching my two little girls get to know their English family. What I haven’t done though is most of the things I found myself missing in NZ! I think this is a combination of the fact that life’s that much busier with 2 and I have changed since becoming a parent. Certain things no longer hold importance for me. The fact is now that the children and their wellbeing is our priority (of course not to the detriment of their mum and dad!). I also realise how much of a Kiwi I had become in my 3 years there – I still can’t get used to the pace of life here or the population! And I miss my friends. Before children I didn’t really have that many girl friends – I found boys/guys much easier to be around and much less complicated. Having a baby changed that for me and I realise what an invaluable support girl friends are, especially ones going through the same life stages as you. Cassia was born over here shortly after returning and we knew no-one but my family, who have older children, in the area. I have never felt so isolated and this was after supposedly returning ‘home’. It didn’t help that we weren’t settled and, for a variety of reasons, moved a lot in those first few months (by the time Cassia was 7 months she had lived in 7 different houses – but that’s a whole different story!). I find myself yearning for those very things that weren’t ‘right’ when we were in NZ. I must be the only Brit capable of moaning about a climate where there’s brilliant sunshine almost year round, winter temperatures rarely drop into single figures and where you don’t have to own a winter coat, gloves or scarf – but I did! I longed for grey skies - well I got my fair share of them this winter and plenty of use out of all the winter clothes – but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought.

Like the title of this says the grass is always greener but I realise now that we need to live fully in the present and owe it to ourselves to find the place/work/lifestyle that’s going to work for our immediate family and work towards getting it.

Maia on the beach in summer - she's the dot in the middle!

Sheep on the beach - the water is literally just several yards to the left!

Collecting shells before we headed back to the UK