Monday Morning

 The boys are back at school today. The holidays have been wonderful but there is such a sense of joy that floods through my being when they hop onto the school bus ready to fill their minds with all sorts of things (mainly at lunchtime when they hang out with their friends). 

As you've probably picked up over the past few years, I'm not one for housework. But there is something almost mystical about that moment when you sweep and the floor stays looking sparkly for more than 5 minutes. I'm having a moment aren't I!

Anyhoo - I wanted to show you the watercolour above that my neighbour Dominique painted for my birthday.

 And that's me, blue hair and all, balancing on my own pair of stilts. I did have blue hair for the first half of this year but now it's blond. I like to think it's been captured for eternity in this painting. Look at the tiger's expression!

My dogs were looking a little sheepish this morning being used to store pav hats and birds so I had to take a photograph of them. Poor little things.

And I couldn't not show you my wisteria wisteriaring away. It's a glorious spot for a cup of tea or glass of wine.

 And my first bunch of roses. Yip, yip, wahoo!

Lots of love,

Kate. xxx

Birthday Presents!

 I am feeling utterly spoilt today after a wonderful birthday yesterday. Hugo (9) and I were at the local market last week when I spotted a salad sprouting kit which I thought was wonderful. Hugo stowed it away, later explaining it to Jonno. And together, they made one just for me! Archie (12) snuck away an enormous and very much forgotten glass jar I had filled with odds and ends and turned it into the most beautiful terrarium. So I am feeling very fortunate. I'm so glad they already have that ethos we all cherish in blogland, of making something special for someone you love. 

So today Hugo and I are going to start sprouting some seeds he bought. Very exciting..... watch this space!
Lots of love,
Kate. xxx

Home Spots

 I love when a spot of happiness emerges from the chaos that is home. Today it is the middle of our kitchen table. A vase filled with fragrant Wintersweet, a homemade candle and an enamel bowl of polyanthus. 

Yesterday's spot was the couch where I had a very special skype appointment. Putting a little bit of time into getting water in a nice carafe, a favourite glass and as many blankets as I might need made all the difference. 

I hope you find a nice sunny spot to bask in today!

Lots of love, Kate. xxooxx.

Life at the Kitchen Table

 The kitchen table is such a hub of life isn't it. I looked at this morning's still life and saw apples, mittens, clean washing, homework, books, paints, paper mache and crochet all finding a space.

This is my new and very precious mixing bowl that has come to me from Jonno's grandmother. I have promised her that I will make a Christmas pudding in it this year.

 Hugo's homework spot - spelling and times tables. 

My paper mache creatures waiting patiently for me to finish them and engaging in a good chat.

 And my scarf that I have been working on at night after all of my 'book' tasks have been finished for the day. I am going to put a bobble edge along the bottom.

Lots and lots of love,

Kate. xxooxx

Around the House

Last night we had a shuffle around of furniture. This means that some parts of the living room are pristine with freshly hung paintings and other parts are teeming with piles of unbelongings. Unbelongings are very important things waiting to have a home allocated - clutter needs to be kicked out of cupboards to make way for them.

 I am still going through all of the patterns for the book, retesting again and again. Here is a mountain that is usually quite big but I made it from 4ply last night and now it is little.

 A corner of happiness. The photo on the right is my wedding day - I was greedy for colour even back then.... almost 14 years ago....

Lots of love,
Kate. xxooxx.

A Box of Birds and Home Again!

Oh my goodness it's heaven to be home again. We had a wonderful Christmas and a lovely three weeks spent in Australia with family, but the old saying holds true.... Yes Dorothy, there really is no place like home. I am however, currently coming up with plans to squish Australia and New Zealand together. I just can't quite get the tectonic plates to shift enough without major volcanic activity.

By the way, look what I bought - a box of birds! And they were only $5.50 - bargain!!!!!!!

They've escaped from their box and I keep finding them in the funniest of places. Last night we had friends over for dinner and they (the birds) scattered themselves across our picnic table, only darting for crumbs when we weren't looking.

We're well into summer with hot nights and imploring rain dances. It is such a beautiful summer but we are really needing to hide in the sweltering afternoons. Luckily I have some good books up my sleeve which I will write about soon.

 Nothing like sitting outside in the evening with a cooling breeze and homemade candles.

 And of course, playing our favourite game Quiddler. The whole family is obsessed with it - boys included and we are very fortunate that our neighbours don't mind playing the odd game or five with us too.

Lots and lots and lots of love,

Kate. xxooxx.

Joining the Dots.

After my last giddy post celebrating the joy of Spring - old Mr. Hay Fever paid a visit. This wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, except for the fact that I have tiny little holes in my ear canal bones so the moment I get a bit snuffly, I become so dizzy that I have to lie prone in bed. Thank goodness the medication has had time to settle it down somewhat, but it is very frustrating. As a result I thought that today was a good day to concentrate on joining all of the good dots together. 

First of all, going through Jonno's new book, 'Jamie's Comfort Food' by Jamie Oliver (of course and handsomely dressed on the front cover like the yellow Wiggle). This is a truly wonderful cook book and I've already marked about a million recipes with some extremely cute sticky labels.

Deciding to cook his Hummingbird cake and having the kitchen fill with the crazy-delicious smell of baking.

 Getting ready to make Spring pot plants.

 Having a brand new pair of turquoise gumboots to kick through pink petal confetti.

 Choose where to sit and enjoy the first few evenings of daylight saving... under the wisteria....

Or under the cherry blossom.

So going slowly at the moment does have it's compensations. Yesterday lying in bed I also had time to finish Jo Walton's amazing book, 'My Real Children' which is completely and utterly unputdownable. It's basically about an older women beset with dementia and torn between memories of two parallel lives, I became so involved and so attached to both possibilities that I couldn't bear for an ending where one may not to be real. Be warned though, it is one of those books that ruin you for anything you try to read after.

Time for lunch.

Lots of love,

Kate. xx.

My Best Mug.

 I bought this mug when I was in London at Liberty. We all had a special cup when we were travelling AND a thermos so we could stop whenever we were salty for a cup of tea.... this happened regularly. 

This particular stop was a bit special as it was by a loch in Scotland. One of the most picturesque cup-of-tea spots in my life..... except for the midges. Oh my giddy aunt. As soon as we were done, we ran to the car. They bite!!!!! 

I think the whole trip was worth it just because I get to drink my tea from this cup every morning. I love it sooooo much. Hope you are having lots of lovely weekend cups of tea.

Lots and lots of love,

Kate xxooxx.

In the Cupboard.

 So with all of the boxes arriving from Australia, we have had a reshuffle of our furniture. This cupboard was purchased for toys and thank goodness we are now moving away from that stage. Which means..... that it can be moved into the kitchen and used for more a practical purpose.

 Displaying all of my bits and bobs. I am waiting for Jonno to screw in lots of little hooks so that I can hang up tea cups and trays so hopefully by next week I can start unpacking some of my Australian stuff into it. I have to admit that it felt like playing with a large scale dollhouse.

 And of course the odd bird was definitely needed to perch inside as Hugo has often thought it looked like a big birdhouse.

In case you have had enough of my cupboard (But whyyyyyyyy?), here are some crochet roses I have been working on. 

Lots and lots of love,

Kate xxooxx.

This Morning at Home.

And so ends another (and hopefully our last for a while) crazy week. Monday saw unpacking from our camping trip, yarn arrive for a crochet project that had to be sent away by Tuesday lunch and repacking for Archie's school camp. I had a couple of days to do things like washing, shopping, town jobs etc before we had a phone call saying that my shipping container from Australia was about to be dropped off! Wahoo and eek!!!!!

 Some of you may remember that I went to my parent's place in Australia mid November to finally pack up the rest of my stuff as they were moving and down sizing. It has been the most wonderful thing to have lovely bits of family furniture and boxes arrive... However, with the whole house being rearranged it looks very much as though we have just moved in! Yesterday I concentrated on our bedroom because to me, the sleeping area will always be my main priority. Last night, settling down surrounded by old familiar friends (chests of drawers and so on rather than a strange audience of neighbours), I felt so connected to my Australian family... a real sense of homecoming. 

Waking up this morning was a bit special so I thought I would share a few photos.

I added this photo because I always like to include a reality check. Downstairs is flooded with belongings and furniture. It took me 3 years to find the children yesterday and that was only when I had removed copious bags of wool from the couch. It turned out they were happy watching Stephen Fry's 'Hidden Kingdom' on demand. I would have been contently lost too!

Lots of love,

Kate xxooxx.

p.s. I am reading 'The Food of Love Cookery School' by Nicky Pellegrino at the moment. It is lovely and light and exactly what I need. I've also just finished 'Ripper' by Isabelle Allende which I adored - a thriller/mystery set in San Francisco and well written with great characters. I love a good murder mystery but have been spoilt by Louise Penny who is my absolute favourite writer of that genre (and in my top 10 all time bestie writers). It's worth starting at the beginning of her books (Louise Penny) as the characters develop so much as time goes on.

A Tiny World Prototype.

 My new project is trying to make little worlds for Christmas tree decorations, this is the first one off the block. Hopefully I will have a tutorial up soon (although I have a lot of work to do on the Stanley project first...).

This is just a little post today. Lots and lots of work waiting for me to say hello unfortunately... I went to the op shop the other day to by some more spoons for the boys (magicians in training). I came away with this beautiful two-handled teacup and a Limoges plate ($9NZ) to hang on my kitchen wall. The wool came from my favourite wool shop in town and I am sturggling (much better word than struggling) not to eat it as it is so ice creamily wonderful.

Lots and lots of love,
Kate xxooxx.

The Blackboard Wall and Other Things.

The blackboard wall has come in very handy over the past couple of months. As you can see, the boys have expressed themselves nicely all over it. By the way, do you like our super high spare bed? Until our old bed is trundled off to its next destination, for storage purposes, the spare has become a triple decker. Very luxurious.

The blackboard wall has also been terrific as a backdrop to take photos against. I adore it so much that there is a part of me that would love to do our bedroom the same way (but I do know it would never work in there). I have shown these portraits before, Archie and Hugo painted by my friend Mandy Williams. 

And a bundle of bunting by nightlight just for something pretty.

Lots of love,

Kate xxooxx.