Well hello again

It's weird to come back to my comfortable old blog and realise how much of a different direction my life has taken since my days of being a stay at home, busy Mum, dedicated to my children, garden, being healthy, thrifty and considering in every day the impact I am having on my environment and others. These days my core values remain the same but my priorities differ so much. I have little time to appreciate the garden and the phases of the moon, in fact I guess it would be about a year since I accepted my direction was changing. I'm appreciating those values in little moments that are fleeting, like getting out of bed on Saturday morning and seeing the stars of Matariki shining so brightly that I could not help but think it's going to be a good season in the garden. Visiting a new friend in Tapawera and spotting a New Zealand falcon in the sky which scared up the ducks we were hoping to shoot for the freezer. I give my feedback on pruning and planting but spend little time with my hands in the soil. Instead I am thoroughly absorbed in my learning at teachers college. I watch lectures online and have written the first academic essays of my life. I've had brilliant grades so far and done very well with reflective practice and observations which my Playcentre training and few years blogging set me up well for. I have persevered with the technology and completed my first semester after a wonderful placement at a rural school. My favorite part of the course has been learning te reo, I've loved the culture and the language since I was a very little girl exploring the native rivers and bush in Masterton and doing waiata at Fernridge School.
 There have been only a few low lights, my blood pressure skyrocketed with the stress of study and exams and I do miss the authentic feeling of living in touch with my environment, however it is thrilling to be learning and teaching. Next semester starts in a week, I'll be doing music, drama, art, math and literacy. Can't wait. I just have time to sneak in a little bit of sewing and hopefully some adventure this week. Best wishes to all my friends and community.

My children are doing well. I am proud of them all. The teen is finding his path, Skatey is racing mountin bikes and loving it, PJ has made some wonderful friends and is still doing  tap, playing sport and trying very hard with her school work,  the Red head is excelling in maths and playing hockey. They are all benefiting from living so close to their extended whanau (family), multiple generations of relatives are sharing their knowledge and love with us.

The last month for us, has revolved around settling the children into their new schools and routines. It has been a huge change for them to go from a small country school to an urban school with over 600 children! After school pick up is crazy and I find it hard to even find my children amongst the sea of uniforms. They have had their ups and downs settling in, but I'm so happy that they embrace change as an exciting thing and are all pretty sociable and enjoy making new friends. The red head started cricket on the weekend, Miss PJ has been on a school camp and started at a new tap school and Skatey boy is exploring the region on his mountain bike. A few weeks ago we biked 9km around Rabbit Island with Granny and the kid's uncle on a beautiful not too hot summers day. PJ ended up in A and E though with a great big gash in her leg that required 3 stitches, but hey that's adventuring for you.
Last but not least, I have finally started Uni and what a shock to the system that was/is! I'm absorbed in a world of reading, online lectures and tutorials. With a little bit of face book for light relief. I'm really enjoying being a student and have a wonderful group of classmates.
I gave myself a brain break this weekend and made pickled onions and pesto, which reminded me of my former self sufficient bliss.

Sweet saturday

One of those lovely days.
We spent the day with our school community at the Brooklyn Book and country fair, shared out all our coins evenly, and came home with a pile of books, prizes and happy hearts.
It made my day to go and have a cuppa with Melissa whose family bought our house. Seeing the garden again was awesome, like visiting old friends (plants), some had changed, some had grown old, some were thriving and some were sulking. Melissa and her family have put the heart back into the land and it made my heart sing. The most exciting thing was to see a beautiful, huge crop of apricots for the first time ever. The garlic is also looking magnificent! Melissa loves the soil and it made my day after a really full on emotional week.

I'm such a lucky girl, my kids went with their Granny for the long weekend and I got away to the beautiful South Island West Coast with friends. We briefly visited the Punakaiki tavern where all the motorbikes were stopping on their way to the Greymouth street races but the majority of our weekend was spent on the Pororari river trying to catch tasty west coast whitebait.



I enjoyed some beach walks and bush walks and two nights in a batch where I could hear the sea roaring and night. We lit a fire to heat the water for showers and used solar power for music and lights. It was beautiful and I wish I could have stayed all week or forever.

Spring 11

My garden has blossomed a beautiful farewell to us and a welcome to the lovely family who are moving here.
Creating a garden to nourish children is one of my most satisfying accomplishments and we leave here for new challenges full of hope and promise with faith that it is all happening perfectly.

Recent Holidays

My kids had a lovely midwinter school break.
Skatey boy probably had the holiday of a lifetime skiing in Wanaka with two school friends and then had some time on a farm in Christchurch. My friends generously gifted him the holiday, and he worked for a couple of days as a builder's apprentice to contribute to the costs. I'm very proud of him, the feedback I got from the family he stayed with was very complimentary.
While he was away it snowed in Motueka for the first time (my Uncle said ) since 1977! And I missed it too, as I was away with friends. The small kids made a big pile of snow on the trampoline and lit candles with Granny during the power cut, very exciting!Then we all got to enjoy the snow as a family at Rainbow ski field last weekend. The little kids took to skiing like ducks to water and Skatey showed me his newly acquired skills.
I went to ski school, but I was a bad student!

Magic of the tide

Yep that was me all wet suited up. What a blast, I think it was the best summer the kids and I have ever had.

All the darkness is gone. We found fun, joy, adventure and silliness. I found a little too much and wrecked my ankle on a rope swing. But hey it served to remind me my body is not 18 any more even if I feel that way.

I didn't garden or write or knit.
I got to know a whole other me, I remember her from very long ago and I like her alot!

Summer here

Amazing adventures, a different path.

Lucky to call this place home

We were lucky enough to go on the Aqua Taxi into our nearby National Park today.

We got up close to our iconic "split apple rock" where the red head was most impressed as the boat driver said they think it has been there since the last ice age.

I loved the wildlife. Getting to view it all up close from the boat was fabulous. It was just the right time of year to see shags nesting and a mother seal feeding her pup on the rocks on the predator free Adele Island.

The water was quite rough today so we didn't spot any of the dolphins we had been hoping for, but that just gives us an excuse to go back again another day.

Perhaps if we had lived here 150 years ago we might have been lucky enough to see some giant moa which were native to New Zealand but are now extinct. The statues at the gallery by the entrance to the National Park were pretty impressive. How lucky are we to have all this at our back doorstep.

Thank you, a giveaway

A thank you to all who have read, smiled, frowned and reflected at this wee place for almost 4 years. It has been a pleasure to share here. Your comments and emails have meant more than you could possibly know.
You may not know, I love orange (and red heads) so I'm giving away one of my favorite orange and black retro fabric tote bags to celebrate 300 posts. It's a good size for knitting, magazines, market, shopping, etc. It's one of a kind, no one else will have one of these.

But,

If you don't love orange as much as I do I'll send you a mystery package, it will include hand spun wool, patchwork scraps and design samples. Just make a comment or send an email with your preference at the bottom of this post. I'll happily post to the winner anywhere on this fabulous Earth.

Just promise me you'll make one concession for your environment this week and try and make it a priority at least once a week if you aren't already.

Simple ideas to start you off are:

buy local,

buy in season,

teach it to your kids, friends and family,

walk,

bike,

give,

recycle,

share,

grow it,

smile,

love,

forgive,

THANK YOU,

From your friend GILLY BEAN

Quick change of plan

I just passed my 300th post and I've been thinking about a giveaway to celebrate,

but when the fresh caught whitebait arrived for dinner last night sausages went off the menu really quickly and a salad was sourced from the garden. I just had to share the images here for your mouthwatering pleasure.

Whitebait patties:

For 1lb of freshly caught whitebait, have the children beat up two free range eggs, sprinkle in a tablespoon of flour and season with pepper and salt, add whitebait. The kids will enjoy tipping the whitebait in the bowl and giving it a stir. Mine love the eyes and tease each other to eat them raw.

Then easy peasy, put spoonfuls in a pan to fry in butter.

Come back for the giveaway next week.

Allies

My plant allies this spring are the perennial herbs.

The strong potent roots revealing and releasing their energy,

Full of promise after the cold and darkness inward,

stored potential,

restored,

anchored strongly,

bursting forth into sunshine and warmth.

This spring movement feels very significant to me in this season.

Shaken awake

We're thinking of everyone down in Christchurch this morning, hoping they have enough food, warmth and water to get through the next couple of days.
We had some girls here for a sleepover for PJ's birthday and the shaking woke us all up. Luckily we are far enough away for it not to have any serious effects. After lots of questions and reassurance they went back to sleep.The girls helped Pj to celebrate by decorating cupcakes, making pizzas and playing games.
A very happy birthday girl.

I just had my "Lucy Jordan" birthday. You know the one, "at the age of 37 she realised she'd never ride through Paris in a sports car with the warm wind in her hair" I'm not too sure that Paris in a sports car would have done it for me anyway."Skatey" and I stopped to watch this thrush singing the joys of spring in the neighbours trees this morning. When he got home from High school today he spotted her on our lawn, "Mum there's that thrush" "Yeah I know I've been watching her all day" I enthused.
With typical teenage sarcasm he said "well that must have been exciting!"

Visitors stopping by with birthday wishes WAS exciting. So was two beautiful bottles of wine from Christy in exchange for blackboy peach seedlings. Thank you so MUCH Christy, it was a wonderful surprise. I'm not sure the courier was expecting to be answered at the door by someone in pink striped pyjamas though, SIGH. I was so tired from two nights of the "red head" coughing and spewing (in my bed) with swine flu that I hadn't bothered much with daily routines. The washing and showering was done in the middle of the night and he pointed out in the morning that "it's black around your eyes Mum". It also wasn't much help that he left his "special" comfort blanket with his Dad last weekend.

Other treats for me included books, seeds, chocolates, lip balm, face book shout outs, and another gift of wine at the doorstep. Also got an invite for lunch at the Indian restaurant.

Now perhaps I should clean the house for hours, or re-arrange the flowers.

Spring trio of natural scent

I LOVE Spring scents!
I was the lucky name drawn for some natural perfume from Johanna. Her blog has some great links for natural perfumes and she's just opened Argot Bazaar with some beautiful looking scented goodies for sale.

Sea views

We've built ourselves a place by the sea before

This time we've settled for the beautiful local sandspit.

Seems to be a lovely quiet neighbourhood.
We settled on a "doer upper". Skatey supervised the other kids into a workforce to make his dwelling windproof.

PJ planned future improvements, and collected a bag full of rubbish off the beach.

A beautiful relaxing warm winter day.

The Sand spit is a special place for the amazing migratory Bar- Tailed Godwits and

the Motueka Arts council have organised an event this year to celebrate the godwits return.

We recommend this as a beautiful local spot to visit. Please leave only footprints though.