Heart Felt

What we have been up to....

We are still here ~ but having major problems getting on-line.  We are now connected, but our internet link is super slow making up-loading photographs and blogging particularly hard.  Thank goodness for our wonderful libraries here!

We have been super busy exploring and adventuring ~ here are some of the highlights of our week.

Gathering wild spring flowers

Feeding our new family additions ~ six chicks who will hopefully start laying eggs for us in the next few months. (a small dream come true to own our own chickens)

Enjoying the glorious weather before the cold snap hit us with unexpected cold and in some places snow!

Our day out in Wellington where the kids enjoyed running up and down the pier at one of our favorite places ~ Petone.

Hope you all had a great week. xx

New adventures to be had....

It's a bit chaotic in the Heart Felt household at the moment.  We have just sold our house and we have plans to shift down the valley in hope of slowing life down a bit.  We are looking forward to living in a little house in the country for the summer while I'm off work with our new baby ~ so there will be all new adventures to be had!

To get away from the mess and the piling boxes, the kids and I took a break and went out to pick daffodils down the road.  Gathering some yellow spring gold in the spring breeze was just what we needed!

One of the positives about shifting is that you find 'forgotten things'.  While cleaning out the garage I found some walnuts that have been drying out since last Autumn.  Charlie had great fun cracking them open with a little hammer while Sadie and  I took out the nuts.  Funny how little things can be so entertaining....

O.E. 2002

O.E. stands for "overseas experience", something most young Kiwis aspire to do sometime in their lives.  In June 2002, Ian and I did exactly that.  We put our lives on hold in New Zealand and traveled to the United Kingdom on a six month adventure.  Ian was between jobs, my boss agreed to give me leave without pay and we were recently engaged.  It was an exciting time in our lives and recently I have been reliving the experience through my travel journal.

I thought for prosperity I would share my journal as a blog.  I will be adding entries gradually over the next six months.  You can link to my travel blog www.heartfeltnz@blogspot.com or just click on the link on the left of this blog.  

At the time I didn't have a good camera, so many of the photographs will be from other sources and any sentences in square brackets [like this] will be sentences I have added to make my journal more sensible to my readers.  Hope you will take the time and visit now and then over the next few months.

xx

An epic Meme

The lovely Megan of the Frou Frou kind has tagged me for this rather long but interesting Meme. So here is goes...

What is your current obsession?

Thinking about spring, selling our house and the new baby. 

What was the most interesting thing you did today?

Today I took Sadie to the town pool for a swim, it was a lot of fun.  She calls it the “pool pool”.

What are you wearing today?

A bright red merino top with a thrifted wool grey dress, striped tights, boots, red bead necklace and I have my hair in pigtails.

 

What's for dinner?

Tonight is the day before I go shopping, so it will be whatever I can put together from nothing -  (that’s my specialty).

What would you eat for your last meal?

Anything my mum use to cook for us when we were kids + one of her homemade puddings.  

What's the last thing you bought?

Today I bought an old wire cooling rack for cakes and biscuits and a flour sieve from the thrift store.

What are you listening to right now?

Some obscure band on the turntable that Ian found on vinyl record this morning at the thrift store.

What do you think of the person who tagged you?

Megan is one of the bravest and strongest woman blogging right now. xx

 

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?

It would be a cottage in the Lake District in the UK

.

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?

Somewhere warm –Tahiti would do nicely.  

Which language do you want to learn?

Probably French and Maori would be useful. 

What's your favorite quote (for now)?

The computer says Noooooooooooo (from the comedy Little Britain)  

 

What is your favorite color?

Green, it’s been my favorite color for ages.

 

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?

My winter coats and right now my maternity jeans.

What is your dream job?

I have my dream job – being a mother and a part time librarian.  

What's your favorite magazine?

At the moment it would be the New Zealand magazine called "Good"

If you had £100 now, what would you spend it on?

Right now it would be gorgeous/funky maternity clothes……..but I'm not sure if the exist.

Describe your personal style?

Ecliptic, this year I made a personal vow that I would only buy thrift or hand made. I love vintage, I love pretty fabrics, I love funky colors – it depends how I feel when I get up in the morning.  

What are you going to do after this?

Charlie wants me to read him some stories.

What are your favorite films?

I love the film Orlando – I could watch it over and over again. 

What's your favorite fruit?

What ever is in season. Berries in the summer, apples in the autumn.  

What inspires you?

Watching my children absorb absolutely everything around them, they are like little sponges and they are fascinated by the little things in life.  I’m also inspired by the seasons and the beautiful country we live in. 

Your favorite books?

The Magicians Nephew by C.S. Lewis.  It was the first book I read as a child on my own.  Also an obscure book called Pippin’s journal, it’s the only book I have read more than once.

Do you collect anything?

Vintage illustrated children's books.

What are you currently reading?

Small Fry outdoors, inspiration for being outdoors with kids by Susie Cameron and its companion book Small Fry – inspiration for cooking with kids also by Susie Cameron. 

Go to your book shelf, take down the first book with a red spine you see, turn to page 26 and type out the first line:

“It was not possible, for the thorns held them fast as if with hands so that the young men were trapped, unable to free themselves, and they all died a wretched death.”  

From a book called The Fairy Tales” illustrated by one of my favorite illustrators, Jan Pienkowski.

What makes you follow a blog?

I follow blogs that inspire me either by their alternative lifestyle or by the area and country that they live in.  If they can take gorgeous photographs – I’m hooked.  

 

What do you love most about where you currently live?

The changing seasons, the beauty of the countryside and the snow on the ranges.

The rules:
1. Respond and rework; answer the questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your invention, add one more question of your own.
2. Tag eight other people.  

I tag: Amy (Seven Stitches) ; Gabrielle (Life in our busy household) ; Julie (Dreaming of Daisies) ; Abi (Little Grubs) ; Steph (Love Stitches) ; Keri (Songs of Light) ; Lucy (Speckled Egg) and Gabes (SweetP Knits)

But only if you want to play. xx

Our summer treasure trove

Today Charlie was feeling a bit unwell, so I decided to stay home from work and take care of him.  Nothing too serious, he's been feeling tired and lethargic, not the norm for a 3 year old boy.

We thought up of some quiet activities to pass the day, play dough, reading, tea sets, setting up the train set etc.   This afternoon we sorted and arranged all our treasures of shells, stones, bones and bits and pieces we found over the summer months on our walks into Charlie's printers block draw.  It made an impressive collection!

For more pictures of our treasure trove, please visit my Flickr. x

A "Heart Felt" Good-bye to Summer and BIG hello to Autumn!

We had such an amazing Summer, so many wonderful adventures and memories.  My favorite - our trip out to Tora, berry picking, Richmond gardens and of course Christmas!

But we have fare-welled Summer 09 and have welcomed Autumn 09 with open arms.  I love Autumn, the changes, mushrooms, apples, grapes, the harvest!  After a lot of rain yesterday Autumn has already burst through.

In celebration of Autumn I have a new "Heart Felt" design - the Tui bird.  These items and more are available on my Trade Me.   There is a woman's vest available and also a chunky knit featuring little felt toadstools for a 2-3 year old.

I also have made some "Heart Felt" patches for my Felt shop, these include my Kiwiana collection of the Tui, the Fantail bird and a Hei Tiki.  These would be great for sewing onto bags, hats, scarves, clothing, cushions or just display them.

Hope you all had an amazing weekend! xx

Nark in the City

I had to go to the city today to be a witness for a court case.  It was all rather exciting, I'm always up for new experiences.   I have never been in a court room before and I was quite nervous, but everyone was very helpful and talked me through the procedures.

I was in the witness stand for about 10 minutes answering questions from the prosecutors and the defense.  It was all rather exhilarating!  I was dying to hear cliches such as..."I object your Honor"....."over ruled!".......but then I realized I just watch too many court dramas.

Old and new buildings in the city

The new supreme court in construction (The 'Beehive' peeping behind the building on the left)

The excitement just never stopped......with a the fire alarms going off and firemen swarming the building!

Kapiti Coast Breakaway

We have just returned from three days enjoying the sites along the Kapiti Coast.   The weather was mixed, but we found interesting things to see and do along this stunning piece of coast.   

Charlie enjoyed the Southward Car Museum.  I remember visiting this museum myself when I was a child, it was nice to be able to take Charlie and see his delight in the variety of vehicles, planes, motorbikes....basically anything that has wheels!

We stayed further up north at a small place called Waikawa in the Horowhenua District.   The beach house was very comfortable and just a short walk to the beach.

Charlie and Sadie loved running down the sand dunes, building sandcastles, beach combing and writing in the sand with pieces of drift wood.  

Charlie and Daddy with Kapiti Island in the distance.

Leaving only footprints (and paw prints)....

Beach houses peeping out of the sand dunes.

The remains of the strange alien like Porcupine fish.

Me and my shadows...

Happy Valentines Day! xx

For more photographs of our trip to the Kapiti Coast and Waikawa, please visit my Flickr.

Beach life

We have just come home from spending two nights in the bus at Tora.  We had a fabulous time, but it's good to come home to a good coffee, a washing machine, a flushing toilet and a hot shower.

As the saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words".

DAY ONE

Charlie spent most of his time in the rock pools with his little red bucket.

Sadie preferred the beach.

Sadie exploring the texture of a paua (abalone)

Wind and sea sculpted rocks.

Wild mint.

Daddy and Charlie being pirates.

 

DAY TWO

A real shipwreck.

Charlie gathering seaweed.

Pirate treasure?

Crashing waves......the hard

and the soft side of life at the beach...

passing the time by creating and drawing.

Our mobile we made for the bus out of things gathered from the beach.

I'm glad I took my drawing pad out with me.

Back of the old bus

DAY THREE

Gorgeous seals

Charlie checking out the seals in the distance.

Sadie taking it all in

Saying good-bye

For more photographs, please visit my " FLICKR".

Down by the river

We have been enjoying long hot summer days here in New Zealand. 

For those of us who don't own swimming pools (which are most people in our town) you have three options.  The town pool, you could fill up the kid’s paddling pool in the backyard or drive 10 minutes into the countryside along a hot dusty winding road towards the Tararua Ranges.  Because the river comes straight off the ranges it's rather invigorating (in other words VERY COLD!) but being surrounded by native forest and deep cooling pools, it's pretty special.

 

 

Badger, our little black dog hates the water, you can see his concern as he watches the children in the water.

 

 

Too cold for me!