Garden Discovery

We were so excited and happy to move into our very first home in August,  and gosh I still feel so lucky to live in such a calm and relaxing place.  It has occurred to me I am yet to share pics of our garden - so here is a little peek into our green space.

Much of the property is clad in native trees and the rest of the garden is almost vertical so growing space is at a premium and involves being a little creative.

There are lots of steps and pokey little corners harbouring some lovely treasures.

Today we spent some time digging out wild ginger which is a pest plant here (to be honest that means my honey dug while I pointed) and discovered a little herb garden with sage, lemon balm, scented geranium, mint and rosemary.  I love these types of finds!

Plans to make a food garden in a steep terraced area by our guest bedroom are forming.  It will be a bit of a mission digging out all the undesirables and replenishing the spent soil, but with some diligent composting we hope to be able to grow some nourishing food for our little family.  It seems there are already some wild strawberries :)

Do you have a really steep or small garden?
Have you managed to grow food successfully?
What things worked for you?

xx

Incy Wincy Spider Coat

Incy Wincy Spider has climbed onto my newest boy's coat!

Incy is very friendly and spends quite a bit of time just hanging about,  He is a great listener and very good at keeping all sorts of secrets.  His best friend bat just loves to play and is always flying around saying hi to everyone.

The idea was to create two great pals to keep children company in the cooler weather...  They passed the test with my little girl - she wanted to keep this coat for herself!  

It is made from 100% pure New Zealand wool and lined in breathable cotton.  I'm hoping to make a few more of these little coats in different colours soon.  It was such a fun coat to make!  Perhaps I will make one in her size ready for our "down-under" winter.

Would you like to make you own Incy Wincy coat?  Perhaps I might put a pattern together - just let me know :)


x

4/52

A portrait of my child once a week, every week in 2013.

Poppet sits on our bridge steps, putting on her own shoes.  Her Grand-dad turns 70 - possibly the number of attempts at putting her shoes on this week too.

Linking up with Jodi at the 52 project.

xx

Afternoon Baking

 

We decided to do a spot of baking this afternoon using this recipe here.

Baking seems to be a bit of a rare thing in our home lately, and I'm not sure why.  Lives get busy I suppose.  Baking bread was once an almost daily event and added a certain rhythm to the day.

Today's baking has reminded me, in a good way, that it is time to start again.  Now we have moved into our new home and feeling mostly settled, it is time to begin re-forming some simple family routines.  I think daily bread making is a good place to start.

We have our favourite tried and true bread recipes, however I think I will give a few new ones a try.  I like the look of this one by Sophie Grey and also this one from Annabel Langbein.

Do you have a great bread recipe?  I would love to hear from you...

xx

Bunny and Hotties

I embroidered a couple of hottie covers last night and sewed them up this morning.
The wee bunny was made from some leftover green wool - his little scarf is fashioned from the edge of the apricot blanket.

Stitching dandelions is one of my favourite things to do when a little tired to work on something complex, but wish to be doing something with my hands.  I find them simple and soothing to embroider with their round fuzzy edges and whimsical tufts...

These ones are gifts for someone special.

x

Incy Wincy Sketches

A friendly little spider drops in to say hi.
A happy bat flutters past too.

Thought I would share with you some simple hand sketches of one of my new boy's coat designs coming soon.

x

3/52

A portrait of my child once a week, every week in 2013.

Loving her little hair bunches.
Loving her sweet dress - gifted by a friend.
Loving our afternoon outings to feed the ducks.

She likes to get up close with them - the ducks have differing opinions on close.

x

Baby Shoes

Beautiful, soft, 100% pure New Zealand wool baby shoes, lined with breathable cotton.  I have been working on these slowly in the evenings - gently sewing each and every little flower by hand and with love.

These sweeties are heading to Tessuti, a gorgeous shop in Herne Bay.  Pop in and take a look if you are in the area, there are so many lovely things to drool over in-store...

xx

2/52

Poppet:  Slurping watermelon.

At one point her was mouth so full of watermelon she couldn't close it.

x

52 project

Poppet:  Corn on the cob is her vegetable of choice.

We are taking part in the lovely Jodi's  52 project this year.

A portrait of my child every week for the year.  I think this a beautiful idea, perhaps even collated into  a little book in the future.

If you would like to learn more you can read about it here.

xx

A New Year

I saw the sunrise this new year's morning.

Perhaps that speaks to me about our lifestyle with a little one now!

The zoo was quiet and peaceful to wander through on new year's morning, like the world was still asleep.  The animals, however, were still munching away happily without a care of what day of the year it was.  Our little girl was much the same - just another day to her too.

My favourite part of a new year is to have a bit of a look back on the previous year and remember what I have been up to.  Perhaps in the next few days I'll put together a collage of new things I have made during the year as a little reminder of some good times.

Wishing you a happy and peaceful New Year.

xx

Local

The heat got the better of us today.  

We took a stroll with some friends down to our beach.  Someone enjoyed paddling fully clothed in the shallow water, giggling while bogged down with fully swamped gumboots.

Salty, sandy and a little bit tired, home was a lovely retreat.  Ice-creams melted gloriously all over little fingers, before being slurped up.

Summer, we love you.

xx

My little girl's bonnet was made for her by the lovely Jannelle of HeartFelt.  You can see her lovely creations here.

Christmas Day

Christmas Eve