a thousand words

Commenting

2012-01-31T22:30:00.002+13:00

I'm trying to get threaded comments set up, but last time I tried it someone emailed to say she couldn't comment at all. Please let me know - can you comment on this post? If there's a deafening silence I'll assume not ... or you could drop me an email to let me know :) Thanks!

Daniel's blog

2012-01-30T19:54:00.002+13:00

Daniel (age 10) wanted a blog so I helped him create one. Now that he has some posts up he has asked me to share his blog with you, my readers, and your kids if you have any around his age.

So, here it is! Daniel's blog: Level up, dude!

What I wore to church today

2012-01-29T16:51:00.002+13:00

Dress: thrifted
Necklace: Mother's Day gift from my boys
Ring: eBay
Shoes: Tesco

Family and food

2012-01-28T16:26:00.003+13:00

We had a family get-together at our place today; I believe there were 22 of us in the end. My aunt and uncle, three cousins, their spouses and their kids. It was fab to just chill and enjoy each others' company and the kids loved playing together.

The food was fabulous - we all brought something to the table. For dessert I made four flavours of cupcakes:

Chocolate with chocolate icing and sprinkles

Vanilla with vanilla buttercream and colourful nonpareils

Lemon with lemon buttercream and a dusting of icing sugar

Ginger with ginger cream cheese frosting and a piece of candied ginger

(All recipes in my e-book.)

Jandal cake

2012-01-27T19:26:00.004+13:00

As promised, here is the jandal (flip-flop) themed birthday cake that I made for my friend's daughter.

And just to keep things down-to-earth, this is what my kitchen looked like - was decorating the cake and baking and icing 132 cupcakes, in different flavours, at the same time. Yes, 132, although not all of them got iced, some got frozen for later use.

Yellow and blue

2012-01-26T09:00:00.000+13:00

"Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away."

- Dinah Craik

Necessity is the mother of invention

2012-01-25T09:00:00.003+13:00

I am doing a jandal (flip-flop) themed cake for a friend and needed a jandal cutter for the fondant decorations. I wanted two different sizes but could only find super large cutters online. I decided to make my own.

I bought a can of L&P ("world famous in New Zealand"), emptied it (yum), washed and dried it.

Then I stabbed holes in it and used scissors to cut the top and bottom off.

I carefully cut it open.

Then I used my craft knife and metal ruler to cut two neat strips of metal. And yes, slicing the metal with a metal craft blade is exactly as set-your-teeth-on-edge as you would expect. *shudder*

I found a jandal template online and printed it to the size I wanted.

Then, roughly following the templates, I carefully formed the cutters out of the metal strips, closing them with a dab of hot glue.

While nowhere near as sturdy or durable as regular cutters they worked just fine for the decorations.

Check back on Friday for photos of the completed cake!

T-shirt makeover

2012-01-24T19:22:00.002+13:00

Daniel complained that he was bored of his clothes but I knew for a fact that there were some items that he never wears. We went to look through his wardrobe. I pointed out this greyish-purple t-shirt and he said he didn't like it because it was too plain.

I asked him if he wanted one of his own designs on it, but he wanted a particular character (Bowser Jr from Super Mario) and he asked if I would trace it for him.

I found a picture on the internet, printed it and rigged up a makeshift light table - basically a semi-transparent plastic tub upended with a lamp inside - and traced it onto his t-shirt with fabric marker.

Daniel added the wording to the sleeve.

I took the advice of a reader and ironed it - hopefully it will keep the marker from fading in the wash. Here it is on Daniel, who loves it and is now happy to wear it. (He said he didn't want his face showing.)

My boys

2012-01-23T14:49:00.002+13:00

When Noah realised he was wearing the exact same shorts as Daniel the other day he ran to change his t-shirt too. Unfortunately he doesn't have one like Daniel was wearing so he just chose a white one with a design on it.

Head

2012-01-22T09:00:00.000+13:00

“God is eagerly waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as he always has. But he can't if you don't pray, and he can't if you don't dream. In short, he can't if you don't believe.”

- Jeffrey R. Holland

Black and white

2012-01-21T09:00:00.002+13:00

"Happiness is not a matter of events, it depends upon the tides of the mind."

- Alice Meynell

Jandal storage

2012-01-20T09:00:00.002+13:00

Here in New Zealand flip-flops are called jandals. We have a bunch of them and they always seem to be lying around. I saw this product on Pinterest and decided to make my own. It's on the back of the door from the garage into the house.

It's fastened with velcro straps through these over-door hooks from the dollar store - one at the top and one at the bottom.

It's not perfect, and I should have either used a sturdier fabric and / or sewn through a button at the back where the elastic is sewn onto the backing fabric as I can see how it will probably rip out there. But for now it works fine.

Tonight's sunset

2012-01-19T21:19:00.001+13:00

"Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking together in
the same direction."

- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Karioitahi beach blues

2012-01-18T09:00:00.000+13:00

"There are two things to aim at in life; first to get what you want and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind has achieved the second."

- Logan Persall Smith

Plums

2012-01-17T09:00:00.001+13:00

"If the divine creator has taken pains to give us delicious and exquisite things to eat, the least we can do is prepare them well and serve them with ceremony."

- Fernand Point.

Hunua Falls

2012-01-16T19:24:00.002+13:00

Today (Monday) Grant had a day off and of course the kids are still on summer holidays. We decided to do something different and headed out to Hunua Falls, about 35 minutes away.

We first went to have a look at the falls, before heading off for a small hike through the woods.

We look like such tourists!

We came out of the woods on the other side of the pool and settled there for a picnic, swim and play.

The water was quite cold and I wasn't in for long!

I promise I do feed him!!

What I've been wearing

2012-01-15T16:52:00.003+13:00

What I wore to church a few weeks ago - this dress has thin lacy straps so I'll always wear something over it:

Dress: eBay
Cardigan: thrifted
Sandals: eBay (New Look brand)
Necklace: gift from friend

What I wore to church today:

Dress: Sainsbury's
Belt: Matalan
Shoes: eBay (Tesco brand)
Necklace and earrings: gift from Grant, bought when he came out to NZ for his job application
Ring: Matalan (on sale)

Organising photographs

2012-01-14T17:21:00.004+13:00

I can't help it, it's another organising post! One that's been requested: how I organise my photographs. I've broken it into two parts: physical prints and digital files.

Physical prints

I never get prints made nowadays, and haven't for years - I'll explain why later in this post. But in the past, the first thing I would do when I received prints was write the date and names of the people in the prints (and sometimes the place) on the back. (I know there are special pens for this purpose but I always just used a ballpoint pen, being sure to only press lightly.) I do this because if a photo ever comes loose and falls out of an album at least my descendants will know who is in it and when it was taken.

In case you wanted to see the other side of the above print, here it is - awwww!

The photos would then go into albums immediately. My photo albums are all in thick plastic-coated ring binders (from Amazon) and they live on the Expedit bookcases behind our couch.

These are some of the boys' scrapbooks - every photo of Daniel from his first 4 years (almost completed), and every photo from Noah's first year (almost completed).

These are our general photo albums. Some hold multiple years, some only one, depending on how many pictures I took that year:

I used to scrapbook every photo so when I received the prints I'd slip them into the plastic page protectors of my (ring bound) scrapbooks, planning layouts so I didn't accidentally end up doing a double-page spread, single-page spread, then double-page spread. Oops, what would become of the extra single page? Planning out the scrapbook prevented this from happening.

Here are some pictures awaiting scrapbooking and only because I want to finish Noah's first year scrapbook. (Why yes, he is turning 7 in March, why do you ask?)

Some of the photos in our general albums are scrapbooked:

When I stopped scrapbooking a few years ago and switched to just sticking the photos onto neutral cardstock in the same albums. I use regular glue stick (it's luckily acid-free and doesn't damage the photos).

Some have the date stamped in the corner of the page:

Others have it hand-written:

Aww, look at Daniel!

Some pages have short descriptions included with the photos. These pictures were taken after I sold my first business (an online scrapbooking products store) - this is all of the remaining stock, in our car, on its way to the new owner.

The beauty of this system is that if I ever do want to scrapbook the photographs I can pull them out, create a layout with them and slip them back into the same slot in the album.

Here is an instance where I have a scrapbooked layout next to plain photos on cardstock.

I could really have become hung up on creating the "perfect" photo albums, choosing matching cardstock throughout, consistently typing captions, etc. I could have let this perfectionism paralyse me ... and my pictures would still be sitting in a box.

Remember the quote, "Perfection is the enemy of completion." You know what? My albums aren't perfect ... but I am okay with that. Because they do exactly what they are supposed to do: showcase our memories in a way that is accessible. They may not be perfect, but they are done.

Okay, I mentioned above that I no longer get photograph prints made. It's because I have switched to Blurb books and I couldn't be happier!

The software is free and easy to use. You build your book offline using their templates and when it is ready you upload and order. I build our photo book throughout each year and when the year is done I order it. Done and dusted!

You can see them on the bottom right hand corner of our bookcase:

Isn't that awesome? I have the entire story of our house-before-last (more details here) as well as five years' worth of photos in such a small storage space. Each book is 8.5 x 11 inches.

Here are the books laid out on the floor. Doing these books also forces me to take a family photo each year, for the cover:

There are tons of templates to choose from for the pages, then you just drag in your photos. You can create pages with as many or as few photos as you need, and type in the date and descriptions.

You can also include text-only pages:

Or multiple pictures and no text:

On the left-hand page here I wanted to record an anecdote about Noah (he had asked me what the crunchy bits in peanut butter were and when I asked him what he thought they were he said, "Metal?") so I took a photo to go with it:

Each year I also create a slideshow, put it onto DVD, create a matching sticker for it and put it in an adhesive DVD pouch inside the front cover. I include a little sticker in the corner reminding me which song I chose for that year's slideshow. (Click here for the 2011 slideshow.)

Ordering these books actually works out cheaper than ordering all of the pictures as prints and then putting them into albums, and saves me tons of time. They also take up a lot less storage space and are easier to handle. Love them. I haven't ordered my 2011 book yet but it's epic - literally twice the size as previous years! Last year was a big year. So our book ended up being 417 pages long (they only make them up to 440 pages long) and is the most expensive available (the prices vary depending on how many pages you have). I still think it's a bargain at NZ$145 including shipping (that's around US$115 / £75 / R925). Now I just need to earn some money so I can order it!

Digital files

So the Blurb books takes me nicely to talking about digital files. As you have noticed from the ones I share on my blog, I take thousands of pictures a year (2,192 last year, to be exact). I need to be organised with them and this is how I do it.

Firstly, I download them from my camera frequently - within a day or two of taking them. I edit each one and save them onto my hard drive. By doing so, I don't run the risk of losing them if my camera card goes corrupt or I lose my camera, they are available for backup, I can blog them, and I can start building my Blurb book so it's not one huge task at the end of the year.

The most important of the above reasons is they are available for backup.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BACK YOUR PHOTOS UP!!!

Sorry, was I shouting? I feel kind of strongly about it. I'd hate for you to lose records of precious memories if your computer crashes. And yes, it can happen to anyone. Even you.

Grant frequently backs up our hard drives onto an external hard drive.

I also write the image files to DVD. Here's an old one.

And I store them online. I still need to find an inexpensive and reliable online backup facility (any recommendations??), so in the meantime I store them with Photobox, the company I used to order photo prints from in the UK. Every time you placed an order with them you got extra storage space.

Okay, that's enough about backing up photo files. (BACK UP YOUR PHOTO FILES!) Sorry, okay, now I'm done.

As mentioned above, I open, edit and save every single photo I take (I shoot in RAW). Here is how I save them.

On our computer we have a folder called "My Pictures".

Inside that folder I have more folders - one for each year and some extras (the "Documents" one contains scans of our passports etc, "New from cam" is a folder where I can just drag in pictures from my camera with the intention of editing them later, "Slideshow files" contains templates for our yearly slideshows).

Inside each year are folders for each month, and one for the slideshow files.

Each photo file is labeled with the date in reverse order (YYYY MM DD) and a brief description and a number (01, 02, 03, etc).

Here's how September's file looks:

This was October:

Doing the date that way means that they will also appear in correct date order. Adding a brief description makes your images searchable. Want to find the photo of you singing karaoke but can't remember when it was? Run a search on your computer for "karaoke". It'll turn up.

So that's how I organise my photos. I hope some of this has been helpful. I know what it's like to feel overwhelmed by all of your photographs! Just keep in mind the entire point of taking photos in the first place: you want to capture and record memories and occasions and enjoy them later. Which you can't do if they are stuck in a box somewhere or lost on your computer or, heaven forbid, lost forever due to hard drive failure. (I didn't tell you to back your files up again! But you should!)

(See how much more manageable the Blurb book is?)

In which I wax lyrical about jam

2012-01-13T10:20:00.002+13:00

I love making jam. It's magical how sparkling sugar and plump, juicy fruit ...

... react when boiled together as the sugar melts and bubbles and the fruit softens and collapses ...

... into glossy, sweet jam.

It's so beautiful in a clean glass jar, like pieces of fruit trapped in amber.

I've made strawberry jam, plum jam, peach jam, kiwifruit jam, rhubarb jam and others, but yesterday was my first try at making apricot jam. I was instantly transported by the scent to the kitchen of my childhood, as my mother spent hours making huge batches of apricot jam. There is no other smell quite like it. Thank you, Mommy, for happy memories and good food!

Manual organisation

2012-01-12T09:00:00.002+13:00

Three organising posts in a row ... looks like it's a new year or something ;)

I was doing some sorting and filing and thought I'd share how I organise our product instruction manuals.

Firstly, I don't keep them all. I tossed our waffle maker instruction booklet because really, all it said was pretty much: "turn it on, it will get hot (be careful!), pour batter in, remove waffles when it beeps, blah blah". It's not brain surgery, making waffles, and my waffle iron doesn't do anything special. I don't need to keep the instructions.

Secondly, most manuals are available as PDF downloads so if you wanted to you could download your manuals and then toss the physical ones. But my computer storage space is precious (have you seen how many photos I take?) so I find it easier to just keep the ones that come with the products.

I store them all in a lever-arch file (binder). Most can simply have holes punched in them and then slotted in. But some are too thick:

But wait, look at the table of contents:

I really don't need to keep every language as I only need the English instructions. Look at how few the English pages are compared to the entire booklet:

So much easier to punch and file.

But some booklets are too thick to punch but you need to keep the entire booklet. See, this one wouldn't fit into my punch:

I just open these types up and punch and file them that way:

Like this:

And the ones that are really, really too thick? I put them into a plastic sleeve.

Voila, the binder full of manuals, all in one place.

Preparation for a streamlined life

2012-01-11T14:41:00.004+13:00

We all know about preparation for big things - taking a year to plan a wedding, months to prepare for a baby, compiling 72-hour emergency packs for times of crisis. But that self-same principle can be applied to every transition in your home for a relaxed, streamlined life. Here are some ways that I use the principle of preparedness in our home regularly, to help things run smoothly.

Yesterday I showed you how I keep our car stocked and prepared for trips out. I have also started scheduling in fuel fill-ups - every Wednesday, when I do our grocery shopping, I will stop and fill up with petrol, whether we are running low or not. (Even if it's less than a quarter-tank I need to put in, great - cheaper bill that week.)

Because if I don't keep the tank full, invariably it will be running low when I am in a hurry to get somewhere and it just adds to the stress.

Another way we are always prepared for a trip out is with our water bottles. When we have used them I clean them and refill them and they go into the fridge.

Being stainless steel the water stays fresh and doesn't take on a plastic taste, even if they stand there unused for a week or more. (I used to store them lying down in a bottle rack that fits into the top of our fridge but I found that the plastic caps tainted the taste of the water.) Anytime we feel like going out, whether it's to the park or running errands, to the beach or on a drive somewhere, we just grab our bottles and go. Nice cold water all ready and one more getting-ready-to-go-out step eliminated, making for a smoother exit.

Sunday mornings are pressured enough trying to get everyone ready for church and out the door on time so I keep my church bag ready at all times.

It contains paper and pens for the kids, some Mentos sweeties in a small zip-lock bag, my lesson manuals and scriptures, a cereal bar or two and a little pouch containing essentials like lip gloss, hand cream, nail file, band-aid, gum, hand sanitiser, tissues, safety pins, headache tablets, cough lozenges etc. You've seen the pouch I keep in the car - it's similar. I have duplicates in my church bag and handbag so I don't have to move things from place to place. So on Sundays before we leave for church all I have to do is grab my scriptures from my nightstand, my diary / planner from my desk and a bottle of water from the fridge.

If I use up anything at church (a cereal bar, tissues, paper, or a pen runs dry) I replace it when I get home from church so I don't have to think about it when getting ready for church the following week.

Another bag I like to have ready at all times is my camera bag.

It sits next to the bookcase in our office area, on top of my huge CD organiser:

It is always stocked with SPF20 lip balm, mini bottle of sunscreen, empty CF cards, three fully-charged spare batteries, and tissues. All I need to do is add my camera and I'm ready to walk out the door. Even if the battery in my camera is almost flat and the card is almost full, I know I have fresh spares with me.

I know planning ahead isn't rocket science and these certainly aren't original ideas, and not the only ways we prepare ahead, but I wanted to share them because they make such a difference. When rounding up kids and getting ready to go out things run so much more smoothly if we've got things ready ahead of time - and items are less likely to be forgotten!

How I've organised our car

2012-01-10T09:00:00.005+13:00

I thought it would be fun to share how I've organised our car and all of the things we take with us from place to place.

First: a lingo lesson. Mainly for the US citizens in my readership.

boot = trunk
cubby hole = glove compartment
torch = flashlight
togs = swimsuits
rubbish bin = trash can

Okay then! Here is our boot. Yes it needs a vacuum. I'm just keepin' it real. (At least all of the black sand is invisible!)

We always keep two plastic tubs in the boot, and a small container. They only come out when I go grocery shopping and when I've unpacked the groceries they go back in again. All three containers are from Ikea - the middle container is one of the drawer organisers that I had spare.

The left hand one holds towels. We go to the beach and river quite often on planned trips, but sometimes we will be out and about somewhere else and end up at a place where the kids can paddle, or where we want to sit on the grass or sand. It's always handy to have towels with us. When we've used the towels they are washed, dried and put straight back into the car.

The right hand tub contains hats, peak caps, UV swim vests (rash vests) and togs. They are replaced into the car once we have washed and dried them.

The middle container holds the following:

The brush is from a small dustpan-and-brush set and we use it to brush sand off of our feet and legs before getting into the car. I remember my dad brushing our legs after the beach when I was a child :)

Having these boxes permanently in the car makes going to the beach so much easier. We just choose what gear to throw in (body boards, chairs, umbrellas, wetsuits) and go.

We have another plastic tub that now lives on top of the shoe / wetsuit rack I made. It holds a picnic quilt, flippers, goggles, more towels, frisbee - basically more junk to take to the beach or river. It's always ready to throw in the car.

Behind the containers is a hammock contraption that I made.

I've removed the back shelf to show you how it hangs from the headrests.

It holds umbrellas and we also stuff raincoats in there. They are always in the car and never in our way. Handy to have if we get stuck on the side of the motorway on a rainy day!

Okay, moving on to the car interior.

I made a carboard box to specific dimensions and painted it black.

With the addition of a plastic bag it is a perfect-sized rubbish bin that wedges in behind the centre console. Easily accessible to everyone in the car.

You can see how I've organised Daniel's side of the car. For some odd reason there is no pocket behind the driver's seat so I made this organiser. Yes, you can buy them but making it was free as I already had the fabric.

It holds pens, drawing paper and any books or toys he brings with him. Noah's side already had a pocket for his drawing books. I added a hook for his wallet and sunglasses.

Okay, moving to the front. The passenger side door is where I stash my sunglasses and the sat nav case. (Sometimes we throw our sunglasses into the centre console.)

Wedged between the passenger seat and the centre console, behind the seat belt slot, are some fold-up sun shades. They are for the kids to stick to their windows if they are bothered by the sun.

The centre console has a little cubby:

We generally keep it empty as it's handy to stash our water bottles.

Behind that, between the seats, is another cubby:

It has two levels. The top level holds hand lotion, lip gloss, some cash, gum and a little plastic wallet containing our driver's licences and roadside assistance card.

The level below that holds baby wipes, and sometimes our sunglasses. I usually have some cereal bars in there too but "somebody" ate them. (What?! I was hungry!)

Moving around to the cubby hole. It contains a torch, pens, roll of toilet paper, car manual, local maps and a zippered pouch. Also, a disposable camera for evidence capturing in case of an accident (our ancient cellphones have exceedingly crappy cameras).

The zippered pouch contains scissors, band-aids, antihistamine tablets, paracetemol tablets, a nail file, tweezers, nail clippers and hand sanitiser.

The centre of the dashboard has another cubby:

We put our sat nav in it when we use it for a trip.

We have it stuck to a ceramic tile so all we have to do is flip up the screen and plug in the power cable. I like that it leaves our windshield clean and clear. If you have that tell-tale sucker mark on your windshield you are succesptible to a break-in whether or not you leave your sat nav in the car.

So ... that is how we keep all of the junk from taking over our car. Which leaves the way free for all of the sand and dirt to take over! Hope this was helpful. Now, I'm off to vacuum the car ...

Ripped top remodel

2012-01-09T12:10:00.004+13:00

Remember this top?

Remember that I accidentally ripped it?

Well, it's been sitting in my closet waiting for me to get inspired. I wasn't ready to just ditch it. I liked that top, darn it! Finally I came up with the idea of how I wanted to rescue it.

Here's how it looked before:

And the unmendable rip:

I measured up to where the horizontal rip was and cut the blouse all the way around at that spot.

Laying the band that I'd cut off the bottom of the blouse on my ironing board I inspected the rip ...

... and cut either side of it.

There was also another rip on the side ...

... so I cut an inch of fabric off all the way around to clear that away.

Then I sewed the two ends together so that the band was complete.

I decided to add some pin-tucks because I felt like it would add some sense to the band that would be added to the bottom of the blouse. (It made my brain hurt. I felt the evil Maths lurking in the wings but managed to do it without using my nemesis!) And yes, I know the thread is technically too dark for the fabric but it was the closest match I had. I wasn't going to go to the shops with kids in tow. We all know how that ends.

Then I moved on to the top part of the blouse. I mended the side rip:

Then I attached the pin-tucked band to the bottom of the blouse:

I also shortened the sleeves. This kept them in proportion to the shortened blouse and also makes it more versatile - it's easier to throw a cardigan over it now so I can wear it year round.

And here is the finished product:

Before and after:

And here is how it looks on - photograph courtesy of Noah.

Overall I'm very pleased with how it came out and with the fact that I can still wear it. I've been wanting to try my hand at remodeling some clothes that I don't wear and this blouse was the perfect thing to practice on as it was "ruined" anyway. Hooray for experiments that work out!

Green burst

2012-01-08T19:23:00.002+13:00

"The more we open our minds, the less we'll close our hearts."

- Daryl Watson

He loves his scooter

2012-01-07T20:15:00.000+13:00

Worn thin

2012-01-06T16:03:00.002+13:00

For those who think all is perfection and bliss here, this is me today:

Swimsuit shopping is horrendous at the best of times, but try it with two bickering kids in tow and it takes it to a whole new level of horror.

I need a nap. And a new swimsuit still.

Body boarding at sunset

2012-01-05T15:01:00.002+13:00

Yesterday was the most perfect day. In the morning we walked over to Noah's friend, where he went for a playdate. Daniel and I came home and Paula popped round with her boys. We visited for a while then she went home to get some stuff done and her sons stayed behind to play with Daniel. I got on with lots of housework and things around the home. In the afternoon Paula came to get her kids and Noah was dropped off at home. We pottered around until Grant came home from work then we had dinner together. It's the normality of it all that was like a balm for me - I've really, really missed and needed it.

We hadn't been to the beach for a few days due to rain and I found I was craving it. Of course when I suggested it to Grant his face lit up and we were in the car and on our way within five minutes! We headed out to Karioitahi at about 6pm.

When we got there I got out the car, stripped off my t-shirt and shorts (I had my swimsuit on), pulled on Grant's old chafe vest, grabbed a body-board and ran straight into the water. Yes, that's right, I went body-boarding for the first time in about 20 years.

IT WAS AMAZING!!!

I didn't want to get out! Daniel and I were in the water body boarding and swimming for almost two hours. Noah was mostly playing, paddling and digging in the sand. Grant did a little body boarding too, but not for long - and of course as soon as he was done he cast out for a little fishing.

My little surf buddy.

We stayed until about 9pm, watching the sun go down. I can't describe the happiness and contentment I felt - it was pure perfection.

It makes me laugh - our NZ friends are "waiting for summer to start" but we've been reveling in it since October!

Lemon Enrichment activity

2012-01-04T13:02:00.005+13:00

In our church the women get together frequently (used to be once a month, now it is usually less often) for an evening (or morning) of mini classes, information, tutorials, learning - a time of gaining new skills and learning new things. It used to be called Homemaking, then it was called Home, Family and Personal Enrichment. Now it's just called Relief Society Meeting, which is confusing so as a rebel I still call it Enrichment. 'Cause that's what it is.

Anyhoo, a while ago I read a thread on a message board where LDS women were asked to share some ideas for Enrichment meetings and I mentioned that when I was in charge of it I'd done an evening all about lemons. I'd read the idea somewhere online and put together a lemon-themed meeting and it turned out to be a great success.

I posted that years ago and I still frequently get emailed asking to share the lemon stuff! I finally put it together in PDF form as one zipped download so here it is!

Click here to download (actually right-click and choose "Save target as") the instructions for the activity and all information sheets needed (quiz, facts, history, recipes, invitations). Have fun - and please pop over to comment and let me know how it went for you if you do hold a lemon-themed meeting!

Carvings

2012-01-03T16:25:00.001+13:00

"The ornaments of your house will be the guests who frequent it."

- Author Unknown

Teal frog

2012-01-02T12:47:00.000+13:00

“One of the most important lessons I have learned over the past few years is how important it is to have time and space for being with what’s real in my life — to celebrate the joys, grieve the losses, shed my tears, sit with the questions, feel my anger, attend to my loneliness.”

- Ruth Haley Barton, Sacred Rhythms

It's 2012!

2012-01-01T11:18:00.006+13:00

Happy New Year, everyone! I was wondering what to post today when I found this meme and thought it would be fun to do. (I tag all of you too.)

1. What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before?
Arrived in New Zealand.
Spent 25 hours traveling.
Had to hold down the fort on my own, without Grant, for 4.5 months.

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't know if I had any, besides get to NZ, in which case yes I did. And I have some for 2012 that I am committed to achieving.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Not that I can think of.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Thankfully, no.

5. What countries did you visit?
New Zealand, our new home.

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
Stability, routine, security, peace, patience, and did I mention stability and routine???

7. What date from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
20 June, the day we arrived in New Zealand to begin our new life.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Moving halfway around the world.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Being a less than patient or kind parent when I was dealing with overwhelming emotions and stress.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
A 3-inch nail went through my foot.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Plane tickets to New Zealand.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Grant, who has worked harder than he ever has in his life to get through a grueling 19 weeks of training college. Daniel, who has been so even-keeled with all of the upheaval we've been through (other than one meltdown.) Generous friends who lent us things and helped us settle and were there for me when I struggled.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?  
The recruitment people we had to deal with in getting Grant's job. The shippers who took four weeks longer than anticipated getting our stuff to us.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Freighting our goods halfway around the world; plan tickets; buying a car; getting settled.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Finally getting visas, finally booking our plan tickets, finally arriving in NZ, enjoying the beaches, Grant getting back from college for good.

16. What song(s) will always remind you of 2011?
Rhianna's "We found love" that is popular right now. I always pump the volume when it comes on. I guess in future years when I hear it I'll always remember how I feel right now.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier.
b) thinner or fatter? Fatter.
c) richer or poorer? Poorer financially, richer in other ways.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Been patient with my children in tough times.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Shouting.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Christmas 2011 was exactly right - relaxing and low-key.
Christmas 2012 I believe will be spent with wonderful friends who are planning a visit and I'm so excited.

21. Where did you begin the year; and where did you end it?
Began it in the snowy depths of winter in Lancashire, England.
Ended it on a rainy, warm summer night in Auckland, New Zealand.

22. Did you fall in love in 2011?
Yes, with my new country and the people here.

23. How many one-night stands?
Um, none!

24. What was your favorite TV program?
I don't watch TV much but the one show I did tune in for was (shamefully) America's Next Top Model (cycle 15).

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Not that I can think of!

26. What was the best book you read?
James Dashner's Maze Runner trilogy.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Can't think of any.

28. What did you want and get?
A new life in New Zealand.

29. What did you want and not get?
Our new life in New Zealand to start a lot sooner than it did.

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
The last of Harry Potter, sob, sob.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 36 and spent it with my friend Taryn, who spoilt me rotten and also took us bowling. Lots of lovely friends popped by and brought me little treats and sent texts and I felt very loved and special. I even had a rainbow in the sky from God!

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Getting to NZ at the beginning of the year instead of halfway through.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
Gaining enough emigration weight that only one pair of threadbare jeans still fits does not lend itself to a "personal fashion concept". But I have embraced jandals (flip-flops) in a way that I haven't since I was a child.

34. What kept you sane?
God and dear, loving, supportive friends. My kinesiologist. Kind comments from blog readers who were so supportive and empathic. You'll never know what a difference you make.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Can't think of any.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Ummm ... pass.

37. Who did you miss?
Too many to mention, but the list includes Dianne and Rachel and Rebecca and Laura and Sue and Liz and Jo and my kinesiologist Catherine.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
I couldn't possibly say for fear of hurting feelings. I have met so many wonderful people this year that actually I probably couldn't pick a favourite!

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011:
It's okay to be vulnerable in front of people.
Just because you struggle doesn't mean you're weak. It's sometimes very much part of the process of becoming stronger.
You can't push aside the feelings, they have to be got through.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
Taken from the two songs I used in our slideshow:

"I guess it's gonna have to hurt,
I guess I'm gonna have to cry,
And let go of some things I've loved,
To get to the other side,
I guess it's gonna break me down,
Like falling when you try to fly,
It's sad, but sometimes moving on with the rest of your life,
Starts with goodbye.
I know there's a blue horizon,
Somewhere up ahead, just waiting for me,
Getting there means leaving things behind,
Sometimes life's so bitter sweet."

and

"These are the moments
I know heaven must exist
These are the moments I know all I need is this
I have all I've waited for
And I could not ask for more ...
I could not ask for more than this time together
I could not ask for more than this time with you
Every prayer has been answered
Every dream I have's come true
And right here in this moment is right where I'm meant to be
Here with you, here with me
These are the moments I thank God that I'm alive
These are the moments I'll remember all my life
I've got all I've waited for
And I could not ask for more"

A year in photos

2011-12-31T09:00:00.002+13:00

Every year I make a DVD slideshow of photos from the year, set to a carefully chosen song. This year I used two songs as it's been a big year! I usually only choose photos with our family in them but this year I included photos of friends we left behind (I'm a bit sad that I don't have photos of my cousin and I together so I could include one or two.)

I finally figured out how to get the slideshow from ProShow Gold (the editing programme I use) onto YouTube, so here it is.

Here is an add-on that was included in our DVD slideshow - I had to split the video and post it separately as the entire thing was longer than 10 minutes so I couldn't upload it to YouTube. Just imagine it tacked onto the video above.

Shoe and wetsuit organisation

2011-12-30T09:00:00.002+13:00

I wasn't overly thrilled with the shoes piled up by the door from the garage to the house. Let's just say they didn't always look this neat:

I decided to make a shoe rack to stand there, which would also provide more storage.

I started by pulling apart some pallets that we had. It was in the midst of this exercise that I stepped on this nail and it went pretty much through my foot. All building activities ceased for a couple of days.

But pretty soon I was back to finishing up the project.

I got as far as this before I ran out of planks for the shelves. But that sparked a better idea.

See how I notched the back feet to go around the skirting board so it would stand flush with the wall?

It stood like that for a little while until I got down to Mitre 10 Mega to buy a pole of some sort. The cheapest one I could find was a wooden pole for about $7. I got Grant to haul down a hanging shelf unit we had stored in the garage loft, and this is the final result - storage not only for shoes but for wetsuits too! And in winter we can hang wet raincoats on it when we need to.

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out and the fact that it only cost me $7 (for the pole)!

Christmas jars

2011-12-29T09:00:00.003+13:00

As token gifts for friends I gave out jars of joy - or rather hot fudge sauce, which sometimes is the same thing.

I just used jars that I've been saving, and added some ribbon on a label I made in Photoshop.

Here's the front and back of the label:

They were well received and I hope the recipients enjoy the sauce.

Franklin Zoo

2011-12-28T14:31:00.003+13:00

On Christmas Eve we went to Franklin Zoo Wildlife Sanctuary. It is quite small but we enjoyed it. The boys had fun feeding the ducks and birds and Grant and I enjoyed hearing about and seeing the elephant.

When we came home Daniel drew pictures of the animals and birds we'd seen.

Christmas

2011-12-27T09:00:00.004+13:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We have had a lovely few days. On the 23rd we were invited down to the park by Nic and her family. They brought a freshly caught and smoked snapper and we bought some chips from the fish-and-chips shop. We enjoyed eating and chatting and playing and it was just what I needed.

On Christmas Eve we went to the zoo (I'll do a separate post) and Grant's brother arrived. Since then we've been hanging out at home and going to Karioitahi, Kaiaua and Sunset Beach:

Christmas present - we bought a trampoline (got a great deal on it too!)

(Karioitahi)

(Sunset Beach)

(Kaiaua)

The path down to the beach from where we park at the side of the road is very steep - we had to pass / throw things to each other to get them down to the beach and then back up again afterwards.

Last year / this year

2011-12-26T09:00:00.001+13:00

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T09:00:00.000+13:00

Playing at the river

2011-12-24T09:37:00.003+13:00

Grant went onto Google Maps and clicked onto the satellite view option. He then inspected the Waikato River near us to find a nice little sandy beach and we headed out there on Thursday evening to check it out.

The water was a bit cold and it was late in the day (around 6:30 - 7:00 pm) but that didn't stop the boys having an absolute ball. They loved playing in the water and didn't want to leave - even though Noah was shivering.

Grant ran along the shore dragging the kids on their bodyboards along the shallows so they skimmed the water, which they thought was great fun!

The water looks dirty here but it is clean, it's just the silty bottom that you see.

The haka

2011-12-23T09:00:00.000+13:00

Video of Grant doing the haka at his graduation ceremony. Sorry about the appalling camera work, I was juggling my big SLR as well as the video camera as I wanted photos and video.

Family photo 2011

2011-12-22T09:00:00.000+13:00

Christmas cupcakes

2011-12-21T18:55:00.002+13:00

The cupcakes I took to our church Christmas party. The stars and snowflakes were so much prettier in real life as they had edible glitter on them.

P.S. Thank you so much to everyone who commented and emailed. It means the world to me. And it's so reassuring to know that what I'm feeling is a normal part of the process. Thank you.

This is the calm after the storm?!

2011-12-20T09:39:00.004+13:00

What a busy few days. We got back on Friday late afternoon and I spent the rest of the day and Saturday morning unpacking, doing some housework, laundry and icing cupcakes for our church Christmas party. Saturday afternoon we went body-boarding and in the evening was the party.

Sunday was church, a nap and then I went to a Christmas concert with R.

Through it all I felt emotional and overwhelmed and a little fragile. What's up with that? Grant is back now, all of our stress and drama is behind us. I should feel relieved and happy, right? Then what's with all the emotion? It wasn't just me either - Noah had a bit of an emotional meltdown on Saturday but he felt better after I spent some time cuddling him and talking it through.

Sunday night I couldn't sleep. I only went to bed at 11pm but then lay there for an hour, awake. I got up and read for an hour then went back to bed and thankfully to sleep.

Yesterday morning Grant went to work and I woke up around 8:50am, super tired but full of enthusiasm to get the house in order, tidy up, do laundry, plan some meals, tackle some crafting. I was pottering around, busy but still feeling emotional, when my neighbour came by with some empty jars for me and while we were chatting I embarrassingly burst into tears. She was very kind and understanding and after she left I pulled myself together and carried on around the house.

At about 1pm I was pulling some pallets apart to use the wood for a craft project, when I turned around and stepped on a board. I felt a sharp pain, like you would stepping on a stone, and jerked my foot back, only to see the board of wood come with it. That's when I realised I'd stepped on a 3-inch nail and it had gone through my Croc and through my foot. Sick feeling as I had to use my other foot to stand on the board so I could pull my foot off the nail, then hobble into the house to inspect the injury.

The nail went through the ball of my foot just below my third toe and almost exited at the top next to my third toe - there is a red mark where it almost punctured the skin there. I was kind of freaking out at the grossness of it and it was kind of the last straw - I cried and cried and cried and cried. I was alone with the kids and couldn't go to the doctor for a tetanus shot as Grant had the car. It was kind of the last straw after the last 4-and-a-half months of nobody here to take care of me. I guess all of the emotions of our separation plus the stress, loss, frustration, uncertainty and change of the last two years just came crashing over me and I couldn't stop sobbing. Eventually I calmed down enough to take a nap - I was just exhausted.

When Grant came home we went to the Accident & Medical walk-in clinic. We were there for two hours. I had to have x-rays of three different angles of my foot to make sure the bone hadn't been chipped, a tetanus shot (hardly felt it) and went home with a prescription for ibuprofen and antibiotics.

Of course I couldn't sleep last night either, and only drifted off after 1am. I just feel spent and a little crazy.

So, please weigh in and tell me I'm not insane ... especially you military wives (or anyone who has emigrated) ... did you kind of melt down after it was all over and your husband was back? How long before you could settle back into normal life?

Have you ever stepped on a nail? How long before it felt better?

And yes, for those wondering it feels about how you would expect it to, which is incredibly frustrating less than a week before Christmas as I have so much to do. Just call me Hopalong Cassidy. At least it's my left foot so I can still drive, although I will have trouble walking when I get wherever I'm going. I'm SO grateful Grant is home. He's working this week but he's on leave for the next two weeks - and his brother arrives on Friday for a couple of weeks.

I guess I just need to let go of some of the things I was planning on doing. I guess I also need to accept that it will take time to get over what we've been through, and be patient with myself in the meantime. I have so much to be grateful for - getting to live in NZ, being together as a family, beautiful summer, kind and supportive friends, good health and of course Christmas and all that it means. Even my foot injury could have been so much worse and I'm grateful it wasn't.

I'll be okay.

Body boarding

2011-12-19T09:00:00.003+13:00

We took the kids body-boarding for the first time on Saturday, at Karioitahi beach. It took a little time for them to get confident enough to try it but once they did they loved it! Daniel especially was so good at it. Noah lost his nerve after getting dumped by a wave - even though it was really shallow he mashed into the sand with water rushing over him for a couple of seconds and it intimidated him. The surf was actually pretty strong - we'll try again on a calmer day.

Sorry for the 40 pictures - I narrowed it down from 119. (And now I'm craving a big zoom lens!)

Think of the finest, softest sand you can find. That's what the sand is like - but it's pitch black.

Noah, after he was dumped - sand in his nose, ears, hair, everywhere. And a mouth full of salty water!

Lichen

2011-12-18T09:00:00.000+13:00

"True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done, the zest of creating things new."

- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I'm back and he's home!

2011-12-17T12:00:00.002+13:00

The long-awaited ball was on Thursday night, for those who were wondering!

On Wednesday I drove the kids up to the North Shore to drop them at my angel friend Amanda's home. Then I drove to the long-term parking, dropped my car off, got the shuttle to the airport and flew to Wellington.

I have been on 20 aeroplanes and I've never seen the likes of the Air New Zealand safety information presentation. These little screens fold down from the baggage cabinets overhead and they play this video that is entertaining and laden with typical kiwi casualness - and features Richard Simmons. So different to anything they'd show in the UK. I love that New Zealanders don't take themselves too seriously.

This isn't the one that they showed on my flights, but it's similar. Enjoy this Air New Zealand's safety video:

I know, right?!

When I arrived at Wellington Grant and his colleague picked me up and we drove back to the barracks. Grant and I got a bite to eat at the cafe and he showed me around - this is Grant's ~~cell~~ room.

On Thursday morning Grant had to go to parade practice. I showered and had some toast and got ready for the day. I chilled out watching a movie on the laptop until it was time to go and meet up for lunch. After lunch we hot-footed it up to where the graduation ceremony would take place - I really wanted a good seat so I could take photos and video. I got a seat right in front ... and waited there for an hour and a half until the ceremony started. The waiting time wasn't too bad as I was chatting with the girlfriend of one of Grant's friends, who I had met before.

The ceremony was good and I was so proud of Grant, especially as he marched to get his award.

Here a couple of pictures of the haka that they did at the end - it was awesome! I was juggling two cameras at the same time so I could get photos and video.

We had afternoon tea, then headed back to the room to chill out. I kind of dozed a bit in the afternoon, then it was time to get ready for the ball. Unfortunately it rained the whole time I was there, and I had a silk dress that would show dark spots if it got wet, so I bundled it carefully in the cover R made and draped some plastic over it and carried it under my umbrella to the building that the ball was in and changed in a room there. So here is the long-awaited reveal. I had a poofy petticoat to go under but in the end I didn't wear it - it would have been too much for the occasion.

We left the ball at about 10:30pm as we were both shattered.

Friday morning we got up at 6am, got ready and finished packing. After breakfast I got a shuttle to the airport and flew back to Auckland. I picked up the car, went to the North Shore, picked up the kids and headed straight back to the airport for Grant. My flight was at 10am and his was supposed to be at 2pm but he managed to get onto a 1pm flight instead.

Back home sweet home and it's so good to finally be together as a family!!! Grant is done and we can finally move forward with our new normal life - whatever that is.

I feel kind of emotional and overwhelmed and absolutely exhausted.

We made it.

Lemonade

2011-12-16T09:00:00.002+13:00

"Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do ... but how much love we put in that action.”

- Mother Teresa

More preparation for the ball

2011-12-15T09:00:00.001+13:00

Ha ha, I have unwittingly built this up to the point where you can only be disappointed by the final reveal! Oh well, I'll have fun anyway.

This made me laugh

2011-12-14T09:00:00.000+13:00

It's all in the details

2011-12-13T09:00:00.000+13:00

My boys playing

2011-12-12T09:00:00.002+13:00

Ruth's cupcakes

2011-12-11T09:00:00.000+13:00

Cupcakes I made for my friend Ruth's birthday.

The ball dress

2011-12-10T09:00:00.003+13:00

I need a dress for a ball. And finding one that
1) fits me properly (I have an odd body with lots of, shall we say, "quirks")
2) is flattering
3) is inexpensive
4) is modest
... is pretty much impossible. So, as mentioned recently, my ~~fairy godmother~~ dear friend R, who was insisting I do indeed go to the ball, took matters into her own capable hands and convinced me that between the two of us we could make a gown.

We started with a vintage pattern that I bought from a thrift store for 50 cents.

First we cut it out of an old sheet - adding extra along all of the seams to allow for my womanly curves and give us a bit of breathing room for tailoring it ... (oh look! It's the anonymous R! Or bits of her anyway.)

(Don't get excited, this one's me.)

... then R mocked it up, in preparation for fitting it to me correctly. Fetching, I know. You know you want my socks.

After R added sleeves and fitted the prototype correctly I unpicked the whole thing. I then ironed the entire bolt of silk and left it with R, who used the unpicked prototype as a pattern to cut out my actual dress. She basted that together and I went back to her for a fitting.

Oh, don't I make it sound so quick and simple! This little exercise took four sessions of many hours, working around her family and busy life and my own commitments. There is real skill involved in this which is why I kind of dropped out of the "we'll do it together" plan and R graciously took up the slack so that it is done right.

And this is how I left my dress - in R's capable hands, being lovingly coaxed into a gown that will make me feel special at the ball. (With my painted sandals! And some bling! And my gorgeous husband!)

You'll just have to wait for the final reveal, won't you? I know, I'm such a tease. But this is as far as we've got for now and I really just wanted to do a post to thank R for her hours of time, her commitment to making me feel and look good for this special occasion, for her attention to detail and her patience with my stress and emotions. Thank you so much, R. It means the world to me that you are so willing to do this for me, so generous with your time and talents. You're one in a million and I owe you big time!

Decorating for Christmas

2011-12-09T09:00:00.001+13:00

It is so weird to be gearing up for the summer holidays and have Christmas around the corner too. It's just wrong. Even though that's how Christmas was for me my whole life in South Africa, until we went to England when I was 24. I should be used to it but even back then it didn't feel Christmassy, even though it was the only way I'd ever known Christmas to be. Our first year in England, with the chill and the snow and frost, well then it felt like a real Christmas for the first time.

After everything we've been through this year Grant and I would be quite happy to give Christmas a miss this year and just chill. But you can't do that when you have kids so I've made a token effort to put some Christmassy bits out.

Remember our annual Christmas ornament tradition? (For the record, since that post I've added a Lego snowman to Daniel's collection as he was obsessed with Lego last year, and a tooth to Noah's as he lost his first tooth last year. This year they each got a kiwi bird, naturally.)

I hung the special ornaments on the mug trees that I used to store my bangles on (before moving them into my closet).

The bookcase sports a Santa and a nativity scene.

I hung a little stocking on the living room door.

The side of the fridge sports a feather wreath and a tiny nativity sits on top of the stereo.

I had to hang the stockings somewhere and the Expedit provided the perfect place.

(Can I just say how wrong it is to be decorating with snowmen, penguins in scarves, reindeer pulling sleighs, and suited-and-booted Santas when we are in shorts and T-shirts, enjoying the summer weather? Wrong, I tell you, wrong!)

I put out a tin Santa decoration that the kids like, filled the lamp with baubles and added a tiny "tree" made with baubles and a cupcake stand (inspired by this pin on Pinterest).

And that's it! We don't have a tree this year and I'm quite happy about that. The kids don't really care so long as Santa knows where to leave the gifts (they'll be putting a note for him on the coffee table). I'm loving the simplicity.

Black sandals

2011-12-08T09:00:00.003+13:00

I am going to a ball soon and my ~~fairy godmother~~ dear friend R is making me a dress to wear. (More on that later!) I really needed black, strappy stiletto sandals to wear. Can you believe that in my extensive collection of shoes I don't actually have a pair? Shocking, I know!

I did have one pair that would be perfect ... if they weren't neon day-glow pink. Remember these babies that I got for £3?

This is a truer representation of colour. Literally the colour of a highlighter pen. Awesome.

I have never actually worn them. Mainly because England was never warm enough for long enough for me to work them into an outfit. Oh, you know I would wear them sooner or later, but right now I need black sandals.

So I got out a permanent marker and one of my fabric pens and tested how they would work on the shiny PVC. Pretty good!

This pen gave the best coverage:

Before I could stop myself I went for it with the pen.

Here is one completely coloured in.

As you can see, the coverage was patchy - I could probably get away with it in dim lighting, especially since my feet are at least 5 feet away from anyone's eyes. But that wasn't good enough for me so I got out some acrylic paint, just cheap stuff from the dollar store.

I thinned it just a little with water to make it runnier, then used a very soft watercolour type paintbrush to paint over the marker. I don't think I could have skipped the marker step as it provided a good texture / key for the paint to stick to.

Here is the difference before and after the paint (I was a little sloppier with the marker on the second shoe as I knew by then I'd be painting it):

Acrylic paint is great because it is flexible and waterproof.

Ta da! I have black, strappy stiletto sandals to wear to the ball! And they cost me nothing as I used what I had.

Sometimes it's worth it to take a risk.

Incredible images

2011-12-07T09:00:00.000+13:00

I had to share this link of the 45 most powerful images of 2011. Impossible not to get emotional. Click here to see them. Which one is your favourite? Did any make you cry? (I welled up at the image of the dog next to the casket.)

Just paying the bills

2011-12-06T22:39:00.002+13:00

Sony are showcasing their new FS100 camcorder. Here you can see a little teaser of just what the new Sony camcorder is capable of. This video demonstrates some of these techniques like; slow motion, depth of field and shooting in low light.

Sony are working with director Philip Bloom to create some short films, which showcase Sony's ethos of inspiration, creativity and practical insight.

All you videographers out there are encouraged to register to get some behind-the-scenes info on how these videos were made. Including:

- Interviews
- Web Q&A
- Webinars
- And a few challenges for those of you who are keen to get active.

Sony are also inviting those of you who register to submit your own Extra.Ordinary video content ideas and win the chance for this to be filmed either alongside Philip Bloom or for him to film and comment on the techniques he would apply to make your idea work –

Plus you get the chance to win an NEX -FS100EK camcorder!!!

Entries for this competition close on the 16th December, 2011

(If you chose to register you do not have to enter the competition).

This was a sponsored post, through eBuzzing.

Poppy bud

2011-12-06T09:00:00.001+13:00

"If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again."

- Flavia Weedn

Silver

2011-12-05T09:00:00.001+13:00

“I haven’t a clue how my story will end, but that’s all right. When you set out on a journey and night covers the road, that’s when you discover the stars.”

- Nancy Willard

What I've been wearing

2011-12-04T09:00:00.001+13:00

Some photos from a while ago.

Two church outfits:

Cardigan: thrifted
Black top: thrifted
Skirt: thrifted
Shoes: eBay (Tesco shoes)
Fishnets: Asda

Dress: Sainsbury's
Cardigan: thrifted
Shoes: eBay

Meeting a friend for coffee / hot chocolate:

Top: Sainsbury's
Cropped jeans: The Warehouse
Wedges: eBay
Bracelets: eBay

Except I came home and my top caught on a doorjamb as I walked down the passageway and ripped in about four directions! Aargh! I'm not sure it's even fixable.

Freshly baked

2011-12-03T12:43:00.002+13:00

"The art of dining well is no slight art, the pleasure not a slight pleasure."

- Michel de Montaigne

Bauble wreath

2011-12-02T09:00:00.002+13:00

It's December, which means time to start putting out some Christmas decorations. We don't have a tree this year and I'm quite relieved not to have one. In fact, if it weren't for the kids Grant and I would be quite happy to give Christmas a miss entirely. But since we do have the kids I have put out a few decorations, hung stockings, and made this bauble wreath to go on our front door. Just Google bauble wreath for instructions - basically you stretch a wire coat hanger into a circle and thread baubles on. Easy as!

How have I hung it? The green ribbon goes over the door ...

... and hooks onto an upside-down clean-release hook on the other side. I cut a hole in the ribbon and used a flame to seal the edges so it doesn't rip or fray.

Treasure Island mini golf

2011-12-01T09:00:00.003+13:00

My friend Paula had mini golf tickets that were expiring that she couldn't use so she gave them to us. We headed out there after school with Daniel's friend whom we'd invited along. We had a lovely time playing the pirate themed mini golf course and had an ice cream afterwards before heading home.

(I know there are more photos of Noah than Daniel here but Daniel was with his friend most of the time and I don't want to post pictures of him.)

Is there a more pitiful sight?

2011-11-30T16:04:00.001+13:00

Poor Noah has been throwing up on and off since 2am.

Playdate invitations

2011-11-29T09:00:00.002+13:00

My kids walk home from school by themselves so I don't get a chance to chat with other parents at the classroom door. Noah wanted to have some friends come over to play after school so I made him little invitations to give to them to pass onto their mothers. I wanted to have a picture of him on it so the other mother's would know which child it was inviting their's to play.

Horse cupcakes

2011-11-28T09:00:00.002+13:00

I baked these for my friend R's little girl's birthday. She wanted horses so this is what I came up with.

Shells

2011-11-27T09:00:00.001+13:00

"Creativity can solve almost any problem. The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything."

-George Lois

Roses

2011-11-26T09:00:00.003+13:00

When we went to Hamilton Gardens we ended our visit at the rose garden. All of the rose bushes were in full bloom and it was completely extravagant, an abundance of exquisite beauty. Here are some of the blooms.

Laura's kitchen

2011-11-25T09:00:00.003+13:00

Remember Laura's home? I did a little house tour last year - here it is if you missed it. Remember her tiny little kitchen? Well, it's had a makeover. The overhaul was more than just for cosmetic reasons; the original kitchen was very badly planned and executed, wasting a lot of storage space. There was hardly any counter space to work on, the corner base cabinets were blocked off and didn't provide storage, the far right wall cabinet was a false panel and not a functioning cupboard, etc. Now it not only suits Laura and Tim's taste more, but is so much more functional and provides more storage space.

Here's how it looked before:

And here it is now:

Laura says, "It is still a relatively small kitchen but doesn't seem so now we have made best use of the space. We still have to keep things very organised and minimalist to make it work but then that's half the fun."

Some of the changes made include:

1. Moved the oven so that they could fit a dishwasher where the old oven was.
2. Added extra tall wall cupboards giving extra storage space.
3. Didn't bother having an extractor fan as they never used it; this gave them an extra cupboard for storage.
4. Used the space in the corners of the cupboards (in the old kitchen the corners were blocked off).
5. Created extra work surface space by removing the tall glass cupboard that rested on the work surface and keeping the worktops clear - this last step aided by the fact they now have more cupboard space.
6. Fitted under-cabinet lighting to illuminate work surface.

I think the makeover is fabulous - thanks for sharing it, Laura!

Driftwood

2011-11-24T09:00:00.000+13:00

I have this vase standing in the bathroom next to the shower:

I had planned on putting some curly willow or something similar into it but of course I went the free route and scavenged some driftwood from the beach instead. I kind of adore driftwood so it makes me smile when I see it. And who doesn't love beachy bits in a bathroom?

Pebble mosaic

2011-11-23T09:00:00.001+13:00

I absolutely adore this pebble mosaic at the Auckland Botanic Gardens. I would really like to try making something like this one day.

My boys

2011-11-22T09:00:00.000+13:00

Edited with my Simply Black and White Contrast conversion.

Hamilton Gardens

2011-11-21T09:00:00.004+13:00

On Saturday my friend Taryn invited us to spend the day with her and her parents and aunt. We headed down to Hamilton Gardens, which is about an hour and ten minutes' drive away.

We spent about four hours there and absolutely adored it. The weather was perfect. The gardens aren't like the Botanic Gardens, they are a series of literal gardens, walled or hedged. There are five collections, each of which contains several gardens. (Click here to check out the website.)

I know this post is picture-heavy but be thankful I only posted 32 photos as I took 129!

I adored this walled garden of raised beds in which vegetables were growing. I'd love to replicate it one day, but with more paths between the beds.

The veranda ceiling was painted with a pattern:

You know me and splashing water ;)

Waves

2011-11-20T09:00:00.000+13:00

I'm kind of obsessed with photos of falling, dripping, splashing or flowing water, frozen in time. I took so many wave photos last week - these are just a few. I think this first one is my favourite.

What it's like in New Zealand

2011-11-19T09:00:00.004+13:00

I've been making little notes and observations for a while about life in New Zealand and I have enough now to put together to make a blog post. This is for anyone wondering what it's like here, how it has been different for us and some of the things we're adjusting to.

Shoes (Ha ha, I had to talk about shoes first, didn't I?)

In the UK and South Africa I was a size 5 but over here I am size 7 (which I think is equivalent to US sizing, but I'm not sure).

Daniel never wears shoes except to church and if we insist he puts some Crocs on. Noah sometimes goes barefoot and the rest of the time he wears Crocs, even to school - he takes them off when he gets there. No shoes allowed in school. In winter he leaves slippers at school to wear.

Although the barefoot thing is quite normal here, I think it's a little more "looked down on" on the North Shore / city and more usual here with the "country" kids. Whatever - my kids are happy and it saves me money on shoes ;)

Taking your shoes off when entering anyone's house is the norm here. Most people remove their shoes outside the front door and leave them there. In winter you'll take a pair of slippers with you when visiting friends.

I finally get to wear my cute sandals and wedges! I hardly had opportunity in the UK as it was never warm enough for long enough.

Flip-flops are called "jandals" here.

Food

We haven't eaten out yet in a proper restaurant yet but we've had take-aways. McDonald's actually tastes yummy here (we found it pretty tasteless in the UK). The Domino's "large" pizza is a UK "medium" pizza. We had fish and chips once and it was heavenly. I don't normally enjoy chip-shop fish but the fish we had (gurnard) was awesome.

Fresh food and homemade food is much cheaper than processed food. In the UK processed food is much cheaper.

You pretty much have to eat seasonal fruit and veg if you don't want to spend an absolute fortune. There is a huge difference in price seasonally. For example, in winter a cucumber is between $4 and $5. In the summer apparently they go down to around 75c. I wouldn't even dream of buying salad goodies and fruit like strawberries in the winter, even if I could find them.

The people here seem to be quite fond of silverbeet, a green leafy veg. I don't mind it but of course my kids will moan if I serve it.

Orange sweet potatoes are called kumara here and are very popular.

Outdoor lifestyle

I love living in a country where you can buy your fishing bait at the supermarket along with your groceries! I wouldn't even know where to find any in the UK.

The sun here is vicious. There is a gaping hole in the ozone layer above NZ so sunscreen is mandatory. Even with sunscreen on you can feel the sun scorching your skin if you stay out in it in the middle of the day - and we're not even properly into summer yet. Even though I use sunscreen and avoid being out in the sun, sticking to the shade, I have a tan already. And more freckles on my face (sigh). Any time the sun is out, even in winter, you feel the warmth of it.

I go walking every morning (3.5km, around 2 miles) and pass so many other walkers and joggers. Walking for health is very much a done thing here.

You constantly hear birds singing, all day long. When we have our sliding door open we have a perpetual soundtrack of birdsong. (And let me tell you, blackbirds are so noisy!)

TV

TV here is pretty much crap and there's hardly anything good to watch. Which is okay because I'm not a big TV fan (I prefer to tool around on the internet to chill.) But hey, at least it's free! There is no TV licence.

The ads are so loud and in your face. I'm constantly reminding the kids to mute the TV during ad breaks.

NZ TV seems to be a bit more conservative than UK TV where pretty much anything goes. British shows like Embarrassing Bodies, which is a show about embarrassing medical conditions, will have the rude bits blurred out. In the UK you see everything, whether they are talking about piles or fractured willies or whatever.

The people

Everyone here seems to be so cheerful, friendly and laid back. When you are out shopping you get asked, "How are you?" and it's like they genuinely care. You can speak to strangers and they will be happy to chat with you. When out walking I make eye contact and exchange greetings with other walkers. This is not done in the UK, at least not where we lived.

They are so laid back that in radio ads, when citing a website address, they don't bother saying www as "double-you, double-you, double-you", they just say "dub-dub-dub" which makes me laugh for some reason. And instead of GST they say "jist". Lazy beggers. (Or buggers, which I can say again - it's accepted here, but in the UK it's not a very polite word.)

NZ people are so generous. When we first moved over we were lent so much to get by until our stuff arrived. We continue to experience the generosity of those around us as they share goodies from their gardens, give us goodies for our own garden, spoilt me on my birthday, help with fishing knowledge, and are generous with their time too.

I feel more at home here because my sense of humour seems to gel. People "get" me more than they did in the UK. It's hard to explain, but unmistakable to experience.

The people we have met are so tolerant and accepting. I haven't felt at all judged by anyone. You just show up as you are and you are welcome, no matter your race, history, nationality, gender or age. It's wonderful.

They say you can tell the quality of a neighbourhood by the ratio of pubs to churches. Well, I don't even know where our nearest pub is but there are a lot of churches in our neighbourhood!

Seasons

We left the UK just as spring was really starting to take off, only to be plunged right back into winter here. But the winter here is pretty much like a British spring / summer anyway. Which leads to mega confusion ... I sometimes have to stop and think and work out which season we are in because I haven't a clue.

The winter was chilly at times but on the whole it was nothing compared to a British winter, thank goodness. I never once needed my coat, hat, boots or gloves and only wore a scarf a couple of times.

There is more light in a NZ winter than in a UK summer, which is fantastic for photography and SAD! And now that it's summer, well I had my camera on the lowest ISO and couldn't shoot with my aperture wide open at f/2.8 because the fastest shutter speed available is 1/8000 and it was over-exposing. Wow.

The seasons aren't as marked as in the UK. Of course, we haven't been here for an autumn yet but since most the trees still had their leaves through the winter I'm not expecting shows of colour. Winter is cold(ish) and it rained quite a bit but there were plenty of days that saw us in short sleeves on the beach. Spring so far is warmer, sunnier and lighter but there are no dramatic displays of crocuses, daffodils, tulips and snowdrops, and trees bursting into life like in the UK.

I keep forgetting that Christmas is in just over a month's time. The only sign of Christmas here is in one of the stores we visit sometimes, where they have fake trees and decorations out. Other than that ... nothing. I really like it. In the UK they start Christmassing in September and by the time the day rolls around I am sick of it all. But it did feel more Christmassy in the cold weather.

The weather here can be very changeable. Take today, for instance. This morning was nice and sunny and warm while I was out walking. By the time I'd had my shower and got dressed it was gloomy and drizzling. Then it went sunny again. Now it's overcast but bright, and windy. And it's only 3pm now so who knows what the rest of the day holds!

So, those are just some thoughts and observations so far. We've been here for five months now and every single day I am so grateful to be here. It has 100% been the right move for our family.

Noah's closet

2011-11-18T09:00:00.002+13:00

Since I've already shown my closet and Daniel's closet, here is how Noah's closet is organised.

Starting at the top again:

I made little laminated labels with a border that looks like a road with cars on it:

And I don't know why Noah's red and white Hawaiian style shirt is with his church clothes ... he doesn't wear it to church, don't worry!

You can see how I've pinched the space at the end of the hanging rail for my dresses.

Again, we put a hanging rail in the closet to double up on hanging space and also so Noah can reach his clothes.

His car mat was causing problems on the floor - it was getting in the way of the door and the closet door - so now it's stored rolled up in his closet.

Cupcakes

2011-11-17T09:00:00.000+13:00

Some lemon birthday cupcakes with lemon buttercream for my friend Nic.

Waikato

2011-11-16T09:00:00.001+13:00

This is the mouth of the Waikato river. We went there a few days ago, before Grant left - isn't it stunning?

Noah

2011-11-15T09:00:00.002+13:00

Noah playing on the beach at Karioitahi last week.

Raised beds

2011-11-14T09:00:00.000+13:00

My friend Amanda's dad very kindly made us a couple of raised beds to go alongside our deck.

I painted them black with watered-down acrylic paint as it's held up well on the other bed edges, and it's what I had on hand.

Then I put them alongside the deck - Grant had to dig one in a little as the ground slopes up. Digging the bed in a bit ensured it lined up level with the deck. We've put strawberry plants (also a gift) in the right hand one and herbs in the left. I wanted the herbs there as it's convenient to access from the kitchen through the sliding door. (Excuse the recycling bin; we're all about convenience and it's handy to keep it there.) The black-covered thing on the deck is the barbecue.

We are so grateful for everyone's input into our little garden! We've had pallets (for the edging), seeds, vege plants and sheep pellets from R, special chicken manure mix and tomato plants from Nic and Paul, herbs from Amanda and raised beds, soil and strawberry plants from her dad. If we ever actually grow anything useful we'll have to share the bounty!

Shooting balloons

2011-11-13T10:10:00.002+13:00

What do you do that day after the party? You take a Nerf bullet and push a pin into the front of it ...

... load up the Nerf gun ...

... and you let your kids shoot down the hanging balloons.

Here's a video clip of Noah shooting the last two. As you can hear, he is very supportive of my blog!

We had to make at least one fun memory today, as it's a sucky day - Grant leaves for college again and we won't see him for another month :( But after that he will be home for good, hooray!

Disclaimer: don't try this at home without adult supervision. Besides the time when I was filming, I was the one loading the gun and ensuring it wasn't pointed at anyone. Safety first!

Daniel's Pokemon party

2011-11-12T19:00:00.003+13:00

It's Daniel's birthday on Monday and he had a little party today. Just four of his classmates, and of course Noah, attended. I didn't go all out but his party did have a Pokemon theme. The invitations were free printables found on the internet:

I had to try out this cute balloon idea I saw on Pinterest (here and here) - in these pics they look like they're hung too high but in real life they were fine. I didn't want them hung too low as I thought the kids would mess with them.

The kids played a game where they had to stand in a particular spot and use Nerf guns to shoot at a picture of Team Rocket which I'd stuck on the outside of the sliding door. They each had two rounds of ten shots and the winner was the one with the most points - they scored a point if the dart was touching any of the characters.

They also played Pokemon Bingo. I'd prepared individual cards and punched pictures of Pokemon characters. The kids laid out the circles onto the cards and as Grant drew the characters from a bowl and called them out they would cover the circles with clear glass pebbles. It worked pretty well and they enjoyed it.

They also built some Pokemon characters (and other goodies) with Lego, and took turns on the Wii (four playing at a time) and DS consoles (two playing at a time).

And of course they had something to eat and drink. The party was from 2pm - 4pm so we just served hot dogs and potato chips.

Oh, and I made an Oshawott cake, which is one of his favourite Pokemon characters. All in all it was a success and they all had a good time.

Botanic Gardens with a vintage feel

2011-11-11T09:00:00.000+13:00

I haven't used my vintage action on any images in a while, but I felt like it suited these pictures. I've actually been meaning to offer them for sale for ages, and have finally got around to it - you'll see the link to the right. (My e-book is also at a new, lower price.) The action set includes two black-and-white, two sepia, one acid and three vintage actions.

Eels

2011-11-10T20:50:00.003+13:00

We went to the Botanic Gardens again today. Before we left we spent a little time at the big pond with the eels in. The boys would touch the water and the eels would swim right up to their hands and they could stroke them! So weird.

(Please excuse the blown-out skin - I was shooting quickly in AV mode and the water is dark so the kids' skin overexposed.)

Daniel's closet

2011-11-09T09:00:00.003+13:00

It's time for another organising post, and this time I thought I'd share how I organise Daniel's closet.

Here's an overview of the small built-in closet in his bedroom:

Starting at the top - he has a shelf on which I've put three Ikea plastic tubs:

The "Clothes to sort" box contains new clothes that are in bigger sizes that I need to sort into the big clothing bank tubs as well as smaller clothes that have been outgrown that I need to sell or give away.

I made laminated labels for the tubs, stuck on with hot glue. Daniel is into Moshi Monsters at the moment, hence the characters on the labels:

The hanging space:

To double up on hanging space I put a portable hanging rail into his closet:

Here is the belt hanger:

His undies and pyjamas are stored in his desk drawers (new to his room). I'll share toy and book storage in a later post.

I guess we're really lucky

2011-11-08T11:17:00.002+13:00

Don't they say that getting a double yolk in an egg is lucky? Well, recently I accidentally bought a tray of extra-large eggs (I usually just buy medium) and every single one of the eggs, except the very last one, had double yolks in. It was kind of fun!

Here you can see how big the eggs were:

And here are two cracked into a pan:

Another one used for baking one day:

And another fried up for breakfast:

Overcast Kaiaua

2011-11-07T16:53:00.002+13:00

Yes, we went to Kaiaua again today. (I'm dreading our petrol bill.) Grant really wanted to cram as much fishing into his few days of leave as possible. He did catch another fish but I missed the action as by then I was snoozing in the car. The weather started out a bit overcast and cool. It was nice by the time we left, but like I said, I was dozing in the car and missed the sunshine.

Guy Fawkes Day fireworks

2011-11-06T09:00:00.003+13:00

Saturday was Guy Fawkes Day and we went up Pukekohe Hill to see if we could see the fireworks. There was a fireworks show on at the rugby stadium and I tried to get some photos. These are the best of what I got.

Tech info for those interested: ISO 100 or 200, aperture f/10, shutter speed ranges from 8 to 30 seconds (bulb mode). I used a tripod and a remote release.

Kaiaua again

2011-11-05T13:06:00.005+13:00

As mentioned yesterday, Grant and I spent a few hours at Kaiaua again, on a different little beach. I could not believe the colour of the sea, it was this gorgeous turquoise, which is currently my favourite colour. Grant spent most of the time fishing and studying (well, that was the intention but I'm not sure how much studying he managed!) and I spent the whole time taking pictures and relaxing. I'd shoot some photos, then go and sit in the shade and read my book or watch the little waves curling. But I could not go longer than ten minutes before I was overcome by all of the beauty around me and I had to take more photos.

I loved not only the natural beauty but also the solitude and quiet. It is so wonderful to go places and encounter no traffic and no other people.

Here are 41 shots from yesterday. And no, these are not all of them by any means (I took over 80.) What can I say, I can't help myself.

We parked on the side of the road and descended this grassy bank to get onto the beach.

The little rock island that Grant fished from at first:

This is a mussel farm just offshore:

This is the little rock island Grant had been fishing off, after the tide came in:

"I caught a fish!"

2011-11-04T19:17:00.000+13:00

When I posted pictures of Grant fishing at Clarks Beach I was asked if he had caught anything. Sadly, no. He has been desperate to catch some fish for us to eat. Yesterday we spent a few hours at Kaiaua again in a different spot to last time, and he tried a little fishing again.

Once a fish took the bait right off the hook without getting caught.

Then he got a bite but as he was reeling it in the line snapped.

Then he actually caught a fish! I even caught it on film. I couldn't stop laughing at how excitedly he squealed, "I caught a fish!" - it's been our new catch phrase in our family. Here's the clip - excuse the blue tint, I have no idea why it did that.

The fish he caught was a little kahawai and we had it barbecued last night and it was delicious! Well done, Grant!

Welcome

2011-11-03T09:10:00.003+13:00

Hello to all of my new visitors, and thank you for popping over to my blog! It is an honour to be featured on Jen's amazing blog.

(For those who don't know Jen's blog, click on over there for some incredible inspiration.)

Feel free to browse around and make yourself at home here on my rambly, random blog. And if you are interested in the artwork collages featured on I Heart Organizing, you can have one made with your own child's art if you click on over to my Etsy store. As far as the duvet cover goes ... sorry, you're on your own there LOL!

Clarks Beach

2011-11-02T14:51:00.001+13:00

Today Grant is working from 2pm until midnight so this morning after the boys went to school we drove out to Clarks Beach, about 30 minutes away. We just chilled there and Grant optimistically cast out and stood his rod in a stand while he did a little studying. He didn't catch anything :( The weather was overcast at times but still nice and warm.

This part of the beach is underwater when the tide is in.

Look at this amazing dark wood - this was a piece of broken tree:

Sharp

2011-11-01T09:30:00.001+13:00

"The true way to render ourselves happy is to love our work and find in it our pleasure."

- Francoise de Motteville

Bird

2011-10-31T09:00:00.001+13:00

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

- Marianne Williamson

Kaiaua

2011-10-30T21:48:00.003+13:00

Grant is home for two weeks, hooray! He arrived on Friday night and it's been so nice to be together as a family. We've had a relaxing weekend just chilling and taking it easy. We've had glorious weather - summer seems to have arrived and it's shorts, t-shirts and jandals (flip-flops) all round!

We did take a trip out to Kaiaua (a 35 minute drive) and found a secluded bit of beach to enjoy. The top of the beach was made up of stones and was nicely sheltered with a bit of late afternoon shade. Closer to the water was sand with some rocks. The boys played, I read a bit and just relaxed listening to the shush of the water, and Grant tried a bit of fishing.

As this is an east coast beach it did not have black sand or breakers and surf.

You can see our car here, and the steep bank we had to climb down.

Grant said the water was really warm. That and the fact that the ground slopes very gently into deeper water and there is no surf makes it the perfect place for the kids to swim, although we hadn't brought swimming gear with this time.

Succulent

2011-10-28T09:00:00.001+13:00

"Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake."

- Victor Hugo

Master closet and jewellery organisation

2011-10-27T09:00:00.004+13:00

I thought I'd share how I organise things in our various closets and drawers, starting with the walk-in wardrobe in the master bedroom.

We have some shelves at the left hand side, a shelf along the top and hanging space.

Starting at the top I have my favourite Ikea plastic tubs filled with clothes in a size that I am too big for. I need to lose my emigration weight (when life settles back to normal) to fit them again but they are ready and waiting for me.

The hanging space straight ahead is Grant's. Of course, some of his clothes are with him at college at the moment but not a lot.

In case you are wondering why I have such a bright church bag, it's one from Time Out For Women (there are a few of us at church who use them).

The hanging space on the left is mine.

The hanging space was single-level and meant for long items but I wanted a double rail for shorter items (my long items are in the boys' closets which you'll see later) so I added a portable hanging rail at the bottom.

This is the corner at the bottom. It has the shiatsu massage chair thingie (don't laugh, it's awesome) and the flood-and-fire-proof safe which holds important documents.

Okay, on to the shelves.

There are only two library books in the plastic tub at the moment because as I finish them I put them straight into my wheeled shopping bag ready to return to the library.

The very top rail holds my cuffs and biggest bangles on little hangers I made out of jumbo paper clips:

As detailed above, the baskets hold shorts, swimming trunks and hats. Hanging below are my bracelets and bangles on hooks made from paper clips, with my necklaces on the right:

You can also see how I hang my hoop earrings - I am wearing the other pair I have:

The necklaces hang from Ikea curtain clip hooks:

Below that hang some bangles, again on hooks made from paper clips:

The top two shelves have short necklaces hung on them:

And the second-from-bottom shelf has long necklaces and spare clip hooks hung on it:

You may have noticed the little plastic boxes to the right of my shoes:

They are bead boxes and store my earrings, toe rings, pins and pendants:

The back of the closet door has hooks which hold belts and light scarves. My woolly scarves languish in a big plastic box in the garage along with our winter hats, coats and gloves. We didn't need them this last winter here in NZ as it didn't get cold enough!

I hope that was interesting and / or helpful! Let me know if you are interested in seeing how I organise other closets and drawers in my home, or if there is anything specific you'd like to see organised.

Little curtain

2011-10-26T09:00:00.001+13:00

Our ensuite has a window that is visible from the neighbour's house. It has obscure glass that provides privacy during the day but at night with the light on inside it isn't quite as private as I'd like. I needed to add a little curtain of some sort.

As a renter, a tension rod was the perfect solution ... except that nobody in New Zealand seems to have heard of them! I looked at so many places and asked around. In the end my lovely friend Rebecca in the UK sent me one - it was around £2.50 on eBay. (Thank you, Rebecca!)

Here it is in place. For those who don't know (ahem, my NZ friends, LOL) the two halves of the rod rotate and it extends to fit the recess. It is slightly spring loaded. The tension / pressure keeps it in place.

I whipped up a little curtain by folding a piece of hemmed cheesecloth over and sewing a rod pocket across the top. Voila, privacy for me and a protection from seeing my naked form for the neighbours. Win win.

I was going to add some navy blue pom-pom trim along the bottom but my local haberdashery doesn't have any in navy so it will just stay plain.