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| The sunset this evening just got better and better..... |
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
Monday, 7 November 2011
Nursery
It seems that NZ does fireworks far better than the UK. On the 5th we went to New Brighton (aka Eign Gate by the sea for Hereford fans) and watched the fireworks from the beach. Wow! They came off the pier and were amazing.... no photos of that but another recent "event" was Halloween and we did go to a Halloween party.... both events not quite suited to NZ summer - Although it was nice not to freeze to death while watching fireworks.
The baby's room is now pretty much done - Other than a few more basics like a fully sealed bin/type thing for the smelly nappy liners (nice) we are good to go. As requested by some here are a few shots which do not give away the gender of the baby! Just in case we had any pink or blue clothes on the shelving they I have taken the picture in black and white!! ha ha!!! Also a picture of the growing bump. Please ignore the fact I am puffy. One day I hope to return to a normal size.
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| Hope the baby appreciates the view |
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| awwww cute |
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| Mobile - I made it |
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| Yes... I am wonderful to have made it I know .... anyway.... |
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| Bits and bobs |
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Update!
Ahhh bringing a nice bit of British to New Zealand... a nice cuppa and a home baked vanilla slice(s) on the balcony. Nice. Lemon meringue in the oven. I am too domesticated.
Things have been super busy for a self employed/part timer. Nathan has now left work and we are putting the cogs in motion for his new venture - what has taken up a lot of time is the setting up of his internet site - I have now educated myself in web building and make this website. I am pretty pleased with it - click on the picture to see it in all its glory!
Hard at work in our kitchen
Baby business is going well. This week I had my yummy model photo shoot with 5 other women from Christchurch. It took about 6 hours and I must have modelled about 30 pieces but it was all good fun. The stylist was Angela Stone who I understand is kind of a stylist to the stars (well, at least Woman's Weekly) and that was quite amusing (she is the non pregnant one in this photo). The pictures will be used in the company's catalogue on line so I'll pop a link to that up here when the photos are ready.
The baby's room is now all set up with the cot, pushchair and all that. All we need now is a car seat and I think we should be set. 5 weeks to go - yikes!
Very exciting and time consuming was the arrival of the boxes from the UK. All very simple in the end. Pack and Send on Victoria St, Bristol appear to have done a good job.... At one point looking at the progress of the boat on "boat spotters.com" (or something like that) it looked like the boxes were heading back to the UK but it turned out they had been put on a different boat and were actually waiting for me in Christchurch. Phew.
Only a few broken things. Clearly someone thought it would be funny to put a sledge hammer into a box marked fragile as various items were smashed. Even a metal champagne bucket was dented. Most annoying was the broken Pimms jug. OK so I didn't buy that product, I think I "acquired" it - possibly on my mum's hen do, but still annoying. Come to think of it I think the champagne bucket came from my step brother's wedding too so perhaps someoine was trying to tell me something!!!
Unfortunately, being pregnant I now have the co-ordination of the English rugby team (ahem - ahd to get the rugby in here somewhere!) and while I was celebrating the fact I still had a full set of champagne glasses I managed to send one flying!! i no longer have a full set...
Seeing my old clothes almost gave me a nervous breakdown - how the hell did I ever fit into those?! They look like they were made for a 4 year old! Maybe (or not) one day they will be useful again..... Anyway, we managed to find a space for the stuff and now our house is rather full to say the least - looking good though. Hopefully family, friends you are saving for a visit!!
No earthquake activity recently - we had a big one during the world cup All Blacks game, I think against Argentina - a 5.5. That is the biggest I have felt so far. I held onto the TV and the game played on. We haven't had one for a while though and I'm not sure about that. If the little ones keep coming it is far better than one big one.
OOooh yes, we have a new car. It is a 4WD. Stop laughing. It is necessary. Really.... Nathan wanted something to go skiing with and in the winter we might get snowed in again which isn't so great with a baby. Poor suzuki alto still remains a firm favourite though. The 4WD seems massive at the moment and also I am having to remember how to use a manual gear box again!!
Finally, from the makers of the world's largest cabbage (see earlier post) I can now proudly introduce the world's largest leek (tomato for scale purposes only!)
Oh one more.... a photo from a drive to a ski town called Methven. Beautiful gorge but probably not as visually impressive as the leek above!!!
Things have been super busy for a self employed/part timer. Nathan has now left work and we are putting the cogs in motion for his new venture - what has taken up a lot of time is the setting up of his internet site - I have now educated myself in web building and make this website. I am pretty pleased with it - click on the picture to see it in all its glory!
click here for website
Baby business is going well. This week I had my yummy model photo shoot with 5 other women from Christchurch. It took about 6 hours and I must have modelled about 30 pieces but it was all good fun. The stylist was Angela Stone who I understand is kind of a stylist to the stars (well, at least Woman's Weekly) and that was quite amusing (she is the non pregnant one in this photo). The pictures will be used in the company's catalogue on line so I'll pop a link to that up here when the photos are ready.
The baby's room is now all set up with the cot, pushchair and all that. All we need now is a car seat and I think we should be set. 5 weeks to go - yikes!
Very exciting and time consuming was the arrival of the boxes from the UK. All very simple in the end. Pack and Send on Victoria St, Bristol appear to have done a good job.... At one point looking at the progress of the boat on "boat spotters.com" (or something like that) it looked like the boxes were heading back to the UK but it turned out they had been put on a different boat and were actually waiting for me in Christchurch. Phew.
Only a few broken things. Clearly someone thought it would be funny to put a sledge hammer into a box marked fragile as various items were smashed. Even a metal champagne bucket was dented. Most annoying was the broken Pimms jug. OK so I didn't buy that product, I think I "acquired" it - possibly on my mum's hen do, but still annoying. Come to think of it I think the champagne bucket came from my step brother's wedding too so perhaps someoine was trying to tell me something!!!
Unfortunately, being pregnant I now have the co-ordination of the English rugby team (ahem - ahd to get the rugby in here somewhere!) and while I was celebrating the fact I still had a full set of champagne glasses I managed to send one flying!! i no longer have a full set...
Seeing my old clothes almost gave me a nervous breakdown - how the hell did I ever fit into those?! They look like they were made for a 4 year old! Maybe (or not) one day they will be useful again..... Anyway, we managed to find a space for the stuff and now our house is rather full to say the least - looking good though. Hopefully family, friends you are saving for a visit!!
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| Now unpacked - the arrival was daunting!! |
No earthquake activity recently - we had a big one during the world cup All Blacks game, I think against Argentina - a 5.5. That is the biggest I have felt so far. I held onto the TV and the game played on. We haven't had one for a while though and I'm not sure about that. If the little ones keep coming it is far better than one big one.
OOooh yes, we have a new car. It is a 4WD. Stop laughing. It is necessary. Really.... Nathan wanted something to go skiing with and in the winter we might get snowed in again which isn't so great with a baby. Poor suzuki alto still remains a firm favourite though. The 4WD seems massive at the moment and also I am having to remember how to use a manual gear box again!!
Finally, from the makers of the world's largest cabbage (see earlier post) I can now proudly introduce the world's largest leek (tomato for scale purposes only!)
Oh one more.... a photo from a drive to a ski town called Methven. Beautiful gorge but probably not as visually impressive as the leek above!!!
Friday, 14 October 2011
New Plymouth
Last week we went to New Plymouth for a few days so Nathan could sort out one of his shipping container conversions.... blue skys and farm days...
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| windmill on the drive from wellington to NP (we flew to wellington and then drove the rest of the way...) |
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| Freshly born piglet on Nathan's aunt and uncle's farm |
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| Not a bad spring day at 26 degrees... |
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| Cute - just like the calves I fed at the Farm - awwww! |
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| and a dramatic weather day too... |
Sunday, 25 September 2011
Spring!
Spring in in the air... the clocks went forward on Saturday so now it is light at 7pm... the skys are blue, the birds are singing, the sun is shining. Here are some spring shots from Corsair Bay which is a 3 minute drive around the corner.
Monday, 19 September 2011
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
Boxes on the move
House
Nathan has been very busy making our house even more beautiful with amazing picture frames using my photos.... This space has turned into a bit of a Cambodia wall. So far Nathan has made 17 frames in a few weeks(!) - We will have no wall space soon!!
A picture from December 2010 I just found (above)....and a beautiful print sunset from our balcony below.
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Wednesday, 7 September 2011
Quiz time
Time for a quiz ...
Q: Who is this...
A: This is NZ's Next Top Model ....
Who is this....
Q: Who is this...
A: This is NZ's Next Top Model ....
Who is this....
A: This is NZ's next top pregnant model (!!) .... in October I am going to be part of a pregnant women photoshoot for http://www.pregoli.co.nz/ a NZ maternity wear fashion label... ha ha!! I also get free yummy mummy stuff. Excellent!
Monday, 5 September 2011
Kaikoura break!
This weekend we took advantage of the excuse that it was my birthday to have a "final" child free break....
Kaikoura was the chosen destination - about 2 and a half hours away from Christchurch. This weekend was also the anniversary of the first earthquake so it was good to get out of town to escape the various community activities (e.g record breaking group hug). Kaikoura is a coastal town with a reputation for whales. We booked 2 nights in a campsite hut which was great and hit the water...
Luckily I wasn't to fat to be allowed onto the boat - although conditions were choppy (and people were throwing up witin 5 minutes) I was happy chomping into my banana, cereal bar and chocolate much to their disgust I am sure (hey I gotta eat...). 12 miles out we got our whales - 5 of them.... They don't do jumping through hoops or ball tossing to each other. In fact they surface for about 5 minutes every hour or so so you ahve to be quick. you also only get to see the very top of them so appreciating their size can be difficult. Nevertheless they are amazing creatures and seeing them is extraordinary. As well as the whales on the trip we also had visits from dolphins and New Zealand fur seals. Also lots of Albatross (with a massive wing span of 3-4 metres - now you can't say I don't teach you anything!)....
Kaikoura was the chosen destination - about 2 and a half hours away from Christchurch. This weekend was also the anniversary of the first earthquake so it was good to get out of town to escape the various community activities (e.g record breaking group hug). Kaikoura is a coastal town with a reputation for whales. We booked 2 nights in a campsite hut which was great and hit the water...
Luckily I wasn't to fat to be allowed onto the boat - although conditions were choppy (and people were throwing up witin 5 minutes) I was happy chomping into my banana, cereal bar and chocolate much to their disgust I am sure (hey I gotta eat...). 12 miles out we got our whales - 5 of them.... They don't do jumping through hoops or ball tossing to each other. In fact they surface for about 5 minutes every hour or so so you ahve to be quick. you also only get to see the very top of them so appreciating their size can be difficult. Nevertheless they are amazing creatures and seeing them is extraordinary. As well as the whales on the trip we also had visits from dolphins and New Zealand fur seals. Also lots of Albatross (with a massive wing span of 3-4 metres - now you can't say I don't teach you anything!)....
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| Stunning backdrop |
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| The ring of still water left after the whale dives... |
Whale watching is hungry work and so next stop was this shack on the side of the road which did the most delicious seafood on the BBQ...
Then on to the seal colony.... where we found just the one baby seal which we didn't spot until Nathan nearly trod on it (it was well disguised as a rock)
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| Seal with whale? |
Later we managed to find a more populated seal spot - very entertaining. Some seals had found their own private swimming/rock pools - others were sun bathing....
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| This one didn't like the look of Nathan much.... |
Just past theOhau seal colony was a great little walk through the woods to a waterfall and a pool where baby seals come to practice swimming and could be left in the pool by their mothers for days on end while she goes fishing - There was just the one seal in the pool but he put on a magical show jumping about - all just nature - wow!
(pictures not very clear as it was nearly dark - can you spot him?)
A view for the sunset...
Ahhhh what a good birthday.....
With the weekend not over on Sunday we did a little walk to a view point -
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| Nathan hydrates for the walk on L&P - New Zealand's iconic answer to cola |
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| 2.5 people made it up the hill |
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| The view - stunning! |
Ahhhh - perfect break away....
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