Walking in Spring | Vlog

I enjoyed making my first video so much, I've made a second - I thought I'd take you on some of the walks I've been on lately. You can view it here.

Slow Spiced Hot Chocolate

If you've been reading the blog lately you'll probably have figured out that I'm working pretty hard on making a conscious effort to slow down and enjoy having 'enough'. There is one thing though that I find it hard to have enough of somedays and that is hot chocolate. I'm not a coffee drinker or …

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On the Cusp of Spring

Here in Aotearoa, we seem to be balanced right on the cusp of Spring. And, unsurprisingly (because it happens at this time every year), I have found renewed energy in connecting with nature. Maybe it's the warmer weather, or maybe my soul is recognising some deeper stirring in nature, either way, I'm excited to share …

Life in the time of Covid-19

Goodness! Stops and starts seem to be the natural order of this blog. Or perhaps, there is something about the summer months that encourages me to write more. Regardless, it's a strange time to be writing in, much less living in. How do you begin to wrap your head around it all at the moment? …

Enough needs space

I wrote the title of this post a few days ago - the spark of an idea - but it's taken a few days for the that first thought to find the words to express itself, which actually is the perfect illustration of what I want to write about today. It's true, enough does need …

Blog Revamp: On being (more) myself

Kia ora all! If you've just stumbled across this blog, welcome! And if you've been here for years - kia ora! You might have noticed that I've given the blog a wee bit of a revamp (or you maybe not if you're reading this on an RSS reader). To be perfectly honest, it was time. …

Urban Homestead Update

How is it that a month flies by so quickly at the moment? September is always a busy month for me outside of the home, and so it’s always nice when we hit the school holidays and things can slow down for a bit. With so much energy focused outwards lately, it is taking me …

What Enough Isn’t

I've written here about choosing 'enough' in my professional life and about living with 'enough' in the past month, but today I want to write about what 'enough' isn't. Enough isn't missing out. Some people might look at my life and see the things I don't have. We don't go away on flash holidays or …

Simple. Sustainable. Frugal.

A five-week round up this week. I realised this week as I was trying to break things down into my usual 3 categories, that so many things that are sustainable are also frugal and so many simple pleasures are frugal ones too, so gone are my categories this week, instead just a simple list of …

Under the Weather

It's school holidays now, and I'm writing this while relaxing on the couch as the monkey child sleeps. I'm also recovering. I've been sick for the last nearly two weeks and I do not like being sick. It's not the flu or anything, just a nasty viral cold that I can't seem to shake. T …

Odds and Ends

My week in photos 1. This guy and his unwavering love of trains 2. A new book to read is always nicer. Even better when she is an amazing spoken word poet and you get to hear her perform live on the only night she was in NZ 3. I can never resist a good …

Earth, Sea and Sky

With the earth beneath us, the sky above us, and the sea around us, we begin to breath again.         B.

A Purple Pinafore

When we found out I was pregnant, I was very excited to start making things for our baby - to add to the wee collection I'd already made as 'practice'! I was secretly drawn to the idea of having a daughter to sew for, for the purely practical reason of imagining that dresses were fairly …

Happy anniversary, B!

Four years ago today, we were celebrating what we still (despite the 2013 law change) consider our 'proper' wedding, surrounded by a special bunch of family and friends. It seems like several lifetimes ago, given the huge changes that come with starting a family, but one of the constants in that time has been my …

Family Holidays

Family is really important to us, and we're very lucky that we are able to have big long summer holidays together every year (thanks teaching profession). Our usual pattern is to head north every year for a good 3 or so weeks and spend time with each set of parents at their beach houses. We …

A Homemade Teepee

One of the great things about having crafty parents (B.'s) is that they make T. all sorts of wonderful things. We've always liked the Mocka Teepees and happened to mention this to my mum, and behold - they made one for T. for his birthday. He absolutely loves it and it's been great this spring …

A Few of His Favourite Things

It's been fascinating watching Little Bear interact with his world and learn how it all works. He has developed very clear preferences about activities and toys! Without further ado, a few of his current/recent favourites:     S.

Happy (Belated) Birthday, Little Bear!

Our little guy turned one last month - one! A whole year! I'm still reeling in disbelief, I think... While I continue to gather my thoughts on how this first year has gone, I wanted to share a few pics and details of his party! It was such a pleasure and a privilege to be …

Feminist Inspirations

As both a New Zealander and a woman, I have long admired Kate Sheppard, not only for what she accomplished, but how she accomplished it and the way she lived her life. After many years of struggling to have their voices heard, on September 19th 1893, New Zealand became the first country to give women …

20 weeks here

This week our Little Bear is 20 weeks old - nearly 5 calendar months. It blows my mind that he's been out of me for half as long as he was inside - I can only imagine what the 9 month mark is going to feel like! My life is so incredibly different to what …

The Big Nursery Reveal!

This project has very much been a labour of love, with so much planning and imagining even before we got pregnant. I'm a very visual person, and I like to have clear pictures in my head of how things will look before starting anything new, so there wasn't much decision-making required by the time we …

Watch the belly grow!

It's been a ridiculously long time since we last checked in here, so in lieu of a proper post, just to tide things over in the meantime, check out the growth of this wee bub in my belly! And the last photo isn't even up to date!!! (Weeks 8, 11, 15, 23) (B. would probably …

The Half-way Mark

We had the all-important 20 week scan last week, and although we'd already found out the gender at an earlier scan (usually the highlight of the 20 week one) it was super lovely to see our baby again and hear the heartbeat. There was lots of focus on the heart and kidneys, due to family …

The First Trimester

So, more details on our exciting news! It's been such a full few months that it's quite hard to think back and find the things I want to remember and record. Here goes! It was early on a Sunday morning, the last in February, and sleeping in ceased to be an option when we both …