Keira will turn five over the weekend, and to celebrate we're having a family dinner at the Indian Cafe to eat dahl, her 'favouritest' meal. But then on Sunday she'll have a small tea-party in the park with some of her friends from kindergarten. Today I prepared a few things for this: the…

  I love green. In all its forms: pure, fresh lime-green and dark, lush leaf-green, like the grapevines spreading across our back wall. I've made some green things for my shop update this week: a sashiko-quilted purse made from a very old piece of Japanese kimono fabric: light green with black running stitches and a…

    I was listening to a science podcast from our national radio station last week, in which local organic winemakers talked about biodiversity in their vineyards. In particular it was about how they use flowering plants around their crops to encourage 'good' insects, and keep away others that are not beneficial. NZ native plants…

  Keira's birthday is coming up soon, and I had ordered some fabric from Japan ages ago with the idea of making her a dress for autumn. The fabric is a light cotton- dark grey with a vine design in cream. I finished it last night, and got it wrapped up even with a bit…

  Friday afternoon: coffee and a chat with a friend, while 5 children made a racket in the next room. And a little bit of playing around with my new watercolour set, inventing matching china. Happy weekend, friends!

  I found a beautiful book on my last trip to the library: The Three Incestuous Sisters by Audrey Niffeneggar. The book is what the author describes as a 'visual novel'- a kind of grown-up picture-book, or 'art book' that consists of a simple, sad tale about three sisters, illustrated by the author's aquatints. You…

      The children came home from an afternoon at my Mum's house with a painting of flowers and jellybeans. I like it very much. And I think it's inspired a bit of a colour-burst around here today, even though it's grey and overcast outside. Pictured above: jelly-bean painting, vintage embroidered mats, flowers from…

    Lately, when the days have been feeling full, and our little townhouse is noisy with the sound of trucks and cars and people going past the front door, I've been dreaming of a small, wooden house tucked under the pine trees on the hill. With just the sound of cicadas and birds overhead.…

    Arlo and his school friends are really into making paper planes at the moment. Most days I spend some time picking up abandoned paper plane models that litter our house and if a friend is over to play, the plane count doubles. Arlo spends a lot of time perfecting his designs: which type…