Autumn gold from my mother-in-law's garden, plus a wee spot of embroidery by the fire. Now that's a good afternoon. I wanted to mention an upcoming event that I'm taking part in- it's called Handmade, and will be held at Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington, June 4-6. It will consist of two busy days, jam-packed…

The school holidays are over now, but last week we visited the West Coast of our South Island; hanging out on the beach, visiting abandoned coal mines and caves, walking through little rural towns and sampling the tearoom fare. We also found a former gold miner's village, hillsides covered in nikau palms and pancake rocks.…

I'm going to have a little blog-break- just until next week. I hope to return with a full sketchbook, a giveaway, and some new ideas.  X

I hope you had a good weekend. We had a warm and friendly Easter time, surrounded by more family and friends than we've seen in a long while. We celebrated with roasted vegetables and chicken, wine and walnuts, homemade bread and cake, feijoas and apples. And chocolate eggs, of course. It's certainly a great time…

When the sun catches the yellow leaves of the birch trees outside our window, it looks like they're sparkling gold. Jewel-trees. We're on holiday here, the children are running around outside and the day's baking (afghans with almonds) is cooling on the kitchen table. I'm enjoying this song- Heirloom, by Sufjan Stevens– it seems so…

We don't have a sweets shop in the town where I live, which is rather sad, I think. When I was little there was one that we'd go to sometimes with my Mum. It was tiny and dark with lots of shelves holding clear containers filled with candy of every description (here in NZ, we…

When Keira turned six last month, her aunty and uncle gave her a small disposable camera and a blank album, with a card suggesting she could document her life at six. It turned out to be such a great gift- the actual taking of the photos over a week, (great fun in itself) then waiting…

This cooler weather we've been having makes me want to knit every evening. And because hats seem to be the only garment I have the attention span for these days, Arlo got another one made for him last week. For this I used one complete ball of dark grey yarn (Moda Vera, 8 ply) and…

 It seems too grey and cold here today. Let's go somewhere else. Perhaps rest under some white trees in a desert. Or hide under a branch with a patchwork bird. yes, that's much better. Have a happy weekend, blog friends!

This is another recent library book find of mine: Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People by Amy Sedaris. I found this to be a hilariously funny read. I think it's a must-have for craft blog fans, and not just because the dust jacket can be turned into a stylish bonnet (instructions are given on the…