Christmas Cactus

Of course it is winter here in New Zealand, so all our winter flowering plants are now in full bloom.
I have a Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera) that I got from the plant shop a couple of years ago and it loves being indoors.

A little section of it got broken off 2 years ago! Kids fault.
I re-potted it and left it outside, then moved it into the garage over last winter. This summer I placed it on the deck at the front of the house and it is loving it there.
It has heaps of buds on it but no flower just yet, however when it does finally bloom I will get a quick snap of it and show you all.

Winter Time

I wish I could say I had chosen the right time of year to stay inside and recover.
To an extent I have, it is winter after all, a little frightful outside at times.
But on the other hand we are having a really nice winter with brilliant blue skys

and then the occassional morning of fog

However the warm temperatures are making it really nice to be outside during the day which in turn is reeking havoc with the plants!
Ok so June 1 was officially the start of Winter and Sept 1 is officially start of Spring, so that makes us slap bang in the middle of winter......so why do I have daffodils already in flower??

the white plant is ornamental kale

Which means the vegetable garden is going crazy

and I finally have my first 2 limes on my tree

but on the other hand we have all the mystery of winter happening in the garden with the spiders leaving cute little webs all over the grass each morning

I don't do cold very well but I am loving being at home this winter.

Treasure Hunt

Over here at Rindi's she is having a 2012 Summer Photo Scavenger Hunt.
The idea is that she gives you a list of things to find and picture between June 20 and Sept 21. Summertime in Northern Hemisphere.
The list looks like fun and so I have decided to give it a go throughout winter (Wintertime in Southern Hemisphere)

So these are the things I need to find and photograph before Sept 21....

1. A pier
2. A clothesline
3. A border
4. A roadside stand selling something
5. A train
6. A historical landmark
7. A person playing a musical instrument
8. A person dressed as an angel or a statue of an angel
9. A fountain
10. A horse
11. A shadow
12. A maze, labyrinth or trail
13. A library
14. A person playing with a ball
15. Someone dancing
16. A bride
17. A church, chapel, cathedral, mosque or temple
18. A movie poster
19. An outdoor stairway
20. A swing hanging from a tree (or a hammock)
21. A picture of you standing with something that symbolizes your nation

There are of course a few rules:
You may substitute 1 of the above for either a picture of a heart shaped stone or a four leaf clover. (Might have trouble with a four leaf clover in winter!)
All pictures must be new from this date forward, no using pictures taken last week or last month!
If there is any particular item that is going to be impossible to achieve then you can mention it to her and she will see how she can accomodate you further. (I may have trouble achieving item #1 as we do not have piers in New Zealand, not that I have found and we sure don't have them in Hamilton which is inland and only has a river!)

There are some small prizes available for the people who succeed in completing this etc but I am just doing it for the fun of something to do.
At the end of the day it is all about having fun.

If you want to join in then pop on over to Rindi's and let her know or if you are just doing it for yourself then let me know and I will come and visit to see how you are doing.

Here comes Winter

Yes that time of year has arrived here in New Zealand.
Yes I know that the weather is getting nicer for some of you in the northern hemisphere but please enjoy because it will soon go away when it wings its way back down under to us!
So it has come to the time of year when the heater is set everyday for the time we want it to come on.
The washing is rarely dried on the line outside or even in the garage as it is now too damp, so that means the washing rack has crept back into the family room by the heater.
1 layer is no longer suitable to wear and suddenly a snuggly sweater is very appealing.
No one wants to get up in the morning because it is dark and cold.

Soccer has commenced and even though the sun is shining whilst their games are being played the wind that whips around manages to find just the right place in your ear to hurt, so the woolly hats and scarfs have appeared.

I do love this time of year as well, the colours all around are beautiful, lovely browns, greens, oranges and red.
When the sun does shine everyone is out in the crisp air having fun and it re boosts your energy for when the days are cold and wet.
I do love coming home at night and slipping into snuggly sweats and sweaters and curling up on the couch with a blanket catching a show.
The crockpot is used much more and the aroma in the house is all warm and cosy. And I don't mind the oven being on making some nice hot dinner for us all to enjoy.

So to all you northern hemisphere friends, enjoy your spring and summer, enjoy your water play and outings to the beach, enjoy your BBQ's. Have fun watching the washing blowing in the summer wind drying nicely but just remember it will all go soon and then you will be in your winter but then having said that enjoy your cold dark nights with the houses lit up as you head towards Christmas, the pretty lights twinkling in the dark..

On second thoughts...I better stop now or I will have to move north back to what I remember!!

What I Miss at Christmas

I have been here in New Zealand for the past 13 odd years, would I ever leave, depends where we are going, but would I move back to England...never!!

Even if it has taken me all this time to get use to having Christmas in the sun, I still miss loads to do with Christmas.
As much as we celebrate everything here, it definitely has a different feel to it.
I love the warmth of the sun but miss the warm snuggled houses with the fires roaring and everyone wearing their latest christmas inspire sweater!
I love the fact that people do decorate their houses with lights etc but hate that you have to go out at 10pm to be able to view them in their full shinnest gleam.
I miss the lights glowing in all the shop windows as you race round town late one evening for the last few gifts you desperately need or desire.
I miss the whole atmosphere that takes over in the whole month of December as you count down to Christmas with the lights, the music, the cold nights and the food. Here December wanders in and suddenly you are more concerned with the fact that the school year is closing, what are you doing with the kids over the summer break, are we going to have sunshine whilst we camp at Christmas and has summer actually started or not!
There never seems to be any real lead up to Christmas, just suddenly one day you remember and then think Holy s%#t, we only have xyz weeks to go and I have got nothing done!

I also, ultimately, miss Christmas carols.
Yes I can play a CD at home but it just does not have the same effect as standing in the cold listening to a beautiful choir fill the air with the round crisp tones of a full choir.
I miss hearing a soloist sing "Once in Royal David's City" and then the effect when the full choir comes in with verse 2.
I miss going to a carol concert leading up to Christmas, where everyone is in a jolly mood, happy to see everyone, enjoying the atmosphere and the music and munching on their christmas faire of cake and mince pies (although I will never miss either of those as I can't stand dried fruit, although never fear, we may be in full sun shine on Christmas Day but people do still insist on Christmas pudding, brandy cream / custard, Christmas cake and mince pies)

I also miss snowmen, seems a silly thing to miss but I have found that all decorations here have Santa on them, nothing seems to be snowmen orientated.
Mainly I think because we don't have snow!
So nowadays if I see something with snowmen on it and it is cute, then I snap it up really quick.

Overal, I do love Christmas here, it is very different to a winter Christmas but definitely something I would recommend everyone tries.

Merry Chrsitmas

Shoes

I do not have a fetish with these, never have and never will.
I am not a girl who has oodles of them in her wardrobe waiting for that special moment when 1 pair will have its moment in the spot light and proudly get worn with that one all time special outfit.

I have shoes, don't get me wrong and usually I live in the same few pairs. So I am usually gutted when that pair dies and I have to scour the town to find another that suit my need.

But, I do have shoes and so do my children.
Unfortunately what gets me is the amount of children I see wandering along the street on their way to school in the morning....without shoes on!
We are in winter folks, it is cold outside, yet I can honestly believe these kids probably do not have a single pair they can wear.

It annoys me even more when you see these young mums in the supermarket, walking along in the latest designer outfit, complaining they have no money for food and their kids are wearing next to nothing with the blackest feet where they have not been wearing shoes ever!
Why do people seem to think that shoes are optional? To me they are as inportant as clothes are, yet I see so many people wandering around the hospital with no shoes on and their kids are following suit.
People seem to think shoes are not needed for children, they seem to think they are a waste of money as you have to buy new ones every 6-12 month. I am lucky in that my boys manage to make a pair of shoes last for a whole year. We usually buy new sandles at the beginning of each summer and new trainers at the beginning of each winter, these then last them until the next season they are needed.
Even if we could only afford one pair of shoes, then they would still have 1 pair and they would sure be wearing them in the wintertime.

My moan and groan is over now!

Fall Time

Happy Easter to everyone.
Hope you are not eating too much chocolate? Ok well you eat what you want and regret it later!

We have had a lovely weekend at the caravan, shame Steve has to return to work so we go home tomorrow.
I do hope everyone in New Zealand enjoyed their extra hour in bed this morning, if you were able to get one, when the clocks fell back for winter.
I can't believe we have got to that time of year already?
We are now in April, the colder evenings are setting in and we are getting that much closer to Alex starting school.
Man life certainly races by when you are not watching!

Game Time

Yes it has finally arrived, the much waited for Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada.

I love the Winter Olympics

I just love everything about it, the thrill of the down hill skiing, ice skating, luging, curling just everything.
I would, if possible, take 2 weeks of work, resign from the human race and veg for the whole time watching it. Even if this meant I had to live nights and sleep during the day to capture the coverage with the time differences!
Which given we are always in the midst of our summertime when ever the Winter Games are on, is pretty much, all the time!

So, having just enjoyed the intense Women's Moguls, and it was thrilling, USA Gold and Bronze, Cananda Silver, and I so wanted the young 18 yr old Canadian to get a medal, unfortunately she came 5th, I have some very busy evenings ahead of me catching up on the days events that I will be missing whilst at work

For Christmas, Steve brought me a new game for the Wii, 'Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympics'.
The boys have loved playing this game and have grasped some idea of downhill skiing, iceskating etc so I am loving being able to show them real people doing real games, although they do keep asking when Mario and Sonic will be competing!

But now my computer is back up and running, I will sadly have no time to get on it because I will be glued to the tv every evening.
So I am back, but just got way laid on the way for the Olympics.

Enjoy the games!

Smile

At the moment in New Zealand it is wintertime.

Although we are lucky enough not to have snow on the ground, it can get pretty cold here.

This, as everyone will know, can really get you down somedays, especially if it has been raining all day and the temperature has not risen at all all day.

I have a calendar in the toilet, not sure why, although it is pretty to look at.

It is an Anne Geddes one with lots of pictures of babies in poses that are so cute.

However I am in love with July's picture.

It is of a baby laid on rose petals and it makes me smile and feel so happy everytime I see it.

Not the greatest shot of the picture, I tried to find it online but to no avail, so had to resort to taking a picture of it myself and cropping it

Definitely a moral booster for the middle of winter!

Cold!

It is freezing cold here!! -1 & -2 most mornings with frost. Haven't seen frost since I lived in England over 10 years ago!
And I wish I could say that it is just outside! For some reason this house is so cold.
We are talking wrap up in blankets with the heat going cold. I am sat typing this at 11am and I have gloves and a wolly hat on! I don't think the temperature in this house is higher than 18c
We just don't seem to be able to get this house warm?
We have spent a fortune on electricity in the last 2 months and still have a freezing cold house!

We do have some solutions:

1. Putting in a heat pump tomorrow. Hopefully this will be better than the oil fin radiator we are using.
2. We are getting new curtains in most of the windows and blinds at the kitchen window. To try to keep as much heat in a possible. We have curtains up already, but they don't fit completely.
3. We are thinking of getting the walls insulated with foam.

Now the last house we had did not have insulation in the walls, and we managed to heat the place with the oil fin heater.

Ok we have stairs coming off the lounge, but the upstairs is not warm either. This whole house is like a freezer. I can put meat out on the kitchen surface to defrost and it is still partly frozen 8-9 hours later.

We have a cover over the banister of the stairs to prevent all the heat from dissappearing up there, hoping it will stay in the lounge.

I love this house, just roll on spring and summer when it will be warmer.

Cold

Winter is on its way and OMG is it chilly.

We have had winter fogs and now we have the frost. I haven't had frost since I lived in England over 10 years ago!
It is amazing what a difference the weather is here in Hamilton, where it is all flat farming land compared to Auckland where the whole city was on top of a volcano surrounded by more volcanos, so very protected.

And of course we live in a house that is so not equipped for cold winters.
I feel like I am living in England but in a house with no central heating.
Oh hang on a minute......that is exactly what I am doing!

All Change Please

This weekend the clocks changed from summer daylight savings to winter time.

I love this change as we gain an extra hour.

The day lasts so long and I just don't ever seem to feel tired.

Wish I could say the same for the kids. They can't quite understand why food doesn't come at the correct time and why we tried really hard to get them to stay in bed first thing!

The only thing is that suddenly the temperature changes drastically as well, one day you are in shorts and a t-shirt and the next you can't find your jeans and sweaters fast enough.

How does the weather know?

Winter Time is Here

If you are lucky enough to live in the southern hemisphere, then you will know that winter has finally got here.

Well at least the rain and wind has got here to the North Island of New Zealand, if you are in the South Island then you have got the rain, the wind and unfortunately the snow as well.

So what do you do with 2 small boys when the weather is so awful outside..........?

You give them a cardboard box to play with.......

Or get daddy to pretend to be a horse!

Winter

This whole week has been fabulous. Blue sky's and sun shining. What more could you want in the middle of winter with a 2 year old at home!
What makes it even better is my 12 week old is now sleeping longer at night, so I am getting a 4-5 hour block of sleep each night. Yea, there is life again.

Winter

Today was one of those beautiful winter days in New Zealand, where the sun is shining and the sky is blue. If I hadn't known better I would have sworn it was summer.
So what did we do, we had a family day in the garden. General tidy up and digging up. Everyone had a ball and the garden now looks clean and tidy again.
Tomorrow we are taking the boys to the zoo. Ben should really enjoy this for an hour as he loves animals. I can see it now, all we will hear all the time is "Oh Wow" as he discovers something else to look at!