Mix and match days

We are enjoying the lazy days between Christmas and New Year. We have been chopping down trees, weeding gardens and planting a whole new one with hedge plants alongside one side of the house (inspiration from neighbourhood walks) and more vege planting.
I have been writing many letters (if anyone wants another pen friend I am it!), knitting my 3rd sock in a month (woo hoo - Kieran wanted socks for Christmas - I started a few days before Christmas and have nearly finished the 2 nd one!!) - I find sock knitting fab in summer - not too much wool! - and carrying on with my Miffy cross- stitch bought in The Netherlands 15 months ago. Very close to finishing it! A bit of reading - Michael Morpurgo biography and Rutherford's New York as well as Kate de Goldi's ACB with Honora Lee. (what a divine book with gorgeous illustrations too!) And a few board games with the boys. And loading stuff onto Trade Me too.
Lazy days. Boys doing their own thing a lot of the time. It has been stinking humidity which we have all struggled with especially at night!

We did a ferry ride over to Devonport last night - a sweet seaside village only a 10 minute ferry ride for the city. Great wool shop (pity we arrived too late for the shops and the library which we can now use being the big super city) and we always have fish and chips. Last night the fish shop had run out of fish! They were still busy! What I hadn't realised was that the township had been yarn bombed! It took me a few lamp posts to realise. I am glad I had my camera on me! It was amazing and inspiring! Gorgeous! Many photos later the boys were moaning - ha!
Well worth a visit and there are lots of great shops - awesome bookshops too - and a good playground too.

Comedy night

Stephen Merchant ( "The Office" and "Extras" plus various other projects/ movies) was in town last week. We were lucky in getting free tickets - my mum has been his mum's pen friend for decades !!! - so we had great seats just 5 rows from the stage. I last saw him in 1996/7 in his home and long before anyone knew how well known he would become. I have some really funny photos of us together from back then!
The show was hilarious! Maybe not quite my mum and her friend's cup of tea. He is very very clever in just working with what had happened that day etc! A lot of his material was also around his height - I had forgotten how tall he was at 6 foot 7. Seeing us together was quite ridiculous as I am only 4 foot 11 !!!!!!!
We were lucky afterwards to go and meet him backstage too - so hilarious us coming out of backstage area and seeing all the fans waiting for him and everyone looking at us, wondering who on earth we are! He is such a nice guy. His parents are lovely too and send me a Christmas card every year too. Funniest night of the year! He was apparently looking for a wife while here too!

Done and dusted

Well another Christmas done and dusted. And I will say this one was good! In- laws on Christmas Eve with lemon posset (looked and tasted amazing - I adore my old teacups and have a great collection as well as a bit of portmeirion) and pavlova.
Christmas Day with the parents and mother in law. BBQ with prawns, lamb rack , sausages and spinach, feta and pine nut salad ( a www.retromummy.blogspot.com recipe. Great recipes on her website!) and a rice salad too. Dessert was my mum's trifle and fruit salad and a couple more lemon possess. Yum.
We got our tree only a week before Christmas after school had broken up. Then the husband and I went out for the night and came home to a superbly decorated tree done by the it's. It's fantastic - the best looking tree we have had in many many years.
Of course filled up with a new collection of divine handmade decorations too.

I am thrilled with my gifts too - will take a photo for another time.

Now we are spending days at home and giving the garden a really good makeover! Long over due. We have been taking walks around the neighbourhood when it is cooler at night getting inspiration.

How was your Christmas?

Sneak peek at my library

Here is my school library. It rocks! :) a lot of work and money has one into over the past 3.5 years! (boy that has gone fast!) . I have had around $18,000 in grants and that goes a huge huge way especially when it is gst exclusive! We get the latest books the month (sometimes the day!) they are out . It is great.
I should do some list of my favourite books of the year - maybe early next year when I get back to school!
We stocktaked it and the resource room - 24,000 items scanned! Database all up to date for the first item in years and years too a- but always something to do.
It is the best job!

End of an era

Today Kieran finished Year 6 at St Francis. (actually he was there for 6 years and 9 months due to his birthdate.) it's a small school and being Catholic with a fixed roll, few kids leave or start in later years. So it was very sad for me too - he has such a fab bunch of friends who are going to 3 different schools - usually the boys go to St Peters College but this year more boys are going elsewhere. (including Kieran - he did get a place at St Peters and would have been 3rd generation there but we turned them down.). He says he will miss his friends but not the school. We are hoping they will still continue to play in the same soccer and futsal teams.
The graduation mass was lovely and the leavers all received a cross. Great memories. I think he will fit in very well at his next school but oh boy is he going to get a fright at the amount of homework coming from a virtually no homework school!

One more child to go and in 2 years that will be the end of an 11 year association with the school.