Boo!

well we've had not one trick or treater at our house - pretty normal for our neighbourhood.
This gorgeous pumpkin showed up in the mail today from a very sweet person (I knitted the other one a couple of years back) -

And nothing has changed in 4 years for this kiwi :)

Just a little rugby game tomorrow. I've no interest in watching it.

flying through life

Far out! My days are flying by. I'm dealing with stuff like this:


A kid telling his mate his English school work is "pure crap".
Parent having to deal with the resulting phone call from English teacher. Then my principal telling me the kid is probably right. Ha! (but the kid should not be wording things like that!)
Losing a butterfly from my very favourite ear-rings.
Losing my cell phone.
Losing my brain over study.
Dealing with lesbian fiction at school. (I'm fine with it. Others aren't. Queue big debate nationwide around said book/age/cultural boundaries etc)
A tip of a house. Husband won't let me touch it. Study he says. Bless him.
Somehow some fingernails still look good!
Baking.
Copious cups of tea.
Actually knowing what my essay questions in exam will be - whoop. But still freaking out!
Gorgeous blossoms.
A kid that will not eat breakfast nor take lunch to school. Sigh.
A kid with a major mosquito bite problem. We have it all to combat the things!
Another kid doing Cambridge exams. So laid back, not funny.
Great chat with principal. He is hilarious. He thinks BYOD is BS. (his spelling!) and is not into images of higher deciles.
Snail mail piling up.
Knitting died right down.
Vege garden exploding with this warm wet weather.
Turning down stuff/social things. That is a winner for me!
The middle child has achieved excellence level at school this year and has not even sat the exams yet.
And a phone call from the Chinese teacher warning us of the workload expected in year 8 next year for another kid.
And yet more piles of more delicious new books at school! They keep on coming!

There is yet another big box at school too of more on top of last week's purchases. Lots of good stuff comes out before Christmas.

5.30pm November 9 can't come fast enough. Neither can Christmas hols.

Spring has sprung!

Spring most certainly is here! (well I'd say it is an early summer, as I am already in short sleeve summer dresses and sandals at work!!! That is SO early!). These photos are from Christchurch (the stunning full trees - they were just amazing and everywhere!) and also of my backyard blossoms.
Beautiful.

snail mail

I have had lots and lots and lots of lovely snail mail over the past month! Lots of postcards, magnets, keyrings, tea, washi tape, divine hand made things - it is all fabulous and cheery! Swap bot accounts for quite a bit of it, but also dear penfriends! I must say that I have slowed down the past week due to exam study (2 weeks to go!), but will kick back into letter writing, swapping shortly after that (nightmare to me) is over!

A 3 day weekend for kiwis - it has been summer as far as I am concerned - 20 degrees, blossoms out, a ton of laundry dry outside. Fabulous start to the weekend.~

Send us your Christmas Swap 2015

Melanie has just reminded me about my annual Christmas Swap and if I'll do it again - so here it is!
Please feel free to share on your blogs - last year we had a fab 30 odd bloggers taking part.



 The rules:

The items must be in a one litre container (eg., icecream/margarine/Sistema container).

They can be some of your favourite things and some of your partner's favourite things.

Something handmade (decoration/bag/dishcloth/zippered pouch etc), tea, stationery ,craft goodies, Christmas things, food items etc - the choices are endless.

Try and put at least 2 Christmas based items in the swap.

Include a Christmas recipe - maybe a family favourite and a decoration (one which is representative of your own country would be fab).

There is no limit to the number of items sent - it all just needs to fit inside a one litre container.

Sign up by commenting below - sign ups close November 10 and parcels must be sent off by December 5 at the latest.

This is open worldwide - if you only want to swap within your own country, please state where you live too and I will do my best.

I will list the partners a few days after on the blog - it is up to you to get in contact with your partner and switch details.

Any questions/comments, let me know. Have fun!





Please feel free to share the swap on your blogs.

books, books, books, books

I found out I still have huge amounts of dollars to spend for the school library.. i started today at the very cheap Scholastic Lucky Bookshop in Lady Ruby Drive, East Tamaki. I can not under estimate how much cheaper it is here than say a Whitcoulls (ie the new Joy Cowley "Bakehouse" is $7 vs $20 at an ordinary bookshop). The hardcover picture books are $9-12 which are an absolute steal! paperback picture books are $7. Chapter books are $5-7. They even had the new Captain Underpants and Andy Griffiths for $9 each!
Such an awesome place to pile up the books for Christmas gifts.
These are my purchases which is 1/5th of what i still have to spend - absolute yikes and 8 weeks left of the school year - I'll be sprinting to the end!
I love my job. So much good stuff here for read-a-louds too.

Seasons Swap and a winner

Here's my absolutely divine package I received from Melanie in England. I decided to choose summer as a theme, as needed a bit of brightness after our drab winter. (It is spring now and it has been very warm and I'm already in my full summer wardrobe, but the warmer temps are playing havoc with my asthma too!) She is such a clever sewer and has made me a really cool chicken pincushion. It now sits on my window sill in the bedroom with the strawberries (so sweet in a dish alongside them).
I'm looking forward to hanging up the lantern (in yellow - my favourite colour); using the recipe book and baking cupcakes. I love the fabric too - might make a cushion cover.
Thank you so much Melanie - really neat to get a package during the school hols!

Thanks everyone for your comments on Friday's blog post - school is topsy turvy for  many - lots of staff have left this year - it is just a crazy time of the year. More staff might even leave in a couple of months - we don't know as yet. I've done back to back uni papers all year round for 2 years in a row now and am feeling it! 3 weeks of pain to go, then a big break. I'm lucky I have a fab husband and a ton of spare time :)

and HOORAY - Elaina is back!


Penny - you are the winner of the 100th blog post goodies - I've e-mailed you :)