Holidays!

It is the holidays! Hooray! Let me see - I have already yelled. Hmmmm. Did you hear it? Booted them all off electronic devices, so they all go and run around with their nerdy guns and then track mud all through my new bedroom!! Grrrhhhh. I even got an apology note! So all devices banned for 24 hours - one kid is now vacuuming; another found a Lego box un-opened and the other is playing with his beloved Match Attack cards! After protests that their was nothing to do... No plans so far for the hols. Husband will be in Malaysia for 2 weeks - I'm not impressed and neither is he quite frankly. I always get on planes for fun travel - he says traveling for work is not fun! I'd love it!!!! Possibly will knit up a storm - current projects include a hat, socks, vest for me and a jersey for a child. Want to start a jersey for a one year old too. The last week has seen me haul out my scrapbooking gear and get right into it again! I find I only do this 3-4 times year now and do huge amounts! Have spent lots of hours sorting out photos and am getting quite picky with volumes not to scrapbook! Will attempt to get family to the art gallery; more than likely MOTAT and the museum too. Some hols I do feel like a homebody. If we go away for a few days, it will be an impulse trip! Middle child got into the next secondary school - that has been such a journey! We have decided - rather I have decided- that he will go to his brother's school which is an other school, which thankfully he was offered a place at too! Having a choice of schools makes it a nightmare. There is much to be said for living in a small town and having one choice - or really no choice! - where your child goes. I have such strong view points on the NZ education system and currently think every NZ child is being stuffed up in a major way by this damn government! What are your holiday plans? Any fighting already????

It is winter!

Had a very cold week this week. The South Island must be bitterly cold.
Cold today but like most of the week ,
a gorgeous sunny day. Lots and lots and lots of laundry done and successful ly dried outside. I am not a clothes drier person - I am an outside blowing in the wind/ sun etc person. I adore hanging out laundry, folding up etc but do have to be in the mood for ironing!!
I most definently could not live somewhere where there are restrictions on what can be hung outside. We are lucky having a fully enclosed backyard, so no - one sees anything in the yard. Noise on the other hand...
I am also known to hand laundry outside in the dark and in low temperatures all ready for the sun the next day!

I am totally stuffed up with a cold. A big cold. Wondering about those lovely tonsils again. Have been to the Little Craft shop for more wool for another project - a little cowl knitted in cable! (a first for me doing cable!) My vest is coming along nicely.
Tomorrow I will cut out bunting and sew it up for a friend's daughter's bedroom. Sewing bunting is new too.

Everyone else is kicking around doing their own thing today. 2 games of soccer. Both lost. Getting a little frustrated at the 9th grade team - lots of new players who may not be the most skilled, ( including my child) , but they seem to be on the sideline more while the ring-ins 2 grades below kick around and play the game as the coach wants winners. Who cares about winning??? I really don't! I just want these kids to get a go in their team!

Off to knit and write ! Do you like laundry? inside or outside???

Life Chaos

I really must make more of an effort to blog! Just had a 3 day weekend for the Queen's birthday weekend.
It was also our 16th wedding anniversary - i love my husband! We had a wonderful meal out at The Kitchen in High Street in town. Gorgeous art deco decor and the food was amazing - the presentation wow! Highly recommend it - in fact it is right up there with the French Cafe and Merediths for me! We get out so rarely - I do love dressing up and having a night to really talk! With 2 of the family being real night owls this is so rare!

Other stuff that has been happening is the next school for the middle child. Biggest delimna ever for me! I want him at the best school in NZ - ACG Parnell College - he had an interview last week and was offered a place! Yippee! But it is the money! Whay, why should we have to pay a lot of money to get the progressive education that I want for my children?!
There has been a lot of talk about education this last week due to the budget the prat government gave us. They are scewing every single child in this country. They want class sizes to increase and say that the quality of education willnot go down. The prime minister is a real hypocrite as several years ago he said he sent his kids to a private school because of the small classes and higher quality of education received from this. So John Key every  non-rich person has to have huge amounts of kids shoved into a classroom then?
Working in education sometimes does my head in! i know far more what goes on in a school than msot people and also being on a school baord and effectively running a school has seen my knowledge increase hugely. I believe we are dicing with so many kids lives - especially the poorer ones, who, while some may be being neglected by their parents etc and not getting the life they deserve - I think schools are not pulling their full weight either and giving these students the education or opportunities they deserve. (not either of the schools i am involved in I might add!) DonKey is dicing with my own children with National Standards - school reports are not worth a thing in my opinion! Sigh! Sometimes I think I care too much about kids and waht is happening to them.

Other stuff - youngest kid quit drums much to my horro - what do you do? Was totally over the begging and making him do it and stress involved!
Big Kid did fantastically in school exams - he has been working! You never know sometimes what they are doing in their rooms!!!
My good camera died - using a $90 Warehouse one... hmmm...i need, need, need a new one!
Lots of knitting - LOTS of knitting still! Even 4 pj pants sewn yesterday! I really want to learn how to sew a cup coaster!!! A little quilted one perhaps!
Cleaning still - house painter is here, so dust abounds everywhere!!! And some new furniture - youngest kid happy with couch in his room!
Have to get my mojo back for study - did some last week! :)
And baking - yummy Amish biscuits of another blog - will put recipe up and credit blogger - on another computer at the moment!

have a good week everyoen. What have you all been up to?

Kimberley

Sydney!

Last week I won tickets to see "The Diary of a Wimpy Kid" author
Jeff Kinney in Sydney, Australia. Talk about a total impulse trip. Managed to talk husband into me taking 2 of he boys with me - a lot of talking due to house renovation costs! - but hey, when would we ever get the chance to see THE biggest author for children again?
I love Sydney - so much to see and do! Kieran was in heaven - 2nd visit here in a year and it was Ryan's first ever
visit. The city did wow them -
From he transport, to tall buildings, to the volume of people, to the Opera
House , to the Powerhouse Museum ( great museum!). You can burn through so much money there. Just a quick
shop at Gap ( not in NZ ) and Myer and
then hours walking.

Total thrill at listening to Jeff - big inspiration who really is just a regular guy who struck it lucky! The books were intended for adults !
The line to meet him and get books signed was HUGE and I mean huge!!!
I was very cheeky and bowled up and
said boys had by then been up for 20 hours and we queue jumped! Yes we did! They were walking zombies and there is now way they could queue for another hour.
Nice guy - boys thrilled! Worth the travel!
I love travel - really want to spend a
good week or more in Sydney - it is such a beautiful city - easy to get around. And it was warm at 21
degrees. Back to sideways rain here and a lot cooler.

Kieran came down with high temps mid afternoon and I struggled to keep him awake till the airport. Day off school -
Not what I was planning!

Hooray!

I have been having trouble downloading pics onto the stupid i-pas ( I am sure
I am one of the few in the world who thinks they are totally over - rated) but tonight it worked!

A quiet Mother's Day - we don't really celebrate it - I did get some cards and chocolate , breakfast in bed plus gorgeous stationery from a fab friend Corkie though.
Day was spent starting another knitting project for me - a vest. Another lace pattern which is challenging me but it us okay. Only un - done once!
Some study too and a bit of stationery shopping for me too.
And i made my first ever sponge cake which turned out fab! The MIL popped over for afternoon tea, so I got out some of my bone china and had tea and sponge cake on the deck.
Look how well the vege garden is going too!
And a BIG look at my finished cardigan - I am thrilled! Has taken me 5 weeks from start to finish !
How was everyone's day?

Life gets in the way

Many times I have sat down to blog but then reading other blogs and STUFF gets in the way!
Like my good camera dying after 5 plus years; only having one i - charger for 6 i devices in this house ( where have the others gone???!!!); study - doing my Mauri Ora course through Te Wanaga O Aotearoa and living it but going through bouts of no motivation to study; knitting, knitting and more knitting! ( cardigan for me nearly finished in a month!!!); lots of cooking and baking for me! (husband usually does a lot of it!);
soccer and Futsal and trumpet and drum practices and games ( very time consuming and and lots of exhaustion from battling a child to carry on with activities!!) , cutting out more clothes to sew but not quite getting to the machine and just stuff!
Oh and the hideous job of deciding on a school for the middle child for next year!! Hideous stuff !! Gut wrenching stuff! Makes me think living in a small town would be delightful if only from a school point of view!

Good week though ; work going well and am feeling organized and pretty on top of things there!

And the curtains and blinds arrived today - looking gorgeous ! Whoop whoop!!!

That is life here - how about you??

Autumn days

Well it certainly has turned into autumn with cooler mornings and nights. But i am still in short sleeve tees and skirts with bare legs - the weather has been amazing for this time of the year!

I think I have sat in my lovely new bedroom for a couple of weeks enjoying it - well it has taken 2
weeks to sort really! We are still waiting for the curtains/ blinds to arrive and have the proper wardrobe system to purchase yet too.

We had an afternoon walk around Monte Cecilia Park in Hillsborough a week back. This is home to the Pah Homestead which houses the TSB Bank Wallace Arts Centre. It was opened to the public in August 2010 after being used by the Catholic Church as emergency housing, boarding school, novitiate housing and an orphanage. In recent years it had fallen into major disrepair and the
Council bought it. A lot of controversy with the church selling the land to the council to make a bigger park. The poor little Catholic School that is on the site will eventually have to move apparently to make way for more grass...
The homestead was built in 1877 as a gentleman's residence and is beautiful .
It has a lovely cafe and we all enjoyed the modern art.
Would be nice to be able to walk around the park without fighting children one day though!
A great park - now i just need to get out more in this town and stop enjoying my house too much! :)