The rest of July and August disappeared in a bit of a blur and here we are into September already! On the 6th of September we have been in Tui Cottage 3 years, it is hard to believe! The fruit trees are beginning to blossom, so pretty and there is such an optimistic feel in …

The reason that Rich went to Canada in July was that Jen, his sister, had chosen to have a medically assisted death after a long, painful and traumatic illness. Luca and I got to say goodbye to her virtually, it wasn’t the same as being there, it is at times like this that makes us …

School holidays officially started today and along with them the winter weather has set in, it is truly horrible out there! Luca , Rich, Pica and Vida make the most of weather like this! These are common scenes in this house on days when the outside is not so appealing, very cozy! 🙂 Luca has …

Yesterday was Matariki. We have had some amazingly clear nights of late and the stars have been clearly visible. Matariki is the Māori name for a cluster of stars known elsewhere as the Pleiades. The constellation is visible from New Zealand for eleven months of the year, but disappears from the skies for a month …

Here we are in June and it has been the longest time since my last post! May seemed to go by in a flash! Luca is well into the second term, only 5 weeks now until the school holidays again! It is Queens Birthday weekend here, tomorrow a holiday, we are all happy about this! …

So last time I wrote Luca was heading into the holidays, tomorrow he is back to school for the second term. The autumn has been an amazing one, love it, so pretty and calm as nature tucks itself in for the winter. Here the leaves beginning to turn.. Last weekend we christened the fire pit …

The sign I had commissioned for our front door area arrived, and we are very happy with it. It was made in the North Island, in a tiny little village that I spent a lot of time in as a child, I lived in the neighboring village ,(even tinier), for a little while. I recognized …

It is a gorgeous autumn early morning here, the sun is still rising, I have just come up from feeding the chooks and letting them out, they eat and head to the orchard for the day. I love this time of the year here in Otago, and when I come up the hill to this …

The apple and blackberry pie turned out well… Luca’s homeroom has regular “Cake Friday’s” so he and Rich have been practicing for when it is his turn to take one in. This one lasted about 2 seconds…. They are baking again today….. Good thing with all the goodies we are doing lots of exercise. A …

It seems a long time since our time in Nelson! So much has happened in the last month. Luca started high school last week, such a big milestone! It only seems like yesterday he started school, oh my heart …. He spent January, thanks to Rich, at the beach, mountain biking, having sleepovers in the …