See you soon...xox

So I'm all in a dither right now. Can you tell?

Just after Easter, Brunnel confirmed that he was headed back to India for work again,

and I managed to convince him

that it would be a brilliant idea if I accompanied him.

My parents will move in to look after the girls,

and we leave first thing in the morning.

I'm wildly excited - all that colour, all those textiles, the chaos, the contrasts, those bazaars.

I'm sure that once I'm on that plane, that's all I'll be thinking about, but right now I'm working on a to do list that seems to be getting longer rather than shorter.

How does that happen?

And I haven't even begun to pack a bag yet.

I'm also trying to learn the joys of a new camera.

(First attempt above - not great!)

Don't lecture me on the wisdom of this decision given the timing.

Somehow I'd managed to get something under the lens of my trusty old one, and the cost of the repair was going to be up there with the cost of a new camera.

The new one is a bit too clever I think!

So I'll be practicing on the job, and hoping to capture something special!

Husband is starting to regret decision to allow wife on tour.

Oops too late now!

But I think it's safe to say that he'll have a whole different trip this time round to the last.

See you in a couple of weeks.

Amanda xx

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days like this

Do you have them?

Those days?

Last night Brunnel went for a quick catch up after work with friends.

'Won't be long darling' he said. 

I should have known better when he called me 'darling'.

Please bring home dog food, were his instructions.

We had not a single solitary dog biscuit left.

Several hours later - no Brunnel, no dog food.

The dog thought he'd take matters into his own hands.

The girls & I were Glee-fully unaware, as we sometimes are on a Friday night.

Bedtime, and Eva, ever the drama queen, is screaming.

Upon investigation, her bedroom is a mess of tiny tinfoil pieces.

Bruno has discovered her Easter egg stash.

Nothing remains.

Eva is distraught because:

a) she has not the tiniest piece of easter egg left

b) dogs shouldn't eat chocolate, & Bruno is quite possibly now going to die.

She is not sure which is the worst case scenario!

Bruno is very quiet. Quivering even as I ask him to come and look at Eva's bedroom.

I text Brunnel the following photos, and ask if the dog food is far away...

It apparently has to be made or imported especially, because there is a long l-o-n-g delay 

before Brunnel arrives home.

But, he does at last, have the dog's dinner.

The dog, whose tummy has been making not-so-great-noises for some time, 

decides to eat it, even though it is way past his usual dinner time, and his tummy is a little queasy.

Brunnel forgets (!!!) to put him outside before retiring (collapsing) in to bed himself.

And so, guess who gets to clean up the mess this morning?

Oh, no, Brunnel has a favourite line he likes to quote at times like this...

'I don't do bottoms'.

Well, that's good, but what about the other end?

Apparently not that either.

On another note, I've also discovered lunch boxes that have been hiding in school bags for two weeks. They're lovely too, full of extra botulism-inducing treats. 

So that's how my weekend started!

It can only get better.

Amanda xx

(And yes, the pretty photo at the top is purely for effect.)

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autumn daze

Hello again!

I hope you've gathered by my not being around over the past week, that we 

did indeed make it up to the beach.

And despite having one of THOSE trips to get there (Eva vomiting, the dog panting the entire way, Brunnel requiring lots of driving advice...), we timed our run perfectly, and arrived at our wee bach at the same time as some perfect autumn weather.

You know - those beautiful days which are blue blue skies, but cool and crisp at the same time.

And my daily walk is through a carpet of crunchy leaves.

My favourite weather I think.

The girl's catch up with all their friends.

It's as if they've never been apart.

The old bikes are hauled out, and off they go to check up

on the rope swing and the pontoon and the gossip.

I get to dream and scheme, and reacquaint myself with my bach treasures.

And, this being Hawkes Bay after all, the lovely old trees we inherited on our property, 

are laden with fruit.

Mandarins, oranges, figs and feijoas.

In fact, that wonderful silence that you get at the beach was constantly broken by

the sound of another feijoa falling off the tree.

So, back to Wellington they came.

And yesterday I got my apron on, the big pot out, and my grandmother's old recipe 

for none other than feijoa chutney.

Except Mum & I always giggle because in Mama's lovely old recipe book, 

she had the spelling wrong.

Feijoa is spelt Feijoe.

So Feijoe chutney will always, always make me smile, and not just

because it tastes every bit as good as I remember.

Amanda xx

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small things

'a multitude of small delights

constitutes happiness'

c baudelaire

It was only as I was compiling my images for this post, that I realised how

clearly they were small delights of either pink or blue.

In a strange metaphor for life, that is kind of how this week has been too...

pink one moment, blue the next.

It's a good thing they're both favourite colours. 

And suddenly it's the long weekend, and a date with the Easter bunny and quite

possibly far too many hot cross buns awaits.

What are you up to?

We are meant to be heading for the bach, but the weather up that way has been

so very wet that our plans are on hold while we weigh up the options and wait for the sun.

It's quite nice to potter around home in the meantime we figure. 

Do you know we finally farewelled our builders this week? 

Just over a year since we welcomed them on a job that was 

meant to take less than half that time.

I decided not to take it personally when one of them said to me 

he hoped he would never see me again.

We both laughed, and agreed that the feeling was mutual!

Enjoy your weekend!

Amanda xx

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happy monday

My recipe for happiness at work on a Monday?

Well give me a bunch or two of flowers, in this case those little dahlias that keep on keeping on, 

some vibrant pink and red spray carnations, and a little fresh zesty greenery, 

and then send me out the back with  lots of old bottles and jars.

I'll phaff around out there for way longer than any normal person would, 

washing all the vases, and then snipping and arranging to my hearts content.

Nothing complicated. Nothing overly arranged per se.

Just a little frippery, and I swear, such a nice way to ease into the week.

Amanda xx

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