Sunday 29 March 2015

Hyacinths on my window sill



I walked into my kitchen this morning
and found the sunshine spilling on to my window sill!
I grabbed my camera and snapped a couple of quick photos
as the weather has been dull and rainy the last few days.


My dear friend Jennie popped in for a cup of tea on Friday
and she had her lovely spoodle Annie with her.

We heard a noise and Annie had been sick on the carpet...
Jennie was very upset - I wasn't worried as our carpet has
seen better days and we will be replacing it later this year.
( Two days later the stain is still on the carpet, I remember hearing somewhere to put 
a couple of drops of glycerine on a stain and then polish it off
using a cloth with a little white vinegar on it)
If anyone has a good remedy I would be grateful 
it's a fairly large brown mark with an orange tinge - from her food presumably)


Jen rang me on Saturday to say she was popping in!
When she arrived she gave me this heavenly pink Hyacinth...


She said Annie had asked her to pop into the garden centre
and buy it for me, to make up for her oopsie on Friday!!!


Snowball Update

Dear Snowball has arrived safely in Australia.
As you know I was very anxious about her travelling
so far on her own.
My friends told me about an iPhone app called Flight Radar.
I typed in her flight number and miraculously
her aeroplane appeared on the screen,
she was flying across Bass Strait at the bottom of Australia.
Now I felt she was no longer on her own!

At the same time my son was driving to Melbourne
from the country area where he lives.
I was able to keep him informed as to her progress!

He arrived at the airport moments after Snowball's
plane touched down. Customs took a couple of hours
to process everything and once she was released
she was on the back seat of the car
purring her little heart out!

He has sent me photos via Whatsapp
but I'm having difficulty transferring them to my PC.
All's well that ends well!


   !!!


I'm joining Karen for Sunlit Sunday
Thank you Karen - I've enjoyed taking part over the
last three months and I'm sorry this is the last for a while!

I'm also joining Judith for Mosaic Monday
and 

Stephanie for Roses of Inspiration

Eileen for Saturday Critters

Thank you ladies for hosting your interesting parties.


Thank you for your sweet comments on my Snowball posts!

Take care and
be kind to one another

Merci à bientôt


Shane






Saturday 28 March 2015

Tea Cup Exchange Party!


I love tea cups and all that goes with the
gentle art of tea drinking... so I was delighted when
Stephanie of The Enchanting Rose
told us she was having another Tea Cup Exchange party!


This beautiful cornflower tea cup and saucer
arrived in a parcel from Stephanie - what a lovely surprise!
I didn't know Stephanie was my giving exchange partner
Thank you
dear Stephanie for your beautiful gifts
I was 'over the moon' with everything you sent me!

As you can see there were so many beautiful items

and all hand made by Stephanie!

A lavender sachet, the sweetest fridge magnet, 

and a set of pretty greeting cards!
   




My receiving partner for the swap was



I visited Asia's blog to find out what she liked
and learnt, she loves Shabby Chic
which is what I like too - she was the perfect partner for me!

I sent Asia a vintage tea cup, saucer and plate
I found in my local Hospice shop!
I fell in love with it and felt Asia would like it too!
It was made by Royal Albert and has the lovely name
American Beauty.


I popped a few extras in the parcel including
a rosy tea towel, a fragrant drawer sachet
an embroidered linen tray cloth and a French magazine
called Shabby Chic!

I was in such a hurry to wrap my parcel
and get it to the Post Office....
and I totally forgot to photograph everything
(that's the second time - it happened at the last swap too)!
Merci Asia for sending me copies of your photographs!


Thank you

dear Stephanie for hosting your Tea Cup Exchange Party
it was a huge success and I'm looking forward to
the next one later in the year!

I'm linking this post to






Take care and
be kind to one another

Merci à bientôt

Shane






Tuesday 24 March 2015

Letter writing could be the answer....



Have you noticed I haven't left a comment
on your blog lately?

I'm having great difficulty with my computer
or is it with blogger?

Sometimes I can open your blog but only one photo
will show - the others are blank.
I try to leave a comment but I get the same message.

Has this happenned to you?
If so, how did you resolve it?
I would really appreciate your input.
You can email me if you prefer.

If this issue doesn't resolve itself soon
I think I'll go back to letter writing
which I enjoyed - back in the day!



The Auckland War Memorial Museum at dusk.


I appreciate your comments

take care and
be kind to one another

Merci à bientôt

Shane






Sunday 22 March 2015

Sunny Days with Snowball




I told you about little "Snowball" in a recent post
She is our son's cat and she has been our
VIP guest for a few weeks.

On Thursday she will fly to Melbourne and join him
and start her new life there.
Needless to say, I will miss her enormously. 

I have warned her about the snakes in Australia
I am worried in that regard, however she is a very intelligent
little girl and I'm sure she will work things out.


As you can see my garden has the first signs of Autumn tones
the gorgeous greeny/pink hydrangeas are turning darker
and becoming quite papery.
I've picked armfuls over summer and given bunches
to everyone who pop in.


My Pierre de Ronsard rose no longer has the beautiful
fat tight buds she had in early summer,
the flowers are softer and more blowsy
even so they are
exquisite
and still take my breath away

what do you think?


Little rays of sunshine to be found in my garden, so
I'm joining
Karen for Sunlit Sunday
and
Judith for Mosaic Monday
and
Stephanie for Roses of Inspiration

Thank you for your comments
take care and
be kind to one another

Merci à bientôt

Shane







Saturday 21 March 2015

Five on Friday



My daughter emailed me some photos this week.
This is Megève a little ski resort village in the French alps
where they rented a chalet for a week.
She said it was very family orientated
and had everything they needed for the girls.





There was a sad note to the week for me when

my son flew to Australia to work for a couple of years....


I'm trying to see the positives...

it's not as far away as France

and the flight to Melbourne takes only 3 hours 46 minutes.


Whereas the actual flying time from Auckland to Paris

is 26 hours - add to that hours spent waiting

at an airport for the connecting flight!






On a brighter note I celebrated my birthday

on Thursday.

I was at work and we had a Tiramasu cake for

afternoon tea

I totally forgot to take a photo!




I have a small collection of bells

and this is one of my favourites...

from time to time I'll show you the others too!

Do you have a special collection?

Tell me what you collect.






I walked past this sweet little cottage recently

beautiful roses  adding character to the house.




I'm joining Amy for Five on Friday


Take care and
be kind to one another

Merci à bientôt


Shane



Saturday 14 March 2015

Summer Waterfront Fences



This has been the best summer we've had in years
in New Zealand.
It's like those endless summers
I remember from my childhood.


Auckland is surrounded by water as it sits
on a narrow isthmus between two seas
the Pacific Ocean and 
the Tasman Sea...
hence our focus on boats and yachting


In downtown Auckland Viaduct Harbour is a pedestrian bridge
from the city side to the lively Wynyard Quarter
which is full of restaurants, bars and interesting boats.
Fishing boats come in here with their
daily catch to supply the Fish Market.


The Wynyard Viaduct bridge opens to let
boats come and go.
Overseas boats are moored in this safe haven
and one of our favourite walks in the weekends
is to see what new boats have arrived!

Auckland is currently hosting
the 2015 Volvo Yacht Race boats.
The Viaduct Harbour has been bustling with street entertainment,
making it a fun place to visit.

At 2pm on Monday the race boats leave us
for the next leg of their journey to Itajaí, Brazil.


Wishing all the crews a Bon Voyage and safe arrival in Brazil!



I'm joining Theresa for Good Fences
and
 Karen for Sunlit Sunday
and
Judith for Mosaic Monday

Take care and
be kind to one another

Merci à bientôt

Shane






Sunday 8 March 2015

Snowball - our gorgeous feline visitor...



In the last post I told you all about my best friend visiting
we've had another VIP staying for the last three weeks
her name is Snowball - Snow for short.

As you can see she is a beauty with jet black fur
and emerald green eyes! 

She has been confined to the house until this weekend
when we let her roam outside for short stints
she was in 'cat heaven', sniffing and looking at everything,
not a single leaf went unnoticed!
Karen, I thought you would appreciate seeing
some photos of Snow - you can show them to Cameo!



Snow belongs to our son and has been living in the
maize paddock, hunting day and night.
She isn't the friendliest girl in the world, however
she is gradually learning to trust us.
Sadly Snow and our son are moving to Melbourne soon
and we will miss them both dearly.


I've enjoyed Snow's company and antics 
while she has been with us...
she waits on the stairs for me every morning, and
YES
she has wormed her way into my heart.
c'est la vie!



This morning I had a little wander around the garden
and took some photos - it was sunny but it's quite hard
to see in these photos - apart from the pansies!

I'm joining Karen for Sunlit Sunday
and
Judith for Mosaic Monday
Thank you both for hosting these parties!

Welcome to my new followers and
thank you all for your comments,
I'll be catching up on your blogs this week!

Take care and
be kind to one another

Merci à bientôt


Shane







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