It's the school holidays here at the moment, and it's been raining quite a bit... so just imagine 6 people squashed in a smallish house along with a cat and dog and 4 rats.
It's been pretty rad, but we've also had our fair share squabbles and cabin fever as well.
Even Barney the cat has been struggling to get a bit of peace and quiet...
Thankfully, the rain has eased, the lawns have now been mowed, and I no longer fear losing a child in our 'thigh high' lawn as they go out to play.
Although a back shed clean out did bring other discoveries...
Also, hubby and I are off to Brisbane next weekend - all by ourselves!! Woohoo!! It's going to be my first time in Oz. Mega thanks to the amazing people who shouted us our plane tickets (you know who you are ;) and to our parents for minding our beautiful kiddies and menagerie of animals while we are gone.
We are going to catch up with family, friends, attend an amazing conference and hubby will be preaching at a fabulous church over there too. Really looking forward to it (and also secretly hoping I can check out the infamous IKEA while we are there as well).
We might even go out and about in matching checkered tops...
Just kidding.
Loved catching up with some of the Whangarei bloggers today AND the amazing Stella from The Golden Adventures of a very dark horse. She's such a sweetie.
Anyway, this was just a super quick check in to say hi!
p.s. Look at what Liz gave me from her thrifting finds today!! Love!
Peace out (said in a Kip accent)
Look away now Mum... we wouldn't want your birthday pressy surprise to be spoiled now, would we?
In just over a month my precious Mum is going to be celebrating her birthday (it's a big one - but I won't mention any numbers here, just in case she's still reading - naughty lady!).
Mum asked if I'd make her a granny square blanket with the same colours as the Granny Square Poncho I made a couple of years ago. I just love soft pink and greys together (please excuse our old porch floor boards).
So today I lay out the squares so far, and guess what? I better get cracking if I'm going to have a blanket ready by early June!!!
Eeeek!
For more crafty makings, go here.
Joining in with My Creative Space.
So this might have happened while we were in Christchurch at Bloggers Connecting...
Three of us were bold enough to wear our Onesies... and a couple of others had matching PJ's...
We are so cool aren't we?
*ahem*
Well where do I start?
On Sunday I arrived back from an amazing weekend away in Christchurch, meeting fellow bloggers from all over New Zealand. We met for Around the Table, New Zealand's first official blogger's conference. It was my first time in the South Island of NZ, first time on a domestic flight, first time meeting many of these people even though many seemed so familiar. Eeeeeeeek! It was an amazing adventure.
I've arrived back home and have been pondering about how to share my journey.
Do I tell you about how fun it was to hang with the bloggers I already knew well, and meet up with new friends along the way?
Do I tell you about the amazing city of Christchurch and how much it moved me to see the destruction with my own eyes, but also the hope and strength of the people within this fabulous city.
I could tell you about the amazing thing called the blogging community, that reaches out to help and support those that are going through rough times.
I could talk about the fabulous food, shops, crafty-goodness and absolutely amazing people that organised and totally pulled off a fabulous first ever NZ blogger's conference.
I think I'll just stick up some pictures and see how we go...
The plane ride - awesome. Great company and amazing views...
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| Gail, Leonie and Simone |
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| New Zealand is soooooo beautiful! |
The Auckland bloggers and us Whangarei Crew (represented by Jacksta and myself) have a pretty cool relationship, many of us having met up before. Most of us though, had not had the privilege of meeting the famous Widge.
She rocks - even when she got stuck at the airport gate and also got us a bit lost...
It was so good to hang out together over the weekend, and meet many (60+) other bloggers from all over New Zealand.
The blogging community is fabulous!
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| Miriam - the lady with the dream (she is sooooo much fun) |
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| Stella & Widge |
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| The very sweet and amazing Sophie |
Someone asked me today - "So what do bloggers do when they get together?". Well, apart from learning and teaching and inspiring each other, we craft in public, eat delicious goodies, laugh tonnes and share heart to heart.
We even connected online while we were hanging out in real life - ha!
We even connected online while we were hanging out in real life - ha!
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| Leonie, Rachel and Simone |
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I had the awesome privilege of speaking on the panel - Graham Norton styles...
We had swap partners for name badges and a small gift, as well as amazing goodie bags and delicious nibbles! My swap partner was Holly from Hollymayb - she is an AMAZING crafty girl!
Check out the amazing name badge and cool as mug that she made for me. "Onesies are for Babes" - so true ;)
To check out what I made her, go here!
Christchurch - what can I say. I was moved by the devastation and destruction...
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| So moving - each of the 185 white chairs represents a life lost in the earthquake |
But I was also moved by the hope and sense of celebration, despite what has happened to this magnificent city. There were bursts of fun and colour all over the place...
Some of my highlights and memorable moments?
When Jackie's lost luggage finally arrived...
Addington Coffee Co-op & C1 Espresso - the coolest places to eat and hang. C1 even had a moving bookcase to get to the loo!
I got to take part in my first ever bit of yarn bombing!! So cool that it was actually also about spreading a bit of love around Christchurch too (see the grey and pink heart at the bottom? That's my one! Symon thinks the shape makes it look like a piece of steak.).
The Craft Love Festival - such amazing talent all squished into one place. Bliss!
Meeting blogging buddies in real life. Very cool!
Getting to hug the "I don't like hugs" Widge...
Checking out Kmart! Just kidding... sort of...
Hanging with a bunch of crazy ladies in the MEGA VAN...
And the biggest highlight of all was my amazing hubby who stayed behind and held the fort while I went gallivanting around the Nation. You rock babe and are the best guy ever (especially letting me buy a Onesie especially for my trip as well).
A massive thank you to the team who organised this fabulous event. You guys are AMAZING - so much time and energy went into the planning and execution of this, and you could tell by the way things ran so smoothly!
Bloggers are pretty awesome. I was so happy that the online world and reality collided.
To see everyone else's take on the weekend, click here!
