Awakeri Rail Adventures

Hi there :)  Every now and then you get to experience something that you just HAVE to share with others... and this is one of those times.

On Friday, 21st April, Mum celebrated her birthday... she also celebrated her retirement!  Krystal thought this was worthy of a little getaway so she planned a couple of nights away at  Awakeri Springs.  We stayed in one of their cabins and it was perfect for our needs.  Nice and close to Whakatane for shopping and eating out... but just rural enough to be super quiet... and who could resist having a hot swim at the end of the day... certainly not us!

We didn't take any photos of the hot pools at night but it's really lovely... and best of all, on our second night we had the entire pool to ourselves!

Getting back to Friday... when Krystal was booking our accommodation she saw a link to Awakeri Rail Adventures and decided to do a bit of investigating.  It sounded really good and she even managed to get us some discount vouchers from Grab One so we were all in... and what an AWESOME time we had!

Our host (the owner) was Paul and he was hilarious.  Right from the moment we arrived we felt like he was on old family friend.  Paul had an excellent sense of humour, he was witty and had some fabulous one-liners... and his impressions of Prince Charles and the Queen were beyond funny!

You travel on the rail adventure inside self-driven rail carts and since Mum and I both had our cameras Krystal decided that she would be our chauffeur.  Between us we took almost 500 photos during our three-hour adventure... Mum took 342 of them!

I decided to do something a little different this time so I used Kerri Bradford's - Travelers Templates #3 to record our trip.  I really like all the white space and the clean, uncluttered layout.

Here's how it turned out:

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

I really loved using these templates and how easy they were to use.  I don't actually have a travelers notebook but I think I might print these pages off and add them to a spiral notebook in my stash.

After we finished our rail adventure we took Mum to The Whitehouse Cafe for lunch.

We had a yummy lunch but the highlight for me was without doubt the old fashioned lemonade float.  They make their own lemon syrup and lemon sorbet for this little delight... and it was just eye-twitching enough to be tangy but refreshing!

So there you have it... a birthday celebration and the start of a happy retirement.

Thanks so much for stopping by today xx

Happy Anniversary to us :)

Hi there :)

January 21st this year marked our 2nd anniversary and I decided to make Michael a card to celebrate.  I had seen a really cute card online that I thought I could adapt a bit to fit the occasion and they do say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.  Here's the card that inspired me:

Card by Tara Sell

Tara has a great eye for design and she also creates crafting videos which she shares on her blog.  I watched her video showing how she made this particular card and she explained it all so well that my card came together very quickly.

I made my card using watercolour paper so that I could use my Zig clean colour markers and I'm really pleased with the results.  Here's my wee squirrel with his acorn from Gerda Steiner Designs Happy Fall (yes I had exactly the same stamp and die sets as Tara LOL)

Since this card was for our anniversary I got out my Tim Holtz Celebrate dies and die cut 'happy anniversary'.  I even remembered to use some Stick It to the back of my cardstock before die cutting the words so they were super easy to place where I wanted them.

On the outside I followed exactly what Tara had done on her card/video using the My Favorite Things - Trees in the Forest die.  I cut the 'hole' in the front of my card with My Favorite Things - Starry Circle die.

I really like the idea of the trees and the hole on the card front and I've got plans to do more of this type of card!

I stamped the 'oops' sentiment from the Happy Fall stamp set onto black card and embossed it with white embossing powder. 

It makes more sense with the cute wee squirrel peaking through the hole:

And here's the finished card:

Michael really loved the card and it's now sitting up on the mantle above the fireplace.  He's quite sentimental about things like this so it was nice to do something really special for him.

We had decided to go out for dinner last night to celebrate our anniversary and after much talking about 'where' we would go Michael came up with an idea... rang ahead and booked a table so it was all a bit of a surprise. 

We ended up going to Stratosfare Restaurant at the top of the skyline mountain... super cool.  We arrived at the restaurant via a gondola ride which was very cool... and the ride back down in the dark was even better... we could see the city lights spreading out for miles... truly gorgeous!

I have to admit that I was quite taken with all the lighting... those shades are phenomenal... although probably a bit much for our lounge LOL

While we were having dessert one of the waitresses brought over a tiny little cake covered in chocolate ganache, complete with a wee lit golden candle...  mini pink meringues and the chef had also written 'Happy Anniversary' in chocolate on the plate... so special.  We were then presented with a card from the staff at Stratosfare... we were totally blown away by it all.  What fantastic customer service!  They certainly took our celebration up a level!

So that was our anniversary... definitely a special celebration :)  Thanks so much for dropping by my blog today xx

December Daily: Dec 31

New Years Eve turned out to be a fairly quiet day around here... and in fact nobody stayed up to see the new year in!

Our mailbox has been getting inundated with packages and parcels for Krystal lately and December 31 was no exception.  That morning I grabbed up all the parcels and simply put them onto the dining table and then went off to do something.  When I came back it must have been the way the light was coming through the windows but the packages looked really great so I got out my camera and took a few photos.

Around mid-morning Michael, my sister and my niece headed into town to look at new computers.  My BIL and nephews hung out at home with me and the fur babies until lunchtime and then we headed into town to meet up with the others.

Brew is definitely one of my favourite restaurants and this time Mike and I decided to share a 'surf and turf' platter that was full of delicious treats. We'd certainly have it again!

Later on in the day the craziness began... the kids got really hyper and poor Toby and Nivea got caught up in the hysteria.  There was a lot of laughing... lots of goofiness and... one photograph of a very bare bottom!!  We'll be saving that for my nephews 21st!!!   At one stage Toby looked at me as if to say... 'what on earth is going on Mumma?' 

One thing Mike always says when I do baking is 'why can't you make the cookies bigger?'  So since I was doing lots of baking for our New Years Eve I decided that I would make him his own special cookie... and it was BIG!  In fact it was so big that it didn't even fit on a dinner plate!  Mike thought he was up for the challenge but it turned out that he had to eat it over two days... although Nivea was very keen to try and help Daddy out!

For my creative pieces I made use of my Silhouette again and cut some words.  I really do love my life with all it's imperfections and craziness... and life is good!

For the second pocket I wanted to have something about the new year and I found the perfect cutting file online.  The words came out perfectly and I added some more of the cork stars.

So that's the end of my December Daily.  Hopefully I'll actually get the cover finished tomorrow and then I can share it with you.  Thanks for stopping by xx

December Daily: Dec 26

Luckily for us Boxing Day was absolutely stunning!  We'd organised a bike ride with Janice and Tony (Mike's Mum and her husband).  They've got a Harley trike and they both really enjoy getting out and about.

Just prior to Christmas I'd bought a food magazine... Nourish... that advertised Blueberry Corner over near Whakatane so we decided to make that our destination.

It was a gorgeous day for a ride and the lakes looked spectacular.  There were people there with their boats and jet skis and I really enjoyed seeing the paddle boarders go for it!

When we reached Blueberry Corner we had a drink in their outdoor picnic area.  I really liked the cool retro cup and saucer my hot chocolate came in.

Since they didn't have a full cafe we decided to head somewhere else for lunch... and just up the road we stumbled across the Whitehouse Cafe... we had a lovely lunch although the Moroccan lamb burger wasn't as spicy as we'd been expecting.

After lunch Janice and Tony headed back to Tauranga and we headed back to Rotorua.  Mike had a project going through his head and he used the time on the bike to think how he was going to get it done.  By the time we got home he had it all worked out and this is what he made:

 Planter boxes made from old pallets

Michael spent the rest of the day taking old pallets apart and reusing them to make herb boxes for the deck.  I especially like the first one he made... maybe it was the blue colour! 

Toby and Dougal weren't a lot of help but once they were made Dougal realised that they'd make an excellent hiding place for him!

For my creative pieces I've gone for super simple.  The date stars ended with '25' so I decided to just die cut the rest of the numbers using Tim Holtz' Chip Block die.  I added a few cork stars and the 'Oh What Fun' is from Heidi Swapp's ephemera pack.

Since we went out for lunch and coffees I chose a coffee cup file from the Silhouette shop and just added a cork star to the finished piece.

It definitely feels like Christmas is over now... we've still got the tree up but I suspect we'll take it down in the next couple of days.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your days are joyful and relaxing xx

December Daily: Dec 19

On Saturday morning Mike and I headed into town to do a bit of Christmas shopping.  When we got home I started wrapping the presents and getting them all labelled.  When I was almost finished the phone rang and I had a bit of a chat with one of my girlfriends.  After I'd hung up I headed back into the lounge to hear muffled talking and a strange 'flicking' sound.  It turned out that Dougal thought he'd help me wrap the last present but the sticky tape was TOO sticky and he got it stuck over his mouth.  He tried again and got it stuck over his nose.  Then he tried a third time and got it stuck on his paw so he was trying to 'flick' it off!

I couldn't help but laugh at his troubles... he was flicking his paws over and over and the tape just wasn't coming off.  He was very quiet though because his mouth was almost muzzled with the sticky tape and his voice was very muffled.  When I managed to stop laughing I got him all unstuck and he was much happier.

On Saturday afternoon, Mike and Toby headed out into the garden with the line trimmer to tidy up all the edges.  Toby loves to 'help' Daddy but as soon as the noises start so does the barking.  He prances around all over the place and it's a wonder he hasn't been hurt!

Late Saturday afternoon Mike and I headed over to Tauranga for Mike's work function.  We met up with Mark and Rattaya and the other employees and had a fabulous Indian meal together.  It was a really nice way to celebrate a year of hard work and a growing business.

Meanwhile, Dougal decided that if Daddy and I were going to a party then he was going to have a party at home without us.  Krystal had come around to puppy sit for us but Dougal is a sneaky wee thing and he managed to steal the last bottle of cider out of our fridge.  He had a bit of a headache when we got home along with the hiccups... hopefully that will teach him a lesson!

For the creative pieces on this page I did some more cutting on the Cameo.  I quite like the tree tag in the top pocket.  I added a few rhinestones and a leaf along with the date star.

For the bottom piece I decided to add a number collage because the boys keep asking 'how many sleeps until Santa comes'?  Apparently I don't give them the right answers because they have several sleeps a day and by their counting he should have been here last Tuesday!

It's fun and games in our house that's for sure!

December Daily: Dec 18

December 18th was our last school day for 2015.  The school officially closed at 12pm and by 12.30 we were all ready to head into town for our staff lunch. 

We've had some really hot days lately and I even got slightly pink on one of my shoulders at the kids Christmas party.  I decided to put on some sunscreen for the last day just to make sure I didn't get burnt and Dougal helped himself to some as well.  Apparently his skin gets 'tender' when he's in the sun for too long!  Pfft... that boy spends so much of his time asleep inside that I don't think he'd ever get a chance to get burnt!  However, being a responsible Mumma, I let him spray 'just a little' on and he said it was very nice. 

Now back to the lunch... we went to the Pig & Whistle and they did a beautiful array of platters for our lunch... lots of delicious nibbles and finger food. 

The only problem with hiring somewhere in town to have a function is finding a car park.  I managed to find a 60 minute car park and couldn't find anything else so I grabbed it.  Unfortunately, when I got back to the car I had a $15 ticket... them's the breaks I guess!

For my creative pieces on this page I got busy with my Cameo.  I die cut the Santa hat and then cut the sun and glasses using the Cameo... lots of fiddly little sun rays but I DO like the effect!

For the bottom piece I die cut a very intricate little tree that I used in a card making class a few years ago.  I added a few cork stars to finish off and I quite like how it turned out.

Thanks for stopping by :)

December Daily: Dec 11 and a fun event

On Friday I had a pretty busy day.  I started off working at Base School for the morning and then headed out to Owhata for the rest of the afternoon.  It's been quite good getting to know all the different kids, teacher aides and teachers at the school.

After school I had an appointment to get a manicure and Dougal begged me to come along.  I really enjoy having my nails done and it's a lovely bit of pampering at the end of a busy couple of weeks.  Dougal was very attentive to what was going on and made little comments about how his nails could 'use a little trim'.  I told him that Daddy would do them just like he does Toby's but that wasn't good enough for Dougal.  He went on... and on... and on about his nails needing a 'buff and polish' and in the end Aleisha said she'd do them for him... Dougal certainly knows how to get his own way!  Lots of people get 'mani pedis' but Dougal gets a 'pedi pedi'!

While we were having our nails done Aleisha's son was washing her car... I jokingly said I'd pay him $5 to wash my car and quick as a flash he got stuck into it!  By the time my nails were done my car looked fabulous!

Then it was time to get home because Mum had arranged to come over and go out for dinner with me.  When she arrived she gave me a gorgeous Christmas card.  In fact I'd seen it a couple of weeks earlier and commented that I really liked it... little did I know that she'd made it for us anyway!

Mum got to have her first look at the art studio and she was very impressed with what Michael has achieved.  It is definitely my favourite part of our home at the moment!  We decided to have a glass of cider before heading out and we had a great catch up.  Then we headed out to Brew since I was keen to have the mussels in Thai broth again.  We were really lucky to get a table but it must have been our night because they had a little corner table that was just perfect for us.  I had the mussels and Mum got a chicken satay pasta which was also yummy... I know cause I sneaked a little bit from her plate LOL

After dinner we went to Lady Jane's Ice Cream Parlour and got ourselves a little dessert cone each and we went across the road to the park.  What a lovely way to end our meal.

As we were heading home I told Mum that there was Carols by Candlelight on at Kuirau Park and we decided to go and join in.  When we arrived I heard a little snuffling going on in the car and couldn't quite figure out where it was coming from.  Mum heard it too and when we got the blanket out of the back of the car it revealed one small stowaway! 

It's a good job we didn't know Dougal was there earlier because we would have turned around and taken him home again... but since we were already out we decided to let him join us for some festive singing.  Everyone was in a wonderful mood and there were loads of people without it feeling crowded.  We bought ourselves a couple of candles and found a space on the grass.

Dougal kept asking when he could light his candle but with daylight savings we had to wait until almost 9pm before it was dark enough to make it worthwhile.  We had such a lovely night and not long after we got home it actually started to rain so we were most definitely pretty lucky!

Dougal was so excited that he got to hold his own candle that he forgot to sing!  He sat up with a huge grin on his face and kept looking at his candle... sometimes it's the little things that really make life worthwhile!

For the creative pieces on the first page I used a small photo of a fisherman Santa complete with a net and starfish walking stick... and then I simply added the date star.  For the lower piece on the first page I made a little white poinsettia and then added some small green stars to an offcut of patterned paper.

On the Carols insert I added some music printed on vellum along with the die cut words 'Christmas twinkle' cut from glitter cardstock.  For the piece in the lower pocket I cut a Tim Holtz lantern and added some holly.

It really is starting to feel like Christmas now xx

December Daily: Dec 8

Today I've got my December 8th page to share with you.  Hard to believe this was only a week ago  because so much has happened since then!

While I was at work last Tuesday Michael got a call to say the new shelves for my art studio had arrived.  We ordered them a couple of weeks ago and I was super looking forward to getting them so that I could display some more of my things.  Dougal climbed straight into the box and he was mightily disappointed to find that there was nothing for him... Michael said he whimpered about things 'not being fair' for the rest of the morning!  Luckily for me... and unluckily for the boys... Daddy is quite immune to whimpering!  Most of the time he just stands their mimicking them which usually makes everyone laugh!

Meanwhile, Michael also got busy wrapping his Christmas shopping.  We NEVER have presents under the tree this early in December because there's just too much temptation for them to get 'tampered' with!  Of course I had to check out who all the various parcels were for and now I know why they're under the tree... all five are for ME!!!  I suspect that Michael is trying to tempt me into touching the parcels and trying to guess what's inside but I'm not going to cave in!

After school I came home to grab my library books to take back and Dougal very nicely asked if he could come with me.  He was all chatty in the car and telling me what he and Toby and Michael had been up to during the day... although he did leave out the whimpering and sulking bit!  When we got to the library he headed off to the kiddies section and selected a pile of Christmas books.  By the time I came looking for him he was all set up in one of the window seats having a wonderful time.

Later on I got a call from Krystal to see if I'd like to join her at McDonalds for dinner.  I hardly ever go there so it was a real treat... and a lovely way to catch up and chat without little ears listening in on our conversation!

For my arty pieces today I used some stamps that I found during some sorting out.  I especially love the one in the bottom piece since it actually had the 8th date on it.  I even did a little inking on today's pieces.

So that was our day... lots of little bits and pieces... after all, that's what life is all about isn't it?

December Daily: Dec 2

I’ve just had two of the best days ever! I’m loving December 2015!

Dougal came with me yesterday when I went to see Nicola at the chiropractors.  I’ve been having a couple of adjustments just to get everything back into alignment and Dougal said he wanted to come to see what Nicola did. 

I knew I shouldn’t have trusted him!!!  As soon as we got into the therapy room he started to whine about having a ‘twitch’ in his tail… and his back was sore… and his neck was a bit stiff… and on and on!  Nicola was very sympathetic to my wee boy’s complaints though and gave him a full adjustment!

Actually there is another photo from this set which is going into my Project Life album.  The photo is of me having my adjustment and Dougal has got his little mitts on the Activator… under Nicola’s strict supervision of course!

I also spent some time in my art studio… and not just sorting things out!  I finally got busy and made something!  I started off by getting out my Big Shot machine and putting it to work with fabulous results… especially after the disaster I had with these dies using my Cuttlebug.

Since the words turned out so well and I was on a roll I decided to make some Christmas cards.  Loving the results!

Last night I went out with Carey for dinner at Brew.  It’s a great little restaurant with fabulous food and the service is always pretty good.  I had mussels for dinner and they were fantastic!

I’ve pretty much figured out HOW I’m going to put my pages together for my album so hopefully it will all turn out the way I’m planning and I’ll be able to share a finished page with you soon.

Thanks for stopping by xx

Project Life: Week 36

I’m definitely feeling very productive this weekend.  I’ve actually managed to finish FOUR WEEKS worth of photos to print off for my album and now I’m blogging again!  Thank goodness I’ve still been taking photos and organising them into my dated folders over the past couple of months.

Here’s an overview of Week 36:

Mike and decided that we might try a few new options for putting in our ‘lunch boxes’ and some savoury muffins fitted the bill.  Actually they were pretty delicious and we scoffed them a little too quickly!

During August the District Council cut down all the eucalyptus trees from the park as they were causing problems… especially when it was windy.  There were a couple of other trees that were just over our back fence and they’d been blocking off the sunlight and dropping leaves in our backyard.  We’d rung the council before about having them trimmed with no success so when they were doing the eucalyptus trees we gave them another call and they said that they would ‘look into it’.  We didn’t expect a lot and didn’t hear back from them so figured that nothing was going to happen.  On Monday I was at home and Toby and I both heard a huge noise… it turned out to be huge machinery that almost pulled the tree out by the roots.  We have lost a little bit of privacy in the backyard but we’ve also gained a LOT of sunlight!

Here’s a close up of the left side of my album:

Sometimes it’s nice to just capture some of the every day chores we do and on this morning I got a photo of all the dishes done… including my pink gloves!  One day we’ll get ourselves a dishwasher but for now we do the dishes by hand.

We spent almost every evening of this week working in the art studio painting.  It was definitely a team effort and brushes and rollers going constantly.  It looked dramatically different when the old red/brown walls were covered with primer.  It gave the first glimpse of what the finished room was going to be like.

I spent ages choosing my paint colours and had a pretty good idea of what I wanted.  I love how it all turned out and am very happy with my final choices!

Here’s the rest of the photos from this week:

On Saturday my friend Carey rang me to see if I wanted to do a photo shoot with her on Sunday morning.  We decided to go up to the Tree Trust at 6am to capture the sunrise but unfortunately it was a cloudy gloomy morning.  We actually  had a good time trying out different settings and playing with the lighting.  I’ve got a few photos that I’m pretty happy with.

Sunday morning was also Father’s Day!  Toby was super clever and he made up a ‘treasure hunt’ for Daddy!  Since I was going out early to take photos Mike had to participate in the treasure hunt early so that the surprise wasn’t spoilt! 

Mike loves Star Wars so Toby typed all his clues with little pictures of Yoda beside them… he’s a clever puppy!  All of the clues led to a new little present… all Star Wars and Darth Vader related.

The ‘basket’ would be the basket of new toilet paper rolls.

And inside the wood basket was the new circular saw that Mike had been looking forward to buying!  We was pretty happy with what Toby had put together for him.

After I got back from the Tree Trust we got changed and headed off on the bike to a little cheese shop in Putaruru.  They don’t just do cheese tasting there… they do ‘cheese educating’.  The lady in charge of the taste testing actually talked to us about how the cheeses were made, the types of processes and milks they use and also ideas for enjoying them more.  We actually learnt a LOT from her and confidently bought several of our favourites.

Then we were off to Tirau for lunch.  We had a wonderful brunch and sat outside in the sunshine enjoying our delicious food.  Since we were in Tirau we HAD to visit the Christmas Heirloom shop as well and we bought a few new decorations for our Christmas tree. 

Mike really enjoyed his Father’s Day and he was pretty pleased with our efforts to spoil him… so that was our Week 36. 

I hope you’re all enjoying the weekend xx

Project Life: Week 35

Well it’s about time isn’t it!?!  I’ve been trying to get myself organised enough to actually work on my Project Life album with very little success but this weekend I’m away with some friends at a scrapping retreat and I’ve taken NO supplies with me except for my computer and a desire to catch up… and so far so good because I’ve already finished Week 35!

I’m officially two full months behind now because Week 35 was August 24th to 30th!

During this week I did my first days of relief teaching and it’s the start of a whole new chapter in my teaching career.  One of the stipulations is that I cannot take photos at school due to confidentiality so I found that pretty much all the photos on this weeks pages were actually taken on the weekend.

Mike doesn’t like replacing things.  He finds it hard to part with money when he is ‘just getting what he already had’ LOL  This week though his jandals really did HAVE to be replaced because he’d completely worn through the heel.  Thankfully we were able to find a pair of new jandals that fitted within his very limited price range!

While we’re on the subject of replacing things… my drivers licence expired this week.  I had to produce my licence for identification at the new school and suddenly realised that it had expired two days earlier.  A quick trip to the licencing agent and I was all set for another 10 years!

Here’s a closer look at the first page:

On Saturday morning Mike and Toby got busy in the art studio sanding down all the walls.  There was dust flying everywhere and lots of noise to go with it.  When I went to investigate I discovered that Toby was making most of the noise!  He LOVED the sound of his feet on the paper on the floor (which was protecting the painted floor). He also totally LOVED all the dust flying around the room and was doing his best to catch it in his mouth!

By 9.30am Mike was done and suggested we head over to Hamilton for the day.  We were having dinner with my Dad since he was in Hamilton for an event so we figured we might as well make a day of it.

After we arrived we had lunch at Furnace and it was really delicious… such a lovely cozy atmosphere and great food and service.  Then we did a spot of shopping.  I managed to find some Tim Holtz stamp pockets which will come in very handy when I’m organising all my supplies. 

We also had a good look in the Harley shop which just happened to be up the road from the motel Dad was staying in!   We didn’t actually buy anything but we did find a few things to put on our wish list.

Next on our list of things to do was a visit to the Hamilton gardens.  I took heaps of photos and tried out lots of different camera settings… it’s all a learning process!

Here’s a closer look at the rest of the photos:

Mike and I both loved the Tudor gardens.  They reminded us a little of Game of Thrones and to be honest they made a fab subject to photograph.  There were loads of people at the gardens on this day but Mike and I took our time wandering around all the different areas.  I’ve always loved the Italian gardens and Mike was pretty fascinated with the New Zealand gardens.  It’s always neat seeing things through someone else’s eyes.

Mike is really patient and will often point out things to me that would be good subjects to photograph.  The arches photo was a good example.  I really liked how the arches looked from our vantage point but people kept walking through the end of the photo.  I was pretty much ready to give up but Mike said to just wait a little longer and sure enough I got a photo that I was pretty happy with.

Next up we visited Duck Island ice cream store and splurged on the most amazing sundaes.  Mike chose about three different flavours and ‘custom designed’ his own sundae.  I decided that a salted caramel popcorn sundae would be worth a try and it definitely was!

We spent the last part of the day with Dad and Jan, catching up on each others news.  We went out for dinner with them and another couple that Dad was travelling with.

On Sunday Mike and Toby got busy sanding in the art studio again.  Mike looked like a snowman by the time he’d finished sanding.  Toby just wanted to know why he couldn’t have a coffee as well!

Krystal had come to ‘puppy sit’ Toby while we were in Hamilton and Toby loved having her to stay.  He loves snuggling up with everyone so when Krystal pulled out the sofa bed and slept there for the night he was in doggie heaven.  He especially liked it when she played ‘wriggly fingers’ with him!

So that was our Week 35… thanks for stopping by for a visit xx

Project Life: Week 34

Late yesterday afternoon, Mike and I got really busy painting the primer onto the walls and ceiling of the art studio… and I’m desperate to show you… which means I really do have to catch up with my Project Life album so here’s Week 34 – August 17th to 23rd.

This winter we’ve had so much rain… and we’ve also had lots of really cloudy days so we’ve been doing our washing once a week and taking it to the laundrette to get it dry.  I’m super looking forward to just being able to hang things on the line again!

As you probably already know, Toby is quite partial to ‘treats’… which usually come in the form of things he probably really shouldn’t be eating but Mike has been buying big bags of brisket bones and Toby loves them!  Mike wraps each one up in glad wrap and then pops it in the freezer and now I’ve discovered that he warms them up a bit in the microwave before giving them to Toby… my boy is so spoilt!!

There’s been more baking going on as well.  While watching TV one night Mike mentioned that he felt like something sweet so I decided to bake a batch of peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies.  I experimented a bit with the shape of them and Mike posted them onto Facebook.  One of my friends mentioned that the ‘rustic’ cookies looked a bit like a dog turd… so now I’ve gone back to shaping them again!

In other baking news… Krystal found a recipe on the internet for gingernut cookies and gave it a go… the results were delicious!

Here’s a close up of the start of the week:

Dad has a few friends who get together on a regular basis for Friday lunches.  They call their little group ‘The Last of the Summer Wine’ so when I saw a card with lots of ‘more mature’ men sitting on the park benches I knew it would be perfect for Dad’s birthday… plus I actually got it posted on time!  Dad really loved the card too so that was a huge bonus.

This week it was the floor of the art studio to get all the attention.  Over a period of a couple of days Mike got to use lots of ‘man tools’ to prep the floor.  First up he ‘sanded’ the floor with an industrial grinder which was attached to a large vacuum… perfect for catching the bulk of the dust!

Then he managed to score some paint that was perfect for painting onto the concrete.  It was a two-part paint which means it’s going to be really strong.  The paint had been sitting around for a long time so Mike grabbed a big paint stirrer that attached to his electric drill and it worked the paint together without Mike having to do all the work… actually it did it so well that I’m looking forward to having a go with it myself!

Next up Mike used a brush to do all the edges and tricky bit of the floor and then he was able to do the rest with the roller.  The floor got a sand down in between and it’s now had two coats put on it and it’s fully cured.  The colour is a very neutral grey and it’s going to be super easy to wash down and clean.

While we’re on the subject of paint… I’ve finally found some ‘vintage paint’ to use on my desk.  I also bought some ‘vintage wax’ to put on top of the paint to protect it.  I’m looking forward to starting work on my desk but first I have to find somewhere to actually do the work!

Here’s a close up of the rest of the week:

On Saturday we went around to visit Krystal and drop some stuff off to her and she was busy in her garden.  She’s been really getting into growing seeds lately and she’s got them growing in all sorts of containers.  She’s even drilled holes in the bottom of a couple of buckets to use for growing garlic and vegetables.  She’s quite industrious and has strawberries growing as well.

After we’d visited Krystal, Mike dropped me off to Third Place to have lunch with Chris, Carey and their mum’s.  It was Chris’ birthday so it was lovely to meet up for a late lunch together.  I’ll easily be able to remember both Chris and Dad’s birthday’s now!

Getting back to painting the art studio floor… poor Toby really wanted to be involved and he definitely didn’t want to be shut in the house on a lovely day… but he just wouldn’t listen to instructions so in the end we parked one of the cars outside the art studio and put Toby on the backseat.  Problem solved!

He was most put out when we placed the chairs in front of the doorway to create a barrier because he just wanted to go IN… he was even more put out the next day when Mike was inside the art studio and we kept telling Toby NO!

On Sunday we headed out for our first bike ride since we got back from Dad’s at Labour Weekend!  It had been about 2 1/2 months of bad weather and busy weekends so it was wonderful to head out together for a day.  We headed over to Tauranga because Mike had a few hours of work to do at the Mount and I took my book to read. 

After Mike had finished work we went to Columbus Cafe at Gate Pa and had brunch.  I ordered French toast with bacon and banana and Mike ordered himself a Big Breakfast and he was pretty stoked with it!  We had a great trip home on the bike and it was a lovely end to our week.

All in all it was a busy and productive week :)

Project Life: Week 32

It’s definitely time for another update so here’s Week 32 – August 3rd – 9th.  It was a busy week with lots happening with the new art studio.

On Monday Krystal came around with her laptop so that I could help her with her Professional Portfolio.  It was really nice to be able to spend some time with her and we did quite a few things that day including baking some delicious new cookies… chocolate chippie with a touch of salt!  It’s basically just making a traditional chocolate chippie cookie and then grinding some salt on just before you put them in the oven.  I loved the salty-sweet thing although Mike wasn’t quite so fussed on them.

Krystal and I also went to the paint shop to pick up some sample colours for the art studio.  I’m thinking about making the whole room very neutral so that my artwork stands out… soft greys seem to be top of the list right now.

Mike was really thankful for the art studio this week too because he ended up with a snapped fan belt coming home from work the other night and he just put the front of the car into the art studio and used all the lights so that he could see what he was doing.  It worked a treat because within about 10 minutes he had the new fan belt on and the car was running fine!

Here’s a close up of the start of the week:

Mike and I don’t watch a huge amount of TV but we have a few shows that we really like… including My Kitchen Rules.  Mike has been cheering for Steve and Will right from the start so he was super happy when they won the final!

While the final of MKR was on the Big Wednesday draw was also on and this week we got to have a small share of the winnings… but as the saying goes every little bit counts!

I’ve also been working on a big project and had come to a major stumbling block involving the album so I had to do a bit of a re-think and now I’m going for a more Project-Life style album and I fell for this mint colour in a big way.  I think it’s going to be perfect for what I have in mind.

This week we also found the perfect doors for the art studio.  Mike knew that he wanted to replace the roller door with glass doors and he was originally thinking about a ranch slider but it wasn’t really what I wanted and they also turned out to be really expensive.  We saw a couple of second hand ones but they just didn’t seem right either.  Then we came across some French doors that I liked straight away and they were also the perfect size so now I’ve got French doors in my art studio!

Here’s a closer look at the rest of the week:

Mike spent several nights/days thinking about how he was going to put the doors in and by the time it came to actually install them he had it all worked out.  He even let me help… even though it was only priming some of the wood for around the door.  It turned into a bit of a family affair because Toby ‘helped’ Mike to roll up the old garage door after it had been removed.

Mike didn’t want to just have a plain front wall though so now he’s added some ‘detailing’ so that it will look a bit more interesting.

While all this was going on Mike brought ALL the boxes from the garage upstairs and I went through them all.  Most of these boxes had been sealed shut from when the packers came before I moved to Gisborne so after 18 months in storage it was a bit of a treasure trove to see what was inside each box.  Each box was labelled… but when there are approximately 20 huge boxes labelled ‘Art and Craft misc.’ you really have no idea what’s inside!

We ended up with several boxes of junk and several more of newsprint paper from all the wrappings and it felt quite good to get rid of some of the clutter!  A couple of weeks on and the ‘good stuff’ is still in the lounge because there’s nowhere else to put it for now!

After doing all the unpacking I got busy with another new recipe.  This time it was for peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies and Mike LOVES them!!!  They’re his new favourite and I’ve made the recipe several times now.

On Sunday morning we decided to go out for breakfast which is something we haven’t done for a  long time.  We headed up to Third Place and had a lovely breakfast together… and then real life set in and we did the groceries, the recycling and all sorts of other jobs!

This weekend I also found the perfect clock for my art studio.  I spotted it in a local paint shop and as soon as I saw it I knew that it would be fabulous.  Here’s a closer look:

You can’t tell from the photo but this is actually a good sized clock.  It stands 12 inches high and the clock face is 8 inches wide.  I really like the soft green colouring and the distress look of it… very Tim Holtz style!  Now we’ve just got to finish the art studio so that it has a home to go into.

So that was our week… I hope you’re all having a good week too xxx

Project Life: Week 31

Hi again… I’ve got Week 31 which was July 27th – August 2nd.  Mike’s been pretty busy with another D.I.Y. project.  This time he’s creating an art studio for me.  It’s consuming quite a bit of time after work and on the weekends but he’s making pretty quick progress.

Here’s an overview of the week:

The Council have been working in the park behind our house cutting down all the eucalyptus trees because they’re causing all sorts of problems… blocking out sunlight and interfering with TV reception and power lines.  While it’s been quite interesting to watch it hasn’t been much fun to listen to because each time another tree falls Toby starts barking again!

We’ve had the fire going 24/7 for the past few weeks so when we woke up to embers in the fire the other day Mike decided that it was time to clear out the fire box a bit.  It certainly helped the fire to run more efficiently.

Here’s a close up of the start of the week:

I got a lovely surprise this week in the mail.  Esther sent me an ice cream cookbook which is going to be very useful… especially once summer arrives!

Mike had a day off this week due to bad weather so he spent the day working in the garage.  He’d already had a big clean out and the next job was putting up a wall right down the middle of the garage to separate it into two halves.  He did a great job and recycled as much as he could.  By the end of the day he even had the workbench and shelving moved over to ‘his’ side of the garage.

We did stop for some lunch at some point and I had a Jester’s pie which was really delicious!

The rest of the week went by in a bit of a blur although we did have Tracey and Danny around for a pizza dinner one night which was a great way to end the day!

On Saturday Mum invited us over to Tauranga to see the brand new Hairy Maclary sculptures down at the waterfront but Mike was itching to get back into the garage project so I went over on my own and left the boys at home.

The sculptures were absolutely awesome!  We met up with my sister Katey and her family down at the waterfront and they even brought their dog, Murphy.  I did consider bringing Toby but to be honest he tends to get a bit overwhelmed when there’s too many dogs and people around him so he was better off staying at home with Dad. 

It was a pretty nice day in Tauranga and there were loads of people out looking at the sculptures and just enjoying the park.  Here’s an insert I made for my album:

The girls loved climbing over all the sculptures and Jessie was really taken by the stilt walkers!  They even had a doggie ‘selfie’ stand and Murphy had his photo taken.  While we were down at the park someone handed me a voucher for lunch at ‘American Rye’ and it included FREE meals for all the kids to celebrate Hairy Maclary Day!  Since we had four kids with us we decided that it was an awesome idea.  In fact it really was awesome and we all decided that we’d go back again… GREAT food and GREAT service! Here’s the back of my insert which totally focuses on lunch… and some camera fun!

While all this was going on in Tauranga, Mike was very busy back in Rotorua working away on his project.  I was telling Mum all about it as we were driving back to her place and I suddenly noticed a cabinet outside a store that was exactly the look I was thinking about so I stopped and took a photo… turns out Mike thinks it’s pretty cool as well so I might be giving my desk a bit of a makeover!

Here’s a close up of the rest of the week:

By the time I got home on Saturday night Mike had a total wall up dividing the garage and he even had the ceiling started.  I was really wondering HOW he’d gotten the Gib up on the ceiling so on Sunday he showed me… there’s nothing like a bit of kiwi ingenuity!

Mike is really loving putting his D.I.Y. skills to good use and he’s certainly not work shy that’s for sure.  He’s put in a new power socket unit with four outlets so I’ll be able to have my heat gun, glue gun, computer and silhouette cameo all going at the same time!  He’s also put in EIGHT lights which will give me excellent lighting for creating!  I’m getting quite excited about my new crafting space.

We do take out time to just relax together as well and one of our current favourite shows is ‘Banished’.  It’s set in Australia in 1788 and it’s got a great story line.  Mike’s favourite argument is ‘why don’t they hunt for food instead of relying on their rotten rice?’… I guess we’ll just have to keep watching and see what happens next.

So that was our week 31.  I hope you’re all staying safe and warm xx