The birthday!

Well, my son has turned 8. He was a beautiful babe, if a bit chubbily!

And here is a shot of the birthday, with a look of glee at the prospect of opening his gifts!

Birthdays are amazing coz they always remind me of how precious my family and friends are .. with some many different possible illnesses, and dangers of daily living, it really is quite an achievement when our children our healthy and happy. Ahhh, memory lane.. it really seems like a few short months since that 'hottest day for 100 years' in July 2001 (Surrey, England) when he was born... What a sweetie he is.

And, speaking of sweet things, here are some photos of our creative pursuits in the rainy school holidays (which, unlike Ciaran's birth, do seem like a distant memory, amidst the sea of 'getting back to work'!)

This is Ciaran's first ever stitching project, a brooch he made for himself:

and my foray into the world of molly chicken (a blog I found and thoroughly enjoyed reading through!) resulted in this cute chicken, and numerous mice. I did NOT attempt the doghouse, although Em was keen!

The chick has a wee pocket at the front that you can put the wee heart into. Mrs Molly Chicken offers that a diamond piece of jewellery could be put into there if one's husband was so taken. No diamonds have appeared in mine as yet!

Anyway, amidst life and school, birthday celebrations have been had, a safer, bigger (read: impressive) motorbike have been purchased, and the sun shone today. I have plenty of blessings to count, and some work to do.. so off I pop.

C x

decluttering update...

Hmmm, the deliciousness of the last post continued through the week, I am happy to say. The culmination was yesterday when Wayne and I had a day out together. A. whole. day.

It made us strong enough to declutter our budget today. That was scary. We had to be brave. Actually, it was me who had to be brave. Courage was required for the confirmation of the sneaking suspicion that we fritter a great deal of money. Well, obviously I'm not talking millions.. haha, if only, eh! but you know, I'm realising it's about choices. The choices of what we keep. The choices of what we collect. The choices of swapping money energy for space energy, for inspiration energy, for soothing energy, nurturing energy.
Goddess Leonie and Lisa have brought this to my attention with our ecourse. Powerful changes are afoot, and they are requiring courage.
My own tidbit of learning has been to 'chunk up'. I think it's an NLP term - instead of seeing dishes to wash, to put away, clothes to wash, to fold, to put away, a bathroom to clean, I am thinking of it in a bigger chunk: the slice of my life I call 'nurturing my family and our home'. Therefore, it makes all of this delicious!

And now, I will finish, and get on to decluttering in another slice of my life (all these food metaphors!).. school.
Bye for now, C x

A Nourishing Sunday!

Ahhh, I am slowly filling my well and it feels lucious.

First, due to a stinky cold, I tucked myself into bed early last night and had a deliciously long sleep..

This morning I provided for my family by going grocery shopping at some very early hour (ok, it was only 8am but I'm not usually out that early, unless it's for my walk to the beach), then, after coffee and crumpets, I got to talk with some very special people on Skype...my Dad, my step-mum and her daughter..

My Dad lives in America, married to a beautiful woman I am proud to have in my family. And, upon gaining a step-mum, I also gained a step-brother and sister - although because we are grown up, I don't really think of it like that! My step-sister, sort of soul-sister (I wonder if she'd agree with the feeling that conveys? We do seem to have a lot in common for the complete strangers we were before our parents met!) is an inspirational, courageous woman too, and so kind-hearted. And.. because it was 'Granma Tricia's birthday, we called her pn Skype to sing, and chat. Shelly was there too, and of course, my Dad.. As always, it was love-ly to see them, and chat with them.

And then, as if this wasn't enough deliciousness.. we donned our new tramping boots and went for a walk up a local track.. we were away for an hour or so and had a peaceful time with the tui and the ferns... Ahhh.

OK, it wasn't entirely peaceful because Ciaran decided to count all the steps we climbed up (there were at least 500, but the exact total is under debate!) but my soul was soothed. Delicious.

And... as if THAT wasn't enough, Emma and I made pikelets for lunch. Homemade, and scrummy with jam (and that cream I whipped!).

Oh, I forgot to mention Rhubarb. He's the donkey who lives at the camp beside Colonial Knob. Ciaran fed him a carrot before we commenced our climb. (Em fed him a carrot too but Rhubarb scoffed it before I could get a photo!)

Happy Sunday to you!

C x

PS: decluttering still continuing! One trip to Trash Palace (what a hardship that was) yeilded a clutter-free hallway, and now it's just back to the lounge, then the budget (that's another story!) TTFN

Parched ...

is how I feel today. The days are cold (though we did see the sun this afternoon), my children have been sick again, and I am really looking forward to a few days in the school holidays to fill my well. It's drying up after this big term of learning. Have you ever been satisfied and parched at the same time?
Hurumph!

A plus at the moment is the decluttering focus (in the in between moments). There is the decluttering aspect and the 'shining goddess in me' aspect: I am loving both. Years ago, in Auckland, I was part of a goddess group 'goddess wavy platt' we were called.. it was a magical time in terms of womanly get-togethers with older, wiser souls (I was the youngest and greenest in the group). This part has been woken up. I like that. I had a hilarious experience on Sunday, going for my morning walk (it's only a weekly thing these days) and doing a Goddess Leonie meditation at the beach. It was quite powerful - and funniest thing was, when I opened my eyes, a young labrador pup who was bouncing past, just stopped. He stared right into my eyes and I swear, he smiled! It was hilarious. He seemed to feel the humour and perfect timing of his connection and came up for a pat (I don't usually 'do' dogs - cf kitten pictures below). What a gift!
Right, back to work..

I hope this finds you keeping warm, and connecting with those dear. C x