As Spandau Ballet once said...

To cut a long story short, I lost my mind.... and quit my job! It is a long story and I shan't bore you with the details but I think it's fair to say that I'm happier than I've been in a long while and I'm excited about the opportunities that may be coming my way.

PLUS... I get time to blog, so it's happy days all round really. To celebrate we went to the beach, of course, with egg sandwiches and some very tart apples. Whilst counting waves and chasing seagulls I also managed to write a list of jobs that need doing around the house and draw a little plan of the garden that's been rattling around my head for a while; all to be started next week. Today though, I'm catching up on all the blogs I've recently left unread before heading to the pub, where I'll be enjoying a strawberry and lime cider with ice and a slice!

N.B. If anyone asks though (namely Slap) I have been frantically scouring the job ads and I'm truly desperate to get back into the workplace!

T.T.F.N.

I'm packing for an overnight trip to Wellington... there are op shops and vintage emporiums who are closing up for the evening still blissfully unaware that I have them in my sights!

Lily and I are doing the girlie/ shopping/ retauranting thing to celebrate her 20th... which means I have a daughter of 20, WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN!!!

I'll be back with photo evidence soon, until then I leave you with Alfie and me riding the waves on Nana. My 13 year old had his first driving lesson... we ran aground, we laughed our heads off, I swallowed rather a lot of water when Alf went into forward gear rather than neutral and took off towards open sea with me hanging on for dear life, he laughed his head off... a jolly good time was had by all.

Have you guessed what it is yet?

OK, so here's a teeny, tiny clue...

x

talking like a tourist...

So as part of January's 'order and organisation' goal I thought I'd clear out my Flickr account. I can't think of a nicer way to spend a blustery afternoon than sitting wrapped in a blanket sifting through images of sunnier times...
I took these pictures a while back; as I was wandering along the sand a swarm of excited children rushed passed me on their way to the kayaks and it started me thinking about the first time I discovered my 'go to' beach.
I remember thinking the picture frame was a bit naff until I looked through it...
I remember sitting on the rocks with three super excited children scanning the waves for dolphins...
I remember asking Slap to pinch me (which he did rather a little too exuberantly for my liking)...
Ten years later with a mortgage, a job, school runs and supermarket shopping under my belt, I'm still able to drag back that 'holiday' feeling every time I take my shoes off to paddle.

Bliss!

summer lovin', had me a blast...

beaches and boats, fishing and falling over, shell rings and singing, murder in the dark and mussels, friends and family, tent pegs and tentacles, love and laughter...

how was your holiday!

x

away the lads!

Actually, it was away the lady... a quick working hop over the 'ditch', as the Tasman is known around these parts, ending up in Far North Queensland, Port Douglas to be specific.
Known primarily for it's proximity to the Great Barrier Reef, it should also be known for it's amazing restaurants, beaches and scary sealife. Rather different from the English seaside of my childhood, where the most lethal thing I ever spotted was a poo bobbing along on the crest of a wave.
Here, if the sharks and jellyfish don't get you, the saltwater crocodiles certainly will...

Just a few pictures of the beautiful Low Isle, where we spent a relaxing afternoon snorkling, discovering this tiny island and cruising the reef in a glass bottom boat... and not a poo insight!

just another day....

Man alive, sometimes it takes a complete stranger to remind you that taking life for granted is a crime!

Yesterday I was walking down this beach...



on my way to the old homestead that sits at the very end of the bay.

Whilst I was taking this photo...



a very sweaty man on a bicycle stood next to me upon the verandah and said,
"So you too are visiting this paradise country, ya?"

Not put off by the lycra and perspiration I replied,
"Actually, I live just a few minutes away"

I went home then, all smiley and grateful and ate a bowl of homemade soup.



Good times!!

things i'm loving this week...

this feeling! Swinging on a tyre whilst the clouds scud along overhead.*


this book! Another step closer to realising my dream of chickens in the yard.


this photo! The gorgeous karen is also a gorgeous photographer.

* No I didn't run into Kevin Keegan on the beach... that is me and my outrageous haircut!

life's a bach...

What could be nicer than four good friends spending a weekend together...
Not much if the weekend is spent here!

Long walks, good food, a tiny bit of wine!, some shopping, scrabble, swimming and more laughing than I've done in a long time.
Thank you ladies, let's do it again soon...