June

Wow, June. How did we get here? Time is flying by and I honestly don't know where it went!

We have been busy getting ready for the arrival of baby and have now chosen most of the big items we want (cot, buggy, carseat etc) and either have them here or they are on order (fingers crossed they arrive before baby does!). We've also been attending antenatal classes and only have 2 left to go. We've already done the tour of the hospital and have a box of nappies ready to go so we are almost prepared!

I've found I've really had to slow down lately and am often tucked up in bed at 9 or 9.30pm most nights (what a nana!). Undisturbed nights are well and truly in the past and I'm often awake a few times in the night trying to get comfy. I'm trying to see the good side of this - it's getting me ready for being up and down in the night with baby!

I'm also feeling a little less creative and full of ideas lately. I think my brain is busy focusing on baby related things and everything else has gone out the window.

I've been notoriously bad at taking photos and without photos I don't have much fodder for blog posts. I've had a look at what's on the camera today and then headed out into the garden in the rain to get some photos to share so I could finally update the blog. All flowers today - some brightness and prettiness to take away the winter blues.

It's been quite cold here some days and the fire is on most nights these days. I've taken to lighting candles and putting the fairy lights on to make the most of the darker nights with some twinkles!

I still struggle with the turnabout of the seasons in the Southern Hemisphere and it's weird to think Graeme will be celebrating his birthday next weekend in winter. I still have to buy his presents and am currently deciding whether or not to bake him a birthday cake, birthday muffins or birthday cupcakes...in fact I might go and have a peek through my reciep books just now to get some ideas.

And I'll promise to try and leave less time between posts next time :-)

Signs of Winter

I can't believe how long it's been since my last post. I keep meaning to sit and find some photos and get them posted but it's been hectic. We have both been very busy with work and hardly saw each other last week. It's settled down now - for a week at least - so I thought I would make the most of being at home and near the PC to post!

I have already started writing my 28 @ 28 list (in the same vein as my 27 @ 27 list which can be found here http://kandgnzadventure.blogspot.com/2008/11/list.html) and one of the things I have added is to capture and document each season. I love watching the changes of the seasons and often take photos but have never documented them or done it with any regularity.

Of course, I am too impatient to wait until my birthday to start doing this so I have already started taking pictures of winter (it will probably be document one of the seasons on my 28 list). I have dotted a couple of the photos through this post.

I am lucky enough to do a lot of travelling and flying with work which is how I got photos of Mt. Taranaki and Mt. Ruapehu with snow on them. Aren't they gorgeous? Totally makes me wish I could snowboard or ski to make the most of them. I also recently bought some fingerless gloves which I thought captured winter well. I have been printing the photos when I order others to be printed and will probably turn them into a mini scrapbook.

So that's what I am up to at the moment. As well as arranging a UK visit, my wedding, a mass invasion of family and friends, working and a hundred other things! Busy is good though - I get more done when I'm busy.

And I hope to post sooner next time so you are not waiting so long next time :-)

Winter

Well winter is well and truly here and it has been pretty chilly lately. We have even had to scrape ice off the car a couple of mornings. And on Saturday it sleeted....enough to make it look like snow (it's practically unheard of to snow in Palmerston North)...and with the sleet came sleetmen....the Palmerston North alternative to snowmen! I was so annoyed I didn't have the camera with me when we saw them dotted about! They were so cute!

And with winter comes horrible, yucky winter jobs like cleaning blocked gutters. I, of course, had the very important roles of holding the ladder, turning the tap on and off for the hose, passing up buckets, hoses etc.
Being outside ready to hold the ladder and pass things up at a moments notice gave me a good excuse to take some winter photos. This was the first clear day in a while. It felt like it'd been raining for years (when really it was only a couple of weeks) which meant that Lake Palliser came back to life...

But it's not all bad...we have at least one sign of the good weather to come...I can't wait for the daff's to flower - they always cheer me up immensely. I remember the daff's giving me a smile after days of feeling sorry for myself when I had the chicken pox last year in August.

And you just can't beat the sky on a crisp, New Zealand winter's day...it may be cold but you get to look up and see this...

So yes, I am looking forward to longer and warmer days but I am trying to make the most of winter while it's here!