Summertime 2017 - Berry Picking

 

Natures Colour Fades

WELCOMING A NEW YEAR!

Welcome 2017!

We had a awesome end to 2016 and a great start to the New Year with my Brother In-law, his Partner and our Two Nephews come stay with us for just over a week.

It was SO much fun I could write a novel about our time together!... But i wont... I just thought I’d share a few of my fave moments from their trip…

A DAY IN PICTON

On today's schedule was a trip to Picton/Waikawa to do some possible fishing, swimming and general exploring.

We arrived in Picton and wondered around the shops for awhile then headed down to the bay area were the boys paddled in the water and played in the sand while we sat and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

After awhile we headed over to the playground area where they also run a small (VERY SMALL) train for the kids to ride on and also hire out mini boats for them to sail in the paddling pool/pond.
It was great entertainment and pretty much cost us nothing!

After a few hours in Picton we headed off to spend the afternoon in Waikawa.

We found a nice little bay just past the Waikawa area were we had lunch, did some fishing and explored the area. The Nephews seemed to quite enjoy discovering the different creatures (such as Periwinkles) and hidden sea treasures scattered among/over the rocks.

The boys attempted to do some fishing but after a short time we realized the wind was to strong in this area and we decided to head back towards Waikawa bay and try our luck there.



FRUIT PICKING

I’ve lived in Marlborough almost 15 years and never been fruit picking, which is like living in Marlborough and not drinking wine… which ironically I don’t do either!

Marlborough is FULL of Pick-your-Own fruit orchards (also known as Pay-to-Pick) so this day we took advantage of that which I really enjoyed!

We ended up with Apricots, Plums, Cherries and Boysenberries and even treated ourselves to a ‘Real Fruit Ice Cream’ which was very yummy!

Although I'm still not sure whether we were allowed to eat the berries while we picked them but I know we weren’t meant to eat the cherries as there was a “NO EATING FRUIT” sign up but with a little mini fruit harvester on our team we were busted before we even began picking!

It was wonderful to met the Brother In-Laws Partner, she is lovely and i felt we were on the same page with a lot of things eg morals, values etc she was very easy to get on with and most importantly the Boys love her to bits!
We had a awesome time and i miss them all HEAPS already! (even my Brother In-law!) I can't wait til the next visit!

Writing for Writing's Sake

I can’t remember how or why I begun writing but I have enjoyed it ever since i started!

It was in 2007 I had my first poem published in an online magazine called SHINE then only a month later another piece was accepted to be published in Contemporary Rhyme’s e-journal!

This was very exciting and extremly encouraging! - To this day, I still have every one of my acceptance letters! (I even kept a couple of the cheques! I properly should have banked these!)

I continued writing for a long time and the more I wrote the more I enjoyed it!

Between 2007-2011 I ended up with a fair few pieces being accepted for publication, in e-zines and online journals such as Blackmail Press, Mouth Full of Bullets, Abyss & Apex and Eclecticism E-zine along with several pieces published in print.

10 years + later and I still love to write!
I have learnt a lot about writing and publishing over the last few years and maybe one day i will use what i have learnt and pursue this hobby further, but for now, I am happy to continue creating stories and writing for the simple joy of it!

Happy Birthday ME!

I had a WONDERFUL Birthday Yesterday!
My day was filled with great company and a delicious dinner (cooked by my mum) who can complain about having dinner cooked for them by a professional chef!

Loads of Birthday Wishes and cards from loved ones -including a lovely handmade Birthday card from my In-laws!

And, though not the most important thing, awesome gifts!!! One of my FAVORITE gifts sent to me by my Brother In-law were chosen especially for me by my super cute Nephews - A Light up Butterfly Ball and Barrel of Bright Pink Slime - exactly what i wanted!!!
What more could a girl ask for!!!

Mouse House Illustration!

A few posts back i Introduced The Mouse Family! Today i thought I'd share the drawing i created of their little house!
(Stay tuned for more Mouse Family illustrations coming soon!)

Handmade - Book Box

Tomorrow is my Mother In-Laws birthday and i thought I'd make her something special...

I made her a book box! In this little collection i have included a hard cover copy of her story "The Boasting Bull", which she wrote for her grandsons. I did the Illustrations for her and we only recently finished the final edits and have had it printed into a book! It was heaps of fun to work on!
The Book Box also includes my own Book which i wrote and illustrated myself and my husbands (her sons) book! Which he created and wrote and I did the pictures for.
I think she will love it!