A Good Giveaway....

If you popped in for a visit last week you'll remember that I mentioned this Kiwi "Good" magazine and how I thought we just might have a wee giveaway...

and so we shall!

Full of the most interesting & thought provoking articles..

 And lots of vintage-style scrumminess too.
I'm sure you will appreciate, along with me, the sentiments of Sarah Heeringa (the editor) when she reflects on the subject of seasonality saying
 "Being mindful of the seasons is a way of adding more rhythm & ritual to your year- and choosing to only do certain things at certain times in the calendar can help us maintain healthy balance and enjoy each thing in full.
...Seasonality gives everything it's moment in the sun. It's why I decorate my house with wildflowers in summer & try to spring clean in spring. It's why I'll be putting my summer frocks away in a box & why making fruity jams & jellies is one of my favourite late-summer routines."

 Our gi-normous ancient enamel tea pot had an outing to join in a Mad Hatters Tea Party last week & had a truly stupendous time amongst the children. I really feel that he/she should have a name for such future events? There have been a number of suggestions already: Ima (as in I'm a little tea pot) Mrs Potts (as in Beauty & the Beast) do you have any suggestions? Do feel free to email me if you're not a blogger just here.

 The late summer produce from the Farmer's Market has been so satisfying & delicious lately.

 This colander of heirloom tomatoes look so lovely made into a simple tomato salad..drizzled with local olive oil.

 It's passionfruit time again!

 And for some of us it's been birthday tea party time.

 That is one certain bonus of the fine weather..it would be hard to pick a poor day just now.
We had fun setting out our pretty things.

 I ordered some petite cupcakes from the New World supermarket. Michelle made them pink for me & put wee flowers & butterflies on the top of each one.
There was a small incident where some heavy groceries squashed themselves on top of the wee cakes & some minor re-modelling had to be done, but I don't think anyone noticed!

 I found some more of these vintage glasses the other day..

  & was thrilled to come across a large pink lemonade jug at last.

 And whose birthday was it?
Well my dear friend Wendy's, of course!

Wendy & I have known each other for over 50 years!

We will be friends forever.

 The 11th of March was also the day we moved into our house 24 years ago..so a tea party was a sweet way to celebrate birthdays, homes & friendship.

 The passionfruit that you saw earlier in the cup was made into this yummy passionfruit tart, just above. It can be eaten as a dessert or a slice & is super easy & coconutty. You can find the recipe just here in the kitchen blog.
 Would you like a cup cake too?
 We have few left over if you're quick.

 Now...Willows news.
I mentioned that I found this little fundraising book in the Hospice shop in Taupo.
I had come across the Picnic edition in an op shop a long time ago.
Isn't this such a perfect picture for the cover.

A lot of people make their way to Taupo (in the centre of our North Island) through the year, for holidays & recreation. And huge numbers own or rent baches around the lake side, hence the pertinence of the little recipe book. Here is how it begins: (click the picture & you should hopefully be able to read the words).

Such a cosy bach friendly scene on the back cover.

Thanks so much for visiting...if you would like a chance to "win" our lovely copy of Good please do let me know in a comment or email if you prefer. Don't forget to make your suggestion for the name of the grand tea pot too...25 cup would you believe!
We will get Charlie to draw a name out of the proverbial over Easter.

Lots of love to you all..hope you have a wonderful week.

MUCH

 ♥♥♥♥♥

Choosing Good-ness

There have been a lot of things happen lately that have reminded me (like the all night really loud party over the back fence)...that we get to make new choices every day, over & over again. Will we choose the good or will we be crabby and slack? 

Will we choose kindness & grace or will we be rude & grating.

 Will we celebrate ourselves & who we are & go with the challenges that turn up in our path or will we sit down and I say..."I can't"

I'm not enough?

This boy, is now a young man...

he is making his own way in life & he is making choices everyday.

He has had some interesting challenges, hard ones.

They say that exercise can make all the difference in working with depression. 

 And he's come so far, so far in fact, that he ran 47 kilometres on saturday: up three peaks & down the other side. Many ran in teams, some biked & others walked but he ran the whole way on his own, for himself..streaking past me to the finish, so fast I nearly missed my own son. 

I thought I'd seen a ninja at first & then, quick as anything he was suddenly at the finish line... 

done.

A whole packet of gingernuts, orange juice & two cans of coconut water were the scientifically calculated fuel for such a journey (of 6 1/2 hours)...and an awful lot of water!
Things like house keys were forgotten in the hustle to prepare for the day.
A few seconds from here he said "I have to go now" & fell in the window!

Rob had some time off this week.
Time to work on our house, watch a boy finish his challenge & take me away for a night to Taupo.

Kaitiaki told me about a hot pool at Reporoa, half way between Taupo & Rotorua.
This is it: Butcher's Pool. Open all the time. No charge...just glorious hot water bubbling through the sandy bottom of the pool day & night; refreshing, replenishing & soothing all souls who come to bath. A magnificent place to watch the night sky fill with stars.

We stayed here at The Cottage Mews.
Everything about this place is delightful & best of all it is so reasonably priced.

We heard about a new French cafe in town...and we found it.
As we sat enjoying our coffee we realised that we were the only English speaking patrons in the place.

Taupo is very touristy & pretty much there for the lake.
A lot of people love to holiday here.

We loved all the op-shops!!

And the signs!

A volcanic plateau means lots of available stone lying around.
This lovely carved stone seat really appealed to me..

I wanted to know what it felt like to be hugged by a rock?

We loved this plaque. An excellent tenet for marriage we reckon.

And the creation was beautiful.

Solid, meaningful

& colourful.

The latest Good magazine arrived in our letterbox not long ago.
It's truly fabulous. I read bits to Rob & then we chatted about all kinds of stuff..it's a thought provoking magazine. Would anyone fancy one do you think? Next week we just might have a simple giveaway. It could be sent anywhere & I know that many of you don't get to catch up with this Kiwi classic.
I'll show you some more bits of the inside & then you can decide.

These water droplets on English Garden were watered on by me...there's not a skerrick falling from the sky just now.

This tall salvia loves the summer months & is very useful for height & vibrant colour.

I wonder if I blow hard will I find lettuces all around my garden soon?

A week or two ago I discovered the infiltration of the cupboard moth...you guessed it, in the pantry cupboard!
I decided to salvage the cashews & put them to soak overnight, then I remembered a recipe I had seen for a raw cashew "cheesecake". It tastes so good you never want to stop eating it! Best thing about it is that it's actually a really good for you too.

You can find the recipe in the kitchen blog just here.

Would you look at what I found in the Hospice shop in Taupo!

I'll tell you more about it soon.

So lovely to have you visit...thank you for popping in!

Do hope that your week is truly peachy & not at all pants!

MUCH

 ♥♥♥♥♥

Cheerio!!

The time has come to say cheerio..
What a lovely sojourn the Willows have had here this summer.
They stayed just long enough to catch a final celebration in the garden..

for my birthday.
The nostalgic note of an English-style cider called Slack ma Girdle had them in a bit of a dither momentarily,

but they were soon most happy to share this delicious send-off & celebration baked cheesecake with us!

They've enjoyed the companionship of other furry friends (not that Toad is furry you understand, but a friend none-the-less).

And are now, at this very moment, winging their way back home to Pom Pom in Colorado. I am certain that they have missed her terribly & are anxious to be reunited with Mr Badger. In our time of Wind in the Willows immersion I've become rather fond of these illustrations by Inga Moore.

Aren't they lovely...so full to the brim of finest detail.

I am sure that The Three will be quite relieved to return to Pom Pom's & burgeoning spring, it has been a long (well feels long) very hot, especially dry summer here. My brother took this photo of the hills not really very far from home..bone dry & powdery brown.

A long hot summer has led to cooling creations like this magical Strawberry Cloud Cake that I came across the other day. It is an Annabel Langbein recipe, although I have made my own adaptions as usual! This is just egg white, strawberries, honey & rose water...we were lucky that any even made it into the jars! Go here to find the full recipe.

We have also made a black doris plum version, either way these little pots are a perfect size to freeze individual servings in & the recipe would probably make around 8 of these.

I am hoping to have a chance to use these wonderful gem irons very soon for a tea party. I was so delighted to find them...I have never, ever seen gem irons enameled like this before, so I will take great care of them as they are still in entirely useable condition & I want them to stay that way.

With such settled fine days we have been visiting the market on the Marine Parade in Napier on Sundays. It's lovely to see so many different stall holders & have access to such wonderful fresh produce & cheap, interesting second hand "stuff". On our way home the other day I spotted a public garden full of these unusual pineapple plant flowers, I squatted down to take a photo of them & found  a lovely friend in residence.

Aren't they the most fabulous colour!

This is so weird...taking photos of myself..but I wanted to show you the sweet sundress I found in the Dog Shop the other day. I was so thrilled, as despite people telling me that florals & dresses are all in I hardly ever come across any. It's such a lovely fabric & fully lined. I've had to make a couple of little adjustments best I can but I'm sure my rose brooch will cover up my little tucks at the front well enough.

Here's another of my little Betsy Clark pictures & the Betsy proverb that goes with it. I just remembered that I always loved the darling little shoes in her pictures...they look so comfy too.

A cheerful heart

and smiling face

Pour sunshine in the darkest place.

Thanks so much for visiting.
Have a lovely week my sweet friends & lovely visitors.
Cheerio!!
MUCH

 ♥♥♥♥♥