In the Summertime!

Sharing a little of summer here
I've been enjoying the lovely weather, however it has not been kind to the garden.

 The hydrangeas have been beautiful and interesting how quickly they come back after a watering
We have not had much rain to date, so I go out early in the morning or after the sun has gone down to water the garden and hope to keep the plants alive.

Walking along the beach is my favourite exercise. Wonderful smelling the sea air and having the sand between my toes and  soothes the soul.
Travelling back in the ferry you often see the yachts racing and maybe these are getting ready for the next Americas cup

Hope you are enjoying summer or if you are in the Northern parts, staying warm.
There has been a slight change of temperatures here in the evening and early morning and won't be long and Autumn will be upon us.
Always love to see the little duck family down at Matiatia where the ferry comes in

Have a lovely weekend everyone!
hugs
Carolyn

Few pretty things for the weekend

 Hydrangeas are such gorgeous flowers and always make me feel happy when they are around
Just a quick note to say hello and hope you are having a great week.
Almost the weekend, so just wanted to wish you a good one.

Love this little house  

 Great to catch up for a cup of coffee with DD and always nice to have a sweet treat. Love the heart.

Follow your heart, listen to your inner voice
stop caring about what others think 
Roy T. Bennett 

Happy weekend!
hugs
Carolyn

A few favourites for October

 Hello dear friends,

A little hydrangea love

Where do the days go? Nearly at the end of October and how can that  be!
As you may have noticed there has not been a lot of blogging going on in my life lately.
A lot has been going on here and it's all good. I felt like I needed to take a little break and have missed you all and look forward to coming over to say hello and see what you are up to.
Work continues around our house and today the scaffolding finally was taken away. After the house and the roof were painted it is pleasant to be able to walk out onto the deck again as the doors were only able to be opened a little and to not have the unsightly iron bars everywhere. Will share some photos soon.
Don't know how the scaffolders could listen to their hip hop, rap music and every second word seemed to be a profanity, which made me have to shut the window to block it out.  It was all too much and went out for a little walk, to get away from it all.
 

A sweet little family of white ducks, so cute

Will share a few photos from around my little part of the world. This sweet family of white ducks have taken up residence at Matiatia Wharf and I love to see them waddling about

It was wonderful sailing home on the car ferry last week. Far away in the distance you can see the Sky Tower and the City of Auckland. The sky and sea was the most amazing blue

Violas, such sweet little flowers

 

My Cecil Brunner rose is blooming again

Do hope all is well with you all and many thanks for reading my blog and all the lovely comments you leave.

 Another evening and the same little family of five ducks
Sending hugs and wishing you a wonderful new week
Carolyn 

Hydrangeas and a hand knitted jersey

Hi dear friends, do hope that you are having a lovely weekend.
It has been grey and windy here, which tells me Autumn is fast approaching and we will soon be turning back the clocks. I am actually liking the cooler weather, as found the hot and humid days a little much.

Today I will share a few snapshots. Hydrangeas are always a favourite flower of mine and it is gratifying been able to propagate new plants from the cuttings.

Last year I knitted Marcel (wonderful son) this jersey for his birthday. 
 
On a visit to the hairdressers one time and looking through the glossy magazines, I came across this Chanel advertisment and thought the jersey that Pharrell Williams was wearing was very nice. 

Searching over the Internet for a couple of hours  I managed to track down a similar pattern in a Bergere de France book. This was fun to knit and should be cozy and warm for him to wear in winter.

Thank you for visiting my blog and it is a pleasure to read your comments and appreciate you taking the time to drop me a line.
It makes my day!
Wishing you a happy new week ahead

hugs
Carolyn

Happy May!

Hello dear friends,

I can't believe that it is May already - how did this come around so quickly?

Here are just a few little moments that have made me happy over the past week ~ love drying hydrangeas and seeing what colour they turn out

the joy of having  my 10.00 am cup of coffee 

I bought the tin holder to store our olive oil in the pantry

The olives are ripe on our trees and ready to be harvested and we will be doing this next week. The hungry birds have been feasting on them, so hope they leave some for us.

I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself
~Maya Angelou

 Hope you have a happy weekend
hugs
Carolyn

Out and about

I'd like to share a couple of photos from the past few weeks and just getting around to sharing them here on my blog.
First of all, I love the shade of the pretty blue hydrangeas I bought at the market the other day

I said hello to this sweet chicken who was also out walking early in the morning

ANZ Bank customers were in for a treat with the rhinestone encrusted ATM machines which were there to celebrate Auckland's Pride Festival, a few weeks back

Happy Saint Patrick's day and have a great week

May you always have walls for the winds, a roof for the rain,
tea beside the fire, laughter to cheer you, those you love near you
and all your heart might desire
~ Irish blessing

hugs
Carolyn

The Queen Mary

A few favourites from my week.

On Monday, the Queen Mary 2 docked in Auckland, sailing, on her worldwide cruise.
A great photo opportunity and can see why she is claimed to be, the most magnificent ocean liner ever built. 

I love, how cut hydrangeas I had in a vase, have formed  a root formation and now I will be able to plant this in a pot - do you ever propagate plants this way?

 Our home is still currently under renovation. Today I did some more painting.  It has really been too hot, but just ploughed on and hopefully we will get the job finished soon.

Thank you so much for stopping by and hope you are all enjoying your week
A big welcome to new friends to my blog,  I appreciate each and every one of you and grateful for your friendship

hugs
Carolyn

Summer swap

This is the gift exchange  Monique organized with some blog friends from around the world.
The theme was Summertime ~ Monique was my swap partner and this is the beautiful gift she sent to me.
A cute Bretagne house {love all the pretty blue} and postcard from where she spent her summer holidays over in Brittany, France. Also what was lovely is the hydrangeas shown in the postcard, they are a favourite flower of mine so had to show it alongside my pretty hydrangea I have growing in a terracotta pot.
Thank you Monique ~ I love it and will look so lovely on my memory board.

Now here is the gift I made and sent to her - a cushion with seashells.
I used a heavy  linen upholstery fabric for the cushion with seashells all over and then I copied some shells from a download  that Martha Stewart was kindly offering on her website and then embroidered the words on it.

And finally here is the scarf that I knitted for our Son - helps to keep him warm when riding his scooter in the cooler weather.

 Your work is going to fill a large part of your life and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.
And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking.
Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it.
~ Steve Jobs


 Creativity is contagious, pass it on
~ Albert Einsein


Just want to say thank you, to all my blog friends, new followers, for all the inspiration you share, your beautiful blogs, creative ideas, the kind comments and support you give.
Have a happy weekend
Hugs
Carolyn

Recipe for a good and happy life.

The hydrangeas we picked on the side of the road, going for a walk this morning and I wished I could say that the roses were from my garden, but they were store bought.

Is there a recipe for a good and happy life?
Here are some ingredients suggested by Robert Louis Stevenson:

To be honest:
to be kind
to earn a little
and to spend a little less;
to make, upon the whole,
a family happier for his presence;
to renounce when that shall be necessary,
and not be embittered;
to keep a few friends.

There is more, but that sounds like a promising start, doesn't it.

My daughter designed my new blog header, which I really love.
I feel like a dinosaur when it comes to using photoshop and things like that ~ she is so quick and can do things like this with such ease. Thank you V !

I hope the first week for the year is going well.
We have been having a lovely relaxing time, going on some walks, cleaning and organizing the house ( did I tell you I am a hoarder and need to throw out so much more.)

I just want to wish all my dear friends a very happy weekend.

Hugs
Carolyn