Our Annual Pilgrimage

Another trip to New York City completed.
We're so very lucky to live so close, which makes brief and beautiful visits to the city possible. Even though NYC is one of the busiest cities in the world, if you spend lots of time in Central Park it is incredibly relaxing. We explored more of the mid-section of the park this time.
It was windy and a little bit chilly, but perfect for exploring and climbing rocks.
As are these shoes...

Where we stayed: The Lucerne, Upper West Side.
Where we went: Central Park between 72nd and 86th Streets, including Belvedere Castle and Conservatory Water, complete with Alice In Wonderland statue.
Where we ate: Nice Matin (hotel restaurant) for lunch, pricey but nicey. Coppola's for dinner, lovely Italian.  Not that cheap but great food and straight across the road from the hotel, perfect for weary tootsies.

I'll post again tomorrow with our second day in the city. But now I need to get my house back in order!

Just A Quickie

It's been a crazy week, getting all of those bunnies ready for sale, photographing them, listing them in the store, wrapping and posting them. They're all sold now (thanks guys!) but there are still some other lovelies in store. Click here for a look.
Our Canadian tax is ALMOST complete. Yes, we pay tax in two countries. The Canadian tax year runs from January to December, unlike the Australian one from July to June. There aren't many months of the year in which we are not dealing with tax. Ah, the joys of being an expat.
Yesterday we returned our house guest to her home. 'Twas an entertaining couple of weeks having her with us, especially her 5am yowling. She also dealt out plenty of cuddles and loved to give my hair a bath. Funny cat.
Here's a shot of her asking me to stop working...

And the bunnies!

It was also my birthday during the week, and I had a lovely day lunching with my girl and hanging out with some friends. Here's a peek at some of my gorgeous gifts...

Poppet's cool card.

Dear Mum, "I love you", says the birthday horse. (The birthday horse is me).

My burnt orange Kitchenaid, not yet used due to a brief bout of gastro on Friday. She will most likely have a go at some pizza dough next weekend. And then possibly a pavlova (Mum, I need your recipe!)...

A long-coveted book of Oliver Jeffers artwork. Did you know he does more than awesome kids' books? He was in town recently and we didn't know so missed him. Sniff.

Of course the most awesome present is that I am now fully recovered from the gastro and will be able to enjoy that walk in Central Park tomorrow. New York, here we come!

See you on the other side...

PS My Kitchenaid needs a name, no? Let me know if you have any ideas.

The Bunnies Are Coming!

I've been at a tad quiet lately, haven't I?!

Well, on the one hand I have a very good friend returning to live in Oz tomorrow, and we've been cramming in lots of social time. One of the hardest parts about expating is saying farewell to people and having no idea when you'll see them again. Sniff. Love you Lou, see you on the other side sometime...

On the other hand I have been stitching up a storm. Well, trying to anyway.
Easter is coming, and I want to have some stock ready by the end of this week as we're having a small trip to NYC (yay!) after that and I might not get a chance to do anymore in time for the Holiday.
So, I have six bunnies on their way to completion and will try to get a few more done this week.

Fingers crossed...

I really love Easter. It particularly resonates now that we live in North America as it is actually attached to Spring. I'm not sure the weather will have turned by the end of the month, but who knows. I love Winter but there's nothing wrong with watching the bulbs emerge from beneath the remnants of snow either.

If you want some Easter ideas have a look at our Easter board on Pinterest. Click over here.
If you want to join in the pinning fun just let me know and I'll send you an invite.

Have a lovely week!

A Belated Glimpse of Our Very Long Weekend

So, Poppet had Friday off for a teachers' development day and Monday was a public holiday.
Lovely longest weekend! We relaxed, made pizza (recipe here), hung out with friends and brought a gorgeous kitty into our home for a few weeks while her family are away.
Some photos...

And I did quite a bit of stitching too...

I'll post some more product photos next time.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Ok. I'm just going to put this out there.
I think that Valentine's Day is utter rubbish. Mostly, that comes from over 10 years working in a card and gift shop and just dreading the madness that Valentine's Day brought with it. The confused desperation oozing from the (mostly) male customers as they trawled for last-minute gifts, the sore feet and permanent smile of retail. Not for me.
That being said, I am continually drawn towards imagery relating to it. I love our little Pinterest group board dedicated to this event, particularly enjoying how celebrations are seen through other peoples' eyes. Fascinating!
And who doesn't love hearts and chocolates and cuddles and lovely little notes anyway. I just prefer them to be more spontaneous...

Foxy loveliness from Heidi Van Veen Designs

I love Gemma Correll's work so much!

Crochet and pastels, sigh!

Interesting!

Nom nom nom!

All images can be found over at our Pinterest board here.
Oh, and I almost forgot about the little Valentine's Heart Tutorial I did waaa-aaay back. Take a look at it over here.

For those of you who celebrate Valentine's Day with reckless abandon - Good for you! Have a wonderful time doing whatever it is you like to do.
For those of you who don't, have a lovely day anyway. As Poppet is a bit excited about the day, we will start it with pancakes and strawberries, but otherwise it will be a normal day. I am, instead, looking forward to the lovely long weekend ahead of us during which we're going to hang out with some pals, drink some wine and just kick back for a while. Poppet has four days off to take it easy.
*Insert huge smile here*