Thinking of Christmas

I know its only September but I have already started thinking about Xmas. Possibly because my in laws will be flying over from Geelong, Australia & also Oscar will be almost 3 years old & will hopefully "get it". AND more than likely because Alicia Paulson over at Posy Gets Cosy has her adorable Xmas felt craft decor kits up for sale. I am VERY tempted to buy the Walk in the Woods kit with its little gingerbread house and woodland fawn. The shipping is very pricey as with most online shipping in the US.

Come on Xmas!

My New Print by Annie Sandano

Today I hung some new art that I received as a collective birthday gift from my folks, my inlaws & my husband Nic. Its a woodcut limited edition print by Annie Sandano who is a Brazilian born New Zealander. She combines Maori design with folk art & favours colours black, red & orange. This print is called "Fantails On Kura Landscape". I am quite obsessed with birdies, folk art & shades of Russian Red & Burnt Orange which can be seen all through our home.

I bought this print from a local crafty gallery Kina NZ and could spend a small fortune there if I had it. The owner Luella is really helpful and friendly and let me have this print on lay by for sometime! She also put me onto a great local picture framer & helped me choose the right colour frame too. 

Loving my new print thank you to my family for a beautiful birthday gift.

Stony Oaks Wildlife Park

Our local Playcentre organised a trip to Stony Oaks Wildlife Park as part of our Spring theme so off we went with our gumboots and morning tea out to Inglewood on a cloudy damp typical Spring-in-Taranaki Day. I was excited for Oscar to see some more unusual animals aside from the usual sheep & cows we see on our daily drives and heard there were baby Nubian goats, pheasant chicks & even a Highland Cattle calf. 

But the flavour of the day with Oscar was......................the cow! Yep, the good old brown bovine was loved & adored by all. She looked a bit old & tired but didn''t mind all the hugs & attention.

Somehow Oscar got it in his head he had to RIDE the cow. I'm just glad the cow just lay there because she was massive. The rest of the morning was spent chasing small animals and cuddling bunnies & guinea pigs. Stony Oaks is a fabulous experience and we'll be back there soon for more cow rides.

I am a One Handed Wonder Mum

This may be a short post but it will take me forever to write as a fumble along with one hand all swathed in bandage and the other clumsily typing (hurrah for spell check!). But now have to get used to having only one hand for at least 2 weeks until I get these sutures out and dressings off. This will make my days interesting!

  So I've just had a spot of surgery today on a very bad case of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. When I was 1st diagnosed with this I thought "but that's an old ladies ailment" however have since discovered it is very common in women and aggravated during pregnancy. Along with the repetition of yanking trays of muesli out of the oven the last 18 months have meant I can barely pick up a piece of paper and the agony at night has left me with broken sleep. So at long last my number was called and I had the operation at Taranaki Base Hospital. What a bright efficient bunch of staff & the surgeon was super fast (completed in 13 minutes) and APPARENTLY has sewn some very tidy sutures. Although we all questioned his bandaging technique however Dr  assured me my overstuffed dressing would welcome much sympathy my way. More jelly on my ice cream please.