Home Sweet Home

Her we are, safely returned from our tripping around the South Island. Along the way we oohed and aahed over many places and said how nice it would be to live here and there and especially me as I was gahgah over so many lovely old homes and quaint dwellings in many wild or attractive settings. We'd pick up real estate info at every town out of interest over house prices and of course I drooled over many mainly old places, especially one old villa in Oamaru where there was an open home sign out. I just had to go in, and gasped at the originality of it all. Old, old wallpaper over scrim , old, old Lino on floors, a wonderful carved arch halfway down the huge hallway. The lounge had been papered in keeping with the age and the kitchen had been redone in English country style, but the bathroom was a revelation in emerald tiles, emerald pedestal basin, claw bath and shower with gold glass windows. What a sight. I was in love and we were already very impressed with the town. Oh, it was only $199.000. Yeah! Anyway come back to earth Trills. We travelled on and I continued to ooh and aah. Then we finally arrived home. On driving in the gateway and up to our little cottage my heart skipped a beat. Home sweet home looked very good to me, to us. This was our little piece of this wonderful paradise, and it was very good.

Yes this is home. Small but felling big after 6 weeks in the bus, and we are established here with all we have and are.

What's that in the corner. We haven't watched a TV for 6 weeks and haven't missed it so we intend to be more choosy about what we watch.

Our movies were glad to see us. Roseanne had done a great job of looking after them and our home. Her being here was a great reassurance as this was the longest we have ever been away together, and yes we are still friends.

Emmy was soon back into her evening rituals of coming to Kerry for a brush

Then the head but of thanks and "I love you Dad"

I was keen to get into my studio again after so long away.

Unfortunately no little elves had been and created order out of my chaos, so it looks like it's up to me to prioritize this situation but not before I unload the bus of my booty from nature and the odd op shop or few.

There's the pretty plates I gathered. The larger ones for a display on the kitchen wall and the small ones for the bathroom wall.

The doilies to be laundered and added to my stash for those various projects crowding my mind.

Colourful scarves for yet more projects.

A pile of magazines bought along the way. Well one has to keep up with the crafting world and other interests.

I was so thrilled to find this pair of vintage sheets. A rare find in NZ, I now have five. These are hanging on the line. Yes everyday has been washing day this past week.

The ironing pile grows daily.

The doilies had their day after a soak in nappy wash. They look so scrumptious. I must set to with some projects for them as the hoard has mushroomed.

There are several vintage tablecloths that found their way home too and I'm so pleased the stain remover has workred on these beauties.

This was a brights day. The tea towels are destined for picnic blankets on my to do list for Christmas presses this year.

The garden also needed immediate attention. These wonderful Petunias had appeared on their own accord and they can stay awhile.

But this is one of the many Cosmos that I planted and it has taken on a life of its own. It has taken over half of the garden swamping many other plants including roses. It has not produced many flowers but is like a big shrub.

So out it came without ceremony, just hacking with choppers and spade. I could sense the relief of the surrounding plants and even had to fetch a couple of buckets of soil to fill the hole. Yes the lawn this mess lies on is very scorched. The dryness of the land at the moment distresses me, especially the farmland and there has been a lot of it in our travels especially as we came back up the North Island.

Our back paddock has not been chewed out so is long and dry and a bit of a fire hazard which is a worry, so we're hoping for all the country that the rain comes soon.

Kerry has already started his next project. He is building a large carport behind the garage to house some of his stash of tractors and trailers etc. so these trees have to go and this bank taken away. Do I hear "I'm glad I'm not a man".

I'm happy clearing my little garden and getting it ready for planting some fresh plants among the perennials and roses and some bulbs for spring. I like to plant them at Easter, connecting with the Northern Hemisphere who are enjoying the flowers at that time. I will have to be earlier this year as I also have to get ready for my trip to UK. I set off on 1st May which is very exciting.

Meanwhile I will leave you with this wee rosebud of endurance with the lovely purple sage(I think) that remain in the garden to my delight. I have so many pictures and stories of our trip to sort through and will dribble them out over the coming weeks. I also have to sort my stone, rock and driftwood stash from the trip. Yeah to Emmy Lou for getting us safely around on our trip, and Yeah to Kerry for his awesome driving over 4,000 kilometers( the gearbox is too tricky for me). It's a one man bus. Such an awesome trip and it's so awesome to be home here again. Blessings, Trills. Xx