As we do most years, Mr Dreamy & I are spending Christmas in sunny Nelson with his parents.  Nelson is famous for its good weather (though, ironically, every time  we spend Christmas in Nelson  it is  even hotter and nicer in Wellington than in Nelson), so that means I need lots of shorts and light tops and little summer frocks.  With a little free time before the holidays, I’ve been giving my summer wardrobe a refresh. Mostly I’ve been making not-very-exciting T-shirts and other basics, but high on the to-sew list was a dress made from a meter of  amazing parakeet* patterned silk-cotton I found at the most recent Fabric-a-Brac fair in Wellington. My father used to breed parakeets, and, while I’ve never owned one, I’ve definitely inherited an affinity for them.  The sound of a chatter of parakeets is one of the happiest, most restful sounds I know.  It’s just impossible to be stressed listening to them! Sadly, I’m unlikely to every have parakeets of my own.  Mr D dislikes birds and there is …

Sometimes when I look through my photos I think that maybe I should do more gritty urban photoshoots with graffiti and skyscrapers.  Wellington actually has lots of fascinating urban corners: old character buildings, a couple of fabulous high rises (and a lot of really terrible ’80s ones), and AMAZING graffiti. Every once in a while I do do that kind of photoshoot, but the thing is, I’m all about nature.  By the time I get to a city photoshoot I’m already grumpy because of traffic and attempting to find parking (both of which are actually laughably easy in Wellington, but I’ve gotten spoiled).  Then, when we actually take pictures, I’m just weirded out by people looking at me as I pose. Take me out of the city to a park or the country and I start frolicking amongst the flowers and gambolling over the grass and climbing trees and generally loving the whole world.  Nature just makes me happy. Out in the wild  I turn into a cross between a tree goddess  and a six …