To Help Japan

 {Sweet Spring}

 {Spring Sunshine}

I have been struggling to comprehend what is going on in the world at the moment. I have come to the conclusion that we have to do what we can to help, and we also owe it to all those that lost their lives in Christchurch and Japan to live our lives to the fullest, every single moment of every single day.

{Hello You}

While all proceeds from all sales for the month of March from both my Etsy and Felt shops are being donated to Christchurch, I have decided that all proceeds from the spring blossom photos and photo blocks in Etsy will be donated to the Japan Red Cross appeal. Listings can be viewed in my Etsy shop by searching 'Japan'.

What is going on in the world?

Why can we not live in peace...
with no wars, no natural disasters...
safe with the knowledge that tonight the sun will go down...
and tomorrow the sun will rise again...
and we will all still be here, unharmed, hearts not broken?

Thursday flowers

Over the last little while I have been re-visiting old photo folders, seeing what I filed away and forgot about...and stumbled across these ranunculus, taken with the old box cameras while we were living in Melbourne.  I think I would like a garden full of ranunculus, they are just so lovely.

Happy Thursday, I hope wherever you are the sky is blue and the sun, no matter how strong, is shining for you!

six point three -let's show Christchurch some love

Just over a week ago, Christchurch was hit with yet another earthquake, this one devastating - a shallow 6.3 magnitude, causing unbelievable destruction, and claiming so many lives.  So many people are still missing.  I don't need to go into the details, I am sure you have all seen it on your news.  I am not good with words at the best of times, and so now I sit here and have no idea how to say what I want to say.  I was born in Christchurch, my parents grew up in the South Island, we have family and friends down in Christchurch, and my mother was in Christchurch on holiday last Tuesday.  It has been an emotional time - from Shannon calling to say there had just been a massive quake, and then quickly texting back and forth with Mum, - yes she is ok, they just won't stop, house a mess, etc etc etc.  You could sense the panic and it was so horrible.  When she finally got home on last Thursday evening, well, I have never been so pleased to see her, and my Dad who drove down to get her.  Yet we are lucky, everyone we know is safe.  So many people lost their loved ones, so many are still waiting to hear news.  Everywhere we go, everyone has been, and will be for a very long time, talking about it - trying to make arrangements to get relatives out of the city, telling their stories, spreading the word on ways to help.  At times like this you just feel so powerless, it doesn't feel enough to make a donation, to make a meal for  family affected, to bake bread for another family, to give cans of food to be sent down to help feed so many displaced people.  And yet at the same time, it is those small actions that help us to feel a sense of community.  New Zealand is like one big community, and we are all affected, and we all want to help.  The response too from the rest of the world has been amazing, it gives me goosebumps reading about the help pouring in from around the world. 

It doesn't seem right that I have a shower, I drink a cup of tea, I cook for my family and wash our dishes - and at the moment so many have no clean water, can't have a shower and turn the tap on to get a drink or brush their teeth, can't flush the toilet, and many don't even have a safe roof over their heads any more.  It doesn't seem right, and yet it makes me so incredibly grateful for all that we are blessed with, and makes me realise how fragile life is, and how we must make each and every day count, and we can't let things go unsaid, and we must cherish those that we love.

If you would like to do something to help. you can donate to the Red Cross Christchurch Earthquake Appeal here.  I will be donating all proceeds from both Etsy and Felt shops for the month of March to the appeal.  If we all help out a little bit, it will make the difference. 

So how ever you chose to help, let's show Christchurch some love.

The Summer Garden

I have a confession. 

I have hardly had the camera out this summer. 

It's been nice to just enjoy what is going on in our daily lives. 

Or it could also be because I have only 2 polaroids left and I am saving it for something special

 (I don't know what that is, it will have to be something really special to be worthy of my last 2 polaroids). 

Or it could be that I have been lulled into a sense of 'we have ages to go before the end of summer'...and now I have realised that all these pretty summer flowers will soon be gone...

whatever the reason behind it,

I am now back with camera in hand....

capturing moments of summer while I can....

Hello

I'm popping in to say hello...so...."Hello!"

I have been a bit absent from this space recently, I am trying to soak up every bit of summer while it is here, before the..well, the opposite of hot blue sky summer days arrive.  (I dislike them so much I can't even bring myself to say them.)  So, while the sun shines I am spending more time with the kids outside, and less time on the computer.

I hope you are enjoying the season you are in!

Nostalgic | Barcelona Photo Store

Isn't this store divine? 

It is brand new, it opened a couple of weeks ago, in Barcelona -
called Nostalgic | Barcelona Photo Store.  It looks seriously charming, and I am so delighted that they stock a large range of my photo blocks and note cards in amongst the other goodies - isn't that shelf of Polaroids to die for?  Now if only a trip to Barcelona was on the cards sometime soon so I could pop in to say hello! 

{Images supplied by Miguel, from Nostalgic}