Oh my heart

I have been putting off writing this post, because I haven't been able to find the words.

The words to describe just what it feels like to see these magnificent balloons float in the sky,

to get up early, before sunrise, and feel the aniticipation in the air, 

and then to see them - it is nothing short of breathtaking.

The first morning of the festival was one block from our house.

Oh, it was amazing.  

On the third morning, we drove north 20 mins to see them.

The excited squeals from the kids (and me!) as we spotted the first,

the second...the third and fourth.

Pulling into a field on the side of the road, 

we realised we had stumbled across one of the fields they were flying directly over. 
We stood there, in the crisp early morning air, as 14 balloons floated above us.

A.M.A.Z.I.N.G

I look forward to this weekend all year, 

wondering if the weather is going to be good for the balloons to fly.

This year, it was oh so perfect.

Thank you, to the weather fairies, and to the pilots, for bringing magic to our skies.

We are one very happy family, 

who will remember and talk about this weekend for a very long time.

Why I love where I live #5

Why I love where I live....

the sky

the clouds

the trees

the birds at twilight.

I have been adding new country prints,

available here.

Why I love where I live #4

Why I love where I live #4.

The stunning views every time we drive over the hill to the city.

The sky, the hills, the country colours,

are quite simply, 

breathtaking.

I hope you are enjoying the final days of 2012.

I Love Carterton - The Simple Things

A year ago (really, a year???)  I started to post about why I love where we live so much.  I have a whole list of reasons in my head, but I only got to #2 here on the blog.  I am not the world's best blogger am I? 

Here in this blog, this is where I like to share little tidbits about my days, but this space is also my reminder of steps in my journey.  And in amidst the busy-ness that is life at this time of the year, I am all about enjoying the simple things.

So #3 on the list of 'why I love where we live' is The Vegie Garden.  Back in our rentals in Melbourne we would daydream endlessly about what our backyard would be like when we moved and had our own home.  All daydreams involved a vegie garden.  I want to learn how to garden ~ how to not only grow pretty flowers that I can bring in and put in old milk bottle vases on the windowsills, but together with the kids how to grow our own vegies.  And finally, this past week, we have our vegie garden.  Nothing extravagent, just a few lettuces, tomatoes, peas, strawberries and marigolds to start with.  I am in love with this garden.  It represents so much to me, for our family.  Every time I look at it out the kitchen window, I smile.

What simple things are you enjoying right now, as life gets busier?

I Love Carterton.

I really love where we live.  When people hear we've just moved from Melbourne, the reaction is always - wow, from Melbourne to Carterton, why??  And you know, it is a huge change, from big city to small town.  But we are LOVING it.  I honestly believe we live in one of the most beautiful regions in the world.
So I am going to do a few posts to share with you why we love it so much.

#1.  The wide open sky. 

No tall buildings.  No concrete.  No bus and tram lines overhead. 

No jungle of power lines.  Just sky. 

And in the distance, rugged mountain ranges to the west, gently rolling hills to the east,

coast to the south, and country to the north. 

In between, all this sky. 

Sky sky sky. 

I do love the sky.