It's always better to read magazines in person

This arrived, along with some freezing cold Northern hemisphere air, on a Saturday morning. Just in time for me to put the kettle on, get H into bed, and lie on the couch nibbling Green and Blacks while perusing the Observer Food Monthly. So much better than gazing at it online.
I spent an hour or so in complete and utter Bliss.
Thank you Sas for such a bang-on, what-Special-K-needs-right-now-package.
When someone asks me why do I blog, this should be the post I point them to.

Five of my favourite things about our new home

1. Harper's pumpkin seedling. He waters it in the evening with his wee watering can, but gets impatient and empties it out over the leaves.

2. The improvised bbq, made from a neighbour's discarded bricks and the grill and plate from Ange's old bbq. We had everyone over on Saturday evening and I still had the delicious smell of wood smoke in my hair the next morning.
3. The orange carpet. We didn't realise just how orange until we moved in. Before that, we'd only seen the floors covered in drop cloths (the landlord was repainting).

4. My garden. In a few hours, Harper and I went on a mission to collect up everything we needed to build a raised bed. We went to Lower Hutt to collect barley straw and lucerne hay, got the boxing, collected some old tyres, got four bags of commercial compost, snuck next door when the neighbours were out and scraped all the grass clippings off their just-cut lawn, and emptied it all into this 2m x 1m plot with our homemade compost and some sheep pellets. It now contains red onions, beetroot and peas. In tyres, I have agria spuds, H's pumpkin, and four cherry toms. Grow you good things!

5. Harper and Sweeney's swing. Grandad Derek was just up from Christchurch, so after collecting the required materials, he spent the afternoon putting it togethe. When Sweeney came over that evening, we tested it out and taught Sweeney how to swing. Harper's still a bit little, but he likes pushing it. I sat on it yesterday and nearly broke the branch, so alas, no swinging for this monkey.

Frankly

I've been reading Jew Eat Yet? lately, a rather good blog written by a man whose twin sons were born at 24 weeks. One of them died hours after birth and the other one struggles on in intensive care. His posts are excellent, beautifully written and I must say it's nice to read a man's blog for a change that wasn't about politics or world affairs. He recently posted about what would have been Anne Frank's 80th birthday by including this excerpt from her diary:

Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good
news is that you don't know how great you can be. How much you can love, what
you can accomplish, and what your potential is.

I love that line - and I love the idea that everyone has more than what we see on the surface. I spend my days opening doors to people, peering into their lives and finding out what makes them tick. Blogs are like doors left ajar for you to come into, you can't see the whole room, but you can get an idea.