to market

To be honest, I'm not usually a fan of markets. Or I didn't used to be anyway. I used to be dragged along to them when I was younger by my mum and my elder sisters and I'd trail along behind them looking at all the 'old stuff' and homemade soaps and things I had no interest in. Lately though, I've been to a couple of fantastic markets and have really enjoyed myself - except for the fact that I've wanted to buy something at most stalls but don't have the money to do that. I went to the Gisborne market about a week ago and was pleasantly surprised at how much it had improved since those days when I used to get 'dragged along'. Especially when I came upon a little enclosure that was set up with a whole heap of baby animals. It was sort of like a petting farm, but there were certain animals that you could also buy.

I sent a picture of this little guy to my parents - but unfortunately got no response (not that I was surprised). But isn't he just adorable?! Just to give you an idea of how small he was, there were a couple of ducks (with long necks though) that were taller than him.

I just love baby sheep and goats, they're just so adorable. And...I think that's a chicken behind the goat....maybe......lol

I just love this guys 'hair-do' and had to take a photo. Isn't it just hilarious?! I've never seen a duck like that before.

Haha this is just how I feel right now. But on the day it was in the afternoon and they were looking at closing up so I think all the animals had had a full day.
Don't you just love looking at baby animals though? I could just sit and watch (and snuggle) with them all day.
What about you guys? Do you love animals? Do you have any farm animals as pets at all?

we will remember

Today is Remembrance Day in Australia....the 11/11. It is a day where we remember those who have fought in the wars and who have sacrificed their lives for us. The 11th of November is also the day, in 1918, that was the official end of World War I. I work at a school, and we had a ceremony outside in the courtyard, where all of the students and staff from the school attended. I think it's important to stop, at least for a few minutes, to remember what the men and women that have fought in wars, not only World War I but those since then, have gone through and what they must have given up.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young.

Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,

They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.

Ode of Remembrance

worrying the day away

My baby had to go in for an operation today. Nothing huge, but she's got to have some of her front teeth removed. I just can't stop thinking about her, and wondering how she's going. And of course, worrying. I know that the vets are professionals and they know what they're doing, but I just can't help it. I love her to bits. I get to pick her up tonight after work, and I'm staying busy, but the hours just seem to be dragging. It makes me wonder what I'll be like if I ever have kids - I think I'd be such a worry wart!

winner!

I'm one of those people {like many I'm guessing} who rarely wins anything. I feel like I'm always entering competitions - yes I'd love that trip overseas please....or that large sum of money - but never winning. But I actually won something a couple of weeks ago, and my prize has arrived. A blog that I read religiously, Sweet Verbena, was hosting the competition on behalf of My Girlish Whims to win $20 worth of jewellery from her Etsy store - and I won! There were so many beautiful pieces on offer that it was hard to choose - and I ended up spending a little over my budget, not that I minded, of course! :-)
Here are the beautiful pieces that I chose:

As you can see I picked out two rings - my favourite would have to be the black flower one, and a really cute key necklace. So definitely head on over and visit Rebecca's store!

Tell me friends - are you the type of person who never wins anything? Or do you win things all the time? What's the most exciting thing you've won?

melted crayon art

I've recently become addicted to a blog called Whatever, and as I was reading back through the entries (yes I managed to read all of them!) I found one about a project the blog owner, Meg Duerksen, had done with her kids called Melted Crayon Art. I'm not usually into crafts, but this one caught my eye with all the bright colours, and it seemed simple enough that even I could manage it! All you need for it is crayons in whatever colours you want, a canvas, a glue gun and a hair dryer. I managed to find everything quite easily - except for the crayons. I ended up going into four or five stores and they'd either have only one packet of crayons or none! Anyway, here's my attempt at Melted Crayon Art:

Start by glueing your crayons to the top of your canvas in the order you want them in.

Do this until they go right across the top of the canvas.

Turn your hair dryer on and hold close to the crayons until they start to melt.

It was really hard to get my hair dryer in the right position to get the colours to go straight down. There was a little bit of splattering to the side, although at this early stage it didn't matter too much.

And done! I'm really happy with how it turned out, but I think if I did it again I'd take out the darker colours and have more of the brighter colours.

yellow fields

I went for a drive after work the other day to get some things from a nearby shopping centre. On my way I passed a few paddocks full of yellow flowers - canolla I'm guessing. The bright yellow of the flowers cheered me up so much. I tried to get a picture, but this was all I could get. Still you can get the idea from it!



a romp in gisborne

I took Lucy, my 9 year old Jack Russell, for a walk the other day. We went for a wander in the local town, Gisborne which is about 10 minutes drive from where I live, and for a little walk through the park there.
I would walk around where I live, but it's boring....plus Lucy has recently picked up the habit of stopping everytime a car goes past us. So I decided to take a few photos while I was walking around.

This is the Anglican Church (St Paul's) in Gisborne. I really like this little church, it reminds me of the little old fashioned churches in England. I like the contrast between the yellow of the Wattle Tree and the church.

How pretty!

This is another church I found on my wanders. It's the Presbertarium Church (St Andrew's) which I never actually knew existed!

And another view. The leaves are just starting to come back onto the trees.

How beautiful are these flowers? When I saw them I thought they looked fake at first, they were just so perfect looking.

And a close up!

Then we headed down to the park. We found this unusual statue (or it could have been a water fountain at some stage). As you can see it's got the hands reaching out and fish all over the base. I'm not sure exactly what it's for or what the meaning is behind it, but it looks interesting. If anyone knows please let me know! I couldn't find anything in my searches.

We found this tree that had a big branch low to the ground. It'd be a good place to sit and read. Lucy was a bit reluctant to get on it, but I won out lol

And she really really didn't want to go in there. Can you see that worried look on her face?

I was sitting down on the low branch when I realised the hole in the trunk looked like a love heart. Very cute. Oh and do you like my shoes? lol

She loved romping through the green grass. Lots of places to explore and sniff! At this point we were walking near a playground and there were some kids on a squeaky swing. Of course she had to know what was going on.

More exploring.

And on the way home. She was so exhausted that she just curled up on the seat straight away. Usually she's bouncing all over the place and trying to look out the windows.

Snooze time.

Hi!

I'm Claire! Welcome to my new blog. I've been inspired so much lately by the blogs that I've been reading (like Whatever and Design Mom and Sweet Verbena) that I've decided to start my own blog. They've made me, for the first time in my life, want to make things - craft or sewing and to start taking photographs of life around me. So here we are, we'll just have to see how it goes, but I hope you enjoy it!