Treats and things

Well all I can say is it’s very lucky that my blog is a hobby and not a business! Sometimes when life gets busy you just have to put some things aside knowing that one day (especially if it’s something you really enjoy) you will come back to it, so, here I am 🙂 A big thank you to those of you who have kept following Treats and Things.

And what a busy 8 months it has been! (Yes, a whole 8 months since I last posted!). I won’t bore you with details but I will give you a few of the highlights…

We completed the ‘do-up’ of our first home. This included a new bathroom, the removal of a wall to make an open plan dining and living area, landscaping and painting both inside and out. Other than the structural work and the exterior painting, we tried to do as much of the work that we could ourselves. Easier said than done, especially when, sooner than expected, you have a deposit on a new family home. All of a sudden there was a very quick deadline to have all of the work completed and the house on the market! We managed with a LOT of help in the form of family working bees, and I’m pleased to say we successfully sold our first home and have now moved in to a new one. We are loving our new home, especially being closer to family, being part of a community, and most of all, having more space to accommodate our growing family.

Yes, ‘growing’ family. In January we welcomed our second baby, our beautiful daughter. Although we didn’t find out what we were having, we were both expecting another boy, so were totally shocked and delighted to have a girl! The past 4 months with her have flown! They’ve certainly been busy, (yes, two under two is busier than I ever imagined), but they’ve been very rewarding and both our babies bring us so much joy. We’re very fortunate to have my mum and dad now living just around the corner, so we see a lot of them, and mum has been an invaluable help to me. So, yes, we now have a 4 month old and an almost two year old (next week in fact!). Our now not so little boy is a delight and a doting big brother. He’s full of chatter and imagination and he fascinates me every single day! He is growing up so fast. Currently the big decision in his life is whether he wants a fire truck, police car, ambulance or bus birthday cake…. all I can see is a lot of work and food colouring!

So, a house move and a new baby. These new beginnings create a whole new possibility of things to come on this blog. We haven’t done anything on our new home yet other than the nursery for Grace (I’ll definitely post some photos), but we’re about to embark on landscaping and a new driveway. We have what seems like a never-ending list of things we’d like to do, and I’m sure we will do in time and as (our limited) budget allows, i.e. over several years.

Lots of things also haven’t changed. I still have an addiction to Trade-Me, so much so that I have a capped ‘Trade Me’ fund with a ledger, to track my sales and purchases (it’s actually way more fun than it sounds), so lot’s of interior decorating and re-decorating is happening. Oh, and yes, hubby still hunts, although he would argue he never gets much opportunity to now that we’ve moved back to the big smoke and have children. In the last month he has brought home a deer and his share (along with my Dad and brothers) of about 50 ducks.

So yes, more sewing, decorating, gardening and recipes to come! Tonight I tried out a new recipe for lamb shanks, so stay tuned for that…