Our Nature Table

This is our work in progress nature table, every week something new is adding to our ever growing collection. Many of the stones and shells were Sunboy's & my findings over the years. I love watching Fantail get excited to adventure through nature & find things for our nature table.. he also grabs things to look at now and then. We are also getting a good selection of books which we read at bed time. He loves learning about birds, insects and plants cycles. I am also learning a lot along our journey getting closer to nature. 

 

If Nature Table & Journaling is something that you would like to do with your kids or even for yourself I have a board on my pinterest fill of inspiration to get you started & in the nature explore mood :)

Song x

spring blossoms

I love this time of year when all the flowers bloom and the air begins getting warm.. It makes me want to do things, clean organize, get outside as much as possible. The other day I explored my neighborhood to discover what is blooming & I experimented taking pictures through with Fantails magnify-glass. These are what I got :)

Nothing special just pretty to look at. Hope you are all good.

Song x

another year gone

Our little Fantail is four tomorrow. What... where has this year gone?? Around this time of year I find myself reminiscing over his baby photo's and overwhelmed by how much he has developed and grown over the past year. He's grown into such a sweet big hearted man.. he absorbs his surrounds and information he gets through books and from grown ups! This year his favorite things have been; lego and building with objects, drawing and painting spaceship and animals, collecting shells and rocks and saving worms from footpaths, helping tree's, watching Tui's in the tree's around our house, and music.

Celebrating your life.

Although I am enjoying this stage of age, I dearly miss my chubby happy big blue eyed baby. 

Thank you for four amazing, wonderful, exciting, new, full of love years.. you are the sunshine of our lives and we are blessed to have you forever!

Love your mama & dada :) x

Harvest Pumpkin Seeds

I recently started putting more pumpkin and sunflower seeds on meals and baking I make YUM! But I had a great idea when reading Fantail a book called "From Seed to Sunflower" . That I could collect our own seeds and harvest there goodness from pumpkins where I would otherwise dispose in rubbish or compost.

Unknown Source

DON"T THROW AWAY SEEDS YOUR PUMPKIN!

Remove all of the stringy flesh from around the seed  the wash and drop in a colander. Then place them on a baking tray in a low heated oven while stirring frequently for 2-4 hours depending on size of your seeds. Once they are dry, break or cut them open to see the food inside which will be similar to what you buy in store.  The outer shell (hulls) can be left on and are edible although they can be hard to bite with your teeth. Also good idea to break some open throughout the drying baking process to check weather the food inside has dried out sufficiently and ensure they are not over done! Once done let them cool, the place them in a air tight container.

Or there is the drying them on newspaper on a windowsill (good if you live somewhere where you get a lot of sunshine unlike me in Wellington).

Use these seeds are baking, on top of quiches and pies, pasta and salads.

Let me know if you try this and how you went? :)

Song x

Visitor

We had visitor in our front yard the other day, the New Zealand Red Admiral sat on this tree for a awhile until I got to close with the camera. He mustn't like close ups :) He flew off but when I looked around again he was flying all around Fantail and the look on his face was magic, he said to me 'he loves me mummy'. Aww yes he does! He then perched back in the same spot. We love getting nature's visitors.

Song x

Our lovely afternoon bush walk

This week has been a strange one.. with receiving some bad news that has really changed our plans and life in many ways. The last three days I have spent feeling very teary and almost incomplete but everything is feeling more clear and spending some quality time with my boys, just us and nature felt so good to our souls.

Love Song, Sunboy & Fantail x

Tranquil water sounds <3

Free Aloe Vera

Why free?? Well I never paid for mine.. Sunboy's dad gave us a couple of pots awhile back which now have turned into 6 pots, some having more them 2 plants in pot and baby piece's are growing, that I can pull out with root form at the base of the mature plant ready to pot up again. I am now the Aloe Vera queen and I would love to give some plants a way.

Aloe Vera is great to apply to burns and cuts as the ultra soothing gel forms a protective seal and speeds up healing process in skin by more than 8 days Whoa! This magical plant can also be used on eczema, rashes and cold sore. For those who suffer with dry scalp it can be used to treat dandruff, just rub into scalp. Best used fresh as the gel loses its potency quickly.

I love my plants, haven't used them for anything to extreme just when I burn a finger while cooking and rubbing into my hands and face making them feel super soft. Sunboy & I also love aloe vera juice.. the plant tastes very yucky cut from plant (I've tried) but the juice yummy, is said to help support digestive system and promoting healthy digestion as it contains 99% of the plants juices and more than 200 vitamins, amino acids and minerals that human bodies need. I plan to research how to make it myself if its possible, Sunboy and I would live of aloe vera and ginger beer.

Aloe Vera to me is a wonder plant.. so if you would like one please let me know :)

Song x

Questionnaire

Hello :D

Our lovely friend Sylvia from blogspot sweet pea sylvie nominated song and sunboy for The Liebster Award for new bloggers :) Too kind! Always part of this award we are support to answer 11 question, here a little more about us :)

1. What's your favorite ice cream?
Song: Pistachio nut gelato from Kaffee Eis, Sunboy: Neapolitan, i would rather have quantity not quality.


2. Where was the last place you went on holiday?
Song: The last time I went anywhere exciting was when I went up to Auckland for Florence & the machine. Sunboy: Raratonga. 


3. Do you like summer or winter?
Song: I am a summer girl. Sunboy: Summer now that I have bubi. 


4. Favorite childhood memory?
Song: What seemed like endless summer filled with carefree play.  Sunboy: Running around at midnight with friends at Full-moon parties to my mother's live music jamming.


5. Favorite Olympic sport?
Song: Gymnastics. Sunboy: Woman's diving.


6. Favorite online store? 
We will not summit you to brand imprinting.

7. What countries have you visited?
Song: Sadly none at this point in my life, I hope to travel in the future. Sunboy: A few.


8. Do you have a favorite person on pinterest?
Song: No favorites as i like quite a few (my addiction) Sunboy: Doesn't have one.


9. Who are your favorite NZ bloggers?
Well so far we only follow Sweet Pea Sylvie from NZ. 


10. When was the last time you exercised? What did you do?
Both our jobs involve moving around heaps so that is exercise in itself. 


11. Why do you blog?
We started blogging to keep track of our progress in the lifestyle we want to live and to bring Jackson up in, we also want to inspire the will of change in others as much as in ourselves and to show that it may not always be easy but it sure as hell is gonna be fun!

That was fun, hope you enjoyed learn more about us :)


Good night.


Song and Sunboy x