I have a dream. And I think now is the right time to share it.  To make it official.  To put it out there. I’m quite sure it’s been there since I was born.  Because so many of our dreams are.  They just can take half a lifetime to be known.  Like it’s crazy to think that I was born with the eggs in my uterus that would one day be Minnie and Jackson but it’s true, I was born to have those two people. And I think I’m made to bake.  I have the Winney gene in me so I like sweetness.  My mother is a gifted ‘foody’ so I was raised on good puddings.  Ever since I had a kitchen I have baked. Once I have my Kitchen Aid I will begin my training for the Great British Bake Off and maybe one day I too will drop a soggy pie on the floor of that marquee. This dream though.  This is a big one.  It will change my world and I hope, somehow, it …

This will be our fourth Winter in New Zealand now.  In many ways it’s hard to believe we have been here that long but at the same time, England feels like a distant memory. I am homesick. I think it’s a number of things that have triggered it off.  Facebook posts of friends over there at the moment.  The delayed Christmassy feeling I get in June.  Jackson having another birthday with no grandparents or cousins being there. I think most of all it’s just, about time. We’re very happy here.  Christchurch is a great place to bring up a family, we have a lovely home, good jobs, we’re in a vibrant church, we’ve made some awesome friends.  My homesickness isn’t about being unhappy here.  Anyone who lives away from where they grew up will know this feeling, it’s not that you want to go back as such, you just miss all the good things you had there that you don’t have here, like for me… I miss being able to get a meal deal at …

We hit our NZ three year anniversary at the end of March and whilst the day passed with little recognition, it was in fact a significant milestone.  When we first had the crazy idea of moving our wee family over to the other side of the world to be part of Christchurch’s rebuild we said the adventure would be for three years. We’re still here. Because how long does it take for a city to recover?  The Oxford English Dictionary states that to recover means, “to return to a normal state of health, mind or strength.”  When you travel to other cities, you realise what is currently “the norm” for Christchurch is far away from normal anywhere else. Gareth came here to work as part of SCIRT (Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team) which is essentially the horizontal and underground rebuild that makes the vertical, buildings going up rebuild possible.  SCIRT has recently passed its halfway point, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrg8SnvSn0M and look out for Gareth, but that’s not even halfway to the city being rebuilt.  I think the general consensus is it …

It’s that time again when the blog is clearly serving one of its main purposes – letting the family back home see our children, and this time, as an extra treat for Gran and Grandpa Cowles we have the other jewels in their crowns – cousins Eleanor and Amalie. This Christmas we had the best of all sides of the world.  We had lovely hot, sunny days in beautiful locations and we got to share it with family.  Gareth’s sister and gorgeous family stared the long haul journey in the face and said we’ll ‘ave ya, which we are most impressed with. So here they are, brother and sister. Fast forward 30 years (give or take) and you get this brother and sister.  Shockingly similar no? Anyways we were joined by this lot.  Who flew in by helicopter….just kidding. Thankfully everyone got along well from the start.   We were all particularly relieved that these two became chums! Off down South we went and had some sweet memories made in Arthurs Point.  Wisely we mum’s …