NEW WEBSITE! Check it out

Just a quick note to say my Wild Line Design website is now up and running. I'm sure there will be a few glitches to iron out, none the least of which will be the slowness of the pics to unfold on your screen. If it's painfully slow - tell me! Gulp. Link at the top of the links column.

Mum and Dad and the oil painting

Well - it's nearly done. If you want to see the progress on this painting, check out the inklings blog site on the link to the side. More paintings on that regularly now. LOVE to have your comments!


Nice photo of Mum and Dad, especially since it's rare to get them together in the garden and both smiling (sort of).

Liam and Mum's birthdays

I took my dear Mum to Hamilton yesterday for her 78th birthday treat, and we went to the Hamilton Gardens and slowly made our way around the boutique garden series.
This is the two of us in the Italian Renaissance Garden, in which I kept hearing "Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more, men were deceivers ever. . . " straight from "Much Ado About Nothing" with Kenneth Brannagh. I used it for her birthday card, hence the 'graffiti' just above her head.

We ate at the local cafe. . .


Mum sat on the edge of the dramatically splendid vista of the Rennaisance garden. It was a hot sunny day (surprisingly) so colours even more glorious.


Two weddings were happening throughout. This was one at the Indian Pavilion gardens.


and then there were the tranquil and cool Japanese gardens


Earlier this month, Liam turned ten, and the family gathered to celebrate on Helen's verandah.


He had his favourite : Lasagne.


the plates beautifully arranged with Helen's tiny multi-coloured tomatoes.

Trip to Rotoiti with the SIX FROM THE CITY

Well, it's over - the HOLIDAY!! Yes, 'Six from the City' had their week at Lake Rotoiti, and although it rained most of the time, a wonderful experience never the less. I won't fill in under each photo, for I think they speak for themselves. We sat in a natural hot stream in the late afternoon most days to warm up, but we also swam in the Lake in front of our bach most days too. Despite the rain. We ate, we sipped, we walked, we played games, we read. It was magnifique. WE are Gene, Helen, Cathy and Gordon, Peter and I. Enjoy.

New Year and Waihi Beach

Happy New Year to you all! There were just the three of us on New Year's Eve: Cathy, Gordon and I, but we had a great night, and I stayed over, and we had the old cooked breakfast under the umbrella in the morning ritual. Very successful for the soul if not for the waistline.



THEN it was off to the bach at Waihi Beach to enjoy a few days with Helen and the kids, and one on my own at the end. SUNNY weather, lots of swims, and plenty of time to loll in the hammock.


It was very hard. All that carrying stuff down onto the sand and not getting burnt.

and then all that difficult gravity/rotation trying to stay on the hammock and not slide onto the ground. Hee hee.