I adore working on weddings, and this was one of my absolute favourites from the summer of 2015.

The Auckland-based couple were in love with Hawke's Bay - who isn't! - and decided to have their wedding here, in St Paul's, Napier - the exact same church where my parents were married.  

It was so very moving and special to work in situ where they had stood, over 50 years before, creating two grand-scale arrangement...

I like the contrast of blokes and flowers - the yin and the yang of it.  What started out as a post about weddings got a bit side-tracked when I came across this wedding inspiration shoot I did nearly a year ago.  No stunning bride here.  Just a blokey twist and a sprinkle of humour. A floral crown, an extra-large sheath bouquet, and a willing model in a wild and whimsical wedding location.

En...

Until yesterday, David was leading a quiet life on a dresser in a lovely house by the sea.  He wanted for nothing - perhaps a few clothes and a somewhat larger appendage... but he was content to just be.  

He smiled to himself as a bouquet of rustic winter flowers was placed beside him and he was happy to be photographed with them because they were so pretty.  Little did he know what lay in store...

Bundled carefully...

For most of my working life I've been a teacher, and for most of that time I've taught art.  I've also been a café owner, an art gallery owner, an au pair and a bank teller - proof of what they say that the new normal is to have more than one career in your lifetime.  It's always been easy to fill in forms that asked for my occupation and easier still to explain to people what I did for a job.  

Then I decided to bec...

 Confession #1

I would love to be, but I am not a good gardener.

Despite my best intentions, my gardening skills are sorely lacking. I love flowers and regard people who are good gardeners with much admiration.  They are like the All Blacks for me.  

I want to be a good gardener. But I'm not. 

When I plant a garden, I overplant.  I want instant results.  I don't plan and it shows. Plants that grow in my garden are s...

This is Anna Jarvis, the American woman otherwise known as the 'Mother of Mother's Day'.  When her dearly-loved mother died, Anna resolved to pay tribute to her and all other mothers worldwide. The idea clearly took off, and Mother's Day (with its apostrophe as Anna wanted it) is now celebrated in many parts of the world.

Growing up in my family, Mother's Day always provided an opportunity to show appreciation...a chance...

 So much for getting a blog underway.  One post in February and it's May already.  Where did that go?  They say time flies when you're having fun.  That is surely an understatement.

You've got to start somewhere, so where do I start? How much of my soul do I want to bare? Is this blog for me or you?  These are some of the questions I've been grappling with, as well as the meaning of life haha...

So I've star...

John Legend's 'All of Me' will always remind me of a special trip to France, Spain and Portugal in May 2014...it seemed to be playing wherever we went, at the most perfect times,  and I instantly loved the pretty melody and the lyrics, especially that idea of perfect imperfections.    

This little clip is a bit of this and a bit of that - sources of inspiration, highlights of 2014 when all this adventu...

Today is the day...and that's probably a good mantra for every day...but today is the day I'm spending some time updating my website and getting underway with a bit of a blog.

Today is the first day in thirty years that I haven't attended a Teacher Only Day of some description, at some primary or secondary school around New Zealand.  For those of you who aren't teachers, this is the day that takes place before the students sta...