Brand New Noise

Brand New Noise

Woohoo for Brand New Noise !!! We are huge fans of these brilliant little noise boxes, or as Richard Upchurch likes to call them, sound gadgets. The aesthetic, the impetus, the way they are made, make these toys an ideal addition to every playful household. The hands, hearts and minds that go into each one, put […]

Blue Hill, Maine

Blue Hill, Maine

Visiting Blue Hill, Maine Where we stayed: Down East Treasure to Enjoy – perfect for us, tastefully decorated and comfortable, with meaningful personal touches. We loved staying here. Things we did: Canoeing, built fires on the beach, beach-combed, picked wild blueberries, danced, hiked, swam, picked wildflowers, made art with natural found objects. Where we ate: […]

Spikenard Farm Honeybee Sanctuary

Spikenard Farm Honeybee Sanctuary

With an auspicious name like Spikenard, I should have known visiting the Spikenard Farm Honeybee Sanctuary would be a beautiful experience. Spikenard in Hebrew means “light” and the word Spikenard in Greek means “genuine and pure.” Another source notes Spikenard as being a fragrant and valuable ointment of the ancients. When you consider all of these […]

Acorn Toy Shop

Acorn Toy Shop

{ THE ACORN was the ancient Nordic symbol of life, an old folk belief holds that carrying an acorn ensures a long life } Acorn is a very special toy shop and if you seek it out, it will become a memorable family destination. It is an iconic fixture of Atlantic Avenue, in the beautiful neighborhood […]

Apple picking

Apple picking

Ohlala it is Apple picking time and this is a favorite outing in our household. We really look forward to this day out, the wildflowers and the scent of the orchard filled with sweet ripe fruit. As is our annual tradition that we have done since Elle was a baby, we went to Maskers Orchard. […]

Liberty Farms Sunflower Maze

Liberty Farms Sunflower Maze

This was our first time going to the Liberty Farms Sunflower Maze. Located in Sussex County, Northern New Jersey – day trip distance from NYC. I adore sunflowers and just happened to stumble across this gem while looking up local sunflower growers. As it turns out with over 1.5 million flowers it is the largest […]

Peach Picking

Peach Picking

Oh Summer days, when little hands are warm and juicy and the evening sky is the colour of the fruit you spend the day picking. Drives into the country are long and slow and on return trips home the car smells sweet and ripe with harvested goodness. Baskets in hand, the children run with enthusiasm until […]

NJ & NY Border Great Day Out

NJ & NY Border Great Day Out

If you are looking for a great day out in the New York, New Jersey border area, we have come up with the perfect summer outing triptych. It is just the right combination for a fun-filled midsummer day. Three places to visit all close to one another, offering unique but complimentary experiences. 1. Stairway To […]

Strawberry Picking

Strawberry Picking

Our annual strawberry picking outing was this past week, and like we have done the past few years we went to Donaldson Farms in Hackettstown, New Jersey. It is a beautiful clean, neat and tidy farm with a few animals and a variety of crops, but we especially like to visit for the huge strawberry patch. […]

Reeves Reed Arboretum

Reeves Reed Arboretum

A short drive from New York city, in Summit NJ is a hidden gem called Reeves Reed Arboretum. It was once a privately owned estate that is now open to the public. Famous for the daffodil bowl which is in fact a hillside curved like a bowl, full of daffodils. There is a path to […]

Mike Kelley At PS1

Mike Kelley At PS1

One of the great thing about being close to NYC is being able to see amazing exhibitions. Now that we are homeschooling I try and make a point of going to the city for the day at least once a month. A day at a museum or gallery is so enriching for us all. I […]

Whites Beach, Broken Head

Whites Beach, Broken Head

When we arrived back at home in Australia I made a list of all the beaches I wanted to go to. The area of the far north coast of NSW were I grew up has some of the best beaches in the world. I wanted to see my favorites, share them with the girls and […]

Strawberry Picking in New Jersey

Strawberry Picking in New Jersey

The past Sunday was Father’s day, and also our wedding anniversary. We made no plans in advance and then at about 10am I started to feel like doing something. (I have been sick for almost two weeks with Lyme’s disease from a tick bite, but that is too boring to talk about). Sunday morning I came […]

Reeves Reed Daffodil Bowl

Reeves Reed Daffodil Bowl

One afternoon last week  Elle and I collected Maya from school and we drove to the Reeves Reed Arboretum. It is in a neighbouring town not too far from our house. Close enough to make it an after school trip. This was the first time we had been there. Much like Van Vleck House, which […]

Storm King

Storm King

Widely celebrated as one of the world’s leading sculpture parks, Storm King Art Center has welcomed visitors from across the globe for fifty years. It is located only one hour north of New York City, in the lower Hudson Valley, where its pristine 500-acre landscape of fields, hills, and woodlands provides the setting for a collection of […]

Soho Grateful For This LIfe...

Soho Grateful For This LIfe…

Wow, I have just had another long blog break. Couldn’t keep the momentum going after Christmas. This time of year when the days are short and grey, I have to use all of my positive life force to stay on top of it. It is amazing how weather can effect your whole being, and I […]

Santa At The Plaza

Santa At The Plaza

As we live very close to New York City there are some things we like to do annually in Manhattan at Christmas. One of our favorites is to go to The Plaza Hotel and see Santa. This seems to be a secret, because both this time and last time we went, we were the only family visiting Santa. I […]

Branch Brook Cherry Blossoms

Branch Brook Cherry Blossoms

Spring flowers seemed to come and go in a week this year with yo-yo weather making the flowers bloom early, and over quickly. We were lucky that the week of Spring break was the peak of the cherry trees blooming and so we made a trip to Branch Brook Park to enjoy the blossoms. This […]

Spring Break

Spring Break

It has been a quiet week here on the blog…last week was Spring break for Maya’s school and so our days were busy. Now a rainy and cold Monday morning, with Maya back to school, it is the perfect moment to sit and re-cap. We were very lucky with the weather for Spring break with […]

New Jersey Botanical Gardens

New Jersey Botanical Gardens

I am not sure where the days have gone, but my goodness they slip away….Not last Thursday, but the Thursday before, Thursday March 22nd…we spent the day at the New Jersey Botanical Gardens, which is also the site of Skyland Manor. This was an exceptionally warm day of early Spring, with the predicted temperature to climb […]