Moroccan Delights

In August last year, DH and I had the privilege of going to Tangier with his Dad and partner.  It was their wedding gift to us.  I have wanted to go there for many years and was over the moon when they told us that they planned to take us there.  My father-in-law lives in Malaga, Spain. We drove down the coast to Tarifa  where we caught a ferry across to Tangier.  The view from our hotel room was stunning. Golden sand, azure blue seas and white washed buildings. A truly beautiful sight. 

Later that evening we caught a taxi into the old town and were dropped off at the Medina (market). There we saw piles of olives, fruit and vegetables.  Also fresh meat, which wasn’t that pleasant when you are used to buying your meat pre packaged, especially the goats’ heads, legs and stomachs!  There were beautifully laid out fresh fish and other seafood… a feast for the eyes! 

The entrance to the Medina

Yummo!

After that we ventured into the narrow streets to explore and look in the many little shops.  In one we looked at beautiful Tagine’s painted in delightful Moroccan colours and patterns and gorgeous framed mirrors with doors attached.  In the shop next door there were hundreds of beautiful bags, most of which were leather.  I haggled with the owner and bought one each for my daughters.

Gorgeous Tagine's

Shoes anyone?

While MIL and I were in this particular shop, DH and his Dad were being befriended by a local called Mohammed who offered to show us around the town and the Casbah (Palace/Fort).  He was a real hoot and knew a lot about the town.  He led us down the windy streets where we admired many beautiful doors, ate traditional Moroccan bread hot out of the oven and saw a lot of people living in the city.

Outer wall of Casbah

Aren't the mosaics divine?

Many of the houses don’t have running water or electricity, so we saw people preparing meals by the water source and cleaning their dishes and clothes.

Here a young man is making an evening meal with capsicums, onions and fish

While we were in Morocco, many of the inhabitants were celebrating the month of Ramadan.  During this time, they fast during daylight hours and feast late into the night.

 So while we were in the Medina we witnessed some frayed tempers, probably brought on by hungry tummy’s and low blood sugar!  This also seemed to affect Mohammed, who was quite agro when we offered him 10 Euro for his efforts.  He wanted more!  Much more!! In the end we gave him double and he went on his merry way…

Happy Valentines Day!!

One year ago today my darling husband and I got engaged.  So we will celebrate Valentines Day even though it has become a very much over commercialised event.  This morning he gave me a card and some chocolates and quite a while ago he planned and booked us into a restaurant for dinner.  I made him this (with some help from my amazing daughter who is a whizz with all things graphic design).

We met 16 months ago at Cafe-On-Kohi.  I thought he was so lovely, interesting, good looking, and articulate and was very keen to meet him again to find out more.  And as they say, the rest is history! Since then we have been on holiday to all the places listed, what a whirlwind it has been!  We have accomplished so much!  And it has been loads and loads of fun!  Some of the holidays were as a family with all 7 of us, and quite a few were just us two.  

Happy Valentines Day my darling.  You are the love of my life and I look forward to many more adventures with you. xx

The Front Door

A door in Assilah, Morocco

 Mr D and I went to Europe for 28 days for our honeymoon and to see his aging Dad and my Nana who turned 90 while we were there.  For me it was a dream come true and I loved every minute of our adventure. We saw many beautiful things and something we loved and took many pictures of were front doors.

Another Moroccan door

I have been thinking about the significance of the front door.  Symbolically, it is a threshold that marks the boundary between the household and the outer world.  The front door has been used to keep unwanted things out and keep what is wanted and needed in.  Doors regulate traffic from one space to another, they change the character of a space, they create havens, they allow us privacy. Doors enable us to experience spaces as separate and distinct, moving us from one room to another or from outside to inside.

Assilah, Morocco

Assilah, Morocco

 It is the first thing that people notice about a home.  When it comes right down to it, a house is only as good as its front door. Like your landscape, a beautiful door, be it wood or glass, expresses the personality of the homeowner.  It can draw you into the home with a warm welcoming hug.  Or it can make you stay away! As the eyes are the windows into the soul, so is the front door of our home, the window into our life. As we pass through homes with brightly painted doors, the meaning often eludes us consciously. Subconsciously, however, the reactions we have to coloured doors often stay with us long after we leave.

The front door colour is one of the things noticed by people walking by the house on the pavement and the combination of different front door colours produces a final effect that in many ways is the first thing to get judged about a house. While a good colour for your front door will not ensure that it looks good, (as it depends on the adjacent colours and textures present) choosing a bad colour for your front door will ensure that your house is visually sunk  before it even gets off the ground. The colour of a front door can help draw people in and show them where the entrance actually is. 

St-Remy-de-Provence

St-Remy-de-Provence

 Your front door style needs to work with, not against, your window style. Whereas you can mix things up inside your home, your exterior needs to send one message, and have a unified front. It is the cover of your book, if you will. The inside of your book tells the story of who you are. Your exterior is the cover of your book, and has the responsibility of making a consistent statement and a lasting impression.

Front doors in Provence

While perusing the many doors we admired in Morocco and Europe, my mind moved to thinking about what was behind the door.  What was the interior like?  Who lived here?  What are their lives like? What would it be like to live here?

Little girl who greeted us with "Hola!" in Assilah

Sneak peek inside door, Assilah, Morocco.

This is one door that I would have loved to see inside, and a spot I wouldn't mind living in either. Nyon, just outside of Geneva, by the lake... gorgeous!

Nyon, Switzerland.

I wonder, what does your front door say about you and your home's occupants?  Hmm... I think mine needs a little work, as I'm not sure it accurately depicts the 7 personalities that live here and what we are trying to achieve within our home.... Fun, laughter, peace and serenity! A haven for all who live here and visit.

Photos by Mr and Mrs D

New Table

Mr D and I bought a new dining table yesterday.  I love it.  Simple clean lines, and farmhouse looking.  It's a huge 10 seater, 2405mm long. Thankfully we managed to fit it in the back of our Kia Carnival as the legs are removable! We were a bit worried it wouldn't quite fit in our dining room/family room, but it is fine. Perfect for having our mid winter Christmas dinners with our friends and family!  Just need to buy some extra chairs... thankfully Freedom furniture still sell the same chairs we have already...

                                                                     Photo by Mr D

Some thruths about Cancer

Cancer is limited: it cannot cripple love, it cannot shatter hope, it cannot erode faith, it cannot eat away peace, it cannot destroy confidence, it cannot kill friendship, it cannot shut out memories, it cannot silence courage, it cannot invade the soul, it cannot reduce eternal life, it cannot quench the spirit, and it cannot lessen the power of the resurrection.

Thanks to Donna's husband for posting this on FB.  He got it from the Word for today.

And the most important of these is LOVE

I'm on holiday at the moment with my family in Kaitaia, Northland.  We are staying at Mr D’s sister’s place, which is a Tamarillo orchard.  They have all sorts of interesting things for the kids to do here and they love it… a pool, trampoline, chickens, sheep, cows, flax weaving, table tennis, dove feeding.  We came a year ago as well, and the children loved it so much they asked if we could come again.  So here we are…

Pineapples growing in the shadehouse

The tamarillos

Miss A feeding a dove

Matai Bay - just stunning

Digging their own bath at Matai Bay

The sheep following Mr B into the shed

At Kerikeri, the Stone Store in the background

Ms F's chickens

Collecting eggs

Homemade pizza's

Miss M's photo of the sheep

Miss A giving Billy the sheeps' head a scratch

                                              

Yesterday I had a phone call from a friend, who was my tutor while studying Interior Design, as she wanted to check up on me.  This is because just a few weeks ago, ten days before Christmas, we lost a friend to breast cancer.  Her loss at such a young age has shocked us both to the core, and we have been left reeling and questioning the meaning of our lives and re-assessing our values, needs and desires.  

Donna was an amazing woman, also in her second marriage, with a husband who adored her, an 11 year daughter she loved more than anything else in the world, and two stepchildren aged 12 and 14 that she had cherished and nurtured for the last 8 years.  She had a career she loved and was building up a successful Interior Design practice.  She was meticulous and very creative.  She was a straight shooter, she didn’t mince words. She was an amazing hostess, as soon as anyone arrived at her place she was arranging cheese, crackers and fruit on a platter and offering beverages! And she loved God.  We connected through our faith, we are both Christians, and through the Montessori school our children attended.  She helped me through some difficult times during the demise of my first marriage and I was looking forward to being able to glean some wisdom from her about blended families.  Donna and I connected very quickly at our class, even though we never became best buddies.  This was probably because of her highly competitive nature, and because she had a goal in mind, to be the top student of the class that year.  We were neck to neck throughout the year!  But she got her goal, which didn’t bother me in the least.  Which is why I was so shocked at her passing, I just assumed she would beat Cancer as she attained whatever goal she set for herself.

Donna

                                          

Life is so fragile.  It can be gone so quickly.  My sister in law lost her only daughter nearly a year ago to an aneurysm, Emma was 27.  She had just fallen in love and was excited about her future.  Even with her difficulties (she had a mild case of cerebal palsy and Aspergers) she had a zest for life and had qualified as an early childhood teacher and had a full time job at a childcare facility, was living alone in her own flat, had a lovely boyfriend and was actively involved with her church.

Why were these lovely woman taken?  I don’t know.  But I do know they lived their lives to the full.  I know that once diagnosed with cancer, Donna understood how important it was to relish every moment, with her husband, her children, her family and her friends. 

It has re-affirmed to me the importance of the people in my life.  They are worth more than any amount of money you could throw at me, worth more than any material item I could ever possess, worth more than a beautiful and immaculate home overlooking the water, worth more than being able to buy whatever I want whenever I want.  Why?  Because people are irreplaceable, they are priceless.  So I will always choose spending time with my family and friends over anything else I could have.  I will forgo designer clothing and products for relationships every time.  I will spend my money in ways to further these relationships rather than on things that can breakdown or wear-out.  So Mr D and I take our kids on holiday, often.  We have meals out with our family and friends.  We go bowling, to the Skytower for high tea, and luging in Rotorua. We take the kid’s on tours, rock-climbing, and mini-golfing. We have picnics at the beach, go for bushwalks and ice-skating. Have mid-winter Christmas dinners, dinner parties, special birthday dinners and cakes and anything else that will help build relationship with the ones we already know and love and with those we want to know.  Because to me, to us, this is what life is about. Building and cultivating relationships.

Picnic with Katie-pai and family

Dove feeding shenanigans

Family picnic by the Stone Store - Kerikeri

Family picnic at Cornwall Park with Nana and Emma

Family meal with cousin Kate and Uncle Jon