Fancy lunch out :) It’s birthday month!

Greetings from sunny Hawke’s Bay!

Paul and I started our birthday month in style, with lunch at our favourite winery, Craggy Range in Havelock North.

It was a stunning day and so nice to dress up. I wore my pleather trousers from Blue Illusion, red Hogl shoes, and a gauzy mini-leopard blouse from Farmers. With my Prada bag of course. And Dior sunglasses circa 2003 from when I worked there. Happily the flat oval shape is back in style. Yay!

I had red nail polish and chose to not wear my sleeve and glove for the afternoon. Just took my puffy hand along a la naturelle :)

 

 

Craggy Range does a divine lunch menu throughout the winter months and we caught the tail end of it for our birthday. The lunch was my mum’s birthday gift to us :) The theme was ‘An Early Thanksgiving’.

 

 

 

They do gluten-free very well, and the homemade bread comes in a gluten-free version also, served with camembert butter and honey. The light sprinkle of salt on the butter is such a nice touch. I mean, you could go home quite content from the bread course alone, but Paul and I were troopers and stayed for the whole menu :)

 

 

 

Paul had the pork belly for his entree, and I had the gnocchi. There was so much richness and flavour packed into every bite. I don’t really eat pork products, just not a fan, but I would eat anything put in front of me here as long as it’s gluten-free, it is just that good. (The gnocchi sauce was pancetta flavoured, with tiny cubes of pancetta too. It tasted amazing even though I don’t eat pork haha.)

 

 

For our mains, Paul had the turkey and I chose the salmon. Paul enjoyed his turkey although I think he has enjoyed other Craggy Range lunch mains more, and my salmon was delish. I loved the bright vegetables accompanying it too.

We started off with a glass of Tattinger champagne each, and had a glass of Gimblett Gravels Chardonnay with our mains (it was like drinking a glass of butter, and I mean that in the best possible way, le sigh!)

 

 

 

And for pudding there were donuts, but you can see they are more like donut holes. The pumpkin cheesecake underneath tasted like buttercream it was so rich and good.

 

 

 

 

And because it was our birthday we got a little extra plate, it was an ice cream cake and we managed to polish that off too :) The chocolate Happy Birthday was melted dark chocolate, so good with the ice cream.

They asked us whose birthday it was when they brought the ice cream cake over, and we both said ‘Mine!’ since we have our birthday later in the month on the same day. Such fun.

 

 

It was just such a lovely lunch, and we went home with happy tummies.

 

 

Yay for a most excellent start to our birthday month!

I hope you had a great week last week too, no matter what you got up to.

x Fiona

 

PS. I’ve been writing! I know! I’m so excited for being back in the groove again. It’s been in-out-in-out this year for sure :D

I am working on a book that I’d already written almost half of pre-cancer-diagnosis and I am completing the remaining chapters. It’s a goodie and I can’t wait for you to read it.

In the meantime, browse my 28 other titles here to see if anything takes your fancy!

Or go to fionaferris.com to see all my links.

 

 

(My Amazon link is affiliate, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for choosing to use my Amazon link if you are considering any Amazon purchases!)

Nina cat appreciation day :)

 

 Hello friends,

Last week I came across Nina cat’s original ‘birth certificate’, her paperwork when we adopted her from a cat shelter 😊

I thought she was about 14 years old now, turns out she is 16! 💕

She really is so ageless I’m not surprised we missed a couple of years. She came to live with us at 18 months, and has loved life ever since.

She still tears up and down the lawn outside, brings the occasional mouse or even rat in (I KNOW), and as I’m typing this in my office she appeared at the window to be let in. (She knows she is being talked about.)

This photo of her the other day is in one of our guest rooms Nina claimed as her own, so I put her bed there for her to soak up the sun. She naps there most days.

It’s the room I have set up as my audiobook recording studio, with plenty of soft furnishings and blankets draped over the mirrored glass drawers (it looks great as you can imagine 🤣).

While recording I shut the bedroom door and put a draft excluder down to muffle any dogs snorting under the door trying to find me (DAPHNE).

Nina is not a fan of my audiobooks though. I don’t shout them, it’s just my voice, and I only do short sessions at a time, but as soon as I start recording, she indignantly hops off the bed and waits to be let out.

So the dance ALWAYS is to open the door, let Nina out, close the door again, reposition the draft excluder and restart my recording. (She doesn’t leave until I start recording, normal talking doesn’t annoy her 🤣). This happens every single time I do a session.

Apparently Nina loves having staff, so much so that despite letting her in my office window a few minutes ago, she appeared there again like an apparition. She must have gone straight out after the first time I let her in, and back up onto my windowsill!

Aren’t cats funny? I used to think they don’t have their own personality like dogs, but they definitely have. And Miss Nina is a real character, as well as being an eternal kitten even at 16.

She’s tiny too, as you can see, weighing only 3.2kg (7 pounds). Yet eats like a horse! (She has had worm tablets so don’t worry 😊).

Tell me about your cat(s). I bet they’re cute too and do crazy things just like Nina.

x Fiona

PS. ‘The Autumn Reset’ is high in the charts at the moment, thanks to all of you in the northern hemisphere reading it and loving it. I appreciate each and every order, review, mention, and share of my books. Truly!

And, I’ve just started uploading to Kobo at a reader request. I started with ‘The Autumn Reset’ and will do the others one at a time. There is no bulk upload that I know of, so I’ll work through them over time :) ‘The Autumn Reset’ is on Kobo Plus too.

Of course, now I need to write a Spring book to complete the set, which is in the planning stages. I love dreaming up new titles and getting all excited for the ideas inside each book. I love my ‘job’ so much!

 

 

[My Amazon links earn me a small commission, at no extra cost to you. I’m appreciative if you are happy to use my links when shopping on Amazon!]

Favourite clothes - one of my pieces

 

Hello friends :)

You know how when you have a super-duper-favourite item of clothing and you know you can't make it last forever which makes you sad, but you're determined to treat it so well it can't help but anyway?

That's how I feel about this red boho blouse. I bought it from Banana Republic in the US in August 2019 so it's just celebrated its seventh birthday.

I love the colour, the softness of the cotton, the little tufted squares, the detail above the bustline. All of it ❤️

Thankfully styles like this are forgiving of weight gain or loss, and of larger or smaller busts, since I went from large to medium this year! (#silverliningofbreastcancersurgery)

I've been enjoying moving things around in my closet in preparation for the warmer spring temperatures, although it's been up and down, as spring does.

It's so nice to wear a light blouse instead of multi-layers, even if I do still have my compression sleeve and glove as constant companions.

I try not to think about it too much though, and just focus on creating my most beautiful life. In a relaxed, laid-back kind of way of course.

I’ve been journalling, sewing, reading… all my favourite things to do, and walking every day as well.

My walk in the morning is one of the highlights of my day, and it really does help to have an audiobook on the go. I just started Swan Song by Charles Spencer, about Princess Diana, and he narrates it too.

(Swan Song is here on Amazon at my affiliate link.)

I loved her style when she first married Prince Charles. I had the ‘Lady Di’ haircut, wore a pie-crust frill plaid blouse, and had corduroy knickerbockers too. That was when I was about 11 😊

What are you reading at the moment? Anything to recommend?

And, do you have a piece in your wardrobe like my red blouse? Let me know what it is and where you got it from (and when!)

xx Fiona 

The best way to enjoy fish (my new favourite recipe)

 

Hey friends,

One of our lovely neighbours dropped by one night recently and offered us two beautifully fresh just-caught crayfish.

It was so thoughtful of him to think of us.

(They’re only called crayfish in New Zealand, but I think they’re like lobster or rock lobster elsewhere? They live in the ocean anyway.)

When I was a child my family had a boat and dad would catch crayfish. I remember him dropping them into a big pot of boiling water and we’d eat it freshly poached.

He always told us the legs were the best bit and us kids would sit there with our pile of legs drawing out the fine straws of meat while the adults tucked into the tails 😂

Was that actually true that the legs were the premium part??? I have my doubts now 🤣

Paul and I, having never cooked a crayfish in our life, did some research online.

We found out the humane way to cook them, and also came across a simple recipe.

We served the cooked meat over boiled new potatoes, with melted butter and lemon juice poured over top, and plentiful fresh chives.

Here is the recipe we used although it’s so simple you don’t really need a recipe. I didn’t do the butter sauce with water, just melted it and it was just as delicious.

We liked this recipe so much we recreated it with fresh white fish on another night (see below). With slightly less butter though, and I added steamed veggies 😍

I always get fresh fish when I do the groceries each week; it’s a good routine for us to get those different nutrients.

Paul wasn’t a fan of the weekly fish at first, he felt like it didn’t really fill him up, but if I don’t try to make it too light and healthy he’s a happy boy. Hence the butter and potatoes 😊

I actually really think potatoes get an unnecessarily bad rap. In my healthy slim lifestyle I eat them pretty much every night. I might have trimmed down the quantity, but I still love spuds. They have so much fibre and nutrition.

Are you a seafood fan? What is your favourite and how do you cook it?

 

~~

 

 

 

And here is how I recreated the crayfish recipe with snapper (it was a hit too!)

It really was so simple to make:

💫 Air-fried or roasted potato chunks (or you can boil little new potatoes like the original crayfish recipe)

💫 Steamed broccoli (I like mine lightly cooked, still crunchy, bright green, and tossed in a dash of olive oil)

💫 Pan-fried snapper (I use olive oil spray in the pan, not butter, since I’m using butter for the sauce)

💫 Melt some butter in a pot on a low heat and let it brown while you’re cooking the fish. Those speckles on the white fish are toasted milk solids from the butter. YUM! Once it’s nicely browned, pour over the fish and potatoes at serving time, and add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice too.

I am such a fan of browning butter in recipes, it provides a beautiful caramelised flavour. I remember often making a Donna Hay recipe in the early 2000s for ‘fish with brown butter’. It was always a favourite.

[I recently made a blondie recipe from Smitten Kitchen and it calls for the butter to be browned too. I made it for Micky dog’s funeral and everyone said how good it tasted. It was the browned butter that made all the difference!]

💫 Then a scattering of something green. Here we have spring onions, but I’d use parsley or chives at other times. A fresh green sprinkle is always a welcome addition both for sight and taste.

💫 Also, I really think part of the appeal lies in using a bowl to serve as well, rather than a dinner plate. In restaurants they often use big bowls, and the food is stacked up rather than spread around the plate. It really did look more restauranty to me, arranged like this.

And this, my friends, is how to get your husband to be excited about fish for dinner! 🤣

 

~~

 

 

 

Spotted: A real cutie when visiting the library this week.

Who wouldn’t want to sit on the seat in preference to cold looking cobblestones?

I do love a girl who has standards.

xoxo Gossip Girl 😍 Oops I mean Fiona :)

Have a great week!

Personal style and home decor style, and keeping track of the days :D

 

Hello friends!

In the colour palette world, I am a Soft Summer. I had my colours ‘done’ in the early 1990s, and I still have swatches showing all my best colours. I love it so much!

Over the years I’ve come and gone from these shades, but I’ve stayed pretty close, and when I’ve gone too far away and see a photo of me in a tone that is too warm or sharp for me it really shows.

One thing I instinctively did for myself within the Soft Summer palette was to choose the brighter shades which give me a happy feeling.

I even write about my love of ‘soft-brights’ in some of my books when I talk about clothing. And looking back at my Soft Summer swatches, they’re all right there - watermelon, geranium, and the kind of green I’m wearing here but don’t really know the name for.

They’re kind of like a bright colour that got left out in the sun and faded a bit. ‘Sun softened’ shall we say.

I’m just so fascinated by colours and how one can make you pop and another just looks drab.

My mum is a Winter, and she looks stunning in black, and icy cool clear shades as well as deep jewel tones. Her light blue eyes are so vivid when she wears those colours. Her hair was darkest brown-black when younger, and now is a cool platinum grey.

I always think it’s really helpful to look back at your colouring in your earlier years, and gather together photos where you look really good - maybe the colours are contributing, so what are those colours?

It’s just such a fun thing to study for me, and it fits in with any budget too. The most expensive designer outfit in colours that don’t reflect well on you won’t be as lovely as a mid-range or inexpensive outfit in your best shades.

Here are my vintage ‘Color Me Beautiful’ swatches :) 

 

 

 

What I like about the colour palettes for each season is that they contain all the colours - I have reds, blues, greens, even yellow, just in the tones that are good for me. I have neutrals too. It’s all good!

I remember it being expensive at the time, but it really has been an investment that I’ve enjoyed over the years.

These days you can do it for free with YouTube videos, books, and AI even, but I like that I had a person drape me with the fabrics.

Let me know your season if you’re into colours too!

 

~~

 

 

 

I thought I’d share a favourite corner in our living/dining room. I like to have a small television tucked in there with background music playing on YouTube which I know others might not. To me it looks like just another piece of art on the gallery wall. (I use it for Pilates sometimes too).

The metal sideboard, lamp, and three smaller pieces of art came from an auction house when we first moved to this place.

My dad made the bookcase based on one I saw in a magazine that looked like a ladder.

Paul gave me the French gilt mirror for my birthday when we were first going out.

The two green vases came from Korea as a gift to my dad when he did business with a Korean company back in the 1980s. (He had an engineering business making fruit grading machinery.) I’ve always loved the vases and now I get to have a turn of them.

And the crazy bird picture is from my brother’s interiors shop when he had it.

I love a mix of traditional and whimsy in my home style.

When we were first building up the decor style after moving into this home I decided on ‘Ralph Lauren on a Budget X French Chateau’. (Luckily Paul was on board too.)

Since then I’ve also added in a dash of sexiness/glamour/relaxedness to prevent things feeling too staid.

The rug is also from the auction house, and we have plain sisal-style carpet.

What would your decor style be if you could give it a name? I love dreaming up themes and directions and thinking about elegant yet effortless decor - let me know yours!

 

~~

 

 

~ Flowers in our bathroom ~

 

How is everyone’s week starting out?

Mine is going well, even though half the time I don’t know what day it is...

And it’s because of this: Paul works for a local winery and his weekend is Tuesday/Wednesday. So even though today is Monday here it feels like Friday, lol.

Still, that’s the modern way isn’t it, when you don’t worry about the day of the week since so many people work shifts and non-Monday-to-Friday jobs.

I’ve always liked being a bit out of sync too, relaxing on a Tuesday afternoon and working on a Sunday morning. It suits my rebellious (’soft rebellious’) nature.

How I organise myself is yes, I do like to know what day it is, even if my schedule is not the norm, because every day has it’s own feeling, you know?

I use a calendar. It used to be a paper diary, but in recent years I use the calendar on my phone. I’ve gotten into the habit of checking it each day to see what I’ve got on.

I love that you can do automated recurring appointments as well as to-dos. I take a high dose of Vit D once a month for my bones, and I have a daily recurring ‘audiobook recording’ since I have a few more audiobooks to complete. I do a chapter or two each day and then they’re done.

[I am currently re-recording Luxurious Weight Loss because for some reason Audible declined it due to sound issues. I don’t know why because it was recorded in exactly the same way as all my other audiobooks and Audible accepted those. So that’s why this particular book is not available on Audible, but it will be in a few months!] 

 

 

 

So yes, the life of a self-employed author is not the usual, and adding on Paul’s topsy-turvy work week can you blame me for having to stop and think a minute what day it is?

Still, I’m sure it keeps my brain young, when everyday life is such a puzzle :)

Wishing you an excellent week!

xx Fiona

PS. For those of you in the Northern Hemisphere, join the fall fun in my book The Autumn Reset. And if you’re Southern Hemisphere like me, there are still a few relevant chapters in it for you! (I always like to join in the ‘fall vibes’ aesthetic while enjoying our early spring weather - we get the best of both worlds under the equator!) 

 

 

 

My Amazon links for are affiliate, but the prices don’t change for you. I’m appreciative if you choose to use one of these links if you are making a purchase :)

A winery outing, and tussock for Micky

 

 Hello friends,

The past few weeks we’ve been getting used to being a household of two dogs not three.

It’s sad that I no longer expect Micky to pop his head around the doorway when he hears a noise coming from the kitchen that could possibly mean food.

And there are still times when tears spring to your eyes at a sudden memory.

We bought this baby tussock plant because Micky loved a good sniff around the tussock when we went for a walk along the waterfront at Ahuriri Beach.

We thought it would be a nice way to mark his grave.

Paul planted it a few days ago so Micky will be loving having his own tussock all to himself.

I think you’ve got to do the fun, silly things like this.

It just feels like the right thing to do 😊

 

~~ 

 

And we had a fun outing recently. A local winery that we’re a part of their wine club offered a tasting of their new season releases.

 

 

 

It was set in the winemaking area itself, and it was cool to see all the barrels. One of the winemakers told us they cleaned the rooms up a lot for the event, because usually there would be forklifts coming and going. But on this day it was pristine.

Honestly, it looked like the setting for a Hallmark movie it was so perfect (you know, the one where the main character is running the family vineyard and a hotshot from the city comes into town trying to buy her out and they end up falling in love).

 

 

 

The snacky food table looks so beautiful and lush looking, don't you think?

 

 

  

There was even a dj playing. All the details were on point 😊

It was a nice little outing on a Saturday afternoon 🍷

Happy weekend to you.

Spring is here in Hawke’s Bay.

It’s lovely to feel a bit of heat.

xx Fiona

 

PS. My most recent book Life Is Good is now available everywhere on audiobook. Go and take a listen if you’re interested! And please ask your library to order it in (paperback or audiobook) if you’d like to read or listen to it for free. (It helps me out too because then other people can find it at the library who otherwise might not know who this Fiona Ferris lady is.)

 

 

Goodbye Micky, our little ray of light

 

It has been a quiet, sad week here.

On Monday we said goodbye to our sweet prince Micky, 14 years young.

Over the past month he had started limping but we didn’t know how he’d hurt his leg.

It wasn’t getting better so we investigated further. An x-ray showed he had aggressive bone cancer which had eaten away his pelvis and when it reached his hip joint is when he started having trouble walking.

Sadly there was nothing that could cure him, only pain relief for comfort, and even that didn’t stop him moving around trying to ease the pain.

Micky is now flying high with all our other pets who have departed over the years. He had had two little ‘turns’ earlier in the year and so I think that was the beginning of things.

 

 

 

I have always asked the Universe to give me a clear sign when it is a pet’s time to go, and I was given that for Micky.

I also always think of things from the pet’s perspective. Yes we could have brought him home for another few days with us on painkillers, but it would have been for us, not him.

Micky came to live with us four years ago aged ten, when my brother moved overseas. He has been a wonderful member of our family, giving our other two dogs more confidence and being a ray of light in our household.

How cute is his first-vet-visit puppy photo? 

 

 

 

Micky was so gentle, loving, relaxed, and sociable. A real extrovert. He was half Jack Russell, half Shih Tzu, and his Jack Russell side meant that walks would take twice as long as necessary due to all the sniffing.

 

 

 

We took Daphne and Chloe out for their first walk without Micky the next day and Paul commented that the walk was so quick without all the extra stops to sniff. Too quick when he was used to standing around waiting forever for his boy.

 

 

 

Paul was the ‘pawbearer’ and I let Micky ride home in the front seat, me in the back, since the front seat was his favourite. He and Paul would often go out for a boys walk together, and if I joined them with our other two doggies, Micky would be quite miffed that he couldn’t ride on the front seat. 

 

 

 

He is now buried at home in a lovely sunny spot up a hill. We are going to plant a little tussock for him as he loved to fossick around in the tussock along the waterfront.

 

 

 

In his final months I put a blanket over him often, and he looked like a mermaid when walking off with it on. And one day he couldn’t get back in the cat door due to the stuck rug :)

 

 

 

Goodnight darling Micky, we were so lucky to know you. Sleep well.

 

~~

 

 

 Just last week, on one of Micky’s favourite walks at Ahuriri, Paul and I had sushi on the waterfront, rugged up in the winter sunshine.

It was such a nice few hours to have our lunch outside and walk the doggies, and aren’t the colours of the salmon and avocado bright and luscious?

 

 

 

The lemonade can adds a pop of colour as well.

Because... thrifty... we brought our own cans from home, and I brought myself a straw too because I do love a straw.

I don’t usually drink fizzy with my meals, but it felt festive to take one with us for our lunch plans.

It’s fun to make your own outing for not much money, making the most of natural areas around you.

There are public outdoor tables where we went available for anyone to use, but otherwise we could have sat on a picnic blanket on the grass or sand.

We didn’t know it would be only days before we had to say goodbye to Micky, which makes it all the more of a precious outing. Micky loved being out and about with people.

Give your pets an extra big hug today for our buddy boy.

x Fiona

The ups and downs of life, and how to feel better

 

Hello friends,

Last week was a funny week, up and down, and it was all to do with my lymphedema. I don’t feel like it’s getting better, and things just felt on top of me and overwhelming. Hence, I haven’t been in touch. I’ve just been doing home stuff and not much that’s creative.

I’ve been feeling really down about it but I know low moods pass. They’re like clouds in the sky. At that moment it felt really cloudy and just too heavy for me.

I did a few admin tasks with my healthcare providers, and decided that had to be enough.

I don’t know why I’m telling you all this, except to say that life isn’t always sunny, even though we’ve had beautiful sunny winter days here lately. I enjoyed my outdoor walks each day, so I guess all I can do is look for the good things.

❤️ A sunny walk after a frosty start.

❤️ A good swimming session .

❤️ Reading (and please don’t laugh!) Sweet Valley High books. I bought a vintage retro lot on Trade Me (New Zealand’s version of eBay), and I’m revisiting my early teens. It’s very comforting right now. They were my favourite books back in the early to mid-1980s. I couldn’t love the pastel covers more. And my sister found me the first 12 books of Sweet Valley Twins at a thrift store. Such fun!

 

Reading makes me happy :)

So things are what they are. Life isn’t always wonderful. But I know the clouds will move on. Apart from the lymphedema, I’m otherwise healthy, and I have so many other good things to be grateful for too.

I had a lovely weekend. The coffee ladies came to my place on Saturday. I had the fire going, and made a ‘Devils Food’ chocolate cake before they arrived. It was a Betty Crocker mix, but I used butter and milk instead of oil and water, along with the eggs.

Being around other people was just the tonic to help me forget about things for a few hours and just be a normal person again, instead of getting too much in my head, overthinking everything, and letting it all press down on me.

Yay for that :)

~~

 

{Winter vines in our street}

A big help to me feeling better is to focus on my mindset.

There are days when I feel really good and have a happy day. And then there are days when it all gets too much and I feel weighed down. Nothing has changed between those two days except my thoughts.

I don’t know if my lymphedema will be permanent. No one knows, not even my surgeon or breast cancer physiotherapist. It’s an unknown thing.

So why am I getting myself down by telling myself that it will be?

In the beginning, I told myself it was only temporary and that things would work out. It felt much better to say that to myself than, ‘I’m going to be stuck like this forever. It’s going to get worse.’

Yes, there is a chance it could be permanent, but there’s also a chance it could resolve.

One friend wore her compression sleeve for two years, fifteen years ago. She told me her arm is still a little larger than the other, but it’s not something she thinks about day-to-day. She doesn’t wear compression anymore and it’s not an issue.

Things like that give me hope. And why shouldn’t that be me too?

So the clouds have passed in my mind. There are still a few around, but I’m not looking at them. I’m looking at the blue sky.

I’m telling myself positive statements too, which helps me take positive action. It’s all heading towards feeling empowered, rather than feeling helpless.

Wow, that positive mindset stuff really works, Fiona. Who knew!

That’s why I love mindset work so much, and why it’s woven throughout every single one of my books. It really does allow you to create a good life and feel better when you’re going through the hard times.

And we all have hard times.

My dad’s eight-year anniversary of passing is today. We all had lockdown in 2020. In 2023, our area was hit by a cyclone and flooding, and people died. And 2026 is my cancer recovery year.

There’s been a lot of big things to take action on, and I can stay in a helpful mindset.

So I’m here today to say I’m feeling better.

And if you need this post, I hope it’s helpful for you.

All my love,

xx Fiona

 

 

 

 [My book links lead to Amazon US and they are affiliate, which means I may earn a small commission, but the price doesn’t change for you. I appreciate it if you choose to use my links if you are purchasing anything!]

Stylish home touches, and Daphne dog

 

Hello friends,

We usually call these richly scented oriental lilies ‘Christmas lilies’ since they bloom during our summer Christmas here in New Zealand.

But it’s August and we are in the depths of a frosty winter, so what do I call them now? Mid-winter Christmas lilies? Because they always smell like Christmas to me.

‘Mid-winter Christmas’ was a thing in the 1980s when my parents held and went to dinner parties.

It was a chance to feel a little festive when it was cold and bleak outside, and borrow from the fun of Christmas traditions from the northern hemisphere which suit wintry weather.

I remember buying a can of fake snow spray to paint on my bedroom windows at Christmastime when it was bright and summery, and then the crazy effort to scrape it off afterwards. I’m sure I left most of that to my mum.

So anyway, sorry about that mum, and thank you for one of the many times you cleaned up after me at home 🥰

I always think I don’t like fresh flowers in the home much, but I’ve discovered that it’s when they have no scent that I can’t see the point.

When they do have scent, I am happy to buy them. Oriental lilies, earlicheer and jonquils (I call them ‘spring flowers’ but they are always out in the winter), and Daphne. I love the smell of Daphne so much, I think that’s also a winter flower, but on a shrub. Also, scented roses. So delicious.

So I’m not a no-flower girl, I’m a ‘scented flower’ girl 😊

I’m glad to clear that up because I always felt like such a wowser when I didn’t enjoy buying flowers for our home.

These lilies lasted exactly two weeks and looked good the whole time.

Let me know if you are a fan of fragrant blooms like I am, and what your favourite flowers are to have in the home 😊

 

~~

 

 

 

 And hello from sweet Daphne, tucked in behind the pillow 🥰 She loves sneaking into corners, hoping she won’t be noticed so she can stay snuggled up beside me forever.

Especially at night when she’s meant to be zipped up in her cozy soft crate with blankets. She always tries to sleep on the bed and I have to disappoint her. I’m not against dogs on beds but she is a terrible bed sleeper.

Micky lies somewhere handy, like between our feet or between our pillows (I know), but Daphne always crimps your style, lying across ankles or forcing you to sleep in a funny shape to accommodate her.

Daphne’s expression here says: ‘If I don’t move, perhaps she won’t notice me.’ She has perfected it well 😂

And the sofa pillow is one of two I made my dad for Christmas one year. They came back to live with me after he died.

I love playing around upcycling denim so much. I have another set of denim cushions, placemats, and coasters... such fun ❤️

Happy weekend!

x Fiona

 

 

PS. You can find all my links here: fionaferris.com

And my latest book ‘Life Is Good’:

 

[My Amazon links are affiliate, which means I may earn a small commission when you use my links, at no extra cost to you. I appreciate it if you choose to use my links at any time!]

Living well without spending a lot - my favourite way to live :)

 

Greetings from a sunny, crispy cool day at Ahuriri Beach for another lovely dog walk 😊

Daphne and Chloe have their coats on. Micky still refuses to wear one 🤣 I tried it again at home just before we left and he took two steps in it and promptly sat down until I took it off him 😂

The sun was so pretty sparkling on the water like diamonds. I thought it was just in that particular spot but as I walked along the path the diamonds followed me... that’s when I saw that they’d always be there, it was the sun, not that piece of water 🤣 I do worry about myself sometimes! 

 

 

 

But still, being followed by sparkly diamonds is quite nice.

Paul spends half his life waiting for Micky to sniff the grass, trees, rubbish bins. There is so much a little dog needs to explore, and tussock, that’s his favourite.

 

 

 

And of course, we let Micky take all the time he needs to thoroughly check everything out since he’s an older boy and we want him to enjoy his golden years.

I love seeing the shag birds on the branch sticking out of the rock at sea. They often hold their wings open to dry them and it’s so cute to see. Of course, no-one was drying their wings today when I wanted a photo 😂

 

 

 

In the photo below you can just make out snow on the hills in the distance. There were children swimming in the sea, can you believe that when even the air temperature was chilly let alone the water? Kiwi kids are hardy creatures!

 

 

 

I love activities that are enjoyable and don’t cost anything, and that’s what these doggie waterfront walks are for us.

 

 

 

It just costs a bit of petrol to get there (I know, petrol prices, hardly a ‘free’ outing 😂) and if we can resist the cafes we’re good. The food and drinks always look so appealing, and the thought of whiling away an hour or two looking out at the view does too.

Can you imagine us turning up with three dogs though? We’ve already been turned away from one place, and that was when we only had two dogs. They wouldn’t even allow us on the outdoor terrace!

Oh well, home for a yummy healthy lunch and homemade latte 😊

 

~~

 

 

 

Yay, the audiobook is finished!

I really do enjoy recording my audiobooks, and I’m so happy you all told me that you didn’t like the professional lady who did my first audiobook and you only wanted ME 🤣

Maybe I’ve discovered my calling... being an audiobook narrator. Well for my own books at least 😊

‘Life Is Good’ is now available as an eAudiobook in my eStore here.

And within the next few weeks it will filter through to Audible, they always take a bit longer. I see it’s already available on Spotify. If you have Spotify Premium you should be able to listen to it for free.

And, you can ask your library to order it in!

I get so excited seeing one of my paperbacks or audiobooks on a library platform.

I have a few more audiobooks that haven’t been done yet so I will complete ‘The Chic Author’ and also my blog books too.

I hadn’t done ‘The Chic Author’ yet because I thought I might update it, but I’ve since decided to leave it as an early snapshot.

For an update, I have outlined a new author-sequel book.

I have so many good ideas for new books!

That must really mean I’m feeling better.

Hoorah for that!

Happy listening 😊 

 

~~

 

 

 

Winter skies on my walk earlier this week 😊

I have had a few enquiries about paperback copies of ‘Life Is Good’ for readers in New Zealand, and I’m happy to send out signed copies.

In New Zealand dollars they are $25 each, with postage being $8 (or $14 for rural delivery).

I’ve ordered ten copies from Amazon Australia (the closest printing facility to me), and can get more if necessary.

Please message or email me if you’re interested.

But apart from that I am keeping cosy, and mapping outlines for new books. I have three hatching, and think I know which one will come next ❤️

And, I went swimming! I’ve been going once a week to a local heated pool and it’s great for my lymphedema as well as general fitness and gentle cancer rehab.

I was advised to avoid school holidays, haha, it would be a ZOO there! So I had two weeks off and it was nice to be back this past week.

Plus my outdoor walk each day plus I’m doing yoga once a week plus 2-3 half-hour strength workouts each week.

It sounds like a lot but it doesn’t feel like it. I just go for a walk each day and do some other activity five days a week.

I’m really excited about taking care of my body who has been through so much. I’m still getting there but feeling stronger all the time. And more healed!

It’s definitely a long road though (this picture is appropriate!), much longer than I thought it would be.

But that’s okay. I have time. It’s the ultimate slow living lesson.

I hope you’re having a great weekend 😊

xx Fiona

PS. To find all my links in one place you can always go to fionaferris.com (And my Amazon link is affiliate, thank you if you choose to use it!)