DAISY JEWELS

How to make a ring out of a real daisy.
Summertime in New Zealand is an explosion of daisies in green grass. The daisies only open after sunrise, after the tree-shadows retreat from the lawn. 
Sometimes I sit for an hour, weaving the daisies into crowns, or making them into fragile rings - one for each finger.
To do this, I carefully peel the stem into two parts till they reach the spongy middle section of the daisy. I wrap the divided stem parts around my finger, then twirl them until they have looped together, to make the whole thing stay. When I wear my daisy rings I am very cautious with my hands and my movements are quite delicate. 
“One can get as much exaltation in losing oneself in a little thing as in a big thing.

It is nice to think how one can be recklessly lost in a daisy!”
— ANNE MORROW LINDBERGH

SHADOW HANDS

Making a bunny shape on the wall with shadow hands.
Moonlight shining through the curtains.
When the moon is bright enough, and it enters the bedroom through a crack in the curtains, I like to make shadow hands dance along the walls. I lay on my back staring upwards, watching dragons, turtles, and bunnies hopping among the stars. I can make my fingers long and scary too, so they stretch out over the ceiling like a reaching monster.
The best is when you have a shadow-hand partner. Then you can make whole stories together. 

WINTER WONDERS

A fresh layer of snow in the backyard.
It snows for about one week of the year in Dunedin. My father always tells me the weather forecast the night before it will snow, having gleaned the information off the tiny plastic radio he listens to as he makes his toast and honey.
During the night, all is quiet, and then comes that glorious moment of the morning: when I leap out of bed and open the curtains. The windows will be so cold they seem to suck all the heat from the room, and the view will be breathtaking: a white blanket covering the hillsides, the trees, the ferns, the barns, and the sheep. 
That week of pure winter holds the promise of so many small wonders...
Standing on crunchy ice

Crackling the ice puddles into small shards with our shoes.
This works best, not if one stomps, but if one is patient and slowly pushes out the tiny air bubbles below the thin sheet of ice.

Lucky the dog walking on a frozen pond.

Going for winter walks.
The chill air makes my cheeks turn red, and the landscape becomes kind of unusual.

digging for yams

Digging for yams in the veggie garden. When I glimpse a bunch of bright red and yellow nuggets, nestled in the soil, I feel like I am digging for treasure.

Making Chinese food with awesome ingredients

Making all manner of spicy, ginger-laden, mouth-warming dinners, taken from the pages of my trusty old cookbooks.