What a great party

For the last six weeks New Zealand has enjoyed being the host at the Rugby World Cup. And of coursse it was even better when, after failing to win every time since 1987, this year was an All Black triumph. We hope the visitors take home some of the memories of a huge orchestrated Opening Ceremony, exciting matches, huge street parties and even larger parades after the finals. And we also hope a lot of kiwis send their new overseas friends - and old friends who couldnt be here for the party - a kiwi gift for Christmas. Mailing dates are now on the website. http://bit.ly/ct6pAY

Creative artisans

There are so many creative New Zealanders running successful small businesses. Many are highly qualified but choose to work from home and sell locally so that they can more easily juggle the responsibilities of family life at the same time. 

Justine is a mother of two, an accountant and now an expert in using essential oils. Her company Be True produces natural soy candles, brilliant face oil and baby oil all handmade with the highest quality natural ingredients. The soy wax is melted and then cooled to an exact temperature before the mixture of essential oils is added, and then again, another exact temperature has to be reached before the wax is poured into the moulds - with a very steady hand.

The result is a gently perfumed, long lasting and environmentally friendly candles.

Many of our gifts are made by clever craftsmen and women. Often they have fallen into their product because they wanted products which had the best, least damaging effect. Many of them rival the expensive internationally-marketed top-of-the-range products and by comparison are far better value. A few are featured this month

One last piece of news from last month's blog – Happy Feet is still at Wellington Zoo, recovering well after a lot of operations to remove all the junk in his stomach. It is hoped he will be returned to the Antarctic waters where these Emperor Penguins live by boat once the weather is suitable for the boats to get there.

Jo Seagar speed cooking

Some people missed this link. Here it is now. The fun of cooking

I am sure there are a few who enjoy watching the expert television cooks - Annabel Langbein, Nigella, Jo Seagar, Jaime Oliver etc. Even if  "mmmmm, it's perfect" is a bit tiresome when you know it probably won't be when you cook it.

Jo Seagar, who latest book is "It's Easier Than You Think", has a great sense of humour. Not everything goes perfectly....have a look

We now have T shirts on Kiwigiftsonline

Even Grannies and Aunts can give T shirts. Especially when Kiwigiftsonline will swap them for a different size if they are the wrong size.

T shirts - often those sold in New Zealand as 'New Zealand T Shirts' are made in China, Indonesian, Thailand, Madagascar and goodness knows where. Ours are made in New Zealand.

I sourcing our T shirts, I learnt a lot. Surely even a T shirts factory must, in some small way, help the New Zealand economy and employment better than using an overseas factory. But there is quite a lot more to it all. The few companies in New Zealand making T shirts are Survivors, and they are survivors because they make really good quality products and use the best material.

100% cotton from sustainable sources (like the one above), kids' T shirts in merino - soft thin and magnificent to wear. Or the best kept secret for winter warmth - thermadry. We are anticipating that Auntie may be buying for herself, not just her relations. More T shirts will be coming online in the next few months.

Keep looking
Dione
Kiwigiftsonline.co.nz

Up and away

Balloons over Waikato is a festival which takes place each year. This year it was at the beginning of April. Each morning the 31 balloons entered are inflated at Innes Common, Hamilton soon after dawn. Fantastic sight.

The first hot air balloon which carried passengers was launched in Septemebr 1783. The passengers were a duck, a sheep and a rooster. Within two month the first manned untethered balloon ride was made. The heat was generated by a fire of straw, kindling and rotton meat: although the balloon finally caught on fire the pilot had achieved his aim. Balloons were used in warfare from 1874 to 1945 as trasnfport, surveying and communication. Their biggest advantage was that they made no noise.

The altitude record for a hot air balloon is 65,000 feet set by Per Lindstrand in 1988. He was also the first to fly the Pacific when he flew with Richard Branson from Japan to Canada in 1991, at times reaching speeds of 245mph.

"There's something in a flying horse,
There's something in a huge balloon" - Williams Wordsworth in 'Peter Bell'

We will work on the flying horse another time.

Meanwhile Easter if not far away. Sending Easter Eggs by mail in dodgy as they can so easily break. But these Queen Anne Easter Eggs are less fragile. They are filled with dense delicious marshmallow and a big enough for the hungriest appetite.

Enjoy Easter.

Dione
Kiwigiftsonline