Kinfolk Gathering: Freshen Up.

Home is the nicest word there is. 

- Laura Ingalls Wilder

I'm really excited for the next Kinfolk gathering, all about home preparation and freshening. We'll be making natural cleaning products, lavender sachets, hand scrubs and combining scents to keep your home smelling beautiful. As we head in to winter I love to use candles to create a warm and relaxing atmosphere in my home, so I'm hoping to incorporate them into the gathering, too. 

Tickets go on sale today, and space is limited so get in quick if you're keen to come! This event is going to be held in Featherston (at the very cute looking and sounding Kiwi Hall) so all the more easy for those of you in Wellington and the wider area to attend. If you don't drive, the train can get you there and back pretty easily and you could always brunch before hand and then stroll over. For those of you a little further afar, the Wairarapa makes an excellent day trip. We're partnering with Six Barrel Soda Co and either sipping on their soda while you work or taking away a little sample bottle is just another of many reasons to come and join us. All the details are below, I hope to see you there!

Location - Kiwi Hall, Birdwood St, Featherston

Date - Sunday, 26th May

Time - 1:30pm - 4:30pm

Tickets available here. 

Photos above by Michael Graydon

Te Waipounamu

Last Wednesday we returned home from our almost 3 week trip around the South Island with our visiting Canadian family, a bit tired and laden with treats (cheese, fudge, rose petal mint tea, cider and the like) from the various farmers markets and artisans visited along the way. Someone commented on one of my Instagram photos that New Zealand is a landscape miracle, which really is true. I'm so glad we decided to do it as a road trip and driving through the alps or passing by seal colonies on the Kaikoura coast with snowy mountains to the right of us will be pretty enduring memories. We are lucky people in this little island country of ours.

I've taken approximately a million photos, so I'll take my time posting them on here along with a heads up on some of the favourite places we visited. For now, I'm so happy to be back in my own bed and getting back into a bit of a routine. There's also our Kinfolk Flower Potluck coming up this Friday so be  sure to get your tickets if you haven't already!

Flower Potluck: A New Zealand Kinfolk Gathering

Those of you familiar with Kinfolk Magazine will likely be familiar with the dinners they have been holding throughout the US and now further abroad. The Kinfolk manifesto celebrates small gatherings, the sharing of food and a balanced, intentional lifestyle. This year they have moved into once monthly gatherings based around a theme or the learning of a new skill such as baking, making home cleaning products, beekeeping and outdoor cooking. I have loved the magazine since it started and always wished to attend one of their dinners so I am so excited to let you know that Richard and I will be representing Kinfolk here in New Zealand!

Our first gathering will be a Flower Potluck at my dad's vineyard here in Hawkes Bay on May 3rd, where we will eat delicious platters of local cheeses, breads, preserves and dukkah as well as take part in a wine tasting. Autumnal flowers will be on hand but we also ask that the guests bring blooms and foliage of their own to share, just like a traditional potluck dinner, and we will learn to make bouquets together. If you'd like to come along, you can find more information and purchase your tickets here. Spaces are limited to 20 so please buy your tickets soon if you would like to come.

While this and possibly a couple of the other gatherings will take place in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand is full of clever people that I would love to both share a meal with and show off so the plan is to spread the events around the country to ensure as many people can attend as possible.