I was born in New Zealand, as was my Dad. My Mom was Canadian and we moved to Canada when I was 2. Over the years, it was really exciting to exchange gifts at Christmas. In those days, we had to have the packages in the mail by September or early October. Mom always had great fun picking out the latest toys to send to the cousins. One year, all the girls were given Barbie-type dolls with outlandishly coloured hair! With 4 kids in our family, the Christmas tree had many packages underneath, sent from NZ and from Ontario. The desire to peek was great but we (or I) held out until the great unwrapping began on Christmas morning. One thing we often received from NZ were objects made to display the many types of wood that came from NZ trees. When I visited in 2007, I bought this ruler, as mine had been lost over the years. The other objects were sent to us years ago. When I started to think of patterns for this week's theme, these came to mind. If things are not quite straight, please blame my cat Maui! :-)
I really enjoy the weekly theme because it prompts me to look for different things and helps me zero in on new aspects of my life.
@bdb3471 I haven't been to South Island yet but I hope to get there on my next visit there. My first trip back didn't happen until I retired so I have a lot still to explore.
awesome story and pic to go with it. makes we want to visit nz. it's so hard when families are divided like that but great that you have such fond memories
