Our Life

Learn the art of basic willow weaving and give your local birds a tasty treat with our beginner's project.

This week in the water cooler, we celebrate the winter solstice, go on a coop cleaning mission, watch trees walk before our eyes and take part in the great Jaffa Lump debate.

Native birds and high fashion might be odd bedfellows but not in the hillside home of a German expat and A New Zealand designer.

Rongotea dairy farmer Alan Rowe has struck a surprising little problem with the car he has owned for 47 years.

This week in the water cooler: We wage a fruit war with Lynda Hallinan over persimmons explore a handy travel photo app, and mow our support for Emirates Team New Zealand.

This week in the water cooler: we wage a war against clothing moths, try reduction wood block printing, make lavender cuttings and review The Handmaid's Tale.

Twenty-five years a journalist, Jim Kayes knows how to hook a story but when he ventures out on his rookie fishing trip  he realises hooking a fish is completely different.

This week in the water cooler: we review McLaren and Wonder Woman, avoid some nasty slips in the Waikato and put porridge to the test.

The director of the new film Pecking Order talks about the bizarre world of poultry showing, and how a brain tumour has shaped his outlook on life.

This week in the water cooler, we're using our CSI skills to search for a missing cat, eating all of the pies and are singing in the rain.

Screen Sirens reviewers Emma and Yolanta say Wonder Woman is the action movie women have been waiting for.

A three-time America’s Cup winning team member is back on a boat but in a wooden dinghy.

An Auckland chicken-restaurant chain founded on a wing and a prayer is now one of New Zealand’s fastest-growing businesses thanks to the adaptability  of its owners.

These fingerless mittens are an easy to make winter project, perfect for crochet beginners.

Journalist and art critic Anthony Byrt is doing his bit to make the world – and Northland – a better place.

This week in the water cooler: We have birds on the brain reviewing Pecking Order, get caught in a web of spidey powers, and revisit a classic with Anne with an E.

This week in the water cooler: Nadene has a flower flight of fancy, Kate is on a carrot crusade and Emma is squawking to save the birds.

Look younger, fresher and brighter with these radiance boosting tips.

This old craft is still immensely popular, and encourages a true community spirit on a Golden Bay lifestyle block.

This week in the water cooler, we explore the Resene Architecture and Design Film Festival, are on the lookout for the harlequin ladybird and make lazy granola.

An innovative 35sqm house in Raglan might be small in space but it’s big on design features.

The Off-Topic Book Club has plenty of food for thought when exploring the science of eating in the non-fiction book Gastrophysics by Oxford University's Charles Spence.

A revelation turned an experienced and successful architect away from the traditional styles in which he’d always worked towards something far more organic.

New Zealand towns and cities are crying out for more town criers. Two sisters are ringing the bell for a proud (and loud) institution.

Golden Bay writer Charlotte Squire learned a lot about life in downsizing her family into a 27sqm home

During the week Jason Price is a management consultant and efficiency expert. At the weekend he becomes a chainsaw-wielding, firewood-stacking ninja who also likes efficiency.

This week in the water cooler: Cheree gets lost in the maze of S Town, Emma strolls along the prom, Milla gets kinetic and Nadene has a full plate.

Creating your own human nest? Landscape architect Sara Gerard has some tips on how to survive the renovation process, plus some tree house inspiration.

Renowned architect Graeme North  discusses the benefits of natural homes with Nadene Hall.

Old methods of using local natural materials are still some of the greenest building options around.

This week in the water cooler: we scream like a chook, watch divine TV and gaze in awe at mighty Mt Ruapehu.

There are more options than ever for heating your home, but how do you work out which one will work in your space?

Force yourself to eat a certain way and you will likely fail. try giving yourself a little wiggle room instead.

In the water cooler this week: Cheree's explores her old stomping ground, Emma is in Denial and Yolanta campaigns to see New Zealand back on Topp.