Hello, my dear Frankies! Spring is properly here! We’ve had some beautiful sunny days this week - and a few pretty awful ones too, but I suppose that’s spring for you. You probably know by now that some of my favourite stories are about locals building lives that really suit them. Changing careers, trying something new, following a cool business idea, and finding a way to make work, family and fun all fit together! So I loved chatting with Amy Melville this week. She’s Head of Property at...
9 days ago • 9 min read
Hello, my dear Frankies! 🌼 It’s September! Spring! And all the beautiful things that come with it ♥ Although terrifyingly, we’re also already two-thirds of the way through the year! September also brings International Literacy Day on 8 September, and here’s a statistic that really stopped me in my tracks: around one in four New Zealand adults aged 16–65 have low literacy proficiency. Because think about how much reading and writing sneaks into our everyday lives. Filling in forms. Applying...
16 days ago • 8 min read
Hello, my dear Frankies! I’ll be the first to admit, I can walk around with my rose-tinted glasses on sometimes. Not in a bad way, I hope! But I think it’s easy to miss just how much hard work is happening quietly around us, every single day, by people who are trying to make things better. And that’s one of the reasons I love getting to know more of our local legends and community groups. Like Waiuku Colony CATS Rescue. These amazing volunteers do so much for abandoned, injured, stray and...
23 days ago • 10 min read
Hello, my dear Frankies! 🌸 Is it just me, or is it starting to feel a tiny bit like spring?! It’s really not that cold, the sun keeps making an appearance, and our weekly events list is slowly starting to fill up again…I’m taking all of that as a very good sign of spring. ☀️ And apparently we’re heading into spring feeling very well and wholesome here in Franklin 😂 This week we’re celebrating with Michelle Keenan, whose beautiful Pilates and yoga studio in Waiuku is turning ONE! 🎉 I’m...
30 days ago • 7 min read
Hello, my dear Frankies! I’m back in Franklin after our trip, and I’m SO excited to get out and visit all our favourite places again ♥ And it feels like we’ve come home at exactly the right time because there is so much happening! Winter can sometimes feel loooong and never-ending, so I love that suddenly there are all these little reasons to get out of the house and do something super fun. This week alone there’s coffee cupping, wine pairing nights, cupcake bouquet decorating, origami...
about 1 month ago • 8 min read
Hello, my dear Frankies! Don’t you just love all the gorgeous little corners we have tucked away in Franklin?! Just when you think you know all the good spots, you stumble across somewhere new and different. And Altered State Gallery is one of those places! Every time I visit, it feels like I’ve wandered straight into the beautiful, curious, wildly creative mind of its owner and artist, Eric. So this week’s feature is mostly a gorgeous little photo wander through some of the fun, weird,...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Hello, my dear Frankies! 💜 OK, here’s something else I love about Franklin: you can know someone as Deb from the gym, Jess from the local coffee shop, or Fi, one of the mums from your kid’s soccer team, and completely forget that they also happen to be running brilliant, successful businesses. This week, that person is Chrystal! I’ve known Chrystal for a few years now, and when we’re sweating it out at the gym, comparing running plans or swapping favourite recipes, it’s easy to forget that...
about 2 months ago • 10 min read
Hello, my dear Frankies! Isn’t it incredible how many creative people we have living right here in Franklin? I’m constantly amazed that I can have lived here for so long, and even grown up here, and still discover brilliant new artists, singers, authors, photographers and makers almost every week. This week’s feature is on Waiuku mystery writer Naomi Kuttner, whose books are being read all around the world and have received tens of thousands of ratings on Goodreads. I’ve just finished the...
about 2 months ago • 9 min read
Hello, my dear Frankies! One of my favourite kinds of people are the ones who are so ridiculously passionate about something, no matter how random it seems, that they somehow make you fall in love with it too, just by listening to them talk. This week's Frankie Feature is exactly one of those people! Meet Kathy Chase, Franklin's resident fascia geek! I promise, by the end of her story you'll not only know what fascia is, but you'll probably be wondering if it's been the cause of those...
2 months ago • 7 min read