Sometimes we all like a little music while we’re out and about, and not just through your earphones.  This Card Speaker by IDEA International is no bigger than a credit card and as thick as a pack of chewing gum.

It comes in either black or silver, with a mirror-polished back, and includes a protective carrying case, a 3.5 mm connection plug, and a USB battery charge cable. The speaker has an operating time of approximately five hours on a two-hour charge.  You can buy it right here for NZ$105 and they ship all over, but you need to email them for a shipping price.

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I can’t tell you much about this house as I don’t speak spanish and the website is well..spanish.   It is in Gandario, Galicia, Spain and the architect is Carlos Quintáns.  It’s a stunningly simple home blending the new form with old stone – striking and visible from inside the home.  In one of the photos, I love how the wooden floor vents are not in metal, but are seamless with the wooden flooring.  Of course the glass across the entire front is always a winner for me, and check out the view!

via [Materialicious]

Another planter I like is this Nature Planter by Design Night.  The shape reminds me of a Lotus flower and I can just imagine a messy lot of Ranunculus spilling out of the holes….perfect for an entrance way.  The pity is it’s super pricey at US$375 (NZ$530) – add shipping down-under and you may as well buy a return ticket to the States!  Now someone just needs to make a knock-off plastic version for $24.95 from the Plastic Store (am I allowed to say that?).

via [oh joy]

My sister emailed the image of this pool and I had to share it with y’all.  First, even having a back yard like that would be awesome..secondly, being able to afford the pool…even better!

More and more we are wanting an eco friendly approach to our living environment, and this pool is just the thing if you want something natural.  This Biotop pool in Chadd’s Ford, PA in the USA has separate water gardens, and nutrient friendly plants keeping the pool clean and chemical free.   These pools are self-cleaning mini environments that rely on plants from their “regeneration zones,” or water gardens/ponds, to filter impurities and excess nutrients back into the swimming area.   Skimmers and pumps circulate the water through the zones, and apparently you get all this for not much more than a regular swimming pool.  For more information on the pool above, click here. Can’t say I like the idea of frogs and dragonflies close by while I try to relax in the pool!

I have always been a fan of the Bullet Planters, but these are even better.  Pad in Los Angeles are behind these Pods Planters which were only unveiled at the Dwell On Design show in Los Angeles last month.   You can buy them here for NZ$238 each(ouch) and they ship internationally – just email for prices.  They come in six colours, with stands in two heights and can be used indoors or out as they are aluminium with an exterior grade powder-coated finish.  I would love a colourful set of five for herbs but the cost would blow my mind….will have to stick to the packaged supermarket herbs for now.

via [Apartment Therapy]

I love receiving circulars in the mail.  When we moved into our rental the first thing I did was remove the ‘No circulars’ sign on the mailbox.  While browsing through one I spied the company Cedarlands.  Based in Auckland, NZ, they make and distribute a great range of sheds, cabins, carports and even greenhouses. What caught my eye was the modern carport, as many NZ homes have little or no garaging. Wouldn’t these look great with a modern reno and keep all the Auckland rain off you!  The company does not have a website (what the…!!) but here is a link to contact them and browse through a few images of what they have available. 

Do you need to add an extra room without renovating, or a little temporary home for the bach site?  Based in Auckland, NZ, Mobile Habitats have a full range of portable accommodation solutions, with some offering kitchen and bathroom facilities.  Because they are portable, you do not need a permit, with prices starting at about $10k to purchase. Or if you only need a temporary space solution, they even rent them starting at NZ$58 per week. Go take a look at their website for more info…they come in cool colours and are super mod looking.

If you think birds need a front ‘porch’ light, then this is the birdhouse for you.  The solar-powered birdhouse is made by OOOMS, Dutch designers of products like the weird Twig USB drive.  A solar panel on the roof charges the small interior battery during the day and then at night the perch lights up….cool!  This is also clever as bugs are drawn to light, so they can catch dinner while sitting at their ‘front door’….even cooler! They are sold at Charles & Marie (sold out when I checked), but you can find them for sale at the OOOMS website as well – NZ$165 plus shipping and they ship internationally.  Totally think it’s a must have!

via [NotCot]

Running, or Balance bikes have become quite popular and I spy them in quite a few parks these days. Master Four and 3/4 is quite disappointed he never got one – as now he’s riding a two-wheeler, it’s not a requirement.  Miss 2mths Old will be getting a Wishbone when it’s her turn though, as they teach kids to balance before the peddles arrive!  I watched a friends child on one and he had never ridden a two wheel bike with peddles….climbed onto Master Fours, and just rode away!

The Wishbone Bike is clever in that the wooden bike starts as a tricycle, converts to a 2-wheel running or balance bike and then the frame is flipped to make a running bike large enough for kids up to about 5 years. So it lasts a good while.  They are NZ made and are available in many countries.  See here for stockists. 

This has been in my ‘Must Blog About’ folder since Taga won the Eurobike award in 2008.  It would have to be my ultimate bike for my two kids and me.  Good for the Zoo, good for shopping, good for exercising with them, good for our trips to the bakery and beach.  It converts from stroller, to bike for up to two kids, to caravan for the shopping and/or kids.  I so want one, but they don’t sell them here, only Europe and the UK. Go take a look at their gallery for more cool pics, and here for the many different options (some not avaliable yet)…..it’s my dream bike! 

Master 4 & 3/4 loves to use my notebook when doing his online reading games but he sometimes likes his meals while playing which doesn’t make mummy happy as the crumbs always end up very near or on the keyboard;  worse, he also wants his drink as well!  So, I want this soo bad. The Mini Flexible Roll Up Keyboard has the coolest features perfect for little hands…it rolls up…you can spill a drink on it…it’s dust/crumb proof…and connects via USB.  You can buy it here for NZ$23.00 and they ship worldwide.

via [Like Cool]

Mercedes now have gone into the luxury bicycle market with a few different bikes, but this one caught my eye as I love bikes that fold up?  Don’t know why…just think it’s clever I suppose.  Anyway this baby has two folding options with a carry bag, it has a carrier (luggage rack), dual suspension…and best of all…gears – yay! – so you can make it up the hills.  It comes in silver or white and costs EU$1700, which is about NZ$3700. Not bad if you think most high end mountain bikes cost that.  Will keep you posted if you can buy it down-under.

via [gizmag]

A navigation system is a bit of a treat, so we don’t have one yet. But my Auckland City Map Guide is so tattered and missing new roads and motorways, that it might be time we upgraded to a GPS.  If I should be so lucky, it would be the girly White Pearl that TomTom has just released.  It comes with maps for 42 European countries and is for sale for £179.99.  This does tell me that it’s not available in NZ, but will keep you posted if I can hunt one down.  

via [The Style Files]

Kathryn posted about the Carrie Crochet bicycle basket a while back and now I have discovered it at The Container Store for so much cheaper!  Only US$25, about NZ$40.  The Container Store is like heaven for the obsessive compulsive tidiers and organisers out there.  Imagine Howards Storage World, but the size of a large supermarket!  While living in Houston it was a regular shopping stop for me.

I discovered some more helmets out there for adults and kids by Nutcase.   I always keep an eye out for cool helmets, as Master Four will need a bigger size next year for his big boy bike!  His favourite is the Caution Helmet, which is from the Little Nutty range.  The company launched in the US in 2005 and the range is now sold in Canada, Europe, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.   You can purchase online from the Australian site and they ship to NZ, so go take a look at their range here.

Ok, this guy is handsome and handy in the garden….what a catch!  My sister Kathryn use to know him when he lived in Queensland in the ole days, and yes, she confirmed, he’s handsome…oh and really nice too. Anyway to the punchline. Other than having a great book selection, tv shows, outdoor furniture range, an award winning landscape company etc etc (see here for more), Jamie now has a new paint range through Porters Paints.  Contact your local Porters for info on his paint range.

via [Real Living]

After I purchased my first colourful striped laptop sleeve from BUILT, it disappeared.  I discovered my husband had coveted it for his laptop and so left me wanting…..Now they have some cool new items for us to ooh and aah over in cool colours, shapes and cuts.  I love the look of the new bottle totes, the diaper (nappy) bags; which of course I need – and the new bumper laptop sleeve.  Go take a look at their range here.  You can shop online but they ship only within the US.  If you do a google search though, you will find a few stores that sell down-under.  

I still love finding bird houses that aren’t the norm and these from Modern Birdhouses by Weiler are another great collection.  There are three different roof styles and each would sit perfectly in a garden with a matching modern home.  At US$195 they are quite expensive, but perhaps if you are buying just one it mightn’t matter. However, I still want a row along my fence line one day so maybe it’s something I will have to make.  Or find myself a handyman to build something similar.  For more info on where to get them and the sizes, click here.  

I love a good gallery site, one that’s easy to use, has large photos and you can quickly update and add your own pics of anything architectural, housey, outdoorsey, etc.  At Houzz.com it’s a collection of the interior and exterior of places……have a browse over it – the site is clever, in that my thousands of inspirational home photos clogging my hard-drive can now be stored here, so I can access them when I am without my notebook. Others can add them to their gallery and we can all share the eye candy of all those lovely places in the world. Free to join, you can tag and make notes, and you can even subscribe to their RSS feed.

We use to have hens as kids.  Mum would buy old battery hens, drive them back home in a huge refrigerator box and they roamed all over our little farm.  Then it was time to put them in what we called the ‘hen run’ (which by the way was about the same size as half a tennis court). They also had a large coop, which Mum use to shovel out regularly and re-lay fresh sawdust that Dad kept from the wood heap. The Cocorico coop here is more for the small yard owner who still wants a few chickens, or bantams (we had those too;  oh, and baby chickens!).   Where was I… oh yes…I have to say, our hens wouldn’t have liked such a small ‘hen house’ – and where do you begin with the cleaning!

I have no idea where to get one, but take a look here at more pics.  All very mod and cool!

via [Dwell]