The Bay of Plenty.. for overseas friends

The Bay of Plenty was named by Captain Cook, when he visited there in 1769.
It is a sweeping bay of white sand beaches, sunshine and sea.

I live in the city of Hamilton.
Tauranga is about 1 1/2 hour journey away,
but first I drove to Whakatane to stay with Linda
so we two could 'do' the Tauranga Garden Festival together.

The drive to Whakatane in the spring is so lovely.
First the lush green dairy farms of the Waikato;
pockets of native bush;
the Kaimai and Rotama Ranges
and the wonderful drive past the lakes..
Rotorua, Rotoiti, Rotoma and Rotoehu.
A journey of less than three hours, depending on how many stops along the way.

I stopped for lunch in Tirau, a small town with many interesting shops and cafes.
In Rotorua I went looking for The Souk.. a new shop full of treasures from Morocco.
Rotorua is the geothermal wonder town, with bubbling hot mud pools and guysers and steam.

Whakatane is a beautiful town too, and has the active volcanic White Island not far off shore.

The drive from Whakatane to Tauranga is along the pohutukawa lined coast
through farmland and orchards of avocado and kiwi fruit.

I never tire of travelling around our beautiful little country.
Part of its charm is the variety of terrain in a very small place.

Home again..gardened out..

I've been down in the beautiful Bay of Plenty
visiting gardens big and small..

formal and neat

and natural
and peaceful..

and all the while
the sun shone
in The Bay of Plenty.

Linda and I had a lovely three days exploring gardens
and of course many different cafes too..

 
                               and  at night when we finally closed our eyes
our heads were full of flowers and topiaried shrubs and all manner of beautiful things.

 I'll share more with you tomorrow. I have lots of blogs to catch up with too!

Halfway Down the stairs..

I love the way A A Milne's poems make me round my vowels
and read them in a very English sort of way!

Halfway down the stairs
is a stair where I sit.
There isn't any other stair
 Quite like it.
 I'm not at the bottom.
I'm not at the top.
So this is the stair
Where I always stop.

Halfway up the stairs
isn't up and isn't down.
It isn't in the nursery.
It isn't in the town.
And all sorts
of funny thoughts
Run around my head.
It isn't really
Anywhere.
It's somewhere else instead.


.. I have a toy cupboard in my living room.
Small visitors remember where it is
and often surprise their grown-ups by going straight there on arrival.
It holds toys that belonged to my two once upon a time small sons..
lots of lego and lego roads
matchbox vehicles in a rather battered matchbox toy carrier
some plastic dinosaurs, farm animals,
various puzzles, playing cards, drawing things
and a couple of bottles of bubble making stuff....

Over the years many children have enjoyed my cupboard.
Small neighbours know they can come and play
and pass the one rule on
"you gotta put away what you take out!"

One day a Mum commented
"oh .. it's a boy's toy cupboard."

I'd never thought about that.

I began to think about what it is little girls play with
and one day, out shopping with my sister
I bought the little doll that now sits halfway up my stairs.
We thought she was very cute.
The funny thing is, the little girls that come give the doll a cursory look over
and go back to the cupboard.

So there she sits .. halfway up the stairs
while the little girls play making lego roads with matchbox cars.

I'll be missing from Blogland for a few days.
My Little Sister and I are going to explore the Tauranga Garden Festival.
We have lots of memories of playing house with our dolls.
Now my sister has grandchildren and we'll catch up with the latest
while in Tauranga.

I'll be taking my wee camera around the gardens of course.
Catch you later!

Look who is at my door!

Well..who is this baby princess at my door?
Victoria-Sofia's little sister is 1 now
and full of adventure.


Come in Saraya-Grace
my little neighbour princess number two..

You are so beautiful
ata ahua!

The Season of Green..

There are tiny cherry tomatoes
in my hanging baskets..

as long as I provide the water
Mother Nature does the rest.

Do I detect a tinge of redness?

Little crunchy lettuces coming on

and the beans are sending out the first tendrils.

I have the smallest vege garden these days but a little effort is greatly rewarded.

Light and Greening ...

 touch a new leaf
and
touch a miracle

the baby softness of new life
on a tree
that was bare through winter's cold..

the miracle of green
of spring

tiny aquaducts of
rising sap
water
earth
mineral

and light
the
mystery

all this on a simple walk  to the supermarket
in spring
on a  glorious sunday

A Funny Old Day....

The most powerful woman in the world,
relaxed and charming,
is visiting our little country
and our Prime Minister called her
President Clinton!
Oops.


Our city tonight has a distinct smell of gunpowder
and the night air is full of bangs and whoops and whistles
and all manner of pyrotechnics.

No, we are not at war..
it is the 5th of November
Guy Fawkes Night
and fireworks are the name of the game.
What strange festivals we have.

Don't you love the art of children.
This lovely butterfly was made for me by Joanna aged 6
school friend of the princess..
It has a lift up flap that reads beneath

To Joan...Good Luke.

Somehow it sums up the day very well.

Walking home from school..

I had a lovely afternoon
walking home from school with my six year old
neighbour princess..

Of course you are not a princess
if you don't find a frog;
this gorgeous fellow was at the lake cafe.
The princess and I always keep a look out for frogs..
 just in case.

Six year old princesses are delightful company..
we visited the rose garden and chose our favourite princess rose..
it turned out to be the rose Peace..

and we had a delicious hot chocolate at the lake cafe..

the old steam engine is a grand place for make-believe adventures..
and the princess's school uniform matched the old engine perfectly.

and the princess performed all manner of feats in the playground..

thank you
my neighbour princess
for a lovely walk home.
 Spending time with a princess is one of my favourite things to do.
It took us two hours to walk the ten minute walk home.

Clouds.. and loving messages

returning home from Te Awamutu yesterday
with my friend Kath driving,
I could see an ethereal
playful dog
in the clouds..

I wonder..
do you see him too?

My dear sister-in-law Angela
who lives on beautiful Waiheke Island
is so sad  because her beloved dog Eddy
is ill and dying..
I didn't think about this when I saw the cloud dog in the sky..
I had read about Eddy on her Facebook in the morning and when I got home last night.
and looked at the photo I remembered...

Love and hugs to you Angela and your family.
 Thinking of you darlings!
Eddy is a lucky dog to have owned such a loving person
with a big dog loving family.
XXXXXXXXXX

The Leonard Cohen Sky..

These are the clouds Marilyn and I saw in Auckland
while waiting to go into Leonard Cohen's concert
last weekend..


an extraordinary sky..
Marilyn said
'If ever we see clouds like this again..
we'll call them Leonard Cohen clouds!'

This is the beautiful modern pou
outside Vector Arena



and nikau palms against the Leonard Cohen sky.

Te Awamutu.. Rosetown NZ

Te Awamutu  means the end of the river. awa  = canoe
mutu =  ending
Canoes could navigate the Manga-o-hoi stream up to Te Awamutu, from there canoes had to be hauled overland. The stream leads into the Waipa river, which in turn joins the mighty Waikato.

November is rose time in New Zealand and
Te Awamutu is Rosetown


My two beautiful sons were both born in Te Awamutu Hospital
in the month of November

and many big bunches of roses
were given to me
to celebrate their births..

Today I met up with Josie, Janet and Kath for lunch in Te Awamutu.
Three J's and a K.
We have been special friends for more than thirty years.

We once all lived in the farming community of Te Pahu
about 15 miles from Te Awamutu.

A lovely sunny day,
after a long lunch we walked and talked our way around TA's
beautiful rose garden.
The flags fluttering on the lamp posts are for
The World Rowing Champs
taking place just now at Lake Karapiro.

What I'm Reading..

I am very drawn to mystics!

Leonard Cohen..
Hildegard of Bingen
Macrina Wiederkehr
Thomas Merton ....
so many more....
all on the journey of life

and Joy Cowley


Do you know Mrs Wishy-Washy or Greedy Cat?

Teachers and children around the world know Joy Cowley through Sunshine Books.

I met Joy in 1997.
My Annus Horribilis.
I had buried my eighteen year old son
and my husband was in prison.
It doesn't get much worse really.

I went on a weekend with Joy ..
'The Parables of Nature'
a down to earth mystic

"As we grow in our spiritual life" she said
"we reach a broader place.. and we realize religion is the map, life is the journey"

She told me to travel down to Blenheim in the south island
and she would meet me there and take me to Fish Bay, her home.

We talked about 'Anum Cara'
the beautiful book by John O'Donohue.

I never did go to Fish Bay but I'll never forget her kindness to me a stranger
and how she sent me tapes of Anum Cara because she thought I would love to hear
John O'Donohue's lilting Irish voice..

She has written so many books for children and adults and has travelled the world
and she still had time to bless me with her care and love.

I am thrilled with her memoir NAVIGATION.
Full of wisdom and insight.
I love the way she treats the past lightly and is never judgmental.

Tihei Mauriora !

Ti hei mauri ora!

I sneeze therefore I am alive!


everywhere
there are flowering things
grasses
trees
plants
all bursting out
and I am sneezing!


Oh yes!

I am alive!

what the tree said..

it is the inner flow that matters
when the sap flows
a tree is fully alive


( Tihei mauriora : is a lovely Maori proverb, often used at the beginning of a speech in Maori oratory. )

Beltane..

In the early morning on rising
I open my bedroom door and salute pin oak
that stands before me..

always the last to turn to green
he likes to be the final act

one week ago
his tiny leaves still delicate gold

I was only gone three days
to see and hear the mystic, poet sing
and
to celebrate Beltane...
this morning I open my door
to the freshest green

I am a novice
learning of the seasons in my own land..
sap rising
threshold between spring and summer
the time of
being open to sensuous expression
desire
union
consummation

Oh Aotearoa
this is not the time of death
of halloween
instead
rejoice and burst in fullness of the sensuality of this our season!
Tell the stories of lovers and love and longing...
feel the green sap rising!



Thank you to Juliet, teacher and quiet guide, for your words I call on here, your books,
your wonderful story telling and beautiful rituals of our seasons.
You are a treasure.
Thank you to Marilyn for a precious weekend of sharing and exploring. Peace .

Happy Samhain / Halloween to Northern friends!!