The papers..

A cup of tea
and the puzzles in the paper
in the early morning

sometimes I spend more time doing the puzzles
than I do reading the paper..

skim reading is what I do.
I skip what I don't need to know these days
and pour over what enlightens me..
book reviews
interviews of interesting persons
arts
science...

and then do the puzzles


These days of waiting, the news is focused on the Pike River Mine.
The waiting ..
so hard and so frustrating
for the families
and the rescue team.

A Rose Labyrinth..

I've discovered something lovely at the rose garden by the lake.
I can walk it like a labyrinth.
It is planted out in wide circles.
Every bed has a name post for the rose growing in it,
some facing clockwise and some counter-clockwise.

Walking a labyrinth is an ancient prayer form, a meditation.
In the early morning I have the rose garden all to myself.
I walk counter-clockwise to walk the direction of the sun.. source of all life.

As I walk I try to listen and keep my noisy ego voice quiet.
I hear the birds
and the hum of a waking city.
The names of the roses bring people to my mind..


Chicago Peace .. I think of Penny
General MacArthur.. brought Kitty Howard to mind !
News... I think of the miners down south
Rose of Tralee.. I think of my mother, my grandmother and all the strong women
who are my ancestors..

and so many more I cannot recall just now.
A blessing and gratitude I send off for the one in my thoughts.

it has become a beautiful way to walk.

and the roses in the middle
where I finish my labyrinth walk under the round arbour, are
Peace..

Peace for the Earth
I can wend my way back to where I began.. if the urge takes me
and notice the rose names that show walking clockwise.

If Beltane / October  was the season of greening and sap rise..
November now is the season of flowering and sending forth intoxicating scent.
The cabbage tree flowers along with jasmine, roses and other flowering trees and shrubs
are almost overpowering right now.. but wonderful and delightful.
Ahh-tish-oo!!!


"As we get older, the world becomes more beautiful.
We might not discover the answers to the great questions of life,
but the questions themselves have disappeared and there is an acceptance of life
that verges on contentment...
We know there is inherent goodness in everything
and we enjoy the present moment more..."
Joy Cowley

A Garden for Ann...a sacred space

I had such a special morning today.
I was invited to my favourite school
for the blessing of a memory garden.
Ann, loved Deputy Principal and dear friend died of cancer earlier this year
and the school has built a special garden of remembrance.

I felt very honoured to be part of the powhiri and blessing.
There is always a special warmth and aroha about this school.

Just look at Whaia Mihi, a loved semi-retired teacher, with the children.
 It is six years since I left this school and retired from teaching.
The children I knew have moved on, but the spirit of the school is the same.
When I arrived Mihi grabbed my arm and said
"we're not manuhiri (visitors), we don't have to be welcomed on"
and we snuck in the back and sat with the children and staff.

The garden includes giant chess
and a zen sandpit..
a quiet garden with beautiful trees that have grown so big since I began teaching
at the school on Foundation Day 1988.

In a quiet corner there is a special sculpture to honour Ann.
The koru patterns represent nurturing and aroha and learning,
and the school motto
"Give them wings that they may fly"
It was such a happy morning.
Kevin and Ann created a very special school and my years there were very special.

The men in the mine were remembered during the blessing too.
We all feel such sadness for the families waiting.
Our country is small with a population of 4 million .
At times like this we feel very connected.

My climbing beans ..

' The same stream of life
that runs through the world
runs through my veins night and day
and dances in rhythmic measure.

It is the same life that shoots joy
through the dust of the Earth..
into the numberless blades of grass
and breaks into tumultuous waves of flowers..'
Tagore

The older I grow the more I am in awe of life on this planet.

Just look at my beans growing, up up the bean poles,
all travelling in the same direction.
Counter clockwise.

Is this to do with the coriolis effect?
You know..how the water goes counter clock-wise down our southern hemisphere plugholes!
It all astonishes me.

I read it could be the growing tip of the plant following the path of the sun.
Now how amazing is that.

PS.  What I'm wondering .. do vines travel in a clockwise movement in the northern hemishere?

families waiting for the rescue at the mine...in the papers..on tv..

 a mother's face
waiting for news of her son...

hope
sits
tight bundled
in my chest

shock

i have a new name
sadness
sadness
becomes who i am

washes over
my physical
self
sadness
and
fear
for what may unfurl

hope

 sits tight bundled
within me

Sepia Saturday 50.. thinking of Miners

Today, with the news last night that miners are trapped after an explosion in a mine
on the West Coast of the South Island,
I am thinking of miners.

These are postcards I bought when visiting Blaenavon Coalmine in Wales, UK.
Not so long ago a working mine, it is now open to visitors.
A guide who once worked the mine,  decked us out in hard hats and headlamps,
and took us down to experience being deep under the ground in the heavy dark,
and shared his stories of being a coal miner.
How I admire the men who go down to do this dangerous and difficult work.

My dad worked as a young lad in a coalmine in Lancashire.
Dad had trouble with his lungs and it was his family doctor that encouraged him to emigrate.
At the age of nineteen he came to New Zealand.

As a child I never tired of hearing his stories of his time down the mine.
My favourite story was about the pit ponies.
I always felt so sad for the poor little ponies that spent their lives in the dark.

Deep down Blaenavon mine we saw the stalls where the ponies were kept when not working,
their names above their stalls. The ponies have their eyes covered in the photo to protect them from the camera's flash.

We were told laws were made in later times  (I think in the 60's but could be wrong)
that gave ponies the right to holidays the same as the miners.
 I was so happy to hear this. I could imagine the ponies frolicking about in the sunshine and green fields.
Their eyes were bandaged at first and slowly adjusted to help their eyes cope with the light.

Today the coalminers trapped in a mine on the West Coast
are in our thoughts and prayers.
May they be safe...


How glad I am at least that our miners are equipped personally with emergency gear.. access to oxygen ..
(this lasts only one hour however)
and there are places of safety throughout the mine, but we do not know how they are.
Be safe Kiwi Miners... be safe..

A favourite song of mine is Working Man sung by Irish singer Kathy Durkin. I bought her CD while visiting Arigna Coalmine in Roscommon, Ireland. I could not find Kathy singing online but I found this on You Tube..Rita MacNeil..

Thinking of the men trapped in the mine on the West Coast of the South Island tonight.. thinking of their families..
keep them safe
I found this version of David's ancient song..  for the miners and the families.. and the rescuers at work ..

it's still Te hei Mauri ora.. around here!

Walking around the lake now
is an assault on my senses..

the cabbage trees are in full flower
and the heady scent
is intoxicating
in the early morning

plants like the jasmine
add to the
cocktail of perfume

and roses are blooming in private gardens
and in the lake rose garden..

November
is full of the first flush of flowers
and I'm still full of lovely sneezes!

News Flash
Prayers tonight for the thirty + men trapped in a mine on the West Coast of the South Island NZ..
terrible breaking news just come through.. a big explosion deep in the mine.

the words of the ancient song of David are singing in my head..

I lift up my eyes to the mountain
when will help come to me..

may they be safe

on waking this morning..

i
wake

first light
birds singing

half dreaming still
of seawater
and velvet ocean swells

i
open my eyes

truly
there are
goldfish
in my water glass

one has escaped
swimming free

come on
he says
it's easy to escape
it's so wonderful out here..

a spectral figure
white
lying
still
surreal

i rub my eyes
am i still dreaming?

it's just
a Kleenex box
of
tissues
with goldfish

one crumpled tissue

and an empty glass

I love this person!

Travelling a little South..

today
I travelled
south
alone

 with a list 
 
a gift to buy for a happy birthday in london 

flowers for a cemetery
for a birthday that should've been


a cousin to visit whose family two days ago
 braced themselves for a final goodbye
but miracles happily happen

a lunch with a special friend 

and while I travelled
the clouds
made art in the sky
white feathery
watercolour art
high icy smudges
and fluffy gentleness

the road south is less travelled
and I had all the time in the world
to notice
the clouds
the fold of the hills
the horizon line
the green
the blue 
...
...

my friend Janet
took me to a small cafe
The Secret Garden..
a small courtyard with a square of sky
greens and blues
strawberry muffins
milky lattes
and friendship
sweet


and all the while
the arty sky
continued the exhibition
of light and vapour
ethereal
white and blue

i have lots of sewing to do and Christmassy tasks to complete so i may not get to write on your posts for a while.. it isn't that i have forgotten you but time has a way of slipping by when i start looking at the magic things you write.. and another day goes by and my driveway is still unswept my windows uncleaned and my gifts are still unsewn..

i will be here still
just a little unseen

Sweet grasses..

we mow our lawns
and keep them trim and tidy


secretly
I rejoice
when I come across a springtime lawn
disgracefully
flouncing the rules
and
gorgeously
blossoming into grass flowers and seedheads
that look like ballerinas

nothing is as beautiful
as spring grass
fresh and soft

and the child within
would  lie on her back in the grass
 look up into the sun dappled leaves of the springtime trees
and
remember the peacefulness of cows
munching
long tongues wrapped around soft grass

then

roll down the hill
in the softness


ah well

I'd better get off home
and mow my lawn

A Little bit French in Greerton Tauranga.

If you should find yourself in Tauranga
in the need of some sustenance..
go and have a hot chocolate in Le Chat Noir..
in the village of Greerton.

Freddy the owner is from France..
he told us he arrived in NZ with his kiwi partner, two backpacks,
one surfboard and  one baby.. who is now eight!
We are glad you came Freddie and glad you stayed and opened
your French Creperie.

Linda and I had breakfast there one morning..
lovely savoury crepes and French toast with in season berries..yum yum!
Great coffee and a hot chocolate to die for.

un peu francais.. in Greerton. Parfait!

Woodcarver from Bethlehem, Tauranga.

Kevin McCardell was once a policeman
who took up woodcarving
as part of his rehabilitation
after a serious assault while on duty.


Wood carving has become his life work
and what he creates from native kauri is remarkable.

Here he is working on an old loved and much worn straw hat
a widow has asked him to replicate.

Extraordinary art!

A few scrappy pics of the Garden Festival..

A few more glimpses of gardens we visited..