Happy Cats..

My little neighbour Saraya-Grace turned one this week.

All year six year old big sister Victoria-Sophia
has waited for little sister to turn one
so 'she won't be zero anymore!'


I got busy in my studio and made a softie cat.
Victoria-Sophia saw the pattern and thought she would really like one too.
One year olds are quite happy sharing birthdays with big sisters,
so two softie cats it was.

While the family was away at work and school
I went next door and the two cats were most happy
sitting in the bougainvillea waiting for the two sisters to come home.

Down came the to rain..
so back I went and this time hid the cats under the feijoa tree.
The man across the street waved at me.
I think he wondered what on earth I was up to.

I left a note in the mailbox..


I'm happy to say everyone was happy ..girls and cats,
but I tell you, I got such a lot of fun out of the whole adventure!

How lucky am I to have lovely neighbours.

Sepia Saturday: More School Stuff..

Do you remember my Sepia Saturday post about
the harbour launch the AWHITU?
(Awhitu is pronounced  Afeetu )

Above is a photo of a school trip on the AWHITU, before 1949.
I cannot believe how many children and adults have crowded
on board for a trip on the little launch.
No lifejackets in sight.
I wonder where they were going.
By their dress I would say maybe to town, over to Onehunga or somewhere.
They don't look dressed for a beach picnic do they.

Nowadays there would be a risk analysis done during planning for a school trip.
Each child would have a lifejacket.
There would be a specific number of students/adults to suit the size of the boat.
It may well be deemed too risky.

However, I bet they had a wonderful trip
and all obviously survived or it would have been a disaster story much told.
Are we overly protective these days?


Here is another form of school transport.
This is Mr Gus Hartner's school bus.
This bus was still in use when I was at school.
Hot and airless in the summer.
Behind is one of the six little schools that were dotted around the peninsula.


The photos are from 'Heads, Harbour and Hills'
Awhitu History Book Society Inc. 1999
We who lived on the peninsula are forever grateful to
Betsy Robinson, Rachel Hawken, Wayne Aspin and Lloyd Walker,
who gathered and edited  the stories 
for this wonderful record of our history.

Intuitive art.... two more collages

Doodles with a difference.. the more i look the more i see..

I do not know what to call it..

Stained Glass Woman

bending over backwards

(Sorry Chagall..)


I have been doodling with collage lately.
I thought I would share a couple of them with you.
Doodling and collage often move me very much.
I am always surprised at what appears.

(I cannot remember who the artist is that painted the woman
looking upwards in the Woman collage. 
Collage is a strange art, using images from old magazines, calendars etc.
but absolutely absorbing.)

Think Like A Tree..

A poem by Karen I. Shragg

Think Like a Tree

Soak up the sun
Affirm life's magic
Be graceful in the wind
Feel refreshed after it rains
Grow strong without notice
Be prepared for each season
Provide shelter to strangers
Hang tough through a cold spell
Emerge renewed through the first signs of spring
Stay deeply rooted while reaching for the sky
and still enough to hear your own leaves rustling

I love the trees on the hill above the lake
near my home.
Huge macrocarpa, pines and oaks
stand like sentinels.

I love their stillness and strength and beauty.

As a child I thought trees lived forever.
I loved climbing trees and still would if I could.




Today as I walked it began to rain softly
and I took shelter under a big macrocarpa.
I leaned against the tree, waiting for the rain to stop.
I looked up at the strong branches
and felt safe
sheltering there,
alone, just me and the tree..


then I began to see I wasn't alone.
I began to examine the bark and discovered a whole community
lived there on this tree.

There were birds up above coming and going.
There were spiders and their webs tucked in the bark.
There were ants and the empty skins of last summer's cicadas
and lichens and mosses and small plants growing.



The rain stopped
and I thanked the tree for
for sheltering me
for purifying the air
for giving us fresh oxygen to breathe
for sheltering the birds
and insects and spiders
for always being there

and I went off home feeling humble and richer
for becoming aware of
Mother Tree..

A Good Day.

sometimes
the sight
of white cotton sheets



flipping and flapping
in a
spring day breeze

makes me
feel
like dancing

and the warm spring sun
on my skin
feels like
a tonic
of
pure simple goodness

and I just have to say

what a life
i live..

  and i day dream
of a
long gone
childhood
and a mother
who hung out white cotton sheets
in the breeze
with wooden pegs
and
the warm sunshine of love

Springtime down at the lake..

baby coots

and baby ducklings

twelve babies
or
one baby

it's all about families down at the lake.

Furry family pets turn into hunters
..it can be a hazardous life
down at the lake

Contemplation at the lake..

Resting on still water
one bird
solitude
and oneness


one boy
alone
one kayak
on still water

quiet
solitude
paddles dipping
ripples
of
peacefulness

all in stillness

in the stillness
of my mind
i find
myself



We have had some beautiful spring days and the lake has been a picture of stillness,
but our spring is fickle and a cold snap is on its way again.
During the weekend I planted my hanging baskets
and trimmed my griselinea hedge. Spring tasks for summer beauty.

School holidays are over and children and teachers are back in school today.
After years of teaching it still seems a little strange,
but also wonderfully free, not to be starting a new term, the final term of 2010,
the term of craziness with Christmas and the long summer break ahead.

I read in Talon's post that it is thanksgiving in Canada.
How wonderful to have thanksgiving in Autumn,
when the harvesting is done and a season of rest has arrived.
Happy Thanksgiving to all our Northern friends.

Sepia Saturday..the Big School

Last week on Sepia Saturday I told you about the little school,
Matakawau ..my first school for six months.

Today I want to show you
"The Big School"
the six little schools around the peninsula closed down
and the brand new district school opened.

This is where the rest of my schooling took place.
Click on the photo to see more detail.
This is in the village of Matakawau, Awhitu Peninsula, NZ.

(Note on the right, the tiny prefabricated building that was our high school,
opened the year my class and I were old enough to go to high school, aged thirteen.
We had one teacher, Mr Aspinall,and his wife who endeavoured without much success,
to teach me math.
Big brother Richie did his secondary schooling by correspondence, because our parents could not afford to send him to boarding school and there was no high school for him to attend.)

This is a photo of all the pupils
the day  the school opened.
I was in the junior class,aged five
and brother Richie aged 12 was in the senior class.

After the little school, this school seemed so modern and spacious and airy.
Look at the wide open windows compared to the inaccessible high windows of the little school.

The three teachers are standing in the middle row.
Miss Elizabeth Johnson, is on the left. She taught us primers.
How wonderful to have our own lovely teacher, young and full of enthusiasm.

Mr Galbraith, The Headmaster, standing in the centre,
taught my brother and the other seniors.
Miss Cooper, on the right, taught the middle school.

Notice too how many children have bare feet. I think that is a real kiwi thing.
It had nothing to do with wealth or poverty.
Probably more to do with a mild climate and free spirit.
My family was not wealthy  and I am impressed
how our mother always managed to have us dressed nicely.

Awhitu was a happy school and a good place to be, as I remember it.

Anam Cara.

my friend
you are like spring to me

remember when we were young
we searched for what it all could mean

and joyously we gave ourselves
to
the great
I Am
we thought we knew


we did not understand
to reach the wisdom we sought
there would be dark days
and sorrows
and the losing of ourselves

but now we reach

at last
the time of understanding
and we discover in
the unknowingness
and the stillness

that all along the answer was there
in our beginning


as we enter the autumn
of our lives
our friendship is like spring to me

awakening
awareness

anam cara

An early morning
spring mandala
as my friend and i sit on the
early morning deck
with a hot coffee
and watch the sun come up
with the birds

..ah
sweet life indeed

My mandala is a little out of shape..
but our spring has been a bit like that..
a bit fickle and changeable.

Just Another Morning..

i woke at the sound of bird call
and slipped out of the house
while darkness still snooped about my garden

daisies still asleep
dreaming damp dew dreams


and
there she was
goddess of light
like a tongue of fire
sliding
up over Te Aroha



a blessing
of morning
and the birds sang their chorus
a hymn of great beauty


the city was golden then

kissed
quiet

birds chanting lauds
a
sacrament
to begin another day
in the catherdal
of
the city

Lake Rotoiti, New Zealand: toemail

Lake Rotoiti, New Zealand: toemail

Spring Walk to the Supermarket..

where is this garden

riroriro sings his canon of ecstasy
and
kotare the kingfisher calls for the rain
in the clearest sky of the bluest blue

and the sun shines so bright the stars are eclipsed


where is this heavenly garden

where blossoms burst in a wonder of pink
and a flounce of white
and the bees are heavy and drunk on sweet pollen

where is this garden

of yellow and gold
that is kowhai beauty
and champagne air

where is this garden

with new born leaves of the goldest green
that appear like magic
when no one is watching

this garden is my supermarket carpark

transformed by looking
with eyes that see
while I am walking
camera in hand

I only came for a loaf of bread