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..

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.