A Saturday Drive in the Waikato..

Robert picked me up this morning
and off we went with a picnic lunch,
through Te Awamutu, Kihikihi and over the Waikato River at Arapuni
to Jones Landing
A perfect place.

The day was perfect.
Warm winter sun and the most beautiful sky.
Swans and shags about their own business and nobody else. Just us.

Robert would scoff if I told him, but he is a most zen person,
from years of being a solitary farmer.
He reads the sky and the clouds, and the water of river or lake.
He knows the birds and the grasses and trees.
He is a man of silence and wisdom and humour.
In company he is sometimes blunt and awkward
but on our travels together he makes me laugh and he has taught me so much...

about simplicity and order and aloneness... of leaving space and listening.
I am a novice in these things..

Clouds over Maungatautari..

This beautiful mountain is ringed by a rat proof fence.
As we drove around Maungatautari yesterday I loved to imagine the native birds on the mountain safe from introduced predators.

Do you ever feel like shouting "look everyone..look at the clouds!"
It was that sort of day today.


Like Marilyn, I could not believe how beautiful the clouds were..

Another perfect winter's day.
The sky below is my favourite..there is a harrier hawk in the sky

I took these photos from the moving car. The blue tinted sun strip across the top of the windscreen added blue to the sky. I was most surprised when I looked at the photos later.

Poetry In the City..

Today at lunchtime I walked over the river to go to the Poetry Day reading outside the library. I sat by Meliors while the various prominent members of our community read poetry to us. The sun shone and it was all lovely and all the while Meliors stitched her work of art. You can read about her art on her website ...www.meliors.net
The photos I took today : our Waikato River that flows through our city.. and Meliors..



When I crossed over the river
I heard the river say
I am the water of life you know
don't waste me all away..
Look at the clouds above me
they travel from the sea..
they carry the precious water
to the mountain..for me

I sat by the stitching woman
and her fingers stitched the sea
the thread she used was oily black
and her message was plain to me..
protect our precious oceans
our rivers and the sky
or the earth will turn to dust
as the rivers run dry

OMG What Is This!

On a Friday I check out my veges..
When one lives by oneself
ones veges can get away on one!
I've never seen anything like this before!!
Tucked in the back of my refrigerator vege box!
How did I miss that!

Pumpkin bad hair day??

UGH!

A Little Winter Dreaming...

Tomorrow is National Poetry Day.. so here's my little effort. This photo I took the other day is a bit hazy but it makes me think of Maui and his battle with the sun.



light streams through cloud

the ropes of Maui
slow the sun

Winter is the time of slowness..
slow cooker simmers on my bench

inhale the smells of comfort
hospitality and candlelight..
swirl the mulled wine

inhale the slow peace of winter

and sigh..

Winter's night..

I have decided to dedicate this bit of writing to Meliors..who is making an art work of oil spills and the colours in my photo reminds me of her work of art in progress.. (Bibliophilia- in my bloglist)




a full moon through the trees
lights my room

not a light to flood my eyes with colour
but secondhand sunlight

this is the hour of matins..
a holy time
quiet
the birds are sleeping
heads beneath their wings

the moon has fixed his stare upon the earth
unchanging

pulling oily oceans
ebb and flow

Almost Spring..

I've eaten my breakfast of comforting porridge..
rolled oats, cranberries, yoghurt and milk.
The winter sun is warm on my back.

I am reading Juliet's wondrous book
"Dancing With The Seasons"
and wondering..will I make spring the beginning of truly living the seasons...
with rituals that breathe the season
rather than follow the calendar from northern lands...

As I dangle my bookmark it is creating
shadows and fractured light on the page
a little ritual all of it's own
celebrating light...
life...

Yes! It says. Do it!

Peta Unplugged in Marrakech..

In 2008 I went travelling with my friend Joan.
Among other adventures, we spent time exploring Morocco.
I remained an extra week in Marrakech to join Peta Mathias' Culinary Adventures!

Last night was the first in a series of her TV programme,
PETA UNPLUGGED IN MARRAKECH.
For me it brought back all the memories of an extraordinary and wonderful time.
Peta's book is coming out soon too.
How lucky am I to have a DVD and a book full of memories
of the most magical time with fabulous redhead Peta and
David Horsman who took care of us all and introduced me to G&T's
all her Moroccan friends, and with
Jane and Jeff Avery, her camera crew
and fellow 'gastronomads' Rhona and Errol, Jeanne..
in a country and culture so different from my own.
Wonderful Morocco. Beautiful people.

Bluebells or Memories..

A favourite part of my walk around the lake
is through this grove of birch trees.
During the summer I could hardly hear myself think
with the noise of cicadas.
Now the trees are bare and the mood is mellow.

There is a bench to sit on.. a perfect place to sit, look at the lake, and just be.
In front of the bench there is a plaque that reads

I KNOW A PLACE WHERE BLUEBELLS GROW
This intrigues me.
I once visited a bluebell woods in Ireland with friend Nora.
It was breathtaking.
An ocean of exquisite blue amongst the trees..and oh the perfume..

I am waiting to see whether bluebells will appear here.
Or is it that someone, like me, is remembering bluebells somewhere else.

My daily doodle: Maori Language Week..

Kia ora. Kei te pehea koutou?
Hello. How are you all?

As children we drew on rangiora leaves.
In fact we probably had easier access to rangiora leaves than
to drawing paper in our home.
Glossy green on one side and white on the other
and strong enough to write on.
I succumbed and brought this leaf back from my walk.
I know. Leave only footprints. Take only photos.


He maha nga tamariki a Tane
Konga nga rakau katoa
nga tamariki a tane

Tane, God of the Forest..
Tane has many children.
All trees are Tane's children .

The Weta. This is exactly what my brother used to say when I was little!

The Marakopa Library..

This is the wonderful library at Marakopa beach,
attached to the local store.
No Dewey system here.
Room only for two maybe three people.
Just the thing while camping out at the beach.
The only librarian in sight was the very laid back cat.

The Gorgeous Weta!

I took these weta art works at The Thirsty Weta Cafe/Bar,
Otorohanga.
I had such a fear of wetas when I was a child.
I have, I think, overcome the fear
after years as a teacher encouraging children to see their beauty.
I am still glad they are not the size of a cow!

Limestone Rock At Waikawau Beach.

Marilyn.. We never saw the face on the rock!
Where was it?
I was very taken by the rock formations..
We travelled down to Marakopa and on to Awakino.
We came home up the main highway,
stopping at the Thirsty Weta in Otorohanga for a coffee.
We had a brunch there on the way down.
Bob and I shared the best toasted sandwich Bob has ever had
and he is pretty choosy!
I told Bob we didn't see the face in the rock.
Bob said to ask you... have you got the information sign
from outside the tunnel?
There was a post but no sign.

Another Face from my house..

I love this painting by Maya called
Some Audacious Thoughts.
It is beautifully painted on silk and board.
There is something disturbing about her eyes..
she is looking but not seeing.

To me she is lost in that ego mind of thoughts.
Dwelling on what has happened or what might happen.

I found I needed to place the Buddha near her
to remind me to clear my mind..
to live in the now,
but also to put me in a positive mind again.
What do you think?

Reflections on My Walk in the City..

I like reflective glass towers in the city.
(Our towers are mini towers!)
I especially like it when the reflection
distorts the architecture of other buildings..
(a page out of a my visual diary)

I took this photo while out walking yesterday.
The tree seemed to be leaning
to admire itself..

We Found the Tunnel !

We set off to find
the tunnel at Waikawau Beach.

I had been down the coast road several times
but never to find the tunnel.

It was worth the trip Marilyn.
A unique and beautiful place.

The tunnel was built by drovers

to enable them to take the cattle through to the beach.

Wonderful West Coast>>

At The Lake..

A little coot swims towards me
creating a wake

I saw the beauty twice over ..
like a magic underworld of reflection.

there was a sky above and a sky in the lake..
and Pirongia Mountain looking on.

Bliss.
"Heaven enough for me.."