200gr8 !!

Happy New Year you all,

What a busy time it's been and fabulous summer weather for Christmas. I've had loads of guests - paying and not, and several late night parties with Sarah Crowe (my pseudo-daughter) who works at LOOP Aotearoa, a record making company, friends of hers and my niece Ruby - all presently Wellingtonians.

The portacom, now called the "green house" is up and running, will post a picture of that next time.

Perhaps, most notably, I've finally seen fairy terns - the rarest bird in New Zealand. They nest on the sandspit (wildlife refuge) that sits between my home and others on the secondary dune and the sea. They are on the primary dune. There are only about 14 of the birds left and they nest in 3 places...this year a pair of them are nesting in a new location, much farther south and a greater distance into the dune (away from the sea) than any scientists thought they would.

This nest is only minutes from my home and I will be helping the Department of Conservation bird wardens keep an eye on it. The birds are nearly impossible to see, even when you know there is one sitting on its "nest" in a general area. They are white and black with orange beaks so they nest in shelly patches that have white, black and orange shells. This nest has two eggs. I saw the male sitting and the female call as she flew in. They swapped places, he did some "housekeeping" which is moving shells around and turning them over then flew off for a feed in the estuary.

Even if you know where the nest is, it is nearly impossible to spot and would be so easy to step on. The nest is only a scratch in the sand. The tiny eggs are mottled so they blend in with the shell. Can you spot them in the photo? The chicks are eaten by hawks and black backed sea gulls. People are not allowed to go near them unless they are certified rangers or volunteer helpers and then only if they are in danger. Otherwise volunteers sit a distance away with telescope and binoculars and watch...noting when the adults change over and trying to keep people and predators away. There is a large "fence" put up around them - with signs saying keep out and people often ignore them.

So that's it for now. Hoping to rearrange my bedroom today, need help with moving furniture, so if you're in the area, call in!

Busy busy busy

So it's been ages since I've blogged and that is because I haven't sat at my computer much lately. I've been doing a television presenter's class in Auckland, renovating my 'portacom' and looking after my 13 year-old dog whose arthritis has turned into lumbar sacral joint disease. Plus, until this week, it's been warm and dry so there's been a lot of watering of potted plants and newly planted veggies needed.

The 'Presenter's Platform' is taught by Paulus Romijn who teaches acting and presenting. My Slovenian friend, Asya, talked me into this. She manages the NZ Film Academy, a small private film school and she wants to be on tv and in the movies. It has been a fun experience. I still cannot get used to staring at the camera. I'm much better with real people, but I think I'm getting the hang of it and we'll see if I progress to anything after class. Paulus will be referring me to an agent.

The portacom has now been replumbed and the carpets cleaned. The interior is painted and the kitchen partly redone. I have to do some tiling. Curtains are purchased and being dyed. I want to paint the outside but as it is on uneven ground, it is impossible to do alone, so my friends Tania and Alexandra may help me. Of course the good weather has disappeared for now, so who knows when this may transpire. Keep fingers crossed that it is done before Christmas!

Mally has been finding it harder and harder to get up and this week, after jumping in and out of my car a few times and then up higher into a 4X4, he couldn't move. He was staying with my friends Barbara and Matias for two nights while I was at the presenting class, so it was worse for everyone. Anyway, he is now on prednisone, an anti-inflammatory and is feeling better.

Old age sucks, whether you're a dog or a human. In the photo you see the gorgeous young women in the presenter's class...I am definitely in a different group from them now, thankfully I won't be competing for the same positions!

Nipping in the bud

Whew, where did that month go? just as well this is not a widely read blog since there are so few posts to date.

Over the month I've begun nipping my grape plants in the bud. I am determined to have grapes to eat, myself, this year. I always start off with millions and eat two or three while pruning and nipping over summer - the rest go to the birds. This year I'm actually going to read up on pruning grapes and get a few bunches.

I'm also determined not to become a hopeless frail old woman, and so have begun working out on free weights again with my buddy and personal trainer, Barbara Faust. Oh did my pecs hurt...not to mention my soon to be wee thighs.

I've had help exchange visitors from Illinois and with my friend Nora's help, we've begun rennovating the portacom, picture here and the place I lived while building my house 12 years ago. It had been a manager's cottage at the Marsden Point Oil Refinery near here and someone else's home before I had it moved on site. I recently realised that it was rusting away on the outside and moulding away on the inside thanks to various unreported leaks so the team got cracking.

Visitor Jacob is an accomplished musician and artist so he somewhat happily painted a fern leaf on the one side of the portacom (portable accomodation - a trailer sort of affair in American speak - a one bedroom with corrugated steel exterior walls.

Nora rebuilt the bathroom and Jacob's fiancee, Rachel did a lot of interior painting. They've gone off now to travel and ride horses while I continue painting penetrol and killrust on the screws in hopes of getting the exterior painted before summer.

Short and sweet, but I've made pozole, one of my favourite Mexican soups, for dinner and it is calling to me. I can only make it when I've had guests who bring me hominy from America. Hominy is the main food I haven't found here...other than Heinz dill pickles, but I've recently found some delicious Dutch pickles that will do nicely. The only cucumber type pickles otherwise availabel here are sweet gherkins. yuk. They do seem to be available in the USA too, because I remember my mother calling them jerkins (soft j sound as opposed to hard g sound) and I thought it was really funny.

I can't buy tomatillo either, but I can grow them, which reminds me I'd better get seed!

Bye for now..

Twilight Tour in Waipoua

I said good bye to the English girls after a twilight tour in the Waipoua Forest north of where I live. The Maori led tour is, after only two years in existence, rated as one of the top 80 ecotours by the Lonely Planet Guide. The Maori tour guides tell some stories and sing (an important part of their culture) songs of respect to the trees. It is a wonderful introduction to a wee bit of Maoridom for visitors who might not have had such an experience before.

We went at full moon (with occasional clouds) and it was stunning. The 2000 -4000 year old Kauri trees are even more impressive by moonlight. What I love is that in their branches is another world with over 35 species. What I hate is that nearly all of the giants were felled by early settlers.

This week I'm in Auckland at Greg's and attending some of the documentary film festival movies. "What would Jesus buy?" is an American anti-consumer comedy pointing out how the megastores (Walmart) are destroying small town America and Christmas has become a retail nightmare that bankrupts poor Americans. Not to mention has poor people working in sweatshops internationally to supply stupid goods we don't really even need.

Last week was spring equinox so the winds and weather have begun! Last week was t-shirt weather, this week hail. This is because the garden tours and competitions are beginning and the weather gods are sent to test the gardeners.

On to my work now, got deadlines to meet and documentaries to see.

Stormy - Sept 21 in New Zealand

The stormy sea outside is in competition with "my three English girls" who are baking up a storm in the kitchen for tomorrow's party. We are launching my website and they are baking cheese nibbles, sesame balls, herbed cream cheese muffins and several other vegetarian treats.

In New Zealand with holiday working permits, they are on their "O.E." (overseas experience) for 8 months travel down under. I remember so well the joy of learning about new foods, vegetarianism, baking. It is great fun for me to share with them my helpful hints from my University studies in nutrition and my years gardening!

Poor girls, yesterday I had them repeating Maori names for plants and birds as well as English names:


"Kingfisher, the beautiful blue bird is? Kotuku."

"What are the yellow, orange and red flowers with edible leaves called?"

"err, uhmm"

"Nasturtiums. Say it with me, nasturtiums. Okay, let's think, nasty errr chums! Hot colours, red and orange...nasturtiums!"

"What's that large grass like plant with the iconic symbol for a flower? Flax."

"There's one that curls," Sophie said.

"Excellent...a koru or fern frond."

"And those are cabbage trees, said Lana, I can remember them because they don't look at all like cabbage."

Emma is just glad she's not driving and she is the only one of the three that do drive. Apparently, she drives very slowly. Sophie's mother has never driven since she got her driver's license. Easy in a country with mass transport. Impossible in California or New Zealand.

Bye!

September 11

Today I'm thinking about learning to drive a digger. They are very handy around here and can do soooOOOooo much in such a short time. It is unfathomable to me how you dig to precise depths with one, but I could probably nut out moving plants, building ponds and placing rocks. Maybe that is what I'll do now that I'm a grown up baby boomer!

Out with the old

Another stranger/friend has come and gone...this was Sebastien from Belgium, a 26-year-old accountant who is travelling for several months and had come to me from South America. I think he really liked it here. He enjoyed the birdsong and the storm with high seas as well as his last day today...sunny and warm.

His project here was to take the remaining plastic off the derelict green house so we can put on the new plastic. He is calm and ordered and worked willingly, painting the battens or 2X1 boards that will hold the plastic on.

Today Sebastien left for Sydney.

I showed four local artists around my home and property today and I'd say they were pleasantly surprised! Panache was a word I heard, and they liked the wild colour and the occasional order amidst the Glorious Tangle.

In with the new...

Next week I have three young English women arriving. YAY! Before then I must compare 3 short stories by New Zealand authors, do a second course in using Outlook , plant lots of spring seeds and take a trip to Rawene for a society of authors meeting.

Greg has made a photo gallery for my website so soon I'll have pictures up for your perusal. We spent the weekend being sport nuts and watching the World Cup rugby, just for a change!

Weekly Blogger!

Here it is Sept 2nd, and I'm blogging again, from the Glorious Tangle. Since last I wrote I've attended an interesting panel discussion at the Script to Screenwriters monthly meeting, an exhibition opening sponsored by LOOP Aotearoa and worked on my website. I also sat up until 2am, freezing, as I searched my genealogy on Ancestry.com. I need info in Russia and I am determined to find out where my mother's people came from. It appears we could hail from Liverpool! Who would have thought.

The picture is from the surprise belated honeymoon Greg took me on for our second anniversary last April. I thought we were off to Wellington but we were headed to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. Oh the cocktails and warm weather. If you go there, check out Ian and Kay George's art gallery. Kay made the dress I'm wearing, including printing the fabric. My friend Nora Shayeb made my necklace.

Well, I have loads of deadlines this week including my first story for Playmarket magazine...about the controversy created in Waipu when the museum sponsored the production of James McNeish's play, The Rocking Cave.

I really must get to work now, so this is brief.

Bye for now, y'all.