Wellington Arts Festival and swimming in the river

So much has happened since last I blogged - and a couple of people have actually checked in and been disappointed there was nothing new, so here is something new!

Every year, just at the time my figs ripen, Wellington hosts the International Festival of the Arts. This year I went, despite the figs, and had a fantastic time. My nieces Mia and Mae, nephew Baly and I went to one of the BEST concerts of our combined lives - The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.

The whole concept may seem an oxymoron to you, but it is not. If you don't believe me, google Ukulele orchestra of Great Britain and watch some of their videos. Excellent musicans and comics, wonderful voices and consummate performances! That's them in the first picture and the second is The Ukes Of Hazard who were busking. Not nearly as good as the Brits, but having fun anyway.

Wellington is a wonderful city and after the concert Mia and I went to another concert - Lawrence of Arabia (not his real name) and another band called Conan (the poor guy's real name, apparently). Conan's group was particularly unusual with funny pointy sleeved shirts and lots of high pitched singing. My precious pseudo-daughter Sarah who lived here for some years and now works with LOOP Aotearoa recording company was there with friend Rachel, Will Rickett and other local musos were there and it was a wonderful Wellington night. Rachel, Sarah and I went out for kebabs and then home about 2am.

A dinner party the next night brought together some of my best friends for a political discussion about power and the colour of one's skin, and another 2am night.

Sunday Liz, Milu and I went to see the Shen Wei dancers from New York who were surreal and other worldly as well as amazing dancers in a very unusual way. Their choreographer, we read, is a film maker, set designer and painter and that was apparent in the staging of the performance and costuming.

Back to Waipu for the end of summer and it is hot and beautiful, the sea and river at its warmest and parties about everywhere. Last Sunday, for example, was a breakfast BBQ (no, not meusli on the barbie, but sausages) and swims in the river, kayaking and champagne. Straight to a birthday lunch up in the hills of Waipu - some people I hadn't seen in years, friends of dear departed Hans whose birthday was earlier this month. This week friends from Los Angeles called in, unexpectedly, and that was a giant surprise. Next week their son is arriving for several weeks in NZ. I've booked him in to a caving trip so roll on the good weather.

My doggie almost died just before all this excitement. He ate some old barnacles that gave him food poisoning - his tummy was like a bellows - and his liver enzymes went mad. The vet did not think he'd make it, but Mally's recoverd and as precious as ever.

Bye for now!

Waipu ukulele or Waipukulele

Bob, me, Jan, Robyn and Mary the Waipu Ukulele Band!






I have been so inspired by the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra that I asked my friend Robyn to teach me and then we began studying with Bob McNeely, a fantabulous guitar player and teacher. Now there are four of us women playing and two more who would like to join us in the Waipu Ukulele orchestra, also known, perhaps, as Bob and the Waipuukuleles! at a recent party we had our first public performance - truly a rehearsal for our upcoming performance - and we were a hit! At least we were in our own minds...and we had so much fun it was hard to believe. Watch this space for more and perhaps a conncection to YouTube soon!

I am also thrilled to announce that I'm going to the British Ukulele Concert at the Wellington Festival of the Arts soon, and if you think I'm nuts. google both British ukulele and Wellington Ukulele and check out their videos on You Tube.

Returning to the future

Have I blogged since Christmas? can't recall, but Sarah, on my right in picture was here and then came back later with Blacky and Dairney for the Black Seeds concert. We had a great time, as you can see here, and then the year progressed!

In 2008, I'm returning to past loves in hopes of going forwards. Five years of travelling to and from Titirangi have led to lots of undone chores at the Glorious Tangle, and synchronicity has brought me many friends over these holidays who have loved being here and working on the land. Weedeating has been happening thanks to various friends and yesterday, on the sixth anniversary of Hans's death, Pablo finished restoring the plastic house!

Pablo is my friend Rosa's brother, a 38-year-old Chilean immigrant to NZ. He's a mechanical engineer and is staying with me for a while to practice his English and in trade, has put the plastic back up. YAY!!!

This restoration is just in time for the Northtec course I'm partnering by using my land as a campus for their Sustainable Rural Development course. We will have students here learning and working - a tutor who is a permaculture specialist, Jamie Hancox, is in charge and hopefully some business opportunities for all of us will arise. This blog may become more of a sustainable gardening site, which suits me.

Dan Mills is still here while he works on the murals at Waipu Cove and Ruakaka. His girlfriend Katchka comes on weekends and the barbecue has been going for lots of wonderful summer evenings. Check his work on http://www.danmillspaintings.com/

I've also been Nordic Walking with Barbar Faust and helped her with her website text. Check it out on http://www.nordicwalkingnz.co.nz/

Ukulele practice is also fantastic fun and we have a performance coming up so must dust off the video camera for that!

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.