Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Paradise at Okuti Garden Eco-stay

I've just spent a few days at a wonderful place, Okuti Garden Ecostay in Okuti Valley on Banks Peninsula.
I stayed in a house-truck named Bronwyn and she was very warm and welcoming, as were my hosts, Jane and Jim. At Okuti Garden you can also stay in a tipi or a yurt, surrounded by beautiful organic gardens and native bush filled with birds. Very peaceful, this place has a lovely feel of beneficence and charm. Just the thing for renewing and re-energizing after the quakes on Friday. Felt like I'd gone back into childhood, with the little house truck,  got my feet wet in a stream, talked to donkeys and dogs, and scanned the night sky on my way to the toilet. The toilet is novel too; a composting toilet that separates liquids and solids with the simple expedient of a small hole for wees and a big one for poos. This does mean one has to be more intentional with the process; as a woman, I tend to just sit down and let go!
   This is a lovely place, and I came away wishing I'd booked longer. Highly recommended.

Inside the house truck - cosy.
Poroporo grows over Bronwyn
Tipi in the organic garden

New buildings, old buildings

Instead of looking at what we've lost, let's look at what remains. This is probably my favourite building in Chritchurch. I'd love it if we built more little characters like this.
The new container shops in Christchurch, part of the re:Start development. I went to see these just before Christmas, nice but too many clothes shops. Certainly feels a lot safer that being inside a mega-mall, and there is a good mix of open space and buildings. The fact that these are temporary structures adds a sort of holiday feel to the precinct, but I worry at how these shops will fare during the winter. 
Beautiful old B&B in Worcester Street.
Christmas decoration on the struts at the badly damaged Arts Centre

Amazing zombie zucchini

Yes, it's zucchini time. Anna gave me one zucchini plant (should that be zucchino?) and its producing well. Planted in the site where I had agapanthus, warm and sheltered, I'm getting a zucchini a day now. Now to start looking for recipes - there's a soup somewhere, sounds horrible, but I am assured its really nice.
                                                                              The gap between courgette and marrow,
Is narrow.

     Bad news is that outdoor watering may be banned entirely from soon, owing to our fractured infrastructure. (Say that one fast when you've had a couple of glasses) But I'm not going to let my vegetables die! I'll fill up the watering can inside the house and carry it out to my babies. I hardly use any water anyway, compared to large families with lots of showers and washing, (and those who fill up their swimming pools), so surely if I forego a shower or two I can use this for my plants. I can go stinky, but  for plants water is life-or-death.  I want tomatoes too, I've got the best tomato plants I've ever had this year, so they'll get first priority for any water.
    Picked about a cupful of blackcurrants last night, not really enough to do anything with, like jam, but very tasty eaten raw. No added sugar is a big challenge for the taste buds.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Looking back

I've just been looking back over my blog, reading about the events of the past year or so. 18 months with two earthquakes, 8000 aftershocks,  2 snowfalls and 1 major bereavement. It's all been a bit of a time really, not to mention the Rugby World Cup and the 2011 Election, two disasters in a row. On the good side, I had an overseas trip, but all in all the bad has outweighed the good this year. There seems to be a general lack of enthusiasm for Christmas - its just another stressy thing for people to deal with.
Can't say there have been any really good books or films this year, it all seems a bit blah on the culture front.
Rediscovered "The Bachelor", the new series. This is the highlight of my TV week, so you can see how desperate things have become. The other night the viewing choice was between a documentary about a man who had hiccups for two years, and another documentary about Michael Jackson's relationship with his chimpanzee. Riveting, how can I choose when I want to watch both?

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Odd

How odd. Looking at my statistics for this blog today, I see that It has been viewed 28 times in Germany. Is this 28 different people or 28 times by one person? Seems odd that someone(s) should find it so fascinating, or was this some kind of automatic blip/machine error. Probably.
     Christmas draws nigh. Sigh! Today we have the Santa Parade, thank Gods nothing that I need to be involved with, except for the traffic jams on the way home. Cars full of crying, overstimulated kids and grumpy parents, but perhaps some of these will come to the Gardens afterward.
     Not much to report. Seem to have a stomach bug, blurrp. Just in time for my days off. Typical.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Ewwww!

Just had to remove a putrid, rotting bird from the pool outside my workplace. I fished it out with the net, then picked it up with the plastic bag, and the damned thing just about fell apart. A big eel cruised up, eyed the floating remains and cruised away - too revolting even for him. Can't say my job doesn't have variety.
      Lots of obsessive gardening lately, three lovely days at the weekend. Didn't turn on the TV once, just read a book about Tuscany, so this did wonders for my state of mind. Forget the elections, the bad news, the destruction of the city by demolishers, the (still!) discussions about the bloody rugby.
     Guy Fawke's night this Saturday, now there's a "tradition" that we could get rid of. Why we celebrate this I'll never know. All it means to me is having terrified cats cowering all night under chairs, meowing sadly.

Friday, October 7, 2011

My Ooooby post

I signed on to Ooooby, a website whose title stands for 'Out of our own back yards'. It's a site where people can share experiences and plants and seeds and swap surplus produce and help for gardens. Its worth looking at (Google ooooby), but I'm having a few problems with it as a member. I'm having trouble logging in, but in order to get help or notify the site's operators, I have to log in - talk about Catch-22. Here's my post:
     Typical. I just plant some warm season crops and we have days of overcast cold weather. Hopefully everything will not rot. But the positive thing is that we have had rain, which has helped the green crops, celery, lettuce, spinach. Everything is just growing, growing. This is what I love about gardening, there's always an upside to balance the downside, and always a downside to balance the up (so that we don't get too cocky about our successes). The good news is that the basil and eggplant have germinated. I started these inside in the conservatory, they have taken off fast. The fastest thing I have ever seen is cavolo nero, it germinates in about four days. Hopefully I'll have some to offer other Ooooby's soon. Trying Maori potatoes this year, put them in a basket in a dark place to chit them. I've just looked at them, they are sooo cute, little stalks all straining to grow. I've got the variety called Huakararo, they are supposed to be buttery in taste. Yum. I'm going to grow some of them in a big harakeke basket that I made. Its totally biodegradeable and I can make more if needed.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

I"m getting tired of...

Beginning to think that the worst part of the earthquake is not the aftershocks but the aftertalk. I hate, hate, hate the way that a natural event is being used by the ambitious, the disgruntled and the just plain nutty to forward their own little agendas. Bad luck for us that the quake happened in an election year; the politicos are using it to get re-elected with silly promises and emotive appeals to the masses. The opportunities for corruption and graft are vast. Jobs for mates and mates of mates. Lots of discussion about the CBD; can it be rebuilt, should it be rebuilt? Should we rebuild heritage buildings or trash them as dangerous? Blah, blah, blah. Everyone has their own ideas that they pursue to the point of mania or tedium. Its like living in a dysfunctional family, makes me want to leave and never come back. PS. A Chinese bank is said to be interested in buying into the rebuild. Why? What do they want in return? Unrestricted immigration for Chinese nationals? Remember Tibet, folks.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

In time of daffodils - e.e. cummings

In time of daffodils (who know the aim of living is to grow) forgetting why, remember how in time of lilacs who proclaim the aim of waking is to dream remember so (forgetting seem) in time of roses (who amaze our now and here with paradise) forgetting if, remember yes in time of all sweet things beyond whatever mind may comprehend remember seek (forgetting find) and in a mystery to be when time from time shall set us free forgetting me, remember me.

Chanticleer - In time of daffodils

Talking of undertakers

I've found that I say "undertaker" instead of Funeral Director. I like undertaker better - they undertake to dispose of you. They take you under. They undertake to take you under. Funeral Director sounds so prissy. "I am a Funeral Director" "Wot, you work with stiffs then?" And why are we not allowed to know what happens after death? I suppose those with a religious faith "know" what happens, but what proof is there that we go on going on? Couldn't someone, just one, come back and tell us? Would it spoil some vast eternal plan? Mind you, it would be a real bummer if we KNEW we're all going to hell in a handcart. Just like if you knew when you were going to die and how. You'd spend your whole life going "oh, only 23 more years, only three more years, only two more hours...." Bloody hell, you'd never get anything done for the anxiety. Urk. feeling a bit mad at the moment. Must be spring, can't settle to anything except obsessive gardening. Another important philosophical question. Why does the house make itself untidy? Why is the default option chaos housework-wise? Or is it that the house is forming itself into a form of order that I don't recognise as order? Drifts of unironed clothing form in corners, piles of book and papers appear along the corners of the living room, dirty dishes stack up automatically - it's order, Jim, but not as we know it. Just imagine if the housework's default option was clean and tidy, as I know clean and tidy? What if things tidied themselves instead of un-tidied, cleaned instead of dirtied, piled instead of un-piled? Of course, I could train the cats to do the housework. Yeah, right.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Roll on, Christmas

Just made my arrangements for Christmas. This year I am going away for the holiday, to a place called Okuti Gardens in Little River, where I will sleep in a house truck. (I really wanted to sleep in the yurt, but there's no cooking facilities in it). Little River is a nice green place, with a great cafe/art gallery and walks on the surrounding hills. I'm looking forward to it, and won't mind "missing" Christmas, as its come to mean less and less over the years. I only kept it up because Mum liked it, but she died about three weeks ago, so now I feel like doing something else, establishing some new traditions. Spent some time sorting out Mum's stuff, playing her old records on the record-player. Remember record-players? How about radiograms? They had radio and record-player in one attractive wooden cabinet, that you could admire and polish and place in your living-room like a piece of treasured furniture. They went out when transistor radios came in. Even transistors have bitten the dust, and the word "tranny" means something totally different now. Anyway, I played "South Pacific" and "Fiddler on the roof", and thoroughly enjoyed them. I've always disliked musicals - all that suddenly bursting into song and being happy and gay seemed a little like extreme behaviour to me. But "South Pacific" has the BEST SONG OF ALL TIME - "I'm gonna wash that man right out of my hair". And all of the songs in "Fiddler" are great. Check out "Matchmaker,matchmaker" for an affirmation of the husband-free life. "...he'll beat you every night, but only when he's sober, so you're all right!"

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Forecasts vs.predicitons

Apparently we are to have another big eathquake. This prediciton/forecast comes courtesy of Ken Ring, our usual doomsayer. Of course he says he is doing it to help people, but I for one, would rather not know. Anyone who has problems with anxiety should avoid reading or hearing news; all it does it make one anxious. (Logical). Spent a sleepless night last night worrying about whether the bank would foreclose on my mortgage if AMI goes bust. This could happen Christchurch-wide; banks hedge their risk in your property (which is really their property) by "securing" it with insurances. People are finding that they can't get mortgages because they can't get insurance; it will only be a matter of time before banks come out in the open about how exposed their investments are. Scary stuff, scarier that Mr Ring's predictions. Hopefully this is just me catastrophizing. As Gandalf said "This is the doom I deem". PS Isn't The Lord of the Rings" depressing? Our local pond is being drained for resealing with bentonite clay, and I've just spent a few minutes laughing at the ducks wading through the muddy glop. Ducks are daft. Almost as daft as the Rugby World Cup. Sick of it yet?

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Snow passages

Snow is still my song;
more falls and more to come
they say.

Here's two snow pieces that I'd like to share:

What's up, Ratty?' asked the Mole.
   `Snow is up,' replied the Rat briefly; `or rather, down. It's snowing hard.'
  The Mole came and crouched beside him, and, looking out, saw the wood that had been so dreadful to him in quite a changed aspect. Holes, hollows, pools, pitfalls, and other black menaces to the wayfarer were vanishing fast, and a gleaming carpet of faery was springing up everywhere, that looked too delicate to be trodden upon by rough feet. A fine powder filled the air and caressed the cheek with a tingle in its touch, and the black boles of the trees showed up in a light that seemed to come from below.   ( From The Wind in the willows  by Kenneth Grahame)

A few light taps upon the pane made him turn to the window. It had begun to snow again. He watched sleepily the flakes, silver and dark, falling obliquely against the lamplight. The time had come for him to set out on his journey westward. Yes, the newspapers were right: snow was general all over Ireland. It was falling on every part of the dark central plain, on the treeless hills, falling softly upon the Bog of Allen and, farther westward, softly falling into the dark mutinous Shannon waves. It was falling, too, upon every part of the lonely churchyard on the hill where Michael Furey lay buried. It lay thickly drifted on the crooked crosses and headstones, on the spears of the little gate, on the barren thorns. His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.  (From the short story The Dead by James Joyce)

Look and laugh

Thursday, August 11, 2011

My kitchen floor


This is after the February earthquake. It doesn't normally look this bad. Took ages to clean up - a lovely melange of broken glass and crockery, honey and oil. My Bunnykins cup and saucer from my childhood and a blue and white Burslem chafing dish were the major losses.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Mount Kailas, Tibet

Armchair pilgrim

Just finished reading Colin Thubron's book To a mountain in Tibet. Wonderful book, the best kind of travel writing, that makes you feel as if you've been there. Thubron is able to write simply but profoundly, and writes without making any judgements or inserting his own ego into the picture. Highly recommended.
  Now I have to go and have a lie down. I've just circumnabulated Mt Kailas and I'm cold and hungry and have altitude sickness.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Sinny and Trusannah

Is anyone else sick of Trinny and Susannah? Just looking at the Down Under makeover series - each episode is the same. T & S descend on some public place to pick out what they consider to be sartorial horrors. Once the victim is located they home in and make rude remarks  ("You look like a female Crocodile Dundee".) Because they are celebs they get away with this - anyone else would be told to naff off.  They coo sympathetically over the target, who will sometimes oblige with tears "Yes, I've let myself go since my ex dumped me/ had breast cancer/ lost my job". Hugs all round. Victim further obliges by baring her all for T & S and confessing that she hates her thighs, boobs, feet, eyelids, whatever.
  T & S then talk to each other about the victim  behind her back "Poor dear, she has no self esteem, blah blah. Let's change her life completely by tarting her up a bit".
   If only changing someone's life were so simple.
  And who are they to judge who has self-esteem issues or not? Is it not possible that I dress like a slob because my self-esteem is not rooted in how other people percieve me?  If they don't like what they see, is that my problem or theirs?
  I don't want to teeter on four inch heels - it's not good for my sciatica. I don't want to look like mutton dressed as lamb, as some pathetic old cougar waiting for someone to pick her up. Perhaps I think I have better things to do with my time than spend hours on my appearance. I have heaps of self-esteem - it's about being who I am, not what I look like.
  And aren't T & S themselves looking just a bit haggard these days?
  Take that, you  bags.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Books I'm reading

Books about Tibet seem to be on my reading list this month, neatly coinciding with our recent snowfall. The first book is The Heart of the world by Ian Baker, about his travels in Tibet searching for the fabled waterfall supposedly hidden in the gorge of the Tsangpo river, the place that has been transformed in the West as the legend of Shangri-la. It's a mixture of adventure and Buddhist philosophy. If you liked Peter Matthiesen's The snow leopard you will love this, although I'm not sure if Baker's motives are quite as disinterested as he makes out, but his observations on the way we percieve landscape, that landscape is a reflection of our inner state, is mind-opening. Oddly enough I heard similar views expressed the other night on Justin Paton's TV programme How to look at a painting. The other book is Colin Thubron's To a mountain in Tibet, about the author's pilgrimage to Mount Kailas, considered to be by Buddhists to be the hub of the turning world, the centre of everything. I haven't really started this yet, but no doubt it will be good.

Friday, July 29, 2011

My garden in summer 2010

My garden in summer 2010 by Lynners59
My garden in summer 2010, a photo by Lynners59 on Flickr.

The same view in summer .

Garden gate, winter 2011

Garden gate, winter 2011 by Lynners59
Garden gate, winter 2011, a photo by Lynners59 on Flickr.

Winter snow July 2011

Winter snow July 2011 by Lynners59
Winter snow July 2011, a photo by Lynners59 on Flickr.

This potted plant looks like a Christmas pudding!

Winter pear tree July 2011

Winter pear tree July 2011 by Lynners59
Winter pear tree July 2011, a photo by Lynners59 on Flickr.

Pretty pear after recent snowfall

Thursday, July 28, 2011

My little palazzo

Being information-greedy, I couldn't resist finding out more about this little house. It's the Palazzo Contarini Fasan, built in the 15th century, also known as the house of Desdemona because some romantic legend links it to "Othello". The Contarini were a very noble family that provided 8 doges for the Venetian Republic. Naomi Campbell's boyfriend was in negotiation to buy it for her, so that's the kind of money I'd need. On the negative side, it has no water access, and I think I'd try an bargain them down over this. It's in Venice, and has no water access? That should knock at least a million of the asking price. Naomi doesn't deserve it anyway, it's far too lovely for her, and all she'll do is have parties in it and trash the place.

Palazzo on the grand canal, Venice

This is the little palazzo that I would like to be given. It's just over the Grand Canal from the Guggenheim and has that Moorish look typical of Venetian architecture. Also a great view of Santa Maria della Salute and the Dogana. You wouldn't need to go out much it you lived here, just sit in the sun at the window and watch everything.

Fountain with waterhorses and cute frogs in Vicenza

I really liked this fountain. The waterhorses are a very Venetian symbol, indicating that Vicenza was once part of Venetian territory. i don't think the frogs have any symbolic function - they just spout in a very charming way.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Enjoy your ride

Enjoy your ride by Lynners59
Enjoy your ride, a photo by Lynners59 on Flickr.
The old Opawa shops are no more. They have been demolished. Did we enjoy our ride on the Great Earthquake Bicycle? Not much.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

The onion-y bed

The onion-y bed by Lynners59
The onion-y bed, a photo by Lynners59 on Flickr.

Here's the cosy little straw-covered bed for shallots, garlic and elephant garlic, surrounded by bricks rescued from the old bicycle shop site in Opawa.

Winter sowing success

So! Looked at my winter-sown seeds yesterday and many have germinated. Cavolo nero, red cabbage and chicory are  all up and growing quite vigorously. The red onions have germinated but look a little weak, and the flower seeds have not eventuated, apart from the Freeth House poppies. Sweet peas are up, too, so out of ten punnets, seven have come up. Hopefully, I can keep them going on till the weather gets warmer. A few more broad bean plants are up, but these look a bit weakly.
  Nothing else much to report, the weather has been fine but cold so I have been doing lots of gardening - pruning, weeding, etc.

Friday, July 15, 2011

The lovely Julian

The lovely Julian by Lynners59
The lovely Julian, a photo by Lynners59 on Flickr.
Julian J., popular TV presenter and talk-show host (Live at Julian’s, Hey,hey it’s Julian J., All the way with Julian J., etc.) and gnome-about-town has smashed the closet door wide open in his new autobiography “ Hello, boys!’ Secrets of Julian’s past life are revealed, and he makes surprising revelations about the twilight world of gnomosexuality. “There’s so few gnomen (gnome women) around, that gnomes are forced to seek comfort from their own kind. But it’s no hardship at all, it’s such good fun!” he quips from his comfortable seat in a friend’s conservatory. (“I’m not an outdoor gnome. I don’t do cold and wet and muddy”, he says).
Expect to find out some little known facts about the on-again, off-again relationship between gnomes and hedgehogs, and the dirty on those Dutch gnomes - “It’s not just their hats that are red and pointy, I’m telling you!”, he laughs.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Hundredth post

Who would have thought it? On to two hundred.

Blugger

Blogger has just changed its format. its a bit boring now, more like Wordpress. The way the blog appears to readers is the same, but the internal workings for bloggers is different. Nothing is constant but change. For some odd reason I seem to have 17 new readers in the United States, why I don't know. I'm still aiming for world domination, to get one reader in every country in the world. This is probably a vain hope, since there are still many countries who don't have the Internet. They don't have clean water or enough food either, but I reckon they'll get the internet before they get the essentials of life.
Saw a woman on TV last night called "the human Barbie". She has spent eight hundred thousand pounds on cosmetic procedures on herself. if she had donated this money to medical research we would probably have a cure for cancer by now. But death will get her in the end, HaHa, no one escapes the Grim Reaper and all she'll be is a beautiful corpse. Ever wonder what happens to breast implants when a body is cremated? Are the ashes and smoke toxic?
Feck, this is grim stuff. Change the subject.
My winter sowings are starting to germinate. As expected, cavolo nero is off first. It germinates in 4 days in warm weather, I don't know anything that goes so fast. Some poppy seed that I gathered at Freeth House when walking the Cape Campbell track (lovely, try it) several years ago is also looking promising. I don't know what colour the flowers are as I only saw the seed heads so this will be something to look forward to. This is what I love about gardening: always looking to the future, always striving to make this year better than last.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Marino Marini's sculpture at the Guggenheim in Venice

Love the strength and energy of this re-working of the equestrian statue genre

Seeds, seeds

Planted some seeds out in trays as part of an experiment in winter sowing. There's a blogsite about winter sowing that's quite good (just Google winter sowing) that's inspired me to experiment.
When I was a child and a novice gardener, I noticed that seeds sown in autumn and established to the first two pairs of real leaves before the first frost made very strong plants that had a head start in the spring, but I've never tried sowing in winter. My other experiment overwintering peppers is going on OK, they are still alive anyway.
Also considering how to make a glasshouse or a cloche out of old window frames. My worry is that the old glass is a bit brittle and may be dangerous to cats and self.
Ordered some seed from Franchi Sementi,(www.italianseedspronto.co.nz) the Italian seed merchants, now available in New Zealand. Round zucchini ('Tondo di Piacenza')and a bush tomato ('Astro Ibrido').
I did buy these in Italy, but MAF confiscated some of them on my return. I bought six different kinds of seed - two cucurbits, two chicories and two other flowers. MAF confiscated one of the cucurbits, one of the chicories and one of the flowers, leaving me with the conclusion that 1) they don't really know what they're doing. (No doubt someone 'out the back' said "just take three off her") 2) next time I will not declare seeds, and 3) that round green zucchini and bright red chicory will start appearing at Auckland farmers markets next summer.
These were not wild gathered seed, but properly packaged and processed seed grown by, you guessed it, Franchi Sementi in Italy, and purchased at reliable retail shops (not under the counter, psst-wanna-buy-some-dodgy-seed type transactions). The only difference is that in Italy I paid the equivalent of $2.50 a packet and here they sell through the website at $7.50 plus GST and delivery! I was angry; "welcome back home, you scuzzball seed-smuggler you". Thanks very much, you really know how to make a Kiwi feel welcome in her own country.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Has-beens

Thinking about those film stars who were gorgeous and now going to seed. I've had a long love affair with Johnny Depp, but that's over now - his current "look", scraggy goatee, glasses and lank greasy hair does nothing for him. And doesn't Brad Pitt look like a potato that's been too long in the dark?

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Aftersocks

No not a spelling mistake, but a great idea from Rural Women and the New Zealand Sock Co. Go to www.aftersocks.co.nz to see the latest fashion statement. Crafted from a merino wool blend, these cosy socks come in Canterbury colours (red and black stripes) with a seismic-reading quake graphic. Proceeds go to the Christchurch Earthquake Relief Fund. So if you are reading this overseas, get a little keepsake from Canterbury and help support us.
Clever name, eh?

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

What the ????

More quakes last night, so everyone in Christchurch is bleary-eyed this morning. started with a five point five at 10.30, just as people were going to bed or were already asleep, then another 10 aftershocks during the night. Slept with my clothes on again, in case I have to make a quick exit. At least if I die I'll be decent when the rescuers come to get me.
We're all waiting for the Government to come to its decision as to what's to be done. Since its now 9 months since the first quake, you can say that They are not rushing to come to a decision; apparently this is to find "the best solution for the people of Christchurch". Could it be that They don't know what the ???? to do? They are compounding the natural disaster with a man-made bureaucratic one. We have four "leaders" who are being paid big money to say nothing. The situation is becoming more worrying by the day. Should we stay or go? Is this a Pompeii-type situation? Is there more going on seismologically than we are being told. Is our "extinct" volcano waking up? No one will say.
I've started looking at jobs in Australia, and will pressure my mother to get a current passport, in case we have to refugee to Australia. At the moment we can't leave the country because the ash-cloud from the volcano in Chile has grounded most aircraft. Its very cold here and we are all fed up. Those who aren't on the way to becoming alcoholics are having nervous breakdowns instead. We'll have to build a lovely new earthquake-proof insane asylum to house all of us driven witless by the current situation. I'm sure Christchurch prescription rates for anti-depressants are well up. Rescue Remedy is being imbibed like water; perhaps we should offer some to the Earthquake God to calm him down. Or perhaps we need a human sacrifice; finding a virgin in New Zealand could be tricky, though.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Again again already

Once more, or rather twice more, we have "aftershocks". Monday afternoon one 5.something and then a whopping big 6.3. Apparently this last shock now comes from another fault line previously unknown. I was out in the garden, the best place to be, and the during the second shock had to hang on to my recycling bin to stand up. It felt just as bad as our September earthquake. The trees really rocked too, God knows what its doing to them.
But I just kept on gardening. Next summer I'm going to have a really great vegetable garden. I've got some seeds from Italy (striped red and white chicory, and a lumpy pumpkin called Marina di Chioggia, which I'm told is lovely and sweet for roasting) also scaloppini and a red and white stripy carnation. And Borlotti beans. (I like red and white stripes). The earth takes, and the earth gives.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Venice- Grand Canal

Venice- Grand Canal by Lynners59
Venice- Grand Canal, a photo by Lynners59 on Flickr.

The Pope visits Venice

The Pope visits Venice by Lynners59
The Pope visits Venice, a photo by Lynners59 on Flickr.

Here's the man himself. Pity I was standing out of range of the benediction though.

Venice revisited

Here's my best Venetian picture, Santa Maria della Salute in the early morning light. I got up early in the morning to take this, before the throng of tourists cluttered up the picture. I took some more close up later the next day, but was unable to visit the inside of the church as it was closed for pre-Pope preparations.

Santa Maria della Salute, Venice

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Back in Singapore

I,m back at Singapore waiting to catch my flight back to Auckland. Went to the Butterfly Garden here, quaite naice, like a conservatory with butterflies. Very, very hot, 31 degrees with about 95% humidity, not the lady,s favourite kind of weather. Had a great day on Sunday in Milan after I managed to find my hotel (an adequate dump). Went to the Cathedral and the massive Galleria, then spent the afternoon in the Giardini publicci. Lots of dogs, all sizes and shapes and breeds, bicycles, lovers, families playing football, nice atmosphere. You can tell a lot about a city by the way it treats its public gardens. Vicenza's public gardens were the worst, full of creepy people, and somewhat under-cared for (scruffy). I think they rely too much on Palladio to life their game, but guys he's been dead along time.
However, I did have one of those glorious "moments" of travel there. Stumbling into the Palazzo Chiericati, I was allowed to listen to a rehearsal of the Progetto Bach group, and they played one of my favourites. A small but perfect room filled with Bach's music, and the musicians enjoying themselves. Makes it all worth while.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Urrk

Finally managed to get an internet terminal. Italian hotels don,t like to let people fiddle around on computers, unless they have their own laptop with them.
Im now in Vicenza, nearly at the end of my holiday, boy am I tired. Had a wonderful holiday, the walk around the Euganean Hills was lovely, fabulous weather. The only day it rained I was snug in a hotel in Galzignano, having a long lunch and an afternoon nap after spending the morning trying to read Italian Vogue.
Its been really hot in Vicenza, too hot for much sightseeing but its lovely anyway.
Venice was incredible, even got to see the Pope (he just popped up to see me since I was going to be there). He rode in a specially made white gondola with gondoliers dressed in white. Ive got a great picture of him in San Marco square, which Ill try to put on this when I get home.
Tomorrow to Verona, hopefully to see the Giardino Giusti. Public gardens here are a bit messy, nothing like the Christchurch Botanic Gardens. The rose garden at Este was beautiful though, set inside the walls of the old castle. Again, pics when I get home and work out how to put them on here.
Trying to contact my mother by phone, very difficult, the system tells me that my credit card number is invalid, but I know this isnt true. So anyone at home who has my mums number, give her a call and let her know I,m OK!
Arrivederci a tutti.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Singapore

Yeah, here i am in Singapore at the massive airport. They have free internet for 12 minutes, so I'm taking advantage.
I am never going to fly long distance again. I hate hate hate being cooped up with total strangers with annoying habits (yes I know I have habits too).
I got the worst seat in the row, right in the middle, with a bloody great bulkhead thing in the way of my feet. The guy next door amused himself till takeoff by clearing out the contents of his nose, and the woman on the other side was some kind of health food nut with her own flask of evil-smelling tea.
We had to circle for ages getting into Changi, and I seemed to be sat in the nursery section; every wailing kid in the plane was seated within earshot. Mind you, I did sympathise. I'd have been screaming my head off too if I wasn't one of those rational adult-type beings.
But it's the food and the boredom that really get to you. The food comes round and really you just don't want it, and how many movies can you watch?
Unfortunately I'm one of those that can't sleep on the plane, and can't read either. There's always someone coming round with food or drinks, or screaming, or blowing their nose, not to mention the constant noise. Oh, shuttup Lynners, you're just going on and on now.
Your right. I'll go into the rest lounge and try and get some sleep.
Hopefully I'll write again in Italia.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Soon,soon

Just another brief entry, waiting, waiting to go off on my trip. I wish i could go now, because I'm practically ready. I've got my suitcase open in the spare room, and as I think of things I throw them in there. I'm trying to pack light, hate toting large bags around strange cities, mainly because the locals all go "oh, there's some poor sap of a tourist schlepping around, what a dork" or words similar to, and I feel embarrassed.
Not trying to sharpen up my italian, because I'm bound to forget everything the first time someone speaks to me. I have Lonely Planet's phrase book, which has proved very handy in the past. "Scusi, che stazione questa?" came in useful on my last trip, or I might still be lost in Syracuse.
Looking forward to my first encounter with Venetian art. I've never been all that fond of Tintoretto et al. but perhaps they are best viewed in situ. I never relly liked the Siennese School either, until I saw lots of it in the gallery of religious art in Siena.
Not liking the idea of flying for so long, but at least the anxiety of that will take my mind off other stuff going on here, bad weather, wobbly earth. Coming to work on Wednesday, I had my first experience of being in the car during a quake. I was in a queue on the Moorhouse Avenue overbridge, which has one side propped up with bracing, when I thought I felt the car stall or that sort of chunking that happens when the automatic transmission is changing gear. Then I realized I was feeling an earthquake, hope to God the bridge is safe! Very scary, I hate that hollow legged, knockkneed feeling after the adrenaline surges through. Wanted to get out of the car and vomit, but held it together like the mistress of self-control I am. Perhaps one day soon I will lose it in a major way, hopefully not in a public place.
Want to go away NOW!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Big titties (Well, well)

I've noticed my stats have gone sky-high since I titled my last blog "Quickie". So in the spirit of experimentation I have called this one "Big titties" to see what happens with my stats. Cummon, big boy, push my stats up! How horrified they will be to connect to the maunderings of a middle-aged librarian. Will I be prosecuted for false advertizing?
I am now getting my drinking water from the water site over the road from me. Some lovely people who have an artesian well on their property piped it out to the street so that all could use the water. It was a godsend in the days when we didn't have any water reticulation at all. The water comes from 87 feet down and pumps 130,000 litres a day so theres plenty of it,
and all unchlorinated. We're supposed to boil it, but a colleague of mine has been drinking it and is OK. When I first used the water it was just coming out of a pipe, but the owners have refined it and now there are taps. Good old Kiwi ingenuity and Kiwi generosity. Long may they reign.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Quickie

Just a little quickie post today, as I'm doing this in my tea break.
uuurgh! The Powers that be (just misspelt that "posers that be" - there's a Fruedian for you) have decided to chlorinate our water so we don't all get tummy bugs, owing to the ammount of free-flowing sewage that might be in the water. Such a pity - one of our great treasures was our wonderful drinking water, all artesian and one of the cleanest supplies in the world. We're going to have to buy bottled water now for tea and cooking (coffee hides the taste better) or just drink a lot of wine and beer.
Also been told not to have baths or do lots of washing, as the infrastructure is poorly. So we'll all be drunk, stinky and wearing dirty clothes from now on.
I've stayed home in my suburb mainly since the quake. I don't want to see what has happened to the city centre or Lyttelton or Sumner. I'll just put my head in the sand and pretend it hasn't happened as much as I can. Every day there is some new bad news so I'm avoiding newspapers, TV. internet sites as well.
Still going to Italy, although Singapore Airlines have cancelled my flights in and out of ChCH. Now I have to go via Auckland, which is a bit of a pain, as the more changes one has to make, the more can go wrong. Posso non cambio? Ma, no. I don't care if I can't get back on time, but going there needs to be smooth and as stress-free as possible.
Made some strawberry jam the other day. It didn't set, so now I have lots of strawberry syrup, which I can still use, but it's just not jam. I asked the Madonna if she would miraculously turn my syrup into jam, but I guess she has more important prayers to attend to at the moment. She told me I was frivolous and to stop being silly, and that she wil get around to it sometime when she's not so busy.
One of the churches in Venice is called Santa Maria Formosa. Formosa means curvy, womanly, and it results from a vision a man had of the Virgin on that spot - she was a sexy, curvy real woman. And why shouldn't she be?
Ave Maria, piena di gratia, santa formosa.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Aftershocks

Still getting regular aftershocks here. Don't feel them much in the day, but at night. I have to say that I'm now able to sleep through them, shows how a body can get used to anything, even the cats don't bother waking unless its a real wobbler.
Didn't go away as the weather has not been great, except for the day of the memorial service. Thankfully it was a fine day, or everyone would have been in tears all the time. Still can't get my head around the surreal situation, of people being killed by an earthquake in my home town. It's like seeing Godzilla or the Second Coming, just too weird.
And what about Gorgeous Gaddafi? He has such terrible taste in clothes. What's with the shit-coloured wrap-around? Doesn't he know that all self-respecting dictators get suits from Armani?
Spent yesterday replanning and clearing the piece of garden that will be the new expanded vege garden. It's goin to be more than a vege garden though, more of an edible garden, including herbs and fruit. One sleepless night I realised that the sunniest most sheltered part of the garden is only growing agapanthus - it could be growing tomatoes. My tomatoes have been poor this year, probaly because there is too much shade where they are. I also need to get plants started earlier in the season as our growing season seems to have shortened in recent years, with rainy damp autumns rather than sunny dry ones.
Now at the library, it's the almost the only one open, so its busy, busy. I'm going home to spend my afternoon with Rufus (Whoar) Sewell in Middlemarch. Nothing like a costume drama in times of stress.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

What next?

I've decided to take a quick trip out of the city. It's too stressful here at the moment, we haven't had an aftershock for a while so I guess it's building up for another big one. After what has happened in Japan we are worried about a tsunami of our own now. If one comes it will be all over with for Christchurch. One bloody doonmsayer here has predicted another big one for around the 20th of this month, so I'm off to the shops to lay in stores and a gas cooker. I'm at the library now, its full of crying kids and I CAN'T STAND IT! So I'll sign off now. God bless.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

What can I say?

Yes, another earthquake. A worse one. A fatal one. This is the strangest thing I've ever been through, and I wish I could wake up and find that it's all a nightmare, but no. Today I'm back at work, some "normality" but not really. My house is fine, I am fine, the cats and my mother are fine, but my city is in ruins, and people are dead. What will become of us? Is it still safe to live here, or should we all be leaving? What does the future hold? No one can say. Someone has predicted another big earthquake on 20th March, but we don't need one. We've had enough.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Venice, Italy

Been thinking and googling heaps this week, planning and booking my trip to the Veneto. Managed to get a prenotazione to stay in a convent in Ponte della Guerra, right behing San Marco, in an old palazzo now turned into a school/ convent by the Suore Figlie de San Guiseppe Caburlotto. (If you want to see where I'm staying Google images "Istituto San Guiseppe Venice"). It's good to know I have a neighbourhood to go to when I get there.
Now I have to book the rest of my trip, although the middle section, a walk around the Euganean Hills is already booked and paid for. I'm not sure whether to stay in Padua for two days or go to a little place called Asolo, to see the Villa Barberigo, one of Palladio's masterpieces. It's a bit hard to get to by public transport, so... maybe maybe not.
Needless to say, I'm very excited. I want to go now!
Saw awful movie the other night. One of those insomniac sessions came over me, so I watched "Interview with a vampire", Brad Pitt and little Tom Cruise looking so daft in long hair and long teeth. Kirsten Dunst was great, but I think the movie should have been far more overtly homoerotic. Apparently though, Brad and Tommy despise each other so I guess that was out. Antonio Banderas was really hard to understand, not sure if it was his accent or his difficulty in speaking through false, sharp teeth. Glad I never paid good money to see this tomato.
Also watched "Vicky Christina Barcelona" again which I love. The menage'd trois are all so gorgeous, and I have a crush on all of them. Would I fly to Oviedo with Javier Bardem, oh yes.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

My gardens


My gardens and all 197
Originally uploaded by Lynners59
'Sally Holmes' in early morning light

My gardens


My gardens
Originally uploaded by Lynners59
Roses from my garden. 'The Friar' 'Iceberg' 'Perle d'Or' and 'Gruss an Aachen' . The rose outside the window is 'Remember Me' and the items on the table are all second-hand goodies from church fairs.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Another part of the wood

Went to get my car's warrant of fitness on Monday. I'm going to a new place called Straight Torque (!) in a part of the city that I usually drive through. I had 30 minutes to wait, so went for a walk around the area, an industrial/light industrial part of Christchurch. It's were all the real things get done, full of automotive repairs, plumbers, gasfitters, chandlers, printers, sign writers, glass fitters, and demolition sales yards, with a huge depot for empty containers (the big ones that sail on ships) stacked thirty feet high in the old railway yards. I really enjoyed my walk, very different to the leafy suburb where I usually exercise. Things are ugly and utilitarian, but in a good useful way. Not a place to go at night though. I felt like I'd been in another city, a leaner, meaner one that didn't exist in the tourist promos but interesting all the same.
Just finished reading a life of Katherine Parr. ("Katherine the queen" by Someone-or-other). The question I'm always left with in these biographies of the long-dead is how we can claim to really know what their lives were like, or empathise with them. It was another world, full of extremist religious beliefs and great cruelty, where people's motivations seem quite inexplicable. Fear of eternal hellfire and damnation didn't seem to be a detterent for doing bad things, though. I suppose if you repented on your deathbed and gave your worldly goods to the Church you got out of punishment. This was only really an option for the aristocracy; ordinary people with no money or property just had to burn.
Henry VIII really was a shit. No tolerance for differences of opinion there.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

PS.

Apropos of Florence Nightingale, her sister's name was Parthenope. I think it means "virgin-place", or something to do with virginity, parthenogenesis being the term for something that is born without being produced by sexual congress, mitosis as opposed to meiosis. The Greek goddess Athena was Athena Parthenos, as she was "delivered" full grown from the head of Zeus, hence the Parthenon, being her temple in Athens. Parthenope was the Greek name of the city of Naples. This may be useful information. Some day. There is no such thing as useless information, only information that doesn't yet have a use.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Thing-O-Matic

Reading yesterday about the Thing-O-Matic, a doohickey that makes 3-D replicas of objects, a 3-D printer if you like. I first read about this in a novel by Cory Doctorow "The makers" during my cyberpunk phase last year, so I was well stoked to see that reality has cought up with fiction in only about 6 months. Mind you, I'll bet that Doctorow knew all about the Thing-O-Matic being in development, and used it (or something very like it) in his novels so that he would seem wonderfully prescient.
Now all I need is a transporter device, so that I can get to Italy instantly without paying any money or travelling for several days in a tin can to get there.
I'm writing this at the library. I never realized before how noisy the librarians are! Bang that trolley, slam those books down. Mind you, there is a numpty sitting beside me whose phone is vibrating and so is he. Jiggle, jiggle, jiggle. If we could wire him up to the national grid he'd power the city for days. Perhaps he's the source of all the after-shocks we have.
He stinks, too. Of sweat-rotten sneakers and old testoterone. Goodnight, sweet prince.

A winter on the Nile

Just finished a great book titled A winter on the Nile: Florence Nightingale and Gustave Flaubert and the temptations of Egypt by Anthony Sattin. Nightingale and Flaubert were both in Egypt at the same time, although they never met. Both were in quandaries; both knew that they were destined to do great things, but WHAT? Nightingale was wrestling with her family and convention that denied her calling to nurse. Flaubert wanted to write the great novel. He wrote one called "The Temptation of St Anthony". It took him three years. When he read it to his friends and asked them what he should do with it, they told him to burn it! Discouraged, he decided to take a trip to Egypt to clear his head.
Part of the fascination of this book is that our protagonists saw two very different Egypts. Nightingale visited temples and hospitals, discovered the roots of Christianity in ancient Egyptian religion and heard God calling her to commit to her destiny. Flaubert visited brothels, bathhouses and taverns, and came to grips with the reality of the "mysterious Orient" that he had fantasized about in provincial France. Knowing little of Nightingale and even less of Flaubert, this book has remedied some of my ignorance. Perhaps the moral of the story is that travel doesn't only broaden the mind, it focuses it on the true nature of the self. (Yes, I know how pompous this sounds).
The cover blurb says that Sattin is to Egypt what Dalrymple is to India, so I must try to find more of him.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Vado a Venezia

I'm trying to get a cheeapish flight to Italy in May, but on enquiry the cheapest seems to be by Aeroflot via Shanghai and Moscow. The spirit quails at this idea; in fact I had a nightmare about it last night, crashing into the frozen wastes of Siberia in a rust bucket full of loose bolts. Oddly, my ex-husband was with me. He usually appears in my nightmares, proof of indelible trauma.
So I've gone off the idea of travelling. Should I stay or should I go? It would be less anxiety provoking if I didn't but...I kind of want to.