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Sunday 10 March 2013

Choosing Good-ness

There have been a lot of things happen lately that have reminded me (like the all night really loud party over the back fence)...that we get to make new choices every day, over & over again. Will we choose the good or will we be crabby and slack? 
Will we choose kindness & grace or will we be rude & grating.
 Will we celebrate ourselves & who we are & go with the challenges that turn up in our path or will we sit down and I say..."I can't"
I'm not enough?

This boy, is now a young man...
he is making his own way in life & he is making choices everyday.
He has had some interesting challenges, hard ones.
They say that exercise can make all the difference in working with depression. 
 And he's come so far, so far in fact, that he ran 47 kilometres on saturday: up three peaks & down the other side. Many ran in teams, some biked & others walked but he ran the whole way on his own, for himself..streaking past me to the finish, so fast I nearly missed my own son. 
I thought I'd seen a ninja at first & then, quick as anything he was suddenly at the finish line... 
done.
A whole packet of gingernuts, orange juice & two cans of coconut water were the scientifically calculated fuel for such a journey (of 6 1/2 hours)...and an awful lot of water!
Things like house keys were forgotten in the hustle to prepare for the day.
A few seconds from here he said "I have to go now" & fell in the window!
Rob had some time off this week.
Time to work on our house, watch a boy finish his challenge & take me away for a night to Taupo.
Kaitiaki told me about a hot pool at Reporoa, half way between Taupo & Rotorua.
This is it: Butcher's Pool. Open all the time. No charge...just glorious hot water bubbling through the sandy bottom of the pool day & night; refreshing, replenishing & soothing all souls who come to bath. A magnificent place to watch the night sky fill with stars.
We stayed here at The Cottage Mews.
Everything about this place is delightful & best of all it is so reasonably priced.
We heard about a new French cafe in town...and we found it.
As we sat enjoying our coffee we realised that we were the only English speaking patrons in the place.

Taupo is very touristy & pretty much there for the lake.
A lot of people love to holiday here.
We loved all the op-shops!!
And the signs!
A volcanic plateau means lots of available stone lying around.
This lovely carved stone seat really appealed to me..
I wanted to know what it felt like to be hugged by a rock?
We loved this plaque. An excellent tenet for marriage we reckon.
And the creation was beautiful.
Solid, meaningful
& colourful.
The latest Good magazine arrived in our letterbox not long ago.
It's truly fabulous. I read bits to Rob & then we chatted about all kinds of stuff..it's a thought provoking magazine. Would anyone fancy one do you think? Next week we just might have a simple giveaway. It could be sent anywhere & I know that many of you don't get to catch up with this Kiwi classic.
I'll show you some more bits of the inside & then you can decide.
These water droplets on English Garden were watered on by me...there's not a skerrick falling from the sky just now.
This tall salvia loves the summer months & is very useful for height & vibrant colour.
I wonder if I blow hard will I find lettuces all around my garden soon?
A week or two ago I discovered the infiltration of the cupboard moth...you guessed it, in the pantry cupboard!
I decided to salvage the cashews & put them to soak overnight, then I remembered a recipe I had seen for a raw cashew "cheesecake". It tastes so good you never want to stop eating it! Best thing about it is that it's actually a really good for you too.
You can find the recipe in the kitchen blog just here.
Would you look at what I found in the Hospice shop in Taupo!
I'll tell you more about it soon.
So lovely to have you visit...thank you for popping in!
Do hope that your week is truly peachy & not at all pants!

MUCH
 ♥♥♥♥♥

15 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed your lovely long post today - well done your son - depression is a challenge that affects the whole family and I bet you must be so proud to see him beating it. Butchers Pool looks special and hubby agrees we must put it on our list of places we want to visit one day (probably when we retire! hope we won't be too decrepit to climb into the pool!)... I think your magazine looks very nice and would love to have a look so hope the giveaway goes ahead. I have joined a few magazine swaps that Floss organised in the past and it was fabulous to receive a magazine from abroad, so refreshing. Have a lovely week. Betty x

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    1. Hello Betty, yes you're right depression does affect the whole family. I have just been chatting with David this evening & he is able to recognise the mental balancing effect that his fitness brings to his life, so he is sensibly planning new challenges for the months ahead. It will be interesting to see the longer term affects of this self mastery. How wonderful to think that you might come to NZ one day...even if it's in your dotage ; ) Actually I managed to slip on my way into the pool so that part should be quite easy! Yes the giveaway is most certainly going ahead..I do remember how everyone enjoyed Floss's swaps..such a good idea. Much love Catherine x0x0x

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  2. A very beautiful blog post with lots to enjoy and read about. Your photos always evoke so much about NZ that I miss and so wish I was there. This is usually the time of year I get to visit Mum and Dad but sadly not this year, so really missing it.

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    1. Hello Lorraine..that must be really hard for you heading into spring & not able to get out here for your autumn visit. I am glad that you do get to enjoy my pictures though...anywhere you'd like me to go for you ; )
      Thank you for your lovely comments & for visiting. Good luck with the no meds transition. Love Catherine x0x0x

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  3. Oh, you DID have a nice little getaway! Your son is very ninja-like to run such a good race! Yay for him!
    You always wear the prettiest clothes, GK!
    We had snow all day yesterday, but today it has stopped. By Friday, we shall have warm temps!
    That book looks AMAZING! (BIG HUG!)

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    1. Hello dear Pom Pom...my your snow has gone on quite a while now...no wonder it is such a pleasure to sit & create inside gardens & garden plans in the hope of snow melting & life truly returning to your earth & flowers arriving in months to come..quite a miracle when you think of it like that. thank you for your lovely comments as always. The wee book is DELIGHTFUL! Much love GK x0x0x

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  4. Well done to your son for finishing that.. what an accomplishment.

    Those hot poos look amazing.

    Good magazine is my favourite. So so pleased to get the new mag last week. It will be read and reread and have post it notes sticking out of it in no time.

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    1. I knew that you would love Good too. So glad that you get it. There's just so much in it eh. Kind of takes you places you didn't yet know you'd really like to go! I really hope that things are settling for you...must be very scary at times. Remember Butcher's Pool...just in case you ever get up this way. Apparently it's looked after by the Rotorua district council & it's always open & it's always free : ) Much love Catheri x0x0x

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  5. Well done to your son for running all that way, such an achievement.
    Your time away looks lovely, a French cafe sounds very nice to me. That coffee looks good. And speaking of "GOOD", that magazine looks very interesting. I haven't seen that one in our shops over here.
    Enjoy your week,
    Anne xx

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    1. Thanks Anne...always lovely to hear from you. Yes David's achievement reminds me of yours..your special trip...you were so brave & embraced it all so wonderfully...you flew!
      I'm surprised that "Good" hasn't made it your way yet..it's an excellent magazine in all kinds of ways. Hope your week is going well, hugs Catherine x0x0x

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  6. Hello Catherine,

    Another lovely post, glad the runner ran a great race. Thanks for the link to the hot pool, will have to let my children know about that one. You can never have enough cheesecake, yummo.

    Have a Happy Monday.
    Bev.xoxo

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    1. Hi Bev..oh yes do tell your kids about Butcher's pool...it's one of those truly uniquely special places & well worth the time to seek it out.
      I agree on the cheesecake front & this one sounds so rather weird but is utterly delicious. I even put some in little pots with lids & we took it them away with us.
      Hope you're having a good week.
      Much love Catherine x0x0x

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  7. Hello Catherine, gosh your son did so well in his race as can imagine the hot temperatures he had to endure., He looks well and happy with his achievement too :-)
    Looks like you had a lovely night away in Taupo - such a lovely area to visit. Must say I have never visited the Op Shops in Taupo, hope you found some "treasures".
    I am off to check out your recipe for the cheesecake - looks very mouthwatering. It is hard to get inspired to cook in this weather & hard to come up with new ideas to try out. Have a lovely week, surely rain will come soon!!?? much love, Julie Xox

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    1. Hello Julie...yes you're right he does look happy...surfeit happy. He has wisely made some new plans to enter some other events like the marathon in Wellington in June just near his birthday & in the down time on the orchard where he works, so good for him.
      Actually I don't think there's been that many op shops in Taupo before now but we were even given a little map of them at the Salys...6 in all I think. The Hospice Shop is the best...just moved into bigger premises & of the beaten track so needs to be looked up to find. And yes we did find some nice treasures...Rob found 3 pairs of very good shoes!
      The heat does funny things to your appetite doesn't it. I have just realised that I've hardly cooked any meat all through summer..just haven't felt like eating it I guess.
      This dry is now becoming ridiculous! all I can say is that the golden queens are particularly delicious & almost no brown rot in them.
      Hope your week is going well Miss Busy!
      Much love Catherine x0x0x

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  8. Thanks so much for following my blog it gave me the opportunity to find and follow you back. I LOVE your blog - have to go out now but will be back later on to have a good look around. Barbara

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So lovely of you to leave a comment. Thank you!! So sorry if you've tried to leave one & it hasn't worked. You are welcome to email me at catherine@sunshinevintage.nz instead, if you'd like to, much love Catherine♥

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