Looking For My Sanity & Away With The Fairies

It all began about 5 weeks ago, although I'm not entirely sure about that, having lost a few marbles along the way.

One day I heard a noise, a quiet persistent noise that sounded like Morse Code. 

I heard it in my bedroom at first. That night it was louder & it woke me up.

Then I discovered that it was in every room of our house...but how weird, when I stepped outside to see where it was coming from it stopped. 

What could it possibly be?

Perhaps it's the wifi, turn it off...no not that.

Can't be the neighbours, we've all been here for years: no noise.

Must be coming from Heinz Wattie, the factory over the fence. Hastings is weird like that.

A designated Heritage Street one side of the wall, factory on the other. 

We've lived along side one another for the past 25 years & managed to get a long fairly well most of the time. 

 It is a factory though & there's lots of machines & 

 old buildings

 & desperately ugly bits.

 I had to track this noise down. It was waking me night after night (sometimes every hour) & wearing me right out. But how could it be in every room in the house, the garage the shed & even Lucy but not be heard outside?

 I contacted the noise person at the plant & we began to explore what it could be. But nothing worked. I started walking around the whole site, down the railway line at the back & along the paths & roads that circumnavigate the whole outfit. The wind would howl right through me, desolation & despair began to set in. Then I found "it" in Margaret's house next door. Rob began to hear it to, but could still manage to sleep. On Tuesday they fired up the sauce plant (doesn't usually happen until the summer) & my noise became unbearable....all through the night. No sleep!! By 4 am I was going crazy so I drove Rob's car to the scout hall & tried to sleep in the back of the car. I could still hear the noise there too. It's about now the noise burst out loud & wild from the top of the plant. 
To trim a long & unresolved story very short...it appears it is emanating from a strange & difficult to access position quite high up. At first there was enormous relief, but apparently it may be Labour weekend before they can fix it, as it will require some major engineering work. Meantime, it is still in my house incessantly repetitive, 24 hours a day. Ear plugs are only partially useful, the stress grating my nerves raw. I cry a lot. I think I need to sleep at my brothers for a while to get some restful sleep.     

 I do what I must, we walk, work & then I must return to my home.  My home I also work from. A home that I love but I am not safe in... driven out.

If you pray please pray that I can find peace.

I have prayed all my life but never really got answers...perhaps your prayers might be heard better.

I am so tired of being bullied.

I refuse to apologise for being sensitive.

Meantime..

I have created a new world...

 

A Pinterest board: The Secret Garden of a Sweet Childhood.

The sweet images soothe my soul, if not my nerves.

I wish I was away with the fairies.

Peaceful & trusting.

My dear friend Sue has been passing on the New World Little Shop collectables; look what was in the pile this week. Funny.

 Pretty things are flowering now..

 but it's sure been a strange start to spring.

So sorry that I haven't replied to comments lately. Just can manage it right now.
Hoping for better days & some help.
Much love to you all.
Catherine x0x0x

Violet Jelly & the Journey of the Piano Keys

I am so grateful to be living in this amazing time in history.

To be able to learn & connect, to encourage & be encouraged, support & be supported; share inspiration & friendship across borders, barriers, nations & provinces. We are no longer confined to friendships & connections that we make in the villages, towns or cities in which we live. We can freely cross borders of time & space to live more openly, broadly, even deeply than ever before..in connection; while still maintaining our own rhythms of daily life.

When I opened the unexpected parcel that I found in my letterbox last week, my heart melted & tears streamed down my face.    

 I had waited my whole life long for those of my past to "see" me, to tell me I was at least ok, but that time never came & never will. Yet here in my arms was a fresh proof; the gift that carried a thousand affirmations in one, from a dear heart to mine. I am seen. I will be ok. I am so grateful!

 Memories... new memories I have softly laid down in a bed of kindness & care.

 I am so glad that you have traveled with me, my friends, as I have journeyed through the hard things & the "Lucy" moments.

 The best & most beautiful things in the world are indeed felt with the heart. Thank you dearest Julie for your loving stitches of kindness. How glad I am to be able to visit Threadbear Cottage & your Threadbear Life at any time of the day or night to have a catch up, find endless inspiration & entertaining kitten antics. 

 The days have been endlessly dull for ages now, which is a little perturbing. 

 I think that that may be why, although we can see the signs of emerging Spring, it doesn't really feel like Spring; just yet. This is a lovely place to walk down by the Karamu Stream. Getting out & about in the country side always helps to lift your spirits when the times are a little odd.

There are moments of some sunshine.

Coriander does so love the cooler weather though.

 As does the floral marvel of radicchio. Such a beautiful vegetable....you could almost wear it.

A little muddly potager

 down in the back corner of the garden.

 Just over from the bluebells..

 and the brand new of the raspberry canes. Green arises from "dead" sticks.

 A new white dove descended in to the Fairy Garden last week.

 My most exciting triumph in ages....finally figuring out how to make a truly effective, non-toxic weed killer!! And so simple!! A tablespoon of nasty table salt, a big squirt of dish washing liquid & fill up the bottle with white vinegar. That's it. 

 And it really works.

 Cath Kidston has a theme of clocks going on at the moment. Aren't these little cruets cute.

 I just love my Trade Me "work"...sending things like violets, fabric & Cath Kidston wallpaper all over the countryside. We have so many lovely people living in our land. I like to wrap things nicely with ribbons & handwritten cards, but these old piano keys were a tad tricky on that count. They arrived with David a few years ago when he returned home from Greymouth. I listed them for a dollar as I couldn't bear to throw them away & a very interesting arty lady bought them locally. She very kindly deposited $10...as a "token of her delight". They have gone off to be shared with four other arty ladies & so their journey is complete. As it happens the piano itself was gifted to a kindergarten in Canterbury in the 1960's, later it was sold to a family, who eventually moved & couldn't take it with them...David fancied ownership & consequently hauled it over the Southern Alps where it resided with him for quite sometime. Heavy & cumbersome at the time of his leaving it then appears to have met it's demise, yet not quite fully caste off, the keys journeyed north with the intention of becoming an art installation...which, indeed, has now been fulfilled. 

How extravagant to pick a whole bowl of violets!!

 If you pour boiling water over them 

 & leave them to steep for an hour or two

 strain, add honey, lemon juice, gelatine & a tiny splash of rose water you end up with the most divine jelly. You can find the recipe here.

 We ate it for breakfast with rhubarb & kefir cream & a little fresh coconut grated over the top.

 Heavenly!

And so are these gorgeous grape hyacinths & bluebells.

I wish you all fragrance, good friendship, some jelly & a very happy week!

Much love

Catherine x0x0x

Stolen Gold, Oh Happy Day!

Oh there you are!

Hello!!

Thank you for coming by to see me...

and my Stolen Gold.

You know, I'm not sure that I have ever bought a bottle of rum before in my entire life but I decided this week that I really, really needed some; to make my own vanilla essence with. Do you have any idea how easy it is to make vanilla essence!? All you need is vanilla pods, alcohol (vodka or rum) & a jar. You can make a little or a lot..either way it tastes amazing & lasts forever.

 Simply soak your beans in liquor for a few months & viola: magic! I will retrieve my beans quite soon & cut them open & pop them back in again to steep some more. I use a lot of vanilla in things like our instant banana ice-cream & baking so it's really worth while making my own. The last few batches have been small & made with gifted vodka. I feel sure that this brew will taste like Stolen Gold...wonderful! 

 I am also brewing some violet kefir water. Kefir water is probiotic, delicious & so easy to make. My kefir grains decided to make their own "mother" which was good of them. I have added violet flowers & honey this week. It tastes like spring!

 I couldn't resist buying the other kind of dragon fruit just to see the inside mostly. Aren't they intriguing? Not sure I'll ever grow one in my garden, however, they are just a really big cactus kind of plant.

I loved the view out my sewing room window this week.

Occasionally we had a little sunshine.

 And then Happy Day, my Katie & Daisy calendar arrived from the Book Depository. They are wonderful The Book Depository, they'll send anywhere in the world for free.

 I love the words on each page...

 And it's true I have seen wonders...
The man who never reads, or only very slowly & sometimes, has turned in to a Book Thief!
There, he just said it again: "Let's go to bed & read eh?"

Have you read the Book Thief?

We thought we might watch the movie quite soon.

I often buy books because I like the title &/or the cover.
I bought this from Connections a few months ago "Good to a Fault". Such an intriguing & original story it stayed with me for a very long time after I finished it. Sorry, borrowed this bit from Good Reads:
 "Clara Purdy is at a crossroads. At forty-three, she is divorced, living in her late parents' house, and near-ing her twentieth year as a claims adjuster at a local insurance firm. Driving to the bank during her lunch hour, she crashes into a sharp left turn, taking the Gage family in the other car with her. When bruises on the mother, Lorraine, prove to be late-stage cancer, Clara decides to do the right thing. She moves Lorraine's three children and their terrible grandmother into her own house—and then has to cope with the consequences of practical goodness: exhaustion, fury, hilarity, and unexpected love. 

What, exactly, does it mean to be good? What do we owe each other in this life, and what do we deserve? Good to a Fault is an ultimately joyful book that digs deep, with leavening humor, into questions of morality, class, and social responsibility. Marina Endicott looks at life and death through the compassionate, humane lens of a born novelist: being good, being at fault, and finding some balance in between." 

 I also found this lovely book for a dollar. Actually, I just liked the feel of it; it's colours & beautiful texture, but I'm really enjoying it beyond first appearances. I will share with you a little of this soon. 

I have been meaning to tell you about Alice for a very long time. Alice Hertz-Sommer is the most powerfully inspiring woman I have ever "met". She only recently passed away aged 109. I read her biography "A Garden of Eden in Hell" quite a few years ago. I found it in the library. She & her son were Holocaust survivors. As a pianist she could play Chopin from memory & gave many glorious concerts in the camp; a rare & sustaining nourishment & escape for those who lived with her, entrapped. In later years her son went on to become a world renowned cellist. Music was to sustain & saturate & bless their lives & all those who heard them play, so profoundly through all the years.

Interestingly Alice was a twin. She & her sister Mariana were born in Prague in 1903. Polarised at birth, Alice was born an optimist & Mariana a pessimist. Alice has her arm around her sister. Mariana died at the age of 75, as I recall & Alice lived to 109 in full positive strength.

This is my favourite picture (it was in the back of the library book) of Alice with Raphael in the background.

 She, along with her son, survived the Nazi concentration camp Theresienstadt.

Alice's life long passion for learning was given to her by her mother:

"Alice’s mother had a love of learning and instilled in her children a desire to hungrily pursue knowledge, “to learn, to learn, to learn, to know, to know” Alice remembers. All through her life, it is the strength of Sommers’ mind that sustained her. She believes in putting something in your mind everyday that no one can take from you. Up to the age of 104, Alice would make the trek three times per week to a nearby university to study history, and philosophy. Even now, every Saturday, she keeps her intellectual brain limber by playing Scrabble with a friend."

"When asked the secret to her long life, Alice responds, “in a word: optimism. I look at the good. When you are relaxed, your body is always relaxed. When you are pessimistic, your body behaves in an unnatural way. It is up to us whether we look at the good or the bad. When you are nice to others, they are nice to you. When you give, you receive.”
This info found here.

Alice's story The Lady in Number 6 is now available. Here is the trailer if you're interested:  

The Lady in Number 6 is one of the most inspirational stories ever told. 109 year old, Alice Herz-Sommer, the world's oldest pianist and oldest holocaust survivor, shares her views on how to live a long happy life. She discusses the vital importance of music, laughter and having an optimistic outlook on life. This powerfully inspirational video tells her amazing story of survival and how she managed to use her time in a Nazi concentration camp to empower herself and others with music.

 I do love the cover of this book The Language of Flowers.
 I wonder if any of you have read it?

I think that will be how I live my life...a life lived & expressed through the language of flowers. The optimism I am working on....a little every day; changing the energies & the legacy of defeat & struggle with all my strength & best grace. 

Happy Day to you, my friends.

Have a lovely week.

Thank you for your friendship & presence.

Much love Catherine x0x0x