Easter Nature Table & Lost Things

Hello there!
I do hope that you've had a lovely Easter; whether springy or autumnal, chocolatey or Churchy;
or, quiet & filled with grace & work, like ours.
With so many wonderful friends sharing tales & pictures of the goings on in the "upper" hemisphere I have become especially aware of our upside-down-ness down here, this Easter season.
No daffodils, hares, eggs or spring blossom here. Rather, an abundance & excess that is almost embarrassing in it's exuberance, urgency & splendour.
I found myself gathering armfuls of harvest & arranging a kind of "nature table" as a kind of thanks, over the weekend.

I discovered fresh roses in the cherry blossom tree,

a few figs that the wax eyes actually hadn't pecked & the first glowing sweet persimmons from our laden tree.

The little heart tomatoes are still going...

& the sun is now lower in the sky; washing our front verander with welcome late afternoon sunshine.

I had little people coming to visit on Thursday so I made a Jewish oatmeal cake with feijoas & tart dried apricots. We used to make it often when we were young & living in Taranaki, a time when friends would share recipes & you'd all be making the cake. It's still great 30 years later & more like real food than cake...which always works for me! I have just realised that I haven't posted the recipe yet so I will do that very soon.

 It really struck (as I said) this year that bunnies & eggs & all things spring are really rather silly in the middle of our lovely autumn Easter, so inside, I gathered all kinds of meaningful bits & pieces & put together a sacred scene that bought focus & stillness & gratitude to these restful days.

Of course the lily-of-the-valley isn't real...it just seemed nice. The hearts were called "sacred hearts" at the organics shop...for my niece & nephew. Mary is awfully battered & chipped, but the whole ordeal was pretty hard on her at the time, so that kind of fits.

Now, I have been told that this may be St Anthony. I bought him on Trade me last week in support of a Hospice shop. If indeed he is St Anthony then that would make him the Patron Saint of Lost & Broken Things...that's me (thought I) he'll be perfect!

What a funny old thing to crochet, a cross...I love it though. It's very old. I wonder who made it?

Of course, there always has to be a butterfly to remind us of liberating, metamorphosing grace.

Autumn, Easter & menopause...who ever would have thought there was a theme in that!
Transformation. Shedding the old. Completion.

Still, there's something to be said for imagination....& silliness!

A return to innocence & a child-like heart is always a helpful approach on any occasion, in my book.

Wishing you all, sunshine & happiness in the coming week & maybe a little skipping.
Thank you so much for popping in.
Much love Catherine x0x0x
♥♥♥♥♥

Love, Faith & Compost

When all the world breathes more deeply, come year's end, when the timetables & routines loose their defining grip, there is sometimes a chance to take other paths & rest the soul. On Christmas day, Rob & I walked through this valley found at the top of Tauroa road. The tall trees are draped in fragrant garments of honeysuckle, ivy, blue morning glory & banana passionfruit vines.

There are hills to the east, a brook running through the centre of the gully & wild fruit trees dotted along the road back to the car.

Christmas red & bird friendly.

Dandy puffs along the mown burms...

morning glory as if lit from within.

At home we had cups of tea with our Lucy..

and listened to The Wireless Station the the Bush radio.

Rob kindly devised a new kind of quadpod so as to record the event.

A day or too later we had a delightful visit form my bestie & her mum....heading south to visit family.

In preparation for the ending of 2013 I swept out all the birch catkins that had weasled there way in every possible crack in Lucy & picked new flowers to grace the transition from one year in to another.

We celebrated together & reflected with gratitude all that we had been blessed with & got through over the past 12 months.  

I am so glad of the flowers, to have my own bit of earth & all the new changes that each season brings.

These hyacinth bean flowers are quite lovely. The pods will soon develop, flat & shiny deep purple.

And the begonias are happy here on the corner of the back porch. I don't recall planting the orange one but welcome anyway.

As I tidied up odd piles & discarded useless bits & bobs I came across a little folder with a theatre voucher still tucked in to it. Remembering that there was still some credit on the card (I was so kindly given) I looked to see what was on at The Globe Theatrette in Ahuriri. I was delighted to find that this interesting looking film/documentary was screening on Sunday afternoon. So I did something most unusual for me, I booked a seat & went to the movies on my own. 

Here is the lovely trailer:

  
Several days later I read this New Year's news item: "When Sister Loyola Galvin received a letter from the Government, she thought it must be a traffic fine. The 91-year-old nun examined her conscience, before discovering it was from the prime minister, to tell her she was becoming a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit. It is a recognition of her long career as a nurse, and latterly as a gardener at the Island Bay Home of Compassion on Wellington's south coast. "I think it's rather amusing and I'm very grateful somebody thought about it," she said. "If I'd known it meant all this publicity, I would have said no."She modestly describes herself as "a very uninteresting person".
I have known about Sister Loyola since 2008 when I first read about her in the New Zealand Gardener magazine.  I recall falling in love with her story & her garden & trying to figure out how I could make my way down to Wellington to visit her.

I found this reported on Stuff.co.nz concerning Sister Loyola being awarded Gardener of the Year:
"She's been voted New Zealand's top gardener, but Sister Loyola Galvin, 86, admits to a little help - she prays for divine intervention to ensure her plants are the best they can be.

"We're dealing with God's creations and I often ask that our efforts be successful because we're dealing with such beautiful things."

Though slight of build and at risk of being blown over in a stiff northwesterly, Sister Loyola can be found seven days a week, rain or shine, tending her vegetables behind Island Bay's Home of Compassion.

"I love it, and anything you love grows. Children that I've loved grew and I've done that all my life.

"So now I'm doing it with plants."

Sister Loyola, a former nurse, was named New Zealand Gardener's 2008 Gardener of the Year yesterday. She took up gardening in her early 70s, tending the home's four-hectare grounds. At 81, she took a permaculture course, learning the finer points of holistic and sustainable gardening."

And then this article that I recall reading at the time. imagine being blown down the bank!
"At age 81, Sister Loyola Galvin was blown down a bank by a gust of wind while tending her vegetable gardens at Our Lady’s Home of Compassion in Wellington’s Island Bay. The sprightly sister wasn’t going to let a double pelvis fracture and ruptured right-arm tendon stand in the way of her ministry to the four-hectare grounds, however.
Now 88, the former nurse ignored the doctor’s warning to take it easy while recovering. “I may be over 80, but I’m pretty fit”, notes Loyola, a Sister of Compassion for over 60 years who calls everyone “dear”.
Forget walking, just get gardening, she told herself at the time of her injury, and promptly commandeered an old wheelchair and fitted it with a battery. At first she could only motor around on flat areas, but soon she was careening up hillocks in order to tend every corner of her domain. “It was a question of getting past the pain barrier,” she says matter-of-factly. In five months, Loyola was back to full mobility and full gardening duties.
Since “retiring” 15 years ago, Loyola has gradually transformed the home’s grounds into a green oasis. While her fellow sisters enjoy the sight and smells of their favourite blooms, Loyola’s speciality is vegies: broccoli, beans, cabbages, cauliflowers, carrots, celery, potatoes, lettuces. “Everything you can grow for a salad”, and most other vegetables you could think of, feed the 20-or-so nuns and their guests – such as midwives, who use the rooms for conferences.
Any extras go to the Suzanne Aubert Compassion Centre’s soup kitchen. Run by the nuns in the city centre since 1907, it serves up a hot meal each evening to 60-100 people. Recently, when past-their-prime potatoes were donated to the soup kitchen, Loyola chopped up the tired vegetables for compost and replaced them with spuds fresh from the ground.
Once she’s finished her daily prayers, Loyola is usually out in the garden from first light until dusk, seven days a week. Gardening according to permaculture’s holistic, sustainable philosophy, Loyola never uses chemical pesticides or fertiliser, and recycles materials wherever possible to spare both the planet and her meagre budget. Stacked bottles and tyre “fences” are windbreaks; cardboard is a base for raised beds; and plastic milk bottles (with bottoms cut off) shield small seedlings. Five colossal compost bins are perpetually refilled with everything from seaweed gathered from the nearby beach to horse manure scooped up from neighbouring stables, then covered with an old carpet and left to “cook” for four to five months. “It’s layered like a club sandwich,” says a proud Loyola, who’s happy to pass on the recipe to anyone who asks.
What Loyola relishes about gardening is the creativity it unleashes – and the palpable sense of life’s endless cycle. It also helps keep her strong. “I’ve met a lot of people gardening in their 80s and they’re fit, healthy and enjoying life.”
Six years ago, at Loyola’s request, the Home of Compassion employed an intellectually and physically handicapped man in the garden full-time. “When you’re 40-something and you’ve always been considered unemployable, that’s tough,” she says. “I’ve always tried to encourage people to do what they can do, rather than worrying about what they can’t.”
The unassuming sister got a shock – and some welcome garden-store vouchers – when she won the 2008 NZ Gardener of the Year title from a pool of regional winners. The award recognised her efforts, including her encouragement of other green fingers in the community.
While taking a permaculture course in the early 1980s, for example, Loyola met a teenager who, like his friends, didn’t have a backyard, but wanted to grow vegetables. She subsequently ran an idea past her fellow sisters of the order: should they let the teenagers use a corner of the grounds? The response was yes.
Begun in 2005, before community gardens went from a rarity to a regular fixture in New Zealand, the Common Ground scheme still thrives today. Thirty land-hungry Wellingtonians tend small individual plots and a large communal space, working collectively according to a permaculture ethos. They now have their own toolshed, fruit trees, herb garden and composting system.
Paying her $10 membership levy along with everyone else, Loyola often climbs the hill to see how the other members are going, offering a quiet word of advice when needed.
“Sister Loyola is an inspiration, not just in gardening but in life,” says member Kate Smith, 47."

Credit for the above excerpt with many thanks: New Zealand Readers Digest: Sister Act 

About now seemed like a good time to find a suitable "Goodness Jar".
 I began on the 1/1 writing on little bits of paper: all the good things, the happy memories & moments, the funny things & stuff I am really grateful for. It'll be a wonderful cascade of goodness to tip out again just under a year from now as we complete 2014. 

Well goodness...I am SO grateful for you. I think that I'll pop that on my little scrap of paper & in to the jar it goes!
I've been thinking quite a bit these last few days about the metaphor of compost making & how it could be applied to life. I'll get back to you on that one!
I wish for us all an engaging, thrilling, creative, flowery, loving & satisfyingly memorable year.
I look forward to journeying with you my friends.
Every blessing  & much love Catherine

♥♥♥♥♥

One Word 365: Bloom

Coming to the end of a year is a little like turning the page of time..it's something that we need to do to mark out the passing of our lives. As more & more time goes by, this process seems to become increasingly important to many of us, especially now that my years are no longer measured by such things as a child weaning, losing baby teeth, starting school or leaving home. Do you do that: calculate the years by a childhood event or marker? I always remember how long ago we moved back here to Hawke's Bay by how old David is plus 6 months! It was a time of huge change for us as a family, a time of excitement, new opportunities & great uncertainty. Our intention was to build a new life closer to family; a life of love & blessing. Tragically, quite the opposite occurred, the years became harder & more grueling & as each year ended I would once again gather all my courage & faith & determine that surely next year would be a better one.
Unable to cope with the incessant round of family drama, breakdown, ugly politics & abandonment (on both sides), with a husband who was a nursing student & three small children to care for, my health soon collapsed & broke. Chaos prevailed through all those years, yet somehow, we held on to our love & our home & our lives. Every time we made a step forward, soon enough, something dreadful would happen & we would slide back down the snake to the bottom, bruised, crushed & wounded. (Even the Church we attended completely broke down & disintegrated!) It was out of this desperate, endless struggle that I was to become an ardent seeker of both truth & beauty.
People often thought me too intense or even self righteous but when you are living without hope you become dedicated to finding a way through the morass, whatever it takes, for fear of never seeing the light again. Over time I discovered that I have a sensitivity, insight & intuition that others don't understand, but is in fact, a truly precious gift.
When my friend Cheryl gave me a card year's end of 2009 "An angel in My Garden" a tiny fertile seed of hope was sown, that would in turn, lead me in to blogging & the community of caring, inspiring, friendly bloggers. It was at the moment that life began to finally change for me. Sunlight began to stream through my window from time to time. Two years ago, on the cusp of menopause, my health failed very badly once again, but this time the resources were there to be mined, discovered, revealed. Slowly, slowly beauty, truth & kindness, a very good homeopath, New Zealand Flower Essences, cultured & healing foods, a faithful husband willing to change & grow, have all carried us to a place, where we can truly say, that for the first time in 25 years we have had a good year!
A gentle miracle.
So here we are, once again, year ending.
We stand with grace & gratitude...& intention.
And, my intention: to bloom in 2014.

Bloom:
~ the flower of a plant.~flowers collectively: the bloom of the cherry tree.
~state of having the buds opened: The gardens are all in bloom.
~flourishing, healthy condition; the time or period of greatest beauty, artistry, etc.: the bloom of youth; the bloom of Romanticism.~glow or flush on the cheek indicative of youth and health: a serious illness that destroyed her bloom.


Synonyms: blossom, florescence, floruit, flower, flush, heyday, high noon, prime, salad days, springtime.

This concept of One Word has surfaced in various places, of recent times, but I really like Alece's invitation over at One Word 365. She says:
"Your word can be anything you want. All that matters is that it has personal meaning for you. It can be something tangible or intangible. It can be a thought, a feeling, an action, a character trait. Your word will stand as a reminder, a nudge. Something you can reflect on, that will challenge you, inspire you. A touchstone you can return to time and time again to help you stay the course this year…"

You can pop in here to read more if you're interested.  You'll find a button to a list of inspiring words at the bottom of that page or you can go here to find a fabulous 365 list of words to use as journal prompts. They'll be just great for intentions too! 

If you're looking for me I'll be with the pond fairies just now..

For me to bloom through this coming year will be a challenge that I will face as every day unfolds; as I continue to live & sleep with depression. It is an enormous task to attempt to process & shed the grief & loss of nearly 50 years of breaking down...losing "family" (& family members) over & over again; the loss of wellbeing & belonging is a stinging & harsh grief that follows me wherever I go.

However, my intention, the word that will also be my companion through the days of 2014 is

BLOOM 

Thank you dears for being the ones that brought hope to my door.
Thank you for your visits & friendship, for being participators of grace & for endlessly inspiration & kindness.
I am so grateful!
I wish you all a wonderful, satisfying & adventurous New Year (almost there!)

♥♥♥♥♥

The Cascade And Finding Lucy

Hello!!
You could be forgiven for thinking that I had run off with the "Goods"!!
But no, I can assure you that I have not & yes there are now two in the giveaway.

Firstly I will tell you about the cascade..
You see, it all began with Anna (our daughter) receiving notice to move from her house.
And when you move, all kinds of tidying & hiffing & reassessments are made.
It can be a very busy time.
It is at just such times that you can discover, that just perhaps, you may..have a spare cat & are simultaneously requiring draws...any kind will do.
This daughter status lead to acquiring one said pussy & a re-evaluation of one too small (no longer a bedroom...can't actually find the bed any more) room that really wants to become a craft room but nobody at all can move in it!!
So, a trailer was hired & this lovely old oak dresser was delivered to Anna's.
A small note..this was the bedroom of interest in tidy times gone by...but it really is the actual dresser.

Un-useful bed was passed on to the Saly's & this wardrobe thingy-a-me-bob was retrieved from the same.  Update on the up-cycle on this very soon!

The space has been cleared (well mostly!)

All this floating around the rest of the house!

 The test pots have been applied & fresh colours decided upon.

And in the middle of all the wringer washing machine agitation, the cat has begun to settle in...Lord knows how. Poor Paikia! No photos of her yet...can't find her half the time.
Now, early in this process , about when Anna got the notice....I received a particularly intriguing notice of my own. A message on Trade me & an unexpected listing that took my breath away & captivated my heart.
A listing for an adorable shabby chic vintage caravan.
I kept going back to have a look at it & the dance began...twirling round & round in my heart; flipping my emotions as if I was caught in the waves on the edge of the ocean & couldn't walk out.
"Yes you could do it..no I couldn't possibly, don't be ridiculous, besides surely you don't really want this caravan, there's just some kind of emotional connection going on here so you better just figure out what it is & let it go..."
But I didn't let it go & somehow...I made it through the process & bought her!!!!
I bought her on a "buy-now" as free delivery was a part of the deal & she was living in Nelson in the South Island & that's across water & along way away. I have hardly slept all week so huge was my step. Could I trust the other trader. Could I really find that much money! And would she arrive here in one piece?
 Oh, & of course, where precisely would she live?
I cleared out much of my courtyard...a bit overdue anyway. Then one foggy???? yes foggy morning, about last Tuesday..

Having traveled all night & even bravely on the Inter-Island Ferry in the company of a nice man called Damon (who, by the way, had to fend off amorous admirers on the journey!!)...

This photo of Interislander Cook Strait Ferry is courtesy of TripAdvisor

 one darling girl came trundling down my driveway!!

She is a star & nearly as old as Rob!!

 Someone has done lots & lots of work on her & I could just hug her to bits.

 Yet, she is not pretentious (hand painted & all that sort of thing)

 And she is cosy & lovely

 and...she wants to tell you...

I have also had a big re-organize in my china cabinet (after the last tea party).

I came across these wee chaps & had some eggs one night with my tea.

Eating has been a bit by the by just this week.

Mind you, the last two nights Lucy & I have had tea together since Rob 's been at work.

I have so much I want to show...very soon!

I've also stumbled into Easter & figure the best thing I can bring to the time is gratitude.

And I am so thankful!!!

I am also glad that it's the time of abundance & sunshine here.

Easter would make a jolly good Thanksgiving time in New Zealand I have decided.

And so I wish you dear friends & visitors a wonderful, happy Easter.

I do so love this darling Margaret Tarrant picture.

You still have time to enter the "Good" giveaway.

One just because & the other..

for finding the name for this marvelous old tea pot (25 cups remember)

I will tell you all the suggestions next time.

It has been such fun.

Thank you for joining in...all the names are delightful!!

 However will we chose just one!

MUCH

 ♥♥♥♥♥