Living Juicy

Golly, I didn't mean to disappear!

I have been keeping up with Sunshine Vintage & doing some very necessary & deep emotional work. Meantime...the world swirled on around me & then quite suddenly it came time to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. Surely that can't be us...35 years!

We took some time off & went north for a couple of nights to stay in Gisborne. Although I spent a good deal of time as a child visiting with my grandparents in the little town of Wairoa I had never been to Gisborne before.
We passed through Wairoa on our journey & stopped at a great little cafe called East End in the main street (well there aren't really many others, actually-streets or cafes).
We loved this creative design in the entrance.

Look who we saw peeking out from her little feather bed in the rafters of the veranda...Mrs Swallow.

We went & found my Nan & Pa's old house in Campbell street.
I always loved that old Pohutukawa tree.

Then we found where my other grandparents had lived awhile.
Wairoa is where my parents first new each other.

The road to Gisborne is windy & hilly but soon enough you can see down the other side.

We were advised to use the back entrance when we got there because.......
there was a night food market & fundraiser for the old steam train being set up right in front of the motel.



Goodness, we didn't expect front row seats!
We were even given vouchers by the motel people & found ourselves a lovely cheese platter.
All the food offerings were capped at $5 to make it affordable for families & to encourage people to try new things.

The train has been restored by volunteers over the course of the last 30 years & what a marvellous old thing it is.

Rob remembers a train much like this from when he was a child in Nairobi, Kenya.

Lots of palms all around Gisborne...they love the sunny seaside climate.

We found a marvellous & large bookshop.
Fun Christmas tree idea.

Just around the corner we walked by the beach as the sun went down.

We found a wonderful ancient Pohutukawa tree along the way that looked so inviting some of us climbed up in to it's welcoming arms. Cool hut.

 I love it when the tuis fluff themselves up like ninnies.

We searched out all the op shops & found the thriving Farmer's Market on Saturday morning just near the museum.
Walking along the river bank we came across this very cleverly painted building.

The skies were so blue & the wetlands around some parts of the river most intriguing.

It's a real shame that the rail link has been closed so everything has to travel by road or container ship.
But we soon realised that the main route in to town for people, is the well used railway bridge.

And the primary pastime for many on a hot & sunny Saturday afternoon is sitting on that very bridge egging each other on & hoping that your courage might pass on by & help you face your fears & jump!

Posturing helps!

Next morning there were more goings on in the road out front.
Around breakfast time there assembled an entire vintage car club.
They set up a little christmas tree & piled up a mountain of parcels that will be given to needy kids.

The whole thing began to take on a hilarious life of it's own.

After a bit the Sallies turned up to play some Christmas carols, but alas, there was no choir.
Soon enough some willing volunteers stepped in to sing-a-long. Not sure they knew any of the words but their enthusiasm was welcome.

On our way home we stopped at Morere springs. New Zealand's only hot salt water pools.

I spotted a new wild flower on a bank as we passed by. I've taken some cuttings...not sure what it is so do let me know if you're familiar with it. 

Many times we have felt so alone through the years...the indifference of our families a harsh & palpable thing. So we were over-joyed to receive such nurture & warm hospitality on our journey, the enveloping of arms of "you're just fine" enabled us to relax & know that yes, indeed we are.

On our return home my lovely friend Gina sent me this:

We didn't just take a nice little holiday, we journeyed in celebration of connection. We talked about the transformation through the years, the waking up to so many things & the vital necessity of juice. 

Living juicy means being truly alive & vibrant & growing & having resonance.

It means not boring the heck out of each other with the sameness & stuckness.

Living juicy brings sweetness to life.

In each other we find home.

 

Wildly Excessive!

Gather your washing baskets & your wool fadges, your buckets & your aprons....
we are in the time of wild excess!
 Such abundance,
overflow & extravagance!
The time has come to harvest, gather, savour & share the fruit of the land.

What a perfect time to celebrate Easter in the midst of plenty.

I have created a nature/harvest/Easter table on the front porch that is changed & rearranged daily (would someone stop eating all the figs please!) 

The bunnies tails we collected from near the sea. 

 The Myoga ginger is charming us with her ground growing blooms. Finely sliced they were a delicious addition to a recently prepared potato salad. Lightly gingery & nicely crunchy.

Layly is our guardian angel & friend. 

She is carved from African stone & very beautiful.

She was graciously given to us by dear, sweet loving folk.

 At our Farmer's market there is a charming French Chocolatier she is so full of spice & creative vim.

Her name is Anissa & she is a hand maker of organic fair-trade French chocolate. 

These eggs are so clever, filled with hazelnut chocolate; delightful.

 We found these cheery daffodils at the local Garden Centre. Carefully choreographed to enter the stage for our autumnal Easter pleasure...these little lovelies are entirely out of step with the seasons, but now I can plant them in my garden & they'll soon readjust themselves.

Our green friend couldn't quite believe his eyes either.

 Not sure why it's taken quite so long....after all, it's ivy we're talking about, but finally we have a heart connection.

I'm not certain that I remember seeing the seeds from a magnolia tree before. And I sure wouldn't have imagined them to be bright orange. Look at the possibilities...all encapsulated in one seed pod! When I look around our home & our garden that I can never quite bring to order or make tidy, I am now no longer surprised...you can't go around opening your arms & your hands to hold & gather the proffered abundance of nature without making a mess!

 And so the table evolves daily, washed with gratitude & noted in admiration & awe.

When my gathering companion Ruth dug up box loads of spring bulbs & arm loads of spent hollyhocks I opened a new page & began afresh on Trade Me with my new trade name Sunshine Vintage. Well sunshine it has most surely been. Collaboratively, Ruth & I have been scattering our little nation with seeds, glorious, marvellous seeds..& bulbs & cuttings. We've sold bluebells, grape hyacinths, snowflakes & paper whites, we've dispensed foxgloves, granny bonnets, orlaya, hollyhocks by the cup full & cynoglossum too. Cynoglossum also known as Chinese forget-me-nots...I loved sending a cup full of seed to a bride so that she could give seeds as wedding favours to her guests....forget-me-not indeed! I've added Bishop's flower & orlaya to an order of pink nerines as the dear older lady wanted to grow them for Church flowers. She was delighted. I've posted Apple Blossom geranium cuttings to Waiheke Island & tweedia to Nelson to attract the butterflies.

Gathering, sorting, sifting, labeling packing & posting seeds & plants is very time consuming, but oh so marvellous! Ruth is a wonder...she is sending her share to The Voice of the Martyrs & feels empowered to do so by such vast providence.

Just on Easter we got away for a night.

And along the way we stopped...to gather!

I adore these rosehips!

I plan on learning how to make rosehip syrup...just what we need for the winter.

I managed to catch an online, half price discount for our favourite hot pools at Wairakei.

And while there, we met the lovely man who looks after the pools....the Kaitiaki or guardian of the steaming, restorative treasure.

Just back up the road the Waikato river cascades in awesome power over the Huka Falls.

I have long been enchanted by the colour of these waters...that blue!

Since we were traveling home on Good Friday we took our time & stopped all along the way to forage. We gathered more rosehips at Tarawera & took the old track down to the hot pool.

There we met an old codger & his dog, happily freedom camping. The old guy said that he'd been coming to the pool for 50 years. On our return we met the Kaitiaki of this pool too & were able to thank him for clearing the track & cleaning the pool. But oh my, it was boiling hot! The pipe comes right out of the mountainside. I almost turned myself in to boy/girl soup!

Back at the car there were so many camper vans & travellers in the car park. This little traveler needed a bit of a breather in the fresh air too.

We found a wild apple tree along the way, on the roadside. These little golden delicious kind of apples are the most delicious apples we have ever tasted.

I so appreciate the wonderful advice & teaching of Susun Weed. I have been learning more about using & harvesting herbs every day. Rob very patiently & graciously stopped, yet again, so that I could harvest mullein (now renamed Marlain by the patient one). This stage, as it comes in to flower, is the perfect time for harvesting. Mullein is the best herb to strengthen & support the lungs. 

Isn't this violet cauliflower so exuberant. If after cooking it you add a squeeze of lemon juice all the glorious colours are enlivened & it tastes delicious. The Italian flat beans are lovely too...grown from seeds my kind mother sent me late last year.

Oh there you are Myoga...just wanting to pop in & show off her plumery she said.

Lucy was pleased to see us home again.

And put on her prettiest Easter bonnets for the occasion.

I'm glad I have a willing helper (Marlain's friend) to help me pick up the washing basket of feijoas (on the ground) in the morning, harvest the figs & raspberries & bag the walnuts that dear Ruth delivered this morning. And then there are the cuttings to take & the bulbs to plant & the seeds to sow. What a wonderful time of joy.

I hope that your week is filled with the glorious excesses of nature too.

Thank you for visiting me today dear friends.

Much love Catherine x0x0x