What If...

Do you ever find yourself playing the game of What If? I don't mean If Only..that's about regret & things we cannot change. But, What If we had taken the path down, that day, instead of going up? It's actually a really interesting game? Why? Because it reminds us that we do, in fact, have choices in life...that we've made choices, all of our own.

So, it goes like this: What If...I hadn't met Rob that day in Wellington when I was 17??
Of course, I don't know! I have no idea what the alternatives would have been. I wouldn't have my particular children or live in this very house & I wouldn't have been loved so deeply & well. And then, quite suddenly I feel awfully grateful & glad that I did....meet Rob.
Otherwise I may never have walked up the path last Saturday (with him) to see this view from the lower hills of Havelock North..

And found this startlingly vivid bush in Tainui Reserve.

It was one of those halcyon days of Indian Summer where all the world seemed a little magical & full.

So I wasn't at first surprised to find these cherry trees in flower in Keirunga gardens...

The tuis & the bellbirds were in ecstasy..

& didn't care a bit that it actually wasn't spring.

And who could persuade them otherwise, when around the corner we discovered.... precociously early narcissus blooms!

Yet...autumn still in full splendour & glory.

And as we walked the leaf scattered sweeping paths, down through the old oak dell, I realised that these are our woods.

This is our woodland walk...not just mere gardens.

This is a place where magic may happen as the leaves descend to the earth. Returning to replenish & recycle & rest.

Awe...at the power & momentum of it all.

I couldn't help but twirl...

& twirl.

Dizzy!!

Joy!!

And abandon...
Autumn is a grand time for letting go.

Button was very pleased to have some new acorn friends & a few extra hats.

And decided that she may have Scottish ancestry after all.

What if I hadn't started blogging?

Oh no, I wouldn't have you as my friends!

So grateful for you!

Much love 

Catherine x0x0x

♥♥♥♥♥

The Fairy Sweeper Helpers and Other Sparkly Things

Some people have Garden Fairies..

I, have Fairy Sweeper Helpers..and they can be girls or boys!

 I also have sparkly things in my garden.

 I am grateful for the gift of my garden chandelier every single day.
Anything that is warm & sunshiney & sparkly in winter is good isn't it!?

The light comes in lower...sneaking up on us with pretty surprise rainbows.

Even with our feather duvet on it's a wee bit chilly in the night here just now but I find myself quite pleased about that because it means I can get out our precious handmade bedspread & treasure it some more. I hate to think how many hundreds of hours that it took for someone to lovingly make it.

My dearest friend Cheryl came & shared her birthday with me yesterday.

We had such a precious time.

"Look, she said, there's a rainbow on your arm".

I'm glad that it's her nails you can see & not mine!

Garden Fairies are frequently too busy to pay much attention to such things as fingernails.

 I called in to St Andrew's road on Friday..the tree ripened apples at the stalls down that way are exquisite.

 The truly tree-ripened fuji apples have this funny translucent thing going on inside. I wonder what the effect is called?

 Margaret, from round the corner, popped these gorgeous poppies in to me yesterday to say thank you for us helping to organize a pot swap next door. Aren't they amazing.

 She has them growing close to her house where they are sheltered & the soil is very dry.
I love their silky crinkliness don't you?
They look lovely in the old amethyst glass vase I found last time we were away.

There are monarchs over wintering down at the Showgrounds..wasn't this great camouflage!

As we scrunched amongst the crisp leaves we found quite a number of butterflies sunning themselves on the ground.

Matt came home this weekend (got a ride back with friends) so it seemed the perfect time to cut our 12 kg Musque de Provence pumpkin. The one that we bought from Clyde Potter at the Farmer's Market a few weeks back. Inside, it is the most amazing colour!! And yes, we've shared it round the neighbourhood.

I made two small jars of guava jelly this week using 1/2 the amount of sugar & adding just a squeeze of lemon juice. I wish you could taste it...it makes people close their eyes & swoon. We kept thinking that there was something very familiar about the flavour...something we were missing & then Rob got it! It tastes like the most divine tangy, perfect turkish delight you have ever dreamed of. 

 I remembered an old recipe of Nan's the other day. I used to love her fruit delight. I would often help her to make it with all different kinds of fruit. I wrote the recipe out in to a special book when I was 15.
Firstly I made it with lemon & just as the recipe says. You can find it here in our kitchen blog.

 Only I forgot to take a photo until it was nearly all gone!

So while Matthew was here we made another version..

  using some tamarillos.

 I love the colour it went! It is such a nice light dessert, very versatile & actually really good for you since it has eggs, fruit & gelatine in it  & not much else.

Last Sunday afternoon we popped out to Haumoana, which is near the coast & about 10 minutes away, to pick up some mandarins.

As we came up over Black Bridge I saw the sea & a new walk way. 

It was freezing but we hopped out & walked briskly to keep warm as the sun was almost setting. 

 What we found at the end of the road was truly Paradise.

As we left, the moon that Jupiter was about to cross, appeared quite suddenly & enchanted us all the way home. I was so overwhelmed by our serendipitous adventure & so thrilled with my photos I made a little movie which can be found just here.

It is so nice of you to visit...thank you!

I hope there is some simple wonder & good food going on for you this week too.

MUCH

 ♥♥♥♥♥

Grace Notes and Gracey

Gracey and Katie...we are to our grandchildren.
We're also very best friends.
Once-upon-a- time Gracey lived in a lovely little house just around the corner, but life moves us on sometimes and now she finds herself living in Taupo.
Most people would show you a picture of the lake, because that's what Taupo is all about, but I love the river there...the aquarmarine colours & the power of it are just so remarkable.

 On this journey we passed on through Taupo though & navigated our way further up the road braving lumpy, obstructive road works all the way to Hamilton. It is a city divided in two by the Waikato river so after a wander through this reserve & along the river side,

 and of course passed bridges & giant's homes..

we discovered, some people even have their own private carousels!

 But really, we had come all this way to see Tony, Gracey's husband. It's been 6 weeks since, alone out in the forest in the dark, the boom of the crane he was using malfunctioned, swung around & came crashing through to pin the poor man to his seat; crushing him there some 7 long agonizing hours before dawn & help finally arrived..paramedics & helicopters & you know the drill. A fistful of operations later, he is alive & still has two legs & is tenderly & hugely grateful to still be around.

 It was so good to see them both...dear hearts. Never mind that in our rush to get up to the hospital before closing of visiting hours we forgot to take note...well, of anything really. Um, which parking building old or new? Which floor of the parking building? Which level did we come in? Did we follow the red corridor? Did we bring the parking ticket so that we could pay before leaving? Luckily the car was still there some time later & the return journey next day was a lot more straight forward. There are many months to go yet, but the skill of the surgeons' hand is most evident in the care Tony has received & the breadth of prayer & concern astonishing. He even has a whole cloister of Nuns praying for him!

 After reluctantly leaving these two to the on-going daily challenges of recovery, with Tony still "nil by mouth" for the 3rd consecutive day awaiting further surgery, we headed on to Te Aroha (funnily enough where Gracey's mother lives).
 Oh we love this place!
 A tiny delightful town with great cafes, fabulous Indian food,

 antique shops (well one)

 & best of all Aroha Mountain Lodge.

 Greg & Linda are the most hospitable open-hearted hosts you could ever imagine.
Here's Greg with a son..hosting the "Day in the Domain" on Sunday.

 The unofficial Mayor of the place he's always on the job, his passion & creativity know no bounds.
There's lots of fine history in Te Aroha (apart from the fact that I lived there for the whole first year of my little life)

& lots of lovely vistas

& rural glimpses.

The mountain is imposing & grand & there are wonderful places to walk in beautiful bush.
 Some, even hike to the summit.

But not us.

 We found a dodgy looking bridge way though

 (it's actually to stop boulders crashing through the town in a flood).

You never know what you might spy when peering through bushes!

I love these old band rotundas don't you?

It's all so nice & cosy.
 We found ourselves serenaded by church bells & fire sirens, birdsong

and a few other odd bods!!

We missed the Lenten studies

but instead sat on the wide verandah with some cold apple cider,

some pretty magazines & books

and watched the day draw to a close...deeply grateful.

A little later we walked all of 50 metres to the most amazing hot soda mineral pools.

 The only ones of their kind in New Zealand.

Even the leaving is a delight,

as the narrow road undulates for miles & miles until one last corner & we career back into the bustle of

the fast lane home.
But before we could arrive, there was one last adventure most astonishing.
But I will have to save that story for another day.
Lovely to see you dear ones..thank you for stopping in.
MUCH

 ♥♥♥♥♥