From Scux To Majestical!

Just a few weeks ago, one of us turned 60.

In honour of such a grand event, we set off on a little celebratory road trip north, via right, just out of Napier. We had saved up from fruit selling & planned a good balance of: places we knew we'd like to go & others we'd never even set eyes on before.

There is a valley on the way to Gisborne, a place called Morere- meadows, a river, hot springs, a camping ground & cabins, all enveloped in a lowland rainforest reserve.

People have lived here a long time but never very many.  It's a precious place, you can just feel it. This was once the little school for the areas children, now re-homed & restored. 

The hot water is remarkable, sometimes called fossilised sea water as it has traveled thousands of years before bubbling it's way out of the ground beneath the rainforest. 

Not far after that to Gisborne (the first to see the sun)-so many lovely beaches, a river, op-shops

and walks.

It was fun to explore together.

Yet, it was constantly ever-so-slightly challenging being away from our everyday lives & home.

"Goodness, what's wrong with you dear? It was only for a few days!"

And that's just it..a few days away from the familiarity, provisions, accessibility & rhythms of our everyday lives refreshed our perspective & heightened our senses.

We talked a lot. We always chat away, we're best of friends.

We process our lives, grow, renew our thinking & know one another better with every conversation.

We're still wading through the detritus of the past, like swimming in the ocean & feeling the seaweed entangle your legs; unseen but disturbing- more times than we'd care to recall. But we're still getting in the water, squealing & splashing & swimming.  

This poem of Hollie Holden's captured it so well for me this week.

When you walk slowly enough

And with your eyes
Always alive to beauty
You cannot help but notice
The Bright Unstoppability
Of flowers 
Cracking their way
Through concrete
On walls and pavements 
And in between bricks.
I asked one this morning: 
How did you grow? 
She answered me
Quietly: 
'Hardness and lack of welcome are no match 
For the power of the soft, sure determination 
Of one who knows 
Exactly who she is'
Hollie Holden
May 2016

That's exactly what we discovered on our journey-that we know exactly who we are.
We joined a theatre full of locals at the movies & went to see Hunt For The The Wilder People.
If the trailer makes you laugh, you'll love the movie. If you don't get it, then it may be a tad too Kiwi for you.

Ricky Baker isn't too thrilled with the hand that life has dealt him & he's got himself in to a bit of strife. At one point he tells "Uncle" very indignantly "I didn't chose this scux life, this scux life chose me!!!" 

There comes a point when Uncle & Ricky are standing looking down across a valley from high up on a bush clad mountain. "Majestical!" exclaims Uncle. 

"That's not even a word", Ricky corrects him.

Scux to Majestical sounds like a great life journey to me.

That's what I've signed up for.

Moving on from Gisborne, traveling through country-side we've never seen before, we came across a place called Gray's Bush. It is truly the most majestically sacred place I have ever encountered.

The bush is rare & precious & filled with puriri trees (most unusual in our native bush)
& the birdsong-a mesmerising heavenly chorus.
The flowers of the Puriri tree are vibrant & inviting.

The berries are beautiful too, no wonder the Wood Pigeons love them so.

From Gisborne we headed through the Waioeka Gorge & on to Whakatane.

They have a marvellous Hospice Shop in Whakatane!

I just caught this window dressing before it was removed.

This cute vintage basket was just right there in the window waiting for me.

Beautifully laid out & so many treasures to be found.

A little knitting graffiti was fun to find.

And how interesting to meet Pohutukawa covered sentinel, Pohaturoa Rock-just plonked right here in the centre of town.

Pohaturoa Rock is the local tribe’s (Ngati Awa) spiritual and physical ancestral connection to the area. The Ngati Awa have always performed ceremonies of birth, death, war and other important matters here. 

I loved this poem written by Clive Kingsley-Smith in 1983.

Challenging sentinal, solitary, steadfast

There at the crossroads he stands!

Silently waiting, eternally watching,

Timelessness held in his hands.

Grey, grey with the plumes of eternity,

Grey with the records of time,

Grey in his ancient, revered paternity,

Recorded in Maoriland rhyme!

Rugged by nature from time immemorial,

Unmoved by aeons of grace!

Red Pohutakawa, and creepers arboreal,

Screening the scars on his face!

Grey, grey with the seal of the centuries,

Grey with the score of their years,

Grey with the records of blatant humanity,

Their laughter, their groans and their tears.

Now a walk through-once a cave.

Homeward-bound we stopped in Rotorua to walk amongst the Redwoods.

Only this time it was up in the actually trees, looking down through to the forest floor.

A remarkable piece of engineering & design work the Redwood Tree Walk ,

An engaging experience indeed.

When you know just who you are, all kinds of things begin to flow better & to make sense.
I have continued to learn about the Five Elements. They just make so much sense to me.
So all encompassing. And very useful to help in understanding your constitutional leanings, emotional make up, relationship dynamics, health challenges, healing issues & occupational propensities.
I have huge respect for Jason Elias who writes:

"The Chinese believe that the Five Elements- Wood, Fire, Metal, Earth & Water govern the physical, emotional & spiritual existence of human beings, just as they regulate the cycles of growth & change in the external world.

Each of the Five Elements has a unique nature & spirit, and every human being has a constitutional affinity to one or more of them. 

For instance: the aggressive, forceful energy of Wood is most obvious in the season of spring, when the buds swell to bursting & the seeds sprout in to tender shoots that, against all odds, push their way through the earth in to vigorous life. 

If Wood is your predominant energy, you are like the green stem of spring,  you are driven by the need to stay in motion & to reach new heights, you are firmly grounded by a sense of self & home- the place where you fit & belong. Your roots are driven deep; your potential is unlimited"

Rob & I re-did the Five Element quiz from over here last week & I was fascinated to find that we are both predominately Woods..with some Water. A few years ago I got quite a different result which shows me just how far I have come in reclaiming my true self.

The Wood constitution very much fits the re-discovered "me"; the one who prefers to work alone & just-get-on-with-it & who loves to be fully occupied with all kinds of projects & doings. And yes, I am most certainly deeply grounded by a sense of self & home-the place where I fit & belong.

Of course there is even more commonsense to the whole Five Element thing in the teaching of balance in all things. When one element or season swings out of kilter or becomes unbalanced, then everything can get a bit messed up. Pay attention, balance things out & you restore or achieve harmony & regain your health & equilibrium.

 It's easy for me to stay in touch with this approach since I am constantly in tune with the seasons & the land & so quite naturally these things have become a part of my daily life conversation & observations.

 Harmony is a really useful state...even along the road-side there's a happy, unseen interaction going on that keeps everything in harmonious balance.

With-in the flow of the seasons there is a time for all things, every state of being.
Autumn is the time for rot & return! A time to let go-of all that no longer serves us & to have a jolly good clean up, just as the natural world does the same.
 Eventually the hard work of healing & growing & shedding the past moves the mountains of legacy, until at last, pausing to look across the valley, I can say with surety..."ah, isn't that a majestical sight!"
Much love, Catherine xxx

Comfort and Joy

Welcome and hello!
Happy New Year dear friends and visitors.
I have to say there's a certain kind of grand satisfaction in becoming a sassy menopausal woman.
I have been following my own rhythms of the season, saying no to that which is un-necessary or unappealing & since we are having a rather gentle coolish summer just presently, happily catching up on lots of my Hedge Fairy work right here in our secret garden...

There is so much to pay attention to, harvest at just the right moment, dry, sieve, label & store so that I can lay my hands on it all again when it comes time to sell or sow this year's round of seeds & plants & bulbs & corms. I am very found of this graceful wild flower-pink Canon Went linaria.

And I am thrilled with this little blue woodruff. And yes, dear Betty many seeds can be happily posted overseas. These were originally sent to me form Canada.

We have had so many lovely visitor ensembles come to tea in Lucy over the last few months.

Who would have thought when she first came all that way that she would become so much more than just a vintage caravan. I never dreamed that she would also become friend to many, healer, salve & sanctuary & bring us all so much joy!

Golly, there were 6 visitors this day, so we thought we'd better make "boy" seats & space outside, but as it was the two young girls just spent their time exploring all around the garden. Catherine's parents were out from England & her mum loved our garden as she is a guide at Kew Gardens. We sent her on her way with various seeds.

It works so well for visitor's to bring their own food with them...

although on this occasion two lovely ladies had come for a secret garden visit & just happened to stay for tea.

I have found a third pink enamel teapot. They work so well with roses & alstroemeria.

It's so nice to be able to create simple seasonal vignette's in Lucy. Our raspberries were so delicious too.

I found an idea much like this on Pinterest...

but haven't had the opportunity to use the concept just yet. Needs more than just the two of us to fill it up.

We've had a visit from a fairy princess where upon there was a fairy the party shared with Uncle Rob when he arrived home from work one afternoon.

Lilies are magnificent especially this double one & fill the air with their heady scent...where ever they are placed. Close Lucy up & in the morning she is drenched in loveliness.

I've been on the look out for Jesus for ages & ages. I found him one day along with his mum & dad in St Vinny's window but the lady from the Little Red Book shop had beaten me to it & nabbed them all, so I had to be content to visit them in her shop in town. But finally I found him at the market in Napier sitting on the end of the stall with all kinds of um-er-well junk. He's a little too perfect for my liking...needs to be a bit mussed up, perhaps. The elderly lady whose care he was released from evidently dusted & fussed over him a good deal, during his stay with her; same cannot be said for his mother...the stall owner's told me she was in a very batteredly, poorly way.

I am amazed that there is always more to learn; things that you never ever knew about before.
I didn't know about Linden trees until this Christmas. I had just been reading about harvesting Linden flowers from Susun Weed & how they are so fragrant & nourishing & anti-inflammatory & I had observed what the flowers looked like & so set about finding a tree. One day I was buying some organic veges from Clyde at the Farmer's Market when I looked up & saw an enormous linden tree in full flower right behind him. Clyde I cried...it's a Linden tree!! Yes..said he, rather nonchalantly, the streets of Berlin a lined with them. I soon returned one sunny afternoon to fill a little basket full.

But oh silly me...Linden trees are everywhere! I've walked past them in our own Cornwall Park a thousand times but never identified them. In the language of flowers Linden flowers represent peace, truth & justice....perfect that they are all flowering right on Christmas here in New Zealand! The dried flowers make a lovely gentle tea that is calming, may help with sleep issues & overcoming colds... they are also anti-inflammatory. Linden trees are now my dear friends & so is the Melia tree in the middle of our back lawn.

  I came across a nice looking recipe for raw strawberry macaroons last week & had a go & making them. They are delicious & so summery. You can find the recipe here.

As I mentioned a while back I have been doing some deep, necessary healing emotional work. It is the kind of work that rises unbidden & cannot be rushed. This is the peculiar nature of my life journey....light & dark, joy & struggle. Joy has been a fitting word for this passed year's journey...all the places of joy have made themselves fully known to me. There are so many joy-germs in my life & I am so grateful. They're rather obvious really. I'm sure that you can see them too.
The darkness, well that's another story...really, truly another story because the imprint & the impact  of the darkness happened to a small, innocent, sweet child a long time ago. I did not chose that story, nor did I have any hand in writing it....yet it has shaped my life profoundly; left an indelible mark like acid on skin. When I was five years old I came home from school with my father at lunch time, to find my mother had attempted to take her life. Panic, phone calls, ambulance, blur.....my mother was taken away & I never saw her again....for a very long time. My father told me what I needed to know, that she was in the special part of the hospital & that children weren't allowed to visit, that she was very sick & eventually, that she would never be coming home. I felt sorry for my mother but I didn't grieve her departure. There was much going on that lead to all this....she was to go on to make another three suicide attempts, the last when she was 7 months pregnant with another child.
Through all these years no one talked to me about my losses or how these events made me feel. No one was there to share the sadness with me or help me make sense of the mess the adults had made.
I carried the weight of the secret on my little heart for always. I carried it for the adults because they were so busy fussing about themselves.
Then 50 years later, quite unexpectedly, I discovered that my mother doesn't believe or accept that any of this (suicide stuff) transpired. No, she is not fragile & broken.
 Now...the emotions finally crashed in on me.
I am telling this here because I am also choosing to take back my own life...to find comfort in my joy life & all that I have that is so truly good. No longer will I carry the dark secrets that should have been shouldered by those who were entrusted with my well-being.
I have found comfort in SARK's illuminating words (from her book Bodacious Book of Succulence)...in our family you were not allowed to have your emotions in front of others without being shamed or ridiculed. I wasn't "allowed" any emotions at all, nor opinions. Certainly not unpleasant ones!

I have connected with my anger...so much rage!!!, in all of it's disguises.

This year I intend to live like I matter.

I am going to gather comfort, joy & nurture around me & wear them where-ever I go.

I am going to look for the sun shining through every prism of life & rest in being me.

(I found this chandelier in a secondhand shop for $35 a few weeks ago...I could hardly believe it!)

I am going to act like I am as valuable as these wee boys.

 And believe that I deserve tender care & protection & love too!

Look out...I am not just a menopausal woman 

I am a big cup of wonderful, covered in awesome sauce, with a splash of sassy & a dash of crazy!

Happy New Year dear friends!! 

Thank you for your visit & your kind thoughts.

Sunshine Vintage

Hello dear friends & readers!

It's been a truly enchanted October in our neck of the woods. 

A lot of sunshine & some jolly good rain which is a marvellous combination for spring.

I grow much of my lily of the valley in pots so that I can keep a close eye on it through the year & then when it's in bloom I can move it to the front porch to be admired & inhaled daily.

I think I may have discovered the secret of growing this heavenly plant, at last. If it grows like weed for you then you'd never bother putting it in pots, but here it isn't at all weedy, so deep pots it is & then best to "do not disturb". It's a plant that seems to like being a part of a close family. A handful of sheep pellets in winter, as the flowers are building reserves to appear, is useful & perhaps a sprinkling of epsom salts & then plenty of water & you should be just fine. 

I was so pleased to find Ann (a lovely crafty acquaintance) on my doorstep the other day to pick up some Trade Me items & even more delighted when she said that she reads this blog & thought that I might like some lilac from her garden.

I was completely overcome by the sweet beauty of her gift. More than the delicious flowers I also learned how to prepare lilac for keeping in a vase. Ann had scraped the bottom of the stems with a knife (or you could use open scissors) & what do you know the blooms lasted for over a week in this gorgeous vase I found in The Hospice shop- very cheaply as it had a small chip & a crack.

With all our wonderful spring sunshine I decided to make our back garden a living room too. I hauled out the old trestle table door & with some careful tricky manoeuvres I got it up all by myself. I then decided that my shabby painted candlesticks wouldn't really mind being outside for a while & so I set the table as an invitation to outdoor living. As if I needed an enticement!

It doesn't take much to make a simple space feel like a special place to be. The table/door was snaffled for $20...unwanted & unloved beside a house down the road & the trestle legs came from St Mary's School Gala several years ago. The candle sticks had lost there silver surface & were being discarded by a friend...pretty test pot paints re-defined them nicely.

I couldn't help but open the kitchen window wide early one morning to take in all the floral beauty.

So lovely having a happy rhododendron outside the window.

In fact there are two. Friends.

Just like the serendipity of the rose Souvenir 'dun Ami & the flowering cherry Sakura gloriously entwined & flowering simultaneously.

It happens every year. Each in step with the other.

I was so enchanted with Ann's lilacs I went & bought a classic version for our garden. I am just digging up some knotty roots & then I shall plant it at the front gate so the scent will follow us all up the driveway every spring. Did you know that lilac flowers are edible? And they taste a lot better than I imagined they might.

Out our bedroom window Lucy is swathed in blossom. This one called Pink Perfection.

Mutablis is sweetly fluttering under the window too. No wonder she's also known as The Butterfly Rose, although it was originally named Tipo Ideale (unusual, not surprising it didn't stick). I am always amazed when I realise that so many of the roses I love so well are so old. The Butterfly Rose was introduced prior to 1894!

This quote by Elise de Wolfe fits me quite, quite perfectly so I think I shall use it as my mantle.

It is so nice to have so many different flowers to pick again.

These silly little things know that it's spring too.

Which is all just perfect for nice visitors to come to tea in Lucy.

Phew...they bought their own cakes. I just made it all pretty & made the tea!

It has been the loveliest thing having visitors to Lucy & people are so grateful.

I have decided to make Lucy open to anyone to come for tea from now on. So I bought a domain name & made a simple little website: sunshinevintage.nz

That way everything gets all tied together...in a pretty bow!

This dear lady is a woman of the Au (the meadow) & after my own heart.

Such a lovely little video about her passion to make the world around her more beautiful by planting flowers.

gardening withlove from withlove project on Vimeo.
Click the link below to see the video in a larger format & there are some more photos of Edith here.

If you have time do please pop in to sunshine vintage & let me know what you think. I will add some more information about the plants & seeds as I go along. And remember, you're most welcome to come to tea in Lucy...anytime.

Thank you so much for visiting!
Have a happy Sunshine Vintage week.
Much love Catherine x0x0x