Spring Colour In Christchurch

There is no doubt that the Garden City still retains its title despite a difficult year. On a recent visit a couple of weeks ago, my family, true to form were still excited about their spring gardens, flowers, blooms and all around them. On a visit to Ilam gardens with my aunt, the mighty Rhododendron bloomed magnificently, there is something quite spectacular about flowers on mass......enjoy my visit

aren't they just gorgeous? and very photogenic!

but wait there are more.....and these only just cover the surface of the grandeur of the garden, ironically the old homestead is red stickered and up for demolition, a gorgeous brick house built in the early 1900s, but the gardens have survived

Bill Cosby - I'm 76 and Tired - the colour of experience

Sometimes, there are expressions from people that just say it all, I dont like to focus on the negative and I have great faith in people, and it is all to easy just to find fault with people, the system,and all around us, however I did find Bill Cosby has some true points to make....

I'm 76. Except for brief period in the 50's when I was doing my National Service, I've worked hard since I was 17. Except for some some serious health challenges, I put in 50-hour weeks, and didn't call in sick in nearly 40 years. I made a reasonable salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, it looks as though retirement was a bad idea, and I'm tired. Very tired.

I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth" to people who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it.

I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family "honour"; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren't "believers"; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for "adultery"; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur'an and Shari'a law tells them to.

I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other cultures" we must let Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries use our oil money to fund mosques and madrasa Islamic schools to preach hate in Australia, New Zealand, UK, America and Canada, while no one from these countries are allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia or any other Arab country to teach love and tolerance..

I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate.

I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses or stick a needle in their arm while they tried to fight it off?

I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of all parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.

I'm really tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination or big-whatever for their problems.

I'm also tired and fed up with seeing young men and women in their teens and early 20's bedeck themselves in tattoos and face studs, thereby making themselves unemployable and claiming money from the Government.

Yes, I'm damn tired. But I'm also glad to be 76. Because, mostly, I'm not going to have to see the world these people are making. I'm just sorry for my granddaughter and her children. Thank God I'm on the way out and not on the way in.

Lack of Colour

This week I spent at Burwood Hospital in Chch supporting a young cousin of mine who was having a major op.
Hospitals are strange places. During our every day lives, they never cross our minds, except for the 'super drama' hospital series on the tele, or in the news of rushing ambulances and emergency vehicles.
But when you enter a hospital, it is always a very intent experience. The colour is grey to white, like most of the staff and patients, so where do we find colour, without referring to graphic descriptions of one's illness.
I looked for colour in a number of places (3 full days in a hospital, there is time for hunting), and I was disappointed - nothing stood out except possibly the patients. Like all good public hospitals, they are made up of a cross section of the community, and from various areas both rural and suburban.
Surprisingly or maybe not so, it saddened me the number of patients in the pre op who were on their own! What is it with families today, they dont care for their elderly - there were 6 people in pre op all having hip replacements (that is big) and 3 of them had no family with them and they all came from Chch with family near by.

This is how the colour of hospitals should be, caring and special, like having your best friend visit and say it's going to be OK!
Because unfortunatley you will not get that from the staff - a disappointing experience.

Still in the Fog

Kind of continuing from my previous blog because in reality it is foggy season, and as I walk in the early morning I usually catch the fog when it is visiting. Most of my walks are around the Westhaven Marina, hence most of pics are of the same...point in time below

How cool is that and just one of mother nature's little contrasts.
She just has it all going on, I guess when it comes to colour, she is the queen of all created colour, as it comes from the earth, all the colours of life I hold so dear. Needless to say she is not always as peaceful as she appears in my photos, but I give thanks everyday that she provides me with a beautiful canvas to start my day and inspires me to accompany my camera on more morning walks.

Patterned Weather

I think the weather provides us with some of the greatest colours in the universe. With a few simple changes of weather vibrant buildings become subdued placements on the landscape.

On my walk yesterday the fog rolled in, and it does roll, in an out and if you stand in one place, one minute you can be completely surrounded and the next in the sun, and vice versa.
I walked down to Birkenhead Wharf earliesh the fog surrounded the yachts moored in the little bay, with no mighty Harbour Bridge to frame them or our biggest city in the backdrop!
I thought I would wait for the ferry to emerge out of the fog, which was now so close my clothes were getting damp. It was nearly at the wharf before I saw it, just travelling ever so slowly like a scary American movie.

I love the fog, it gives new life to everday things, as it rolls away, there is an extra twinkle on the flowers and the trees, and in autumn, with the colours changing it gives an extra dimension to our outlook! Yeah for 'changing seasons and colours'.

My friendly fisherman was not having any luck, and when I asked him if the fog was the reason he was giving up he said no "I have to take my children to school now" - some of us walk before work and some of us fish!

We will remember them - the colour of War

Tomorrow brings us another Anzac Day, although sharing this day with Easter Monday, Anzac Day is so important to us, personally.
My great Uncle kept a diary from 1916 - 1919 which was striclty prohibited, no writings regarding the war were allowed but obviously he was one of many who wrote... not analysing the pros and cons or disagreeing with any plans, just the daily duties and travelling (of which was continuous) for him and his troup, the Lewis Gunners. The diary, like any of a young person travelling was quite descriptive of the beautiful countyside (France), the people they met and the kindness they were shown. Obviously this was between being trained and facing the enemy, called Fritz...'at midnight owing to a lovely moonlight night, the aircraft was very busy dropping bombs all around. One large shell bust about 10 yards away. Friday after sleeping most of the day through being up all night, we are again in the dread of them coming again' The diary goes on, and what struck me was the distances they marched, sometimes day after day, 19 miles, 14 miles, 7 miles. There were times when food was scarce, particularly food of any substance.
That is why we currently make the ANZAC biscuits, as they lasted the distance and didnt go off when being sent overseas.
I have posted a recipe 'to remember them'

ANZAC BISCUITS

Make some Anzac Biscuits to share around your friends and family.
These biscuits were know as the ‘soldiers’ biscuit’ before Gallipoli.
Anzac biscuits were economical to make, provided nourishment, and were durable to last being shipped from New Zealand.
Recipe: 50 gms flour
75 gms sugar
2/3 cup coconut
2/3 cup rolled oats
50 gm butter
1 tablespoon golden syrup
½ teaspoon bicarbonate soda
2 tablespoons boiling water
Mix flour, sugar, coconut and rolled oats together
Melt the butter and golden syrup
Dissolve the bicarbonate soda in the boiling water and add to the butter and golden syrup
Make a well in the centre of the dry mixture and stir in the liquid
Place spoonfuls on a cold greased tray, flatten with fork
Bake 15 – 20 minutes at 180 dgs C.

Wear your poppy, visit an elderly relative, or go a service and remember the journey from them to us....

Is Autumn moody???

Autumn, is probably the least favourite season. It's change signals the most contrast. We have that sense of the long winter ahead, for us generally lots of rain. But Autumn shows her best colours at the beginning, drops in temperature then a slight raise and you sigh thinking oh the good weather will go for a bit longer. On her beautiful mornings the air is crisp and the sky blue but really Autumn has moody changes as with my photo of the city on this morning's walk.

But with the Autumn change we also can change our lifestyle in preparation....food and the change of season is always a great option, the warm aromas of gently cooking casseroles and soups are an upside.
And time for one of those gorgeous Merino wraps for around the shoulders in the evenings, just to keep the chill at bay.
The best thing, I think, about Autumn is the leaves, I never tire of the colours. Whilst I have ceased gathering stacks of fallen coloured leaves to don the mantle, I still love them and marvel at the amazing colours of Mother Nature.

Maybe because she provides contrast, we symbolise it as change....but whatever we think of Autumn the colours are wonderful.

Broken but Brave

The next trip to Christchurch was always going to be a bit tough, I went with some foreboding. I had been told by some family members that it will be worse than I expect and quite different to seeing it on TV. They were right, to understand it you really need to see it in reality.
September 4th and Boxing Day had almost left our minds, and, outside of Christchurch, February 22nd was a couple of months ago. However being there is quite different. They live with it every day. Unlike a flood, or fire, or hurricane you dont really know when it will be over. 1020 shakes since 22nd Feb. Hard to get a handle on really! During the day it was quite business as usual, as I walked along the banks of the Avon in Hagley Park, children were on their way to school on scooters and bikes, and others walking to work. I thought how brave of those parents to carry on, let their children leave their sight, not knowing what the day may bring. On the other side of the road were groups of NZ Army personnel patrolling the cordon area, such a surreal sight. At night it seemed very quiet, on past visits I have laid in bed and listened to the boy racers in the distance, but now just the quiet, and for me really looking forward to morning, things always seem more threatening during the night. I guess they have now been in this 'cycle' for nearly 8 months and they must wonder every day when is it going to stop.
My first day I didn't take any photos, it seemed such an invasion to take photos of the broken buildings. On day 3 I did take some photos, of St Mary's Church in Merivale, where we had family members and friends who worshipped there, had been christened and married there and been farewelled there, so I wanted a memory of that important church.

I came home thinking how brave they are to stay, and some excited about the future of Christchurch and what a great City they are going to be part of, but I know it is going to be a long time before that City arrives.

Autumn Surprise

Autumn tends to arrive slowly, with an initial nip at your heels, that drop in temperature to let you know she is coming, and the slighly cooler evenings with lovely days. I find that it is really only the early mornings that show the coolness and of course the colour change. The early morning walk just needs a sweatshirt which is soon tossed and the gorgeous dawn is upon us. As I walk most mornings, dawn and sunrise tend to be a feature in the colour of my day, and I always give thanks and find my strength to take on the new day in the early morning. Also colour is an array at dawn, it just captures the world at her best, calm and shaking off the night.

So there it lies, with every colourful dawn just leads into a colourful day with movement...let the week begin.

Circles

What goes around comes around....blah blah blah, it is amazing the amount of cliches and analogies that are referred to with circles. In some cultures giving a silver coin ensures that circle of life and friendship are never broken, particularly if someone gives you a knife as a gift, which can cut through a friendship.
Circles provide us with a beginning, middle and end, wherever we want to start and end it. In a circle you are a leader and a follower which makes you flexible, and therefore a teacher and a learner, which makes you versatile. Interesting objects circles.....

Saturday Breather

Wow, the weeks come and go and life continues to be busy, so I have made a resolution to start my New Year on 1 April. I figure I could ease the brakes on the year and have another new beginning. I am going to swap 'hectic' to 'rumble'. Steady would be dead boring, and I dont want that on any level!
Today's colour comes from a great discovery I made on holiday losing myself in my favourite magazine, the English House & Garden. I have often said I love that mag so much I could very happily just live inside it... anyhow, I discovered two ladies who operate out of Beirut and meld together fantastic tapestries of old and new worlds and found this beetle they had covered for charity - isn't it fantastic!

A little about these fantastic women.

Bojka Design
Hoda Boroudi and Maria Hibri are the Beirut based duo behind Bojka Design. The pair is natural union of talent and creativity. The both share a love of antiques and vintage furniture, as well as a passion for ancient textiles and tapestries from countries along the Silk Road. Established in 2000, Bojka is an expression of respect and love for an age-old culture and aesthetic with human approach. The concept stands for a poetic sense of colour, an emphasis on craftsmanship, and the sustainable use of available materials to express an artistic idea with an ever present spiritual content.

Very Special Colour

There is no colour so vivid than that of a wedding. Every aspect of a wedding provides us with colour, light, vision and texture. The colour follows the dresses, the flowers, the setting. The light is the heart that a wedding holds. The vision is the future love, relationships and friendships that are born at a wedding. The texture is the pattern that brings all the different aspects of a wedding together, people, places, food, music. What a way to have a celebration. The wedding I attended at the weekend was a wonderful combination of all the above and so much more!

A colourful demolition

....I did have a rather big spash of colour yesterday as featured below, the old much tagged (in a very artistic way)flat in Ponsonby being demolished... this is colour and texture in motion

St Patrick's Day

Well week one is fine, but yesterday the blogger site cut me out so no post, I guess daily was always going to be a bit hard! Today's colour really speaks for itself, being green. That is of course unless you work with food, and all cakes are chocolate but just with a twist for the leprachans out there! Nigella's (goddess of all culinary colour)Guinness Chocolate Cake - now I know a bit about cake but this was defintely in a different league, moist, light and most definitely full of all the best of ingredients, weight watchers read no further... the photos show the evidence and below is the recipe.... SORRY HAD TO ADD A COUPLE OF OMMISSIONS TO THE RECIPE!!

Nigella’s Chocolate Guinness Cake
(a must for St Patrick’s Day)

Quote from the Goddess herself
‘this cake is magnificent in its damp blackness. I can’t say that you can absolutely taste the stout in it, but there is certainly a resonant, ferrous tang which I happen to love. The best way of describing it is to say that it’s like gingerbread without the spices. I wanted to make a cream cheese frosting to echo the pale head that suits on top of a glass of stout. It’s unconventional to add cream but it makes it frothier and lighter which I regard as aesthetically and gastronomically desirable.'

For the Cake:
250ml Guinness 2 eggs
250gm unsalted butter 1 tblsp vanilla extract
75 gm cocoa powder 2 ½ tsp bicarb soda
1 x 140 ml pottle sour cream
400gm caster sugar
275gm flour

For the Topping:
300gm Philadelphia cream cheese
125ml double cream
150g icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180dgC, and butter and line a 23cm springform tin.
Pour the Guinness into a large wide saucepan, add the butter – in spoons or slices – and heat until the butter has melted, at which time you should whisk in the cocoa and sugar. Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla and then pour into the brown, buttery, beery pan and finally whisk in the flour and bicarb.
Pour the cake batter into the greased and lined tin and bake for 45 minutes, to an hour. Leave to cool completely in the tin on a cooling rack, as it is quite a damp cake. (at least 30 minutes)
When the cake is cold sit on a flat platter. Lightly whip the cream cheese until smooth, sieve over the icing sugar and beat them together.
Add the cream and beat again until it makes a spreadable consistency. Ice the top of the black cake so that it resembles the frothy top of the famous pint.

and now...to finish a glass of Ireland's finest, a song and little reel - another perfect day! Ahhhh go the Irish

the working week begins

Where was my colour today. My early morning walk gave me another beautiful sunrise

And to make you even more envious that is taken from my office - wow how lucky am I?
A day of meetings with very excited people with very exciting plans, and it only lunchtime, where to begin the rather large job ahead. Sometimes I feel the day rushes past so quickly the end has come and the ideas / plans and activity mount like pile of really great books, you want to read them all but just not sure which one to pick first, but if you dont start the pile will fall. Actually that is not a very good analogy as my reading has subsided terribly over the last few years, only on holiday do I love the luxury of a good book and a soft sofa to doze and read, as I find the two go hand in hand these days - it does seem poles apart the 'excited meetings' to the 'soft sofa' - maybe retirement is where the two meld... I am far to young to plan that far ahead, I had better just think about tomorrow and reducing that pile of books...

Replacing Colour

It is nearly the end of summer and the time has come to sweep out the old colour and make way for the new (not that I am off for a big shopping spree) but when the world is rocking on her axis it is a good time to declutter. Have less and give more, which is partly the reason for this blog site. Every day I see so many gorgeous things and want to share them and be able to look at them, but not necessarily own them, so I though photographing and reporting on them I would always have a record.

Another Lovely Sunday

a walk down by the marina and breakfast at a cafe is always a wonderful way to start the day off when YOU have the day off, a slightly belated weekend, but an appreciated one none the less.
My current colour is the deepest of reds as I am gently simmering a pot of boysenberries which is wafting through the house with that wonderful summer berry aroma, later to be made into a Macadamia Crumble!
Sunday night can often be a 'Sunday Night Dinner' at cousin Cate's with an eclectic group of early 20s to happy 50s and the occasional interesting 80 year old to banter and share a wicked dinner - LUGGI (life is great get involved)

Everyone has a first day

My first day of 'the blog'. A little about me, I wish to diarise my thoughts and ideas that come to me everyday in the form of colour.  My world is seen through a coloured lens, if you are looking at the garden, I am looking at the colour of the flowers, if you are looking at the building I am looking at the colour it radiates. I work in a very lively kitchen store where we have the delight of talking about food all day every day and this has given me the ability to taste and imagine most food by just hearing of the ingredients. I see colour in everything from people, things (yes material things) and my surroundings. I dont know where this blog will go but I want to write about the little inspirations that warm my heart each day. So join me or not and I guess this is a slow meander down the yellow brick road!