NEWZ

Went to Knitterati this morning and this is the invite for the exhibition of blankets I have been talking about for several months. We met at one of our member's place in Grey Lynn, artist Jude Graveson. She makes art works out of handmade paper with impressions of native plants and flowers and sells them framed. She also makes sculptures using cow gut - the finished product looks like parchment. She has a very tidy compact studio in her garden where she makes the paper, dries it out under pressure and does her art. She is also a great textile artist. The others all have their own talents. We are sewing blankets together, a real cooperative project at this stage. A lot of people have been knitting squares and every week there are more to be incorporated into a blanket.

We had Anzac Day and the weekend at home as we will be away at Orewa next weekend. It was quiet with several walks in between showers , a visit to the food hall for Vietnamese and Italian food and some gardening. By Monday we were ready for a bit more activity so walked into town to the Art Gallery to look at the retrospective Lawrence Aberhart photographic exhibition. He is renowned for his black and white photographs of lodges, art deco and other quirky (unaesthetic buildings) as well as photographs of Northland churches, many of them in the Hokianga area. Had lunch in the Council cafetaria - chicken in pesto with veges for a $6.50 main and yummy morsels from the dessert bar to finish off the meal. Put me in a good mood for my afternoon's work.

Autumn

The evenings are getting cooler and darker, an intimation of things to come. We have been making the most of our days getting out and about up to Orewa this weekend.
I had a walk along the beach on my way to get some organic eggs for the week from the Farmers' Market.

Mass up there then home to feed the cat and do a bit of pruning and thinning out of the thicket outside our bedroom and all the rooms along that side of the house. D was rather reluctant to do so but obliged me in the end and it has made a bit of a difference. Hopefull;y they will come from the zoo's browse dept and pick the branches up for the animals. Some of the animals like parsley, rosemary and thyme so will trim our bushes and plants.

Went to a play by Sia Figiel "Where we once belonged." It i s all about growing up in Samoa, with all the double standards and undercurrents brought out into the open. I am rereading the book now.

Reading

This week I have read and enjoyed Fiona Kidman's memoirs - At the end of Darwin Rd [Kerikeri where she grew up]. She wrote the book in the Katherine Mansfield House in Menton and , just as she describes a 50s and 60s NZ childhood and teen time, she evokes the Mediterranean atmosphere there brilliantly. It was a happy time for her and her husband. She had an interesting though not an easy life as a writer in the 60s and 70s. She is writing a second volume , by which time I hope to have reread her novels.

Now I am on to Shonagh Koea's "sad and moving book" about her life. Her father was a violent man and tormented his wife and daughter. Anyway there are lots of happier memories too often focussing on those that are linked to food or a particular dish , for which she gives the recipe. So far fish pie, marmelade loaf, shortbread, marmelade - all quite basic things , but I might be inspired to make some of them - and record some of my favourite recipes for posterity in my blog.
Summer is drawing to a close - the days are still great but there is a coolness in the air morning and night.

Not My House and Garden

But friend Leny's in Christchurch. This a prize-winning garden with beautiful roses, hanging baskets, box hedging aand much much more.

Deacons for the Auckland Diocese

Went to a meeting hosted by the Bishop of Auckland , Patrick Dunn, to introduce the Deacon Formation Programme to train deacons for the Auckland Church. This was held in the Columba Centre - which formerly was one of the blocks of the Vermont Street Catholic School, closed in the 1990s when they reckoned it would cost too much to repair. Then it was repaired.

Anyway these deacons are going to be non-stipendiary - that is they don't get a salary unless the job they may do, has a stipend attached to it - such as a chaplain in a prison.

Candidates or aspirants as they are called in the first year of training - (1 evening a week, one Saturday a month in school term time) will be over the age of 35, married, or be celibate.
The wives will be expected to be quite involved. There was a big crowd there, many couples a lot of clergy and a few women like me there.

A North Shore deacon (in dog collar and cardigan) looked more clerical than the clerics and was ordained to the diaconate in South Africa in 2001. I think he is going to be involved in the training and selection. Monsignor Arahill himself an older man now, warned about having too many old men in these jobs.

This South African deacon likes the rubrics of the job and enjoys bringing back all the bowing and scraping , incense and the like.

The Bishop and the deacon gave a historical overview of the diaconate including a mention of the fact that there were deaconesses in the early Church, but that there was no conclusive proof that they did exist. And so that was that.

Now there are deacons in 131 countries, including our own - the Hamilton Diocese is training a second group. They do everything a priest does, except consecrate the bread and wine, and give absolution.

It looks as though it will be all very clerical, traditional and, might I add, sexist.

Finished blankets

Handed in my blankets at the Domestic Craft this morning. The Shelter exhibition is on at Art Station from 6 May then the blankets will be given to refugees. Next week we are making a trip out to Pakuranga to Te Tuhi Gallery to knit there. Some of our blankets are forming part of another exhibition by an Australian artist about the Tampa refugees. Apparently the refugees were promised blankets and never got them. So this exhibition features 135 blankets or however many there are. Bought a lovely garment on the way home - woven and crocheted by an Argentinian woman - in a traditional Argentinian style. Looks great. Will post a picture of it soon.

The oak stand is an oldfashioned cake stand. You either put the cakes onto a doyley, or you could put a fancy plate on to the wood with the cakes on it.

The bottles are Brylcream bottles. I did the embroidery on the cloth below in 1973 when I was in Wellington and learning how to embroider at a night class.