Visitor from Christchurch via Perth

Entertained Leny on her way home from the wedding in Perth and showed her the sights of Auckland and environs and enjoyed seeing them ourselves with new eyes. First we went up to Orewa and unwound by going on long walks along the beach and through Eaves Bush, sadly now truncated now that Puriri Park is being developed as a new suburb. The latest thing to happen is that they have stripped the hillside of its contours and vegetation. Goodness knows what we will see there next - a clutter of houses I suppose. Hope they get a decent view. Enjoyed morning coffee at the Nautilus cafe after Mass on Sunday morning and got my farm eggs at the market afterwards ready for the baking I never got round to until after Leny had gone home. Made some peanut brownies and a dutch apple cake to keep my hand in.
On the Monday we did the op shops and I can't admit to buying anything memorable which is a "good thing" and just as well.

Tuesday was a lovely day so went for a drive along the waterfront calling in to Mission Bay for a stroll along the promenade, then on to St Heliers Bay, first to the library which was bustling with borrowers, then browsed the shops and lunched at a local cafe before returning via the Rose Gardens and the Domain to look at the glasshouses, complete with different varieties of eggplant, some looking just like eggs. Entertained visitors from Mt Albert to dinner in the evening and confess to watching Dancing with the Stars (What stars?) over coffee in the drawing room.

Wednesday to Friday I worked then it was off to paradise as Leny calls Waiheke for another relaxing weekend - nice to have our bach back for ourselves after having let it off and on since Christmas. Did the usual things - market, beach, art gallery with its wonderful display of small paintings, most by local artists, most sold. I have one done a coupled of years ago by my favourite artist - Danielle Fillion - of vineyards and wider landscape which I will photograph and post another time as it is waiting to be put on the wall in just the right place when I make up my mind where. I got her to do me some cards of our bach too, the new front view, with the pohutukawa and agapanthus flowering when she did her watercolour.

Back to Auckland on the Monday morning 11am sailing then off to St Luke's for a short burst of retail therapy, for me this time. These places make me feel slightly claustrophobic so I was pleased I got my two lovely shirts in the space of twenty minutes and escaped back to the comfort of home with goodies from Harvest Wholefoods for afternooon tea.

Tuesday was Leny's last day so made the most of the morning by going to K Rd for a walk along the strip, via the Rainbow op shop which used to be in Jervois Rd, purchasing a book on Bremen for Dieter and 2 bookends for myself, then having coffee and the perfect date scone at Alleluya in St Kevin's Arcade.

Bussed home and picked up my favourite vegetarian sandwiches and quiche from the Hollywood Bakery for our last lunch together. Got out the sewing machine which I don't think had been out since Leny's last visit 4 years ago and she kindly helped me sew some bias binding around a patchwork ovencloth I made. I have now entered a new phase of domestic craft activity so watch this space!

Perth

Had 10 days in Perth attending the wedding of my goddaughter Marianne and daughter of my old school friend Eileen. It was a very joyful occasion, in fact the bride smiled all day from 11 in the morning till 11 at night. The wedding was out in the Swan Valley, a very picturesque area a few kms out of Perth with lots of wineries. Before the day we spent a day in town looking at art gallery with its many Aboriginal paintings, the State Library , a very comfortable spacious library with lots of free internet access points and good reference books and the museum, which had a good exhibition on the history of Perth and its settlement. Also did the obligatory shopping for goodies at Target and other shops. After the wedding we had 3 days down at Margaret River, a small town with lots of small shops, the river of course, looking a bit devoid of water at the end of summer, and a National Park. It is also a wine area too and there were lots of tours featuring those. We imbibed locally each evening instead and did a couple of walks along the river and a trip to Augusta, further south on a cape where the Indian Ocean meets the Southern Ocean. Spent Easter back in Perth going to the Good Friday ceremony and mass on Easter Sunday, finishing off with a lovely roast dinner cooked by Frank. Home again on an evening flight travelling on airpoints Business Class which was very nice. Have had a couple of days to get rid of the jetlag and get acclimatised to the slightly cooler climate. Over there it got up to 35 C, here is is about 22 C .

Inorganic Collection

Pleased to be able to announce that we got rid of quite a lot of rubbish from under the house, our old window frame collection, broken mirrors, old bags. All the good stujff was snaffled up by passing hoarders, foragers, gleaners or collectors like myself which prompted me to do the same in the neighbourhood too. Got some Australian novels to read while we are over there, replacement bags, a book case for Elisabeth and a blue enamel jug to replace the red ones I sold on Trademe some time ago. Well it is all very harmless and it is nice to have some new junk. There will be another collection in 2 years time so will enjoy them my new trove until then.

Upper Harbour Trip to Riverhead

Went on a Sunday boat trip with the German Club. It was all new territory me, at least seeing the North Shore sites from the water. Started off going under the Harbour Bridge, past Birkenhead Wharf, the Chelsea sugar works, then Beachhaven with some quite spectacular houses overlooking the water. Then came Kauri Point naval armaments depot, tucked away here, it is said so that if it exploded it would be away from Auckland City. Further on up the harbour past a marina on the Te Atatu side then under the Upper Harbour Bridge, past Paremoremo and a former Maori Pa site strategically situated on the entrance to Hellyers creek. Lots of seabirds in evidence waiting for fish. Then came Herald Island, connected to the mainland by causeway for many years, the Hobsonville Airbase, the former Clark Potteries and finally our destination, the tavern at Riverhead where we had a delicious barbecue lunch . Some of us had a walk up the road to see if there was anything to see - not much just a dairy and a garage and lots of traffic speeding along the Great North Rd.

Sydney Alan Gabb

It was the 30th anniversary of my father's death on 13 March. There aren't many photos of him that I could lay my hands on easily so I am listing one of him and my mother going out to some ball or other. Next there is a photo of me, my sisters , Helen and Mary, who died 10 years before my father at the age of 18, and my mother. On the back of this photo Mary has written "Taken when I was 14 1/4 . The night I got my first boyfriend!!". It was at a barn dance in National Park where we had a bach. All the locals were invited along with several inmates from the Rangipo Prison Farm. The following photo was taken a few years later in our family homein Jervois Rd, Herne Bay, a few months before I went off to Europe on my second OE.

Bay of Islands

We had a lovely 3 -day trip - lots of historic sites and houses, incuding Ruakepapeka, Waimate North, and Pompallier House, another at Butler Point and a whaling museum there, plus Pete's Transport and Colonial museum near Kerikeri, a chocolate factory where I bought gifts for March birthdays. Dieter kindly bought me a box too. It was wonderful to be back in Paihia, Russell, and Kerikeri - the town changed beyond recognition since our last visit, some12 years ago. Nice to go to the Stone Store, which is beautifully restored and stocked with typical things of the time, as well as new things, all tastefully arranged and available for purchase such as old fabrics suitable for patchwork. Kemp House with its beautiful garden was interesting as one of the earliest houses of the area. There is a bypass going in which will take heavy traffic which has a deletarious effect on the house and store with its vibrating noise, away from that area and bridge over the inlet . Everywhere we had conducted tours of the historic places trust houses with very knowledgable and enthusiastic people. We went to a kaleidoscope workshop and were able to look through different kaleidoscopes with different prisms at things like the big urn of flowers outside and see the most amazing patterns. One of the people bought one and passed it around the bus and if youpointed it out the window you could get a riot of changingpattern especially passing trees and hedges. They didn't come cheap but they were in beautiful kauri surrounds.
All our group were from the Silverdale and Districts Historical Society and older than us. We dined out both nights at the RSA in Paihia - very cheap mini roast dinner or fish meal for $11. There was a long wait but I filled it admirably with a couple of drinks from the bar. The photos are of Kemp House and the store, and the kaleidoscope factory where there was a huge pear tree.

Weekend at Waiheke

Had a pleasant weekend over on the island. Walked up to the Community Art Gallery and took in the Gwen Rutter exhibition. Her new paintings combine native flowers and plants and her stunning landscapes, now in very bright colours. I have a couple of earlier paintings I bought at the Surfdale Christmas market 2 years running.

A beautiful Friday evening. Unfortunately my leg is playing up and is quite sore. Was running for the bus this morning so that didn't help. Got the bus though and got to work on time. Most important. Very hot here and we are off to Waiheke tomorrow. The water level is very low and I am keeping my fingers crossed that there is enough for us and our last guests - going in from 3-13 March.We are off up north in a week or 10 days with the Silverdale Historical Society for 3 days. Should be fun. Sold an old bath last week on Trademe which had been languishing outside as a herb garden for about 20 years. A friend is going to renovate our bathroom and has sourced a new smaller one so didn't need to hang on to this grand old Doulton one which had seen better days. However they are keenly sought after and it was only listed for a few hours, as was a bentwood chair a few days later, both snapped up.

Vaka Moana Exhibition at the Museum

Spent 2 or 3 hours at the museum at this Pacific waka exhibition which is on in one of the new galleries in the new atrium also very stunning. Saw a similar exhibition in Tahiti 3 years ago or so and it was interesting to view this one which dealt with the Polynesian migrations originally from South East Asia, through the Pacific. Not too many boats but one big double canoe, one outrigger of the traditional kind and a contemporary fibreglass and stainless steel(?) one too, and a single canoe from the Solomon Islands inlaid with mother of pearl decoration. There was a very beautiful book covering all aspects of waka, the migrations and navigation which I am going to borrow from the library.

Had lunch in the atrium at the Museum cafe and listened to a Pacific Island choir performing outside the exhibition. Made another foray into the exhibition and watched several of the videos on recent vaka and their voyages and looked at the other exhibits of tapa cloth, info on plants eg mulberry came from South East Asia too , and the taro came from Indonesia and kumara from South America to Polynesia to Aotearoa.

Finished off our afternoon by lounging on the lawn listening to jazz being played in the Rotunda. One of our rare weekends at home as I am nursing a bad cold which necessitated a couple of days home in bed.

Waiheke yet again

Hadn't been over for about a month and this was our last opportunity to go on the Sculpture Walk and go to the Mike Morgan exhibition at Artworks. The first photo is of the Jeff Thompson sculpture - about 15 water tanks with bits of sculptured iron floating on platforms on top of the water. They were priced at $9000 each I heard somebody say. I saw the maquettes for these at the Sculpture on a Plinth exhibition also at Artworks and they were baked beans tins and the like. The other three took my fancy too.

The last picture is of my own Mike Morgan picture which I bought in 1997.

The house is in Cowan St he told me recently when I met the artist out and about one day on Waiheke. He was living opposite and painted it from the place he was staying at. He is still painting these villas, often incorporating them into his other paintings. He does a lot of surreal Waiheke beach scenes which I also like, as do a lot of other people who had bought all but one of the 22 paintings when I looked at them. If you ever have cause to visit the Oneroa Police Station , as I did to report my lost watch , there is a delightful one featuring many policemen which they commisioned for the new station.

Waitangi Day

Had the kind of nice Waitangi Day I like. In the absence of any tv programmes on the Treaty or celebrations , I listened to 2 or 3 hours of interesting radio on the Treaty and what it means to be a New Zealander and how New Zealand was or was not taught in schools and universities in the past. The various histories of New Zealand were reviewed and I resolved to read some of them this year.

After all that had my usual couple of scrabble games for the day, one loss followed by a win and listed a few books on Trademe. Sold an old office chair last week - it used to be in our National Park bach and came from the Ohakune railway station I believe. It had languished under the house for a number of years and now has an enthusiastic new young owner whose father is going to restore it for him ie remove the Sid Vicious graffiti off it that embellished it after a certain person's punk rock phase. Also sold a book on Stewart Island for Dieter which he was pleased about.

Went for a swim down at Sentinel Road Beach in Herne Bay. The water was a little cool but lovely to be swimming in such nice surroundings with the Harbour Bridge in the distance.

Out to the Food Hall for a meal of Laotian red chicken noodles - in a spicy coconut cream sauce. Listening to more Treaty issues on the radio and preparing myself mentally for the workaday world tomorrow.

Waitemata Harbour and Tamaki River

Went on a trip with the Silverdale Historical Society around the harbour and as far as Mt Wellington up the Tamaki River yesterday. The rest of the group came down from the Hibiscus Coast that morning and we joined them at the Abalone Cruises boat at Pier Z at Westhaven. We went down the evening before to locate the pier as it is like another suburb down there and. We cruised round the Viaduct basin, see the Americas Cup yacht Oracle preparing to leave the harbour for their day's racing, all the new appartments, the super yachts, the good old Ferry Building , Maritime Museum before heading over near Devonport, back around the bays - Mechanics, Kohi, Bastion Point, Mission Bay round to the more unfamiliar territory - Te Karaka , Glen Innes, Panmure, under a couple of bridges. That was on our side of Auckland. There were all the eastern bays like Bucklands Beach, a marina , the red Waiheke vehicular ferries plying back and forth. It was idyllic really. Back the same way but a little faster and without the commentary.

Crown Lynn - New Lynn - Lynmall

Made an excursion to see an exhibition of Crown Lynn china in the new New Lynn Library at Lynmall. Met up with good friend Carolyn who had told us about it and reminisced over pieces we had at home and what they meant to us or didn't as the case may be. I had bought a lovely book and was going to collect a sample of what I could pick up easilsy but have changed my mindas I just do not have room and besides a lot of it I don't find very appealing. We did have various pieces at home and those I have put in a pile under the house for the time being. At least they are all together. Was very impressed with the library with its long issue desk and good big display space for new non-fiction near the desk.

Plums

Back at Waiheke for the weekend and to the plum harvest, lovely big juicy dark plums, great for eating and transforming into preserves and jam. Bottled several jars and made several pots of jam to give away and for future use and carried a big container home to do the same back in town the next day. Made plum and feijoa jam yesterday with some frozen feijoas I saved from last year's harvest. It is a delicious combination - about 3 parts plum to 1 part feijoa.

Maria Gabb, d. 28 December 1994

This is a portrait of my mother which hangs in our hallway. It was painted many years ago when she was in her 40s, by one of the tutors at Elam where she used to sit as a model for the art students.

Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas. It is 8am here and everything is quiet . Had a lovely day yesterday- made more cookies for Dieter - buttery Viennese crescents made with ground almonds. Went to Mass at St Bens at 11am then got ready slowly for our four afternoon tea guests. We had coffee and cookies, cake and stollen, and florentines which Ann had made followed by a drink and nibbles. Elisabeth came round at 6.00pm and we celebrated Christmas with a late meal of turkey roll, cheese potatoes and green vegetables, followed by trifle for dessert. Exchanged our presents after that - Dieter gave me a new hand-held phone and Elisabeth gave us a DVD player. My technological challenge for January will be to fathom how to use both of these. Elisabeth is home until late afternoon so we will have a peaceful day and have a couple of visits to and from friends after that. Off to Waiheke for a few days tomorrow.

Another picture

Dieter took this of our Advent stand and behold two pieces of my finished Stollen, made with apricots and raisins. It meets with Dieter's seal of approval and has a very nice texture I must say.

Christmas is Coming

Well another week closer to Christmas. Spent the weekend over at Waiheke. I went over on Friday with a friend, who hadn't seen the bach for a while. Went for a long walk round the coast to Oneroa via Blackpool, browsed the shops including op shops, where I managed to find a couple of nice Crown Lynn cups and saucers with an autumnal pattern, and a silver sugar bowl (with silver mark, I think). Had lunch at the deli and dinner at Bowlers in the evening. Sad to say the standard has slipped with new caterers but it was better than cooking and the drinks were cheap. Saturday we walked to the Ostend Market and I bought some preserves to give away as presents, in lieu of making my own. Seem to have run out of steam and have yet to make any Christmas goodies. Today just may be the day to make that Quark Stollen.

New Hobbies

Have been a bit lax in updating this as I have 2 new hobbies which are giving me a lot of fun and taking up a lot of day and night time. First of all I am doing a decoupage course at Art Station which involves fossicking out old wooden containers , objects etc, painting them, then sticking pictures on and polyurethaning several coats of that over the top to make said object nice and shiny. I have done coathangers, picture frames, little dishes , round boards so far , giving things a new lease of life. Will add some images soon

The second one is online scrabble which is quite anonymous so it doesn't matter how bad I am! I have won a few games though and used to consider myself a good player until I started this lark. It is at www.scrabulous.com.

Spent the weekend at Waiheke where we tried to get the garden into shape - lawn, pruning shrubs and trees and letting a bit more light in. Had to buy a new washing machine which we also accomplished as the old one leaked badly all over the nice newly polished floor and made the most disconcerting noise.

Sylvia Park Megacentre

Went on a grey nomad safari today to the new megacentre in South Auckland. Got off to a shaky start after observing someone prowling round a neighbour's backyard. He got very aggressive and asked me what I was looking at when he emerged from their driveway , then he kicked their burmese cat which limped away. I called 111 from home and the police picked him up in a neighbouring street about 20 minutes later. In the meantime I had lost Dieter who had said to this guy that he better watch out or else... and this guy lunged towards him saying he was going to waste him or words to that effect. Thankfully he changed his mind as I know who would have come off second best. I envisaged him languishing in hospital somewhere but he turned up in the aforesaid neighbouring street and had given his side of the story to the police after which I met met up with him and we proceeded on our bus trip as planned, albeit half an hour later. All the usual shops and a very spacious Warehouse Extra store where we bought a few things, had some lunch then got another bus back via Glen Innes, Glendowie, St Heliers, Orakei and waterfront , places I hadn't seen for quite a while. On Sunday I bought myself a new book on the history of Crown Lynn china and have decided to collect it, if I see pieces in my travels. Have rescued a few pieces from under the house and underneath potplants on our front porch to start with. The image is off a fluted bowl probably used for floral arrangements in the 1950s. I found it up at our place in Orewa in the garden somewhere.