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.

Easter

We had a pleasant Easter - - D wanted to stay home on Good Friday and have a quiet day which I found a very boring prospect, so invited friend M over to go to the Good Friday ceremony at our local church which has a big Polynesian population - lovely singing, tho very long and hot. She came back for a game of Scrabble and some games of Uno before sharing some Lenten fare.
Went up to Orewa on Saturday , did a bit of shopping for food seeing the supermarket was going to be closed then helped D clip the hedge with the electric hedgeclipper. He did not appreciate my hovering round anxiously giving instructions. That was his penance! I did have a wonderful swim beforehand. Elisabeth came up on the bus after all the hard work was done and we had a night and a day together which was very pleasant, being a family again, albeit for a short time. Had 3 more swims on Sunday and a nice Easter dinner of smoked chicken and salad with lots of Easter eggs - I have had 4 pinkie Easter eggs since Saturday. None of the cream or solid chocolate ones. I will be able to resist those.

The pictures are from Dieter's sister's Easter in Germany. Her son Christian bought the Easter eggs . The Germans like to bring Spring foliage or blossom such as pussy willow or forsythia inside and hang Easter ornaments on them.

Opotiki to Hicks Bay and on to Gisborne, then Rotorua

The real part of the trip was when we went round the coast of course. Wonderful scenery and beaches. We stopped to look at a couple of Maori churches which were open to the public. The one at Tikitiki had a stained glass window with two Maori soldiers in uniform kneeling at the foot of the cross. We stayed a night at Hicks Bay in a big motel, having a lovely roast lamb dinner in the traditional dining room there. Then on the next day to Gisborne with a stop at Tolaga Bay for lunch and a walk down the pier. On our arrivalk in Gisborne we went straight to this amazing Museum of Technology - Museum of Junk really but so much of it in various states of decay and rust. This elderly man with Parkinson's , the owner showed us around proudly. He had collections of absolutly everything, a man after after my own heart. Tools, fire engines, cars, washing machines, toasters, biscuit tins, prams, chocolate boxes , long drops, an old Post Office, a derelict church and much much more. It is a private museum and the only job he and his helpers are on top of is the lawnmowing. This was a very hot day and it was stifling in the big corrugated barms most of this stuff was housed in, so the beach was very tempting once we were ensconced in our tourist flat at the camping ground near the beach. The water however was several degrees colder than at Orewa or Waiheke, but exhillerating all the same.

The next day we headed back to Opotiki through the Waioeka Gorge and on to Rotorua, stopping at Hell's Gate for a look around the thermal area there. Lots of steaming pools and boiling mud and the usual overpowering smell. Stayed in a nice motel with a heated swimming pool, which Dieter and I took advantage of rather than the thermal pool . Dinner out with the group at Valentine's, seafood night with lots of delicacies like oysters, mussels, seafood mousse, even some mini crayfish , maybe they were lobsters, which we couldn't bring ourselves to try.

The next day was Friday and the day we returned home. Our first stop was another interesting museum at Tirau, a bloke's museum that grew. He had most of his stuff behind glass, nicely displayed, clean and tidy. Many of the same sorts of things as the Gisborne
Museum but not in such overpowering numbers of everything. He started collecting as a boy and had carried on right through life. This is also a private museum and on the outskirts of Tirau coming from Rotorua , well worth a visit. He had honey for sale too. Some of the things I remember were his collection of tables made out of slabs of marble and old Singer sewing machine legs (we have a couple of these), a collection of coins , banknotes and tokens, bowling memorabilia from the local Bowling Club, an old dentist's chair. I really should have made a few notes when I was there. We were there for over an hour there was so much to see. Lunch at Tirau with its great selection of cafes and antique shops then back to Auckland in slow motion along the motorway to Orewa, dropping people off here and there as we approached. I think we were the last to get off but we are not ones to complain or moan. I was doing my knitting to keep calm and while away the time.

Had another lovely swim in the wabe at Orewa the following day and did the usual things like shops, library, internet cafe, catching up with my neighbour, G, and the local gossip. She like op shopping too and as she has a big house chokka full of everything and doesn't see very well, she often buys things that don't fit her and she passes them on to me!! They don't often fit me either!!But it is the thought that counts. She has a lush garden and brought me some grapes. I was going to make some grape jelly for us both but havent got round to it yet. I note with horror that our guava tree is laden with ripening fruit too. And her quince tree is full of large golden fruit so there is more jellymaking in the offing.

Home again on Sunday in time for the Palm Sunday Mass at the Cathedral.

The pictures are of some of our own bits and pieces. Dieter has a number of these paintings of Vietnamese people , a couple we have got framed, the rest are waiting for their turn. The map is a a 1969 reproduction of Cook's map of 1772, showing Stewart Island attached to the South Island and Banks Peninsula as an island.

Edna Boon - a little family history from Waioeka

While in the Opotoki Museum I saw a book "Waioeka School Centennial 1884-1984". This is the school that my Aunt Edna worked in with her husband Ernest Boon from 1932 - 1934.

She was my father's elder sister born Edna Gabb in Christchurch. She was a talented pianist and teacher. We had visited Waioeka on our previous visit to the area some 15 years ago but don't recall seeing this book. It says Ernest was a keen sportsman and took swimming lessons down at the river after school. They also set up a rugby team from the Pa, which Ernest coached and they had also a Waioeka choir with weekly practices being held. They organized a tennis ladder with pupils and residents alike permitted to make use of the facility during weekends and after school.

Edna organaized concerts at the Pa during the winter, the profits being spent on a piano for the Pa. So popular were these concerts that many residents from town, including the mayor , attended. In October 1932 the children and locals put on a concert in Opotiki which received a very positive review in the local paper.

A 50th Jubilee Committee was set up in November 1933 for the celebrations February 24-25 1934. Edna was secreatary. The programme on the Saturday started with a haka of welcome, roll call and inspection of the school, followed by luncheon at the pa , then a concert by locals and a display of Maori crafts.

In the evening there was a dance from 8-12pm.

Sunday at 2pm there was a church service.

According to the school log and a newspaper report the celebrations were well attended and a great success, with the concert in the hall being the highlight for many.

Now the sad part . As reported in the book "unfortunately Mrs E Boon accidentally drowned in the Waioeka River during the weekend's celebrations which did put a damper on the weekend".

My grandmother did not go to the funeral and did not want an inquest to be held. According to my aunt Dorothy, Edna , Ernest and another female teacher had been out walking near the river when this accident and drowning ocurred. The family thought it was suspicious.

Their first child a girl named Fleur after Galsworthy's Fleur had died in infancy and both are buried in Opotoki Cemetery. I remember when I first saw her monument there was this broken pillar which I thought was damaged, but apparently this was how it always was , a symbol of her being cut down in the prime of life.

Later in the year a plaque to commemorate her death and contribution to the school was unveiled and was still there on the wall when we went there in the early 1990s.

Ernest took time off in 1934 after her death "to recover" and "accepted a transfer to help him over his grief" in April 1935.

My father never spoke of this incident and my aunt only in the late 1980s - early 1990s.

The photo is probably that of Edna, taken by Tyree Studio. It is not Auntie Dorothy who hated having her photo taken. In the school photo I think Edna is on the far right.

Home again, home again, jiggety jig!

As some of you may know we were away for a week with the Silverdale Historical Society on a bus trip round the East Cape. It was a very cruisy week sitting back in the bus with everything arranged for us and an interesting list of places to see en route. Being a hisorical society we looked at a few museums and took in a bit of history as we went along.

First stop after the morning tea break at Drury was Paeroa with the usual array of cafes, op shops, antique shops, library, arts and crafts and museum. Had time to look in most of them except for a quick look in the museum. They have a lot of china of the Royal Albert ilk and the Society is thinking of making a special trip later on to go to that museum and also to Katikati to look at the murals.

Then it was on to the Mount, looking rather built up - and with a lot of tourists sitting at beachside cafes. Went for a quick swim for old times sake and was immediately transported in my mind's eye to 50 years ago when we had a family holiday at the Mount, staying in a bach near the beach and going swimming on that stretch of beach. It was exhilerating and worth the rush. The water temeperature was just a few degrees cooler than Orewa.

Then on we went to Ohope Beach, a wonderful, deserted, windswept beach, miles long. Stayed at a very pleasant motel Surf's Reach right along the far end of the beach. Had along walk before dinner at the Ohope Charter Club - a tasty smoked fish casserole which I must try and replicate - and cheap drinks.

The next day was the actual start of the East Cape tour - driving first to Opotiki for our look at the historical Anglican Church where Volkner was the missionary amongst the Maori population in the 1860s.
The Hauhau were in the Bay of Plenty and the people warned him not to come back after his trip to Auckland. They reckoned he was up there to report on activities but he came back and was killed. I won't go into details. The British took cruel revenge burning crops. Later Kereopa was hung. I think he was pardoned posthumously a few years ago. All very sobering. Went to the little church op shop next door and bought an old book on NZ interiors, a magazine and a set of 4 thin knitting needles to cheer me up.

Had been to the Opotiki Museum (Shalfoon and Francis Museum) which was housed in 3 big shops with many of the original fittings and stock of the general stores of these two people. They were originally from the Lebanon and the shops were in busiuness up until the late 1970s I think. there was a great array of everything under the sun - pots and pans, old scales, bottles. There was a sweet sshop set up as a grocery store with all the old tins and packages. They sold peanut brownies and sweets , traditional crafty items to raise money for there new building three doors up the road. It is already set up with a marvellous photo display.

The Week that Was

It declined somewhat, the working part of it, however time and the hour runs through the roughest day and after the weekend at Waiheke I am all brighteyed and bushytailed again. Went over on the 2pm boat straight from work and was just in time to meet the gardener who was removing the privet trees and cutting up the wood for firewood.

Out to dinner at the Bowling Club buffet with roast pork, vegetable bake and other meat and salad dishes. Saturday we got the first real rain for a couple of months. Our water supply was getting low but it is up a third again, so we didn't mind too much being housebound with the weekend Herald. However must have my daily dose of computer so up to the library on the bus and back in the afternoon. I really appreciate my email contact with you all. Sunday the weather was better so walked to Mass at 9.15 then coffeeed at Cortado, which had been reviewed favourably in the weekend Canvas magazine. Good coffee and stunning view over Oneroa Beach.

I have let the bach for 3 months to a former resident of the island so spent the afternoon cleaning and tidying for her. We will be turning our attention to Orewa on the weekends for a while.

Yesterday carried on with bottling and turning the golden queen peaches into preserves and chutney. After the windy weekend there were a lot of windfalls to process. Also brought back pears from the island to do something with once they ripen.

Elisabeth is in the South Island having a great holiday. Today she did the South Dunedin op shops and was going out to a Greek restaurant tonight.

The first picture is the view from the roof of the bach looking over to Surfdale beach, the hall and the macrocarpa trees, the next, my souvenir writing compendium, my trusty preserving pan and good old Alison's recipes.

Domestic Craft on Tuesday 19 February

Went off to my group at Art Station this morning. Hadn't done any knitting since last week so it was nice to be able to sit down and knit for a couple of hours. Was delighted to find that we had a guest speaker, Susan Jowsey who had images of her art career which took off dramatically about 1990 when she won the Visa Gold Award with her series of blankets, with embroidered words like faith, hope in the same cream colour and which kept the original stains and had more added by Susan to create the effect she wanted. Then there were red crosses on each blanket as a symbol of salvation. Carrington Mental Hospital had just been closed and the work came out of her capturing the histories and humanity behind the austerity of mental illness at that time.

One of the next images was of artworks which were made out of old baby clothes and had other pieces added to them making them into something new and transformed. She made about 100 small crosses out of layers of them, oversewing them with embroidery. They fitted in a lunch boxwhen not installed somewhere.

Other domestic objects she used were a coathanger, scales, a cardigan, the insides of handbags, again with all their stains which she used in her capacity as "a rearranger of life".

Then she moved away from art as object to art as photograph, using her daughter as model. Now she works collaboratively with the family - eg in a film her young son made she added certain effects, as did her husband, also an artist and photographer.

Her latest work is as a digital artist and we were shown 2 very short art movies with the aid of the computer. Again her husband, Marcus Williams, appeared in one.

The photo, still life with yellow phone represents my domestic craft for this afternoon. I made 4 jars of marmelade which I put into old Rose's marmalade jars, and preserved two small jars of Golden Queen peaches from our garden. The golden double yellow hibiscus is from 4 Salisbury Street. I gave the bush to my mother about 23 years ago. It is in one of my favourite vases of hers - it has butterflies on it. The yellow telephone I am going to sell on Trademe.

Rakino

Out on the gulf on Sunday to visit Rakino. This trip was organized by the Auckland Historical Society. About 30 of us headed out on rather a small boat which rocked from side to side whenever anything larger or faster moved past it, scaring me no end. There was a classic yacht regatta, lovely big yachts with elaborate sails, some of them coming very close to us. Our skipper gave us lots of information about these boats and also the big boats moored at the Viaduct Basin, including Michael Hill's. Out past Brown's Island, Rangiato, then the length of Motutapu, then further on west of Waiheke to Rakino, first to Home Bay, then on to Sandy Bay for our short spell on land, just time to walk over to Home Bay where there is an old homestead and tiny church. There seemed to be very few houses. They say there is no electricity. Read Shirley Maddock's chapter on the island. She was there when there was a guest house, an alternative community and a few locals. Chugged back to the mainland doing a tour of the viaduct past the yachts which had returned from the day's racing for the prizegiving.

The top photo is at Home Bay, Rakino where Sir George Grey had a house built, this is the house you see in the picture. He started it, but did not finish it. He probably planted the trees too. The next one is in front of the boat that took us to Rakino - Riverhead Cruises. They also do a lot of other interesting ones which we may go on - one up the Waihou River from Thames to Paeroa.

The others are out on the gulf with the yachts, one of a little island just off Sandy Bay, Rakino, the last one is of Home Bay from the distance.

Real Gold - Exhibition at the Central Library

Made another visit to this wonderful exhibition at the library with good friend M who noticed the book at our place when she was here in Inner Ponsonby last weekend. I gave it to Dieter for Christmas . Anyway however had the Special Collections exhibition space to ourselves this Saturday afternoon and had a good browse - things from many of the different collections - maps of early Auckland and Wellington, letters - from Darwin to Sir George Grey, Florence Nightingale to Grey, diaries of Sarah Mathew, autobiographies of Peter McDonald (1876) " Auckland was a queer wee town...in 1842", and Robin Hyde , written while a patient at Auckland Mental Hospital in the 1930s. This manuscript was given to the library by the doctor who encouraged her to write it, Dr Tothill. I remember it coming through the cataloguing dept in the late 1970s .There are photographs by Clifton Firth of Allen Curnow and ARD Fairburn, others of Lee Grant of the Mercury Theatre, John A Lee's scrapbooks with photos and cuttings stuck down with bits of sticking plaster. I seem to recall him gifting those to the library in the the late 70s or early 80s too. Whina Cooper came in too and gifted a beautiful cloak. This year I will have been in the library 30 years (1oth of July this year!) I digress. The middle picture is of the winning garden plan for Western Park, then called Central Park. It is still a great big park with huge trees going from Ponsonby downto Auckland Girls and beyond.

The last picture is the southern end of Waiwera Beach, a watercolour by Thomas Ryan, 1892.

We have another picture of Waiwera, a watercolour painted by Dieter's friend Sir Riga in the 1950s, one showing the big rock and a pier that used to be there. I remember the Waiwera hotel which was the place to go in the 1960s, before or after a hot swim. Those were the days...

Anyway however there are the beautiful manuscripts, rare books, even a handwritten translation of St Luke's Gospel in an aboriginal language, done by a missisonary L E Threlkeld in 1857. Sir George Grey had it bound and had it illuminated like a medieval manuscript by Annie Layard, the wife of his private secretary.

Other collections represented are bookplates, music (God defend NZ) , Maori manuscripts, first editions. The book contains even more information about other collections, I didn't even know the library has - for example old tokens. Dieter has quite a few of these, sadly being sold off by me on Trademe, with his consent of course. You can't keep everything for ever can you.

Finished off a pleasant afternoon with coffee at the library cafe, Real, then paid a visit to Smith and Caughey's sale, where I bought a cute little floral torch which I will keep for myself to take on holiday with me. We are going round the East Coast in a couple of weeks time and up the Danube from Bulgaria to Germany later in the year.

Knitterati

For the past year or so the knitting group at Art Station has been knitting blankets for an exhibition in May. The theme of the exhibition is shelter and the blankets are going to be given to the Red Cross for refugees once the exhibition is over. Most of our knitting has been at home but we meet once a week at Art Station to knit, chat and go to local art galleries and see what is new. Last week we went to one across the road and there were a couple of interesting knitted pieces in an exhibition by up and coming artists - a large length of knitted fabric made out of plastic bag strips in different colours, and a similar length of "material" made of very finely rolled pages of fashion magazines. The middle photo is one of my blankets and I am in the third photo knitting at Leys library - we go to public spaces and knit!

Pictures of the bach at Orewa, and Motuihe trip

A week or so ago we went to this island in the Hauraki Gulf on a day trip with the Silverdale Historical Society. We got the boat from Westhaven, chugged around the harbour and then made out to sea, passing Browns Island and getting to Motuihe in about an hour. In the olden days Motuihe was a common daytrip for Aucklanders aand there was a regular ferry service. I hadn't been there for about 40 years! One man on the trip was there last as a 10 year old over 70 years ago when he was sent to the health camp there in the 1930s!! It is also famous for being the island where Von Luckner was held after being captured in the Pacific during the first world war and from where he made his escape, distracting attention from himself by setting a fire in one of the barracks. He ande 10 other men slipped away under cover of darkness and escaped in the commandant's motorboot, for which they fashioned a German battle ensign out of flour bags. They were recaptured off the Kermadecs a few days later and returned to Motuihe.

Motuihe also served as a quarantine station during a smallpox outbreak in 1872, and flu epidemic of 1918 and there is a small cemetery where casualties were buried. We walked there past trees that Sir Logan Campbell had planted there when he farmed the island between 1843 and 1858. We passed the remnants of the naval station HMNZS Tamaki which was in operation from 1941 to 1963. Now most of the buildings are gone, just an old water tank remaining.

Had a nice walk up the other end of the island and back along the beach before gettingthe ferry home agaian. We went back to Orewa with the group stopping along the ay at Browns Bay for an icecream and spending part of the weekend up at Orewa. Took some photos of the bach which I will post here having forgotten my digital camera on the Motuihe trip.

My new Picture - 3 melons by Clare Dargaville

Went to a lecture on NZ art last Sunday with a friend. Clare Dargaville spoke about three artists - Charles Goldie, Frances Hodgkins and Evelyn Page with a brief mention of Peter McIntyre, telling us a bit about their lives and their work and their influence, showing a lot of their pictures in the process. Then she spoke at length about her own career as an art teacher and artist. She was widowed early on her married life and brought up 4 young children on her own, fitting in art, mainly pastels, as they were portable and easy to clear away when the space was needed for family life. Her husband was Maori from Pangaru and her paintings reflect the influence of Maori motifs such as the paua and kete. Over afternoon tea there was the opportunity to view an exhibition of her artwork some of which was for sale. And so I bought one for a bare wall in our front sitting room. It does look rather lonely there so will put up some of Dieter's artifacts to keep it company.

Me Again

Hi all, Nobody has been more bereft than me without a computer for 11 days or more. No Trademe, no scrabble, no email, no blog , a very boring existence. The old one packed up and the new one has taken days to get installed. However I have my music on the MP3 player and other niceties so that is good, a nice new layout and everything is quicker to load. Have done lots of interesting things over the past fortnight and as soon as I can see how to load my pictures and scan things I will be writing about them.

Took the picture of Sir Ed's statue in Hillary Square, Orewa a few days after the the funeral, which I watched on TV. It was a state funeral. Lots more people and flowers there after he died

Anniversary Weekend

This picture was painted by a friend of Dieter's way back in the 1950s. Dieter met him in Hawaii in the 1960s whilst on his OE. His name was Sir Riga de Mazaryk, a title he gave himself, we think. He was a seaman back in the 1960s and when his ship was in Auckland he painted scenes from round and about but also travelling up to Orewa and Waiwera where he did a couple. When Dieter returned to New Zealand with me in the 1970s Sir Riga sent Dieter his NZ watercolours and a couple from Hawaii. He died in the 1980s , taking the secret of who he really was to the grave with him.

Music in the Park

Had a pleasant afternoon lounging in the grounds of Alberton listening to some Scandinavian folk music by a trio of young Danish musicians - 2 females on saxaphone and violin and a guy on guitar. They had a lovely manner and spoke about the songs and tunes, many of them from the Danish island of Bornholm. As they said this kind of music travelled over the centuries and it was surprising to hear how similar it sounded to some of the Scottish music. Had a look through the house beforehand. Several women showing people around were dressed in period dress adding a nice touch. Hadn't been to Alberton for about ten years it seems. Admired the lovely Wedgwood blue and yellow dinnerset. We are members of the Historic Places Trust so we can and should go to these houses more often, so watch this space.

The Whitford playcentre had a stand selling tea and coffee and lovely homemade cakes and scones. Had a piece of sourcream berry cake and Dieter had an apricot mereingue slice.

29 degrees in Auckland today. Would have been a good day for the beach but both our baches are let this weekend. Wew have two long weekends ahead of us - Anniversary weekend and Waitangi day which is on a Wednesday this year. I will only need to work Thursday and Friday morning.

Sir Edmund Hillary

This is a very sad day for us New Zealanders as we mourn the death of Sir Edmund Hillary. I got an email at work from a colleague soon after it was announced. The tv presenters are in black suits and ties and he is to be given a state funeral next week some time. The Primem Minister is on her way home. This evening the whole evening is devoted to documentaries about his life and achievements. I have reread some of the books over recent months - Louise's books about their trips, John Hunt's book The ascent of Everest. Dieter had a sheet of commemorative stamps, marking the 50th anniversary of the conquering of Everest which he had listed on Trademe already and now somebody has bought them. I have listed my books too for somebody else to get pleasure from. One of the first books of adult non-fiction I ever read at the age of 13 or 14 was his book on climbing in the South Island. Well, off I go to watch the documentary on his life.

Christmas and New Year

Chrismas passed quietly with the usual festive meals and religious observance, just the 3 of us, though on Chrismas Eve we were 4. Went for a walk up one of the Three Kings on Boxing Day, back to work the next day and over to Waiheke for our Chrismas sojourn the day after. Had 6 wonderful days there, with a couple of swims, cafe, library and art gallery visits and a couple of visits by friends from the mainland. Back to work on the 3rd of January for a day and a half .

Have had a nice weekend at home although D finds them difficult and gets a bit gloomy. We went for a walk along the Carrington walkway behind Unitec and parallel to Great North Rd on Saturday morning . Saw the waterfall and walked along Oakley Creek. Lots of native trees have been planted but there are a lot of weeds. The Friends of Oakley Creek work there once a month. It is something we might do one of these days. Then today we went to the Avondale Market - lots of exotic vegetables used by the different ethnic communities who were out in force in their headgear and robes. It got very crowded and after I had bought cucumbers, eggplant, tomatoes, strawberries and peaches I was pleased to escape back to Ponsonby. Toimorrow I am going to make some tomato relish and piccallili. Roland and Rosalie made a belated Christmas visit and over coffee and goodies we listened to a German Christmas CD. Time to pack the decorations away again, but no doubt it will be another week or two before we get round to it. Finished the evening off with a visit to the foodhall and had a delicious prawn fettucine with courgettes in a creamy light tomato and herb sauce.