Cold Shower

Yeah, yeah, Arts Council Loo revisited. I can't get enough of it.

If you sit on the Arts Council loo, (and don't worry, I was sitting on the lid while shooting), and turn your head every so slightly to the left, this is what you see.... With the noose in the background. Love it.

And ever so slightly to the right, the shadows on the door make it look like something you might see in a prison.

Alfred Street, Blenheim

Dogs not even allowed on the sidewalk. Why?

Drugs

I'm running on fume, or the smell of an oily rag, as Kiwis say. And a bit of herbal and other supplements. Would you laugh at my ethnocentricity if I told you I wondered what "Wasabi Bush" had to do with flax for months? That's Ben's, but I started taking that, too, for good luck.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Nancies...

I admire people who sing well, to the point if they are really good, I don't care what genre or style. The Nancies had a perfect pitch, and when they had a glitch, they conferred. They sang wonderful songs about recycling and homophobia/xenophobia, and about love and friendship.

Streetbeat is our buskers' festival, and I think Kath said it's on next week. Wonderful!!!

Somebody Do Something!!!

So, it's been a cool summer. Neighbors had fire in the fireplace on Christmas Eve; we haven't cleaned my fireplace properly in case we use it, and someone in town had this brilliant idea of having a exhibit(ion) of wool shawls in the middle of Sunny Nelson Summer, so what happens next is naturally.......

Summer arrives full blast! It has been hot, humid and sunny, for a whole week, everybody is rushing to the beach at all hours. And you'd be right to think that THAT someone is demented - or maybe she's from far away.

Somebody, please do something about this weather! Please let me have a blast of southerlies for a few hours on Monday.

YOU HAVE GOT TO SEE THIS

This one. I kid you not. Kiwi drivers are not the best drivers in the world, (and many Kiwi drivers would admit that!) and road workers and emergency workers get hurt/killed quite often.

The man from the roadworks company who came up with the idea, and had the blessing of appropriate agencies, said he's seen people not only slow down but put on their seat belts suddenly. The police is cooperating, and sending patrol cars once in a while so you never know when there's a real one.

This has got to be the Link of The Year for NAWOFW, at least for a while!!!

Neale & Haddow Hardware Store, Rutherford Street

This is the newest hardware store in Nelson, made to look like an old places our dads hung out years ago. The place has a great atmosphere, and the owner and staff (a young chap with a refreshing attitude) won't mind if you just wanted to chat. This is where I'm going to buy all my seeds!!

And in the middle, ladies and gentlemen, is a shearer, NZ$25.20. This was the first time I saw the genuine article, and I just had to touch/hold it. I understand many shearers are now using electric shearers, but if anyone ever wants to learn how to shear a sheep, I do have a mate who is a professional, so it can be arranged.

Don't Leave Your Wife At The Fish & Chip Shop

The day after Ben bought the little red car, we felt like fish and chips, so we went to Haven Fish & Chips and ordered, except Ben forgot his wallet, (and I never carry mine when I'm with him, so we went back home, got his wallet, had a glass of water to drink, and got back in the car, except it wouldn't start. Ben called the AA man, the man came and restarted the car somehow, (turns out the car had a wee electrical problem which was fixed by the dealer the next day), and we got to Haven Fish & Chips at around 8:10PM. Not knowing the nature of the car problem, I suggested I go into the shop and order, while Ben took the car around town just to keep it running. Of course he was happy to oblige.

I went into the shop, ordered, paid, waited a while and got our food. Ben was nowhere to be found. A bunch of other customers came and went, and at 8:45 the shop owners started cleaning up. Not wanting to get in their way, I got outside and waited and it started to rain. The nice owners told me I could wait inside, but at a little before (, they were ready to go home, too. So I waited outside, in the rain, with yummy fish & chips in my arms.

Ben in his little red car showed up at around 9.30 (he'll tell you it was around 9:15) after having a nice drive from Nelson to Richmond to Brighwater and back along the coast and and Tahunanui Drive.

This was almost exactly a year before I shot this photo.

Needless to say, we ate supper in relative silence, and the chips were all soggy. Boys!!!!!

For Photowannabe

Photowannabe, Blenheim is the bigger cherry producers, but Nelson (strictly speaking Motueka) produces some of these gems also. Sadly we are approaching the end of the season here.

Young Lady!

When I was young, I cringed being call just this, because what followed was usually not good. Nowadays, when friends call me this, I just savor the first word as long as I can.

DP Made Me Do It

Yesterday I was interviewed about my weaving and blogging by the local newspaper. I had requested the questions Matt intended to ask me previous to our meeting, but he threw in a few extra ones. One was "Why did you choose 'Sea, Sand and Sky' as your Exhibition title?" I'm not good at thinking on my feet and usually I start to waffle at length, so I was pleasantly surprised to hear my answer to this one.

Most of my life, except for the 10 years in Minnesota and Arizona, I lived not too far from the sea; here in Nelson, you can't escape it. Because our living room and the study have a view of some of the curves and nuances of the left half of Tasman Bay and the sky and hills towards the west and northwest, we've become more sensitive to the colors and the shapes and the changes over the years. But once you start a DP, I've really had to look at them, and study them. I've had to observe and make judgments how to compose my shots and collect the same shots under different weather and at different times to compare. I've come to know some of the patterns and contours; anomalies and surprises arouse curiosity.

I'm sure all of you have experienced it; finding a building for the first time after years of passing by it, or looking for information about something that previously was "just there". For me, it's really been about the elements found on, around, above, and at the beach these last five months. And I started to look also at the grass around the dunes; the roots of trees sticking out; driftwood; and what I collectively and affectionately come to call "sea junk".

"NDP made me do it."

What more can I say? Life is a beach in Nelson, and you're all part of mine.

Comments?

I'm supposed to get a copy of the comments sent to my email, but from time to time I'm finding there are gaps - especially in the last two days. Is anyone else? I'm sorry if I've not responded to any of your comments. Believe me, most days I can rebut most anything you say.

A New Find

This JB character pops into NDP once in a while telling us what's what and exposing our ignorance to the world, so you know, I do the right thing and return a visit, and his blog is hilarious. I just read half a dozen posts, but everything he says has been true, especially about Nelson. Go there for a really good laugh!

I Really Thought NZ Post Pinched It

I got the MUCH MUCH MUCH anticipated marzipan from Zsolt today; this I won in a series of quizes. I remember Ben and I staying up late looking all over for information about Hungary - the most difficult was the origin of Zsolt's family name, Bugarszki.

In late December, I think it was, there was a story in the news that an employee working for the NZ Post at Auckland Airport (from memory) was pinching all sorts of things, and people expecting special packages from overseas were to contact NZ Post. Needless to day, I was in a bit of a mini-panic. We just split the top right maroon colored-one.

Thank you, Zsolt! Yum, yum. I am just now very conflicted between sharing this treat with a special friend and keeping it all mine, mine, mine.

The wooden box was cushioned by ads from an electronic store and a supermarket and placed inside a bigger box. Ben was looking at the former and I the latter. Ads from other countries used to be so interesting because it was a small window to the way people far away lived. Nowadays, though, especially the electronic shop ads were very similar to ours. And Hungarian housewives use Persil for laundry. Well, I guess it's still a small window the the way people far away live - it's that we use similar products all over.

Commet McNaught Caught in Oulu, Finland

Have a look at this! Wouldn't you love to have the chance to shoot something like this?!

Bee's Bottom

Can you see him in the flower almost at the top?

Thank You Thank You Thank You

I've been a bit remiss in thanking you for the cards and the gifts you've sent us.

Kaa, the choc was enjoyed by three bloggers, two of whom normally don't even touch milk chocolate!! (So why didn't they just leave it all to me, me, me???) Keropok Man, I hope we can come to Singapore some time in the future, even if we have to foot the bill. So much to see and eat! Cristina, thanks for your gentle wishes and friendship. And you take care of that dog!

Now, Phelgmmy, when did you take this picture of me, and how did you photoshop it so well to make me look so skinny? That's about how I'm feeling right now! Thanks so much for thinking of me.

Size Matters

OK, I know I'm way behind the times with technology nowadays (can you blame me, I'm a handweaver!!), but I was shocked to see now tiny Myron's new toy is!! I think I should sell my cellphone to a museum with the highest bid soon!

I Recant

I know I can go on a bit about what we don't/can't have/do in New Zealand/Nelson sometimes, but I do like living here, and that's why we're still here after 12/10 years. One of the attraction of New Zealand is doing things ourselves. You can build your house, or modify it, easily, as long as you get the proper consents. Many people bake "from scratch" always and often, and preserve fruits. Many weavers grow their animals, comb, spin, dye and weave. All this is quite foreign to a couple of kids from Tokyo/Yokohama. (Unless you had enough money to purchase these experiences, as in going on a tour or a course.)

I'm becoming enough of an old timer in Kiwiland to not notice the wonderful things that we didn't have in Japan AND got sufficiently good at self-deprecation the Kiwi way; maybe I overdo the latter, because I had the S-D the Japanese-Catholic-Convent-School-Girl way as a foundation.

Last week, I gave Marj a jar of my boysenberry jam/goo; this week she gave me a jar of her plum jam. And here's another thing that made SO glad we live here. I'll try and stop being a cynical old hag this year. I said I'll try, Paul.

***

"I am Not Kidding" originally posted on my Unravelling


I've been invited to a meeting of Marlborough Weavers, an active weaving group in and around Picton and Blenheim about 90 minutes east (and over the mountain) of Nelson. That's the group that hosted the first ever weaving workshop I attended, my coming out, in 2001, and so it as been surrogate guild ever since, but I never went to their regular meetings because of confidence/commitment issues, more than the logistical/transport problem. It's been made easier, among other reasons, because Sue wants to go also, so there's her apron strings to hang on to this time.

This next meeting date moved around a bit, and I couldn't quite commit myself because it's going to be sometime in the week preceding the opening of my Exhibit(ion). And this group is usually very organized, so it came as a surprise, until I found out why.

It's going to be held at one of the members' house, and she had to check with her husband about the sheep movement.

I don't really know the business (?) of raising sheep, but if you run a farm, I realize once again, life doesn't always fit nicely with the printed calendar. It reminded me of what a towny weaver I am, because for now, I buy my yarns dyed. I know how to spin, but haven't spun to weave this century; and promise to start dyeing my yarns this year, but thus far I've been a pure consumer-weaver.

I also chuckles remembering an email I received from weaver Pam a few years ago. Her email started, "We are kidding," and went on to talk about the weather and her goats. What??? Goats! Kidding...

I love living in New Zealand. Kiwis (the human kind) keep me on toes, or in tow. It's easier to get back to the beginning of things in this place.

It's an Old Church!!

I'm always preoccupied with frozen yogurt when I go to Toad Hall, and now that I have a photo of the inside, I can see it from the shape of the windows, but for the first decade, I didn't realize it was an old church. There is a big picture of Queen Liz at the front entrance.

Right after the first roundabout in Motueka on The Coastal Highway, look for the sign in the second pic here; the third was taken in the garden at the back.

The Boys

I have nephews, too, but they are just 6 and almost 11 and can't be bothered holding still long enough for their mom to take a nice photo. So this is from exactly a year ago when my sister came over to New Zealand for the very first time, with her three boys in tow, then 5, 9, and 41.

At one of the gorgeous beaches on Golden Bay. (Can you tell I really don't get out of the house these days, resorting to my stock photos?)

My Niece

I have an 11-month old niece I have never met. The above was taken this New Year's Day. And if you think she's just adorable...

This is the picture I can't get enough of. This was taken on the 7th. And yup, like a puppie, she has a wet nose.

Upmarket Fruit Stall

We like to support local fruit growers, but I must say, this is a very upmarket one we found in Motueka. Fancy paint job, and a security camera glaring at us. The strawberries were good, but they might have been a bit tastier if we didn't see THEIR camera.

In Motueka yesterday, we found stalls for raspberries, boysenberries, strawberries, cherries, apricots, nectarines, plums and peaches, and their main fruit is apples.

Here's the Proof

Our house faces west, ergo the many sunset photos in our blogs. The weather tends to come from the west around here, too, and we often see rain in Richmond (15 minutes drive); sometimes the rain gradually comes all the way to Nelson, often times not. And again, our house and Nelson town centre (17 minutes drive) have different weather, too.

Yesterday, I saw this in the cloud formation right above us on our way home from Kaiteriteri Beach. Right up to the border of Richmond, gray heavy could hung; the west side of Nelson town centre, including our place, there were these nice, fluffy clouds. And of course nothing above the town centre itself. Typical.

While trying to sharpen the image of the above photo, I must have auto-corrected the color or exposure, and the Richmond cloud looks a nice purple, but it was really horribly dark and cold. Honest.

Hobbit Holes

Someone Else's Sandcastle

I had the wrong pair of glasses so I could not see anything within my arms' reach, so I just kept on shooting blindly.

New Year's Resolution

My Dad was big on resolutions; my sister hated it; I kind of like it because it gave me a chance to look back on the previous year, and plan on some direction for the new year, (even if I forgot about them by the time we went back to school.)

This year, I'm not going to plan things to death, but hope to be more spontaneous and live dangerously. I found a photo symbolizing my resolution; you MUST click and have a look.