Islands of Pleasure..

It was so nice to recieve photos of the 2 little girls, complete with the quilts I sent them.
Here is A with her Raspberry Ripple quilt. All snug, in Auckland's filthy winter weather, at her Nanna's house.




And here is S with I Spy, also taken at Nanna's house, fending off the chills of Auckland's winter. S took 'I Spy' to school for Show & Tell, & explained to her class mates how you can play with the quilt.

I am so thrilled the girls liked their quilts. Their Nanna is, of course, Best Friend J. I have been reminiscing again about times with BFJ, when we were young, & how much fun we had together.

When we first went to the Southern City together, we had to stick together, as our culture seemed just that little bit different from our Southern countrymen.

I have blogged about this before, here.

We were teased as being from an 'inferior Island', much like the rivalry between Melbourne & Sydney. The North & South Islands had this mockery of each other's customs, & speech dialects differences.

There were certain phrases that seemed to mean something different in the Nth & the Sth. It seemed odd to BFJ & I. We had always thought there would be no differences. After all, we had come from virtually the same stock, as in English, Irish, Scottish, Welch heritage.

Auckland did seem more cosmopolitan, I suppose. There was a larger variety of heritages, in that the Dalmations, or Dallies, as they were called, had come as 'Gumdiggers', initially, & had become Vineyard owners, with wonderful names, & diverse cultural ideas. Christchurch, that Southern City seemed to be very English. Of course Dunedin, was supposedly Scottish, but we didn't get to live in Dunedin.

We were teased mercilessly, & it came as a surprise to us. We had never thought of the two Islands being seperate. We only thought of the whole country as New Zealand. Even our accents were different- who knew?

Oh, those Southerners had fun, educating us to the ways of the Southern customs. We had thought we were so worldly! How naive we were! How strange some of the couples we met!

The wife, who was never without a cigarette dangling from her mouth, & as she drank, her face would melt & almost fall off the end of her chin. Her hair would sag, her words would blur, & she turned into some ruin, in front of our eyes! She would 'freshen' her makeup. The ruby red blush on the cheeks! The scarlet lipstick, slightly off the lip line. Hideous blue eye shadow, to the brow!

BFJ & I were really shocked. We had never seen the likes of such a person. Her husband, a huge tall, thin, bloodshot-eyed, balding, drunken creature. I think he only lived for his next drink. We had never met people like these in the course of our 'sophisticated' lives!

How strange, the weekend 'sports'. The 'drunken' cricket matches, a sort of Sunday ritual, where the buses took players & parents, (some of them, to later become our in-laws, perhaps to our dismay!) & they all mostly, proceeded to get drunk! It really was eye-opening to us, sheltered as we had been, in spite of thinking we were from the 'Big Smoke', as Auckland used to be called.

Our first outing to a Country Race meeting. We dressed up, wore dresses, high heels, & were unsure of the what was entailed, really. How we laughed, in secret surprised horror, at the drunken tipsy women, all dressed in stockings, high heels, & some in hats, who sat on the grass eating pies from paper bags, & drinking beer from paper cups! The shoes, lying abandoned on the grass, shunned. So this was sophisticated Country Racing??

I had only ever been to the races as a child, & was well protected from such scenes, if indeed they had been similar. All I really remember is a horse biting my fingers, -mistakenly, I was hastily assured, as I screamed in agony & bewilderment, & was to develop a lifelong mistrust & fear of horses.

Of course, there are other memories of wonderful friends we made, who were 'normal' by our Northern standards. Quite apart from those we married! haha.

Couples, married, buying houses, having children. Leading happy lives.

One such friend, who named her firstborn after me, is coming to stay with me for a week. She will arrive next week, & I am so looking forward to her stay. She has visited us here twice before. Once with her husband, & once with a girlfriend. We always have fun, & always enjoy her stay.

Slava Grigorian, The Sounds of Rain, parts 1 & 2.

Any Day Now..

Any day now, I will change my headline banner. Any day now, I might change the photo signature I have.

Everyone gets bored. They want change, the new, the different. The novel.

This does make me wonder about the average life of a blog. I read it is about 2-3 years at most. Perhaps I am at the end of my 'tether'?

I have gone to visit some, I felt I had some connection with, only to find it is either shut down, or 'invitation only'. And, you know what is coming... I am 'not invited'. WTF???
OK moving right along...

A question I have pondered, is, when do we learn to become 'embarrassed'? It must be a learned behaviour, emotion, state,- call it what you will.

A friend once told me his small girl-child- under one year- sat in her highchair, broke wind, loudly. He said he & his wife laughed, & when they looked at the child, she was blushing! He said she continued to be so sensitive, & he had never imagined a child to be so aware. How do we learn embarrassment?

How do we learn, what is socially acceptable , & what is not?

And when we learn we are not invited on the basketball team, or the secret society for blah or blah.
Do we laugh, or do we cry?

I think I tend to laugh. Rather after the mode of
'PLEASE ACCEPT MY RESIGNATION. I DON'T WANT TO BELONG TO ANY CLUB THAT WILL ACCEPT ME AS A MEMBER. '

I never wanted to be a 'joiner'. I don't suppose I will ever want to be a 'joiner.'



Today, we watched a movie. Helen Hunt. "Then She Found Me". I loved it. Gom hated it. Chalk & Cheese. As usual.

***************
The Glow.


We all know "the Glow".
You feel it when you meet someone, & instantly you feel 'the glow'. You know this person is magic, beyond your wildest dreams.
You know this person will transform your life.
Their thoughts, their ideas, ... & yes, their body, will transform your life. Forever.

If you are lucky, you languish in that glow. You enjoy the sensual moments of that glow.
You can actually 'wallow', in that glow. wallow is such a sensual word, when you stop to ponder. You can feel that ebb & flow, the wonderful currents, swirling about your body, in giddying eddies...How intoxicating.. How intriguing. The comfortable 'wallowing', better than a bath...

The perfumes, of seduction.. the wonderful scents, of delights, yet to be found...
Perhaps, the smell of the perfect being's body. How can you define desire? lust? longing? sensuality?
Perhaps you can't define such things??


Memories.

Neil Diamond, Barbra Striesand, You Dont Bring Me Flowers AnyMore.

How could I be so blind??

I recently posted here, about a tree we have growing on the side of our property. I always felt this tree had the leaves, & appearance, of a Pohutukawa, & I wondered why I had never seen flowers on the huge tree. I finally concluded it was not a Pohutukawa, & wondered what it could be.

I ventured out, after our rain, & strangely cool weather, to see if there was a photo-worthy sight. Imgine my surprise, after living here for 10 -ten!- years, to finally discover I was correct in my recognition of the leaves. I was so surprised. I could not believe I had never seen these flowers before. I do believe they are in the family of Calistemon, but the Pohutukawa tree is known as a New Zealand Native, & it flowers around Christmas time in New Zealand. It is also known as the New Zealand Christmas Tree.

When I was there last year on holiday, slightly later than now, I was happy to see the Pohutukawa were bursting into blossom on the East Coast of the Bay of Plenty- my home ground.They bloom all along the East Coast on the cliffs above the beaches, & if they bloom early, are said to auger an early, long, & hot Summer.

This is an illustration from wonderful books from my childhood, of the Adventures of Hutu & Kawa, by Avis Acres. These were the New Zealand equivalent of the Gumnut Babies of May Gibbs, of Australian fame.

'"We must be cousins!" said Hutu'

An illustration from Hutu and Kawa find an island (1957), by Avis Acres.

While I was on the lookout for things to photograph, today, I was struck by this cloud formation, looking to the west. I could not believe the colours, when I transferred the pics from the camera.

Where did the yellow, & the pink come from?? Very interesting to think about. Was it some reflection? I was not wearing garments of either red or yellow colour. I had white shirt, with a pale green & blue print.

This view is what alerted me to the colours, when I cropped the photo.

We used to experience the phenomena of 'Ghosts', when we lived in the Christchurch Inner City Tavern. We felt cold spots. We heard noises. Friends experienced strange happenings, visitations, when they spent the night in our flat.

Our children had water sprayed at them- real water, with no apparent source. We had many strange events. Patrons in the downstairs Bars experienced odd, cold touches, chills, so cold they defied explanation. Staff swore they felt the presence of 'persons'.

A strange law, ('Strange laws' have been the subject of some blog interest lately,) for our Hotel, was that, as it was situated on the banks of the Avon River in Christchurch, it was to be available at all times, for use as a morgue.

This was necessitated, by it's proximity to the river, & the fact that many drowned bodies were fished from the Avon River in those days. There was another Hotel which was designated for Morgue duties too, & that was the Oxford Hotel, which later became a Tavern, of the same name. This was the case in our Hotel's evolution, & it was known as the Royal Hotel, way back before it's reincarnation as the Grenadier Tavern.

Enough of the ghosties & the ghoulies.

Take some music, & drift away on the thoughts.

Joan Baez, Daddy, You've Been On My Mind.

Beaches

When we were kids, our mother didnt get very many chances to take us for holidays.

She usually had to work, so sometimes we went to stay on our Uncle & Aunt's farm, which was always lovely & we have many memories of the lovely- & loving- times we spent there.

One lovely holiday was spent with our Grandmother, in some Flats (units) at Mt Maunganui, which was a beachside Resort, with both an Harbour Side & an Ocean Side, very close together.

It was a lovely holiday, filled with wonderful swimming, every day, in the lovely Harbour side sea water, Which was gentle with no waves, & when it was low tide, we could walk out, across the sand, & see all the little crabs & sea critters dashing about. And we would have little walks over to the Ocean side, which was the surf side of the beach resort, & we could hire 'Lilo's' which were inflatable rubber 'surfboards' for want of a better description, & we would paddle out into the surf, & float back to shore on the Lilos. Pre-'surf-board' surfing, I guess you could call it.

We would have long walks along the sandy shore, & collect shells, & examine the wonderful seaweed that washed ashore, & wonder where it had come from. Sometimes it still had it's 'roots' attached, & we would wonder what storm or upheaval had caused it to be ripped from it's 'bed'.


And when it rained, because it did now & then, we would spend the day playing Snakes & Ladders or Ludo with our Grandmother in the cosy little cabin-like flat. And occasionally it would be so cold, we would need to have the little heater on, & it would seem like a really cosy little world, where no harm could befall us.


And we went fishing with an Uncle who would come down to meet us, & take us to fish off a little wharf on the Harbour side, under the shadow of the 'Mount'. Sometimes we caught little fish, & we would take them 'home', after our Uncle, who was really a 'Great Uncle' had cleaned & scaled them, & our Grandmother would cook them for us for our tea.

My brother never liked fish, having had a very nasty experience with a fish bone once, so, I am ashamed to say, I was pleased, if the fish were very small, because it meant I only had to share with my Grandmother! I think my brother would have Baked Beans on toast, or scrambled eggs for tea, instead.


But some of my most memorable Beachside holidays, were to a Private Beach, which belonged to my mother's Best Friend's family. It was in the North of the North Island of New Zealand, & we had to travel a very long journey by bus to reach the nearest town, & then proceed to catch another bus out to the little beach settlement.


The first time we went, I remember the huge bus, & little me, standing behind it, as we said our goodbyes. My mother had made me a new blue dress, & I loved the colour & the fabric. Imagine my horror, when the bus driver got into the bus & started the bus motor, revving it madly, presumably to 'warm it up'.
The filthy exhaust blurted out a stinking black blast- right onto my new dress skirt! I was devastated, & of course my mother was pretty peeved! I got the blame! The stain never came out, so the dress was effectively ruined, before I had a chance to enjoy it. And I had the added embarrassment of having to wear it for the duration or our trip.


We eventually arrived at the little beach, tired & a little sick. I was a bad traveller as a child, & was often car-sick, & I had fought bravely with my sickness. On top of the ruined dress, I think it would have proved too much for my mother to bear!


But oh that Beach! It was glorious, & when the tide went out, it went out for seemingly miles, & we would walk out to dig for cockles to bring home to "Nanna". "Nanna" was the Matriarch of the Family who owned the beach, & she lived in a cottage close to the shore. We would go over to "Nanna"'s at command, & she would direct us kids to clean out her water tank, with Condes Crystals, that turned us all purple!! We had to really scrub that tank! And for our reward, she would cook us Cockle Fritters, which she fried up in butter.


I confess to not actually liking the Cockle Fritters that much- they always seemed tough, though Nanna had minced them, on her old metal mincer, which was screwed to the kitchen bench.
And they were nearly always gritty with sand. I didnt fancy eating the sand from the beach.... after all we all piddled in that water, when the tide was in!!


Our accommodation consisted of several 'Army Huts' which were joined together to form a sort of house. The sleeping huts had bunks, & to me, they smelled musty, & felt slightly damp. We all slept in a series of these huts which were joined together, & it was a fraught experience the first couple of nights. I would lie, smelling the horrible musty/damp smell, hoping desperately, that I wouldnt have to get up to pee. The toilet was an old outside 'longdrop' on the hill side. It was under trees, & was very very dark, & very spooky!!


After that we would be so tired from our days swimming in the sea & also the creek which was tidal, & therefore filled, & ideal for swimming in the evening when the tide was high.


The 'kitchen/dining room' was another Army hut, which had a stove & some tables & seats. It was mostly casual food, such as salads, & lots of fish & little meat- which suited me fine. I think, from memory, we got fresh bread delivered daily.


One of the 'Uncles' was a swimming trainer down in Auckland, & when he came up for the weekends, he would give us all tutoring in swimming, using the creek at high tide. He told my mother I had talent... I think I lacked enthusiasm, not being born with the 'sporting gene'! Plus I couldnt be bothered with 'training'.


There was a type of Sandstone substance which we could find on the banks of the 'toilet hill', & we used to dig it out, & carve it, into what we imagined were very artistic shapes & things. I wish I had kept some of it. It was quite pretty, & seemed to have veins of colours running through it, which made it interesting to work, carving & shaping. It was almost a soap like substance, but would not crumble or break, if you were careful when working with it.


We spent many sun filled days on that lovely beach, & collected the soapstone substance, shells, driftwood, & happy memories of times shared in golden innocence.


We would go 'floundering' in the evenings if the tide was right. I remember wading carefully through the water, peering to try to see the flounder, which we were supposed to spear, to catch. I dont think I ever caught any, but I remember seeing them. I also remember eating them, cooked on tin, on a fire on the beach.


My mother's Best Friend, is now dead, as are her husband, daughter & son. It all seems so long ago, & far away.

I understand the Private Beach has been sold. It was a golden place, with lovely memories for us all.

I think I had a wonderful childhood, filled with magic things.

Wondrous

These pics were taken from our balcony last evening.

At risk of boring everyone stupid, with my continuing pics, from the same spot, I find I am constantly amazed at the changing vista of the sky.

I consider myself truly lucky to have such a spectacular view to admire. I dont think I ever noticed the sky quite so much as I do since we have lived here.

I swear, that looks like a giant eye, peering down upon us! What do you think?

I should have rung my friend to come to take some pics, as she has a lovely new camera, & is very interested in taking unusual photos. The trouble is, the scene changes so quickly in the evenings. Possibly by the time she got her car out, & drove up here, the chance would be gone, even though it is only 5 minutes by car.

The most spectacular sunsets I have ever seen, were while we were on holiday in Phuket. I had always dreamed of seeing one of those fiery red sunsets, so they were a dream come true. We were surprised at how suddenly it got dark once the sun went down.

Living in the South Island of New Zealand, we had long twilights, & when we came to live over here, I missed those beautiful twilights. They could be a curse in Summer, when you wanted little children off to bed, & daylight saving was in force. It didnt get dark until almost 10pm.

I recall my Grandmother, who came from Yorkshire, telling me of the long twilights they used to have in England, in Summer.

Yesterday afternoon, it was hot & sticky, & we had a few sprinkles of rain. I went & collected DJ & SG, & brought them here for the afternoon. SIL was working, so we had the whole afternoon to talk & just 'be'.

I find it very difficult to bath Leo these days, as he is a very strong & sturdy dog, so DJ gave me a hand. I had done Honey, & she is easy, she is so little & quite light. Leo was reluctant at first, but DJ got him 'under control' & he looks very handsome today. Needs a bit more work on his tail, but at least he is lovely & clean.

All my reminiscing about childhood memories is still swirling about in my head, so I can feel more posts coming, about the past. My Beloved Brother rang me last night from NZ, & we laughed about various things we recalled.

When our Grandparents got their own house, it was new, & was built on a 1/4 acre section of land, which was on the road frontage of a farm. My uncle was a Returned Soldier, & he got the chance to buy the land. The owner of the farm, was a very nice man, & he subdivided 3 Quarter acre sections of land to sell to Returned men.

My uncle was young & unmarried, & he very generously gave the land to my Grandparents to build their house upon. When he got married, he built a Bach, which was a 2 room dwelling, behind the main house. He & my Aunt lived there until they had had their first son, & built their own new house, closer to the town.

My Grandfather put in a huge vegetable garden, & we always had plenty of fresh vegies, & there were fruit trees too. Peaches, Nectarines, & Passionfruit, Tamarilloes- which were known at Tree tomatoes in those days! There was the dreaded choko vines, & the huge Scarlet Runner bean frame. I loved those beans, but only when they were young, as they tended to be stringy as they got older, & could be very off-putting. To this day, GOM does not like beans, as, his mother used to salt preserve them for winter, & they had them all winter long! My Grandmother never did that, we always seemed to have plenty of other vegies for the winter months.

There was a chook house, with a large 'run', up at the back of the section, & my grandmother kept several hens. They used to lay plenty of eggs, & I remember going to feed the, chooks, & collect the eggs. My Grandmother would mix 'layer mash' for them, & of course we always gave them the vegie scraps. I still swear those eggs tasted better than any 'shop bought' ones today!

Our Grandmother had a lame leg, with a stiff knee, due to a bad break she had suffered, so she used a walking stick, but she still used to get out in the garden & though she couldnt bend her knee, she could get plenty of gardening done.

My brother had a young playmate who lived on a farm further up the road, & he & my brother used to sneak tobacco off the father, & they tried out their first cigarettes behind the chook house!

And once, we sneaked a bottle of beer out of the toilet window, & drank it up behind the Chook house too. (It was not nice at all, but we pretended it was great!)

The back of that Chook house could have told a tale or two!

On a trip back once, to the old town, we visited our Grandparents house, & quite surprised to find it still there. It was a small house, but the young couple who had it then, were renovating, & they said they had bought it because it was a very sturdy & well built house.

The sky is sullen & grey this morning, but it seems to be very humid & hot again. I think there is hope for rain, but who knows??