tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2357490189181821842024-03-13T14:39:48.023+13:00Head of the Harbour...a place to ponder...Jane Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03420485615132391496noreply@blogger.comBlogger142125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235749018918182184.post-28448584072317229472013-07-27T06:03:00.000+12:002013-07-27T06:05:45.215+12:00A walk along the foreshore track...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After all the recent rain we've had a spell of crisp, sunny, winter days. Yesterday I went for a walk around the foreshore track, somewhat altered by two large slips - evidence of the constant movement of land in this part of the world. When I go walking I always take a small pack. It leaves home empty but always returns with treasure. The foraging instinct is strong and very satisfying!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday's treasure included silver beet for the chooks. This grows prolifically along the waterfront. I don't know whether it results in pre-salted eggs, but the chooks love it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then there was the rock - from the several rockfalls around the track. Amazing how heavy rock is. I can only carry one small chunk at a time. So the edging I am developing is very slow in the making. Nevertheless it feels good to take something that is surplus to requirements (and free) and put it to use.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ever since I moved to Governors Bay I've picked up old pieces of china in the tidal zones. After heavy rains, the areas where creeks wash into the sea are particularly productive. I love the hint of pattern, the tantalising glimpses of past lives. It's like finding precious little jewels. Most exciting is spotting a plain sliver of china and turning it over to find - occasionally - a glorious design. Yesterday's discoveries...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was more. I'm not sure what this little container would have been used for. It was full of mud and I've yet to clean it out properly. But so satisfying!!</span><br />
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<br />Jane Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03420485615132391496noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235749018918182184.post-23905395712823844312013-06-09T19:47:00.000+12:002013-06-09T19:47:02.729+12:00At Birdling's Flat...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I haven't been walking much lately. This morning I took off, not quite knowing where I would end up but hoping I would have a wander. I drove around the head of the harbour, over Gebbies Pass and ended up at Birdling's Flat - somewhere all Christchurch people go occasionally but probably not often. Sky and sea were blue and the waves, which can crash dramatically on the steep, stony beach, were relatively subdued. Nevertheless it still felt remote and other-worldly, a little bit like the Chatham Islands. I watched this horse and rider silhouetted against the sky...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A good workout for the horse I decided as I trudged along a stony ridge towards the Lake Forsyth (<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Te Roto o Wairewa</span><b style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">)</b> outlet, the loneliness of the spot accentuated by a single figure.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I knew that work was being done on opening the lake to the sea (at the request of the local iwi I think and in the hope of reversing the damage done by farming runoff) but not that this work had been completed. It can't have been easy to bulldoze a channel through the constantly shifting, pebbly beach. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There were a few hardy fisherfolk...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...and a shag who came in to dry his wings and preen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A bank of cloud rolled in from the south and suddenly it was very cold. I returned thankfully to the car with a pocketful of stones and a nice driftwood dragon.</span><br />
<br />Jane Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03420485615132391496noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235749018918182184.post-73425133025163290942013-05-13T20:17:00.001+12:002013-05-13T20:17:21.496+12:00A golden day...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our beautiful high country. Elaine and I drove up to Arthurs Pass on what must have been one of the most perfect days in a spectacular Autumn. We stopped at Cass where Claire and I once enjoyed a memorable Christmas lunch in the tiny railway station. We arrived in Arthurs Pass just in time to watch a goods train entering the Otira Tunnel. We talked to the cheeky keas intent on stripping the rubber from parked vehicles at the viaduct lookout - and we 'looked out' over the engineering triumph of the viaduct itself. I have always loved Arthurs Pass because it never pretends to be anything other than what it is - a little mountain village strung out along the railway line. It is an unpretentious, unpretty cluster of dwellings and railway-related industry dwarfed by bush-clad, snow-topped mountains. It feels safe and snug - ignoring of course what might happen should the alpine fault rupture!!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Now for a rubber fix...</span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Just checking...</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">And again...</span></td></tr>
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<br />Jane Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03420485615132391496noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235749018918182184.post-51418203923665746732013-04-28T07:34:00.000+12:002013-04-28T07:35:46.640+12:00City art...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday I retraced my last post's inner city circuit with friend Elaine. This time it was a Saturday and there were more people about, more voices, more movement. In a CBD that has been populated mosty by demolition workers for over two years, this was such a great thing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">C1 was buzzing, inside and out. New Regent Street, though not yet fully occupied, was busy with locals and tourists. Only in the Square were voices respectfully hushed as people looked at the Cathedral from behind the barricades.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This time around what struck me most was the wonderful art, everywhere. Nothing new - art works, installations have been a feature of the post-quake landscape almost from the very start. But here is a selection of new art works, with my two favourites first.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Made by Mel, Reuben and Sasha from Governors Bay. Love the hair!!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">By Rata. I just love the elegant movement in this one</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wPEc1Tdz2k8/UXwlqTQfCsI/AAAAAAAACrQ/1xaR_odtMB4/s1600/DSC03488.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wPEc1Tdz2k8/UXwlqTQfCsI/AAAAAAAACrQ/1xaR_odtMB4/s400/DSC03488.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The Government Life building 'reflected'. By Mike Hewson</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Q4FxUFhU6eI/UXwlu76xrEI/AAAAAAAACrY/-rpzQgncL4Q/s1600/DSC03495.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Q4FxUFhU6eI/UXwlu76xrEI/AAAAAAAACrY/-rpzQgncL4Q/s400/DSC03495.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Reflection in the sky walk . Mike Hewson again</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YV7b9oc9MYQ/UXwl1C7rLDI/AAAAAAAACrg/ZR7CBIj0YF8/s1600/DSC03483.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YV7b9oc9MYQ/UXwl1C7rLDI/AAAAAAAACrg/ZR7CBIj0YF8/s400/DSC03483.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Not a new work this, but I couldn't resist the recent addition...</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-359hD698XjA/UXwmE5lEMKI/AAAAAAAACro/t5j4NMaRXLc/s1600/DSC03486.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-359hD698XjA/UXwmE5lEMKI/AAAAAAAACro/t5j4NMaRXLc/s400/DSC03486.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">And the oversized sofa in Gloucester St being used as it should be - for fun!</span></td></tr>
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<br />Jane Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03420485615132391496noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235749018918182184.post-89478104228447775572013-04-19T06:38:00.000+12:002013-04-19T06:42:10.101+12:00A tale of two cities...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My cousin Fleur and I have just spent several days in Nelson making contact with our Harris relatives and learning more about our great and great, great grandparents. A very productive, happy time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Something I hadn't anticipated was the sheer delight in walking the streets of the inner city - Nelson looking particularly attractive with its autumn-tinted trees, hanging baskets, historic buildings, cafes spilling onto the footpaths and enticing shops. I realised (despite my sojourn last year in Holland and the UK) just how much I have missed hanging out in the Christchurch CBD - always my favourite go-to place for retail therapy since teenage years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday I took a long-promised walk on the 'wild-side', around the ever-diminishing inner-city cordon. The walk took me up Manchester St, along Gloucester, back round Oxford Tce and down Tuam, to complete the square. What did I see and feel? Did anything surprise or shock me? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My reaction remains one of disbelief. It still seems unreal. This puzzles me - when the evidence of the destruction wrought by quakes and subsequent demolition is so tangible. It feels too big to contemplate, too impossible to have happened in our city. Mostly I remain relatively detached and rather numb. I wonder if others feel this way...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I took photos - even although photo-taking in regard to the quakes has always felt like a subversive activity. Images of the damaged city abound but there is a need to 'personalise' the experience by selecting one's own points of reference. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are some pictures that resonate...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ADlZvCccn68/UXA5CPH4jlI/AAAAAAAACpo/S8L_GJON-0Y/s1600/DSC03440.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ADlZvCccn68/UXA5CPH4jlI/AAAAAAAACpo/S8L_GJON-0Y/s400/DSC03440.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Manchester Street</span></td></tr>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DSgjcMo3jdQ/UXA5L2ldTQI/AAAAAAAACpw/RnvB4Z9RWfg/s1600/DSC03448.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DSgjcMo3jdQ/UXA5L2ldTQI/AAAAAAAACpw/RnvB4Z9RWfg/s400/DSC03448.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wAPdM_jC7Do/UXA5MtF9L1I/AAAAAAAACp4/0oz3uthWFN0/s1600/DSC03449.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wAPdM_jC7Do/UXA5MtF9L1I/AAAAAAAACp4/0oz3uthWFN0/s400/DSC03449.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">A favourite eating place for Claire and me - still standing</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jvo3dwM5zas/UXA5Q9LcvPI/AAAAAAAACqA/vFBMhGqGwjo/s1600/DSC03454.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jvo3dwM5zas/UXA5Q9LcvPI/AAAAAAAACqA/vFBMhGqGwjo/s400/DSC03454.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Inside the rose window, Holy Trinity Church</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CCjDAD15Zrw/UXA5ZnpRQdI/AAAAAAAACqY/ZkUMNKGOoUg/s1600/DSC03460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CCjDAD15Zrw/UXA5ZnpRQdI/AAAAAAAACqY/ZkUMNKGOoUg/s400/DSC03460.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Perhaps the only view that shocked me. The Theatre Royal, facade propped up, dome protected and in-between - nothing.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FPp5XbxNbNU/UXA5YqmlyCI/AAAAAAAACqI/evuI8Z-zsvE/s1600/DSC03461.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FPp5XbxNbNU/UXA5YqmlyCI/AAAAAAAACqI/evuI8Z-zsvE/s400/DSC03461.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Great example of the fantastic installations that have popped up around the city. Absent Theatre Royal in background.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EF8YQEr0bms/UXA5ZPUrxfI/AAAAAAAACqQ/aVgBSdB9FbY/s1600/DSC03462.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EF8YQEr0bms/UXA5ZPUrxfI/AAAAAAAACqQ/aVgBSdB9FbY/s400/DSC03462.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">When all around is destroyed....</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rPNJDejOako/UXA5ahMHgCI/AAAAAAAACqg/RuGYtS7DCew/s1600/DSC03463.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rPNJDejOako/UXA5ahMHgCI/AAAAAAAACqg/RuGYtS7DCew/s400/DSC03463.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">My favourite. Outside a cordon checkpoint at the entrance to the Square.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8AoGG90m9jw/UXA5dJW6dOI/AAAAAAAACqo/lNI1PyXKbms/s1600/DSC03465.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8AoGG90m9jw/UXA5dJW6dOI/AAAAAAAACqo/lNI1PyXKbms/s400/DSC03465.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Images of the cathedral have become cliched - so I focused on the (still intact) roof.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yKW9ppK5-Sc/UXA5hNoWYSI/AAAAAAAACqw/iZHtpnVRhDs/s1600/DSC03469.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yKW9ppK5-Sc/UXA5hNoWYSI/AAAAAAAACqw/iZHtpnVRhDs/s400/DSC03469.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Always the little reminders of hope and support.</span></td></tr>
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Jane Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03420485615132391496noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235749018918182184.post-38511760029870898202012-10-14T11:44:00.000+13:002012-10-14T11:44:56.143+13:00Working from home...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The past few weeks as I have sat on the sofa working, I have been able to look out the living room window, past the frame of pendulous lavender wisteria, to two Kakabeaks <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 16px;">(Kōwhai ngutukākā)</span> that cover a trellis. The Kakabeak is not a long-lived plant and these two are past their used-by date, yet they have produced these glorious, jewel-like flowers that have glowed in all weathers.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oRfzCFhoOtc/UHnsh0HSmWI/AAAAAAAACoc/uSk0akqpJW4/s1600/DSC02716.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oRfzCFhoOtc/UHnsh0HSmWI/AAAAAAAACoc/uSk0akqpJW4/s400/DSC02716.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aSSnbnz8gnE/UHnso3FxR1I/AAAAAAAACok/7snuxG69z4I/s1600/DSC02717.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aSSnbnz8gnE/UHnso3FxR1I/AAAAAAAACok/7snuxG69z4I/s400/DSC02717.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meanwhile, back at the sofa, I disappear for two minutes and my work space (with cushions for my back and feet) is immediately colonised... </span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tvVWJ9q0cwo/UHntY6XkwLI/AAAAAAAACos/H5Hv9gZrCGo/s1600/DSC02715.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tvVWJ9q0cwo/UHntY6XkwLI/AAAAAAAACos/H5Hv9gZrCGo/s400/DSC02715.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Jane Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03420485615132391496noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235749018918182184.post-41194944687330058682012-10-08T06:05:00.000+13:002012-10-08T06:17:19.672+13:00A grand old Lady...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For many years now I have seen Tug Lyttelton in the harbour, often belching grey/black, acrid smoke as it fired up for a harbour cruise. Recently, when I read that the Lyttelton was doing a trip on the harbour as part of Icefest (celebrating New Zealand's Antarctic connection). I thought right, seize the moment Jane. So I reserved places for myself and Claire and yesterday we met in Lyttelton on a glorious, sunny afternoon, along with 120-odd other locals, including lots of children.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Tug Lyttelton dockside and firing up</span></td></tr>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rj_1CYtiUd8/UHGs3P2LJzI/AAAAAAAACnE/vmkgE-XhZJM/s1600/DSC02721.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rj_1CYtiUd8/UHGs3P2LJzI/AAAAAAAACnE/vmkgE-XhZJM/s400/DSC02721.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is a little bit about the tug from her website <a href="http://www.tuglyttelton.co.nz/">http://www.tuglyttelton.co.nz/</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #002851; text-align: justify;">The tug Lyttelton and her engines were built in Scotland in 1907 by </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferguson_Shipbuilders" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Ferguson brothers Ltd.</a><span style="color: #002851; text-align: justify;"> of Port Glasgow, and was sailed out to Lyttelton through the Suez canal which had been open for almost forty years. The machinery has been very little altered throughout the ship's long period of service with the Lyttelton Harbour Board and gives the visitor a glimpse back in time to the heyday of British steam engineering. On a visit to the engine room and stokehold you can very easily imagine the ship steaming out across the Indian ocean in 1907 lit only by oil lamps, with every spare space loaded with coal for the long voyage.</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can say, wholeheartedly, that she is, indeed, a great lady. The interior detailing of the Lyttelton is just stunning, all lovely wood and gleaming brass...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FwvYHDXrJHI/UHGuj8ItkkI/AAAAAAAACnM/IzJLsP7GBD4/s1600/DSC02723.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FwvYHDXrJHI/UHGuj8ItkkI/AAAAAAAACnM/IzJLsP7GBD4/s400/DSC02723.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The wheelhouse</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yq1H7SWM1Qc/UHGupguFukI/AAAAAAAACnU/1UW9YR71Fgc/s1600/DSC02758.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yq1H7SWM1Qc/UHGupguFukI/AAAAAAAACnU/1UW9YR71Fgc/s400/DSC02758.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Brass steps below</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What's more, all the hard work of maintenance and operation is done by dedicated volunteers, most of them by no means young! Claire and I talked to several of the men, who clearly take huge pride in the tug. I was particularly taken by a Scottish gent with a somewhat rakish air - a real charmer!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The easterly blasted up the harbour and it was bitterly cold but utterly exhilarating.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Me, exhilarated!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Others were out enjoying the excellent sailing weather...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, at the end of the trip, cold but happy...</span><br />
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<br />Jane Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03420485615132391496noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235749018918182184.post-2665743325680463092012-09-20T06:09:00.000+12:002012-09-20T06:10:49.082+12:00'Bird of the year'...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I feel a little unsettled or disgruntled about not being in Europe, it's things like Forest and Bird's <i>Bird of the Year </i>campaign that remind me what a wonderful and special place New Zealand is. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I like it that that the whole country is encouraged to cast a vote here <a href="http://www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/">http://www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And what I like even more are the fun personal 'campaigns', often sponsored by well-known figures/firms, supporting 'their' bird. You can see some of this activity here <a href="http://www.facebook.com/ForestandBird">http://www.facebook.com/ForestandBird</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few photos from the current campaign...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know I am going to agonise over my choice because I will feel bad for all the birds I don't vote for!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hopefully it's awareness-raising activities like this that will prevent the extinction of yet more precious native birds in Aotearoa.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Jane Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03420485615132391496noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235749018918182184.post-70827402208480775852012-09-17T18:27:00.000+12:002012-09-18T05:15:03.399+12:00Speaking of books...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm curious - does anyone else have a problem with transitions between books?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I find the time between finishing one book and beginning another frustrating and unsettling. I can't decide what to read next. It's not for lack of choice. My kindle is loaded and my chair-side (I'm not sure what to call it but it is home to my 'books to be read' pile) is overflowing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rather the problem is <i>what </i>to choose - making the 'right' choice. Will I be engaged? Will I be moved? Will I want to read on? Will it be 'worth' the investment in time and effort. So much to choose from; such a gamble. I'm not keen on starting a book, not liking what I find and ditching it. When I start a book I want to persevere - and I want to read thoroughly, not skim the surface. So the choice is important - loaded, freighted - made even more difficult when I have especially loved a book and fear that nothing could compare...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, in the time since my return from Europe I've filled my (very limited) reading time with newspapers and back issues of the Listener, putting off the decision. But I think I am gravitating towards Maureen Birchfield's <i>Looking for answers: A life of Elsie Locke</i>. Because it is sitting, invitingly, at the top of my chair-side pile. And because I have admired Elsie Locke all my life for her authorship and her activism.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll let you know if I do and what I think :-)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Jane Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03420485615132391496noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235749018918182184.post-22840039820016595562012-09-09T06:29:00.003+12:002012-09-11T09:01:49.956+12:00Books...and books...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've just read Harvestbird's <a href="http://bat-bean-beam.blogspot.co.nz/2012/09/four.html?showComment=1347077954403#c2284397126704095969" style="background-color: white; color: #2361a1; line-height: 21.983333587646484px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">What are we to do with all these books?</a><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="line-height: 21.983333587646484px;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="line-height: 21.983333587646484px;">It made me think, especially, of the books I inherited from my grandfather, from my godmother (and through her from Eileen Fairbairn), from my mother...</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="line-height: 21.983333587646484px;">Of my childhood books which have so shaped who I am. Of my dad who, when I was very small, would sit in the children's library and read the books before choosing which ones to bring home.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="line-height: 21.983333587646484px;">Of the treasured books my mother would give me each birthday and Christmas - until she was too frail to shop.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="line-height: 21.983333587646484px;">Of all the gifted books, chosen with care and love.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="line-height: 21.983333587646484px;">Of Deb's Christmas book tree - the photos of which are buried in facebook history but which I would love to share here.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="line-height: 21.983333587646484px;">Of Sally's book 'sculptures'.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="line-height: 21.983333587646484px;">It also reminded me that, in Rijswijk and on the flight home, I read <i>Middlemarch</i> on my kindle. Significant for several reasons. I had never read <i>Middlemarch</i> - and surely a first reading of this classic should be a paper and ink experience? Did the kindle in any way impoverish the reading? It seems not. Unlike so many novels that fade rapidly, despite being enjoyed in the reading process, the characters in <i>Middlemarch</i> and their stories remain clear and present. What a book! </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 21.983333587646484px;">And (quietly), on Kindle it was free...</span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deb's wonderful Christmas tree</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.983333587646484px;"><br /></span></span>Jane Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03420485615132391496noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235749018918182184.post-23458560604984266602012-06-21T15:17:00.000+12:002012-06-21T17:14:19.089+12:00Letters...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Letters have featured, one way or another, in a couple of recent posts. And the theme of letters is further reinforced by my starting, today, to read <i>Two Gardeners: A Friendship in Letters</i> - a special gift from DKM.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, on the (almost) eve of my departure for Europe, I've decided to stay with letters for a little longer. When I lived and travelled in the UK, Europe and Israel in 1979/80 I wrote home as much as possible. For me it was a conversation with my family, a way of reflecting on the days' events and, ultimately, a tangible (if until now un-revisited) record of new experiences and adventures. The letters were written from all sorts of odd places and in sometimes difficult and trying circumstances ... but never did I consider not writing. My family kept the letters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thirty years before, in 1949, my 34 year-old mother had sailed from New Zealand to a Great Britain that was still rationed and still recovering from the devastation and privation of the Second World War. In 1950, she and her Australian friend Joan Darby hitch-hiked for six weeks in Europe, including in Germany and Austria, still at that time occupied by the allied forces. And in her two years away my mother wrote many letters home - letters which I still have.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The other night I started to read the letters sent at the beginning of the European oddysey - when my Mum and Joan were in Belgium and The Netherlands. The writing is difficult to read, the ink and pencil faded and I could only read so much at a time because I found them very moving in places ... but I thought what a wonderful privilege, to be able to share in these journeys 62 years later.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZDwzxkhv-v8/T-KN9YomtCI/AAAAAAAABgI/f5a7I3a5yXY/s1600/DSC01254.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZDwzxkhv-v8/T-KN9YomtCI/AAAAAAAABgI/f5a7I3a5yXY/s400/DSC01254.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In many ways it is easier to document travels today, using facebook, blogs and other digital media. But these handwritten letters (both my mother's and mine), lovingly crafted for family and friends, enrich my pending journey with their slightly tatty but very tangible presence.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Jane Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03420485615132391496noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235749018918182184.post-77094373211239067892012-06-03T15:16:00.000+12:002012-06-03T15:16:16.983+12:00Floating Worlds...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So much for my first flu vaccination in 25 years...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However the holiday weekend hasn't been completely wasted. I have read <i>Floating Worlds: The letters of Edward Gorey and Peter F. Neumeyer</i> and I am now rereading <i>Ascending Peculiarity</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Imagine receiving these in the mail...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nothing more to say...</span>Jane Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03420485615132391496noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235749018918182184.post-40948741395284061972012-05-23T06:35:00.000+12:002012-05-23T06:38:23.543+12:00On the edge...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Continuing the earthquake theme...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the weekend Claire and I met at Scarborough to go for a walk up Whitewash Head. This used to be a favourite walk with its magnificent views - the Peninsula, the Kaikouras, Pegasus Bay, Sumner, the estuary, Christchurch city backed by the plains and Alps. The views are still there but we knew that an unbelievable 30 metres had been shaved off the cliff face in the June 2011 aftershock. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As expected, all the access points to the cliff edge were cordoned off. Finally we found a spot where we could (just) squeeze through the joining point in a high fence. There was the old track and beyond it - nothing. At that moment I spotted this...</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lKLPFr8xgiw/T7vWshi2JQI/AAAAAAAABeM/JdY3yz9I53M/s1600/DSC01221.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lKLPFr8xgiw/T7vWshi2JQI/AAAAAAAABeM/JdY3yz9I53M/s400/DSC01221.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'This' was the ground under our feet. Claire was already making her way further up the hill with Stormy in tow.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pjFq4iEXr-M/T7vW6q7VbDI/AAAAAAAABeU/0mNCLeVaJZA/s1600/DSC01217.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pjFq4iEXr-M/T7vW6q7VbDI/AAAAAAAABeU/0mNCLeVaJZA/s400/DSC01217.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meanwhile I stood there and experienced something straight out of childhood, when I used to climb up on my Nana's garage roof. My feet tingled. My whole body, feet upwards, said this is a bad place to be. I don't think of myself as an easily frightened person, but I was plain scared. I was also worried that Stormy might easily pull Claire off balance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was only when I got home and googled Whitewash Head that I realised exactly why I felt so bad up there...</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-utubuJR3fqE/T7vY-d4K7NI/AAAAAAAABek/qXntoK_SuBc/s1600/Whitewash2_14Jun11.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-utubuJR3fqE/T7vY-d4K7NI/AAAAAAAABek/qXntoK_SuBc/s400/Whitewash2_14Jun11.jpeg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were close to the point where the track disappears completely. And the apparently 'solid' ground is bisected by chasms (you can just see the diagonal lines in the photo). In another significant quake, or even after heavy winter rain, more of this cliff will go, for sure.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The houses are abandoned, it is eerily quiet up there. The thousands of birds that used to roost on the cliffs are - where?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I learnt something up there that I already knew, theoretically; that the Council doesn't cordon off areas like this just for fun. That we were foolish to venture where we did, knowing the danger. Most of all I discovered again just how powerful the instinctive warning system is. My body knew what my head was conveniently ignoring. Two silly women!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Jane Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03420485615132391496noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235749018918182184.post-82337344020089475512012-05-10T13:44:00.001+12:002012-05-10T13:47:27.207+12:00Family treasures...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UFaj92pC0w0/T6sS_bLkWVI/AAAAAAAABcs/EwewkbiBxMs/s1600/DSC01188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UFaj92pC0w0/T6sS_bLkWVI/AAAAAAAABcs/EwewkbiBxMs/s400/DSC01188.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lj-KaE5LHx4/T6sTIqtZXXI/AAAAAAAABc0/4ULO5lojmOw/s1600/DSC01189.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lj-KaE5LHx4/T6sTIqtZXXI/AAAAAAAABc0/4ULO5lojmOw/s400/DSC01189.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The last post sent me in search of my Dad's <i>Complete Works of Robert Burns</i>. It is a handsome volume and one that I treasure because I have so little from the Robertson side of my family. There is no publication date. The story I recall was that the book was rescued from the family home in Duntocher Road, badly damaged in the 1941 Clydebank blitz, as the Germans targeted the shipyards. My father was at sea in the Merchant Navy at the time. My grandparents were evacuated to Auchterarder (the 'Lang Toon') where they eventually settled. The discolouration in the photo below was, according to my Dad, part of the bombing damage.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JU72e0Rz5Uk/T6sTThf1yfI/AAAAAAAABc8/LhyAEdsHVw8/s1600/DSC01190.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JU72e0Rz5Uk/T6sTThf1yfI/AAAAAAAABc8/LhyAEdsHVw8/s400/DSC01190.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just before 'To a mouse' there is a brief outline of the genesis of the poem...</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tGKIcrE81tw/T6sU7TqWf2I/AAAAAAAABdM/5B48BJEMxY4/s1600/DSC01193.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tGKIcrE81tw/T6sU7TqWf2I/AAAAAAAABdM/5B48BJEMxY4/s400/DSC01193.JPG" width="340" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While I was leafing through the Burn's book I came across a folded, yellowed piece of paper... </span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WmwHCOoG5ik/T6sVF4Uo2yI/AAAAAAAABdU/nzlZrV3yWXc/s1600/DSC01195.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WmwHCOoG5ik/T6sVF4Uo2yI/AAAAAAAABdU/nzlZrV3yWXc/s400/DSC01195.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-auto;">and on the back, a letter from my Mum to Auntie Nora...</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oEs3WvNRwCc/T6sbJ4jap2I/AAAAAAAABdg/egza1qTOQ0I/s1600/DSC01196.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oEs3WvNRwCc/T6sbJ4jap2I/AAAAAAAABdg/egza1qTOQ0I/s400/DSC01196.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Translation: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear Nora, I can't resist sending this - one of Jane's letters to you - executed early this morning. According to Mum [my Nana] all it adds up to is "How are you Nora and how is Smutty?" (the dog). The sooner she gets to school and learns to write the better I'll like it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>Jane Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03420485615132391496noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235749018918182184.post-44592286158269737182012-05-09T06:34:00.003+12:002012-05-09T07:00:59.460+12:00Wee creatures...<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wspj3TSPbT4/T6lsyOpCt6I/AAAAAAAABcg/xtcWaG6ySV4/s1600/DL-VO-CRW_1187.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wspj3TSPbT4/T6lsyOpCt6I/AAAAAAAABcg/xtcWaG6ySV4/s200/DL-VO-CRW_1187.jpeg" width="133" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I defy anyone who has read <i>Charlotte's Web</i> to wantonly destroy a spider's home! As a consequence my house is covered in spiderwebs, inside and out. I blame much of my childhood reading for my reluctance to deal to small invaders. So it was that, when I read Deb's lovely post <a href="http://backyardspectator.blogspot.co.nz/">http://backyardspectator.blogspot.co.nz/</a> quoting Robert Frost's poem <i>The Empty Nest</i>, I immediately thought of my father and the copy of Robbie Burn's poetry that survived the Second World War bombing of my grandparents' home in Clydebank, Glasgow. In particular I thought of the poem whose openings lines my dad would quote... [go to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_a_Mouse">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_a_Mouse</a> if you want an English translation]. I reread the poem and cried.</span><br />
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<b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: Arial;">To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up
in Her Nest with the Plough<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f9f9f9; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; font-family: Arial;">Wee,
sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie, </span><o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">O, what a panic's in thy breastie!<br />
Thou need na start awa sae hasty<br />
Wi bickering brattle!<br />
I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee,<br />
Wi' murdering pattle.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I'm truly sorry man's dominion<br />
Has broken Nature's social union,<br />
An' justifies that ill opinion<br />
Which makes thee startle<br />
At me, thy poor, earth born companion<br />
An' fellow mortal!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve;<br />
What then? poor beastie, thou maun live!<br />
A daimen icker in a thrave<br />
'S a sma' request;<br />
I'll get a blessin wi' the lave,<br />
An' never miss't.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Thy wee-bit housie, too, in ruin!<br />
It's silly wa's the win's are strewin!<br />
An' naething, now, to big a new ane,<br />
O' foggage green!<br />
An' bleak December's win's ensuin,<br />
Baith snell an' keen!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Thou saw the fields laid bare an' waste,<br />
An' weary winter comin fast,<br />
An' cozie here, beneath the blast,<br />
Thou thought to dwell,<br />
Till crash! the cruel coulter past<br />
Out thro' thy cell.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">That wee bit heap o' leaves an' stibble,<br />
Has cost thee monie a weary nibble!<br />
Now thou's turned out, for a' thy trouble,<br />
But house or hald,<br />
To thole the winter's sleety dribble,<br />
An' cranreuch cauld.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">But Mousie, thou art no thy lane,<br />
In proving foresight may be vain:<br />
The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men<br />
Gang aft agley,<br />
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,<br />
For promis'd joy!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Still thou are blest, compared wi' me!<br />
The present only toucheth thee:<br />
But och! I backward cast my e'e,<br />
On prospects drear!<br />
An' forward, tho' I canna see,<br />
I guess an' fear!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Robert Burns</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>Jane Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03420485615132391496noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235749018918182184.post-55800212777123721222012-02-13T19:51:00.001+13:002012-02-13T20:51:44.708+13:00'Meet me on the other side'...<br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: x-large; line-height: 0.9em;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: x-large; line-height: 0.9em;"><br /></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 28px;"><br /></span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #bd3037; font-family: national-cag-1, national-cag-2, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 22px;"><br /></span></span></h4>
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<span style="color: #bd3037; font-family: national-cag-1, national-cag-2, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 22px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<h4 style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: national-cag-1, national-cag-2, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<h4 style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: national-cag-1, national-cag-2, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<h4 style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: national-cag-1, national-cag-2, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: 600; line-height: 1em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">
CURRENT</h4>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">JULIA MORISON: MEET ME ON THE OTHER SIDE</span></h1>
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10 FEB 2012 – 25 MAR 2012</h4>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #bd3037; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; line-height: 1.2em;">Julia Morison's </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #bd3037; font-family: national-cag-1, national-cag-2, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; line-height: 1.2em;">evocative post-quake sculptures and 'liqueurfaction' paintings return to Christchurch for a special showing in a gallery space overlooking the inner-city 'red zone'.</span></h4>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Something, for example</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laconic thing</td></tr>
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On Sunday HB and I met in the wasteland that is the back of Madras Street - </div>
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to catch up and venture into the Ng Gallery. 'Venture' in more ways than one, because the gallery is upstairs in the old Bain's building, on the very edge of </div>
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the inner-city cordon and therefore of some quake-concern. 'Venture' also </div>
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because, as the images above suggest, it was not likely to be an easy viewing experience. </div>
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In fact, we both loved the exhibition and became increasingly animated as we </div>
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circled the amazing, cavernous gallery space - stark white painted brick walls, </div>
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black wooden rafters, black earthquake bracing and natural wood floor. At the </div>
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far end of the gallery room, as much a part of the experience as the works within, </div>
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a view across what was once the bustling heart of Christchurch's Madras, </div>
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Manchester and High Streets' retail area. </div>
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Julia Morison's works unsettle, challenge, seduce, subvert. They are (in some </div>
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cases) ugly and elegant at the same time. Justin Paton calls them "fantastically, wonderfully ugly". They make the familiar (ironing board, bird cage, plastic </div>
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shopping bags...) strange and uneasy. As HB eloquently put it, we view such </div>
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objects through a 'Janet Frame' filter. </div>
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Liquefaction stars. But is transmuted. A liqueuer collection, lost to silt, is reborn </div>
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in ten paintings with such names as...</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Monochrome in liqueurfaction: silt and amar</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'Liberation Sans', FreeSans, sans-serif;">etto</span></div>
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Monochrome in liqueurfaction: silt and black sambuca</div>
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Monochrome in liqueurfaction: silt and cherry brandy...</div>
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Melted plastic bags exude, threaten to escape the containers which cannot </div>
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contain forever. The medical/experimental implications of the two works </div>
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illustrated above unsettled me, made me slightly queasy. But together, HB and </div>
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I went to 'the other side' and delighted in the shared journey. The two lovely </div>
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gallery guides enhanced our discussions and asked us to spread the word - encourage Christchurch people to seek out this gallery in the wasteland space </div>
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and engage with...whatever may be found there.</div>
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And finally, from Leonard Cohen, via Glenn O'Brien by way of Justin Paton...</div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">there's a crack in everything,</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">that's how the light gets in.</span></div>
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</hgroup>Jane Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03420485615132391496noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235749018918182184.post-19042512343443511242012-02-11T08:00:00.000+13:002012-02-11T15:39:13.015+13:00The bold and the beautiful...<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An exclusive - from Pleasant Point</span></td></tr>
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<br /></div>Jane Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03420485615132391496noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235749018918182184.post-34942430454336712412012-02-10T10:12:00.000+13:002012-02-10T10:13:05.438+13:00Wildflower? weed?....<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While I'm on 'flowers', I can't resist posting the following sequence, spotted on the roadside near Pleasant Point, South Canterbury. None (of the four) of us was sure what plant this is. Wildflower or weed, it was delicately beautiful. Strawberry chocolate fish to the first person who can identify...</span><br />
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<br />Jane Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03420485615132391496noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235749018918182184.post-62075380414003884452012-02-06T12:15:00.000+13:002012-02-06T12:29:42.308+13:00Summer frills...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have some catching up to do...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's an easy one, from my December garden. All the poppies are self-seeded and all are growing in the </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>vegetable </i></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">garden. These are tall poppies - human height in some cases - not the more usual iceland poppies.</span><br />
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<br />Jane Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03420485615132391496noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235749018918182184.post-7740083538182892862012-01-06T06:23:00.000+13:002012-01-07T05:18:21.719+13:00More from Chelston Farm...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had frequent visitors at the Shearers' Quarters.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scratching and watching were popular pastimes...</span><br />
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<br />Jane Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03420485615132391496noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235749018918182184.post-69689126616218780362011-12-30T15:11:00.000+13:002011-12-30T15:27:13.683+13:00Chelston Farm, Port Levy...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am writing this at Chelston Farm, Port Levy on Banks Peninsula. Boxing Day, 2011. From the Shearers’ Quarters, where I am staying, I can see finches and bellbirds feeding on the flowers of an unfamiliar shrub. Below them, the sheep and adolescent lambs are already gathering in the shade. The cows and pigs are out of sight and even the hens are temporarily quiet – the lull between breakfast and the first lay maybe. Beyond the close paddocks, the valley curves five kilometres or so down to the sea. The hill covering is a mixture of tussock/grassland, pine plantations and regenerating native bush. Manuka and kanuka are in flower, a powder of dusty white. Every so often a kereru soars overhead.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Back in the mid-late nineteenth century, Chelston was the site of a sawmill, one of many that gobbled up the native bush on the Peninsula. The milled logs would have been carted to the summit and then down to the rail line at Little River for transport to Christchurch, or maybe down to the wharf at Port Levy – whichever way an arduous task for man and beast. Today Chelston is a small farm with homestay accommodation in The Stables (dating back to sawmill days) and the Shearers’ Quarters (1942).</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Port Levy (Puari) was a significant Maori settlement pre and post European arrival. Today the village is small but there is a sizeable marae and plenty of evidence that this remains a Maori enclave. With the exception of the church, school (now a community meeting place) and a few colonial homesteads at the head of the harbour, the village to the south and scattered farm settlements to the north, Port Levy is empty of human habitation. While just ‘over the hill’ (up Purau Valley) from Lyttelton Harbour, it feels much more remote.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being here over Christmas is a way of avoiding the commercial and social whirl of the festival, which I find increasingly distressing. It is an opportunity to explore another little part of the Peninsula, not so far from my own home in Governors Bay and sharing some of the same historical characteristics. What Elaine (who is renting The Stables) and I didn’t anticipate was that our arrival at Chelston would be heralded by magnitude 5.8 and 6.1 earthquake aftershocks – the most significant since June. The wooden Shearers’ Quarters rattled, rolled and bounced in response to a shallow undersea rupture in Pegasus Bay. Our immediate thoughts were for family, friends and our homes in Cashmere and Governors Bay. And so our holiday began with a swift journey back to Lyttelton Harbour to check my house (in particular the still marginally-secured water cylinder) and enable Elaine to contact neighbours regarding hers. A little more breakage and spillage, but nothing (comparatively) of significance. The news not so good from the eastern suburbs of Christchurch where yet more liquefaction has occurred. By late afternoon we were back at Chelston, grateful for the radio coverage that has enabled us to keep informed of quake news.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So far the days here have involved reading, sleeping, eating, walking (a little), talking to the animals and, yesterday, swimming. My rocky recovery from shingles means that I am, of necessity, slow and sore – so not inclined to the strenuous. Today Fleur, Ian, Georgie, Rob and Ali are coming over about lunchtime – a good opportunity to make inroads into the ham!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>Jane Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03420485615132391496noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235749018918182184.post-67329801977216986572011-12-22T05:39:00.001+13:002011-12-22T13:31:29.638+13:00RIP Rosie...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Poor old Rosie who spent her life tethered in a paddock up the road. I imagine her purpose in life was to keep the grass down for the absentee section owner. In this she demonstrably failed. When I took over her 'care' from my sick friend Gloria, Rosie rewarded me with frequent, savage butts, usually to the shins. She was old but she was tough, wary and cranky. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over time our relationship improved. I learnt not to come between Rosie and the food I brought her daily - a plastic bag of rolled oats, weetbix, biscuits and, often, apples - plus branches of foliage from the natives in my garden. After eating she was happy to be brushed down, have her head scratched (between the horns) and her ears rubbed. Neighbours Leonie and Ken set up a long wire which gave Rosie greater access to the section. Peter trimmed her hooves when required (a major operation to wrestle Rosie to the ground!). She liked to sit in her strategic position above the road and watch the world pass by. Earlier this year she was savaged by a visiting dog but recovered to make it through to mid-summer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Age eventually caught up with Rosie and in recent weeks she was struggling to walk. In the past few days she could scarcely get to her feet. I called the 'large animal' vet who came over the hill from Hallswell and confirmed my fears. And so on Monday (the same day that I was diagnosed with shingles!), Rosie had an injection and died quickly and utterly peacefully - no resistance, no distress. Janet Gough and I kept her company and Janet's son Ian dug a hole - so Rosie is buried right beside her shelter, in one of the spots where she liked to sit and keep watch. I cried all day. </span><br />
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<br />Jane Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03420485615132391496noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235749018918182184.post-13928533219403864362011-12-14T05:04:00.001+13:002011-12-14T05:20:52.468+13:00Dawn chorus...<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The dawn chorus has just begun. There is a single bellbird right outside my open bedroom window and his call is liquid clear and penetrating. In the background are other peeps and gurgles and trills — surround-sound. I hear the dawn chorus every morning but seldom really focus on it. What a wonderful time of the day!</span><br />
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<br />Jane Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03420485615132391496noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235749018918182184.post-8063899805962643752011-12-11T06:09:00.001+13:002011-12-11T06:52:01.630+13:00Summer bounty...<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having planted an almost exclusively native garden by choice, I encourage wildflowers to colonise my vegetable garden. At present, broad beans, snow peas, lettuce, radishes, carrots, courgettes, strawberries, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, chives, parsley and corn are happily co-existing with a medley of poppies, foxgloves, columbines (just past flowering), hollyhocks, marigolds, delphiniums, pansies, love-in-the-mist... I enjoy the impossible profusion - the transformation from winter bare to summer glut!</span><br />
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<br />Jane Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03420485615132391496noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-235749018918182184.post-70848268987577262172011-12-01T15:18:00.001+13:002011-12-01T16:43:22.832+13:00Harbour Art # 7<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A while back I ran an intermittent series of posts on 'Harbour Art' which involved snapping walls, letterboxes, bus shelters ... spaces that had attracted artistic attention.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now I can bring together 'Harbour Art' with 'Life after the Quake(s)', because the children and teachers of Lyttelton Main School, with the help of 30 Enviroschool representatives from around New Zealand, have painted an awesome mural on the (pretty ugly) stone wall outside the school. The mural, designed by artist Jennifer Kenix, features a styalized harbour and the many old Lyttelton buildings that were badly damaged (and have since been demolished) in the quakes. It's a stunning work which makes me smile every time I walk up Oxford St to the Lyttelton Farmers' Market :-)))</span><br />
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<br />Jane Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03420485615132391496noreply@blogger.com4