My Favourite Window

April 27, 2013

Postcard From Cairo




Well actually it was posted in Italy: it arrived this morning, a reminder that Keith and Barbara will be back to retrieve their bus in a few days time.
A whole month of Autumn days has passed since they parked their bus and flew off ...




Foggy mornings;


Rainy days; and for the first time early in April, I saw the garden's bellbird feeding within inches of my kitchen window. His mossy plumage with white wing flashes usually makes him hard to find high in the trees as he chimes his lovely call: "like small bells exquisitely tuned," according to Captain Cook. This little nectar feeder had been feasting on the late pears, but the end of supply and wet weather drove him down to hunt insects on spent perennial seed stalks, as well as using this potted tree to hunt weatherboard spiders from. So close at times I could see his beady black eyes, but never easy to photograph through wet glass.



After the rain there is always sunshine again, and a return to outdoor dining. 
Finding ourselves in Lyttelton on a warm sunny afternoon inclined us to ambling, eating ice creams and viewing the street art.



There hardly seems anything left of the commercial area of the port town



but the local community responded to the destruction caused by the ongoing earthquakes, with optimism and creativity. While there are shocking reminders of the damage at every turn, the town had a quiet energy about it - and no shortage of photographic subjects!


Back at home one of the joys of a moist autumn are the field mushrooms that pop up across the land. There are never enough at one picking for more than a slice of toast or two, but that makes them one of the season's prizes: to be cooked quickly with butter in a stainless steel pan, laid on good grainy toast with some fresh parsley and savoured for lunch.


Just as the mild, wet weather brings out the mushrooms, so it  makes the grass grow. I like to think that one more cut and it will be time to take the mowers in for their annual service.


But, with one month to go before I leave for an English summer I suspect this grass has a lot more growing to do before cold weather checks its growth.

Bellbird, Korimako, Makomako  Anthornis melanura




April 1, 2013

Looking for Good


It's nearly a month since I last blogged. Not that I don't think about it. But with a birthday to celebrate...


a music video to find props for ...


apple cordons to prune...


Dunedin Street stock to photograph...


and post!


not to mention finalising and awarding a memorial scholarship,




... there's neither the time nor mental energy for blogging. An unfortunate side effect of this is that I am not checking in on all my favourite blogs as regularly as I would like, nor have I been paying daily attention to my Comment feed.  

One post in particular has irked a reader and I suddenly realise the responsibility that goes with hosting an online forum - because enabling the Comment facility makes a blog a forum.  I am not prepared to let one individual rant, rave and publicly villify Father Jack or anyone else I have written about. Like anyone else I am quite capable of biased, unkind and intolerant thoughts. However, I choose not to express them on this site, hoping that visitors will appreciate the peace and reflection that they find here. For those visitors who cannot recognise and respect a haven when the see it, I will wield my censor's pen.

Thankfully, I am surrounded - and especially this past week - by wonderful people who love Life and are generous in their living of it. 


A wedding brought friends from around NZ and the World, together. 


Two guests, Keith and Barbara, have availed themselves of Lady Mondegreen's Secret Bus Stop, as they travel via the wedding to Cairo!


Welly Jewell Dyk, and his family lunched with us.




Handy Andy, worked hard here, ate up all last season's hazelnuts, and partied hard.



Acceptance, forgiveness, reflection, joy, and forward movement were all evident during the various gatherings, including the wedding itself, which brought old friends and  family together last week.


Jane and Gary, thank you for being such strong and uplifting focal points in all of our lives.


That strength will surely nourish your marriage.