Hello Friends!!!!

We survived the earthquake.  All is well in Christchurch tonight.  I am working at a Welfare Centre as the CCC rep so I get to 'yay' or 'nay' all spending and requisitions.  Oh the power!! 

We had an horrific experience but we survived.  So far our friends have survived and so have our families.  We are in our home, a bit battered and very silty and we have no pwere, water or sewage but we are fine.   This is the first time I have been near anything elecrtonic in 5 days and I am so disconnected from the whole earthquake thing as we have no access to power.  Our friends and family are being fantastic to us as are many unknown people driving up and offering help and food as well as random people setting up sausage sizzles and lovely things like that.  Some people in areas with power have signs outside advertising washing machines for use.  It is amazing.  I am keeping a diary and taking heaps of photos so once we are up and running at home with power, I will post some images and words.

Love to everyone

Just finished reading #41

Mary-Anne in Autumn  Armistead Maupin

I have been a fan for many years but I am guessing it would be at least 10 years since I read one of his books.  Sometimes when you go back to an author you find that the thing you liked about them was the time and place you were in yourself and what this person represented and a revisit is not as fulfilling as you thought it might be.  this is what I thought as I was about 50 pages through but as the book continued I realised the characters and story just crept up on me and enveloped me.
This book is part of a long drawn out series called Tales of the City.  The characters appear in various strengths in each book.  I loved the way all the characters had a chapter and then they start intertwining.  And there are gay and straight and young and old in there.  Set in San Fransisco in an interesting community of trans and gay and straight friends of a range of ages all on a quest for discovery of some sort.  Acceptance, closure and sex and so on.  A nice easy and warm read.

The King's Speech

I have been away in Dunedin this week on a very fantastic communication course for which I am very grateful.  I went down earlier on Sunday so I could hang out with Jasmine and we went to the movies.  It was a dull afternoon so there was no summer day movie guilt.    I am a big fan of Colin's and for me it wasn't Mr Darcy that did it, rather everything else he has ever been in.  He is prodigious, taking risks and obviously flexing his acting muscles all over the place. A Single Man was my favourite film last year, and the King's Speech is right up there too.  It was a gorgeous film that was as much about a family as anything.  Loved everything about it.  All the actors were superb and I loved the 'workroom' scenes and the walls of that room were delicious.  After we went I remembered that Jonty and I were going to go together, so I guess I will have to go again.  No hardship there.

Just finished reading #39 & 40

Well, I would have to say that it has been the slowest and dullest reading summer for many years.  I just can't seem to get really excited about anything in particular.  Besides the Lee Child page turner in early January, I have only finished two books since then.  Sadly I have started quite a few more.  So all I have is a re-cap of the two finished items .In an unusual and very enjoyable twist, Jonty read fiction this summer and I tackled non-fiction.

Only two seats left - John Anderson (non fiction)

This is the story of Contiki, not a style of traveling I have experienced yet but an interesting story non the less.  We all love a tale of adventure and endeavour, especially that of a fellow Kiwi.  I enjoyed this read as the life of a company as well as a man.  It is not fantastically written but the story is interesting and fun.  I would love to be a person who gets an idea and puts it into practice and grows something fantastic out of it.  However, I don't think I am one of those people so love reading about people who have the drive and ambition to take the risks.   How all the ideas were developed and the lessons learned was  fascinating and I enjoyed reading it on holiday.  John Anderson is a good guy.

While in the holiday mood I decided to tackle another Nicky Pellegrino novel.  Having really enjoyed Recipe for life last year, I had high expectations of The Gypsy Tea Room and I was left a little wanting.  I could see what Nicky was trying to do and it wasn't a horrible book but it just didn't spin my wheels.  It is set in Italy in a lovely little hill town in modern times but it is a town with some old fashioned values.  The main character Raffealla is gorgeous and widowed so she is a no go zone.  Sent off to the big house to cook and clean for the visiting Americano ...you get the picture.  HOWEVER, to the book's credit, it does not end the way you are thinking.  It has a lovely ending and in hindsight there are some lovely characters.  As I was reading it I kept thinking, 'I can see where the author got her idea for the next book'.  So, an ok read if you are fast and can spare a week for a light read.

I have picked up the recent Armstead Maupin, an author I probably haven't read for about about 20 years...and it is ok, but I will save that till I have finished.  I have a couple of goodies on the pile which I can't wait to read.

Unplugged

We have just spent a fantastic week at our beloved Totaranui.  The weather was gorgeous and there were no cellphones, radios, television, lights or computers.  The most important thing to worry about was the weather, tides, and how to plan our activities around them, whether her it be snorkeling, rock clambering, boating, swimming, bush walking or lying around reading.  Didn't get a lot of reading done but oh well.  It was just the break I needed to restore my equilibrium. I am hoping this will improve my attitude and energy levels. Today I am back home and washing up a storm, scrubbing chilly bins, grocery shopping and generally getting sorted and loving it! Thank you holiday gods for giving me the sun, sea and summer we all needed.

I

 Nic and new mate Liam

 Friends passing by in their new boat plus Jane's unexpected family visit.  A lovely day at Mutton Cove.

 Camp food...bananas, chocolate and marshmallows in the embers...yeah

 Ella and Nic

 Fare-welling friends after lovely lunch at our campsite

 Windy walk out to our boat in the Awaroa Inlet as the warm tide come in. 

Cap'n Jonty

it has been noted...

...and quite rightly too, that there has been very little activity on the blog of late.  Life is pretty unmotivating at the moment.  I am blaming the earthquake and those bloody aftershocks.  The whole thing just sucks the joy out of everything.  This is not to say that I am not happy in my day to day life and feel blessed not to have a beloved son in hospital waiting for his new kidney to start working...Louisa, you are my mother hero of all time.  I am happily ensconced at my lovely friend Karen's haven of tranquility in Warkworth with not a care and still the muse is not there.  I am just going to have to find a way to get that loving life feeling back.  You would think sunshine, fresh strawberries, stunning beach days etc would be enough to keep you going but it just isn't right now. Let's hope a week under canvas in stunning Tasman Bay will do the trick.  Bloody better had.  How ungrateful I sound. 

Some little gems of escape I have enjoyed since Christmas.
Love and other drugs - I never really thought about Jake Gyllenhaal before this film and almost chocked on my potato chips in the opening scenes of the film.  How hot is that guy???  Ann Hathaway, also extremely hot, just mesmerised me in a escape from reality moment.  In saying that, the film is about Parkinson's Disease and the impact on the lives of family and friends.  Lots of sex...might be gratuitous but it just looked like all kinds of good fun to me.  The perfect holiday film.

Another hotty I have only just been introduced to is Jack Reacher....the all man testosterone charmer penned by Lee Child, international superstar writer of the decade.  How did I miss that guy?  Hopeless.  Anyway, I read the Hard Way in three days and loved it for all the reasons everyone else in the world loves Lee Child and very nice expressed by someone who reads and writes for a living.

This is escapist literature at its best with action that rivets and images that stay burned in the mind's eye long afterward."

Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine

So all is not lost. The moral of this story (post) is, look out there for different things to see and do....just step out of the routine.  Let's see how this goes.

The New Bike With Gears

We finally got to try out the new bike with gears at McLeans Island bike track.  What a triumph!

 This was a tricky shot to take as I was biking as well and I am really pleased that this turned out at all

 Tiny boy in the middle of the photo about to mud plug

 Proud

Beach

There is no Christmas Holiday without the beach...only a few pics this year so far

 Relaxing with Nat after some busy action in the waves

 Little Akaloa 2 Jan

Happy New Ears

Let's hope 2011 is a fantastic year for everyone.  We in Christchurch have all agreed that the earthquake has sucked the life out of all of us and Christmas just did pop like it normally does.  So here is to a happy and safe year to all my friends.  Enjoy our modest but warm family photos of the season
                                                     

     Pre-Christmas lunch with teh P-Zers

Under the tree

 Fan man and chopsticks

 The new bike with gears...star of the show!

 Special Christmas table on the deck with the cousins

 Jasmine came home, yay!!

 mmmm

 The joke book goes everywhere...hanging out at Julian and Lesley's

twas the night before Christmas.....

...and we went to Ballantynes to check out the window and get a decoration each for the children.  A lovely family tradition and how cute are these guys? I think my mother looks fantastic for 72 and half years old.

Flower

I found this video in my meandering around the net and thought I might try and embed it in my blog to see how it looks.  Just a little bit of nothing much to entertain you and me..

Just finished reading #37

Sonata for Miriam by Linda Olsson.

It is so nice to finish a book. I have been struggling with at least 5 unfinished books on my bedside cabinet over the last few months and then I can across this little gem of a read.   I am going to make an effort to review it but if you want to read exactly what I thought of it follow this link because this woman feels exactly as I do about the book.    I read Linda's other book called 'Sing me gentle songs'  and loved it.  As I have previously mentioned I love books set in cold places and islands and both these books are set similarly.  Both with a New Zealand bit and  Swedish bit.  The juxtaposition of the brightness of New Zealand light and cool glumness of Swedish winters written about with such skill, make for great reading.  As I seldom read the blurbs of books with any real attention, I am always left breathless when things happen.  It makes for a slow revealing of the story and a true adventure.  Sometimes, I would never have embarked on a book if I had known what I was getting myself into.  In this book Miriam dies fairly early on in the story and as she is only 19 and the only living relative of Adam Anker a displaced Pole in NZ, it could be the most heartbreaking story.  However, it is a story of discovery and written by a woman whom has the most beautiful way of putting words on a page.  Spare detail, if there is such a thing, means she uses each word with such care and effect.  Anyway, Adam goes on a journey of discovery trying to find out where he has come from and discovers secrets and sad things about his family.  I found bits confusing but as always thought it was me but others felt the same.  However, this did not diminish the tale or the fascinating characters. 

busy busy busy

I Can't believe how long it has been since I checked in on my blog.  Seems like days, weeks and almost months are flashing by.  Sadly, I have not been jetting around the world or spending hours lying on the beach hours from internet access.  I have been working and doing the washing, ironing, folding and shopping for delightful Christmas gifts for my friends and family.  All good things, quite busy and not very exciting to write about.  HOWEVER, I do have some images that give a little taste of what has been happening.

 Crawling up Baldwin Street in Dunedin

 Taking sneaky photo of the ceiling of Larnach Castle

 Delicious venison entree at Larnach Castle

 ...and salmon

 and a very light cheesecake...cant remember exactly what flavour although I am guessing strawberry.  And my new tiny tiny handbag which almost fits in the palm of my hand in the background.

 Some lovely buildings down George Street in Dunedin

 Entertaining my lovely parents in the backyard on a very hot day

 eating vanilla cupcakes with fresh raspberries on said lovely hot day

 planting seeds with grandad - radishes and lettuces

 Looking at the French Navy ship we couldn't get on to due to a mis print in the Press...excellent.  We did get to see it from this distance though...yay.

 Just a picture of an old brick building  pub in Lyttelton  that took my fancy.