Capture: Ans Westra - Ngā Tau ki Muri (Our Future)
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Leigh Russell, in reply to
If you mean the beach here do let me know - I would be happy to give a rock pool tour of 'our' bit! :-)
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This is what afternoon skies are supposed to look like.
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Aiya. Just did the annual pre-summer cleaning of the fans.... Disassembly of the fans and cleaning of the parts left me, as usual, with a tub full of jet black "water" and fingers covered in thick, black "grease", and not from anything that should be in the fans, but from what they remove from the air as they blow it around. I guess running the fans is a cheap way of both keeping cool and filtering the air. I should do the aircon filters, too, and that'll be just as depressing, but the weather's too hot right now, they can wait till tomorrow. Wife's visa application is in, immigration service permitting, we'll be out of here soon...
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Leigh Russell, in reply to
Eurgh! regarding the cleaning session !!!
Fingers crossed regarding the application!
Oh, and very nice sky and cloud pic above.
Kia kaha... -
Chris Waugh, in reply to
Thanks, Leigh, I think that's about the best photo I've ever taken with a cellphone.
And yes, fingers crossed...
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JacksonP, in reply to
we’ll be out of here soon…
All the best Chris. Will be nice to have a beer with you when you find your way back home.
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Lilith __, in reply to
Fingers crossed for you and your dear ones, Chris! You can be assured a warm welcome when you do make it here. :-)
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Bryan Bruce's "Inside Child Poverty New Zealand" Facebook page is well worth following. If you are interested in lectures given by Prof Robert Wade on the subject of the increasing gap between rich and poor and what has happened to capitalism lecture places and dates are here
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Chris Waugh, in reply to
2 Degrees
The fight continues, I see.
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It does indeed. I think this video was taken on Saturday The woman who does most of the talking is local Labour MP Clare Curran.
There have been skirmishes up there today, and tonight people are occupying the site. Very cold for them but they say they are fine!
I’m very disappointed with the self-righteous attitude of 2 Degrees who say they have no other choices – an indicator of small, closed minds and selfish thinking. How come we managed until now? They have lost my business as a result.
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The closest photo I could get. Most of the birds either stayed stubbornly hidden – even only a couple of metres away, I could see the reeds moving as they moved around – or far, far away. This one decided to make a run for it, but didn’t give me time to set up a shot.
Walking on water.
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I need a telephoto lens.
Cos these birds ain't dumb, they know to keep their distance.
Got me a dragonfly, though.
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Landing.
Pavillion.
Homeward bound.
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Great place to camp.
Well, I can think of worse things than dams to put up in these misty mountains.
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Leigh Russell, in reply to
That looks serene, Chris. An outing with the family?
I have some photos to put up next about the young people...
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This photo was taken when I was a youngster: bread and milk were delivered to the gate. (Note the complete absence of plastic.) These foods and other basics referred to as staples were heavily subsidised and therefore affordable to all. I remember when a pint of milk cost four cents, and it wasn't all that long ago. Now it's cheaper to buy soft drinks.
New Zealand used to be called the land of milk and honey. I haven't heard that reference for many years, and with good reason: we still have these commodities but they are no longer freely available in the way that they used to be. In a country with such a low level of population, wide open green countryside, good water supplies and more cows than ever before problems with food poverty are in my view both baffling and disgraceful - to us as a nation.
There has been discussion in the news recently about the plight of New Zealand children living in poverty. Bryan Bruce on his 'Inside Child Poverty New Zealand' Facebook page speaks eloquently on the subject. For those interested in an intelligent commentary on the subject I highly recommend it.
I am terribly dismayed that many New Zealanders blame 'bad parenting' for a situation which affects tens of thousands of youngsters, conveniently overlooking the care and opportunities they themselves are likely to have received in the past, as well as the economic landmines that abound in modern life a large portion of which are the result of the now absurd cost of housing in this country.
Children should never be blamed for the economic situations in which they find themselves, or be made to suffer the resulting deprivation. These children belong to all of us and if we want a good strong future for our country we must look after them and look after them well.
Everyone can contribute in different ways.
Living along the road from my previous home there were young children who didn't seem to have much to do, so I let them visit me and we did some nice things together....
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Creative expression through art can be wonderful. I have a good stock of beautiful colour pencils which I got out for my young friends to experiment with. These pencils had been gifted to me by another artist some years ago. She knows who she is! :-) I was happy to share the love, as long as the children treated them with respect - which they did!
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I've always love jigsaw puzzles, and still have a boxful which I browse through and make up from time to time. Some of these are from my childhood. I enjoyed making them up again - this time with the children. Problem-solving can be fun.
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I'm interested in housing and construction, as readers of a recent set of my articles will be well aware. A large portion of this I attribute to following my dad around when he was building.
As a young girl I experimented with housing design of more elementary nature, rather like this.
My young friends from along the road made good use of some old sheets and various pieces of furniture. You have to start somewhere!
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I can't imagine not being able to sew. When I was young I was fortunate to be taught how to sew as part of my primary school education, but without the help and inspiration of a dear family friend who had 'auntie' status, I may not have developed that capability. I was happy to pass on my enthusiasm, along with a little of my skill. There's nothing like doing it yourself to realise the value!
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One more photo about housing construction: old food packets – which would otherwise have gone into the recycling – were the chief components.
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And lastly, on the subject of food: the children helped me prepare the plums which went into the pot on this occasion - it was free, windfall fruit which would have rotted on the ground if we hadn't picked it up. They then helped stir the pot, fish out the plum stones and after the jars had sealed and cooled sufficiently each of them took home a jar of delicious jam.
All this cost me next to nothing.
They moved away before we did. They were bright children, and I hope that something of what I shared with them will provide helpful reference points as they continue to grow and develop. I had such a wealth of this sort of care and support as a child, which is something every child should have.
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