Moggies of a different kind

My dad collected Morris Minors. He had a number over the years, and at one point owned three and would borrow a fourth, if he needed it for wedding taxiing.

Today, there was a show of vintage cars in our local town, so we hot foot down there. I was entranced to find the twin of my student car, Sofie (so called because it was like driving a sofa). Here she is:

Much as I have hankered after getting another Moggie to putter around in, reluctantly I have had to admit with back and knee issues, I may be able to get into one, but changing gear and getting out of it may be prohibitive!

We shared a few stories with exhibitors. So many cars are "found" here, stuck in sheds on remote farms, being used as chicken coops or adapted to become muck spreaders or hay haulers. Then they are lovingly restored to their former glory with a coil of 8 gauge wire!

NB the yellow lady has eyelashes!

Happy place

It doesn't take much to put me in a happy place. The process is to clean the house, make a nice meal then spend time with people. Unfortunately these days, the energy involved to do this is much greater than it used to be, so the recovery zone afterwards is greater too. No matter, it is always worth it.

So a few pictures to illustrate my happy place this week.

African visitors from Rwanda and Uganda

Introducing the visitors to friends

Making Swedish biscuits to offer African friends on arrival

Spotting ten tuis in our cherry tree, which has blossomed a month early

Followed by coffee today on the way to a charity fabric sale. The bag of swag was truly wonderful and made me grin all the way home.

And finally, what post would be complete without at least one cat photo

a wee walk on the wild side

Just a few photos or my morning walk.

A bit forgetful

Yesterday it was sunny enough to dry laundry on the verandah (in spite of the snow on the hills). Unfortunately, I forgot them overnight, and woke to brick hard towels. My better half will be not be impressed as he likes the soft and fluffy variety! These were frost/abrasive standard!!

The paddock has taken a bit of time to de-frost from the overnight minus two, but the sheep found the snug sunny spot, so they are all huddled there. This was the view from the kitchen at 9am.

I have always been fascinated by a local fence which circles the property of a local celebrity chef. It is covered for nearly a kilometre with lichen on every bar. This morning I remembered to take my camera to immortalise it.

Winter or Spring?

We are meteorologically challenged. Our cherry trees are blossoming, the birds are trying to take over the post box to nest and the daffodils I planted last year are up and smiling already. To add to the confusion, we are expecting minus 2 degrees tonight and there is snow on the mountains. Welcome to climate change I suppose!

All three cats have gone to bed before us each evening, which means we have to shoe horn our way under the duvet so as not to disturb them. Only one was in evidence today, keeping an eye on the flax plants in case any rodent ran out. He did this from the comfort of the sofa,(perhaps you are detecting a theme by now?)

Meanwhile our neighbour has acquired 60+ dairy cows and is fattening them up on the field opposite. We are hoping we don't get any escapees in our garden like earlier in the year.

And as I still believe it is winter I continue to knit hats for the Seafarers Centre in Wellington.

Goldilocks and the 3 cats

Well, we did adopt 3 cats, and they do rule our lives. The boys like our bed on winter nights. The problem is, they weigh 12kgs between them, and we only have a queen size bed!

Life's milestones

Last weekend a friend and "next town neighbour" died very suddenly. He hadn't reached his 60th birthday. He was a local chief, well respected across the various iwi in this region. The Maori use the word "mana" a lot to denote respect and influence. This friend had a lot of mana, both with his people and with politicians and the church. He was also a key figure for negotiating outstanding Treaty settlements.

But all these "worldy" attributes were not what made him great in the eyes of most. It was his humour, compassion, aroha (love) and the hard work he put into the community he served, and for every committee he sat on and group he associated with. He was wise and had integrity. He was a family man who with his wonderful wife raised some amazing kids.

The space these kind of men leave in the Maori community is large. Role models in any culture are not easy to come by. For the Maori people they count men of God and mana to be invaluable. I am sad because although I don't believe anyone is irreplaceable, in many respects this man will be.

He now lies in a grave under a beautiful tree in the grounds of the Maori Cathedral, Rangiatea. I stood on a hill to watch the mourners leave the cathedral and come and say their goodbyes. In the cathedral and outside, I counted over 400. They had come from all over NZ, and islands in the Pacific sent Bishops as their representatives.