We’ve enjoyed the last few summery weeks at Earthsong. Many families are away, no meetings or community meals have been scheduled. So we’ve had time to swim at Te Henga, to watch tennis and to be with friends. Steph and Annette took time off from their dairy farm at Whangarei Heads to stay a couple […]
Charmaine in Sydney
January 18, 2015 by Leave a Comment
My birth mother, Pat Tapper, turned 90 on 27 December 2014. I went to Sydney between Christmas and New Year to celebrate with my extended family there. Pat is in good physical health, but has memory loss. Mostly, she knows when she is surrounded by loving family members, and always holds her arms out for […]
Mr Turner – hilarious??
January 18, 2015 by Leave a Comment
We went to see Mr Turner, a film about Joshua Turner, the painter, which has been very positively reviewed. David Larsen of The Listener described it as “one of the funniest films I’ve seen this year” and as “hilarious”. What we saw was a film about a man, albeit a painter of genius, suffering Asperger’s […]
Summer Solstice Greetings to you all.
December 19, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The longest day is here, with huge lemon-scented magnolia blossoms… We will celebrate Summer Solstice with family and friends, at Earthsong. Tanya will harvest a bed of garlic, and we’ll be feasting on our new discovery – delicious blueberry-cashew ‘raw food’ cheese cake – plus savoury snacks and colourful summer salads… On Christmas Day we hope […]
Wonderful Wild West…
December 19, 2014 by Leave a Comment
It’s wonderful being Westies, with the Waitakere Ranges on our doorstep and its beaches half an hour’s drive away. We’ve just had a three day break at North Piha, in a comfortable old-fashioned holiday home, Tai Haruru, run by the Forest and Bird Society. We were totally surrounded by flowering pohutukawa, with tui hurtling through branches, kereru swooping around the house, birdsong […]
Coltan in the Congo
December 19, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Did you know that each time we buy a new smart phone or tablet we are condoning rapes, mutilations and murders in the Democratic Republic of Congo? Tanya and I certainly didn’t know about the coltan mining industry destroying familes and villages in the eastern Congo until we met Lema Shamamba, a refugee from the area, […]
Safety, strength and success: Ranui Primary School
December 19, 2014 by Leave a Comment
We hear a lot about the problems of low-decile schools – and not nearly enough about their strengths and successes. Ranui Primary School held its once-a-term community day in early December, featuring student work around the theme Safety- at home, at school, in the community. Their work was inspiring – thoughtful, well-informed and beautifully presented […]
Auckland’s future? or more grey men…
December 19, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Project Auckland, a 20-page supplement published on December 9 2014 by the New Zealand Herald, shows clearly why progress in developing Auckland as a truly liveable city is so slow. Of the 23 key people commenting, only four are women, only Paula Bennett is obviously Maori. And I’d be surprised if any of the commentators is under 40. […]
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