conceptual oyster

the world is my oyster…living in random oyster beds, oceans and marshes worldwide, currently:, New Zealand

if you can’t beat them…

join them.

i’ve cracked under the pressure.

i’m on facebook,

it’s easier,

quicker…

 

but i’m not abandoning my little pensive oyster.

i’ll put the major stuff here.

 

ciao!

sammy day

hawaiin shirt sammy on the beach

the real slim sammy

may 1, 1999 – january 27, 2007

taranaki tuesday…

well, aotearoa is pretty smart [alleck] by getting all of the public holidays over smack after christmas…maybe so we look forward to them all year and really enjoy them more, or maybe it’s the best chance for hte best weather…any way, monday was ‘wellington anniversary’…which means monday off. once i learned this i decided i was headed for taranaki’s white cliffs…which i’ve been trying to get to for months.

 so here you go…my new favorite place in nz;

black sand dunes in taranaki

low tide at the white cliffs in the north ‘naki

wild wind storm in south ‘naki

walking in warm water at the white cliffs

lagoon at hte white cliffs

a day at the beach…kapiti coast

kapiti birds

kapiti coast

dune flower

happy new year ’08

happy new year to all the pearls on my strand…

just back to welly and work after my first holiday season in nz and it was great.

after christmas we travelled north, as north as you can go on this land, where the sun was shining, flowers blooming, and the sea sparkling.

i really enjoyed this part of country connected to the sea and chock-a-block with the short but meaningful history of this youthful country:

p.s. back in [s]wellington and the wind is roaring and mid-summer i am wearing three layers.

white flower

no idea what this flower is, but it’s beautiful!

quail family

family outting in kerikeri

treaty waka

historic and world’s largest waka. it’s used in the annual observance of the treaty of waitangi

matai beach

matai beach on the doubtless pennensular. this secluded beach was definitely worth the effort of getting there!

tiki carving

tiki carving on the portal of the waitangi marae

kerikeri

historic town (3 buildings i think) of kerikeri

rural chapel

a rural chapel outside of whangarei (fahn-ga-ray)

cape reinga sunset

sunset at cape reinga…the very northern tip of aotearoa

cape reinga

cape reinga with giant sand dunes to the left

busby house and marae

waitangi treaty grounds with gov busby’s colonial cottage and tradition maori marae

Christmas Day 2007

new zealand’s christmas tree the pohutukawa

merry christmas 2007

wishing so much joy, love, and cheer to all my loved ones, family, friends, human and other wise…, near and far, those i see and those from which i am separated.

i am truely greatful for the opportunity of spending a time in such a place i could never imagine visiting before. and while i delight in new traditions, scenery, and experiences…

i look forward to another traditional christmas in the nothern hemisphere at least.

just remember…

‘i ll be home for christmas…if only in my dreams’

merry christmas and know how much i love you!

please read the following christmas poem by the scottish writer Moira Andrew:

Letter from Egypt

Dear Miriam,
Just a line
to let you know how things
are with us & of course to
thank you (& your good man)
for all you did for us – &
at your busiest time too
what with the census &
everything. I was quite
exhausted and the baby was
beginning to make himself
felt. If it hadn’t been
for all your help that night
my baby might have died.

Good of you
to put up with all our
visitors – who’d have
thought, six scruffy
shepherds up & leaving
their sheep like that?
& didn’t they ever smell?
Still they were good-
hearted & they meant well.
I hope they brought some
extra trade to the inn.
They looked in need of
a hot drink & a meal.

& what about
those kings, Miriam? Kneeling
there in their rich robes
& all? & me in nothing but
my old blue dress! Joseph
said not to worry, it was
Jesus they’d come to see.
Real gentlemen they were.
But what funny things to
give a baby – gold & myrrh
& frankincense. That’s men
all over! It wouldn’t cross
their minds to bring a shawl!

Sorry we left
so suddenly. No time for
good-byes with king Herod on
the warpath! We had to take
the long way home & I’m so
tired of looking at sand!
Joseph has picked up a few
jobs mending this & that so
we’re managing quite well.
Jesus grows bonnier every
day & thrives on this way
of life, but I can’t wait
to see Nazareth again.

Love to all
at the inn,

Mary

7.6 on a sunday

  • Reference Number: 2833367
  • NZDT: Sun, Dec 9 2007 8:28 pm
  • Magnitude: 7.6
  • Depth: 188 km
  • Details: 350 km north of Raoul Island
  • http://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/quakes/recent_quakes.html

    hos, mos, and the ‘silly season’

    just a couple of highlights over the last week…where the moto is

    work hard,

    play harder,

    just do it!!!

    *** we are having a fairly strong earthquake as i upload these pics!!!! it’s lasted about 30 seconds so far!!!

    hmm, a ho widda mo??? (party celebrating movember)

    couple of hos, mos, and a mogician!

    HMA representing at a trade sponsored holiday party

    decorations at the resene party

    my 2007 advent wreath

    okay, i’m off, i have laundry and baking to do…

    buon giornata

    foto friday…freash sea

    sail boats docked in wellington harbour at dusk

    W.O.D. Wednesday…Word Of the Day

    in lieu of written wednesday and in an attempt to blog more often, i’ve just come home from the chemist and inspired to began wednesday’s wod, why?

    1. a reason to use the term ‘wod’

    2. left with perscription eye product, again, why?

    a. allergy season down unda

    b. astigmatism, well probably

    c. dry eye

    d. sore eye

    e. been reading tons…jsut not keeping up with written wednesday

    f. 10+ hours at the computer a day (ah the glomrous life of an architect)

    so the word:

    Corneal Sac

     it’s pretty self explanatory, the lower eyelid in which you deposit the mucous-like eye ointment to releive sore, allery, gritty eyes.

    final thought: i just found out botox is being used for jaw clenching and teeth grinding, not a bad application i think.

    now, i’m meant to be preparing for a big drop, but a new tv program is debuting tonight and i am treating myself after a long tuesday that feels like friday!

    so, i drink my evening vino whilst watching:

    ‘does my bum look big’

    http://www.tv3.co.nz/Reality/DoesMyBumLookBig/tabid/576/Default.aspx?showid=16050

    i love this funny little country i call home at the moment…