gannets

Apologies for my absence from here.  February has been a busy month!  I've been writing the occasional stone over at home sweet home but other than that blogging has taken a back seat to my yoga teacher training, and entertaining overseas visitors!

On Sunday I took my aunt down to Muriwai to see the gannet colony. They're a fascinating breed and I could stand and watch them for hours.  They glide through the air with such grace, making flight look so effortless. The chicks are growing fast and soon they will be off to Australia.   In other words, there isn't much left of our summer.  Although right now, it feels as though it might last forever!

a new month

January has come and gone and the river of stones continues to flow strongly.  I so enjoyed the project that I have decided to continue on my home sweet home blog - not necessarily daily but at least a few times a week. 

In February I plan to take more photographs again, alongside continuing to collect stones.  I'll also write a little bit more about my word of the year - JOY - and how I am hoping to cultivate more of it in my life this year.

The girls go back to school this week so our long summer holidays are officially over - but hopefully that doesn't mean an end to the lovely warm weather!

Here's a picture taken at Muriwai beach in December on a perfect summer day.  It's one of my favourite beaches - for walking, swimming and inhaling the fresh sea air!

Happy February, everyone and thank you for your comments on my stones posted in January!

I tick a few nagging tasks off my to do list
I feel lighter
freer
energised:
ready for February

honesty

'PLUMS $2 a bag (in letter box thanks)'
handwritten in black on a brown cardboard sign:
a wooden ledge displaying 6 bags of freshly picked plums
invites roadside shoppers

cyclone wilma whips around the house as I drift off to sleep
my dreams are vivid and confusing
faces not seen for years appear in places that seem strangely familiar
I am woken early by a hungry miaow

when you're covered in a warm white coat of birman fluff
the only place to curl up on a humid summer evening
is in the cool steel of the laundry sink

back in the river

We're back from our holiday up north! After a very VERY wet and stormy start the weather brightened and we had some beautiful sunny beachy days, swimming, boogie boarding, exploring rock pools, collecting shells and walking along bush trails and sandy beaches. We had no internet, virtually no cell phone coverage and no tv. Perfect!
Here is a pocketful of stones collected while I was away :

torrential rain eases to a steady downpour

I take another sip of sauvignon blanc and buy Pall Mall (Monopoly)

----

the sea is a furious cauldrom of creamy foam

a blanket of grey hangs gloomily over the pot

not quite the tranquil postcard scenes we anticipated

but no less beautiful

----

after the storm, the beach is a treasure trove of flotsam from the sea:
seed pods, sea weed, drift wood, pebbles and shells
strewn in a tidal trail across the sand
a peace offering
----
we scramble up the side of the hill to catch a glimpse of the blue bay and rocky coastline on the other side
----
a large kereru bird emerges from the depths of the puriri tree,
sated with juicy red berries -
and launches himself into the evening air
----
sometimes a memory is rose tinted and returning to the place it was made disappoints
but then there are times when returning only reinforces and expands one's stockpile of joy
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