Working at Home

Another Tuesday, with 5% off for old people at the grocery store Countdown, so we went there right after breakfast, but before the crowds. A little later than we’d hoped, because we got caught in the school traffic. Not exactly Florida rush hour, but slow enough that I could take a picture of the art installation welcoming people to Kerikeri. 

Betsy is not enamored of this piece, believing that its $500,000 cost could have been put to better use by the local Council, however after reading about it, I support it. The local artists, Chris Booth and  Tom Hei Hei, describe it as a comment about human response to climate change. Each year, local children will decide how well the district is making efforts to reduce climate change. Depending on their verdict, the collar restricting the cables holding the boulders will be raised or lowered. Higher means there is more effort, lower means less. Ideally, the collar would be at the top, the boulders could swing freely, indicating humans equilibrium with nature.

The birds at the top are a hawk welcoming people to Kerikeri, a shag looking at the sea, and a tui facing the forest. With the exception of the coating on the birds, all of the sculpture was created locally. I like it.

When we got home and offloaded the groceries, Betsy and Grant took the ute (utility vehicle) to pick up a load of scoria lava rock, to fill in the hole Keith had dug for the shower grey water. They returned, backed up the ute, and shoveled the rocks in. Keith can finish covering the hole later. I stayed home to knit on my hat. 

The chickens are enamored with the dirt pile, scratching and finding bugs to eat.

We walked up to feed kumera to Claes’ kune kune pigs. This variety is now considered NZ pigs, even though they are not native to the islands. Evidently, whalers brought them from Asia in the 19th century and traded them to the Māori for other goods. I was surprised to learn the original canoes of Māori didn’t bring pigs or chickens when they came to Aotearoa, only kiore, a rat they ate for meat. It doesn’t transmit disease that affects humans, so no bubonic plague, hanta virus, etc.

Back at the house, our major project is to weed along the area at the far edge of the garden. I am determined we can uncover the row of native grasses to get cardboard and sawdust all around them. Hard going, however the weather is fine so it is pleasant to be outside. 

By the time we were tired, we had cleared about half the weeds we need to do. The rest can wait until tomorrow.

I’ve been looking at all the op shops for an aroha shirt, as I have deemed them, for Kyle. No luck. While Grant made spaghetti sauce, Betsy and I went back to town to the Hawaiian store. In the small town style of Keri Keri, the owner, Christine, parents had moved here 30 years ago to start the chocolate shop that Emily worked in while she was in high school. Which we plan to visit in the next couple of days. But we were looking for shirts today.

All of her clothes use local woven fabric. The designs are from Kiwi artists. The silk screening done in-house. I just had to decide on the one I wanted. Although I liked the blues of a native hibiscus, I chose a subtle red and green pohutukawa, the NZ Christmas tree, which blooms in December. Christine gift wrapped it in a box in which she attached a label describing the artist and the pattern. I’m seriously thinking about going back and buying the napkins in the same design.

Our last task was to collect up chicken Helen Reddy, who is not eating. We put her in a box in the pantry, so she’d keep warm overnight and, hopefully, feel better in the morning.

Steps Today: 3,574