Barking Mad #2

I say this often... 'People who know me well..."
And again I start with this phrase...
People that know me well know that I do NOT camp. A holiday for me includes all the creature comforts of home - and more if I am honest.
So, it may come as a bit of a surprise to some that here I am at 'home', sleeping in a tent - by choice.
This is a concession I chose to make, for the love of my dogs, and out of respect for my Mum.
I have visited many times with Hugo and Reilly. They started off sleeping in the garage or laundry, but of late had eked their way into my bedroom, with my mother's blessing, even though I know she is not in favour of 'inside dogs '. Now I have three dogs, I felt that it was unfair to try and wangle them all into my inside bedroom. Yet I was reluctant to have them spend their Christmas in the laundry... so when it was mentioned that we may need the tent to accommodate all the family at Christmas time, I bravely put my hand up to sleep there, with my boys.

It's actually quite a cool little set up, as the photos show. And across from the tent, is my 'day room' - the old shade house which is now a place I can sit and read or edit photos...

So just at this moment it seems like a holiday adventure, though this time tomorrow, my opinions may have changed...

PS Photos courtesy of Camera+, iPhone

Coming Up Roses

The boys and I were back at the Botanic gardens tonight. As it is coming up to the end of October, I knew that the roses would be beginning to bloom.
This peachy number was not resident in my original garden in Tauranga, and I cannot name it. My Mum will probably be able to! After all she has about 200 specimens in her garden. But it made me think of a special rose I planted there before I left (Kaimai Sunset), which, as I type, makes me feel a little sad...

Anyway... the pics below show the blooming phases - not time lapsed; 3 different specimens!

Ahhhh, Nostalgia...

So on the way back from The Family Celebration today, I took the opportunity to kill two more nostalgic birds with one stone, and stopped in Tauranga to visit my first place of full-time employ, Otumoetai Primary, where my sidekick of many years and super-duper friend Zara is now DP.
Now although we love each other dearly, Zara and I really are quite different, and we both find it amusing that some people find us so similar. We had one parent at our previous school who could never figure out which one of us was which ("Are you Ms McIndoe or Ms Fothergill?"). And she wasn't even blonde - I think it was just that we were!
We were doubly amused when Zara regaled a tale on Sherwood Street crossing last week - a parent stopped and told Zara she reminded her so much of a teacher she used to have years ago here at Otumoetai Primary. Yes you guessed it, it was me. (How to make one feel ancient...)
It was fun and strange at the same time walking around the school. I mean it was eons ago that I was there and so much has changed, but no matter how long you are away from a place of significance (I was there 8 years), it still conjures up all sorts if weird feelings and memories.


The Bay of Plenty as a whole does that to me. I can't fully explain the feeling I have when I am there. I can only describe it as knowing it truly is my Turangawaewae. My body tells me that is ultimately where I belong. Maybe it's because it is steeped in memory, whereas Auckland is still very much my present; the 'place' is not yet under my skin.

But you never know, given time the memories I am making here may become eternal tattoos at some stage as well. After all, what REALLY maketh the memories? ...

He aha te mea nui 

O tenei ao? 

He tangata, he tangata, he tangata 

What is the most important thing in this world? 

People, people, people.