Hīkoi ki Waitangi with Karuwhā

On Sunday February 1st Martin and I caught the bus to Waitangi to participate in Karuwhā's annual commemoration of the signing of the Treaty/te Tiriti.  I wasn't all that sure what to expect (and was pretty apprehensive of how my energy would hold up!), but was hopeful it'd be a thought-provoking week.

In the mid-1990s I was in the young adults group of the Baptist Tabernacle when one of the other young adults, a law student called Sam Carpenter, was starting to think about how Christians might respond to the repeated dishonouring of the Treaty.  He was a direct descendant of Henry Williams (whose Māori name was Karuwhā), the man who translated the treaty into te reo Māori.  Karuwhā was born out of that thinking, and exists to encourage Christians to know and respond to the treaty story they are part of - particularly bearing in mind the strong involvement of Christians at the time of the signing and the much lesser involvement ever since.  They run a variety of events (many of them Haerenga/journeys like this one), but their 'signature' event seems to be this annual trip to Waitangi.  Over four days the participants are welcomed by Te Tiriti O Waitangi marae, told stories of our nation's early days by Māori, serve the marae as it hosts thousands and thousands of people, do guided reflections and participate in prayer times and a church service, and observe the treaty sites and happenings there over February 5th and 6th.

I'd long heard that, whilst Waitangi Day on TV looks like non-stop political arguments, in person it's much more joyous, and that was 100% my experience - although there were clearly many serious discussions going on, and if we go back some time I'd like to listen in to more of those.

A guide to maintaining and using lievito madre (Italian sourdough starter)

In recent years I've greatly enjoyed baking with lievito madre - the Italian 'stiff' sourdough starter.  I've been intimidated by the challenge of keeping an 'English' sourdough starter alive, and the complexity of making English sourdough bread.  The Italian version seems much more straightforward, and has the added advantage of being less sour so being suitable for making sweet baked goods as well as breads.  However, I've found very little information on lievito madre in English so have decided to put together a guide and hope it is of use to other non-Italian speakers.

The below guide is also available as a pdf. 

Most of my information comes from Giovanni Tiso, who posted instructions on making the starter and various recipes on Twitter in 2021.  I've also incorporated some things that he's posted more recently on Bluesky, as well as recipes from a variety of other sources and from my own growing experience.

If I know you and you're local I'm very happy to give you a ball of starter.  Otherwise, if you don't have one and would like to make your own there are instructions on doing that at the end.

Experiments in visible mending: darning

I don't think the term 'visible mending' existed when I was growing up, but it was certainly something my mum certainly practised.  My childhood clothes sometimes sported cool patches that I was allowed to pick out at the sewing shop, and the acid burns on my university 'chemistry' jeans were covered over with hand-embroidered flowers.  Darning, however, aimed to be largely 'invisible'.  It was also something I found fiddly and hated doing.

I've recently come across the idea of darning for visible mending.  I love the idea of mending things.  It fits well with frugality and good stewardship: two things I value highly.  And maybe attractive darning (combined with some new pointers on how to do it well) would be more fun?

We have a chair cushion that I'd like to try visible darning on, but I decided to practise on an holey towel first.  In a bit over an hour this afternoon, here's what I came up with:

The first attempt

The second - and a crude black one in the corner as I was getting tired

The section of the towel with the two mends

I'm pretty pleased with how they worked out!  I'm using very fine wool thread that I picked up from the op shop in Whangaparāoa when we were there in September, and following ideas from this video.  I learned a few things from these first attempts and may well move straight onto the chair squab next :-)

And, if I take to it, I'll probably buy a little darning loom (a tool I only very recently came across) which should make it easier to do neat darns with fine wool. 

Thoughts on asking God for things

I've just been reading 1 Samuel 1 and 2 (through to 2:10) and was particularly struck by 1 Samuel 1:18b:

Then the woman went her way and ate and drank with her husband, and her countenance was sad no longer.

Hannah ('the woman') is deeply distressed because she doesn't have in children; a situation made worse as her husband has two wives and the other has a bunch of children and is always rubbing in that discrepancy.

In the text I was reading today she brings this distress to God, asks for Him to give her a son, and promises that she will then give that son back to God (i.e. he will live in the temple and serve there right from when he's weaned).  Then comes the verse I quoted.  After bringing her distress to God and asking for a specific solution, she's calm and no longer sad.

Musings on energy, work and listening to God

It's ages since last I wrote a blog post - in the meantime we've finished our Sabbatical and also moved house!

Since the Sabbatical ended I've been continuing to think a lot about how to live a more sustainable life (in terms of my own energy/capacity/creativity), and how my Just Kai work fits into that.

One realisation has been that I can just do what works.  I still need to choose what I do on a given day, but I don't have to keep going until things are done, at the cost of exhausting myself.  God has given me quite a limited energy capacity - if He needs me to do more, He can do something about that!  I don't have to kill myself with overwork.

So yesterday we were at the Grey Lynn Park Festival with Just Kai.  Last year when were there, we came with recommendations for both a slave-free Christmas meal and for slave-free chocolate gifts.  This year we just had the meal recommendations.  Partly as there isn't that much Christmas chocolate in the shops yet, but significantly because someone who had been going to help with writing that guide was suddenly unavailable.  Initially I assumed that meant I would pick it up, but in the end I decided I wasn't up to that and just left it.  And that was OK :-)

I also tend to plan my life quite carefully, so I can be really deliberate about my priorities and what I fit in.  But recently I've been thinking I need to back off on that and be more open to listening to God's leading in the moment.  In particular, a few weeks' back a particular friend just kept coming to my mind. I was thinking how much I wanted to see her, but there just wasn't space around what was already planned.  Then I got in touch with her husband about something else a bit later and learned that she'd had a huge week that week I'd been thinking about her, and that it would probably have been really good if I'd been in touch.  So later on when someone else particularly came to mind I decided to let some other things slide so I could spend some time with them.

There are a bunch of people I've been wanting to have over recently, too, who I've contacted repeatedly but they never seem to be available.  Then I was chatting to someone at church about them coming over and they mentioned it'd been two years since we first asked them (!).  But then she said "when God wants it to, it will happen".  And that really struck me.  I think I waste a lot of energy trying to 'make' things happen, and I'm trying to back off from that a bit and trying to fit in more with what God's doing instead.

And lastly, I've been struck by the thought recently that God doesn't need me to do Just Kai.  Some years' back  was horrified to learn that one of the young adults at church thought I was ending Modern Slavery all by myself.  That was way too much for one person!  But I've realised I've slipped into a related thought myself.  I feel the weight of the men trapped on fishing boats, and most especially the weight of the kids on cocoa farms who work instead of going to school.  I feel like I must get the word out about their situations, and I must do the research needed to direct people to options that will reduce the vulnerability of those people.  It feels heavy and necessary and important

But then two weeks ago Martin was preaching, and I was really struck by one thing he said.  He was talking about how God wants to relate to us, and God wants us to do particular things, but those things aren't things He needs from us.  The things we offer God are like clumsy little-kid drawings that God our Father delights in sticking on His fridge because He delights in us.

So I've been thinking a bit about how God has called me to Just Kai, but how that doesn't mean He needs me to do Just Kai.  It won't be a terrible disaster if I stuff up what I do, or can't do much of it, or whatever.

And so today we had some people back to lunch after church, even though I was really tired after the Grey Lynn Park Festival yesterday, and that may well mean I don't have the energy to do some follow up from that that I want to do.  And after they left I had a rest, then did some kitchen things I wanted to do, then sat down to write this.  And now I need a rest, so I guess the follow-up will have to wait until Tuesday now (as tomorrow's my Sabbath), and I guess that will be OK!

Camping at Waitawa

During our Sabbatical, Martin and I are hoping to go camping every four weeks' or so.  Around 6 weeks ago we were at Ambury Park, and a few weeks after that it was our church camp.  Last week we were off again, this time to a new-to-us regional park called Waitawa.  All the extra exercise I've been doing during the Sabbatical has really improved my fitness, and it felt realistic to try for a campsite 35km away from the nearest train station :-)

 

Sabbatical thoughts 2/3 of the way through

This whole Sabbatical has been more difficult than I expected.  One key thing it's shown me is how small my capacity is.  After removing literally everything from my life that felt like work and that seemed in any sense optional, I freed up really very little time at all.  Because, after essentials like eating and showering and dressing are done, 7 hours per day (my current capacity) doesn't stretch to a lot else.