Advent 2022

I've really appreciated Advent this year, and have been particularly reflecting on how, at Advent, we think towards the time when Jesus will come to Earth again.  We remember those who were waiting for his first coming, and look to the second.

I grew up with my mum talking about how one day Jesus would come again, and there'd be a new heaven and new Earth, and there'd be no more sickness, or crying or pain.  She'd have a body that worked properly again, after this one had been damaged by the polio she caught as a kid.

Neighbourhood gardening :-)

I'm pretty tired, as I haven't managed a good rest since all the busyness of the Devonport Ethical Christmas Market that Just Kai was at 10 days ago.  But, I did want to share one neat thing that's happened recently.

There's a vacant section on our street, where one day Kāinga Ora will build new houses. The people who lived there before were great gardeners, and a few weeks back I noticed a really pretty rose flowering in amongst all the weeds. Others on the street have already taken plants from the site (it's been vacant several years), so I was very surprised to see the rose still there.

I looked up how to transplant a rose when it's flowering (I didn't want to leave it - who knows when the land will finally be bulldozed!).  Accordingly, I gave it some fertiliser and cut it well back, then made sure it was well-watered until I was ready to transplant it.  The heavy showers we've had recently helped with that! 

Camping at Wenderholm

Life's been a bit busy recently, but I've finally found time to share photos of a lovely holiday Martin and I had 4 weeks back, at Wenderholm.  We'd originally intended to camp at Ambury Park (the only council campsite within accessible biking distance from our house), but it was solidly booked for the dates we had in mind.  Various more-obvious alternatives also fell through and eventually we landed on the Schischka campground, a wee bit up the Puhoi River from Wenderholm beach.

a neat detail in the posts at the Silverdale bus station

To get there we caught the bus into town, the bus up to Silverdale and the bus to Waiwera.  I've never been to Waiwera for anything other than the (currently non-operational) hot pools - it turns out there's a rather lovely beach there :-)