Sunday, September 25, 2011

spring busy-iness

Things are a bit full on here, we are moving in 3 weeks and I have had very little time to pack. I'm busy getting ready for a joint exhibition with a good friend, this time showing my textile / fibre art. So need to get one piece finished and maybe start and finish another by Friday!! Will post pictures soon. Also I've got a couple of weeks work at the hubby's firm, so there goes my days! Speaking of the hubby he's on a work trip to Sydney so I'm solo mum until Wednesday night. Anyhow amongst it all I've managed to grab a few shots of somethings, mostly little shots of my collections as they probably will be totally different in the next house.

the view from the kitchen sink of the vege garden

crocheted stones on old suitcases in the hall
I had never notice how the colours in the painting and the pottery bowl matched each other before!

my collection of birds (plus love heart stone) on sideboard in dining room

 And I've been admiring my spring garden, I will miss the camelias and rhododendrons as the new garden is lacking in them.
but I will be able to take my pots of pansies with me!

Sunday, September 18, 2011

twenty years ago

I just realised this morning that it's been twenty years since I moved to Liverpool.  I was thinking about Liverpool after reading this blog posting about Anthony Gormley's sculptural installation "Another Place", which are 100 life sized iron men that are placed over Crosby Beach, Liverpool. When I lived in Liverpool I never ventured to the beach, as I didn't think compared to NZ beaches there was probably much to see. I remember that feeling of disappointment at Blackpool. After seeing Annie's photos, it makes me want to go back. This got all the memories flowing, and then lo and behold I realised that I arrived in Liverpool in September 1991, and even by my rough mathematics that was 20 years ago, and that 9/11 was 10 years ago. One event seems much nearer and one seems further to me, funny how time flies at different speeds.

I have started packing boxes for the house move, and was up to the photo albums, so thought I'd better check out the Liverpool one. I was only there for 14 months - what was supposed to be 3 years, was cut short by "events"! In the pre-digital age I didn't click away like I do now, so there were surprisingly few photos of actual Liverpool. I seemed to be more romantically inclined and took photos of National Trust buildings and gardens, and stone circles and cathedrals and castles!

I've scanned a few, first up is me all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed the day after 32 hours non-stop from Christchurch to London. Miss L thought my clothes looked much brighter than what I wear now! She doesn't realise it was still in effect the 80's. I'm more horrified by the large specs and the high-waisted pale blue jeans!
Next up is the favourite shot I took of Liverpool, looking down towards the Mersey with the Liver Birds just visible. Paired up with a "street" shot of London Road. I wish I'd taken more of these types of photos showing the gritter side of the city.

Here's the museum where I worked in the Natural History Centre as a educator. This proved to be rather interesting, with the local kids often not able to understand a word I said!
And I found some photos of the million daffodils that were planted in Sefton Park for cancer research. I wonder if they are still there flowering every spring?
It certainly was a very interesting time in my life. I have lots of wonderful memories, and made some fantastic friends. Liverpool has a special place in my heart, I visited again in 1999 - I wonder how long it will be before the next visit and I hope that the statues of "Another Place" are still there.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Weekend delights

We had a great weekend, due to the following sign:
So no more open homes, no more running around frantically tidying and cleaning the house from top to toe. Instead, I can hang out washing on the line on a Sunday for the first time in five months! And I can finally start packing boxes.... Here's some other nice things I saw this weekend.



Sunday also happened to be Father's Day, so we went for a family bike ride around the local river. Another thing I don't think I've done for about five months!




We stopped at a nice stoney part of the river, the boys skimmed stones, and the girls hunted for lovely purple stones. Two of which I brought home for crocheting! There was a stone stacking competition and a the best love-heart-stone competition. Miss L said to me "this is so much fun mum, and it doesn't cost anything!". So wise for her nine years.