Four fat feijoas and a smiling kiwi

I was surprised and delighted to see a smile inside my breakfast kiwifruit this morning. The pale flesh normally forms a circle but today it was a smile shape….perhaps it was in honour of my grandson’s third birthday?

We had a great party this afternoon with lots of fun and food.

And oh yum it is Feijoa time at last. These four fat feijoas were on a special shelf at the fruiterers on Thursday.

There was a fifth fat Feijoa but I enjoyed that on Saturday. It was sweet and succulent.

Delicious autumn fruit.

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Teddy Bear’s picnic

Here is my well-loved Teddy Bear all dressed ready to go to a Teddy Bear’s Picnic.

The invitation from my grandson (almost a 3 year old now) had been on the fridge for a couple of weeks and I was really looking forward to going along.

There was to have been singing, bubble blowing, face painting and a ride on the miniature railway, here at the beautiful Aotea Lagoon.

After days of glorious weather, picnic day dawned gusty and wet so the event was cancelled 😦

Teddy and I are hoping it won’t be long before another picnic is planned so we can go along and share in the fun. A Teddy Bear’s picnic is a concept that does not date. 🙂

Anyone for cricket?

A courier package at the door this morning heralds my blog post for the day. Inside the bag was a small wooden cricket bat…..

While this bat would not feature on Antiques Roadshow it is in many ways a family heirloom.

My Dad loved cricket. He spent most of his life either playing, coaching, administering or fervently watching both family members and favourite teams. As well as being a very able cricketer he was also skilled in carpentry and bat maintenance and repairs.

He very cleverly cut down an old adult sized bat and fashioned this tiny tot’s version. My four brothers may all have used this bat as small boys but I do know that my oldest son was delighted to find he could play cricket just like his Daddy, his Grandfather and uncles when he was given this bat by his beloved Pappa (Grandfather).

All three of my children used it and all went on to play cricket at times in their lives. When my brother had his children the bat went to live at their home and was used by four more small children within the family circle.

The bat has come back to me so I can give it to my grandson to use and enjoy. It will bring back memories for his Dad and for everyone in my immediate family.

It feels as if another turn in a spiral has been made.

Prompts

Over the weekend I saw this suggestion for encouraging writers to write. Begin sentences with “I write of”. Here are some of my sentences from today:

I write of nature because it contains so much beauty, power, rhythm and a space for me from the pressing things of life.

I write of things quirky because I have a sense of humour and a curiosity that enjoys such things.

I write of the ordinary and the good to offer a balance against the glitz, hype and unpleasant that occurs in our world.

I write of the ordinary and good because I know the value that both offer to me and to others.

I write of simple traditions such as cooking for others, writing letters, gardening, knitting, singing in a group, walking, spending time with people we love and connect with.

I write of books simply because I love books.

I write of books because they have helped me in a myriad of ways throughout my life.

What do you write of?

Another prompt I found was over at http://concernedwithstory.wordpress.com was to write beginning with “Right now….”

So for me today, Monday 25th July 2011:

Right now I am very grateful for heating, warm clothing and warm food on such a cold day.

Right now I can see the birds enjoying the apples I have hung for them for winter food.

Right now I am pleased to have paid the bills and grateful for having the money to pay them.

Right now I am wondering if my cat will increase his food intake.

Right now I am processing the information I received about a family member who served in WW2.

Right now I am thinking a lot about resilience and the notes I made this afternoon.

Right now I am pleased to have fixed the errors in the socks I am knitting my grandson.

Right now I have meal preparation to do so I am off to begin that:-)

When I ran self awareness groups I would use a “Right now” exercise at the beginning of the session to help clear the immediate, scattered stuff that was “on top” for participants. Once this happened, focus was easier for everyone in the group.

Writing “right now” sentences offers me similar but different clearing, focus and more.

I’d be interested in your discoveries from writing some “Right Now” sentences.

A simple tradition

I posted a letter to my 2 year old grandson today. He is on holiday in a different city for about a fortnight with his Mum and Dad.

My Mum would regularly write to my children and especially if we were on holiday for a reasonable length of time and mail was able to reach us. My children all remember how their Gran wrote to them and we still have some of those letters and cards. She would also enclose cuttings from newspaper or other written items that she thought would interest the recipient.

Mum was a great correspondent and wrote to many, many people regularly. She also loved to receive letters. A letter arriving would see her make a cup of tea and sit straight down to read the news. She often expressed her delight in the mail that came and how much she enjoyed being able to read and re- read the letter. A long, newsy phone call from afar was also enjoyed but the written word she could savour over time and draw much from it.

As well as some questions about their road trip, sights along the way and what they might be doing on their holiday I briefly told our wee chap about life here. I cut a photo from the newspaper which he will be interested in and his aunty drew him a picture with a short message to enjoy.

I hope he enjoys his letter as much as we enjoyed putting it together for him.

Quick catchup

My weekend was pretty busy with the usual household chores needing attention but more importantly my grandson’s second birthday to attend.   His birthday dawned calm, warm and sunny which meant we could spend time outdoors playing as well as enjoy opening presents and eating yummy food inside.  It would be impossible not to delight in his interest in almost everything and his high energy.  Almost all his immediate family, a couple of adult friends and a special young friend  were there to celebrate the day with him.   Digital cameras have captured some wonderful pictures of a special day.

He spent a couple of hours on Sunday here while  his parents went and had a coffee together.  So I enjoyed more time with him, hearing all the new words and short sentences he can say, watching his new gait and increasing ability to balance his body in different activities and as always his inquiring mind. 

I love quirky things and in today’s paper I read that a woman in earthquake ravaged Christchurch had been given a bright yellow tea towel and on it was printed ” Life sent your lemons?………make a gin and tonic.”    Seemed like good advice given their current situation.