It always seems impossible – Until it’s done. 

Nelson Mandela

[Source: www.facebook.com/101PowerfulAffirmations quoted in This and that, a free monthly Marlborough publication.]

Yesterday, 12/12/12, was fun.  Spent the morning at Bookchat making a miniature driftwood Christmas tree. Pam, one of the staff, is very talented and had made up kits for everyone so they could make the tree on the spot while she issued clear instructions.  Then I headed off to Le Cafe, my favourite cafe, for an end-of-year lunch with Picton Poets and shared original poems in a seaside setting with great food, wine, coffee and scenery. One of our members who broke her leg made a supreme effort (with the help of a friend), and joined us after weeks of being home bound.  Seeing her happiness at being there made it more enjoyable for the rest of us.

    In the evening I went to an interesting art exhibition with my ‘temporary’ neighbour at the Diversion Gallery on the waterfront in Picton. Artist, Dick Frizzell collaborated with poet Sam Hunt and created a silk screen work incorporating words from ‘The Harpooner’s Song’ that talks about living in Picton, whaling in the Marlborough Sounds and in Nantucket.  Gallery Director Barbara Speedy took time out to explain a complex multi-layered lithograph by John Pule to us both and handed round pieces of Christmas cake she had made herself.  We half expected Sam Hunt to walk in the door and proclaim in his usual gravelly voice.

    The aim of the Frizzell/Hunt art work is to raise money for a National Whaling Centre in Picton, Te Tari Tohorā o Waitohi*.  Along with the art work there are other items such as flash drives for sale in the shape of a whale, some are preloaded with images and information about the various whale species. There are also boxes of paperclips in the shape of a whale.  More information about the merchandise is available on the website http://www.aworldwithwhales.com

*Waitohi was the original Maori name for Picton and has been retained in a number of place names around the town.  It would be good one day to have a dual name on the map, Waitohi/Picton, like the NZ Geographic Board is suggesting.

   Other artists' work is also available to view at the Diversion Gallery and there is a selection of unframed prints in a set of drawers that you can ask to see. The gallery used to be at the Grove Mill Winery but fortunately for us and for visitors has been relocated to Picton.

   Picton Museum is also hoping to build an extension to house two boats associated with the whaling industry in the Marlborough Sounds.  Both these ventures will attract visitors and complement the existing ‘whale watch’ experience in Kaikoura. With the suggestion of the ferries possibly moving to Clifford Bay by 2020 Picton needs such attractions to become a destination in its own right.  I am still thinking through the ramifications of this so will comment further in a future blog.  The proposed move is certainly causing concern and now the Government is soon to appoint a ‘commercial director’ to head a team of experts developing the proposal.  More information is apparently available on the Ministry of Transport’s website.

   It’s good to read that Steffan Browning from the Green Party accepted Leona Plaisier’s petition on the steps of Parliament after all those other MPs refused earlier this year. See www.marlexpress.co.nz  (Wednesday 12 December 2012).  Leona has collected 11,000 signatures for her petition against the proposed salmon farms in the Marlborough Sounds. Laura Honey was on hand to document the event. We look forward to seeing Laura’s documentary Against the Current in the New Year.

   Tonight I am going to the launch of Michael Ponder’s latest novel, Four Kings, at Paper Plus in Blenheim. This thriller is set in Zimbabwe and is a sequel to his previous novel, The Windsor Conspiracy. Michael Ponder is well known as an artist and also for a book, The Good Oil, which he wrote while growing olives.

      Now I just need to find time to see The Hobbit, screening now in Picton and Blenheim, make a gluten free Christmas cake and deadhead and feed the roses with a concoction recommended in the NZ Gardener. Thanks to the library I keep up with the latest issue and don’t have masses of magazines accumulating to be dealt with ‘some day’. The pile of newspapers on the verandah is waiting to be turned into ‘hot logs’ over summer with a handy gadget purchased by mail order from a Nature company in Nelson. One weekend newspaper makes a great log for the fire. Fortunately today it’s sunny with a light breeze here in Picton and it might even reach 29° in Blenheim.