Life is short

Buy

the

shoes

[It's true. I don't know who said this or where I saw it maybe on Pinterest but recently I bought a fabulous pair of brown Overland ankle boots. I feel so good when I am wearing them.]

Friday 12 July: Cold with driving rain and gusty. The wind started in the night and kept me awake. The Southerly roars down the gully and the noise is accentuated by the large gum trees in the shared driveway. The Desert Road is closed.

The recent wild weather reminded me of a time when my parents lived in Simla Crescent in Khandallah, a suburb of Wellington. My father used to go to auctions mainly to buy paintings but occasionally he would bid for a case of wine. He would return home triumphant and store the bottles often in the cardboard carton in his cellar in the basement. He would produce a bottle from time to time saying: ‘this is a German Riesling’. He had been very impressed by a dinner he went to at the Chateau du Bois de Rocher in France where each course was matched with a different kind of wine. He often talked about that dinner.
   One day after torrential rain the storm water drains couldn’t cope and a stream of muddy water poured down the hill from a new subdivision up above. No-one was concerned but the next morning my mother went downstairs to put some washing in the machine and the whole basement was flooded. When the water had subsided, with the help of a chain of people holding buckets, my father checked on his wine. To his horror all the labels had come off the bottles.
   From then on he would produce a bottle of wine and putting it on the table would say: ‘I have no idea what this is’. Sometimes we didn’t know if it was red or white. Sometimes it was undrinkable, other times it was splendid and we wished we knew what it was so we could go and buy more.
   They retired to Ngakuta Bay in the Marlborough Sounds long before the region became well known for its Sauvignon Blanc. They drank gin and tonic mainly and Lindauer bubbly at Christmas or at a dinner party. For some reason when I was there no-one ever remembered to get a lemon from the prolific tree in the garden and I had to negotiate the back stairs which I considered to be totally unsafe because they were almost vertical. To my mind a gin and tonic wasn’t the same without a slice of lemon. When Sauvignon Blanc became the drink de jour we often chose Stoneleigh. It was a good wine to go with lunch of barbecued sausages or salmon done in the smoker. One day we decided collectively that it was too sweet, maybe it had something to do with the vintage. I’m learning more about this now. 2010 was a very good year for Pinot Noir and wine producers say 2013 is going to be an excellent year for Sauvignon Blanc – one of the best in a long time.
   Last Friday I went with a friend to the Picton Wine Club dinner. It was held at Café Cortado and the invited guest winery was Two Rivers. What a great evening. Each course was matched with a different wine and there were vegan options on the menu. So most diners had half shell mussels with parmesan and pesto,‘freshly caught’ blue cod, lamb cutlets, venison and a cheese selection. I had canapés of eggplant and salsa verde and whole sherry mushrooms with the Juliet Riesling 2012, garlic portabellos (mushrooms), on ginger and sesame bok choy with ‘Convergence’ Sauvignon Blanc 2012 and Clos des Pierres Chardonnay 2011, pea risotto with roast capsicums and red onions with the Awatere selection Pinot Noir 2011 and honey roasted winter vegetables topped with a herb crusted tomato and Guinness glaze (magnificent) matched with the Altitude Pinot Noir 2011. Actually some of us misheard and thought it was ‘Attitude’ which seemed an interesting description for a wine. The last course was a fruit and nut selection with chutneys with a Late Harvest Riesling 2008 which I thought was a little watery. My mother was very keen on Late Harvest wines, they should be syrupy, and add richness to the dessert. One phrase that amused us was the description of a wine as ‘seamless on the palate’. What does this phrase mean? To my mind it could be that the flavour passes you by and is almost bland. Of course that’s not what the presenter was thinking so maybe an explanation was called for.
    It was a bit of a shock at the end of the evening to hear my name being called out as the ‘poet in the room’ to ad lib a poem as the resident Wine Club poet was away. He usually comes up with a limerick or two. So I raved about the Pinot Noir from the Awatere Valley saying it was ‘to die for’ but as my co-presenter and compassionate supporter pointed out we were still here. So I moved on to saying a few words about the Sauvignon Blanc, named ‘Juliet’ after, I think, the mother of the vineyard owner. Not a brilliant effort but the diners were satisfied as there was a ripple of laughter. When I sat down I realized that sitting across from me was another poet who could probably have done better at such short notice.
   I love all these wines that originate from a particular valley, the Wairau, the Awatere, the headwaters of the Waitaki Valley in Central Otago (Ostler Wines), and are named after people who have a special place in the hearts of the winemakers, a mother, or a young woman, vibrant and full of life, who passed away too young.
   In winter I always drink red wine. My favourite Pinot Noirs at the moment are Whitehaven (when it’s on special), Forrest Estate (the merlot is also good), and Two Rivers (recently discovered, it is rich ruby red in colour, full bodied and with a lingering mouth feel!).
   Anyway next week is our Marlborough Writers’ group mid-winter dinner at Raupo, one of my favourite restaurants because of the eco design of the building and the location on the river. We have to write 100 words on the topic ‘Sauvignon Blanc’. Most of us hoped we could just party with no homework.

Recommended:

Book:

 

Create your Writer Platform: The key to building an audience, selling more books and finding success as an author by Chuck Sambuchino

Film:

 

Silver Linings Playbook (two neurotic characters and an equally weird father but worth watching for the dialogue).

           

 

 

 

 

Katherine Mansfield

If we are ever together down the Kenepuru Sounds come off with me for a whole day will you?

Katherine Mansfield in a letter written to her sister Jeanne in October 1921.

 

Tuesday 2 July: Cloudy, overcast start to the day, sunny in the afternoon with a northerly wind.

Last week’s storm in Wellington damaged the house at Downes Point, Days Bay on the eastern side of Wellington Harbour that inspired me to write my book Katherine Mansfield in Picton (Cape Catley, 2000).  For a number of years in the 1980s I owned a property across the road from this house and remember how fierce the storms could be with waves crashing across the road leaving debris behind and once the road to Eastbourne was closed because police considered it unsafe for driving.

   Occasionally my father would ring from the quiet seclusion of the inner Marlborough Sounds and ask what the conditions were like when he heard of a storm forecast for Wellington. I had a sun room with concertina windows that opened out to give a panoramic view of the bay and harbour - lovely in the summer and on a sparkling June day in winter but worrying in a storm. However the house always seemed to withstand the onslaught and the seaweed deposited on the beach during such weather was good for the garden.
   So it was a shock to hear about the destruction of the house which began as a little holiday cottage bought by Harold Beauchamp for his family holidays. From about 1898 the family holidayed on the eastern side of the harbour which had access mainly by steamer. They rented houses at Muritai and by 1906 the family owned the cottage at Days Bay.   In 1907 and 1908 Katherine Mansfield spent time at this cottage sometimes with a friend like Edith Bendall (June 1907) or with one of her sisters (March1908) as noted in her letters. She records that she and her sister were bored with life in Wellington:

   O the tedium vitae of 19 years! So have come here, where we bathe and row and walk in the bush or by the sea.

    Katherine Mansfield left New Zealand for England in July 1908 travelling by herself and determined to become a writer. She did not return.

   During the storm massive waves crashed over the front of the house and over the roof. Inside the water was ‘waist high’ and storm damage to the interior has revealed some of the original wall paper from 1906. The original cottage had been extended over the years. I recall visiting with a friend and seeing the slipway inside the house for launching a dinghy and the largest toilet I have ever seen.

   The book Katherine Mansfield’s New Zealand by Vincent O’Sullivan (Steele Roberts, 2013) has an image of the cottage as it looked when Katherine Mansfield stayed there (on page 51). The design is similar to the Beauchamp house at Anakiwa in the Marlborough Sounds in the same publication (image on page 54). This house fell into disrepair over the years.
   One of her longer stories, ‘At the Bay’, is set at Days Bay and at Muritai. It was one of the last stories she wrote in the period 1921-1922.
   It begins:

   Very early morning. The sun was not yet risen and the whole of Crescent Bay was hidden under a white sea-mist.

   Wow. My computer spell check does not like the above sentence fragment!  While I concur that the setting for ‘At the Bay’ is mainly Days Bay and Muritai I suggested in my book (see page 32), that all sorts of memories went into the writing of her stories. It is not easy to distinguish fact from fiction much as readers would like to be able to. In a letter to Dorothy Brett Katherine Mansfield said while writing the story she had ‘wandered about all sorts of places – in and out’. In October 1921 she wrote to her sister Jeanne, thanking her for a birthday present and sent her a copy of the London Mercury which contained the story ‘At the Bay’. In the letter she reminisced and asked her sister if she remembered certain incidents from their childhood:

   If we are ever together down the Kenepuru Sounds come off with me for a whole day will you? And let’s just remember. How Chummie [her brother Leslie] loved it too. Can’t you hear his soft boyish laugh and the way he said “oh – absolutely!” I’m sending you a copy of the Mercury in case you didn’t see this story. Tell me if you like it. Just for once – will you?

   The story ‘At the Bay’ was re-published in 1922 as part of a collection titled: The Garden Party and other Stories.

Here is some further information about the storm and some links provided by the Katherine Mansfield Society:

 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10892092 

Video recording showing the inside of the cottage following the storm:

 

http://www.3news.co.nz/Katherine-Mansfields-former-summer-home-hammered-by-storm/tabid/309/articleID/302397/Default.aspx 

Recommended film:

Lincoln (great acting)

Books:

The Childhood of Jesus by J M Coetzee (unusual plot)
Mad Girl's Love Song: Sylvia Plath and life Before Ted by Andrew Wilson [life before she meets and marries poet, Ted Hughes]

 

 

 

 

 

 

You may never know what results from your actions. But if you do nothing there will be no result.

–Mahatma Gandhi (seen at the ‘Seeds of Hope’ exhibition)

ʘ Thursday 13 June. Cool, overcast beginning today, some blue sky later. Very still and the outlines of the hills are standing out more than usual.

   Had fun at the Wine Club evening recently. Jim Jerram from Ostler Wines in the Waitaki Valley in Central Otago spoke about the wines they produce and the limestone terroir and cool climate that helps to produce them. We got to taste a pinot noir from a variety of vintages including the award winning Caroline pinot noir. Interestingly when Jim asked the audience which of the three pinots they preferred there was a very mixed response, about 1/3^rd voted for each year’s vintage. www.ostlerwine.co.nz

   Our weekly Quiz team continues to achieve its goal of coming second to last. In fact last night we had $60 to spend at the bar having been second to last twice in a row and winning the Baffler question last week. The answer was a ‘crocodile’ and we guessed it on the second round along with four other teams so there was a play off and we won. So last night we bought a bottle of merlot and a bottle of chardonnay (Kim Crawford – not much choice really, and did you know Kim is male not female?), and $10 worth of chips to share. By filling out the prize vouchers our team is in the draw to win $5000 in a national competition.

   Two of the people in our team ride a tandem bicycle and have taken part in the grape ride on it so if you see them struggling up a hill near you please shout encouragement.  

Eco Artists Exhibition

   I am collaborating with a Christchurch glass artist in an Eco Artists’ exhibition to be held in Wellington in September in the Department of Conservation National office atrium (DOC’s exhibition space in central Wellington).Together we are looking at the Kaipupu Point project. This is a very good example of a community working together along with the Department of Conservation, Port Marlborough and local businesses. The theme of the exhibition is: ‘What are you, (whanau, group and so on), doing for Conservation Week?’’

   We hope to express through art the concept of cooperation with DOC, local businesses and the community and the importance of looking after the land and the flora and fauna associated with Kaipupu Point and the Sounds. With the recent DOC restructuring it is worrying that there may be fewer resources to achieve this.  I can’t say too much about the artwork itself except that it will incorporate a poem of mine and an interpretation of photographs of mine and also some sketches. You will have to go and see it.

   At Bookchat this week we wrote down our ‘Top 10 reads’. Some opted for a ‘desert island’ list or a ‘trip to Mars’ list and others came up with books they would like to read again. The Collected Works of Shakespeare and the Bible featured and for some of us the Shorter Oxford Dictionary. It’s huge and unbelievably heavy and in two volumes and I refer to it a lot. The local bookshop owners were very pleased when I bought it (a birthday gift from my father), as it cost a considerable sum of money. I have just voted in the Whitcoulls’ Top 10 competition. The incentive was to go in the draw to win $1000 worth of books! It only takes 5 minutes to vote but I might have been better off spending the time reading Life after Life by Kate Atkinson which is now overdue from the library.

‘Seeds of Hope’

   I volunteered to sit on the ‘Seeds of Hope’ exhibition and saw this quotation about sustainable development. It’s a phrase that gets tossed into a lot of discussions and I thought this was a good definition:

   ‘Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising      the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.

[From: Brundtland Commission report: Our common future, 1987]

And:

Future generations

Life on earth

Country

Family

ME

 Notes: 

  *We continue to await the outcome of the proposed Clifford Bay move.    

   *A couple of the local cafes are now offering lots of gluten-free options so that’s progress.

   *The editorial in the latest ‘Listener’ has worrying news about book publishing in this country – not great news for writers.

Recommended reading:

The Rosie Project, George Simsion [I laughed a lot]

Recommended Films:

Silver Linings Playbook – [funny/sad and a great ending]
Song for Marion [sad, take a tissue]

Recommended CD

‘The Latin Soul - Jennifer Zea & the Antipodean Collective’, produced by Nathan Haines [purchased by mail order from ‘Everyman’ shop in Hardy Street, Nelson – easier than encountering the claustrophobic shelving in the Warehouse.]

 

 

 

 

 

Poems come from where they have always come from, they dance in themselves as they always have, they sing to us as they always will and we will not need to be told what we feel or which way our inclinations lean ...we will dance and sing.

- A R Ammons

[Quotation from a postcard produced by the New Zealand Poetry Society]

17 May: Overcast this morning followed by heavy rain all afternoon.

 

An old friend (in the sense of knowing someone for a very long-time), invited me to be part of a weekly quiz team so you’ll be pleased to know I’m having more fun. Our goal is to be ‘second to last’ as that team receives a bottle of wine or a $25 meal voucher.
   Looking at the reverse of the above postcard I see I wrote ‘scanner’ on the back and I am reminded of a time when I had to have a card sitting in front of me before I could begin any writing activity. I had a number of laminated cards showing different scenes or with quotes in a pile on my desk and would prop up the relevant one when I sat down to work. Now I just start. I am fortunate to have a lovely oak writing desk which belonged to my mother and a sea view out the window. The desk is at right angles to the window so I am not too distracted though I did see the Kaitaki hit the wharf during the high winds the other day. Can you imagine what it’s going to be like at Clifford Bay?  Yesterday I was told a story by an ex-drover that he couldn’t sit on his horse in the strong winds they get down there because he would have been blown off. He had to dismount and lead the horse.

Poetry 
   We had such a good poetry meeting on Wednesday morning. The convenor had been sent a small reddish pink stamp by a friend in Australia, postmarked Picton, NZ, 1894.  Our task over the last four weeks was to write a poem based around the stamp. What a variety of poems, humour, travel, history, genealogy, family. We are all so talented! Our convenor wants to send a copy of all the poems to her friend. I would like someone to make a small booklet by scanning the stamp to put on the cover and include all the poems just for ourselves. Last night at our Marlborough Writers’ meeting I was shown a slim booklet published by Cold Hub Press, they call the format ‘poetry chapbooks’. Talk about serendipity, that’s exactly what I had in mind.
   Sadly the poetry workshop with James Norcliffe has been cancelled though he will offer one in Nelson in June. Having received only one registration (from me), and a query the organisers wondered: ‘Where were all the Marlborough poets?’ Let’s hope it doesn’t put people off organising future workshops. We had a very successful two day workshop with poet, James Brown a few years ago. I still treasure a syllable poem I wrote as a pre-course exercise he set, based on the theme: ‘My First Home’.

Picton Foreshore management plan

   The Marlborough District Council is suggesting there should be a management plan for the Picton Foreshore. A discussion document will be available later this month and people can make submissions. This is a good idea as I don’t want to see a proliferation of memorial seats. I would quite like to see the wall where the murals are made into a memorial wall where families could purchase plaques from an engraving company. I admired the one by the Cathedral in Christchurch and this gave me the idea. Past well known individuals could also be remembered like Arthur Penrose Seymour whose name used to grace the Foreshore entrance where the wishing well used to be in the 1970s. The sign was removed at a certain point because the area was more commonly referred to as the Picton Foreshore rather than Seymour Gardens. Also novelist Nelle Scanlan was delighted to have a memorial to her in the form of an oak tree planted on the Foreshore in the 1930s. The seedling came from the Seymour’s garden. She said in her autobiography that it was her ‘only living memorial’. I have searched for this tree over the years, enquired at the Picton Museum and can find no evidence of it. It’s a bit disconcerting how heritage can be forgotten. That’s probably why I spent so much time writing the Chronology of Picton and Queen Charlotte Sound, (Volume 1), available from the Picton Museum @ $25. A plaque for Nelle Scanlan would be fitting.
   The foreshore is so attractive now with the promenade, the wide open spaces and the planting and the view of the harbour. Let’s hope no-one suggests moving the palms like they did in Blenheim to make way for the new theatre. They weren’t even transplanted to another site like Grove Road which would have improved Blenheim’s main entrance. They were just removed. Another thing I don’t want to see is an apartment block in Wellington Street. This was part of the original plan. I think it was fortunate that the recession came along because Council had to work to a much tighter budget and guarantee a return on their investment so we got open space which is good for the soul. And even though the toilet block is very visible it’s OK. I think the signs are what redeem the building. I wonder what will happen to the old brick ‘Penny-in-the-slot toilets’ near the museum built in 1874 for the first railway station. There is such potential there, a fernery, a hot salt water spa, or simply a historical curiosity with a plaque. Last time I peered through the bars of the iron gate there was an unsavoury looking old mattress and piles of rubbish inside. Hopefully visitors never venture anywhere near that eastern corner of the museum.

Katherine Mansfield Sculpture

   As I mentioned in my last blog the sculpture of Katherine Mansfield was unveiled recently in Wellington. I would love to have been there. I emailed a friend of mine who fortuitously was in Wellington visiting relatives. She and her husband took a bus to Midland Park on Lambton Quay and she said a young child was holding Katherine Mansfield's  hand. Here is a review written by Wellington author and KM tour guide Kevin Boon who attended the opening.

 

                                                Mansfield Unveiled

The statue of Katherine Mansfield ‘Woman of Words’ was unveiled at Midland Park, shortly after six p.m. on the evening of Wednesday, May 8^th. It is a magnificent monument to New Zealand’s most acclaimed author and arguably, one of the best modern sculptures in the world.

   Despite the chilly evening, a large crowd gathered to celebrate the occasion and they were addressed by representatives from the Wellington Sculpture Trust, the Wellington City Council, the Katherine Mansfield Society, the Birthplace Society and other organizations that had supported the project. All were proud that this memorial to one of Wellington’s most celebrated and cherished citizens now stands on the corner of our busiest street, where Katherine Mansfield frequently walked.
   The sculptor, Virginia King, then described the philosophy behind the sculpture and some of the frustrations and difficulties its creation presented. It is constructed from steel and perforated with samples of writing from a wide variety of Katherine Mansfield’s stories and diaries.  The face is a mask, in keeping with a statement Mansfield once made and the hair is formed from one of her shopping lists, but it is Mansfield and modernist in every sense.
   Cathy Downes provided an excellent performance of The Dolls House, which was greatly appreciated by the audience. The unveiling was led by the mayor, Celia Wade-Brown, although all hands were required before the 3.3 metre statue was revealed. Illuminated from within it was admired and applauded by all present. Finally, many of those present adjourned to the Astoria Café where this historic occasion was convivially celebrated.

© Kevin Boon, 2013

 

 

Look deep into Nature and you will understand everything better.

–  Albert Einstein

Friday, 10 May:  Beautiful day yesterday but wild and extremely windy today with rain forecast.

   A Katherine Mansfield sculpture has just been unveiled in Midland Park in Wellington. Words from her writing are etched into metal and I believe her hair is created from metal strips containing the shopping lists that appeared in her Notebooks. The sculptor is Virgina King. See www.katherinemansfieldsociety.org and Beattie’s Book Blog for photographs.

Salmon farms update
  
   The Ministry of Primary Industry granted $600,000 to the Salmon Improvement Group from the Sustainable Farming Fund to study deformities in king (chinook) salmon in New Zealand. The Marlborough District Council is going to have a close look at the latest monitoring results for NZ King Salmon fish farms in the Marlborough Sounds (Marlborough Express, 26 April, 2013, p.5).

World news
  
   Having just got over worrying about North Korea and its nuclear threat now we have Syria and the alleged use of the nerve gas Sarin and whether US President Barack Obama who says Syria has crossed ‘a red line’ will now be obliged to do something. Israel seems to think he should in case the weapons of mass destruction fall into the hands of terrorists. Fortunately as a distraction I am reading a lovely book about the White House garden and Michelle Obama. It’s very inspiring and yesterday I planted leeks and bok choy and added compost to one garden bed.

Queen Mary and Captain James Cook display [Spectrum 21 April 2013]

   Some of you know I am writing about Captain James Cook and the time he spent at Ship Cove, Queen Charlotte Sound (over 100 days).  I heard an interview with Dame Anne Salmond on board the Queen Mary. Interestingly the captain said that a lot of New Zealand is best viewed from the sea like Auckland and Wellington Harbour and the Marlborough Sounds. The ship is circumnavigating New Zealand following the route that Cook took in the 18^th Century. When they were in the ballroom the captain said there were male escorts available on the Queen Mary for women who didn’t have a partner.
   An exhibition of Cook memorabilia from the Museum of New South Wales is currently on display on board the Queen Mary. There is very tight security. There are letters handwritten by Cook to John Walker, his mentor in Whitby. Also among the items is a handwritten account of Cook’s first days in New Zealand in Gisborne. Joseph Banks, the wealthy naturalist who helped fund the First Voyage thought they had discovered Terra Australis, the continent that was presumed to exist on this side of the world to balance the European continent. This was the secret mission of the First Voyage as outlined in written instructions to Cook. Generally it was thought the purpose was to observe the Transit of Venus. You can hear the interview on Radio New Zealand National’s website. Cook also wrote to his wife Elizabeth in England also but apparently she destroyed all the letters.

Katherine Mansfield Celebration Weekend  

   The programme outlined below makes me wonder if now I have the rights back I should look at having my book Katherine Mansfield in Picton published as an e-book. It’s out of print now. It was selected by the NZ Society of Authors to be on show at the Frankfurt Book Fair last year when New Zealand was the guest Country of Honour.

   I would like to add the photograph of Katherine Mansfield sitting in a deck chair in France as it seems to symbolise the more relaxed lifestyle in Marlborough. Also when Granny Dyer (nee Mansfield), Annie Beauchamp’s mother, brought the three children to Picton for Easter (c. April 1889), when Katherine Mansfield was only 6 months old, I stated in the book that the Beauchamp parents were in England. In actual fact they didn’t go to England until November. Also I would put all  the endnotes at the end of the book rather than at the end of each section.

Programme (to be confirmed), celebrating the 125th anniversary of Katherine Mansfield’s birth in Wellington, (born Sunday, 14 October 1888).
   Note the ferry trip from Wellington to Picton in the South Island on Saturday, 12 October to view places associated with her and her family that inspired her short story ‘The Voyage’. Very exciting.

Celebrating Katherine Mansfield

A long weekend of tours, events and performances celebrating the 125th anniversary of Katherine Mansfield’s birth in Wellington.
Friday 11 October – Monday 14 October 2013

Tentative Programme

Day One (Friday 11th) Registration, Concert & Cocktail Party 6.00–9.00pm
A cello and piano concert at St. John’s in the City followed by a cocktail Party at the Thistle Inn.

Day Two (Saturday 12th) The Voyage 8.00am–5.30pm
A return voyage on the Inter-Island Ferry to visit the homes of Katherine Mansfield’s paternal grandparents in Picton, view the sailing vessel Edwin Fox and visit other sites.

Day Three (Sunday 13th) Katherine Mansfield’s Wellington 10.00am–5.00pm
Morning Programme: Thorndon & Karori: commencing at Katherine Mansfield’s Birthplace and visiting the Zigzag, Katherine Mansfield Park and other nearby locations associated with KM and her stories. Travel by bus to Karori to visit Chesney Wold and Karori School, before proceeding to the Thistle Inn for Lunch. Afternoon Programme: At the Bay: Travel by bus to Eastbourne to visit the cottage at Days Bay once owned by KM’s family and the ‘At the Bay’ house at Muritai. Return to the Pavilion at Days Bay for afternoon tea and a reading of ‘At the Bay’, before returning by Harbour Ferry to Queens Wharf.

Day Four (Monday 14th) Katherine Mansfield’s Birthday 10.00am–2.00pm
Meet at the Sculpture of Katherine Mansfield in Midland Park. Proceed on a conducted tour of the Wellington Writers’ Walk, stopping for lunch on the waterfront.
(The afternoon is free for people to visit Te Papa Museum the shops, etc., before the Celebration Dinner)
Celebration Dinner 7.30 pm. Including readings and items relating to Katherine Mansfield.

To register interest or for further details please contact the organiser: k.boon@clear.net.nz or P.O. Box 22011, Wellington 6441, N.Z or (04)4793264

http://www.katherinemansfieldsociety.org/

[Note: above item copied from NZ Society of Authors e-newsletter, 10 May 2013 www.authors.org.nz]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.

– Dale Carnegie

I often think that I should have more fun in my life.

   I do enjoy writing as you can get completely immersed in the process but it is a solitary occupation. For this reason I like attending Writers’ meetings and helping others with their writing projects.

   I read in the Listener (6 April), about an author, Elizabeth Strout, who said she didn’t enjoy books in the same way she used to as a teenager so that got me thinking. I think I’m still OK with reading. I’m enjoying Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver and Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan by William Dalrymple, Bloomsbury 2013, and The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin and along Blueskin Road by James Norcliffe. Looking forward to reading Kate Atkinson’s Life after Life and The Elegant Garden (this is waiting for me to collect it at the library though I will probably have to wait a lot longer for the novel).

   I think coffee and/or a glass of wine with friends might be one of my favourite things. We are lucky to have a great cafe here with a sea view and outside tables. I wish the Council would close the road to traffic though as sometimes a delivery van parks directly outside or a huge campervan on the other side completely obliterates the view. Also the historic ship Echo on Shelly Beach has been upgraded. Current owners have cut a hole in the side for easy access and over winter will be opening the ship up on the opposite side and building a platform out over the marina. This should be popular on summer evenings.

   Yesterday (22 April) was the last day of the Cruise Ship Season. There were 2,500 passengers on Radiance of the Seas here in port from 1.00-9.00pm. Many would have gone by bus to Marlborough wineries and places like the Omaka Museum. Others enjoyed the town. Next season there will be 15 cruise ships visiting. See the Port Marlborough website for details when they are posted.

Salmon farms update

   On Monday those parties that appealed the decision of the Environment Protection Authority (EPA), as regards setting up four new salmon farms in the Marlborough Sounds have been called to the High Court in Wellington. The session will not be open to the public. For details of who will be attending see Marlborough Express, 19 April, p.4.

Rats

According to the radio large numbers of rats are emerging after the long dry summer followed by the rain and cooler temperatures. My cat caught a huge rat the other day and proudly displayed it at my feet. I quickly closed the French doors so she didn’t bring it inside. I will have to go to the supermarket to buy Talon before it sells out.

Vinyl

 
Did you hear that vinyl records are making a comeback? I still play mine. I especially like the classical records with the crackles and the physical action of having to get up and turn them over to play the other side.  
 

E-book Singles

   In my blog last week and at the talk I gave at Bookchat I mentioned a book by Kathleen Jones that I consider to be the most definitive biography of Katherine Mansfield’s life to date. Here’s some news:

   Bridget Williams Books in Wellington has just launched a group of New Zealand E-book Singles and they've included a stand-alone chapter from Katherine Mansfield: The Story-teller, by Kathleen Jones which deals with Mansfield's last days and her death at Fontainebleau.
It's called 'I think . . . I am going to die' and it's available from BWB in all e-book formats or from Amazon.
   BWB describe it as:
'This moving, beautifully written chapter from Kathleen Jones’s biography Katherine Mansfield: The Story-teller (2010), describes Mansfield’s last days and death at a chateau near Paris, the centre of a spiritual movement led by the mysterious Russian philosopher-mystic Georges Gurdjieff. '
For more info, please go to: http://www.bwb.co.nz/books/i-think-i-am-going-to-die

[Note: Above item was copied from a Katherine Mansfield Society e-news item. These short items of interest are sent out frequently to Society subscribers]

Google glasses and watches

   I am not sure about the watches that you will be able to wear on your wrist that connect to your smart phone and tell you when you are receiving an email or a text. This sounds like an anti social activity to me. Apparently you still have to use the phone to make a call. A radio programme I really like listenig to is 'This Way Up' on a Saturday afternoon on Radio NZ National. It follows on from Kim Hill's programme (after the news at midday).

Boston

   Boston people must be feeling relieved that police have caught the brother suspected of being responsible for the bombings during the marathon. It is reported that he can’t talk and can only write down answers to questions. Have you seen the photograph of the other brother's wife, described as an 'All-American girl' who had been 'brainwashed' by her husband.

Gluten free porridge and Anzac biscuits

   Most of the year I have muesli for breakfast but in winter I like something warm. I have discovered a newish product: Good Health Rice flakes. They make a lovely porridge in the microwave. For one serving put 1/2 cup of rice flakes into a microwave dish with ½ cup of milk or water/milk combined. (I have a small glass bowl with a lid that I use for cooking frozen peas and so on). Cook on High for 45 seconds, stir and cook again on High for 45 seconds then let stand for 2-3 minutes. You can also cook it in a pot on the stove but microwave dishes are easier to clean. I add cranberries or goji berries, milk and yoghurt and dark brown sugar.

   This week I am going to make Anzac Biscuits. I always used to make the recipe from Lois Daish that appeared in the Listener when she was writing the recipe column. I substitute rolled oats with rice flakes but sometimes it’s hard to get the mixture right because they absorb moisture differently.  This can also depend on the temperature in the kitchen .The biscuits either crumble or are very crunchy. Still I will persevere and try the recipe from Joan Bishop’s cookbook, A Southern Woman’s Kitchen. (I will replace the rolled oats as I don’t think they are gluten free though some people might be OK with them.). Any advice welcome. I often make a 'Health slice' which is a similar recipe. This also has varying reults. If it's too crumbly I just use it as a topping for or apple and bluberry crumble or feijoa crumble at this time of the year.

   I am fortunate to own a copy of the above book. I took it out of the library then went to lunch with a group of Poet friends. I couldn’t finish my salad as it was a generous serving so I asked for a small container to take it home. When I got home I discovered that the balsamic dressing had gone all over the book tinting many of the pages a light pink. I had to pay for a replacement copy and was given the damaged book in return. Still cookery books don’t stay pristine for long and it’s a reminder of an enjoyable lunch.

Literary events:

I’m only including the events I am tempted by and some of which I may attend. For fuller coverage of upcoming events the NZ Society of Authors is developing a Calendar of events on its website www.authors.co.nz to replace their current ‘Death by deadline’ section, a phrase I have always loved. Note If I knew more about the design elements of blogging I could put this information into a box of some kind rather than just tacking it onto the end (or the beginning like last week).

24 April, 10.45am. A short story by TOS Branch committee member, Lindsay Wood, will be broadcast on Radio NZ National.

3 May, 6-8pm: Marlborough Museum and Blenheim Bookworld are hosting an evening with long-time owner of Tan’s second-hand bookshop in Scott Street in Blenheim. Tickets are available from Blenheim Bookworld (selling fast). Contact: 578 1712 or email info@marlboroughmuseum.org.nz

15-19 May: Auckland Writers and Readers Festival www.writersfestival.co.nz

17/18 May: author and poet James Norcliffe is taking a weekend poetry workshop in Blenheim. 16 participants are needed for it to go ahead.  See flyers in the Blenheim and Picton Libraries or to register contact: dotscot@kinect.co.nz (Note: only one ‘t’ in Scott).

25 May: AGM, Top of the South Branch of NZ Society of Authors in Nelson @ 2pm at the Hearing House.

7-9 June: AGM, NZ Society of Authors, Dunedin. See latest New Zealand Author for registration details.

14 October: 125^th anniversary of Katherine Mansfield’s birth. Wellington author and tour guide, Kevin Boon, is organising a weekend of activities in Wellington including a day trip to Picton.