No not winter

Sunday Scribblings asked to write about winter and sorry it is summer here so this is what I have to say :)

Are you dreaming of a white Christmas For me that wouldn't be fun In December I start packing for a holiday in the sun.You must be kidding me writing about the cold and the dark I hope you don't mind I'll write about a summer picnic in the park It is here all about BBQ's and picnics at the moment. We are eating salads and drinking wine out of plastec cups. Yes we are having a good time that's why I wrote this poem recently. Your turn will come to write about summer

Summer picnic in the park

 

Waves of laughter fill the air

creating a orchestra with

clattering and clicking cups

at a summer picnic in the park

Children’s voices cling to the air

 leaving a fragrance of joy

 enriching the harmony

 at the summer picnic in the park

A buzzing bee circles, around

the sprouting belly of a snoozing man

 captured in a frame of flowers

at the summer picnic in the park

breaking down your world of worry

replacing it with wonder and delight

punctuated by a beam of light

 at the summer picnic in the park

Aroha, Marja

The eagle

courtesy of google

The Eagle

Native American legend A young warrior found a lone eagle's egg and placed it in the nest of a prairie chicken. The egg hatched and the little eagle grew up thinking it was a prairie chicken. The eagle did what the prairie chickens did. It scratched in the dirt for seeds. It clucked and cackled. It never flew more than a few feet because that is what the prairie chickens did. One day he saw an eagle flying gracefully and majestically in the open sky. He asked the prairie chickens: "What is that beautiful bird?" The chickens replied, "That is an eagle. He is an outstanding bird, but you cannot fly like him because you are just a prairie chicken." So the eagle never gave it a second thought, believing that to be the truth. He lived the life of and died a prairie chicken, depriving himself of his heritage because of his lack of vision. What a waste! He was born to win, but was conditioned to lose.

Mental chain

Most people are like the circus elephant. Have you ever seen a giant elephant in an indoor arena tied to a little wooden stake. That huge creature can pick up two thousand pounds with its trunk, yet it calmly stays tied. Why? When that elephant was just a baby, and not very strong, it was tied by a huge chain to an iron stake that could not be moved. Regardless of how hard it tried, it could not break the chain and run free. After it a while it just gave up. Later, when it is strong, it never attempts to break free. The "imprint" is permanent. "I can't! I can't!' it says. There are millions of people who behave like this creature of the circus. They have been bound, tied and told "You'll never make it," so many times they finally call it quits. The may have dreams, but the "imprinting" keeps pulling them back. Today, eliminate the source of your limitations. When you mentally break free, the boundaries will be removed from your future.

author unknown

The Giant's House, Akaroa

This is what we came for "The giant House" and it was breath taking. If you ever go to Akaroa this is a must see, a step into wonder. This colourful, whimsical world is created by Josie Martin, who is trained in horticulture and art and it is not surprising that she has won many awards and scholarships. Close your eyes, tick your heals and magic appears (don't forget to open your eyes silly)

Josie restored this house which was built in 1880

Millions of pieces of tiles are used and some cups

Who wants to eat from a prima ballerina table

Just sit back and enjoy

More magic

a feast for the eye everywhere you look

The moment the apple got handed over

This was a tiny but I think very pretty sculpture

Dream boat

Akaroa

We drove to Akaroa yesterday which is just a 65 km drive. Akaroa is an historic French and British settlement nestled in the heart of an ancient volcano.

On top of the hil we drank coffee and had a thousand dollar view

Impressions from Akaroa

Palm trees make the town look like a tropical spot

 The old lighthouse

Grateful

When I was young I was naive and I was not very good in juggling life. Things happened I didn't understand. My parents were often stressed. They both had a full time job and had a hard time with us strong willed kids. I looked at the dark side...... I had learning disabilities but didn't know and didn't understand why I missed out on many things and looked on the dark side...... I struggled and stumbled and than I got children. They were very strong willed which made me stressed and I discovered there was a reason for their problems similar to the ones I had. They had some hard times but I discovered their strength and than I discovered I had them too. I found out that I had many things to be grateful for. I looked on the bright side and the law of attraction slowly began to work and many good things began to happen and continue to happen so I write these simple words and this simple poem today because I am grateful that life isn't complicated anymore.

Grateful
By marja Blom

They can give me some stress
my kids and my spouse
 but I love them to bits
 make a home out of my house

I forget I am tired
 At the children's home 11 o'clock
 when I find the words on my cellphone
Marja you rock
 

I like the juggle with words
on my blog I can play
 and learn and discover
 something new everyday

I dance with the moon
 get tickled by the sun
 I fall in love with live
 when I laugh and have fun

The song of Bocelli
 Touches my soul in its core
and the paradise of New Zealand
So much to be grateful for
 

I can go on and on
but its time to go to bed
or as they say in dutch
 het is uit met de pret

Or a good morning for some of you. Ahora marja

Oxford new Zealand

A few weeks ago we went for a day trip to Oxford a little town 50 km NW of Christchurch. A day trip? When you blink twice with your eyes you are past Oxford. Ah well half a day and it was more a round trip. On the way back we stopped in Rangiora as well. Oxford is a cosy town with the Alps on the background and some nice buildings. There is a popular restaurant on the mainroad, cafe 51 which you can see on the picture above. No the car isn't ours but it made a good shot. Also the famous TV chef Jo Seager has a cooking school on the same street.

Many people go to Oxford to have a picnic at Ashley Gorge, just past Oxford. A camping and picnic place is close to the river. We had a walk around there and the woodpigeon above posed nicely for us. She had her singlet on because it was a hot day. Years ago we spent a few days close to here in an old tramping hut at the foot of several tracks in the Oxford forest with the scouts. We did some tramping and at night we went eal catching. The kids had made sticks with 3 big nails attached to it. The only problem was we couldn't find any.

We bumped into scouting leader and friend Graeme, who went with me on that camp, in front of the craft shop in Oxford that day.

We continued the trip towards Rangiora largest town of the Wamakariri district with 12000 residents which has a lovely towncentre and than went back home

In the centre of Rangiora

The train station

I found this fun thing today on photoFunia where you can upload your picture and it prompted me to write this poem

The train station by marja blom

I watch them pass by
and catch a glimpse of the play
of the actors of live
who's props are newspapers
suitcases and cellphones
The lines in their face
and the light in their eyes
reveal a clue to an untold story
Directed by a voice
"the 10.30 to Amsterdam
 is leaving on platform two"
they step in the carcass
of steel and glass
driving them to their next act
 I watch them pass by
and catch a glimpse of their play

Summer fun in the sun

Summer fun in the sun in our own back....eh front garden (we don't have a back garden). The fun is even better because since yesterday we have a patio made by my William. Yes he is a DIY-man and he improved heaps on our house. The house we bought 11 years ago when we just arrived in NZ. This is one of the reasons we survived here. We came to this country without a job, family, friends, house, without anything. We just had enough to buy this house. The cheapest in this area. One of the best primary schools was however close by. We knew because William went to that school when he was young.The disadvantage is the house is on a busy road. It didn't have a fire in it but we brought an iron cast one, which William received from his Aunt and the curtains we brought from Holland exactly matched the carpet which was already in the house, eventhough it had an unusual colour as you can see. It was meant to be. The strange thing is we were never worried. We were just going to do this. Everything fell in place one by one. It was not easy though because I felt very isolated in the beginning especially because my english was pretty bad. We earned a lot less too but we came to love this place and country very much.

Come in through our gate. William made the garden door and wire fence which is now full of roses William heeft deze tuindeur en tuinhek gemaakt die nu vol met rozen zit

Here our new patio were we will have many BBQ's and wine. William build the piece on the house on the far right (with the open doors) as well, together with Uncle John who is a carpenter.

Hier ons nieuwe terrasje waar we veel zullen BBQen en wijn drinken. William heeft ook een stukje aan het huis gebouwd, helemaal rechts (met de open deuren) samen met Ome Jan die timmerman is.

Mayke is studying for her exams and can't be disturbed Mayke is vo or haar examens aan het leren achter de parasol and kan niet gestoord worden

A last peek through the window Een laatste kijkje door het raam

My Brothers

My brother is making me a calender with family pictures and I can't wait to see it. He brings it with him in December. He already sent me this picture so now I can introduce my broo's to you
The cute one on the left of moi, is my broo Pieter a sensitive guy with golden hands, He turned two old houses into a palaces and a garden into a paradise. He is married with a very smart woman and has 2 beautiful daughters.
The wee little boy is my broo Frank who is a hardworking business man with a beautiful wife and two gorgeous little girls and a lovely son.
The one on the far right is my oldest broo and friend Bert. He is visiting me every two years and is coming again in December. He is a great entertainer and always in a good mood.
I don't get to see them very often since I live in New Zealand so I am looking forward to meet them next year. We will not be wearing the same anymore though.

This town knows me

Mayke gave me a few of her poems. This one is from the series of Christchurch written for Highschool

This town knows me

By Mayke Blom

 This town knows me.

It gives me the double taste,

swinging me from country

to town in public carriages

This town knows me.

The scent of flowers or bush or meadow

Wisps calmly through

the air of Christchurch parks

This place knows me.

Memorizing

My typical table of time

 A shadow ignored by

Them who cling to their own eyes

And I know this town.

Cautious of people

ripping me off the page

 accidentally.

 I know this town.

sun being speedy

and clouds floating slow

Caught by the winds puff

A warm smile brightens the sky.

They, they don’t know this town

Hagley Park

Photo fun

Thanks to not blogging I got the spring cleaning done and many other things. I gave several hints to people to admire my spic and span house. The most polite ones nodded and mumbled something like "looks nice" and than all dropped their belongings on strategic places all over the house and....the whole spic span look was gone. The regression back to the computer was unpreventable, but we do it slowly. The real reason is of course that I missed you. I have now time to explore some programs on my computer and found great fun stuff.

This one is a collage made with Picasa. The top pictures are from Saturday night. We went to the Guy folks fireworks in Motukarara. The bottom ones are shots from our garden. William made a rock and cactus corner and this cactus gets many flowers. Nice he

This one is a merge from the above four pictures. Isn't that cool !!

Picasa is free down loadable from the Internet. Than you upload your photo's to Picasa Picasa is from Google and therefore it is compatible with all Google programs. That means you can upload pictures straight from Picasa to blogspot, Picasa web album and Google earth. In addition you can make the above great photo collages and more. Have fun.