The potter and the clay

 

The Potter and the Clay

 

"There was a couple who used to go to England to shop in the beautiful stores. They both liked antiques and pottery and especially teacups. This was their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.

One day in this beautiful shop they saw a beautiful teacup. They said, "May we see that? We've never seen one quite so beautiful." As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke. "You don't understand," it said. "I haven't always been a teacup. There was a time when I was red and I was clay. "My master took me and rolled me and patted me over and over and I yelled out, "let me alone", but he only smiled, "Not yet."

"Then I was placed on a spinning wheel," the teacup said, "and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. Stop it! I'm getting dizzy!" I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, 'Not yet”. Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I wondered why he wanted to burn me, and I yelled and knocked at the door. I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as He shook his head, "Not yet”. Finally the door opened, he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool.

"There, that's better," I said. And he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. "Stop it, stop it!" I cried. He only nodded, "Not yet." Then suddenly he put me back into the oven, not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. All the time I could see him through the opening nodding his head saying, "Not yet."

Then I knew there wasn't any hope. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf. One hour later he handed me a mirror and said, "Look at yourself." And I did. I said, "That's not me; that couldn't be me. It's beautiful. I'm beautiful.” "I want you to remember, then," he said, "I know it hurts to be rolled and patted, but if I had left you alone, you'd have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled.
I knew it hurt and was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened; you would not have had any color in your life. And if I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't survive for very long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you."

Author unknown

A wonderful winter day

On this beautiful winter day we had a drive around Lyttelton Harbour

William inspects the water of Lyttelton Harbour, an inlet in banks Peninsula

View on Charteris bay

The new Godley café next to where the Godley House used to be in Diamond harbour

This is called the toast rack by the locals, located at Purau bay

A little church (1868) in Rapaki Bay. In the background we heard beautiful singing from the people at the Marae (communal place). Rapaki Bay always has been occupied by the Ngai Tahu Maori tribe

jetti at Rapaki bay

A special effect created by smoke of an open fire

Let it go

 Let it go

Eye pleasing roses

A sky piercing rainbow

A joy for all who notice

for non of us to owe

Embrace your car, your porcelain

but don't buy identity in a shop

Your spirit will not change
if you break an expensive cup

You are all, you are the cup
Fill it with satisfaction
gently mix the fluid
with love and affection

Let the world drink from that potion
The brew will change another soul
breaks down layers of illusion

till only love is in control

No need to posses the water
Refresh yourself, enjoy high tie

Then let it go again

as there is endless supply

marja blom

Mother and daughter

I was playing with the graphic design software to learn some new tricks.
I pasted an old photo of me and my mum next to my daughter. My mum is very pixelated as the photo was tiny. I know with "Gaussian blur" you could do something about it but I didn't have the patients.
I actually just wanted to see how much we looked alike at similar ages. I discover more often that my daughter and me are alike. Last week, the last day before she went back to Wellington my husband was out. So no TV as we both dislike it and music on. She started dancing on old disco like "We are family and boogie wonderland" and I joined in. She is a great dancer and even won the title best dancer at the pram at high school. I am not bad myself and we both love it. We had great fun although I had a bad back for a couple of days. lol
Mayke is artistic and she writes poetry. I love both as well but she is far better than me. My mum actually never did anything arty but she is a good writer. She only used it professionally.
All three of us are strong willed,  hard working, independent thinkers  and drama queens.
Both my mum and my daughter are far more mature than I was in my early twenties. My daughter is already quite philosophical, is all about sustainability etc. which gained my interest at middle age.
Like me and my mum she dislikes housekeeping and loves food. We always have lunch together when she is in Christchurch. Oh I miss her already.

A broken city, broken souls and a flower

Just looking at a film on TV, called the dare devil. It's a bit like Superman where a Hero with super natural powers fights the dark forces and comes up for the weak.
It is not my piece of cake as it seems too easy, like in children's books. Real life seems more complicated . I try to make the best of it and try to make a little difference myself but  sometimes I am in a stage (like now) where you ask yourself do I do enough and can I really make a  difference. Sometimes I am in a stage that you just want to retreat as you see so much people
suffering.
When I was young I had the ability to make people laugh. That's why they liked me because I put a spark in their day. I felt a bit lonely though as they didn't want to hear about my serious side and therefore I felt a bit disconnected.
Now I am able to connect  but miss my playfulness. My brother still has the ability to make me laugh and he can brighten my day.
Anyway it makes me think about the meaning of life. I thought it was to love learn and grow. Or something like it. What do you think?
Sometimes I don't get the message. Why some things have to happen. Have no clue what to do when seeing broken souls around everywhere, how to help so many. I feel helpless and not being able to do anything for a while till I feel better again. I retreat to a smaller part of my world which are often the children at work and life becomes simple again, not exactly as in the dare devil, but still like in a children's book. Maybe that's where a flower grows out of the broken city.

Underneath a blast from the past.

Sunrise and sunset

A beautiful poem to enjoy

 

Sunrise and Sunset
I’ll tell you how the sun rose,
A ribbon at a time.
The steeples swam in amethyst,
The news like squirrels ran.
The hills untied their bonnets,
The bobolinks begun.
Then I said softly to myself,
That must have been the sun!”
But how he set, I know not.
There seemed a purple stile
Which little yellow boys and girls
Were climbing all the while
Till when they reached the other side,
A dominie in gray
Put gently up the evening bars,
And led the flock away.
 Emily Dickinson

Time for walking and biking

Being over 50 means that you can't take live for granted anymore. My 51 year old brother is also struggling with his health. Head up bro! This makes me more aware and more grateful for the good things in life.
I allowed myself some comfort food in the past months but my over 50 body is also a bit of a worry. The food turns me straight into a "chubby mum" as my kids say to me.
Therefore I am spending more time on walking and biking in the weekends.

Yesterday I walked with my daughter over the quarry. We enjoyed the great view on the snow capped Southern Alps

As I take out my camera, my daughter goes into hiding but a nice picture anyway.

Today we had a 35 km bike ride. I am a bit stiff now. A great excuse to go blogging again.

There was a winter market in Lincoln, with a Christmassy theme, mulled wine and a warm winter sun.

The highlight of this small market was this little princess.

We biked back over Tai Tapu. Checked out some old friends who were living there but no one was home. We then had lunch at the local café and biked home.