sleeping beauty

what else can you do in winter?

off the road

down south we're still rugged up.
we watch the buds fatten, ready for the burst of spring. the wind still sends icicles from the south, but what the heck: here in the republic we have our own blankets.
the advantages of being off the road.
you're not out in the elements all the time. no bus waiting if you don't fancy it. no side of the road wonderings to other people's timetables. (for this reason alone i'm likely to spend days indoors looking out.anyway; who can find the time?) i'm not fond of grey.
actually, i'm not really into extremes: beige for instance- all deserts- parched, no vegetation... white, all snowy, blinding. grey: wet.
looking back i don't know how i ever managed to step foot out of the house other than for my own stupidity! outdoors: now there's extreme!
my thrills are a little more low-key: slow-mo: watching c, day by day, gaining strength until one day: hop: he can sit up by himself. or watching my garlic grow. or waiting for my hair to come back after a disasterous fringe atempt...
these days i get all the extremes i need from the national geographic, thanks very much! (and they're the issues from the '70s!)
anyway, who can afford the fuel?
the big fuel hikes have us all couch bound. sitting at home watching it on the (national geographic) telly. saturday night is the new sunday night. bed is the new out.


oh, i remember the day.....

xx
b

l'ail

picture a french man:

dark hair, moustache, beret, on a bicycle, with a baguette, stripey shirt, says oh là là...

for the second time since arriving in nz p has been given a gift of garlic.

he asks, is it because i am french? is this an acceptable gift?

some people don't like you to leave after a visit emptyhanded. some people believe the best gift is something that has come from their own hand. (i know in the late summer we spent all sorts of time trying to palm off our tomatoes to anyone without).

it is the quintessential image of the french man, though, string of garlic round the neck as he rides off down the country lane on his bike...

apples

somebody had their first apple.
somebody recently had been paying a lot of attention to other people when they ate. and although we discovered that the pirate is quite fond of quiche, on this occasion we're talking about c.

his first 'solid' meal.

as a gift we've been given a fab little machine called a babycook which steam cooks veges and then saving the water can incorporate it into its blending to make a delicious pureed apple.
or pureed kumara (sweet potato) that we had today. mmm.

however, with cheeks that big it is impossible to tell whether or not c actually ate the food or stored it for later...
xx
mama b

buzzwords

this week/year i shall be mostly ranting about: carbon credits
my word
is the whole world talking about it or is it just here in aotearoa?
carbon neutral.
they've just produced the first carbon neutral magazine.
what the heck is that all about? eh?
we were debating this at lunch, p and i, about being carbon neutral and how does carbon neutrality become an asset. i think the idea is that certain things, certain actions create carbon,(bad) and other certain actions eat it or neutralise it, (good).
we discussed whether or not the rara republic is carbon neutral.
for example: we've both caught quite a few airplanes, being (former) fans of travelling to far flung hemispheres= bad. but we get mega bonuses for growing our own organic veges = good. and surely i get bonus points as well for planting trees in my former life as a landscaper...
how do you own negative carbon??? who gets the points for the tree planting/growing: the planter, the tree grower, the tree owner (surely it's only temporary ownership) the tree worshipper?
so this is how i think it works:
person buys big a big fat 4x4 and suddenly feels guilty about the amount of fuel they're burning and carbon they're creating. googles 'carbon + offset'. gets sidetracked searching for a villa in the south of france. eventually gets back to the subject at hand and buys carbon points with goldcard.
conscience cleared.
and accumulated some handy fly-buys points as well!
some marketing dude is smiling now.
no, seriously. surely it's about living consciously? surely it's about buying stuff locally, in season; stuff that's produced using the best methods possible. eco isn't merely short for economical.
p said 'tell them i think it's all bullsh1t'.
this is his equation: being vegetarian is carbon friendly up until you start f@rting. and he's studied environmental engineering! (which he also reckons is merde)
tis hard to be a proper hippy when everyone is jumping on the (bio-fuel) bandwagon.
xxx
mama b

'versaries

ready for the road

look at my winter-ready pants and cardi

makes me a bit like a superhero

x


three years ago today the path of two freelance nomads crossed in a siberian guesthouse:
we'll drink to that!

somethingorother years ago today one Nannie (who knits fab winter outfits) was born:
bon anniversaire!

four months ago (tomorrow) one future nomad/dreamer/superhero/freedom fighter/.... was born:
hip hip hip hourra!

and all that.

the sun was shining like a non-winter goddesss and we visited the seaside and dined on fish.

xxx
mama b