The final piece

Although the space out the front of the library has been open since before Christmas there was one thing that still needed to go in.  So Monday morning saw a group of us gathered for the installation and blessing of that final piece, thank goodness dawn is at a reasonable time at this time of year.  It's called Te Ataarangi and represents a method originally developed for learning maths but now also used for learning languages.  As usual for public art projects it has been labeled 'controversial' but most people seem to quite like it and so do I.

Festival fashion

On Thursday we were officially declared in drought, on Friday Womad started, on Sunday it rained.  This didn't stop the dancing, it just changed the attire.

and, because it's Womad, there was of course Hungarian fried bread & a beer.

Going to prison

Today New Plymouth Prison held an open day before it finally closes for business at the end of the month.  It was originally built in 1870 and, as a Category 1 listed building, hopefully it will have another, happier life in the future.

You have to really...

take a photo when you see something like this.  Chicken catchers - who knew!