Democracy in Action

There have been protestors at Parliament most of this week. They arrived Tuesday which is a work from home day for me so I got my first look on Wednesday morning as I rounded the corner to get to the staff entrance. 

Two streets completely blocked and if you look carefully you can see tents under the trees. Not sure how they’re going to fare this weekend as rain and wind are predicted but I guess that’s the cost of commitment to the cause.

Suited Up

A very small group of us got to take part in a very special occasion this week, the blessing of a new building next door to work. As well as being a tiny group (5 of us and 30 in total) we also had to gear up to be on a construction site. I think we look pretty flash in fluro!

The Plan

This might not look like much, just a little black mark on a tile in my bathroom…

But there are three of them and they mark the start of an actual plan for updating my bathroom, kitchen and laundry. 

This also brings lots of catalogues and a hand drawn plan from the builder. Quotes incoming!

Weavers away

It’s Wellington Anniversary weekend and that means our now annual weavers trip to Rangataua. Slightly smaller group this year but same level of creativity. 

Quiet

Nothing really to report this week. Back to work and the rest of life starting to ramp up. 

However my pōhā have dried into lovely fuggly shapes. 

Experimenting

Almost 2 years ago I was at a marae north of Dunedin and we were shown how to make pōhā. These are rimurapa/bull kelp storage containers.  On Thursday I got to share that knowledge as a weaving connection harvested us some kelp from round the coast. 

You carefully separate the spongy insides to make a pocket. It’s weird a squidgy but the goo dries quickly and leaves your hands lovely and soft. 

Normally you’d tie the top and inflate it like a balloon but we stuffed ours with paper.  Then you make a small kete for the base and surround it with bark for insulation and protection. 

Then you lace up the sides to hold it all in place. 

This is by no means a functional pōhā but as an experiment it’s a total success! 

Change of Plan

I had a bit of a plan for these two weeks; relax, recharge, maybe paint the gate at the top of the drive. Week one has involved lots of relaxing and recharging but no painting. What I have done is tidying, sorting and unusual for me, throwing stuff out. 

The recycle bin is almost full and there’s an extra bag in the rubbish. Treasures have been consolidated and a bag of conference pens and lanyards is going to back to work with me. 

And as you can see this has all been done under Huia’s watchful eye!