Martin OConnor introduced me to this series of youtubes short films by some New Zealand sheep over on ThePenNZ's Channel.
I went searching and found the website where it says: Two Kiwi sheep and their take on life. Written and voiced by Guy Capper and Jemaine Clement.
I've been giggling away, remembering all the kiwi blokes I've heard saying similar stuff while under the influence.
Listen carefully and you'll hear some New Zealandese there near the end ... 'couldn'thaveI'
Anyway, we don’t do angels on Christmas treetops. No. Meet our Kiwi ... the favoured Christmas tree ornament here in our Belgian world.
My delightfully kind-hearted friend, Christine Kirker, sent the New Zealand-themed Christmas tree decorations a few years back.
When they’re not on Christmas tree duty, once a year, they hang here in my office where they make me smile whenever I look over that way.
Peter Donnelly is a rather delightfully talented New Zealander ... working in the environment I probably loved best in New Zealand.
AMAI ! (the Flemish equivalent of ‘my goodness’ perhaps), I’m not sure how regular my breathing was during the final of the rugby world cup.
So many times, we have known we have the best rugby team in the world ... so many times, they have failed at the final hurdle, that final rugby world cup test.
For perspective on this fact, you probably should know that rugby is almost religion in New Zealand.
And, my goodness, there were times during today’s final where it looked like the All Blacks were going to do it again. That is ... lose. It was heart-stopping stuff, with just 1 point seperating New Zealand and France for the final 30 minutes of the game. France was playing strongly.
But the All Blacks won and our little nation, of just over 4 million people, surely erupted with joy (and quite some relief). Even there in the Embassy, just as it was beginning to sink in, in the photograph below. There was another room, with a BIG screen and many more people there too. The Embassy was full.
Gert and I stayed to chat a while with some of the lovely people who turned up to watch the big match at the embassy. Apparently there were ambassadors from 5 countries there. To me, they were all there for the rugby, nothing else mattered ... did it?
From there, we wandered on over to the home of a lovely writer. I was photographing a man who is in the process of publishing his first book ... in Greek. If it is ever published in English, be sure, I will let you know because it sounds like one I would enjoy. He was a pleasure to work with and being there for a while, in his world, was a nice time out.
Home, and voila, our tram took us past a robbery-gone-wrong crime scene, with the police tent covering the body.
Then Oliver had time to film my first ever web video and could I?
I could.
We spent 2 hours or more, with him interviewing and filming me ... using two cameras. Amai!! it was intense. It should appear on the website one day soon, although it is destined for the new website which is up but still being loaded. Dank u wel to my Belgian bloke who, so very patiently, built me a new site using SquareSpace. News to follow.
Now, with my glass of red wine almost done, I’m turning my attention towards flying tomorrow. I jet back to Genova Italy in the morning. It’s a 5am start, I believe. A long day of wandering but, by crikey, I’m looking forward to being back there and beginning work on my book ... and organising the dates and the marketing for the first ‘come travel with me’ photography workshop for Spring 2012.
I’m glad I had Saturday. I had a birthday and my lovely daughter cooked dinner for me, and baked a cake of Veronica’s that still makes me smile when I think of it. I rested, as if I had an inkling of the sheer insanity of Sunday. Saturday saw me enjoying Miss 7, hanging out with the Belgian bloke, talking with my sister and her daughter Katie, back home in New Zealand for 3 hours perhaps, there was a family dinner too.
Tomorrow ... tomorrow is coming at speed and I really must pack. I hope your weekend was a sweet one.
Ciao for now.
It has been 7 years since I was last home, 7 years since I last saw so many people ... and now I have one of those long-ago people here at my house.
Valda was my first mother-in-law, mother to Chris - my first husband, grandmother to my daughter Jessica. I’m not sure if you can imagine how delightful it has been to catch up with her. This woman who has known me since I was 17 years old, something so rare in this life of mine. I had my daughter when I was 21, so not even she has known me so long and no one in my Istanbul life, nor my Belgian life, has either.
So we have spent the last few days catching up on extended family news, with Valda delighting in time spent with her granddaughter and her great-granddaughter too. It has been lovely.
But there this small thing that did make me giggle. The photograph below ... the glass kiwi. It’s a wine bottle stopper. An exquisite wine bottle stopper that Valda brought me from from home. And it shows me, even after all this time, Valda still does know me rather well.
Chance encounters change lives. Close friends, passing aquaintances and even characters who emerge from old books often leave footprints across my heart. By opening mysterious doors, the influence of others has inadvertently altered the direction of my life.
Colin Monteath, from Under A Sheltering Sky