Oh, Saturday morning. Isn’t today the big day? Big plans, plenty to do? Action packed places to go, people to see? After a very solid week’s work, 48 hours of me-time. So, get up and go! Go! Go!

Can I check back with you later after a cup of coffee or two?

Just kidding. It has been a most productive day. Perhaps one of the most productive in a long time.

Manifesto
19. Every day make time for yourself.
27. Every day pain is a sign of growing.
32. Every day have a laugh.

I love kowhai – I’d plant them everywhere if I could. I love the dappled shade caused by the lacy foliage, the seed pods, and the yellow seeds. But most of all, I love the spring-ness of them. They flower in early Spring.

My Mum used to talk about the ‘Kowhai Floods’ – as a child the area she lived in was prone to flooding in late Winter / early Spring, as a result of the heavy rains in the short, sharp slopes of the Tararuas. Mum’s observations became part of the tradition for us to plant potatoes after the ‘Kowhai Floods’ – probably after the last frost.

Manifesto
36. Every day be still. Connect to your inner being. Listen and be guided by it.
42. Every day celebrate. Who you are. What you have achieved. Things that matter to you.
49. Every day is a good day.

I prefer to regard a dessert as I would imagine the perfect woman: subtle, a little bittersweet, not blowsy and extrovert. Delicately made up, not highly rouged. Holding back, not exposing everything and, of course, with a flavour that lasts. — Graham Kerr

There’s nothing better for me than something I can really get my teeth into. There’s probably a million things, issues, interests, blah-blah out there, every day, to attract my attention – advertising this, crisis that, cause the other. They’re overwhelming. As far as possible, I try to filter them, to ignore them. There’s just too much for me to give my full attention to – it’s kind of like an entire meal composed of dessert. It sounds great, but ultimately leaves me feeling unfulfilled.

This year I’ve been making a major effort to really pick my battles. It’s not easy for me, there’s a temptation to dig into almost any distracting thing that takes my attention. That’s not just my battle these days – traditional media fails because people just don’t have, or don’t take, the time to give full attention. It’s a high stakes battle for our minds.

If it’s that important I really should pay more attention. Except I’m just reminding myself to concentrate on the here and now, digging in to what’s right at my fingertips. Make a better photo. Write a better sentence. That’s enough for me.

Manifesto
06. Every day you make choices.
22. Every day refine, clarify and simplify.
35. Every day focus on what matters to you.

While making the shot I wondered about the apple – to me, a food as well as a concept or an idea that resonates in so many ways of ‘home’. I could call up many memories in which apples had a role. Ubiquitous, but anything but common. Humble yet noble, the everyman (or woman) fruit.

If I was travelling to a far-off place what would I take? I decided that like the Victorians, yes, I think I probably would take an apple tree or two with me – for the fruit, the wood, for the love, for home, and for my new home. Across the globe, across the years.

Manifesto
04. Every day is an opportunity to cultivate the promise of the future.
14. Every day the ordinary can be the extraordinary.
30. Every day use all your senses. Touch. Smell. Taste. Hear. See.

Tonight we’ll watch a movie, maybe two. We’ll eat the pizza and perhaps have some fresh fruit for dessert. We’ll probably chat with comfortable silences in between where we’ll read, write, or craft something new. We’ll shut the door on the storms of the week and take/make sanctuary in our own cozy little world. For a short work week it’s been extra filled of the madnesses of our day jobs – stuff that in a few weeks, maybe even days will be irrelevant or at least forgotten beyond bad memories and an unpleasant aftertaste.

And that’s the magic of pizza made from fresh ingredients and seasoned with love. Like work we won’t remember the exact pizza, but we will easily remember the atmosphere, the flavour, and the aftertaste.

Manifesto
05. Every day is now. The present moment.
18. Every day express love. Some people need to hear it. Most people need to see it. Don’t take it for granted.
29. Every day eat, drink, rest, work, exercise, play, love, create for your own good. And the good of others.

You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you. — Maya Angelou

Our first day back at work. There’s really only one sensible response. At lunch time we burst out of our offices like school kids finally off the leash and we scamper off to the art supply shop and buy canvas.

One of the ways we can manage the every day stresses is to create – we paint, print, doodle, make books, collage, write, draw, make photos, play music, and cook.

The secret is to transform and adorn the canvas of our lives – to craft the way we want to think and the way we want to live.

Manifesto
09. Every day learn something new.
19. Every day make time for yourself.
23. Every day retain your personal power. It belongs to you. No one else.

Simple. Elegant.

Could we be richer?

Manifesto
18. Every day express love. Some people need to hear it. Most people need to see it. Don’t take it for granted.
30. Every day use all your senses. Touch. Smell. Taste. Hear. See.
42. Every day celebrate. Who you are. What you have achieved. Things that matter to you.

We’ve harvested some of the first of the crop, plucking the pods off the vines before the sun dried off the dew. A quick rinse and then sensuous ritual of cracking open the swollen pods and rolling the fat peas bouncing into a bowl. There’s a complete set of sounds associated with peas – the squeak of the pods, the plock of the pods as they snap open, the pluck of the peas parting from the pod, and the boing-bounce of the peas in the bowl. So far we haven’t cooked the peas – we can’t bring ourselves to spoil their crisp purity. This year we enjoyed their divine freshness in green salad – beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

We could buy frozen peas for cooking with if we really needed to. Or wanted to. Or could think of a reason why.

Manifesto
20. Every day say thank you.
29. Every day eat, drink, rest, work, exercise, play, love, create for your own good. And the good of others.
49. Every day is a good day.

Work is love made visible.
Khalil Gibran

“I’ve got chicken pox!!!!!” announced my 15 year old nephew, Stefan, on his Facebook status.

As I read these words I knew our Christmas plans had just changed. In our household plans changing is normal. Sometimes we have a Plan B up our sleeve and other times we don’t. Even after all these years of knowing and experiencing this reality it still takes me a moment to process what has happened, what it means and what I am going to do about it.

My first instinct after reading Stefan’s words were to contact my sister and assess the situation. I needed to gather facts to help me make a decision.

My 27 year old son Damian lives with a rare chromosome disorder which means he lives with an impaired immune system. Even though he had all the normal immunisations and illnesses like chicken pox as a child his immunity to all these diseases was wiped as the result of undergoing treatment (chemotherapy and radiotherapy) for leukaemia when he was 10 years old. In normal circumstances once a child completes their treatment they undergo a re-immunisation programme but this was not possible for Damian. As a result he is immunocompromised all the time and diseases like chicken pox and measles have the potential of making Damian incredibly sick should he contract them. As you can imagine we have become super vigilant in trying to keep Damian away from any known infection possibilities. Taking risks with Damian’s health is not an option.

So today instead of driving to Auckland (an eight hour drive north of where we live) to join the rest of my family that were gathering at my sister’s home to celebrate Christmas together, we stayed put. Instead of sitting in a car as a passenger or taking my turn at driving I spent the day in the kitchen getting ready for our own Christmas celebration.

It felt good to be in the kitchen. I spent the whole day creating – my daughter Mira’s favourite bean salad, a homemade herbed soft white cheese, preparing a multi-layered jelly, ginger crunch, shortbread, meringues and a white chocolate rocky road were amongst some of the items I produced. As I was putting trays in the oven and seeing the products coming out I was reminded of the days when I baked all the time. The memories came flooding back when I had time to be in the kitchen and create all sorts of wonders that delighted others. These days cooking is a chore I want to get over and done with as quickly as possible because I never have the time to think about what I’m going to cook let alone actually making it.

Today was different. I didn’t have to go to my day job. Instead I worked in my kitchen to create treats for the people I loved. It felt much more satisfying than anything I normally do during my working week. As I worked I thought about all the people in my life and what they mean to me. Everything I did today was infused with a bit of me and it felt incredibly good.

How satisfying it must be to work every day producing something that manifests your love made visible.

Manifesto
11. Every day do something for someone else.
47. Every day you are responsible.
48. Every day there are things you can’t change. You can change the way you think about them and deal with them.

Mis-communication is so easy when you’re in an unfamiliar environment. Different accents, different use of language, different ways of doing things – they all contribute to a sense of not being sure about what you are hearing or seeing.

I thought it was simple. We wanted two jasmine teas and one green tea with our lunch that we were ordering.

“Tea bags or flowers?” asked the man behind the counter.

What I expected, and what I thought I had asked for, was not what we were served.

I had thought flowers meant leaves because this is what I was familiar with.

Imagine my surprise when I saw what was in our mug – a dried flower. Slowly the flower unfolded as it became more hydrated.

We all drank our teas with a smile on our face. They were the perfect compliment to our Vietnamese meal.

Can you guess which mug was the green tea and which one was the jasmine tea?

Manifesto
09. Every day learn something new.
14. Every day the ordinary can be the extraordinary.
17. Every day look through a new lens.