(Thats Hello in Maori)
Well, here I am in New Zealand. At Last!!
After a couple of months of preparing the house at Bateau Bay for tenants to move into, i've arrived in the North Island of New Zealand at the little town where I grew up - Beautiful
Te Aroha. The town is at the base of a magnificent mountain range, where I am sure there is a sleeping dragon.... watch out!! I'm all up for waking sleeping dragons.
I've come bak here for a couple of reasons. Firstly, my parents are now requiring some help in their lives. My dad turns 90 next month and although he's still mowing his lawns and managing quite well - he is 90!!! I don't know how i'll go with another 30 years in this body of mine so I take my hat off to him!
My Mum is 82 and still doing her garden, taking care of dad, catching up with "the girls" - as she calls her group of octogenarian friends - baking, scrapbooking and preserving just about anything she can put into a jar. The latest - made just yesterday from an abundant supply of fejoas from her hedge - is a chutney. She made 12 bottles of the stuff and it was delicious on our beef sausages last night. Yum! Yes im back to eating meat and my body is definitly loving it.
The other reason that I came here is that I needed a change.
Although i'm still running my little business making herbal harmonic teas and harmonic perfumed oils and elixirs, I felt that I wanted to deepen my knowledge of the healing properties of plants and their unique energetic language of frequency - the harmonic language that I have come to know quite well over the last 12 years. What better place to do it than New Zealand.
This ancient land has some of the highest frequency plants on the planet. The waters are pure and the earth is clean, Here, I can venture forth into the landscape, learn about the plants as I forage the wetlands and mountain and then have even more fun turning them into healing balms, tinctures, salves, specialty vinegars, honeys, infused oils and salts.
I'll set up shop in Te Aroha, where my brother Adrian already has his photographic studio. Its going to be a little strange that shop. Tin Type Photographs, and healing Elixirs and balms. It'll give this little town something to talk about!
On my first day out foraging, I collected wild Fennel which grows abundandly down at the wetlands just a 15 minute walk from my mum and dads house. I returned to collect the seeds and infuse the flowers and leaves to make a tisane for my mums "funny tummy" as she calls it. I even added the fennel seeds to my pumpin soup that night (the pumpkin came from my Dads garden).
Below are a couple of pics from my new "office" which is a table that overlooks the wetlands. I had taken with me my beautiful new book for identifying New Zealand plants and it was a perfect day where I whiled away a couple of hours revelling in the deliciousness of this new adventure.
Until next time, Blessings from the Land of the Long White Cloud!
I love what your are doing. brave to make changes and blessed to have elderly parents.