the weekend that was

flying south, wedged in the back row of a tiny plane + a house flanked by steep hills, suburbia and the windruffled sea + slow days & shared living; this house, an island where the four of us are moored + op shop dress-up games and bargain hunting with my best friend + coffee in bed watching the sun basting the bare-limbed tree outside our room in golden light + chai tea and cheesy scones spiked with zatar + ottolenghi’s chicken with caramelised onion and cardamom rice + sharing food finds and recent revelations

slow drawing + cool mornings and fireside nights + erosion + renewal + the things we carry, the things we inherit + blue skies and boat sheds + the castle + breakfast out and book fair browsing + books bought and borrowed

the saturday market and a sunday sauna with sea swims + fat freddy’s drop on the turntable + a fern-coloured merino travel wrap + deciduous trees and ginko leaves + locally sourced gifts & handmade goods + deep belly laughs and inside jokes + creative conversations that wander through forests of curiosity and knowing + a golden sliver of moon traversing the clear night sky

a generous spicy pool of tom yum soup; the high tide mark clearly visible in its large porcelain bowl + a folklore intro + linen pyjamas + feijoas (and saving the skins to make this feijoa skin soda recipe from sophie merkins) + taking, once again, to the air…the tidal flats shining like opalescent ribbons beneath us

stories from elsewhere

1. kemi niko are gathering entries for “putting together a public journal by trampers for trampers that reads like someone ripped the rules out of a hut book and replaced them with creative prompts for a bushclad mind”. if you’re interested, you can find out more here. will i be submitting one? oh yes.
2. rita edited // a marketplace to discover & directly support small, nz-based creatives.
3. you can play a worldwide game of telephone online! they want artists of all genres and locations to play. sign up and they’ll send you the message you are tasked with interpreting. i played recently and was perplexed and challenged (in the best possible way).
4. waitī waitā // twin stars of the matariki cluster, associated with rivers and oceans. represented beautifully in song by maisey rika. added to my playlist for this month-long celebration of the māori new year.

how’s your weekend?