Maree’s musings

The LONG and SHORTENED of it.

‘Life is short’, the saying goes; and brevity is contagious. For example [e.g.], the mysteriously named acronym: i.e. a new word from the initials of the key words. The Swedish firm IKEA makes flash stuff. IKEA’s short for Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd – whatever that means! Going to a party? It’s polite to send an RSVP, and if you’re organised, do it ASAP. The invite might say P.S.: BYO. Whatever you do, don’t confuse p.m. with a.m. or get your ETA muddled up. OK? (may be a misspelling of ‘och aye’ or an abbrn [HAH!] of ‘all correct’.)
Filling in forms? You may be asked for DOB & (ampersand) ID. Tickboxes for ‘sex’ [how impertinent IMHO!] have ‘M’ or ‘F’ but perhaps should include LGBTQI. Places for Y, N or N/A. More than one page? PTO.
Life is full of bureaucracy. We have GOVT, WINZ, DSW, the IRD and GST (incl or excl); the ANZ and BNZ caring for leftover $$$s or your OD! DHBs have EDs for rush jobs; CEOs and 2ICs and smiling PR staff. These folk have B.Scs, M.Bs and Ch.Bs, MBAs or even PhDs. Hope they help.
Technology tends to OD on shorts. We have TV, DVDs, CDs, UHF and VHF, AM and FM, IPods and other Pods, the good old BBC. RADAR, CYBORGs, ROBOTs and other bots. Flying UAVs delivering pizza or taking pix. Scarey. LASER. I looked that one up – ‘light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation’ I’m none the wiser, though.
On your PCs (Personal Computer, not Politically Correct, incidentally) and I-Pads: FB, blog – short for weblog; www., MS-DOS, ROM, RAM, USB, etc. Emails sport FOMO, BFFs and TTFN. OMG! FYI I don’t even know what some of those mean LOL. … Continue Reading

The Friday Club

What do Colin McCahon, Glenys Hanson’s surplus bathroom tiles and the children at St Andrew’s Friday Club have in common? The answer’s Art.

For several weeks the children from St Andrews and St Francis (Kahutara) have been preparing and working on the tiles to turn them into enduring works of art. They’d been learning about prayer and were encouraged to “write what you feel”. They were also shown how McCahon used words in his art to express his religious feelings.

As you might expect from budding artists, the results were mixed. Some were poignant, some colourful, some even looked a little like McCahons. A couple of mavericks decided that the word “Jeff” in large letters was the best expression of their religious leanings! Thanks to Les Roberts and Adrian Blackett from the Martinborough Mens Shed these tiny treasures are now mounted on the fence at the back of St Andrews.

The Friday Club is Sunday School on Friday. Teachings are in the Anglican tradition and cover a range of bible stories followed by a related craft or activity. Friday Club is open to all children, whether their parents attend the church or not and operates between 3-4pm each Friday during the school term.

If you would like your child to attend, contact Anne Hannah on 022 075 9807.

Come and have a look

Following some people’s comments that they had never seen inside the church the Catholic community decided to hold an open afternoon in which everybody is invited to come and have a look around (be assured – they won’t be taking up the collection).
The Altar and beautiful stained glass windows at St Anthony’s have an interesting history. The windows had been imported from England in 1873 for Wellington’s first Catholic Church. When this church was dismantled to make way for the present St Mary of the Angels the windows and Altar were put into storage.
The man appointed to be foreman overseeing the building of St Anthony’s, a Mr Moloney, had also been foreman at the building of St Mary’s and remembered that the windows and Altar were still I storage and arranged them to be given for the Martinborough church.
There are also two fine tukutuku panels woven by Mrs Te Ruru and presented to the church by the Maori community.
Come and see them: The church will be open on Sunday 12th November. 2pm-3pm. All welcome See you there!!!

A new local publication

Most people in town will know Jill Fraser through her involvement in setting up Murdoch James Estate in 1986, the expansion of the business at the current Murdoch James Estate site in 1997, the refurbishment of Luna Estate which opened in January this year and her tour company Martinborough Wine Tours which has been operating since 2006.
Very few people know she is also an artist and a miniaturist. This is a compelling hobby and despite the name, takes up a lot of space in a double garage sized studio. Her houses are made from scratch as are the people and most of the furniture in them. She likes working in a specific decade or style. Her mother, Dulcie, who is in her nineties also shares the studio.
Jill has been involved in the Lower Hutt Miniature Makers for many years and is currently their Treasurer. Recently retired from the involvement in Murdoch James Estate she conceived the idea of publishing a Miniaturist’s Magazine, prompted by the lack of media representation of numerous talented miniaturists in Australia and New Zealand. The hobby has been largely driven by clubs in the Northern Hemisphere and of three magazines covering this interest that have been lately merged into two. … Continue Reading