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Strawberry season!
Balcony Garden 2011
I love doing my garden every summer, last year my plants were absolutely destroyed by whitefly, so I’m hoping this year will be different!
Tomatoes, Strawberries, Begonias, Lobelia
Begonias, Phlox, Lobelia. (My poor phlox on the right… high winds broke the main stem but it’s hanging on!)
Strawberries, Phlox, Lobelia, Tomatoes
Tomatoes, Nasturtium (still waiting!)
Adventures in Algonquin – May 2011
I love driving through Algonquin, we always end up seeing something cool! We saw a moose, a black bear, loons, a hawk, a few great blue herons, lots of hummingbirds (although hard to tell how many, those suckers move quick!) It was wet and rainy, but very little traffic on Hwy 60 through the park!
We took a round about route to Algonquin and ended up in Maynooth, Ontario, home of the most amazing buttertarts!!!! I got coconut, Graham got walnut and they were amazing. The place was called Algonquin Gourmet Buttertarts. Highly recommend it!!
Even just on the back roads in the area, we saw a huge black bear. He had something wrong with his front paw though and wouldn’t put any weight on it.
This bull moose was having a bite by the side of the road.
Here’s a quick video of the bear and the moose!
No idea what kind of hawk this is, best guess is Coopers or Marsh?
FITC gem #1: Find your Flow State
One of the things that’s really stuck in my mind since FITC Toronto, 2011, was something Mike Creighton said during his speech Harnessing the Abundance.
He talked about the “Flow State”: when you’re fully immersed in what you’re doing with no awareness of time and surroundings. You’re got a never ending energy and 100% focus on doing what you love.
I hope most people love their jobs (like I do), but even when you love your job, you’ve probably still got hobbies on the side that are extra special to you, because they’re not connected to anyone else. You decide when you start, finish, how far you want to change it from your original idea and no one has any say or sway in it. It’s 100% yours.
I decided that I wanted to make a list of Flow State Projects so that when I found myself with some extra time in the evenings, I could look over the list and decide what I felt like working on. For me, I’d say my Flow State Project list will consist of clothes and jewellery I’ve already got some cool ideas about. I always feel extra inspired when I work on a personal project, and that always helps the creativity flow for my client work. Win-win!
Start of summer…
Auckland
Auckland was the last stop on my tour. Five weeks of an incredible journey and adventure with some amazing people. A trip I’ll never forget!
Glowworm Caves – Waitomo
I’d been looking forward to going in the glowworm caves for ages. It was like seeing the night sky… except they’re technically maggots and the glowing part is their poop. Not so magical when you think of it that way, but insanely beautiful nonetheless.
The collage below isn’t any of my pics, but it was worth it not to worry about camera settings for the glow worm parts and just enjoy the experience. The guide said most people spent more time trying to get the photos right and missed out on the experience itself, I can see how that could happen.
The guide would turn on the lights as we went through the cave, we did entire sections in absolute pitch black. It was scary but fun! It took a lot of playing with settings on my camera, but I got some cool shots out of it.
They put this here to see if the dripping water would make a dent in the top over the years. So far, after careful scrutiny over the years… it’s made it wet.
Agrodome
Spent the morning at a sheep show! It was neat to see all the different types of sheep and a shearing demonstration!
They had a demonstration with the herding dogs as well, and how the different breeds control the sheep. This one dog just stared them down, it was kinda creepy, but cool. The other dogs jumped all over the sheep and barked. A lot.
Whakarewarewa Thermal Village & Maori Cultural Night
Tewhakarewarewatangaoteopetauaawahiao means “the gathering place for the war parties of Wahiao”. We learned how to pronounce it, but I’m not sure I’d attempt it again!
We visited this thermal village, where native Maori still live, cook (hangi), attend church, swim and frequently have tourists walking through, but they welcome it and are eager to share their culture. They cook using the heat from the ground, and they use the thermal heat as a power source.
We got to see an incredible demonstration of Maori dance, song, poi dance and of course the haka! All with a traditional hangi meal. It was delicious and a highlight of my trip for sure!
I had to give the poi dance a shot!
