NEWS FROM THE ISLAND

WHILE YOU WERE AWAY doing your city life the Island has recovered from the two big rain bombs we had in quick succession and this morning your empty holiday cottages are all shining in this early morning sun.














I thought I had the bay to myself, except there must be someone on one of the moored yachts for even though it is so early across the water comes the smell of frying bacon.

Note: For those who pre-ordered copies of my book MEANDERINGS. They arrived later on this morning and your copies are stacked here waiting for me to address them tonight and I'll be sending them onto you in the post tomorrow when I go over to the Mainland.

From the day I sent the manuscript off to the publishers, Xlibris,  to today, the whole exercise took just the 7 weeks and that was despite me not realising I should have chosen the poetry template option. I am not sure when it'll be available in the New Zealand libraries.
It is already available through Amazon, and also through www.Xlibris.co.nz as a hardback, paperback or E-book

NEWS FROM THE ISLAND

WHICH PATH TO TAKE - going the longer way to get there, or the short way?  

The Kawau Kat is the cruise boat that visits all the bays as it goes and the one the tourists select and the little water taxis are for those who wish to get to and from the Island directly.

It always depends on the circumstances and the nature of the person involved. Personally, I usually prefer taking the longer, more thoughtful way, and for those who notice such things, it is obvious from the time they open my gate and walk towards any home that I have had, that this is my nature. The path to the door is never direct, and at my Island home, I have a wide curved path where the stepping stones are also carefully placed so that one has to either take smaller steps, which automatically slows their pace, or take them at a run to land on every second step. Coming off this path, part way down is a smaller direct path to access the side lawn, the studio and also to my door. Most of the time people choose the difficult but shorter path, even though it is not much shorter, and they have to climb around plants, garden tubs, hanging rose tendrils etc. to do it. I have even put tubs across that path to stop people taking it, but after hesitating, they jump over them and arrive at my door irritable. 

Before starting an action, pause, breathe, move forward. After finishing an action, pause, breathe, move forward.

So what brought me around to thinking on this subject? A while back I shared with you photographs one of the special places that are only known by a few of us - the surprise of a large hidden pond nearby which is only accessed by a slow winding walk through a magical canopy of trees and ferns. But someone has decided it should be able to be instantly accessed and seen by all, and with their chainsaw has cut a direct path from the public road straight to the pond as seen now on the left. No, not the work of D.O.C this time. Hopefully the pond will be just as cared for as it was before. Personally, I am quite devastated seeing it stripped like this of its mystery.

NEWS FROM THE ISLAND

AND SUDDENLY IT IS AUTUMN after a very short summer. The change of season virus has been and gone and now it is time to prepare for the coming winter - and when I think of preparing for winter it means storing the cupboards with the blessings of summer - i.e. bottling fruit. Because it was such a wet spring there were no bees around to fertilise the apricot tree, that usually produces around 12 quarts of fruit as well as jam, I had to succumb to buying in peaches to bottle. Sound silly because it works out cheaper to buy tinned peaches instead, but I convince myself that doing them myself, they taste nicer. The pear trees don't rely on bees to fertilise them ( our wood pigeons do that as they go from flower to flower selecting buds to eat ) and in a race to beat the Rosella Parakeets I am picking the fruit and bottling them as soon as                                                                                           they ripen.


P.S. Reminder: for N.Z'ers. To those who have shown interest, I need to know by tonight, SUNDAY, by messenger https://www.facebook.com/lois.e.broom -           if you would like a signed, discounted copy of MEANDERINGS at $NZ35.00 which includes postage, as I place my order with payment, tomorrow morning.

MEANDERINGS - a special note for NZ'ers

I HADN'T THOUGHT .... I would get so many pre-order enquiries for my latest poetry book, so I thought you may like to be included.

The publishers, Xlibris,  have offered me a discount on books that I sell personally which I can pass on to my New Zealand friends. I am in the process of adjusting my previous order to the printers and have to confirm the numbers by early Monday morning the 20th March.

The price to buy a paperback via the publishers is $NZ34.99 and then postage a further $A5.00.

I can pass on a discount and the price would then be a signed paperback copy at $NZ30 plus bubble bag pre-pay postage bag $NZ5.00, making a total of $NZ35.00  - a saving of $5.00.

If you would like to be included, just send me your name and email address via messenger and I'll get back to you with  eta delivery details.

Cheery,
Lois