Six Word Saturday: learning to drive my new machine

I bought myself a new overlocker yesterday and am now trying to learn how to drive it. My old one lasted over 30 years. I wonder if this one will serve me as well? Image: Su Leslie, 2016

The Changing Seasons: April sun in Te Atatu

Early morning on the Te Atatu Peninsula; looking across the Waitemata to the city and harbour bridge. Image: Su Leslie, 2016

I have to confess; April is probably my favourite month. Poised between Auckland’s oppressive summer humidity and the damp, grey of winter, April in my city is often utterly, gloriously beautiful — especially at sunrise and sunset.

Tomorrow is the start of New Zealand Music Month, and I’ve been thinking about the songs that form the soundtrack to my life. One of the first to pop into my head was April Sun in Cuba.

Released in 1977, it was the first big hit for the band Dragon. April Sun in Cuba was released in Australia first; the band having relocated to Sydney from Auckland a couple of years earlier. I don’t know if writers Paul Hewson and Marc Hunter were thinking of Auckland or Sydney when they wrote the song, but the opening lines are:

I’m tired of the city life
Summer’s on the run
People tell me I should stay
But I got to get my fun

— Paul Hewson & Marc Hunter

I am definitely tired of the city life, but at least for the moment, the April sun in Te Atatu, or Greenhithe, or Herald Island are part of the solution, not the problem.

Sunset at Rahui Beach, Greenhithe, Auckland. Image: Su Leslie, 2016

“Birds in the winter sky” — gulls above Christmas Beach, Herald Island in Auckland. Image: Su Leslie, 2016

The Changing Seasons is a monthly challenge hosted by Cardinal Guzman. There are two versions:

Version 1 (The Changing Seasons V1):

Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons
Each month, post 5-20 photos in a gallery.
Don’t use photos from your archive. Only new shots.

Version 2 (The Changing Seasons V2):

Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons
Each month, post one photo (recipe, painting, drawing, whatever) that represents your interpretation of the month.
Don’t use archive stuff. Only new material!

 

Wordless Wednesday

Image: Su Leslie, 2016

I’d rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck.     — Emma Goldman

Making space to enjoy the day’s close

Sunset from the jetty at Christmas Beach on Herald Island, Auckland. Image: Su Leslie, 2016

Solitary boat moored at Rahui Beach in Greenhithe, Auckland. Image: Su Leslie, 2016

 

Anzac Day: on helping us to remember

Private Augustine Bond, aged 25, from Papakura, Auckland. He served with the Auckland Infantry Battalion, and died on April 25th, 1916, in the first landing at Gallipoli. He is buried in Baby 700 Cemetery, Anzac, Turkey. Image: Su Leslie, 2015

April 25th is Anzac Day in New Zealand and Australia; our most important national day of remembrance, for all Australians and New Zealanders:

“who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations” and “the contribution and suffering of all those who have served.”

ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps; a term – and an entity – that came into existence in World War One.

This year is the 100th anniversary of Anzac Day, and its role in our national culture has, if anything, grown in recent years. It is not uncommon for whole families to attend dawn services, not only at our major war memorials, but even in the smallest local communities.

The Fields of Remembrance Project has been set up to honour New Zealanders who lost their lives in WWI. White crosses are being placed in locations all around the country; each one bearing the name, rank and service number of one of this tiny country’s 18,200 dead.

Private Edwin Cox, from the Auckland Infantry Battalion 16th (Waikato) Company; died on the first day of the disastrous Gallipoli landings; 25 April 1915. He had celebrated his 23rd birthday two weeks earlier. Image: Su Leslie, 2016

The Auckland Museum’s Field of Remembrance has 1684  crosses (and currently two Stars of David); bearing the names of those who died in 1915 or 1916, and who served with Auckland regiments or came from the wider Auckland region.

Private Maurice Simon Caro joined the 2/13th Kensington Battalion, The London Regiment, 1914. Born in Christchurch but resident in Auckland, Maurice Caro was a wine importer before the war. He died on July 2, 1916, during the First Battle of the Somme. The Caro Bowl, an Auckland tennis competition trophy, was established by his parents in his memory. Image: Su Leslie, 2016

Next year, the names of those who died in 1917 will be added to the Fields; the same will happen in 2018 for those who died in the final year of WWI — including the Big T’s great uncle Eric.

I have no connection with the men commemorated above. Their names appear prominently in these images mainly because of the way the Field was laid out and the practical considerations of taking a photo.

But it seemed wrong to share them without trying to know a little about the men whose names they bear. Most of the biographical information that I found has come from Online Cenotaph, a project undertaking as part of the WWI commemorations, by the Auckland War Memorial Museum and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

This project not only collates official information about our war dead, it is also open to family members and other researchers to add information, images and memories. As a family historian, I am hugely excited by this clever (and very user-friendly) application of technology to help preserve the memories of those who died in the service of our country.

As a personal plea to my NZ readers; if you have family members who served in the NZ military, and you haven’t already explored the Online Cenotaph, please click on the link and take a look. This is our resource, and a wonderful opportunity to contribute to our nation’s collective memory.

 

Six Word Saturday: Auckland’s WWI dead — lest we forget

Image: Su Leslie, 2016

Portraits #2

Outdoor pursuits. The Big T after a mountain-bike ride in the rain. Image: Su Leslie, 2016

I began this year thinking that I’d like to learn how to take better photos of people, and even posted a few images I’d captured of the boy-child (Portrait #1).

Well, the intention hasn’t gone away, but I remain a bit nervous about asking friends to pose for me. So, last weekend when the Big T came back from mountain-biking in the rain, I knew I had a perfect subject for portrait #2.

“I’m so tough, I kick sand in my own face.” The Big T after a mountain-bike ride. Image: Su Leslie, 2016

 

Nice afternoon to be on the water

Making the most of an autumn afternoon. Rahui Beach, Greenhithe, Auckland, New Zealand. Image: Su Leslie, 2016

Wordless Wednesday

Apologies to anyone who has seen these before, but I have been thinking about children and reading since Leanne at Nihongojapango posted some wonderful photos of a little one enjoying his books,  and Janet at This, That and The Other Thing wrote a very funny post about her reading addiction.

And of course books are also this week’s Travel Theme at Where’s My Backpack.

 

 

Will it be as good as it looks in the book?

Recipe, tick; ingredients, tick. Looking forward to dinner. Image: Su Leslie, 2016.

With the Big T working in Melbourne pretty much every week, and the boy-child electing to spend his evenings with friends, I’m doing a lot of “meals for one” at the moment. The bonus is that I get to cook stuff that doesn’t have to please anyone else’s palate. The downside is that I’m running out of ideas.

But an afternoon spent poring over some recipe books has provided plenty of inspiration.

Now I just have to remember to scale the recipes down, so I don’t drown in leftovers.

This post is written for the Daily Post Photo Challenge, which has as its theme dinnertime — and for Ailsa’s Travel Theme at Where’s My Backpack. The theme there this week, is books.