Book heaven

My older brother told me about the new bookshop in Kaiapoi. It is in a former bank building and has a library ladder which slides along a rail. This was the first stop on our visit to Kaiapoi today.

I found that the bookshop has two ladders. Other delights included a bay window with seat, a fireplace, interesting book shelves and a fabulously restored facade. And, of course, a vast selection of books, stationery, games, and a post office.

Further down the street, the others wandered into Blackwells Department Store while I nipped into the fabulous library before joining them.

The library building also has a museum and a small art gallery.

Kaiapoi Woollen Mill display with huge sample book
The famous Kaiapoi blankets
Household items
More cool old stuff
Local art

On the river the paddle boat was just heading out on its lunch time excursion. There was an intriguing long fin eel sculpture/water feature beside the footpath.

≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥/ (Thank you, Felix, for that contribution!) We had lunch in the restored former railway station – tongue and groove walls and ceiling and sash windows – and decor more French than kiwi.

We came home with various items from the op-shops we visited.

I also came home with these two books from the wonderful bookshop.

Felix playing

Felix continues to enjoy climbing trees. He is six months old now and curious and adventurous (when not sleeping by the fire).

Cupboards are worth exploring and for a moment it looked as if he was going to settle in the hot water cupboard.

There could be some good reading here…or here…

A string of lights and a ladder prove irresistible. Tigger seems amused.

He likes to ‘help’ with tying shoelaces – having previously untied them.

And unpacking the groceries gets him in a delicious tangle.

I don’t remember what we did for entertainment before Felix.

Felix and Vera

Vera looks through the window enviously (I’m guessing) while Felix sleeps by the fire. One day she came in and found a sunny spot to settle.

You could swear Felix encourages her to come inside. She doesn’t waste an opportunity when she sees it.

Does Felix want to play?

Felix has checked out Vera’s living room with its fresh straw – and mirror.

Vera bustled in this morning and sampled Felix’s food.

This afternoon it rained and they found a sheltered spot together.

Autumn Storm

The garden looked very green and fresh on the morning after the rain-and-wind storm last week. It felt like autumn though. No more warm summer days and nights.

The wind had blown down the archway made by the climbing beans. It collapsed completely and I consigned it to the compost. I thought of Jack and the Beanstalk as, with some difficulty, I cut it up the tough stems and disentangled them from the stakes which had failed to hold it up. Did a similar task inspire the writer of the story?

Before
After

Vera followed me to the compost and, as usual, stopped and stared pointedly at the grapes hanging tantalisingly out of her reach. They are steadily ripening and, after tasting a few myself, I draped some over the wheelbarrow for her.

The fresh autumn air has made the grapes perfect for eating: cool and sweet-tart. Delicious.

Getting Creative with Courgettes

Felix continues to explore outside (despite those warnings from the vet). He has found that birds like to eat the grapes, so he sometimes hides in the leaves to surprise them.

Other fruit and vegetables are ripening or ready to eat: apples, rhubarb, tomatoes, lemons, silver beet, kale, broccoli, spinach, lettuces, herbs, and courgettes, while the runner beans are all but finished. My neighbour brought me apples and grapefruit yesterday and I gave her lemons, grapes and tomatoes, and she met Felix for the first time.

I was surprised to find an enormous courgette the size of a submarine hiding under the leaves. They can really get away on you if you don’t check them regularly. Today I made a Courgette and Carrot Kugel from half of it (4 cups, grated), and stuffed the other half with tomatoes, chopped courgette, chives and parsley from the garden, plus garlic, peppers and cheese.

It’s almost like living off the land.

For the love of books

Is there room for more books? Books about books, books to read again, books yet to be read…

We knew it had to end one day. The demise of our book group as we know it has caused turmoil in the last few days. We knew our wonderful facilitator could not continue for ever, and the bookshop who hosted us has costs to consider.

We have begun emailing each other to keep in touch. Yesterday, one participant shared our reading list dating from 2002 when she joined the group (it has been running since the 1990s). Wow. All those books – the diversity in scope, genre, culture and style. They challenged us and widened our view of the world. They also opened discussion which deepened our understanding of ourselves and each other, particularly as we shared the reading we had been doing apart from the chosen book. Sometimes, authors came to our meetings and we attended book events and even movies based on books we had read.

Our meetings have been a steadfast point through earthquakes necessitating changes of venue, a pandemic which meant we communicated online, and the ups and downs of our own lives. We have welcomed new members and others have drifted away. We are a diverse group, with a shared love of books and reading.

So, the change is hard.

All is not lost, however. There is the new format to participate in if we choose. There will be the connection which books provide, a continuing curiosity about the world and how it is represented, and a love of reading to sustain us.

Confined to quarters

Felix on a hot day

At our first visit to the vet on 14 February, Felix was told to stay indoors until his vaccinations are complete. I had overlooked an important detail on his vaccination certificate: ‘Next vaccination due 23 January’. O0ps. It’s not the one-vaccination-a-year regime I remember, but the veterinary business in full swing. In the meantime, until his course of vaccinations is complete, Felix must stay in to prevent any infection which, I was warned, is worse than the canine parvovirus. I guess vets see the worst case scenarios.

How to entertain Felix in the house became an issue. Particularly since he’d had more than just a taste of freedom, he was climbing trees! And he is growing bigger.

Mum’s baking is interesting.

The daily news is riveting.

A shopping bag provides some fascination and a good sleeping spot.

There is always sleeping to be done.

And helping with the washing.

Exploring the cupboard and the flour bin was fun while I was baking this morning, until his reflection in the oven door and all those cats on the tea towel caught his attention.

There is, perhaps, an escape clause in the vet’s instructions, as he did suggest I could put Felix in a play pen on the back lawn. Catios are the way of the future, he reckoned.

Felix’s plaintive cries and attempts to climb the windows looking for a way out on Monday, when we were both outside, made me soften my resolve and I have been letting him out for short periods of supervised play.

This afternoon he had fun stalking Vera who was a good sport about it.

Meantime, the sparrows wait high up in the trees until it’s safe to come down to get Vera’s leftovers. They can see the point of a catio.

Anticipation…

Illuminated manuscripts!

Colourful covers and the enticing titles make these books a delectable prospect.

The Unfolding is this month’s book group choice and our meeting is in just a few days. If I am to read it before then, I will have to put aside the wonderful Femina A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It. At least I will be able to anticipate getting back to it!

Then there is Claire Harman’s book about Katherine Mansfield to look forward to. It’s the centenary of Mansfield’s death this year. What she might have achieved had she lived longer than a mere 34 years is considered in an article entitled ‘Glowing with Life’ in the latest NZ Listener.

So, it’s time to open the first of the colourfully covered books and begin – and hope that anticipation was not the best part of it!

Felix the Fearless

Felix has progressed from merely dashing from deck to lawn. I discovered him peering down at me from a tree on Saturday. He mewed a bit, but I let him get down by himself which, of course, he managed perfectly well – with some entertaining acrobatics.

I’m the king of the castle
If I just put my back leg there…
Can I go higher?

Today, I was surprised to find that the rustling very high up in the akeake tree was not Scruffy the blackbird, but fearless Felix heading higher than before. There are lots of little twigs in this tree and he was biting at them. I guess they impeded his progress.

Hello down there!

I’m reminded of ‘Tiggers don’t climb trees’.

‘What do Jagulars do?’ asked Piglet, hoping that they wouldn’t.

‘They hide in the branches of trees, and drop on you as you go underneath,’ said Pooh. ‘Christopher Robin told me.’

A.A. Milne The House at Pooh Corner