You know its summer here when................

The tree ferns show their summer green















The flax is in flower
















And jandals in all the new seasons colours appear in the shops

Dads told to stay away from delivery room

4:00AM Monday Oct 19, 2009
NZ Herald


"For many men, attending the birth of a child is a momentous and emotional occasion. However, one of the world's leading obstetricians says the father's presence can lead to his partner needing a caesarean delivery, and even to marriage break-ups and mental illness.

Michel Odent, a childbirth specialist, also believes the labour can be longer, more painful and more complicated because the mother senses his anxiety and becomes nervous.

Babies' arrivals in the world would be more straightforward if women were left alone with only a midwife to help them, as they used to be, Odent will tell the Royal College of Midwives' annual conference in Manchester, England, next month."

etc etc

The rest of this article is here

How ridiculous! When I read this article I was speechless.

To deny the Father the opportunity to be present at the birth of their child is unthinkable. And to credit the presence of the father as a reason for a caesarean delivery defies logic.

Chatham Islands revisited.

It is nearly a year ago that I was lucky to be able to visit the Chatham Islands. For more information about the islands, and more photos visit here and here and here

Samoa Tsunami

Our sympathy to our Samoan and Tongan neighbours.

Read more about the earthquake and tsunami here.

And updates at the NZ Herald site here.

And the Woman of the Forest

The man of the Forest

This photo was taken in 2006 at The Lost Gardens of Heligan, in Cornwall, England.

Heligan, was the seat of the Tremayne family for more than 400 years, and the site of beautiful gardens. However at the end of the nineteenth century they were neglected and became severely overgrown with brambles and ivy. The trees grew tangled and unkept and it resembled an impenetrable jungle.

It remained abandoned from 1919 when many of the gardeners went off to the First World War until 1990 when the derelict gardens were discovered by Tim Smit and John Willis (descendant of the Tremaynes). The restoration of the gardens has been an ongoing project involving many many volunteers.

Tomorrow - his slumbering partner in the same forest. They are known as the mud man and mud maid.

Farewell Sir Howard

Cobweb lace

Telling it Like it is!

Colour all around me!