Rushleigh ~ The At Home Chronicle

Woops! Slips, trips, bumps and falls ~ safety in the home and garden

2012-02-02T22:26:00.001+13:00

Accidents can happen so quickly and often when we least expect it. How safe are we at home? The answer is 'not very'. Whereas news items and safety campaigns often focus on road users, in actual fact fatal accidents are far more likely to occur at home. Most injuries are the result of slips, trips and falls. You can read about it in this article:

30 Otago people die in home accidents - article published in the ODT, 31st August 2010

Figures compiled by the ACC (Accident Compensation Corporation) show that 12 New Zealanders die each week as a result of accidents around the home, with a further 12,000 injured. In relation to the entire population this represents one in seven over the course of a year!

A heavy blunt instrument!

Today I had an accident myself, while hanging out the washing: turning the clothesline I received an almost stunning blow on the side of my nose: the heavy metal end of a strut had seemed to come out of nowhere and I let out a shout as the lens of my glasses flew out of its frame, the pain so severe I couldn't cry or think. In survival mode I found the lens on the grass and, holding the side of my face, got back inside and reached for an ice pack. Man it hurt! In response to my croaked phone call my sister came across immediately, got me a better ice pack, checked my nose for straightness and sat with me until I had calmed down. Sisters are tops! Fortunately this painful blow resulted only in an aching bruise.

I knew the corners of the awkwardly placed clothesline were a hazard, and already had tennis balls on my shopping list for the week, but not soon enough! I will cut the balls open and use them to cover the ends of the four struts to prevent just this sort of blow.

The ACC website has a good comprehensive section on safety in the home:

There is loads of good information there, all nicely set out for easy reference, which I intend to go over more carefully myself!

Fresh produce ~ local and loyal

2012-01-31T22:22:00.000+13:00

Shopping for locally produced fruit, vegetables and other products is what keeps local businesses thriving and encourages locals to make a go of it on their own account. It also gives the buyer a reasonable assurance of quality and the conditions in which goods are produced, reduces carbon miles, and gives our local communities individuality and charm.

Apricots are now in season, and as I like to buy mine directly from local growers I headed off early on Saturday morning to get my haul for the season. Even at 8.30 in the morning the Otago Farmers Market was thronged with shoppers:

I bought four cases for a very reasonable price, but to be honest, I was more interested in paying a fair price than in getting the cheapest possible: I want to do my bit to ensure that growers keep their trees and don't take it into their heads to replace them with a different crop because they are not getting a good enough return on their apricots, a reality that orchardists have to live with! I want to continue to be able to buy local fruit, and this is what it takes to keep these orchards going! Already, many apricot orchards have been axed and replaced by grape vines as you can read in my article as linked to below.

Those four boxes contained nearly 30 kilos of fruit with which I'll make jam and preserves, enough to last us until next season! It's quite a bit of work but simple enough when you know how, and once packed away one then has the glorious flavour of sun-ripened fruit right through the winter and following spring.

Those interested in consulting my recipes can find them in the following article:

Apricots ~ gold, gold, gold!

The Edmonds Fresh Fish shop has a stall at the market, but we usually buy ours from the shop itself:

The fish stocked there are all from local catches made from a small boat which works just off our coast. It's a small business, and fish is as fresh as it is possible to get without going out there yourself. Service is friendly and we are known there by name. Sometimes when the weather is bad the boat can't get out, and the shop is shut as there are no fish to sell. I like that, although it must be inconvenient for workers: weather is part of the natural world and of fishing and farming in particular, and I like to be part of that.

In the same way that orchardists and other growers need our patronage so do local fishermen, whose sales can be radically affected by cheap imports - imports from countries which do not have our standards of health, environmental cleanliness and working conditions. Furthermore, fish and chips shops may serve such fish to buyers without them being aware either of what it is or where its from. Next time you buy fish and chips you may wish to ask! This article outlines some of the issues:

Imported fish endangers NZ fishing industry - article published on Scoop website on 15th May 2009

It's very convenient to buy from supermarkets and department stores, but many of these are big chains, which don't seem to hesitate to use their size and big-business clout to force prices below what smaller retailers can compete with, so I shop at these large places sparingly, and pay my money to local businesses when I can.

When scanning local businesses for information I keep a look out to see if they are locally owned and operated, even if part of a large franchise, and also look at labelling to see where items have been produced, and what they are made from. It all helps. Local products may be a little dearer than you expect or could pay elsewhere, but who do you want to benefit? I like to benefit my local community!

Making pesto ~ a basil and walnut recipe

2012-01-30T10:37:00.001+13:00

Pesto is a fine addition to pasta of any sort, and can also add tasty seasoning to salads, stews and soups; and if you are looking for a variation to garlic butter for your oven-toasted French bread you might like to try this instead. Basil leaves are usually the distinguishing ingredient, although other herbs can be used, and traditional recipes use pine nuts rather than walnuts. If you have fresh basil in your garden it is very simple and economical to make; even more so if you have access to a walnut tree!

Sweet Basil

The coast of southern Otago where I live is not a place where basil grows with any degree of enthusiasm. In an experiment I planted three seedlings in a sunny sheltered spot in the garden and another three in a large tub which I placed in a sunny spot inside the sitting room. The outcome was that the two surviving outdoor plants scarcely grew at all, whereas those grown indoors grew to almost shrub-like proportions - too large really, for the plants to comfortably support!

Freshly shelled walnut pieces

Yesterday I gave these plants a haircut, and made pesto from the mountain of chopped leaves: from three and a half cups packed with these I got 750 grams of pesto, enough to fill two smallish jars and one plastic container which had previously contained 475 grams of jam - a handsome yield! The two jars I made to give away and the plastic tub is now in the freezer from which I'll be able to take out spoonfuls as desired.

Recipes for such things are fairly elastic:

Here is an approximation of the additional ingredients needed to make pesto from about a firmly packed cupful of freshly chopped leaves:

Cheese - 80 to 100 grams
Oil - start with a third of a cup and add more as needed
Walnuts - one third to half a cup of chopped pieces
Garlic - one clove. This really does bring the flavours together well.
Salt to taste

Process until fine.

Serve tossed through hot pasta, etc.

Storage:

When placing into storage containers cover pesto with a little more oil before capping, which will improve storage freshness. Cap firmly and place in the fridge or freezer.

The Wikipedia article linked to above says it will keep well in the fridge for about a week. I would have thought rather longer myself.

Kept in the freezer the oil content makes if fairly easy to scoop out portions as needed.

A simple fruit loaf instead of Chrismas fruit cake ~ you decide! And a few other seasonal treats ~

2011-12-23T19:30:00.000+13:00

Too late or too tired to make a Christmas cake, or don't have all the ingredients? You might like to make this loaf instead! This recipe for Zoe's fruit loaf made with tea has been popular so I'm re-publishing it here as a suggested substitute for Christmas fruit cake. It's so simple to make and serve: it requires very few ingredients, the simplest of methods, and needs no icing, buttering or decorating.

In the picture below you can see it served with whipped cream and a little preserved apple (without it's juice). I ate this plate of food after I photographed it and it was absolutely delicious!

Here is how to make it:

Overnight soak:

1 pound of mixed fruit (500 grams) - available from your supermarket
2 cups of cold tea
1/2 to 3/4 cup of soft brown sugar

Then add:

2 cups of self-raising flour (If using standard flour add 2 tsp baking powder)
1 well beaten egg.

Mix well and pour into a well greased (or oiled) loaf tin. The original recipe says to bake for 2 hours in a moderate oven (300 degrees Fahrenheit or 150 degrees Celcius). I've found this to be too long and ovens vary. I suggest you check progress after an hour and possibly leave it in for another ten or twenty minutes or so. A well-cooked loaf is likely to be a deep golden brown and have a good firm crust.

This loaf gets even nicer with standing so you may wish to wait until the next day to eat it, but I like mine any way it comes and the sooner the better! It's wonderfully moist and keeps well. It can also be frozen.

Note: I've found that packs of mixed fruit vary in moisture content, which means that the amount of tea needed varies. The final mixture should drop off the spoon easily, so it pays to have some additional cold tea to hand in case the mixture seems too stiff.

If using double the amount of fruit the mixture can easily be adapted to make three loaves.

Other recipes which may be enjoyed at this time of year can be found in my earlier articles:

Festive fare ~ Fruit mince pies, raspberries, pancakes and decorations, in which I share the recipe for fruit mince made with dried figs, chocolate and ginger, in pastry cases made with icing sugar!

Gooseberries and currants ~ all my recipes are here: features recipes for gooseberry and redcurrant fool, and also a delicacy I call 'Gooseberry-licious'.
Ice cream recipe ~ an easy treat - I know of none that's nicer!
Lemon drink ~ warming in winter, cooling in summer - simple to make and keeps for ages!

I wish you all A Happy Christmas and a Peaceful and Prosperous New Year!

Christchurch's fourth major earthquake event ~ 23rd December 2011

2011-12-23T16:10:00.001+13:00

...This afternoon earthquakes, Richter magnitude 5.8 and 6, ninety minutes apart. The central city has been evacuated as have all shopping malls, and the airport has been closed down. There is fresh liquefaction in the suburb of Parklands (where I used to live) and thousands of households are without power.

UPDATED INFORMATION AND LINKS HAVE BEEN ADDED WITHIN THE BODY OF THIS ARTICLE

The Christchurch Quake map is always a ready source of information. They note 5.9, I see.
A similar site, Canterbury Quake Live, provides a slightly different perspective.

When the Magnitude 6 quake occurred I was on the phone attempting to bring cheer to my mother who lives in the Sumner district of Christchurch after the shock of the earlier one. Her voice dropped away abruptly and was replaced by a sound that I can only describe as being like a freight train passing through. I was relieved to know she was okay! Amazingly nothing was broken, even though household belongings have been fairly well secured against such eventualities. Even at this distance it's shocking and I downed a medicinal brandy.

Hold on, Christchurch!
Any large shake is accompanied by swarms of smaller ones. Today Christchurch has been shaken by 32 so far, and we still have three hours of the day to go!

The first big quake of 5.9 M occurred at 1.58 pm
It was followed by one of 5.3 at 2.06 pm
In less than an hour there were six quakes measuring from 3.7 to 4.8
And at 3.18 pm the biggest one of 6.0 shook the city. That turned out to be the one I heard over the phone!
Then were were three more ranging from 2.9 to 4.6,
And at 4.50 pm there was one of 5.1 M.
...And so it goes...

The front page of Saturday's Press on the 24th December showed this wave of high magnitude quakes:

Today's front page
Christchurch continues to rattle - article in the Press, 24th Dec 2011. This page includes multiple links.

These two articles appeared on The Press website the same afternoon as the initial quakes:

Christchurch Quake - what you need to know - article in the Press, published the afternoon of the quakes, 23rd Dec 2011
Christchurch Quake - what you need to know - updated article in the Press published on the afternoon of 24th Dec 2011
Second large quake hits Christchurch - article in the Press, published 23rd Dec 2011

Grace Dalley of Rata Design has contributed that: the Regional council quake website has been reactivated and is a good source of info. Thank you, Grace.

Further coverage:
There are many ways of measuring earthquakes and their effects. In the article below the ground acceleration of this particular quake is described:

Violence of tremors stuns experts - article published in The Herald on 26th December 2011

The student volunteer army has swung back into action once more to help clean up the new mess and lending very practical muscle power:

Noble student army pick up their shovels once again - TV3 news item, 26th December 2011

The call for red-zoned land along the Avon River to be designated as park land is mounting:

Avon River park call popular - article in The Press, 28th Dec 2011

Liquefaction and service loss in Parklands - how the locals fared:
These two articles include comments from residents of the same street: the first reflecting the high of a community which has pulled together against adversity and is celebrating that success; the second reflecting frustration and despair over the grind of on-going difficulties - after yet another earthquake. These responses are characteristic of Christchurch residents where everyday life is unpredictable and the wear and tear of on-going earthquakes is taking its toll.

Festive spirit triumphs over quakes - article on Stuff website, 26th December 2011
Magnitude 4.8 quake strikes Christchurch - article 5th January 2012

ALL MY ARTICLES ABOUT THE CHRISTCHURCH EARTHQUAKES CAN BE FOUND ON THE PAGE LINKED TO AT THE UPPER RIGHT OF THIS SCREEN, OR VIA THE LINK BELOW:

Leigh's Christchurch earthquake articles ~ click here to find them all

Christchurch in Dec 2011 ~ earthquake safety measures, empty sections and gradual progress

2011-12-17T13:48:00.001+13:00

When I visited Christchurch last week I found it an odd mixture of an increasing number of empty sections and flourishing plant life. The image below of a massive tree by the entrance of a now empty section illustrates this point. Until very recently a grand old wooden house stood within the grounds:

Another massive tree lives on in the back of the section. The only house that remains is the elaborate tree house constructed within its boughs:

Next door, a similar but smaller house survives in good condition and a well tended garden basks in the summer warmth:

Safety standards and earthquakes:

I often hear complaints about the conservative nature of safety standards, with the opinion being aired that many are too strict or may be unnecessary. I think that on the whole they are eminently sensible and in the case of the Christchurch earthquakes a cautious approach has certainly saved many lives.

But how can an earthquake save lives?

Prior to the deadly earthquake of February 2011 Christchurch had an uncomfortable wake-up call - the earthquake of September 2010. That major quake caused extensive damage all over Canterbury, but the epicentre was some distance to the west of the city and it occurred at a time of night when few people were up and about. Miraculously no one was killed. As a result buildings across the city were inspected for damage and stability. Unreinforced masonry buildings presented a major hazard and many were condemned. Others buildings were closed until repairs could be carried out, and adjacent areas were cordoned off. This meant that these areas were not occupied when the much more devastating quake struck in the middle of a busy weekday, directly under the central city.

September's quake 'saved 300 lives' - article in The Press, 7th November 2011. The writer of the article notes that "Unreinforced masonry is a construction of clay brick, concrete block or natural stone units bound together using lime or cement mortar, without any reinforcing elements such as steel reinforcing bars."

However, mistakes and policy errors do occur with the result that information about unstable building structures did not always reach those it should have. The item below describes how information which was withheld caused the death of two women: they were crushed by the collapse of an unbraced brick wall from a neighbouring building. EQC has now changed its policy about the availability of information to those of neighbouring properties.

EQC withheld dangerous, 'deadly' info - The Press, 16th Dec 2011

I reflected on all this when visiting Christchurch last week, and considered the places I was familiar with where friends and professionals I knew well had lived and worked, which have since been razed:

Photo Warehouse used to be on this site on Durham Street in an old brick building which I often visited. The February earthquake struck at the busiest time of the day. Fortunately the business had moved some months before the September earthquake. (Their new premises is on Fitzgerald Avenue.)

A good friend used to live in the old brick building that was on this site in Selwyn Street. Fortunately he had too had moved before the quakes:

Our much loved family optometrist, Paul Dunlop, died in the building pictured below, the Durham Street Methodist Church, which collapsed in the February earthquake. The church had been damaged in the September quake and he and seven others were in there dismantling the organ for removal when the quake struck. Five of them got out; three of them did not.

Opposite my mother's place the old brick house which was there is now gone. It was one of the earliest houses built in that suburb. The elderly couple who had lived there for decades mercifully were no longer there:

The Redcliffs supermarket where I used to shop is now an empty section. In the image below you can see it fenced off, deemed too dangerous even to enter to collect anything. My guess is that it is likely to have been of concrete slab construction:

Now only the shop sign remains:

Redcliffs took a heavy pounding in the third big earthquake event, on the 13th June 2011:

The sewer is being re-laid along the centre of the main street meaning that traffic is diverted to one side of the road along much of its length. That's Clifton Hill in the background:

Apart from extensive road works and continuing demolitions progress there is slow. Redcliffs Primary School, which is adjacent to the cliffs and resulting rockfalls, is closed:

A close-up of the cliff edge above shows how perilous the cliff face has become:

Looking back along Redcliffs Main Road towards the Causeway little has changed in recent months:

In central Christchurch the streets are increasingly empty of buildings:

This view into the cordoned off area from the Barbadoes and Tuam Street intersection shows some of the high-rises that remain. An obliging service station attendant identified which ones are coming down. All but a couple of these are scheduled for demolition:

I asked if the building overshadowed by the crane was under construction or de-construction. It's the Grand Chancellor Hotel - without its distinguishing and somewhat hat-like roof. The question of how to manage its demolition has been a continuing theme in news coverage since the February earthquake.

Its tilting structure and awkward location make its demolition one of the most difficult and expensive known anywhere.

Grand Chancellor to go, floor by floor - demolition story - NZ Herald 4th November 2011
Inside the Grand Chancellor - The Press, 4th November 2011

In Christchurch brick chimneys have largely become a thing of the past although some mock-brick chimney pieces have been designed. Unless special strengthening is included in construction they have been deemed hazardous as a falling chimney had cause extensive damage. One man was very nearly killed by one:

Earthquake nearly fatal for Oxford farmer - published in Star newspaper, 14th Sept 2010.

The man standing in this chimney space was putting in a shiny metal one which appeared the next day.

Away from damaged buildings, vacant sections and the bustle of road repairs areas of the city basked in summer sunlight and were a delight.

A friend and I wandered across Beckenham Park...

...and along Eastern Terrace:

Here is the view to the south of dear old Sugarloaf, the hill in the distance:

Grass and toetoe at the left flank the banks of the Heathcote River.

The following day I set out from Christchurch on the long drive home.

It was raining and cold: the weather, like aspects of the city, was a stark contrast. I pulled over from traffic on Bealey Ave to photograph the equally stark remains of Knox Church. I was distracted by rain and traffic, but am reasonably sure that the big signs in the foreground are for the church hall just out of the picture to the left.

Beyond the shell of the church a new building is under construction:

The bright stripe at the right is the back of the bus in front of my car.

Visible progress in Christchurch is slow, but continuing:

People's plan approved for Christchurch - TVNZ video, 15th December 2011

Christchurch courthouse reopens - TVNZ video, 15th December 2011

Right now nature looks to be the clear winner, and for a city long known as The Garden City, this is hopeful and reassuring. In this respect locals need all they can get: the jumble of disappearing landmarks, construction, deconstruction, detours, bumpy or closed roads, and relocated shops and services, continue to be a strain. Newly built or repaired and revamped buildings are coming along slowly. Meantime, kia kaha, Christchurch, and may the summer bring you all relaxation, pleasure and a clear view of better things to come.

ALL MY ARTICLES ABOUT THE CHRISTCHURCH EARTHQUAKES CAN BE FOUND ON THE PAGE LINKED TO AT THE UPPER RIGHT OF THIS SCREEN, OR VIA THE LINK BELOW:

Leigh's Christchurch earthquake articles ~ click here to find them all

Post-earthquake progress in the Christchurch cental business district ~

2011-11-07T22:52:00.000+13:00

Warwick Isaacs, who is in charge of demolitions in Central Christchurch, takes viewers for a quick look around still-closed areas of the Central Business District. The purpose of this is to give those viewers not able to take the bus tours a chance to see beyond the barricades.

While I appreciate being able to see it I wanted a better look at things: although I know this area well I found myself frequently scrambling to figure out which street we were looking at and which direction the vehicle was travelling in. It's a sobering look and we see that once these operations are complete little will be left of what once seemed so permanent.

Here is a link to a recent aerial photo of central Christchurch.

And here is a link to another photograph taken of a similar area in 1972

On a more cheerful note, part of Cashel Mall is now open to shoppers after a mind-blowing makeover: from rubble to sparkle!

Christchurch earthquake: ravaged retail centre reborn, which was published in the Press on 30th October 2011. Lois Cairns reports that "Christchurch's new [shipping] container mall enthralled shoppers yesterday". Watch the video which gives a little look around. It's fun and has a nice sound track of the buskers playing there.

I provide the link here to a heart-rending as well as heart-warming story about Nathan Pilkington and his daughter, Nevada, re-visiting the mall from which they had narrowly escaped at the height of earthquake chaos.

Happy sequel to earthquake rescue which featured in the Timaru Herald on the 31st October 2011

Things are definitely looking up!

ALL MY ARTICLES ABOUT THE CHRISTCHURCH EARTHQUAKES CAN BE FOUND ON THE PAGE LINKED TO AT THE UPPER RIGHT OF THIS SCREEN, OR VIA THE LINK BELOW:

Leigh's Christchurch earthquake articles ~ click here to find them all

Springtime ~ life and death in the balance

2011-10-31T22:12:00.000+13:00

Everywhere spring has brought a celebration of blossom, flowers, burgeoning growth and an almost palpable hum of new life bursting forth.

Clematis flanked by ceanothus

Yet death hovers in the shadows even at this time of year: in a single day the cat caught and killed a young rabbit, a bumble bee lay on the lawn its brief life over, and an elderly neighbour lay in Intensive Care in a coma, hesitating at the gateway between the worlds.

In that one short day I buried the still, small, unmarked body of the young rabbit, gently placing it into a shroud of freshly pulled grass in a sandy grave; dropped the deceased, yet still perfectly formed, bumble bee into the long grasses of the field where it will not be trodden on...

...and our neighbour awoke from his unprecedented fortnight of sleep, rather confused but full of life. It was quite a day.

Pandorea pandorana - Wonga Wonga vine

Spring marches on undeterred: at the last count early this afternoon, sixty nine potatoes were vigorously putting on height in the vege patch, and thirty one stems of iris buds had elegantly emerged from within their leafy fans.

Miniature iris

Everywhere I look the gardens are full of glory:

Azalea

Lilac

Pandorea pandorana 'Ruby Bells' - Wonga Wonga vine

And here's one lady who will not take back answers, unless she agrees with you in advance, so mind your manners everyone!

Chook in charge!

Spring will not be denied...

Creating the garden you want ~ it's springtime!

2011-10-10T11:18:00.002+13:00

Springtime is an ideal time to re-model a garden: the earth is warming up and drying out a little, the days are longer and the upsurge of energy which comes in this season is worth a great deal more to growing plants than at any other time of the year. Get plants in now and you'll have a garden full of flowers and produce within a few short months - that's nature for you - bountiful!

I love gardening, and landscaping in particular, but there's no escaping that it is hard work - good work though and amazingly rewarding. I don't believe at all in the one day make-overs that have been popularised on television - the best and most loved gardens evolve gradually over time and with personal involvement. How can you love a garden that others have made for you in a day? And how can you be bothered to look after it? That's a different thing entirely.

Hoping to share the concepts and know-how I've worked so hard to learn I've outlined these in a series of articles published last November.

Here is what I've been up to in my new garden in recent weeks:

We moved here in the midst of winter and my multitude of plants from the old place had to wait patiently in pots during the cold months. That suited me fine as I had much to do settling into the house and getting things there the way that suited me. There had never been a garden here as such - just lawn and a few tiny borders around the house itself. The big section at the back had been terraced, but never developed. I have carte blanche to do with it as I wish. No money to do anything with it either, but that need not be too much of a constraint. Gradually my idea of how it could be made fruitful and beautiful has clarified.

The middle terrace has been designated as the vegetable garden. The potatoes have been planted and the silver beet is thriving, but much still remains to be done. Here is how it looked in the early stages:

I had laid newspapers on two parts and placed my potted plants on top to anchor them. These were a big help with the lawn grass which died back considerably - much less work than digging it out!

I had a big job removing a patch of montbretia which had established itself in the front left hand corner:

Montbretia's pretty flowers are deceptive:

If left to their own devices they create no end of bulbs which then have to be got rid of. Here are some of them. If you must have this plant grow it in a tub!

Finally I finished clearing that corner, and in their place I planted rhubarb surrounded by rocket which you can see in the front left hand corner of this image. The rhubarb was still a set of knobs in the ground at that stage.

Up on the top terrace I became dissatisfied with an existing brick pad on which the garden seat was tethered.

I decided either to re-lay the brickwork or move the seat. Disappointingly I found that all but two of the bricks had bits of cement attached - relaying them was not an option and they duly found a new home neatly stacked under the house! After we had removed all the bricks a metal peg remained sticking up out of the ground at just the spot to trip anyone up, or ruin the lawn mower. I decided it had to go. It was rather harder to get out of the ground than I expected! On the way down I found, among other things, an empty feed sack... and more and more of that metal post...

It took me three days to get that problem sorted out!

Levers, a post hole digger, an out-sized sledge hammer, as well as my trusty spade were involved. The post was revealed to be a full-sized fence post which came up to my arm-pit! There it is lying among the tools, a bit rusted and bent, but very much intact:

Minus it's fence post that corner of the garden felt ruptured, as indeed it might! The next day I dug it over as fully as I could and re-contoured it:

I've put in a couple of shrubs and some ferns which I'm sure will do well and make a nice display of colour and foliage, a great improvement to a corner which is always going to have an ugly fence.

The garden seat has moved to the other end of the terrace where it is much more comfortably placed. I've cleared the back boundary and planted a solid row of ferns at the back of it where they will look good and keep the paddock grass at bay. The rest of the top terrace is still a work in progress.

Over the fence in the paddock the daffodils have been glorious:

Having tackled those two top priorities my next most pressing task was to get my irises planted: they had been struggling in shallow crates. If I got my act together soon enough they just might flower this season. I decided that the border immediately at the back of the house would be the best place - nice and sheltered. When we first came here that area was particularly overgrown and neglected:

At the far corner the border goes around to the main entrance. It didn't look much better there. Entrance ways are so important and this one let the whole place down:

I set to work along the back:

Then around the corner:

I wanted to have more depth to the back border which meant I had to dig up quite a bit of lawn. I cut it out more or less in diamond shapes which I could use again:

This gave me plenty of turf to fill in the expanse of garden by the front door which had been such a trap when we were moving in: we had all had to step in and out of it to carry large items into the house - hopeless!

Gradually I reached my goal and fitted the last pieces of turf into a pleasing curve:

And planted the irises in with my roses:

What a difference! The neighbours leant on the fence and said I was giving the place a bit of class, which was nice! I had so much else I wanted to do, but I'd made my hands sore. I had to take a day off at least to rest them. I put my gardening clothes in the wash and my gardening shoes in the basement where I'd have to make an effort to get them out.

Coming back from lunch I eyed the step in the back path with disfavour. Perhaps if I just levered those poorly placed concrete blocks out with the grubber it would be easier to get on with that little problem the next day...

Nature makes such an effort to fill in and beautify every dull and neglected spot. I couldn't bring myself to pull these out even though they are 'weeds':

I tugged and slid the heavy brick down the path and parked it tidily in the border where it can continue its existence uninterrupted.

It was a small step from there to lever up a dozen or so well chosen bricks from another path I intend to re-do (sometime) and put them ready for laying. Oh well, I wasn't getting exactly dirty, so I got to work with the spade and worked out the layout and gradient of the finished top where a compromise had to be made with the sloping path next to it. But I couldn't get very far without mixing up a sort of mud pie to fill in the back to settle things properly. I enjoyed that! Then it was no trouble at all to settle the bricks into place one by one: three lengthwise across the step's width, then the remainder on their sides going the other way. Fantastic - I was really pleased!

It was then the most minor of tasks to back-fill it so that the lawn was more level. Then it only needed hosing off and I was done! I was so pleased! I put away the tools, and went inside for a wash! So much for having a day free of gardening! I hadn't put on my gardening clothes or shoes, which rather defeated the purpose of not putting them on, but never mind.

The back entrance looks so much better now. It may not be smart in other respects, but at least it's cared for and as good as I can make it.

Last week I made a herb garden out of a disused corner by the clothesline - after I had dug out another sackful of montbretia! It's always handy to have herbs next to a paved area where they're easy to reach whatever the weather. My herbs look delighted to be out of their pots and we are delighted to be picking them - fresh from the garden. The empty space is for new seedlings yet to come:

These are some of the projects I've been busy with in the garden here. None of it was difficult, but it has taken thought, care and a lot of work, and how rewarding it is! As I complete each project the ground feels newly free and harmonious, and the plants can really get their feet down and get going. That's good energy to have around our home. The place is beginning to look loved and lovely.

So that's what I've been up to here. And none of it has cost me a cent - except the seed potatoes!

I do encourage you to think creatively about your own garden. Get help if you need it. Whatever you do I hope it brings you pleasure, which is the whole point - to get out in the fresh air and weather and to enjoy the growing things. It's a good feeling.

Happy gardening!

Mussel gathering ~ and the joys of the local beach

2011-10-03T13:42:00.000+13:00

A certain rock at the nearby beach has unexpectedly yielded up an astonishing number of extra-large mussels. Rewi is an enthusiastic gatherer of such things, whereas I am an on-looker, being too tender-hearted to wrench the little creatures from their natural homes. Each of us makes our personal choices in such matters.

So, off we went to the beach: he armed with a handy onion bag and sea-worthy shoes, and me with my camera.

There's always a lot to take my attention through the lens of my camera, while Rewi casts about along the rock faces amidst the surf and kelp.

Near to where I stood at the water's edge hundreds of little mussels awaited the returning high tide:

These ones reminded me of my crystal gem clusters, all attached to their rock home in a seemingly random pattern - which somehow isn't so random:

The nearby rock face presented a complex range of colours and patterns:

I had quite a long time to potter about while Rewi attended to his harvesting, but eventually we set off back along the beach. Old bits of shell were caught in pockets of rocks:

...As were huge ropes of old kelp:

When we got home Rewi set about the task of preparing his meal with enthusiasm. Mussels don't come fresher than this! Look at the lovely growth on the shells:

After the mussels were shelled we had a whole bucket of shells to dispose of. The correct thing to do is to return them to the sea, where the little creatures and the waves re-cycle them, so we set off to the beach a second time:

Included with the discarded shells was a tiny crab. He had been inside one of the mussels! He had lost a couple of legs but seemed okay! At least back on the beach he had a chance...

I was fascinated by the range of growth of weed and other sea creatures which had made their homes on the shells, and spent a long time photographing them on the rocks. This time it was Rewi who waited!

I found a shallow rock pool and put some of them in it to see the weed re-vivify in the water:

Of course there were lots of tiny creatures in the water, and a wide range of fabulous colours:

I spent a lot of time peering at these before deciding it was time to tip them out into the tide. Having one last look through the contents of the bucket I found this bearded old grandfather of a mussel that Rewi had overlooked. I placed him in the rock pool. The water clouded with all the particles carried in his beard!

I walked a few steps further and tipped the remaining shells down to the level of the tide:

And watched the water come in:

The water sucked back out again:

I love the gentle rhythm of waves washing in and out. I stood and watched it for some time...

Rewi had waited for ages. I really had to get back. I clambered back across the rocks. We stood on the beach and chatted a while before setting off home:

The sun was high overhead and the bright sunshine threw everything into high contrast:

As we climbed back up to the road I gazed with satisfaction at these reeds from which I have taken two tiny knobs of root to grow in wet spots in my garden:

It had been lovely on the beach but I was pleased to get in out of the glare. Cleaning up after lunch I found a tiny mussel amongst the beach things. It was smaller than my little fingernail and still shut tight. Oh dear: better take him back to the beach! See what a softy I am - which is why I'm a vegetarian! Just as well the beach is close by. I was back in time for a second cup of tea.

We were both satisfied that we had done our bit to put back what we could of what had been taken. We were participating in the rhythm of the sea. Taking, then putting back. Rewi will not take more from that rock, leaving plenty so that the colony can continue to thrive, and I am happy to take only photos - and a few little rootlets for the garden!

Ministry of Fisheries - guidelines on daily limits to gathering and catches.

Later note: when mussels have been collected we now always bring back a bucket of sea water for the hitch-hiking crabs and other littlies that are to be put back.

Vege fritters ~ for 'vege loading'

2011-09-19T15:35:00.001+12:00

UPDATE NOTES AT THE FOOT OF THE ARTICLE, 28TH NOV 2011.
Some of my tastiest cooking is achieved when I'm left alone to make what I can of an odd assortment of ingredients. I've been a bit lazy about getting my vegetables onto a plate lately and felt the need to catch up. Also I was hungry and nothing else appealed. Pumpkin fritters are always nice, but today I decided to pack more goodies into them. Here is what I used:

Pumpkin - 2 cups of this grated

Onion - half of one, finely chopped

Flour - 4 tablespoons sprinkled over and mixed with the above

Peas - frozen - half a cup

Rocket - a big handful of fresh leaves

Parsley - as for rocket

Salt - nearly 1 teaspoon

Eggs - 3 beaten

Note: total weight of vegetables and herbs prior to adding eggs is 250 grams.

I mixed the flour and veges thoroughly and sprinkled the salt over them. In a separate bowl I whisked the eggs and then mixed them in. The mixture became a little gooey, but not too much. I heated a heavy iron pan to a SLOW heat, added some oil, spooned in fritter-sized portions and patted them down to about a one centimetre (half inch) thickness, then cooked them on one side, then the other until golden brown. Serve with a little tomato sauce or relish.

This made ten good-sized fritters and more than enough for two people. They were as good as I've had anywhere!

There, I've put it down before I forget it. Maybe you will enjoy something like this too.

Notes - 1st November 2011:
I've made these twice since then. I've found that it's important to cook these on a slow heat so that they cook through properly. The second time I made them the insides weren't quite done, so they were okay but not great. So when I cooked them again last evening I cooked them slowly and they were excellent!

The ingredients used can be varied quite a bit:
In my most recent batch I made a variation on the above theme, substituting a cup of grated carrot for one of the cups of pumpkin, and putting in about a cup and a half of freshly chopped parsley and rocket, along with a couple of fresh sprigs each of marjoram and oregano. I really don't care for raw or even partly raw onion, so I sauted the onion until the pieces separated. Lastly, I forgot the peas - which turned out not to signify.

I've never been that great at fritters, and this feels like a new element in my cookery repertoire - simple, packed with goodness, fairly quick to make, and very tasty indeed!

Notes: 28th November:
I've now made these quite a few times and they have indeed become a firm favourite. Sometimes I've included a couple of tablespoons of cottage cheese, or crumbled in some feta cheese, and all of the herbs and vegetables can be varied, so it's a very flexible and tasty meal, very quick to prepare and uses hardly any cooking gear.

Valerie's marmalade recipe ~

2011-08-31T19:56:00.001+12:00

I share here my dear friend Valerie's marmalade recipe, given to me recently along with two DELICIOUS jars full. I haven't yet made it myself, but want to share it without further loss of time as it's now the lemon and grapefruit season in the north of New Zealand.

If you haven't seen my article Pop-top jars for jam and preserves you may find this useful for the bottling part of the process.

I present the recipe (almost) as it was given it to me. If you've been following my other jam and preserves recipes you'll see that Valerie has a different style to mine, which is part of its charm - full of enthusiasm good tips, and encouraging of variation!

Here it is:

4 grapefruit and 2 lemons are what I usually start with BUT you will see that it can be anything you want! Early grapefruit has more pectin and the lemons are full of pectin anyway.

Cut up the whole of the fruit in rind sizes that you like! I include the pips which help with it set.
Put the pips in a cloth bag for removal after cooking if you wish.

Adding the water: Measure the cut-up fruit in cups or whatever and for every cup of cut up fruit add one and half cups of water.

Let this stand for a bit.

Boil in a preserving pan or large pot for 20 to 30 minutes until thepeel is soft and there is sign of evaporation.

NEXT: Add sugar: If you like your marmalade fairly sweet you can use a fruit and sugar ratio of one to one, but I prefer more mine more tangy with the ratio of fruit to sugar of about four to three.
Here are the two choices:

Measure the cooked and softened pulp and
For the sweeter result: for every cup of pulp add a cup of sugar (ratio one to one)

For a more tangy marmalade: for every 8 cups of pulp add about 6 cups of sugar or less (ratio four to three). See how flexible this recipe is!

NEXT: Boil at a 'rolling boil' for 20 to 30 minutes or until there are signs of setting on the inside of the pan at the level of the pulp, and similar signs on the wooden spoon you're stirring it with. If in doubt one can leave the mixture to get cold and observe.

If the fruit has been allowed to cool, reheat it to boiling and then bottle.
If it seems too thick add water, and if it seems to liquid boil longer.
When reheating WATCH as it can burn at the bottom !

You see there is a way out whatever you choose! Usually Yummy...

ADDENDUM: If there are more citrus around than you have time or inclination to make into marmalade one can do all the cuttung up and then put it into an ice cream container or similar and put it into the freezer for when you feel like doing the rest of the work.

Valerie has been a wonderful friend to me and a major source of inspiration. As I've written in my article All those helping hands ~ some special people and ripples spreading out, she's the greatest exponent of household creativity, practicalities and making do with less, of anyone I know of. Lucky me, and lucky you also, as without her, The At Home Chronicle may never have come into being, so a big Thank You bouquet to you, Valerie! To everyone else: I hope you enjoy your marmalade!

Further delicious recipes featuring lemons are:

Out of the old and into the new ~ moving house and garden

2011-08-16T11:55:00.005+12:00

After we'd seen the new place and decided that we liked it, the question wasn't whether we could afford it, but whether we could afford the move itself. Moving is costly whichever way you do it: if you interminably drive back and forth you spend a fortune on petrol and take days doing it, whereas the truck comes and goes once and that's it. We'll pass lightly over the number of extra trips made by car in relation to all my plants and especially fragile stuff... Long ago I gave up attempting to do the main bit myself, and hand the job over to Conroy Removals, the same reputable movers who have done the job for us on other occasions. They couldn't do it this time, but referred us to a firm with which they have had dealings for many years and could vouch for. I went with that and was well pleased with the service of Best Removals. Both are good value for money and really helpful.

Moving is stressful no matter how well organised one is. By the time we had packed over 70 cartons and emptied out cupboards, wardrobes, drawers and shelves I was glad I'd decided to clean carefully one room at a time as I packed. And to have dug out, crated and removed my host of plants and assorted gear ahead of the main move. It was all very worthwhile, and minimised the strain of getting the last chores done.

We moved on one of the coldest days of the year, and since we'd carted most of our household goods into the garage to be handy for the truck my car was outside for the night. It was covered in hoar frost:

I looked wistfully around my garden, sleeping beneath the frost, and hoped someone else would love it as much as I had, however unlikely that may be.

I particularly loved these grasses, which I'd planted with such care and thought a couple of years earlier. There was no way I could take them with me - I'd had to take out one by the gate some months earlier and ruined the blade of my spade in doing so. I said to my landlord I hoped he liked them as much as I did. He said he did. I don't think that's possible, but it was nice of him to say so! Here they are in the early morning light, something fairly-like about them:

All our things in the garage looked fine to begin with, before we brought out the remainder. And then the combined efforts of the removals men and the two of us failed to be able to get the big couch out of either of the doors. We took the front door off its hinges. How did we get it in, I was asked. I had no idea as the previous movers had done all that for us and had gone before we arrived! Finally we got it out, minus some of the surface finish on the back corner of the couch. Not to worry, we were on our way!

It had been a struggle to get everything into the truck, and with it loaded to maximum capacity the long extending ladder and a piece of exercise equipment remained. I insisted that the ladder go with the truck. The mover bruised himself wedging it diagonally in the very back, but got it in, for which I was grateful. I couldn't possibly have taken it in the car! So we ended up having to come back for the other, which gave me the opportunity to give the old place a once-over inspection and a dab here and there with a wet cloth, which felt right - and left the keys on the mantle. Many thanks to Rachel and John for their patient assistance!

By the end of the day we were finished at the old place and stuffed into the new one, and I mean stuffed!

My good friend Penelope brought over a meal for us, and we had afternoon tea together wedged into the table by the bay window.

However, within a few days things were far more ship-shape. What a nice place to have breakfast, or any meal, for that matter, looking out over the ocean and idly watching the comings and goings on the street below:

The cats aren't really allowed on the table, but you know how it is...

In the weeks that followed I rapidly dismissed most of the curtains in the house, replacing them with my own and did the same with all but one of the lampshades. The light bulbs were upgraded to a decent strength, and a range of electrical and other matters attended to and got into running order. I am pleased to have many of my own furnishing, picked up here and there and mostly second-hand, as they immediately make any place more familiar and attractive. Boxes have been almost entirely relegated to the basement where they are neatly folded and stacked ready for the next time, and as many days as I can I make some small improvements to the place to make it function better and be more homely. It's been hard work but fun.

The garden is another matter again, and having been rather too busy for comfort as of late, I've been pleased that it's still winter, and not clement enough to spend much time out of doors. It's a large section, set on a fairly steep hillside, and I'm told it's never had a garden as such. The lawns have been kept mown, but everything else has a neglected air. This is good in a way as I have carte blanche to do what I like with it.

Both entrances to the house are somewhat awkward with flights of concrete steps doubling back above the path below. This made for major difficulties getting things into the house on moving day. We both fell on them: Rewi on the front steps and me on the back. Rewi, who was carrying one end of a very heavy wardrobe, had to step into the garden to turn that corner as the turning area on the pathway was too short, and in doing so stumbled into an abandoned portable barbecue complete with charcoal. While he managed to keep from dropping his load his feet got covered with soot which was trekked to the door. Fortunately I saw all this in time to insist he take off his shoes...

I fell by missing my step on the unfamiliar risers while carrying a large pot plant. Only minor damage done, and I can do little to improve that access-way, but I can do something about the front one where I'll extend the path into the garden paving it with loose bricks discarded after building work. This will make it wide enough for future loads to be carried in and out. It will also look very much nicer. I'm beginning to see how, with a bit of proper forethought and effort, parts of the garden could look a whole lot better.

Three terraces climb the hill at the back. Already I have designated one of these as a vege patch, and the top one for native plants and shrubs. It's lovely up there. Garden seats invite one to settle there and enjoy the view, which is really wonderful, and peaceful:

Five woolly sheep placidly munch their way around the two paddocks directly beyond the fence line. I like to see them there. They're companionable in their way.

Gradually I'll tidy the place up doing the most urgent bits as need be. Already it's looking much better:

This border has become my nursery for the plants I've brought with me. The day I did this was warm and sunny, and as I worked my way along it on my hands and knees the ground and I began to get acquainted. By the time I'd finished it both looked and felt much improved. I felt much improved too, and more at home. For me, that's what it's all about: establishing myself in relation to the land in a good way - which feels like a mutual liking, care and respect. Gardening is always a collaboration between gardener, the earth, and the plants we choose to put in and tend. The earth and growing things require so little of us and work their own magic. I do love to be a part of that.

We're in the midst of a winter storm at the moment, but as soon as the weather clears and is a little milder I expect to begin work in the vegetable garden. In the meantime the crates of silver beet and rocket that I dug up from the last place continue to provide us with fresh greens. Before the storm broke I lugged them up onto the porch so that I am able to pluck leaves as needed. The plants are patient in their crates and generous of themselves. Meantime the winter gales blow, the unusual snow comes and goes, and I enjoy a little leisure while I can.

Christchurch Earthquakes ~ Sumner, a photo-journal from late July 2011

2011-08-16T10:00:00.000+12:00

I was in Christchurch briefly at the end of July. Since my previous visit the earthquake of the 13th June earthquake had occurred, and changes to Sumner, both along its cliffs and in the shopping centre had accelerated. Barricades in the form of shipping containers had increased in height and length and more buildings had been razed. The cliffs suffered colossal damage, and many houses in close proximity were disastrously affected.

Heading towards Sumner and nearing the corner next to the remains of Shag Rock (now known as Shag Pile) this house clings to its bit of hillside:

Around the corner along Peacocks Gallop, the barricade of shipping containers has been increased two high all the way along including around the corner at the far end: at that point traffic is diverted through the car park.

A number of houses perched at the edge of this cliff face have suffered complete disaster:

A peek behind the barriers revealed this scene:

Along at the other end rock rubble has rolled right to the backs of containers.

In the shopping centre the road has been freed up by the demolition of the historic two storey community centre:

Beyond the empty section is the Marine Backpackers and Bar which is still operating. There is quite a bit of room behind those buildings to the foot of the cliff face. There needs to be! To the right is the community library, still closed, which is flanked on its other side by another unstable building:

Just beyond the intersection of Wakefield Avenue with Nayland Street the barricade of shipping containers has been increased to two high right along to the bend in the road:

Although some businesses are still open the shopping centre itself has a somewhat desolate air, overshadowed as it is by shipping containers, abandoned shops and ongoing demolitions:

The pharmacy moved quite some time ago:

I walked to the far end of the Wakefield Avenue line of shipping containers. It was quite a distance. I looked back the other way towards the shops:

And decided I should get off the road:

My curiosity was piqued by the barricades. I took a look behind them:

It's hard to see the scale of things in that image, so I've enlarged part of it, the part which shows the shelter and the up-turned garden seat which can now be seen at the left:

It might look as if there is a lot of room between me and the cliff face, but the magnitude of flying dust, and no doubt debris also, that was thick in the air immediately following the quake of 13th June, makes this a prudent measure. Those of you who doubt me and who have not seen my article about that event may wish to view the video below. The scene is across Wakefield Avenue just beyond the end of Stoke Street:

This is what that intersection looked like when I saw it - rather more serene!

Just metres away that same day, one of the earliest houses built in Sumner gave way to the strain and has since been pulled down. This is what remains: a neat fence, hedge and carefully maintained letterbox:

And around the corner the garage can be seen:

Years ago I watched Bill change the guttering on that place, all carefully done with a view to keeping the place in tip-top order.

Back behind the barricade at the end nearest the shops I had this view:

And a little closer to it I had this view of the side of the library, now freed of encroachment of the collapsing community centre:

My sister has to be one of the keenest users this library has ever had, and noted with concern that the holes in the wall were next to the non-fiction section. Oh dear! Weather getting into the books is not good. The damage and loss resulting from the earthquakes is all so personal to those who live there.

My mother remarked that following the earthquakes of the 13th June a couple she knew of came over from the largely undamaged western suburbs to see what had happened. Decidedly shocked they repaired to one of the cafes to gain what comfort they could, and found they were eating off paper plates. All the crockery had been broken, probably for the second or even the third time.

In the midst of it all rattled citizens are coping as best they can. Many show a wry sense of humour, as does the artist of this neatly painted graffiti:

I'll let them have the last word: yes indeed, Sumner does rock! Let's hear it for them folks!

Postscript 24th September: The Sumner library is now free of the encumbrance of the remaining unstable building as can be seen in these photographs kindly provided by Grace Dalley, which were taken on the 17th:

Postscript (2): Thanks also to brother-in-law John, who contributed some of the images included above.

ALL MY ARTICLES ABOUT THE CHRISTCHURCH EARTHQUAKES CAN BE FOUND ON THE PAGE LINKED TO AT THE UPPER RIGHT OF THIS SCREEN, OR VIA THE LINK BELOW:

Leigh's Christchurch earthquake articles ~ click here to find them all

Christchurch earthquakes ~ photo journal of central Christchurch, 23rd July 2011

2011-08-16T09:00:00.000+12:00

Photographs shown here were taken on the 23rd of July when I was briefly in Christchurch to spend time with family. They were taken in an hour or so of wandering around a part of the central city open to the public, looking, looking, looking. Many others do the same. Looking, taking photographs. So many photographs.

Why do we gaze on and wish to record what has been so painful? To witness it, to help our brains map the changes; to keep in touch with the changing reality of our city. What massive changes there are, and so many more still to come.

I wanted to look but didn't want to do so alone. Moral support seemed necessary, as indeed it turned out to be. My sister came with me. We started our walk in Durham Street by the Provincial Council Chambers, a historic building of considerable renown. Here is what is left of the Stone Hall:

We peered into the window of the abandoned cafe opposite:

A yellowing copy of a newspaper dated the 22nd February 2011, that fateful day, lay on the window counter where it had been left; crockery lay on the floor:

A milk crate complete with empty containers and a note for the milkman stood outside the door:

The next people on the premises are likely to be demolition men.

My mother's solicitor had her offices in this building, or was it the one next to it? I remembered that we had been told that all legal documents were held in a disaster-proof strong room. I wondered what happened to all those staff that momentous day, several floors up, their offices accessed by lift. (See postscript below.) They're working from a different office now, out of town. I wondered if the strong room stood up to the force of the earthquakes; how long it was before staff were assisted to retrieve all the vital documents from it; and, and, and... Retrieval of business records has been a major problem throughout the city.

We walked on taking a backward glance at the Provincial Council Buildings:

Ah, the ever-present portaloos - and thank goodness for them!

We crossed Gloucester Street:

The city library from the intersection of Gloucester and Durham Streets

The city's central library lies trapped by the proximity of unsafe neighbouring buildings. Heavy machinery for digging and grading lines the street on the right. It was Saturday, so all work within the central city had ceased. Numbers of other on-lookers were also about, doing as we were doing - looking...

Across the Avon we could see this historic brick building enmeshed in scaffolding and bracing, waiting for restoration:

The hotel which stands close by looked at least superficially okay, until viewed more closely: boarding and barricades at street level close off entry:

Along with other on-lookers we come to Worcester Street and looked along it to see what we could of Cathedral Square and the Cathedral two blocks away:

Worcester St from the Avon bridge looking towards Cathedral Square

Standing at the fence pictured above I held my camera high above my head to get a clearer image of whatever was further along.

The double row of fencing made it very clear that authorities were serious about keeping us out. It's too dangerous. However, it should be noted that the lean of the two high-rises pictured here is due to my wide angle lens, not a lean in the buildings themselves.

From there we set off towards the Arts Centre, the site of the old university, which in the last couple of decades has become a centre for art and craft businesses, shops, cafes, the Court Theatre and a cinema.

These beautiful old stone buildings have been damaged badly, and a great deal of painstaking work has been done to make them safe and to buttress them while restoration is carried out:

Looking down Worcester Boulevard towards the Museum

The Arts Centre bell tower

The north corner of the Great Hall

Note the reinforcing rods. This building, the Great Hall, is on the corner of Worcester Street and Rolleston Avenue. The disordered signpost in the right of the image should be disregarded!

Around the corner on Rolleston Avenue more of the Great Hall could be seen. Note the missing turret:

The September earthquake dislodged the turret by an inch or two. It had been carefully removed and placed in front of the neighbouring building. If this had not been done then it would have fallen in the February quake and been destroyed.

Faced with all this damage and destruction it was a relief to see some buildings whole and handsome.

This brick building at the corner of Worcester and Montreal Streets is one of them:

Here again the apparent lean of the building at the right is due to the wide angle of the camera lens, not the building itself.

The façade of the City's new art gallery is a different case in point: it's many-angled complex glass frontage with its multiple panes of glass suffered no loss whatsoever. Indeed, the only damage to the gallery that I've heard of is inside where a small number of ceiling tiles were dislodged.

By this time we reached this point I was beginning to feel shattered, rather like this imagery reflected in the Art Gallery windows:

The imagery was largely a reflection of the remarkable artwork opposite:

The only reason the art gallery cannot re-open to the public is due to the neighbouring apartment blocks which are deemed to be unstable. They are scheduled for demolition but no one knows when that will be. You can see them behind it here.

We headed back to the car, but took one further excursion on the way: I wanted to visit the Durham Street Methodist Church where my dear optometrist, Paul Dunlop, died - to honour his memory, and also to see for myself. This is what remained:

That beautiful door: not so many years ago our family paused in front of it to take group photographs after our sister's graduation ceremony, all smiling.

Turning back on our tracks we passed the ornate brickwork of the old land court buildings which looked remarkably intact, as the law courts beyond them also seemed to be, not that anyone was allowed in either of them...

And we were back at the Provincial Council Chambers, seen here across the intersection of Durham and Armagh Streets:

Taking one last look at the crumbling remains of the Stone Hall we got back into the car:

Exhausted by the sheer scale of what we had seen we headed out to Sumner to be with family.

Had we been permitted to enter the closed-off central city we could have seen some of these sites filmed when Scribe was making this video as a tribute to the hard-hit city and its people. It features his hit song "not many cities".

The video was sponsored by the BNZ which wanted to send a message of support. Here is the video about the making of it:

Postscript regarding what happened to staff in the solicitors offices that day:

Law firm TaylorShaw happy to be back in the CBD - published in The Press, 30th Dec 2011.

ALL MY ARTICLES ABOUT THE CHRISTCHURCH EARTHQUAKES CAN BE FOUND ON THE PAGE LINKED TO AT THE UPPER RIGHT OF THIS SCREEN, OR VIA THE LINK BELOW:

Leigh's Christchurch earthquake articles ~ click here to find them all

13th June 2011 ~ Christchurch's third major earthquake event

2011-08-15T12:26:00.004+12:00

I've put off writing about this third major event for some time - it's all been too much. I'm doing so now to record what happened, as already many of our memories are becoming vague as to details and about what happened in which earthquake.

Although I moved from Christchurch some years ago it is where I grew up and I am close to people who still live there. So much of the loss is personal and with each new big shake fresh damage occurs and the nerves of residents are tested yet again.

The quake event of the 13th June consisted of two big shakes: the first at 1 pm, was Richter magnitude 5.6 (Moment magnitude 5.3), followed by a much more severe one at 2.20pm, which was Richter magnitude 6.3 (moment magnitude 6.0). Note that the degree of magnitude has been revised a number of times; this set is the final one.
The use of the two different magnitude scales is confusing. While there is an intentional degree of similarity between them they do measure different things. Essentially, the Richter scale measures ground motion whereas the moment magnitude scale measures the amount of energy released. Here is what the Wikipedia article has to say about them. Scroll down the article to read comparison of the two.

The eastern suburbs were worst affected, among them Bexley, Bromley, New Brighton and Parklands, where liquefaction sent fresh fountains of water and silt gushing out of the ground. Further to the east and across the estuary the cliffs of Redcliffs, Clifton and Scarborough suffered major fresh collapses, sending up clouds of dust as they crashed down. Electricity was lost to large parts of the city and newly laid sewers broke once more. Many who were standing at the time were knocked off their feet, and those who were sitting were thrown from their chairs.

In Bromley, this footage from a shop's closed circuit television shows the earthquake as it occurred at the Dyers Pass ITM Building Centre. You might like to mute the sound for this one as it's an odd and distracting choice. Here we see ordinary people attempting to live life as normal when...

Getting out of shaking buildings wasn't the only concern. Getting home was another and completely different challenge. In the clip below we see footage of liquefaction in the eastern suburbs as it happened - I used to live in this area! You can see how rapidly the water level rises, and holes open up in the ground. On flooded roads one has no clue as to where these holes may be:

In the next clip a Tonkin and Taylor spokesman describes the damage to this land. This clip is from the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority site.

The Campbell Live news show which screens at 7pm on weekdays has provided much excellent coverage of earthquake events and difficulties from many angles. In the following item John Campbell takes us on a visit through earthquake-battered Bexley. We see exactly what it's been like to live with liquefaction and how the interiors of many houses have been affected, with liquefaction occurring inside as well as outside.

Bexley Earthquake struggles - screened on 15th June 2011

Across the Estuary in the Sumner area we see damage of a different kind - collapsing cliffs:

This is what the cliffs along Wakefield Avenue looked like just after they had collapsed.

The man who filmed them apologizes on YouTube for language used at the time. I think this can be overlooked under the circumstances! My sister was standing just metres away and the quake knocked her off her feet. She said she had no time to grab anything to hold onto, that the ground "just leapt up and hit me". She said that the cliffs both hissed and roared as the rock faces fragmented, and that thick dust covered everything, making people choke.

Given the amount of debris that must have been flung long distances, it's not surprising that the authorities had a double height avenue of shipping containers placed along the inside of Wakefield Avenue:

A selection of photographs taken when I was in Christchurch in late July show more images of this area as well as the central city and will be published in a companion article.

In the clip below we see the state of the collapsed cliff face along Whitewash Head - from the top!

I sincerely hope that the person who filmed this never does anything like it again - it's exceedingly dangerous terrain!

Further round Clifton suffered severe cliff-face collapses as did Redcliffs. One philosophical home owner whose property is near the edge of a precipice remarked that the Bible cautions us not to build our homes on sand, but on rock; he pointed out that the quakes have proved both to be unsafe!

Central Christchurch, already badly damaged, with much of it still cordoned off, deteriorated further. This is what remains of the Stone Chamber of the Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings, a highly regarded heritage site:

Christchurch residents are becoming less sentimental. A handful of heritage buildings will be salvaged or rebuilt, but most will not.

Aftermath - TV3 footage from around the city:

Note: the cliffs shown are Clifton, at the main cliff top opposite the ocean, and sadly below, on Peacock's Gallop.

The following news stories give an overview of the quake:

Powerful earthquakes rock Christchurch - article published on Stuff website, 13th June 2011
When will they stop? - ODT article of 14th June 2011
Christchurch City Council advises of infrastructure damage and closures - 14th June 2011
This map on the Geonet site shows the epicentres of the three earthquake events. This shows clearly the areas of the city have been worst affected.

Earthquake aftershock frequency and scientific explanations:

At the time of writing, Christchurch has experienced 29 earthquakes of Magnitude 5 and above, since 4th September 2010. You can count them for yourself on the Geonet site which lists these as 'significant Canterbury earthquakes'. In total there have been 8319 quakes recorded on the Christchurch Quake Map. The degree and severity of the on-going quakes is most unusual. Each time there is another major quake event the clock for the pattern of reducing aftershocks is re-set back at the beginning. Everyone is wondering how much longer this is going to go on. The answers are uncertain, but scientists give a measure of insight:

Explaining the science behind the quakes - article from The Press published on 28th July 2011

Scientific discussion is always helpful, and the people of Christchurch are becoming experts in their own right. The forum 'Ask a scientist' hosted by the Press is very helpful. It's worth scrolling through the articles to look at the different questions put:

Faultline fears and P-waves - last updated on 29th June 2011
Why so many aftershocks? - last updated on 22nd June 2011
Where does liquefaction come from? - last updated on 3rd August 2011

Earthquake stress:

The people of Christchurch are wearing thin with the stress of continuing earthquakes and the resulting loss of so much: their city centre, community shops and other facilities; significant areas of the city have not had sewer connections since September last year; and many residents have lost not only their homes but their livelihoods as well.

People react and cope in very different ways:

Invisible scars of quake trauma - Stuff article published on 12th June 2011
Common reactions to disaster - fact sheet 2 - published by the Ministry of Health
Police refuse to work at 'scary' station - ODT article of 17th June 2011
151 full-time jobs shed from event managers - ODT article of 17th June 2011. The job losses mentioned here represent only one sector that has been affected. The loss of many jobs across the city has been inevitable - adding to the stress of residents.
1 in 20 will suffer post-traumatic stress - Published in the Press - 10th May 2011
Psychosocial consequences of the Canterbury earthquakes - published on the NZ Doctor site, 10th May 2011
Govt gives $2.4m for quake counselling - published in the ODT, 8th Sept 2011
Quake effect on frontline workers to be studies - published in the ODT, 5th October 2011

It has been observed that the people of Christchurch have been drinking more in an effort to cope. This group manages to keep it positive:

Christchurch neighbours in good spirits after quakes - the residents of Arnst Place in Dallington keep up their good cheer with get-togethers over a tot of rum - Campbell Live, screened on 22nd June 2011. All houses in their street have since been scheduled for demolition.

Here is the remarkable story of Raewyn Iketau, who embraced the difficulties of living in abandoned central Christchurch - until after the 13th June:

Camp mother's big adventure - Stuff article of 6th July 2011.

Time delays in repairing and rebuilding have been immensely frustrating for many residents. Delays have occurred for many reasons. Some of these are:

Nearly 600 buildings in the central business district have been approved for demolition with dumped material expected to be approximately two million tonnes. A large portion of central Christchurch remains cordoned off until these are cleared and others are made safe.

Christchurch CBD demolition months from completion - TV3 news item of 11th July 2011

The sheer volume of waste needing to be removed from around the city is massive, and all this takes time. The Christchurch City Council media release Recovery park to sort earthquake waste of 18th July gives these figures - Christchurch City Council media release of 18th July gives these figures for earthquake waste:

Currently earthquake demolition waste received at Burwood Resource Recovery Park:

200 – 300 trucks a day each carrying approximately 25 tonnes of waste.
This equates to 5000 – 7500 tonnes of construction and demolition waste being received each day.

Estimated total demolition waste created by the 22 February earthquake:

Central Business District – two million tonnes.
Residential and suburban commercial zones – two million tonnes.
Repair of roads and water and sewer pipes – four million tonnes.
Sand and silt collected from streets and properties – 500,000 tonnes.

The owners of buildings scheduled for demolition may have protracted negotiations with insurers as well as EQC (The Earthquake Commission), and the buildings then take time to be cleared away. It is expected that The Grand Chancellor Hotel may take up to a year to take down, floor by floor. It is in the midst of a heavily built up city area so it can't just be pushed over. Until this and other high rises are taken down the smaller businesses surrounded them are ham-strung.

$10m to raze Hotel Grand Chancellor - article published on Stuff website, 26th May 2011.

Insurance difficulties are emerging as the top stymie to the city's rebuild, with builders as well as home owners being unable to get further insurance:

Red tape hold-ups stymie builders - 24th August 2011

Land that has suffered severe liquefaction or other severe damage has to be stabilized by a process termed 'remediation' before it will be suitable for building on once more. This cannot be done while buildings remain on sites. Remediation is expected to take years.

Latest Christchurch land information released - published by CERA (Christchurch Earthquake Recovery Authority) on 22nd June 2011

Those whose homes are on or at the foot of the hills within rolling distance of unstable rocks must wait for these to be removed or secured, an enormous task which is likely to take a very long time. As many as 150 homes which have suffered rock damage may have to be demolished.

Big boulders hard to budge - this article from The Press describes the work being down in the Sumner hillside area, published on 30th June 2011.
Earthquake update for Port Hills reserves - Christchurch City Council posting of 5th August 2011. This article describes the process of dealing with loose rocks, and the scale of the task.
Rockfall threatens 150 homes - Article from The Press published on 11th August 2011
250-tonne rock sent crashing - article from The Press published on 24th August 2011. This includes a video clip of a massive rock being dislodged by experts from the cliff-top behind Sumner's Marine Tavern.

The sheer number of assessments being handled by the EQC is mind-boggling: 128,000 as at the 22nd July!

80,000 EQC claims missing details - Article published by The Press on 22nd July 2011

Legal issues are likely to be an additional source of complexity for many property owners.

With such a large proportion of buildings across the city needing attention this represents a massive amount of work for tradesmen who are already in high demand. Rebuilding will continue for years.

Related news articles:

Insurance 'loophole' a nightmare for Christchurch Red Zone - problems for red zone residents - Campbell Live, screened on 27th June 2011

AMI Insurance talks Christchurch Red Zone - Christchurch's biggest insurance provider fronts up about Total Replacement policies - Campbell Live, screened on 28th June 2011

CERA land information map - showing classification of land damage - announced by the government on 23rd June 2011

Crown to buy 5100 quake-hit Christchurch homes - Stuff article of 23rd June 2011, by Vernon Small

Buyout chance to move on - ODT article of 24th June 2011

Government's land package a good starting point - Stuff article of 24th June 2011, by Paul Gorman

The way we were:

Oh, for the good old days, and an orderly city where everything worked. This delightful video is a unique contribution to Christchurch's pre-earthquake memorabilia, for which many thanks go to 'lukaskaupenjohan'

Christchurch-Timelapse from lukaskaupenjohann on Vimeo.

The new draft plan for the city was announced on the 11th August:

We all look forward to better times ahead.

Christchurch draft rebuild plan revealed - TV3 news item of 11th July 2011
Low rise Christchurch City envisioned - ODT article of 12th August 2011

Living with uncertainty:

New Zealand is a land on the move. Severe earthquakes in heavily populated areas are rare, but always a possibility.

Great Alpine Fault Earthquake - an article posted on the Otago Regional Council website gives a summary of a talk given by Tim Davies, Associate Professor from Canterbury University, 8 - 10 October 2007.
Ask an expert: Alpine fault fears - Forum for questions answered by scientists hosted by The Press - last updated 6th July 2011

ALL MY ARTICLES ABOUT THE CHRISTCHURCH EARTHQUAKES CAN BE FOUND ON THE PAGE LINKED TO AT THE UPPER RIGHT OF THIS SCREEN, OR VIA THE LINK BELOW:

Leigh's Christchurch earthquake articles ~ click here to find them all

Snowed in ~ the big snow of 25th July

2011-08-04T18:45:00.001+12:00

My trip to Christchurch on the occasion of a family birthday was unexpectedly extended by the big snowfall of the 25th July - we were snowed in literally: the little car I had the use of was parked down a long narrow drive in which the snow was at least axle deep:

Even if I could have reached the street I wouldn't have been able to drive anywhere:

Later in the day when the weather had eased my friend and I walked a couple of blocks to a dairy on Colombo Street, one of the city's main streets, and even there small cars were having difficulty. This was the view south towards Cashmere:

I didn't mind staying the extra day at all. My friend and I settled in front of the fire and spent the day watching the last four episodes of 'Angels in America' and ate quantities of good food. (Note: the link is to my review)

I was pleased to have to spend the day quietly, and enjoyed the dramatic transformation of the neighbourhood. The surrounding trees whose bare branches were starkly delineated by their covering of snow were beautiful. This one is a magnolia tree:

The heaviness of the snowfall was unusual and widespread throughout New Zealand, with the polar storm passing over the country in the space of about four days. Most unusually it fell to sea level on many areas, including Christchurch and Dunedin.

The ODT carried this story the following day on 26th July: 'The big freeze: it wasn't just us' For those with an interest in meteorology the article is worth a look for the satellite picture it includes.

More snow is expected in the south this weekend.

The ODT published this story today: 'Country told to brace for snow' Time to check the cupboards and line up some DVDs!

For those interested in weather patterns, the two big snows of this winter, the July one and the August one, are due to polar weather the reason for which is described in this article:

'Canterbury's snow woes may not be over' - published in the Press on 18th August 2011

Our atmospheric weather patterns are between La Nina and El Nino at present and fairly neutral. When westerly winds in the Antarctic pick up in September outbreaks this far north will be must less likely.

Watching the big fish

2011-08-03T13:36:00.002+12:00

I was sitting idly drinking a cup of tea when I saw something unusual out at sea just beyond the breakers: a large group of fish or sea mammals of some sort were showing their backs as they curved about in the water. ...And they're still at it. I need a pair of binoculars to see better. Whatever they are they're fairly large; too close in to be whales, although a pod of them did go past here a week or so ago, which I didn't see, but they may be seals. How wonderfully mysterious! Green Island, you rock!

Closer at hand and fairly commonplace, but no less mysterious for all that, are the reminders of tiny lives that wash up on the shore:

Or that lie still breathing beneath the sand:

Fresh water crossing the beach links the land with the ocean:

It may be cold on the beach, but beauty is everywhere.

Actually, that's a very different beach: Sumner. It's good to get out and walk and not take it all for granted. I love the world we live in. Breathe in that glorious ocean air, and out again, and in... I like to think that the ocean too breathes - with its tides.

Ginger cake is Happiness Cake

2011-08-03T10:43:00.000+12:00

After I had a happy surprise recently I decided to make a Happiness Cake to celebrate. For me this is Ginger Cake. It's too good to keep to myself, so here is the recipe:

50 gm crystallized ginger roughly chopped (2 oz)

50 gm walnuts - roughly chopped (2 oz)

50 gm sultanas (2 oz)

125 gm butter (4 oz)

125 gm sugar (4 oz - about half a cup)

3 tablespoons of golden syrup

2 teaspoons of ground ginger

1 teaspoons of mixed spice

2 eggs

225 gm standard or plain flour ( 8 oz - about 2 cups)

1 teaspoon of baking powder

3/4 cup of milk

1 teaspoon of baking soda

Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius, (350 degrees Fahrenheit).

Oil and flour your tin. I use a ring tin.

Chop the crystallized ginger and walnuts and measure out the sultanas. Chopping them roughly gives the cake a good texture and nice contrasts when eating. Set all these to one side.

Cream butter, sugar and golden syrup together, and then add the spices. If the butter is firm or hard I grate it, place it into a mixing bowl and stand that in a sink of hot water until it's nice and soft. For the best results you want the butter to go soft, creamy and pale, but not to melt.

Spices added at this stage will give more flavour.

I beat the eggs in a small bowl, and then sift the flour and baking powder into another large bowl. Baking soda is added to the milk in its cup and stirred briskly to dissolve it.

Everything can then be added together according to what suits you best. I add the fruit last.

Scoop the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 40 to 45 minutes.

It will be fairly firm on top when fully cooked, and smell simply delicious!

It's most scrumptious when warm, so don't delay.

If eating it once it has got cold, it can be reheated in the microwave for 20 seconds per slice and taste quite fresh once more.

In the unlikely event of having some to put away in the cake tin it does keep well. It can also be frozen. If freezing consider slicing it first.

For a special treat I like it best served with whipped cream and preserved pears. If you have visitors for the occasion they will always happily eat more, so don't put out more than you are happy parting with!

Sorry, no photo as we scoffed the lot!

People seem to have really liked the cakes they've made with this recipe.
One reader made a variation of it using soft dates in place of sultanas and 'spelt' flour in place of the usual wheat flour. She comments that it was nice and light and more-ishly delicious the next day. She particularly liked it hot with yoghurt as a dessert. Thanks for your comments, Helen!

Christchurch ~ two months after the big quake ~ demolitions, cliff collapses, shipping containers and portaloos

2011-05-02T14:02:00.021+12:00

MULTIPLE INFORMATION LINKS CAN BE FOUND AT THE FOOT OF THIS ARTICLE ~
The latest new links were added on 20th May 2011 ~

I grew up in Christchurch and although I've lived away from it for most of my adult life my response to the earthquakes made it plain that it is still my place. I was surprised at the waves of intense emotion that welled up: waves of tears, distress and concern. I needed to see what had happened for myself.

At Easter I was able to drive there for the first time. I was pleased to be with family and friends, and also to take it all in first hand.

The city certainly is battered and many bits are damaged or missing but it's still there, and large parts of it seem reasonably intact. Mind you, many apparently intact exteriors are very unsound indeed.

My main focus was the Redcliffs and Sumner area as these are the areas most familiar to me. Both have been badly affected. Most of Christchurch is 'on the flat', as we say; this part of Christchurch is nestled next to or on hills and their cliffs.

Heading to Sumner from town I found that the Heathcote bridge is now open to all traffic. Its surface is fairly uneven but it works; the road around the foot of Mt Pleasant and across the Causeway likewise. From the areas of shingle fill and asphalt patching it's obvious that an immense amount of work has already been done to get it to this point. Proper re-grading and sealing will have to wait who knows how long.

I drove around the Redcliffs waterfront. The sea wall has subsided and the road is very uneven, but the view was worth it: below you can see the view across the Estuary to the spit of South New Brighton and the remains of Shag Rock. On the right you can see the sharp bluff of Clifton Hill, and behind it the steep cliffs of Whitewash Head. The tide was middling, neither high nor low. Look how low-lying the spit is!

I turned back onto the main road. Here is the Redcliffs supermarket:

If it didn't have a high mesh fence around it you could drive past and see nothing amiss. In fact it has been declared so dangerous that no one is allowed back in even to collect possessions. It's scheduled for demolition.

Such decisions are not taken lightly: aftershocks continue and their effect on already weakened structures can be catastrophic. A tragic example of this may be the collapse of the CTV building: it seems possible that underlying structural damage from the September earthquake may not have been identified. The collapse resulted in about half of the city's earthquake fatalities. Broadcaster Mike Yardley, who worked in the building, remarked that prior to that the response of the building to subsequent shaking had seemed to become noisier as time passed. That building was less that fifty years old. In another tragic instance my dear optometrist Paul Dunlop, was in the already damaged Durham Street Methodist Church when the big quake struck. He was with a group of men working to dismantle and remove the organ: five of them got out, and three of them didn't. He didn't. I've seen footage of that church on television and the quake reduced it to little more than a heap of tumbled masonry. I was comforted to read that everything that could be done was done. It's heartbreaking. No one expected there to be another major shake after the big one in September last year.

Those who know Redcliffs and Sumner will be very aware of substantial rock falls. The danger of continued crumbling has made it necessary for a considerable number of households to evacuate. Here are the cliffs behind Redcliffs school, which is now closed:

In the photograph below you can see the loose rock debris above the roof-line of the school building. The cliff is some distance behind the building, but these rockfalls have come very close to the back of the school grounds as you can see in the aerial photos featured in this link to a GeoNet PDF

Heading on around to Sumner the road passes a reserve called Peacock's Gallop. This greened area stretches along the foot of impressive cliffs which form one side of the hillside suburb of Clifton.

On the left is what remains of Shag Rock:

On the right is the wonderful cliff face. Stacked containers guard against possible rock falls:

The view below looks back towards Redcliffs which can be seen in the background.

Here is a wider view of the cliff from the Sumner end. Fallen rubble has mounded up to just above the tree tops. Note the houses along the top of the precipice!

At the far end the bare rock is clearly considered more stable as there are no barricades. I love this rock face: it looks like a great pot of stone porridge which as been vertically stirred! It's volcanic of course.

Each time I drove along there I reminded myself that the likelihood of rock falling exactly at the time I was passing below was slight! However, I wasn't lingering - they do come down as you can see from the big ones sitting just on the verge in the lower half-right of the image:

Approaching the Sumner shopping centre I found that road closed to southbound traffic and detoured via Stoke Street. Sun slanting along the Wakefield Avenue cliffs showing in sharp relief where the rock face had sheared off. Since that photo was taken a lot more rock has come down.

Looping back along Wakefield Avenue towards the shopping centre I stopped to look at this building site which appears to be closed. Anyone for a townhouse?

Just a few yards further on we came to the now famous rock which fell onto one of the RSA buildings. After Shag Rock this must be the most photographed rock in Christchurch. While we were there with our cameras two other people also photographed it. Mercifully, no one was in the building with that one came down, completely crushing it.

Access to the shopping centre from the southern end was via the right side of the road around big barricades. Once in the shopping centre I stopped to walk around. Here you can see a car coming along Wakefield Street as we had on quite the wrong side of the road. It's part of the diversion. The barricade of containers is to guard against possible collapse of the old brick community centre before it's demolished. Note the barricade continues in front of the library which is threatened by unstable buildings on either side. The post office opposite is open for business along with a few other shops, but the pharmacy at the end has had to move.

Turning where I stood, I took this photograph, which shows what is left of 'The Ruptured Duck'. Now it's really ruptured! The bakery you can see is open, and the Hollywood theatre just beyond the demolition site is still operating.

The Sumner shopping centre is an interesting representation of the eastern portion of Christchurch: parts of it work but lots of it doesn't.

Other than the battered shopping centre and the still-eroding cliffs Sumner appears much as it has done. Roads are in relatively good condition and damage to homes is not all that obvious to the passer-by, but for those who live there the adjustment of what's still there and what's not is constant and stressful.

Perhaps most emblematic of Christchurch in its present state is not so much the crumbling cliffs, or even the increasing number of demolition sites and empty sections, but the humble portaloos which abound, dotting the verges in many parts of the city. Parts of the city's formerly enviable sewerage system and treatment works are functional, but it is expected to be years before its fully restored. Links below lead to articles which provide more detailed information.

I did tour some other parts of the city to see how these had fared. I'm fortunate to have a car sturdy enough to handle the uneven surfaces without difficulty.

I drove along Gayhurst Road which traverses the suburb of Dallington. I found the road full of humps, hollows and hazards, dotted with orange 'witches hats' and fenced diversions. The shops at the intersection of Woodham Road are a tumbled mess. The far side of the bridge where it crosses the Avon would require a handbrake start from the far side. I was glad to head back to more even surfaces closer to town.

Salisbury Street was open, and so was Barbadoes Street, but all roads from there into the city centre were closed and manned by police and army personnel. Much of the city's high rise looks likely to be demolished. Many of the old stone heritage buildings dating back to the 18 and 1900s sustained major damage and will also be levelled. One of Fitzgerald Avenue's north-bound lanes where it passes opposite the Avon Loop is impassable due to subsidence and has been barricaded off. Travel in that direction is still possible along the reduced road area. Travel around the central city area tends to be congested due to multiple road closures, diversions and obstacles.

At the end of my visit as I turned the car homeward I made a last minute decision to visit the street we moved out of when we left Christchurch some years ago. To get there I drove down Pages Road towards New Brighton. The road surface became increasingly rough as I got nearer the Avon River and I started to wish I hadn't ventured in that direction. Road works were everywhere. I cautiously crossed the bridge and turned west along the far bank. Although it was clear that a huge amount of work has already been done it was not a place I would choose to drive again for a while. Bower Ave was a little better. This took me to Parklands, a fairly recent subdivision of smart houses with high price tags.

I had seen our 'old' street on television shortly after the quake - under water from burst water mains and silt-blocked drains. The road surface had previously been immaculately smooth and even. Here is what it looked like at the weekend:

The house we had lived in looked much as it did but it's hard to tell from the outside. It was built on a solid concrete pad, which is how most houses seem to be built these days, and which have proved to be so vulnerable to damage in the recent earthquakes.

From there I drove back through Shirley, a working class suburb, which is where we had lived before that. That charming little house which stood on the banks of a stream had barely been visible from the road even then, and is now completely obscured by trees. I approve of the trees but am left wondering about the house. Parts of that road were entirely whole, but the end where we lived was besieged by road workers and their machinery. The neighbouring street was closed to through traffic and the houses there mostly seemed deserted. In socio-economic terms Parklands and Shirley are miles apart but both suffered major damage. Earthquakes and liquefaction did not make economic distinctions.

I headed west to more stable territory. Even in Fendalton which suffered far less damage I noticed corner stores closed due to damage. From there is was out through Hornby and onto the motorway south. It had been an eventful visit.

Although I was saddened to see such loss, it was also a relief to see it for myself, to have a context for what I'd heard and what I'd seen on television. The rebuild will take years and the new city will be very different to the one we have known and loved. Meanwhile, life goes on, aftershocks continue, and with them, fractures accrue in buildings and the cliffs. Despite these, steps both small and large continue in the direction of a newer, more robust Christchurch.

RELATED ARTICLES AND SITES:

2011 Christchurch Earthquake - Wikipedia article.
The 'new normal' in Christchurch - TV3 news item of 10th May 2011.
Earthquake street-cam site where you can roam the streets of Christchurch's 'red zone'. Images taken on the 7th and 8th April.
Canterbury Earthquake information site gives an update of what has been achieved in the last two months in this article: 'Christchurch two months on' dated 21st April 2011
The Canterbury Earthquake information site gives specific instructions about the use of toilets in its article dated 27th April: when to use a portaloo, chemical toilet or ones own flush toilet. No wonder toilets and their use is such a hot topic of conversation for locals!
The earlier article 'Christchurch Sewerage repairs could take years', published in the Press on 29th March, outlines the situation.
This article 'Christchurch sewerage system on the brink of failure', published in the Press on 2nd April, puts the situation more baldy and gives more detail. I gather the degree of crisis outlined there has diminished somewhat but the system remains fragile.
Although this crisis is by no means over, significant progress has been made: on 21st April, the Star reported that:

"We are seeing improvements to the operation of the Christchurch Treatment Plant. As of Friday 15 April we had six oxidation tanks in operation, compared to the previous Friday when we had 2 ½ tanks in operation."

'For 20,000 more it's time to flush' - article on Stuff website, 19th May 2011: an update about the state of the sewers.
Christchurch City Council building demolition list - shows approved demolitions as at 27th April. This list is not complete. It does not include buildings already demolished, such as the Ruptured Duck in Sumner.
'Sumner landmarks face demolition' - an article 'published on Stuff' on 14th March 2011, about the loss of the Ruptured Duck, which includes before and after photographs.
'Some NZ quake victims may be buried in a mass grave' - article published by Associated Press on 30th March 2011.
'Justice for dead mates' - article published in the Star on 2nd May 2011. Mike Yardley speaks out about his concern that the CTV building may have been structurally unsound prior to the February quake.
'Yardley talks of passionate workers at CTV' - article on the News talkZB site, dated 25th February 2011.
'Walking again thanks to "angels"' - - article on Stuff website, 19th May 2011: an extraordinary tale of disastrous injury survived, thanks to special assistance at the crucial moment. The death toll is only one measure of the human cost of the earthquake.
Rebuild Christchurch website
'Huge rubble piles go to Christchurch forest park' - TVNZ One News item from 7th May 2011. Those of you who are keen on statistics and / or recycling will find much of interest here: literally millions of tonnes of earthquake detritus continue to accrue. Authorities expect 75% of it to eventually be recycled - bravo!

SEARCH AND RESCUE WORKERS ACKNOWLEDGED:

We were all tremendously heartened and continue to be grateful for the practical and tireless support provided by Search and Rescue personnel, both our own as well as those who poured in from overseas:

'Christchurch Earthquake: 300 international rescuers in Christchurch' - 'Hawkes Bay Today' 24th February 2011
'Christchurch Rescue Heroes' - NZ Herald, 27th February 2011
'Christchurch search and rescue team clears last big building' - Stuff website 10th March 2011
'Christchurch thanks Japanese Search and Rescue' - Canterbury Earthquake information site, 12th March 2011
'NZ rescue team returns the favour after Japan earthquake, tsunami' - Stuff, 13th March 2011.
'Australian police farewelled from earthquake-hit Christchurch' - Stuff, 23rd March 2011

CIVILIAN VOLUNTEERS EFFORTS ACKNOWLEDGED:

Both locals and other New Zealanders poured their all into the relief effort on a scale which seems to me to be unprecedented in this country demonstrating a staggering level of goodwill and practicality. Look what we can do when we pull together! Amazing!

University of Canterbury Student Volunteer Army - Facebook page
'Student Volunteer Army mobilises' - a 10,000 strong group of students register within days to provide help and labour for the clean-up. Article in 'Stuff' on 24th February.
'Thousands join volunteer army' - ODT story from 28th February. A week later the figure had swelled to 18,000!
'Baking for Christchurch' - TV3 story 7th March 2011
'Final tour of duty for Farmy Army' - Stuff news website 19th March 2011

THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY'S RESPONSE:

'Behind the scenes @ GeoNet' - an article from the Herald, 22nd April about the scientific background support and the difference in ground acceleration between the September earthquake of 2010 and the February Earthquake of 2011.
GeoNet website
GeoNet report of 'Rockfalls and landslides triggered by the February 2011 Christchurch (NZ) earthquake: the GeoNet response' Note that this is a PDF and takes a while to download. It contains an excellent aerial photograph of the rock falls behind Redcliffs School, which can be enlarged by altering the viewing scale at the top of the PDF.
The initial report by GeoNet staff presented on 2nd March detailing what was seen from helicopter reconnaissance is entitled 'GNS Science Immediate Report: Report on Landslide Reconnaissance Flight on 24 February 2011 following the Mw 6.3 Christchurch Earthquake of 22 February 2011'. It is much fuller and more interesting. I found it very helpful to see the earth-shattering events of these two major earthquakes placed into a millenniums-long geological context, so the text is well worth reading and the photographs are brilliant. It's a PDF and does take a long time to open / download but I assure you it is worth it.
'Port Hills half a meter taller after Christchurch earthquake' - this article from Stuff website, 2nd March 2011, gives a slightly different angle. It closes with the memorable comment that the previously unknown fault line which lies directly below the suburbs of Redcliffs and Heathcote and caused the 22nd February quake...

"... could have moved before, but it might be the first time it ruptured in the last 100 million years,"

Christchurch Quake map website Note that the death toll quoted there is what was known on 27th February. It has since risen to an estimated 180.
'Moon man Ken Ring in hiding after death threats' - article from the ODT, 24th April 2011. Mr Ring has literally been read the Riot Act:

"I've been virtually told by [ACC minister] Dr Nick Smith and Sir Peter Gluckman [the prime minister's scientific advisor] that I'm not qualified to put statements out about earthquakes. They will have me legally if I do that."

I'm pleased to hear it - we have enough to worry about without the needless distress caused by these alarums!

'New faultline found beneath Canterbury' - article published in the ODT, 3rd June 2011: details of widespread off-shore faults in Pegasus Bay come to light in scientific survey.

ALL MY ARTICLES ABOUT THE CHRISTCHURCH EARTHQUAKES CAN BE FOUND ON THE PAGE LINKED TO AT THE UPPER RIGHT OF THIS SCREEN, OR VIA THE LINK BELOW:

Leigh's Christchurch earthquake articles ~ click here to find them all

Preserving pears ~ and a good fruit-sugar-water ratio

2011-04-14T18:00:00.003+12:00

I'm part way through packing away my pears for the year and am once more using the simple ratio that worked so well last year: for each kilo of prepared fruit (ie: peeled, cored, etc) I use one cup of sugar and five cups of water.

I considered reducing the amount of sugar, but found there was no need to do so. The right amount of sugar enhances the natural flavour and makes it refreshing to eat, whereas fruit that is over-sweetened can seem too rich and leave a cloying taste.

The amount of water given will mean you have plenty of syrup to top up your jars, with some being left over after you've finished. This is helpful as you won't need to keep a kettle of water simmering nearby for topping up your jars, and also when you get near to the bottom of the pot the remaining pieces of fruit will still have syrup to swim in. And after you've done the washing up, you'll have a very pleasant glass of light pear syrup to drink up - num-num!

Fruit needn't be peeled but I prefer it that way. Having done this I've found that wastage due to peeling and coring is about a quarter of the initial weight. Last year I started off with 8 kilos of fruit and the before-cooking weight was 6 kilos.

Compared to making jam, preserves are quick and easy: the main work goes into preparing the fruit and in making sure the jars and lids are all clean and ready to go. As I prepare and slice the pears I place them into a large bowlful of cold water to prevent browning. I drain the water off when I'm ready to get cooking. As I near the end of preparing the fruit I put the sugar and water on to heat so that it's hot and ready to receive the fruit once I've finished preparing it. Fruit is put into the heated water all at the same time so that it cooks evenly. Once it is on the stove the process of getting them all into jars is over in about half an hour - all the fruit looking luscious in pop-top jars and the lids clicked down and fully sealed.

Last year I did the fruit in two batches. My regular-sized stock pot takes only about two and a half kilos of fruit, whereas the larger one comfortably takes three.

The yield was fourteen jars, mostly these large ones.

This year my first batch of 2.8 kilos of prepared fruit produced 9 jars of preserves, five of them large and four medium sized.

Blessings on the pear trees, which bear so much fruit so generously.

Spring blossom, October 2011

This article is an updated version of the one I published in April 2010.
For expanded notes about doing preserves you can refer to my earlier articles:
Preserves - notes both general and particular, and
Pop-top jars for jam and preserves.

You know you're a librarian when ~ Sumner's library remains closed and you get mad!

2011-04-06T05:50:00.001+12:00

Quake damaged Sumner's excellent community library remains closed: sandwiched uncomfortably between two buildings in immanent danger of collapse the decision to keep it closed requires no brains at all - it's absolutely necessary, right, proper and all the rest of it. But does this mean that Sumner need go without a library service - No, No and No!

Christchurch has a mobile library service in the form of a book bus, which I'm sure is working its wheels off in various locations around the stricken city, or at least I hope it is. But I hear it can't get to Sumner due to the state of the roads. Pardon? Can't get to Sumner? I know the road is very damaged, reduced to one lane in areas and access is difficult, but the vehicles of locals come and go, so where exactly is the problem? Maybe that particular vehicle can't get through, but others certainly can and do - on a regular basis.

In a time when digging holes in the back garden to use as toilets, and sewerage a hot topic of general conversation I strenuously suggest that library administration get its heart out from behind closed doors and actually apply one of its own dearly beloved maxims, the one about Libraries Without Walls!

I left library work years ago but I know how they function: the simple equation is this:

Books plus community plus willingness to share equals a library service, pure and simple.

Forget about computers, audio and security if that's too hard at present, and just get the books out there. A former colleague and I were discussing this the other day, and we would have got the books out there in suitcases if we had had to. Get the army, get tanks, get pack-horses, carry them on your head if that's the only way, but Get The Books Out There!

I put the following problems to readers and librarians alike, and offer the obvious solutions:

Library building closed: no problem: find a cafe, a school hall, an empty house, a garage which can reasonably be made available for the purpose of people coming and going for some months.
No computers: forget it. Do without them. Forget backup, forget the lot. Get customers to write their own lists of items borrowed if that's the best solution.
No due date dockets: forget it: get half a dozen date stamps and some stamp pads and get customers to stamp the inside of the backs of their books themselves. Yes, straight into the inside of the back of the book. It's been done before. Most things have been done before.
No security for the stock: forget it. Long before the invention of computers or even before the days of books being housed on open shelves books were going missing. From having worked in New Zealands largest library network I know exactly what the average loss of stock is per library, despite all efforts to contain it. But, the fact is, that most people bring most books back. Most people treat borrowed items well. Some don't, but they are a minority. Accept the potential loss and get on with providing the service.
No staff: oh dear, well, love will find a way: organise a roster of volunteers to at least vaguely supervise whatever place is set up.
No shelves: well, put books out on trestles, as at book fairs. People who go to these do manage to find masses of stuff they want enough to lug home by the bagful.
No order: doesn't matter. See above.
No furniture: this does matter. It can be found, borrowed or contrived.
No tea room: Here again, this does matter. I suggest conversation be opened with one or more of the local cafes. I'm sure something can be contrived.
No budget: that I simply don't believe. Come on people: extraordinary times require extraordinary measures.

One of the big problems of living in Christchurch at present is that so many of the usual places that people like to go either no longer exist or are closed due to damage. People need places to go for outings and refreshment: places to gather to chat or to linger for a while; places which are neutral yet friendly, to cheer them up and give them a change of scene; and then something nice to take away. Books and libraries are great for all of that.

Come on, Christchurch City Libraries:

If the Christchurch library administration can get an informal set-up of some sort up and running in areas where their libraries are closed they will prove their worth as well doing their public a great service. It will be proved, yet again, that libraries are a vital and very much alive organ of a happy and healthy community.

Waving a flag for the staff:

I am well aware of how hard front-line library staff work. Very likely this is continuing although a large portion of libraries remain closed. The unusual circumstances prevailing in Christchurch shouldn't bring more pressure to bear on them. At such times it's a matter of finding different rather than harder ways of working, which I hope is the case.

If they can't, you can!!!

If the library administration can't rise to the occasion, I challenge private individuals to give them a run for their money. Start your own informal clubs. Many households have at least a handful of books they're not actually valuing much anymore. Pool them and have some fun. And when your local libraries are open again, take them back if you still want them, or donate them to the next book fair. Which makes me wonder, where exactly are all the books destined for the next one? if they're sitting idle in a warehouse somewhere accessible maybe they could be got out and put to work!

Note: Newspapers supplied in libraries are always very popular, so if you're thinking of what to have to hand newspapers will be well received. If you can't afford to buy them in to have available for free, consider getting some to on-sell. And my guess is that any one of the first half dozen takers will donate their copy anyway.

Prepare for the rush:

I know how much Sumner values its library, so any equivilant establishment would do well to prepare for immense popularity... I'm also well aware that Redcliffs has lost its library and that Mt Pleasant has never had one. There is no reason whatsoever why impromptu library-cum-book-exchange fairs couldn't spring up all over the place like the farmers markets which are proving so valuable.

I no longer live in Christchurch, or I'd be there at the front with this one. Go Christchurch!

ALL MY ARTICLES ABOUT THE CHRISTCHURCH EARTHQUAKES CAN BE FOUND ON THE PAGE LINKED TO AT THE UPPER RIGHT OF THIS SCREEN, OR VIA THE LINK BELOW:

Leigh's Christchurch earthquake articles ~ click here to find them all

Wind, rain and roses ~

2011-04-01T11:51:00.001+13:00

Late yesterday afternoon a great gust of wind suddenly sprang up from nowhere. I looked out the window and saw that our mild nor'west day was about to become a dark, rather stormy, sou'wester: inky dark clouds were looming in the south and the garden tossed in the now cold wind. Rather than leave my roses to be diminished by the weather I went outside to cut the best blooms. They fill my kitchen with their glow and fragrance:

Matawhero Magic

Usually I prefer to leave them on the garden, but it is nice to have some inside from time to time. While roses require more care than many other plants, having a few adds special charm, and I must say, elegance.

Here are a couple of buds hastily plucked from my other rose:

Tequila Sunrise

I adore this rose, which gets carted from place to place when I move. A few years ago I successfully propagated it, much to my surprise. It has a particularly glorious scent.

The perfume of roses often seems to me to be like the fruit of similar colours: lemon roses tend to smell lemony, dark red roses like red wine, and orange and apricot roses like those fruits of the same name - lovely! From this you may correctly guess that Tequila Sunrise has an especially fragrant tang. Perhaps this is where the wine expert derive their term 'bouquet' when referring to the aroma of wine.

Today the storminess of the southerly has passed over and we have a crisp autumn day. Island weather is changeable, and in New Zealand especially so.

Broccoli bonanza!

2011-03-27T14:45:00.002+13:00

Our broccoli was a great success this summer. Just look at this:

I took this photo in January.

That head weighed in at 1.3 kilos!

Thinking that the plant was spent once I'd cut this wonderful head I pulled out the remainder of the plant and discarded it. A friend later pointed out to me that the stalk is also good to eat, either raw or cooked! Hmm, I'm not a fan of it raw, but it's very acceptable cooked if finely chopped!

Later too, I was told that if I had left it to grow the plant would have continued to produce more although smaller sprigs of broccoli. Although somewhat disbelieving I did leave others in the ground to see what they would do. Sure enough, they produced loads more as you can see in this photo which I took yesterday. I had already picked lots of sprigs from it:

The white butterfly caterpillars have had a good go at the foliage, but this has not affected the sprigs at all. If I had been vigilant about the caterpillars I could have consulted the Otepoti Urban Organics pest control page, and tried an application of garlic and oil. Other useful links can be found in my article Gardening ~ maintenance, weed control and organics. Next year I'll be more on the ball!

According to this article in Wikipedia broccoli is most nutritious when raw, steamed or microwaved; if boiled its nutritional value reduces with the length of time cooked. Cooked sparingly it is good to eat and nutritious.

Broccoli is increasingly expensive in the shops. Growing our own has meant we've had as much as we wanted, as fresh as it is possible to be, and at a fraction of the cost. I call that a success!

Harvesting the potatoes ~

2011-03-27T11:37:00.002+13:00

When potato tops begin to wither it's time to harvest them.

Here are the potato tops all leafy and green in early summer

We've been enjoying freshly dug potatoes since Christmas, but now that the plants are beginning to die back, we knew it was time to dig up what remained.

Getting them out of the ground is a bit like digging for treasure: you never know quite what you will find. Careful digging with a fork well back from the base of the plant reduces the chance of chopping into potatoes that lie hidden.

What bounty there was:

An old curtain placed inside the wheelbarrow meant the potatoes could be lifted and moved easily.

Once harvested potatoes need to be well aired so that any remaining earth dries thoroughly. Any damaged or diseased potatoes should be removed at this point to prevent decay from spreading. When dried the potatoes are best stored in a cool, dry, dark place.

This crop will last us through the winter. I hadn't grown potatoes before, and have been amazed at how easy they are to grow, how delicious, and how cost effective. Very little maintenance is required during their growth. We will definitely be putting in crops of these in the years to come.

Freeze those onions? Yes you can!

2011-03-27T11:00:00.001+13:00

What to do with more than half a bucket of chopped onion? I asked myself this question after a major barbecue left us with a surplus. Reliable sources informed me that it could be frozen, which I didn't really believe, but since I couldn't think of an alternative I decided to have a go. And Hey Presto! it worked absolutely perfectly. Here is how I tackled it:

Many recipes suggest two onions for an average sized meal for four people, so for the sake of simplicity I decided to freeze the onion in portions to match this amount. That works out to about two standard cups which weigh close on 250 grams.

I avoid cling-wrap plastic when I can, so used waxed paper to wrap each portion, then placed them into small resealable (and reusable) plastic snap-lock bags, excluding as much air as possible. I then packed the bags into ice cream containers which fit comfortably into the freezer. This careful wrapping means that the smell is well contained and I can easily get out an exact amount.

Although all the extra chopping and wrapping was a lot of work I now have masses of diced onion ready at a moments notice.

For the purpose of cooking, freezing causes no discernible loss of colour, texture or flavour. There is a little water from the iciness as it melts which makes it spit as it hits hot oil, but that's the only difference between frozen and fresh onion that I have noticed. I've been surprised at how much easier this has made my cooking, so for surplus onion I recommend it.

A new spade ~ shopping carefully to get the best

2011-03-25T23:55:00.001+13:00

I am now the proud owner of an excellent new spade, a Stanley, which you can see pictured at the left.

I had been promising myself a proper landscapers spade for years, and when my previous spade recently buckled under excess pressure I decided it was finally time to get what I had wanted for so long. I knew it would be fairly costly so I weighed up the range of choices carefully.

It was surprisingly hard to find but after looking in three garden supply shops I eventually found it at Bunnings. I don't ordinarily visit this store as I have doubts about the business ethics of any business promising to undercut all others, but having looked at the other places first I went there with a clear conscience! I was pleased to find they had a comprehensive range to choose from, and in fact the spade I chose wasn't stocked anywhere else, I can't imagine why as it was far and away the best I saw anywhere.

I'm fussy about design. I was looking for these features:

A handle that is in line with the shaft so I can get maximum energy down the shaft when digging. Some spades now have handles which are set at an angle which wouldn't suit me at all: when I'm working the ground over there are times when I like to repeatedly drop the cutting edge of the spade to the ground in a chopping movement while keeping a light hold of the handle, and an angled handle wouldn't allow for this action.
A clean shaft with smooth joints at the point at which the metal wraps around the wooden shaft - my hand needs to be able to slide up and down it when I'm using it as a shovel. Some have pronounced ridges at this halfway point or sloppily finished joints. If you've ever used a spade which has a poor joint at this junction you will know exactly what I mean!
Good quality metal, tough enough for the work I do.
A reasonable assurance that the spade would stand up to hard work for a good long time.

The Stanley qualified on all counts: it has a ten year guarantee and the blade is stainless steel. I expect it will last at least twice that long, possibly forever. At $74.45 it wasn't cheap but it's a brand which has a sound reputation so I know I've made a good investment. I will continue to enjoy using it for many years, long after I've forgotten what it cost me.

Note: New spades are likely to be fairly blunt. This is a safety consideration for the store owners, and you can expect to have your spade sharpened before it will be properly effective. A good spade, properly sharpened, really is a pleasure to use. One safety tip I will share is that I always wear closed footwear when I'm gardening - it's so easy for sharp tools to slip and cause injury, or blunt ones for that matter! When I've taken proper safety precautions I know I can relax and enjoy myself. The garden is a great place for that.

I've written two earlier articles about other gardening tools, the first entitled Gardening ~ tips about tools and the second about hand mowers entitled People-powered lawn mowers.

You know you're from Christchurch when...

2011-03-24T22:31:00.002+13:00

Christchurch's February earthquake has turned many things upside down - including points of reference, language use, and the way locals relate to each other. A Christchurch friend sent me this check-list. In its dry good humour are delivered a few earthy spades-full of what residents have had to learn to live with, so...

You know you're from Christchurch when:

Geonet / ChristchurchQuakeMap is your homepage
The rest of the country offers you a place to stay
'Munted' and 'buggered' are official technical terms
You go 'pfffff' when Wellington has a 4.5 earthquake that's 40km deep
You see a nice park in another city and think it would make a good evacuation point
You sleep in one suburb, shower in another and collect water from yet another
When you drive on the right side of the road and no one thinks it's wrong
You are happy two Policemen came for a visit
When your bike becomes your best friend
You think its fine for a soldier to be stationed at the end of your street
You see armoured vehicles driving down the road
It’s normal to greet people with "Do you need a shower"?
A bucket of sh*t is no longer that old car you drive
Every house is a crack house
Instead of rushing to the clothes line to get clothes in when it rains, you put dirty washing on the line in the hope that it will rain enough to clean them
Going to Wellington to escape earthquakes makes sense
Your doctor recommends having a few stiff drinks before bed to help you sleep
You know how to start and refuel a generator
You have tied the pantry, liquor cabinet and all the cupboard doors closed and it's not to keep kids out
You prefer to sit under the table instead of at it
You think electronics that have "shock proof" should say to which earthquake magnitude
You know and actually understand the terms and conditions of your House and Contents insurance policies
You can see irony in claims about houses made of permanent materials
Your en-suite has a vege garden, dog kennel and grass
Your teenagers are only too happy to sleep in the same room as their parents
You stop using the term built like a brick sh*t house
Dressing up to "head into town" means putting on a hi-viz vest, hard hat and boots
Discussing toilet habits with total strangers is an everyday norm
Wee boys don't get excited when they see (another) digger or a dozer - but all the adults in the street cheer wildly
Voluntarily staying in Timaru for five days seems like a good idea
You know what that extra gear lever on your 4X4 is for
Metservice includes a graph for dust
You have dust mask tan lines
You can use the term 'liquefaction' in everyday casual conversation, even your 3-year old can
When a massive group of students appears in your street, you feel overwhelmed with gratitude instead calling the Police. What’s more, the students leave the street in better condition than when they arrived
The answer to where anything is ... it’s on the floor
You smile at strangers and greet people as if you’re one big family

The source of this list is the Facebook page 'You know you're from Christchurch when'
Thanks for letting me know, team! :-)

ALL MY ARTICLES ABOUT THE CHRISTCHURCH EARTHQUAKES CAN BE FOUND ON THE PAGE LINKED TO AT THE UPPER RIGHT OF THIS SCREEN, OR VIA THE LINK BELOW:

Leigh's Christchurch earthquake articles ~ click here to find them all

Predictions, earthquakes & preparedness ~ living in our changing world

2011-03-20T23:48:00.005+13:00

The changeable nature of the world we live in makes it probable that all of us will experience disasters at some stage of our lives. Whether they are caused by humans or by upheavals in the natural world, I'm sure most of us wish we could know of them in advance and thus avoid them. But life isn't like that. And even in the best ordered of circumstances there are no guarantees.

FORECASTING AND PREDICTIONS:

Be that as it may, a degree of informed forecasting can ease our passage considerably: accurate weather forecasting, for example, is essential for those who fish and farm, as well as making life simpler for the rest of us; forecasts of supply and demand are helpful for retailers and buyers alike, and so on. Earthquakes are far harder to predict. From detailed scientific study of known fault lines seismologists know much about where and how often earthquakes are likely to occur, but cannot usually predict their exact occurrence; statistics give a clear picture of averages, but this does not mean that seismic events are evenly spaced.

Even the most carefully considered predictions are chancy things.

Sometimes predicted events come to pass and often they don't. Predictions that are worth taking note of are based on accumulated insight which takes into account a whole series of historical events. This is where science can be a big help in giving us a rational base for how to prepare for and respond to these situations.

It's natural that where science can't give us certainty that we look for other ways of divining what may happen in our world. To give in to this sort of reading of the natural world is tempting but in my view seldom helpful. An intuitive sense of impending disaster can be useful in prompting us to do the preparation we should be doing anyway, and while an unexplained impulse to run out from under a tree just before it's struck by lightning can be lifesaving, pronouncements about impending cataclysmic events are often productive only of panic and hysteria. In my view they are best disregarded.

This weekend a lot of New Zealanders, especially those living in Christchurch, have become very anxious due to a prediction that a further earthquake may occur. This prediction has not come from seismologists or accepted 'authorities' but none the less many people have taken it seriously and become very agitated. Will it prove to be accurate or not? I'm not going to consider that. What will be will be. (See 'Later Note' below)

What I aim to provide here is a more practical perspective which may help re-balance the scales in the direction of greater calm.

PREPAREDNESS:

I think all of us are afraid of disasters of this sort. A serious earthquake is a serious disaster, which could kill us and even if we survive could cause ruin in our lives. This is big stuff. On the other hand, no one gets out of this life alive, but in the meantime we can improve our chances of being here longer and more comfortably if we are practical and apply a little science. It's not difficult, but it does require us to apply ourselves to the task at hand.

Some examples of disaster preparedness which we observe without thinking: when we get into our cars we put on our seatbelts - good; before we get on our bicycles we put on our helmets - good; do we answer our cell phones when we are driving? Of course not! We have rules and laws about all these things, which is as it should be - there's no reason to court disaster either to ourselves or those around us by neglecting these points.

Other routine examples of disaster preparedness which are very much part of our lives are: fire drills and exit points, earthquake drills (at school anyway!), life jackets, safety harnesses, poison hot-lines, aeroplane take-off safety drills, insurance policies, and many safety codes covering multiple aspects of our lives.

But do we have water stored and a grab bag for emergencies? Ah... maybe part of, sort of... I think most of us are in this situation.

The Christchurch earthquakes have been a massive wake up call for us all.

Preparedness is actually quite straightforward to achieve. The Civil Defence site gives sensible lists. If you have friends or relatives living in Christchurch they will no doubt have additional items they are very firm in suggesting you add to your list, such as shovels and toilets seats! And yes, it is that basic. A wheelbarrow is now on my 'must buy' list, also a dog chain. In disasters lost dogs on the loose are a real problem to house and tether. I'm teaching my cats to wear and walk with a harness and leash. I draw satisfaction from knowing that our well-stocked vegetable garden provides a good portion of our food and we have lots of preserves in the cupboard. Beyond this I have a range of things I need to think through and get done. When I've completed them I'll be confident that I've done what I can to prepare for looking after my own needs and that of my household in the event of a disaster. That's a helpful, practical thing to know. Beyond that I can't control events. That's a good thing to be clear about too. That's life. Again, there are no guarantees.

We can not control the shaking of the earth, but we can prepare our homes and ourselves to be as safe and resourceful as possible. Being properly prepared is reassuring.

LIFE IS A RISKY VENTURE:

To put earthquake risk into perspective I look at the relative chances of dying in an earthquake, a vehicle accident, or in an accident around the home:

The chance of dying in an earthquake is relatively slim. I don't have statistics for this, but given the number of residents living in Christchurch at the time of the earthquake and averaging that out over the nationwide population and back over time to include earlier earthquake fatalities, shocking and disastrous as these certainly are, such deaths are not that common.
Driving a car is way more dangerous, and yet we happily zip around in our cars, many of us daily. The risk doesn't end with those travelling in vehicles, but is shared by everyone going about their business on or by any road. In New Zealand more than one person a day is killed due to motor vehicle accidents - that's over 365 a year as you can read on the Ministry of Transport website. We completely accept this, taking in these appalling statistics with our dinners as we sit in front of the tele in the evening. Then we take the next forkful and go on to the next thing. I'm not saying that this acceptance is at all right or proper; what I am saying is that this is what we do. We really are very complacent about it.
Contrary to what you might think, our homes are the scene of many more accident fatalities, close on twice as many in fact. You can read about this in this article which appeared in the ODT on 31st August 2010 30 Otago people die in home accidents

From this one can reasonably conclude that dying as a result of an earthquake is relatively unlikely.

IT IS IMPORTANT, AS WELL AS HELPFUL, TO HEAR WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY:

The article Quaking in our boots: how prepared is Dunedin? was published in the ODT on 18th September 2010. At the time the newspapers were so full of the drama of Christchurch's 4th September quake that I'm sure that most people didn't notice this article at all. It's a comprehensive one and well worth a thorough read. If you do look at it be sure to read all four pages, and bear in mind that Christchurch's 22nd February earthquake has cast some of the conclusions related in it into sharper perspective. Those living in Otago in general and in Dunedin in particular would be well advised to take the lessons of Christchurch's situation to heart and to act on them. This is not being alarmist, this is being practical.

Having said that, how likely is an earthquake this weekend?

In the ODT article of 15th March 2011, No more earthquakes than usual: Dunedin geologist, Professor Richard Norris assures us that there are no more earthquakes occurring around the world than usual. The reason that there might appear to be more is because in the last few years large earthquakes have struck heavily populated areas causing many fatalities. He points out that similarly large earthquakes that occur in remote areas receive little attention and are quickly forgotten. He assures us that fault lines in and around New Zealand are too shallow to cause tsunamis of the size recently experienced in Japan. He further assures readers that he would happily go to Christchurch to stay for the weekend. I'll leave you to read the detail of the article for yourselves.

LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE:

It's very clear to anyone who has taken the slightest interest in either of the Christchurch earthquakes that building choices, both of location and materials are likely to change considerably in the years ahead.

It has been commented that buildings constructed of brick, stone and tiles have fared badly and homes built in the modern style on flat concrete pads laid directly onto the ground have suffered unprecedented breakage. On the other hand those constructed of wood, roofed with corrugated iron, and built on more conventional foundations up off the ground have in general suffered significantly less damage.

In terms of location, those with foundations on rock fared very much better than those on less solid ground. Many low-lying areas of 're-claimed' land have been hard hit by liquefaction. I am sure that our building code will be updated as a result of trends observed from both events.

I have long been concerned about the recent trend of laying concrete foundation pads directly onto the ground. A house built on the older style of foundations can be jacked up and re-levelled, even moved, but a house on a concrete pad that suffers inundation or fracture is wrecked from the bottom up and may have to be completely demolished. Television news bulletins have shown this to have happened to a number of nearly new homes. It seems crazy. Just near where I live all the new houses in extensive property developments have these sorts of foundations. They are in the neighbourhood not only of a major waterway but also sit on the edge of a flood plain. In my view this is madness, plain and simple.

It's worth noting that as the world's population increases more casualties from earthquakes can be expected simply by dint of increased population density. Furthermore, most of the world's population live in coastal areas or near major waterways.

Stripping out natural protective barriers such as mangroves and sand dunes from our coastlines for the sake of having a nice view for a select few greatly increases the impact of flooding of any sort. I read this point in discussion of the effect of the tsunami which impacted so disastrously along the shores of Thailand on Boxing Day of 2004.

CHOOSING A HAPPIER PERSPECTIVE ABOUT LIVING ON OUR RESTLESS PLANET:

New Zealand has been formed by the the shifting of the earth's tectonic plates, and continues to shift and change. Mostly this change is so gradual that we are not aware of it. Most of the time it seems safe and stable. Our perspective on this is due to our relatively short lives. In my earlier article New Zealand ~ land of earthquakes and volcanoes I look at this in greater detail. Included in that article are videos which describe the natural history of the planet as a whole and how the continents have shifted and changed over the millennia.

I grew up on the outskirts of Christchurch on a hill which overlooks Redcliffs and New Brighton. From there New Brighton looks like a thin strip of sand and when I was little the horizon line of the ocean seemed to hover above it. I did not understand that the water was not vertically above it in a perpetual wave, and worried what would happen if it fell down.

I don't remember mentioning this concern to my parents and it seemed to be years before I realised I was mistaken. Even so, vestiges of my early fear of inundation stayed with me, often causing nightmares. Dispelling these sorts of fears can be difficult but can be helped by changing our point of view.

Sometimes our way of looking at things can be influenced in unexpected ways:

Late in my teens I had a memorable dream which addressed this theme in a very different way. It was so different that it permanently altered the way I regard this sort of thing, and it was for the better:

I was standing alongside one of my brothers on the bluff at the foot of the hill where we lived. It seemed to be in a time before any people lived there, a kind of prehistoric era as there were no buildings at all and no one else other than my brother beside me. In what might be described as a time lapse of hundreds or thousands of years a series of events took place as I saw the land and the sea changing in a dream-like fashion: I saw a forest of trees begin to grow and then to populate the neighbouring valley as well as New Brighton across the water. Then I saw water come in over the trees and the valley become a bay, and so on. The land and water changed their relationship with each other numbers of times, with the changes flowing gently but surely into and through each other. I understood completely that this change was natural and to be expected. It wasn't threatening or cataclysmic, but more like a progression of seasons.

This dream was immensely helpful and freeing. I still have dreams about inundations, but in my waking life I don't have the same fear or resentment of them.

And so it is with us: we have our own seasons and progressions, and like the Earth suffer bumps and bruises along the way. Now, although I still fear disasters, it's not the same way or to the same extent. One day I will die. In the meantime I hope to make the most of my life here in this time and to live as fearlessly as I know how. Life is an adventure, something like a camping trip perhaps. There's a long time to rest afterwards when none of this will signify to me - in a physical sense anyway. I think though, that if my soul continues on, that my love of the Earth itself, and all its glories, will be forever.

But back to practical realities, back to the thump and bump of the physical world: what we can do is learn, understand, plan and prepare. These simple steps can help us set aside undue worries about the future which will leave us more free to enjoy ourselves.

I hope this article brings a measure of calm to those who have been anxious. Let's all make the most of each other and this beautiful planet while we're on it. I wish you all peace of mind and a satisfying life journey, whatever that means to you.

Note: On 22nd March 2011 the NZ Herald carried the story: It's better to be prepared than scared. In it the practical points I've made about the value of preparing for earthquakes and our chances of surviving them are closely reiterated by seismologist Caroline Holden of GNS.

Later Note: 'Moon Man Ken Ring in hiding after death threats' - ODT 24th April 2011. The riot act (yes, it's true) has been read to Mr Ring forbidding him to make further predictions about earthquakes as he is not qualified to do so. Good!

ALL MY ARTICLES ABOUT THE CHRISTCHURCH EARTHQUAKES CAN BE FOUND ON THE PAGE LINKED TO AT THE UPPER RIGHT OF THIS SCREEN, OR VIA THE LINK BELOW:

Leigh's Christchurch earthquake articles ~ click here to find them all

Children on rooftops ~ & looking out for the neighbours

2011-03-08T18:35:00.002+13:00

I was bringing in the washing when I spied Samantha's little boy and his friend cavorting on their porch roof: they were gleefully tossing down a selection of toys... down, down, down. He is three, and his friend the same age, or at least looked it. I dumped the basket and ran, trying to look both calm and severe. The upstairs bedroom window swung wide some distance above their heads; the paved courtyard below had never looked so threatening. "Boys, what are you doing! Go back to the window, go back to the window now!" They retreated to below it. "We can't get up" they explained. "Stand right there!" I commanded, and pounded on the front door, calling to Samantha and trying not to sound agitated. She opened the door. "Samantha, the boys are on the roof," I pointed above my head. Her face froze and she shot off upstairs. Stepping back I saw their little arms reaching up as she leaned out to hoist them in. They were okay.

But they might not have been. Children move so quickly and imaginatively! They had discovered that the window latch was loose and followed the impulse of the moment. They had been having a great time. Downstairs, the grown-ups had been enjoying a few minutes respite in the comfortable knowledge that the boys were playing in the bedroom - or so they thought! It was a reasonable assumption.

Later Samantha came over to thank me. She was still incoherent with shock: "I keep thinking what could have happened!" she repeated. "Yes," I replied each time, "but they are safe, they are okay".

There are so many near misses in all our lives, some we are aware of, and many, I suspect, of which we are quite unaware. What angel prompted me to go out for the washing just then, or was it just a coincidence? Who knows? And having witnessed the danger, I still had to do something about it!

I keep an eye out for people when I'm out and about, and if something looks odd I do say Hello and may ask, "Are you okay?" Mostly they are, or at least say they are; sometimes they're not. Once when I was out walking I passed an old woman on her hands and knees in her front garden. She'd been weeding. I said hello. Something about her looked not quite right and I held her gaze as I continued walking. "Could you help me up?" she enquired, "I'm stuck!" She certainly was. Together we figured out how to get her on her feet, exchanged names and small talk, and I went on home. Once she was up she was okay.

Some weeks later I was out walking again when I passed a garage sale at her home. Her family were selling off household things as the old lady and and her husband had had to move to an old people's home. They couldn't manage by themselves any longer.

I bought her beautiful art deco chest of drawers - and asked her daughter to pass on my greetings and appreciation. And so it worked out that each of us helped the other: I adore the chest of drawers and could never have afforded it at its true value. It's strange how our paths sometimes cross and re-cross with those of relative strangers in unlooked for ways.

We all need help at times. Our ability to give and receive it is what makes communities strong. While it certainly takes a village to raise a child, that response-ability does not end with childhood, but continues on throughout our lives.

So I encourage readers thus: to keep a warm heart, your eyes open and your wits about you. Now be prepared to DO something with that awareness.

Note:

I have written an earlier article on a similar theme entitled "All those helping hands ~ some special people and ripples spreading out"

The Christchurch earthquakes ~ shock waves both within and without

2011-03-04T13:01:00.004+13:00

Earthquakes occur in many forms, some in the natural world and others within us. Some are public and obvious and others private and invisible - or nearly so. When the Christchurch earthquakes came roaring to the surface they affected us in many ways. Those living beyond the quake zone are not exempt.

I left Christchurch years ago but it is the place where I was born and grew up. I have family there, know people there, people who are dear to me. I have mixed feelings about the years I lived there yet it is the place I come from, my point of origin, if you like.

The Maori people have a way of introducing themselves which describes where they come from and belong: they say which is their mountain, which is their stretch of water. In these terms Mt Pleasant is still my mountain, and Pegasus Bay my stretch of water. But how does one describe the sky? Standing at the summit of any of the desolate tussock-covered hills of Banks Peninsula, one could easily imagine dinosaurs sleeping amidst their rounded folds; looking up into the biggest sky I've seen anywhere one feels that the sky is not so much the roof of the world, but an entry point to outer space. Everywhere the views encompass great distance. The majestic Southern Alps march peacefully along the horizon seeming far away.

Pegasus Bay blends with the Pacific to stretch to infinity on the other side. Below, the city seems inconsequential. Until you get there.

Christchurch has been a beautiful city set on the banks of gentle winding rivers, the Heathcote and the Avon, which merge in the ever-mutable Estuary beloved to us all. The rivers and estuary remain, although dirty now, carrying human waste which has no where else to go - for the meantime. Its heritage parks and walkways have suffered breakage and disruption but it is the old city buildings which crumbled, many proud landmarks, and many lesser ones, lying in dusty, crooked ruins.

The new will rise in their place. I hope that time and care is taken in their design and construction, that human minds and hands can join in creating fresh beauty and mark the indomitable human spirit as they rise phoenix-like from spaces where so much has been lost.

For those who died in the disaster, so many beautiful and precious human souls, I give prayer, and thanks for your time in this world; time in which you inspired and gave companionship to those of us who live here yet. I'm thinking especially of Paul Dunlop, to whom I have written a tribute already, and also of others who have been described in equally loving terms by so many relatives and friends.

I think too of friends and family who patiently continue to live in the shattered city, doing what they can to lead normal lives in the face of disruption and breakage at every turn, and endure the continued shake and shudder of the earth beneath. All strength to you, those who I know, and those who I don't. My thanks to those who help both in big ways and small, a community drawing together both in grief and tenacity.

Their grief and loss reminds me of my own, some in the past, some still with me: I know what it is to suffer sudden unexpected loss through death: my father died when I was growing up. My sense of loss continues undiminished although it is decades old now. I know what it is to be physically crushed: when I was a young girl I was struck by a car and lay pinned beneath it for at least half an hour. It wasn't my fault. I was lucky: although very nearly killed I survived. Others haven't. I know what it is to suffer major personal trauma, of which I have written much in The Wasteland Chronicle. Again, I survived, whereas others have not. These memories are reawakened and my heart goes out to those in need.

I want to pray, but how? All good deeds of helping others are prayer in action. But what of the bruised and battered spirit, and of the cracked and broken ground itself? I do not forget the shattered earth, its rupture and shock. This too needs prayer. It is the earth we walk on, and on which we seek our rest.

How do I pray? What are the words? After long blank emptiness I found my answer in a children's story from many years ago. It is "The thirteen clocks" by James Thurber, adapted for radio by Peter Fieldson. In its whimsy I found my truth. Here we have a prince in disguise accompanied by the magical Gollox, well-intentioned but confused. Together they set about rescuing the lovely Princess Saralinda from imprisonment by the Wicked Duke. Various spells as well as wickedness are in force and Time has been frozen. All this has to be remedied if the Princess is to gain her freedom. Here is what spoke to me so clearly:

The Prince: The coast is clear
Saralinda: How could you find the castle in the dark?
                     He would not let me burn a torch.
Gollox:    You lighted up your window like a star
                     And we could see the castle from afar.
                     Come, our time is marked in minutes -
                     Start the clocks!
Saralinda: He [the Prince] faces thirteen men and that is hard
Gollox:    We face thirteen clocks and that is harder
                     Start the clocks!
Saralinda: How can I?
Gollox:    Your hand is warmer than the snow is cold
                     Touch the clocks with your hand.
Saralinda: There!
Gollox:    Nothing has happened! We are ruined!
Saralinda: Use magic!
Gollox:    I have no magic to depend on.
                     Try the other clock...
                     Oh, still nothing!!!
Saralinda: Use logic then
Gollox:    Now, let me see...
          If you can touch the clocks and never start them,
          Then you can start the clocks and never touch them.
                     That's logic as I know and use it.
                     Hold your hand away...
                     And now closer...
                     Now a little further back...
                     I think you have it – Do not move!
~ we hear flapping ~
Saralinda: What was that?
Gollox:       That was 'Then' leaving the Castle to die
Saralinda: So 'Then' is dead. It's NOW!
~ we hear the sound of multiple clocks beginning to tick ~

And so I hold my hands up to Christchurch, to the people, to the buildings, to the land, rivers and the sky. I feel your pain in the reflection of my own. To have compassion means to suffer with. I know. I know. Not exactly, for that is unknowable, but in the depth of need and feeling.

Each day in small practical ways we move forward. Rise up Christchurch, rise up, kia kaha, strength to you all.

ALL MY ARTICLES ABOUT THE CHRISTCHURCH EARTHQUAKES CAN BE FOUND ON THE PAGE LINKED TO AT THE UPPER RIGHT OF THIS SCREEN, OR VIA THE LINK BELOW:

Leigh's Christchurch earthquake articles ~ click here to find them all

Tribute to Paul Dunlop ~ the tragedy of the earthquake continues to unfold

2011-02-26T23:52:00.003+13:00

Paul's death was reported in today's NZ Herald:

'Paul Dunlop - In memory of the victims of the Christchurch earthquake'

And in this article of 25th February on the Stuff news site:
Paul Dunlop - quake victims

He had been assisting with dismantling the organ in the Durham Street Methodist Church at the time of the earthquake.

Dear Paul, what a tragic loss to those of us fortunate enough to have known him, even if only as patients. Paul was a king among men: always a careful and caring professional and a pattern card of generosity and kindness; cultured besides, which seems unusual to me these days.

Paul was our family optometrist and felt like one of 'our' people.

When I first met him I was going through an especially difficult time; although my appointment was for an eye examination he was aware of this and didn't brush it aside, but found a way to acknowledge my plight and offered encouragement.

On another occasion he gave me a pair of spectacle frames when I couldn't find a pair that I liked on the display racks and I asked him if he had any second hand ones. "Well, as a matter of fact..." he had replied, and fetched out a pair very like my old ones which someone had come in with the day before. A lens had been chipped and the owner had chosen new frames for her replacement. The style of lens I liked would fit perfectly. I offered to pay him for them, which he graciously declined saying with a twinkle, "They didn't cost me anything". I'm wearing them now. Tears behind the lenses. This kindness was typical of him.

And no matter how busy he was he always made time for some personal exchange. He and I always chatted about photography during my consultations, an interest we shared.

Reading through the comments added to the 'Stuff' article, many people who were patients valued him just as I continue to do, and relate their own stories of his great skill, kindliness and ability to engage on a personal level with each of them. What an inspiration he remains!

Who can match him? Sue, I never met you, but offer deepest condolences. We too grieve.

Postscript:
In an news item published today it is revealed that engineers had deemed the Durham Street Methodist Church safe enough for workers to enter to work on removing the organ, and that 'safe paths' had been identified within the building for them to use.

Relative of victim says 'safety underrated - The Press, 31st January 2012

I find this helpful information. My observation of Paul from a customer perspective was that care and precision were hallmarks of his personality, so I'm glad to know that safety considerations had been pursued even though the advice given turned out to be faulty. Tragic none the less.

Note: Photo copied from the 'Stuff' website which noted 'photo supplied', I presume by family. If there is any objection to it being included here, let me know and I will remove it.

ALL MY ARTICLES ABOUT THE CHRISTCHURCH EARTHQUAKES CAN BE FOUND ON THE PAGE LINKED TO AT THE UPPER RIGHT OF THIS SCREEN, OR VIA THE LINK BELOW:

Leigh's Christchurch earthquake articles ~ click here to find them all

Another major earthquake shatters Christchurch worse than before ~

2011-02-22T23:36:00.280+13:00

ARTICLE UPDATED by the addition of further content on 22th March 2011

On the 22nd February 2011 I wrote ~
AN UNBELIEVABLY TRAGIC DAY IN CHRISTCHURCH:

The newspaper 'Stuff' website has been updating this story during the afternoon and evening:

65 dead in devastating Christchurch quake

Those trying to locate friends and family may wish to use the Person Finder website Google has made available.

For those who find the plain http address simpler to copy here it is:

http://christchurch-2011.person-finder.appspot.com/

Readers are encouraged to circulate this site address as there are a lot of people in distress over not being able to reach loved ones.

Those trying to figure out what's been going on, the scientific and historical background, may find useful information and links in my earlier article about the big quake of 4th September 2010: Christchurch earthquake ~ things that went bump in the night

The few sketchy details I can give you which may not have been included in the news bulletins this evening are:

Shag Rock, the landmark rock formation at the city end of Sumner Beach has disintegrated and is no more.
The bridge linking Ferrymead to Mt Pleasant, Redcliffs and Sumner is impassable
Two people I know who were outdoors in Sumner when the quake struck observed the hillsides and cliff faces cascading rocks.
Damage is significantly worse than from the original earthquake although on the Richter scale is was lesser - 6.3 this time. This was due to the shallowness of the quake - about 5 kilometres, and its sharp jolting intensity.
A combination of liquefaction and burst pipes has contributed to flooding due to silt blocking storm-water drains.

It has been a shocking day. Let's hope we can all get some sleep, especially those in Christchurch. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

UPDATE ~ 22nd March 2011
The loss of major portions of Christchurch's architectural heritage is a source of considerable sadness:

Official video of damage to the Central Business District as screened at the memorial service of 18th March 2011. It has no commentary. The lack of civilians is due to this area remaining cordoned off to the public. Note that the video is in three segments which load one after the other.

Campbell Live - Requiem for the architecture of Christchurch This video does have a moving commentary and sound track

Text version plus interesting links
TV3 - Slide show of photos showing damage around the central city area on the 23rd February.
TV3 - Before and after damage photos - note especially the one of Shag Rock. Aftershocks have reduced its size further since then.

Security camera footage of a partial building collapse - two separate videos from different angles (video link added 14th August 2011)

Gripping stories of earthquake survival:

David Hayward, a Christchurch writer, wrote this powerful account of his ordeal for the Guardian, which was published just hours after the event: New Zealand Earthquake: 'There was a moment of silence. Then a wail of sirens'. He wrote the article on his phone!
Pat Deavoll wrote in her blog the story of being in Sumner on that fateful day, and of her arduous journey home.
Vicki Anderson related her harrowing story of getting out of the damaged Press building and the frantic time that followed in this article: "Reunited after the quake: mother and child" The article was published on the Stuff website on 25th February 2011
Naomi Magee was also in the Press building but did not get out so easily. She was trapped in a collapsed area of the building for five hours and did not expect to get out alive. She was interviewed by TV3 as recorded in this clip which aired on the 24th February: Press building survivor tells her story
Included in that same clip is the story of Tara Snell who outran a falling building façade in a burst of speed prompted by her friend's dog Honey, who was with them. In this privately filmed clip we see the wall collapsed as they flee.

Other stories from those caught up in the chaos:
The Christchurch mayor tells of standing on a building-top balcony in the central city when the earthquake struck in this article published on the Stuff website on the 8th March 2011: Broken city haunts Christchurch mayor Bob Parker

Matthew Walker has written three articles about his experience of the quake and its aftermath in his blog Things no longer weigh what they used to. In his writing he is lucid, carefully observant and heartfelt - as usual. These are compelling reading.

25th February 2011 This unsupposed world: Christchurch earthquake 2011
27th February 2011 What remains
11th March 2011 This is who you are

His preceding article High Street, could well serve as a requiem for that city street, which Christchurch residents know so well. In it Matthew notes the evidence of the previous earthquake. who could guess of the devastation to follow so swiftly and decisively on its heels.

We remember those who did not survive:

I imagine that most New Zealanders know someone who died, or someone who knows someone who died. I have written a separate tribute to Paul Dunlop, our family optometrist, who died in a building collapse. I now know of the deaths of three other people who were connected to those close to me and expect to hear of more in the weeks ahead.

The official death toll at 17th March stands at 182 as noted in this article on the Stuff website.

These deaths were completely random - those killed were not doing anything risky or unusual. It is a spectacular example of many people simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. How many people have since thanked their lucky stars that they were out at lunch at that time, or did not go to town that day after all, or..., or..., or....

However, after a week or two of living in a severely disrupted environment any euphoria about having survived is likely to have lessened considerably:

At this point a different toll emerges. Life has to be resumed in something approximating normal, and the enduring difficulties of living an ordinary life amidst widespread devastation can be decidedly arduous. Plain old grumpiness sets in as Vicki Anderson relates in this article published in Stuff on 17th March 2011: "Christchurch is grumpy" I'm pleased to claim slight acquaintance with Vicki and can assure readers that ordinarily she is a lovely, mild mannered and peaceable person!

Those who are impatient with this description of city-wide moodiness might bear in mind that since the 22nd February, residents have experienced 648 quakes. This was just as aftershocks from the September earthquake seemed to be subsiding. Since the original earthquake last September they have endured a total of 5,553; that's right: five thousand, five hundred and fifty three - those of them who have stayed put.

For many residents it has all been too much:

Not surprisingly a large number have packed their bags and headed for more stable ground and access to facilities which actually working properly. An article in the ODT of 28th February states that at that point 50,000 residents had left the city. I have heard that this total has increased considerably since them.

It's not just the on-going quakes that are wearing residents down, it's the damage to so many homes and workplaces; disruption to travel due to damaged roads which has made travel around the city very slow and frustrating; widespread lack of sewage services; and in some areas the patchy nature of other basic services such as power and water. Loss of a number of the usual supermarkets has been a source of additional pressure and there has been a marked shortage of fresh produce. Everyone is coping as best they can, service crews are working non-stop to restore roads and other basics, but all this takes time, a lot of time, and weeks stretch into months. It will be years before the city gets properly back on its feet. In a recent visit to Wellington even the stoically cheerful mayor, Bob Parker, remarked on the surprise he felt as he observed that everything there 'worked'. I know others who feel the same. In Christchurch the abnormal has become normal. Everyone is tired. All strength to you, Christchurch! Lots of us are doing what we can to help.

Preparedness: how prepared are you?

Here in Dunedin the land is stable for the moment. I feel tremors from time to time, some of which register on the national GeoNet site, others which don't. Earthquakes are part of life in New Zealand, but usually don't affect people all that much due to our fairly sparse population. But all the same it's good to be prepared for eventualities. The Civil Defence national website "Get Ready, Get Through" includes lots of essential information. Let's be sensible: are you prepared? Am I? Well, partially, but more work needs to be done. Time to get back to it. This is not scaremongering, this is plain old sensible planning - a good way to get a little bit in charge of potential situations which are otherwise well out of our control. In the event of a severe local earthquake a modicum of sensible preparation can go a long way.

The New Zealand landmass is constantly changing but so little that we usually don't notice it. Those who are interested to read more about this aspect of our history, and indeed that of our changing planet can read my earlier article New Zealand ~ land of earthquakes and volcanoes.

Readers can find more information in my subsequent article:
Christchurch ~ two months after the big quake ~ demolitions, cliff collapses, shipping containers and portaloos

ALL MY ARTICLES ABOUT THE CHRISTCHURCH EARTHQUAKES CAN BE FOUND ON THE PAGE LINKED TO AT THE UPPER RIGHT OF THIS SCREEN, OR VIA THE LINK BELOW:

Leigh's Christchurch earthquake articles ~ click here to find them all

Apricots ~ gold, gold gold!

2011-02-05T17:34:00.006+13:00

For those of us fortunate enough to live in parts of the southern hemisphere within reach of apricot trees the time for harvesting and enjoying this delectable fruit is NOW!

I feel very smug in that I've 'done' mine for the year already - last weekend in fact - three boxes which totalled over 20 kilos in all, from which I made enough jam and preserves to last us through the coming year.

It really is worth taking notes about this sort of thing: from notes made in the previous two years I knew exactly how much fruit I needed to buy so that we will have what we want in the year ahead. It took all the worry out of wondering how much to buy, and when I had finished the work of getting it packed into jars I knew I didn't have to do any more. Hooray!

This is the only fruit I pay for that I put into storage and at $25 a case I have to be clear about the quantity I want and take care that none of it is wasted through delay or indecision.

When I bought the fruit it was perfectly ripe, containing within itself the nectarous flavour that we remember from our childhoods - what fruit used to taste like. These are not false memories but true ones as is proved by biting into this tree-ripened, straight-from-the-orchard fruit.

Apricots at their peak of ripeness don't last long so I needed to get them cooked and into jars pronto. I did! The result: thirty jars of preserves and twenty jars of jam. It took me two day of solid work but it was worth it as this fruit is not to be missed!

Here is what my pot of fruit looked like just before being ladled into piping hot jars:

It is no exaggeration to say that the smell was divine!

Although there wasn't much difference between the price I paid at the farmers market and what I would pay at the supermarket I have a strong commitment to buying direct from orchardists. Big food retailers drive the hardest bargain they can with the result that many orchardists in New Zealand have found their profits cut to the bone and as a result have chopped out their trees and put in grape vines or other crops. I do pray that we may always have good fruit available from local growers. Buyers need to play their part in ensuring this survival by being prepared to pay realistic prices.

My one quibble with buying produce at the Dunedin Farmers Market is that it tends to be very crowded and parking is awkward. It's not that I can't walk, but if I buy the quantities I want getting them back to the car is a strategic manoeuvre of no small order, making any browsing of other stalls quite beyond my capability.

For those interested in making jam and preserves I have brought forward information from previous articles and updated it here:

Which variety? Most people prefer Moorpark for both jam and preserves. These are excellent. I can also highly recommend Ettrick Gold, a variety which no doubt has its origins in an Ettrick orchard, which is where I got them on one occasion.

All of it has had that superb sun-ripened flavour which is so rare in shop bought fruit. May yours be as good!

Wastage: In the normal scheme of things wastage from the removal of stones and blemishes amounts to about a sixth of the original weight if the apricots are in top condition and are dealt with promptly, but will be considerably more if fruit has been left over-ripe or has been badly handled. All measurements for fruit given here are for the weight of fruit once it has been prepared for cooking.

JAM:
For those starting out on jam-making my earlier article Making jam ~ general instructions can be read in conjunction with this one.

Working out fruit, sugar and water ratios - and pot size and yeild:
Sugar: For apricot jam I use a ratio of six parts of fruit to five of sugar. To give you an example of how ratios can be worked out: take the weight of your (prepared) fruit, divide it by six to get one sixth, and then multiply by five, to get five sixths. The five-sixths is the amount of sugar you'll need - easy!
Water: my rule for jam is half a cup of water per kilo of fruit - just enough to give the raw fruit something to start cooking in and prevent it from catching.
Pot size: my 8 litre pot can take 4 kilos worth of fruit plus the sugar that goes into it. My six litre pot can take three kilos worth. This allows room for the jam to froth and so on.
Yield: six kilos of prepared fruit cooked in two batches produced twenty jars of jam of mixed sizes, both small and medium.

Preparation: I do mine in one kilo batches so that I can split the jam making process overnight. This means that I have to have a number of containers which then have to fit in the fridge but I then have maximum flexibility in terms of how much I cook at a time.
I have an aversion to finding large pieces of fruit in jam or indeed any preserves, so I cut the fruit into the sized pieces that please me, removing the stones and any blemished skin, then place the pieces into a container of water so that they don't brown. Once I've done each kilo, I drain the water off and weigh the fruit, put it on to cook, starting with a half a cup of water per kilo of fruit. Next I check how much sugar I'll need and make sure I have enough in the house!

Cooking: I start by placing the total water required in the pot and then gradually add the fruit to it so that the fruit mush can build up slowly contributing its own liquid as it cooks.
     Once the mush is cooked you can break the jam making process overnight if you want to but do be sure to keep track of the quantity of fruit you started with so that you know how much sugar you'll need when you set to work on it once again!
   Add the sugar only when the fruit is hot, then adjust your element to a medium heat as you do so. When the sugar is being added take care not to let it sit on the bottom of the pot as it can rapidly caramelise which will spoil your jam. If it catches, empty your fruit into a clean pot and continue on from there. If left it will spoil not only the colour but also the flavour of your delicious jam.
     Once the sugar has dissolved the heat can be turned up as the jam needs to boil briskly before it will be ready to set.

Finishing the process: If you are unfamiliar with the process or need more detailed instructions these can be found in the article referred to above.

PRESERVES:

Making preserves is almost as simple as stewing fruit and not much more work. It's a lot less time-consuming than making jam and requires a fraction of the sugar. Having said that, it is more demanding in terms of timing, and the appearance and texture of preserved fruit is important, a key difference to jam-making in which it matters little if at all. Do be careful not to overcook the fruit, which makes it mushy.

Many people freeze produce rather than preserving it, but I find preserving simpler: the great advantage is that when you want to use the fruit it's ready immediately, and if the power goes off you have nothing to worry about.

Ratios, batch sizes and yields: I did mine in batches of two and a half kilos each, which is what easily fits into my 6 litre stock pot. It's worth keeping batch sizes for preserves relatively small as the fruit still in the pot continues to cook while you're ladling fruit into jars and you won't want it to cook too much more while you're working your way down the pot.
    I used two cups of sugar (450 grams) and ten cups of water, just enough water to enable me to easily move the fruit around with a wooden spoon. This makes an excess of syrup but it's far better to have too much than too little, and besides, it's delicious to add to cereal or simply to drink, so it is never wasted.
     The syrup worked out at about five parts of water to one part of sugar going by the number of cups.
     Going by the weight of the fruit and sugar the ratio of fruit to sugar is also five to one, which gives it an excellent flavour. (The Edmonds Cookbook suggests much more.)
   I know this sounds confusing, but it does work - it's what I've used repeatedly. Needless to say, it makes it easier if successive batches are of the same size!
Yield: I used my six litre stock pot to cook up four successive batches of two and a half kilos worth of fruit. From these I got about 8 largish jars per batch.

If you need more information about the general preserving method you can find these in my earlier article Preserves ~ notes both general and particular .

A close-up view through the bottom of a jar of freshly preserved apricots

Neighbourhood groups ~ strategies for healthy communities

2011-01-25T12:23:00.004+13:00

You can choose your home but not usually your neighbours, so it's fortunate that most people are pleasant. Knowing the neighbours is an important part of our sense of belonging and security. If we know our neighbours we can derive support and companionship from each other as well as helping each other out in practical ways. It also means that we are likely to be able to settle any differences that arise in a more straightforward manner than if we didn't know them at all. I also find that I'm more tolerant of people that I know than of people that I don't know: I know I can sort things out with them if I need to.

Where we live at present our neighbours are mostly friendly, one might even say unusually so: within a week of our arrival I knew the names of the people living in the nearest six households and have since meet quite a few others. When I'm working in the garden I often chat with whoever else is outside, exchanging news and views. The sharing of vegetables, plants, and the lending and borrowing of one thing and another is also commonplace. I like all that and appreciate the goodwill that flows with it.

Neighbourhood and street groups:
In some neighbourhoods this communication and sharing has been taken to another level again: I was delighted to read about the Condell Community in Christchurch, in this article "On-line list puts street in touch" published in The Press (15th May 2010). They are a street group which is organised not only to help people to get to know each other, but which also utilizes an internet-based website to enable people to easily be contact with each other, often over practical matters such as the sharing of surpluses and resources. Not surprisingly, they have also found that a united approach to any local problems has been very effective. Local resident, John Veitch, provided the leadership and vision which got the group going.

In the later article, "Going local on the web" also published in The Press (24th August 2010) the topic of on-line street communities is discussed further: at that time three were identified in the Christchurch area and information is given about how to set up a free website for that purpose. John Veitch emphasises that such communities take time and effort to get established. I think this is how it should be: communities don't just happen: they are built by individuals reaching out to each other; familiarity and trust accrue gradually over time.

Neighbourhood support groups with their focus on neighbourhood security, in which everyone must have a vested interest, are probably a good way to start: we all want to live in safe streets. In these schemes neighbours look out for each others security, noting any unusual or suspicious comings and goings. Such groups have achieved notable success in the reduction of burglaries and other local crimes.

I would very much like to participate in such a scheme, but I'd need to know that I could count on the support and commitment of those in other households to go the distance with me. In the past I've too often been left doing hard work of a leadership nature pretty much alone when I've continued to persevere with aspects which have turned out to be difficult and sometimes unpleasant. This has meant that undertakings that should have been supportive have ended up undermining me.

Strength in diversity:

Although I have often wanted simply to move away from disturbing influences I am not in favour of isolationist communities. I don't see that as the answer. No matter how ideal ones setting there are always issues which crop up which need to be addressed and which can be unpleasant; we're all human. And there are benefits from living in communities which are a mixture of this and that, in which one is obliged to accept a measure of give and take. Strength is much more likely to arise from diversity than through a monoculture - if good sense and sound leadership prevail!

Intentional communities:
A concept that does interest me very much is the idea of 'intentional communities', such as Earthsong in Auckland, and the Community Land Trust Project near Wairoa. These are two I know of in a New Zealand context. Most communities consist of multiple independent households of people living very scattered lives, with scant involvement in achieving collective good, where commitment to 'saving the planet' (of all foolish expressions) is likely to be limited to whether or not to put a plastic bottle in the rubbish bound for the landfill or into a recycling bin. This just isn't enough for me. It's only through collective commitment and action that anything meaningful is going to be achieved.

To share in the creation and development of a community with a goal of living in a more wholesome way seems an excellent idea! If anyone knows of one in the south of the South Island, let me know!

Neighbourhood woes ~ rumbling, grumbling and seeking solutions

2011-01-24T18:17:00.011+13:00

In the article "MP swaps politics for community action" published in the ODT (19th November 2010), John Battle, former MP in the UK, talks about working in his community. He says:

"The tensions and conflicts of the whole world are in your neighbourhood now. Instead of going down to London to sort things out, I might have to sort them out in my own neighbourhood. So I'm more passionate [now] about community action as a means of reconciling tensions and developing more human ways of living."

Touché! I wish I'd attended the talk he gave when he was here - there is so much to learn about this sort of thing. There are no easy answers.

Most people are pleasant and fairly easy to get on with. When things get uncomfortable considerably more skill is required. In my experience difficulties with neighbours most often come from households whose behaviour is noisy, inconsiderate, and in some instances argumentative. In the latter instance, people who scrap with each other often have chaotic lives the effect of which can spill over onto neighbours when rows occur. Excessive, noisy comings and goings can also be disturbing.

There are times when I find myself wishing that these households would go and live somewhere else, but that doesn't solve the problem - it just moves it around. Although I know this perfectly well sometimes it has felt as if it's going to end up being them or me - moving house, but actually, why should I? I have a history of making strong constructive contributions to the group of homes where we live whereas troublesome residents contribute only their discord. What to do? We all have to live somewhere.

While I prefer to address problems myself in a more direct one-to-one manner rather than resorting to higher authorities it's not always wise or effective to do so. This is where the rules we have in the form of local by-laws as well as ordinary laws provide the structure which makes it clear what is and what is not acceptable. They also provide avenues for action when needed: noise control and animal control, (usually the domain of the local council), the SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), and even the police can be called on. I've had dealings with them all at different times with varying degrees of success. On the whole the outcomes have been good in the short term although the overall situations haven't necessarily altered all that much. Sometimes they have, but not always.

In New Zealand such complaints are kept private between those raising concerns and the enforcement agency, which is helpful and I think appropriate. Most of us live at fairly close quarters to each other, and if one household is creating a disturbance it's likely to be affecting a whole group of neighbouring households. Pitting one household against another is never going to be helpful. Publicly decided guidelines can be applied in an impartial manner which is much better.

The standard rental agreements which are mandatory in this country contain a condition that tenants have a legal obligation not to annoy the neighbours, and those who do cause a chronic disturbance can be evicted for this reason, but it's much preferable that households manage to co-exist relatively comfortably alongside each other.

Regardless of whether those creating disturbances live in rental of other accommodation they can benefit from learning to consider others: it is not at lot to ask or at all difficult.

The high mobility of the New Zealand population means that households come and go, and that one problem which has patiently been settled down may be replaced by new ones as other people move into the area. The degree to which existing residents collectively set the tone and extend friendliness is likely to be a positive influence on newcomers.

Family violence and abuse:
The most difficult situation I've been in regarding neighbours has been witnessing on-going family violence and strife. It's very upsetting, and so it should be, but what can be done about it? When domestic violence results in tragedy news reports often relate that the neighbours were 'surprised' or 'not surprised'. I wonder who actually attempted to do anything to remedy the situation. I hope that the present campaign "Family violence: it's not okay" is making a lot of people stop and think. Violence can take the form of physical assault or verbal abuse. Neglect of dependant children, animals and pets is also a form of abuse and an indicator of household dysfunction - and probably often, of ignorance.

What I witnessed in that neighbouring household over an extended period of time prompted me to call the police to ask advice. I was particularly concerned for the children. Having expressed my concern I was asked to phone back when the violent activity was actually occurring. I did so and a police officer was despatched immediately. Although the situation had cooled off by the time he arrived he did talk to those involved and that household became much quieter as a result.

Although I had no way of knowing more than I could witness from my own home it was a start, and my conscience was then clear that I'd done what I could to voice my concern. Hopefully those in more direct contact with those people also voiced their concern.

Probably more help with running the household could have eased the load and perhaps reduced tension, but having witnessed what I had I didn't feel safe offering any kind of friendliness. Unsolicited friendliness of this sort can lead to all sorts of difficulties which don't help the underlying situation at all. If you know people it's different.

This is where programmes such as the buddy programme can provide safe structures through which a measure of assistance can be provided. In this scheme adults spend a small but regular amount of time with children from needy backgrounds giving them quality attention and sharing small scale activities such as one might expect to enjoy with a member of the extended family.

Buddy programme - Otago - Presbyterian Support Services

Buddy programme - Southland Family Works, a Presbyterian Support Services initiative

I've previously mentioned these programmes in my article Prisoners are people too ~ families in limbo

In the advertising champaign about family violence we see repeated examples of individuals speaking to those in difficulties asking them if they are okay, not only offering support but also firmly expressing concern about dangerous or damaging behaviour. I agree: family violence is not okay. Difficulties are best addressed when we are calm and clear about what we want to communicate rather than when we are angry and upset. Mediation or intervention by those not directly involved can also be helpful.

Weighing up the odds:
Even in well-adjusted neighbourhoods there will always be problems that crop up from time to time, which need sorting out, problems we would rather not have to deal with. Street groups and neighbourhood support groups provide good ways for residents to get to know each other as well as providing a framework for problem-solving. On-going mutual support within any such group is vital. I outline more detail about a range of these groups in the following article, Neighbourhood groups ~ strategies for healthy communities

"Dust if you must"

2011-01-08T13:32:00.000+13:00

This morning I dismantled my Christmas tree and decorations, carefully storing them for next time. I have enjoyed the pretty gold balls and tassels against the greenery but the season has passed and it's time to get on with the new year.

Once these were removed the room looked dull and I could see it needed a good clean - dust and detritus were everywhere. Although I like to see the place looking as it should I don't enjoy dusting and will do almost anything else to avoid getting on with it. Knowing of this reluctance my mother thoughtfully included this poem with her Christmas card:

Dust if you must but wouldn't it be better
To paint a picture, or write a letter,
Bake a cake, or plant a seed;
Ponder the difference between want and need?

Dust if you must, but there's not much time,
With rivers to swim, and mountains to climb;
Music to hear, and books to read;
Friends to cherish, and life to lead.

Dust if you must, but the world's out there
With the sun in your eyes and the wind in your hair;
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain,
This day will not come around again.

Dust if you must, but bear in mind
Old age will come and it's not kind
And when you go (and go you must)
You, yourself, will make more dust.
Author unknown

Well thank you, Author Unknown: finding that again in Mum's card cheered me up about it, and now the sitting room is once more clean and welcoming and everything is where it should be.