by Juliet Batten | 28, Oct, 2010 | Uncategorized
The new growth of titoki is bronze, and the leaves tender. To possoms they must be as delectable as new season’s asparagus. Before possoms were controlled on the Waitakere West Coast, they would devour the whole spring growth in one night, and the titoki... 
by Juliet Batten | 26, Oct, 2010 | Uncategorized
‘Koia! Koia!’ calls the long-tailed cuckoo: ‘Dig, Dig!’ So this is what I did. What a joy to know the earth is now warm and receptive, and to turn it over, digging in sheep pellets, and sprinkling wood ash on top, all ready for planting.Kathy,... 
by Juliet Batten | 25, Oct, 2010 | Uncategorized
What pleasure to cast off my shoes and walk barefoot on the ironsand, newly wet and turned to satin by the incoming tide. At last spring has bounded in like a lion, in perfect time for Labour weekend, when we have a 3 day holiday. People poured out of their cars,... 
by Juliet Batten | 21, Oct, 2010 | Uncategorized
September 18September 22September 29October 6October 12Watching the greening in the tree tops from my balcony. The growth seems to have accelerated at a certain point, and I remember that we are approaching peak greening on October 31, which is Beltane in New Zealand... 
by Juliet Batten | 20, Oct, 2010 | Uncategorized
Oh, the freedom of spring! The moon is waxing, the birds are flying and the skies are becoming bigger.I celebrate freedom in my life, and rediscover a favourite poem of Hafiz, which guided me through a crucial budding time. This is how it begins:We have not come here... 
by Juliet Batten | 17, Oct, 2010 | Uncategorized
It’s the evening after a meditation Intensive, and I take my favourite walk. I stand and marvel at the grass bank stretching before me. It glimmers, like a green and white silk scarf, a long one, ripping in the wind.I move closer and stand again to enjoy. Every little... 
by Juliet Batten | 15, Oct, 2010 | Uncategorized
On my walk, I marvelled at the intense greening all around. the innocent young oaks are a frothy mass of foliage and flowering. They have grown unhindered, like fortunate children, from the moment of planting.Then, I came to a row of older trees – limes, that... 
by Juliet Batten | 12, Oct, 2010 | Uncategorized
The wind is sharp and spring is biting again. But the unfolding of flowers on my deck is gentle. I am reminded of the beauty of spring at every turn. When I stepped out into the wind at the end of the afternoon, I shivered and tightened my coat around me. But then I... 
by Juliet Batten | 7, Oct, 2010 | Uncategorized
Spring is the season when I wake up to play, laughter and children. Little Mira, my two year old granddaughter, comes to visit and it’s warm enough for water play. After pouring water from one beaker to another, she then tries popping them on top of her head,... 
by Juliet Batten | 4, Oct, 2010 | Uncategorized
What a sparkly spring day it was on Sunday. Saturday I spent clearing storm debris at the bach, and dealing with a dangling power line. It took all day, just as I was leaving, for the Power Company to turn up and tell me they were ready to ‘liven’ me!Well,... 
by Juliet Batten | 2, Oct, 2010 | Uncategorized
‘Flower’, says Mira, my two year old granddaughter, pointing at her floral hairclip. Then ‘flower’, she says again, pointing out the window. I look out and discover the most glorious sight in my son’s garden: a fulsome mass of... 