The lake is full, with ducks dancing among the reflections.

Kereru hurtle from tree to tree, devouring red guava, pukeko raid our orchard each morning, flying off with apples on their beaks, tui pierce ripe persimmon, and tauhou feast on citrus.

In spite of the birds, there’s plenty of fruit for everyone – a huge crop of feijoas (over 70kg last week and more to come).   Preserves keep emerging from the kitchen - the favourite feisty feijoa chutney,   and - new this year –  jars of delicious spiced mandarins.

Along the bush  tracks all shapes and colours of fungi catch your eye, from tiny orange dots to these cosy clumps of puffballs to tall red toadstools.

Near the estuary, you may also catch a glimpse of a resident ruru – a pair of them nest there.

We’re missing our gardener Sue at present – she’s at a permaculture course at Te Moata Retreat  Centre in Tairua for a fortnight, having made sure gardens were tidy and up-to-date before she left.  The course is led by Trish Allen and Daniel Tohill, so Sue is sure to come back full of interesting new ideas.

The sale process is moving forward steadily.    We’ve had quite a lot of people here for  our two Open Homes so far, with much positive feedback.

We’re lucky to have warm, hard-working Patricia Fenton, of Barfoot and Thompson (Waiuku) as our Real Estate agent.  Her love of land and people, and her professionalism,  give us confidence she will help us find special guardians for earthtalk’s future in due course.

We remind ourselves that it took us five months from first sighting this lovely  land in October  1991 till making an offer in March 1992…vendors need patience!

Earthsong is a co-housing community,  32 homes  on 3 acres, with diverse people (in age, culture, family situation)  who share commitment to social and environmental sustainability.

Houses are built of rammed earth and macrocarpa, with solar water heating and rain water harvest, and set in permaculture gardens and orchards.  Each home has its own small garden, and access to the Common House , community  land and facilities of Earthsong.   See  www.earthsong.org.nz for more.

Ranui is very diverse, with an extensive community development programme underway.  It’s only 20 minutes drive to Auckland City Centre and to the wild west coast beaches; the train station is a block away.

Having made a decision about our future, we can focus fully now on finding the right people for earthtalk.

First,  Professor, Lloyd Geering, now aged 95, gave a brilliant Michael King Memorial Lecture, “How Humans Made God”". 

 Then  Barnaby Bennett, co-editor of Christchurch: The Transitional City Part IV,  showed us glimpses of creative projects, and talked about the politics of control,  in post-earthquake Christchurch (see his blog at http://www.projectfreerange.com/author/barnabyb/ for his thoughtful and challenging perspectives.) 

Finally, we enjoyed a gracious discussion between Kate de Goldi (author of The ACB of Honora Lee), and  Dr Helena Popovic (Australian author of In Search of My Father).  Both women are caregivers for parents with dementia, and many of their stories echoed our own experiences, as well as reminding us all of the importance of exercise, social and mental stimulation as we age.

Tanya will be managing our stall, with Sue’s help , and they’ll have our seasonal produce for sale.  There’ll be apples, mandarins, possibly some casimiroa and persimmons, and jerusalem artichokes  plus our usuals: salads, cooking greens, Tanya’s muesli and Charmaine’s preserves.

An Open Home at earthtalk@awhitu is planned for Monday 3 June, 12 noon – 2pm for those interested in the sale of our property.

Patricia Fenton of Barfoot and Thompson, Waiuku is the organiser. Ring her a few days before to check whether it will proceed: 021 836242

We will be available for information if required, and you can do a self-guiding walk with our brochure and map.   See the detailed property information first: http://www.awhitu.co.nz/earthtalk-for-sale/detail-about-earthtalk/.

Directions to earthtalk@awhitu

1. If you are entering Waiuku from Pukekohe or Drury roads, soon after the “Welcome to Waiuku’’ sign, and just before the main street, there is a by-pass to the Awhitu Peninsula and beaches – turn right. Or, if you miss that, and arrive at a T-junction, turn right into the main street, and then at the waterfront turn left onto the Awhitu Peninsula road at the big Kentish Hotel on the corner.
2. As you pass the big Kentish Hotel, look across the road towards the estuary and you will see a Maori sculpture – an ancestor of the local people, Ngaati Te Ata, called Tamakae – he is holding a gardening tool, not a spear! He was famous for his productive gardening, and the tool is a ko (digging stick).
3. Drive north – we are 32km north of Waiuku. Stay on the main Awhitu Road, which winds around and about.
4. About 20km north of Waiuku you will pass through a tiny settlement on a ridge, with a large Ayurvedic garden on your left as your come to the settlement, and an art gallery called Pollok Co-op (bright orange signs and flags) – worth a stop if you have time and it is open. Pollok was once a large Maori settlement – a ridge pa (village). In 1865 it was settled by a group from Pollokshaw, on the fringes of Glasgow – dissenters breaking away from the Church of Scotland; now it houses quite a diverse bunch of people.
5. At 28km north you reach Matakawau, a village with a hall, a bright orange store and a garage on the left, and a school on the right. Keep going on the main road 3km down a long slow hill to a stream, up the other side, and at the top the main road turns a sharp left (with a big 25km warning sign.) and there’s a sign pointing right into Colbeck Road, with a green arrow pointing to our place.
6. You turn right into Colbeck Road, and then, about 200m down, there is another green arrow- veer right again into Kauri Road.
7. We are the third house down on the right – you’ll see trees as you approach our driveway, another green arrow, the number 60 and a green letter box, and our sign earthtalk@awhitu on the fence.
8. Park on the road facing back the way you’ve come, and come in the front gate – welcome!

hope for the future …

earthtalk@awhitu went on the market this week. 

It’s a big decision, but we know it’s right for us, and for the land, after nearly 21 wonderful years here.

earthtalk was originally designed on permaculture principles, one of which is:

“creatively use and respond to change”

We’re responding to our aging process, which is now limiting our physical activity and stamina. Tanya has had to come to terms with hip joints which are refusing to work, and Charmaine is finding multi-tasking increasingly challenging.  And, unsurprisingly, our energy levels are lower than 20 years ago!  So we want to design the next stage of our lives while we are healthy and able to enjoy change.

However, our minds and hearts will continue to be enriched by the amazing diversity of our experience at earthtalk.  And we hope to find buyers who share a similar passion, for land care, people care and fair share, which is the very basis of permaculture, and of a better world.

We’ve put lots about the land, business and community on our website, so for further information go to the ‘earthtalk for sale’ pages on our website menu, or click direct on:

http://www.awhitu.co.nz/earthtalk-for-sale/earthtalk-is-for-sale/

http://www.awhitu.co.nz/earthtalk-for-sale/detail-about-earthtalk/

http://www.awhitu.co.nz/earthtalk-for-sale/sale-photos/

Other local friends Richard, Gordon and Angie, have been here too, removing cobwebs, stains and rubbish, repairing woodwork, chopping up fallen branches, and a host of other jobs.

Angie says that each week she notices a little more of us has gone –especially the diminishing number of books, paintings and other treasures around the place (either redistributed, or packed away in cupboards.)

Our ordinary seasonal  tasks continue too – picking up 10kg of feijoas a day, plus figs,  casimiroa and the first ripe persimmons.  We’re preserving jars of pickled zucchini, sweet feijoas, feijoa chutney, and lots of basil pesto.

And Charmaine’s still experimenting with new sauces – this one is chilli challenge plus, made from exceedingly hot orange  chillis called ‘gringo killers’, and it should be used only a drop at a time!  (Sue says it should be called awhitu annihilator…)

Removing discrimination in all its oppressive forms is a continuing challenge throughout the world, but at least now any  two loving adults will be able to marry each other in Aotearoa  if they choose, whatever their gender or sexuality.

The final vote of 77 to 44 in the House of Representatives  shows that our politicians reflect the sensible views of the population, on human rights issues at least – and that Aotearoa can rejoice in being a country where the committed loving relationships of  gay, lesbian and transgender people can be treated equally in law.