A pot-pouri of parties

And so we move into December.   And the first thing we do is have a Housewarming Party, obviously.  We invite nearly 60 of our new friends, and 40 of them actually come!  Our smallish living area is augmented by use of the balcony; luckily it isn’t raining.  In fact it’s a glorious evening.  Julie and Jessa arrive mid-afternoon to help prepare nibbles.  It’s a jolly occasion that starts promptly at 6pm, when our first guests arrive, and doesn’t conclude til after 10.30, when the last ones leave; and finally the dishwasher gets to do its maiden wash.

Beverley has the third of her Christmas lunches the following day and Julie and I are invited.  It gives Beverley the chance to bring out her best china and ornaments amidst the Christmas decorations:

[Beverley in the middle, the lovely Julie on the right, other parishioners make up the numbers.]

‘Tis the season to be jolly, and all that.

Next day Vellenoweth Green, which lies between our house and the sea, also hosts a party of sorts.  American cars and bikes, past and present, cover the green.  It’s like a giant set for Grease….

[Note the 2 giant Moreton Bay fig trees in the background; they were planted by Sarah Selwyn, wife of Bishop Selwyn, around 160 years ago.]

[You can't see it but the registration of the big hearse behind the bikes is actually 'DEAD'...]

[As the sun sets over the Hauraki Gulf, a rainbow makes an appearance.]

And two days later Julie and I attend the marae at Orakei, where we play our part in the powhiri (formal welcome), make our koha (donation), sing our waiata (songs), offer our pepeha (reciting places of reference that give our lives meaning), share kai (food) and receive our end-of-term certificates.  Whew!  [At least, Julie gets her certificate; for some reason mine has been made out in the name of someone unknown to me, and so I have to wait until the new year for paper confirmation that I have passed my beginners course in Maori.]  We say a fond farewell to our fellow students, and to Celess and Alan who have piloted us on the waka (Maori war canoe) these past few weeks.  There’ll be more detail on Maori things in a later blog – promise!

[My long-awaited certificate, which I finally collected last Monday.]

[A gift from Celess; it's taonga (treasure/a treasured item) that she made for me - she did one for each of the students.  It's a tiki (carved human figure) painted on glass, that is meant to bring good fortune to its owner.  It's now on the sideboard in our living room here.]

Three days later it's our final party before the family arrives.  We gather at Roy’s museum to share festive spirit.  It’s fancy dress – Heroes and Villains.  Roy and I go as Marguerite and Mephistopheles (you know, from Faust, obvious really); that is I wear a long dress and a white flower, Roy wears black tie (only it’s red) and a red flower.  That’s about as far as either of us likes to go in the fancy dress stakes!  Roy makes a speech.  Suddenly I find myself in front of the microphone offering to lead everyone in one of the waiata I’ve learned off by heart.  Now there’s something that doesn’t happen every day….

[sorry, no photos taken of the office bash : ( ]

Next instalment, the family arrives...