Warm moonlight over my horizon, she's a slice of heaven (Dave Dobbyn)

Wie geht's?

Inspired by John and Yoko*, I thought I'd include a slice of Jade and William's wedding cake for this post.

Details: yes, Jade/William's cake is pictured on a dinner plate - it was a BIG one - a three layer lemon cake and the icing was delish.

Enjoy!

Love and peace - father-of-the-bride

* In 1969 John and Yoko released their Wedding Album record - the one with John and Yoko saying each other's names back and forth over one side and various bed-in press interview soundbites on t'other. In the lavish package they included a picture of their wedding cake which I've pictured above (sadly there were no details released surrounding the cake's constitution).

So bring your good times, bring your laughter too - we're gonna help you celebrate this party with you (Dragon)

Wie geht's?

We have had an awesome week with Jade and William's wedding and the combined big band on show at Maple Grove (as above).

Very emotional having everyone together in one spot for once. We think the last time was Adam and Ashleigh's wedding.

After everyone left our thoughts turned to planning the next one - Jacky has a significant birthday coming up in a couple of years.  

Because we're all dispersed around the world, that's going to be how we all regroup again - via significant birthdays, maybe Kerry and Shamara's wedding.

That's by the by, the wedding photos from last week should be released soon - I'm very excited to see how they turned out and to share them on the blog.

Love and peace - W

Gee, I really love you and we're gonna get married - goin' to the chapel of love (The Dixie Cups)

Whanau at Fanfa's wedding: Adam; me; Jacky;Fanfa;Jesse;Jade;Ashleigh; Keegan

Wie geht's?

Big week for the whanau this week as we head towards Jade's wedding on Friday.

As Father-of-the-Bride, I've been working on my speech and thinking about what I should say to celebrate the day.

Need to hit the right notes.

Also been thinking about other family weddings: Samantha and Jesse (the above photo); Adam and Ashleigh (below); Warren and Jacky - almost 36 years ago that one; and the big one without which etc - Graham and Dulcie Purdy.

Whanau at Adam's wedding: Fanfa; Jesse; Ashleigh; Jacky: Adam;me;Keegan; Jade

Me; Jacky; Graham Purdy

Graham and Dulcie

In a crazy co-incidence William's parents were married on the same day as us! April 21, 1984. That's a good omen!

Love and peace - father of the bride

I'm like that Northwest Mountie, you know I'll bring her in someday (The Coasters)

Wie geht's?

Why is an Enid Blyton book on my coffee table in the music lounge?

Good question.

As part of an ongoing attempt to recapture my youth (surely I'm not alone in that kind of pursuit), I've been trying to track down a book I read as a child. 

In many ways it sparked my curiosity for things and fired my imagination.

It's long been lost and hard to find because I'm very vague about who wrote it and what it was called.

Here's everything I can remember:

• It contained a vivid description of a tumble down overgrown garden that some children came across
• Yes, children were key characters 
• I think the word 'treasure' was in the title somewhere
• It's set in the English countryside
• I read it in the mid sixties - when I was 7 or 8
• I owned a copy - it wasn't a library book

And, that's it!

After various interweb searches (there are search engines specifically for people tracing books from their youth!!), I believed it could possibly be The Treasure Hunters - a book by Enid Blyton.

There's treasure in the title and the story centres on three children visiting their grand-parents in the English countryside.

Only problem being that I never once read an Enid Blyton book as a child. Not one.

Then came the problem of tracking down a copy. Not easy as it's long been out of print and Enid was prolific - over 200 books according to the lady at the Little Red Book Shop.

Fishpond had a used copy for sale from someone in Wellington - that's it in the photo. There's a delightful little message inside the front cover: This book belongs to Sam Hill (age 7), 4 Whitney St., Blenheim NZ.

As the children look for the treasure, there is a section where they explore a pond and come across an area overgrown with thorns, bramble and ivy. It's all hiding a secret building. This is the scene I remember capturing my imagination as a child.

But it doesn't exactly feel right. Worryingly, it may be my memory has idealised a scene to the extent I no longer recognise it when I see it.

This may or may not be the book I'm looking for. 

A new thought has crossed my mind: maybe the scene was in something like the Swallows And Amazons books: Swallowdale or Peter Duck? I distinctly remember reading them having borrowed a few from the school library at Royal Oak Primary.

I'll have to check that out next.

Love and peace - Wozza

To rest my eyes in shades of green (Small Faces)

Wie geht's?

When we bought Maple Grove back in April last year, our realtor (Matt Oliver) said he'd love to buy the five raised beds that are bordered by a hedge, on the west side.

At the time they were completely overgrown, as were the stone pathways around the beds. And, although we love Matt, we thought it sounded a little like realtor speak.

I'm glad we didn't press the matter. Jacky cleaned up the area and planted wildflowers.

It looks spectacular!! Go Jacky! 

I love wildflowers. They fight it out for space and don't seem to need regular watering like the rest of the garden.

Love and peace - Wozza