As auspicious dates go, 22 February, is mine. The international date line stole that day eight years ago as I shifted my life from the UK to New Zealand.  Three years ago, the Christchurch earthquake shook up my foundations again on 22 February. I probably wouldn’t... 
Refreshed from a week of rest and festive indulgence I am now looking down the barrel of several more weeks on domestic leave. Â This is the time of year when there is no time for contemplation and reflective planning but a sprint with nature and an insanely long list... 
It is a painful thwack to the head when the obvious hits me, especially when accompanied by that hateful know-it-all voice inside your head that says, “I told you so”.  Professionally I’d call this having ‘insight’ but since I’m... If they were giving out tardiness badges to bloggers I’d be up there in the front of the queue. Carefully crafted in my head, this blog post was planned to celebrate one of my favourite garden rituals, the annual planting of the garlic. But, such great... It’s hard to pinpoint when my romantic notions of olives started.  Certainly not when the school nurse warmed up a spoonful of olive oil over a bunsen burner poured it over a cottonwood plug that was unceremoniously jammed into my ailing ear with reassurance... 
