Diwali henna tattoos

A few of you were interested in seeing the henna tattoos which were done at the kids' school in honour of the Diwali Festival of the Lights.
So, courtesy of their school, enjoy! Above is one of the tattoos being done.
The festival itself is a five-day celebration by the Indian community, which involves fireworks, lights, flowers, sharing of sweets, special meals, dancing, new clothes, togetherness, and worship.
It celebrates the inner lightness in all of us, the triumph of good over evil, of light over darkness.
Generally women and girl get henna tattoos as part of the celebration, and some wonderful Indian women came to the school to show us how it was done. They collected gold coin donations in return, and gave the lot to the Samoan Tsunami appeal, which I thought was lovely.
Many of the boys lined up for tattoos too. This is actually C's paw being painted.

And this is a typical tattoo for girls.

After a while the hand/arms are washed and a red/orange outline remains. It usually lasts for at least a few days, about a week.

There's a big Indian community in Auckland, and it was wonderful to get an insight into their rich culture.

A little light in a dark world

The kids looked cute this morning as they set off for school. Students and teachers dressed up in holiday gear, as a fundraiser for the victims of the tsunami in Samoa.
What a great cause!
There were jandals (thongs), lava lavas (colourful sarong-like cloth), swimmers, flowers, and leis all round.
Of course, all this had a serious side too, and the kids all donated towards the cause of helping Samoans rebuild and recover from their tragedy.
Speaking of which, we’ve decided to take our holiday next month. The Samoan tourism people have asked travellers to keep their holiday plans, with tourism tipped to play a big part of the country’s recovery.
Yes, there may be some inconvenience, and we will probably see some terrible sights and hear horrific stories. People have pointed out that the holiday may not be as ‘good’ as before, with grieving locals too busy or sad to pamper visitors, or some areas off-limits or destroyed. But that’s nothing at all compared to what these people have gone through. If we can help in some small way by keeping our plans, and getting some of our meagre funds flowing into the community, we’re happy to. In fact, we are looking forward to visiting Samoa more than ever.
To be honest, I think it will be a good education for the kids, and a reminder to all of us to be thankful for our good fortune, and sympathetic and empathetic to those in need.
On a happier note, a few lovely Indian Mums visited school this week, to talk about Diwali, the Festival of the Lights.
After eating and drinking their way around Auckland Viaduct’s version of the festival on the weekend, the kids couldn’t wait to get their hands decorated with henna tattoos.
According to Diwali tradition, the tattoos symbolise blessings that light up the soul. They are traditionally for females, but quite a few of the boys, including Mr 8, clamoured to have their hands decorated too!
I wish I could post a photo, but I’m still waiting for a cable to upload photos from my camera to my computer. Dang technology!
Instead, let me leave you with a bit of fun from the Tourism Paeora people. Kiwis have a great sense of humour, and I’m often left chortling at advertising campaigns.
This one, like L & P softdrink (diet of course), hits the spot!
http://www.youtube.com/tourismpaeroa#p/a

Spring shivers, and the Fiasco of the Week!

It is with cold fingers that I type that there has been a return to frosty mornings, dark skies, and icy rain in Auckland recently. In fact, so far, spring has been more like winter than, er, winter.
In spite of that, we’ve managed to make the best of it.
Last weekend, Missy and I braved the elements to walk up the hill and into central Auckland for the annual Blessing Of The Animals.
Held in a gorgeous old church, St Mattthew’s In The City, the event raises funds and awareness of the work of the SPCA (New Zealand’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).
It’s a cliché, but all creatures great and small converged on the cathedral – dogs, cats, goats, rabbits, mice, rats, donkeys and even a bull!
We were warmly welcomed, and the presence of the animals gave the service a festive feel.
I’ve never had my butt sniffed at church before, but there’s a first time for everything! And Missy fell in love with a fluffy Samoyed, who kept howling along with the hymns. By the time we left, Miss 6 had a blotchy red face and streaming eyes and noses, thanks to an allergy to the friendly pup – but she still couldn’t resist bringing home a fist of his fur. (Which I later vacuumed up, accidentally on purpose. Shhh! Don’t tell!)
Then this weekend, we went to the Diwali Festival, the annual Festival of the Lights. The Auckland Viaduct was like a little slice of India with colourful stalls, delicious food and drinks, and loads of entertainment.
The kids had a few days at vacation care each week, while I caught up on work, but we also had lots of fun swimming, rollerskating and rock climbing. (Well the kids did the last two. Husband banned me from anything too physical, due to my predilection for falling over and breaking and/or dislocating things).
I can’t post photos, because I’m waiting for a new thingamajig to put in the wotsit on the computer, but I’ll upload them as soon as I can.
Meanwhile, in a return to the Wine of the Week, let me present Fiasco Wine’s Gee-Whizz Gewurztraminer 2008.
I was lucky enough to win a bottle recently, and wasted no time cracking it open. (My infamous Fall Up The Stairs which ended up in wedding and engagement rings being cut off was judged ‘The Fiasco Of The Week’ in a recent competition. Glad my clumsiness was good for something!)
The company describes their wine better than I ever could:
“Our Gee-Whizz was harvested with soft hands, then gently squeezed like a lover, and fermented slowly to retain the intense Fiasco flavour. We’ve had a ball getting it from vine to bottle and now it’s your turn to enjoy our wine, the one that can only be pronounced after a few glasses!”
It was delicious, cool, light and tasting just slightly of ginger, flowers and lemon. Cheers!