Coffee @ Fidel's

Fidel's Upper Cuba St, Wellington.

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Former Ministry of Defence Building on Stout St, Wellington. Art Deco gorgeousness!

A tale of two kitties

Today we had the best surprise EVER at the office. Two and half years ago, a mother cat gave birth to five tabby kittens under the Bishop's house. She left two behind. The four ladies of our organisation (all cat worshippers to a woman - we had 8 between us at the time), took care of them, feeding them and giving them lots of water. We had tried to catch them in humane cat traps, in order to get them neutered, but the wily critters escaped every time.
One of the kittens vanished when he was almost fully grown, and we were left with the glorious cat in the picture above. I took this photo a week before I went on annual leave at the beginning of May. When I came back, my colleagues broke the news that the cat had disappeared..... until today! We had left his box on the balcony in the hope he would return, and he did.
I suspect he had gone looking for an amorous encounter and had to walk a very long way. We are in the city centre, and there aren't so many residences close by. There are apartment buildings, but even if there were cats in residence, the chances are they would have been "fixed". No howling females at dusk within a 10 mile radius!
So, here is our boy, in the very top photo, snuggled on a woollen jumper inside the Wellington weather-proof box we bought him. The wanderer has returned. He had three plates of food and water, then dropped off to sleep.
No doubt he will be shouting for breakfast at 8 am when I arrive tomorrow, and we will be back to having conversations with him at lunchtime through the kitchen window.

Chinese Cabbage flowers, of course

I bought an unusual cabbage at the Sunday market this week, which involved clipping off tiny buds of flowers at the top of the stem. Each blossom is less than 5mm across, but I couldn't bear to throw them away. So, they are happily blossoming on the kitchen windowsill, inside an antique glass jug which is 4cm high.

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May your life be filled with ukeleles.     Through a window on Cuba Street, Wellington

All the fun of the fair

One of the many delightful things about spring in New Zealand is the plethora of fairs being held at weekends. Schools, churches, craft guilds, you name it, they host the ultimate event to help you part with your cash, to buy yourself treats and generally indulge your creative side (or acquisitive, collecting of junk side).

Here are my "spoils of the day". The first photo is a collection of home/handmade goods and the ubiquitous "70's" clutter which my husband is beginning to dread. Quote "Oh look, you've bought another brown plate/lamp/set of glasses/yard of fabric". He has an acute case of retrophobia and does not want to be cured.

I'd like to think when I'm dead and gone, the poor soul who has to dispose of my creative world will appreciate my taste as "retrospective".

In a different league altogether, the second photo is a painting I bought from a lovely S. African friend. I have been admiring it for months on her website. Today I saw it at her art exhibition and simply had to have it. Check out the work of Gerda Smit on Facebook or etsy.

So, for now, good afternoon from your resident "Patron of the arts"

Showing his best side

Our beautiful 10 month old rescue kitten Ruppin. This adorable creature mustered two other furry reinforcements to batter down our CLOSED bedroom door at 3am this morning. They didn't succeed, although they were difficult to ignore. My husband fell over the three sleepy battering rams when he opened the door at 6 am, waiting hopefully for breakfast and for the cuddles they think they deserved. Humph!