Laura. Shadows on the Beach.

Laura and I met in the late 1970s, and were married in 1981. That is a lot of years, the greater part of our lives. Last month Laura's illness came close to separating us both, but she did return from hospital as frail as an injured bird, and she is making a recovery.

We take some air when we can.. A short drive in the van to the beach, and a slow walk on the fine, firm sand is like a gift of life itself after confinement within 4 walls. We enjoy making shadows on the beach, and it gladdens my heart to see two shadows, and not just one!

I finally wobbled my way into the 21st century and bought a smart phone. I entirely missed out on mobile phones.. I had a great antipathy to them and probably only ever sent about 3 or 4 text messages in my life before getting the smart gadget...., but with Laura being ill in hospital, a fairly immediate way of staying in touch seemed like a good idea. I am enjoying having it around, and also making use of its primitive camera.. All the reviews I have read of the phone (it is a first generation Motorola moto e) say that the camera it has is a joke... plastic lens, fixed focus.. and so on, but I am quite fond of its limitations and am learning to work within them. And...., hey, it can do panoramas! They are great fun!

Although Laura looks quite well and cheerful in these photos, she is actually extremely weak still, and tires rapidly. My lovely Father visited for a day last week and looked after Laura and our little gallery whilst I was away in Dunedin for an appointment. Last week was the first week since Laura returned from hospital that I have felt able to be away for a short time.

We had a little drive to Karitane on Saturday. Karitane is the next village from here. I always feel like we are on holiday when we visit Karitane. The village has a river estuary on one side of it, with a wharf and a small fishing fleet, and it also has a lovely beach and peninsula too. The Karitane Store is owned by our friend Sue O'Neill, a truly delightful person, who has transformed the Store into a warm and happy hub for the community. The Store has good food there, and I had a cup of most excellent soup, that was really a seafood chowder, for lunch.

Laura and Sue sat out in the sun together on some wooden chairs outside the store, and chatted about life and its many challenges and joys too.

We drove from the store to the estuary, and I tried to fit as much as I could of it into my tiny smart phone camera!

Laura can't walk far as yet, and she gets some pain still inside, but she has a smile and a positive attitude, and will be back!

With all this stuff with Laura's health going on, I really have not been able to work, but my pupil, Becky, has been making some medium sized earthenware bowls, and is doing very well. It is good to hear the sound of the wheel at work in the studio when she is able to come out here, and delightful to see her enthusiasm.

Yes..., Becky appears to be tapping away on one of those strange smart phone gadgets too!

I am sorry that I am not spending much time visiting blogs at the moment, but I haven't forgotten you all!