Old photo from 2003, showing a woman in her 20s standing braced against the wind. She is standing on the top of the Te Awa Kairangi stopbank and the floodwaters are close to the top
Pretty sure they haven’t eh. River levels didn’t look too bad when we checked 30 mins ago. Went through old photos & found this of me in 2003, standing on stopbank in Alicetown!
Photos of the book ‘Groundwork: The art and writing of Emily Cumming Harris’ and its authors Michele and Catherine; and photos of a tote bag featuring botanical images of pink puriri berries and blue dianella berries by Emily Harris
Text that reads: Buy a ticket to 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘀 and go in the draw to 𝐖𝐈𝐍 a signed copy of the book plus a tote bag! Groundwork is a luscious tribute to Emily Cumming Harris, one of New Zealand's most significant botanical artists. Join authors 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗴𝗼𝘁𝘁 and 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱-𝗗𝗼𝗱𝗴𝘀𝗼𝗻 (Rongowhakaata, Ngāi Tāmanuhiri, Te Aitanga a Māhaki) as they discuss their remarkable collaboration while bringing Emily's work and enduring legacy to life right before your eyes. Book your ticket now and be in to win this special prize.
Buy a ticket to our talk ‘𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘀’ at Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival & go in the draw to 𝐖𝐈𝐍 a signed book + a tote bag! www.eventfinda.co.nz/2026/groundw...
My UK passport application has finally been approved. Only taken 3 months & NZD$520. I’ll believe it when it’s in actually in my hand…
Just finished watching Mackenzie Crook’s tv show ‘Small Prophets’. So gorgeous. Think I like it even more than ‘The Detectorists’, if that is possible. Killer soundtrack too
A pūriri moth engraved in a rust-coloured wall covering
Beautiful rainbow-coloured artwork made of chains hanging down in the foyer area
A meeting room with table and chairs and a large green frog image on the wall
The end of a bookshelf, which has been decorated with colourful butterflies
A green pūriri moth, part of a wall decoration
The children’s space in the library. There is a large floor cushion and the wall is decorated with a fungi design
Artwork by Darcy Nicholas: four bright, glowing panels of yellow and pink depicting wāhine, with blue sky and clouds above them
The details and artwork in Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui are incredible. Such a warm, light-filled & welcoming space. So happy the library is open again! #wellington #library
A hand holding a stem of tiny white orchid flowers, which almost look like stars
A woman holding a stem of orchids up to her face. She is smiling because she is enjoying the fragrance
A bank covered in white-flowering orchids
Needed a brain break, so today we went to find Raupeka / Earina autumnalis / Easter orchids in the hills above Wainuiomata. We could smell the orchids before we could see them - there was an incredible cloud of perfume all around us, similar to vanilla.
Bit windy innit
They’re not making it easy for me… now on my third lot of documents to post. Had to write a statement about how I travelled from UK to NZ as a baby. Guess it looks like I was kidnapped or something.
Letter that reads: ‘27.3.17 Dear Poppy, Thank you very much for your letter. I am so glad you enjoy my programme. I liked your drawings of your silkies very much. Best wishes David Attenborough’
Thank god. This is one of the most valuable things in our house - written to my daughter in 2017
They received mine yday, am hoping for swift printing. Was not a fan of having to post my original birth certificate! And now I have to repeat process for my kids 🤞
Thanks for your kind words @clairemabey.bsky.social! Such beautiful books in the Longlist, so chuffed to be in such excellent company 📚
@theobrominated.bsky.social Congrats on the long list - nice to see we’re in good company! 🌱🌸🌿
Three people standing on long golden grass looking up at pink clouds in the sky, set against dark rainclouds in the distance
Whakaoriori Masterton gives good sunset after a day of extraordinary rain.
Close up photo of yellow pōhutukawa flowers
A yellow-flowering pōhutukawa tree reaching out over the edge of a road
Metrosideros excelsa ‘Aurea’. Trees are still flowering in Normandale, Lower Hutt 💛
For those (rightly) upset at FluTacking not continuing, consider joining WellKiwis: www.wellkiwis.co.nz Since 2017 it has helped me understand what viruses are around - esp helpful when my partner was going through chemo
Wellington Natural Heritage Trust
needs your help to secure one of Wellington City's last remaining tracts of old-growth native forest.
The 71 hectare property is in South Mākara. Kiwi have moved in already. It will flourish with effective pest control!
givealittle.co.nz/org/wellingt...
A huge Northern rātā tree in full bloom, with clusters of bright red flowers
This morning I went on a rātā-viewing walk run by the Wellington Botanical Society & the tree outside St Paul’s Church on Waiwhetu Road is *incredible*! Well worth a visit if you’re obsessed with Metrosideros robusta
I have a collection of her hand-coloured books here in Pōneke Wellington - would love to show them to you if you’re ever around these parts 😊
I spy 3 Emily Cumming Harris hand-coloured lithographs 😆
An image comprising three photographs, each of a hand holding the book ‘Groundwork: The art and writing of Emily Cumming Harris’ set against different coloured metrosideros flowers: bright red rātā, pink pōhutukawa and yellow pōhutukawa
Are you searching for a great Christmas present for the #Aotearoa art lover or natural history enthusiast in your life? Our pukapuka explores #colonialhistory, #women’shistory, #botanicalart, #comets, #NZpoetry & #eclipses
Aw thanks so much Sue! 🥰
Book cover of ‘Groundwork: The art and writing of Emily Cumming Harris’ and text advertising a free author talk at Unity Books, Wellington, 6pm, Wednesday 26 November
11 lithograph books from 1890 laid on a table. Some of the botanical plates have been hand-coloured by Emily Harris using watercolour paints
A delicate sketch of a brown butterfly perched on a stem of forget-me-not-flowers, with handwritten text above & below it. This card is dated 1826 and is pasted in a Georgian and Victorian scrapbook that belonged to Emily Cumming Harris’s aunt, who lived in England.
Tonight we’re giving an author talk at Unity Books Wellington at 6pm! Our presentation features our favourite research moments, artwork by Emily Cumming Harris & we're bringing our collection of rare hand-coloured books from the 1890s to display. www.facebook.com/share/1FN2pX...
My sister has long covid & had to give up her job a few years ago. She’s started making & selling sweet little peg angels & prints: felt.co.nz/shop/mrs-mac ❤️ #christmasnz #secretsanta #handmade #aotearoachristmas
A yellow flowering pōhutukawa tree in bloom with the fire station building behind it
Close up of the fuzzy yellow flowers in bloom on a pōhutukawa tree
The yellow pōhutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa ‘Aurea’) behind Chaffers New World in Wellington is in full bloom. Covered in bees this morning 💛
A sunset, with golden sky on the horizon and waves of pink cloud above
Walked up to the stopbank after seeing your post, thanks!
A hand holding a bunch of aquilegia flowers that range in colour from pink, red, yellow, pale yellow, lilac and dark purple
Grew a rainbow of aquilegia 🌈
The book ‘Groundwork: The art and writing of Emily Cumming Harris’ held up in front of Taranaki Mounga, which has white snow on its peak
New Plymouth people - Michele & I are giving a talk about some of our book research highlights. 6pm, Wed 5 Nov, Taranaki Research Centre. Come say hi! #taranaki #botanicalart #newplymouth
An arrangement of different-coloured dried ferns on a page, spread out like the rays of a sun
An arrangement of different-coloured dried ferns on a page, spread out like the rays of a sun
An arrangement of different-coloured dried ferns on a page, spread out in different directions, with the tallest specimen in the middle pointing upwards
A striking arrangement of different-coloured dried ferns on a page. They are centred around a middy-type specimen in the centre
Was excited to come across these elegant pressed fern specimens in a file I looked through today, c.late 1800s/early 1900s. But I miss the time when I could order a file from NZ Archives & view it 45 mins later. Takes 3 days now.
I’ve been searching for the kōwhai pattern for years - that is such an incredible score! 😍