SOLD: Beautiful Happyzine

When I spoke to him yesterday, he told me he’d just finished building a morgue. I was struck with sadness at the thought of him having to do this. But the reality of this terrible situation is, that Christchurch has been plunged into a civil disaster. My brother and his workmates are trained in dealing with this exact kind of situation, they’re keeping people safe, helping them get food and water, and I think they’re amazing!

So, what can I do? I’m safe in my home, my husband and children are here with me. We have running water and power and we will all sleep in our beds tonight. Well, I can make stuff!

My favourite bird is Piwakawaka – the fantail. They’re little, but they’re cheeky. They love to frolic around people and their song sounds alot like laughter. I think Canterbury could do with a bit of that. In Maori legend Maui wanted to cheat death by crawling through the womb of Hine-nui-te-po, he took along a collection of small birds for company. Maui asked the birds to stay quiet, but little Piwakawaka couldn’t contain his laughter, and Maui was crushed to death. And so, in maori culture, Piwakawaka is seen as an ominous warning – I’ve found it very difficult to fear this bird, and frequently welcome them into my house, they’re curious creatures and quite like to be included in the family action.

So, how can Piwakawaka help Canterbury? Um…well, they can’t. But! I’ve made the Piwakawaka shown here and I’m putting him on Trade-me:

Any object featured on my blog from now on (which is able to be packaged), will also be placed up on Trade-me, and all winning bids will go to Red Cross. Also found on Trade-me will be a jar of my lovely homemade Tom Sauce (Good old days in a jar) – we cracked a jar of this open the other day, I’m stoked with it! And a container of homemade washing powder (Changing the world…one present at a time).  Just go to Trade-me and search for Crafting for Christchurch.

Tags: piwakawaka