Slow Small Media for the Weekend #16

(Above: I love this. Found it unattributed on Pinterest. If anyone knows the artist – please tell me so I can credit and link.)

Hello! Can you feel the change in seasonal energy out there? Barren-looking fruit tree branches now fat in bud or with the first green emerging. Magnolias doing their thing. Spring bulbs.

I’ve been eyeing up the vege gardens and wondering when the moment is to pull out the wintery stuff to prep the beds for those first tomato babies. 

Lazy/easy hosting

I recently read an article about ‘imperfect hosting’. The jist of it was…what if we relaxed our standards for having people over so that it happens more often…rather doing it ‘perfectly’ but hardly at all because of that perfectionism? 

Inspired by that, we had six friends over for a ‘Sunday Toast’. We supplied bread, butter and a couple of things to go on toast. (I made tomato dahl and a smoked fish + cream cheese dip.) We asked our friends to bring a toast topping. 

We put all the toast toppings on the dining table. At dinner time, we took turns at the toaster making toast… then move to the dining table and applied toppings of choice. (Basically, yes, our friends had to cook their own dinner.) Dessert was a ‘zero dishes’ very lazy effort of a box of Cadbury ‘Favourites’ and some mandarins. It was interactive and fun, very easy and after they left – we were all cleaned up in about 15 minutes. 

We also learned a cool thing from our friends Marolyn and Ruth. They invite people over for a specific window of time, e.g. ‘Come for dinner between 5 and 8pm.) Having an end time makes hosting feel more do-able, too. We copied them. Everyone had fun and then left round 8pm. We had the great feeling of having caught up with mates and hosted something AND we still had a couple of hours of our Sunday night left for chillin’. 

Something good to watch: ‘Datastream’ Documentary

I really enjoyed this short documentary about legendary Wellington print shop, Datastream. They closed back in 2017 after 35 years in business!

They were a print shop with a radical heart but they worked with everyone local. It’s very heart-warming and a testament to the love a business can get when they commit to their community. 

Homemade Worcestershire Sauce Recipe

I don’t think I’d ever consider what the base of Worcestershire Sauce is…or that I could potentially make it myself. I follow Australian food writer, Sally Wise’s blog and she recently published a recipe for it.

Turns out the base is plums so it’s a good recipe if you have plum trees. Part of me is intrigued to make it…the more logical part of me is questioning just how many bottles of Worcestershire Sauce one family needs…but on the other hand, a cool thing to gift or trade. 

Affordable Art…on the move

Tote are a fun way to have art in your life. It’s art you can wear… it’s useful art. 

Here, for just $20NZD, is the op-shopping tote you didn’t know you needed by maker, Odd One Out. It’s such a cool design and would be perfect for the keen op-shopper in your life. 

This week’s song: ‘Free’ by Little Simz

A laid-back and heartfelt tune by UK hiphop artist, Little Simz. Lyrics as sweet and warm as a jar of honey sitting in the sun: 

‘I think that love is forgiving yourself

I think that love is offering your immediate help

I think that love is everything that we need in this world 

I think the key is being honest and being yourself 

I think love is understanding that people can change

And loving them anyway through every stage.’

(I add one track each week to the slow-growing Slow Small Media playlist. You can listen to all of the tracks in the order they were added here on Youtube.) 

A poem for the week: ‘What’s fun until it gets weird?’ by Chris Tse

Last week Chris Tse finished his time as New Zealand Poet Laureate. He did some amazing work in this role, travelling extensively and representing New Zealand so well. Here’s an excellent recent poem of his, ‘What’s fun until it gets weird?’ 

Chris is (arguably) the best dressed New Zealand poet. He has really raised the bar for theatrical poet couture. 

Thank you for your service, Chris. x

This weekend, we are chipping away at some changes we’re making to our back yard – extending our porch, moving plants, and first baby steps towards building me a home studio.  This weekend marks the end of week two of my Verb Home-Based Residency. I’m planning on giving my little greenhouse a good sort out and clean up ahead of spring activities. 

I hope you are faring well out there. Hope there are some lovely things in your weekend. 

X Helen