I miss that feeling of “yes things are hard but we’re smart, kind and can use our collective power to actually change shit”. I know we’re all doing it in our own corners but I guess I miss the collective.
Some more to read about CreativeNZ's recent (and not recent!) decision-making. flatcityfieldnotes.com/2026/08/03/i...
If you don’t look you can’t see, or, the consequences of Southern invisibility in national arts funding
Erin Harrington on the lack of South Island investment in Creative New Zealand’s Arts Organisations and Groups (AOG) funding round, including the news that South Island organisations collecti…
flatcityfieldnotes.com
Sometimes when you ask "what's gossip in the village" you get a shrug and "not much". And then, sometimes...
Once in a while, like this morning, I have a real wish for the chocolate and central Otago fruit bread that the bakery next to the farmer's market used to do. It was, basically, perfect.
have you read the, quite franklybrilliant, "reviving rail in NZ" report? I recommend! drive.google.com/file/d/1pcMT...
Reviving Rail in New Zealand.pdf
drive.google.com
Are you a fellow data nerd, do you wanna be part of the pilot council putting in a whole new pretty cool system? If so, please come and be my manager, i will bring you mini peanut slabs, esp on the days you have to report to the overlords. www.orc.govt.nz/your-council...
Job Description
Otago Regional Council (ORC) is responsible for sustainably managing Otago’s natural resources on behalf of the community. Learn how we protect the environment.
orc.govt.nz
And now home! I was proper nervous about the bit of the trip that went along state highway 1, but felt massively secure in the protected bike lane there. And the harbour-side path is such a joy. I kept chasing the shags who fly with their tummies centimetres from the water. a+ adventure
This was the lunch stop. I brought the trike in so a chap could try it out to see if it works for his needs.
Trying to be a bit more honest with myself about how hard it is doing all this while living with chronic illness. So I am taking today off, the dog is in daycare (as walking is hard after workshops) and I have a trike adventure planned for the day. I have snacks and tea and will take my time.
Workshop done. Some really good conversations, an tonne of information to process and a beautiful day down by at the beach in Brighton. I have no energy and my feet are killing me and at the same time, it’s such a privilege to do this work.
Delighted to have found out how I'm related to the man Mum called Uncle Gus, who was actually named Gustavus Adolphus Rhodes. I have a picture of him and I have always wondered. Also I have some graveyards in the Coromadel to visit some day.
Our next workshop is Tuesday. We will be exploring situation diagrams (getting a shred understanding of the current state of the place and the pressures on it) and developing goals. There is also time for a wander on the beach and an (optional) trip to the local wetlands.
I’m not loving winter but this was the sky as we walked this morning.
Everything is a bit grim at the moment with H5N1 avian influenza showing up in AoNZ, but there is hope. Bird flu has been in Hawaii since 2024. The Hawaiian stilt has just been reclassified from endangered to threatened after the pop. grew from 200 to 1,500 over 50 years of conservation work.
'Fifty years of work': Hawaiian stilt brought back from the brink - Oceanographic
The Hawaiian stilt (Aʻeo) reclassified from endangered to threatened after 50 years of conservation brings population back from the brink.
oceanographicmagazine.com
Still good! Recommend if, like me, you are hand wash your dishes.
Sophie Fern@sophiefern.bsky.social · 2w agoAt risk of getting over excited about a product that I have used once, my new “dishpod“ is ticking these boxes: Cleans the dishes without residue Smells good Actually foams If you’re also reducing excess plastic, it’s worth thinking about. dishpod.nz
At risk of getting over excited about a product that I have used once, my new “dishpod“ is ticking these boxes: Cleans the dishes without residue Smells good Actually foams If you’re also reducing excess plastic, it’s worth thinking about. dishpod.nz
Dishpod - Homepage
Eco-friendly solid detergent dispenser for washing dishes. Just load the Refill bar into the Dishpod. Made 100% post consumer recycled plastic. Bottles are out, bars are in. No plastic bottles. Sparkl...
dishpod.nz
This is down the road from Dad's and I adore it. Not a #madpropsnz but a perfect gorgeous house: www.instagram.com/reel/Da-uyj9...
Create an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you.
instagram.com
I have been speaking English full time since I was 10 so there is very little that is so fundamental to my brain that I have to translate it. I know I have problems with suits of cards, the parts of a flower but this evening I find I also do music theory in French!
Have we all started lamb-watch 2026? I know that I have, despite it probably being way too early this far south. In daff-watch, however, there are some flowering in the Octagon.
Choosing my music for singing lessons for the rest of the year. Going for “send in the clowns” for the musical theatre piece and I think Hahns À Chloris for the art song. Though that has an E in it which might be a stretch!
Long dog walk, haircut, finally found somewhere that sells kaya (we’re getting through winter with “nice things on toast”) and a poddle through the art gallery. Spent some serious time with a full-of-waggle Duncan Grant collie next to a Frances Hodgekins of two small snoozing dogs.
T'is the season to prune the flowreing currants on your do walk (they are a weed) to bring branches with buds and soft pink flowers into the house. In related news, where does one find flower frogs?
This is a gorgeous exhibition (will be going back this weekend) and this piece is going to stay with me: www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin...
It’s a bug’s life — artist weaves ongoing plight of insects into artwork
Christine Keller wants people to think about the plight of insects. The Dunedin artist’s latest work at the Community Gallery in Princes St is a...
odt.co.nz
I was able to take some flexi-time this afternoon, and I had a gentle afternoon reading "Emma" on the outside sofa (we're reading all of Austen this year), a long walk up the hill and then still had the energy to make a huge bowl of hot and sour mushroom soup with noodles for supper.
Charred broccoli on toast covered in a yoghurt/tahini/lemon dressing. Pot of tea.
Ah bugger. It was going to happen but this isn't good news. www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3610...
Highly infectious strain of bird flu confirmed in New Zealand
Minister of Biosecurity Andrew Hoggard said the disease was detected in a brown skua (seabird) found at Petone Beach in Wellington.
stuff.co.nz
Colleague comes over: “Dr Fern?” My entire team dissolves into giggles. Well they are not wrong. It is genuinely absurd.