Happy Holidays to all

Our own New Zealand Christmas tree. Image via Wikipedia

It’s Christmas Eve as I write this blog and even though I have been absent from the blogosphere for several weeks again, I have been reading some of your interesting posts and keeping up with my blogging friends times and travels.

Presents are wrapped ready to be delivered and as my daughter and I are going out to a hotel for lunch tomorrow there is no last-minute cooking and preparations going on.

It is supposedly summer here but today has been dull and rainy and decidedly chilly.  We thought summer had arrived this weekend.  We had a roof shout on Friday – do you know about roof shouts?  These are held with all the builders and contractors and other trades people once the roof is on the house.  It was a glorious day and we enjoyed a fantastic barbecue with 20+ others in the new house.  As well as the roof being complete, the front door and garage door are in and able to be closed, and the glazing is in place.  So once the builders return from their summer holiday work will begin again and soon the house should be habitable.

On this day last year I posted the New Zealand version of the Twelve Days of Christmas and I thought it worth repeating.  So here goes, you know the tune – enjoy our version.

On the first day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
A pukeko in a ponga tree

via Wikipedia

On the second day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Two kumera
And a pukeko in a ponga tree

On the third day of Christmas
Three flax kits
and so on, until…

On the twelfth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Twelve piupius swinging
Eleven haka lessons
Ten juicy fish heads
Nine sacks of pipis
Eight plants of puha
Seven eels a swimming
Six pois a twirling
Five – big – fat – pigs!
Four huhu grubs
Three flax kits
Two kumera
And a pukeko in a ponga tree!
Eight plants of puha
Seven eels a swimming

Picture via Wikipedia

Definitions

Pukeko = type of bird found in NZ
Ponga Tree = a fern tree that grows in NZ
Kumera = a yellow sweet potato with a purple inside core
Piuspius = a skirt made from strips of flax. They look like hula skirts. They’re worn by the Maori (indigenous people of NZ) during certain dances and special celebrations.
Haka = war chant/dance
Pipis = small shellfish
Puha = a type of sow thistle that is eaten as a vegetable in NZ
Pois = Maori word for ball – they’re two balls on the end of two ropes and they’re twirled around making patterns during some Maori dances
Huhu = a small edible grub or beetle found in NZ.

So now for all my friends out there may I wish you a safe and happy holiday period whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Eid, Yule or any other.   If you are in the northern hemisphere keep warm and everybody take care when driving.  We all know that there are plenty of crazies out there behind the wheels of cars.

Related articles

• Dismal outlook for Christmas Day weather (nzherald.co.nz)