CBD by Miranda Spary
Queen farts, best bread, rabbit carpet…. I make myself notes for this column during the week and sometimes it takes me a while to work out what these cryptic notes mean. After much headscratching, I remembered the farting queen is our own Sally Stone’s latest children’s book THE QUEEN OF FARTS which is out any minute. I’ve already begged her to do a talk and a signing at Dorothy Browns before Christmas so will keep you posted.
As for best bread, I was in Wolf Cafe and a handsome man greeted me with a big hug and a “Hi, Miranda”. It was the Australian king of Sonoma sourdough bread (although he and his Greek wife and 4 children live in Athens) and during lockdown, he bought the land next to our house. Lucky us, having him as a neighbour although it might be a while before he lives here - his land is currently occupied by hemlock and rabbits and no house. I didn’t know that factory-produced food like his bread can be brought into NZ totally legally. Now I’m begging all my friends to bring some back. He told me that when his Greek friends ask what he misses about not being in Australia, he says “going to New Zealand”.
Our driveway looks a bit motheaten at the moment. We had the rabbit population almost under control this winter, but this spring has been a total bonking bunnyfest for the few that remained, and the tiny little bunbuns that have resulted from this monumental exercise are now big, gawky adolescents looking for thrills. They aren’t the smartest animals, and even though I’m not aiming for them, they are surprisingly good at running straight under my tyres. I’m hoping that by summer we’ll have wall to wall fur carpet the whole way up the drive. I’ll feel very posh.
HUGEST cheers for Julia Strelou who put together a brilliant fundraiser for Central Lakes Family Services and Women’s Refuge. Some very brave women stood up and told their terrifying stories of domestic abuse - hard to believe that one in three women experience it, and that’s not just in poor areas - local police will tell you it’s the same all over New Zealand, Queenstown included. Despite the sad topic, it was a lot of fun and there was some fierce bidding on the auction items. I bid on what I thought was an auction prize to have some upholstery done. Luckily for me, Heather Rae told me it was actually an upholstery course. Anyone who knows me would die laughing at the thought of me learning to cover a sofa. I was well outbid on that one, thank goodness. It was especially thrilling that our own Jennifer Belmont won the top gong for the Otago 2023 Inspirational Women Awards. We are incredibly lucky to have her here, making such a big difference to our community.
We were invited to dinner at Glenorchy up at Mt Earnslaw. It’s a bit of a drive from here but SO beautiful. We had the perfect still and sunny evening to drive up with the very entertaining Bob and Sue Berry, then a full moon and virtually empty roads all the way home. A delicious meal cooked in Jill’s tiny kitchen in the tiniest cabin with 10 of us snuggled up tight together made for a great night. If you haven’t been to Glenorchy before, it really is well worth the trip - so many beautiful walks and most people can afford a night at Paradise - there are a whole lot of rustic (very!) cabins to stay in. Do NOT forget your camera or your battery charger (there isn’t electricity in many of the cabins and in fact, I doubt there’s even phone reception).
