David Minifie & Deborah Williams                     Phone +64 (0)3 359 3478

31 (b) Highsted Road                                         david@minifie.co.nz

Christchurch 8053                                          dmw14@ext.canterbury.ac.nz

NEW ZEALAND                                                            SKYPE: DebWNZ  or retiring.david
 

Maison Quaker de Congénies,    `                       Phone +33 (0)4 66 71 46 41
11 avenue des Quakers                                      From 13 March to October or later
30111 Congénies
FRANCE                                                         February, 2010

 

Dear Friends

 

2009 started with three weddings in January. The wedding (legally called a “civil union”) of the year was that of David’s second daughter, Koa, to her partner Spider in April. The weather was fabulous for the ceremony overlooking Lyttelton Harbour. Both women looked gorgeous. The rings were handed around for all to touch and bless. The evening meal and dance was held down by the sea at New Brighton. It was the best day of the year!

 

Koa and Spider cutting the cake.

 

Unfortunately funerals have come up more often as we age. We supported the Genets when their father died and David’s friend Biddy Grant when her mother passed on. Both of these people gave a great deal of love to their families and service to the community. Deborah’s Aunty Ngaire died suddenly at 89 just three weeks after her daughter had come to live in Christchurch. Nevertheless we celebrated what would have been her 90th birthday last week. The greatest shock was the very sudden loss of Deborah’s cousin, Alan Best, who was the same age as her. We had some wonderful picnics with his family up in the mountains each year as children and holidays with Alan and his brother Hugh in our early teenage years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deborah’s mother, Lorna Williams, died on 19 January. We celebrated her 96 years of a wonderful life at St Barnabas Church which she had attended for 70 years. Many people have told us what a lovely lady she was and how they loved the way she dressed in colourful, stylish clothes. David would often cook corned beef for her on Sundays after church going with Deborah. She loved it and didn't get it at Elmswood Retirement Home where she moved to at 92. We miss having our Saturday evening drinks and conversation with her and our outings to church, theatre and restaurants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have enjoyed some great weekends and fun events: a weekend in Hanmer ending with the Waipara wine and Food Festival. We dressed in 1920s fashion for a Murder Mystery and offered badgemaking at the annual Culture Galore festival. We rushed off for a 10 day trip to Sydney in early June then on 20th we went to a Mardi Gras party at David's cousin Diana's place, complete with genuine beads borrowed from my sister. 

July was the busiest month with David’s birthday celebrations (see below), Quaker Yearly Meeting in Wellington and the trip to the Body Art competitions in Auckland. October was time for the Akaroa French Fest and making badges for the Alliance Francaise French School. In November we took part again in a invented Horse Race Meeting where no actual horses were to be seen! December saw us off to Mt Cook/Aoraki (cloud piercer), New Zealand’s highest mountain, with Deborah’s older sister, Caroline, who had never been there. The mountain revealed itself just before we left to come home.

 

We have had several special guests this year as well as family. Mary Brown, a US Firewoman and fellow Quaker, served as a volunteer weather recorder in a remote station in the Antarctica.  Ali Jeffery, a Quaker and SERVAS member, came with us to a musical soiree at which David played the flute. Natalia Zotov, a friend of Caroline Williams from teenage years, who is a university teacher of astronomy in the US and a member of secular order of nuns, came in October.

 

We haven’t got to Aquasize enough this year. Deborah learned Tai Chi in the first half of the year so she could join David each morning. Sadly this has not yet happened!

 

The day after David’s birthday we flew to Wellington to the Quaker Yearly Meeting (Annual National Quaker Conference). We decided to take a bus to the airport (10 minutes away) but because the bus was very late we missed the plane and the Centennial Lecture! This was the first time Deborah had been to a New Zealand Yearly Meeting although she has been to similar events in both Germany and France.

 

Quakers supported by the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom prepare lanterns for the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Days commemoration in August. We both helped prepare the lanterns. Deborah arranged for a Japanese ESOL student, her mother and little sister to come and show our Quaker children how to make the famous Japanese origami paper cranes. In the evening after songs and speeches we launched the lanterns with their lighted candles onto the Avon River.

 

For the last few years Quakers have joined the local Burwood Fair instead of holding a separate fund raising event. This year our personal effort was face painting again with badgemaking as a new venture. The money goes to the Sohagpur  Quakers Girls School in northern India near Bhopal.

 

We had our usual subscription to the Court Theatre. The play we enjoyed most of all was New Zealand playwright, Roger Hall’s, Four Flat Whites which was a laugh a minute. Another show we enjoyed was local playwright, Joe Bennett’s, The Butler which featured the amazing physical skills of the Twisty Twins, who also performed at David’s birthday celebrations. It was a very funky piece of theatre. We saw a number of German films at the university. We felt all the emotions of the Topp twins, two New Zealand lesbian sisters, who are great comediennes when we saw the film about their lives. David enjoyed Starlight Express – Deborah was not so impressed. We both loved Slavias Snow Show.

 

Christmas morning we went to Koa and Spider’s for brunch. The main evening meal was held at Deborah’s cousin Gabby’s new house. Deborah’s nephew arrived back from Australia to live in NZ that day with his Hungarian wife, mother-in-law and two gorgeous young daughters. Boxing Day we hit the sales and bought two lap-top computers. The next day we left for the North Island to go to Quaker Summer Gathering at Te Aute Maori Boys College. After a spot of wine tasting we headed to Taranaki Province to the Parihaka Peace Festival for more badge making.

 

Deb with the organisers of the Parihaka Peace Festival - Andrea Pikikore Moore and  Te Miringa Hohaia

 

13th March we are off to Congénies in the south of France, between Nimes and Montpelier, where we will be Resident Friends at the Quaker Centre there for six months. See http://www.maison-quaker-congenies.org/info.html

 

 

DEBORAH’S YEAR

 

This year I have been teaching French for an hour and half a week at St Peter’s Primary (Roman Catholic) School. At home I have been busy teaching French to children, German to adult beginners and several children ESOL and Reading. From midyear I had a special French Refresher Class  to prepare David for our foray into France.

 

 I have been to the Alliance Francaise Wednesday speakers each month and attended the French breakfasts but sadly few native speakers attend and the conversation tends to revert to English. This year I did a bi-weekly German language exchange with Marlies who hopes to come and live in New Zealand permanently near her son and family. I also managed to get to various language teachers meetings including the annual Langsem where I was invited to have my badge making machine on show. This led to badgemaking in my old high school and another school. My aim is to cover costs not to make a personal profit nor even to cover my time. I haven’t really had time to go to meetings connected with the teaching of English as a Second Language.

 

2009 was the 100th anniversary of Quaker Yearly Meetings in New Zealand. Probably the first Quaker to set foot on NZ soil was Sydney Parkinson who came with Captain Cook in 1768 so we have been around for many years! I was keen to see us reach out and got involved in organising various peace activities. At the suggestion of one of our Quaker women at the Kaiapoi Summer Gathering I got involved in two vigils for Peace for Palestine. In March I attended a Quaker Theology weekend.

 

Like my father, who served in the Pacific in World War 2, I have never attended an ANZAC early morning parade.  I decided to organise on the afternoon of 25 April a Celebration of Peacemakers: Past and Present. About 25 people came and I hope to do this again in future years.

 

I went to a Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom fundraising concert at the end of April. I decided to join but I have been so busy that I have not been an active member.

 

Some years ago I read a book (Ask that Mountain by Dick Smith) that shocked me as it told of the illegal taking of Maori land in places like Parihaka in Taranaki Province in the North Island in the 1880s. This happened in many areas of New Zealand including my home province of Canterbury when land hungry settlers arrived and some Maori did not want to sell their land. The government of New Zealand has spent millions of dollars to pay compensation to Maori tribes and in some cases given back land.

 

 I have joined a small committee in Christchurch who have two aims 1) to bring to the fore the places in Otautahi/ Christchurch associated with the imprisonment of the two leaders of that peaceable village. 2) to have 5 November the day when the village was “invaded” by 1500 soldiers recognised as Parihaka Day instead of having Guy Fawkes Day which “celebrates” the English failed plot to blow up the House of Parliament. Normally we let off fireworks that day so we suggest that such displays be moved to Matariki or Maori New Year which falls in winter when fireworks would be safer and fit in with the theme. We had a small church full of people who came this year to the commemorative service complete with a children’s Maori Kapa Haka (cultural performance) choir! It is sad how many New Zealanders still do not know of the pacifist actions of the village well before Gandhi.

 

In September to celebrate the United Nations International Day of Peace we Quakers walked the Christchurch Peace 2 hour walk guided by one of own.  It was agreed that I approach Katy Gosset who does the Christchurch Report on National Radio to ask her to do a programme on our Quaker Centennial. However Katy was only prepared to do a general programme of about 15 minutes which went to air in October.   I organised a library display so that we Quakers in Christchurch might be more visible. The final outreach that I was involved in was taking part in the final lecture of a series on the Heritage Week theme of Peace and Conflict. I did the 20 minute introductory part on Quakers.  I was very nervous – my mouth went dry and David tells me my voice was rather slow and monotonous!

 

I took part in a couple of medical research projects. The first was to do with understanding the speech of people who had suffered strokes. The second was related to the ‘flu vaccine. As it was a double blind I still don’t know yet as to whether I actually had the vaccine or not! They actually paid me $300  to take part which was not my motivation. Eventually I intend to leave my body to the medical school.

 

The old university buildings now the Arts Centre in the central city are neo gothic in style. There has been a move by the university, now located about 8 kilometres away, to move their music school back to the central city and build a large building in the carpark which is not in keeping with the space nor the architecture. I joined those who are opposing this move by making a written and then verbal submission against the proposal.

 

I have continued to visit the same man in prison for about 13 years. He was away in a north island prison for 6 months so I did not get to see him until August.   Later in the year they introduced a new visiting regime which meant I could no longer visit him in the pre-release villa area. This is because drugs are still rife in the prison. He has to don an orange outfit done up to the neck and the visiting takes place in a horrible sterile concrete and steel room. Luckily there will be a family day with a BBQ in mid February back at the villas. He is enjoying playing his guitar. I try and teach him more music theory each time I have visited him at the villas.

 

I was offered a part in a play at the Repertory Theatre where I first trod the boards back in 1976. Unfortunately I had to decline the part in To kill a Mocking Bird about racist tensions in the USA as I couldn’t get to all the rehearsals. I also auditioned to be a clown at the hospital and appeared on TV in a very short interview. I didn’t get selected for clowning but decided to learn the ukulele as a result of trying one out at the audition.

 

DAVID’S YEAR

 

I sold Minifies Makeup at the end of April. I am now retired! A lot of time went into preparing for this – I compiled a large folder of information on the business and was able to sell it myself. I sold it to Midge Holding, a makeup artist, and her husband Stuart.  Over a year before the sale, I wrote down when I would sell it, what my turnover for the year would be and how much I would sell it for – got it pretty right on all counts. Not bad in a recession. I now seem to be just as busy, but have more freedom over what I do, as I work through my long ‘to do’ list.

 

Early December my daughter Koa and I had a week’s holiday in Sydney. We decided that we had not had a holiday since selling the business, as I had been very busy completing the sale and she had been very busy finding a job. She lost her job as manager of Minifies on Victoria, as the new owners wanted to manage it themselves. It was a bit of a shock to both of us that they wanted her out on the sale day. Anyway we had a great holiday, with a few days at my sister Kay’s place.

 

Koa and Kay with a quilt in progress

 

Kay’s husband, Bard asked me to design a wine tasting from his cellar. We decided that a 1978 Chateau Mouton Rothschild – same birth year as Martha - was stylish and still had life. A 1980 Penfolds St Henri Claret – same year as their son David – had good colour, nose and fruit. We didn’t have a 1972 wine for Janine, but found an excellent 1982 Chateau Tour Musset. A 1975 Chateau Patache D’Aux – Koa’s year - seemed to be coming to the end of its life, but still had backbone. Was a memorable evening.

 

Then we stayed at the Quaker centre in Sydney and walked a lot, watched bats, saw the dinosaur movie on IMAX, went to Luna Park and had a great time. Koa stayed on and did some airbrush makeup training in preparation for her new job as head of the makeup department at the Design and Arts College in Christchurch.

 

I organised amazing retirement/birthday parties. I had a pinot noir wine tasting on the Friday night 3rd July then the retirement party on the Saturday. My youngest, Martha came over from UK, my sister Kay and husband Bard from Oz. I spent some time contacting important people from my past – relatives that I had not seen for too many years and clowns and people from way back. I had amazing performers: Doug Caldwell played welcoming music, the Twisty Twins welcomed people on stilts and later floor acrobatics and work on silks down from the ceiling, Koa did fire eating, Malcolm McNeil sang, my Tai Chi teacher Dave Thew gave an amazing demonstration, then invited me to join him. I played the Ibert ‘Entract’ on flute with Jo-Ying Huang on harp,

my staff said how wonderful I was

 

Deb read a poem and sang with Malcolm McNeill and Doug Caldwell,

 

Argene Hunger played great Irish Whistle with Jon Hooker on guitar. With good food and drinks and company. More photos and info on http://www.minifie.co.nz/Party65/

 

Had probably my last stint as judge for the NZ Body Arts Competition. I will miss being part of such a creative event.

Ana Trenwith (one of my staff) with her entry -

 

I plan to go to the World Bodypainting Competitions in Austria in July. I have been exchanging emails with the organiser for many years. It was interesting when I was staying with my sister Kay who is a world class quilter (see www.kayhaerland.com ) and was collecting local quilts for the Sydney quilt show. She was surprised that I could critique the quilts so well, but I used my body art judging experience – basically innovation, design, impact, technique.

 

I am now getting into retirement. Every day is full, priorities change. I was free to travel in the ambulance with Lorna, Deborah’s mother, to hospital after her last major stroke and keep her company for several hours in A&E until Sholto her son took over.

 

We are doing house alterations. Deborah has titled me ‘Project Manager’ which is a little scary as they have to be finished before we leave for France. Fortunately the solar hot water, which has just been completed after several years research, looks like a success. I turned off the electric booster element the day after it was finished and we have had hot showers, courtesy old sol, since. Our new bathroom seems to be progressing well after we finally chose the builder and the shower cabinet and the vanity and..., and we have almost got the colours sorted.

 

I haven’t thought too much about France yet – did two term’s classes in a French refresher class given by Deb, but have heaps of work to get fluent. I’m sure it will be great when I get there, but there is so much to organise first!!! I had expected to play more flute when I retired, but have been too busy. Still play most weeks with Elizabeth Edgar’s group and with the Cashmere Wind Ensemble on occasion – the next occasion is our annual garden party next Sunday 7th February, to which you are all invited – 2pm to 6pm, theme France – aller (means to go), bring finger food and drink.  

 

We would love to hear your news. Please don’t be offended if we don’t reply as we have too much to do before we leave for Europe. We do have SKYPE if you want to talk and look at us while we are in Europe. In theory we are coming back in October but we may prolong our visit.

 

 Love

David and Deborah