Heather R

@kiwienzian

Aotearoa; founder of Just Kai (justkai.org.nz); sustainability; chronic illness; she/her. I long for a world where everyone has the same opportunities I have.

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Heather R@kiwienzian· Jul 21

I've been practising 'visible' darning mends on things people won't really see, like my bedsocks. Yesterday I decided I was ready to darn something more prominent, and tackled two holes on a wool top. I'm pleased with how tidy they came out and am looking forward to wearing it. #VisibleMending

A woman wears a scarlet red long-sleeved V-neck top. Under the breast is a square houndstooth weave in yellow and blue, and near the collarbone is a plain two-one weave in the same yellow and blue.

Heather R@kiwienzian· Jul 18

Loving how well my Coelogyne cristata orchids are doing this year :-)

Three plants on a window-sill, each standing in water. They are dripping with yellow-throated white slightly frilly flowers, especially the middle one.

Heather R@kiwienzian· Jul 14

I've been learning to darn in patterns - I've always hated darning, but it turns out that making it harder but more interesting is so much more satisfying! And my Himalayan orchids are flowering :-) They spend a lot of the year looking odd, but then they turn spectacular!

A black bed sock with red love hearts on it, with a circular section held firm with a rubber band and a houndstooth weave appearing in fawn and lime green :-)

close-up of a yellow-throated pure white orchid.

Three orchid plants on a window-sill, dripping with white flowers with yellow centres. The plants look like blades of grass with oval water-storage organs. They're sitting in dishes so they can be watered from the bottom.

Heather R@kiwienzian· Jun 9

I was stunned by the height of the flower spike on this aloe(?) on my walk today - in Avondale, Tāmaki Makaurau.

A harakeke-sized pale green succulent with a flower spike that's easily 5+ times as tall as it. There's another one in the background.

View down a footpath with a red fence on the left, berm on the right. In the distance is the flower spike, poking higher than the power lines.

Heather R@kiwienzian· Jun 8

I finished my nephew's birthday present - he lives overseas and likes birds, felt and his Kiwi heritage, so hopefully it will hit the mark! Still trying to work out how to attach the backing to it and may have to break out my upholstery needle - staples failed, as did PVA glue.

An applique of a Kōtare in felt on lineny fabric.

Heather R@kiwienzian· May 26

Next I was trying for a twill diagonal on the black and blue one - and failed then, but finally figured it out partway through the dark and light blue one on the heel. I even got the confidence to experiment with turning the zig zag back and forth, which I think looks cool 🙂 Hurrah! #VisibleMending

A loose sock (on the foot) with an abstract woven blue and black rectangular dan on the toe and a two-tone blue mend over the heel that starts abstract but then becomes regular zigazags about 1/4 the way in.

Heather R@kiwienzian· May 26

I've been having fun mending holes on my comfy bedsocks, and learning about pattern darning in the process. The green and yellow mend was the first (practising going through the underlying fabric as this was a more weak spot than an actual hole). #VisibleMending

A loose and pretty worn sock with a large bright green square darned on the toe, and a sunny yellow smaller darned square next to it.

Heather R@kiwienzian· Apr 15

Delighted to find zillions of good-sized feijoas under two trees by the shared biking/walking path near my apartment today :-)

A large plastic bag of feijoas on a blue tablecloth decorated with gold bees. There's a PET bottle lid for scale, but it doesn't work very well.

A cane basket (off the front of my bike) 2/3 full with feijoas :-)

Heather R@kiwienzian· Apr 5

Christ is Risen!

Orthodox icon of Jesus dragging Adam and Eve out of their coffins. Beneath his feet are broken locks and keys and Satan is bound. He is flanked by various saints.

Heather R@kiwienzian· Mar 30

We moved into an apartment building 7 months ago, and have been planning a BBQ for everyone to get to know each other over the past month or so. We had the BBQ on Saturday and people from almost half the units showed up, which was so encouraging. And then today I took the rest I needed - also a win!

Lots of people talking to each other in a very industrial-looking space - there's bunting and a table of food.

7 smiling people lined up next to a table of food - I'm the second from the right, next to my husband in the orange T-shirt.

Heather R@kiwienzian· Mar 11

Amazing sky in Tāmaki Makaurau an hour or so ago :-) #Kikorangi

The sky over the Waitākere ranges looks like it's on fire - yellow in the centre and orange to the sides and above, with long streaking clouds.

Heather R@kiwienzian· Feb 13

Last night I learned something cool: presumably due to all the plants we have on our deck, we now have crickets in residence! I really like crickets and it was so neat to hear them nice and close.

A white-tlled deck with a row of plants along a white fence; in the background is a gorgeous moody evening sky.

Heather R@kiwienzian· Jan 26

Sorry to hear about the panic mode. The chair cushion on one of our awesome retro orange chairs (from my husband's grandmother) was a bit ripped. I'd intended to darn it, but realised that would take approximately forever, so patched and embroidered it instead. I'm stoked with how it's turned out.

A bright orange chair cushion with a maroon patch across the front, decorated with beige embroidery of stylised flowers. The embroidery also attaches the patch to the underlying fabric at many points, which should strengthen it.

A view of the whole chair, complete with a blue and white cushion. It's very bright and full of colour, but also quite tidy-looking.

Heather R@kiwienzian· Jan 19

I'm rather pleased with this first attempt at 'visible' darning - I mended a couple of holes in an old towel as practise for mending holes in a chair squab. #visiblemending Thanks to www.youtube.com/@thegreenwra... for guidance and @ferrous1972.bsky.social for putting me on to her videos!

a close-up of an off-white towel with an L-shaped darn in green, yellow and dark and light blue with a black squarish darn off to the side.

a close-up of a terry-cloth towel with a mend in dark blue and yellow. The edges are pretty messy and there's a hair across the image :-(

A more distant view of the towel showing the two mends from the previous photos.

Heather R@kiwienzian· Dec 13

And, as the price of cocoa is a fraction of the price of most actual chocolate, the chocolate gifts guide includes some pretty affordable options, such as the Waikato Valley range available at The Warehouse - and they're NZ made, too :-) #Kikorangi #Kai #chocolate

Various Waikato Valley chocolate treats including hokoey pokey clusters, cocoa dusted almonds, candy cane bark and a cool surfing Santa figure.

Heather R@kiwienzian· Dec 3

Loving your snow pics from sunny Aotearoa. I've only lived through one snowy winter (in Basel, Switzerland) and it was so magical! Here's a picture from local 'walking' beach - maybe you'll enjoy seeing something different, too.

A beach with the tide very far out, blue water in the distance but goldeny mudflats most of the way. A red-flowering tree (pōhutukawa, the local 'Christmas tree') takes up much of the image. There's also some twisty driftwood.

Heather R@kiwienzian· Dec 1

Not exactly an achievement, but I was super-excited today to spend time at the Te Auaunga/Oakley Creek waterfall for the first time since Cyclone Gabrielle :-) I'm not 100% sure it's supposed to be open, but I didn't go through any barriers to get there and it was so nice to be back!

A waterfall that's about as tall as it is wide (maybe 4-5m?) in a bushy-ish setting.

Heather R@kiwienzian· Nov 30

And there's a similar stitch around the rim of my sunhat :-) It's made from old jeans and lined with fabric from a favourite skirt that died, with plastic stiffening in the brim from those acetate sheets you get on the front of spiral bound documents.

A sunhat made from faded old denim with tiny sashiko flowers around the rim.

Heather R@kiwienzian· Nov 30

It's not quite the same stitch, and not the best photo, but here you go :-) It holds the layers of the mits together so is mostly functional, but I wanted to jazz it up a bit.

olive green oven mits with maroon trim and sashiko stitching.

Heather R@kiwienzian· Nov 25

I was astonished to recently discover this absolute *wall* of sweet peas near my new house! Wonderful things :-)

A solid mass of green foliage dotted with pink flowers, with a totally blue sky above.

Heather R@kiwienzian· Nov 14

A busy but satisfying day today, getting ready to talk about slave-free food for JustKai.org.nz at the Grey Lynn Park Festival next weekend :-)

A cardboard box containing boxes of raspberry dark chocolate from Bennettos - these are tasting samples to give away :-)

A banana box overflowing with groceries that have slave-free supply chains. You can see Kingfisher prawns, L'affare coffee, Guylian chocs, Coke, Bundabery, Kokako drinking chocolate and more.

A collection of posters. One is soliciting volunteers, one says '20% of chocolate is grown by kids' on says 'men work without pay on tuna fishing boats' and one has various QR codes.

Heather R@kiwienzian· Nov 8

That's so fun! It's late spring here and flowers are everywhere - here are pink daisies and a dahlia that were given to me by my SIL as a housewarming gift; ornathagulum from bulbs my aunty gave me from ones she got from my Gran's garden; and oxeye daisies in our kitchen - they grow wild everywhere!

large white daisies with yellow centres in a dark red vase on the kitchen windowsill

daisies with yellow centres and petals in shades of white and pink. The new buds are deep pink. A rich red dahlia flower and some succulents are in the background.

Pale yellow-green stems (not very healthy looking!) topped with huge clusters of white kind-of conical glowers. There's a couple of sets of buds not yet opened.

Heather R@kiwienzian· Nov 5

I've finished the hats I've been making for my neighbours' twin babies. Now need to get over my cold so I can go and meet them! I've got Bill the Cat modelling one in the meantime :-)

Tall and skinny orange soft toy cat with his tongue hanging out models a green hat with blue fabric inside the brim and yellow stars around the crown.

Two baby hats on a black cloth - one green and one blue. They have yellow stars around the crowns and red ribbons to tie them on.

The same two hats with their brims turned up.

Heather R@kiwienzian· Nov 3

Glorious summer weather in Tāmaki Makaurau today :-)

A balcony with a person in a hammock - glorious blue sky with a few streaky clouds behind.

Heather R@kiwienzian· Oct 31

Gorgeous! Earlier this week I was amazed to find two HUGE bird of paradise bushes blooming near my new apartment - tucked behind some other bushes on public land where I assume they self-seeded. I've been delighting in these three all week :-)

Three huge bird of paradise flowers in a large green and blue glass vase. In the background is a chair and a full bookcase.

Heather R@kiwienzian· Oct 28

@birdandbeach.bsky.social what a delightful surprise and honour!

Package wrapped in cardboard with beautiful striped string and a note saying I was bird and beach's first customer :-)

Heather R@kiwienzian· Oct 18

A bit later than usual due to moving house (we aim for late September), but 2025's Christmas cakes are out of the oven :-)

Four cakes in a row on a benchtop - alternating large square ones and loaf ones. In the background are a couple of pots and two Christmas cake muffins (there were actually four of those - one is hiding and one has been eaten!).

Heather R@kiwienzian· Oct 6

We've recently moved ad today I went for a wander in my nearest park, Chalmers Reserve. I was delighted to discover a lovely bushy glade that was a great spot for a think :-) I was less delighted to discover and remove a bunch of rubbish - including 6 disposable nappies :-(

A fairly open patch of ground with native trees and brush.

Heather R@kiwienzian· Aug 2

Glad you're on the mend. I've been away for a few days and came back to my coelogyne cristata orchids all in flower :-) I've left two in the bathroom and moved one into my bedroom.

Two plants on a windowsill with cascading white frilly flowers with yellow throats. The plants have grass-like leaves.

The same kind of plant but this one with two more upright flowers instead.

Heather R@kiwienzian· Jul 27

So good! Swimming in the sea is my absolute favourite thing :-) (At Pt Chev a few weeks' back)