Māmā takiwātanga

I should post something about my #garden #MyGardenProtest last year I committed to work towards growing as much of our fresh produce as possible. It’s not all smooth sailing, but I’m no quitter.

Had soil problems, pests, seedlings killed by wind. I also had no idea how much the cost of seeds alone could add up so am now growing more plants for seed than I originally planned (but that will only add to my goal of #Resilience.)

Let’s celebrate how nice our front #VegeLawn is looking and these fresh crisp #carrots. Will post more pics in coming days. #Permaculture #Gardening #gardeningNZ

Can’t complain.

My pet peeve that I’d like to fix about Aotearoa as a proficient #Māori speaker? Stop using the translated days of the week, and just use the transliterated ones.

The transliterated/traditional days:

Mane – Monday Tūrei – Tuesday Wenerei – Wednesday Tāite – Thursday Paraire – Friday Reasons this is better: -It is historical, from the time of the missionaries -It is preferred by most Māori speakers, especially in those communities where the language never died out as it has been in use for generations. -It is accessible for people who know English and haven’t learned Māori, including international visitors to Aotearoa. The translated set is thus: Rāhina: Day of the Moon (Māhina) Rātū: Day of Tūmatauenga (the god of war, aligning with Mars) Rāapa: Day of Apārangi (aligning with Mercury) Rāpare: Day of Pareārau (aligning with Jupiter) Rāmere: Day of Meremere (Venus) The problems with this are: -After translating European concepts into Māori, they remain European concepts. -They are completely indecipherable to anyone who does not speak Māori.

• When using a day of the week, we’re communicating a utilitarian concept so it makes sense to use something universally decipherable. Note: Regardless of which set is used, the weekend days are the same, they are not translations but their own concepts created by early missionaries to Aotearoa: Rāhoroi - day of cleaning, (in preparation for) Rātapu - holy day. #TeReoMaori #indigenous #Language

Chip Cherries. 🍒 a fun name for a beautiful #fungi (: #mushtodonNZ #mushtodon #Fungiverse #LichenSubscribe #toadstool

ANZAC day is my revenge. All the other days of the year, my kids drag me out of bed. Now they know what that feels like.

Afternoon in the #garden, trying to turn some bare ground and weed patch into garlic patch before mr.17 months wakes up.

At noho marae learning #TeReoMaori in 2026.
We prepared a skit to perform about a trip to the beach. The punchline is:
‘He tiko i roto i te moana!’
‘No whea ēnei tiko?’
‘No te waha o David Seymour’

(There’s poo in the water!
Where did the poo come from?
From the mouth of David Seymour’)
#NZPol

2/2

3: Find things that -mostly- mix and match well. I once dreamed of having a capsule wardrobe where everything matched. I don’t anymore, but my mentor in that shop showed me how to choose a handful of things that would mostly match. It included a white linen shirt, and two patterned skirts that each could be worn with the shirt. The skirts were colours and patterns I liked and she explained that I could pair the skirt with any of the colours in the pattern (I didn’t know it was that simple). Once I got home, I looked through my existing wardrobe and found other tops that worked with them too. Later that month, I added a few more tops. I have since expanded my collection outward to also include some jeans- I can wear practically any top with jeans, so now get to ask myself- do I like this?

1. Select clothing that feels lovely. I’ve learned that natural fibres feel lovely and polyester feels -plastic, because it is. Natural fibres are sometimes more expensive so might be made in a better way, they also tend to help you regulate your body heat better, tend to hold on to smells less, are better for the environment to produce, and are biodegradable. I now feel my way along the thrift rack and stop when I like the feeling of something.

2. Enter the store with an idea of what you need, how much you want to spend, and how long you have to shop. Today, my first priority was tops, I also needed a winter coat but was less concerned about it. I wanted to spend up to $50, and I knew I would get tired after around 30 minutes so I didn’t want to spend longer than that: Therefore, I focused on tops first. Once I had looked through all the tops and selected the ones that were suitable and had time and money left over, I went over to check the coats rack, and found something! Looking at everything in an opp shop can be overwhelming, looking at all the tops and sifting through for particular sizes or styles is less overwhelming.

Me, spending 10 minutes being frustrated about my new induction cooktop repeatedly turning off.
Has thought, takes magnet from fridge and holds it to the bottom of the pot.
Oh.
Does anyone want a very used saucepan that’s not suitable for induction #cooking? #technology

Left wing people, please know,
The most worthless attack of your enemy is to simply call them a fascist.

You know what true fascists and other right wing leaders love to do to rile up their followers? They love to call our candidates ‘communists’ or ‘marxists’ or ‘socialists’.

My favourite response has become ‘and what’s wrong with that?’ Or ‘yes, I am a socialist, so what’
I’m going out on a limb and guessing that most ordinary people don’t have much of an education into what these terms have historically meant, they just know certain examples. By calling us socialists, in their head, they’re comparing us to nazis. Communist = USSR or modern day China. They’ve got no idea what the ideals of communism or marxism actually are, just how these presentations ended up.

What they’re communicating is that even moderate or well thought out left wing policies lead to problematic outcomes. Except they aren’t saying how this happens,
Public covid response = oppression.
Indigenous rights = Genocide
Universal Basic Income = State theft

They want to train their followers not to use their own brains to think logically about this. They want them to just assume that these things are equal.

All I’m saying is, call a spade a spade and also be prepared to explain why it’s a spade.

Hubby asked ‘Can you make rattatouille look like the movie?’ @SimonCHulse@mastodon.nz

I wasn’t paying attention to the news. Downside, I didn’t know to question cheaper-ish #butter.
It tastes like bovine sadness. (Because it’s imported from USA and probably made by barn raised, corn fed cows, it tastes distinctly worse than New Zealand butter anyway.)
#NZPol

Does anyone in #NZ want a plastic free, wire free bra size 16/38D? #Sale I bought the wrong size and could return it to Australia but I’d rather find it a home here and avoid extra shipping and potentially get someone else into these fantastic bras.

Because there’s no plastic, it’s better for the wearer and the environment. Cotton fabric wicks moisture away from the body and doesn’t hold in heat. It has natural rubber for elastic and biodegradable thread. At the end of its life, the metal loops can be removed and the bra can be cut up and composted. #Eco #Compostable #sustainable #SustainableFashion

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketplace/clothing-fashion/women/lingerie-sleepwear/listing/5858100329

I felt bad arriving late (with two preschoolers, in a bike trailer) once the dawn service had already started, but I wasn’t the only one running late.

I hope the honourable Chris Bishop had a nice sleep in, or perhaps he was held up by traffic? #NZPol #AnzacDay

Proof that monarch caterpillars can eat cucurbits which we all hear but I had never seen before… I just found this fella near a pumpkin plant and a gourd plant which looks to be the most eaten. There are no swanplants in my garden. He/she is the only one so I’ve left them to be.

This is my first day of the month giving up sugar entirely* as part of the #Giveitupnz #fundraiser for gut cancer foundation NZ.

I’m already loving my #LowSugar #lifestyle and want to help others, so I’ve decided to ‘sell’ homemade low sugar pancake mix powder and hot chocolate powder for koha to this cause.

The pancake mix is a powder that you add water and vanilla essence and it makes sugar free, high protein pancake batter. It is available in regular or gluten friendly versions. It does contain dairy and may contain traces of soy, lipin, eggs, nuts.

The hot chocolate powder is a blend of cocoa, sugar and artificial sweetener.

Make a donation of $20 or more to my fundraising page for two cups of either hot chocolate powder or pancake mix, donate $30 or more for two cups of each, or donate $5 or more for an email with the digital recipes for both. Then pm me your address/email address and preferences. Physical products only available to be shipped within #NewZealand. If you get the physical products, they will come with a printed recipe so you can re-make them if you find them helpful.

All donations go to help kiwis experiencing gut cancer and I am donating the ingredients and shipping costs.

Anyway, link to sponsor me or sign up yourself:

https://www.giveitup.nz/michaela-hulse

*For this month, I am avoiding foods with more than 10% sugar by weight. I will eat fruit and use some dried fruit and small amounts of natural sweeteners like honey to sweeten other things, but the resulting food will be less than 10% sugar by weight. I am using some artificial sweeteners but limiting processed foods altogether to reset my sense of taste.

That was definitely worth watching to the end. https://youtu.be/VEXHC2Rhqls?si=CbjlfH-eh7Sk5Fm9

https://youtube.com/shorts/r_0jJPP1A8M?si=tSfCDpq9erkoNoxZ

Beautiful. A challenge.