The second day of the Women's Studies Conference began with a three-member panel entitled "New Directions in Justice". Professor Rosemary Hunter spoke about the incorporation of feminist knowledge in the legal world, including the international "Feminist Judgments Project", which is re-examining court judgments already made, with the same information available but from a feminist viewpoint, to see how they might differ. [Who knew judgment didn't need an e? Judgement appears to be the less common spelling.]
Associate Professor Tracey McIntosh spoke of her work with women in correctional facilities and at the end read us a story written by one of the women she'd worked with, entitled "First Day Out", about her release from prison and the repeated challenges she met in trying to pull her life back in to order. It was an affecting piece.
Then far too quickly for the pause many of us needed after the last speaker, Associate Professor Elisabeth McDonald spoke on the legal definitions and interpretations of rape under the current law.
I list all of these presentations because the whole session was absorbing, particularly the first two.
Then off to a couple of streamed research paper presentations. It's always hard to pick the most interesting thing from a selection of four interesting things! But there's lots of time for conversation with others who attended the other sessions one couldn't attend simultaneously.
After lunch, it was time for the Inaugural Margot Roth Lecture, in recognition of Margot's long feminist life. Margot still lives and writes in Australia and a collection of her works has just been published by the Women's Studies Association/Pae Akoranga Wāhine.
The lecture was given by Professor Priya Kurian, entitled "Feminist Futures in the Anthropocene: Sustainable Citizenship and the Challenges of Climate Change and Social Justice". It was very interesting, Prof. Kurian was very engaging, but I was very tired.
Early this morning Alison and I went to help her friend run a garage sale, helping set everything up from 6am. We had arranged that I could borrow Alison's car for the day, so I left her there and went to visit Jill at Selwyn Village. I had arranged to meet and talk with one or two of the people responsible for Jill's (inadequate) care, to try and iron out some of the obvious problems. It was good to make formal, personal contact with those women, although I don't know that a lot will change within an underfunded system whose staff are poorly paid and always over-burdened by the amount of work there is to do.
I sent Jill (and her best friend, Rose) off to Church and spent the time alone sorting out Jill's room, primarily hunting for lost clothing, finding all sorts of stuff I'd been indirectly informed Jill did not have. Why her carers wouldn't have looked in the room of a woman who now can't remember anything, I do not know.
I spent quite a bit of time with Jill, having her repeatedly introduce me to Rose while they were together, then Jill's lunch table companions while I dined with them. Spending time with Jill now can make one feel a little like one's own marbles are starting to roll in the wrong direction!
Late in the day Alison again took me out to the airport and there I had to wait for a while because a nasty rain front was passing over parts of the country and Barrier Air had to wait until it looked likely the plane would be able to get in to Kaitaia Airport on arrival. Eventually we were on our way and I spent most of the flight conversing with a lovely guy sitting behind me, on his way up for a Runanga meeting of some sort. We talked about all sorts of things and he told me about the renaming of Lower Khartoum Place in Auckland, site of the Women's Suffrage Memorial mural, which will on Suffrage Day, the 19th of September, be renamed Te Ha o Hine Place.
It was, as always, very nice to get home!
Puriri flowers on the big tree near the first stream crossing. This deep crimson is at the dark end of the range of hues in which these flowers appear.
Imagen and Zella are in the House Paddock with our enormous flock of sheep.
We had a fun trip to town, one of those visits when we ran into lots of people we knew and had time to stop and talk. Charlene, who was one of my exam supervisors, happened in to the Hospice Shop where I'd gone to see Gaye. She'd moved away down south to Alexandra and was only back in town for a few days and there we both were. Then I bumped into Faye, a friend from Taipa Area School from Forms 1-4 (when Faye left school as soon as she legally could) and her equally short older sister, Dawn. I hadn't seen Dawn to talk to since we were at school! I really enjoy living near and where I grew up, when there are still others also still here. The older I get, the more I enjoy those long-shared relationships.
I noted that the evening was still really light at six o'clock. The day length changes very quickly at this time of year.
What a lot of beef: 34 cows waiting to be moved. They ended up with two moves today, so they didn't go hungry twice in a row; we're experiencing a bit of a grass shortage and really need the temperatures to warm up. Night-time temperatures are generally still under 5°C and the days are usually around 14°.
Stephan decided that if he was going to carry on being in pain anyway, he might as well get to work. He carried on clearing up around the first gully in the PW, meaning he didn't have to walk far along the muddy track to get to work, and could come back easily if he got tired.
There was an extensive storm down south so it got really cold here today: not what we need right now.
Still really cold today but at least it was mostly fine. It's lovely having sunshine.
The cows here in the Blackberry Paddock, where they soon ate all the fresh feed. The rotation (the time between each grazing) needs to be longer for the grass to really get ahead, but instead it tends to get shorter at this time of year when we hit "the pinch" and need to keep feeding the cows. Once the daily average temperature rises, the grass will begin growing faster than the cows can eat it and life will get easier again.
Oh so boggy in places. These are the yearlings, on their way along the short bit of lane to the Big Back South.
And looking back into the Big Back North, it's obvious the grass has actually begun responding to the occasional warmer night and all the sunshine.
One day we will get the water run-off sorted in this area so it doesn't get so horribly pugged.
It's time for the annual Eva's Calving Date Competition.
Please ENTER HERE before 16 October.
For a bit of extra entertainment, let us have a twins guessing competition too. This year they both got in calf on the same day, Saturday 2nd January.
The Twins competition will close at midnight on Sunday 2nd October 2015.