Some Old Photos Of My Pottery

I made these about 16 years ago in Matakohe NZ.

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If you click on the links in boxes under the banner with my splattered name, you will be able to access more of the the stuff I have done in the past.

The Family Bed - One Solution To Getting A Good nights Sleep

Many years ago when we had our first daughter, we followed the usual advice at the time to have our baby sleep in its own bed, in its own room. However she did not agree to that arrangement and cried her heart out until we relented and let her cuddle up to Mum in our bed. She stopped crying immediately and slept reasonably peacefully all night - I went and slept on the livingroom couch. Now it was me who had trouble sleeping!!! We discussed this with a family friend, who also had very young children, and she recommended a book called something like "The Family Bed"and it gave us confifence to all sleep together. Now this went against official advice at the time that warned of the risk of smothering your baby. So as a compromise I built a platform beside our bed and put a small mattress on it at the same level as our bed. I got back into the big bed and my wife simply rolled over at night to breast feed our daughter. From then on we all slept much better and when our next baby arrived we did much the same and our first daughter was then quite happy to sleep in her own room. Our daughters now have their own children and sadly did not folloew our advice. Consequently the men often slept elsewhere or with their other child. Their children continued to need someone to be near at bedtime for many years and both parents had many nights of insufficient sleep. Of course for thousands of years families have slept together and only recently has that changed in many Western societies. I am writing this to help couples having their first child. Believe me, the above set up I have described really works. If you don't want to build your own baby bed platform, a cot with a drop down side might be okay, or perhaps mattresses on the floor might work and be cheaper. If you do the latter remember to put slates under the mattresses to allow the mattresses to ventilate and not get moldy.

Guy Fawkes And My Father

My Father would be 115 today and on every Guy Fawkes night I remember him. He ws born in England (Norwich) and passed on to me his pyrotechnic passion for playing with fires and being delighted to see fireworks exploding into action. Happy Birthday Dad!! Click on the photo to get more details.

Labour Day in NZ

A day to take time off to remember the continuing struggle to get better wages and safer working conditions for the people who built and maintain our societies.

Genetic Engineering Threatens New Zealand Again

Sadly, a GE Free NZ is at risk once again! The Coalition Government is proposing to allow genetic manipulation once more after years of being quite happy to have a "GE Free NZ" and promote it with advertisements of a "Clean Green New Zealand" which helps sell our agricultural products abroad. This action is probably going to re-activate widespread opposition from people (like me) who do not want to be part of a scientific experiment. I expect we are in for a politically turbulent time ahead. Here are some old revamped cartoons of mine Click on the cartoons to enlarge them. Opinions welcomed

A Plate Of Mine Brings Back Memories

I was looking around the Hospice Op Shop in Whangarei last Monday when this plate caught my eye. I recognized it immediately as one of mine. I turned it over and there on the back was my name, "D Wolland '95" scratched on the back. It was made when someone close to me died and I composed a song about him but never finished it. Some of the words are on the plate and so with mixed emotions I bought it. I had forgotten about making it and the song I wrote. I think I will record the entire song now as the melody and words have jumped out of the plate and called up the memories from the depths of my mind.