SURROUNDED BY MUSIC
Lesley MacDonald is surrounded by music at home and in the garden. She and husband Alasdair will open it to the public next weekend for charity. Sonja Slinger reports.
Lesley MacDonald will have her
70th birthday party beside the pond she’s created.
It’s a tranquil sheltered spot, a meandering stroll through avocado orchard and lush pasture through the red picket fence and gate they’ve just put in.
Red features a lot at their home, in rural Bell Block. The 70s Lockwood house is trimmed in red, the garden shed is a beacon of bright red and the recycled picket fence and wooden gate are also red, that lead to the pond at the bottom of the property.
There’s also a couple of red wooden bench seats to take in the ambience.
‘‘I like red, it’s friendly and warm,’’ says Lesley, whose floral gumboots and trousers match her personality.
The couple have lived here six years and much work has been done to put their mark on the garden and revamp the home which features a swimming pool and sunny decks, and much birdsong.
‘‘Lesley swims in it every day from December,’’ says Alasdair, who pops in and out of our conversation in the sun by the pool, while managing the curtain man who’s come to measure up.
He’s a Scot and despite his
40-plus years living in New Zealand, has clung to his accent of Scottish north west.
The retired merchant naval man is the vege grower, chief cook and handyman at the property while Lesley looks after the lawns (and there’s a lot), is chief gardener and imparts her musical talent and knowledge to about 15 young pupils every week.
When she wants a rest, she heads to the pond.
‘‘I just love it down here, away from the world and among the birds and trees,’’ she says.
‘‘I’m going to have my 70th birthday down here. We are going to bring the ride-on mower down with a trailer on the back full of ice buckets and bubbly,’’ she says with a laugh.
It is her favourite spot and she is happy developing it, planting in mostly natives but also remembering colour – water lillies, iris in yellow and blue beside the bank, hydrangea, hebes, foxgloves and then larger splurges of bigger colour with maples, a wedding cake tree and a vibrant red-veined tree she doesn’t know the name of.
Along the bank beside the water, there is a Mexican Cyprus that has grown dome-like.
‘‘I could boss it around a bit but I don’t,’’ she says, hinting at its wild tendrils billowing down to the grass.
‘‘A lot of people would trim it and shape it but I like its natural form.’’
As we climb the bank and glance back toward the avocado orchard, which was planted about 20 years ago in a sunlit sheltered dell, it’s easy to see why Lesley enjoys this spot. It’s peaceful and a place for solitude. Towering and elegant gums sway overhead, little rimu trees and other new natives hint towards a future view here and grassy terraces and knolls create small spaces to hide away and relax in.
Wandering past the avocados and a row of plumping Lebanese fig trees, Lesley points out a number of big old trees that form the structure in the valley down from the house.
The land was once farmland and over time has been subdivided off. The couple own 2.2 hectares and enjoy every square metre of it.
‘‘These big old trees are just wonderful,’’ says Lesley.
On the slope, there is a Styrax Japonica which is beautiful in autumn, an ornamental Te Mara cherry, a Davidia or ghost tree and some natives growing to the side for shelter.
I ask about the avocados which are laden with fruit and whether they have to share many with possums.
‘‘Can I tell you a possum story?’’ asks Lesley.
‘‘When we first came here, I would be in the house and look up to find them coming across the lawn, hopping up on the roof and banging and crashing around up there, such noisy things.
‘‘I had to get a trap and every night for a month I caught one, two some days. Well, when I first got one, I didn’t know what to do with it. Alasdair had gone to sea, so I buried them in his vegetable patch,’’ she laughs.
‘‘When that was full, I put one under every tree we planted until there were none. We haven’t seen any for ages and the veges and trees are doing beautifully.’’
There were really no fences when they first moved in so a lot of time was spent sorting paddocks, pruning and tidying things up and they can now run a few sheep to keep the grass down and what isn’t sheep munched is mown by Lesley with the ride-on.
‘‘I need to be careful because it can be a bit wet and uneven and I don’t like to have to yell out for Alasdair to come and pull me out because he turns up, and it’s mutter, mutter. No, I’m very careful, I don’t want to kill myself too soon, I have a bit more planting to do.’’
The couple have been together for 30-odd years and have one daughter together, Fiona, 28, who lives in Zurich.
Lesley was 38 when she met Alasdair, who has a daughter Emma from a previous marriage.
Back then Lesley was a dental nurse and had been travelling overseas and exploring.
‘‘We met through friends and were married eight months later.’’
Having a child led her to La Leche League and a national role with the organisation.
Then she hopped onto the PTA of New Plymouth Girls’ High School when Fiona was a pupil there and also did some admin work for Relationship Services but claims she didn’t know a thing about keeping the books or how to balance an account.
‘‘But I did love the contact with woman there, to pick up the phone and talk to people, those skills I learned through La Leche came through.’’
It was through friend, Gail Boswell, manager of the Modern School of Music, which led her to music teaching.
She knew Lesley could play the piano and asked her to think about teaching.
‘‘I grew up in Katikati on a dairy farm. I learned the piano from age 10 and my father was a real classical music lover and I always played. I had to take papers and get my diploma and now I’m teaching, I love it.
‘‘It’s so special being able to just give my knowledge, to watch children from not being able to read music and then be able to read, it’s fantastic.’’
She teaches flute now also, having learned to play at 47 and adores the ‘‘absolutely beautiful instrument’’.
So life is gardening and music for Lesley and mostly for Alasdair too, although he doesn’t teach music, just enjoys hearing it wafting through the house. He fits in trout and sea fishing and the odd shipping-related job that comes along.
They are excited about opening their home next weekend (November 18) for Deck the Rooms for Women’s Refuge.
They’ve been in the event before, several years ago at their former home on Mangorei Road.
‘‘I’m doing red and gold as a theme,’’ says Lesley. The Great Taranaki Steam band which Lesley plays in, will be on the home lawn helping with the atmosphere on the day and you can be sure it will be humming.