Ed’s letter: Naomi Larkin on a little help from some friends.
Google “most stressful life events” and divorce, job loss, death of a loved one, major illness and moving house all come up. (I reckon it needs updating to include lockdown.) I recently moved. Admittedly it was just across the hall from apartment six to apartment five, but nevertheless it was a full household shift. This time however, my stress levels were not as high as previous moves because this time I asked for help. I asked my friends to assist at specific times and allocated them specific jobs. It worked like a dream. The ex-librarian organised my book collection, the painter’s daughter tidied up the marks left from artworks I’d hung, the business leader refused to allow a bursting cupboard to beat her and the IT-savvy one provided tech support. I’m now feeling surprisingly settled thanks to their ministrations.
Feeling settled in your home and having community around you is central to well-being but it’s not always easy, especially in such tumultuous times. Pam Wickstead knows this all too well. Her Wellington home was razed to the ground by a fire that also left her with burns to half of her body. She lost her dog to the blaze along with a lifetime’s collection of vintage pieces. The opportunity to sell her cushions in a friend’s shop in Greytown catapulted her relocation to the Wairarapa township, to setting up her own shop Tapestry there and eventually to building her beloved home (page 76). “I feel blessed that I’ve got this place,” she says. “It’s special.”
Cathy and Allan Young roped in their neighbour and architect Peter Eising to remodel their Auckland home – our cover house (page 54). Updating heritage villas is his forte so he was the perfect person for the job. It proved to be an extensive redesign “that involved gutting and cutting back into the original house then building an addition across the top with an atrium that poured light down through the middle.” However, unlike the couple’s previous renovations which they sold soon after completion, they’re comfortable that this Mt Eden villa is for keeps.
Swapping a multi-storey beach house at Sumner Beach in Christchurch for a log cabin in the middle of a Finnish forest miles from anywhere and with no bathroom is the epitome of crazy for many people. Not so for Kiwi-born food photographer Sam Ashcroft and his Finnish wife, artist Carolina Grunér, who were drawn back to Finland because of their work and decided to stay. Now they have fallen in love with country living and feel it’s the right spot for their four-year-old daughter Grace and also a place of inspiration for their own creative endeavours (page 66).
Cooking can be an antidote to stress. The interest in baking, that saw our supermarket shelves devoid of flour and other ingredients during previous lockdowns, is testament to that. If this works for you then try our food editor Julie Le Clerc’s Hot Cross Bun recipe (page 157) which, if followed, will produce “tender buns studded with juicy fruit”. Olivia Galletly’s flaky pastry creations are easy and delicious (page 150) and her spicy dishes (page 142) are perfect for sharing with friends. I’ll be rustling some up as a thank you to my whānau for all their help, when I find that frying pan...