Our kitchen table is the space for all things creative, for kai, for korero, for dreaming, and is where Rudi and I planned and prayed for Wharenui Harikoa to come through into this realm.
Our dreaming and planning sessions usually happened early in the mornings – thankfully we are early birds. When I do get up and shuffle into the kitchen, Rudi has our coffee ready and waiting on the table. Kitchen tables have always held so many memories. Growing up, we had a large kauri table that fit all 10 of us, with always one or two extra. There were so many marks on it, so many stories to tell.
Our table reminds me of the one we had growing up but with fewer signs of life on it. It’s a large table that’s just big enough for when the kids and moko come over for dinner. We are determined to put as many signs of life on our table as we can.
Our kitchen table is where all the magic happens, it’s where we get to be creative with our mokopuna, it’s where we can peacefully look out to the Tāmaki Estuary. It’s where Rudi will sit and write his reflections on the day, and where he wrote all his processes of making Wharenui Harikoa. But more importantly, it’s where we get to collectively dream with everyone who comes to our whare. We have a pink shiny piggy bank, now known as the wishing pig, that sits alongside Reuben Paterson’s Golden Globe. Both were given to us by our lovely friend Ange. They take pride of place on the lazy Susan once owned by my beloved aunty Binki.
Everyone who sits at our table is encouraged to shake the Golden Globe and dream big! We figure that every piece of glitter in the globe is a dream to manifest. Or they can write their wishes and place them in our wishing pig. Dreaming is a big part of our lives and many dreams and wishes have been made around our table.
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