What Summer and Social Club Bring

Summer is almost here, and isn’t it so good. I’m sitting on the deck in the sun whilst the kids are running around in their undies – a doll tucked under Tully’s arm, as always, and Hartley’s found an old rake to resurrect and is addressing the weeds. The lawn has just been freshly mowed, after looking overgrown for some time, and the Tararua Range is all kinds of blue and green. All the simple pleasures!

It’s been a long, wet winter, so I don’t know about you, but finally it feels like we are out the other side. Which is why we started Social Club – to come together for a yarn between editions. At the moment it looks like a monthly email in your inbox, filled with stories and bits and pieces not seen in the magazine, and two online gatherings – for a conversation or a workshop – each quarter. But in future who knows what it will be – it’s up to you and the sort of community you need and want.

Each edition we have our resident station cook, Jaz Mathisen, from Awakino Station, who shares a recipe just for readers, and Greer Paterson, who writes a column about life on the Chatham Islands. And there’s stories of community and connection. We’ve had Tamsyn writing about raising her son with Down syndrome, Tessa sharing about her ninety-six-year-old nan still living on the family farm at Whatatutu, and more.

From the two online gatherings we’ve had so far, I came away with that feeling of a having had good chat with a mate. Renee, from the cover of our Spring Edition, shared about her struggles of parenting and we laughed about the supposed perfect number of kids, whilst our chat with Jessica from Jessica Flora and Ana from Holi Boli ended up as a conversation about cooking and the best bits of business advice we’ve ever received. They’re spaces to get to know one other, dirty work shirts and all.

A wee sneak peek of our summer Social Club online sessions: we will be chatting with two women who feature in the pages of this edition – writer and bookshop owner Ruth Shaw, and stitched painting artist Fleur Woods. For dates and details head to shepherdess.co.nz/social-club.

And we’ll be chatting with even more incredible, down-to-earth women at The Shepherdess Muster in Motu this February. It’s a weekend where you can get away from the responsibilities of juggling kids, the house, the farm, off-farm work sometimes, too... Enjoy the beautiful meals, the workshops, the market stalls, a beauty appointment and performances. There’s everything but a pleasure toy shop...but I can confirm we’ve got a box of them for sale, anyway! Come with old friends, or come on your own and leave with new ones. Either way, looking forward to seeing you at Motu in February!

Kristy