SAY IT WITH FLOWERS

language The offlowers

WORDS LYNDA PAPESCH For many centuries, fl owers have been used to convey various messages such as love and hope. During the Victorian era saying it with fl owers became a fi ne art with nearly all homes having a guidebook to help send the right message.

Flowers were often used to deliver messages that couldn’t be spoken out loud, and even the method of delivery was part of the language. Sometimes a “yes” answer came in the form of fl owers handed over with the right hand; if the left hand was used, the answer was “no.”

Plants were also used to express aversive feelings, such as the “conceit” of pomegranate or the “bitterness” of aloe. A rose declaring “devotion” or an apple blossom showing “preference” might have been answered with a yellow carnation to express “disdain”.

Some fl owers, such as roses, poppies, carnations and lilies were used to express a range of emotions, based on their colour alone. Pink carnations meant “I’ll never forget you”; red said “my heart aches for you”; white was for the “the sweet and lovely”; and yellow expressed romantic rejection. A red rose was used to express feelings of love, while a red tulip was a confession of love.

The colour of roses played a huge role in the language of fl owers. White roses symbolised purity and a new beginning; red roses love, dark crimson roses mourning, pink roses happiness, yellow roses jealousy and infi delity, orange desire and enthusiasm, lavender love at fi rst sight, and coral friendship and sympathy.

1. 2. 3. Various other Victorian ower meanings:

Camellia:

Pink – Longing for you

Red – You’re a fl ame in my heart

White – You’re adorable

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Carnations

Red – Alas my poor heart aches White – Innocence, pure love, women’s good luck gift Pink – I’ll never forget you Striped – Refusal Yellow – Rejection, disdain

Inspirational houses of the year

Canterbury architects and builders punch well above their weights in design and construction, as evidenced by the 2021 Master Builders Canterbury Awards results.

Clive Barrington Construction won the Supreme New House of the Year Award (see pages 116-117) for a new build in Fendalton, along with awards for a new build at Cass Bay (pictured above), which won gold and lifestyle kudos in the Resene New Home $2 million category. Judges described the Cass Bay home as a unique, total-design approach.

Other awards locally went to Irving Builders, Greenland Homes, Sinclair Builders, Southen, LM Built, Home Trends Builders, Pringle Homes, LOC Construction, Trevor Hone Builders,

CONTENTS

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Gregg Builders, Blue Summit Construction, Avenue Architectural Builders, Parsons Construction, Boss Construction, Jennian Homes Canterbury, Build by Design, BG Cooke Construction, Residential Castles, and NKR Builders.

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Skylark Cabin Clive Barrington Davinia Sutton

Delivering the highest quality

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MARIAN JOHNSON MINISTRY OF AWESOME | CHIEF AWESOME OFFICER

Electrify Aotearoa Project completion delayed

Together with Blackbird Ventures, one of Australasia’s leading venture capital companies, Ministry of Awesome is taking action with the launch of Electrify Aotearoa.

This is New Zealand’s fi rst women founder startup conference which is taking place right here in Christchurch on October 14. The basic premise here is that we believe that - like the saying says - “You cannot be what you cannot see.” When the most widely circulated startup success stories feature Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, or Steve Jobs, it’s hard to imagine yourself as a potential unicorn founder when all role models look, sound, and are nothing like you. That’s why we are gathering together a power of New Zealand’s top women startup founders to inspire and connect with the next generation of women-led startups. Speakers include startup mavens such as Sharesies’ Brooke Roberts, Yabble’s Kathryn Topp, Outset DeepTech’s Imche Fourie, and Theresa Gattung, NZ Lead for SheEO, and Chair of Women in Entrepreneurship at the University of Auckland Business School. The intention is that Electrify Aotearoa will help establish a foundational network for women entrepreneurs, New Zealand’s top investors and venture capital companies, and the nation’s most successful women entrepreneurs. This network will help them form a pathway for more women founders to activate and succeed with a powerful community supporting them We were preparing for an offi cial opening and public open day at Te Pae Christchurch early next month and Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre was rapidly growing.

No work in Level 4 and the restrictions that come with Level 3 now pose signifi cant challenges to advancing construction as quickly as we would like.

At Level 3 the workforce had to be reduced to meet social distancing requirements on the sites, resulting in a dip in productivity.

More disruptive, though, are the travel restrictions. The scale, size and complexity of some equipment and services required numerous specialists from outside of Christchurch

JOHN BRIDGMAN ŌTĀKARO LIMITED | CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Delays in completing our major projects due to the latest Covid-19 lockdown are a tough pill to swallow.

to install and get running.

In the case of Te Pae Christchurch, at least 30 experts in areas including fi re systems management, commissioning and compliance are Auckland and Wellington-based.

Of course, we understand and support the steps taken to combat Covid-19, as a community outbreak would be far more detrimental to our work.

It’s important to remember that these facilities are long-term investments in Christchurch’s prosperity. Thousands of people will come here to visit Te Pae Christchurch and the hoops at Parakiore will wear out with all the shots taken over the coming years.

No matter what you need, you can trust DGI Morgan Ltd for reliable construction & maintenance solutions. There is no job too big or too small – we do it all.

PETER TOWNSEND

TE PAPA HAUORA ADVISORY COUNCIL | INDEPENDENT CHAIR

LIANNE DALZIEL

CHRISTCHURCH CITY COUNCIL | MAYOR

Exploring community issues Coping with a chain reaction

Te Papa Hauora Health Precinct continues to explore issues in health that are of interest to the wider Canterbury community.

Recent events supported by Te Papa Hauora include; the Future of Health Challenge, where Canterbury tertiary students worked together to create solutions to health issues, the CDHB Youth Advisory Council’s public endometriosis education evening, a joint Canterbury Tech and Canterbury Health Innovation networking event highlighting innovation within our health system, and the Health Research Society of Canterbury’s annual Poster Expo where researchers showcased current projects. This month it plans to hosts its annual research talks ‘we’re talking health’. This public forum addresses health issues through the various stages of our lives. Presentations on ‘Starting well’ include birthing I want to acknowledge the 300 or so Christchurch residents that were in a place of interest in Auckland, who came home, were tested twice, and stayed home until the two-week cycle was over. By doing the right thing, you have served your community well, and helped protect us all. I would also like to acknowledge Annabel Turley who is not only the Chair of the Christchurch Central City Business Association but is also a pharmacist. The pop-up drive through vaccine service in Cashel Mall was fantastic.

And that is the key to our ‘living with Covid future’ - getting as close to 100

procedures, nutrition, and treating infections in children. Talks on ‘Living well’ emphasise healthy lifestyles, and ‘Ageing well’ has speakers addressing age-related issues such as Parkinson’s disease and the relationship between active living and healthy ageing. We are fortunate to have a rich resource of expertise across a wide range of health and wellbeing areas to draw on, and keep our community up to date with issues that directly impact their own lives, and those of their whānau. Te Papa Hauora is committed to encouraging wider community engagement, and appreciates the support and feedback from attendees to these excellent events. percent of us vaccinated as soon as possible.

What I did like about the Alert Level 4 and 3 lockdown was walking around Hagley Park and through the city centre.

There were quite a few people doing the same, socially distanced and wearing masks of course.

But I will never miss Zoom meetings. I like people-topeople contact.

And I won’t miss seeing our businesses doing it tough.

We learned last year that the best way to recover from lockdown is to back our local businesses, and that’s what we will do again.

Who was it who said: ‘it’s like déjà vu all over again’? I think many of us felt we would never have to go through another Covid-19 lockdown. But one case of the Delta variant started a chain reaction that would have kept going without one.

Congratulations to Barry Connor on winning the ADNZ Award SKYLARK CABIN

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Working with natural beauty

Timber cladding has seen a sharp rise in popularity over the last decade, used by leading architects and seen in incredible designs across New Zealand, in new and inspired ways.

The natural material has always been used in building, but like all trends has dipped and risen over the decades.

The latest, strong comeback for timber shows the power of a high quality, honest material, which is now seen in designs as something truly beautiful to use on the exterior and interior of homes.

Timber cladding is also an extremely workable material, which helps architects incorporate innovative designs, shapes and ideas into their buildings that might not have been possible with materials such as brick and stone.

Architects are using timber in inventive ways that really highlights the natural beauty of the material. Gone are the days where it was only to build rustic and unpolished, bach like designs. New modern builds are using timber cladding to create a contemporary aesthetic that is sophisticated while also creating a warm, homey feel.

Something timber does more so than most materials is connects us to nature. The natural textures, feel and colours are parallel with those found in nature. Similar to the increased popularity of indoor plants and greenery, there is a sense of calm and peace when these natural features are incorporated into a home.

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Experience true comfort

The comfort, warmth and quiet that comes from having triple glazed windows and doors has to be experienced to be believed. Talk to the expert team at NK Windows about how triple glazing can help make your home a warm and healthy home.

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