On Monday we took a few minutes and we went to see a wood carver. He and his wife came to New Zealand over 25 years ago. They have a large piece of property, probably 3 or 4 acres. They have citrus trees, olive trees, figs and others. It was fun to hear them talk about their life. He was born in Bethlehem, Palestine is 1945. She was born in Bethlehem, Jordan in 1949. Their daughter was born in the 70's in Bethlehem, Israel. One city but three different countries. They are Christians and love what they are doing. He was brothers that are in Bethlehem still and they are all wood carvers. He said that they export things from Bethlehen to Utah so probably some of the olive wood nativities might be from his Brothers. Anyway, they were lovely people. They showed us their shop and then we browsed for a long time. We told then that we will get to know them and become their good friends and then when we go to the Holy Land his family will host us there and show us what Bethlehem is really like! He has made carvings for so many missionaries that he has a Christmas ornament that has the temple in Hamilton on it. He has one of Angel Moroni and also one of Tom Jones from the picture in Preach My Gospel. What fun it was. His wife is lovely.
He uses all recycled wood and only wood that is native to NZ. The only non-recycled wood is tree roots. He said that those are the hardest to work on but they are often the prettiest. He will also use branches that are cut by tree trimmers or that fall in storms. His shop is a mess but you can tell that he is really into high prodution mode right now. He makes thousands of Christmas ornaments for souvenior shops in NZ. What a nice break for us.
Oh, she has calla lilies in her yard. I have NEVER seen a lily that was as big. Some of them were as big as your head. I wish I had been able to get close enough to them to snap a spot!
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