Jeremy Baker

Fresh produce from the Eketāhuna country garden 📷 #Eketāhuna #CountryCottage #family #garden

Leeks, multi-coloured potatoes spilling out of a hessian bag, and a cabbage on a rustic table.

Good morning from Eketāhuna cottage 📷 #eketāhuna #cottage #morning #light

Morning light streams through an open French door and window in a wooden country cottage onto chairs and a table. A garden is visible outside.

Quick visit to Eketāhuna Cottage. 📷 #Eketāhuna #cottage #garden #family

Small country cottage with white walls and grey roof. Surrounded by a profusion of flowers. White clouds and evening blue sky above.

Meri Kirihimete à tous le monde!

Sending good wishes to you all; may you have a wonderful day :) #MeriKirihimete #AtaMārie #JoyeuxNoël

Gingerbread Xmas Tree

The grandkids brought their chickens with them on holiday. We even set them up with their own ‘batch’ under the olive trees for shade. They enjoy their supervised outings around the garden as well! 📷 🐓🪴 #garden #chickens #holiday #batch #Hōkio #HōkioBeach

Chicken coop under shady olive trees.Olive trees in a garden with a chicken coop beneath.Chicken coop with two people waving. Two chickens in the foreground.Two chickens enjoying foraging under lush vegetation.

Apartment renovations story

Today’s Pōneke / Wellington newspaper has a story about the recent renovations to the apartment that my partner and I have lived in for 22 years:

Guests love trying to find the way in to the secret room of this New York loft-style apartment in central Wellington

Many thanks to Kylie Klein-Nixon for the story, and to Andrew & Lynnette Scott (designers & project managers, Design in Residence), Liz Mark (design consultant), Phil Maxey (builder), and Reilly Joinery for making it a reality!

Also thanks to Oliver Cain for the wonderful piece, "Jeremy + Bill", which features in the story.

Wide angle shot of a loft-style apartment with wooden floors and steel beams. A richly patterned rug in the foreground. Two men on a couch, one higher than the other. Art, dining furniture and many designer lights fill the background.

Photo: Monique Ford / Stuff.

End of a long saga in Kiribati

It has been a very long year for my partner, Judge Bill Hastings, as a serious constitutional crisis has unfolded in the Pacific island state of Kiribati.

I am extremely proud of the work he did in Kiribati before and during this crisis, and of the integrity and measured judicial approach he has demonstrated throughout.

It is deeply sad that what started as a wonderful opportunity to help the further development of an independent and increasingly indigenous judiciary in Kiribati has ended the way it has.

The article below provides a good account of this week’s developments:

New Zealand judge resigns from top-ranking Kiribati judicial position

A Wikipedia article provides the full background to the constitutional crisis:

2022 Kiribati Constitutional Crisis

Rufus Du Sol

Went to the Rüfüs Du Sol concert in Tāmaki Makaurau last night. It was pure joy and wonderment.

A concert crowd seemingly stretching to the horizon, under a blizzard of white paper confetti

The crowd at the Vector Arena seemingly stretching to infinity under a blizzard of white confetti.

Man dancing in swirling white paper confetti

Sam surrounded by confetti.

Two women smiling and dancing

Rusty and Melissa - who we met at the show - enjoying the vibe.

My sister at the concert!

Turns out my sister was at the same concert - neither of us knew till we saw each other in the crowd!

Singer thanking the crowd at the emd of the show

 Rüfüs Du Sol member and singer Tyrone Lindqvist thanking the crowd.

Today is Bill and I's 25th anniversary. It's the anniversary of our first date, on 22 November 1997. We went to see LA Confidential - still such a great movie.

Bill with a negroniLA Confidential movie poster

I’ve been playing a bunch of Canadian songs on repeat today. I made a playlist for Bill which he seems to like.

Apple Music Playlist

Spotify Playlist

Family brunch at Greta Point Café.

(Just before the thunderstorm arrived and rain bucketed down).

(Left to right: Jan, Jenni, Terry, Megan)

#family #brunch

Brunch in cafe

First paperback edition - Lord of the Rings

Repaired and rebound 1968 first paperback edition of the Lord of the Rings. This copy was bought by my father in 1968, and was the first read to me in the 1970s. Amazing work by @bookbindingetc

CC at the Creativity Table

Perfect Day

Decanted

Dinner prep. It takes a table.

Meri Kirihimete no Hōkio! And best wishes from Waving Bill! We are delighted you made it back from Kiribati 🇰🇮 to join the Hastings-Miller-Desoudry-Baker madness! #family #xmas #xmas2021 #hokio #hōkio #hokiobeach #dinner #food #festivities #billhastings #hastingscj #aotearoa

Joint Hastings-Baker Family Christmas Eve dinner. #family #dinner #desert #billhastings #hōkio #hokio #hokiobeach #horowhenua #aotearoa

Mum presents, Hōkio Christmas Irises 2021. #hokio #hōkio #hokiobeach #garden #summer #xmas #xmas2021 #family #horowhenua #aotearoa

Splendid dinner at Wolf restaurant with Bill to celebrate his successful return from Kiribati for Xmas. Highly recommended.

#dinner #restaurant #food #delicious #wellington #waterfront #pōneke #aotearoa

57th wedding anniversary lunch with mum and dad #family #anniversary #weddinganniversary #57years #lunch

Glorious spring flowers at Eke County Cottage #eketahuna #eketāhuna #ekecountrycottage #flowers #garden #spring #family

Blossom #spring #blossom #garden #eketāhuna #ekecountrycottage #roadtrip2021

Eketāhuna Country Cottage - spring garden #eketāhuna #eketahuna #ekecountrycottage #garden #spring #family #roadtrip2021

Beru island, Kiribati

A few pictures from the island of Beru, one of the southern islands of Kiribati 🇰🇮 - the impacts of sea level rise killing of coconut trees is palpable. The ponds are used to grow algae, a traditional specialty of Beru (seen in the bucket). #billhastings #beruisland #kiribati🇰🇮 #kiribati #climatechange