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Clare Willsher Photography, Wellington (2026)

31/08/2021

Lockdown Take 2 - day 14

This is my ‘gratitude penny’. It’s a 10 cent coin that I found down the back of the sofa when my family and I were holidaying in Queenstown a couple of months ago. My 5-year old niece promptly claimed the coin as her own, and she likes to call coins ‘pennies’. When we left Queenstown, my niece popped the coin in the pocket of my puffa jacket and it has been there ever since.

When I walk to work in the mornings wearing my puffa jacket, I like to turn the penny over in my fingers and think of things that I am grateful for. So here’s some things I’m grateful for today:

-My niece, nephew and the rest of my awesome family (love you!)
-That I was able to go for an 8km walk today and enjoy the sound of the birds, the trees, the sunshine, a miniature pony and some baby ducks
-My warm, dry home where I have been able to safely shelter in place during this lockdown
-The free pinot noir that my recruitment agency gave me and I am now happily quaffing
-The delicious homemade beef ragu with gnocchi that I will be stuffing my face with after finishing writing this
-And finally, I’m grateful that New Zealand (NOT you, Auckland) will be moving to Alert Level 3 at 11.59pm tonight.

As we know, level 3 is still basically lockdown, but with takeaways. But it’s a step in the right direction to normal life once again. It also means that, just like last year, this is my last photo for this lockdown series. Thank you for once again for viewing my photos, listening to my ramblings, and helping to keep me sane (hmm ok I admit it, sane is debatable) ###

30/08/2021

Lockdown Take 2 - day 13

Noooooooo, I don’t want to get out of bed! You can’t make me!

I really struggle to get out of bed in the mornings, and I mean REALLY struggle. I have 5 alarms and I’m shocking at just hitting snooze and taking over an hour to get up each morning, regardless of how many hours sleep I’ve had. I’ve been like this for years. I remember being at high school and my Dad was basically my alarm clock and snooze button. He’d keep popping his head around my bedroom door to make sure I was awake, and I would just grunt at him like teenagers do and stay in bed for as long as possible whilst my chances of missing the school bus grew ever higher.

I always told myself I was incredibly lazy and beat myself up for it, but then I came across a word whilst doing a quiz one day that explained everything. “Dysania” - a chronic feeling that you just cannot get out of bed in the morning. Oh my god, I have dysania!! (Ok so it’s not actually medically recognised but I like that it’s a “thing”)

Lockdown last year was brilliant for my dysania. Because I wasn’t working, I could just allow myself to wake up naturally rather then awaken to a cacophony of alarms. I would wake up at a leisurely 8.30/9am each day, not feel like a lazy good for nothing, and not dread getting out of bed. So now my ultimate goal in life is to retire ridiculously early so that I can wake up every day when my body wants to and ditch those damn alarm clocks!

29/08/2021

Lockdown Take 2 - day 12

If this had been a normal weekend, I would have gone out last night to the Rumble in the Jungle DJ competition and then probably spent today feeling a bit delicate and ordering takeaway from Hell Pizza.

Despite being in lockdown, this weekend has been incredibly similar to a normal weekend, but with some slight differences. I did my supermarket shopping and cleaned the house on Saturday as normal, then I got myself ready and ‘went out’ to a virtual quiz night with friends. And today, I have had a headache and definitely felt delicate! Unfortunately there is no Hell Pizza delivery happening right now, so I had to improvise with the ‘takeaway’ part of my weekend. It’s a sorry state of affairs when you have to fashion a makeshift takeaway container from a muesli bar box for your frozen wedges and chicken steak 😆.

28/08/2021

Lockdown Take 2 - day 11

In vino veritas. In wine, there is truth. And ohhhhh how I love wine!

I never used to drink wine, or eat pizza or pasta for that matter. But then I went on an archaeological dig to Italy as part of my university degree, and there was basically nothing else to eat or drink other than pizza, pasta and wine. So I learnt to love them all (probably a little too much actually). I blame Dario, the owner of one of 2 restaurants in the little Italian settlement of Vescovio where we stayed. As well as the best lasagne I’ve ever tasted, Dario also made his own wine, some would even say it had hallucinogenic properties…

I’ve built quite a good wine collection over the past year due to holidays in some of New Zealand’s wine making regions. In fact, I have so much wine now that my little wuboard (wine + cupboard = wuboard) is now full and I have wine stashed in boxes in a corner. Seeing as I don’t have a massive house with an epic wine cellar, a wine rack will have to do for my precious little babies. I’ve got an idea of what I want to build and where it could go, but because I’m flipping awkward, I want a wine rack that looks cool and is all fancy and stuff. A friend suggested I make a mock up first out of paper so I can test the size, angles etc. A paper wine rack isn’t going to be much use though, so I’ll have to wait until Mitre 10 and Bunnings are open again and I can get some supplies.

See that wine on the far right hand side? I planted the vines that produced the grapes for that delicious pinot noir!

27/08/2021

Lockdown Take 2 - day 10

During one of many video calls yesterday, my co-workers and I were discussing working from home. It’s been over a week now since lockdown began and we all set up camp in our home offices, and one thing we have all noticed is how little we physically move our bodies when we are ‘WFH’. If I was in the office, I would still have the same number of meetings as I do now, but I would be getting up from my desk and moving between meeting rooms, or visiting our vendors offices down the road (not to mention lunches at the pub and hot chocolate runs).

But these days I am stuck sitting at my desk all day, dialing into video call after video call. It’s not only boring, but probably not great for helping me to keep getting into these jeans, especially with the amount of crumpets I’ve been putting away lately. So I thought, why not mix it up a bit and move locations in my house for each meeting?!

This morning I used a bit of good old kiwi ingenuity to fashion myself an awesome standing desk using the bed slats from Hercules the Glampervan placed across my knicker drawer. Better not tell the old boys at work that my Victoria’s Secret un**es are joining us on the video call, they might not be able to cope. Extra bonus, there’s a handy mirror on this DIY desk so I can check there are no crumpet crumbs on my face before all of those pesky video calls.

26/08/2021

Lockdown Take 2 - day 9

Blonde!

Hairdressers around the world will be cringing as I’ve done that thing - I’ve messed with my own hair during lockdown 😱. Which is stupid really because it’s not like anyone is going to see me, so why bother?!

I’ve had pink hair for several years now and I love it, but it just hasn’t looked as good since my fabulous hairdresser Katy left (I miss you Katy 😢). Recently, as the pink toner starts to fade, my hair has been looking more of a hideous brorange colour instead of the nice light dusky pink it used to go. So last night I decided to strip the years of pink out and take my hair back to the bleach underneath, ready for a fresh start. I looked like a yellow baby chicken. It’s still pretty yellow, but hopefully some good old purple shampoo will make it less baby chicken like until I can get to the hairdressers. I’m glad you lot only get to see the black and white version, and didn’t see me last night with cling film around my head.

I would say that I’ll let you know if blondes have more fun, but I’m not allowed out, soooooooooo…… yea na.

25/08/2021

Lockdown Take 2 - day 8

So The World’s End pub has had a bit of an upgrade since last lockdown and has gone from a grotty little pub to a sophisticated and elegant bar. There’s a new sign, the bar itself has had an overhaul, and the area behind the bar has benefited from a lovely new storage solution. Swanky new velvet chairs take pride of place and provide a place of rest for patrons in fabulous high heels, and fresh flowers and plants add to the elegant vibe.

Some things haven’t changed though. The bar still serves the same range of drinks (although the wine cellar has significantly improved from last year) and 4pm every day is still cocktail hour. Dress to impress optional. Oh, and the barmaid is the same, although she has tried to upgrade herself too in order to fit in better with the environment. Still drunk though.

Look at her! Lounging about on that chair in her custom made ballgown and fancy Ted Baker heels. Just who does she think she is?!

24/08/2021

Lockdown Take 2 - day 7

I had to take Sheba to the vets today. She’s getting old now (much like her hooman) and needs to have a vitamin B12 shot each week because she has Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

I didn’t take a picture of the trip to the vets as it’s a traumatic experience for both of us. Traumatic for Sheba because she is stuck in a cage, has no idea what is going on, and is usually terrified. And traumatic for me because Sheba usually ends up having a nervous sh*t in the cage whilst we’re in the car and I then have to travel holding my breath or with the windows right down. Today was extra traumatic because I wasn’t allowed to go into the vets with Sheba because of alert level 4. I had to leave her outside the door and wait in my car whilst the vet took her in and jabbed her in the back with a big needle. Poor old girl.

How Sheba felt in that cage today is probably how many people around the world have felt as a result of lockdowns. Trapped, nervous, and with no idea what is happening or when life will return to normal. I’m lucky that my lockdown ‘cage’ happens to be a pretty decent sized house for one person, and with fairly limited demands on my time. But I feel for people whose cages might be physically smaller, those who have more demands in their cage such as children, and even those who might be trapped in a cage with someone they don’t really want to be trapped with. The only cage I’m feeling at the moment is work!!! Last year I had all of the time in lockdown to myself, but this year I have to work 8 hours a day and it’s interfering with my DIY and photography time! How rude.

23/08/2021

Lockdown Take 2 - day 6.

Yay! Got my Pfizer 5G installation vaccine underway today and I can’t wait for some of the great benefits to kick in!

-Being able to pay for my groceries with just a wave of the chip in my arm? Hello convenience!
-Getting Windows updates downloaded straight to my brain? Cool! Word and Excel on the go.
-Attract ferrous metals just by being close to them? It’ll be like I’m a real life Jedi using The Force!
-Have my DNA rewritten? Awesome, I’ve always wanted to be a monkey or grow extra toes!
-Be tracked by the government? Well how handy would that be if I can’t find my way home drunk one night?!

I’m wearing my awesome Cov-5G Receptonator 3000 tin foil hat complete with antenna extensions in the hope that I might get some better reception. I haven’t been able to automatically open any doors yet or spontaneously phone my Mum by blinking my left eye 3 times, so I’m a bit worried that the vaccine isn’t working. I guess Mr Gates has to activate the chip first, so maybe I just need to be patient.

What if the conspiracy theories about it just being a ‘normal’ vaccine are true though? Imagine if all the vaccine did was protect you and your loved ones from a potentially deadly virus? How rubbish would that be! And surely it can’t be true that there was a global effort from scientists and researchers using their knowledge of other coronaviruses and vaccine development just to make a ‘normal’ vaccine? Pfffftttt no, I don’t believe those conspiracy theories at all. Go the 5G!

22/08/2021

Lockdown Take 2 - day 5

Lazy Sunday much?! My house is an absolute mess and so am I for that matter. The paraphernalia from yesterday’s mask making activities is all over the dining table, the kitchen bench is covered in discarded dishes, and the evidence of last night’s virtual drinks party with friends is still on the coffee table. There’s even a kitchen cabinet door that’s fallen off 😂

My house is normally immaculately clean and tidy, but today, I just don’t care about the mess! And I don’t care if you all see it too. I just want to blob on the couch with Sheba and relax. Cleaning and tidying can wait for another day. And after so much sparkle yesterday, I think I deserve a flipping day in my PJ’s!

We keep being told in the 1pm Daily Update to “be kind” to each other, but I think we also need to be kind to ourselves. I’m perfectly fine with being in lockdown again and I’m happy, but it is still a crazy situation and it’s important that we all look after our mental wellbeing during these weird times. If you fancy taking a break, just do it!

21/08/2021

Lockdown Take 2 – day 4

With the return of lockdown, we see the return of overdressed supermarket shopping! Last year I went shopping in a ball gown and long gloves, and today I went FULL SEQUIN.

I’ve recently discovered sequins and might have gone a bit mad with my clothing purchases, much like I have also done with my leopard print obsession. I have 2 pairs of sequin leggings, a couple of sequin tops, and a sequin jacket (with a leopard print collar even). Seeing as masks are now mandatory when going out, I decided I needed to round off my outfit appropriately, so I spent some time today making a sequin mask. Yes, I just happened to have sequin fabric hanging around the house…

Last year no one believed that I actually went to the supermarket in my ball gown (even though I 100% did). So this year, here is a photo of me in all my sequin glory hanging out with old mate Gertrude (a treat to myself after last year’s lockdown), and in the comments is a photo of me in the cat food aisle in my sequins. Yes, it really happened.

20/08/2021

Lockdown Take 2 - day 3

Ahhhhhh, The 1pm Daily Update! We all grew to love it during last year’s lockdown, and it seems to have become a little bit famous outside of New Zealand too. There’s even a funny IMDB page about it. Will there be more cases? What’s the stupidest media question going to be? Will awesome Alan the sign language man be making an appearance today? Tune in to today’s 1pm Daily Update to find out!!!

I used to tune in religiously at 1pm every day last year to listen to Aunty Cindy and Dr Ashley. I think I cared more about seeing those two main characters than about the news they were giving, as I would be so disappointed when they took a well deserved day off and some other person would stand in their place. Not going to lie, I switched off the TV on those days!

So I’m glad that the cool, calm and collected duo and their band of merry sign language interpreters are back for “season 2”. My lunchtime is now perfectly timed to coincide with my favourite show. Today messed with my routine slightly though as the update was moved to 3pm - instead of having lunch I had to bring forward cocktail hour by an hour, such a hardship.

Clare Willsher Photography

31/08/2021

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27/08/2021

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