The New Zealand Pukeko (pronounced poo-ke-ko) is also known as the Swamp Hen, as it lives wet, damp areas. It's a common little creature which can be a bit of a pest, but has become quite iconic - a lot of souvenir items include the Pukeko and some people collect all sorts of Pukeko paraphernalia. (Some people also have them out in their garden - a New Zealand version of The Common Garden Gnome!)
The Mosaic one below is one of my few attempts at mosaics, when a friend came and stayed, bringing her latest crafting craze with her. I didn't really enjoy doing mosaics but love what I made.
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| This Pukeko was very confused after our recent flooding - wandering around trying to find it's home. |
Your hexies are lovely. The pukeko's you made are cute. Hugs,
ReplyDeleteLove your Pukeko flowers and the story of the Pukeko.
ReplyDeleteYou remind me of my friend that lives in the gardeners cottage at the government gardens in Rotorua, she is inundated with them, they are very cheeky.When we stayed there we saw one walking around with a takeaway coffee cup in it's mouth.
ReplyDeleteAw Raewyn, my favourite wee buddies, the pukeko. Love your mosaic one, looks fabulous
ReplyDeleteYour flowers are beautiful and the pukekos look really funny. I´ve never before heard about them. Bloggers learn a lot about everything by surfing the www :-))
ReplyDeleteI love your hexies and the pukeko's but that last picture, with the real one, doesn't he look sad. ahhhhhh.
ReplyDeleteHave a nice day.
Beautiful hexies to match the Pukeko.
ReplyDeleteI love those birds.
beautiful hexagons I have never seen a Pukeko I will look them on the internet they look cute
ReplyDeleteLovely flowers Raewyn, and so perfect with the lovely birds!
ReplyDeleteLove the hexies Raewyn and your Pukeko's. You may know this or already have it but one of our leading quilt designers Gail Lawther wrote a fabulous book called Glimpses of New Zealand. She has taught several times there and I think she may be there this year too. The book has lots of slimline quilts of iconic NZ images and it may appeal to you. I saw the quilts up close at an exhibition and they are just incredible. I bought it at the show when Sarah and Olly were on their last day at NZ so it was quite poignant to me.
ReplyDeleteLove Shirley.x
I've never heard of a pukeko but I too will look it up. Lovely hexie flowers.
ReplyDeleteWhat adorable birds with the funny name Pukeko! Lovely story. I hope the poor bird will find companion soon.
ReplyDeleteYour flowers are beautiful too.
Have a nice day!
Tineke
Hi Raewyn...Your flowers are beautiful with such lovely colours and fabric..Thank you so much for sharing the story of the Pukeko...Your mosaic are great...Certainly very special.. Kate xxx
ReplyDeletePretty flowers and I especially loved learning about the Pukeko ,I had never even seen a picture of one before . Thanks for sharing and I loved the mosiac.
ReplyDeleteLove your flowers!
ReplyDeletePretty flowery hexies you made and the Pukeko's are lovely, I LOVE the mosaic one! Thanks for sharing the story of the New Zealand Pukeko.
ReplyDeleteThe real one looks out of place there, so sad!
Greetings, Cisca
It's a shame you didn't like mosaicing (is that a word?) 'cause the one you did is lovely.
ReplyDeleteCute flowers and that is a bird I have never seen before.
ReplyDeleteI love your Pukeko blooms! They are so cute in red and blue. What a fun garden you have!!
ReplyDeleteA beautiful bunch of blooms this week.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen a picture of a 'live' Pukeko before but we have a couple of garden ornaments from a friend.
lovely hexies and a great learning lesson. :)
ReplyDeleteLove your hexies Raewyn, esp the red one! We had a Mum, Dad and baby swampie(at least I assume it was a Mum and Dad) come up the lawn and onto the deck a couple of weeks ago. So cute, we don't often see them up that close. Your mosaic pukeko is awesome, I love it!
ReplyDeleteYour hexagon flowers are beautiful. Your mosaic is great. I love it.
ReplyDeleteOh, your hexies are absolutely beautiful. And I found your history on the Pukeko quite interesting. Nice to have a theme to motivate and display your flowers! Also, I really like the mosaic...that is one of the craft items on my "to do" list but I'll probably never get to it since quilting is such a huge part of my leisure time! Anyway, happy sewing!!
ReplyDeleteHello Raewyn; my husband Chris and I fell in love with pukekos on our visits to New Zealand, and when I returned to the UK I created my own quilted version (http://www.gaillawther.co.uk/out.asp); it's part of the collection mentioned by Shirley above. In April I'll be teaching at the Queenstown Symposium, and all my NZ quilts will be on display there too - can't wait to be back in your lovely country!
ReplyDeleteKeep up the great quilting and the celebration of the delightful pukeko.
Gail