iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

So happy that Cyril survived the 2 months we were away. Contained in a light, clear, roomy plastic cover in the kitchen sink sat on top of a wet towel, worked well.

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

How Scottish was my Aotearoa upbringing! R got this book in Inverness 2nd hand shop. I laughed to read sandwich being called piece, the bread being cut the same way my Granny did & the butter & treacle on top. First thing after school for me in the 60’s was make what we called a piece w golden syrup

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

So calming & restful to hear tūī and riorio again after two months of crows & pigeons. I don’t mind crows & pigeons, but no contest when it comes to our tūī & cohorts.

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Rome memory: Boney M’s Rasputin sounding out loud in the street 11.00 pm while eating John Dory 🐟 Surreal doesn’t cover it.

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Vancouver before the whaka te kāika / homeward journey & my own teapot. No-one else in the whole world but me knows how to make a decent cuppa.

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Thrilled to have my poem kindly placed on to @paulajoygreen.bsky.social poetry shelf.

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Bagpipe playing pig from Melrose Abbey ruins, another near ruin leand on a gate with the family tree Borders as a background and old WW (William Wallace) looking over his Borders domain. Scotland delivers in spurtles.

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Left Aberdeen in the sunshine after three days of grey & rain / drizzle. When the sun shines, the granite sparkles & Aberdeen can be seen in a new light. Poor old Aberdeen may be in decline but the people we know from here are the kindest & are living their best life. Bye bye old Aberdeen.

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Left a copy of my book Upturned at Leaky’s. #Inverness

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Scotland suits me well. We’ve been here before in 1970’s. Spent a lot time living & working here. Plus, we have living relatives (on R’s side) here. Mine are all lang deid which seems to matter less in Scotland than it did in both Ireland & Derry.

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

I think I might be allergic to either Ireland 🇮🇪 or Northern Ireland. Sniffles & itchy throat. Blah. Scotland may 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 give me some relief. The peace wall in Belfast hasn’t got a NZ flag so kiwis have been writing their protests and perved-off sentiments on the Aussie flag. It’s an Aotearoa takeover.

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

I keep thinking the Irish are putting on their accents with some doing it better than others. The ones here in Derry are the winners so far. I 💚 Derry. Right now it’s even raining ☔️ A relief after the humid high 20’s in Dublin which just seemed wrong.

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

It’s the chimney pots of Dublin that break my heart. And the gulls.

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Just managed not to get yelled at by mean cyclists. Otherwise, the canals & old buildings are beautiful & dear old Vincent V G was worth long walk into blinding sun & kind friends we haven’t seen for 40 yrs taking us out for lunch, all helped cancel out the otherwise general pushy Amsterdam vibe.

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

What remains of Wolf’s Lair, Hitler’s cowardly hideout bunker village in Poland, close to Lithuanian border, would’ve been a lot heavier if it wasn’t for nature showing who’s really the boss. #mossisboss

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Dziendobry. Hello. From Poland. Being introduced to its charms is proving a surprise at every turn. Loving the vibe. 🇵🇱 ♥️ 🤍

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Poland & moaning rooftop doves. Christ and cobblestones. Poem on a wall. Historical buildings decorated like cakes. Stalwart soups. Heavy skies. Poland in summer sings its understated hymns & original songs. Wears white.

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Biggest disappointment in Berlin so far is not hearing a crow (yet).

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

If you ever want to feel hope, tune into those cool, sweet playing for change videos. So cool.

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

We never seem to feel earthquakes in our wee Tainui hideaway. We must be perched up on a particularly hard piece of magna. Others around us felt it, but not even a little twitch was felt by us, watching tv, totally engrossed in making sarcastic asides about the characters in a Welsh murder mystery.

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

21stC problem when you forget to mute the sound after watching a video & resume scrolling only to get hit with annoying sound & can’t for the life of Moses find the blasted megaphone / speaker to turn it off so abandon all hope & go back to calm of random pre-21st-dial-up-birdsong from outside

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Wondered what the wail of many sirens just up the road from ours was all about.

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Bye-bye June - donuts & a coffee in Muzzyburg. It’s the little things.

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Reposted by Kay McKenzie Cooke

Rethabile @rahlooho.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

"A Mes Frères", from 'Waslap', Onslaught Press, 2015

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

Envisioning Jenny Powell’s book Biology Field Trip, bobbing about on the sea of the Book-o-Verse, encountering readers who will savour every poem & make a personal connection with poetry & with nature & in the process save the world, or at least the whale silentletterk.blogspot.com/2026/06/look...

silentletterk.blogspot.com

Look and Then Look Again

J&K (aka Jenny and Kay (moi), occasional touring poets) taken at Jenny's book launch, where her wonderful new collection, Biology Field Tr...

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

When a book is so good you require breaks to catch your breath. Jenny Powell’s Biology Field Trip - a different way of seeing, is just such a book. Just the premise itself 🤩 I’m calling it. This pukupuka is unique. It is Taoka / Taonga. Fantastic work J.P. & Cold Hub Press.

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

On the way back to Dunedin from Invercargill this morning, the sun a fiery orb.

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

This: Pärt, Arvo arr Luminesca: Spiegel im Spiegel - Luminesca: Trish O'Brien (cello), Gareth Koch (guitar) (Solitary Island Records SIR 001) Just floated me above all care this morning on RNZConcert

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Could this day be any more perfect. Weather wise anyway. Even if momentary, I’ll take it right now.

Picnic table in the sun with corner of sun umbrella showing Joni Mitchell book on table and china cup

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Kay McKenzie Cooke @kayfrances53.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

southlandtribune.substack.com/p/2026-south... Yay! Arts Murihiku doing it for local arts! As a board trustee, I'm very sad I can't be in 2 places at once. If all goes to plan, I'll be on the road from Dublin to Donegal. But. On Aug. 15th, in spirit, part of me will be with them in Waihōpai Invers.

southlandtribune.substack.com

2026 Southland Creative Arts Awards finalists announced

“The judges were impressed not only by the calibre of work being undertaken across Murihiku, but also by the diversity of people contributing to our arts community."

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