Country Roads

We had a good day today. I knew it was going to be a good day right from when I went out at 6.30 AM to get the paper. You see, as I walked up the drive, the frost was making that delicious crunchy squeaky noise underfoot that only fresh frost can make. Mind you , it has been doing that every morning this week. I love that sound. It reminds me of being a 5 year old playing in frozen puddles at the trout hatchery. This morning was special though. You see, Sherman was snuggled up nice & warm in the garage ready & raring to go after his rejuvenation.

So we went. First of all, down to the mall to buy a couple of things that we needed, then a nice leisurely drive up the coast. By the time we got as far as Coromandel, it was lunchtime, so we had lunch. We ate at the Peppertree restaurant. It wasn't especially cheap, but it was very nice. Herself had 2 lovely pieces of Gurnard with chips & I had the seafood chowder. They were both delicious. Mine came with the nicest garlic bread that I have tasted for a long time. Its nice to dine in pleasant surrounds, knowing that you don't have to rush because of work pressures. We also found something that Herself can not only drink, but actually enjoy as well without gagging, gasping or spluttering. Tomato juice. needless to say, we have added a supply to our pantry.

From there , we went up to Colville, past the Buddhist centre, with its beautiful roadside shrine as far as the Port Charles turnoff, where we hit the metal roads. There is something rather delightful & satisfying in driving a loose metal road in a 4wd that hugs a road like that as well as Sherman does. We went right to the end of the road. Through Port Charles, through Sandy Bay, where the council road maintanence ends, another 7 kilometers to Rocky Bay. The road was pretty grim, with a lot of washouts & washboarding, but we took our time. it was worth it. Just to sit there looking out across beautiful deep green sea with Great Barrier Island looking so close you could almost wade out to it. I dont think I have ever been to a place so quiet & tranquil. The only sounds that you could hear was the gentle wash of the waves on the beach & the call of the Tui from the bush behind us. It has to be as close to Paradise as it gets. Summer time would be vastly different though I think.

We returned to Coromandel via the other road. Down though Tuateawa & Kennedy's Bay. that road is loose metal all the way, but the scenery is absolutely worth it. There is an incredible view of the Mercury Islands from the top of the hill at Tuateawa. The coast road back along the Thames Coast was an easy task after this. Just cruising & admiring the sunset. Starting off at the top with the palest of pale blue sky that somehow transformed itself into the most delicate shade of pink that you can imagine. Then a thin dark line so straight it might have been drawn with a ruler, then the sea. The palest of butter yellows. God it was pretty. All this with no freight to deliver & no deadlines to keep. Best of all Herself got to forget about The hurt thats happening to her at the moment. That makes it al worth while. Yeah, we had a good day.

Dreams & Rainbows

I had a strange dream last night. It didn't even involve naked women & tropical paradises. Don't ask me how, but somehow I ended up in the presence of Bob Dylan. I told him I had to split, because I had to take some fruit to the hospital. He said,"I'm comin with you man, because I'm tired of all this crap." So we snuck out the side door & off we went. We got to the hospital & we had a really groovy time, sitting on one of the beds & talking to the nurses. Bob was enjoying himself particularly, because nobody recognised him & he was just sitting chilling like an ordinary person, talking & eating oranges. Finally someone recognised him & we fessed up as to who he was. Still nobody believed us, so Bob said "OK, I'll go & get my guitar & sing for you, then you'll believe who I am." So off he went. After quite a time, we wondered where he'd got to, so I went & asked at the desk. "Oh him!" the receptionist replied,"We had that weird little guy thrown out for stealing oranges from a patient." You go figure because its beyond me.

Anyway, yesterday, we went to see the new Star Trek movie. I'm glad we did. I think its nearly at the end of its run here . Herself & I comprised two thirds of the patronage. We are glad we went. What an awesome movie. The action started right from the word "Go" & didnt let up till the closing credits rolled. It's got to be the last ever Star Trek movie, because there is no way that it can be topped I don't think. We thoroughly enjoyed it. was a nice way to spend an afternoon & escape life for an hour or two.

Last night we had an old friend & his wife come to see us. We had lovely chats for a few hours, haven't seen them in a while you see. But if you want to feel nervous, try preparing them a stir fry for tea because one of them is vegetarian & cant eat the beef stroganoff thats in the oven. Even more so, try doing this with one of them in the kitchen talking to you while you do so. I'm not real good with an audience when I'm cooking at the best of times, but with someone that knows what they are doing, trust me, its 10 times worse. It must have been OK though, because they both ate it & Kathleen went back for seconds on the Stroganoff.

I get Sherman back today after three weeks. I'm rather looking forward to it. He should be running like a Swiss watch & looking very beautiful with all the new paint etc. now we can start our touring in earnest.

Dream unweaver

A few years ago, not actually very long, in fact just before Herself started to get ill, she was in the process of developing a very good career. She has this wonderful rapport with children, especially those with learning problems. She was well on the way to a very successful career in special needs education & was actually two thirds of the way through a degree in that field. Unfortunately, the MoNster has put paid to all that. You see you need to be able to talk to the pupils to do any good. She has had that ability taken away from her. She also used to really enjoy volunteer work for St Johns at our local hospital Emergency department, but once again communication is paramount.

A short while ago, I spoke to her about her patchwork. See, she loves that too & she is very good at it. So we have this bedroom full of material scraps & part finished projects. I sat her down & explained that bits & pieces arent going to be any good to me. I would far rather have a beautiful patchwork quilt to cuddle up to when I am on my own than boxes of bits & pieces. She has taken this to heart, bless her, & with the aid of two sets of bookshelves that we have been given, undertaken a massive cleanup & sort out of said stuff.

But she has gone further still. With out any prompting at all from me, she has been through all her study material. I haven't said a word to her about all the paperwork, because I know what it all meant to her & what the dream of stepping up on a stage & collecting a degree meant to her. So, I know what it has meant to her to drag it all out & get it ready for me to load on the trailor & take to our refuse transfer station.

She didn't come with me to do it. I'm very glad she didn't. It was hard enough for me to throw all her dreams away. I can't begin to imagine how she felt to see it all go. I'm very proud of her.

Yesterday, we went through to Ohinemuri House in Paeroa to attend my Mum's annual assessment. Apart from an amputated big toe & chronic dementia, she is doing fine for an 87 year old. Sometimes I think that it would be nice for a while not to have to think & make descisions for others. Then a sense of responsibility kicks in & I hunker down & carry on.

Sherman is still in the fixit shops. He's running like a top apparently & the handbrake is finally fixed properly, having new cables fitted. Yesterday, he had the gas struts in the tailgate regassed. Now they wont fall down & whack us on the back of the head when we close them. That will be nice. I also had the air conditioning checked, but its beyond reasonable resurrection sadly. All thats really left to do now is finish off the paintwork. I have had flash new chrome baby West Coast mirrors fitted & damn they look good. Hopefully Thursday or Friday should see him home.

Herself has had her medication changed. She is now using patches, which provide relief for 3 days or so at a constant level, which is much better than the up & down cycle of liquid morphine & she is much happier about it. Other than that , life goes on. And on, and on, but it sure as hell beats the alternatives.

I see a little silhouetto of a man

But its not Scaramouche. My little heart leapt when someone by the name of Brian May added himself to my facebook list. But sadly its not him. Well not unless he has put on 20 or so kilo's & discovered a rejuvenation process & taken to cuddling rabbits... Sighhhhhh..

It's 7.30 AM on a wet Saturday

I did sort of have it in mind to go for a drive up the peninsula so that we can both see the last bit of it that neither of us have seen. I would sort of like to do this before we venture further afield. The only problem is that we haven't got Sherman back yet. He has moved from the service shop to the panel shop. Aside from a slight oil leak, which I would assume is from the new filter, he is AOK mechanically now. My pet mechanic will have been round & rectified that by now as he is a very conscientious young man who has been looking after our vehicles for a number of years now. I stopped in there the other day & the boys had already given Sherm's paintwork a going over with cutting compound & cut all the old faded & worn decals back. I am that impressed with the look I am going to leave it like that when they have finished. Hopefully, we will get him back Wednesday, as they still need a couple of days to do the neccessary paintwork & one or two other little jobs. All that will be left for me to do then is straighten one of the little half bumpers at the back & find a way to buff up the alloy rims.

Soon after we bought it, I had a full set of Dunlop Desert Dueler tyres fitted. They have really impressed me. They give a good ride with very little road noise & are still less than half worn, & they have covered some really hard k's. A good cleanout & cleanup of the interior will finish it off & give us a really nice vehicle for once.

They say that there are none so blind as those that cannot see & I think that applies to me. I have had a lot of people telling me that I look so much better now, that all the stress has gone out of my face & I guess thats so. It must be if they are all saying so. I thought I was doing OK. Working anywhere from 10 to 14 hours a day, the trying to care for my dearly beloved as well. Trouble is , I wasn't doing justice to either it would seem. Now that I can concentrate on doing the one thing that is the most important, I can see things a little different. My two days off were mainly spent resting, or feeling bad because I didn't have the energy to get things done that needed it. Work was spent getting angry & resentful every time they asked me to work late or do something different that took me away from Herself for an evening.

So I'm slowly getting things done. The office is nearly tidy & in the process I have found stuff that I haven't been able to find for months. The laundry actually looks like somebody loves it again & there is yet another trailor load of rubbish ready for the dump. Herself hasn't been idle either. At my encouragement, she has finally sorted her patchwork stuff into some semblance of order. She has also finished a duvet cover for our grandson. Yes you will get a pic of it on here at some stage. Its fantastic.

She is on some fairly heavy medication for her gallstones which makes her very tired & a little demanding. I am, I hope , coping relatively well with it, but do hope for both our sakes that something is done fairly soon as the extra pain is having a really bad effect on her morale. I think the biggest worry is that when they do keyhole surgery to remove the bladder, they have to inflate the stomach cavity with CO2, which pushes on the diaphragm & inhibits breathing. The one good thing is that they do the surgery at Thames Hospital now& it's only an overnight stay at worst, so hopefully it will be soon.

Meanwhile, today I think I might finish off the office & start rebluing the barrel of my trusty old .22 rifle that has been languishing for too long with rust on it. Watching the All Blacks play France tonight will be a must view. I hope they do better than last time they played them.

Nnnnyeahhhhh.......... Whats up Doc ?

Herself had another visit to the White Rabbit down the rabbit hole today. (Read doctor at the Hospital) You know the one I mean, the one that is short & tubby, wears oversize glasses & twitches his nose like a rabbit all the time.

As usual we had to update him on Herselfs condition. He didn't even know about Herselfs gall stones. To be fair, he did come up with some very constructive info with regards to gallstones & treatment of same & all in all it was a good visit. So why can I still hear the seductive sound of Jefferson Airplane with Grace Slick up front ?

!!!!!!!! WOW !!!!!!!!

This is a picture of Herself with Milton. He is young, moderately good looking & can see his feet without having to lean forward at all. You will notice that he is being moderately familiar with Herself.. But I don't mind..

You see, Milton flies the big yellow Harvard in the background. This is Herself in the back seat of said yellow Harvard, with Milton sorting out all that stuff that pilots sort out before they go flying..

Milton then proceeded to take Herself out over the sea & really put the Harvard through its pace with a full display of aerobaticsShe had a blast.


Pretty cool huh ? Thanks to Morty's son Adam, Herself got round 20 minutes of absolute joy & bliss in the air. Young Adz arranged all this on his own initiative & then came home & worried that he might have done the wrong thing. Not much chance of that my friend. You did a really great thing there. We are home now, but I don't think Herself's undercarriage has touched the ground yet.



This is what happens when you try & land a Yak in a sand trap at the municipal golf course. It doesn't work & the green fees are a bastard This all happened when Milton & Herself were on final approach. The engine stopped in the Yak & he had to set it down fairly hard. From the look of it, some very serious damage has been done, which is very sad. It occasioned a minute or two of worry, as the siren went & the crash tender went racing off down the field as Milton & Jude were landing.

All in all, we had a wonderful weekend. Thank you Adam, Thank you Morty for your hospitality & especially thank you to Milton, who gave a lovely lady the experience of a life time, but I'm not jealous... Well, maybe just a little but... OK,, lots...........

There's gonna be a resolution...

Well, I did make one when I finished work. I decided that I was going to set myself tasks to do every day, to give me an incentive to get out of bed & get going every day. This I have consistently done. there is only one problem with this. More times than not, what i set myself, & what I actually DO very seldom seem to correspond. Today was a good case in point. I decided that today was a good day to finally strip the vege garden out, do a bit of weeding & a load or two of compost from the tip & maybe a few winter vege's in, then if there was time, a tidy up of the garden around the Beech tree & finally Herself's new roses planted as a border.

Instead, I cranked up the leaf blower & had a real groovy time chasing all the Autumn leaves out of the courtyard. it looks a lot better now. In the process, I checked one of my compost bins & found that it has rotted down nicely & as it's only a shovel swing away from the garden round the Beech tree, I have mentally earmarked it as a nice bonus for the roses, when i finally plant them. i also spoke to my mechanic. We decided between us that it would be as well to strip Sherman's injectors out to be tested as they have probably been there without any attention since Shermy left the factory. Just as well we did as they are a bit sad, so they are away being reconditioned. So thats about another week with no Sherman.

Then I tried to wash Jude's car. I say tried, because with all this cold weather, the hose finally called it quits. There was that much water leaking from it that all there was coming out the nozzle was a pathetic dribble. meantime, herself decided that she needed a shampoo & blow wave, so we organised that & went down town. While she was having that done, I went & had some old lotto tickets checked. Sorry, no winning ones. Then I went & swapped a casto that was wrong when we bought a new office chair & had a gossip with one of the girls there that I know. Then I went to the Red Shed, bought a new garden hose & had another gossip with another girl I know. Then I went to the florist, bought a nice little posy of flowers for Herself & had another little gossip. By that time herself was ready, so I collected her & we came home.

After I swapped all the fittings over to the new hose, swore at the bits that broke because I tightened them too much & hunted down replacements, I washed Herself's car. By that time, I had to fill the wood basket then come inside & start getting dinner ready. (Pork fried rice if you really must know) & that was my day.

Tomorrow, we are going on a shopping foray to Auckland. You see, we are going down to Tauranga on Saturday, so we need to stock up on some delly goodies & raid our favourite shop for chicken carcasses. We can get them cheaper there than Morty can in Tauranga, & Nushie just LOVES chicken carcasses. We getting all excited about our trip to Tauranga & Herself's treat has been expanded to the point where it is close to being one of those impossible dreams that we all have on our bucket list, but I'm not telling you anything until after the event. Spoilsport aren't I ?

Well, thats about it. The roses still arent planted, the compost isn't moved, the vege garden still isn't done, but damn I've been busy. I'm starting to get back some of the energy that i have lost over the years of working such long hours & now instead of crashing for the day, am looking about for stuff to do. Herself is still suffering the effects of the gallstones & being who she is keeps saying she is OK, but the lines on her face & the little whimpering noises she makes when she is asleep say different. Between that & my snoring, its no wonder the Ginger Ninja's have taken to sleeping in the lounge.

And the lion shall lay down with the lamb

We've had a few cold nights recently. In fact, we actually had quite a respectable frost this morning. It was a beautiful morning, crystal clear & crisp & clean. We've had a productive day in a lot of respects. Herself stayed home & puddled about in the end bedroom, sorting out all her patchwork bits & pieces, having been given a couple of bookshelves to stack them on.

I went out & had a chat with our mechanic who is doing a heap of long overdue preventative maintenance. I really went down there to give him a clandestine cuddle in case he is missing us. He gets nervous if he's out of our sight too long you know. Not that i was feeling guilty about Herself sorting stuff out, but I actually got my workbench looking as though somebody loves it. That among a few other things.

Herself is feeling the cold quite badly this winter & her gallstones are giving her hell at the moment. The fire hasn't gone out for over a week now. As you might guess, competition for pole position in front of the fire is pretty fierce, with me having to rescue one cat because the other one was lying on top of it. We finally conceded defeat & paid good money for another basket, but neither of them condescended to actually use it until tonight. Herself had brought the old Noodle Pooch's bedroom mattress out in front of the fire to air. This is a pic of the three of them in their respective beds.

I think you can figure out who the lions are in this picture for yourself, can't you ?