Stevie Ray Vaughan & Me

I turned over the vege garden this afternoon. There is something very satisfying about turning over a garden when the soil is rich & friable. Its even more satisfying when you know that the soil id that way because of your own efforts. When we moved in, it wasn't a good garden at all. The soil was all puggy, heavy & a lot of clay. Over the years that we have been here, I have invested a lot of time & effort into that dirt. All the fish gut gets buried there for a start. I have lost track of how many trailor loads of mulch that I have brought back from the dump & dug into it. Also, I have put a lot of compost from our own bins into it as well.

It's paid off. We now have this garden that is nice light black soil. The layer of clay has broken down into a lovely sandy loam, that aerates the soil nicely. It is all absolutely swarming with worms as well. Herself came out & planted some cabbages & tomato plants. Not as many as she has in the past, though I have no doubt that more will follow. It was a nice afternoon to be doing it as well. Sunny, but not opressively hot.

So what part did Stevie Ray play in all this ? Well, him & Double Trouble provided the entertainment. Work like that always goes a lot better with some laid back music to listen to. Its almost as good as the cold beer afterwards...

The next exciting episode....

Sad, but true, there will be a slight hiatus in the continuing saga after this episode. Hawkeye's puter has packed a big sad & is currently in the computer hospital. I did try to tell him not to take the concept of punching information into it QUITE so literally, but...........

The saga continues.....

Actually, Hawkeye has now settled down & is being relatively truthful. Read on, gentle reader..........

I publish these with the rider that I make no veracity as to the authenticity or truthfulness of the narrative. If you click on the images, they will expand to a readable size. When you read them, please remember that they are writ by an ex fireman renowned for mendacity & the extension to near breaking point of the truth. In seriousness, its all a bit of fun. Enjoy...

Thus far have I come...

On our way back, we stopped in at Kaiwaka & found the cemetery where my great great grandmother, Ann Leslie, nee Bairnson is buried. A remarkable lady, who came here from the Shetland Islands in the mid 1800's & settled at Kaiwaka. This a picture of her headstone. We did see the grave some 20 years ago at a family reunion, but the new stone hadn't been installed then. We both found it a very poignant experience to be there on our own...

And Herself wonders where the stubborn streak comes from....

We knocked the bugger off

Herself is healing very nicely post op with the gall bladder thing & we were getting somewhat bored sitting around home staring at each other. Its not that we are sick of the sight of each other or anything you understand, its just that we have been doing a fair to middling bit of it lately & felt like a change, so a change we had.

Tuesday, we loaded Sherman with our worldlies, ( well, as much of them as we needed for a week or so anyway,) & headed north. Well, as far as Waipu anyway. A very dear friend of ours has this amazing place that her & her husband have created on 10 acres of beautiful land. THIS is it. No point in me raving on about it. Just go look at the pictures. Grant & Annette spoilt us rotten & we had a lovely time catching up on whats been happening in our respective worlds & exploring the area. Herself added to her experiences by going for a paddle in a kayak. I couldnt get my fat ass into one, so elected to puddle along behind in the little plastic dinghy. We went across the estuary & went for a walk along a totally deserted stretch of beautiful ocean beach. Lovely. Herself & I also got to see our first native Kaka in the wild in some trees on another patch of land that Annette owns.

This is what they look like. One of our few native parrots, & they are beautiful in the wild. There are 4 of them there, & it would be reasonable to assume that they were blown over to the mainland from Little Barrier Island where there is a reasonably large colony of them. They are very inquisitive & will actually come down & talk to you.


From there, we headed yet further North. Kaikohe in fact, to spend a couple of nights there with my old Fire Brigade buddy, Hawkeye. He generously agreed to accompany us to Cape Reinga, the most northerly part of New Zealand accessible to the general public. It's a long drive up there & I really didn't want to put Sherman on the beach, so we went by road. For those that don't know, Te Reinga is where the Tasman & the Pacific oceans meet at the top of NZ & it can be very dramatic. It is also a very important place spiritually to the Maori, as this picture shows.

Their belief is that this is where their spirits come to so that they can start their journey to the underworld. Standing there, it is very easy to believe it. This is the point mentioned in the previous pic Its all very dark & broody.
This is Herself standing in front of the sign that shows how far it is to all sorts of places. Its sort of obligatory to take this pic.



This is what it looks like where two oceans meet. Its very hard to do it justice. It was a relatively calm day up there, but it still looked like a washing machine with about 8 or 9 foot swells running


Cape Maria Van Deiman, named after the wife of an early Dutch explorer is just around the corner on the Tasman side. Its a lovely spot, but the day we were there , the wind was blowing quite steadily into the bay. It would not be a good place to be in a sailing ship. There is no way to get out of it. The end would be quite inevitable.

Anyway, so ends the first part of our travels. As we have already been to New Plymouth & Wellington, that only leaves the East Cape to go & we have covered all 4 extremities of the North Island. All up, we covered just over 1000 km's & enjoyed every inch of them. More later...

Peace Love & Mud

Well rock on.. Today is the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. THE Woodstock. I didn't go to it. I would have liked to though. Don't know if I could have stood it or not. Half a million is a lot of groovy people. To quote Wikipedia...


Woodstock Music & Art Fair (informally, Woodstock or The Woodstock Festival) was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition", held at Max Yasgur's 600 acre (2.4 km²; 240 ha, 0.94 mi²) dairy farm in the rural town of Bethel, New York from August 15 to August 18, 1969. Bethel, in Sullivan County, is 43 miles (69 km) southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, in adjoining Ulster County.

Thirty-two acts performed during the sometimes rainy weekend in front of nearly half a million concertgoers. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest moments in popular music history and was listed on Rolling Stone's 50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock and Roll.

So Sayeth Wikipedia. I'm gonna put this clip in (a) because I like the song, & (b) because the video with it typifies the whole Woodstock thing, (c) because I really dig Arlo Guthry, & (c) I dont remember, so rock on.........

RIP Michael Jackson

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know its a while ago now since he died, but I just found this on Youtube & I HAD to share it with you. Its probably about the funniest 4 minutes that I have watched in a while...


In other news, Herself's youngest son is coming down for the weekend & we are hopeful that her daughter will come as well & bring the grandchildren. Will keep ya posted. Meanwhile, enjoy...

Pilgrim's Progress

The last few days have been overwhelming. So many people contacting us with kind wishes. On behalf of Herself & I thank you all. She is improving nicely day to day. The hardest thing I guess, is that she has to further restrict an already restricted diet. We have to get used to a new low fat diet as well now. Still, I had a brainwave yesterday. The freezer cabinets at the supermarket have quite a range of prepackaged weight watcher meals, so we have stocked the freezer with them. I felt for her at lunchtime today though, when I was eating a salad, which she used to really enjoy & now can't. She burst into tears. Not good.

I'm actually trying to lose weight. I have put on quite a bit since I quit work. You dont need to know how much, but its too much. So I have to eat salad & stuff. I have finally realised that I dont need to eat as much as I used to. Putting this in to practise isnt easy though.

Reality is biting a bit for us both in the dietary department I guess. Anyway, she is improving nicely & hopefully it won't be too long before we can start tripping around the place. She has 4 small cuts on her tum that didn't even require stitches, so apart from being a bit tender, she is progressing well. Once again thank you everybody for your love & concern.

Let there be light

Indeed.. The good news is that Herself has come through her op with flying colours. She went up to surgery at Thames Hospital at 1.00 pm this afternoon, was down at the ward by 3.00, sitting up at 3.30, after a coffee by 4.00, eating a meal & changing into her own PJ's by 6.00.

I must admit to being greatly relieved that it's all over. She is still a bit uncomfortable, but the surgeons were able to do the op using keyhole surgery, so all she has is 4 small cuts about an inch long each, so hopefully she will bounce back quickly. I can't thank you all enough for your kind wishes & thoughts. Believe me it means a lot to us both. Hopefully, we will be on the road soon. Once again, thankyou

Coffee & Confessions

I went out for coffee with a very nice young lady last week. Just me & her. We talked for about 3 hours or so. She is the support lady for the Motor Neurone Society. I have never had a lot of time for so called "Support" people. It has been my experience in the past that they are mostly concerned with looking fashionable than helping. This particular lady is a treasure though. I must admit that I wondered to myself at the time about the value of going & talking to her, I thought that I had things fairly well sorted out in my head. Well,without seeming to poke or pry, she managed to get me to talk about all manner of deeply personal things that I haven't even thought about myself for a long time, let alone discussed with anybody.

Its taken me a while to come to terms with this & I don't think that I have sorted out quite yet where it all fits inside my head yet. I've deliberately kept myself busy since, only taking out little bits here & there to think about. Phil came down this weekend to see his mum. That was good for the both of them. I sort of tried to keep out of the way as much as I could to give them time together. They both need that at this point.

Herself goes into Thames Hospital for her gallbladder surgery tomorrow. She is looking forward to it & I don't blame her. It will be so good for her to be free of the nagging constant pain at last. As for me, I'm not sure , but I think for some reason at the moment that I have a mix of hopelessness & quiet desperation. There is so much I want to do for & with her, but every time we try, some obstacle rears its ugly head yet again. Heres hoping that this is the last of it & that there is only the quality time ahead that she so richly deserves.

Well, thats about it. I'll keep you all informed as to how things go. Have a good week OK ?

On Black Humour

I love it especially when its subtle. I was watching a British sitcom called "Not Going Out" with Herself tonight. This episode was centered around one of the actors, Tim, played by Tim Vine's Gran dying. The quip in question occurred at Gran's after funeral gathering. It was so subtle that Herself missed it completely. To appreciate it, you have to know that Tim's sidekick, Lee, has a joke for every occasion. In this particular bit, Tim had just been bought another in a long running gag bits, a glass of Creme de Menthe. About the 10th of his afternoon. Something was said about it & he replied, "No,no. I'm just here to toast Gran." He then turned very quickly to his friend & said,"And NO cremation jokes from YOU either."

I just about soiled myself laughing. Herself sat & looked at me with that look on her face that sort of said,"Hmmmm... Should I get the gun now or later.." When I had calmed down enough to explain it to her, she still didn't find it particularly funny. I guess that under the circumstances I can forgive her. I still think its a very clever , very funny throw away gag though...

Oh yeah !

If you have nothing better to do, go & vote for my entry in the Can has cheese burgers page. Its here. http://cheezburger.com/view.aspx?ciid=4884183 Your vote would be much appreciated. The pic actually is one of my cats, Tiggerpuss, chasing the cursor on the screen. Its her new thing & I couldn't resist the pic. Ta muchly

Thunderbirds are GO

Yep its all systems go for next Tuesday. After an appointment with the anaethistist, (Picture below) & much humming & hahhing & much consultations of notes & files & stuff &
expeditions up & down two flights of stars which left him as out of breath as Herself & a phone call to Waikato Hospital to consult with a colleague there accompanied by more humming & hahhing, he decided that it was a safe bet to go ahead & do Herself's colysistectomy at Thames. (Thats gallbladder taking out to you non latin types) He really didn't have much choice in the matter. Everyone from the surgeon on down to the toilet cleaner probably would have lynched him if he had decided otherwise. He is actually a very nice, caring sort of guy, as are all of the staff up there. The place is a lot less clinical & a lot more friendly than the big hospitals. Even so, its a bit discombobulating sitting there talking to a very hirsute individual clad in jeans tee shirt & steelcap slip on work boots. He looks like he would be more at home up the back paddock fixing a fence or two. But he obviously knows his job or he wouldn't be there. We trust him anyway.

I got the lawns mowed today..

Which is probably a good thing, because its now persisting down quite heavy with rain. The young chap building the house next door is doing me a big favour. He is giving me all his offcuts from building his house as firewood.Well, I thought they were firewood right up to the point where herself saw one particular lot & decided that they would make good garden edging. I suppose she is right really. They are after all tanalised timber to ground retention status, they are all the same length, they are all the same part round shape as the bits you see all wired & stapled together at the garden shop & I do own a hammer, staples & a roll of wire. The only bugger of it is that I will have to put it all together & make it look pretty. Oh! i will actually have to motivate myself to buy some builders mix & actually (gasp shudder) make concrete. If I don't, then because of the nicely scalloped shape of the edging, weeds will grow & you just KNOW who will end up doing the weeding.

We went to a funeral yesterday. It was one of my cousins on my Mum's side. She suffered the family curse in the form of Alzheimers for a number of years. It was a happy funeral. The family are all committed God Botherers, so there was plenty of "safe in the arms of Jesus" talk, which I guess is OK if you hold with it & it gives you comfort. I'm a great believer in whatever floats your boat, as long as you don't try to ram it down my neck. Anyway, it was good because it gave me a chance to catch up with my most favourite cousin of all. Shirley. She is in her 80's, doesn't look it, has a wonderful outlook on life & would be one of the few folk that I know of that can actually get away with wearing a red scarf to a funeral. She really is a wonderful tonic. On the way home, we stopped in & had a cuppa with Jude's big brother. Him & his lovely wife really looked after me when I stayed there when herself was in hospital & I always think its nice to call on people like that sometimes because you want to see them, not because you need a favour from them.

Herself is going to do some patchwork with her best mate tomorrow. I did idly entertain the though of going fishing, but the weather is starting to look like a sock full of cold porridge. will probably just mooch about the house & maybe collect a bit more wood from next door. Wednesday, we have a very important appointment at the hospital in Thames. We find out then if the anaethistist is prepared to accept the responsibility of supervising the removal of Herself's gall bladder on the 11th August. If not, then its more time at Waikato.

Thursday, I am going for coffee with the nice lady from the Motor Neuron disease support group. Just her & I in Paeroa. I must admit to feeling a touch strange about it, but it will give me a chance I guess to talk about things that I am a little reluctant to when Herself is round.

All in all, a busy week ahead. I might even find some time to wrestle with wires hammers & staples. Anything is possible I guess.

Nasdrovia

Or something like that. basically,"Gidday " in Russian. I have found a new way to waste time on the interweb thingy. Here it is... http://englishrussia.com/ go have a look. Its fascinating. The latest offering there is a tour of the Baikonur Cosmodrome when it was still run by the Soviets. Whoever took the pictures risked a lot, as the place was very much still top secret. If, like me, you are a fan of Tom Clancy et al, then there is also a photographic tour through a Typhoon class Russian pigboat there. Damn they're big, but very little room inside. There is also a set of photo's on the Kursk, the pigboat that sunk with all hands. What a mess. There are thousands of links in there. all sorts of subjects, all absolutely fascinating. Go have a look.

We are off to a funeral at Hamilton today. One of my cousins on my Mum's side. Its a blessed relief for her really. She had the dread curse that seems to go with that particular line. Alzheimers. She was 83. As Alzheimers & Dementia seem to run inthe family on both sides, I have , strange to say, been giving a certain amount of thought to the subtle nuances involved in both diseases. I mean, what happens to YOU when you reach the advanced stages. We all know that the body lives on like some form of surrealistic zombie, but what happens to your consciousness ? Do you drift on in some form of semi aware state, where you come briefly aware for short times that you are no longer responsible for your body ? Or do you go to some form of cosmic holding area & wait for your corporeal self to realise that the driver is no longer at the wheel & finally let go. I don't know. There are all sorts of wierd possibilities here. I just hope I never get the chance to find out.

The funeral is at 1 pm at the crematorium. Herself & I are going to leave home early so that we can have a leisurely lunch at Morrinsville on the way over. It will be good to catch up with the rest of the cuzzies anyway. We aren't that close a family, so a funeral is as good an excuse for a get together & a chat as anything. Even if it is somewhere as coldly impersonal as the crematorium chapel..