Busy As

Sorry I haven't been here much, but I've been busy. What started out as a fairly leisurely sort of year has accelerated at a frightening pace. Its nearly half over & yet again , there are so many things that I haven't done yet. One thing has happened though that I am very proud of. My blog entry entitled "walking the line" has been published in the regional MN society newsletter & National headquarters has asked permission to publish it in the national news letter. I'm happy about that. If someone else in similar circumstances can draw solace from it, then I will be happy.

We had a week up North with some very dear friends last week. This is the view from the lounge of the apartment at Paihia that we stayed in..
Pretty awesome huh? From there, we got to see all sorts of beautiful boats & people up paragliding. Grant & Annette spoiled us rotten & it was lovely to have a few days away from responsibility & decision making. We took our boat up with us & had a lovely day exploring the harbour. Grant & Annette also took us over on the car ferry & gave us the Cooks tour of Russell. So amazing to actually be in a place where so much history happened. The only slight disappointment was that some individuals decided they needed our fishing gear more than we did & helped themselves to it by dark of night. Always assuming that you are literate & may someday actually READ this, may the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits for eternity. You have cast a blemish on a place that is just absolutely entrancing & are now in possession of a treasured rod & reel that was bought for me as a present by my darling wife more years ago than I care to remember.

So we are home. It's a bit of a shambles here at the moment, because this is happening.



Hopefully it wont be like this much longer. The cabinets are as finished as they can be, the dishwasher is sitting in the lounge, the vinyl is going down tomorrow & Friday & I have finally finished all the damn painting... YES !!!! Now I can finally start to catch up on all the things that have been neglected since we started creating this monster, like lawns, firewood, gardening, weeding, compost..........

Welcome To Our World...

Alexander Laurence Leslie. Born today by Caesarian section, 2010gms. A beautiful wee grandson, proud parents, proud Grandad....... Yeah.....

Thoughts on interior decorating

I can now understand wht Adolf Hitler gave up interior decorating in favour of world domination. It has to be an easier call. We are in the throes of redecorating & rebuilding our kitchen, with the ultimate aim of getting a dishwasher installed. our present kitchen is a totally impractical layout with very little storage, so the design is being very radically changed. We are going from a somewhat hodgepodge arrangement of blue, white, brown & varnished pine to a nice clean black & white layout.

This is very nice, but it involves extensive use of paint brushes & other interior decorating tools that I'm not enthusiastic about. I wasn't all that thrilled about the tearing up of vinyl bit either. I don't mind the odd bit of tinkering about with carpentry that is needed & we will be away for the duration of the actual installation process. Once that is done, all that will be needed is the new vinyl laying. Then will come the discussion/negotiation/arguing about where everything goes & what to keep & what to heave..

I've got to go now. My troops are waiting. They say they won't go into Poland without me being there.....

We've got rain.

Good heavy down splattery chase the leaves down the gutter soak into the garden & do the plants good put a raincoat on rain. Boy do we need it. We have had spits & spats of it with the first real rain on Thursday night. Fattums our little ginger lady cat came in all excited, soaked to the hide to tell me about it... "dad, Dad, it's raining dad, come outside & sit on the lawn with me & get wet dad." She does so love the rain.

Meanwhile we have had a very successful garage sale. I am very proud of my little darling. She has finally accepted that she isn't going to be doing any bottling again any time soon & has let me sell all of her beloved preserving jars. It wasn't an easy call for her. She stayed inside till they were all gone. I felt sad for her, but relieved to be able to free the space up in the garage.

Walking the line

It's been 12 months near as dammit since I made a totally irrevocable decision with regards to my life. It was May last year that I took the incredibly big plunge & handed in my notice for my driving job. I don't consider myself unemployed though. I have become a full time carer for my darling wife Judith, who now has Motor Neuron Disease in the form of Pseudo Bulbar Palsey. It has & still does take a lot of getting used to. Its not easy not hearing her say, "I love you" any more. Its not easy seeing someone who loves embroidery & patchwork not able to do her own bra strap up any more. & it's not easy seeing someone who used to be able to haul in a 5 lb snapper have to use both hands to lift 2 liters of milk.

There are a lot of things that aren't easy about it. Some people seem to think that because she can't speak, she can't hear & is mentally impaired as well & I include some health care professionals here. Early on in our voyage down our particular path, we had a well meaning spiritually inclined friend say to her, "oooh, spirit must want you really badly to do something like that to you.." personally, my pet dislikes are, "oooh, I don't know how you cope." Well, I got news for you. I don't know how I cope either. "Ooooh, I've been through that & I know what you have ahead & its not easy." I know that, but then again neither is bringing up children easy, but you grow into it. You have 9 months to get used to this amorphous expanding lump that slowly but subtely takes over your life. When it's born, the take over is a lot less subtle & a lot more accelerated. I see MND as being something similar.

It starts off as something innocuous, in our case a visit to the doctor regarding shortness of breath & has grown from there. As the symptoms increased, so to did our range of illnesses to choose from. By the time that a concrete diagnosis was first given, we both knew in our heart of hearts that this was serious & that there wasn't going to be any sort of quick fix. I remember vividly going to work the day after I read about what she had & what it involved. I remember trying to tell my Boss about it & bursting into soul wracking sobs as the reality finally sunk in.

A new friend that I have made on line who lost her Mum to MND gave me possibly the best piece of advice I have been given. Don't waste time grieving now. Celebrate & live every day that you have together. Grieving can come later. I guess that if you knew the harsh realities of what drastic changes having a new born babe in your life was going to make, you would possibly have somewhat more serious thoughts about having one. You look at a parent changing a crappy nappy & think, "Yuck, I couldn't do that." Somehow when the time comes & it's your own flesh & blood, you do it without a thought.

Just so with someone you love that has been diagnosed with a progressive illness. I don't actually want to know the gory details of what will happen in the future. I'm too busy living today. I do know that my darling is going to become more & more dependent on my help as time passes. I do know that I will be able to cope with it when I have to. I know this because I have coped thus far. I feel for the partners of people who wake up next to a heart attack or a stroke victim. They have to learn to cope with it in one rather nasty lump. At least we are growing into this disease together. Yes, I do still wake at 3.00 in the morning absolutely terrified & have to get up & do stuff to take my mind off it. Yes, I do still wallow in a mutual form of self pity thinking,"Why us?" But I get over it.

From somewhere inside I find what I need to get out of bed every morning & do what I have to do every day. So don't pity me, or tell me how hard it's going to be in the near future. I don't need that. What I do need is a pat on the shoulder & a reassurance that I'm doing a good job. Don't get me wrong here, I do get plenty of that, but the moral support from it is amazing. I used to be surprised at people asking me how I was coping, but not any more. There are a lot of wonderful people out there who genuinely do care, both in & out of the Health Sector. I guess like anything, if people see you genuinely trying, they will offer help.

Where is all this leading ? I'm not really sure. If you are a victim or caregiver, this may strike a chord with you somewhere. Take heart & remember that for every well intentioned bungler, there are10 or more out there who will give you what you need. My first father in law was an ex air force armourer. They had a dog Latin motto for their unit that read,"Nil Bastidium Carborundum." Meaning ? Don't let the bastards grind you down.

Quack Quack....

Judging by the lack of gunfire the last couple of mornings, I would say that the ducks are well ahead on points so far this season. The weather has been absolutely beautiful so far. Okay, so we had a bit of rain later on Saturday morning that produced a frenzied bout of shooting from the river, but all in all, I think the ducks are well ahead on points so far, which pleases me. Yes, I've heard the arguments that they need to be culled at least once a year, but I still prefer to see parents with their children feeding them at the little reserve just along the road from home. They don't taste that good anyway. The ducks that is, not the children.

When we lived down the coast at Waiomu, we used to have an old Mama Duck that used to bring her clutch of ducklings over the road from the camping ground every year to meet us. She would sit back a bit & let us feed her babies with bread soaked in water which they would eat from your hand. I only ever succumbed to temptation once & picked one up. The mothers distress was considerable & culminated in her beating my legs with her wings & doing her very best to peck me with her somewhat blunt beak. I put the little one down very carefully & gave Mum a nice bit of bread to soothe her ruffled feathers.

Yes, I like ducks. They always remind me of the words that my Mother put in my autograph book. (Remember those?) They were quite the craze for a while when I was at school. I guess facebook & twitter & co., have supplanted them somewhat. I don't know what happened to my autograph book. I rather suspect that it submerged somewhere along the line in the detritus of a life marked by countless moves & a marriage breakup. I had the odd good signature in it too. Anyway, what my Mum wrote in it was this... "Jamie, always behave like the duck. Keep calm & unruffled on the surface, but paddle really hard underneath."

Lest We Forget

Lets not forget it wasn't only World War 1. God rest the boys that died this morning in an old Iroquios. One of the ones you see in Only 19. Yep thats how old they are. My heart goes out to their families

Full Steam Ahead

We've had a busy couple of weeks. Well, that's my excuse anyway & I'm sticking to it. For the first time probably ever , Jude & I spent Easter apart. I had some work to do for a dear friend that she couldn't help me with, so she went up to Auckland & spent some wonderful quality time with her children & grand children while I did what I had to do & went up Tuesday to overnight & collect her. Which brings me to my first animal observation. Her daughter has a small back Shi Tzu puppy. he is a bit of a disappointment to them as he isn't the lap dog they wanted. If Kobe lies down with his head on your foot then you are indeed privileged. So the little chap has developed an affection for Jude. Just loves her in fact. Loves her so much that nobody got any sleep til about 4.00 Am on the Tuesday night. In the end, we brought him into our bedroom & put him up on our bed. He promptly snuggled up to Jude & happily went to sleep. Strange indeed are the workings of a small canine brain.



This weekend gone we spent in Waikato Hospital. Jude got kitted up for a VPAP machine. It looks a little like one of those budget bagless vacuum cleaners that a certain red chainstore sell. I would guess that it's probably worth substantialy more though. She now wears a mask to bed that provides a slightly pressurised supply of humidified air to her that is available on demand. Once she gets used to it, her sleep will be a lot more refreshing than it has been. For some time now, her breathing has been very laboured & she has had to sleep more than usual to get her rest. The difference in her respiration so far is remarkable.

Which leads me to my second animal story. This is Fattums, one of the Ginger Ninja's performing her latest self imposed duties.

She has taken it upon herself every night now to supervise Jude when she goes to sleep. While Jude is reading or watching TV she will curl up at the foot of the bed very patiently. As soon as Jude makes her go to sleep preparations, she comes up & sits on the pillow. There she will stay until she is satisfied that her precious Mummy is asleep. Then she quietly goes off back down to the foot of the bed & goes to sleep. This worked fine right up till the first night Jude used the VPAP. Then it was, " OMIGOD MUMMY YOU'VE GOT AN OCTOPUS ON YOUR FACE..... GETITOFF GETITOFF GETITOFF I DON'T LIKE IT, MAKE IT GO AWAY...." Up until last night that is. You see the mask has a vent on one side as a combination exhalation valve & excess air vent. There is a reasonable strong current of nice cool hydrated air comes out of it. So what did I see? One little ginger cat sitting up on the pillow with her head in the airflow obviously enjoying the fresh air. A bit like having your head out the car window without all the stress & trauma of having to actually go in the beastly thing I guess.

This is a picture of Jude's flash new toy.
Pretty flash Huh? Pat Simpson, our guardian angel come Neurology Nurse also arranged consultations with all sorts of ologists & icians while we were there so we have come away with fresh optimism & abilities to cope with things like diet & such. So onwards & upwards I guess..

Clap for the Wolfman

More years ago than I really care to recall, I used to go , in company with a select group of friends, every Friday night at 11.00pm to one of the local movie houses. They used to screen "The Friday Night Horrors." We used to thoroughly enjoy them. lovely old moody black & whites with the emphasis on various & sundry creatures of the night in different combinations of rivalry, with a lot of Lon Chaney thrown in. There was always the good old Christopher Lee/Peter Cushing combo from the Hammer stable. And don't forget good old Vincent Price at his abominable best in the Dr. Phibes series & various others. Wonderful stuff to grow up with.

Herself & I went to the movies tonight. We went to see Wolf Man. I was sort of expecting a grand spectacle with the emphasis on special effects & not a great deal of story. I was pleasantly surprised. It was a damn good story with a good solid plot. Couple this with the intense acting we have come to expect from Anthony Hopkins ably supported by a very good cast. Yeah sure, there were the obligatory chiropracticly impossible bone stretching scenes that made you wince to watch, but then, they have been around in Wolf man movies ever since they were made. Good use was made of the quick glimpse that didn't really show you much followed by an incredibly swift taloned claw/hand dismembering the current victim.

Also notable was a spine chilling scene set in a Lunatic Asylum, complete with a bald cackling assistant, duckings into baths full of ice cold water, straight jackets, chains on the walls, the whole nine yards. So yeah, its clap for the Wolfman, as Guess Who recorded. Its a top movie, done with a lot of respect to the genre. We enjoyed it immensely. Go see it for yourself & see what I mean..

Autumn's golden gown

I love those words. They are a quote from the track "Forever Autumn," from Jeff Wayne's musical War of the Worlds. It's a track that for various reasons becomes more & more evocative as time passes. Look up the lyrics & you will see what I mean. Either that, or just watch this clip. This is Justin Hayward & the visuals are what we saw at the War of the Worlds stage show. It makes me cry every time i hear it.



But I do love Autumn. its a stately time of year. its a time when the air is cool enough & the ground is usually dry enough to get things done. I have been busy. I actually feel rested enough & confident enough to get things done. So far, I have rebuilt the front door & made a damn good start on the concreting that needs doing round the place. Ok, its not real major stuff, but its achieving goals that I have set myself & not has the self confidence to do, so they represent major steps forward for me, so i am proud of what I have done. here is the front door all finished.




















I have replaced the main lock with a new digital one that is much easier for Herself to manage & also a lever handle for the other one. Is a lot easier for her. Found a nice door knocker for a bit of contrast too. What do you think ?

P.S.

I think the following link says what needs to be said on this subject... http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10633589 And thats all I'm going to say about that..

Editorial

I read with a certain amount of trepidation the verdict on a certain high profile trial here in good old New Zealand. last year 3 so called "protesters" cut through a mesh security fence & slashed a protective plastic inflatable dome over a radar installation at a place in the South Island called Waihopai. Conspiracy theorists would have us believe that the whole deal is a secret spy base for the Americans. I know, & it's fairly common knowledge that it is owned by the Americans, but just what theyu are actually spying on is open to conjecture. I mean, there isn't really a lot down here when you look at it. As for the possibility that the installation have some arcane & sinister purpose that endangers the average Kiwi, well I have my doubts. Lets just say I don't feel moved to make a pilgrimage to damage said installation.

Enter stage left our hirsute & rather unkempt trio of so called demonstrators, do gooders who took it upon themselves to represent the rest of New Zealand in what proved to be a protest that was pointless & destructive albeit extremely well publicised. The only thing that this twinky trio of refugee geriatric hippies had going for them was the fact that they freely admit to their guilt.

So guilty as charged on the counts of wilful damage & trespass huh ? Not so simple. You see, it was a jury trial. Guess what or 12 good men & true decided? Not a guilty verdict as you may think, but because they "honestly believed in what they were doing," they were found not guilty. Now it doesn't take much of a legal beagle to see the implications here. Even a worn out old stay at home trucky like myself can see it. Sure the admonition has been made not to see this as a possible precedent & the justice department is thinking about appealing the verdict, but the implications scare me.

Honestly believing in what you are doing opens all sorts of possibilities. lets face it. Hitler, Bin Laden, Mugabe, Saddam Hussein, even Attila the Hun for god sake, all believed in what they were & are doing. Can I now go get drunk & drive a motor vehicle because I honestly believe in what I am doing? I really don't fancy my chances much, do you ?

OTHER NEWS...

In other news, i think the herbal sleeping tablets are starting to kick in. I'm sleeping better & longer now & feeling like I can actually accomplish something worthwhile in my day. Herself had a lovely pamper treatment at the local beauty clinic yesterday & we both had a wonderful massage today. Have a good weekend & enjoy the cooler weather,

Someone left a Cake out..

OK, it wasn't raining & it wasn't Mac Arthur Park either, but someone definitely left a cake out. We found it when we got home yesterday. There it was in all its glory around the back of the garage. No idea who left it, or how long it had been there. An hour or so & a phone call later, the mystery was solved. You see, last weekend I did a favour for a friend. Her Mum had just been givena replacement video for her old one. She thinks watching TV in the afternoon is a little decadent, so she tapes all her favourite shows & watches them in the evenings when "there is nothing else on to watch." Go figure.

Anyway, the whole family is a bit technologically challenged, so me being an electronics genius ( stop laughing) I was asked if I would mind popping round & tuning the video & telly in with each other. I didn't mind. Maisy is one of those delightful people who just ooze goodness in a wonderful way & so is her daughter. We have been friends with her daughter a number of years. Herself first met Min through Keep Thames beautiful & they have stayed good friends since. So as I say, I didn't mind doing it. The whole family have been very supportive to us in tough times, so it was a small thing to do.

Anyway, as I said, I got a phone call. It was from Maisy. She had dropped the cake round just to say "thank you." She didn't have to & she knew full well that I didn't expect anything. That's just Maisy's nature. It was a lovely thing to do & much appreciated by us both.

Isn't it wonderful that there are still folk like this in the world. It's sad that their efforts go largely unheralded & unrecognised. I nearly said unrewarded, but changed my mind. Rewards, apart from spiritual, are the last thing on their minds when they do for others. We have endured the questionable antics of our wonderful "Bishop Brian" in the media lately. It's kind of difficult to get away from the allegations of avarice that spew forth from the media daily. Its very evident, to me anyway, that the only thing he is in it for is the money, quite happy to strip cash from families on low income. An EFTPOS machine in the church foyer ? Come on.

I watched Jamie Oliver's American Road trip with interest on Friday night . he was in the deep south, specifically Georgia. He stopped the night in a trailor park & went out to fraternise with the local rednecks that live there. Not exactly the deep end of the genetic pool. It shocked him deeply to find out that there are still folk down there that use the word "Nigger" & mean it. In contrast, he went to a service at one of the evangelical churches of the genre usually preferred by those of African American Heritage. Aside from the music, which I absolutely love, what a contrast. There the emphasis is all about helping those in the congregation more needy than yourself. And lets face it. If you are needy in the States, you are NEEDY. Unemployment benefit is a lot harder to get & there is no free health system. I am absolutely certain, & I know for a fact that there are, that there are churches here that have the same amount of love & concern for their congregation as the American ones do. It's just sad that their efforts at the moment are overshadowed by an avaricious, relentless megalomaniac.

Eight days a Week

Well, it hasn't really been 8 days, but in a lot of respects it feels like it has been so far. I am actually very proud of myself. The reaming out that I got from the doctor on Monday has made me very stubborn & determined. I am looking forward to the next time I go to see her. I intend to hand her back her prescription & the remaining Zopiclone tablets from the last lot. I haven't given in & taken one yet. Nor am I going to. The herbal capsules seem to be helping. I think that like anything herbal, they may take a while to kick in properly. There is the possibility that they may be having more psychological benefit at this point, but no matter. I have also given up my afternoon Nanna nap. But then , I don't actually feel that I need it now. Sitting down for an hour in the afternoon watching Star Trek is just as beneficial. Keeping busy is a big plus as well. All in all, I'm very proud of my efforts.

Herself has had a new lease of life as well. She has attacked the front garden in a manner that can only be likened to the actions of a cat with chronic diahorrea. I must admit that it is looking really great. has just about given me the incentive I need to breathe life into Morris the Mixer, (Remember Morris?) & actually get some concreting done. Now that its a bit cooler & my self confidence seems to be coming back, I actually feel that it might be feasible to do it. Herself would be happy to see it done. That is as much reason as anything to get it done as anything.

We had a lovely day today. One of Herself's cousins from Hastings came to see us. They are staying with friends in Whangamata for a week & thought it would be a nice idea to come see us. We thought it was a good idea too. We had a lovely time together & it was, as it always is for me when we have guests, a treat to do lunch other than my usual boring sandwich or noodles & yoghurt for Herself. It was also lovely to be able to sit at table & enjoy a good conversation with really lovely guests. Thanks Mike & Kaye, you really made our week for us.

Tomorrow, we will probably go out to Placemakers & sort out some beading to finish off the front door. I wasn't initially going to bother, but the more I look at the more I think it needs it just to finish it off. Monday, massage for herself, Tuesday, Respiratory Clinic for herself at Waikato, Friday Craft for Herself & massages for us both. Where did I ever find time to work ? All that & the calendar says its a good week for fishing as well.....

What ever gets you through the night.

Ever since Jude was diagnosed, I have been taking a sleeping tablet called Zopiclone. A succession of doctors at our medical clinic have been quite happy to prescribe it for me on a month by month basis. Right up until yesterday. You see, we have a new doctor, a lady doctor, not that I have anything against lady doctors you understand. This one is very good. And very strong willed. She has let me know in no uncertain terms that Zopiclone is only a short term quick fix get you over the hump sort of drug that shouldn't be taken any longer than 2 weeks at a time. She even went as far as to say that I would be doing myself less harm by getting drunk every night than to continue taking it. All sorts of possible nasty side effects which if you really want to know about are probably on the net somewhere.

Then we got to talking about why I have problems sleeping. Its a problem that I have had long before Jude got MND. It's just that I can cope a lot easier with stress if I have a good night's sleep. But she didn't want to hear that. She went off down a very murky path involving depression & Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I know I'm not depressed. I know depressed. I have been down that path & spent 2 years on anti depressants. When I finally weaned myself off them, I vowed that I wouldn't ever get into a situation where I needed them ever again. That still stands. As far as OCD is concerned, nobody that really knows me thinks I have it. Sometimes I just lay awake & worry about things. How strange. Our pharmacist doesn't think I'm depressed either. She has a similar thing. Like me, if she can get a good nights sleep she can cope.

The doctor gave me a weeks worth of Zopiclone & wants to see me again in a week. They have gone into my bedside drawer next to the anti depressants. I'll not take any more. I didn't take one last night. I didn't sleep all that terribly well, but I did sleep & the roof didn't cave in. I went back to the Pharmacist this morning & she has given me some herbal capsules. Hopefully they will help a bit. Even if they don't I am prepared to tough it out & get my head sorted sufficiently to sleep .

Gawd my legs are sore

Sharon & Chris came down to see their Mum yesterday & of course they brought Liam & Renee with them, our two grandchildren. Well, 2 out of 5 1/2 anyway. They are pretty active little tackers, so after a shopping blitz, lunch & a mad ramble through all the games in my puter, vague sounds of boredom began to be heard.

Stupid had a brainwave. Stupid bought a pushbike a while ago so that he could accompany Herself on rides to get a bit fitter for both of us, but it hasn't happened a lot. Herself's co ordination & muscle control is not what it used to be. Chris had the forsight to pack the kids bikes into the back of the wagon & bring them down. So after we established that the tyres on my bike had gone flat from disuse & inflated them, we went for a ride. Quite a long one actually. Well, not all that long really for a couple of young active kids, but quite far enough for an old fellow thats not particularly fit.

It was one of those golden moments that are to be stored away very carefully & brought out to enjoy all over again on a gloomy winters day, or nights when sleep is proving elusive. So yeah, my legs are sore today, but its a really good sort of a sore. I may well carry on doing it on a daily basis when Herself is having her afternoon nap. I could certainly do with the exercise.

Happy Kick in The Guts Day !!!!!!

I'm not sure if its stress, worry, or just the fact that we seem to have a lot of appointments these days, but somehow I seem to manage to get appointments confused a lot easier these days than I used to. Like today. I thought we had an appointment to see The White Rabbit for our customary 3 monthly appointment where we fill him in on what's been happening in the time since our last visit. I had fully resigned myself to exiting the hospital with Grace Slick echoing through my head, but no. We go to see The White Rabbit tomorrow. This morning, as we found out when we got there, we had our first consultation with a new guy. The health system has, in it's wisdom, decided to set up a consulting Neurologist that visits Thames Hospital once a month. A very nice young man that started at Waikato about the same time that Pat Simpson did, so naturally, the two of them get on really well & have a lot of respect for each other. It's the first time that Jude has been seen by a neurologist since she was diagnosed.

We actually like him because he doesn't beat about the bushes when he is laying things out to you. I like that, but sometimes it renders things a little hard to accept when they are stated so baldly. We were both under the impression that Jude's MND was going to be pretty much confined to her upper torso. We have found out today that this isn't so. It has already affected her legs to a large extent. We found this out when we asked him about the possibility of a knee replacement for her. He doesn't seem to think its a particularly good idea because of that. Also there is the prospect of 8 to 12 weeks of quite intense pain, very intensive physiotherapy & the possibility that she may well die under the anaesthetic anyway. I have tonight talked to someone whose stepmum has had both knees replaced & it hasn't even made her pain free at the end of it. All this & Jude is still looking at being in a wheel chair in 2 years time anyway. The analogy that he used was that it would be like putting a Rolls Royce engine in a rusty old Datsun body. not sure I agree with his choice of vehicle though. Jude is more like a Land Rover I think. It doesn't matter what life throws at her she hunkers down, digs her heels in & boxes on, where others would quit.

I haven't asked her yet what she intends to do. Her main concern is that she would like to get back to her gardening that she loves so much. I'm going to ask the physiotherapist if there is anything she can suggest to help. What ever she decides on, I will back & support her to the best of my ability. I know what my thoughts are on the subject, but its not up to me to say. I hope I know what she will decide. In any event, the Neuro is going to expedite Jude seeing a surgeon for her knee, so at least we will know what our options are. My next big challenge is to get through tomorrows appointment with the White Rabbit without giggling.

We've had rain......

Not an absolutely torrential downpour I will admit, but enough to wet the plants & the concrete down. Hopefully enough so that herself won't feel compelled to water the garden tonight. I always feel guilty when I look out the window & see columns of water waving indolently back & forth courtesy of the sprinkler. Herself loves to water by hand so she can commune with her plants, but lately the communion has taken back seat to winter olympics.

I must confess to feeling slightly guilty about the whole watering thing though. I keep expecting to see a row of little Ethiopians or something lining up with buckets to fill & carry 10 km back to their huts. I wonder if they got any rain to help put out the big fire in the Taiere Girge down Dunedin way...

Its nearly finished

Herself has been following the Winter Olympics with great enthusiasm. It really doesn't do a lot for me, but I'm not saying much as i don't know how many more she will get to see. I've been having natural healing lately. I don't think that you can really call it massage, because the lady that does it is incredibly gentle. What she does is very gentle manipulation coupled with light pressure. You just sort of float away while she is doing it. Regardless of effect, the pampering is wonderful. But you do get effect. You feel like absolute crap for a day or or two, but then you come right. Only a little bit at a time but the effects are tangible. I'm starting to feel better. Less tired.

We both had a session with her yesterday, so we didn't have much in the way of time to do anything much. It sort of ate up the whole day. Today was a different story though. We have had half a load of greenwaste on the trailor for a week or more. All Lorna's from next door. i've been promising myself that I would collect up enough stuff for a decent load. I have been promising myself to do it for a week or so. Anyway, today I did it. Ventured into the potting shed & emerged resplendent in leather gloves & armed with secateurs & attacked the rose bushes. For some reason, Herself rather likes the sort of rose that tends to grow like a Triffid. You know, great long shoots heading in all directions. Anyway, I managed to prune/mangle the bushes so they look relatively respectable, throw it all on the trailor & deliver it to the dump.

Not to be content with that, we then went out to the mill. You see, I have noticed that the days are getting shorter very quickly now & our firewood heap is looking quite sad, so between Herself & me we loaded up both Sherman & the trailor with nice dry firewood. Some of it is too long for our firebox so needs cutting up. I have emptied Sherman & put the long bits on the trailor, all set to be cut up in the morning.

All this doesn't really sound like a lot , I know, but coming from someone who has been finding it exhausting just to cut lawns lately, it's a significant improvement. Tomorrow, after I have dealt to the remainder of the firewood, I think I will have to get some groceries in. Herself will probably help with the wood. Thats if I can drag her away from the Winter Olympics I guess.

We went to Hamilton today

Herself is back on Her patchwork kick. She's making cushions out of some of the innumerable bits & pieces of patchwork that she has floating around in the end room. I'm happy about that. It will be nice to finally see some results of some of her work. The reason for the Hamilton trip ? Well, she just HAS to have foam rubber chip to stuff em with no common or garden Dacron for her. So nobody in Thames actually stocks foam chip. The nearest place was Para Rubber in Hamilton. I couldn't get through by phone for some reason yesterday, so I sent a slightly (For me) tongue in cheek email of enquiry. This elicited a reply of one pleasant email & 2 very nice phone calls.

So off we went. They were just as nice there in person & were very helpful. We asked them about somewhere nice for lunch, so, naturally enough, they directed us to a restaurant next door called Momento. It was a lovely place & whats more important, they actually had dishes on the menu that Jude could order from. Not just one dish but her choice of 3 or 4. Its nice to go somewhere like that. There is also a large area outside. I think the reason for the extension is to take the turn from Victoria street into Hood Street a little wide to stop trucks from hitting the veranda. For what ever reason, it makes for a very spacious area to sit & watch the world go by.

And go by it does. All sorts go past. Harried Mum's either carrying, walking or pushing in strollers their brood of little ones, office ladies of all shape & size, some looking at home & absolutely stunning in high heels, others looking very unhappy & awkward in 'em. Lady's a word of advice. I know a nice pair of heels tightens your calf & bum muscles up & makes your posture a lot better, but if you aint comfortable in 'em don't wear em. Nothing looks worse. Personally, I can't understand how they ever made a comeback. I have a nice pair of dress boots with Cuban heels a bit over an inch high. I love em to bits & have had em for years. Love wearing them, but God am I glad to get em off. How you ladies cope with 2 & three inch heels is beyond me. Madness. Still, I have to admit to being very partial to a well turned pair of legs in black stockings & stiletto heels, but maybe we should stop there & get on track again huh ? Lots of business men in long trousers, long sleeve shirts & ties coming in for their coffees & pre made sandwiches with folders in their hands & earnest looks on their faces. Was wonderful just to sit & watch it all unfold.

So we're home. Tomorrow is our grand daughter, Renee's 8th birthday. Happy Birthday my sweet. We will see you on Saturday. Have rearranged my baby Wharfedale speakers for a sweeter sound in the lounge. Herself , bless her, just sighed & rearranged her stuff around them. Vast improvement it is. Also gave me the oppotunity for this photo.
Beats the hell out of a little black & white dog staring into a gramaphone don't it ?

Happy Anniversary Baby

Got you on my mind, as the old song goes. It's round about 21 years ago that I plucked up enough courage to admit to my Mum & Dad that my first marriage was irrevocably over & that I had met someone new in my life. Valentines Day was the day that Jude & I climbed in our car & made what for us, was a very long & tense trip from Titirangi in Auckland to Thames to introduce her to my parents. It says a lot for my Mum & Dad, that only having been given about 24 hours notice of all this, that they welcomed Jude into the family with open arms.

A lot of years have passed since that day & a lot of things have happened one way & another. I do know this though. No matter what she has had to face up to since we have been together, she has done it head on without complaint. Thats something that she is still doing. I loved her then & I love her even more now. We may not have as much time together as we hoped, but we have had more than some & been happier so far than a lot of others. Each day now is a treasure. I love you Babe...

Shoes & Ships & digital cameras..

One of the disadvantages of my new digital camera is that it doesn't have an optical view finder, just the digital picture type. This is most disadvantageous when the sun is bright & you wear self tinting glasses. This is what the sea looked like where we were out fishing yesterday, about 7 kilometers off the coast. Looks inviting doesn't it? Almost looks good enough to swim in doesn't it ? I wouldn't though. What I was actually trying to take a picture of was a shark fin that sadly is just a little out of picture. Judging from the size of the fin & the distance between the dorsal & the tail fin, it would have to have been a good 10 foot at least. Like us, I think it was just enjoying the day on the water, although the shark would have been substantially cooler that we were. Damn it was hot. Even with the 5 to 10 knot sea breeze as forecast, it was still uncomfortably hot out there.

We weren't the only ones enjoying the day either. We must have seen at least 10 penguins puddling along doing their thing on the way out. Them & a nice little pod of Mr & Mrs Dolphin out for a stroll with junior quite made our day. I take my hat off to Auckland Coast guard though. Talk about busy ! Hundreds of trip reports & a variety of emergency calls ranging from a snagged anchor in the Rangitoto Channnel to a fire on board off Cleveland. A very busy day for them. Must have been about 200 boats out just from the ramp that we use.

One of the beautiful things about our gulf is that even with the amount of vessels on the water. we could still find our own little patch of water & catch enough fish to feed us & to give some away to friends. Both the cats gorged themselves to a standstill & Jude enjoyed two nice little fillets off a gurnard that I caught. I made up a butter & white wine sauce for it & she really enjoyed it. She enjoyed her day out too. That makes it all the more nicer for us both. Yet another day to treasure & remember.

Well, you wouldn't read about it....

We did the boat trip up the Waihou river today as far as the Puke road Bridge. We did in this boat, all 37 of us that went, the M.V. Kawhau. She was originally built in 1952 & rumbles along contentedly at round about 10 or 12 knots or so. Its a very leisurely way of seeing the sights. You have to go quite a distance out in the gulf so that you don't run aground on the mud banks. Even so, the trip can only be made on a spring tide, which limits the number of trips you can do in a year. Six days this year so far, & weather & seasons play a part as well.


This is Paul. He's the Skipper &, I suspect, the owner of the company. A really nice guy who provides a very knowledgeable commentary spiced with his own particular brand of humour. He has, by his own admission, does this trip 134 times







He is ably assisted by his partner, whom I suspect is his marital as well as his business partner, Cathy. She does the morning tea, lunch & afternoon tea & also brings the car down so that they can go home every day. She has only missed one trip, so they fit together like a comfortable pair of shoes.




This is the main reason we did the trip. So that we could see the bridge open. Its a tribute to the old timers engineering that the opening segment is that beautifully balanced that it has to be wedged closed otherwise a strong wind will actually blow it open.






Very awe inspiring. The whole thing only took about 5 minutes. The old boys really knew what they were doing as after quite extensive tests it was found that the only place they could build the new bridge was right alongside of the old one. Because The Waihou river is legally a seaway, Transit New Zealand have to provide passage for any boat that wishes to use the river. This means that the new bridge will have to be high enough to allow passage. The old bridge truly is amazing. Some of the pylons that support it go down 98 feet & still don't hit bedrock. All that holds them up is the friction in the mud, a scary thought.

From then on in, its a fair amount of this sort of scenery.


I've driven the roads through here, but it was interesting to work out where you are. This gave me time for a good old natter & wouldn't you know it. One guy I ended up talking to at great length was an ex Firefighter like myself, who is semi retired & living in Paeroa now. We didn't actually work together, although we both worked at Hamilton at different times. We had enough mutual acquaintances to pass a very pleasant hour or so chatting about this & that. As I said at the top. You wouldn't read about it. What would be the odds against two old Fireys in 35 people, let alone them discovering the common bond while talking. I do like a good old natter now & then. Jude & I used to talk a lot, & although we still communicate, I do so enjoy a bit of good old intelligent two way conversation.

Anyway, this is where we ended up. A little jetty by the Puke road bridge. From there, we were whisked back to the Thames wharf in the air conditioned comfort of one of Murphy's Buses. All in time to be home for the second part of a two part Star Trek, Next Generation tribute to Gene Roddenberry, featuring the inimitable Mr Spock working with Data. To quote MrSpock, "Interesting."




Tonight also saw the conclusion of a two part mini series, The Day of the Triffids. I have seen a few adaptations made for film & TV of John Wyndham's classic sci fi epic. This was a modernisation of the story & I'm usually sceptical of such things. In this case, however, I doff my hat. The producers have done a wonderful job on updating without losing the plot of the original. Full marks. Currently reading Stephen King's latest novel, The Dome. An intriguing plot. One that as per King, you have no idea where its going to end up. He still writes a very good story.

Tomorrow marks the start of Jude getting back into her routines. There is a morning tea at St. Johns that she has been invited to. I have been invited as well, but I think I will pass. They are, after all, her friends. It will give me some of the down time that I haven't had over the last month or so as well. Friday, she is back to patchwork. Don't want to go there either. Time to do a couple of little jobs that need doing on the boat I think...

We've got rain

Yes folks, we finally have precipitation. had to be in the middle of the long weekend though. Personally, I don't mind, cos we don't usually make a habit of going anywhere on long weekends anyway. Its not a lot of rain, just a gentle fall that is all being soaked up nicely into very thirsty soil. Its that dry here that the water isn't even making it to the end of the drain down the drive yet.

Meantime, I'm having a lovely time playing with my new toy. You know all those phone & power bills & bank statements that accumulate & you don't want to put out with the rubbish or recycling ? You KNOW how they tend to accumulate. Mine have accumulated for a number of years now. I bought a shredder yesterday & I've been having a lovely time. So far, I've cleaned out one tray of 4 filing baskets & have filled 2 black rubbish bags with shredded paper. It sorta grows when you shred it. later on today, I will take it down to the dump along with some other recyclables & the trailor load of organics that Lorna next door has accumulated. Thats if it stops raining of course....

Its a Boy !

My eldest son's wife has been pregnant for some time now & is due some time in July. They went for a scan yesterday & gave me some wonderful news. Sometime in July, they are having a boy. To say that I am delighted would be a mild understatement. I am absolutely over the moon

STOP PRESS !!!!!!

Yes folks, hold everything.. Flattie wants the front page. Why ? Because he has received permission to publish the pic of Flattie, Herself & the oh so beautiful & charming Michy..
Yes folks, that's her & she really is that nice. Thanks again for coming all that way to see us Michy. We really appreciated it. Was absolutely fantastic to finally meet you after all this time & we both look forward to seeing you again in September.

Home again home again, jiggety jog

Well, here we are safely home again. Had a lovely time we did in Dunedin. The flights down & back were good as well, thanks to the lovely lady at Virgin Blue in Auckland who upgraded us for both flights to 1st. class. The only slight fly in the ointment was the 3 dickheads in front of us who cranked their seats right back then proceeded to drink beer & visit the toilet with monotonous regularity, throwing themselves down when they returned. Oh well, boys will be boys I guess. Didn't see much either way as as it was cloudy, but as both trips were straight thru , it was relatively quick.

Our new grand daughter , Conaire is an absolute delight. see what I mean ?

This is us at the airport, me looking a bit down as we was about to leave. parting is such sweet sorrow as the Bard said once. Speaking of leaving, that wasn't without incident either. You see, Herself neglected to take a pair of scissors out of her carry on luggage, so in the end I had to race back down to check in with it. I mean honestly. What did she think she was gonna do ? Struggle her way out of her window seat, wrap her leg brace round a flight attendants neck, brandish the scissors & hold up her magnadoodle board with "This is a hijack! fly me to the nearest patchwork exhibition" written on it or something. Oh well, I suppose we should really be grateful that they care so much about our (& theirs) safety that they are so thorough.

There is something indescribably wonderful about being with family. Almost a sense of awe to sit down with both my sons, their wives & our two wonderful grandchildren, especially seeing Sean's wife, Susan, being very pregnant with the third one.

These are my boys with their two precious bundles. Not that Conaire is precocious or anything. Anna loves to ham it up for the camera as well....

Amazing what Poppie's hat & a camera will do....

We were also lucky enough to meet the lovely Michy & her two delightful daughters. I have a pic of us all together, but will wait until she says its OK before i publish it here. Anyway, all things considered, we had a wonderful time, but it is really great to be home though. The cats were actually pleased to see us , greeting us in the driveway with plaintiff "Where have you been?" meouws instead of their usual studied indifference. Nice to know that somebody missed us anyway.

Herself has been busy today taking down the Xmas decorations. I have been very busy catching up here & sleeping. Doubtless, my task for tomorrow will be putting the deccies away in the roof till next year. OK, thats it, nearly time for Star Trek, the next generation, so will catch you all later.

Greetings from the South Pole

Well, not quite, but nearly there. I mean Dunedin IS getting pretty far south isn't it? We are having a wonderful time. My boys have been looking after us in great style. So far since we have been here, we have met our new grand daughter, Conaire, aint she beautiful?

Also, Ian took us to see the new movie sensation, Avatar.Can't really sy an awful lot about it, because words sorta fail me just a little. Suffice it to say, that if you get the chance to go see it you gotta.

Next day, we did the Taiare Gorge railway trip. We have wanted to do it for some time now, & have finally gotten around to it.
It really is an amazing trip. I will probably do a separate post on it after we get home.















That fullah Arthur must have been a pretty busy sort of guy, because not only did he pass somewhere else in the South Island, He left a vital bit of his anatomy at the top of the Taiare Gorge, so you go figure.......












This is the other reason for our visit. Our first Southern Grand Daughter Anna, who has now just had her 2nd. birthday. She is growing up beautiful & seems to be developing a special bond with her Grammy, as you can see. Anyway, as the post card says, having a wonderful time, wish you was here.. LATER..

In the making

Ally & the kids came up for a quick overnighter on Saturday. I wasn't that quick that I couldn't take the boys out in the boat for a fish yesterday morning & get some quality bloke time in, or Jude couldnt get some quality sheila time in with the girls doing girly stuff like washing hair & window shopping & stuff that any decent bloke would rather slit his wrists than do. Anyway, we all had a good time. Jude ended up getting rid of some of her "stuff" that has been stockpiled in my garage for years thanks to a chance encounter at our local Seagull shop,(don't ask), & me & the boys caught enough snapper for us all to positively gorge ourselves on beautiful fresh fish for tea.

The Red Shed had a special on plastic bins post Christmas, so I invested the princely sum of $10.00 in a new fish bin. This one is bigger than the one I have been using, has a lid & no drainage holes. So I invested the princely sum of $5.00 in a binful of salt ice. This is good stuff, because it chills your drinks down as well as your fish. Having finally learned how to humanely & quickly kill fish, they arrived home in absolute prime condition, well chilled, which makes for easy filleting & the most beautiful eating. We thoroughly enjoyed.

Anyway, as we were coming in on the high tide we were motoring up the channel to the boat ramp. To one side was a mum with 3 kids & light fishing gear having a lovely time catching fish. Very considerate they were too, hauling in their lines as boats came through so as not to foul there gear in our props. As we drew level with them, the oldest, a lad of maybe 6 or 7 holds up his latest catch, a wopping 6 incher & calls out, "How many did yer get?" I answered, "Oh, 6 or 7." (8 actually) He yells back, "Ohh , we got more than THAT !" Nice to see a whole new generation of fisho's coming on. Especially ones who are prepared to boast about their catch. Good on Mum too, for being prepared to stand on a steep river bank in the hot sun while her kids had the time of their lives. You deserve a medal.

You're not worth the powder sir...

After wading through the absolute garbage inherent with the holiday season, we finally got spoiled for choice tonight. Harry Potter & The Philosopher's stone, part one of a very good sci fi mini series, The Andromeda Strain & HornBlower:The Even Chance on Prime. After much deliberation, I opted to watch the start of Harry Potty then swap over to HornBlower at 8.30. With Andromeda Strain, have read the book, seen the movie & probably got the tee shirt lurking somewhere.

For those that don't know, Even Chance is the first book in th HornBlower series written by C.S. Forester. They are set in the late 17th, early 18th century & involve lots of naval battles, gunpowder smoke personal conflicts & above all the triumph of said Horatio HornBlower. Was a good movie with plenty of gun battles at sea, & even the odd duel or two. All in all a relaxing way to spend an evening, blowing away the old Christmas cobwebs. The title is HornBlower's line after refusing to kill the dastardly senior midshipman who was the story baddy & challenged him to a duel. Good stuff it was..

Happy New Year

Some time ago last year, I put a nice big calendar on the wall in the office. you know the sort. The ones with the spaces big enough to write stuff in on each days space. I did this out of sheer desperation, as I was always getting someone either turning up unexpectedly, or phoning to see where we were. It's been a very busy year for us both. I took it down this morning as i do with calendars on the first day of a new year. Leafing through it was a scary experience, a little like going back through my blog. So much happened in this past year, it has just been a whirlwind.

The biggest change I think, has been going from a fully employed worker to a carer/sickness beneficiary. It hasn't been an easy transition, but like everything that you HAVE to do, you just do it & sort out the nuts & bolts later. Even so, a year on there are still a lot of nuts & bolts left in my jar. I made the same resolution this year that I make every year. That is not to make any resolutions. I do have some things that I have to do this year though. One is to lose weight. A lot of it. Next is to give Jude the very best care & support that I can. Then to spend time fishing. Then to finally get to meet the latest addition to our family. Last but not least, is to keep on telling those dear to me how much I love them. You all mean a lot to me. Happy New Year. I hope its a good one for you.

Give us this day our daily bread.

As a kid, this was one of the phrases that used to roll glibly off the tongue as part of the Lords Prayer. You know, one of those things that you glibly say without thinking too much about it. I have come to realise that there is a deep profundity & a heartfelt plea involved in those seven words, especially for someone resident in that particular era. I mean, the whole growing thing, the harvesting, the winnowing & the grinding, all things that had to happen before one could even consider producing something that you could spread a bit of butter & jam on.

The easy way for me now is to wander the half a block down to our local store & buy a loaf of pre cut, presliced, pre packaged stuff. This is as much a social event as anything, as there are always neighbors to talk to & Jen at the store, if she doesnt serve you herself, always has this inexhaustible supply of young tourists working there who love to practice their English. All in all, you can kill a good hour sometimes just getting your daily bread.

Other factors, however have intervened. The price of said daily loaf has inexorably been crawling its way upwards. Also, Herself doesn't/can't eat bread any more. So after about half a loaf, it starts getting stale & inevitably ends up feeding the birds. Yeah, yeah, I can hear you all chorusing now. "Freeze it, you silly man !" But the plain fact is, I don't like frozen bread. So, other measures must inevitably come into play.

Have you ever noticed that just when you think that you have all the flash shiny appliances that you ever need, along comes a new one that you just have to have. One of these was the trusty bread maker & I must admit that they are a handy device. No more hand kneading dough, or waiting for it to prove in the hot water cupboard or on the drying rack over the coal range, just chuck the ingredients in , push the button & hey Presto. 3 hours later the perfect loaf of bread. As someone who used to make bread for a living, I think that they remove a certain mystique from the process, but never mind.

My Mum gave us a breadmaker quite some time ago & mostly it has sat gathering dust & looking forlorn on the shelf as we didn't feel that it was actually economic to bake your own, but now it is. After a couple of truly disastrous efforts involving not enough water & yeast that was probably past its use by date when the Lords Prayer was written, I have finally turned out a reasonably acceptable loaf of bread. It cost $20.00 for a 10kg bag of premix from Bin Inn, so I figure that after about 6 loaves I will be on the winning side financially. Not to mention the satisfaction of doing it yourself.

So this is Christmas

I'm not really sure how we got here, but here indeed we are. Those of you who follow, will know that it has certainly been one of those years for us. I don't think I would like a replay of it somehow. If I was in a pessimistic mood, I could say that it has been a year of crushed dreams, unfulfilled ambitions & personal tragedy. But I'm not like that. Well, not all the time anyway. Okay, maybe some nights at three in the morning when I'm laying awake looking at Herself sleeping peacefully & wondering how much longer I have Her for. Things do look a touch bleak occasionally then.

But we have had good times too & its easier to remember those things rather than dwell on unhappiness. Well, mostly it is anyway. One of the things that has stood out for us both is the quality of friendship that we have been both blessed to receive since Jude has been ill. There have been the inevitable few that have fallen by the wayside because they can't seem to get their head around what is happening, but by & large, we have both been cared for & nurtured in the nicest possible ways.

When someone in a relationship is terminally ill, it is very easy to focus on the ill person & not consider the care giver. I have been very pleasantly surprised at the number of friends who ask how I am holding up as well. One thing I cant deal with is the well intentioned ones who say to me, "I don't know how you are coping with this." Inevitably, this results in me going away & thinking very seriously about how I DO cope. That invariably leads me back to the disturbing realisation that even I am not sure how I do. All I know is that I get out of bed every morning, get dressed & deal with what happens when it happens. One thing I have learnt is not to worry about a bridge unless you are standing on it getting ready to cross it.

In years past, Christmas has always been a very busy time for me workwise. This is the first year ever in a very long time that I haven't been working. This has given me more time to think about Christmas & what it actually means to me. Sadly, I have come to the conclusion that a lot of very sad things have happened to me over the years around Christmas. I wont bore you with the list. suffice it to say that its quite long & very sad. Also, it has no religious connotations for me. Neither did my folks ever make a big thing of it. hanging up christmas cards & a few rudimentary decorations on a pine branch coupled with the chance to present me with next years clothes all nicely wrapped was generally about all. The fondest memory I have is coming home from morning church to the aroma of a roast of mutton permeating the house.

Jude on the other hand loves Christmas. She prepares for it all year, buying little knickknacks as presents & squirreling them away until the time is right to produce them with a flourish & wrap them for whoever they are intended. Normally as well, there is the cooking as well. She does love a big family Christmas dinner, usually cooking enough to feed everyone about three times. We have done the decoration thing & the presents this year, but instead of a whole leg of ham we have just opted for the end of a roll. She hasn't been well enough to do the big Christmas thing & I don't feel like doing it. This year, instead of travelling, we are going to stay home for Christmas Day & go see my Mum on Christmas morning, instead of the week before as we have done in the past. The neighbors have invited us for a BBQ, but we will see how we feel. Boxing Day, we go to Auckland to see the kids.

On the whole, I have found Christmas this year a bit depressing, due I think to a combination of circumstance & having enough time on hand to have a really serious think about the significance of the whole thing. I have done my best, however, to put on a good face & help Jude celebrate it as fully as she wants to. She has gone all out. Even the driveway is decorated this year. As we don't know how many Christmasses we have left together, I wont hold her back.

So anyway, a very Merry Christmas to you all. I hope you all find at least a modicum of happiness & comfort. For me personally, New Year has more significance. There is a bottle of Black Douglas whisky & a supply of soda water & I intend to hoist a few on New Years Eve. For Auld Lang Syne, if nothing else. So, merry Christmas to you all. Thank you for your support, your comments & for the knowing that you do care for us both. We love you all..

Christmas Dinner on the wing

The night before last, just as I was contemplating hauling my weary old carcass out of the spa pool, I heard this whirring sound. I looked up in time to see this rather obese native pigeon come in through the archway like a fully loaded Hercules trying to take off on one engine.

Tonight after a lovely day with one of my cousins coming to visit for lunch, Herself went outside to puddle in the garden as is her wont. She had been out there about 20 minutes when she came in making be quiet & follow me signs. We went out the back & she pointed up into the plum tree at the back. Its a Christmas plum & the plums are just starting to come ripe now. In the branches I saw this....



Two beautiful Kereru, native pigeons, just absolutely gorging themselves on plums. Needless to say, I went in & got my camera & took these pictures.. aren't they a beautiful bird ? I'm sorry, but I can't help but see them on a plate with a do it yourself plumstuffing & roast potatoes &... &... &.....

Friends like this... Priceless...

Jude & I were sitting at home late yesterday morning. Well, she was sitting. I was lying on my back out by the spa pool fitting some new O rings to the pool pump when there was a knock on the front door. "Hullo," I thought, "somebody's at the door. " Real quick on the uptake me. Turns out it was one of my old workmates & his wife & daughter. One of the few that actually bother to keep in touch with me. He is a really nice guy & its nice to have someone to sit & have a beer & a natter with occasionally.

But they were here on a mission. They hadn't been here 5 minutes when he had the vacuum out doing the floors & she was giving Jude a foot massage & manicuring her nails for her. Friends like that are indeed hard to find & very precious, especially when you know that he is working very long hours driving & has given up precious down time to do a good deed for a friend. I feel very humble to have friends like that. Thank you Tony & Jen.. We love you dearly.

Peaceful Days

As those of you who follow my blog will no doubt know, we have had some rough times lately. Go & recap if you want to, I'll wait.... Back now ? Good. We had one of those absolutely wonderful days today. lately, we have been launching our boat at Waikawau as opposed to Te Puru. There are two reasons for this. One is that the ramp at Waikawau is more sheltered, being up a river & the ramp is accessible at all stages of the tide. Being in a river also makes it a lot easier for Jude to get in & out of the boat. The second reason is that the last time I used Te Puru I ripped a hole in the stern (since repaired) trying to get off the ramp in what wasn't really that much of a swell. Jude hasn't really got the strength in her arms to hold the boat steady in anything much past a flat calm these days.So we now use the Waikawau ramp.

The only problem is that its unfamiliar waters to us & we have burned a lot of fuel trying to find the fish. Today, we struck it lucky. We went out fishing today & took young Daniel from next door with us. He's a likeable young lad, very pleasant & polite, well brought up & very eager to be of whatever help he can, which today was quite substantial. having thought about the fish thing for a while, we decided that instead of heading towards Coromandel & trying to find fish among the mussel farms & the myriad of islands, we would head slightly back towards Thames & try the same deep water channel that we have so much success in from Te Puru.

It was a good call. The fish were biting 5 minutes after we dropped the anchor & never really stopped untill we had our limit, 27 fish, some of them a fairly respectable size. this is our days catch in a standard fish bin..

Not a bad haul huh ? By the time we had given one or two away & saved the two biggest ones for the smoker in the morning, we finished up with 5.5 kg's of boneless fillets. That sort of fish currently retails at round $30.00 a kilo in the shops here.

Aside from a superb catch, we had the thrill of seeing about a 10 foot long Hammerhead shark cruise past the boat about 2 foot under the water. It really is quite a thrill to see a prehistoric beast like that glide past nearly close enough to touch. it looked for all the world like a cross between a nuclear submarine & the Star Ship Enterprise. Awesome. The other nice thing was Jude getting the fish of the day. here she is, bless her, straining like anything to hold up a 5 & a half pound snapper that she caught..

A day like today ???????? Priceless.... Totally & utterly priceless.....

RIP THE NOODLE POOCH

This was Misty. He started out 12 years ago as my Mum's first & only dog. As he was supposedly Bichon Friese, Poodle, Australian Terrier cross, he was going to be a cute cuddly lap dog for my Mum to spoil rotten in her old age. Sadly this didn't happen. He grew too big for her lap, & Mum eventually got that bad with senile dementia that she had to be institutionalised. So that left Misty to Herself & I. He really wasnt my sort of dog. He was too high maintanance for me. Always needing clipping, or brushing, or trips to the vet or something.

For all that, we grew to love him. We figured out ways round his habit of chewing himself red raw & trying to eat his paw. We even learned to tolerate his finicky ways with food. If he was sick of what you put in front of him, he wouldn't eat. Some times for up to 2 days, which was generally where I gave in & fed him. In the 12 years that we have known Misty, I cant recall him ever even growling at anyone, let alone try to bite them. he loved to play with Mac, of the long legs next door, contenting himself with one lap of the lawn to Mac's 4 & also enjoyed putting the neighbourhood pups, Woofy & Shadow in their respective places, trying to instill a little doggy dignity to them. I know he will be missed by Nushy the Whirly Dog & her family in Tauranga. Visits in either direction were greatly anticipated by them both.

I know I used to make fun of him by telling people that he was a Pedigree Idiot when they asked his breed. I know I used to get very frustrated with him when he wouldnt eat, or wouldnt stop chewing at himself, especially at 3 in the morning when I was having trouble sleeping, but for all that I did love him. I loved the way that he would come into the office & sit beside me & grunt, louder & louder until I gave in & put a hand down to scratch his ear. I loved the way that he would curl up on the floor as close as he could get to Herself when she went to bed not feeling well.

Sadly, yesterday as I was backing out of our driveway he walked in behind Sherman & went under one of the back wheels. We took him to the vet, but sadly because of his age & the absolute & utter mess I made of his pelvic , hip & leg bones. There was only one kind thing to do. I'm gonna miss you , you silly old bastard. Go chase some cats & enjoy fresh chicken at every meal.

Late night thoughts on computer games

We have been playing a lot of computer games lately, Herself & I. this is thanks to Morty , who has a seemingly inexhaustible supply of them. We dont go for the sophisticated fast action type games. Thats far to complex & demands better reflex times that a couple of old farts like us can manage. We are quite happy with point & click games. You know the ones. There is a common theme binding a series of scenes together. You get given a list of objects hidden in each scene with the odd brain teaser thrown in for good measure.

I have decided that life is a lot like these games, or they are like life, depending on how you view things & also depending on your grip of reality. You start out with a picture that looks fairly straight forward & along the way you get given a few clues. Well some of us get given more than others I guess, but still... It isn't really until you fully immerse yourself that you find that there is much, much more to the picture than meets the eye. Mostly if you look hard enough & long enough you can find what you thought was hidden. Sometimes, it is hidden & quite well too. Other times it is that blatantly obvious that you just dont see it. When it does finally present itself, the usual reaction is, "How the bloody hell did I miss that ?" Every once in a while, you have to ask for help. Sometimes, as the help is happening, the answer becomes obvious & you wonder at the wisdom of using the help. Always, at the end of each scene & at the end of the game, there is the satisfaction of getting there. Some games are harder than others, some appear simple, but are fiendishly difficult. Some look hard, but once you start, become easy. Most of them start out easy to get you thinking, "I can do this!" & get progressively harder & harder. A lot like life really.

Endoscopy number 5

have you ever had one of those revalatory moments when you realise that things have, yet again, gone that pear shaped that they wouldn't look out of place in a pear tree. I have just recently. I'm not sure exactly when it happened. Some time in the last two weeks I think. or maybe the last three, I dunno exactly any more. Jude has been having big problems with her flash new Passport feeding tube. Visits to the doctor & the A& E department at the local hospital, produced the initial diagnosis of infection, changed to fungal infection, then back to infection again. She was very swollen & tender around the stoma with a not very nice looking problem that we found out was called granulation. (Look it up) All this was not helped by our lovely neurology nurse being on leave.

It all came to a head on Monday morning. I took some photos & emailed them through. Tuesday morning saw us yet again at day patients with yet another length of garden hose down her throat. The problem was that the fitting had started to work its way out to the outside. She is now back to the good old mark 1 PEG tube. We are both starting to develop the attitude of "If it aint broke, dont fix it." The surgeon is talking about some flash new fitting for January , but.... We dunno...

Jude is a great one for planting vege's. Even when she could eat them, we always ended up with far too much in the garden. She has cut back a lot this year, but we still cant keep up. It gave me a lot of pleasure tonight to give away a beautiful cauliflower, some second growth broccolli & some rhubarb to a dear friend who is finding things a bit difficult at the moment. I must be going soft in the head I think, because I'm starting to find a simple pleasure in planting something & watching it grow. Got to do something constructive seeing as how fishings out at the moment...