Journal: A Long Time
Yes, a long time since I made an entry. I have been more than occupied with the simulator Trainz, spending all my spare time on the long learning curve and building my large selected UK West Country layout between Swindon and Bristol including Bath.
This morning after reading the Trainz forum, then looking over my route deciding what to do next I started to feel pensive and stuck my head out of the basement door and saw it was almost 7 a.m. and raining.
I had got up early, 4.30 a.m., I couldn't sleep and my leg was ached again. Not a good morning for going for a walk. I have recently, since retiring over a year ago, been waking early. Most mornings I have been rising around 5 a.m. and sometimes earlier.
As I was saying... I was feeling pensive. If something consumes me for a long period I get this feeling at some stage and I will usually lay it to one side for a while and move to one of my other interests and give it a look-over.
I don't think I will put Trainz to one side but will probably curtail my time. I have been doing a lot of repetitive work on the route... mainly scenery and I feel I want a change. We will see.
Although it was raining, just lightly, I walked up the lawn towards the road. I saw the black cat, a stranger recently arrived in our location. I wondered who it belongs to? Walking towards it, I hissed and it ran.
Friday, December 09, 2005
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Google Desktop
My Lifestory.
Well my life story has also seemed to have taken a backseat again. I must get back to it now that the initial enthusiasm of the new computer is starting to wane a little! That is when we return home.
My Lifestory.
Well my life story has also seemed to have taken a backseat again. I must get back to it now that the initial enthusiasm of the new computer is starting to wane a little! That is when we return home.
Journal: August has gone: It's now September.
Well time has flown during this busy August. Most of my time has been spent on my new computer, setting it up to my liking and installing my stuff from from the old computer. I used a USB link cable to transfer the data which worked well.
Then I have spent a lot of time on my Trainz simulator. I'm now seriously involved and after my 3rd attempt, I am now building the route Swindon to Bath (turning off at Wootton Bassett), learning as I go how to do things in a lot of cases. Presently I am at Dauntsey Lock just north of Lyneham and building the old disused canal which runs alongside the line for a little way.
Time seems to fly by when I'm involved with Trainz. Most mornings I try to do some of the odd jobs and gardening until 11 a.m. and fit in half an hour editing David's journal for him if the mood takes me. I'm on the last chapter now. Then it will need to be draft printed, proof read, corrected and then reprinted. Anthony will do the proofing, his eagle eye is very good.
Our August weather has been sunny and warm this year with little rain, in fact we have had to do some watering in the garden. Spring has come a little early, but not too much. Although the day temperatures have been up to 17 - 20C, the night ones have been down, often to 4 -5C. and held back the growth.
September is now in progress and we are now in Whitianga whilst Gillian and Paul are in Australia for 10 days, looking after Caitlin. She is no trouble, she likes to make her own breakfast and prepare her own school lunch. She is usually up before her wake-up call at 7.30 a.m. We drop her off at school or she may decide to bike, we sometimes pick her up when school finishes or she may come home with friends.
We will go home this Friday afternoon taking Caitlin with us. Gillian and Paul return on Saturday to Hamilton Airport and they will return home with Caitlin.
Well time has flown during this busy August. Most of my time has been spent on my new computer, setting it up to my liking and installing my stuff from from the old computer. I used a USB link cable to transfer the data which worked well.
Then I have spent a lot of time on my Trainz simulator. I'm now seriously involved and after my 3rd attempt, I am now building the route Swindon to Bath (turning off at Wootton Bassett), learning as I go how to do things in a lot of cases. Presently I am at Dauntsey Lock just north of Lyneham and building the old disused canal which runs alongside the line for a little way.
Time seems to fly by when I'm involved with Trainz. Most mornings I try to do some of the odd jobs and gardening until 11 a.m. and fit in half an hour editing David's journal for him if the mood takes me. I'm on the last chapter now. Then it will need to be draft printed, proof read, corrected and then reprinted. Anthony will do the proofing, his eagle eye is very good.
Our August weather has been sunny and warm this year with little rain, in fact we have had to do some watering in the garden. Spring has come a little early, but not too much. Although the day temperatures have been up to 17 - 20C, the night ones have been down, often to 4 -5C. and held back the growth.
September is now in progress and we are now in Whitianga whilst Gillian and Paul are in Australia for 10 days, looking after Caitlin. She is no trouble, she likes to make her own breakfast and prepare her own school lunch. She is usually up before her wake-up call at 7.30 a.m. We drop her off at school or she may decide to bike, we sometimes pick her up when school finishes or she may come home with friends.
We will go home this Friday afternoon taking Caitlin with us. Gillian and Paul return on Saturday to Hamilton Airport and they will return home with Caitlin.
Friday, July 29, 2005
Journal: A bit of a Shock.
Yesterday I got a quote for a customised new computer... the box only. It was really 3 quotes for 3 different combinations.
I swallowed twice or was it more. I knew it would be high for a high end machine but to see it staring out at me in bold black and white, it well made me swallow.
To day I felt better and started to pare the listed parts down. I will see Greg tomorrow morning and talk the changes over with him.
Snails. Caught 6 of the little blighter's in the glasshouse this morning... I though I had got rid of them, I was only catching one or two now and then.
Yesterday I got a quote for a customised new computer... the box only. It was really 3 quotes for 3 different combinations.
I swallowed twice or was it more. I knew it would be high for a high end machine but to see it staring out at me in bold black and white, it well made me swallow.
To day I felt better and started to pare the listed parts down. I will see Greg tomorrow morning and talk the changes over with him.
Snails. Caught 6 of the little blighter's in the glasshouse this morning... I though I had got rid of them, I was only catching one or two now and then.
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Journal: Synod
Sunday morning and Pat left for the Synod early just as she did yesterday morning. Each morning she was off well before 8 a.m. picking up Phyll, her friend and fellow Synod member on the way.
As she gave me a goodbye peck her eyes were shining with anticipation of what lay ahead today. I smiled and wished her a pleasant time. Arriving in Hamilton she gave me a quick call on he cell phone and told me that she had arrived safely with no wrong turns in Hamilton.
The Church Diocese yearly meeting, she never fails to tell me each year, is the church parliament where the church laws are made and re-made or modified and the future is discussed. She thoroughly enjoys the experience.
Yesterday was a long day. Pat left before 8 a.m. and did not arrive home until after 9.30 p.m. Today will be shorter, with business probably concluded by 3 p.m.
Sunday morning and Pat left for the Synod early just as she did yesterday morning. Each morning she was off well before 8 a.m. picking up Phyll, her friend and fellow Synod member on the way.
As she gave me a goodbye peck her eyes were shining with anticipation of what lay ahead today. I smiled and wished her a pleasant time. Arriving in Hamilton she gave me a quick call on he cell phone and told me that she had arrived safely with no wrong turns in Hamilton.
The Church Diocese yearly meeting, she never fails to tell me each year, is the church parliament where the church laws are made and re-made or modified and the future is discussed. She thoroughly enjoys the experience.
Yesterday was a long day. Pat left before 8 a.m. and did not arrive home until after 9.30 p.m. Today will be shorter, with business probably concluded by 3 p.m.
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Journal:Republican sympathies fade in New Zealand.
Most days I read the British Telegraph on the Internet and the following piece caught my eye this morning. I think the author has hit the nail on the head.
Although I am not a Monarchist by any means, I do tend to think conservatively in that I don't agree with change for changes' sake. Or to put it in a more pragmatic way, the famous saying "if in ain't broke, don't fix it" comes to mind when some warbling, shallow-minded dork comes along, stands on his soapbox and burbles, "we gotta have change".
Why? He usually doesn't really know.
Now I will get off my soapbox.
Here is the piece in question.
By Paul Chapman, in Wellington
(Filed: 23/07/2005)
A highly successful visit by Prince William, a good-humoured tour de force from British Lions rugby fans, and the London bombings have rekindled in New Zealand a sense of kindred with "the mother country" unlike anything seen for years.
A poll shows that support for the monarchy has soared, a campaign to remove the Union flag from the national ensign is foundering, and the big spending rugby-following Barmy Army gave the economy a huge midwinter fillip.
Only 27 per cent now believe New Zealand should become a republic, an opinion poll published this week showed. Earlier this year it stood at 41 per cent.
Although Helen Clark, the current Labour prime minister, holds republican sympathies that are shared by politicians on both sides of the House, she admitted that, like the rest of the nation, she found Prince William utterly charming when he visited.
New Zealanders have felt a special affection for the prince since his first visit, with his parents in 1983, at the age of nine months.
They were flattered that it was to be in their country that, on July 10, he carried out his first solo official duties.
When he bowed his head before Auckland's war memorial to lay a wreath in memory of New Zealand's war dead, there was an unspoken understanding that the nation was sharing his grief for those who perished in the London bombings.
Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the country prided itself on her role as Britain's most dutiful offspring. It sent more than 100,000 servicemen to the First World War trenches, one-tenth of the entire population, and suffered a horrific casualty rate.
Forty or so years ago, older New Zealanders still referred to Britain as "home", but a sea-change in the relationship came after London signed up to the Common Market. Until recently a growing drift towards republicanism in the corridors of power in Wellington had loosened traditional ties.
Most days I read the British Telegraph on the Internet and the following piece caught my eye this morning. I think the author has hit the nail on the head.
Although I am not a Monarchist by any means, I do tend to think conservatively in that I don't agree with change for changes' sake. Or to put it in a more pragmatic way, the famous saying "if in ain't broke, don't fix it" comes to mind when some warbling, shallow-minded dork comes along, stands on his soapbox and burbles, "we gotta have change".
Why? He usually doesn't really know.
Now I will get off my soapbox.
Here is the piece in question.
By Paul Chapman, in Wellington
(Filed: 23/07/2005)
A highly successful visit by Prince William, a good-humoured tour de force from British Lions rugby fans, and the London bombings have rekindled in New Zealand a sense of kindred with "the mother country" unlike anything seen for years.
A poll shows that support for the monarchy has soared, a campaign to remove the Union flag from the national ensign is foundering, and the big spending rugby-following Barmy Army gave the economy a huge midwinter fillip.
Only 27 per cent now believe New Zealand should become a republic, an opinion poll published this week showed. Earlier this year it stood at 41 per cent.
Although Helen Clark, the current Labour prime minister, holds republican sympathies that are shared by politicians on both sides of the House, she admitted that, like the rest of the nation, she found Prince William utterly charming when he visited.
New Zealanders have felt a special affection for the prince since his first visit, with his parents in 1983, at the age of nine months.
They were flattered that it was to be in their country that, on July 10, he carried out his first solo official duties.
When he bowed his head before Auckland's war memorial to lay a wreath in memory of New Zealand's war dead, there was an unspoken understanding that the nation was sharing his grief for those who perished in the London bombings.
Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the country prided itself on her role as Britain's most dutiful offspring. It sent more than 100,000 servicemen to the First World War trenches, one-tenth of the entire population, and suffered a horrific casualty rate.
Forty or so years ago, older New Zealanders still referred to Britain as "home", but a sea-change in the relationship came after London signed up to the Common Market. Until recently a growing drift towards republicanism in the corridors of power in Wellington had loosened traditional ties.
Friday, July 22, 2005
Journal:
Well it is almost a week since Ian left to return to the UK. Time flies, but then in that time we have had 3 days of heavy rain and then sunny once more and I potted a few plants for the coming springtime. Freezing this morning... Friday, and I turned the heating full on ... all of it for an hour. Equal to 6-7 kilowatts when I calculated it out. We were down to 2 C. last night... cold for this part of NZ.
Pat will be spending all her time in Hamilton over the next 2 days as church Synod member. She enjoys the position and all the debating.
I need to upgrade my computer to run the new edition of Tranz Rail Simulator due out next month. I now have the specifications and will need a bigger processor and 2 Gb of Ram plus a few other things. I will get a new box. No need for new monitors... my 2 19 inch models are more than adequate. Good job I had put a few dollars away for the purpose.
The Kings Head, Usk. 2003.
Happy Memories.
Well it is almost a week since Ian left to return to the UK. Time flies, but then in that time we have had 3 days of heavy rain and then sunny once more and I potted a few plants for the coming springtime. Freezing this morning... Friday, and I turned the heating full on ... all of it for an hour. Equal to 6-7 kilowatts when I calculated it out. We were down to 2 C. last night... cold for this part of NZ.
Pat will be spending all her time in Hamilton over the next 2 days as church Synod member. She enjoys the position and all the debating.
I need to upgrade my computer to run the new edition of Tranz Rail Simulator due out next month. I now have the specifications and will need a bigger processor and 2 Gb of Ram plus a few other things. I will get a new box. No need for new monitors... my 2 19 inch models are more than adequate. Good job I had put a few dollars away for the purpose.
The Kings Head, Usk. 2003.Happy Memories.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Friday, July 01, 2005
Journal: Thoughts and Memories.
This sunny Friday morning I decided to clear up the leaves on our large back lawn. It is winter here in NZ and not long past our mid-winter day. I use a modern leaf blower now as opposed to the old fashioned way, with a leaf rake. Blowing the leaves into a long line then picking them up into the barrow, I collected 3 barrow loads well pressed down and put them into my composting area to await room in the bin.
I still had to use the old fashioned leaf rake to tidy up the remains afterwards.
This reminded me of the time when I was a boy at Kidside and I used to rake up the leaves down the long drive up to our home lined with mature trees down either side. Autumn leaves were everywhere and I would put the leaves into piles along the edge of the drive. There were much too many to do anything with and it was my job to burn the piles of leaves in situ then rake the remains onto the grass verges. I still remember the pleasant woody smell of the burning leaves as they turned to carbon which, when washed into the grass and soil by the rains helped to continue natures cycle during the following spring growth.
This sunny Friday morning I decided to clear up the leaves on our large back lawn. It is winter here in NZ and not long past our mid-winter day. I use a modern leaf blower now as opposed to the old fashioned way, with a leaf rake. Blowing the leaves into a long line then picking them up into the barrow, I collected 3 barrow loads well pressed down and put them into my composting area to await room in the bin.
I still had to use the old fashioned leaf rake to tidy up the remains afterwards.
This reminded me of the time when I was a boy at Kidside and I used to rake up the leaves down the long drive up to our home lined with mature trees down either side. Autumn leaves were everywhere and I would put the leaves into piles along the edge of the drive. There were much too many to do anything with and it was my job to burn the piles of leaves in situ then rake the remains onto the grass verges. I still remember the pleasant woody smell of the burning leaves as they turned to carbon which, when washed into the grass and soil by the rains helped to continue natures cycle during the following spring growth.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Journal: Ian's Visit.
On Saturday we pick up Ian from Auckland airport and the rainy morning cleared just before he was due to come through customs. The journey up was very wet for most of the way otherwise it was showers. We left in the dark for the airport and arrived home in the dark.On Sunday he visited his friend Peter Klaver in Hamilton, taken up by friend Chris. Anthony did the honours of running him back to us at 10 p.m.Monday and Tuesday saw him resting from a little jet lag and so he did some planning for the rest of his 3 weeks stay. Today, Wednesday saw him borrow our car for a trip to Tauranga to see old school friend Derek Mewis and then 2 flatting friends from his time in London. He should be home late Friday or early Saturday.
On Saturday we pick up Ian from Auckland airport and the rainy morning cleared just before he was due to come through customs. The journey up was very wet for most of the way otherwise it was showers. We left in the dark for the airport and arrived home in the dark.On Sunday he visited his friend Peter Klaver in Hamilton, taken up by friend Chris. Anthony did the honours of running him back to us at 10 p.m.Monday and Tuesday saw him resting from a little jet lag and so he did some planning for the rest of his 3 weeks stay. Today, Wednesday saw him borrow our car for a trip to Tauranga to see old school friend Derek Mewis and then 2 flatting friends from his time in London. He should be home late Friday or early Saturday.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Journal: Ian and Anthony.
On Saturday early morning... 5 o' clock in the morning, Ian will be arriving at Auckland airport. We, Pat and I will be there to greet him. The weather forecast indicates the day will have rain, in fact it suggests it will be hosing it down.
Ian will be leaving on his Thursday from the UK which will start on our coming midnight here in NZ. That is right, isn't it??
We went into Anthony's on last Sunday, to both see him and pick up the loaned carpet scrubber. Pat wanted the scrubber for the coming week, so we picked Sunday as a good day. When we left Anthony's we got almost home and realised we had forgot to pick up the scrubber! Never mind.
I have been continuing writing pieces for my life story. Presently it is taking 3 or 4 days to do a piece. I spend quite a bit of time looking up facts to back up what I remember. I don't mind, the Googled look-ups are often interesting to read through. I'm still amazed how accurate my memory is after all these years. And equally amazed how poor my memory for people names is. At the best, putrid.
On Saturday early morning... 5 o' clock in the morning, Ian will be arriving at Auckland airport. We, Pat and I will be there to greet him. The weather forecast indicates the day will have rain, in fact it suggests it will be hosing it down.
Ian will be leaving on his Thursday from the UK which will start on our coming midnight here in NZ. That is right, isn't it??
We went into Anthony's on last Sunday, to both see him and pick up the loaned carpet scrubber. Pat wanted the scrubber for the coming week, so we picked Sunday as a good day. When we left Anthony's we got almost home and realised we had forgot to pick up the scrubber! Never mind.
I have been continuing writing pieces for my life story. Presently it is taking 3 or 4 days to do a piece. I spend quite a bit of time looking up facts to back up what I remember. I don't mind, the Googled look-ups are often interesting to read through. I'm still amazed how accurate my memory is after all these years. And equally amazed how poor my memory for people names is. At the best, putrid.
Monday, June 20, 2005
Journal: Nostalgia.
As I continue rewriting my cousin David's Journal for him this afternoon, I started to have the pangs of nostalgia. I was going over the period when John and I went to stay with Katy, my mothers younger sister and David's mother.
We all went up to our Uncle Tommy Brough's nearby farm at Crookdake and helped him to deliver his milk supply to customers in Aspatria. This was 1947 and I would be 13, with John and David each about 10. We spent such an enjoyable time on the farm and next day too, I think.
Tommy was my mother's youngest brother and a real harum scarum during his youth. David wrote about him in "David's Story". He was always fun to be with during our growing up years. Although Tommy was married they never had any children. Although I never thought about it at the time Tommy would have made a wonderful father especially if they had been sons. Our cousin Norman Brough looked very much like our Uncle Tommy, except Tommy was smaller and very wiry.
Tommy's farm had originally been our grandfather Brough's farm and I have some very pleasant memories of our many visits there. My mind goes back to a rusty old sword Tommy had found down one of the lower fields and he kept it lying on a stone slab next to the barn. I used to day dream as a boy whose it was and what had happened to it.
In days long ago the Scottish marauders used to come down over the Border raiding the farms and villages. Was it discarded in a fight, did it belong to a Scot, or did it belong to one of ours. The nearby Church at Bromfield has many buried bones of slain Scots in unmarked graves and of course marked graves of our slain ancestors too. Yours and mine for we go back to before the 1500s in this small area.
Such is nostalgia.
As I continue rewriting my cousin David's Journal for him this afternoon, I started to have the pangs of nostalgia. I was going over the period when John and I went to stay with Katy, my mothers younger sister and David's mother.
We all went up to our Uncle Tommy Brough's nearby farm at Crookdake and helped him to deliver his milk supply to customers in Aspatria. This was 1947 and I would be 13, with John and David each about 10. We spent such an enjoyable time on the farm and next day too, I think.
Tommy was my mother's youngest brother and a real harum scarum during his youth. David wrote about him in "David's Story". He was always fun to be with during our growing up years. Although Tommy was married they never had any children. Although I never thought about it at the time Tommy would have made a wonderful father especially if they had been sons. Our cousin Norman Brough looked very much like our Uncle Tommy, except Tommy was smaller and very wiry.
Tommy's farm had originally been our grandfather Brough's farm and I have some very pleasant memories of our many visits there. My mind goes back to a rusty old sword Tommy had found down one of the lower fields and he kept it lying on a stone slab next to the barn. I used to day dream as a boy whose it was and what had happened to it.
In days long ago the Scottish marauders used to come down over the Border raiding the farms and villages. Was it discarded in a fight, did it belong to a Scot, or did it belong to one of ours. The nearby Church at Bromfield has many buried bones of slain Scots in unmarked graves and of course marked graves of our slain ancestors too. Yours and mine for we go back to before the 1500s in this small area.
Such is nostalgia.
Friday, June 17, 2005
Journal: Gloves and Snails.
My morning walk is getting colder. It is easy to get muffled up but it is the hands which suffer from walking quickly and swinging ones arms. I hesitate to put on my gloves as no one else does and one heavily built walker just walks in his shirt and only occasionally wears a pull-over even on frosty mornings. This morning I did pull out my gloves. It was foggy and the swirling mist was so damp and so cold. Our hardy walker wore his pullover this morning!
For the past few weeks I have been suffering from young snails in the glasshouse, they are so voracious. The first indication was on a tomato plant. I noticed one morning some of the leaves were just a skeleton. I looked for the cause and noticed the little beasts. Since then I have caught probably 90 or 100 in total, averaging 10 a day at first. Now I'm down to 5 a day and sometime none. It seems they get in via the ventilation window in the roof.
Got lots of seeds sown but difficult to germinate, especially parsley they will not germinate.
My morning walk is getting colder. It is easy to get muffled up but it is the hands which suffer from walking quickly and swinging ones arms. I hesitate to put on my gloves as no one else does and one heavily built walker just walks in his shirt and only occasionally wears a pull-over even on frosty mornings. This morning I did pull out my gloves. It was foggy and the swirling mist was so damp and so cold. Our hardy walker wore his pullover this morning!
For the past few weeks I have been suffering from young snails in the glasshouse, they are so voracious. The first indication was on a tomato plant. I noticed one morning some of the leaves were just a skeleton. I looked for the cause and noticed the little beasts. Since then I have caught probably 90 or 100 in total, averaging 10 a day at first. Now I'm down to 5 a day and sometime none. It seems they get in via the ventilation window in the roof.
Got lots of seeds sown but difficult to germinate, especially parsley they will not germinate.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Journal:Busy, Busy
It seems longer than 2 days since I wrote my last post on Sunday. I seem to have been involved in a lot of diverse things.
First it was the sewerage on Sunday. then the the weather these past 2 days has been superb and I seem to have cleared up quite a few outstanding jobs, from raking up the autumn/winter leaves front and back to digging over the garden around the glasshouse, to tidying up the plants.
Then I have been involved in planning my next computer. I know what I want but trying to squeeze what I want below my ceiling price is a little difficult. I use a NZ web page " Price Spy"which checks daily, the prices throughout NZ of all computer parts then lists them from the cheapest of its type to the most expensive and giving any price drops.
Then Tahlia had borrowed a 14" TV from cousin Luke and during using it, it had konked out. Gillian had asked when I was in Hamilton would I look at it. It went off with a bang and a smell of burning. She feared the worst. So we picked it up on Sunday and I looked at it this morning, Tues. Fortunately I was able to repair the TV by mid morning and ring Gillian to tell her the GOOD news.
In between I'm trying to work out my tax form with the help of a 90 page booklet and I'm not getting on very fast.
I'm trying hard not to say the words I promised myself not to say after I retired, " I'm so busy I don't know how I managed to go to work" Those who used to say those words, and they were many, I used to dismiss as probably working in low gear in their retirement.
I've now got my morning full tomorrow already with filling in the sewerage, pumping some poison in first to deter roots and soak the surrounding earth to kill hidden roots. The I've got some seeds to sow, plant out some Cineraria plants... about 30-40 down the back and feed the greenhouse plants. That is after my early morning walk and breakfast on my return.
Got to do more of cousin David's journal, try and write my own, also continue my life story, too. The days are never dull and boring, no time to watch TV during the day but I do nod off after lunch now and after evening dinner too! Only 2 days have past and I seem to have been so busy, last Sunday seems to have been a week ago.
I keep thinking, if I don't slow up, I'll get everything straightened up, then I will have only the odd maintainance jobs to do. But... it is good to be busy and I feel lucky that I have so many interests. To sit around day after day as some do in retirement would grow very boring after awhile.
It reminds me when I was in hospital in Rotorua, I barely slept for the first 3-4 nights. I used to look at the clock in the small hours of morning, 20 minutes had passed and it seemed an age. The duty nurse on her hourly inspection would come in to check and say "still can't sleep?". Later it was not much better. I came to dread the night-time.
It seems longer than 2 days since I wrote my last post on Sunday. I seem to have been involved in a lot of diverse things.
First it was the sewerage on Sunday. then the the weather these past 2 days has been superb and I seem to have cleared up quite a few outstanding jobs, from raking up the autumn/winter leaves front and back to digging over the garden around the glasshouse, to tidying up the plants.
Then I have been involved in planning my next computer. I know what I want but trying to squeeze what I want below my ceiling price is a little difficult. I use a NZ web page " Price Spy"which checks daily, the prices throughout NZ of all computer parts then lists them from the cheapest of its type to the most expensive and giving any price drops.
Then Tahlia had borrowed a 14" TV from cousin Luke and during using it, it had konked out. Gillian had asked when I was in Hamilton would I look at it. It went off with a bang and a smell of burning. She feared the worst. So we picked it up on Sunday and I looked at it this morning, Tues. Fortunately I was able to repair the TV by mid morning and ring Gillian to tell her the GOOD news.
In between I'm trying to work out my tax form with the help of a 90 page booklet and I'm not getting on very fast.
I'm trying hard not to say the words I promised myself not to say after I retired, " I'm so busy I don't know how I managed to go to work" Those who used to say those words, and they were many, I used to dismiss as probably working in low gear in their retirement.
I've now got my morning full tomorrow already with filling in the sewerage, pumping some poison in first to deter roots and soak the surrounding earth to kill hidden roots. The I've got some seeds to sow, plant out some Cineraria plants... about 30-40 down the back and feed the greenhouse plants. That is after my early morning walk and breakfast on my return.
Got to do more of cousin David's journal, try and write my own, also continue my life story, too. The days are never dull and boring, no time to watch TV during the day but I do nod off after lunch now and after evening dinner too! Only 2 days have past and I seem to have been so busy, last Sunday seems to have been a week ago.
I keep thinking, if I don't slow up, I'll get everything straightened up, then I will have only the odd maintainance jobs to do. But... it is good to be busy and I feel lucky that I have so many interests. To sit around day after day as some do in retirement would grow very boring after awhile.
It reminds me when I was in hospital in Rotorua, I barely slept for the first 3-4 nights. I used to look at the clock in the small hours of morning, 20 minutes had passed and it seemed an age. The duty nurse on her hourly inspection would come in to check and say "still can't sleep?". Later it was not much better. I came to dread the night-time.
Monday, May 30, 2005
Journal: Eye on the Weather.
Want to know the weather forecast or extended forecast in NZ? Try this site. http://www.fencepost.com/home.jhtml
Best to join the site to get the full weather details. Its free and safe from spam, etc. The site belongs to Fonterra, which is the amalgamation of all the Dairy Boards in NZ and now a private company. Known as the farmer's friend.Tip... best to log in with an NZ postal address, not ours, ours is in use. The site is really set up for farmers only.
Want to know the weather forecast or extended forecast in NZ? Try this site. http://www.fencepost.com/home.jhtml
Best to join the site to get the full weather details. Its free and safe from spam, etc. The site belongs to Fonterra, which is the amalgamation of all the Dairy Boards in NZ and now a private company. Known as the farmer's friend.Tip... best to log in with an NZ postal address, not ours, ours is in use. The site is really set up for farmers only.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Journal: A Foggy Day in Huntly Town
If you know the song that should be "A Foggy Day in London Town" sung by Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and others but lately by Michael Buble.
Fog this morning and I could only see down to Dr. Willoughby's house just down from us first thing. It is now approaching Tiffin and the fog has risen slightly. No walk round the lake this morning although I have been out in the fog before. I can see the edge of the lake undergrowth but nothing on the lake is visible yet.
We haven't had a thick fog for a long time now although they used to be common in winter many years ago. Temperature is presently 12 C. and not a trace of a breeze.
A foggy day in London Town
Had me low and had me down
I viewed the morning with alarm
The British Museum had lost its charm
How long, I wondered, could this thing last?
But the age of miracles hadn't passed,
For, suddenly, I saw you there
And through foggy London Town
The sun was shining everywhere.
If you know the song that should be "A Foggy Day in London Town" sung by Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and others but lately by Michael Buble.
Fog this morning and I could only see down to Dr. Willoughby's house just down from us first thing. It is now approaching Tiffin and the fog has risen slightly. No walk round the lake this morning although I have been out in the fog before. I can see the edge of the lake undergrowth but nothing on the lake is visible yet.
We haven't had a thick fog for a long time now although they used to be common in winter many years ago. Temperature is presently 12 C. and not a trace of a breeze.
A foggy day in London Town
Had me low and had me down
I viewed the morning with alarm
The British Museum had lost its charm
How long, I wondered, could this thing last?
But the age of miracles hadn't passed,
For, suddenly, I saw you there
And through foggy London Town
The sun was shining everywhere.
Monday, May 23, 2005
Journal: A Special Day.
It was our 45th wedding anniversary on Sunday the 21st of May. We didn't tell anyone until the day was over. Pat made a special dinner for the 2 of us and we toasted with a glass of wine.
We remembered those days long gone and our life together. I still love Pat as much as I did then, perhaps more so. She was then just turned 21 and I was 26.
I better post this before I tear it up.
It was our 45th wedding anniversary on Sunday the 21st of May. We didn't tell anyone until the day was over. Pat made a special dinner for the 2 of us and we toasted with a glass of wine.
We remembered those days long gone and our life together. I still love Pat as much as I did then, perhaps more so. She was then just turned 21 and I was 26.
I better post this before I tear it up.
Sunday, May 22, 2005
Journal: Rain, Rain.
We have our rain at long last and our long standing drought is over. For 4 days now we have had rain at sometime during the day, mainly at night-time and a few showers during the day.
Many years ago when Gillian and Ian were small I cut a path on the steep slopes of our section going in a semi-circle below where we dumped our garden refuse. Over the many years the path became eroded by rain on the steep slope and a succession of pet goats we kept on a running line to keep the undergrowth in check. The biggest problem was the goat of the moment, stretching and pulling to reach that dainty, leafy morsel of just out of reach and scrabbling the soil down with its forefeet. Slowly the path I had cut disappeared.
Now that the rain has soaked into the parched soil I have cut a new path which was suprisingly easy. Most of the eroded soil was loose and was the remnants of our 39 years of garden waste.
The rain has not been kind to some people. On the east side of the lower Coromandel coast from Tauranga and further down the rain has caused a lot of damage to hillside homes, some being washed off their bases or moved off by mud and rock movement from the upper slopes. Some homes have been left teetering on the edge of veritable, newly formed cliffs.
The worst hit was the small town of Matata south of Tauranga. Many, many homes have been damaged and many have been condemned as irreparable. Houses, cars and larger vehicles swept away, then buried in the mud. The shots on the TV news was just like the tsunami shots of the recent earthquake.
The rain we got was minor in comparison. The storm came from the Pacific Tropics. It hasn't finished yet but the worst is probably over.
We have our rain at long last and our long standing drought is over. For 4 days now we have had rain at sometime during the day, mainly at night-time and a few showers during the day.
Many years ago when Gillian and Ian were small I cut a path on the steep slopes of our section going in a semi-circle below where we dumped our garden refuse. Over the many years the path became eroded by rain on the steep slope and a succession of pet goats we kept on a running line to keep the undergrowth in check. The biggest problem was the goat of the moment, stretching and pulling to reach that dainty, leafy morsel of just out of reach and scrabbling the soil down with its forefeet. Slowly the path I had cut disappeared.
Now that the rain has soaked into the parched soil I have cut a new path which was suprisingly easy. Most of the eroded soil was loose and was the remnants of our 39 years of garden waste.
The rain has not been kind to some people. On the east side of the lower Coromandel coast from Tauranga and further down the rain has caused a lot of damage to hillside homes, some being washed off their bases or moved off by mud and rock movement from the upper slopes. Some homes have been left teetering on the edge of veritable, newly formed cliffs.
The worst hit was the small town of Matata south of Tauranga. Many, many homes have been damaged and many have been condemned as irreparable. Houses, cars and larger vehicles swept away, then buried in the mud. The shots on the TV news was just like the tsunami shots of the recent earthquake.
The rain we got was minor in comparison. The storm came from the Pacific Tropics. It hasn't finished yet but the worst is probably over.
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Journal: My Sense of Humour.
It was tickled a little by this. Do you know Robert Banks from Bristol?
Origin of new British Museum exhibit looks a bit wobbly
By Nigel Reynolds, Arts Correspondent(Filed: 19/05/2005)
Visitors to the British Museum unfamiliar with the date of the wheel's invention may have been puzzled by a primitive painting in the Roman Britain gallery this week, showing a caveman pushing a supermarket trolley.
The earliest recorded wheels, as every schoolboy knows, are from Mesopotamia around 5,500 years ago. Trolleys were first used in the Piggly-Wiggly Supermarket chain [really], Oklahoma City, in 1937. The bizarre exhibit, stuck to a wall with double-sided tape and labelled "Early Man Goes to Market" was, of course, a hoax.
The British Museum had fallen victim to Banksy, Britain's most notorious and inventive "art terrorist" who specialises in sticking fake objects to the walls of major galleries and museums and waiting to see how long it takes for curators to notice.
Embarrassingly for the British Museum, it may have been several days.
Banksy announced on his website at lunchtime yesterday that "Early Man", painted on a piece of rock 10in by 6in found in Peckham, had "remained in the collection [the BM] for quite some time".
He announced a treasure hunt, saying that the first person to photograph him or herself next to it would win an original Banksy painting of a shopping trolley.
Alerted, museum staff quickly found the rock in Gallery 41 at 3.45pm but admitted that they had no idea how long it had been there.
Banksy, who calls himself a graffiti artist, has pulled similar stunts to mock the art world at Tate Britain, the Natural History Museum and major galleries in New York in the last few years.
He has attempted to remain anonymous - in interviews he has said that the police have several warrants out for him - but he is believed to be Robert Banks, aged about 30, from Bristol.
It was tickled a little by this. Do you know Robert Banks from Bristol?
Origin of new British Museum exhibit looks a bit wobbly
By Nigel Reynolds, Arts Correspondent(Filed: 19/05/2005)
Visitors to the British Museum unfamiliar with the date of the wheel's invention may have been puzzled by a primitive painting in the Roman Britain gallery this week, showing a caveman pushing a supermarket trolley.
The earliest recorded wheels, as every schoolboy knows, are from Mesopotamia around 5,500 years ago. Trolleys were first used in the Piggly-Wiggly Supermarket chain [really], Oklahoma City, in 1937. The bizarre exhibit, stuck to a wall with double-sided tape and labelled "Early Man Goes to Market" was, of course, a hoax.
The British Museum had fallen victim to Banksy, Britain's most notorious and inventive "art terrorist" who specialises in sticking fake objects to the walls of major galleries and museums and waiting to see how long it takes for curators to notice.
Embarrassingly for the British Museum, it may have been several days.
Banksy announced on his website at lunchtime yesterday that "Early Man", painted on a piece of rock 10in by 6in found in Peckham, had "remained in the collection [the BM] for quite some time".
He announced a treasure hunt, saying that the first person to photograph him or herself next to it would win an original Banksy painting of a shopping trolley.
Alerted, museum staff quickly found the rock in Gallery 41 at 3.45pm but admitted that they had no idea how long it had been there.
Banksy, who calls himself a graffiti artist, has pulled similar stunts to mock the art world at Tate Britain, the Natural History Museum and major galleries in New York in the last few years.
He has attempted to remain anonymous - in interviews he has said that the police have several warrants out for him - but he is believed to be Robert Banks, aged about 30, from Bristol.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Journal: Visitors
Gillian and Paul came to stay on Saturday arriving here at 9.30 a.m., an early start. Ashlee came to stay also but she arrived on Friday night. Gillian wanted to pick up 2 expensive rings which she had had altered and also look at one or two houses in Hamilton again. She wasn't very forthcoming about what was on offer. Paul is not at all keen to obtain another house. So we didn't ask any questions. They stayed the night with us and went into Hamilton again on Sunday.
Caitlin didn't come with them. On Saturday she had a school netball game, in Thames I think and on Sunday she was to act as a patient for St. John Ambulance Brigade to practise their skills. Plenty of bandages, fake wounds and blood. Come to think of it it may have been a competition. Caitlin is a junior member of St. John.
We have had 2 nights of rain, which was welcome with showers during the day. We still need more. Quite a bit of wind, too. The remains of a tropical storm up in the Pacific.
I am now back into my weblog "OldEric, my funny motto". I've written 2 pieces so far and feel quite enthusiastic again.
We are thinking seriously of getting broadband. The local power company Genesis Energy is offering a discounted service to consumers only. If we give up one of our 2 phone lines it will only cost $20 per month more than our existing dial up account. Set up fee and modem etc is $250. Thinking that one over.
Gillian and Paul came to stay on Saturday arriving here at 9.30 a.m., an early start. Ashlee came to stay also but she arrived on Friday night. Gillian wanted to pick up 2 expensive rings which she had had altered and also look at one or two houses in Hamilton again. She wasn't very forthcoming about what was on offer. Paul is not at all keen to obtain another house. So we didn't ask any questions. They stayed the night with us and went into Hamilton again on Sunday.
Caitlin didn't come with them. On Saturday she had a school netball game, in Thames I think and on Sunday she was to act as a patient for St. John Ambulance Brigade to practise their skills. Plenty of bandages, fake wounds and blood. Come to think of it it may have been a competition. Caitlin is a junior member of St. John.
We have had 2 nights of rain, which was welcome with showers during the day. We still need more. Quite a bit of wind, too. The remains of a tropical storm up in the Pacific.
I am now back into my weblog "OldEric, my funny motto". I've written 2 pieces so far and feel quite enthusiastic again.
We are thinking seriously of getting broadband. The local power company Genesis Energy is offering a discounted service to consumers only. If we give up one of our 2 phone lines it will only cost $20 per month more than our existing dial up account. Set up fee and modem etc is $250. Thinking that one over.
Friday, May 13, 2005
Journal: Lake Walk and the Caravan Park
Friday the 13th, some consider it an unlucky day. I'm not very superstitious and I will walk under ladders but look first to see if it is safe... no paint pots!
I had my morning walk round our lake again this morning. The early morning temperature was 11C. and so I just had my pullover on. Towards the end of the walk I pass through the caravan park which belongs to the County Council. A pretty place on the lake edge with well kept trees and shrubs , the grass neatly mowed to lawn length.
The park is used regularly by tourists in camper vans or cycling as a nightly stopover and some stay a few days. Like many caravan parks there is a semi-permanent clientèle of all persuasions, a few homeless hiring a caravan, some working in the area during the week and then home at the weekends, some staying a few weeks or months and then moving on to pastures new.
Then there are the few are who are to all intent permanent with homemade awnings, floors and small gardens and patios. To these the council has turned a blind eye to the length of stay rules over the years. Recently these permanent and semi-permanents have been given their marching orders, a date set for next month, June. The council wants to redevelop the area; beautify it further in line with the lake walkway and park layout plan.
A number of the near permanents have old converted buses and some of the others, 28 foot dual wheeler caravans. When the local paper interviewed the permanents one said he had been permanent for 11 years. and this was his home. I know for a fact that at least one of the buses with permanent awning, patio and garden which sports a six foot tree-tomato tree laden with fruit has been resident here at least 15 years, since I began walking the area in 1990 and he looked very permanent even then.
Each morning as I pass through the park I wonder: will the old bus ever go again when the try and fire up its engine, will its wheels turn, are its tyres perished? Or will it have to be towed away or transported? A few other long-timers also probably fit into the tow away catagory, too. I wonder also where will they go? Who will have them? Their trauma presently must be intense.
Unlike the British Isles there are strict laws against squatting on private land or council owned land too, for that matter. Travellers would get short-shift with New Zealand laws. My mind boggles when I read of the antics of travellers in the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
Well I thought, I'm glad who I am, what I am and where I am. Any trauma I may have is negligible compared to some of these people.
Friday the 13th, some consider it an unlucky day. I'm not very superstitious and I will walk under ladders but look first to see if it is safe... no paint pots!
I had my morning walk round our lake again this morning. The early morning temperature was 11C. and so I just had my pullover on. Towards the end of the walk I pass through the caravan park which belongs to the County Council. A pretty place on the lake edge with well kept trees and shrubs , the grass neatly mowed to lawn length.
The park is used regularly by tourists in camper vans or cycling as a nightly stopover and some stay a few days. Like many caravan parks there is a semi-permanent clientèle of all persuasions, a few homeless hiring a caravan, some working in the area during the week and then home at the weekends, some staying a few weeks or months and then moving on to pastures new.
Then there are the few are who are to all intent permanent with homemade awnings, floors and small gardens and patios. To these the council has turned a blind eye to the length of stay rules over the years. Recently these permanent and semi-permanents have been given their marching orders, a date set for next month, June. The council wants to redevelop the area; beautify it further in line with the lake walkway and park layout plan.
A number of the near permanents have old converted buses and some of the others, 28 foot dual wheeler caravans. When the local paper interviewed the permanents one said he had been permanent for 11 years. and this was his home. I know for a fact that at least one of the buses with permanent awning, patio and garden which sports a six foot tree-tomato tree laden with fruit has been resident here at least 15 years, since I began walking the area in 1990 and he looked very permanent even then.
Each morning as I pass through the park I wonder: will the old bus ever go again when the try and fire up its engine, will its wheels turn, are its tyres perished? Or will it have to be towed away or transported? A few other long-timers also probably fit into the tow away catagory, too. I wonder also where will they go? Who will have them? Their trauma presently must be intense.
Unlike the British Isles there are strict laws against squatting on private land or council owned land too, for that matter. Travellers would get short-shift with New Zealand laws. My mind boggles when I read of the antics of travellers in the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
Well I thought, I'm glad who I am, what I am and where I am. Any trauma I may have is negligible compared to some of these people.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Journal. Wednesday Happenings.
Pat went down town this afternoon, did her High Street shopping and then drove to the supermarket via Bell Crossing. She rang me on her cell phone and was most indignant. She was stopped at Bell Crossing and breath tested by the Police at 3 p.m. in the afternoon. I laughed and laughed and asked "erratic driving"? She became more indignant.
Reminds me. The 2 retired nuns who live 2 houses from us were breath tested close to Xmas a few years ago on their way home after leaving an out of town church service.
The Garden. A big rat is living in one of my compost bins. I see his burrow each time I open the bin lid. Each time I put in more grass clipping, the hole gets covered up and each time he digs his way upwards again. I think I will leave him in there. He is doing a good job chewing everything up including the grass clippings. He can get out if he wants to, the way he got in... via the bottom.
Hurrah, it is raining this afternoon, unfortunately it probably will not last long. I didn't bother to stop my water sprinkler. The plants on the lower section have been hanging their heads. The drought period is 4 months old now. With a little rain during that time.
Monday, May 09, 2005
Journal. Mother's Day and other Things
Yesterday Pat was invited to Anthony's in Hamilton for Mother's Day. We both went for lunch and stayed for the afternoon. Anthony put on a good spread for us and during the afternoon we talked of many things and looked over his newly acquired house once more. We both enjoyed the afternoon and didn't want our evening dinner on our return home so we settled for scrambled eggs... genuine free range with deep yellow/orange yokes.
After 5 weeks the house now looks lived in... a home and it has the beginnings of a personality. I forgot to take my camera but we will be in again shortly and take some pix.
Today we were in Hamilton once more to pick up Pat's repaired computer... a faulty hard drive under guarantee. They managed to recover all data and programs fortunately. Pat kicked her self, an unread text message had been sitting on her cell phone to tell her that it was now repaired, since the previous day. We could have called in and collected it yesterday.
We came straight home again and I spent the rest of the morning reinstalling the computer. Pat is now as happy as Larry. Who was Larry??
Gillian is going to drag the reluctant Paul across from Whitianga this coming weekend to look at houses she has selected. She has one particular one in mind, that is if it hasn't been sold.
New Subdivision
I was clearing weed down the bottom of our section last Saturday. A track has been cut in the swamp bush below our house from one side to the other by the new sub-division people. It comes out at the bottom of our land by the steel paddock gate. Looking down the bottom of our land, the bottom fence has a survey marker post hammered in. A metre from our fence.
I wonder if it is their intention to clear the swamp bush from this point and up towards Raynor Rd. A total of 12 sections of the first phase have been sold already. No roads yet and the developers are still doing the earthworks. The title to the new sections will not be through until the coming Sept. or Oct.
Yesterday Pat was invited to Anthony's in Hamilton for Mother's Day. We both went for lunch and stayed for the afternoon. Anthony put on a good spread for us and during the afternoon we talked of many things and looked over his newly acquired house once more. We both enjoyed the afternoon and didn't want our evening dinner on our return home so we settled for scrambled eggs... genuine free range with deep yellow/orange yokes.
After 5 weeks the house now looks lived in... a home and it has the beginnings of a personality. I forgot to take my camera but we will be in again shortly and take some pix.
Today we were in Hamilton once more to pick up Pat's repaired computer... a faulty hard drive under guarantee. They managed to recover all data and programs fortunately. Pat kicked her self, an unread text message had been sitting on her cell phone to tell her that it was now repaired, since the previous day. We could have called in and collected it yesterday.
We came straight home again and I spent the rest of the morning reinstalling the computer. Pat is now as happy as Larry. Who was Larry??
Gillian is going to drag the reluctant Paul across from Whitianga this coming weekend to look at houses she has selected. She has one particular one in mind, that is if it hasn't been sold.
New Subdivision
I was clearing weed down the bottom of our section last Saturday. A track has been cut in the swamp bush below our house from one side to the other by the new sub-division people. It comes out at the bottom of our land by the steel paddock gate. Looking down the bottom of our land, the bottom fence has a survey marker post hammered in. A metre from our fence.
I wonder if it is their intention to clear the swamp bush from this point and up towards Raynor Rd. A total of 12 sections of the first phase have been sold already. No roads yet and the developers are still doing the earthworks. The title to the new sections will not be through until the coming Sept. or Oct.
Friday, May 06, 2005
Journal. The Lake once more.
Again this morning I completed my morning walk round our lake and even after the 2.63 km. trek I felt I could have completed another round. The air was so clear and fresh with little humidity, much different to the sometimes humid mornings in mid summer when my legs at the three quarters point didn't want to go any further.
The lake was alive with wildfowl. Tomorrow was the first day of the shooting season. For the past week or two hunters had been erecting or repairing their maimai's (hides). The old timers among the wildlife knew this was a sign to head for the safety of our lake, a wildlife refuge. Ducks of many types gathered along with Canada Geese, Black Swan and more.
I left late this morning... 7.30 a.m. so that I could call in at the medical centre to have my monthly blood test taken and then home for breakfast.
Journal. Happenings here in 2004... so far.
Our Summer drought period stated in mid January first with a constant drying wind followed by constant sun and further drying winds. We had some rain to date but not enough to solve our drought problems.
The long range forecast for our winter period... usually accurate informs us that winter will be mild, often sunny, little frost, moderate rains and it seems an early spring. I hope so.
From April 1st, Anthony became a house owner. We helped him to shift his possession from his last flat of 5 years. I was left wondering, how did he crammed all his possessions into that small flat?
Tahlia is now a student at Wintec... Waikato Institute of Technology and she seems to have settled in well. Still untidy, I believe!
Ashlee has commenced in the 5th form this year at Sacred Heart but is giving Gillian a few worries. Scholastically, doing reasonably well but she does have a 15 year olds' blues, hormones are racing.
Caitlin, the lucky one, at least that is what I think of her as. She goes from strength to strength. After her 1st term in Form 1 she has been moved up into a mixed Form 1/2 class and already making her mark according to Gillian's' phone call this morning.
Gillian is keen to move back to Hamilton. To be nearer her girls I think. Well they are Paul's too, but that is how I think of them. Gillian usually makes the plans and then converts Paul to her way of thinking. Her plan is to buy a home in Hamilton and retain the house in Whitianga. Watch this space!
Pat remains immersed in the local church and Huntly Bird Club of which she is still president. She tries to cut down her committee work in both organisations without much success.
For me my day does not change much, an early morning walk round the lake, 3.62kms then breakfast at 8a.m. followed by a morning in the garden and greenhouse. Afternoon brings varied things... the computer, odd jobs or some reading. Evening brings either TV or computing or both together. The days are at times broken with a trip to Hamilton, Whitianga or?? How dull! And often the question "what day of the week is it, Tuesday or is it Friday?". Well not quite as bad as that.
Our Summer drought period stated in mid January first with a constant drying wind followed by constant sun and further drying winds. We had some rain to date but not enough to solve our drought problems.
The long range forecast for our winter period... usually accurate informs us that winter will be mild, often sunny, little frost, moderate rains and it seems an early spring. I hope so.
From April 1st, Anthony became a house owner. We helped him to shift his possession from his last flat of 5 years. I was left wondering, how did he crammed all his possessions into that small flat?
Tahlia is now a student at Wintec... Waikato Institute of Technology and she seems to have settled in well. Still untidy, I believe!
Ashlee has commenced in the 5th form this year at Sacred Heart but is giving Gillian a few worries. Scholastically, doing reasonably well but she does have a 15 year olds' blues, hormones are racing.
Caitlin, the lucky one, at least that is what I think of her as. She goes from strength to strength. After her 1st term in Form 1 she has been moved up into a mixed Form 1/2 class and already making her mark according to Gillian's' phone call this morning.
Gillian is keen to move back to Hamilton. To be nearer her girls I think. Well they are Paul's too, but that is how I think of them. Gillian usually makes the plans and then converts Paul to her way of thinking. Her plan is to buy a home in Hamilton and retain the house in Whitianga. Watch this space!
Pat remains immersed in the local church and Huntly Bird Club of which she is still president. She tries to cut down her committee work in both organisations without much success.
For me my day does not change much, an early morning walk round the lake, 3.62kms then breakfast at 8a.m. followed by a morning in the garden and greenhouse. Afternoon brings varied things... the computer, odd jobs or some reading. Evening brings either TV or computing or both together. The days are at times broken with a trip to Hamilton, Whitianga or?? How dull! And often the question "what day of the week is it, Tuesday or is it Friday?". Well not quite as bad as that.
Journal. Recent Thoughts.
In the past few days I have been toying with the idea of recommencing my life story. I always intended to return to it but I didn't think the lapse would last as long as I had imagined. An email popped up out of the blue from my past life, my time in Cyprus and it made me sit down and think.
Since early December 2004 I have had my head buried in the Trainz Sim, a very steep learning curve and I'm just coming up for air, so to speak. I now know most of the rudiments of route building and I have started my first route... Swindon to Bath. Just a coincidence that Ian and Vicky should live in that part of the woods. The West Country has always facinated me since I spent time down there centred on Calne in my early 20s.
Now that I will be spending only a few hours a week on Trainz, my thoughts turned to back to my paused life storey and putting the finishing touches to my other journal 'Travel Journal 2003" which is nearly completed.
It will take a few days to marshall my thoughts to continue "OldEric my funny motto".
In the past few days I have been toying with the idea of recommencing my life story. I always intended to return to it but I didn't think the lapse would last as long as I had imagined. An email popped up out of the blue from my past life, my time in Cyprus and it made me sit down and think.
Since early December 2004 I have had my head buried in the Trainz Sim, a very steep learning curve and I'm just coming up for air, so to speak. I now know most of the rudiments of route building and I have started my first route... Swindon to Bath. Just a coincidence that Ian and Vicky should live in that part of the woods. The West Country has always facinated me since I spent time down there centred on Calne in my early 20s.
Now that I will be spending only a few hours a week on Trainz, my thoughts turned to back to my paused life storey and putting the finishing touches to my other journal 'Travel Journal 2003" which is nearly completed.
It will take a few days to marshall my thoughts to continue "OldEric my funny motto".
Friday, March 25, 2005
Journal. Train of Life
Some folks ride the train of life
Looking out the rear,
Watching miles of life roll by,
And marking every year.
They sit in sad remembrance,
Of wasted days gone by,
And curse their life for what it was,
And hang their head and cry.
But I don't concern myself with that,
I took a different vent,
I look forward to what life holds,
And not what has been spent.
So strap me to the engine,
As securely as I can be,
I want to be out on the front,
To see what I can see.
I want to feel the winds of change,
Blowing in my face,
I want to see what life unfolds,
As I move from place to place.
I want to see what's coming up,
Not looking at the past,
Life's too short for yesterdays,
It moves along too fast.
So if the ride gets bumpy,
While you are looking back,
Go up front, and you may find,
Your life has jumped the track.
It's all right to remember,
That's part of history,
But up front's where it's happening,
There's so much mystery.
The enjoyment of living,
Is not where we have been,
It's looking ever forward,
To another year and ten.
It's searching all the byways,
Never should you refrain,
For if you want to live your life,
You gotta drive the train!
~author unknown~
Some folks ride the train of life
Looking out the rear,
Watching miles of life roll by,
And marking every year.
They sit in sad remembrance,
Of wasted days gone by,
And curse their life for what it was,
And hang their head and cry.
But I don't concern myself with that,
I took a different vent,
I look forward to what life holds,
And not what has been spent.
So strap me to the engine,
As securely as I can be,
I want to be out on the front,
To see what I can see.
I want to feel the winds of change,
Blowing in my face,
I want to see what life unfolds,
As I move from place to place.
I want to see what's coming up,
Not looking at the past,
Life's too short for yesterdays,
It moves along too fast.
So if the ride gets bumpy,
While you are looking back,
Go up front, and you may find,
Your life has jumped the track.
It's all right to remember,
That's part of history,
But up front's where it's happening,
There's so much mystery.
The enjoyment of living,
Is not where we have been,
It's looking ever forward,
To another year and ten.
It's searching all the byways,
Never should you refrain,
For if you want to live your life,
You gotta drive the train!
~author unknown~
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