RIP Norris

My beautiful furbaby Norris has died. He was hit by a car as he was coming home from his normal evening jaunt in the field across the road. I was never happy with Norris's adventuring but he would have been stifled if I kept him inside all the time.

Norris was always determined to explore his surroundings from the day I got him. He discovered how to the use the cat door when he was only 8 weeks old. He would also climb the patio wall to sit atop the fence and watch the world go by. He was my snuggly purring baby when it suited him but other times he was off discovering new delights - often bringing them home for me to enjoy too. Over the course of one week he captured three large mice (or smallish rats) and a weta.

Norris purred continuously. And loudly. I only had him 7 months but it felt like I had known him for ever. He brought me so much pleasure and love and I will miss him.

His sister Molly has climbed onto Norris's favourite spot between the keyboard and my chin and is lying here purring as I type. Does she know the grief I feel? What a comfort she is - and she must be missing him too.

Some of these photos capture a little bit of his character ... I shall never forget him. RIP Norris

The blogger returns

It's been almost four months since I last wrote. I haven't forgotten about my blogs - just circumstances have made it very difficult to write. Even now, I am struggling as Norris has decided to settled in his favourite position - my chest. He is perched between the keyboard and my chin, making typing extremely awkward. Thankfully I am a touch typist and computers allow us to correct typing errors as we go.
So, what has been happening over the last 12 weeks or more? Apart from a family wedding, it's been pretty much life as we know it, but for some reason I have been unable to write. Even my much loved garden has got away on me and partly finished quilts have languished in the sewing room. However, to give myself some credit, I did finish one quilt for a grandson's birthday and have made a tunic top for myself. I have also finished a very small knitted garment for a pending grandchild who could arrive any day now.
Norris and Molly have had their visit to the vet and can no longer reproduce. They coped very well and Molly is due to have her stitches out in a week's time. I will post more about their antics in another blog.
I can't actually pinpoint any particular reason for my "blog block" except perhaps Facebook and a silly game called Farmville. Nothing wrong with the game at all but the developers keep coming up with new things just as I decide to stop playing. There is plenty of life outside of Farmville but I also really enjoy the interaction with my friends who also play. I think I have now found a healthy balance whereby I can still enjoy the on line interaction as well as continue to challenge myself in real life.

Memories

It's been a bit like walking down memory lane the last few days.

My three brothers and one sister-in-law have enjoyed a weekend together and done an awful lot of laughing as we recalled the past. Much of the laughter was at my expense I might add but my shoulders are broad ... heck, most of me is broad!

The boys in particular enjoyed re-telling the story of my mechanical ignorance. An uncle had bought a new (to him) car and brought it round to show off. As men tend to do, they stood around the open bonnet and gazed at the engine and made appropriate appreciation noises. The engine turns over nicely, my uncle said..... which led me to ask the question I had always wanted to know the answer to. If the engine turns over, why is it always the same way up when you open the bonnet, I asked. I thought it was a reasonable question but the menfolk fell about laughing and have never let me forget it!

Then there was the time when Dad bought an almost brand new car - a blue Vauxhall Victor if I recall correctly. It was the first car we had with "blinkers" as opposed to the little thing that popped out of the side of the car when indicating. Dad took us all for a drive but it was a somewhat misty evening and I just happened to turn around to look out the back window when Dad indicated (using the blinkers of course) and slightly braked at the same time. This combination created a flickering red glow just as I looked out and I immediately called out, "Stop the car, the car's on fire". I can still hear Dad's shout of horror and my brothers' hysterical laughter as they reassured Dad everything was fine.

And of course their old favourite was trotted out once again .... remember the Ray Columbus hit of the 60s - "She's a mod"? Well, I used to sing it with gusto and could never understand why my brothers had amused grins on their faces. I thought they were mocking my singing but they never let on until one day I couldn't resist asking the question - why have they made a song about cheese and mud? Yes you guessed it - for weeks I had been singing "Cheese and mud, cheese and mud, yeah yeah yeah, cheese and mud, cheese and mud, it won't change any more ..." It didnt make sense to me but I really did think those were the words. LOL

But the story that got the biggest laugh of the night was when sister-in-law Pat and I told of the occasion when we had been released from child care duties and set loose in Palm North for the day - probably in the mid 1970s. Mum had given us some money for lunch and off we set - all dressed up and wearing rather high wedge heel shoes. We ate at the Hong Kong restaurant and had a glass or two of wine which rather went to our heads. The next store we went into was a clothing shop with the changing rooms made simply of curtains - a bit like the curtain system in hospitals. We went into one cubicle and Pat grabbed a curtain edge and pulled so that we would be private. Unfortunately for the lady next door, she had grabbed the wrong curtain and completely exposed the poor woman who was dressed in nothing more than bra and knickers. We should have been very apologetic and remorseful but both of us just went into hysterical laughter and fled the shop very quickly.

So many memories and it is wonderful to be able to recall them and share them. More another time ...

Camping update

I was just leaving town to join the others at Kai Iwi Beach when I passed daughter H coming the other way. Actually I thought it was her hubby coming home to collect something vital but a few moments later my cell phone rang ... H and the birthday boy were taking some time out and the advice was "to turn around." As the weather was pretty wet and cold, I didn't need to be persuaded.

The birthday party had been cancelled and as I had the cake in my car, H didnt want it going out to camp when Mr 2 wasn't even going to be there to enjoy it.

Camping in bad weather is not much fun with a 2 year old. Whereas older children can amuse themselves reasonably well when there are lots of them, the littlies are not so good at it and I think the mum was beginning to go stir crazy amusing the wee chap.

The plan was to stay at home until after his sleep and then head out to camp again and hopefully into warmer dryer conditions. Forecast isn't that promising however so there may be a few sleeping at home tonight. I was told it was extremely windy there last night and not a lot of sleeping was happening. Ahhhh - those are the days :)

As H was re-telling the story of tents and wind, I was reminded of another occasion when the elements caused chaos at the beach.

My Dad's family has a reunion at Easter every two years at Opunake beach which is where he and his 11 brothers and sisters grew up. (Many have now returned there to live). We arrived on the Thursday afternoon and set up our foldaway caravan and awning. We had four children aged 18 months through to 8 years with another one well on the way. The littlest (Miss H) was sleeping in a cot in the awning along with her brother and sisters. She was put to bed after tea and we all gathered together in the hall just a few seconds walk away. Someone checked on her constantly but not every 5 mins (things were different back then). The wind and the rain started and it blew and it blew and it blew. Imagine our surprise when we next checked the baby - she was still in her cot thank goodness but the awning had collapsed all around her. What to do? My parents were staying with one of Dad's sisters in the town so I dismantled the cot, packed up the baby's bits and pieces and delivered her to her grandparents for safekeeping overnight. The other children were left in their dad's care at the beach while I was away.

The wind had increased while I was away and returning to the campsite was like entering a war zone. It was almost unrecognisable. Our caravan was unusable - tattered and torn. The canvas covering torn to shreds in the wind. Children were huddled in various cars, frightened and cold. Hubby nowhere to be seen - found later snoring on a bench in the hall.

One brother had a "proper caravan" so he graciously invited us to share with him and his wife. Just to get this in perspective - it was a four berth caravan and between us there were four adults and three children. Sleeping arrangements were a bit difficult but I crawled into the double bed with brother and his wife, we put the "sleeping" hubby on the top bunk and the three smaller children shared the bottom bunk. I swear it was only our combined weights that kept that caravan on the ground that night. I don't think the three adults in the one bed got a lot of sleep - not only was it cramped and uncomfortable, but at times we thought we were about to fly.

The next day, there were remants of tents around the camp site and most of us packed up and returned to our warm dry homes.

I have come to the conclusion that camping is fun provided the weather conditions are perfect, but the first hint of rain and wind will have me heading to the nearest motel.

Rain and camping

Am sitting up in bed, enjoying the slightly cooler temperatures and the sound of rain falling rather heavily on the roof. Curtains are drawn and it looks rather bleak outside. I'm not complaining - my garden badly needs the water - but I am wondering about three of my children and their families who have gone camping at Kai Iwi Beach this long weekend. With 9 children between the ages of 2 and 11, they'll be praying for sunshine.

Actually one of the children is celebrating his second birthday today and I am off to join the merry throng very soon. I have to go - I have the birthday cake to take out. His mother thought it would be a bit difficult throwing that in amongst all the camping gear when they left yesterday. That particular family had to take two trips to set up camp as they don't have a trailer or a very large car. Thankfully the camp is only 20 minutes drive away so two trips was not a hardship.

But this weather reminds me of a camping trip we did as a family many years ago when my five children were aged 2 - 10. We were living in Invercargill at the time and had had 10 lovely days in a hidden quiet spot, complete with trees, grass and a delightful running stream. The kids lived in togs and t-shirts the entire time and we had several suitcases which were never opened.

When we returned home, friends invited as to join them for a week at Colac Bay. In my wisdom, I decided that only two sets of clothes and togs would be needed and off we set - with an extra child in tow as well. While we were setting up the tent, the older children asked to go swimming. Despite being told "no" they went anyway - in their clothes. That was change number one. Oh well, we'll just hang those out to dry, I thought. Wrong! As soon as the rope was hung between poles, the sun disappeared and the rain started. It wasn't ordinary rain - it was cold, heavy and very wetting. Within 24 hours there were no dry towels, children had run out of clothes and were wearing whatever they could find and I had run out of humour and patience. Being cooped up with six children in a tent (which was getting smaller by the minute) was no picnic. We were home within 48 hours!

I look back now and laugh and in a way, think it would be hilarious if the same thing happened to my now adult children. Not that I would wish it on them - of course :)

Random thoughts

What feet have trod these paths I tread? This was the thought that came to my head - rather surprisingly I might add - as I walked from my office to collect the mail. To my left was the site of the former Queen's Park School (now the library) and just ahead on my right was St Mary's Church. Both places have historical significance and would have attacted thousands of people over the years.

I began to think about the people who walked this path before me and the lives they might have lived and what they did to sustain themselves and their families. What did they do to keep themselves occupied and what sort of work was available? Jobs would be quite different to what is around today. I am very interested in social history but not particularly knowledgeable so I could really only make assumptions as I pondered the questions.

Mankind needs to work to survive. It's not just a way of earning money although I think in modern times that it how it is seen by many. But work (either paid or unpaid) gives a purpose as it has an outcome by which you can measure success or achievement - whether it be growing food for the family or earning enough money to pay the mortgage. It seemed to me that hundreds of years ago most families (all members) would be kept busy growing and harvesting their own food whether it be crops or stock (or both). Surplus would be sold off or traded. Supermarkets were not needed and certainly never imagined. However, I can understand how they evolved as the social structure of our society changed.

On that train of thought, I went in another direction and wondered what changes would be in effect in 200 years time. Would people still live their lives as we do today or would the comparison be the same as 2010 and 1810? Would they go to work each day? What clothes would they wear? Ahead of me were two young girls wearing short tight skirts, tops which left their midriffs bare and jandals on their feet - clothing that would have been unimaginable even 50 years ago. What would young people be like in 2210? Would the earth be as we know it now or would global warming have changed it completely? So many questions and of course I will never know the answers. Neither will anyone else that is alive at present.

As a society, we have a responsibility to ensure we leave the planet in the best possible condition and with as much information as we can for future generations. We know so much more than our forefathers (and mothers) and even in my relatively short life time, I have seen major technological changes. We could probably compare the last 50 years with the industrial revolution but on a far greater scale.

These were just random thoughts as I wandered through town and back again. No conclusions were reached..... but I enjoyed the journey :)

Cruising down the river

Yesterday I had the greatest treat in a long while - I cruised up (or is that down - it would have been one way I guess) the Whanganui River to Hipango Park which is 25kms north of Wanganui. I was one of about 30 - all guests of the Whanganui River Institute - who boarded the former steamer, MV Wairua at 10am ready for the approx 2 hour trip to the park which is only accessible by water. The Whanganui River is so beautiful and sadly many people don’t get to appreciate its unique charms and attractions. And of course travelling on the MV Wairua added to the enjoyment - there is something rather special about using the same mode of transport early settlers and residents used.

The Wairua was salvaged in 1987 and after being restored to her former glory, re entered service in October 2006. Modern health and safety regulations meant there could only be 8 people on the top deck at any one time but in days gone by, the boat would have been packed with people. I guess there was always the risk that it become top heavy and topple over but it didn't to my knowledge. Now the vessel only takes 38 passengers.

I took the two 10 year old grand-daughters (cousins) who enjoyed the outing most of the time. I think they found the long river trip just a bit boring as they were very limited in what they could do and were too young to appreciate the beauty of their surroundings and the historic stories being retold. But it was an adventure and I hope that some special memories were created during the day.

I was a bit nervous about what awaited us at Hipango Park as info said "Visitors need to be physically fit as the walk to the park from the river is steep." It is steep but I took my time and got to the top about the same time as everyone else :)

Then it was time for lunch. I don't know about you but I always look forward to food. The girls and I had spent the night before preparing a picnic lunch - nice bread rolls with ham fillings and in my case, hot mustard. There was also a yoghurt each, watermelon, chocolate biscuits and chippies. I ensured the girls were all organised and packed up in the morning - I even double checked their bags for food, drink, togs, towel, jacket and change of footwear. Someone should have double checked mine. Looked through my bag several times before I was forced to admit that ... sigh ... my lunch was still in the fridge along with two peaches that I was going to eat sneakily without the girls knowing. They were kind and shared with me so all was not lost. Thank you girls .... [and the rolls and peaches made a lovely lunch at work today]

After lunch, there was an opportunity for swimming off the side of the boat. Which meant going back down the track to the river. It was almost as difficult going down as it was going up and I wasn't prepared to repeat the climb a second time - well, not on the same day. Luckily the girls were happy to stay at the boat, testing the water, until it was time for the return journey. Neither of them jumped in the river but using the boat's rope ladder got wet to their belly buttons.

The trip back was very relaxed - a glass or two of wine, good company and conversations. I took some time just to reflect and to be thankful that in this busy world in which we live, there is still beauty to be found all around us.