Thankful Thursday

It's been an odd sort of a day.  Busy.  I've not spent much time in Blogland.  The sun shone which shouldn't be notable in Hawkes Bay but this year it is worth a mention.  It was warm.  But what made it odd for me was thinking.  I kept thinking about people.  I kept thinking about friends who are not so well.  Friends who would love to be really busy and out and about but who are not always able to fulfill those desires because their bodies won't let them.  I was thinking about a friend to whom I was once engaged (she proposed on a 29 February when I was in California and she was in England) and who has recently undergone very radical surgery to remove a tumour.   In fact I was thinking about lots of people today.  You get days like that don't you?  Don't misunderstand I was not morose.  Indeed I was very happy for some friends even if it was because their situation is not as bad as it could be.  I can never stop playing the Glad Game.

All that thinking made me realise how fortunate I am to be able to do all that I do and to have the friends that I have.  In particular - and I was reminded of this by a recent exchange on Meike's (aka Librarian) blog From My Mental  Library about the wearing of nail varnish - with my friends who keep me young.  In particular today I am singling out Friend Who Knows Too Much and her daughters who, for my 60th birthday, insisted on the following being done just before I went to my Birthday Party which had been arranged by Friend Whom I'd Trust With My Life and others with lots of people from all over surprising me by appearing.

And the following was:

I don't know what happened to the photo of my other hand but every nail was a different colour.  What was really amusing on the night was that it took 20 minutes into the party before anyone noticed.  The next day friends from Glasgow were taking me out to lunch at the Caberfiedh Hotel in Stornoway and insisted that I removed the offending colouration before I went out.  Their reaction when they realised I hadn't removed the colour from one of my pinkies (little fingers) was quite robust!

Then to top it all I opened an email from a croquet friend late this evening saying "Have just had a great day. and wish to share with you, Am sending a basket full of happy things.   Enjoy."  How uplifting was that?

So tonight I am thankful for friends who keep me young (even if my Brother has pointed out that I'll soon be pushing 70).

A Sore Bum? and a Birthday Party

A quiet day. A lovely day. A hot day. Pottered into town this morning and did my emails etc at Esquires Cafe where purchasing a coffee (and excellent coffee it is too) also purchases an hour on the Wi fi Internet. I take the Laptop. I'm becoming an hourly fixture there each day. Went home for lunch. Put the bike on the back of the car and went to Ahuriri. Rode round the coastal cycleway for nearly 6 kilometres past the centre of Napier. Turned round and rode back again. My first cycle since my return. I wasn't puffed and I had no sore bum. OK so it was only 12 k but that's a pretty good start and I can't wait to get back onto the saddle.


It was Wendy's Birthday. Wendy and the children came down whilst Martin cooked dinner. Then Martin came down. Then we all went up to the Big House and had dinner. Afterwards until well after the children's bedtime (I wonder what they are like this morning!) we partied. I shall not be so cruel as to put anyone else's photo on the Blog. Suffice to say that the photo of me was representative of the mood of the evening!

We thought that the 'phone problem had been sorted but life is never that simple. The ground is so hard that digging the trench manually is nigh on impossible (100 metres with a pickaxe - I don't think so). It's made more difficult because the electricity supply is there too and there has to be a separation of at least 300mm. The verge isn't wide enough. A solution has yet to be found. In the meantime......