The Vets

Yesterday I won the Veterans Association Croquet Handicap Singles.  I could have made that a Thankful Thursday post but for the fact that when we returned to the Motel we invited several lots of  croquet people staying at the motel to join us in our (very spacious) unit for a wee libation and  some nibbles and after that a croquet friend staying nearby in his campervan joined us for dinner and by the time he departed it was bedtime and I was far too tired to do as I am tonight and sit up and write a post.

This morning when Judy woke me with a cup of tea at 0545 I wondered how it was that I could have had all that sleep and still feel so tired.  

As I surveyed all the wine bottles I wondered what on earth the person cleaning the unit would have thought of us so I decided to write him/her a little note.  The motel owner said this evening that he's heard the story!  The cleaner just left us a little addendum to our note.

Thankful Thursday - Oops

I have, as I mentioned, been to the Veteran's Croquet Tournament.  As always we had a great time although the weather was the worst it's been in Dannevirke since I've been going to that tournament.  Sometimes the wind was so strong and hot that it was shorts and poloshirt and others it was cold and full rain gear.  The only fairly consistent constant was the very strong winds.  Few of us like playing in the wind.  Few of us like playing in the rain.  However I played the Glad Game - warm rain and warm wind are preferable to cold wind and cold rain!

Weather over the Ruahine Ranges

The tournament was mixed for me given that I have hardly played any croquet for 6 months whilst in the UK.  However after two days of Association Croquet where I played some really good stuff and even more superb crappy stuff I played Golf Croquet today with Margaret who has partnered me in The Vets for four years and we won the doubles tournament.  The best we'd managed previously was 2nd.  So all in all a Pretty Good Day on the lawns.

John Wall a senior player and in this case Tournament Manager, Margaret and me.

So it was only when I woke this morning in the motel and put on NZ TV One's Breakfast Show and they said it was Friday that I remembered that I hadn't done any posts whilst I was away and hadn't done my Thankful Thursday post either.

So today as I drove home in the hot sun along the same traffic-free state highways that I'd driven down on and thought how wonderful this land is:

The Ruahine Ranges  of New Zealand's North Island covered with The Long While Cloud which gives the country its alternative name

 

I felt that all was as well in my little word as it possibly could be.

This evening Wendy came down for a chat just after 7pm and Martin came down after 9pm and we had a good old chinwag and catch-up and the odd glass of something with some cheese.

What could be better in my world?  So today, even thought it's Friday (or it was when I started this post!) I am very thankful for croquet and the enjoyment it gives and for the privilege of living - albeit only part of my life - in this wonderful land called Aotearoa - The Land of The Long While Cloud.

Another Tournament

Tonight I am in Dannevirke for the annual Veterans Croquet Tournament.  This year the entries will be reduced because The Croquet Women's Worlds is being held in Tauranga at the same time. 

I drove down (Dannevirke is about 90 minutes South of Napier) on a road made in heaven for The Handbag.  It was a lovely sunny afternoon and the road is winding, hilly and almost completely free of traffic.

The Vets

Last weekend I was, as you have doubtless read, in Dannevirke. I was playing in the Vets. This is the short title for the 23rd New Zealand Veterans' Championship - Central Region Event. It is played over three days: Friday for Handicap Doubles and Saturday and Sunday for Handicap and Championship Singles (played simoultaneously). They were played on the splendid lawns of the Rangatira Club in beautiful weather conditions.

In the Doubles I played with a lady from Fielding called Margaret Hewett whom I'd met at, and played against, at tournaments before but with whom I had never played. We won our section and then in the play-off between sections we were beaten into second place: a satisfying result.

I played in the Championship Singles because my handicap is 4 and it has to be 6 or more to play in the Handicap event. I had expected to be drubbed because there were some top players in the event including Tony Stephens who is a world-class player with a handicap of 0. He beat me 7:2 and 7:4 unsurprisingly. However the next most senior player on 1 was Don Reyland (who with his partner had won the Doubles and with whom I am very well acquainted). On the last game of Saturday I played him on the lawn next to the clubhouse when almost everyone else had fiinished and therefore was watching our match. After a long and hard match I won on the 13th hoop with an angled shot to the hoop from the line - about 9 yards. That was a very satisfying shot and match. Overall I came third at the end of the Tournament which was a result beyond my wildest dreams.

All in all it was a very satisfying weekened away with wonderful company, wonderful weather, and wonderful play.

Colleen and Tony Stephens - In the Shade of the Pepper Tree

Life's pretty good.