A Few Anticipated Problems

Hello fellow Bloggers.  I'm having a bit of a problem.  As some may recall here in New Zealand many of us in rural areas (even here just outside Napier) do not have broadband.  I can get dial-up but it tends to time out before I have downloaded any large blogs or photos.  So last year I got N Z Telecom mobile broadband which uses the mobile phone masts and network.  It's expensive but adequate.  Well almost adequate.  Unfortunately apart from the general slowness it is refusing to download some blogs which use large photos.  Heather's blog and Dawn Trader's picture blog are two which have just caused me problems this evening.

I haven't yet tried but I may also have problems with Soaring Through the World With Pictures. 

I know that Adrian uses mobile broadband but I suspect that he has stronger signals.  I have a constantly weak signal.  There's little I can do but please do be aware that just because I'm not commenting on your blogs doesn't mean that I'm not commenting and appreciating them.

It Seems Like A Long Time

The Funeral for Colleen's husband will take place today at St Thomas More Catholic Church.  The celebration of the life of Ralph in Palmerston North will take place on Sunday at the Awapuni Racecourse.  I didn't really know either men well but I do know some of  those who will be touched by the deaths: wives, children, grandchildren, friends, colleagues and many more whose lives they touched.  It has been a sad week.  But I cannot dwell on the sadness because it reminds me too much of the loss of Andy and the negativity of such feelings.  When I eventually depart this mortal coil I want people to be happy that they've known me (well, I hope so anyway) not sad that I've gone.  Although I fully accept that there will be some whose feelings are quite the reverse!

Anyway back to this week.  I've missed Blogland  where people I know have become such a part of my life that I really miss not keeping up. I've read one, perhaps, two blogs this week and I may be struggling to read many more for a few days.  My days seem to be more full than ever.  When I think of people like Heather with a family and a job and Blogland and all the other things she does and the conflicting needs of her self and her family; when I think of Cynthia who has to fit in studying with several jobs and a life;  and when I think of those whose lives are constrained by constant pain and fatigue and illnessI realise just how lucky I am that I am able to make the choices.   I chose family who are here with me, I chose croquet which has become a part of my life and I accept the reality of life here which is busy and full.  But none of that stops me missing my friends in Blogland.

So what's happened since I arrived back from New Plymouth (about which I will blog in due course)?  Well I've had children and dogs and family 'things' more than ever before.  It's been wonderful.  I've never really seen myself as a grandfather and now to have that role - albeit a surrogate one - is terrific.  Yesterday was a good example of a day: a wonderful day.

Woke.  Checked emails.  Breakfast.  Shower.  Phone call or two.  Children arrived  (as a family we are down from 3 to 2 cars temporarily until the 'new' one arrives from Japan next week so Wendy has to go to the Practice with Martin instead of separately as they usually do) with Misty. 

Off to the school bus

Mrs Smith (the driver not the horse!) with her pony and trap.  Unfortunately the pony does not like dogs.  Especially not yappy fluffy rugby balls on legs.  Misty slipped her lead.  Fortunately the outcome was ok: the pony was impressive in its tollerance.  Drama averted.

 

The school bus which had been waiting for the drama to end arrives and everyone goes off to school. 

 

And I'm left with Misty - what's that saying about butter not melting?

 

One phone call later and my mat has been well and truly attacked!

At 9am I set off for a morning's croquet.  Because it was my first day back on a Club Day I was presented with the silverware for club events that I managed to do reasonably well in last season:

 

It was ironic therefore that (althogh we won the first game that goes in the local newspaper!) I played as badly as it is possible for a person at my level to play and covered myself in whatever the opposite of  glory is.

And that was just the morning.   I arrived home at lunchtime, collected Misty from The House, and set out for an afternoon's catching up.   Wendy arrived home early and asked if I would look after Catriona.  Of course.  When Wendy arrived home at about 6.30 she popped down and I put a gin and tonic in her hand.  We caught up on the day's events.  Wendy got up to go home and make dinner for her and Catriona.  Where were all the others?  Gone to Sea Scouts.  So I made poached eggs and we sat and chatted and then watched Coronation Street or Corrie as it is generally known (for those of you from the US that is the longest running UK TV soap opera and it's also followed here in NZ).

Later that evening I had a long chat on the phone to a friend and eventually went to bed around midnight.

Days don't come much better than that.

But I still missed Blogland.

Sad Days.

The last few nights without Colleen have been strange for Jayne and I.  It's been hard knowing that life has been carring on for us whilst Colleen has had to deal with the trauma of a sudden illness and then the death of her husband on Sunday morning.  Another friend though croquet from Palmerston North is also experiencing the trauma of an imminent death.  I feel so deeply for the two of them because I can imagine exactly what they are going through.

It has brought home to me just how much New Zealand is a home to me.  When one knows people well enough to attend funerals one is at home.

We Just Never Know

Some of the readers of this blog will already know that I had a really crappy first few days at the croquet tournament I am at in New Plymouth.  I have not played well.  I have not played to my handicap.  I have certainly not played well enough to be at an invitational representing some of the top players in the Country.  As I am supposed to be playing at such an invitational next week this is exceptionally worrying.  Today I have been playing to a higher standard but still not to the standard to which I had become accustomed.  Whether I will play in the invitational next week  or withdraw is something I will decide after my games tomorrow.

However all this has been put into perspective by the happenings of today off the croquet lawns.  One of the ladies with whom I have come to the tournament and with whom I am staying received a call this afternoon to say that her husband was critically ill and was being hellicoptered from Hawkes Bay hospital to Wellington for heart surgery following an aneurism.

So this evening Jayne and I are on our own.  In fact I'm finishing this in bed whilst Jayne is in the living room getting the rugby score on the TV and checking our Lotto  numbers.  We have three on the same line.  More than usual but not enough for any payout.  Ah well. 

So we've been chatting this evening about croquet, life, the universe and everything and trying to make sense of it all.  Of course we haven't managed any of that.  And now it's time for sleep.  Night night.

After A Hard Day On The Lawns

The Girls with whom I travel when I go away to croquet tournaments are great.  We have wonderful fun.   However sometimes they go too far and think that it is funny to infringe my personal space in the morning when I am in bed in my dressing gown with Samantha having my cup of green tea with lemon:

So I retalliate:

Mt Egmont/Mt Taranaki

My first view of  Mt Egmont from the Wanganui to New Plymouth road.  It really is an amazing sight and is visible from almost everywhere in the vicinity of New Plymouth. Mount Taranaki, Mount Egmont, or simply Taranaki is an active but quiescent stratovolcano. The 2518-metre-high mountain is one of the most symmetrical volcanic cones in the world. There is a secondary cone, Fanthams Peak, on the south side.

Away Again

In a few minutes Jayne will be calling in Lucy to collect me.  Then we will collect Colleen.  Then we will drive to New Plymouth on the other side of North Island.  The reason, of course, is a croquet tournament:  five full days of tournament.  My first adventure of the season.  Given that I haven't played for three months (unless you count last Monday!) this could be interesting.  It will also be interesting in another context:  I have never been to New Plymouth.  A friend tells me that it is a lovely place.  So I'm looking forward to it.  If the rain stays off and it continues to brighten up it could be a good drive as well. 

The route for those who don't know New Zealand is South from Napier to Palmerston North and then North-East to Wanganui and across to New Plymouth: a distance of 425 kilometres.  We should arrive late afternoon depending on stops.  Right I have 6 minutes to get this posted and get ready.  Bye!

In October??

It's still October.

Yesterday I received a Christmas Card.

Arghhhhh!

At least it's a pretty one!

Where Is Home?

Many people in this world are unfortunate enough not to have a home.  I cannot envisage how absolutely terrible that must be.  I have not only never been homeless but I have never lived in an unhappy home - albeit my life like most others has had some unhappy moments.

A few days ago I made the comment "I arrived home (yes, it is home - I can have more than one home can't I?) yesterday morning."   Spesh commented that  "A thought to ponder on - Can you have two homes? I don't think so. In my life home is not just where the heart (which we only have one of),is but where we pay our income tax!! N.Z. is a wonderful "abode" to enjoy for 6 months of the year."

This got me thinking.  I have only one heart.  But on many things (perhaps because I am a geminian) my heart is split.  My heart is in the Hebrides were I have lived the larger part of my life and in New Zealand where I have lived partially since 2005.  So on that criteria I have two homes.  It's rather a minor point but I have paid New Zealand income tax on my bank interest here.  An even more minor point is that the term 'Second home' is a common one.

For some people 'home' is not where they live anyway.  Many, perhaps most, Scots living away from Scotland still refer to Scotland as their home even if they may never intend (other than in dreams) to visit Scotland ever again.  I, on the other hand, have absolutely no affinity with the place where I was born and brought up.

In my experience (and it will be interesting to see what my American fellow bloggers say) Americans when asked the question invariably say the name of the State in which they are living at that moment.  That's OK up to a point for me but I live each year equally in two places.

So where is home?  I don't know.  I don't really need home to be defined.  I have one.  I have two.   The fact that I don't have no home [double negative intended for emphasis] means that I am blessed. For that I am grateful.

What A Difference A Day Makes

Yesterday the sun was shining and the view from the living room of The Cottage was wonderfully cheerful:

Today it is entirely another story: