Cimba7200's thoughts...

2012-01-30T15:53:00.000+13:00

Waitakaruru Arboretum and Sculpture Park
This Park is located about 20 km outside ot Hamilton near a small country settlement called Tauwhare, or more precisely, Scottsman's Valley. It has been developed around a now-unused quarry, and has several small lakes, and wide variety of trees of many kinds, and sculptures are supplied and placed on display by a variety of sculptors and are available for sale if desired.

This slide-show above shows only a small number of the many varieties of sculptures available, some small and some much larger. One needs to understand the art of sculpture to get the most benefit from a visit here.

My next blog will show more of the park and other sculpture works here.

2012-01-24T21:39:00.000+13:00

IrfanView Photographic software

Many blogging and local friends have kindly praised the quality of my photos, and I appreciate the encouragement, but I think it is worth explaining that the quality of a picture may rely as much on the processing afterwards as the taking of the photo with the camera in the first place.

There are many photo-modifying softwares available on the internet, and many of them are free, but after trying several out my favourite is called IrfanView.

This software was developed organised by Irfan Skiljan of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is one of the simplest and most comprehensive photo-modifying software I have come across, and it is the only one I use for my blog site. While compiling this blog I have discovered that many professionals also use it.

IrfanView software is free to download and use and is available at http://www.irfanview.com/ . It is designed to work with Windows software, so it may not work on Mac computer equipment.

Some of the settings may be left to the software to decide, but I prefer to make my own adjustments, and mainly use the Contrast and Sharpen controls for my photos.

If you are computer literate and want to experiment you will find that IrfanView can do much more than just improve your photos, but I will not go into that here.

The basic software is quite simple to use and gives great results, so if you have a need for photographic software, give it a go!

2012-01-22T20:56:00.000+13:00

Agapanthus Flower along the way.

The original Municiple Swimming Pool just above the Waikato River. Now superceded

by two additional pool complexes, but still popular, especially for school groups and their

swimming sports.

The river is high so this jetty was nearly under water. Ducks may be seen resting on the platform.

The old band rotunder by the river. Occasional it is used by groups to entertain, but not

so often these days.

Rowers heading down stream.

One of the City Council owned amature-performance theatres, 'The Meteor,'

with the clock tower of the Anglican Cathedral towering above behind it. This

building used to be the Innes' soft drink factory mentioned in my previous blog.

More photos from my walk last week

These photos show some of the activities that take place in Hamilton, on and around the Waikato River which is the character of our city. The river flows by within 100 metres from where these photos were taken.

2012-01-20T20:51:00.000+13:00

A brief history of the Waikato Brewery

This plaque is secured to the side of the walkway of the Victoria Bridge across the Waikato River in Hamilton.

It gives a brief history of the once-celebrated brewery which occupied the southern end of Hamilton's main street, Victoria Street.

Readers might find the story on the plaque amusing, about how Mr Charles Innes, who began this brewery, passed away.

His wife, Mary Jane Innes however was a clever businesswoman as the story above shows. The beer that her brewery made was called "Waikato" after the region and the river which ran near by.

In Hamilton they not only made beer, but also set up a factory near-by to make many flavours of bubbly cordials, or soft drinks as we called them. They were nice and were called Innes' soft drinks.

This building was the office for the once thriving Waikato Brewery, but now is probably a branch office for another brewing company elsewhere which hold the rights to continue to brew the only surviving Waikato beer variety, Waikato Draught, which used to be one of many. It is still being made because there are still a lot of Waikato people who drink it. Where the brewery stood, behind this building, are now modern accomodations - compact living. The business was sold to one of the bigger brewers and the factory here has now gone.

These are more of the photos taken during my recent walk.

2012-01-18T22:01:00.000+13:00

A Walk beside the Waikato River, between the Bridges
On Tuesday I decided to walk between the Victoria and Cobham bridges. I have walked this several times and it is quite a distance, but having walked quite a bit recently I felt fit and up to the task.

I did the walk alone as Jill was working in her volunteer job all day, so I went prepared, taking food, drink, a camera, jacket in case of rain, a sun hat and covered myself in sunscreen before starting. It was a pleasant summer's day.

I really enjoyed the expedition, taking it easy and stopping twice to take refreshments. With the two breaks, and stopping to take over 80 photos, the journey took me two hours. I hope to have enough photos for two more blogs, so I hope you enjoy them.

2012-01-11T21:26:00.000+13:00

Melanoma

I have recently undergone ‘local’ surgery at the Waikato Hospital to have a small melanoma on my left arm removed and tested. It tested positive and I was called back to have more surrounding flesh removed.

Yesterday I re-attended the hospital to see the surgeon who performed the operation so that he could observe the scar and do a visible examination of my upper body to see if there was any sign of spread of cancer from the melanoma. The test of the flesh around the melanoma was negative which was good and I was relieved, but to make sure that there was no spread of cancerous infection the surgeon performed a visual check of my upper body and instructed the nurse to remove samples from three additional small spots on my back for further testing. He suspected that they may also be developing melanomas. I will not know the results of these tests for about four weeks.

I was given printed material explaining melanomas and their dangers and given strict instructions to visibly inspect my own body frequently in case there are developments of anything unusual (which could indicate the spread of cancer. – but they didn’t say that).

For anyone reading this who may not understand melanomas, they are often caused by exposure to the sun, and they may be cancerous and if developed long enough can cause cancer to spread throughout the body, and eventually cause death. Some people can die quite quickly after discovery of the melanoma.

You may ask “What is melanoma?” A dictionary definition says a melonaoma is “a skin tumour, especially a malignant one, derived from cells capable of melanin formation.” In my case it was a dark brown spot about ¼ inch or ½ centimetre in size with other colours mixed in which my doctor observed with a special device. Though my melanoma was a flat spot many can be raised above the surrounding skin.

If one has anything which may resemble a melanoma have it diagnosed immediately. Time is vital as the introduced cancer spreads very quickly.

So far I am very fortunate thanks to Jill’s observation and insistence that I have the melanoma checked out by our doctor. By regularly checking my body now I should be free of further problems from this unpleasant disease. But I am writing this as a warning to others. Please seriously take care when in the sun; especially those who live in New Zealand and Australia who are at greatest risk.

2012-01-08T20:56:00.000+13:00

The summer that’s not

This summer has to be the wettest summer in the North Island and the top of the South Island that we have had for years. We barely seem to have one or two fine days a fortnight.

The rain is not heavy here in Hamilton, but is persistent, and we feel that it would be nice if it stopped for longer periods of time.

Many holiday makers in the North Island, especially campers, have had their holidays spoiled and in some cases washed out by the persistent rain, which saturated their campsites.

Though it isn’t unusual to have a reasonable amount of rain at this time we feel that this year it has been more excessive. You see, in our part of the world it is summer and most people have their annual holidays from Christmas Day to about mid-January. Schools are on holiday at the same time, and go back on the first week in February.

You might almost think that the weather was controlled by a grumpy human, as the weather can often be bad right up until schools go back, then the sun comes out and good weather prevails until about mid-autumn, which is around April. It will almost certainly be the same this year. I hope it clears up then anyway.

I guess it does no good to get too worked up about the weather, and I must admit that bad weather while camping can make the holiday more memorable, for one reason or another. I remember from my single days of camping away with mates at the beach. Especially when someone tears a hole in the top of the tent and it rains soon afterwards! Yes, it happened to us! But being typical teenagers we survived and made the best of it. Ah…. Those were the days!

So I guess rain or not, those on holiday will enjoy themselves, and if not it will at least make them appreciate their home comforts more.

2012-01-03T21:15:00.000+13:00

Footpath from Lake Domain entrance

Lake Gardens

Retired Shunting Engine for children to play in.

Lake Domain Rose Gardens

Lake Gardens

Hamilton Lake Gardens Photos

Here are some more photos taken at the Hamilton Lake - Lake Rotoroa - a couple of days ago.

2012-01-01T20:14:00.001+13:00

Hamilton Lake Domain old main entranceway, no longer used for vehicles.

Flower Gardens along the drive-in

A closer view of one of the flower gardens - bedding begonias and blue salvias.

Bedding begonias up close, making up most of the gardens here.

Hamilton Lake Domain Flower Gardens

We drove into the Hamilton Lake Domain this afternoon and were very impressed by the beauty of the flower gardens. I had to photograph them and show them here. Our Hamilton City Council gardeners do a wonderful job of installing and maintaining such gardens, here and around the city, and as a citizen I feel very proud of them.

I took several pictures and will show more next time.

Happy New Year!!

2011-12-22T16:30:00.005+13:00

Claudelands Bridge

Radiant fern

Rowers heading upstream

Twisting River Path Stairway - going down

Up the wooden steps - part of the river path walk - going up

A walk on the wild side 2

More photos taken on the walk along the Waikato River path recently.

2011-12-20T17:36:00.000+13:00

Happy Christmas to you and yours and best wishes for a successful New Year - Dave & Jill

2011-12-19T22:18:00.000+13:00

Twisted Tree above the River Path

Thirty Nine steps to the top

Paddling against the current

Two little male sparrows unashamedly take a bath in public

A handsome looking mynah bird

A walk on the Wild Side

I went for a walk along the Waikato River today while Jill attended a function. These are some of the photos I took.

2011-12-18T15:41:00.001+13:00

Song Birds
Occasionally we get a bird which likes to serenade us. They sit on our TV aerial and sing their songs at full voice. This one is a spotted-chest male thrush. We love to listen to him and he doesn't seem to be bashful that we like to watch and listen.

2011-12-16T15:05:00.003+13:00

A Child’s Christmas

It was the day before Christmas. David, aged ten, was really excited. Tonight was Christmas Eve, the night Santa would come to visit in the dead of night and fill up the pillow case, which would be left at the foot of the bed, with lots of presents. David would awake in the morning and have such great fun opening all of the wrapped presents.

Because he knew David would be awake early on Christmas morning his Dad always made him go to bed earlier than usual, so that he would be in a sound sleep when Santa came. It also made the night go faster and the morning come sooner. Dad was very wise.

The next morning, Christmas Day, David was awake early, and couldn’t wait to start opening his presents. He checked to see if his Dad was awake and asked if he could begin. His Dad came into the room and sat on the side of the bed to watch as David pulled the first parcel from the pillowcase. He ripped it open and found a box which contained a Mechano Set, something he had always wanted. He was so excited and wanted to play with it then and there, but the excitement of opening another parcel was greater, so he set it aside and reached into the pillow case for another. This one was smaller, and when he opened it there was a mid-sized toy truck. He was crazy about trucks and was so thrilled with this present too.

Next was a flat parcel that looked like it might be a book. He ripped it open and found it was a book on Scouting. David was a Wolf Cub and Scouting books always excited him. He quickly looked at the book, then put it down and reached for another parcel, a small one this time. On opening it he found it was, as usual, a mouth organ. He blew on it and tried to get a tune, but true to form, as usual it was out of tune. Santa never managed to get this right! After opening several more presents, all of which excited him, the pillow case was nearly empty except for several loose sweets, an apple and an orange, none of which excited him very much. But he was so thrilled with all of the other presents and with his Dad sitting there with a big smile on his face. David wanted to sit down now and play with everything, so he did, but soon it was breakfast time and he had to go, but his Dad said he could play with them all for the rest of the day.

He loved Christmas!

2011-12-14T14:28:00.000+13:00

1950's school class photo

Remembering the past
Recently a person who was in my class at Primary school 55 years ago (photo above) contacted me. We began to exchange e-mails recalling our school experiences and what happened to other class members we knew, and over the recent few days we have both enjoyed recalling the past and filling in the gaps in our past experiences.

It has been enjoyable catching up and I looked forward to the e-mails. But just like discussions about anything, all good things come to an end once information is exhausted.

They say that as we get older our memories of the past get sharper while our recall of recent events become vague. I think that this is right. I have found that almost insignificant past memories can be quite clear, as if they happened yesterday, and it is fun to recall them. I think too that different people recall things differently, though this was not the case at this time. An example though is of siblings in a family recalling family events. Recently while helping someone prepare their life review this became plainly obvious. I guess the attitude of the individuals both at the time of the event and during recall can determine their memories and chain of events.

Happy memories are always enjoyable and enable us to live the fun times in our lives again. I certainly have recently.

Thanks Marion…

2011-12-11T15:13:00.001+13:00

An army 48 radio set

Military training

During my time at High School we had Military Drill once a month, on Mondays I think it was. That is, school cadets. This meant that there was no school work done that day as the whole day was given over to Military Training.

We arrived at school in our khaki army uniforms. The day began with drill – "presenting arms" with empty rifles (WW2 variety), marching and doing whatever other drill exercises were appropriate. I don’t remember too much about this part of the programme, but later we split off into whatever specialised skill our teacher-officers had allocated us to and spent the rest of the time until home-time learning or practicing those skills.

I was very fortunate to be in Signals and we did things like running out field telephones and communicating on them, and if chosen we might be allowed to use the military radios, which were ex-army 48’s, – about the size of a back pack (see picture above) and battery operated. The radio was either placed on the ground, a bench, or carried on the back. Our headquarters was a room in the school building which we called the “Sigs Hutt.” Our senior NCO, one of the senior boys who was made a corporal or sergeant, would sit at a bigger and supposedly more powerful radio set called a ZC1 which operated off the electricity mains. Though the NZ Army gave us about eight 48’s usually we had only enough batteries for about four. To ensure that we were all able to talk and listen to each other we had to tune up our radios so that we were all exactly on the same frequency. The allocated frequency for us was 7.5 megacycles (megahertz as it’s called now), and we had to tune up to the same frequency as the main ZC1. This was called “netting up.” Sometimes we were successful “netting up” and we could talk and listen to each other, and sometimes we weren’t and would spend until home-time trying to do this.

Eventually we had more boys in the Signals squad than they wanted so we had to sit a test to see who was going to be weeded out. I failed the test and was to be taken out at the next drill day. But because of my obvious enthusiasm compared to some others who passed, they allowed me to stay and removed someone else. My enthusiasm was noticed when we were allowed to use the radios during lunch times on a normal school day and I used them as much as I could. Some of the others were not interested enough, so I was allowed to remain in the squad and someone else was removed.

This taught me a lesson in life, that if I wanted something badly enough to go after it.

2011-12-08T21:47:00.001+13:00

First year at High School
For the first day at a new school one is usually a bit apprehensive, and especially the first day at High School.

As a young teenager my mates and I had heard the rumours of initiation carried out by the bigger kids in the High School, such as the removal of the knobs from our caps. We were smart though, and removed ours before we started High School. This was effective and prevented any challenge by the bigger boys at our all-boys school.

The rest of the settling in went well so far as senior boys were concerned. But being a new boy it was to still take some time to settle in.

On looking back I must have been one of the rascals that year as my belt acquired many nicks during the three term year. Perhaps I should explain this. Boys were punished at High School in those days for silly misdemeanours such as not being attentive or causing distractions in Assembly, and also for other reasons which I have now forgotten. So we used to put a nick in our trouser belts for every cane whack we received. That first year I received fifteen. And they hurt! Specially after getting three whacks each time, called “three of the best.” My second year was an improvement as I only placed about six.

I remember one time being lined up with others to be caned and stuffing my cap down my shorts. The teacher gave me a couple of whacks before he discovered the cap, and actually missed it and hit me painfully, then made me remove the cap and gave me another three. I was a bit sore after that lot.

Our Engineering teacher, instead of a cane used a broken engine belt. Boy, that stung more than the cane! Most kids were better behaved in his class.

But over all I enjoyed High School and had a lot of fun and enjoyable experiences.

2011-12-06T20:57:00.000+13:00

Stocks

Flower gardening
In our home I look after both the vegetable garden and all but one flower garden. Jill generally looks after her ‘jumble garden’ as she calls it because she prefers an unregemented garden, where the ones I look after are regimented into rows of plants, tidy and in order. But I must admit that much of the time Jill’s garden really looks great where mine, though nice, may tend to be a bit boring.

Now why, you might ask, does a husband do the flower gardens when the wife also enjoys gardening? To answer this we must go back nearly forty four years, to the time where we hadn’t been married very long and we bought our first house off the lady we rented part of it from. Up till then the lady had looked after the gardens, but when our children were born Jill was busy enough without gardening so I became the flower gardener as well as growing the vegetables.

Ranunculars and Pansies

Since then Jill didn’t have much interest in gardening so I continued with the flower gardens. I learned about types of flowers and when to plant them, and experimented with different varieties. I bought seeds of quality varieties from commercial seed companies and grew my own plants. It was fun and I soon found that although growing vegetables was very satisfying when they were ready for harvesting, flower gardens gave a different sense of enjoyment and pleasure.

Later in my working life I became unemployed and decided to start my own nursery and grew and sold plants to retired elderly people who lived in retirement villages. This gave me work as my own boss and I got to meet people all around the city. It was rewarding and fun, and often I was asked for advice on gardening, which I gave, and it was good to go back later in the growing season and see how their gardens looked.

Old habits die hard, and though Jill enjoys her little jumble garden, I look after the three others and also plant into containers if I have too many plants.

And that’s how it happened.

2011-12-04T17:21:00.000+13:00

Christmas memories

When I was a kid I always became excited at Christmas time.

As Dad was my only parent he always made every effort to ensure that I enjoyed the day. As long as I can remember I used to have a pillowcase at the end of my bed on Christmas Eve and always woke early, probably about 6 o’clock on Christmas Day and excitedly began opening my presents.

Though Dad must hardly have been able to afford it he always ensured that my presents were fun and varied. Many of them I am not able to recall now, but a couple I can. There were always sweets, and always an out-of-tune mouthorgan.

I must have had a musical ear because this toy used to drive me crazy! I always made sure later when I had kids and gave them anything musical that they were in tune.

I had two friends about my age who lived nearby, but neither of them received such good presents, or as many as I did. This shows the effort that my Dad went to for me for Christmas.

I remember at about the age of nine I was persuaded that Santa didn’t exist and I asked my Dad. He was adamant that this wasn’t true, Santa did exist. A few days later I received a fancy letter through the post from Santa. It was typed with nice words and was covered in colourful stickers. I was convinced and my belief was restored. I treasured that letter for some time afterwards.

Christmas is a very special time of year. It was for me because my Dad made it special, and I’m sure that because of this it was also a special day for him.

(Please excuse a reprint of this story)

2011-12-02T17:24:00.000+13:00

Laurie and Me

The photo of Laurie and me above had me thinking of my early childhood. (That's me on the right)

At this age we used to like playing inside games at Laurie’s home in which we enacted the children’s story of “The Billy Goats Gruff.” I wonder if this story was known in other countries?

We would set up two dining room chairs as a bridge that one of us, as a billy goat would crawl along while the other acted as the big bad troll that liked eating billy goats, and lived under the bridge. When the person who was one of the billy goats got half way across the bridge the one who was the troll would jump out and catch him and pretend to eat him. The game was scary, but lots of fun! We probably screamed a lot playing this!

My Auntie Dorrie lived next door to Laurie and when we became hungry we would sometimes go over to her house and ask her for something to eat. She would bring out a loaf of bread (unsliced in those days) and the dripping tin which contained mutton fat that had been used to roast meat. The dripping tasted so.o.o.o nice. She would spread this thickly over the bread then cut a slice about an inch thick off for each of us. Mmmmm! I can taste it now. Delicious!

Of course I wouldn’t think of eating that now for health reasons, but we never knew about such things that would spoil our enjoyment in those days.

2011-11-30T21:03:00.001+13:00

The Malaysian Flautist

The walk around the Hamilton Lake was very pleasant. The day was overcast but mild with little if any wind.

There were many yachts on the water but most seemed becalmed. An inflatable with outboard motor containing yachting officials was cruising the mirror-like water leaving 'v' shaped ripples as it progressed, and as the ripples became small waves they could be heard as they washed against the water's edge.

As we progressed on our way, Jill and I, we admired the view. Then Jill found a pine cone and kicked it playfully in my direction. As we continued walking on the higher path, through the trees on the embankment, we had a short game by kicking this and other cones to each other until we had passed the spot where they lay.

Nearing the end of our stroll as we approached our car there was an almost Oriental or Arabic musical sound. I looked around to try to find where it came from, and as we drew nearer to where our car was I saw a man sitting on a seat near the water's edge playing a flute-type instrument. It sounded enchanting, and ducks and geese on the water also seemed to be an audience.

The man was oblivious to my approach, so I stopped a small distance away and listened for a short while.

He partly turned his head as he sensed me there, so I moved closer and sat a short distance from him.

He finished the piece he was playing and turned to me and greeted me in English. We began to speak to each other. I introduced myself and asked about his instrument. He handed it to me, explaining that it was a bamboo flute. As I turned it over looking at it I asked if he blew across the first hole to make the tune. He indicated that there was a small reed inside which was difficult to reach if it needed replacing.

We discussed the flute for a short time, with me asking if he had made it, to which he replied no, that he had bought it. The instrument was about forty centimeters long and brown-red in colour. Was he playing religious music, to which he replied no, it was a love song about fifty years old. I never recognized the tune.

“Where are you from?” I asked.

“Malaysia,” he replied. He was Asian in appearance, with Chinese features.

“How long have you been in New Zealand?”

“Nine years,” he replied.

I asked if he was retired. “Yes,” he said. “I am sixty.” As he spoke he lifted his hat revealing a bald head.

“I am older than you. I am sixty four,” to which he commented that I looked younger.

“What was your job when you worked?” I asked.

“I worked on oil rigs in Malaysia. When I came here I couldn't get work on oil rigs so I worked in a factory, but the money was not very good. About $9 an hour to start and only rose to about $11 after a few years.”

I began to tell him that I had a Japanese friend I spoke to on the internet who composed music and I sometimes wrote English words to his songs, but he wasn't interested in things I was trying to tell him, though he was willing to speak to me about himself.

Jill was patiently waiting for me in our car, as we were going from here to the supermarket to get our weekly groceries, so I excused myself and returned to the car.

He continued to serenade the ducks.

The brief encounter with this man was enjoyable for me, and added a focal point for my day.

2011-11-28T21:05:00.001+13:00

(This story relates to a part of my life as a Serviceman Electrician and how I totally lost my self-confidence.)

The Limeworks.
One day I was sent out into the country to service electrical machinery at a lime works quarry. They were a new customer for us, so no one from our company had been there before.

They had problems with a conveyor, which was one of three which carried limestone rock from the large primary crusher up on the hill to the grading machines down below.

The lower conveyor had stopped, and I had a lot of difficulty finding the cause of the problem.

On attempting to trace the control circuit, which ran from the control centre below to control buttons up in the primary crusher control room, I discovered that the cable run consisted of one kind of cable at one of the control rooms, arriving at the other control room as a different type of cable. As they were joined and buried in the ground this made it impossible to trace the cable's cores visually. And because the machinery couldn't be stopped for production reasons, I was stumped as to how I was going to trace and fix the problem.

To make matters worse, whenever the lower conveyor stopped the one before it continued to run and empty it’s load onto the stopped conveyor, which then had to be cleared by hand by two men with shovels, about an hour's work.

Taking the bull by the horns, I turned the power off and got stuck in, and interlinked all three conveyors so that if one stopped, they all stopped. This solved the difficulty of having to clear the lime from the stopped conveyor each time a fault occurred.

I felt that this action was an achievement, but being conscious of the time it took, and the likely cost to the customer, I felt really bad. Progress had been slow, and the repair took all day to complete, which included the time fault-finding.

At the end of the job my morale was so low that I remember saying to the works foreman - "I don't think you will see me back again." He smiled sympathetically but made no unpleasant comment, and didn't seem upset at all.

I really believed that I was useless after that job, and never expected to be sent there again. I told my foreman that I never intended to go back - he could send someone else.

A few days later another call came in from the lime works and my foreman insisted that I go, in spite of my feelings of incompetence with that company‘s equipment. I went, and became their main service electrician.

Conditions there were muddy when it rained and dry and dusty when it was fine, but I didn't mind, as lime is a clean-looking cream-white powder which dusts off the overalls quite easily.

The guys working there were the finest bunch of men I've ever worked with. They were rugged, but considerate with great senses of humour. I liked them, and they seemed to like me.

2011-11-26T15:50:00.000+13:00

Petone

I have warm memories of Petone. In my younger days - I was 21 at the time - I moved to Petone and boarded with an elderly widow and worked at the General Motors car, truck and Frigidaire appliance factory just around the corner from where I lived. On Thursdays and Fridays we finished work about 3.30pm so I used to race home, change into my swimming togs and go down to the Petone beach for a swim on the hot days in summer.

At GM's I had a good job as an electrical tester of Frigidaire electric stoves, fridges and freezers. I was their test electrician. I enjoyed the work and the staff were wonderful people to work with.

While I worked there, and was living with the widow, I used to go to dances in Lower Hutt, not far away, on Saturday nights, which is where I met Jill while I was there with another girl. I met her when my partner accepted a dance with another fellow, so I asked Jill. Nothing happened that night but two weeks later I decided to go back to the dance hoping Jill would be there, and I remember saying to my landlady "Tonight I'm going to meet the girl I am going to marry," and I hoped very much that Jill would be at the dance.

Behold she was! And that was the start of our courtship. We married a year later. I was 24 and she was 20, and we took a flat in Petone.

Later we had the opportunity of renting a cheaper part-house in Lower Hutt, buying the whole house a couple of years later. Then we began our family and later we moved back to Hamilton, which was my home town, because of my aging parents. Though we moved to another town after my parents passed away we returned later and are happily settled in Hamilton now.

2011-11-24T20:17:00.001+13:00

Early Days in Claudelands, Hamilton.

I was born in 1940 and grew up in a house near the railway-line end of St Winifreds Ave, at the eastern end of Te Aroha Street. Our house was big, rented and had a red brick wall which ran the length of two sections, as a grass tennis court was a part of the property. The property also had an orchard that ran across the back of both sections.

I had two friends, about my age, as neighbours, and we had a lot of fun playing in the orchard and tennis court area, and used to play games like ‘barbador’, (‘british bulldog’ as it is know today), and sometimes we played another game where we would blindfold ourselves, turn around till we were nearly giddy, then head off in a direction to see where we ended up.

My Dad had a coal, wood and carrying business and we had a shed beside the house where he would bring home a load of kindling wood, which was corners cut off boxes used to box the round cheeses from the cheese factory, at the end of Norton Road in Frankton. As kids we would spend hours sorting the triangled pieces of wood to find matching pairs to use as pistols for the games of cowboys we played in our orchard.

I began school at the Hamilton East School in 1945, and my friends and I would walk together all the way from our homes to school - a distance of about 1½ miles each way. The footpaths were not sealed and roman sandals I had to wear used to keep catching at the toe as I walked and often I used to take the skin off my big toe as I caught it on the rough path.

St Winifreds Ave in those days had chestnut trees down one side and at the right time we used to gather chestnuts and take them home to eat. Sometimes they would be baked in the oven, or other times boiled. They were great to eat, because as kids we were always hungry. A bit of butter and salt and pepper and yum…

The railway lines ran past our homes at the end of the street and, against our parent’s wishes, we used to put halfpennies or pennies on the rails for trains to run over. We went back after the train had gone and collect them. They would have become broader and flatter and smoother from the weight and wheels of the engine.

Also out of bounds was an orchard across the railway line. We used to sneak across the track when we couldn’t be seen and steal apples. While up a tree one day I slipped down the trunk of the tree onto a hard but rotten branch which stuck upwards. It penetrated my left leg just below the knee and tore a large chunk of flesh out. I guess it was my just deserts for disobeying my parent’s instructions. The doctor was called and sewed it up, with difficulty, and I still have the scar today.

One of my friends’ father owned a men’s barbershop in Te Aroha Street, at the junction of Te Aroha Street and Heaphy Terrace.

Later in my youth I became friends with a boy who’s father owned the Grocery Store at Claudelands shopping area, just around the corner from the barbershop, in Heaphy Terrace.

When I was born my Dad was a soldier fighting the Japanese in the Pacific, around Fiji, the Solomon Islands and other Pacific locations. On his return he worked first as a troubleman then a ganger on the Central Waikato Electric Power Board. Later he and my uncle Len Nicoll became partners in the coal and carrying business of Vorback and Nicoll, which had their depot in Heaphy Terrace, across the road from the Show Grounds, near where the dairy is now. They sold and delivered Glen Afton and Whatwhata coal, kindling, larger sawn firewood, and did the occasional carrying job.

My Dad, Dave Vorback (right) and Uncle Len Nicholl with their early trucks.

Dad was a foundation member of the Cosmopolitan Club in Station Road, Claudelands, and was well known and well liked around Hamilton. He also was an enthusiastic member of the Claudelands Bowling Club, which was located on land behind his business depot.

My friends and I used to walk to the movies on Saturday ‘arvos’ (afternoons), usually to the Embassy or the State Theatres. We also belonged to the Chums Club at the State theatre, which was a movie club for kids and showed favourite shorts along with cartoons before half time, then the main movie. Some of the shorts we liked were The Durango Kid, Superman, The Lone Ranger, and Donald Duck cartoons.

It has been fun recalling my childhood, and I hope these stories remind others in my age group who will have similar memories.

2011-11-20T21:11:00.001+13:00

Hamilton's Victoria Bridge at night

Recently we were out at night and were returning home after a meal out when we passed under the Victoria Bridge, and were delighted to see it lit up, looking quite beautiful. I was lucky that I just happened to have my camera with me and was able to get a few photos. Unfortunately my skills at adjusting the camera for such shots were confused so I figured that if I let the camera sort it out on automatic I should get some good photos. Sadly it was not to be, as can be seen from the lower photo, which is blurred and apparently out of focus. But the closer photo at the top wasn't quite so bad.

Anyhow, I hope that these two pictures give an idea of what the Victoria Bridge looks like at night.

Just some information - the Victoria Bridge is one of the main bridges in Hamilton and often features in some of my photos of the Waikato River.

2011-11-17T19:46:00.001+13:00

Things to look at at the Hamilton Gardens

Part of a sculpture at the Hamilton Gardens

Fish sculture at Hamilton gardens

Entrance to the Rose Gardens

A place to shelter and rest

A view of the roses from the shelter

A pagoda at the Rose Gardens

The Waikato River below the Gardens, looking upstream

So here we are at the end of this visit to the Hamilton Gardens. We haven't seen everything as there is much more to see, but this will do for now. Perhaps we will visit more over summer.

2011-11-14T20:55:00.001+13:00

More photos from the Hamilton Gardens 2

Bright yellow rose

Erica Bowleana

Bright Pink Rhododendron

Yellow azalea

Bright orange azalia

Nice pink rhododendron

A white cat who wanted to be friendly at the gardens.

Here are more flower photos from the Hamilton Gardens taken last week.

The last picture is of a pure white cat at the Gardens. It was very friendly. I discovered that it had one blue eye and one yellow eye so I tried to get a picture of its face, but every time I squatted down low to get its picture it wanted to smootch so I was unable to get the photo I wanted. You may just be able to see the two coloured eyes in this photo.

2011-11-12T21:42:00.001+13:00

An Afternoon at Hamilton Gardens

Wisteria

New leaf canopy

Yellow azalias

Purple rhododendron

Yellow-pink rhododendron

Pink rhododendron

Single pink rhododendron flower

Orange azalia

Yesterday I spent some time wandering around the Hamilton Gardens. They are a real credit to our City Council and their gardening staff.

Here are some of the photos I took, mainly of flowering rhododendrons and azalias. More photos are to follow later.

2011-11-09T21:56:00.002+13:00

More photos from the recent Royal Show

Blacksmiths at work shoeing the horses

A blacksmith at work

Dog trials 1

Dog trials 2

A ride in a donkey-drawn gig

A horse-drawn cart

A Tiger Lizzard

A NZ green tree gecko on my hand

Type of lizzard unknown

Animal statuettes for sale

Dad and children pat a shetland pony

This eclectic collection of photos show a little more of the recent Royal Show.

Though there were other activities going on from time to time, such as wood cutting, etc, I never seemed to be in the right place at the right time. So there are no photos of these activities.

2011-11-07T20:36:00.002+13:00

A Rugby Test between Australia and the New Zealand All Blacks
This YouTube video is of a Rugby test match between New Zealand and Australia in 1996. Australia are in the yellow jerseys and the All Blacks are in black.

In my opinion this game contains probably the best players both teams have ever had.

Australia and NZ play very competitive rugby and both teams are equally good at the game. Over many test matches both sides are capable of winning and either side can win on the day.

Here is the website for the video, which shows a reasonable segment of this particular game. I must admit that it is biased towards New Zealand, and doesn't show the Australian side scoring, though they did, but NZ won this particular game 43 points to 6.

To watch the video click on the URL link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qxmoImpQrG8

2011-11-05T20:30:00.003+13:00

Waikato Royal Show

Last weekend I visited the Waikato Royal Show, what we used to call the Summer Show. It features farming and city life combined. There are horse events, dog trials, hand craft competitions, wood chopping, pet show competitions and a variety of other activities.

Here are some of the animals on display for adults children to pet and get close to. I thought it was a good idea.

2011-10-30T21:47:00.002+13:00

Computer problems
I am having trouble with my computer at present and will need to take it in for a fix-up. Will probably be without it for about a week - Dave

2011-10-27T19:48:00.000+13:00

Champs-Elysées and the Arc de Triomphe, Paris
Here is my latest effort at painting. This is copied from a picture my daughter brought back a few years ago after a visit to Paris.

OK, its not so good, but at least its symbolic - I guess? :-)

Click on the picture to enlarge.

2011-10-25T20:21:00.002+13:00

The 2011 Rugby World Cup
Well done New Zealand All Blacks for winning the 2011 Rugby World Cup series. It was a tightly fought final against France, who were so close to taking it, but our NZ boys just managed to hold on to win by one point - NZ 8 - France 7. Our country is still celebrating!

The William Web Ellis gold trophy now is New Zealand's for the next four years.

Thanks to those bloggers who have already sent me messages of congratulations.

2011-10-22T17:35:00.000+13:00

Auckland International Airport

An Air New Zealand plane dressed in black to support our

All Black rugby team for the Rugby World Cup being held here

at the moment.

The Emirates 380 jet carrying our daughter and grandson home from

their overseas holiday.

Reflections in the Air Terminal window.

Jean Batten, early NZ aviatrix

A visit to Auckland international Airport

Recently we went up to the Auckland International Airport to meet our daughter Sandra and grandson Alex as they arrived home from their two week overseas holiday. They visited Turkey and briefly stopped off at Dubai on the way home. Sandra originally attended a business conference in Turkey and decided they would extend the time for a short holiday. She took Alex, her son with her, and paid holiday expenses herself.

While we waited at the terminal we saw the black Air New Zealand jet come in.

In the car park area is a monument to NZ aviatrix Jean Batten who became well known around the world for her flying exploits. You can see photos of her here and read about her life here .

2011-10-19T15:55:00.000+13:00

The Heart of Hamilton, NZ

Oldie's day out and picnic at Parana Park

Alfresco Dining in the main street of Hamilton

More Alfresco Dining in the main street

Civic Square and some of the alternately operating fountains.

The colourful blue building is our main public library.

Their motto is: "Send Your Mind Somewhere"

More of the Civic Square,

The temporary ice-skating rink in Civic Square for the duration of the

Rugby World Cup, to add some extra life and colour to our city's heart.

These photos were taken during my day out exploring my city. Alfresco drinking and dining has become an accepted thing here now for two reasons - first, because the main street footpaths have been widened, and second, because by law people are no longer allowed to smoke inside a building. It looks good anyway and many people like to sit outside while dining. I guess it also helps to advertise and attract customers to the businesses concerned.

Click on photos to enlarge.

2011-10-17T21:36:00.001+13:00

Filling in time around central Hamilton

This young bird insisted on sharing my lunch at

Memorial Park.

This humpy bridge crosses a small stream from

Memorial Park to Parana Park.

This pretty little bird was in an avery at Parana Park.

This parakeet was also in the avery at Parana Park

Parana Park is beside the Waikato River, and just

across the river from the central city.

Having some time to fill one day when Jill was working as a volunteer I decided to spend it exploring the city. Here are some photos I took exploring these two parks.

Memorial and Parana Parks are beside each other on the eastern side of the Waikato River, directly across from Hamilton Central City. They are very pleasant places to explore and rest.

Memorial Park was set aside as a memorial to fallen soldiers of all wars. It also contains a 'Wall of Memory' of soldier's names, and a Cenotaph which is used on ANZAC Day to commemorate the fallen Soldiers and Service People.

Parana Park was given to the city by George Parr, who donated the park in 1929, to see it utilised as a space in which children could play. Soon this is to be further developed as a place for children to enjoy even more.

Click on photos to enlarge.

2011-10-16T11:51:00.002+13:00

Blog Action Day, Sunday 16 October

Food Prices 2011
The Food Price Watch says global food prices in July 2011 remain significantly higher than a year ago. Prices overall remained 33 percent higher than a year ago with commodities such as maize (up 84 percent), sugar (up 62 percent), wheat (up 55 percent) and soybean oil (up 47 percent) contributing to the increase. Crude oil prices are 45 percent higher from July 2010 levels, affecting production costs and the price of fertilizers, which increased by 67 percent over the same period. Prices from April through July settled roughly five percent below the recent spike in February 2011 due to modest declines in grains, fats and oil, and other foods such as meat, fruits, and sugar. However, prices of some commodities remained volatile during this period. For example, maize and wheat prices declined in June and then increased in the first half of July. The price of rice fell from February to May, but has since increased.

Persistently high food prices and low food stocks indicate that we’re still in the danger zone, with the most vulnerable people the least able to cope.

These prices not only affect people in poorer countries, but also poorer people in our more affluent countries; particularly during these hard economic times.

Current demonstrations all over the world against extreme wealth of the few, I feel are justified. Extreme wealth should be controlled by higher taxes that cannot be avoided by the wealthy, and profiteering penalised. It would be hoped that this would help to reduce food prices and other essential items so that poorer people the world over can afford them.

2011-10-13T20:00:00.000+13:00

More pictures at Palmer's Garden Centre
These photos were taken inside the Centre's main building. It shows the range of garden-type items they sell. For example, umbrellas, sun hats and novelty items galore. Even garden furniture. Their stuff is not cheap but is interesting. For example, that big giraffe was about NZ$3700! The umbrellas were not cheap either, but appeared to be of very good quality and were all hand-painted.

If you have money and want to spend it in a novel way this is the place to go.
(P.S. I don't get paid for this!)

Click on photos to enlarge.

2011-10-11T19:52:00.002+13:00

A visit to Palmer's Garden Centre, Hamilton

Pretty new coloured petunia

Plant Racks

Trees and Shrubs

Flowering shrubs

Many assorted plants

Palmers is our biggest garden centre company in NZ. They are nation wide and sell a large assortment of things associated with gardens and gardening, as you will see in my next blog.

Their plants are of a high quality. The only drawback that I can see is that many of the garden plants are grown in Auckland, which has a warmer climate than here in Hamilton. This means that the plants need to be hardened off before planting early season outside in the garden. When it warms up this is not a problem.

Click on pictures to enlarge.

2011-10-07T20:43:00.002+13:00

2011 Rugby World Cup
New Zealand is currently hosting the 2011 Rugby World Cup, which is being played at locations around NZ, but mainly in Auckland, our biggest city.

Enthusiasm for this event has captured the imagination of people all around the country as well as the very many supporters visiting from competing countries from around the world. To show support most businesses and towns are flying flags of whichever nation they support, such as Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, South Africa, Samoa, Fiji, Namibia, United States, Argentina, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Romania, Japan, Italy, Romania, France, Georgia, and Russia.

The photos above show small flags flying on a string inside the restaurant where we had lunch in Te Awamutu in the Waikato, and the second photo shows flags flying in the main street of Cambridge in the Waikato.

New Zealand is currently in high spirits during the six weeks of the competition. Most of the larger rugby-playing nations all hope to be the 2011 winners of the Web Ellis World Cup trophy, but as the host country we New Zealanders hope that our All Blacks will win.

Go the All Blacks!

Click on photos to enlarge.

2011-10-06T19:33:00.004+13:00

Inside the Hothouse at Hamilton Gardens
During our day out last week we visited the Hamilton Gardens Hothouse where exotic plants are grown. Not all plants shown here are exotic but many in the area are. The mass of colour was nice to see.

P.S. Condolences on the passing of Steve Jobs

2011-10-04T19:42:00.000+13:00

Spring at the Hamilton Gardens
A few days ago Jill and I went out for a drive . Here are some photos we took at the Hamilton Gardens.
Click on photos to enlarge

2011-10-01T19:31:00.002+13:00

I'll Walk With God

Many Years ago - I was a young teenagerat the time - I saw the film "The Student Prince" featuring Edmond Purdom as the leading man, and the singing dubbed from the voice of Mario Lanza. The music was all magnificent and I loved every song. But this song was my favourite.

I came across it tonight on Youtube while searching websites and really enjoyed it so decided to show it here.

I was not able to positively identify the group singing this, but a comment on the website says this:

" Based in the Dallas, Ft. Worth area. The music is all under the group, The Vocal Majority. The other group....Ambassadors of Harmony are a select number of singers out of the Vocal Majority Chorus. They have an open free practice every Thursday night for the public at the Church of Christ in Coppell, Texas a burb of Dallas."

For more information about the film "The Student Prince" see:

:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Student_Prince_(film)

2011-09-29T16:28:00.000+13:00

Some old memories
I wonder how many of our readers have ever seen and worked with one of these sewing machines? You will recognise this as an early electric Singer machine, with foot pedal.

This photo was taken at an antique farm machinery show in Hamilton a couple or so years ago. Farmers were the main collectors of old equipment, but sometimes their wives also collected things. They would have used these sewing machines for making clothes for their young families as well as themselves when times were tougher.

Click on the photo to enlarge.

2011-09-25T21:43:00.001+13:00

Old farm steam engine
Here is a close-up of an old farm steam engine which I took a while ago. It has been beautifully maintained, no doubt by the man in this photo, and looks great.
Click to enlarge photo.

2011-09-16T13:19:00.001+12:00

Handy Hints.

Things Jill and I have learned as we have traveled through life has made life easier. Some of them are common sense and some may surprise you. Here I would like to share these hints with you.

When picking tomatoes, pick as they begin to turn red and place them in a dark, warm place for a couple of days. They will ripen nicely.
When putting plants in your garden, press the earth down around the plant and leave a slight cone-shaped hollow around them. When you water them after planting the water will run into the hollow and finally sink into the ground around the roots of your plants.
Do you have trouble opening jars of jam or other products? They are tight because of the vacuum inside the jar. Get a blunt knife and push it under the lid till it releases the seal. The jar will then open easily.
When sowing seeds to start your plantings, you only need a shallow quantity of seed mix. 3/8 inch (1 cm) is all that is required. Just watch they don’t dry out though or your seedlings could die.
When cutting down a tree, leave about a yard (meter) of the stump sticking above the ground so that when you want to remove the stump you have something to hold onto.
Meat scraps can be kept without an offensive smell until rubbish collection day by placing them in a recognizable bag in your freezer. They will stay frozen until you put them out for collection.
After thoroughly washing a paint brush in turps or water leave it soaking in about 1/4 inch (1 cm) of turps or water for 24 hours and you will find that the turps or water will travel up the bristles and remove any paint that is caught amongst them, helping to keep your brush in good condition for next time. If using turps, which is flammable, ensure you place the container in a safe place away from danger of fire.
Is your drink too hot? Place an ice cube in it.
Don’t do things on impulse. Pause for a while and a better solution will appear.©

2011-09-14T22:03:00.001+12:00

$$$$

Gambling

One of the large casinos here in New Zealand has a motto for their patrons. It goes like this: “The less you spend, the more you lose when you win.”

Another catch phrase is, “If you are not in, you can’t win.”

When I was a child at Sunday School I clearly remember the minister in the pulpit speaking on the subject of gambling, and he likened it to going to the greengrocer’s, paying your money and asking for an empty paper bag. Since that time I have never seen the sense of paying money to gamble. In most cases the chance of winning a worthwhile prize is prohibitive.

Being observant of the types of people who do gamble, I think that they are people who can least afford to lose. They are usually people on low incomes, like elderly pensioners, solo mothers, those on lower incomes, all who have the eternal hope that one day the big prize will come to them. But it rarely does.

The times when people win – usually a minor prize – is when they invest a large amount of money in their gambling, when the prize may rarely exceed their total long-term investments. And when the money comes they do not have the wisdom to save it or spend it wisely, so that within a year even the major winnings are gone, and they are back to poverty again.

Luck is described as “an event subject to chance.” “Chance” is defined as “Risk,” and “risk” is defined as “the chance of loss.”

As I see it then, trying your luck in a gambling situation is trying for a chance to lose, rather than a chance to win.

Certainly the desire to win is the thought uppermost in the mind of the gambler, but the casino’s aim is to take your money, and you can bet that they hedge their bets to their advantage, not yours.

2011-09-12T21:15:00.000+12:00

Female Violence humour

I came across this photo in my files today. It is a clock which , on the hour, shows the woman hitting her husband over the head with a huge rolling pin. It also brought to mind the old English Punch and Judy shows where the wife, once again, beats her husband over the head, I think with a rolling pin or a broom.

Now, these actions as mentioned are greeted with a lot of mirth as they are intended to be funny. But going back to basics, are they really funny?

Imagine if the one doing the hitting was a male hitting a female. Would the situation still be funny?

I don't think so. So is it acceptable for a woman to act violently against a man?

I ask readers to ponder this and I will be interested to read your comments.

(Click on the photo to enlarge.)

2011-09-08T20:21:00.001+12:00

What shall I write today?

Blogging can be difficult sometimes when one just can’t seem to conjure an idea worth discussing. That’s me today, but sometimes I find if I ramble for a while eventually something worthwhile comes out.

The last half of this week has been busy, with my U3A Writing Group on Wednesday morning. It was an enjoyable session. Afterwards I had my daily walk, and then weeded a flower garden in the afternoon while Jill had a doctor’s appointment. The weeding was also pleasant in the sun.

Today, Thursday, I had an appointment at the hospital to see a skin specialist about a minor problem, and then in the afternoon I was obliged to attend a two hour Cardiac session run by the Waikato Hospital for those who have recently had heart surgery of one sort or another. These sessions are quite good and educational and give clearer explanations as to what causes cardiac problems and what one should do after treatment – i.e. eating well, not smoking, exercising daily, etc. Currently these sessions are held on Thursday each week for six weeks. Although I wasn’t going to attend them I now find them very informative, and also meet others who have had similar operations to me.

To finish the week off I have my U3A Camera Group which meets on Friday afternoon. Tomorrow we have a guest speaker who will show and tell us how to take good photographs. I am looking forward to this.

So life is busy and it’s nice to feel good and be able to once again attend all of these things

2011-09-04T18:19:00.000+12:00

Dressing smartly

There was once a time in my younger days, that a man or woman dressed up to go to the movies, dances, church, weddings and funerals. Women wore smart clothing, makeup and even a hat, and men wore suits with ties, or at least smartly pressed trousers, shirt with tie and a smart jacket or sports coat. Of course shoes nicely shined were also worn.

Today people rarely get dressed up even to go to the movies. If a man wears a suit anywhere he will usually not wear a tie with it. His trousers probably don’t fit and are too long in the leg because he doesn’t have them taken up, and I have seen young women the same with jeans, where the cuffs are worn and look tatty because they go under their heals and get walked on and worn out.

Men’s shirts or women’s blouses these days are made of crinkled material which cannot be ironed, and the reason for this is because many people do not iron their clothing anyhow. Scruffy dressing is the style and you wouldn’t be seen dead in nicely tailored, pressed and ironed clothes.

This is sad, because sometimes I walk around men’s clothing stores and admire the colours and patterns on men’s ties, and wish that I had a reason to buy and wear them as they look so smart. But at my age I rarely go anywhere that a tie could be worn, and even if I did I would look out of place when no one else has them.

Alas self respect seems to have disappeared amongst the youth to middle aged in our society today and I find this sad. There is a nice feeling to be smartly dressed, and it does wonders to our morale and it encourages us to behave respectably, and with polite confidence.

I think this pleasure is missing in our young today. Sad.

2011-08-30T16:34:00.001+12:00

Spring is nearly here
Here are some photos I took during my walk around the block this afternoon. These trees and daffodils come out right at the tail end of winter, giving high promise that spring is nearly here. Hurray!

August, the tail-month of winter for us, has been the wildest month of the year for cold and snow. We even had snow flakes falling in Hamilton, which to me is unheard of. We are too far north for snow. But the cold this month was so intense there was even snow flakes in our tropical north!

Other than this our winter had been reasonably mild.

Click on photos to enlarge

2011-08-27T19:49:00.000+12:00

Thanks to you all

I would like to say ‘thank you’ to all of you who kindly sent me best wishes for my improved health since my heart operation (see previous blog comments). Your thoughts, prayers and comments were greatly appreciated and I value your friendships even more for this.

To update, I am now feeling very much better and am able to do a limited amount of things now. Jill and I go walking around the block every day, a distance of about 2 kilometers (about 1 ¼ miles), and today I was able to prune my roses (slightly overdue) and spray around our section for weeds. Gardens also need weeding which we will get to gradually from now on.

Here the weather is beginning to get warmer. Spring is just around the corner - an uplifting season! Daffodils are out and blossom trees are flowering. I hope to get some photos soon.

So thank you all and I send Jill’s and my best wishes - Dave

2011-08-11T16:31:00.002+12:00

Well, here we are again after having spent over two weeks in the Cardiac Ward of Hamilton's Waikato Hospital.

On first being established in the ward for a week for early treatment and observation for angina, and feeling like a perfect fraud with apparent good health, my operation comprising of a quad heart bypass and an aorta procedure was carried out.

I am now home and finally feeling well enough to getting back into limited computer activity and blogging again.

Thanks to the wonderful care and surgery in our hospital, one of the largest in NZ.

I hope over the next few days to again return to reading your blogs and commenting. I enjoy that. - Dave

2011-07-15T20:52:00.000+12:00

More song lyrics

This item is another presentation of song lyrics written to accompany another love song which my Japanese friend wrote the music to. Being Japanese and very reserved he may have felt that my words were too openly-emotional for him as he would not accept them for his song.

I have given much thought as to whether I should publish these words here because of the intensity of them, but have decided to go ahead. I apologise in advance for any embarrassment they might cause and quickly add that the words were meant to imply intense love, nothing else.

Missing You Tonight

When I’m all alone in bed,

It’s then that I start thinking of you.

As I lie here all alone,

Beneath the blankets, in the darkness,

Then I feel desire for you.

Wishing I could reach and touch you.

Feel your warm and tender body

Lying here so close beside me.

In the darkness of my room I want you very badly.

As I lie here longing for you,

Hoping that you feel the same for me.

Imagining we two are one,

Embracing in the love we both can share.

Lying in the darkness my heart feels love for you.

My body cries out strongly for you,

“Come to me, I need you now!”

Sleep won’t come. You are on my mind,

Imagining that you are here with me,

Making love…. ©

2011-07-12T16:28:00.000+12:00

Magpie
Recently two magpies have decided to adopt our location and they seem to take it in turns to sit on someone's TV aerial and sing and chortle away with their pleasant sounds. Jill and I both enjoy hearing them and Jill even goes outside when one is on our TV aerial and talks to it. It doesn't fly away but just sits up there and seems to listen to her.

Today I heard one on our aerial again and went outside with my camera and was able to capture this video. The day was very windy as it is winter here at present, so apologies for the wind noise.

We just hope that if they are a matched pair that they build their nest and have young somewhere else because magpies are very territorial birds over a large area and can be a menace to anyone in their vicinity. They will aggressively attack anyone and anything and peck heads. Even cyclist passing by.

2011-07-10T13:56:00.003+12:00

Race Start

Under the Victoria Bridge

Down the town straight

Here's Steph's team

Go Steph!

Steph digs deep

Go team!

21 Kilometre Waka Race

Our granddaughter Stephanie invited us to watch her take part in a down-stream waka race from Hamilton to Ngarawahia on the Waikato River on Saturday, a distance of about 21 kilometres (13 miles). After a bit of a slow start their team pulled ahead and when we last saw them further down-river they were in second place.

We did not go to Ngaruawahia (the next town down stream) but learned afterwards that they came in third, which was a good effort out of about eight boats.

Just an explanation as to the name 'waka,' this is the name that our indigenous Maori people call their canoes, and it consists of a main canoe with an outrigger on the left hand side.

The distance of this race was a serious distance and I understand that Steph suffered some agony after the race, especially in her arms.

You did well girl! Good work to your whole team!

Click on photos to enlarge.

Correction - Steph's team came in second.

2011-07-04T16:36:00.026+12:00

A combined effort

Here are some more of my song lyrics for a love song composed by my Japanese friend. I have tried to include his music but have not been successful doing this.

Song for the Heart.

You are my love. You are my life.

You are the one who makes my life worthwhile.

And from the very first time we met

I knew that you were meant for me.

For me, it’s all the little things you do.

I love every time that you smile at me.

Then when you whisper softly “I love you”,

I feel that my life has been fulfilled.

You are my love. You are my life.

You are the one who makes my life worthwhile.

When I think of all you mean to me,

With all the little things you do.©

2011-07-01T16:48:00.002+12:00

Lyrics for a Song

A few years ago I had a Japanese friend who lived on the Island of Kyushu, Japan. We used to chat on Skype. He was an air traffic controller who spoke halting English and wanted to speak to English-speaking people so that he could improve his English.

He enjoyed music and played the keyboard and the guitar and used to compose his own music, which he put on his web site and we could listen to it. I enjoyed his music and decided to try writing English lyrics to it, which he seemed to like.

The words below are for one of his songs, the tune of which I have now forgotten. Usually he would tell me what the song was about and I would do the lyrics about his subject. If his music was not a song I would get the feel of it and write words which I thought suited his tune.

I think the following words were for his theme, the story of two old friends.

Old Friends

Remember when we were young,

All the things we did?

Went everywhere, together.

All the fun we had?

Those carefree days of growing youth

Days of joy and fun.

We had no cares, our time was free,

And many friends around.

Then we both met very pretty girls,

Who very soon became our loving wives.

Then our families soon began,

And the children grew and grew.

Remember when they were young,

All the things you did?

Went everywhere together

All the fun you had.

*****************

Our wives have now both passed away,

The children grown and gone,

And once again there’s just we two

For companionship again.

It’s good that we are such good friends

And share each other’s pain

We keep each other’s loneliness

From saddening our lives.

For age can be a very lonely time.

When health is frail and no one here to help.

The two of us close friends,

And we help to pass the days.

Time has now moved on,

And youth is far away.

But we are still close, my friend,

And it will stay that way.

And it will stay that way…. ©

2011-06-28T14:38:00.000+12:00

Advice to live by

Advice that we receive in our lives that help us through uncertain times can come in many diverse ways and not always directly from another person. The bible is a valued source of comfort and help, but sometimes something more recent may seem appropriate.

I remember one Sunday morning at church, as a teenager, during the minister’s sermon he mentioned a story about a boy who had a problem and didn’t know how to solve it. While he was walking along he found a scrap of paper. He picked it up and read what was on it and the message not only helped to solve his problem but the comment gave him advice that helped him in his life.

This impressed me, even though it may have only been used as an illustration for the sermon, but a week or two later while working on a building site I passed a burnt out small rubbish fire and there in the ashes was a piece of printed paper that hadn’t burned. I picked it up and read it, and found my philosophy of life right there. I still have that piece of paper stuck to the inside cover of my old and tatty bible. The comment was from words by John Lubbock who was a very understanding and knowledgeable man. He lived between 1834 and 1913 and became an English banker, naturist and statesman. He wrote much that gave advice to people on many matters, always helpful.

Another such man who had considerable influence during my young working life was called Dale Carnegie. He wrote a book called “How to Win Friends and Influence People” and this book also became my guidance during those youthful and uncertain years.

It showed how to improve oneself, and how to handle people to make friends, to help in business associations, and to avoid unpleasant circumstances and win others to your way of thinking. You can read more about this book here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Win_Friends_and_Influence_People#Twelve_Ways_to_Win_People_to_Your_Way_of_Thinking

And the words on the piece of paper I found on the building site?

“If we do our best, if we do not magnify trifling troubles, if we look resolutely, I will not say at the bright side of things, but at things as they really are, if we avail ourselves of the manifold blessings which surround us, we can not but feel that life is indeed a glorious inheritance.” – John Lubbock

2011-06-25T14:48:00.000+12:00

Cat in a Hat
Received this in an e-mail recently too. I thought it was really cute. What a clever cat!

2011-06-24T15:07:00.003+12:00

Graphic by Jinksy
for photo prompt Tandem #7

http://pens-poems.blogspot.com/2011/06/two-in-tandem-7.html

The operation

was a success

But the medication

Took a while

To wear off.

Written in response to this image by Jinksy at Alias Jinksy

2011-06-23T18:59:00.000+12:00

"Let's Take Time Out"

This is my latest watercolour painting effort, done a couple of weeks ago. I know it's not very good as some of the objects are 'wonkey', but I feel pretty pleased with it.

I wonder if others feel as I do when they create something, and can't help but enjoy our own work, even if its not perfect?

For this picture I set up the objects and sketched them onto the paper before painting it. Mistakes were made during the painting, which in the end actually enhanced the picture. I guess I learned from them and if doing a similar work I now have a technique to improve the picture.

The mistakes involved using black paint on a fine brush to write the words on the biscuits and wine bottle. I wanted them light and barely distinguishable but they came out too bold - a real mess. So after the paint dried I used a wet brush to try to remove the words so that I could do them differently. Surprisingly the letters became lighter but never disappeared completely, which was the precise effect I wanted. So that's why they look as they do now. An accidental miracle!

Click on the photo to enlarge.

2011-06-20T21:33:00.000+12:00

Our new Claudelands Event Centre

This is our new, recently opened Event Centre located in the suburb of Claudelands in Hamilton City.

Recent buildings which were used for Homeshows and Winter Shows and other similar events had become old and tired and as Hamilton now required a decent Event Centre for indoor sports this new building fills the bill beautifully.

It's main attraction is a 6000 seat auditorium for indoor sport such as womens' netball, basketball and can also be used to house visiting bands and other entertainment groups.

There is a comprehensive kitchen facility, several assorted sized theatres and meeting rooms, Star dressing rooms, two large rooms for trade displays with walls between that can be opened to join the two rooms, and there is even a large stainless steel tank to catch rainwater from the roof to use to flush the many toilets in the building and save town-supply water. The tank was purchased from a brewery.

For the opening day last Saturday the entire building was open to the public free to have a look around. There were many Council Staff dressed in red to help and advise the public. I took these photos during my time exploring the building.

The Event Centre was built with Ratepayers money at a reasonable price during the recent recession and provided work for our tradespeople during tough economic times.

I felt a great deal of pride on touring the building and think it is a real asset to our city

2011-06-18T16:44:00.000+12:00

Let me entertain you!
Another animal video arrived by e-mail today and I couldn't resist passing it on!

2011-06-14T21:26:00.000+12:00

Cotton Candy Clouds
These cloud formations occurred last summer. To enhance them I have increased the contrast and brightness and sharpened the photos up. They have now taken on a dramatic appearance. To see the full effect click on the photos to enlarge.
The last photo has also been processed that way, then turned into a negative of the original which I think makes it even more dramatic.
OK, I was playing so its not really good photography, but I liked these effects!

2011-06-12T11:52:00.000+12:00

Just needs a Trainer
This kitty likes to emulate what he sees on TV. Is he too young to see such violent material? :-)
(I received this in an e-mail)

2011-06-10T17:24:00.000+12:00

NZ Nurses

Hospital stay

I have just returned home after spending 24 hours in the Waikato Hospital having a plate removed from my shoulder, which was fitted to support my arm when I broke it last year. It was removed because it restricted my arm’s movement.

Although I enjoyed my short stay there, as I did on previous occasions over the previous two years, if you want to sleep, home’s the place to be!

The Waikato Hospital is very customer orientated, even to giving one a heated hospital gown on arrival. And I love our New Zealand nurses who are very caring ladies. Even the food is good, when you can chose your own menu from their selection. Being a short term patient this wasn’t the case and I had to take what they had, but it was still OK.

And for a change, this time I actually had a NZ surgeon and anesthetist. This was unusual because many of our doctors are Chinese or Indian. They are very good but one always feels more comfortable with one’s own kind. Sadly many of our NZ doctors and surgeons go overseas as soon as they qualify and we lose them, so we have to import replacements from other countries.

In most cases hospitalization on account of accidents is free, paid for by our Accident Compensation Government Insurance (paid for with taxes). It is a good system but is currently being reconsidered for change because of the large cost to the country. The current Government is considering opening accident insurance to private enterprise to give ACC some opposition. I don’t think this is a good idea as we have had an excellent system which has been “blame free” for victims, but due to large Government expenditure and debt here recently, mainly with the cost of the two Christchurch earthquakes, debt is growing so something has to be done to reduce it.

It is also election year this year too so that will be interesting, though the current Government seems to be popular enough so they may carry the day. But should they win there will be a big economic upheaval in their next term. We shall wait and see.

2011-06-07T21:11:00.000+12:00

Ode to an Old House

There it stands in the empty paddock,

Now all alone and forlorn

No longer glass in the windows.

No longer gardens or lawn.

The roof is lifting and rusty,

No paint on the walls to be seen.

Once a proud family home in the country.

Now a derelict. Just a has-been.

A sad looking picture. I feel

For that broken down building out there.

Where’s the family who once occupied it?

Who were they, I wonder, and where?

Did they leave all at once in a hurry?

Or all drift off one at a time?

Were they happy or sad? Were they good folk or bad?

When they left was there reason or rhyme?

Yet I feel some warmth for that lonely old house

As it stands on its own way out there.

In its tumbledown state it can only wait

For collapse. Would anyone care?

I do. I wish I had taken a photo

Of the old decayed building out there.

For I feel sad for the house which was once

A glad home of a family there. ©

2011-06-05T12:06:00.001+12:00

I Like to Grow Gladdies

The Gladioli’s what I like.

Lots of flowers on one long spike.

Leaves like swords surround the stem,

Accounting for the name of them.

They come in colours of many hues,

From red to yellow, right through to blues.

Some green, some orange, and violet too,

Or a mix of colours if that suits you.

Gladdies grow from a single corm

And should be planted when the days get warm.

Not too deep – four times it’s size –

Then from the ground a shoot will rise.

If you have never grown them, have a go.

You’ll get great pleasure when the flowers show.

It’s a regal flower, and I’m sure that you

Will love the gladdie as I do. ©

2011-05-29T21:41:00.004+12:00

Laika, the first Soviet Space Dog

Laika, the Soviet dog, whose name means ‘Barker’ in Russian, is the first animal ever to orbit the Earth. On November 3, 1957, Laika’s mission was launched into outer space in order to expand man’s knowledge about the impact of spaceflight on a living organism. As many scientists believed that the human body was unfit to survive the conditions of outer space, engineers proposed flights with animals as necessary forerunners to actual human missions. Laika was chosen to be made famous as the sole passenger of Sputnik 2, a Soviet spacecraft, when picked out of a group of three dogs who underwent a specific space training together. Unfortunately Sputnik 2 was designed to be irretrievable, therefore Laika had always been intended for one mission only, never returning to Earth.

Laika was initially found wandering the streets of Moscow, as a stray. Scientists turned to use stray dogs for these special trainings, because they assumed those animals had already learned to cope with extreme conditions of cold and hunger. According to records, Laika was a 13-pound (approximately 6 kilos) mutt female.

I was a young man of 17 years at the time and I recall seeing Sputnik 2 go overhead at 8pm NZ time and soon afterwards these words for a song came to me, to the tune of “Baby Face” -

Satellite

Satellite,

You are the cutest little satellite.

There's not another one can reach your height.

Satellite.

My poor nerves are jumping!

You sure have started something!

Satellite,

Your'e up in heaven and I've seen you there at night!

It must have been some shove to get you up above,

With your rocket satellite!

2011-05-26T20:35:00.000+12:00

Plasmoo - How to overcome it (in Windows XP)

Over the last couple of days my computer seemed to have had the browser taken over by a virus browser called Plasmoo, and every time I clicked on either of my two browser icons – Google Chrome or Firefox – a different browser called Plasmoo came up instead, and a warning came with it saying that if I used it to do a search it would turn off all of my protection including firewall and anti-virus.

I didn’t want that to happen but I did find that if I deleted Plasmoo from the URL bar I could replace it with Google which would work OK.

I tried all sorts of things to get rid of the invader including doing a thorough search using my Windows XP Search facility, once in normal mode and deleting several Plasmoo files that came up, and again searched in a more thorough method which brought up even more Plasmoo files which I also deleted.

On retrying my browsers I found that Plasmoo was still there – the searches and deleting had not solved the problem. In the course of this I also went into the Control Panel Home-page setting to ensure that Google was still my setting, which it was.

I suspected that Plasmoo got into my computer via a suspect e-mail “warning” from Youtube (I believe this was a false e-mail) and against an AVG warning I clicked on the e-mail. Nothing obvious happened, but I think it was then that the virus was installed. I then deleted all references to Youtube down loaders in my software files.

I decided to try System Restore. After doing this twice, the second time going back further, Plasmoo remained as resilient as ever!

I e-mailed three friends for advice and received three different ideas to try, and also Googled the problem, but in all but one case the methods were for Windows 7 computers which have different button designations and couldn’t be used with Windows XP.

One of my friends suggested deleting and reinstalling the browsers then doing something else which I didn’t understand. I considered uninstalling the browsers, and when all of the simpler things failed I decided to delete Google Chrome first then re-instal it, then remove Firefox and re-install it. Plasmoo still remained.

Then an idea hit me! Bring up Google as my homepage in both browsers and place an icon for each on my desktop. I did this and on clicking the icons they took me neatly back into the Google homepage in each browser.

Yipee!! It worked! So now even if Plasmoo is still on my computer it is harmless and no longer imposes on my search engines.

2011-05-23T20:21:00.000+12:00

Underdaks Advertisement
Here's one for the ladies. I happened across this today - another Australian-made advertisement.

2011-05-22T14:30:00.000+12:00

Clock World
For our day out last week Jill and I drove out to a near-by small country town called Ohaupo, just south of Hamilton. There we visited two stores, one being Clock World which, as can be seen here, specialises in selling a wide range of imported clocks, mainly from Germany.

We were fascinated by their stock and variety of clocks so I asked the lady proprietor if she would mind me taking photos, to which she agreed (providing I acknowledged the business name - Clock World).

The clocks were wonderful. The cuckoo-type clocks were funny to watch, especially the one shown here where the wife beats her husband on the head with a rolling pin every time the clock chimed. Another had children on a see-saw.

We admired the grandfather clocks but had no hope of ever dreaming of buying one. Most were priced at more than NZ$20,000! But they were indeed things of beauty.

After this we had a light lunch at the attached restaurant and returned home.

Click on pictures to enlarge.

For anyone interested, Clock World address is:

Clock World
96 great South Road
SH3
Ohaupo Villiage 3803
New Zealand.
64 7 823 8260

2011-05-19T21:20:00.001+12:00

Bugger
This Australian-made Toyota vehicle advertisement played on our TV screens some years ago. At the time do-gooders lodged formal complaints, but when NZers heard about them there were many, many more comments supporting the advert saying they enjoyed it and it was funny.

As New Zealanders use the word 'bugger' in every day language this advert established the word as a perfectly respectable word in our vocabulary. If you ever get to hear a NZer speak you may well hear the word used frequently. In the context of it being a part of our language the real meaning is never considered. To us it just means "Wow!" or "Gee whiz", or "gosh!" or "Oh dear!" or a similar. It is intended to be just a harmless expression.

2011-05-17T20:59:00.000+12:00

The end of the world? I don't think so!
I may be taking a chance here, but I don't take kindly to doomsday scare-mongerers who frighten those with weak constitutions and nervous disorders by stating with overconfident gusto that our world will end on Saturday (your Saturday or mine?).

It has happened frequently throughout the ages with doomsdayers insisting that the end of the world was nigh..... and NOTHING HAPPENED!!

What utter idiots! I get so angry at these people! Don't tell me of your personal insecurities, that you have scared the pants off yourself, your families and what ever friends you may have because you have convinced yourselves paranoidly that the world is going to end. What a load of rubbish!

The end of the world? I don't think so!

See you Sunday...

2011-05-11T20:49:00.000+12:00

Hank Williams
I received this Hank Williams video recently as an e-mail and enjoyed it and thought it may be fun to share it. That little feller on the button accordion is great!

2011-05-09T21:42:00.000+12:00

An eventful week

It has been an eventful week – the last seven days or so.

Often life just happens and we don’t even register the events. Then again bigger events happened which force themselves on our psyche.

The main big event for the world, I guess, was the assassination of Osama bin Laden. Not meaning to sound overjoyed at this I think that free nations breathed a collective sigh of relief in the hope that this event might finally bring some sense of peace to the world. Then there are some who feel a fear that retribution may follow. I have the sense of relief along with a feeling of “wait-and-see.”

For many of us Sunday was another important day – Mothers’ Day.

I hope all of you who are mothers and grandmothers had a nice day and were remembered by your children, wherever they may be – some nearby and some far away. Our children remembered Jill. Our daughter and granddaughter called with a nice present for her, of perfumed hand cream, nice soap and a nice flannel. Their visit was nice as they brought lunch and spent the afternoon here. Our son in Auckland texted a “Happy Mothers Day” message and will be visiting in a couple of weeks.

My U3A Writing Group met last Wednesday and our members brought along entries for an Australian U3A Group Writing Competition which we will get away for judging shortly. It is the first time our members have agreed to enter a competition, so this also calls for a quiet celebration. Another milestone to remember this last week for.

The other events of the week just happened but left no memory of anything of importance. Life goes on.

I guess that’s called ‘contentment?’

2011-05-05T16:29:00.000+12:00

Ginger Kitten

Tortoiseshell Kitten

Two Little Kitties

Last week the Waikato S.P.C.A. called and asked if we would take some more kittens for temporary adoption. Jill said yes, but when we obtained them we found they were up to weight and ready for for de- sexing and permanent adoption. So we returned them on Monday.

They were only with us for three days because it was the weekend and we began to get to know them a little. The tortoiseshell was a female and was quite shy and hard for me to befriend, but the ginger one, a male, was very friendly to the point of being very intense at times. He was no trouble to pick up, stroke or be friendly with.

As this is the third ginger kitten we have had I am convinced that this colour kitten makes an excellent pet and is very friendly.

The tortoiseshell calmed down towards the end of their stay with us and I was able to pick her up and stroke her occasionally. She was really a nice little thing and the two, brother and sister, played together really well.

Click on photos to enlarge.

2011-05-03T13:32:00.002+12:00

Early Childhood Memories

I was born in 1940 and grew up in a house near the railway-line end of a short street in our suburb. Our house was big, rented and had a red brick wall which ran the length of two sections, as a grass tennis court was a part of the property. The property also had an orchard that ran across the back of both sections.

I had two friends about my age as neighbours, and we had a lot of fun playing in the orchard and tennis court area, and used to play games like 'British Bulldog' where you had to run the length of the field and try not to get caught by the person or people in the centre. Sometimes we played another game where we would blindfold ourselves, turn around and around till we were giddy, and then head off in a direction to see where we ended up.

My Dad had a business that sold coal, wood and was also a carrying business. We had a shed beside the house where he would bring home a load of kindling wood, which consisted of corners cut off boxes used to crate the round cheeses from the cheese factory across town. As kids we would spend hours sorting the triangle shaped pieces of wood to find matching pairs to use as pistols for the games of cowboys we played in our orchard.

I began school at the Hamilton East School and my friends and I would walk together all the way from our homes to school - a distance of about 1½ miles each way. The footpaths were not sealed and the Roman sandals I had to wear used to keep catching at the toe as I walked and often I used to take the skin off my big toe as I caught it on the rough path.

In those days our short street had chestnut trees down one side and at the right time of the season we used to gather chestnuts and take them home to eat. Sometimes they would be baked in the oven, or boiled in a pot. They were great to eat because as kids we were always hungry. A bit of butter and salt and pepper, and yum…

The railway lines ran past our homes at the end of the street and, against our parent’s wishes, we used to put halfpennies or pennies on the rails for trains to run over. We went back after the train had gone to collect them. They would have become broader and flatter and smoother from the wheels of the engine.

Also out of bounds was an orchard across the railway line. We used to sneak across the track when we couldn’t be seen and steal apples. While up a tree one day I slipped down the trunk of the tree onto a hard but rotten branch which stuck upwards. It penetrated my left leg just below the knee and tore a large chunk of flesh out. I guess it was my just deserts for disobeying my parent’s instructions. The doctor was called and sewed it up, with difficulty, and I still have the scar today. In those days the doctors made house calls.

The father of one of my friends owned a men’s barbershop, and later in my youth I became friends with a boy whose father owned a grocery store just around the corner from the barbershop.

When I was born my Dad was a soldier fighting the Japanese in the Pacific, around Fiji, the

Solomon Islands

and other Pacific locations. On his return he worked first as a Trouble -man then a Ganger on the local Electric Power Board. Later he and my uncle Len became partners in a coal and carrying business. They sold and delivered coal from two coal mines in the country not too far from our town. They also sold kindling wood and larger sawn firewood and did the occasional carrying job.

Dad was a foundation member of the local Cosmopolitan Club and was well known and well liked around town. He also was an enthusiastic member of the local Bowling Club which was located on land behind his business depot.

My friends and I used to walk to the movies on Saturday ‘arvos’ (afternoons), usually to the Embassy or the State Theatres. We also belonged to the Chums Club at the State theatre, which was a movie club for kids and showed favourite shorts along with cartoons before half time, then the main movie. Some of the shorts we liked were The Durango Kid, Superman, The Lone Ranger, and Donald Duck cartoons. ©

2011-05-01T20:38:00.000+12:00

Tornado Destruction
I wish to send my sincere sympathies to those in the States of the United States of America which were devastated by the recent tornadoes that caused so many deaths, injuries and destruction. Photos in our press and television give some idea of that destruction, which is terrible.

For those bloggers who were effected either directly by this, or indirectly by the loss of family, friends or property I offer our condolences - Dave

2011-04-29T21:22:00.001+12:00

IT'S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME.

It's only a matter of time.

Things happen. Not today, not tomorrow,

But some time it may happen.

It's only a matter of time.

When I was young my friends

Broke bones; wrists, ankles,

Fingers and toes.

It never happened to me.

In my life I have

Injured fingers,

Had electric shocks,

And have nearly drowned.

But I have never broken any bones.

I guess

It's only a matter of time.

I have experienced many earthquakes.

Most of them short and sharp.

They have happened during the day

And during the night.

Some even felt pleasant

With their gentle rolling motion.But

I have never been in a major quake. Perhaps

It's only a matter of time.

Most things may well be inevitable,

And will probably happen at some time

In our lives.

But whether they do, or whether they don't

We must accept what is our fate.

For that moment may be

2011-04-27T11:24:00.000+12:00

The Boy and the Sparrow.

I came to catch my bus at the Transport Centre

and sat beside a young mother with a five year old boy.

During conversation with the young lady I learned

that her boy was five years old, and his name was Curtis.

He was a bright and cheerful youngster who enjoyed fun,

and his mother was tolerant and understood his joyful temperament. As we came to know each other, Curtis was friendly, bordering on cheeky, but not disrespectful.

He was playing with a used match and pretended to set me on fire. I told him that matches were dangerous and people can die because of them.

Then a male sparrow, which was very wet because of the rain, came near to us, and Curtis decided to chase it. To his mother’s and my surprise the sparrow never flew away, but just flew around the bus shelter just keeping about a metre ahead. The two played this game for fully a minute, going around the bus shelter about three times, until the boy lost interest. The sparrow flew away, to return soon after, but Curtis had found something else to do, and was no longer interested in the bird.

2011-04-24T20:07:00.000+12:00

Seen at Tirau

A Biblical Shepherd made from corrugated iron

A corrugated iron Pukeko bird

Stained glass window at the Information Centre

Quote cards at a Tirau shop

Gimmicky ornaments in a Tirau shop

Just a few additional photos taken at Tirau on Thursday. I thought they may be of interest.

I am quite a fan of those gimmicky ornaments, and also like those beat-up model cars you can buy here. Sorry I don't have a photo of them.

I took two photos in the shop where the ornaments and cards were sold, but I don't think the shopkeeper liked me doing that as she followed me out of the shop without a word and watched me as we walked away down the footpath. Its as though I had stolen something, which I hadn't.

2011-04-21T20:15:00.001+12:00

Big Bear Sculpture, Tirau. She sits in a cafe.

Tirau Public Relations Office, shaped like a sheep dog

Tirau Natural Wool clothing shop, shaped like a sheep

Tirau Fine Swine Cafe's sign made of corrugated iron

A Tirau knick knack shop

A Day in Tirau

Today being Thursday, Jill and my day out together, we decided to go to Tirau for the day.

Now Tirau is an interesting small Waikato town which sits right across the main North-South highway. For years it was just another small town until the townsfolk got together and turned it into a small town with a difference. They now have lots of small shops on both sides of the highway, lots of cafes, antiques, knick knack shops, and a variety of other kinds of shops, such as a clock shop and others. You can easily spend a whole day here, and lots of money if you wish. It is about 45 minutes drive south of Hamilton.

Perhaps the common denominator about Tirau is the buildings and signs made of corrugated iron by a farmer who has now set up a business just down the road making them. He originally made the Public Relations building and the Wool shop that look like a dog and a sheep. Now most of the business signs here are made by his company.

Click on Pictures to enlarge.

2011-04-20T17:34:00.000+12:00

Rapid Response

It was early Sunday morning when, from our bedroom at the front of the house my wife Jill could hear a crackling noise which sounded like something on fire. She leapt out of bed and followed the sound down to the back end of our house. Looking out of the kitchen window she saw that our wooden garage was on fire, and well ablaze.

Dashing back to me she told me what was happening. I rapidly jumped out of bed and raced down to the kitchen to look. On seeing the fire I quickly reached for our telephone and dialled 111 and asked for the local Fire Brigade.

I had no sooner placed the phone down and raced outside when I was met by the fire brigade boys heading up our drive with their hoses, ready to fight the fire. I couldn’t believe they could be so quick, as the fire station was about two kilometres away in a straight line, and further by road.

Soon the fire was under control and I thanked them for their quick service and asked how they made it so quickly.

One of the guys told me that they had been having smoko and playing pool in their fire station upstairs dining room when they spotted the smoke and flames. They raced for their fire appliance and headed in this general direction but were unable to find the fire until our call was received. Then it was just a matter of redirection and they were here.

No wonder I met them on my drive as soon as I exited my house. It was indeed a rapid response. A few minutes longer and the flames would have caught our house. ©

2011-04-18T20:30:00.000+12:00

Attitude

When Captain Paul Wright, skipper of the Cunard Line's newest liner the Queen Victoria, was asked by his school guidance counsellor what he enjoyed doing, he responded "looking out the window". The sage educator told Wright he'd never find a job doing that, but as luck would have it, that's exactly what fate had in mind.

Standing on the bridge of the 90,000 tonne liner, he laughed as he recalled the story. This goes to show that predictions our school teachers make about us are not always very accurate.

My wife Jill, during her school days, was told by a teacher that she would never make a good mother or housewife. That was a long way from accurate as Jill successfully mothered our three children and became an excellent and very proficient homemaker and mother and her all-round cooking skills excelled, and still do.

I’m sure many of us have had similar experiences.

Sometimes parents, teachers or sports coaches can harm a child’s future chances by pre-judging them, and sometimes these ‘prophesies’ can be self full filling. Tell a child they will never be any good at something, and they may take that to heart and fail simply because they were predicted to fail.

I believe that the opposite is also true. If a child is encouraged by an understanding adult they may just overcome a failing and succeed. My thought is that to tell a child once that they didn’t do something very well may encourage them to try harder and do better. If they are told often then they will probably believe it and continue to fail.

But I do not believe in telling a child that they have done well if they haven’t tried. Effort deserves encouragement, but laziness and lack of effort does not. There is far too much of this in the world today.

The real world is not like that. Real effort with the right attitude is required to succeed. This deserves praise, and will encourage results.

2011-04-16T11:44:00.001+12:00

Autumn Thoughts

Its autumn, and almost its winter.

I need some more warm woolly clothes.

Some singlets of thermal material,

With long-johns right down to my toes.

I like the selection of colours

Of leaves on the trees at this time,

For autumn’s a beautiful season,

So long as those trees are not mine!

I’m not very keen on all of those leaves

On the ground that clog up every drain.

They really do make such a horrible mess.

I think they’re a terrible pain.

But winter, I know is not too far away

With its cold winds and rain that persist.

But of all things I’m sure, though discomfort will come

2011-04-13T21:51:00.000+12:00

The Parking Warden and the Waitress

I parked my car just outside of town and sat on the grass bank to rest in the shade and watch the river while I waited to collect my wife from town.

As I sat there a lady City Council Parking Warden came along, and using chalk she marked crosses on top of the left front tyres of all the cars parked in the street, and moved on out of sight.

After she had gone a young lady dressed as a waitress came out from a nearby building and using a cloth wiped the crosses off the tyres of four of the cars.

I laughed. I thought it was funny. As only about half of the car parks in the street were in use I could see no reason to check parking times and give parking tickets.

2011-04-11T16:38:00.001+12:00

Jill's Miniature Teapot Collection

Over the years my wife Jill has collected things for a hobby. The main collected items were Blue Mountain ornaments, then later gold bracelet charms and more recently miniature teapots.

The blue Mountain ornaments or bracelet charms gave our children things to give Jill for birthdays and Christmas, but as she now has enough of these Jill has begun another collection of miniature teapots. Usually she buys this herself either at internet auctions or from shops where she may spot one she likes.

The photos above show her collection. They look nice, and give her something to dust frequently!

Click on pictures to enlarge

2011-04-06T23:34:00.000+12:00

Duo-pianists
I came across this video tonight which I enjoyed so much I decided to share it here. The two pianists are Marty Mincer and Sue Keller and they are playing a ragtime duet.

2011-04-04T17:22:00.002+12:00

These are my hands.

To date they are 71 years old and still work as good today as they always have.

They have given me a good lifetime of service in all that I ventured, and have spent most of their time carrying out electrical trade work, or at home as a recreational gardener.

They have done a great many other things too such as holding our children as babies or playing with them as children, making things for them and holding books to read them stories. They have made music on a piano accordion, baked cakes, and typed stories on a keyboard.

Some of the finger tips have been either crushed in machines or car doors, and healed quickly and completely, as that is what fingers do, and have helped with first aid when other parts of the body have been injured – all now healed.

Admittedly, without the brain the hands can do little, but likewise the brain. Without the hands it can be limited in its capabilities. So over these 71 years both have worked in a harmonious relationship and helped this person to achieve much satisfaction in life.

So thanks you two. You have done me proud.

2011-04-02T20:19:00.001+13:00

"Different" architectural buildings in the heart of Wellington - some old some recent

Roman Catholic Church

Restaurant

Very early architecture - probably a bank

Hard to tell what this building is but it looks like a bar

These will be the last of my photos of Wellington which were taken during our recent holiday there.

These show some of the unusual architecture which is mixed up amongst the tall 'glass and concrete' buildings all around them. I thought I would show these to show how interesting this facet of Wellington city is.

2011-03-30T20:22:00.002+13:00

Constance Rose Leonard - (8.9.1912 to 24.3.2011)
This is my Auntie Connie who passed away on Thursday last week. She was my Dad's youngest sister, and she outlived her older sister and only brother by many more years. She died in her 98th year.

The three siblings were all born and grew up in Blenheim, at the top of the South Island, but all moved to, and married in the North Island. Connie lived in Auckland and had three daughters, Colleen, Dianne and Cherry, my immediate cousins, We were all close to the same age. Within 6 years anyway. Her husband Charlie was a real Irish gentleman who was very polite and softly spoken but who also had a good sense of humour. He died many years ago, and afterwards Connie was doted on by her daughters who took very good care of her.

Connie was a lovely lady and she had a great sense of humour enjoying a good laugh, and was always positive and spoke her mind.

Though I never saw her very often because we lived in a different town I always enjoyed seeing her whenever we could. Just before she died I had intended to travel to Auckland just to see her, but sadly it is now too late. Jill and I attended her funeral on Monday and it was good to see my cousins again.

2011-03-28T20:57:00.000+13:00

The Wellington Waterfront

Waterfront 1

Waterfront 2

Waterfront 3

Sculptures and modern designed buildings on the waterfront in

Wellington

The Museum of New Zealand, located on the Wellington Waterfront

A stuffed NZ Kiwi bird at the Museum of NZ

The current Wellington waterfront is land which has been reclaimed from the Wellington Harbour over a period of years, and has pushed the sea back by somewhere about 200 to 300 metres it seems. Although I don't have exact information this website explains the progressive reclamation of the harbour and this map also shows the progressive reclamation since 1840 up to 1970.

There are plaques like this located around the central city showing where the shoreline was in 1840, before the reclamation began.

Some years ago I read an account by an early settler of how he sat on the balcony of his hotel in Lambton Quay and fished there, because at that time Lambton Quay was on the edge of the harbour. Lambton Quay is now one of the main shopping streets in Wellington and is surrounded on both sides by large buildings because the reclaiming has pushed the harbour back some distance.

Regarding the Museum of New Zealand, this was built in Wellington where the seat of Government is located, and was given the Maori name "Te Papa" which means "Our Place" and belongs to all New Zealanders. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get any really worthwhile photos inside the museum except of the stuffed kiwis.

A kiwi is a flightless bird who's habitat is dense bush. It is nocturnal and can usually only be seen in zoos. There are probably a great many New Zealanders who have never seen one, though we call ourselves 'kiwis.'

Click on photos to enlarge.

2011-03-24T21:25:00.000+13:00

Some assorted photos in Petone

Main Street Market Day 1

Main Sytreet Market Day 2

Main Street Market Day 3

Petone Settlers Museum

The bow of the original ship, the Aurora, to bring the first settlers to Petone.

This is mounted on the Settlers Museum building

Sunset from Petone Beach

I have warm memories of Petone. In my younger days - I was 21 at the time - I moved to Petone and boarded with an elderly widow and worked at the General Motors car, truck and Frigidaire appliance factory just around the corner from where I lived. On Thursdays and Fridays we finished work at.about 3.30pm so I used to race home, change into my swimming togs and go down to the Petone beach for a swim on the hot days in summer.

At GM's I had a good job as electrical tester of Frigidaire electric stoves, fridges and freezers. I was their test electrician. I enjoyed the work and the staff were wonderful people to work with.

While I worked there, and was living with the widow, I used to go to dances in Lower Hutt on Saturday nights, which is where I met Jill, while I was there with another girl. I met her when my partner accepted a dance with another fellow so I asked Jill. Nothing happened that night but two weeks later I decided to go back to the dance hoping Jill would be there, and I remember saying to my landlady "Tonight I'm going to meet the girl I am going to marry," and I hoped very much that Jill would be at the dance.

Behold she was! And that was the start of our courtship. We married a year later. I was 24 and she was 20, and we took a flat and sojourned in Petone in a street called Cuba Street.

Later we had the opportunity of renting a cheaper part-house in Lower Hutt which, a few years later, we bought. Then we began our family and later we moved back to my home town of Hamilton because of my aging parents. There were a couple of other moves later but Hamilton is where we ended up and are happy here. It was also my home town.

Click on the photos above to enlarge.

2011-03-21T22:19:00.001+13:00

A cruise across Wellington Harbour

The Catamaran we travelled on the Wellington Harbour on.

Inside the boat

Somes Island

Somes Island Wharf

Days Bay wharf across the harbour from Wellington

Leaving Days Bay returning to Wellington

Wellington Shoreline 1

Wellington Shoreline and Oriental Bay

Wellington City 1

Wellington City 2

Another of the activities we planned was to travel across Wellington Harbour on the catamaran ferry. As we are pensioners this cost us nothing and as the harbour was calm it was an enjoyable trip. Jill and I both enjoy riding in boats and this trip was no exception.

The journey left from Queens Wharf in Wellington and called in at Somes Island off the shore from Petone. Here some people got off to explore and some got on who had departed the previous trip. We stayed on the boat, which next headed for Days Bay which is around the harbour from Petone, not far from Eastbourne. After dropping off passengers and taking on others we headed back to Somes Island to pick up anyone wanting to return to Wellington, and then sailed back to Queens Wharf in Wellington.

Somes Island has not long been opened to the public. It has in the past been used first as a prisoner of war camp for captured Japanese soldiers during the Second World War, then after the war it became a quarantine station for animals and plants entering New Zealand. I wished that we had time to explore it.

Click on photos to enlarge.