A busy Weekend

Saturday was quite a busy day.  The caravan club was spending the weekend at the Manawatu Caravan Club grounds, and I drove up to join them for morning tea, about a half hour drive away.  It was lovely to catch up with everyone, and as a bonus, one of the member's was celebrating a birthday so cake was provided.  The weather was fine and clear, cold overnight and frosty in the morning.

Joining the caravan club for morning tea

I left the camp ground after morning tea, and drove up to Sanson, another half hour drive away, to meet my daughter Nicky for lunch.  This time, we were trying a "new to us" cafe.  The Church Cafe, as the name suggests, was a former church, and has a lovely calm ambience.

The Church Cafe

With paneled walls, and wooden tables and chairs, it was a warm, cozy and peaceful place to enjoy our lunch.    I had some tasty leek and potatoe soup, and Nicky enjoyed a bowl of wedges.  And with coffee to follow, of course.

Inside The Church Cafe

We had plenty to chat about, what we had been up to, and our sewing projects.  Although Nicky doesn't do quilting, she is a keen dressmaker and creates one of a kind outfits for herself.  And we had things in the boot to swap over when we departed, Nicky had some fruit for me, and I gave her some fabric she had shown an interest in, plus a big bag of coathangers.

On my drive back home I stopped off at Fox's Cottage, my favourite local quilt shop.  I needed another lot of batting, it's interesting how much of this gets used when you are making donation quilts.  And I spoke to Jackie in the shop, who will be free hand quilting my secret birthday quilt for me.

Fox's Cottage

Last stop on the way home was to top up the fuel on my trusty Corolla, I don't like to let the fuel tank get too low.  It was a good day out.

On Sunday I took myself off to the local movies, I was keen to see Jurassic World.  There were only about 8 patrons in the theatre at lunch time, not that it mattered, as we were all engrossed in the unfolding story.  The storyline is "An exhibition braves isolated equatorial regions to extract DNA from three massive prehistoric creatures for a ground breaking medical breakthrough".  A family group gets rescued by the exhibition when their boat is overturned by one of the prehistoric sea creatures, and they end up on the island too.  Surround sound in the theatre made the roars seemingly coming at me from all sides, as the dinosaurs wrecked havoc on the visitors to the island, tracking them, tossing them in the air, and chewing them up!  It was a lose yourself in the moment sort of movie, and yes, I did enjoy it.  

Out and About

 I've been out and about lately, going here, and going there.  I was at a craft group last week, and we meet in a beautiful old property called Thompson House, home of a former doctor who lived and worked here.   I believe it has been gifted to the community and groups can hire the rooms for meetings.

Thompson House

 One of the ladies there that afternoon teaches bobbin lace.  She had all sorts of exquisite samples on display.  It's such beautiful fine work, but not something I would have the patience for.

Lace samples and bobbins

Melanie had been working on signs of the zodiac and had one for Libra, the Scales of Justice.  That's my sign, I told her, so she very generously gifted it to me.  Here it is at home, pinned up on one of the spools on my thread spool wall hanging in my sewing room.  

Libra, the Scales of Justice

I'm a member of Age Concern, and go there weekly for my easy balance and exercise class.  They also hold meetings about various subjects of interest to older people, and last week held a movie afternoon, free for the members.  That was fun, there were decorations and balloons galore in the room, and we were treated to bags of popcorn or chippies, tea, coffee and juice was available, and we were presented with  small bags of liquorioce allsorts and jaffas.  The film was called "Thelma" and told the story of an elderly lady who was scammed into sending money, supposably to help her grandson, and the police couldn't help her.  So Thelma took matters into her own hands, and with the help of an elderly friend and his mobility scooter, tracked the scammers down, got into their computer, and with telephone help from her grandson, managed to transfer her money back into her account!

Don't mess with Thelma

And to help with me getting out and about, I'm pleased to say that I passed my 80th driving assessment, I was able to apply a couple of months early.  Here in New Zealand drivers have to get a medical clearance to keep driving at 75, 80, and every two years after that.  I went to have an eye test at the opticians, then had an appointment with the doctor, who asked me questions as he filled in several pre printed pages.  "I know you don't have diabetes, and your heart is good", he said as he worked his way through the form.  That was good to know.  Tick, tick, tick, he went through the questions, then, "all done", he told me.  At my 75th assessment, our previous doctor had asked me all sorts of questions, including counting back from 100 by 7, and other general  knowledge questions, so I was a bit worried about what my current doctor would ask me.  "I know you", he said, "and I know there is nothing wrong with your memory".  Whew.... all that worry about nothing!

I've had to do some car stuff this month, things that Robin used to take care of.  Such as apply for the annual car registration, get a Warrant of Fitness, and the car insurance is due as well.  And last time I filled the car up, I wanted to use up some of the petrol vouchers I have, so called into one of the local service stations.  When I went in to settle up, the attendant was rather worried.  "Did you know you've just filled your car with diesel?" he asked.  I assured him that everything is fine, my little car runs on diesel, which is quite unusual here for small cars.  Although Robin used to top my car up for me, he impressed on me not to put petrol in the tank, which would ruin the engine!  Just as well I took that lesson to heart.

Changing Quilts, and a Movie

It's taken me a while, but at long last, I've taken the Christmas quilts down.  With such gorgeous weather, what better to display than "My New Zealand Bird Quilt", made back in I'm very proud of this one, especially as it is hand appliqued and hand quilted, and was designed by NZ designer Mary Fletcher.  I'll let you into a little secret.  The design had a creepy crawly weta together with the iconic tuatara (lizard) block, but there was no way I was going to have one of those on my quilt!  

New Zealand Birds

Of course, the quilt ladder needed changing too.  On the top is the Tee Shirt quilt I made for Robin's 60th birthday.  He passed away in late November and this quilt was on display during his memorial service, and I decided I will leave it out on permanent display on top of the ladder.  On rung two and four is my own work, and hanging on rung three is a row by row quilt made for me some years ago for a big birthday.  It's good to ring the changes and get to see some quilts which have been hidden away for a while.

Quilt ladder, made by Robin

So what else have I been up to?  I went and filled my car up, not such a big deal for most of you, but Robin used to do this for me.  A couple of weeks ago my friend Dot came along to the petrol station at the supermarket with me, to run through all the steps I needed to take.  The first one was to pull up at the pump on the side where the filling cap was!  Then she showed me what I needed to do, read the instructions which guided the customer through, and how to enter the discount code from the supermarket into the machine.  And most important to remember, my little car takes diesel, not petrol.  So now I can be trusted to do this job for myself!

I took myself to the movies today, to see "A Complete Unknown", which tells the story of 19 year old Bob Dylan arriving in New York with his guitar.  I'm not really a Bob Dylan fan, but this film was very interesting and I found out such a lot about his early song writing life, and some of his really early songs are still so well known today.  The film touched on the Kennedy, Cuba, Khrushchev, and the Cuba blockade.  Even down here in far away New Zealand, we feared for a nuclear war, and held our collective breaths, as did the rest of the world.  I was 17 at the time, working for an insurance company in Wellington, the capitol city of New Zealand, and remember attending a lunch time church service held to pray for world peace.  Scary times indeed. 

 Another part of the film that I particularly remember was when "Dylan went Electric".  In 1965 he teamed up with different band members and started recording and performing with electric instruments.  The folk music community and audiences were appalled, accused him of turning his back on the genre, booed on stage and pelted him and his band mates with bottles and cans!  My favourite Bob Dylan song was not written till 1975 so didn't appear in this film.  It is "Shelter from the Storm" full of dark lyrics of love and loss.  I hear it occasionly on the radio station.

Another part of the film which 

Keeping close to Home

 These last few weeks between Robin's passing and waiting for the date of his Memorial Service I have been keeping close to home - a bit like being in limbo.  Although I've had to make visits to the bank and the supermarket to keep things running, I decided not to take part in several Christmas break-ups.

I did make an exception with the Sew Wots Christmas lunch the other week.  Thought I would be able to cope with meeting up again with this small group of caring ladies.  The chosen cafe was The Emporium, luckily not too busy with lots of strangers, and we all took along a floral fat quarter to swap.   We could add another small item as well if we wanted, for an added surprise.  Former member Moira came along too, so it was nice to see her again. 

Lucky dip for Christmas

Christmas Tree in the cafe

What did we eat, I can't remember.  But I do remember looking longingly at Carol's lunch and wishing I had chosen that item instead of mine!  The owner kindly took a few photos for us.

The Sew Wot Ladies

The other exception I made was to join my friend Dot and a couple of other ladies for her birthday lunch.  That was very nice, and Dot wanted to go to a favourite cafe which had recently been sold, just to see what changes had been made.  We were pleased to note that the new owners had kept most of the existing menu, after all, people like what they like, don't they, and customers are often adverse to changes.  No photo this time.

I've had a couple of difficult days, feeling most upset, so decided to take myself off to the local cinema to see the film For King + Country: A Drummer Boy Christmas - Live.  The film features a live performance by the Christian pop duo Joel and Luke Smallbone, a couple of Aussies now living in the USA.  Filmed in a sold out arena in Houston, Texas, it was a wonderfully uplifting film. Christmas songs, some were new to me, but many old favourites too, including the Little Drummer Boy.  I could sit there tearfully in the dark, and nobody noticed.  

Wednesday will no doubt be a difficult day for me, when the Memorial Service will be taking place.

Movie Date Night & Autumn Equinox

We are not great movie goers, but now and again a film grabs our attention, and we just have to go and see it. 

The Great Escaper, starring Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson was such a film.  This film is based on a true story about pensioner Bernard Jordan, who absconded from his Care Home in Sussex, UK in 2014, to attend an event in France marking the 70th Anniversary of the D Day Landings.  Bernard missed out on getting a pass to join one of the official groups, so decided to go it alone.

It was an excellent film, with plenty of early scenes  when the young couple met.  Flash backs to  war years happened, and the tradegy of losing family and comrades.  The brave old men, plenty of them on walkers and sticks, who gathered in France to remember those dark days, all proudly wearing their medals.  Bernard escapade at 90 years old  made the news and he was welcomed back to his Care Home as an adventurous hero.  What I realised from this film, was that no matter how long ago people experienced the horrors of war, or indeed any other great catastrophe, the memories are  put aside to get on with  everyday living, but the trauma is just under the surface and often triggered.  I can certainly recommend this film, funny, sad, and yes, I shed a few tears, and based on a true story.

We received a movie gift card from my granddaughter Emma for Christmas, and I had been saving it for such an occasion. And we ate at the cafe before our movie commenced, so it made it a lovely night out.  Robin had a pizza and I ordered some dumplings, plus a nice hot coffee too.

Our movie snack before the film

Our Autumn Equinox has rolled around, so it was time to ring changes and get my little Autumn wall hanging out.  We have noticed that the morning and evening temperatures are getting cooler, but the days are still mostly warm and sunny.  No need to turn the heating on just yet, but a cardigan and warm slippers have been making an appearance some evenings.

Autumn has arrived

New Socks for Winter

This pair took a while to finish, as all my knitting does, but here they are at last, in time for winter.  I knit my socks on two needles and have finally finished stitching the side seams up.  I laid the socks on the floor to take a picture, and Gemma thought they were put there for her to inspect and give the seal of approval.

These thick triple knit socks were knitted using 8ply white hand spun wool, a birthday gift last year from my friend Merilyn, together with left over 4ply burgundy Zauberball  sock yarn.  This is my first time knitting with hand spun wool, and I’m really pleased with how they turned out.

My new socks

Robin and I had a movie date on Friday.  We don't go to the movies very often, but when there is a film we particularly want to see, we certainly make an effort.  Films don't seem to remain too long at out local cinema and we have missed some we really wanted to see by not acting quickly enough.  So we  drove down to Focal Point Cinema to attend the 5.00pm session.

Our local cinema

And look who we bumped in to.  My younger sister Karla and her partner Murray.  They were having a coffee and snack before going to visit some friends.  We had plenty of time before our session started, so joined them for a coffee and a good catch up while we were waiting.

Jenny, Murray and Karla

The film we were going to see was Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.  “Daredevil archaeologist Indiana Jones races against time to retrieve a legendary dial that can change the course of history. Accompanied by his goddaughter, he soon finds himself squaring off against Jürgen Voller, a former Nazi who works for NASA”.  Indiana Jones is the first to admit that he is not as young as he used to be, with the passing years giving him aching joints and slight memory loss!  It was a rollickingly great yarn, with plenty of action scenes, and an unexpected story line.  Indie fans will love it!

Out and About, Donations and a Movie

We have been out and about lately.  First we took a trip down to Kapiti to drop of a bag of donations for Foster Hope Charity.  Included in this donation were two draw string bags for the kids pencils or treasures, and two little girls aprons.

Bags and aprons

And quilts, winter is coming after all, and there is sure to be a need for these.  First were two toddlers quilts made from small printed panels – these were finished last year but I wasn't quite ready to part with them, just in case there was a need close to home.  But now I’m finally ready to send them to their new homes, wherever that may be.

Pussycats for a little girl

 

Tractors for a little boy

Plus my two recently completed Flag quilts

So what else have we been getting up to?  Last week we had a movie date, cashing in a Christmas gift card from grand-daughter Emma.   I thought the film Allelujah sounded good.  A bunch of old folks in a small hospital, living and laughing their way through their troubles, so I thought.  That should be good for a laugh – after all, some people would class us as old folks these days. 

The cast was excellent, with Jennifer Saunders, Judi Dench, and Derek Jacobi.  But the story was unexpected, and rather dark.  When the geriatric ward in a small Yorkshire hospital is threatened with closure, it fights back by galvanizing the local community. The hospital invites a news crew to film the preparations for a concert honouring its most distinguished nurse.  And what a nurse she was, moving on her elderly patients with an evening cup of hot milk laced with morphine.  Beware of nurses  bringing late night milky drinks!  The film ends with the small hospital closed, the nurse arrested, the patients moved to other homes, and the nursing staff to other hospitals.  The last few scenes show dishy Dr Valentine run off his feet in a Covid Ward, tending to a former patient from Liverpool who loses the battle with Covid.  Not at all the “feel good” story I was expecting, but definitely showing the stresses  that medical staff are battling with these days.

Just as well we decided on lunch out in the movie café, to cheer us up a bit.  Our menu choices were a bit different.  Battered pork belly bites for him, and Asian dumplings for her, followed by a coffee and a Coke, very tasty indeed.  It was a good day out, and we came away with the thought of a couple of other films we would like to see. 

The Weekend that Was

Last weekend was spent away in the caravan at a rally, and the weather was wet, wet, wet, with just a few fine spells in the mix.  But the ground was sodden, my shoes were covered in mud, guess I should buy myself a pair of gumboots, otherwise known as Wellington boots for those who don't know what I’m talking about.    No wind though, so that was a blessing.  We didn't go too far, just up the coast to Foxton Beach.  Gemma came along too, of course.  No dogs are allowed in this camp, I'm not sure if cats are welcome but we took her anyway.  And she never ventured outside at all, after all, cats don't like getting their feet wet, do they?

With all the mud, grass and leaves traipsed into the caravan I had to get the vacuum cleaner out – there is always cat hair on the floor as well.  Here she is hiding in a cubby hole beside the bed while I was busy, she really doesn’t like this noisy machine.

Have you finished yet?

So what did we get up to over our time away?  Two other vans and us decided to arrive a day early, just because, and we spent the first evening together socialising in our caravan.  For dinner the hubbies drove down to the local fish and chip shop for our delicious paper wrapped meals – eating fish and chips straight from the paper is really the way to go for casual dining!  With tomatoe sauce for those who want it, and bread and butter, it was all very tasty.

 

Thursday night fish and chips

The other club members arrived on Friday, so there was plenty of time for a good catch up.  Then on Saturday afternoon we went for an outing to Mavtech.  This local museum showcases  the history and development of cinema and recorded sound in New Zealand, and is housed in Foxton’s historic Coronation Hall. The theatre upstairs showcases vintage films, and the film chosen for our group was “This is New Zealand”, a film made in 1969 for the Tokyo World Expo, showing scenes of our country and highlights of life in New Zealand.  This was followed by a trio of cartoons featuring Daffy Duck and friends, a real blast from the past.  There was plenty to see in the museum downstairs, a great variety of old fashioned radios that most of us could relate to from our childhood years, many in wonderful wooden cabinets. Mavtech’s displays features vintage audio visual technology from film, radio, camera, TV and sound.  Early New Zealand records and music too, there was such a lot to check out.

From the film This is New Zealand

Here we are on the stairs to the theatre

We had a Movie and Popcorn night on Saturday night.  The film was Ram starring our very own Kiwi actor Sam Neil.  Set is Australia, it told the story of two warring brothers who had half of the family farm each, but hadn't spoken to each other for years.  Their aim was to breed  prize winning merino sheep and beat the other in competitions .  A devastating virus caused all the sheep in the area to be slaughtered, or so they should have been – the plot certainly thickened.  Many thanks for the tasty popcorn, Sue, much appreciated.

Yummy popcorn, we haven't had any of that for ages

With so much going on I didn't get to spend much time on my handcrafts.  Just a few rows of knitting, and a small amount of work on my apron stitchery.  It was a great weekend away with our caravan friends, and luckily Robin wasn't required this time  to tow out any vans stuck in the mud.  Not that he would have minded, he quite enjoys this sort of thing.

Gemma is keeping an eye on us from the top of the sofa

We’ve been keeping busy

Life is certainly busy when you are retired.  In between dealing with my sore throat, it’s almost better, thank goodness, we had a few things to do.  First we had our second Covid booster shot.  With an appointment booking system, it was very quick, call in to the provider, register, answer a few questions, go and get the jab, then sit and wait for the required 15 minutes to make sure there were no complications.  And we never felt the needle at all, the practitioner was so gentle.

Covid booster reception

On the way home we went to collect some free range eggs, and look, the chickens were out having a grand old time, pecking about in the paddocks and basking in the wintery sunshine.  It’s always so nice to see the birds out enjoying the fresh air, and double yolk eggs were available,  so that was a bonus.

At the Big Egg Company

We had to miss the weekend caravan club rally because our caravan was out of action.  We had a mild altercation with a car in February, and damaged one of the lower side panels.  Yes, it’s taken a while to get the repairs started, first there was the new panel to order and get sent down from the factory, and the insurance claim to get approved.  And our preferred repairer is very busy indeed, especially when Covid swept through the work force, but finally there was a slot found for us.  Here is our caravan at Marty’s Panel and Paint with the lower panel removed – seems there may be a minor leak or two to check out as well, the extra work will have to be at our cost, but it must be rectified.

IN the workshop

As we weren't going away for the weekend after all, I decided to treat the pair of us to a “Lunch and Movie Date”.  Off we went to the local Cinema for an early lunch.  Robin chose a pork belly and mushroom pizza and I had soup of the day, with a nice coffee each, of course.

Lunch before the movie

The new Elvis film was showing, and I could hardly wait to see it.   The story was told in the words of Col Tom Parker, played by Tom Hanks.  What a schemer he was, and a serial gambler, always looking after himself first, and with a contract taking 50% of Elvis’s earnings, he was doing very nicely for himself indeed.  As it turned out, he wasn’t a colonel, he was using a fictitious name, in fact he was an illegal immigrant to the USA.  The young actor, Austin Butler playing Elvis, was superb, and must have spent a huge amount of time perfecting the voice, the actions, and those wiggles.  The theater was packed full of grey haired patrons, and with so many strangers in close proximity we both decided to keep our masks on the entire time.  That didn’t matter, I could sigh over those wiggles and the songs behind my mask  to my heart’s content.   What a film, from the young Elvis growing up with black neighbours and being exposed to Gospel music, his first record with Sun, and the effect he had on the young girls when he first started appearing on stage.  “Forbidden fruit”, Col Parker supposedly said, and he wanted his share of the phenomenon.

As I’m sure you can guess, I’m a real Elvis fan (Robin not so much) and can remember back in the 50s when he burst onto the scene.  My girlfriend had older brothers who purchased new records each week, so we listened to the songs too.  Once I heard “Love me Tender” I was smitten. I can certainly recommend this film for any other Elvis fans out there.

Packing Up

Gemma let her feelings known, Christmas is over and it’s time to pack it all away, she thinks.  Why else would she be taking a swipe at Santa and knock him over?  She does look a little guilty, doesn’t she?

Poor Santa

So the last day or two I’ve been packing the Christmas  things away, and putting the normal things back in place.  The brass needed a bit of attention, so I sat outside on the patio, rubber gloves on, cleaner and cloths to the ready, and started a little polishing.  These jugs usually reside on the windowsill in the dining room, and had been temporarily replaced with a trio of “golden” Christmas trees for the season. 

Bertie the crocodile is practically a family heirloom and used to reside in my parent’s home.  He got a bit of a clean and buff up too before being replaced in his usual position.  I believe that these crocodiles were made in the Railway Workshops in the Hutt Valley years ago, and just about every employee took one home.  Ill gotten gains, on reflection, but I'm rather fond on good old Bertie the nut cracker.

Cleaning the brass

I’ve had a bit of culture too, and went to the movies with a friend to see Blithe Spirit, by Noel Coward.  Previously, I had seen this on stage, so I was keen to see how it would be as a film.  Very enjoyable, with the fabulous Judi Dench, who accidentally calls up the spirit of her clients first wife.  Good fun, gorgeous fashions, and of course Noel Coward’s wonderful writing.

An afternoon at the movies

There has been time for a little stitching too, and I’ve been putting together the blocks for my RSC checkerboard project.  So I’m getting there slowly.

Assembling the checkerboard quilt

Our weather has ben nice, so we have been enjoying time outdoors when we can, and cooked a tasty roast chicken on the BBQ the other evening.  Our Weber cooks roast so well, and of course the smell is always mouth watering.  I cooked extra veggies inside.

Roast Chicken dinner

So that’s been my first week in the New Year, have you been busy too, or just relaxing  over the holiday season?