The church of San Carlo in Rome, one of Boromini’s designs
The circular spire on Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza in Rome
Today is Friday February 2nd, 2024. Kia ora!
There has been some drama here. I dropped my computer, just from the bed to the newly carpeted floor, but sadly the screen was “munted”. I was not totally at a loss, since I can get most things on my mobile phone, but it seemed a huge loss, nonetheless. We took it to a PBTech store to get fixed, but we were advised that it would take several weeks to fix; sadly we couldn’t buy the same model again. So we bought a new computer – my birthday present, ha ha, but it’s very different. I am gradually getting used to it. I eventually got gmail to work, and this morning I got Word to work again, thankfully. I like to write by blog in Word before copying it into WordPress.
It’s now Friday February 16.
I am getting used to the new computer, although I didn’t really want it to be my birthday present! For JD’s birthday we got a picture reframed with new glass – it was a historical print which had been given to us, but the glass had broken around Christmas Day, and the frame was broken. So it was good to get it repaired, and it now hangs downstairs again. The subject matter is unfortunate, showing as it does armed British troops marching down Hawkstone Street, and a handful of scared Māori cowering in the foreground. It’s not a picture that I would choose, but it was given to us.
On Saturday February 3 we had lunch at Sea Salt in Days Bay with two of our sons and one son’s family. We had a lovely lunch, and went to feed the ducks at Williams Park afterwards. Sadly, it was cold and windy. After that JD and I had coffee and cake at Smith the Grocer Café – yum (I had lemon and blueberry cake with cream). The next morning I went to church; we had appointments after that, and I was very tired afterwards. On Tuesday February 6 it was Waitangi Day. Although I would have liked to go out, we did not go anywhere.
Last Sunday I went to church, it being Transfiguration Sunday. The texts and the sermon reflected on Jesus’ Transfiguration with the passage in 2 Kings 2 where Elijah is taken up to heaven in a whirlwind. I have written about this separately.
During this time there has been work on our driveway – the lower part, and the barbecue area, and a new drain put in. This was delayed for months, so it was quite an event when it actually started; it was noisy and dramatic with the concrete being dug up, and the plumber laying a new drain. The nice tiles at the front door were removed. For a while, it stayed like this – although the ground was evened out, making it easier to walk on, JD had to park the car on the street.
Then things went quiet for a while, and we hoped it would not rain heavily as we waited again. I sensed it became rather musty again downstairs. Eventually JD got a text message saying the concreting would start on Wednesday at lunch time. Consequently there was some rearranging of existing commitments. On the Tuesday before, a friend came to visit, and on the Wednesday morning there was a Te Māori Reo class in Khandallah at 10:15 am. I had to rush away to catch my bus to Johnsonville, which was due to go through Khandallah at 11:15 am. I caught that, and then the shuttle bus home – for once, they coordinated! Thankfully I got home when I did, because the concreting was in force, and it wasn’t easy to get down the drive. I got in through the garage door. The concreting was amazing – it seemed to work really well; the next day, they returned to lay a kind of asphalt. It looks amazing. In the barbecue area, we could lay a cotton rug, if we wished. Now for some landscaping!
In the meantime, we can walk on the new concrete, but we can’t drive on it, or use the garage for a week. This is frustrating, although if we go somewhere in the car, it’s already on the road, so it makes the journey faster, perhaps.
Yesterday I had Thursday morning singing in Khandallah – the second session for the year. There was a great turnout, and thankfully my voice was better this week. The previous time my voice was very croaky, much of the time. After that we walked up the road to share a pizza for lunch at Simmer Café. We were quite daring and shared a chocolate éclair as well. There were no blueberry muffins left, so they must have had a busy morning, but the café was quite empty while we were there. The pizza tasted amazingly good.
This morning we went to see a movie at the Lighthouse Cinema in Wigan Street, called Boromini and Bernini. I have to confess I had not heard of Boromini. Thankfully we had a good run there, although there are road works in Taranaki St, and we could not turn right into Wigan Street. Still, John did a U-turn, and amazingly we were able to park outside the cinema. When we went to buy tickets, it was very slow, but we managed to take our seats before the movie started. It was a fairly full theatre, but given that there are very few viewings, that’s not surprising.
What a wonderful film! We both enjoyed it, despite finding two of the commentators really annoying. Thankfully they were balanced by other good commentators.
Afterwards, we rushed home, not having lunch in town, or viewing Helen Wilson’s art exhibition at the Southern Cross Hotel, or getting presents for our grandchildren for the party tomorrow. We got home, and had tomato and avocado on toast, and then I checked My Access site. O – surprise – the assistant is To Be Advised. It’s now after 1:30 pm, and the help was scheduled for 1:30 pm. I ring Access, and eventually the person on the other end of the phone figures out who I am – after spelling my first name and my surname for her. I should have been rung; they’re still looking for someone to replace my usual helper, who evidently can’t come. So I cancel the help – I don’t want to show another stranger where things are in this big house. So we need not have rushed home, at this rather busy time.
But the film was pretty good. One of its central themes was the competition between Boromini and Bernini, which depended to a great extent on who was pope. They were both involved in the design of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican in Rome. I mainly remember Bernini for the statue of St Teresa’s ecstasy, in the church of St Maria Victoria in Rome. In 2010 when we were last there, we had tried to see this wonderful carving several times, but the church was always locked. On our last day in Rome, the church was open, and a priest was saying Mass, in wonderful Italian, in that matter-of-fact way that is common in Europe – religious devotion is an everyday part of life, as it should be, in my view. A feature of the statue is an angel aiming an arrow at St Teresa’s crotch area, much in the way that Cupid fired arrows in many of the famous paintings of mythical scenes. St Teresa is having rather a good time. Anyway, this statue did not feature in the film.
What impressed me most, was Boromini’s depiction of the Holy Ghost (Spiritu Sanctu) as a dove in the middle of a triangle in the church of San Carlo – which I have not seen (yet). I was fascinated, again, by the rather wonderful red garb worn by the conclave of cardinals when electing a new pope, although I wasn’t impressed by the lottery wheel depicting the election – let’s pretend it’s a more honest, prayerful process. What’s the third thing that so impressed me? I know, a spiral on a spire on a church that Boromini designed for a university in Rome – that reminded me of Trajan’s column, with its circular carvings, although this was not mentioned. I’m sure it was an inspiration for Boromini’s very tall spire, however.
I am rather struggling to get through my library reserves. Oof course, they all come at once, and they’re all large tomes. There’s a very good book called Spies (I think I read a good review of it), Tom Holland’s Pax (he read the foreword aloud, which is amazing), and a book about crime in Berlin during World War II, which was named in a podcast. I just didn’t expect them all to come at once! I have to admit that I’m struggling a bit with Pax. The first chapter is about Nero, and it was really fascinating. The next chapter was about the year of the four emperors, and I have to admit it was heavy going. Now I’m reading about Vespasian and his son Titus, and I’ve just read about the sack of Jerusalem. But I shall persist, as I doubt if I’ll be able to renew these books.
I thought about making a list of some of the things we’ve lost. While I wouldn’t normally advise dwelling on the past, I retain some ability to be upset about things that I really liked that are no longer available:
Imperial Leather White Soap
Rush Monro’s Rum and Raisin ice cream
Black Doris plums
A nice salad with grated carrot and sultanas
A salad with chicken, grapes, celery, lettuce and dressing
Wishbone and some of its products
Barkers Green Tomato Relish
Several nice coffee bars that did not survive Covid 19
The old bus route, where the bus that goes along my street went all the way into town (and back, of course!) Now I have to catch two buses.
The creamy chicken pie I could buy at my local New World for a time
Café de Laos in Ahuriri, Napier
The Transmission Gully SH1 is wonderful, but it bypasses Otaki, and so I can no longer stop at the River Cottage Café for lunch! I used to rather like that; they had wonderful Danish pastries there. Now we usually stop in Shannon, or Woodville – not favourites of mine.
That’s it for now. The motley crew that are the Coalition Government in New Zealand continue to take steps that are shocking to me, but are to be expected. What will happen in terms of Te Tiriti issues? Reporting on that has gone very quiet after the hui at Turangawaewae in Ngaruawahia, the celebrations at Ratana, and the celebrations at Waitangi, which coincide with Waitangi Day on February 6.
Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.
Classic Barbarian 