Today is Friday March 15, 2024. Kia ora!

I just finished reading Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice on my kindle. I had read it as a teenager, of course, and his Buddenbrooks, but I reread it this afternoon in one sitting, I found it so gripping. Of course the theme of an older man “grooming” a very young, very beautiful youth would be quite distasteful today, but nothing intimate actually happens between them: the lad’s beauty is a feast for the eyes only, although there’s the occasional shared smile.  But the story is so beautifully written, even in translation, that I found it quite absorbing, and of course I recognized the classical references, both to Zeus and Ganymede, and others, and Socratic dialogues with Phaedrus, with which I’m also familiar.  The German protagonist is smitten by the beauty of the boy; in fact he’s so obsessed with it that he fails to leave Venice, even after the city is in the grip of a plague. I should have included a spoiler alert, but the story is probably quite well-known.  I have that familiar feeling of frustration when a story I’ve enjoyed comes to an end, even though I wanted to finish it!

I’m also reading my Spies book, which is also extremely interesting, and rather long. 

We had a busy day on Wednesday: we chose tiles for the front door step, although we can’t get anyone to lay them yet!  Choosing tiles was frustrating, and I wished that I’d photographed the previous front door step. It had a rather nice pattern of different sized tiles, which I totally took for granted back in the day. When our driveway was concreted, the tiles were smashed up. After going to a second store, we found some tiles that will do, with a very helpful assistant. These tiles are quite different, but I think they’ll be nice.  One has to be careful with outside tiles – most we looked at were for interior walls or floors, but weren’t strong enough for the outdoors. We were going to have lunch at the Cafe in Kaiwharawhara, but it was closed for training and staff sickness, so we had lunch at La Cloche instead.

On Monday I went into town, and got a new battery for my watch. It’s great to have it working again.  I also posted my daughter’s Easter eggs. I looked at the pottery at Vessel, and saw a beautiful Japanese teapot there. The price was beautifully high!

We have been watching Wings on youtube, a television series set during the First World War about the RFC (the Royal Flying Corps, later the RAF).  It’s old and rather grainy, of course, and the planes are terrifyingly flimsy, but it’s quite well written and well acted, with fascinating stories. The pilots flew with an observer, their mission being to observe what German troops are doing, although the odd German plane tries to shoot British planes down. Of course, they have engine trouble and various incidents themselves.  Most scenes I can watch with a degree of detachment, but one episode really got to me, with a young girl being a volunteer nurse in a local hospital (spoiler alert: one patient has terrible nightmares and is terribly wounded), and her love interest, son of a blacksmith but a very good pilot, being court-martialed. Yes, he was at risk of being shot for cowardice, for disobeying an order, and for cowardice. Never mind that it was a stupid order, and the pilot is considered to be the decision-maker, and keeping the plane was important: we saw the range of stupidity between senior officers who were stupid, and lesser ranked officers and pilots who were brave and who knew what they were doing.  There was an episode in the trenches, which offered a useful comparison between the pilots (who supposedly had it easy), and the men on the ground.

It’s now Saturday, March 23.

It’s been a busy few days.  On Wednesday morning I had hymn singing, and then went into the city. I wanted to get a copy of Whale Rider for my granddaughter; I assumed Unity Books would be able to order a copy if they didn’t have one. But it was really complicated! The beautiful copy from the UK was very expensive, and they couldn’t get it in time; the lady serving me was very helpful, though, and advised me to try the lovely children’s bookshop in Kilbirnie, or Marsden Books in Karori, or a Paper Plus store – I think the nearest one is in the North City Shopping Centre. I was limited for time, so I walked to the lovely gift shop in the Fine Arts Academy on Queen’s Wharf. I navigated the pedestrian crossings, but there’s quite a geyser (severe water leak) outside. I didn’t find anything suitable there, although I said I’d bring JD back with me. Then I walked to Whitcoulls in Lambton Quay, and bought a paper back copy of Whale Rider. I then caught a bus to Bordeaux Bakery in Thorndon Quay, where I was to meet my cousin for lunch. Last time we were there it was very busy; not so this time. 

Afterwards I crossed the road again – there was a crossing nearby outside , and a bus stop (but no seating).  There are #1 buses every 10 minutes, so I thought I’d be all right, but a #25 and then a #24 bus went by. Then came a #1JW bus, which went right past me!  I decided to walk to the next bus stop where there was a shelter, but when I got there, the stop was closed and there was a temporary bus stop 100 metres north!  I found the temporary stop, where there was no bus shelter, only shade from the sun and one could sit on a wall. After not too long a #1CP bus came, so I caught that to the Churton Park shopping centre, and walked home. I couldn’t ask JD to pick me up since I knew he had another meeting!  Anyway, I got home safely, although very tired.

The next day I had my Thursday morning singing at Khandallah, and on Friday a lady from Access was supposed to come. I changed the bed linen, and the towel, and then checked my schedule.  She wasn’t coming, so I cancelled, not wanting to have a stranger in the house.

It’s now Saturday and lots of things have happened, the main one being an announcement by Catherine, Princess of Wales, that she is having treatment for cancer. What a shock this is, and how incredibly unkind many people and even news anchors have been, What sad and shocking news.  I wish people had had the grace to leave her alone! 

In other major news, there’s been a terror attack at a Moscow concert hall, and (so far) 40 people were killed; over 120 were injured.  Isis have claimed responsibility for this incident. It’s been a while since the world had a terrorist incident of this nature.

In other news, Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin has announced that he will leave on 19 April!  He’s quite young and was considered a moderate republican. The Congress has just passed a funding bill, but they have an even slimmer majority now with the departure of this person in addition to George Santos and Kevin McCarthy.  Marjorie Taylor Greene is to file a motion for Mike Johnson to be removed as Speaker.

Oh, and Trump is desperate for money, so that he can lodge over $USD350m in order to lodge an appeal against the New York fraud case that found him guilty of overvaluing his assets.

This afternoon we went shopping – to New World in Thorndon.  Although we didn’t buy as much as usual, the total seemed to cost more than previously. Everything seems to cost around $10, although many items were on “special”.

It’s now Saturday March 30^th.

Last Sunday was Palm Sunday; I bought a big bunch of flowers from the dairy in Khandallah: they’re beautiful, but I had to get a very large vase to fit them!

On Monday morning I had morning tea at the café up the road with a dear friend whom I hadn’t seen for ages. I could have gone to Ray Good’s funeral in the Anglican church in Newlands, but I didn’t know Ray personally, although I knew of him, of course.

On Tuesday I went to Bible Study in Khandallah. We were reading Acts 10: 33-43 – a beautiful text that is related to Acts chapter 2, with Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit – to Jews who believed in Jesus, although they were not yet called Christians. But Acts 10 has a Roman centurion, asked by an angel to go and visit Peter, and God’s injunction to Peter that no animals were unclean, and that in fact Gentiles could be followers of Jesus too. After this wondrous event Peter preaches a wonderful sermon – perhaps the first sermon. The next chapter has Peter recounting this incident; the previous chapter has the conversion of Saul, becoming Paul, on the road to Damascus; he went from persecuting people who believed in Jesus to being an ardent one of them.

Afterwards I had coffee and a hot cross bun at a café nearby with a friend.

Wednesday was a busy day. I had hymn singing in the morning, and so got up early; after that we had a Te Reo Māori lesson, followed by lunch at the Khandallah Town Hall: delicious soup and rolls, followed by coffee and Easter eggs.  I was enjoying this when I got a text from my cleaning lady, asking if she could come to my house early. My appointment with Access had been changed from Friday (which would be Good Friday) back to Wednesday.  I left to catch a bus back to Johnsonville (it went all around Broadmeadows), which then turned into the #19 shuttle. Thankfully I got home before the lady from Access arrived. JD had had to go out, so I couldn’t ask him to pick me up.

On Thursday morning I had more singing in Khandallah, and then the Maundy Thursday service at 7 pm. A friend offered me a lift home, and I even managed to go to the supermarket there are buy JD a bottle of wine,

On Friday morning I was to join in a Walk of the Cross from Johnsonville Uniting Church via the Catholic Church, to St John’s Anglican Church in Johnsonville. I was to take part in the second to last reading, at the Police Station, and I had to keep track of my co-readers. As we went on, more people joined the procession, till there were perhaps 80-100 people!  I had not joined this walk before, so I didn’t know what to expect. Thankfully it was a beautiful fine day with little wind.  It had been cold, wet and windy the night before, but the weather in Good Friday was very good. At St John’s we had more hot cross buns and tea or coffee.

The rest of Friday seemed very quiet after all the activity. In Wellington the New World supermarkets are closed on both Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Meanwhile, other things have been happening. There has been a mass terror event at a concert in Moscow, where 137 people were killed. Isis J has claimed responsibility, and although US intelligence knew in advance and warned Russia, Putin is still trying to blame Ukraine, saying they were involved in some way. Meanwhile, four suspects have been arrested and jailed, and have appeared in court, obviously having been tortured. No human rights, there, then.

In the US, in Baltimore an important bridge has come down after being rammed by a cargo ship; only six people are thought to have drowned. What a relief it is to have Pete Buttigieg as Transport Secretary and Joe Biden as US President, then.

During Holy Week Trump has been touting a Bible – the King James version, the God Bless America Bible for $59.99 (remember that’s American dollars).  Well, I’ve never paid for a bible, although I have several at home. He also wished Americans “Happy Holy Week”. That is just so uncomfortable. We say, Happy Easter, on Easter Sunday, but Holy Week is the most solemn time of the year for Christians.  And, why does God just love Americans?  The rest of us are out there, too, and some of us are even women and girls. Wait, I believe a young teenage woman gave birth to Jesus in his physical form. Also, although I love the King James translation, many churches use a different, more up to date translation, which has eliminated the “thees” and the “thous”.

It’s strange that in the US most programmes and podcasts continue as usual on Good Friday, although many Americans are Christians and earnestly follow some Christian religion. None the less, they continue work as usual. I remember when we were in Boston once for Easter, and it was not a long weekend as we are used to here. We did go to church there on Easter Sunday; it was rather strange, and very cold outside, although sunny.

Earlier in the week JD and I watched the three episodes of Escaping Utopia, on TVNZ On Demand.  I found it very upsetting, especially the woman in India who was pregnant (again), but seemed to have died inside.  How would she ever get away? Or get a current passport?  I found it really creepy, not just Hopeful Christian, or whatever his name is, but the groom who kept his arms tightly folded despite sitting beside his new bride in her pink dress. There seemed to be no bibles, although some women quoted scripture; I saw no evidence of services, or even of prayer.  People who had left seemed strangely normal! I thought of the people I go to church with, or the people at Hohepa: for the most part, they’re wonderful, good, kind people. I can’t imagine them being threatening or unkind.

It’s now Sunday March 31, Easter Day.

This morning I rang our daughter in Hawkes Bay. Then I went to church, where I was privileged to read the gospel text: Mark’s gospel, 16:1-8.  They had had an early service at 7 am, where more than usual attended: about 20 people. 

This afternoon I’m watching a Easter Vigil Mass at St Peter’s in the Vatican, in Rome. There is some beautiful singing, and reading of scriptures, in French, Spanish and Portuguese. The gospel text is the same as the one I read this morning! Pope Francis is evidently very frail: he is wheeled in in a wheel chair, but he actually finds the strength to preach, and what a beautiful homily it is too. I am very moved by the whole thing. He speaks, amongst other things, of the great stone being rolled away from Jesus’ tomb, and of his not being there – because he had risen. All objections, all difficulties have been removed that would separate us from God.

This Easter I have been reminded of the Easter four years ago, in 2020, when Covid 19 was ravaging the world, and we couldn’t meet safely. At that stage we did not have Covid vaccines, or anti-viral medications like Paxlovid. I remember St Pater’s Square being empty, and some very moving Easter services being celebrated with minimal religious, and a beautiful singer in New York singing “Christ the Lord is Ris’n Today”, alone. It was all incredibly moving. Zoom had a good workout, as we in Aotearoa could dip into services around the world (since we had nothing else to do!)

That’s it for now. Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.

An image of Hadrian’s Wall, a symbol of the “Pax Romana”

Today is Thursday March 7, 2024. Kia ora!

It’s a while since I blogged.  After we came home from Hawkes Bay, it was good to be able to use our driveway, and our garage again.

I was very tired after our return. We went shopping in Thorndon; I went to church, and then a friend came to visit. Then I went to hymn singing on Wednesday morning and to my Thursday singing. There was a Te Reo Māori class;  and I got my hair cut and coloured on Friday 1 March, having moved the appointment from the previous Friday, since we stayed an extra day in Hawkes Bay.  On Saturday night we looked after two of our grandchildren – there was no fighting!  They’re quite big now (Intermediate and primary school age), and we didn’t have to bathe them, or care for them as we did when they were smaller.

The next morning I went to church, and there was a congregational meeting afterwards to consider a decision before the local church.  This was most interesting:  there were some very strong views on both sides; but it took quite a while, of course.

That afternoon there were two appointments in Tawa. Afterwards we bought some savouries from Nada Bakery in Tawa just before they closed, but it wasn’t a great idea: there was little food left, and the hot goods have been kept warm for hours, by this time. I was very hungry, since I hadn’t had lunch because of the length of the congregational meeting.

On Monday I took things very quietly; it rained off and on, but between showers we managed to walk up to the local café for lunch.

On Tuesday morning I went to Bible Study. I had thought it was to be on Numbers 21:4-9, and so I had studied those verses and printed maps about the Israelites’ forty year journey in the wilderness. In the event, we studied John chapter 3, which is a wonderful text, of course. I had decided that even if the reading were changed (as sometimes happens!), it didn’t really matter, since there was always something to learn.  Actually the texts are linked. In Numbers 21 verse 8 Moses is told to make a serpent and put it on a pole, and lift it up: whoever looked on the serpent would live.  In John 3, verse 14 Jesus says: “ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, thus must the Son of man be lifted up”, then in verse 15 it says: “that everyone who believes on him may not perish, but have eternal life”.  So that was really interesting. I really must learn more about the Israelites’ wandering in the wilderness after Moses led them out of Egypt. Spoiler alert: there was lots of grizzling, some idolatry (the golden calf), and lots of wars; and the Ten Commandments, of course.

In US politics, things have been happening:  the US Supreme Court has decided to hear Trump’s claim of immunity as president: they will start hearing oral arguments on 24 April!  That’s ages away! They’ve also ruled that no state can eliminate Trump from the ballot. They’re saying it’s Congress’s job to determine if Trump caused an insurrection as per the 14^th Amendment to the US Constitution; but hey, even if Congress were to pass such a law, would Trump, as president, ever sign it into law? Will he ever be tried?  He’s almost certainly the republican candidate for president, having won Republican primaries in every state except Washington and Vermont, which were won by Nikki Haley. However Haley is pulling out of competing for the presidency; whether she’ll endorse Trump remains unclear. I must say I still find her really annoying, although her getting under Trump’s skin was amusing. Mitch McConnell will stand down as shadow leader of the US Senate from the end of the year; meanwhile he’s endorsed Trump (although Trump insulted his wife, even though she was a member of his cabinet).  Americans are now realizing that the courts will not save them from Trump becoming president; meanwhile, he’s doing as well as or better than Biden in the preferred president polls. I wish they’d realize, and acknowledge, that whoever is US president has a huge effect on the rest of the world, as former Prime Minister of Australia  Malcolm Turnbull made clear to Nicole Wallace on her Deadline White House program on MSNBC. Meanwhile, a few voices are saying that Biden has been the best president in their lifetime. Here’s a link to one such voice: here’s a link. JD found this, I had not heard of this guy.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-supreme-court-versus-america-news-march-5-2024-1526/id321997239?i=1000648058399

I always listen to The Rest is History podcast, which comes out here on Monday and Thursday afternoons. I usually find it really interesting, especially the episodes on Carthage. Carthage! This featured hugely in Roman history and literature, featuring Queen Dido of Carthage as waylaying the hero Aeneas who fled burning Troy to found Rome (see Vergil’s great epic poem the Aeneid), and the three Punic Wars where Rome fought against Carthage, before it’s final destruction. 

Imagine my disappointment this week then when Monday’s episode was The History of Chocolate (sponsored by Cadburys), and this afternoon’s episode, not released yet, is History’s Greatest Monkeys!  Really and truly, what a come down.  I must say, too, that like Dominic, I find it frustrating when Tom Holland questions an “accepted” version of events, saying it might not be true.  While this may be interesting it’s potentially confusing!

I’ve just finished reading Tom Holland’s Pax, about the Pax Romana throughout the Roman Empire. The Preface talks about Hadrian’s Wall, between Scotland and England, and finishes with the wonderful Pantheon, finished in Hadrian’s time as Emperor. This book covers Nero as Emperor through to the death of Hadrian. Of course, it wasn’t always peaceful everywhere, and pax romana was achieved by a great deal of violence, but they left some amazing buildings and aqueducts as well I remember the first time we were in Rome, in January 1974, and seeing the Pantheon –  isn’t that a famous building? There was a policeman standing outside it carrying a machine gun. He looked about 15! What a joy it was then, in that dangerous time, to come across almost deserted monuments and explore them, without the crowds. I remember most the wonderful doors, which still move easily.

It’s now Friday March 8.

So it is, rather than seems, that the US Presidential contest will be between President Biden and former president Donal Trump. That means that Trump will be entitled to intelligence briefings (as I noted earlier), although he’s under indictment for holding on to classified documents.  There is great concern about this in the US, as might be expected; it’s extremely concerning for all of us, too.

On Tuesday evening I went to one of three Lenten studies organized by the minister. This was at the church, starting at 6:30 pm, abd we were invited to bring a snack. I brought crackers and Hohepa cheese and quince paste, a current favourite. It was a pleasant session, about prayer, but did not finish until almost 8:30 pm! We had not had dinner, and I had an early start the next morning for hymn singing.  I learnt several things there, including the TSP acronym, which I rather like: Thanks, Sorry, Please!

This afternoon I finished reading Jan Morris’s Venice on my kindle. While I prefer to read a book on paper, and flip back and forth through it, I have enjoyed the simplicity of the kindle. It’s great for travelling, too. But what a wonderful book!  Ruskin said that the Doges’ Palace was at the centre of the world, and I’m rather inclined to agree with him, having seen it myself in February 2010 and been very impressed, by the maps, the artwork, the chastity belt (once seen, you can’t un-see it), and the dreadful prison underneath, where “Noli me tangere” was carved on a wall.  Don’t touch me!

It’s now Saturday March 9.

Today it’s fine, and much warmer than it’s been the last few days. So it’s time for chinos and sandals again. We went shopping in Thorndon, where it was very busy.  Many of the things I wanted to buy were “On Special”, so the bill was surprisingly large; “special” just means one is saving perhaps 50 cents, but of course I get drawn in (JD too). He bought another Sensodyne toothpaste, despite already having two tubes on the go.  We bought raspberries and more lovely summer fruit; salad, bread, Havarti cheese slices, fresh beans and lettuce, among other things.

Last night we watched President Biden’s SOTU (State of the Union) address to Congress. I did not watch it live, fearing I would be embarrassed, but I watched it afterwards – more than once. What a marvellous speech!  Biden did wonderfully. He seemed to have plenty of energy.  The repeated applause is really annoying, although interesting too, in a way. It was absolutely fascinating to watch Mike Johnson, current leader of the Congress, who was sitting right behind the President. His face was a study in discomfort and frustration: he seldom clapped, and shook his head at times, but at least he was polite. One imagined he was getting a text alert from his son for watching porn, and wondering which would be more sinful:  watching porn, or watching a democratic president’s address.  His discomfort was stunning to watch, especially as Biden challenged Republicans to acknowledge the truth about the 1920 Presidential election, and the January 6 insurrection. He looked as though he was telling himself not to clap, despite being naturally inclined to. So that was fun to watch. Biden is so good at managing the crowd (including Marjorie Taylor Greene), and at speaking in this way. The Supreme Court members were there too, except for Clarence Thomas; he challenged them, too, at times. Biden is being compared to Reagan, and while I’m not a Regan admirer, I can see why this comparison is being made.

There are some local frustrations. News-producing organisations are in trouble: Newshub is to close, and TVNZ is to lose some staff and some programs. The daily newspaper gets thinner and thinner. But the puzzles are still good. I’m not really bothered about TVNZ’s woes, as I seldom watch their so-called news programs, finding them really annoying.  In this morning’s paper, there’s a long article about the development of areas of Churton Park and Glenside. There are maps, too, but the print is so tiny that I can’t read it!  As one of my sons and I live in the area, I’m really interested. It was recently reported that plans for a link road between Grenada (Village?) and Petone (Horokiwi?) are being dusted off and it’s being seriously considered by the Coalition government, but there was nothing to say or show where the road would start from or end up. So that too is really frustrating.  My third example is the local rag, the Independent Herald, which has a story about the Repair Café at the Ngaio Union Church, which is starting up again. Well, full credit, and I would like to use them again, but there was no information about when they would re-start, and for what hours. I guess this information is on Facebook, sorry, META.

Today JD and I went to see “The Great Escaper” at the Lighthouse Cinema at Pauatahanui. It’s a lovely theatre, and we were even warned that the seats had been cleaned and might still be a little wet? Other cinemas, please take note! The film was interesting: I don’t admire Michael Caine, remembering his performance in “Alfie”, but he did a good job here, as did his on-screen wife, played by Glenda Jackson. She’s not particularly good looking, but what an amazing actress she is!  The recreation of the Normandy landings made us both cry, although JD claimed that the historical details were incorrect. JD’s Dad was at the D-Day landings. I must say why did the retirement home not have a lift?  And if the Bernie character was taking his wife Rene for a walk in her wheel chair, how on earth did they get it up the stairs? At the entrance to the home, or within it?  The “apartment” they lived in wasn’t great, either, although the staff were kind.  Still, I’m glad I saw the film, walkers, canes, wheelchairs and all. 

Afterwards, we came home and JD hung two paintings that he’d been given by our daughter for his recent birthday.

That’s it for now. Slava Ukraini!  Ngā mihi nui.

Affogato, my favourite dessert at present

It’s now Sunday February 18, 2024. Kia ora!

Yesterday was momentous – a whole lot of interesting things happened, and there were interesting events on Friday too, which I did not write about.

On Friday Fani Wills, District Attorney of Fulton County, testified in a fiery manner with regard to her alleged (by a Trump supporter) conflict of interest with a male prosecutor with whom she had an intimate relationship. While this does not look good, the consensus it that there wasn’t a conflict of interest.  Many people are hanging on DA Willis’s RICO case as being one of the most straightforward and interesting indictments of Trump and some of his associates, some of whom have already pled guilty. And when exactly does an intimate relationship begin? At the first date? Before that? When the couple first have sex? When they decide to live together? It’s complicated, and the two people involved may well have different ideas about just when the relationship began.

In the case of Republicans in the US Congress wishing to impeach President Biden over shady dealings with his surviving son, Hunter, an FBI whistleblower has been arrested and accused of lying.

Overnight, that would be Friday/Saturday, there were by-elections in two English electorates, which were supposedly “safe” Tory seats, but they were won by Labour. The Rest is Politics did an emergency podcast about this result, but I have not had time to listen to it yet.

Locally questions are being asked as to whether Nicola Willis can fund the tax cuts she promised.

On Saturday I woke up to the news that Alexei Navalny was dead at 47 years of age. This is regarded as suspicious – there’s been no reasonable explanation for it yet. There’s been an outpouring of grief around the world, and many, including Biden, are blaming Putin directly. Ater all, Navalny was poisoned, presumably by Putin, and yet he chose to return to Russa, where he was being held in a maximum security prison in the Arctic circle.

The next big thing was that the judge in Trump’s fraud trial in New York released his ruling, that Trump is fined over $350m and not allowed to do business in New York for three years. His two adult sons are also fined. They’re not best pleased, of course: will Trump appeal?  IF so, he’ll have to stump up much of the money.  And looking at sources of funds, Ronna (Romney) McDaniel has resigned as chair of the RNC, at Trump’s direction, and his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, is looking to be appointed to a senior position. Every dollar raised will go to Donald Trump’s re-election, she promises. I wish she wouldn’t sing!  Has no one told her she’s out of tune, and sounds awful?

We also learnt that Trump’s hush money case to go ahead on March 25.  This would be Alvin Bragg’s case where Trump has been indicted for paying off Stormy Daniels, in a complicated way using Michael Cohen for his just before the 2016 presidential election. By the way, Michael Cohen has spent two years’ time in jail for his part in this scandal. It’s useful to be reminded of the sordid details of this case, which has been minimized by many as being not such a strong case as the other indictments.

Meanwhile, there’s been a huge fuss about Biden’s age and his supposedly failing memory, as reported by the Hur reports.  It says there are no grounds for prosecuting Joe Biden, but manages to imply that he’s a well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.  This five hour interview took place immediately after the crisis in Israel, so undoubtedly Biden had his mind on other things. Nevertheless, this report has done enormous damage.  Never mind Trump’s obvious cognitive difficulties, the spotlight is again on Joe Biden. Yes, he’s old, but to many he’s the best American president in their lifetime.  The podcasts I listen to have been focused on this – frustratingly, since they were already just a tad obsessed with the issue.

In Israel, the IDF is now attacking Rafah, the city to the south of the Gaza strip, near the border with Egypt, despite ongoing calls for a ceasefire. Biden has even expressed publicly his frustration with Netanyahu.

It’s now Friday February 23.

We just got back from Hawkes Bay. We headed north on Monday, to spend JD’s birthday in Hawkes Bay (after the Art Deco festival), see our daughter, and I had a few other things on my list.  It was very windy in Wellington, but we ghad a good trip north with little traffic and few road works.

On the way, there were phone calls to say that she wasn’t well, with cold and flu symptoms, and had been on contact with someone who subsequently tested positive for Covid 19; we also had a call from the lawyer handling my guardianship application. He’s proposing to make it for five years, not three, which would be appreciated! We agreed we’d see how our daughter is on the Tuesday.

Well, she continued to test negative for Covid 19, so we had morning tea with her (and picked up some delicious organic plum jam); as she didn’t seem too bad we took her to lunch at the lovely Birdwood’s Café.  It was quite windy, so we were very happy to be seated inside.

They were very busy there, but we had a delicious lunch: JD had avocado with lavosh crackers, our daughter had a hamburger, and I had a smoked salmon flan with salad.  I had an iced tea to drink, which thankfully wasn’t too sweet.

Afterwards I had the caramel rhubarb layer cake, she had chocolate brownie, and JD had the special cake (with plum and mascarpone), and affogato.

The next day we had various meetings, and went to the lovely shop at Hohepa Clive, where I bought more Danbo cheese, a jar of relish for a friend, and another Weleda deodorant. That evening we took our daughter out to dinner, but she really wasn’t very well. She coughed a lot on the way there, and just didn’t seem well, although her appetite was unaffected! For dessert she had a churro sundae. She let me eat one of her churros, and it was much larger than I expected!  There were three more, so she didn’t go without.

JD’s brother was coming to Napier with some of his family members, so we decided to stay an extra night. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay at our lovely Havelock North motel, but had to move into Napier itself, to the Edgewater Motel.  There was plenty of room here (an extra bedroom, but no spa bath), but it was very dated and none too clean. Still we were only there for one night.

On Thursday evening we had dinner at the Thirsty Whale pub, where the food was very good (and plentiful).  Everywhere was really busy!  Wisely, I had an entrée, whitebait fritters with salad, instead of a main course. We had ordered cheesy garlic bread and toasted ciabatta  bread with dips to start with, and I quickly found myself quite full. But I still had room for dessert: affogato (a small espresso coffee, vanilla ice cream served in a tall crystal stemmed glass, and a glass of Kahlua. It was so good – we all had affogato, although with different liqueurs. The Thirsty Whale does the best affogato that I’ve encountered so far.

Today we drove home, getting away from the Edgewater Motel at 10 am. I decided not to go shopping at Farmers in Napier,  much as I had wanted to, I just wanted to get home.  But sadly there were lots of road works, and lots of hold ups. Everywhere was really busy! We decided to stop for lunch in Woodville; otherwise it was a case of going on to Shannon. But we couldn’t find a carpark!  JD turned around, twice, and eventually we found one. We went to Café 88, where we’ve been before, and joined the queue! They were really busy here, too!  I had scrambled eggs, which wasn’t actually on the menu, but previously they’ve made them for me.  And they did today, too, and they were very good.

The Saddle Road was closed (still), so we had to drive over the Pahiatua Track road, as did much other traffic. Still, we got back to Wellington in good time, where it’s actually finer and warmer!

Well, I did not get to go to Farmers in Napier, but I did get the things I wanted from the Life Pharmacy there, and I did get a beautiful dress from the Annah Stretton shop in Havelock North.  I also discovered the Paper Plus Select store, and the Wardini Bookstore nearby – both great for a browse!

That’s if for now.  Slava Ukraini!  Ngā mihi nui.

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 2^nd, 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.

Kiingitanga Hui

Today is Tuesday December 26, 2023. It’s Boxing Day. Kia ora!

We had a lovely Christmas Day. I got up early to ring my daughter in Napier, and then I went to church. I was to read the gospel test, from John’s Gospel chapter 1 verses 1-14. “In the beginning was the word…” What a wonderful text: forget about Mary and Joseph, the baby Jesus, angels, the Magi, the shepherds, King Herod, Emperor Augustus etc. They are mostly wonderful, of course, but in verse 14 it says: “And the Word (ὁ λόγος) became flesh, and lived among us”.  This is quite philosophical, and places Jesus Christ as part of God from the very beginning, and his babyhood, childhood and manhood was a mere interlude: wonderful for us, of course, since we celebrate his birth at Christmas time and then his death, in the prime of his manhood, at Easter – for our redemption, and our salvation.

After this JD picked me up, and we continued to prepare for family members in Wellington to come later that afternoon. So it was all quite relaxed, really.  I prepared vegetables, and made cheese sauce, which kept warm in the food warmer, as did plates and vegetables as they were cooked. Our son from the UK had marinated chickens in a mixture of red wine, mustard, peppercorns, bay leaves, and lots of garlic. He took charge of cooking them, too!  Our son who lives locally brought a grazing platter, which we enjoyed with non-alcoholic bubbly wine while the chickens cooked.

So we had chicken, new potatoes, salad, and vegetables with cranberry sauce for the main course. For pudding we had steamed pudding (Christmas Mince) and Ginger with butterscotch sauce. We also had custard, pouring cream, and three kinds of ice cream We also had raspberries (which were in perfect condition, although I’d bought them on Friday), strawberries with optional Amaretto, and JD made a fruit salad with other beautiful summer fruit. The only snag was that I’d bought a lemon to add to the syrup for the fruit salad, but when I cut the one I’d bought in half, it was rotten inside. Everything else worked pretty well, although my new potatoes weren’t how I’d wanted them to be. I should have roasted them instead of boiling them with mint. The peas cooked briefly with mint did work well. So we all ate far too much, and it was very enjoyable.

The next day (Boxing Day) was very quiet.  We ate left over food, the dishwasher washed glasses, and things got put away.  The next day, Wednesday, we watered my son’s plants, and went for a walk beside Oriental Bay.

On Wednesday it rained, and I was determined to get out of the house. JD dropped me off at the Penthouse Cinema to see the 1:15 pm session of the movie One Life. Many others evidently had the same idea: I couldn’t get into the cinema, the queue was all the way back to the front door. I had a few minutes to spare, so I waited my turn. But when I got to be served, the movie was sold out! So I had a cheese roll and a latté and wondered what to do next. I caught a bus into the city, and went to Unity Books, and the supermarket in Willis St. The bookshop was very busy, and I didn’t see anything specific to fascinate me, so I caught a bus home. I did manage to see the film a few days later, and it was very good indeed.

On Thursday afternoon my youngest son and his wife were to start their flight back to the UK, going via Auckland and Houston to London’s Heathrow. They got back all right, but sadly their baggage did not. (It did turn up after a few days, though).

The next day was fine again. I cancelled the home help from Access, and we did – what, exactly? I can’t remember.

On Sunday morning I went to church in Ngaio. We had lunch at The Peppermill Café in Porirua. It was wild weather in the morning, but fine in the afternoon.

On Monday January 1 I went to a friend’s house for lunch, and had a lovely time. I took her some cheese from Hōhepa.

Wednesday January 3^rd.

Several things have happened: a large Earthquake in Japan, and a plane collision; Claudine Gay resigns as Chairman of Harvard. And the head of Hamas has supposedly been killed.

Thankfully, Apple podcasts seems to be working again. That’s a big relief, since when you’re on Apple podcast reader, it tends to keep on going; otherwise I wake up when a podcast stops.

It’s now Sunday again, January 7^th, Epiphany Sunday.

This morning I went to church in Johnsonville.  There were lots of us there, and it turned out there were many there whom I knew.

The minster spoke about the 12 days of Christmas, and what they represent:

1. Baby
2. Old Testament and New Testament
3. The Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit
4. The four gospels
5. The Pentateuch: first 5 books of the Bible
6. God created the world in 6 days
7. On the seventh day (the Sabbath) God rested
8. Xx (I can’t remember!)
9. Fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).
10. Commandments
11. Faithful disciples
12. Disciples in all; 12 tribes of Israel

The minister also spoke about the magi giving precious gifts to the infant Jesus: golf, frankincense, and myrrh: gold being the most precious metal, frankincense used as a fine fragrance during offerings, or prayers; and myrrh being used for embalming. The minister made the point of myrrh being an expensive gift, showing in what honour the new born King of the Jews was held; he did not make the connection with Jesus’ embalming after death, although he spoke about women at the tomb of Jesus who had gone to embalm him (Luke 24). But he had risen! Death could not hold him. The minister did not make the connection of Jesus’ death being foreseen in the bringing of myrrh by the magi. 

Yesterday I walked to the local shops, and bought more psyllium, raspberries, and vanilla ice cream. It’s really hard to get this rather nice ice cream!  It was a beautiful sunny day. In the afternoon I visited a dear friend.

In the UK, there are major floods. Fortunately our son and his wife are not majorly affected. The Post Office scandal is also causing much discussion, since the screening of the TV dramatization Mr Bates vs the Post Office. I have listened to two podcast episodes that have been republished, going over this. I did know what it was about. UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, seems to be tone deaf about both crises.  He certainly does not show empathy.

In the US, things grind on as Trump looks more and more likely to be the republican presidential candidate. The Iowa and New Hampshire caucuses are about to be held. Trump continues to say terrible things. Many so-called “normies” are realty concerned about this, as is the rest of the world.  Will he ever be held to account?  Once he becomes Republican candidate for the presidency, I doubt whether any court cases will go ahead. Meanwhile there’s ongoing confusion as some states rule that he’s not eligible to be a candidate for president. I would think this is crystal clear, but of course Americans will not take this off-ramp. Trump has referred this to the Supreme Court, who will address this issue quickly, but not his presidential immunity from being tried. Really and truly, this is just so frustrating.

Meanwhile, locally, water leaks continue to appear, although many have been fixed; it’s claimed that fixing spot leaks prevents major pipes from being replaced. Water meters are being considered; we’ve been warned about water shortages but it has actually been raining many nights, so perhaps there isn’t such a shortage after all.

It’s now Saturday January 20^th.

I haven’t written for a few days; it’s been a rather frustrating time, with not really enough to do, and no movies on that I really want to see. I have felt a cold coming on, some days: it hasn’t really amounted to much though. 

The main things that happened are that the concreting contractor has finally turned up, to put in a new drain, and resurface part of the driveway. So it’s fantastic that he has come at last; of course, the job is bigger than originally quoted for. The other thing that’s happened is that my guardianship (welfare and property) has expired. The mail deliveries have been haphazard; I juts got a letter advising me of this well after it had lapsed, and after the letter had been written. This gets renewed every three years; I wish I had kept note of this – there was no warning given! 

Consequently it’s been a big job to renew it. There were multiple forms to be downloaded, and my signature witnessed by a JP (try finding a JP in the middle of January!), and I had to get my sons’ approval, including the two overseas.  I had great trouble finding their changed addresses!  Anyway, it took hours to fill out the forms, and then I affirmed the two affidavits and got them witnessed.

On Friday I cancelled my home help and went into the CBD to courier the signed papers to Napier. Thankfully, this was easy: I bought a courier pack, addressed it, after waiting for a writing booth, and lending someone my pen (they don’t have pens any more!), and then I handed it over to be sent. Hopefully that is all I have to do:  a medical certificate is still required, and then I await confirmation of my guardianship.

It has been very hot and quite muggy here in Wellington. We’re not used to this!  Nightwear needs to be changed often; the wonderful heat pump works well on its air-conditioner setting, but the cold air, unlike the warm air, doesn’t rise. So it’s cooler downstairs, but pretty hot upstairs, It’s very hot in the kitchen – so not much cooking takes place.

So what’s been happening?  In the Middle East, the IDF is still killing people in Gaza; Houthis have been attacking ships in the Red Sea, and a coalition of the US and the UK have been trying, rather ineffectively, to stop the Houthis.  It’s rather complicated because the US has backed its ally, Saudi Arabia, in its war in Yemen. Of course, different strains of Islam are involved; it’s a complicated situation that I don’t really wish to understand. The shady involvement of Iran is there too, and Iran has been attacking a terrorist group (which I’ve never heard of) in Pakistan. The two countries share a border, apparently. Israel under Prime Minister Netanyahu shows no sign of stopping its attacks on Gaza; there are still big protests in many countries calling for a ceasefire.

In Ukraine, the war continues, although the Ukrainian forces had caused expensive damage in Russia.

Everywhere there is a right-wing government, it denies the ever-present reality of climate change.  Here in Aotearoa, Māori are having a hui, in response to the coalition government’s express wishes to wind back its Te Tiriti responsibilities, and yet Prime Minister Luxon won’t go to the hui – it’s not a political event, he says.

We’re thankful here that things aren’t too bad, really.  It’s hot – which is unusual! And drizzling today, not raining. We’re blessed, really.  Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.

Carols by candle light

It’s now Thursday December 21, 2023. Kia ora!

Last Sunday morning I went to church. We were due to drive to Hawkes Bay later that day; JD drove me there and picked me up afterwards. I had already packed, of course, and worked out what clothes to take; our son from the UK and his wife were going to drive there separately.  I worried about holding JD up, but of course he hadn’t had a shower, or packed, and was working on writing a paper that had to be done that morning. I got a message from my son to say they were having lunch in Shannon, and we had not even left Wellington.

Eventually we got away a few minutes before 2 pm, which leaves the awkward question of where to stop for lunch, i.e. what will still be open. The expressway goes past Otaki now, so we can’t stop at the lovely café there for something to eat; the cafés in Woodville were likely to close before we got there. So we stopped at Shannon, and shared salad sandwiches and had rather strange oat milk lattés. Sometimes it’s better to have a “long black”.

We made good progress – there was little traffic on the road, no big trucks, and it’s being Sunday, very few roadworks.  We were happy to turn off to Havelock North and not go through Hastings or Napier. It’s a different climate up there!  When we got there, I changed and we walked to a nearby bistro to have dinner – a smoked salmon salad, and affogato.

The next morning we picked up my daughter from her workshop (Rongo) at Hōhepa’s Clive site. It was pretty hot, so we were glad of the breeze. Then we went to lunch at Birdwood’s Café just out of Havelock North. What a lovely place it is!  Service was efficient, and the food was delicious, with special mention for the smoked salmon quiche, and the rhubarb caramel layer cake.  It’s nice to walk around and admire the ducks, too.

We gave our daughter her birthday presents, which I think went down all right: a beautiful embroidered jacket, an apron, and a lovely book with short stories and nice pictures. I would have given her a spa bath, but the spa was not working at our otherwise lovely motel, alas, and I had no bath salts.  That evening we had dinner at the Thirsty Whale in Ahuriri, where the affogato is truly amazing: ice cream in a tall crystal glass, with a small espresso coffee and a glass of Kahlua on the side.

The next day, our son and his wife drove back to Wellington, but JD and I had an extra day, with two meetings, and a visit to the shop at Hōhepa Clive, where amongst other things I bought another Weleda deodorant and some Danbo cheese.  Each morning in Havelock North I was able to buy a copy of The Post at Paper Plus, a very nice store a few minutes’ walk away from our motel. What a lovely place Havelock North is!  It can be really hard to get the Post; and in Havelock North, whenever you approach crossing a road, cars stop for you. Mind you, the roading is complicated, with an island in the middle, and paved areas around it, which are not specifically for pedestrians.  There are lots of beautiful clothes shops too.

On Tuesday morning we had coffee with the new House Manager for the house where our daughter lives, and the cluster manager. This was in a relatively new café (St Martha) in a more industrialised area where I had not been before.  They didn’t have cheese scones, which was probably fortunate!  Then we drove to Poraiti to have a meeting with the Hōhepa Hawkes Bay manager at Hōhepa School.

After that, we had lunch at Adoro Café where I had a mini-doughnut.  That evening we took our daughter to the Lone Star restaurant in Napier (she calls it “The Star”). It’s not one of my favourites, but it has plenty of room, a unisex disability bathroom, and drawing things. The servings are huge, but JD and I lucked into sharing a main course (which was delicious, and fortunately we wanted the same thing), and a dessert.

On Wednesday morning we drove back to Wellington. It was hot in Hawkes Bay, and quite humid, although it rained on Monday evening!  The weather seemed to alternate between being fine and sunny and overcast (but still hot). We decided we will come back to Hawkes Bay in February.

JD had decided we were in a rush; accordingly, he thought we could eat at MacDonalds’ in Dannevirke, but we were there by 10:20 am and it was much too early for lunch. Accordingly we had lunch (again) at – you’ve guessed it, Shannon.

Back in Wellington, our son was minding his nephew, but he hadn’t had lunch, so we walked up the road to Simmer Café.  It’s amazing what you find you can do for your family!

While it’s quite nice to be back, it’s a lot cooler, and for some reason I didn’t sleep well last night. I slept remarkably well on our last night in Havelock North.

It’s now Saturday December 23^rd.

Christmas Day is not until Monday. That feels really strange, somehow.  I am confused about what day it is! Yesterday a cleaning lady came from Access; we also had two grandchildren here for a time. Then in the afternoon, after they’d all gone, we went shopping – to New World, in Thorndon, of course!  It wasn’t crazy busy. I think I got almost everything on my list.

Last Christmas Day we had a lovely picnic. However the weather looks very dicey this year, with an overcast sky and showers likely, so we will have the family that are in Wellington here – eight, in all.  Our sons are bringing things, so I really don’t have to do much except set the table (and decorate it), peel the potatoes, make a salad, and not drop anything. Oh, and get JD to be helpful, especially with carrying things to and from the table. Oh, and clearing it first – not leaving it to the last minute.

On Christmas Eve there is to be a candle-lit carol service at 11:15 pm (I think!), and a service on Christmas Day at 9:30 am.  The family are coming in the afternoon (one couple is going to have lunch with her parents), so I should have plenty of time to get ready.  It’s a long time since we had a Christmas meal at our house. Thankfully we were able to get lots of lovely summer fruit yesterday when we went shopping. I have also got out long us-used jugs and cutlery, and even cleaned some of the silver. That felt very Downton Abbey-like (from a servant’s perspective, of course)!

In Prague, there’s been a shooting at a university, with 15 dead; In China, there’s been an earthquake, with about 100 dead, last time I looked; in China, they’re still suffering from a respiratory illness. Meanwhile, what’s being called a fifth wave of Covid, with a new variant, is doing the rounds. It’s not as severe as the delta or omicron waves, but is more infectious. So that is casting a bit of a blight on everything. There’s a tummy bug going around, too.  Nevertheless, we are fortunate here, compared with those in the troubled Middle East, where it seems 20,000 have been killed in Gaza thus far. The IDF told people to evacuate, but they’re not safe, despite leaving their homes. Where are they to go? Israel seems to have no intention of stopping any time soon, and their attack has been particularly strong in terms of bombardments. And success looks like – what, exactly?

It’s now Sunday 24 December, Christmas Eve.

This morning I went to church in Johnsonville. It is drizzly and overcast, but very warm and humid.  The church I usually attend was not having a service this morning, and it now feels weird not to go to church on Sunday morning, so I went, although there is to be a candle-lit carol service tonight, and a service at 9:30 am tomorrow (Christmas Day) morning, so it’ll be a busy time.  I have told JD I want to set the table today, so he’ll have to clear his things off it, and not at the last minute, either.

After church I caught a bus home, and found JD putting away the photos he’d got out yesterday (thank goodness).  Then we went up to Simmer Café and shared a pizza. We also had oat milk lattés in takeaway cups, since they were closing soon!  It was busy, though.  I’m sure those guys deserve a break.

Afterwards we went shopping for last minute stuff: plums, bread, peas in the pod, and flowers!  They’re outrageously expensive, but then as I assured JD we’re not driving away or buying petrol, or buying stuff for our hosts. Buying flowers for decoration, and for the table, somehow doesn’t feel so expensive now. Then we found a grog shop that was open on Sunday (!), and bought whisky, rum and brandy (to flame the Christmas pudding), and a bottle of Kahlua (so we can have affogato at home). There didn’t seem to be any miniatures.

This afternoon I am resting, listening to a rather nice recording of Handel’s Messiah, before we go to our carol service tonight.

Turning now to US politics, the Supreme Court in Colorado has made waves by ruling that Trump is ineligible to be on the ballot for the 2024 presidential election, in terms of Amendment 14 of the Constitution.  Well, you’d think that settled it, but of course Trump is furious, and has referred the decision to the US Supreme Court, and published the names, addresses and phone numbers of the members of the Colorado Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the Court has indicated that it won’t rule on whether Trump’s executive privilege renders him immune from Jack Smith’s election interference case. I would have thought it was clear that he is ineligible to be president again, as Judge Michael Luttig and retired law professor Laurence Tribe have argued most eloquently, but of course Americans have complicated the issue, with many (white people) believing it would be undemocratic to rule Trump ineligible (by the way, he is surely ineligible in terms of the much-revered constitution!) In Texas, they’re threatening to take Joe Biden off the ballot.  Once again, it’s coloured legal experts like the amazing Sherrilyn Ifill who see this most clearly.  Once again, the American people are being offered an off-ramp, and refusing to take it.  I find it unbelievable, really, firstly, that Trump has such widespread support, and secondly that he seems to be very much in the race to become president again.

But now is the season of glad tidings, of great joy, and we are fortunate to be here. Mere Kirihimite! Slava Ukraini!  Ngā mihi nui.

Part of the Cystic Fibrosis Christmas Tree display at wellington Airport

It’s now Monday December 4^th, 2023. Kia ora!

Yesterday morning I went to church. It felt quite adventurous after Saturday night’s Messiah, but it was the first Sunday of Advent, and so a special occasion.  It’s lovely to see the Christmas decorations up, and it was lovely to hear the organ playing almost all the hymns.  The sermon was good, too, relating Jesus Christ’s coming to earth as a baby (“and the word became flesh, and dwelt among us”, John 1: 14) to our hope for Christs’ Second Coming to earth. While the text from Mark’s Gospel (13: 24-37) is pretty scary, the text from 1 Corinthians 1: 1-9 reassures us (“you are not lacking in any spiritual gift”) that we have all we need to get through whatever lean and difficult times may come for us.  The symbol for the first Sunday of Advent is Hope, and it seemed very appropriate.

The weekly Covid 19 report was published today.

Covid-19 cases have dropped since last week, but there were still 20 further deaths attributed to the virus, according to Ministry of Health figures.

There have been 6656 new cases of Covid-19 reported in New Zealand over the week to Sunday, and 20 further deaths attributed to the virus. Of the new cases, 1131 were probable cases and 3553 were reinfections. There were 332 cases in hospital and one in intensive care. The seven-day rolling average of new cases was 951 per day. Measurements of Covid 19 in wastewater are causing concern.

Last week, Te Whatu Ora reported 6814 new cases and 27 deaths, including a child aged under 10.

Our son from the UK and his wife came to morning tea. We stayed at home because a tradesman was due to come, but he did not turn up. We went up the road to the café for lunch.  On Tuesday they were to fly south to Queenstown.

On Tuesday morning I went to bible study. We did not read the set text, which was from the beginning of Mark’s Gospel, and does not describe Jesus’ birth. Instead we read I Thessalonians chapter 5.

Afterwards I caught a bus into town, expecting to go to a 1 pm movie, but Lighthouse Theatre must have changed their schedule (or perhaps I read it wrongly!) I was really hungry by this time, so I had lunch at Kaffee Eis. I had to sit in a draught, but the food was delicious, especially a lemon slice with whipped cream on the side.

Afterwards I went to Rebel sports shop in the old James Smith Building, seeking to check out Christmas presents for two of my grandchildren, from their comprehensive lists. It was bewildering, though – there are many Nike school bags, and I now l know what a “bucket hat” is!  It may be easier to give them vouchers (to redeem at the Boxing Day sales!), although it would be nice to give an actual present. Then I checked our Unity Books, and looked for suitable books for my daughter, but I couldn’t find anything really suitable.

Then I went to Whitcoulls and Farmers, where I bought some small necessities, before catching a bus home.

It’s now Wednesday December 6.

This morning I got up early to go to hymn singing. We sang O Holy Night, but the organist has found a lower key version of it. While it goes high at the end, I found it difficult to sing so low!

Then it was the final for the year of our Te Reo class.  It was lovely, of course: we looked at place names, checking out the meanings of the various prefixes and suffixes. Afterwards I caught a bus into town, and bought some capri pants from Farmers, before catching a bus home.

The new coalition government is upsetting many people, already.  Winston Peters is calling the press “morons”, but surely you want them on your side?  There were big protests by Māori yesterday in the main centres: Luxon said that he didn’t know what they were protesting about! Then he claimed, in a very Trump-like way, that Māori would be better of under this government that they were under Labour; meanwhile the new government is seeking to dismantle everything that Labour did. It just makes me so sad: Labour tried to do so much for Māori, but succeed in annoying many people, and, of course, not doing enough for Māori.  Meanwhile Minister of Finance Nicola Willis is negotiating to not pay public servants more if they know Te Reo Māori. Surely it makes sense for anyone in a public-facing job, or drafting public policy, to be familiar with Te Reo Māori?

It’s now Thursday. I went to my Thursday singing as usual, and we gave a small concert. For once, it was fine and sunny there in Khandallah, and the conductor stood her keyboard in front of the singers, so we could see when to come in.

On Friday afternoon we bought some birthday presents for our daughter – in Johnsonville!  I was relieved about that.

It’s now Sunday December 10^th.

The weather was beautiful on Friday, but it turned unpleasant over the weekend, getting windy and wet and a bit cooler.  So wearing summer clothes will have to wait a few days longer.  On Saturday we had Covid immunisations – again! The Pfizer one, again. Apart from a sore arm, I don’t really have any negative effects.  Afterwards we went grocery shopping.

Today was to be the Khandallah Fair, and the church was to be involved in this. There was a Christmas Pageant, which I haven’t seen before.  The planned fair was moved with the stalls going into the Khandallah Town Hall, and some activities moving to the church. I really needed to speak to the organist about the Christmas Eve carol service, and a friend had kindly given me a lift, so it was a busy time. JD had given me some change (which I was going to spend at the Fair), but then he wanted some back, so I didn’t have much left!  I bought a jar of grapefruit marmalade however.

On Monday we were due to go out, but JD had an appointment, so we did not go. On Tuesday morning I went to Bible Study. This time we were reading some of the verses from John’s Gospel chapter 1, about John the Baptist prefiguring the advent of Christ: his semi-miraculous birth came a few months before that of Jesus.  Afterwards some of us had coffee together, and a friend drove me home. 

Wednesday was going to be a very busy day, with the final hymn singing session for the year, coffee afterwards, followed by a movie and Christmas lunch at the Khandallah Town Hall. I was looking forward to both of them. However our son from the UK wanted to spend some time with us (what a treat!), so I had to cancel planned activities.  Hymn singing remained, and our son was going to meet us for lunch, but of course he had a busy day (!), so he wanted to meet us in town for morning tea.

Accordingly JD and I got up and showered early, and he drove me to hymn singing. I invited him to listen to us (and admire), but he had to go and get petrol.  Some singers were late, and we ended up with 15 of us in addition to the organist. We had a lovely singing session, and then I left (with apologies), to meet JD and drive into town. We got there, and found a carpark, and guess what our son was late!  But I found a good table at Smith the Grocer Café, and we had a delicious morning tea. Afterwards we went to Noel Leeming and bought a kindle for me (they had a special deal, and I’ve been wanting one for some time).  I have to admit I’m still struggling with buying stuff to read on it, but I have created an account, and found how to charge it.  Then we had lunch at Kaizen Café in Porirua.

Meanwhile there have been various negotiations and arrangements for our upcoming trip to Hawkes Bay.

Today (Thursday December 14^th) we had our final Thursday morning singing session for the year. It was lovely, although I had woken up with a headache. But I took a Covid test, and it was negative, and I’m not sneezing or coughing, so I went. We had a catered lunch afterwards, and this was very enjoyable, although a friend of mine was unwell.  But although at least two people stayed away sick, there was a good turnout.

Afterwards I caught a bus to Johnsonville, and then a bus home.

The war in Israel continues, with serious bombardment in Gaza by the Israeli Defence Force. Meanwhile, it has transpired that not only did Netanyahu know about Hamas’ plans to attack Israel well in advance, he’s been giving money and fuel to Hamas!  Many are saying the two-state solution (i.e. Israel and Palestine agreeing to share disputed territory) is dead, and the PLA (Palestinian Liberation Authority) is corrupt!  Yes, indeed, but surely Netanyahu is corrupt too!  The world, and President Biden, are decrying Israel’s attacks on Gaza, but they’re continuing, brutally, none the less. Where are the Palestinians in Gaza to go? Where is safe? And, of course, the humanitarian situation is terrible.  Meanwhile, President Zelensky of Ukraine has gone to the US to plead for more funds, and Republicans are saying No. I cannot remove the underlines, for some annoying reason.

I am nervous about our upcoming trip to Hawkes Bay, but hopefully I will be rested and organised and I will rise to the occasion. It will be lovely to see our daughter again.

Here in New Zealand, the coalition government is in a spot of bother, I think. There are a number of changes proposed before Christmas, and Winston Peters continues to make waves. The mayor of Wellington, Tory Whanau, is in a  spot of bother for her drinking making waves. Will there be enough water in Wellington this summer?  We hope so. It’d be nice to have summer too!  Yesterday I wore a long-sleeved blouse, and it was quite cold. Today it’s warmer and I dared to wear summer clothes!  But although it gets warm/hot in the afternoons, it still gets cold at night.

On Christmas Eve there will be a carol service at my church, and on Christmas Day I am to do a reading.

That’s it for now. Busy-ness is interspersed with quiet periods, thankfully, where I wonder what I should be doing, instead of taking it easy. Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.

Raspberries (my favourite) are now generally available, and are coming down in price. They’re large and in good condition.

It’s now Sunday November 26^th, 2023. Kia ora!

This morning I went to church. The organist played the organ before, during and after the service – what a treat.  The texts were Ezekiel 34:11-24 and Matthew 25:31-46, the sermon about the sheep and the goats. The Ezekiel text was about two kinds of sheep – the fat sheep and the lean sheep. I did not know this text, although I’ve read the rather mystifying book of the prophet Ezekiel several times. The minister preached a fine sermon, about Jesus’ instruction to be kind and help those in need of help, whether they are hungry, thirsty or naked. It’s a fine, sunny day, but still quite cold. Afterwards JD picked me up and we went shopping to – you’ve guessed it – New World in Thorndon. It was busy but not crazy busy. I couldn’t find loose cherries, or any summer fruit but nectarines, but I got most of what we wanted.

On Monday I went for a walk in the morning; it’s still not really summery here, with some quite cold winds about. You always need a cardigan, and often a jacket; it rains, seemingly spontaneously, too. I’m sure that previously at this time of year (late November), we’d be wearing summer clothes. While some brave folk are, I have done so twice.

It was our grandson’s 6^th birthday, so we visited in the afternoon to give him his birthday present, (and a small present for his sister, of course), and eat birthday cake. So that was lovely. We gave him some lego, and he was amazingly smart at putting it together. Mind you, it’s a 3-in-1, so there are other options for it.

On Tuesday morning I went to bible study. It was Mark’s Gospel 13: 24-37, a text about the difficulties of the “end times” before Christ comes in glory. The main message is to be alert, because no one know the day or the hour but God the Father.  But at almost the beginning of Advent, we celebrate Jesus’ birth. Someone, and the minister, linked these two comings; then on Wednesday morning we sang “Lo! He comes with clouds descending” to the beautiful Helmsley tune.  Mark’s Gospel also reminds us that Jesus’ words remain, although there’ll be other great changes, and I remembered the first verse of John’s Gospel: in the beginning was the Word…”  This first chapter goes on to say “And the word became flesh, and dwelt among us”. That is all rather wonderful, I think. And we told not to be afraid – many times.

On Wednesday morning we had hymn singing, and then I got a call to day my daughter has Covid – again!  So we would have to defer our planned trip to Napier for her birthday. But that morning I was due to get a haircut. I caught a bus from Khandallah, and in theory I had 4 minutes to catch a train on the Kapiti line. Sadly, I just missed the train. I thought the next train would get me there just in time, but it did not. However I rang the salon and they agreed to take me, although I was pretty late.

Afterwards JD picked me up. Our granddaughter was due to come at 1 pm; I had thought we would get something from the lovely Nada bakery in Tawa, but as we drove very slowly through Tawa, I wondered about the wisdom of my decision.  Then a new salesperson was serving us, who was incredibly slow. However we got home in time to have something to eat, and another cup of coffee.

JD and our granddaughter were due to put up and decorate the Christmas Tree. JD found our (artificial) tree, and the box of decorations, and even the Christmas lights, although some of the boxes were wet. How did that happen?  I couldn’t find the Crib we’d been given, but nevertheless, everything still worked, including the electrics, and JD did not electrocute himself. So we all did a fine job of unpacking glitter, untangling gold and red streamers, and hanging decorations. Our granddaughter was a big help.

On Thursday I was to go to my main singing session at the Khandallah Town Hall. JD was getting the car brakes fixed, so he could not drive me there. I tried to call Uber, well before 10:25 am, but they couldn’t send a car until 11:05 am, and it would cost $30!  Outrageous on both counts. I called a taxi from Wellington Combined Taxis, and it came almost right away.  I booked using their automatic system, which failed to mention the “green card”, which entitles me to half-price taxis using certain companies.  I stayed on the line to talk to a “real person”, but saying I had a “green card” meant nothing to them. Did I have a Total Mobility Card?  I assume that I do. Then the taxi was there, and the driver duly photographed my green card. I arrived in Khandallah by 10:50 am, and it cost me $7.50!  I even had time to buy my daughter-in-law’s birthday present.

Singing was lovely, of course, and there was a great turnout. I had lunch at a café there, a smoked salmon bagel, and then left to catch a #24 bus to Johnsonville. JD was off to a 2 pm appointment, but the #24 bus turned into the #19 shuttle bus, so that suited very well.

Now it’s Friday December 1^st, December at last! Seeing we’ve postponed our trip to Napier, I now have a number of appointments I’d cancelled out of for the week. I am quite discombobulated by all these changes! Thankfully my daughter does not appear to be greatly suffering, and she’s on the anti-viral drug Paxlovid again, but her new acting house manager is quite sick. So there’ve been a number of texts to and fro.

Someone is supposed to come from Access today. My schedule said 10:30, and then 11:30; I checked it again, and it says 1:45 pm! So I didn’t need to get up so early after all.

Meanwhile our son and his wife are due to arrive from Canterbury, U.K., this afternoon, but their flight from Singapore has been delayed, and I doubt that they’ll make their expected connection.  As it’s a Friday, they may have difficulty getting on a plane from Auckland to Wellington. Still, we don’t know yet when they’ll arrive.

In the US it was Thanksgiving last Thursday, so there weren’t many pf the usual podcasts.  It seems strange coming just before Christmas, but I guess the decorations continue, if changed; Americans love decorations, anyway.  And I guess the so-called Black Friday sales come in handy for Christmas.

It’s rather old news now but evidently President Biden continued negotiations during Thanksgiving weekend to ensure that the ceasefire in Israel and hostage release went ahead.  Duly we all held our breath as hostages were released by Hamas in dribs and drabs and Palestinian prisoners were released by Israel in exchange. The pause was even extended for a couple of days, but the IDF are at it again now, i.e. the war continues. Netanyahu vows to kill every member of Hamas: so how will he know when he’s succeeded? Meanwhile many women (presumably innocent) and children continue to be slaughtered.  Marches and pro-Palestinian sympathies continue, as does ani-Semitic activity and marches in sympathy with Israel.  As usual, dark forces are perpetuating the devastation, while many innocent people and would-be peace makers don’t appear to make a difference. Some newspapers are calling the pause in fighting a “truce”, but I think not- a truce implies some kind of agreement between the warring parties. I don’t see this,

It also appears that Israel had warning of the Hamas attack, which seems to have been deliberately ignored.  Netanyahu’s claim to ensure the safety of Israeli citizens is severely compromised as it’s evident that not only did he not keep them safe, he failed to come to their assistance for several hours after the brazen and barbaric attacks by Hamas.

Henry Kissinger has died, aged 100, and of course his legacy is being reviewed. While Joe Scarborough on MSNBC’s Morning Joe seemed sympathetic to his legacy, David Ignatius reminded us all of just some of his misdeeds. Noone wants to speak ill of the dead, but Kissinger’s legacy is very disturbing, resulting, as it did, in so very many liberal governments toppled and deaths in Central and South America, in South-east Asia, and in India over the creation of Bangladesh.

Trump’s legal woes continue, without much seeming to change, although his rhetoric gets more and more alarming, as does his increasing support.  Congressman Perry’s texts have been released, seemingly by accident, revealing that he played a bigger part than we formerly knew in helping Trump try to hang on to power. Liz Cheney has written a book which claims, amongst other interesting things, that “my” Kevin McCarthy went down to Mar-a-Lago to visit Trump and comfort him, such was his grief at losing the election. So, of course he knew that he’d lost it.  Of course, Trump displayed no such loyalty to McCarthy when he was about to lose the Speakership of the House of Representatives. Apparently he was upset that McCarthy had failed to get his two impeachments cancelled. This was not possible, by the way.

There is a climate conference in I think Dubai, of all places; King Charles addressed the attendees, very effectively.  Meanwhile Prime Minister Sunak refused to see the Greek Prime Minister about returning the Elgin Marbles, presently in the British Museum, to Greece. Some wag joked that if they were returned, it would be cheaper for people in places like Yorkshire to fly to Greece and see them rather than catching a train to London.

Our youngest son and his wife arrived on Friday evening.  Their flight from Singapore to Auckland had been delayed, causing them to miss their connecting flight from Auckland to Wellington. Thankfully they were able to board a later flight, it being a busy Friday.  We went to meet them – in fact JD was so anxious to get there that de decided we would have something to eat at the airport.  I was sceptical, and rightly so, since all the food outlets that were still open were closing.  We had very sticky (but quite tasty) chicken burgers with our oat milk lattés. There was a welcoming committee of ourselves, two of our other sons, and our daughter-in-law’s father. Our son’s bros were taking him to a concert, and she was to stay with her parents.

There is great upset and outrage over the new government’s intention to reverse the previous government’s smoke-free legislation. Much of the rest of the world wonders. New Zealanders are really upset, including some National Party voters who thought Chris Luxon cared about them. Well, no, I doubt it.

On Saturday morning our youngest son messaged us to suggest having breakfast together.  Jet lag will do that to you, waking really early! The local café didn’t open until 9 am, but we walked there (it was a lovely fine day), and they were already really busy. In the afternoon my one of my brothers-in-law called with one of his daughters. I had thought he was still in Australia!  Then on Saturday evening I was due to go to this year’s performance of Handel’s Messiah at the Michael Fowler Centre. This year it was to be sung by the Orpheus Choir, accompanied by Orchestra Wellington. The performance was very well reviewed, and there were lots of people there, but my friend and I, having changed our handbags, forgot to bring masks. We probably would have worn masks had we brought them. Afterwards her husband drove us home in his new electric car.

Once home, I ate a fruit mince pie, not having had an evening meal, and just crackers and cheese and a biscuit when our brother called.  I was glad to have gone!  It’s very familiar now.

That’s it for now. Slava Ukraini!  Ngā mihi nui.

A Black Friday

It’s now Wednesday November 15, 2023. Kia ora!

On Monday I was supposed to go to a friend’s house for lunch, but she was caring for her granddaughter, as it was a “teacher only” day. JD took me to Lower Hutt, where I planned to do some shopping. I found Number One Shoes – not in Queensgate, but nearby. There was a very helpful person there who told me where things were and looked after me while I tried on a pair of sandals and a pair of shoes.  Hannah’s kept sending me very attractive advertisements for cheap shoes, but when you find a store, they’re not there as pictured.  The shoes were both full price, but I bought the sandals, which are kind of “dressy”.  I couldn’t find more open slip-on shoes; the ones I tried on had laces, which is not that convenient. 

Afterwards I went to Queensgate. I went to Farmers, where they have an amazing selection of women’s clothes. I wasn’t going to buy anything, but they had good discounts, and I found a beautiful skirt there. Then I wanted to try it on, but couldn’t find the woman’s changing room, or a female assistant. Eventually I found the right place, tried on the skirt, and decided to buy it.

Then I went looking at Whitcoulls for a Christmas present for one of my grandsons.  I found it, and also a present for his sister. Then I had lunch at the Butler’s Café – beautiful: a club sandwich, a beautiful lemon cake, and a latté.

Queensgate seemed a total maze: eventually I found a way out, and back to the bus stop. I’m sure there was a faster way to exit!  I caught the bus that was there back to Wellington, and went to the Whitcoulls in Lambton Quay to get my granddaughter’s other Christmas present.  Then I caught a bus home. I know what they want, but the things they want are very popular!

That night, I think it was, I heard that British Home Office Secretary Suella Braverman had been sacked by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.  I guess many are pleased, but he’s brought David Cameron back as Foreign Secretary!  That pleases no one: the author of austerity and the Brexit referendum is welcomed back?  I think not. There is an air of scandal about Cameron, too: Winskill, I think.

On Tuesday morning there was lots of reaction to the sacking of Suella Braverman. The Rest is Politics did an emergency episode on this on Youtube, and of course James O’Brien on LBC radio spent a morning on it. Braverman’s “resignation” letter in response to her sacking has now been published, and it’s fair to say she’s not best pleased. Did she expect loyalty in politics? Fancy that!

On Tuesday morning I went to Bible Study (Matthew 25, don’t hide your talent(s) under a bushel!), and then a friend drove me into town, where Unity Books were holding a book for me: Jan Morris; Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere. I didn’t need this book, but it’s really interesting and it’s nice to have my own copy.  Afterwards I caught a bus home.

This morning I got up early for hymn singing again. It was lovely, of course. This afternoon we looked after our three-year old granddaughter. We arranged a treasure hunt:  a bit of thought went into this. JD got down some little ornaments which had been placed up high when our daughter went through a phase of throwing everything out the window. I had also bought a small packet of chippies, which she was allowed to eat. I wrapped the items, and JD hid them. It was surprisingly difficult to find things, although the hiding places weren’t complex!  There was no hiding things in cupboards!  She’d brought some items, too, and I hid her wand and then we couldn’t find it for a while.

Meanwhile, the war in Israel continues, with terribly brutal attacks on Gaza, on an asylum centre, and hospitals, amongst other sites. Intelligence claims that Hamas uses such sites for arms and their own shelter, so in Israeli eyes, that makes them suitable sites for bombing.  There are huge marches in lots of places calling for a ceasefire: some claim this would give Hamas time to rearm. But JD pointed out that nothing can be taken in or out of Gaza, so I doubt that they can. Others, including President Biden, are calling for “pauses” in the fighting, so that aid can be delivered to the Gaza strip.  It’s all desperately sad, and people like Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former British Home Secretary Braverman do nothing to help in the aim for peace, instead seeming to stir up more hate.

It’s now Sunday November 19^th.

On Thursday morning I went to my other singing session; on Friday someone came from Access to do some cleaning. Before she came I managed to change the sheets as well as the towels.  In the evening we looked after two of our grandchildren.

On Saturday we went to New World in Thorndon to do some shopping. Although we’d picked up things during the week, we still managed to buy lots of things. On a good note, we got Jersey Bennie new potatoes, raspberries, coffee beans, salads, and pies. It was not busy at the supermarket.

Afterwards we went to a Persian Rug shop on Thorndon Quay. JD demurred, but I really wanted to go, to get a mat for the area between the front door and the steps down to the main living area.  In the event, we bought a circular rug, which not only fits the space nicely, but is similar to an existing rug over the new carpet.  I want to protect the new carpet, needless to say. It was a sudden decision, but it’s a good Christmas present to ourselves.

This morning I went to church. It was lovely, of course. The texts were from 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, and the parable of the talents in Matthew 25. 

It’s now Wednesday November 22.

Other than that Sunday was a quiet day, but on Monday morning I met two friends for coffee. It was lovely! Afterwards, JD drove me to Spotlight where I bought a zip for a jacket of my daughter’s. The jacket is just fine, but the zip is broken and needs replacing. I should very much like to get it repaired and add it to my stock of jackets.  It’s grey with a pink fleece lining, and I presume it’s waterproof. We had lunch at La Cloche.

On Tuesday I was due to meet an old friend for coffee at Smith the Grocer Café. Before that, JD had a meeting with his accountant, and he wanted me there. He wanted me to find receipts for charitable donations, and, frustrating as it was, I was able to find them.  It’s a challenge because I put so much stuff away before the new carpet was laid, and it’s been really hard to find things again. But I found them, and they’ve duly been recorded!

It was lovely to see my old friend again later in the afternoon: her older sister was a very close friend of myself and of JD, and he was at boarding school with her husband, now a widower, so we go back a very long way. She has just been to Europe, and we loved many of the same places.

This morning I got up early to go to hymn singing. It’s much easier to get up early in the morning now it’s so much lighter! It was really warm this morning, too, and I was brave enough to wear summer clothes.  Hymn singing finished early, and there were 30 minutes till the Te Reo class, so I had morning tea at one of the local cafés: an oat milk latté, of course, and a cheese scone. It’s slightly illogical to order these two items, but the nice lady serving me said these were the things she’s order as well.

The Te Reo class was enjoyable. We talked about greetings and food. It’s revision for me, but that’s no problem, as it’s good to feel more sure about expressions in Te Reo Māori.  Hymn singing was lovely, too.

Afterwards JD picked me up, and our granddaughter came from 1 till 3 pm – another treat.

In Israel, dreadful slaughter continues in Gaza, with hospitals and refugee camps attacked. Marches demanding a ceasefire are ignored; the Biden administration asks for a “pause”; negotiations to release more hostages are ”very close”; meanwhile, brutality continues with men, women and children being killed and injured.  It’s all terribly upsetting, and even more so to see President Biden and Sir Keir Starmer losing support.

It’s now Saturday November 25^th.

Sometime in the last few days a pause was negotiated between Israel and Hamas, whereby Hamas would let some of the hostages they’re holding go in return for Israel letting some Palestinians go (including women and children) that they are holding prisoner. Also, much needed humanitarian aid will be allowed into Gaza. The Guardian claims this arrangement is a “truce”; I think that’s going a bit far; some are calling it a ceasefire, but the IDF are claiming that fighting will continue. Perhaps this has just been a “pause”, as President Biden has asked for.  I gather some hostages have now been released, to the great relief of their families. There is said to be a very young child whose parents were both dead.

On Thursday I went to singing, and met a friend afterwards. Although it did not start till 11 am, I had a last minute rush, and then we had several holdups: a walking party crossing the road in Johnsonville, a stoppage, and then lights and a barrier at the Khandallah Railway Station. 

On Friday I was due to post a parcel of Christmas presents to my grandchildren in Taiwan. I was to give my granddaughter a copy of John Mulgan’s Man Alone, an iconic New Zealand novel. I did manage to finish reading it. We walked up the road to Simmer Café for lunch (a shared pizza), and then we drove to Khandallah to buy two models to slip into the parcel. Then the question was where to post it, since the Post Shop in Khandallah was now closed. We drove out to North City, where there was indeed a NZ Post outlet – in the Paper Plus store, downstairs and about as far away from the main entrance to the shopping centre as possible.  JD ran into someone we both knew, but keeping my eye on the time, I went downstairs to complete the process of sending a parcel.  I was filling out the customs declaration, with some difficulty, when JD joined me. Although the parcel was small, and not heavy, it cost $38.33 to post it! And that after the effort of wrapping and labelling the parcels, finding a packet to put them in, and finding the address! Thankfully we’ve met the concierge at the small block of apartments, so he will take care of the parcel if my son and his family are away.

The other big thing that happened was that coalition talks between Luxon, Seymour and Peters have ended, at last, and a government has been formed, with Peters and Seymour sharing the Deputy Prime Minister role (Peters first, then Seymour – when the next election is due). Peters will also be Minister of Foreign Affairs; Crusher (Judith) Collins will be Attorney-General and Minister of Defence, amongst other things.  Peters distinguished himself by calling the media “morons”. While many may agree, it’s surely unwise to use such an emotive word for people who you surely want to be on your side.  That’s enough for me – the three (Ami) Egos have agreed on some things.

I greatly fear this new government. Several commentators have said that they plan to undo everything the Labour Government did. Already they’re introducing so called “No fault” evictions, where a landlord can get rid of any tenants they don’t like without giving a reason. There’s consternation about the influence of Te Reo Māori, and I suspect there’ll be much undoing there, although there are already lots of Māori placenames ( as there are many placenames in Gaelic in Wales). One of their priorities is to extend the parliamentary term to four years. They have promised to increase the speed limit. And do on. No mention of child poverty, or the climate. I fear for Hōhepa.

There is a ministry for Disability, but it relates mostly to people in wheelchairs, many of whom have active brains. But many of our children don’t look too bad, but can be really difficult to manage, needing 24/7 care for their incontinence, unpredictability, inability to take meaningful decisions, inability to speak, in many instances. They have special abilities, but they have special needs as well.

This afternoon we went to see the film Maria Callas at the Penthouse Theatre. What a wonderful film!  The sound was great, and it was the film of an appearance she made in Paris in 1958. She sang from Norma, Il Trovatore, and the Barber of Seville, demonstrating a wide range of singing styles and acting ability. The second half of the concert was devoted to Act 2 of Tosca. Well, it was quite wonderful. Afterwards I was really hungry, but the Salty Pidgin in Todman Street was closed till 4 pm, and what used to be the Brooklyn Deli was now an Argentinian Restaurant. We looked at the menus and cabinet food at the Penthouse, but they were clearly very busy, and I’m afraid the food and the menu didn’t appeal to me. JD suggested we go home where he would make lunch, but although we went home, and I was really hungry, guess who ended up doing all the work and putting things away afterwards.

That’s it for now.  Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.

A favourite sampler

It’s now Wednesday November 8, 2023. Kia ora!

Last Monday morning I met a friend for morning tea at the Johnsonville Shopping Centre. I needed to pick up a prescription and get some cards (three birthdays coming up, and a farewell card). I also wanted to visit the Hannahs shoe store, which has moved to where Warehouse Stationery used to be. Apparently Hannahs has merged with Number One Shoes; I made my way there, a bit of a challenge in the cold and wet, but it is very like a warehouse, where the customer does all the work. Although Hannah’s has twice featured a promotional brochure, with two pairs of Hush Puppies shoes on special that I would like to try on, they didn’t have them here. There is no longer a Hannah’s store in Lambton Quay; the prominent one in Napier has moved too. As the Hush Puppies store in Willis St has closed down, I am at a bit of a loss, with respect to buying Hush Puppies shoes. This brand costs a bit more, but the shoes are comfortable and suit me well.  So that’s a bit frustrating. I am very reluctant to buy shoes online! Really, one needs to try them on.

It was cold and wet on Monday, after being really warm on Sunday! Although it rained on Sunday evening.  Strange weather.  I made my way home, and we had lunch at the 1841 pub (creamy mushrooms), but the food there doesn’t really agree with me any more. We had tried Simmer Café in Churton Park, but there were no seats available, and it was too wet to sit outside. Café Thyme was closed, its being a Monday.

On Tuesday my eight-year old granddaughter was dropped off for a while.  She had been unwell, and her parents didn’t want to send her to school, but she wasn’t sick enough to be in bed.  I had a lively talk with her!  It’s nice when grandchildren get old enough to have a conversation.

Last night we watched the 1965 film “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold”, starring Richard Burton, Claire Bloom and a cast of famous actors. It’s in black and white, but it’s a really good film. For some reason I haven’t watched it earlier.  JD had tried unsuccessfully to find a free version of the complete film on Youtube; but suddenly, there it was (with annoying advertisements).

This morning I got up early to go to hymn singing. It was lovely, of course!  It’s so good to be meeting like this again. Afterwards I talked to the organist about singing O Holy Night at the coming Carol Service. Then there was another Te Reo Māori class at Khandallah Town Hall, now at 10:15 am.  I was very tired, for some reason, but we played another card game – Remembrance (in English). It was a good way of being familiar with numbers in Māori. JD had agreed to pick me up afterwards; I got some lunch from Parsons Café, and met him at the New World supermarket. It was very quiet when I went there, and the carpark was half empty, but this changed, of course, and by the time JD arrived it was very busy.  There was a bus to Johnsonville at 11:15 am, but with the class starting later, it was hard to catch this.

Our three-year old granddaughter was due to come from 1 – 3 pm, while her mother helped out with swimming at her son’s primary school. JD and I had been to her house twice: she wanted to come to our house today. I had got out some toys for her: the doll’s house, the push chair, and several soft toys. In the event, we read stories, and did puzzles: I’d found the Bananas in Pyjamas puzzle that went with the story book, and she enjoyed that. What a joy, to look after her, though! We haven’t seen so much of her, thanks to Covid, coughs and colds. I asked her what we should tell Father Christmas she’d like for Christmas, but the answer was – presents!

It’s now Friday November 9^th.

Yesterday I went to my Thursday morning singing.  It is really hard to get to Khandallah at present, so I was very pleased to be dropped off.  Afterwards, a dear friend brought me home. There weren’t as many people at singing, perhaps because getting to Khandallah, let alone getting a carpark, was so difficult.  It was lovely, though.

We are watching World at War on TVNZ+. A new series has been released, but we’re watching series one again. I have very vague memories of this, so it’s good to see it again. Lesley Manville is wonderful, of course, and Sean Bean, but all the actors are good. You get occasional gems on what is now TVNZ+ (formerly TVNZ On Demand), amongst all the dross. We’re also watching series 2 of The Gilded Age on Neon.  An episode is being released each week. It’s a bit like Succession to watch: frustrating, but without the swearing. I do find the hats ridiculous, and the tight-fitting dresses; but it’s fun to watch in a masochistic kind of way.

Today I cancelled Access, and we went to the Art Group instead – it’s the final for the year, already! I didn’t bring any food; it wasn’t asked for, but some of us had coffee afterwards. I took my laptop to the Art club, hoping to be creative by doing some writing. And here I am.

Trump testimony

Trump’s eldest sons Don Jr and Eric testified in Trump’s New York civil fraud trial, and then Trump himself did, and then Ivanka.  She’s not being prosecuted in the New York fraud trial because of the statute of limitations, which I think means that because she worked for the presidency during her father’s time as president, whereas Don Jr and Eric were responsible for the Trump business. Don Jr was arrogant and bombastic, Eric came across as even more stupid (he was in real estate but poured concrete rather than doing appraisals), and Ivanka (was she wearing a wig?) also had a terrible memory. One almost feels some sympathy for Trump, having children with such terrible memories.

But when Trump took the stand it was something else: bombastic, avoiding the questions, and really exhausting and annoying. Every time he spoke you wished he’d shut up.  We were reminded of how annoying he can be. Someone said he was reminded of the Chicago 7 trial arising from events in 196,.  where the defendants so ridiculed the court that the trial became farcical. The judge reminded Trump that this was not a political rally, and asked his lawyer to control his client, if he could. So that was interesting. This trial seems to matter to Trump far more than his other legal jeopardy, but he’s obviously very angry. But he admitted to his crimes.

There were elections in the US recently, where Democrats did rather well. Andy Beshear won the gubernatorial race in Kentucky with a higher majority than previously; in Ohio an abortion initiative won for the democrats, and in Virginia, Democrats now control the House and the Senate.  So the Dems did rather well, by most accounts. Republicans criticize the Democrats, but that is their wont. The New York Times published poll results that were not great for Biden, and this has caused a lot of distress.  But the Dems are quite good at winning elections. So on it goes.

It’s now Sunday November 12^th.

This morning a friend have me a lift to church. Bearing in mind that it’s much warmer now, I wore black trousers, a black and while short-sleeved blouse, and a red linen jacket. I was quite warm enough in the church, although it became cold and windy later on.  Church was lovely, of course; the organist was playing Bach’s Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring as we entered.  The sermon was based on the Old Testament text from Joshua 24: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”; the New Testament text was from Matthew 25, the parable of the foolish bridesmaids (or virgins, depending on your translation).  The minister stressed the importance of choosing the Lord God, and then of being ready for His next coming.

Afterwards JD picked me up to go to an Italian Film Festival film at the Embassy Theatre at 12 noon, about Naples. It’s the last day of the Italian Film Festival in Wellington, and this is the only film I’ve managed to get to.  I was very early, and had to go upstairs to get a ticket. The Black Sparrow, the upstairs bar, was closed, and so I thought I would get coffee downstairs. Silly me! The downstairs bar was closed too, so I had time to go to the restroom, and then look up to see how long the film was – almost two hours!  I sat through the film, which I found very affecting.  It’s set in a poor area of Naples, La Sanita, and the film maker explained he’d been away for 40 years, and nothing had changed. Well, JD and I were last there in February 2010, and nothing had changed from what we saw!  The same poverty, narrow streets, motorcycles, washing hung out across the street, people looking anxiously out of windows, and the same sense of disrepair, holes in walls, painting needed, and not much in the way of greenery.  This grave state of lack of repair contrasted with the motorways, where smart cars stream past seemingly oblivious to the chaos beneath. The main star visits the catacombs at one stage, and again one is horrified by the rows and rows of skulls.  The catholic cathedral is on better shape than the other buildings. I am so glad I saw this.

Afterwards, of course, I wanted something to eat, but Courtenay Place has many Chinese or Indian restaurants, but few if any coffee bars. I ended up walking to Pandoro on the corner of Wakefield Street and Allen St, where I had an oat milk latté and a baguette.

Afterwards I was going to catch a bus along Manners St and go shopping, but I was just too tired. I eventually found the bus stop for buses going north, and got onto a Churton Park bus.  JD met me at Churton Park – he had just returned from an appointment.

In New Zealand, we still wait for a coalition government to be formed by Christopher Luxon. Any negotiations (presumably there are negotiations going on?) are secret. One friend of mine said this was a good thing, seeing projected cuts of present benefits cannot be made. On the other hand, several climate-related initiatives have been put on hold. Meanwhile, Chris Hipkins has been sworn in as Prime Minister again, and a seat in Nelson has gone to Labour after a recount: by 24 votes!  Yes, it was a disappointing election outcome, but not exactly a “bloodbath”.

That’s it for now. One had to feel sorry for King Charles III opening Parliament, with all the appropriate pomp and circumstance,  and having to read Prime Minister Sunak’s speech which seems largely in opposition to his own views. A good outing for the dressing-up cupboard, quipped one newspaper. Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.