HE'S BACK!

 

Mea Culpa.

GONE

 

It took a while but ...

INTERVIEW #32

 Today we will be looking at wit in our interview since those old guys down in the Hutt Valley have been giving wit a go recently.

To be frank - and they aren't, they are Richard and Robert (that's a joke reference to the film Airplane in case you missed it) - those guys wouldn't know wit if it bit them on the bum so I contacted the greatest wit master of all time, Oscar wilde to tell us about wit and whether the Hutt Valleyites have got any chance of improving.

The Curmudgeon: Welcome Mr Wilde to The Curmudgeon's interview series. It's so nice to have you here. Nice to see you - nice.

Oscar Wilde: Thank you Mr Curmudgeon I ... look, I couldn't help noticing you used a bit of that god awful Bruce Forsyth humour there. That silly old goat wouldn't know humour if it bit him on the backside.

The Curmudgeon: (red faced) er, I was just setting up the scenario for this interview you see, some guys I know who live in the Hutt think that they're funny and use very old jokes in their blo ...

Oscar Wilde: ... they live in a hut?

The Curmudgeon: Ha ha , no, they live in the Hutt Valley. It's a kind of suburb that Wellington keeps at a distance. No-one really goes there and the powers that be in Wellington, the capital city, spent billions on a new motorway system that ensures that the place can be easily bypassed.

Oscar Wilde: Ha ha, I see. I'll make sure that I avoid it. Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.

The Curmudgeon: Um, that's a bit rude Mr Wilde, those guys, unfunny as they may be are still friends of mine. Hey! Can I call you Oscar and you can call me TC?

Oscar Wilde: Sure TC, Oscar is fine. I believe it's better to be yourself as everyone else is taken. With regard to those friends of yours do you know that you should always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.

The Curmudgeon: Ha ha, I like that. Is it one of your ...

Oscar Wilde: ... A good friend will always stab you in the front.

The Curmudgeon: Ha ha , yes I ...

Oscar Wilde: ... Never love anyone who treats you like you're ordinary.

The Curmudgeon: Yes, well ...

Oscar Wilde: ... A gentleman is one who never hurts anyone’s feelings unintentionally.

The Curmudgeon: Look Oscar, can we dispense with the 'friends' jokes now I ...

Oscar Wilde: ... Jokes! I must inform you my good man that these are not 'jokes'. They are observations on life - quips or aphorisms if you wish. If you want to tell people the truth, you have to make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

The Curmudgeon: Right, I see, like when Stephen Fry said "An original idea. That can't be too hard. The library must be full of them."

Oscar Wilde: Mmm, I think that Stephen Fry stole that from me.

The Curmudgeon: OK, how about Spike Milligan who said "All I ask is the chance to prove that money can't make me happy."

Oscar Wilde: Ha ha - I like old Spike. When I was young I thought that money was the most important thing in life; now that I am old I know that it is.

The Curmudgeon: Very clever Oscar.

Oscar Wilde: Now, about those old guys who live in that hut together ... they're not ... you know ...

The Curmudgeon: What, gay you mean?

Oscar Wilde: Mmmm, you should know that in my time we didn't say things like that - you know, the love that must not be mentioned and all that.

The Curmudgeon: Ha ha ... no, those old guys aren't gay although I admit that one of them, Robert, is always telling the other that he loves him. He's a Christian you see - a Catholic actually.

Oscar Wilde: Oh dear. I don't want to go to heaven. None of my friends are there.

The Curmudgeon: Richard's mother used to say something similar. She used to say that she didn't want to go to heaven if Mr Linford (a neighbour) was going to be there.

Oscar Wilde: Nice, although Women are meant to be loved, not to be understood.

The Curmudgeon: You can say that again Oscar.

Oscar Wilde: I said women are meant to be loved, not to be understood. Are you going deaf TC?

The Curmudgeon: No, it's kind of like a joke Oscar - a bit out of fashion like Richard's 'NOT' jokes.

Oscar Wilde: Richard?

The Curmudgeon: Yes, Richard. He's the other old guy who lives in that hut. He uses 'Not' jokes a lot. They're 'not' very funny ha ha.

Oscar Wilde: Nice try TC.  It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious. Which reminds me, you said the other guy was a Catholic. I think that God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his ability.

The Curmudgeon: That's what Richard and I say to him. He never has a solid argument but then bangs on about sin, faith, god and morality.

Oscar Wilde: Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people whom we personally dislike.

The Curmudgeon: I like that Oscar. Have you any more of those um ... aphorisms?

Oscar Wilde: About 1500 I think here - how about this? Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.

The Curmudgeon: Clever, you should write a book.

Oscar Wilde: I have TC, I have. I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying .... er, that's not one of my best

The Curmudgeon: You could do well in that hut Oscar ha ha.

Oscar Wilde: Harrumph!

The Curmudgeon: Sorry Oscar.

Oscar Wilde: OK. Here's one for that Christian guy if you want him to get his pantaloons in a twist: "You will always be fond of me. I represent to you all the sins you never had the courage to commit".

The Curmudgeon: Thanks, I like that. I sort of said something similar to him in a blog comment the other day. He didn't respond of course.

Oscar Wilde: The only thing to do with good advice is pass it on. It is never any use to oneself.

The Curmudgeon: Great. Look, it's been nice talking to you. I have to go now and make some butter chicken pies for our dinner. They'll go nicely with a glass of pinot noir I think.

Oscar Wilde: Work is the curse of the drinking classes TC, remember that.

The Curmudgeon: Nice Oscar, nice ... oops, sorry about that.

MAGA MAN

 

THE WORLD IS GETTING STUPIDER

 

SEA MOORING*

* And it has nothing to do with that pathetic "See more" comment that Richard keeps making on the blogs under the delusion that it's a joke.

In the bay outside our house there is a safe haven for boats with lots of moorings.

Cannon used against boats illegally using moorings

Moorings can be purchased or rented with some moorings costing up to $10,000.

These are called 'swing moorings' and are traded like freehold carparks in cities. They are managed by the local council and I guess that there is a 'rates-type' annual charge for this.

 

Council dredge doing maintenance on a swing mooring.

Why I mention this, even though we don't own a boat, is that our real estate agent alerted us today that there may be a swing mooring for sale in our bay. He is going to find out details and let us know. The cost is about $4000.

Now $4000 is a lot of money for people who don't own a boat but, we can rent it out. The going rate is $30 a day. This means that 120 plus daily rentals would cover the purchase price (I don't know yet what the maintenance costs are or the commission that the hiring company would charge).

The estate agent though said that owning a mooring and adding that into the chattels of the house would add to its saleability. We're keen to do this so I hope that he can confirm that there is one for sale.

If you read this you indeed did 'see more' and have added to your fund of knowledge.

No need to thank me.

MAKING PURE NICER = PRURIENCE

Robert aka Rob has been showing his prudish side of late and objects to bad language, 'smutty' pictures and prurience.

I guess that there must have been a crackdown in the Catholic church and the Vatican has instructed its priests to sermonise against these 'sins' and vices at Sunday Mass.

I guess that he can keep his heart and soul pure but boy - will he ever miss out on some fun.

LIGHTEN UP PART ONE (Maybe of a series)

 Things have been getting a bit too serious around here so maybe we should 'lighten up' and show some humour in the blog posts again.

Not Richard's old and unfunny 'dad' jokes though, that's a given.

No, we need some fresh input.

Maybe Richard can brush up on his home-made cartoons which he is good at. His nickname of the 'stick man' wasn't for his sexual conquests that's for damned sure.

Then again, Robert and his new best friend AI could come up with some funnies.

I'll see if I can download a free cartoon maker programme*.

Have fun and I recommend that, to help that happen you should sin a lot.

* Most of those 'free' apps are scams though that at best seek to lock you in to subscriptions or at worst steal all your data.

NEW POST - THE RELIGIOUS CURMUDGEON

 END DAYS

THE CATALYST*

* And hopefully not the cataclysmist. 

We all know that Donald Trump is a buffoon who has become inexplicably wealthy and influential.

He is egotistical, narcissistic, greedy and generally awful as a human being but ...

                                                     ... and he does have a big butt ... there are some things that he is doing that, by accident, are maybe an acceleration of what is likely to happen, over time, anyway. Things like: the slimming down of the bloated USA government and institutions; the fall of the USA 'empire'; the rise of China, India and Pakistan as global powers; the consolidation of billionaire 'oligarchs' in positions of political power etc.

There's one thing that he is triggering, more by default than by deliberation and that's the polarisation of the geopolitical landscape.

A while ago I wrote a post about the unification of South America. See:

THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW PART TWO

I could have followed this up with the unification of North America, Europe, Africa and the 'sub continent'. Maybe I will sometime given the incredible number of comments that post attracted.

Trump's annexation plans for Canada and Greenland, for all its bluster, has some possibility for the future - but not as he would plan it. His trade war ambitions against Canada and Mexico have at their root, a desire to weaken those countries and their economies to make them dependant on and subservient to the USA. This will in time, blow up in his face and that of any follow-on right wing imperialistic presidents. Like with The Tarot the prediction is not what will happen but what might happen:

Tarot readings are often used not as a means of predicting a fixed future, but rather as a tool for exploring potential paths and gaining insights into the present, helping individuals make conscious choices and understand their current situation.

Trumps braggadocio is more likely to weaken the USA economically and militarily rather than its neighbours and, bizarrely make (in the longterm future) a possible scenario of unification of the three powers that make up North America - USA, Canada and Mexico.

Similarly, his geopolitical dabbling in European affairs, his attacks on NATO and the UN and his siding with Russia against the wants and needs of Ukraine, Germany, France, UK, the Scandinavian countries etc. might accelerate (and there are already signs of this like France stating that it could position its nuclear arsenal in Germany, closer to Russia) a more formal coming together of Western Europe (with some of the Eastern European countries like Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic etc as well as turkey).

It's not a far stretch to see China collecting its Asian neighbours together as well into an Asian consolidation and, India, Pakistan and the 'sub-continent' countries doing the same if they could ever get over their religious and cultural differences. I did suggest this as long-term though. Much longer-term could be the unification of Africa.

We live in interesting times.

START MAKING SENSE

Yes, the great David Byrne and Talking Heads, prescient as always.

We need people like these artists to point out the fallacious arguments that politicians and their partisan media put forward and Byrne is on who does it best.

Reality does follow art sometimes and the impressive Justin Trudeau hasn't been shy to take it to Trump and his cronies. No doubt you've been following the lates Trump fiascoes but here's Trudeau - on point (en pointe).

 

Yes, and as I guess you picked up - Trump is indeed 'burning down the house'.

NEW POST THE CHURCH OF THE BLESSED CURMUDGEON

 

HELL'S BELLS - THE LAST JUDGEMENT

FILLING GROOVY*

* Or, filling - gravy.

What's this?

No, it's not a 'cowpat' even though there is some similarity.

According to Richard, in a recent post, it was his lunch - a potato-top pie.

It looks disgusting and maybe the cowpat would give it a run for its money (pun intended).

The old and obviously confused guy just had a colonoscopy, the preparation for which removes shit from the body. I guess he just missed all that shit and is hell-bent (ask Robert) on getting it back in.

Now I like to eat the occasional pie, sometimes cooking my own. When buying from a bakery though I stick with:

• Pumpkin or other vegetable pies
• Butter chicken pies
• Smoked fish pies.

Fortunately up north there are some specialty pie shops that carry extensive ranges of gourmet pies like:

• Wild pork and kumara
• Paua
• Seafood
• Pulled beef, lamb or pork
• Venison
• Roast peppermint and vegetables
• Various steak combinations
• Various curry styles
• And my favourites - pumpkin, butter chicken and smoked fish.

Yummy.

OK - I had to do it:

PSST - D'YA WANNA BUY A BRIDGE?

 

No? Then how about an old house?

We listed today so things are on the move.

Here's a link: RAY WHITE

JUST J J J JIGGLE IT A BIT*

 * With apologies to The The The Guy - and Arkwright.

The Old Girl was using the washing machine today and called out to alert me that the machine had stopped working halfway through the wash cycle. It had locked up and was beeping its head off trying to tell us that there was a problem.

"We'd better get a man in." she said.

"A 'man' would cost us several hundred dollars" I replied, "it'd be cheaper probably to buy another (reconditioned) one."

The washing machine - A Fisher and Paykel GW series has given us great service for about 20 years.

I said that I'd check out the instruction manual (fortunately I've learned to keep all of the manuals that come with things we buy) and, if necessary, on-line to see if there was a solution. There were lots of suggestions but none that seemed to relate to our particular problem.

"We'd better get a man in." The Old Girl said again.

I wasn't going to do that straight away as tradespeople, particularly fix-it people** for dedicated company products charge 'an arm and a leg' for services and this is exacerbated by the fact that we live 30 minutes from town meaning an hour's travelling time.

What I did, when The Old Girl was at work in her office (my study) was manoeuvre the machine out of its dedicated space, empty out the heavy and wet towels and clothing that most likely contributed to overloading and set the machine to 'spin'. Nothing happened but the machine made some noises like it was trying to engage the motor. I then turned it off, removed the plug from the wall socket and tipped the machine over to a 45 degree angle. I propped it up so that it wouldn't come down on top of me and made sure that no water was leaking out. I looked at the workings underneath - things like this pump and wiring ...

... plus the bottom of the drum.

Using all the knowledge of things mechanical and electrical that I've built up over the years I poked, prodded, twisted, thumped and j j j jiggled everything that was within reach. I then re-righted the machine, pushed it back into place, reattached the water lines and the drain hose, plugged it in and turned it on to the 'spin' setting. 'Clunk', 'clank' and 'whirr' it said before starting up its spin cycle and emptying out the water in the drum. Job done. I put half of the amount of wet washing back into the machine - just in case - and set it to the normal wash settings. It's now working perfectly.

Hey! I'm pleased.

** The more observant reader will have noticed that I wrote 'tradespeople' and not 'tradesmen'. I'm not being particularly PC as, on the last 3 occasions that I've had tradespeople call in to do jobs - air conditioning yearly service, heat pumps filter changes and window washing - the tradesperson was a young woman. "More power to them" I say.

"EE-AH-HA-HA-HA"

 I'm going to miss our seagull* when we leave here.

Our seagull is a black backed gull - a karoro:

He's been living here or should I say, we've been living here in his habitat for over 15 years. Karoro generally live for at least 20 years and our old mate - we call him John - is starting to show his age.

He's raised many offspring and it's been a joy watching them grow up and learn to fly. John lives on the beach in front of us and sensibly made his home yeras ago next to a freshwater stream that comes down from Mount Aubrey up behind our house

I walked out at low tide the other day and was able to get quite close to John. I guess he's familiar with us and at his age maybe doesn't want to keep flying away. I feed him sometimes with meat scraps. I like him.

* Not Robert's Holy Seagull. I don't trust that guy.

YOU'VE EATEN ALL THE BLUEBERRIES MATEY!

 

I like fruit and in New Zealand we have a great selection of sensibly (not too forced) grown varieties that, if you stick to seasonality are fresh, crisp and flavoursome. We are not as dependant on internationally grown stuff like in USA and Europe that, while looking big and good tend to be bland and flabby.

Bananas and 'exotics' by and large are imported and it's important to choose wisely in the supermarket because, away from the inert gas environment in your own home these overdevelop rapidly.

I try to make sure that we use up the fruit we buy as quickly as possible although a soft banana is perfect for making a banana cake or a tuna and banana toasted sandwich.

Blueberries tend to be expensive with at best a small punnet costing about $5. I buy two at a time keeping one for myself that I use up in three portions for my breakfast cereal. The other I tell The Old Girl is hers and exhort her to not forget them and eat them while they are fresh. This doesn't always work and sometimes she has entirely forgotten or leaves a half full punnet in the fridge for a week. This bugs me and sometimes I use them up - picking out the manky ones and trying to eat the dried-out and now basically flavourless ones. It's best to 'drown' these in milk on top of Weetbix.

All OK you'd think but invariably I hear a call from the kitchen:

"You've eaten all the blueberries matey!"

Sheesh! 

... GOING ...

 

Nearly there.

... GOING ...

 

Won't be long now.

GOING ...

 

WHAT ME WORRY?

 We've had a great run of beautiful weather which unfortunately I haven't been able to take advantage of.

After the operation last Wednesday I have to 'rest' the eyes for 2 to 3 weeks which means not putting them at risk of getting grit in them which would trigger rubbing. Tennis, golf, gardening, swimming, kayaking and 'handyman' activity is banned. It's a bit frustrating but it's important to follow the eye surgeon's instructions.

There are many things that I want to do but have to take it easy and watch the world through the windows.

Of course I could bother my readers with more blog posts as there's no shortage of stupidity to report on and I'm not even talking of religion here. I'm not sure if I can be bothered though.

I'm waiting for the mailman to arrive with, hopefully, a letter of confirmation of my vision tests post op. which I can take to AA to have my drivers licence changed. The 'correcting lenses must be used while driving' condition has to be removed and I guess a new photograph taken.

"I HAVE A DREAM"*

* "Tell him he's dreaming"

Is David Seymour New Zealand's version of Elon Musk in so far as they both relate to attempts to dismantle social welfare programmes, move governmental institutions and practices to private enterprise and ensure that the wealthy and privileged in our society become richer and contribute less on the backs of the poorer and less privileged?

That was a long sentence but not as a long a sentence as we will all be under if Seymour is allowed, like Elon Musk, to get away with his nonsense unchecked by a weak and ineffectual leader - Chris Luxon for us and Donald Trump for the Americans.

It seems that the only thing that these limp dicks can do is glare at their usurpers:

We have all been watching with disbelief how Trump has allowed an unelected but very rich donor to the Republican Party to take over the running of the US government. It's a slow train wreck that will have dire consequences for USA and the world as early as this year.

At home, our own train wreck, David Seymour and the ACT Party are being allowed to undermine some of our institutions to the advantage of commercial enterprise and the disadvantage of previous providers, recipients of service and benefits and I fear, our society at large.

So who are these people?

Wikipedia told me:

What are the values of the Act Party?

Principles. According to former party leader Rodney Hide, ACT's values are "individual freedom, personal responsibility, doing the best for our natural environment and for smaller, smarter government in its goals of a prosperous economy, a strong society, and a quality of life that is the envy of the world".

That's pretty innocuous but does hide some scary intentions to strip out expensive and unnecessary government spending - in their view free education, social welfare, community housing and public health systems amongst others. There's a whiff of eugenics in there not to mention some ambitions as pronounced by the National Socialist German Workers' Party in the 1920s and 1930s.

 

On a personal level, Seymour states on his own webpage:

                     WHAT I BELIEVE

The Epsom electorate suburbs of Mt Eden, Newmarket, Parnell, Remuera, and Epsom itself are overwhelmingly defined by education and aspiration. There are 30 schools in an area of only 20 square kilometres, and the electorate boundaries are almost identical to major school zones. People have come here for hundreds of years for a better life, and that continues to this day.

My own story is quintessentially Epsom. I left home to board in the electorate at age 13 because I wanted to attend Auckland Grammar. My values and policy positions reflect this spirit of aspiration through education that I believe is at the core of our electorate.

I see it as a great privilege to represent my neighbours in Parliament. I regularly knock on doors, attend local events, meet constituents in my office, and conduct scientific polling to ensure that my representations in Parliament reflect your views. I welcome your feedback through the channels advertised on this website.

After working as an electrical engineer, I spent five years working for private sector think tanks in Canada. I also spent a year working in Parliament on the Partnership (Charter) School legislation. A robust understanding of public policy is essential for being an effective MP.

I believe the role of Government is to provide essential infrastructure; insure against misfortune through healthcare, free education, and benefits where necessary; and regulate against genuine conflicts of interest, including conflicts with the natural environment.

However, we must acknowledge that every dollar spent by Government must be taken from taxpayers, every regulation restricts possibility. Abrupt and erratic Government activity erodes confidence and reduces human flourishing. My voting record in Parliament reflects a healthy skepticism of what Government can achieve once the costs of its activities are taken into account.

On conscience issues I reflect the views of the Epsom electorate. I have sponsored the End of Life Choice Act to give compassion and choice to those suffering at the end of their life. On abortion, I have unapologetically stood for a woman’s right to choose.

On law and order, we must ensure that policy is set to protect the needs of law-abiding citizens, and victims in particular, first. However, we must also recognize (sic) the paradox that effective rehabilitation of prisoners is one of the most efficient ways to promote public safety.

OK, Seymour manages, in a short statement, to contradict himself numerous times. It's as if MLK said "I have a dream .." only to go on to say that actually he doesn't sleep well and never dreams.

Thinking and writing about this I can see that this could become a series - a long one if each of Seymour's (and Musk's) attacks on socialist-leaning government policies and community initiatives are investigated.

The ACT Party does not believe in government helping the weak and the disadvantaged, seeing them as, on the one hand bludgers and a drain on the economy and, on the other hand as cheap labour that should be exploited by smarter and by definition, richer people aka ACT and National supporters.

 There's one Seymour-driven and ACT Party initiative that's playing out like that slow moving train wreck at the moment. Like with Trump's Musk-driven wreck this is interesting to watch and to expect it's obvious ending but - to the people closely involved and affected by it, it's not funny. I'm talking here about Seymour's school lunch programme.

The previous 'school lunch programme' was more of a community-driven programme than a commercial, profit-driven one. Schools shared the activity amongst themselves and the communities that they support. The inputs were results driven not profit motivated and, by and large were successful. An interesting by-product in addition to inter-school cooperation was promoting families and communities to become more involved with schools' functions and budgets. Localised provision was used and it was easier (and safer) to cater to dietary and faith-driven requirements. Everyone was happy - or, they should have been until the right wing leaning, free enterprise loving and 'where's the bottom line?' ACT Party was enfranchised. Sheesh!

What was the intention of the school lunch programme you might ask.

Well, luckily for you reader(s) I have the answer.

The former school lunch programme was delivering a dual benefit: healthier children more able to concentrate and achieve in the classroom, and healthier communities for whom the school lunch programme had become a force for social cohesion.

           - Scoop 

Now I find that interesting. There are only positives there: Health; achievement; community wellbeing; social cohesion. I like it.

Scoop and Gordon Campbell told us:

More to the point, the former school lunch programme was also a sin against commerce. Community involvement – and the inter-school efficiencies of scale – were ripping profits from the hungry mouths of corporate providers, who have now been invited to deliver a shoddier product at less cost to the government, while still enriching themselves in the process. Because hey, if you can’t make a profit from feeding hungry kids, what’s the point?

There's the rub (thanks Hamlet).

Campbell said:

The school lunches saga gets worse by the day. Bland, repetitive menus, failures in heating, failures in timely delivery, failures to deliver halal meals that are truly halal, endangering children who have known allergies by giving them food that may contain the triggering ingredients, etc etc. It's not as if this new system was sprung on anyone overnight. The private sector, for all its alleged efficiency, had been given eight months notice to get prepared, and get this right.

And:

If ACT leader David Seymour can’t/won’t now admit that this brainchild of his is a total disaster...what more evidence pray, does he need? Do children have to die in the school cafeteria before Seymour will admit the error of his ways, and revert to the old system, as previously funded?

I agree with him. Seymour is pushing his own agenda, like with Charter Schools and his Treaty interpretations at the risk of vulnerable and needy people who haven't his wealth and influence to counteract decisions that affect them.

Now you are probably, if you bothered reading up to this point (sorry Robert that I didn't include your name, mention of Jesus, Mary and The Holy Ghost and  treatise on evil) wondering how this ties in with that immature scrote Elon Musk and his current (but soon to be side-lined) enabler Donald Trump. Well, wait no longer as, if I can borrow another quote from Gordon Campbell:

"What ACT is doing – with the support of coalition partners like Education Minister Erica Stanford – is in line with an age-old method of cutting public services. First, reduce the quality of an essential service so drastically that the demand for it plummets. Then, with fewer people using the service, more “savings” can be made by cutting back further on the programme, which will end up delivering an increasingly shabbier product to fewer and fewer end users. The “savings” will be immense!

With good reason, the main focus in the school lunches debacle has been on the repetitive fare and bad taste/poor quality/inept delivery of the food, the subsequent waste, and the likely impact on the educational outcomes for children now going hungry. The related social cost has been paid less attention, but is worth considering."

I'm just glad that I had sandwiches made for me by a loving mother and the opportunity to add on a tuck-shop pie or Friday fish and chips when I was at school in the 50s and 60s but understand how difficult it is nowadays.

TIMES PAST

My aunt sent me a photograph taken of her and me back in the 1950s.

It came with a letter and my uncle's funeral card.

At the time I was living with her in Karori for nearly a year while my mother was recovering in hospitals and back in Eiffelton with her parents following surgery after a bad accident. I was 'farmed' out to my Aunty Bridie; my brother was sent to Ashburton to stay with an uncle; my older sister was sent to Blenheim to stay with another aunt.

Dad was busy with his contracting business and was spending every spare moment building our house in Vogeltown. It must have been a stressful time for mum and dad.  This photograph brought back a lot of memories of my life with my aunt and uncle (who died last month).

“For those of us who believe in physics, the distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion".

         Albert Einstein 

ANOTHER STEP - HOPEFULLY IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

It's a gorgeous day here and the real estate agent has been taking photos of the house (inside and out) and the location (the bay, the surrounding mountains).

The house looks better than it has for years - probably since we moved in 15 years ago following a couple of months of decluttering, fix-it stuff, painting, landscaping and cleaning. Whew! The Old Girl spent hours yesterday and this morning scrubbing, polishing and dusting and I've been warned not to make a mess. This basically means not moving, not touching things, not using the showers or toilets and basically - not breathing. I have been allowed to sit quietly and read a book and, now that the inside photography is done am allowed to sit in the study (my side only) and use the computer as long as ... you've got it ... I don't make a mess. I've been rewarded with a glass of Deutz rose though so I must have been doing something right.

I can't wait to see the photographs. The agent is a bit of a camera buff but also had a professional photographer with him as well. He's been operating a drone for the high and long shots which I know will look good as I've taken some stunning pics in the past from my kayak just using a basic digital camera or my phone.

I just took a few phone photos showing how the inside looks but these are pretty basic compared to what the pros will produce. Here's a selection:

The Old Girl and I, on the weekend discussed how we love living here and, if the house doesn't sell at a reasonable price, we're very happy to stay. Looking at the house and our location today I'm tempted to hope that no-one else wants to buy the place and that, as we've mentioned before, they'll have to carry us out 'boots first'.