DREAM

 

I’m still a little shaken. I woke after another version of my Fear Dream. All ended well but it was scary.

The theme is always something to do with heights. usually I’ve climbed to a high place. The climb always involves a measure of risk. At some point the way down becomes impossible or a leap in faith beyond my physical ability is required. At this point I either wake up in a terrible state or I find an alternative way.

 

This time the setting was a campus with a few ‘play’ structures. There were some high, square towers which looked like a series of slatted wooden crates stacked to a great height, maybe 60-70 feet/20-23m, standing on concrete paving.. The challenge was to come down them head first using the slats as hand hold and one’s feet to balance and also use the slats as footholds. Crazy thing to do but like all dreams it made sense at the time.

 

Some of the towers were straightforward in that the slats were evenly spaced but a few had tricky places where the gaps and handholds were hard to get hold of in a safe way. I had done this previously with success. This time I inadvertently chose a tower with tricky spaces. When I reached the hard place and tried many times to work out how to get past and continue my descent. I was aware of the hard landing and was still to high up to risk a fall.

Finally I asked for help …. there were many people around and help was quickly available. Someone anchored my feet and after little time I felt safe enough to try again to make a good, strong hand hold.

I found a hold I was confident with but in the meantime another safety feature had kicked in. The tower unfolded a bit like an escalator and I was on the ground which had become soft grass. Although relieved I felt cheated as though I’d failed the challenge.

What interested me on reflection were two things. First I asked for help and it was there and effective so that I felt safe. The second thing was when I felt safe enough to make a move, suddenly it was all over. What a relief.

To me this dream was all about trusting the support of other people and knowing when to ask for help. There was also that little bit about receiving help and making the next move for myself. This to me represented feeling safe enough to move. Although still afraid I acted on my faith in the help. I trusted others to be there for me and keep me safe while I did what I needed to do.

Considering what has been going on in our lives for the past few months a dream like this is not surprising. A couple of hours have gone by and I’m not so shaky now. Writing this down has helped.

CELEBRATING MY MOTHER

My mother died peacefully surrounded by many of her family late on Saturday night. 11.25pm January 28th 2012, aged 96 years. 


Mum loved the sea and went for a morning swim nearly every morning from December to April until her 89th year. She had a few swims in the two following years until her heart was simply not strong enough for her to walk from the house to the ocean and back and also shower etc.


I want to put a series of photos of the beach and sea views Mum loved and lived with for many years. My photos are on an external drive and I'm a bit challenged getting them sorted and into a place where I can up-load them. I'll leave that for another day when I can sit quietly for  while.


It's been a great week. A sad, emotional time but amazing. And we have a lot of stuff going on including travelling to New Plymouth to a dear friend's funeral, catching up with our son in Rotorua who was too sick to be with the family this week. In 6 days we fly to Christchurch for 2 weeks to be with family there.


This journal is being neglected but I'm keeping up with my Records on Improving My Health with daily entries. I also write notes about our daily life and how things are going. I write there daily so feel free to look in but remember there is also boring stuff about my weight loss efforts. 

PHOTO ESSAY “SEAGULLS’’

I’ve not been posting here because currently my focus is on improving my health.
Here are a few photos taken over recent days. there has been a dramatic change in the weather. We have summer and my walks are all before 9 am as it begins to get too hot for me any later, even with a cool breeze.



A pair of pretty seagulls feeding

The birds were wriggling their feet quickly in the soft wet sand. They reminded me of gathering pipis, an oval shaped bivalve. We go into the sea at low tide, walking out knee deep, sometimes more, and wriggle our toes until we feel the hardness of a shell. Once we’ve found the bed it’s all bottoms up and busy hands as we grab the shells before they work their way deeply into the sand.



Is there anything interesting your side?

What have you got there?

I think they were feeding on sand bugs/beetles. The beach was covered in tiny air-holes and little mounds of sand where they had burrowed.

Beach walk ends here.

PHOTO WALK AT MATARANGI 8.30 AM

This morning I went for a short walk to the beach.

I’ve gained weight in the last few months with resulting unwellness. To read more about this go to Improving My Health Through Weight Loss and Physical Activity

To prove I went out here are a few photos.

The day dawned brillaintly sunny. A couple of hours later when I was out the clouds darkened.

A SHOWER SWEPT ACROSS THE BEACH

MATARANGI BEACH FRONT

THE RUGBY N.Z. WORLD CUP FLAG CONTINUES TO FLY WITH PRIDE

ONE OF MY FAVOURITE HOUSES

UGLY HOUSE

ROAD FRONTAGE OF UGLY HOUSE

This is what happens when a country becomes too PC about houses standing out from the natural environment. My guess is it is designed by an architect and cost a bomb.

DOES IT FOR ME

I like the natural look and cute too.  Simplicity at it’s best. I don’t think the photo does it justice.

TYPICAL HOLIDAY HOUSE IN SUMMER. 8 CARS, 5 OR 6 TENTS AND PROBABLY ONE BATHROOM FOR ALL

A comment about building styles in New Zealand.



Most districts have a code limiting the colour of roofs and walls. One of my mother’s neighbours recently discovered she could not have white cladding on her new house beside the sea. It would be unpleasantly visible to passing boats. We live on a small beach inside a larger bay. The bay is full of small boats, in season, and shipping is so far out it would hardly be aware of settlement. Breaking waves are white. Does this coastline really need such heavy handed administration?



We were delighted to see the colourful houses of Florida, California, Oregon and Washington States. I felt envious that people are given creative freedom. Black has become high fashion for everything New Zealand. It bothers me.



Walk down a street and almost everyone is dressed in black, grey, or dark colours.

Drive down a street and the houses are likely to be black, grey or sand. Here and there an older house has withstood this modern trend.



Black is a brilliant contrast but to see it everywhere is not stimulating and can be downright depressing.



Black can be smart and sophisticated but when it’s everywhere its just plain sad. I need colour in my life.

FIREWORKS ON BRIGHTON PIER CHRISTCHURCH, GUY FAWKES NIGHT '11

GLORIOUS SUNSET

We are so tired tonight we nearly missed this. John grabbed the camera, under orders. He took the first two shots and came back. Now you know thqat wasn't going to be enough for me.

I rushed out and took the last one just as it was getting too dark for my camera.

One day we'll get the message in time that there's a fabulous sunset and we'll jump in the car and drive 10 minutes or so to the Kuaotuna Boat Ramp and catch the colours in the sea as well.

I hope you enjoy this small taste of the Creator's Art.

WHAT A DAY–SAVED BY THINKING ON THE RUN

Yesterday went pretty much as planned. We left Rotorua in the middle of the day after doing a little house cleaning for Greg. We arrived at the Whitianga New World SuperMarket at 4pm. We did the trip in excellent time in spite of nose to tail holiday traffic. Many of my thoughts revolved around the idiocy, ours in particular, of travelling on the narrow, winding Coromandel roads at this time of year. Too many city drivers have no idea how to drive safely on our roads, I find it a white knuckle experience during summer holidays…… which for me means mid November until after Easter.


We did our shopping quickly then joined the queue for the check-out. Not so quick. At least 30 minutes. One day we will re-locate and it will not be to a holiday destination!


At Mum’s we organised our groceries filling up their fridges. Then I cooked dinner as I’d promised Jane I would. Mum likes lamb but her food needs to be super tender and cut up. I browned shoulder chops and removed them from the pan to caramelise onions. I tossed the chops back in and poured mint sauce over them and let them cook slowly for about 45 min. I fiddled around a bit with the minty gravy until I was happy with the seasoning and was pleased it didn’t need thickening. All were happy with a tasty meal and there was enough left over for tonight which is good as Jane has a long work day.
i enjoyed not having to get in the car again to drive home. We slept in Jane’s bed and Jane put a mattress on the floor under Mum’s Christmas tree.


Now for today … almost the complete opposite. We left Mum’s about 10 am after giving her morning tea. Ten minutes later, on the Kuaotuna Hill our car stopped having lost all drive. We were very glad it happened at a slow traffic pull off and the car had just enough momentum for John to get it pulled in. This is a narrow road with tight, blind corners.


There we sat looking at each other in horror. We only had 6 hours to get the house ready for our next paying guests. How could we possibly manage when we were broken down 20 minutes from home with a car full of stuff.


Thank God for cell phones. We called roadside recovery and managed to get sorted with a pick-up truck. I called Mum and she sent my niece, (visiting on holiday), to pick me up. At this point we really weren’t sure what we were doing. I waited at Mum’s and eventually John called me. I borrowed Mum’s car and drove to the tow truck storage place. Their yard is close to being full of broken cars. Their business is full on at this time of year.


We had to unload all our stuff from groceries to dirty laundry into Mum’s car and set off again for Matarangi. We were pleased to find the house tidy so we got stuck into cleaning with a very short break for lunch. We had less than 3 hours  before our new guests arrived. Somehow we made it,
We bought extra towels Rotorua and I washed and dried them at Mum’s last night. I’m so thankful we did this because ….. it’s still raining, or at least too damp to get things dry. We are slowly building up our linen stock but I’m not yet satisfied we have a complete spare set for all rooms. Our car is full of laundry and I see a trip to the laundromat tomorrow. We are getting fine patches with mugginess, sticky humidity. Rain and plenty of it forecast over the next few days.


Our guests arrived as I was doing some finishing touches. We welcomed them and went into the bus to collapse.
I am very thankful to God that these folk are not so ‘precious’ that they don’t want us on the property.


That was not the end of our day. Remember we had the car loaded from our holiday in Rotorua. We perched on the only free space in the bus and had cold drinks before trying to find places to put all our stuff. No wonder the bus needs a major clean out.I’m ready for bed … but not before I’ve taken pain relief and extra tablets to help prevent cramp.



I can’t believe we managed so well and what’s more we’re not, or at least I’m not, worrying ourselves silly over the car. I believe our calmness and peace are largely due to my determination to trust God and spend time praising and thanking Him regardless of difficulties.


The problem with the car seems to be the transmission. We don’t really have sufficient funds to do major repairs and we aren’t in a position to buy a another car either. Joy!


Life seems to be full of adventures and challenges. At least it’s not boring or dull.

A NOSTALGIC LOOK AT NEW PLYMOUTH

The rain stopped - almost.


I had planned to BBQ T-bone steaks for all of us last night. Rain drowned the BBQ so we bought fish and chips. Tonight the rain held off enough to light the BBQ and get the steaks cooked. It's been a mostly grey day threatening rain off and on.


We only have one night left here. Tomorrow we will stay at Mum's. We'll be closer to home which is good, since we have a short turn around of paying guests in our house. It means our daughter has to drag a spare mattress out into Mum's living-room and sleep on the floor. Not happy about that but the other option ... We stay until Thursday morning, drive 4 hours and spend 6 hours cleaning and preparing our house is not a good one. We are just not fit enough to do that.


Wayne, youngest son from Christchurch, left Mum's yesterday and stayed here at Greg's, the night. It was good to see him as we didn't have any time with him before we came to Rotorua. He has left to visit the Military Museum at Waiouru. He'll cross Cook Strait early tomorrow and be home later in the day. Amanda will be glad to see him. They had 50 quakes yesterday, including a 5.5. Nerve wracking stuff even if no damage.


Today we went shopping to get charcoal for the BBQ since all Greg's wood was wet, wet, wet. I had planned to take a walk but John reckoned he'd done enough so we went for a short drive around the lake front. And of course I never had my camera.


So that was my very exciting day.


I had some nice comments about yesterday's photos so here are some more. 



I have a strong desire to go back to New Plymouth and complete the whole Coastal Walkway from the Port to the bridge or however far it is extended by the time we can return. It is a stunningly beautiful area and the bridge takes my breath away.

PORT OF NEW PLYMOUTH FROM THE BELT ROAD CAMP GROUND

There are many examples of art along the Walkway

THE WIND WAND IS CLOSE TO THE BUSINESS CENTRE

The above photo is not mine so I'm hoping I have not breached copyright.


I have a strong desire to go back to New Plymouth and complete the whole Coastal Walkway from the Port to the bridge or however far it is extended by the time we can return. It is a stunningly beautiful area and the bridge takes my breath away.


Te Rewa Rewa bridge was officially opened in June 2010.

THIS YOUNG MAN CLIMBED NO FURTHER, SAYING IT WAS TOO SLIPPERY

MAN WHITEBAITING BELOW THE BRIDGE
WHITEBAIT ARE TINY TRANSLUCENT FISH
DELICIOUS IN OMELET-LIKE FRITTERS

That's a few more photos a little information about the Te Rewa Rewa bridge over the Waiwhakaiho River on the New Plymouth Walkway.

I found a video of the bridge being moved from the workshop where it was built into position on the walkway. We were particularly interested because the men who started the engineering works, Fitzroy Engineering, were tradesmen where John did his apprenticeship.


New Plymouth holds a special place in our hearts. It's where we met ... way back in the summer of 1960