I had a noisy MRI scan today, sometimes being able to choose not to hear is a distinct advantage.
This particular hospital is in the location that was badly affected by the quakes and a large area where houses once were is now grassed. Apparently the land would need to be remediated to be suitable for building on again. I don't properly understand it, but in effect the soil liquified. It must have been terrifying for the residents to find houses sinking and smelly grey mud everywhere. People from other parts of Christchurch came to help and University students formed "The Student Army who dug mud and assisted wherever they could.
On the way into the building I discovered the hospital gift shop. I promised I would reward myself for undergoing the scan so on the way out I bought some rose scented soap from the volunteers on duty.
Hope that you enjoy your time there @rexory - I am sure three weeks will fly by.
Thinking of you @Huia as you wait for your scan results and sending good wishes.
Such a balmy day here, husband is doing concrete and working on the watering system. It sounds like many projects, where once started you have to adjust your plan and go in a different direction to that which you'd planned. That's how it works at our place, anyway!
Cheery daughter home from work, cheery son has just been for a walk (the third this week!!) I am vegging in front of TV having been out this morning. Nothing much planned for the weekend, at this stage, anyway!
We went to the Anzac service held in the local park. A good roll up, and the organising work of the Adventists kept the service moving well. It was very good of them to take on the task.
That sounds very special @Gee D. I've not attended a formal service since leaving school, but I'm taking time today to think on FFM, a family member who died of wounds in WWI and is buried at Etaples cemetery. I hope one day I might visit him.
There has long been a local Anzac Day service, but the fellows who used organise it started to get elderly, then more and more elderly, and the future looked grim. With the San now involved, all is looking good. We noticed that this morning there was a flag flying at half-mast at the formal War Memorial, just a couple of hundred metres away. The services used be held there, but that meant closing the road over the railway for an hour or so - we can't have that, of course, not even just once a year for an hour or so.
A visit such as the one you're thinking of is worth undertaking. We've visited a couple of graves of family members and valued the journey deeply. You'll find a real welcome from those living in the towns. It's easy to do as a day trip by train from Paris. If you're wanting to visit a particular grave or town, you'll find the War Graves Commission very helpful.
It has been a while since I attended one...a decade or so and in Victoria (Beechworth). Before a group bushwalk. Loads of flowers around the memorial fountain in a park here when I walked by last night.
All the best for the scans, Huia.
All the best for those dealing with the results of and any new inclement weather.
Good to see you MaryLouise: an interesting combination as noted!
Had a week in Raymond Terrace and Sydney. Rode the new metro a few stops to visit some friends in Sydney CBD; very swish. Went on gravel and dirt roads on the way home to visit Ellenborough Falls: spectacular, I love my visits there. My once clean car is no longer. Didn't do the walk down or across; just went to the lookout and the head of the waterfall.
Raymond Terrace is now much quieter since the A1 now bypasses it. It used to be my first stop when leaving Sydney, but we now go on to Buhladelah.
As a Novacastrian, Raymond Terrace is to be avoided at all costs! That said we had a nice morning tea in Buhladelah a couple of months ago.
Last look at the rain gauge showed 137 mls since last night. I think it would be more as the rain has been almost horizontal and times. Has been minor flooding low lying areas
There was a leaflet in the letter box today, strongly attacking the independent in the State election. It starts by identifying her as a Teal independent, that of course being a Bad Thing. It asserts that she is widely reported as having been banned from a local hair salon for making a sexualised joke to a 19 year old female hairdresser. No details given of course. In past elections, our seat has been very strongly conservative, and there's Buckley's chance that it will go Labor.
Dropping in to acknowledge that my intensions to spend a little more time aboard in my retirement have so far not been seen through. This may not change in the short term with the impending nuptials of Biggest this Saturday, followed closely by our departure for France, Croatia and Greece the following Friday. We'll see what the second half of the year holds.
The weather forecast for Wollombi on Saturday remains uncertain, so we are praying for sunshine. Mrs Curly Snr has just arrived from Perth, while Mr Curly Snr remains in care. I'm trying not to think of all the things that can go wrong over the next week.
Mrs Curly and I have 3 minutes allotted for a speech - it is under control.
I've failed to report a very fine lunch had with Jugular and Rexory in Perth in March. They were in fine form.
Anyway, onward to prepare mentally for the onslaught of Mrs Curly Snr's non-stop commentary on how everything is terrible, especially things she knows nothing about.
Good to see you Mr Curly and to hear all your news. I hope things go well for the wedding day and that you are able to stick to your 3 min limit, I would find that challenging.
Overseas travel sounds exciting too!
Having a very quiet day today. Will spend some time with son looking at candidates for our electorate in preparation for voting. Also think about which prepoll places might suit us best. Radio are telling me that MOAD have a short line, so might be a good weekday option for us.
Grey and cloudy this morning, I would like some proper rain!!
Cheery husband has returned to work after a fortnight's holiday, no away time for us, but a few jobs finished and unfortunately some others not.
When I was last here, folk were posting about shopping trolleys. I bought one (a bargain from Aldi) to use when I took the bus to Coles. The trouble was/is, there's no way of securing it to or stowing it in Coles' own trolleys, but if I load stuff in it as I shop, and then take everything out to scan at the checkout, security assume that I'm shoplifting.
Problem solved when my ancient Merc became (sort-of, enough anyway) roadworthy again. So it's back to a couple of cold bags and Coles' trolley (yes, I do put that back in the trolley bay. I think that the carpark CCTV should do facial recognition on shoppers who dump the trolley in any old spot, usually taking up a parking space, and ban them from ever shopping there again).
I had the great privilege for a pom ex-soldier of taking an ANZAC Day service at a mountain top community outside Townsville. I wasn't even a citizen when I first started leading those ceremonies. Among the reasons I love doing them, is that I get to sing God Defend New Zealand. It's the only time all year, except for an All Blacks Pumas 🇳🇿 🇦🇷 🏉 game last year.
That's weird FD, I would have thought shoplifters would not be unloading their trolleys at the checkout, but maybe I'm strange to think that!!! I used to do that at the other major supermarket and never had a problem, but that's about 20 years ago, maybe people are more suspicious these days.
Stormy weather hit Christchurch yesterday. The wind is howling and it has rained heavily. Yesterday morning I managed to avoid the worst of it by grocery shopping before 8 am. Apparently this coincides with higher than usual tides which could be a worry as the river at one end of the street is tidal. At least we won't get the snow that has been forecast further inland above 700 metres.
In Wellington all morning flights have been cancelled as has the Interislander ferry - winds there over 160 k,p.h have been recorded,
Aroha (my cat) and I have batterned down the hatches. Spooky, the black cat from along the road, is sleeping on a bed on top of my washing machine, later she will try to infiltrate the bathroom where Aroha's food is stored (she's so predictable).
Staying inside and being safe sounds like a really good idea @Huia . You did really well to get your shopping done so early, good to have that done and out of the way.
I love Spooky's predictability, and that she knows where the good stuff is kept!!
In our house, we can only open the daughter's bedroom door and chat briefly, otherwise both cats try to get into her bedroom. She doesn't like them visiting because they get into her wardrobe and cuddle up there. The real worry is about locking them in her bedroom when she goes to work, because they are so silent and sneaky. I am sure too that she doesn't want to arrive home to any "gifts" they might leave behind if they get caught short and we don't realise that they've been locked in.
Very chilly here today also. Husband has said he will go around tonight and close all the aircon vents and block them with the pieces of cardboard cut to size that we made in our second winter here and realised most of our heat was being lost up the vents. We managed to drastically cut our winter heating bill by doing this. It's a bit fiddly, but well worth the effort.
Like @Huia, we're suddenly in the middle of winter storms after the Table Mountain reserve was ravaged by wild fires earlier this week. Last winter's clothing hangs on me like a bedraggled scarecrow but I cheer myself up by fixating on news reports about the mushroom poisoning case that has Australia in its grip. Each morning I wander past wild mushrooms growing under oaks, poplars and pines and notice how delicate and innocuous death's cap mushrooms (Amanita phalloides) look, along with Oyster Rollrims and False Parasols. At least Fly agaric with its scarlet and white polka dots looks dangerous....
I got a text from my insurance company with helpful info on safety measures and how to make claim today - which freaked me out more than the weather.
I've just discovered that a local state of emergency was declared here and that the river at the end of my street flooded on the usual places, but not in my street. The rain hasn't actually stopped now, but is much lighter, though the wind is still blowing hard.
Spooky has gone out for the night, probably back to her home but doubtless she will turn up in the morning ready to steal more food.
...I cheer myself up by fixating on news reports about the mushroom poisoning case that has Australia in its grip. Each morning I wander past wild mushrooms growing under oaks, poplars and pines and notice how delicate and innocuous death's cap mushrooms (Amanita phalloides) look, along with Oyster Rollrims and False Parasols. At least Fly agaric with its scarlet and white polka dots looks dangerous....
The poison of choice of the ancient Romans - just read I, Claudius ...
Those mushrooms have been problematic on a few occasions @MaryLouise. My memory isn't great, but I'm sure a couple of people have died in my own city because they cooked and ate them after foraging. I guess it's hard to pick which ones are good to eat if they look similar to ones you've eaten in the past, but don't have a lot of expert knowledge.
As a child I always wanted to see the red with white spot mushrooms because I think I read too much Enid Blyton and I'm sure I'd seen them in the illustrations on the covers of her fairy/brownie books.
We used to get mushrooms in our garden and I taught my then toddler that they couldn't be touched, only Mum or Dad was allowed to touch them wearing gloves and we'd pick and bin them. He used to call them "rotters", I guess I used to call them that rather than use some other descriptive word!! I remember going mushrooming as a child with my parents and only being allowed to pick the ones with brown gills. My mother in law would pick and cook the ones growing in her paddocks.
The case before the courts at present is very sad and I'll make no other comment.
Just visited a café's loo. There are four doors. Labelled right to left:
1 D with an image of a wheelchair (Let's guess Disabled)
2 W (Let's guess Women)
3 M (Let's guess Men)
4 Standing Room Only 🤣
Those mushrooms have been problematic on a few occasions @MaryLouise. My memory isn't great, but I'm sure a couple of people have died in my own city because they cooked and ate them after foraging. I guess it's hard to pick which ones are good to eat if they look similar to ones you've eaten in the past, but don't have a lot of expert knowledge.
As a child I always wanted to see the red with white spot mushrooms because I think I read too much Enid Blyton and I'm sure I'd seen them in the illustrations on the covers of her fairy/brownie books.
We used to get mushrooms in our garden and I taught my then toddler that they couldn't be touched, only Mum or Dad was allowed to touch them wearing gloves and we'd pick and bin them. He used to call them "rotters", I guess I used to call them that rather than use some other descriptive word!! I remember going mushrooming as a child with my parents and only being allowed to pick the ones with brown gills. My mother in law would pick and cook the ones growing in her paddocks.
The case before the courts at present is very sad and I'll make no other comment.
Agreed re no comment.
I seem to recall that those who died after ingesting foraged mushrooms a few years back in the National Capital were Chinese immigrants with no knowledge of the local fungi.
@Cheery Gardener I too was fascinated by those spotted mushrooms. I remember seeing pictures of them and both my parents telling me not to touch them if I saw them growing anywhere though it was years before I
did. I don't even know whether they are native to Aotearoa/New Zealand.
I just did a search - introduced species, now widespread, particularly in pine forests and near silver birch and, increasingly in native beech forests.
Today is clean up for Christchurch and other areas hit by the weather. Planes are flying, ferries are sailing, although it will take days before the backlog of passengers is cleared.
Finished my booth shift of the civic duty of handing out How to Vote cards for the forces of Light. Signed off with a sacred sausage and onions, no profane sauce.
Warriors v Cowboys 🇳🇿 🤠 🤠 🏉 will keep me diverted while we wait for The Blessèd Antony Green to prophesy.
We had an episcopal elector, the Bishop visited. By voting, he was affirming St Paul in Romans 13:1-7. By encouraging the church ladies who seized the polling day to sell their sausagey, second-hand booky, and house-plantey wares to aid parish funds, he heeded the apostle's exhortation in 1 Thessalonians 5:11. A true Barnabas, "Son of Encouragement" 😊
I think people are holding off because there are many more votes to be counted. Liberal guy on Aunty encouraging people to hold off on their post mortems, but there does seem to be a swing against them. The night is still young!!!
I think people are holding off because there are many more votes to be counted. Liberal guy on Aunty encouraging people to hold off on their post mortems, but there does seem to be a swing against them. The night is still young!!!
I feel sorry for Mr McGrath ( Lib apologist on ABC panel); he is doing his best in the face of contrary opinion. Doesn’t look good for the coalition.
I think people are holding off because there are many more votes to be counted. Liberal guy on Aunty encouraging people to hold off on their post mortems, but there does seem to be a swing against them. The night is still young!!!
.
That is as it may be: I’d be very surprised if the late votes will make a significant difference to the final outcome.
Very much so. We voted this morning at a Catholic primary school (yes, the one where that little girl was so tragically killed not so long ago). There was virtually no queue.and we were in and out in 5 minutes. Then off to our usual Saturday morning coffee at the café opposite the park.
Very glad it's over and thankful that we have an electoral system that works so well. I hope the LNP don't take their loss as a sign they should move more to the right. I wonder who will be the new opposition leader??
Comments
Glad to hear you are back online @Huia! I hope it continues.
Having a very slow day today and hoping for some rain, but no hailstones, please!
Holiday preparations almost complete. Just have to notify banks and Centrelink of my travels.
This particular hospital is in the location that was badly affected by the quakes and a large area where houses once were is now grassed. Apparently the land would need to be remediated to be suitable for building on again. I don't properly understand it, but in effect the soil liquified. It must have been terrifying for the residents to find houses sinking and smelly grey mud everywhere. People from other parts of Christchurch came to help and University students formed "The Student Army who dug mud and assisted wherever they could.
On the way into the building I discovered the hospital gift shop. I promised I would reward myself for undergoing the scan so on the way out I bought some rose scented soap from the volunteers on duty.
And so do I, @Huia
Thinking of you @Huia as you wait for your scan results and sending good wishes.
Such a balmy day here, husband is doing concrete and working on the watering system. It sounds like many projects, where once started you have to adjust your plan and go in a different direction to that which you'd planned. That's how it works at our place, anyway!
Cheery daughter home from work, cheery son has just been for a walk (the third this week!!) I am vegging in front of TV having been out this morning. Nothing much planned for the weekend, at this stage, anyway!
A visit such as the one you're thinking of is worth undertaking. We've visited a couple of graves of family members and valued the journey deeply. You'll find a real welcome from those living in the towns. It's easy to do as a day trip by train from Paris. If you're wanting to visit a particular grave or town, you'll find the War Graves Commission very helpful.
All the best for the scans, Huia.
All the best for those dealing with the results of and any new inclement weather.
Good to see you MaryLouise: an interesting combination as noted!
Had a week in Raymond Terrace and Sydney. Rode the new metro a few stops to visit some friends in Sydney CBD; very swish. Went on gravel and dirt roads on the way home to visit Ellenborough Falls: spectacular, I love my visits there. My once clean car is no longer. Didn't do the walk down or across; just went to the lookout and the head of the waterfall.
As a Novacastrian, Raymond Terrace is to be avoided at all costs! That said we had a nice morning tea in Buhladelah a couple of months ago.
Last look at the rain gauge showed 137 mls since last night. I think it would be more as the rain has been almost horizontal and times. Has been minor flooding low lying areas
The weather forecast for Wollombi on Saturday remains uncertain, so we are praying for sunshine. Mrs Curly Snr has just arrived from Perth, while Mr Curly Snr remains in care. I'm trying not to think of all the things that can go wrong over the next week.
Mrs Curly and I have 3 minutes allotted for a speech - it is under control.
I've failed to report a very fine lunch had with Jugular and Rexory in Perth in March. They were in fine form.
Anyway, onward to prepare mentally for the onslaught of Mrs Curly Snr's non-stop commentary on how everything is terrible, especially things she knows nothing about.
mr curly
Overseas travel sounds exciting too!
Having a very quiet day today. Will spend some time with son looking at candidates for our electorate in preparation for voting. Also think about which prepoll places might suit us best. Radio are telling me that MOAD have a short line, so might be a good weekday option for us.
Grey and cloudy this morning, I would like some proper rain!!
Cheery husband has returned to work after a fortnight's holiday, no away time for us, but a few jobs finished and unfortunately some others not.
Problem solved when my ancient Merc became (sort-of, enough anyway) roadworthy again. So it's back to a couple of cold bags and Coles' trolley (yes, I do put that back in the trolley bay. I think that the carpark CCTV should do facial recognition on shoppers who dump the trolley in any old spot, usually taking up a parking space, and ban them from ever shopping there again).
I had the great privilege for a pom ex-soldier of taking an ANZAC Day service at a mountain top community outside Townsville. I wasn't even a citizen when I first started leading those ceremonies. Among the reasons I love doing them, is that I get to sing God Defend New Zealand. It's the only time all year, except for an All Blacks Pumas 🇳🇿 🇦🇷 🏉 game last year.
I love the sound of your AMZAC service too!
"I keep getting texts from Trumpet of Parrots. What have parrots got to do with anything?"
"Probably the Greens. They like parrots".
In Wellington all morning flights have been cancelled as has the Interislander ferry - winds there over 160 k,p.h have been recorded,
Aroha (my cat) and I have batterned down the hatches. Spooky, the black cat from along the road, is sleeping on a bed on top of my washing machine, later she will try to infiltrate the bathroom where Aroha's food is stored (she's so predictable).
I love Spooky's predictability, and that she knows where the good stuff is kept!!
In our house, we can only open the daughter's bedroom door and chat briefly, otherwise both cats try to get into her bedroom. She doesn't like them visiting because they get into her wardrobe and cuddle up there. The real worry is about locking them in her bedroom when she goes to work, because they are so silent and sneaky. I am sure too that she doesn't want to arrive home to any "gifts" they might leave behind if they get caught short and we don't realise that they've been locked in.
Very chilly here today also. Husband has said he will go around tonight and close all the aircon vents and block them with the pieces of cardboard cut to size that we made in our second winter here and realised most of our heat was being lost up the vents. We managed to drastically cut our winter heating bill by doing this. It's a bit fiddly, but well worth the effort.
I've just discovered that a local state of emergency was declared here and that the river at the end of my street flooded on the usual places, but not in my street. The rain hasn't actually stopped now, but is much lighter, though the wind is still blowing hard.
Spooky has gone out for the night, probably back to her home but doubtless she will turn up in the morning ready to steal more food.
As a child I always wanted to see the red with white spot mushrooms because I think I read too much Enid Blyton and I'm sure I'd seen them in the illustrations on the covers of her fairy/brownie books.
We used to get mushrooms in our garden and I taught my then toddler that they couldn't be touched, only Mum or Dad was allowed to touch them wearing gloves and we'd pick and bin them. He used to call them "rotters", I guess I used to call them that rather than use some other descriptive word!! I remember going mushrooming as a child with my parents and only being allowed to pick the ones with brown gills. My mother in law would pick and cook the ones growing in her paddocks.
The case before the courts at present is very sad and I'll make no other comment.
1 D with an image of a wheelchair (Let's guess Disabled)
2 W (Let's guess Women)
3 M (Let's guess Men)
4 Standing Room Only 🤣
Agreed re no comment.
I seem to recall that those who died after ingesting foraged mushrooms a few years back in the National Capital were Chinese immigrants with no knowledge of the local fungi.
did. I don't even know whether they are native to Aotearoa/New Zealand.
I just did a search - introduced species, now widespread, particularly in pine forests and near silver birch and, increasingly in native beech forests.
Today is clean up for Christchurch and other areas hit by the weather. Planes are flying, ferries are sailing, although it will take days before the backlog of passengers is cleared.
Warriors v Cowboys 🇳🇿 🤠 🤠 🏉 will keep me diverted while we wait for The Blessèd Antony Green to prophesy.
We had an episcopal elector, the Bishop visited. By voting, he was affirming St Paul in Romans 13:1-7. By encouraging the church ladies who seized the polling day to sell their sausagey, second-hand booky, and house-plantey wares to aid parish funds, he heeded the apostle's exhortation in 1 Thessalonians 5:11. A true Barnabas, "Son of Encouragement" 😊
I feel sorry for Mr McGrath ( Lib apologist on ABC panel); he is doing his best in the face of contrary opinion. Doesn’t look good for the coalition.
That is as it may be: I’d be very surprised if the late votes will make a significant difference to the final outcome.
This is not a repeat of 2019.
Looks good for Labor and less than good for Dutton.
You don’t know how happy I am that not only Labor is back and that Dutton ha been relegated to well-deservef oblivion.
Congratulations on getting rid of them if that's the case!
I do recommend compulsory voting.
Gosh the panel on Aunty really grilling all the LNP people and I was glad to see it because I don't think the LNP were really offering much at all!