Rosemary's Ramblings

Rosemary's Ramblings. The month began in the temple. Or I should say in Temple View. It was our Stake Temple Week. This is to say, 4 days, Tuesday through Friday. I spent 11 hours of each day in the temple. Then I took a walk around the grounds, making sure to go up and down the temple steps at least once for the exercise. By then it would be getting dark and I settled in my private unit for the night. I was feeling a little caged by the time Ray picked me up on the Saturday morning, so was glad when he suggested a walk around Arapuni part of the Waikato River Trail.

We fetched a trailer load of bamboo from Ray's friends' place in Tokoroa. We wondered if we would really have use for it. I find myself using bits of it all the time. I often used to be scrabbling around for sticks for various purposes in the garden. It is good to have a supply. I did much tidying up in my autumn garden, enjoying the great weather. We have a grape vine growing on the fence which our neighbour says is ours. Actually it came from his section when Mike owned it, but I was not going to quibble, and I actually gathered a few grapes from it. They are rather tasteless, especially as they do not get the sun. One should remove the leaves to let the grapes get the sun, but if I do that, the birds eat the grapes. So I made a little grape jelly, and it is delicious. I hope take greater care of the grapes next year and make more jelly.

We bought a blood pressure monitor, and for a few days were taking our blood pressure often. The outstanding thing about it is how it varies, even in five minutes. We are neither of us as low as we would like. Ray is above optimal, and I slide above it and back down. We have neglected the new toy lately. Perhaps we just don't want to know! When Johnny and Janet were here, we took their blood pressure.. Janet particularly is really low, and Johnny's pulse rate was an incredible 44 even though he had just had a cup of coffee. Amazing.

Sometimes Ray just wants to go somewhere. One day we went to Te Awamutu, choosing that place because we had seen an ad in the paper, telling of flash new retirement village, called Rosehill. We had no idea where it was located. On the way we took a detour at Kihikihi and for a change went exploring off the edge of the village. We progressed towards Te Awamutu and by chance happened upon Rosehill. One look at the situation, down in a dip, put me off wanting even to look around. There were pleasantly located houses on Rosehill Road itself, but the village was at the bottom of the hill. Not that we could have afforded to live there if we had liked it. So it was good we did not.

We explored the edges of Te Awamutu some more, and found ourselves in the vicinity of Yarndley's Bush. We had the bush to ourselves and enjoyed the walk through it. We took a look at the LDS chapel in Te Awamutu and had an encounter with a self-appointed guardian whose house overlooks the chapel. He reports suspicious visitors to the police, and keeps the grounds tidy. When Ray was trying to ask him who the Branch President was, he did not understand, and kept telling us the Mormons meet in there. Every Sunday at 10 o'clock. Ray mentioned something about the Christian duty he was doing, and he said, They are not Christians. They are Mormons. So we came to the conclusion that he wasn't. I was glad to get away before he called the police.

We had our stint at cleaning our chapel. We almost forgot. I just remembered when thinking about the Te Awamutu chapel. The others on our team were horrified when I phoned them that we were on. But we got it done without a problem. We were fortunate that it was the week after video conference, and there had been no classes. We told a bunch of youth who were milling around to stay in the rec hall and out of the chapel! We could not curtail the activities of electricians at work drilling a hole through one of the classroom walls. Maybe they cleaned up after themselves. I forgot to check the classroom the next Sunday. Anyway, that's it for five months. Ray and I drove home a round-about way via Whakamaru, Mangakino, Waipapa, Pukeatua and Arapuni, and enjoyed the scenery. Another day Ray went to his Age Concern meeting in Tokoroa. Afterwards we walked in Cougar Park, on the mountain bike tracks, and then, to avoid driving home into the sunset, walked around the lake until it got dusk before coming home.

Janet and Johnny stayed with us for a few days, prior to the Rotorua Marathon. We decided to visit Kawhia. Ray has always liked it there. We left about noon and took our time. Kawhia was apparently asleep for the winter. We directed Johnny, who was driving, all around the town, looking in vain for a motel that was open, and when the others were about to leave town in disgust, I thought that possibly Rosamond House might be taking in guests again. We had seen it advertised many years ago, and then it had ceased to function. There was a chance it was in business again. It was. Ray went in first, as the rest of us were not too enthused by the exterior. It used to have a country cottage look with a picket fence and roses, but now there is a high fence at the front, necessary because it encloses a swimming pool. It is owned by Gary and Jill Froggett.

Ray came back and said we had to see this, so we all trooped in and were duly impressed. The house was built in 1901, and took me back a good few years, as they are 'restoring' it as much as possible whilst modernizing the facilities. I think Ray had already said we would stay. For $100 a couple we got bed and breakfast. (They had it easy over the breakfast. J & J do not eat breakfast. Ray wanted only Weetbix. My poached egg and toast was good, and sufficient, but not what I would expect for a catered breakfast.) We chose our rooms. There were four to choose from, all very nicely furnished with homely touches. I chose one that had three windows in a 'bay' overlooking the harbour. We had a look through the house and admired the restoration Gary and Jill were doing. This involved them in considerable work .

We set out for a walk up the road, wandered around a bit, and got down to the town centre about 5 pm, anticipating a feed of fish and chips. Kawhia is famous (in our family) for its fresh-from-the-sea fish and accompanying chips. Nowhere was open! So we thought we would settle for pies at the 4-Square or whatever it is, but they had long since run out of those, if they ever had any. So we wandered around the shop looking for something for dinner. Janet bought bread and ham and cheese. I bought a couple of tomatoes, and some potato crisps. We decided to make sandwiches on the veranda outside our rooms, rather than invade the kitchen. Ray, who had 'chatted up' Jill, said we were welcome to use the kitchen to cook something, and wanted to buy food to cook, but Janet and I overruled him. We did not want to make free with someone else's kitchen. We had a perfectly adequate dinner of sandwiches looking down on the town from the veranda, for Rosamond House is on a hill. We could see the shop below, and saw when it too closed its doors. Ray boasted that he had made the sour-faced owner smile! The shop was for sale. Johnny figured he could buy it and make a fortune. It could use some improvements.

J & J slept in because they were on Australian time, so next morning Ray and I went for a walk up to the golf course and the first of the rolling hills behind it. Those hills are sand-dunes, and a few years ago were bare. I wondered then why people did not fear that the sand would engulf the town, as the dunes were advancing. Now the dunes are hills covered with grass. In what? 10 years? Perhaps the sea is no longer piling in the sand. The dunes by the ocean are covered with maram grass, planted to stabilize them. It seems to have worked. We took photographs of the morning light breaking through the clouds up the valley. We returned for breakfast as J & J set out for their morning run. Jill said they would get some funny looks being fitness freaks in Kawhia!

It was noon by the time we got to Ocean Beach, the main reason we had come to Kawhia. I set out to walk northward. There was a wonderful sense of freedom on that long and empty beach, walking towards the misty outline of Mt Karioi. Ray had forgotten to change his shoes and was walking in his slippers. This could not have been good for his feet, and it certainly was not good for his slippers! J & J were in bare feet. Ray and I failed to find the hot springs on the beach, although the tide was out. Ray reckons it was not out far enough. Johnny was surprised at the dark sand and the dunes. Janet found it good not to have to wear sunglasses, because the beach gave back no glare. We stopped at Oparau Road House on the way home. That place has just the best meat pies. The Rambler