One of our favourite time-wasters is doing jigsaw puzzles. We tend to go in for easier ones, that is, those with 500 pieces, because of the limited space on the dining room table. These are almost always Op Shop purchases. Sometimes we get fooled and one that looks easy turns out to be difficult. We made a purchase in November of puzzles that we knew would be difficult. There was a carton full of puzzles in plastic bags with no pictures. We bought a couple at $1 each. We knew some of the puzzles in the box had pieces missing, because in the first one we did there were three pieces that did not belong. Whether in that first one there were pieces missing we never did find out, because we could not finish it. (Actually I think we might have counted the spaces and the pieces left over and found the numbers tallied. We do that sometimes when we get stuck.) But we could not piece together the mauve sky, try as we would. So Ray took a photo of what we had done and put it away with the pieces. We decided we would give that one to Margaret. She can do jigsaws we give up on. She is a whiz. However, we were gluttons for punishment and later in the month went and bought the whole box with the rest of the puzzles. We now have in all nine puzzles with no pictures. Perhaps we have a life-time task!
I planted out seedlings I had grown in little pots, and they are all doing fine. On the tomato plants I coddled all winter from self-sown seedlings, I have several green tomatoes. I have been eating strawberries from the pigeon pen, and have had one raspberry. I actually got all the garden weeded. That is, all I intended to. Ray pointed to one of my wilderness beds and asked when I was going to weed that. Answer, I was not. It looks very pretty as it is with wildflowers and pretty grasses.
November 5th was a historic day. The 100km Waikato River Trail cycle track and walkway was officially opened. The walking track part is a misnomer, because it is not 100 unless you want to walk 18.5km on the roads where it has not yet been possible to build the track across farmland. Still, it is a fair distance walking trail, and as one would not tackle it in a day, the road parts can be missed out. The plan is for Margaret and me to walk it in February, with Ray dropping us off and then picking us up and bringing us home for the night from convenient places. We shall see.
The trail has been seven years in the making. The day of the opening was a big affair. A great event had been organized, with marquee, registration tents, mobile barbecue, coffee (and hot chocolate) vending van, and two or three portaloos. Each registered person was given a muesli bar and a bottle of water. I did not take the water. Ray did because he takes anything that is free! The muesli bar was actually a soft biscuit roll with apricot filling and was delicious.
There were many guest speakers. (This is where Ray got bored!) Two members of Parliament, our local member Louise Upton, and a member from the Green Party; the man from Mighty River Power, whose name I have forgotten; the mayor Neil Sinclair, the ex-mayor Gordon Blake; Ali Van der Hayden, whose idea the trail had been; and the opening speaker, the Komatua Nigel somebody. He told the story of the naming of Whakamaru. He told of the first Maori who landed at Kawhia, and the first two to come inland. One was a chief, and the other his wife whom he loved so much that he named landmarks after her, Pirongia, Kakepuku and more. His wife was Kaahu.
The real name for Whakamaru is “Whakamarumaru tanga-o-Kaahu keke”, the place made to shelter Kaahu and give her rest. (As I read somewhere that Kakepuku was named because the chieftain thought it looked like his wife's pregnant belly, Kaahu probably needed a sheltered place to rest!) I asked Nigel afterwards to write down the name for me. Nigel also offered the traditional prayer. At the end of the Maori prayer he prayed in English, and it sounded just like an LDS prayer. I was happy to hear it.
The formalities over – they took about an hour, maybe less – the cyclists and the people doing the 14km walk were taken by bus to Mangakino. The remainder were treated to a free barbecue sausage and bread. Ray was of the remainder, but spurned the barbecue and instead ate the sandwich I had made him. Ray was taken to a point where there was an access road, half way between Whakamaru and Mangakino, and did the 8km walk. He managed it all right, and I managed my 14km all right.
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