Putaruru in September

As usual gardening took up a lot of my time, as did going out on little excursions once or twice a week, which we are eager to do because we do not know how much longer we will be able to do so.  We never go very far.  Places that once seemed near, now seem quite a long way to Ray.  I had a few walks on the Waikato River Trail, which I shall certainly miss when Ray loses his driver's license. 

I hope to have better crops from the garden this coming summer.  We ran out of potatoes this month.  I have not bought potatoes for three years, and I was surprised, having to buy them, how many potatoes we seem to get through, with just two of us, even though we certainly do not eat potatoes every day.  My supply of frozen vegetables will not last until the new crops come in either.  Usually I have plenty left over.  The garden seemed lush enough last summer, but just did not bear so well. I have reclaimed a couple of small areas from the 'wilderness' to use this year.

With interest we watched the lead-up to the referendum for independence for Scotland.  I think I would have been happy with the result either way, but I knew that logically it would not be a wise move to break from the U.K.  Coincidentally, about the time of the referendum, I was working on Ray's ancestry and found two men, father and son, who died at the Battle of Bannockburn, at which Scotland last gained independence from England in 314, only to lose it again in 17??? when James the VI of Scotland became James I of England.  Not that Scotland took over England.  The English peers invited James to be their king for want of anyone more to their liking.

It has been extremely interesting following back some of lines from which the Hodders descended.

I am fascinated and sceptical how the people who contribute to Family Tree could get all that information.  When one line went back to William the Conqueror, I thought, okay, that man must have thousands and thousands of descendants in England by now, so why should Ray not be one of them?  Then I found lines to kings of Norway and Denmark.  I went to Google to verify these kings actually existed, because I had never heard of them.  Another line went back to princes of Wales.  When I read the names, familiar from the history taught to me in my childhood, including the man with the odd name Gwenwnywn, I was feeling somewhat jealous. It is I who am supposed to have Welsh ancestors!  However, when through the Welsh lines I came to Anna Margawse, King Arthur's sister, I really wondered how Family Tree could accept such legendary names.  Anna Margawse, according to the Arthurian tales, married a King Lot.  I looked her up on Google, and although the stuff there was legendary, I found that Anna Margawse was married at least twice.  While Loth was indeed one husband, another was Gwair (Gawain), our man. So were these people real after all?

Guess what?  We have been accumulating more books, and particularly more magazines.  There was a Book Fair in Tokoroa for a few days.  While I browsed around and bought a book about Chaucer, sparking in me a desire to re-read the parts of the Canterbury Tales that I read long ago, and then read some more of them, Ray found a horde of National Geographic magazines.  Ray carries in his wallet a list of Geographics that he needs to complete his library.  He found several.  We took our treasures home. Then Ray began to wonder whether he had perhaps missed some that he needed.  So we went back on the Saturday, the last day of the Fair, when we found everything was half-price, and we went through the large stacks of National Geographic magazines again and found a few more that we needed.  (The end of this endeavour happened in October, but now is the time to write it. We went to Matamata for a special purchase at the Family Store.  The lady there asked us if we had been to the Book Fair up the street.  We had not, but we did.  And found all the National Geographics that we needed to the end of 2013, plus a few of 2014.)  Why this search for National Geographic is that there was a mess up several years ago with our subscription, and we stopped receiving the magazines.  At the prices we had paid recently, ranging from $1 a copy the first day at the Tokoroa Fair, to 6 for $1 at Matamata, we figure we have beaten the odds!

The Chaddertons are back in New Zealand.  We had two pleasant visits from them at the end of the month, prior to their Temple Week.  On Saturday 26thTC, Cerian, Lauren and Caleb called in briefly on their way north.  They had lots of things to do and people to see on this trip. One of the things they had to do northward was pick up Vaughan in Auckland. 

On Monday 29th they all came for lunch and we had a good time.  There was much measuring against the door jamb.  TC had lost height, but with exercise and weight loss, has regained it.  Caleb is about 6 inches taller than he was two years ago.  Lauren stays the same, also Cerian.  I have lost even more height.  An incredible 2½''(6cm) in the last two years. Ray has lost 1½''.

So, from the shrinking senior Pettys, that's it for September.  Love you all.  Nan.