I have done much walking on the Waikato River Trail between Jones Landing
and Little Waipa Reserve. Sometimes I go
downstream and sometimes up. Ray waits
in the car where roads intersect the trail, just to check I am all right. One
day, as I was coming along the last open stretch toward Jones Landing, I saw
what I thought was a $10 note on the track ahead of me. It was!
A breeze would have blown it away.
The forthcoming rain would have ruined it. Someone's loss was my gain. Ray said I should spend it on something
special, and I had an idea about what.
The next day we were off to Matamata to spend my magic $10 at the
Family Store (Salvation Army Op Shop). A
pair of curtains I had my eye on last time were still there. Last time I had not the measurements with
me. Today I did, and the curtains seemed
just right for my bedroom. So I
spent $7 on them. The lady there asked it we had been to the
Book Fair up the road. We had not known
of it. We went. There for $1 Ray got the
National Geographic magazines he was missing up to and including 2013. So six magazines for one dollar!
I wanted copy paper, so we went to The Warehouse Stationery. Next door to it was the SPCA Op Shop which we
had never noticed before. Perhaps it was new. A very nice shop it is. Outside was a rack of clothes for $1. I picked up an olive green sweater, part
wool. It was when I got home that I
found my bargain. The sweater was brand
new. The original tag and price were
still on it. $34.95!
The highlight of the month was a visit from William, Jessica and
Seth. They were in Temple View briefly
for their temple week. They visited us
for a few hours. It was so great to open
the door and see them standing there smiling on the doorstep. I am not sure that Seth was smiling. Held in
his father's arms he looked as if pleasantly curious to see what was going to
happen next.
They had lunch with us, and spent some time out in the garden. It
was a beautiful day. I was completely enamoured with Seth. I held the birdbath
steady while he dabbled in it, and picked daisies from the grass to put in the
water. When he wanted to walk on the garden
beds I gave him a little stick and showed him how to dig the soft soil. He
climbed on the 'barbecue' where I used to have a fire to do my dyeing. He fell sort of sitting into the weed covered
fireplace and could not get out. He did not like that much. Back in the house I brought out a basket of
blocks that his grandfather used to play with.
When I built a little tower, I expected him to knock it down. Instead he tried to add another block to the
tower. Smart kid! He is a darling little boy, with a cute
little nose and a slow sweet smile. I wish I could see him often, before he
changes into another stage of little boy. (Surely never the 'terrible two'
stage!)
Ray had a couple of 'adventures' in Little Waipa Reserve that he
was not happy about. I am going to copy
the account from a letter to Calvin, to save having to write it out again.
“Gramps had quite an adventure a couple of weeks ago. You would hardly believe it could happen.
There is a place called Little Waipa Reserve, where part of the Waikato River
Trail emerges. Gramps often waits there
in the car for me, having dropped me off higher up the Trail. This day I met him as usual at Little Waipa,
but decided to walk back up the Trail for a few kilometres. (I was getting in shape for the “Taniwha”, of which
more next week.) So far so good. Gramps started to drive away to meet me at
the next point where the trail crosses the road. I started to walk. I had not gone far when Gramps came hurrying
after me, calling me to come back.
Why? He did not explain beyond to
say, “I'm stuck.” He in person was
obviously not stuck. What did he
mean? “You will see,” was all he would
tell me. At the Reserve I could see the
car, door open. What was wrong?
When we got closer to the car, I did see! The car was balanced on the tree stump in the
photo above, much as Gramps is balanced in the photograph. It was absolutely amazing how it got
there. It was perhaps not so amazing
that Gramps failed to see the stump. His
eyesight is getting poor. Even so, it
was a big enough stump to see, surely!
We reckon it was because “Tommy” was on the dashboard. Tommy is the toy monkey Gramps was taken with
and bought a few weeks ago. The ironic
thing was that neither of us wanted a toy sitting on the dashboard, but each
thought the other did! Tommy got the
boot! He now sits at the back of the
car. Even so, monkey or not, Gramps
could not believe he had not seen that stump.
The really amazing thing was how easily the car was driven up there.
.
It was not so easily driven down.
No way could the car unaided get off that stump, forwards or backwards,
spin the wheels as it would. A guardian
angel or good Samaritan appeared in the form
of a man who had a car and caravan parked a short distance away. .
He brought blocks which he used to steady his caravan. We worked
away putting the blocks here and putting the blocks there, but the car would
still not go backwards or forwards. Our
friend then brought over a powerful jack.
When the car was far enough off the ground, things began to happen. Slowly and carefully, Gramps was able to back
the car down to solid earth. We looked
under the car. There seemed to be no
damage. No oil leak or anything. Wow!
Thanks be for that man!
I gave up the idea of a further walk that day. Gramps just wanted to go home, and who could
blame him? On the way home I had a
sudden regret. Why had I not had the
presence of mind to take a photograph of the car on the stump? What a missed opportunity! Gramps agreed. So we decided that the next time we were at
little Waipa, we would get a photograph of the stump, at least. So that is what we did. I asked Gramps to stand on the stump. He went one better and lay on the stump. As he lay there, I tried to tell him to
'plank', but he did not know what I
meant, and probably could not have straightened out anyway. I took the photo. .
Then the next part of the 'adventure'! That tree stump had not finished with us
yet! When he got up Gramps found he had
pine sap on his clothes. He said he had
examined the stump and thought it was dry because it had a layer of dust on
it. When he lay down, he broke though
the dust, and my telling him to straighten out only made him press more firmly
into the pine gum. What a mess! He tried to rub it off with his hands, and
got gum all over his hands. In that
state he could not even drive the car, his hands would stick to the steering
wheel. .
No Good Samaritan around
today. The only thing I had that might
dissolve the gum was vinegar. And
soap. So he doused his hands with
vinegar, which helped, then took the soap to the river and worked away at the
rest of the gunk. How come I had vinegar
in the car? Gramps likes white vinegar
on fish and chips. So when we buy fish
and chips to eat away from home, he can have his vinegar! Getting it off his clothes was impossible
right then, so he covered himself with rags to protect the car, and home we
went.
.
For
days I tried to get the stuff out of his clothes. His shirt was relatively easy. His sweater
cleaned well enough so one would not notice, but his pants were much stained.
First I ironed a lot of the tar out on to paper towels. Then I tried kerosine,
methylated spirits and rubbing alcohol, separately, over the course a
week. Each helped a little. Then I washed the pants well, lest Gramps go
up in flames with all the inflammable stuff in the fabric! ”
News on the home front, apart from the
'new' curtains which look very nice, is that we bought a 'new' lounge suite
from Low Bucks second-hand furniture shop.
The responsibility for that was entirely mine. I just liked it so much better than the suite
we had. It has an old-fashioned look
which goes with our house. It cost $300,
so Ray had no complaints about the price.
You can see it next time you visit us!
Or I suppose we could take a photograph for Ray to fight into the blog.
Until next time, that’s it from the
Pettys senior.
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