RUBBISH COLLECTING

Not long after Doug and I had been introduced  I started joining him at Tikipunga to walk Sophie, his Labrador.  I was shocked at the amount of rubbish in the park.  I had recently won a picker-upperer as part of a raffle prize and so we both started to pick up the rubbish.  It is now three years since we started this and we still do it - usually five days a week as on Saturdays, after going to the Growers' Market, we walk part of The Loop at the Town Basin and I pick up and Doug has Sophie on a lead and on Mondays Doug takes Sophie for a walk around the streets near his house before we go on the walk with people with Parkinson's Disease.

A month or so ago a man who is often at the park exercising his dog asked if he could do an artlcle on us for the local paper.  He then discovered that other people  pick up rubbish as well although there is still plenty for us to pick up - six buckets full just recently.

His article  finally appeared in Saturday's edition but as a letter to the editor.  It is good to know that people appreciate it.

Image Caption: Susan Vercoe and Doug Lee simultaneously exercising and beautifying at Tikipunga Sports Park

Article Heading: Unsung champions of beauty

Article Content:

I am very fortunate to be able to stroll in Tikipunga Sports Park early most mornings. Personally, I prefer rainy mornings with no wind: Some precipitation to cool my wildly energetic black dog; no gale to invert my umbrella's dignity. The only thing that detracts from this otherwise cleansing experience, is the significant volume of all sorts of carelessly discarded rubbish that mysteriously accumulates all over the place - it's almost as if the adequately provided rubbish bins are repelling the stuff.

During the several years that I have been visiting the park, I have become acquainted with other regular visitors. Many, like myself, go there to exercise their dogs, some to exercise themselves. Yet there are others who simultaneously exercise themselves and clean the park! These wonderfully community-minded 'champions of beauty' take it upon themselves to traverse the park in virtually all weathers, collecting rubbish into bags and buckets as they go with special reacher-grabber tools, then posting it all in the (undoubtedly astonished) rubbish bins.

At first, I observed only one couple doing this, but then I started visiting the park at various other times of the day and discovered that there are in fact quite a few doing this - both singly and in groups. The other thing that struck me was how very cheerful and apparently happy all these people are. I have subsequently made several modest rubbish collecting forays myself, and far from being a drudgery, it is actually quite satisfying and therapeutic once you get into it.

Anyway, while I am seldom moved to air my opinions, I do feel very strongly that folk such as these deserve recognition for their humbling selflessness and for the very worthwhile contribution they make 

PORCH

My porch which is approximately 3.5 x 4 metres used to be open at either end making it a wind tunnel and, on stormy days, letting the rain in as well.

Some time ago Doug put doors on either end and filled in a gap at the top of one wall making it more cosy.

He then decided to put a ceiling in as one could see the underside of the roofing iron -  originally this was going to be on just one portion but ended up a bigger job (don't they all).  More recently he has painted the ceiling but, of course, that made the walls look a bit faded so he painted them as well.

He then moved the shelving he had made to the opposite wall and I bought a new extending clothes line.  That wall looked a bit bare so he drew some sketches and made some silhouettes which have just been put up.

He cut a small part off the table so that it can go up against the wall (the cut-off piece will soon be put up where the shelves were.

It is now a lovely spot to have my breakfast with plenty of light to check emails or read the paper.

I am thrilled with it.

                                                 That is Sophie's bed in front of the door.

KIM

When we got Kath and Kim from the SPCA we purposefully chose two cats so that they would be company for each other.  (Previously we always had just one cat).

To start with they did seem to be good companions and for the first few months were always curled up together.  Gradually Kath became the dominant cat, although in Kath's latter months I noticed Kim seemed to be holding her own.

Since Kath's demise Kim has blossomed.  She is a great help in the garden - usually getting between me and the weeds I am trying to remove and generally follows me around.  She sleeps in a cat bed in the wardrobe in my bedroom and is quite happy to be kept in at night.

For some time I have had trouble with other cats in the neighbourhood lying in my garden beds  and squashing my plants while waiting for birds to come close.  They were also coming inside on occasions and some were spraying.  I also had to take Kim to the vets after she was in a fight.

Doug now brings his labrador, Sophie, here in the evenings and, when he arrives, he takes her for a walk around the garden.  I have seen very few other cats in the garden since he started doing this.

I had often thought of buying Kim a covered cat bed but they were always very expensive so when I saw one recently in a $2.00 shop (not for $2.00 but reasonably cheap) I couldn't resist it.  It fdidn't take very long for her to use it.   Unfortunately, it is not getting a lot of use at present as it is too hot but I am sure that come winter it will be very popular.

KENDAL MINT CAKE

I am back again.  Not sure what has kept me from blogging - just life I suppose.

My father and his best friend "Uncle" John used to go on walking holidays in the Lake District quite frequently.  Dad always brought back some Kendal Mint cake so, when I came across this in the Supermarket here, I couldn't resist it.  I bought the brown one which was always my favourite.

I know that it is 100% sugar and I shouldn't really be eating it (it is still in the wrapper).  I will most likely try it on one of our walks.

I googled Kendal Mint cake and discovered that Sir Edmund Hillary and Sirdar Tensing took it with them when they scaled Everest.  To find out what a Kendal Mint cake is  see HERE

Had my diabetic eye check yesterday and was told to keep going on as I am as there is no sign of damage to my eyes so that is good.

KAIPARA HARBOUR

Yesterday, we had a cruise on the northern part of the Kaipara Harbour. We drove down to Pahi and the boarded the "Kewpie 2" which took us on a four hour cruise.  Looking at the map we actually covered only a very small part of the large Kaipara Harbour.  We cruised down from Pahi past the Batley Homestead and then went about halfway to Maungaturoto and the railway crossing before returning the same way.

It is a very interesting cruise with a commentary along the way.  I did it once before with Max but, unfortunately, we had a heavy fog that day.

Yesterday, it was fine but the wind was quite strong (as it has been for some time).

                                                                  The Batley Homestead

The Main trunk line - unfortunately, only special tour trains run on it now

ORCHID ROCK ROSE

This plant (or rather its predecessor) was in the garden when I came here.  It is neither an orchid nor a rose but looks delightful at this time of year.  its proper name is Cistus Brilliancy.  I know as I recently found the original plant tag in the garden.

The bush was very woody.  As I was still caring for Max at the time I had someone come in to do some pruning.  Luckily, I stuck some cuttings in a pot, as the pruning was too severe and original plant died.  The cuttings were later planted together rather than trying to separate them.  They have flourished.

These are the self sown geranium maderense that I showed earlier in the month.

I had to come in from the garden as it was too hot (for me at least) I see it is 28 degrees in my porch.

ROLAND'S WOOD, KERIKERI

Yesterday, we went up to Roland's Wood in Kerikeri with some friends  to see the bluebells.  It was a lovely sunny day (perhaps spring has finally arrived).

On entering the wood a crab apple was covered in blossom.

The clivia's were past their best but still provided a good show.

We all took something for a picnic which was most enjoyable.  Far nicer than going to a cafe.

As we went through Kawakawa the train was heading along the main street.