Little Red Van

Doug and I had just been to sort out our wills etc. when we had a phone call from his daughter, Christine.  She was doing her Rural Delivery mail run and was on the main road with her flashing light going (not installed in the above photo) and was indicating to turn right when she was rear-ended.

She was pushed to the opposite side with a logging truck approaching.  Luckily there was an experienced driver and he slammed on his brakes and managed to stop.  The young girl in the car behind (early 20's) said she wasn't on her cell phone but had been distracted and didn't see Christine in front of her until it was too late.  Both of them are all right if a bit bruised and shocked but it could easily have been very different.

The girl's car is a write-off and we are waiting to hear about the van.  A moment's inattention has left the girl without a vehicle and Christine in the position of having to rent a van. She has taken on an extra early morning run and was in the process of looking for a back-up van.  The van she will rent will be fine for that run but too large to do her main run so she will have to use her station wagon.

Of course, we are relieved that she is not hurt but the whole episode has been very traumatic.

PARIHAKA

We are trying to get back to having weekly walks up Parihaka.  Yesterday we walked up our favourite track - it is what I call the goat track as opposed to the others that are well formed and have numerous steps.  We had a walk along the river to start with and all up it was an hour's walk not to the top but still good exercise.  There are a few hazards in the form of fallen trees along the way.

COROMANDEL DAWN

When Doug was in the Air force he was asked by a lady to make a small loom for her grandmother to to make tapestries.  Later on she gave him this as a very nice 'thank you'.  I admired it and Doug loaned it to me for my bedroom wall.  

On the back is written "for my Good Samaritan who made me my frames with many thanks Grace Rushton".  It also says that it has been exhibited in the Academy of Fine Arts in Wellington and that it pairs with Coromandel Dusk.

Wisteria

The two photos above are of my neighbour's wisteria.  The first was past its best and has now finished flowering.  The white one is not quite at its best yet but is still specatular.

The reason I am showing my neighbour's wisteria is that I only had flowers near the ground on mine. The sparrows ate all the buds.  It will serve its purpose of providing shade but I would have liked some flowers as well.

They have been flowering all over town so it appears as though the sparrows only targeted mine.

Hundertwasser

The new Hundertwasser style folly called Te Kokana was opened yesterday.  This is a precursor to the actual Hundertwasser Art Centre that is (hopefully) to be built here.  It will house the largest collection of Hundertwasser art outside Europe and also a  contemporary Maori art collection.

Apparently before a Hundertwasser building gets underway a folly must be built for the local tradespeople to practice building in this style.

After going to the Growers Market we went down to the Town Basin as usual but walked in the other direction to see Te Kokana.  I did a bit more shopping than usual at the market and see it was about 7.50 when we got to the Town Basin.

FLOWERS EVERYWHERE

It was Max' funeral this afternoon.  When the Funeral Director visited on Friday he said he was arranging a "small spray" of flowers for the casket.  

The small spray consisted of a lot more flowers than I expected.

R.I.P. MAX 10/01/1930 - 07/10/2016

Max has been deteriorating for a while now and lately he has been sleeping most of the time.  Yesterday I went in at lunchtime to feed him but he didn't want his dessert which is most unusual and he fell asleep while I was feeding him.

I still got a shock when the phone rang at about 1.10 a.m. this morning.  For some reason I was awake and thinking of my visit yesterday when I was told that on one of the regular two hourly checks they found that he had died peacefully in his sleep.  Of course, I was unable to get back to sleep and think I am running on Adrenalin at present.

Rest in Peace.