Easter Sunday

“The day that the rains came down
Mother Earth smiled again
Now the lilacs could bloom
Now the fields could grow greener”
Sung by Jane Morgan, American Sognstress

It has been a very unusual summer for those of us who live in Wellington.  Long,  hot sunny days with no rain.  In fact, it has been about 7 weeks since we had even a light drizzle.  But today was different.

Easter Sunday and the rain came down.  Good news for farmers and horticulturists; bad news for holiday makers.  It rained very heavily for a couple of hours and then passed, but I am sure we are all delighted to have had some rain today.

Easter Sunday is a strange day here in New Zealand.  The streets today were pretty much deserted.  Parking was freely available in the CBD (and yes as it is a Public Holiday parking is free). Trading laws allow some shops/retailers to open but not others.  Why we ask can dairies. pharmacies. Real Estate agencies. restaurants, takeaway bars and cafes and service stations trade but supermarkets, bakers and most other retailers have to close.  There are of course loud cries from retailers to amend these laws but as we have been hearing this for years, we don’t expect there to be any major changes in the near future.

But between the rain and the ludicrous trading laws here in NZ we found we had three very well attended Open Homes today.  So there is a bright side to this.

While I was at the Open Homes the beautiful Miss Bella stayed with a friend.  He really loves her almost as much as he loved Miss Lotte.  Apparently she takes some time to settle down when I leave her and when I return she is like a little wound up clockwork toy.  The excitement has to be seen to be believed.  I am amazed at how very quickly she has bonded with me.

And now as I type this she is fast asleep on the bed in the spare room.  I think she considers this her bed and I wonder how she will react when No 1 grandson comes to stay next week.

And please do take extra care on the roads this Easter wherever you are travelling to.  Last year we had a zero death road toll, but it’s not so good this year.  At 7.30 am today the road toll was 3 and the holiday period lasts until 6am on Tuesday 2 April.  Let’s hope the toll doesn’t increase.

The time has come

via wikispaces

“The time has come” the Walrus said, “to talk of may things;
Of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings
And why the sea is boiling hot and whether pigs have wings”
Lewis Carroll – From “Through the looking glass”.

Well the time has most certainly come for me to stop mooning around and get back to the discipline of writing my blog.  So what to write about?  How many times have I asked myself that question over the months and years that I have been writing my blog.

There is a big hole of course, where Lotte used to be and the hole I guess will always be there.  But it’s time to move on.  And now Miss Bella is making her presence felt and helping to close the hole.

I had one of my grandsons staying with me last week and what a joy that is.  He it was who arrived with his young brother the day after Lotte died complete with flowers and chocolates for Granma; they made my bed and kept me supplied with cups of coffee throughout the day.  He was  staying  here last week while his younger brother and their mother were at a rowing competition – the Maadi Cup, the premier rowing competition for schools in New Zealand.  The team did very well reaching the semi finals.

One of the things I really love about having time with my grandsons is the scope of topics we discuss.  Dinner on night was enlivened with talk of the war – that is World War 2 and what it was like to actually live during a war.  It then moved on to Vietnam, the Cuban crisis and the war in Iraq.  How knowledgeable these grandsons are.  We discussed what had caused the two World Wars – how well read this boy is – the futility of war, how really there are no winners, each side loses and what a waste of life all wars cause.

We then went on to discuss the favourite subject of all boys – technology and how far we have come and how much things have changed not only in my life time but also in his.  I just love talking with and listening to these lively young minds at work.  And I conclude that the world can be a better place if the leaders of the future are drawn from the likes of these young men.

And yesterday I picked up my eldest grandson from University.  He has just started and is doing a Network Engineering course.  We had a lovely hour driving in the car together while he told me about his course and his observations on the difference between school life and University life.   He has decided that one night a week he will come to stay.  It takes him about 1.15 hours to get to University and if he has a late session followed by an early morning one he thinks it makes sense for him to stay here.  And I must say I wholeheartedly encourage this.

And now it is almost Good Friday.  Once again we will have the shopping debacle/fiasco of which retailers may open on Good Friday and Easter Sunday and which must remain closed.    Every year there is a number of retailers who are fined for ignoring the trading hours rules.  But as we are definitely moving away from a totally Christian nation into one of many faiths, questions are being raised about the rules governing these holidays.  No doubt the controversy will rage for many more years.

So I wish you all a Happy Easter whether you celebrate in the traditional Christian way,  or in your own faith or however else you choose.  May it be all that you wish for.

I shall spend it getting to know more of my new friend.

A New Companion

Firstly, I should like to thank all those who either ticked Like and/or commented on my blog about putting Lotte to sleep.  Your kind thoughts, words and hugs are very much appreciated. Now..

As you can imagine I have been looking for another dog, not to replace Lotte but because my family think I should get another companion.  So I have been looking for a dog to re-home  through various organisations and then this email landed in my in-box:

“This is Brutus, a military K9 at McChord…He’s huge – part Boxer
and part British Bull Mastiff and tops the scales at 200 lbs. His handler took the picture.
Brutus is running toward me because he knows I have some Milk Bone treats, so he’s slobbering away! I had to duck around a tree just before he got to me in case he couldn’t stop, but he did.
Brutus was the recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor last year from his tour in Iraq . His handler and four other soldiers were taken hostage by
insurgents.  Brutus and his handler communicate by sign language and he gave Brutus the signal that meant ‘go away but come back and find me’.
The Iraqis paid no attention to Brutus. He came back later and quietly tore the throat out of one guard at one door and another guard at another door. He then jumped against one of the doors repeatedly (the guys were being held in an
old warehouse) until it opened. He went in and untied his handler and they all escaped. He’s the first K9 to receive this honor.

If he knows you’re ok, he’s a big old lug and wants to sit
in your lap. Enjoys the company of cats..
K-9 Congressional Medal of Honor Winner”

I think he is slightly too big for me.  I would have to buy a bigger property, a bigger car, larger couch and dog bed, change my friends and take him for walks about 6 times a day.  So I guess I shall just have to keep looking.

By the way he really is a big softie,  These instructions were included in the email:

Instructions for properly hugging a baby with Brutus

First, uh, find a baby.

Second, be sure that the object you found
was indeed a baby, by employing classic sniffing
techniques.

Next, you will need to flatten the baby before
actually beginning the hugging process.

The ‘paw slide’= Simply slide paws around baby
and prepare for possible close-up.

Finally, if a camera is present, you will need to execute
the difficult and patented ‘hug, smile, and lean’ so
as to achieve the best photo quality.

Back to the drawing board for another companion for me.  But isn’t he a big soft lovable dog?

Note – as the pictures are circulating around the internet I have assumed they are available to be used in a non-commercial blog post.  If this is not the case I apologise to the owners of the copyrights.