Simple Pleasures

Yesterday we took delivery of our new washing machine. Our old one had been increasingly unreliable until this week it stopped working altogether. It was eleven years old so we reckoned it was time to purchase a new one. In this modern age of instant shopping we were able to choose, buy online and receive a new one within a couple of days. 
And today we purchased four new tires for the Landrover which pleases me because winter is coming the treads are getting worn down, and one of them has had a nick in the edge for ages; it has been checked and is safe, but I’ll be glad to see the back of it. 
This all led me to reflect, does enjoying such mundane things mean that I am getting old? I was certainly delighted this morning to get a place at the much coveted Aqua Aerobics (frequented almost exclusively by older ladies) at the sports centre! And I get quite excited when James makes me a nice cup of camomile tea in the evening. Mind you I have always enjoyed these simple pleasures! 

Sunshine and socialising

It was rainy on Monday morning so we had breakfast with Alison and Hugh and then James lit the fire in the lounge and we drank coffee and had a really nice chat. It has been great seeing Alison and Hugh this weekend. They set off northwards late morning and James and I headed up to Boots in East Kilbride to get our flu jabs. Jennifer has had flu for the past week and she says that it has been horrible, so James and I decided to book flu jabs; better safe than sorry. We had to pay because we are neither over 65 nor in a vulnerable group, but it was not expensive at £20 each.
Over the last few days I have noticed how early it’s getting dark. On the other hand I’m not feeling chilly any more, so I’m definitely used to Scottish winter again after our holiday. Yesterday I had a sunny walk in Pollok Park with Kathryn and Sheila, followed by coffee at the Burrell Collection. On a November Wednesday morning the restaurant was delightfully quiet. And then today I had a sunny drive down to Ardrossan to have lunch with Maggie, Libby and Wendy at  Cecchini’s. Unfortunately Helen was not able to come because she was at a funeral. We had a good laugh as usual and I listened to Gyles Brandreth’s Rosebud podcast on my way home. He was interviewing Timothy Spall and it was very interesting. 

The After Party

Tom woke me up at 6 a.m. yesterday morning by fighting with another black and white cat in the front garden; they were both yowling! I went outside and found the other cat standing over Tom who was lying on the ground. As I approached, the other cat retreated down the path. I was worried that Tom might be injured so I carried him inside but he seems to be perfectly ok. James says that lying down probably meant that he was being submissive to the other cat after losing the fight. I wish that Tom would stop this fighting because clearly he’s not very good at it!
Alison and Hugh arrived late morning and we all set off to Tommy’s 70th birthday party at Cathkin Golf Club. I think that it’s the first time I have been inside the club house and I was impressed; it’s very smart. We had a very pleasant afternoon; the meal was delicious and as well as chatting with Alison and Hugh there were some running club friends of Tommy and Carol also seated at our table, who were very friendly. Later we were invited back to Tommy and Carol’s for drinks. We called in at our house briefly first; Ally had just arrived home from a hill-walking day with Davie, and when we told him that we were going back out he said “Oh you’ve been invited to the after party!” which we thought was very funny, we are in with the in crowd! I had made a lasagne for supper but none of us were hungry after eating all afternoon, so Ally benefited from a hearty meal after his hill-walking. Along at Tommy and Carol’s we had a great evening and chatted with them and their friends and family, including the lovely John and Linda. They live near Edinburgh so they were staying overnight with the Keenans; Linda mentioned that she looked out of the window at about 7 a.m. in the morning and saw a black and white cat in the garden. Was it Tom’s black and white frenemy I wonder? 

Dreich Storm Bert

Storm Bert is proving to be rather dreich and miserable; it snowed during the night as predicted and has now turned to rain. However it’s nice and cosy in my study where I have been doing lots of admin and sorting things out. My mind has even turned towards Christmas and I have been working on the quiz for the Mince Pies outing, as well as updating the Christmas cards list. Ally has been working in Edinburgh and Glasgow this week so he has been staying with us, and it has been lovely to see him, he’s on good form and we have had some nice chats. He was supposed to be going hill-walking with Davie this weekend, but unfortunately the roads are too snowy north of Glasgow so they had to cancel. Nothing daunted, Ally booked tickets to see Rangers for himself, James and Davie. It was a draw and the three of them arrived home later very cold. However I had ramped up the heating in the house and set and lit a fire in the lounge, although fire expert James immediately set about improving it! The boys warmed up further with a Chinese meal which we ate with Marjory and Forrest and then we all enjoyed a convivial evening beside the fire. 

Chilly!

It’s so cold! Not snowy here yet (although it has been snowing up north and also in London) but a hard frost every morning and definitely a cold snap. To look on the bright side, this will help acclimatise us to Scottish winter and next week, after a predicted snow storm at the weekend, is forecast to be a bit warmer. 
James and I went to see Squeeze at the GRCH on Monday night; they were excellent as usual although understandably ageing - like their audience! 
I had an appointment in the Ophthalmology department at Hairmyres this morning; I was referred a while ago by Specsavers when I went to them with ingrown eyelashes. The young consultant ophthalmologist was very knowledgeable and inspired confidence; there is a procedure to remove lashes so that they don’t keep growing back. This would be good because I sometimes have difficulty seeing the lashes that I need to pluck out because they are so tiny, and I imagine that it will become even more difficult as I get older. On the other hand the procedure won’t be much fun! I have decided to go ahead and the consultant has added me to her waiting list. 
Then in the afternoon I had coffee with Ally Walker in Princes Square which was very pleasant, we had a good chat, she is such a positive person. 

Carmina Burana

Last night James and I went to the Royal Concert Hall to see Carmina Burana. We both love this powerful and joyful cantata by Carl Orff, and have seen it perhaps five times over the years, and we enjoyed it as much as ever. 

Earlier we had spent a lovely afternoon at Davie and Chanel’s house where we were also reunited with our Grand-Cat Skye. She is a delightful wee character and soon warmed up to us with the help of a few Dreamies. All cats seem to relish these popular cat treats!  Davie and Chanel were on good form and we had a nice chat. 

When we came home from the Royal Concert Hall we watched the last episode of the epic tv series Vikings, which has entertained us greatly over the last few months. There were 89 episodes in total and, although it was excellent, I don’t think that I’ll be committing myself to such a long set of series any time soon. 

Christmas Cake

Yesterday morning James and I went to South Lanarkshire Eastfield Sports Centre to rejoin it. It turns out that over 60s can purchase the “Activage” membership for the excellent price of £120 per year. This aims at keeping older people (us!) mobile, and includes membership of nine swimming pools and fifteen gyms around South Lanarkshire as well as all of the fitness classes. There are even additional perks like culture mornings when you can learn drumming or crafts, and buy one get one free coffees at various venues. We went for a swim and I remembered straight away why I left to join David Lloyd; the changing area is as dirty as ever, really in a terrible state of disrepair. Mind you, as James pointed out, the David Lloyd changing rooms aren’t that great either these days. Then this morning I went to a yoga class; it was really good and I felt myself stretching all the places that need stretched. 
In other news James and I made our Christmas cake yesterday afternoon. We were like a well-oiled machine, dividing up the tasks between us; I measured out the fruit and creamed the butter and sugar while James sifted the flour and spices and made the egg and treacle mixture. We mixed it all together vigorously and then cooked it for just over four hours on a low heat until a skewer came out clean. It smelled wonderful and looks good too. After it cooled down a bit we took it out of the tin, and now it is wrapped in grease proof paper and has had its first feed of brandy this evening. 
I’m in bed, still out of synch with the UK time. I’m going to bed at a reasonable hour but I still wake up several times during the night. 

November in Scotland

James and I lasted until about 8 p.m. before we both started to fall asleep sitting on the couch. We dragged ourselves upstairs and put ourselves to bed. I slept all night except for waking up every three hours or so; it’s like I was tired enough to sleep in British time but my body clock still thinks that I’m in New Zealand and that it’s day time. Much laundry was done today, mainly by James who had to fix the recurring fault on the washing machine first. The reason that he was able to do the laundry was of course that the suitcases were delivered about lunch time by DHL so we could unpack at last. I thought that the timing of the delivery was quite efficient. I also went out to do a few errands and the late autumn weather feels very damp and cold, hopefully I will soon get acclimatised to November. The cats have been very affectionate and have followed us around the house all day. I had my EK Book Club girls round in the evening, it was great to see them and we were hearing about Susan’s trip to Zambia. Tom and Floof were keen to join in the socialising in the lounge and they were so delightful with my guests that I was very proud of them! They strolled around the lounge graciously allowing themselves to be patted and admired. They even stood in the hall at the end of the evening while the ladies put on their jackets, and then went out of the front door with them to escort them off the premises. 

From Wellington to Cambuslang

On our last morning in New Zealand (Monday) we saw three Tuis watching us from a telephone line and singing loudly. It was as if they were saying goodbye. We had breakfast at Maranui Café in Lyall Bay before packing the last of our stuff. And so our journey homewards commenced, flying from Wellington to Auckland and then Auckland to Singapore. Despite the usual queuing through the airports everything progressed smartly. James and I wore compression socks for the first time and I think that they were effective because my calves didn’t feel tight after the long flights, which they sometimes do. There was quite a lot of air turbulence from time to time as we crossed Australia. I watched a film “Firebrand” about Catherine Parr, which was rubbish because it committed the cardinal sin of changing the facts of history, which I can’t stand. Our transition through the rather lovely Singapore airport went well and I was delighted that we had a row of two seats (without a third) on the next and longest leg from Singapore to Zurich. I was determined to get lots of sleep and I did; I think at least seven hours of the thirteen hour journey. Then the film Coco Avant Chanel was excellent which made up for my earlier film disappointment! When we arrived in London Heathrow this morning (Tuesday) we found out by message and email that our luggage had not made it onto our flight from Zurich in the short forty minute turnaround. We were advised that the luggage wouldn’t arrive in time for our flight to Glasgow so we filled out our details so that it could be delivered to us in due course. Our flight ended up being about an hour late and then had to have two attempts at landing because of fog at Glasgow; the pilot was using the automated landing system but he still didn’t feel that everything was right the first time. Back at home the cats were absolutely astonished to see us! We have had a fantastic holiday but it’s great to be home.  

Cycling at Days Bay

Our last full day in New Zealand and what a great day it has been! We had a leisurely morning including breakfast at Island Bay before meeting Jamie at Queen’s Wharf. We took an Uber from Island Bay and Jamie cycled from Burwah Street. We caught the wee ferry over to Days Bay, a pleasant half an hour on the water with great views all around Wellington Harbour. We collected the bikes that Jamie had hired for us and set off to cycle on the cycle track along the front of Eastbourne and along the Great Harbour Way to Pencarrow Upper Lighthouse. Excitingly, Jamie had hired electric bikes, something that I have never tried before. For some reason I have always felt that I should ride a purely leg powered bike or not at all, but after today I have totally changed my mind. The electric bike just gives you a wee boost, you still pedal and it feels just like a normal bike, but when there is a slope it sort of kicks in imperceptibly and you can cycle more easily. Heather and Ewan have recommended them to us so it was a fantastic opportunity to try them out. There are three powers, eco, normal and maximum; I used eco for most of the way and it was enough to make it all feel more relaxing, and yet still active. The cycle itself was fantastic, 22 km in total, out to the lighthouse and back. The path curved round several sandy bays, with volcanic rocks sticking out of the water. From the furthest point we could see Island Bay away in the distance. We treated ourselves to ice creams when we were waiting for the boat on the way back. 
Later we took Whisky for a walk and had pizza with Jamie and watched a film “Coda” which was excellent. When Kerry came home from work we had a wee chat and then it was time to say goodbye to her. It has been lovely to spend time with her especially at this exciting time in her and Jamie’s lives. Jamie then gave us a lift back to Island Bay and we said our farewells. It was very difficult to say goodbye, I will miss him so much. However I know that he is very happy with Kerry in New Zealand. 

Fantails at Korokoro

After breakfast we went for a walk at the dog friendly beach at Island Bay with Jamie and Whisky. (Kerry is working long shifts today and tomorrow.) Then after a coffee at Burwah Street we had lunch at a new (to us) Seashore Cabaret café in Lower Hutt which is delightful, overlooking the sea and with similar vibes to the Maranui Café in Lyall Bay.
Jamie took us for a walk along the nearby beautiful Korokoro Valley. The path through leafy forested valley reminded me just a little bit of Chatelherault Country Park, because of the trees and the river, but it is much more exotic, with Podocarpus conifers and Kohekohe trees, tree ferns and bushes with pink or yellow flowers. The Korokoro Stream supplies its water. This forest is special as most others in the area have been cut down for land development; it has probably survived because the river is a water supply for the area. 
Needless to say I soon overheated, and headed back down the valley while James and Jamie continued on to the higher dam. I felt very peaceful sitting on a bench listening to the woodland noises. Two fantails came down from the foliage to visit me, they were very cute; the fantail is favourite New Zealand bird.  
Later we went for dinner with Jamie to an Asian fusion restaurant called Koji; it was absolutely excellent and the flavours were delicious and very unusual. We had a lovely chat. Back at Burwah Street we were reunited with Whisky dog and James and Jamie had a wee dram before James and I walked back to our tiny Airbnb in Island Bay. 

Back to Wellington

We had a very early start today to catch our 07.45 plane from Fiji back to Wellington. We were able to check in at the hotel, so only had our luggage to drop off at the airport. The journey went very smoothly and I managed to get a couple of hours sleep on the plane, at least I think I did, it’s always quite hard to tell. We retrieved our other suitcase from Jamie and Kerry’s, and after being greeted by an exuberant and welcoming Whisky dog, Jamie gave James and I a lift to our new and very tiny wooden Airbnb on the hill high behind Island Bay. Although it is very small (tiny houses are a popular eco friendly option in NZ) it is nice and clean with everything we could need, and it has gorgeous views over Island Bay. We walked down to the Beach House Café for coffee and cake on the terrace, and then James went for a walk while I went down to sit on the beach in the sunshine. Although it didn’t seem all that windy, the wind was whipping up the sand and it was getting into my ears and hair, so I retreated back to the Airbnb and sat on a beanbag on the decking and read my book. Update on Tom - he has been to the vet and has been given antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. It turns out that the claw is still there, under a large burst abscess. I can only assume that Tom has been fighting another cat nearby who is inflicting these recent injuries on him. Then when Davie was taking him back home, Tom urinated copiously on his car, so Davie has had to clean and disinfect the seat! This is above and beyond the call of duty!
Jamie picked up James and me by car and took us to Burwah Street where we had a curry and watched a film “The Hit Man” which was very amusing. I got some lovely cuddles from my Grand-dog Whisky. 

Spa and cocktails

Back to the pool today after our usual delicious breakfast. Kerry very generously treated me to a fantastic spa treatment, and it was great. Kerry came too and we were treated in the same room which was very companionable. First of all we were given a scoop of mango sorbet, and then we had our back massages side by side. I noticed that the masseuse kept homing in on my sore shoulder, which has been getting worse recently, even though I hadn’t mentioned it. The massage was wonderful, and when it was time to turn over for my facial I pointed at my shoulder and said “How did you know?” She smiled and said “As soon as I touched your shoulder I could feel all the knots and tension.” My shoulder has been feeling much better since the massage. The facial was lovely too and we were given wee cups of lemon tea in the lounge area afterwards. Kerry and I agreed that we felt very relaxed. We had lunch at the poolside and then even more relaxation and reading, sustained by cocktails and mocktails delivered to our sun loungers. Davie phoned from Scotland to tell us that Tom seems to have lost a claw; his paw is bloody and although he isn’t limping, he keeps lifting his paw up when he is sitting. Davie said that it looks very sore but that Tom is “putting a brave face on it!” He is planning to take Tom to the vet. At tea time we went round to Denarau Harbour again, where we had drinks at Lulu’s followed by dinner at Bonefish. Jamie and Kerry gave me hairpins decorated with Fiji flowers, I love them! The food was superb; I think it was the best meal of our holiday. We will be sorry to leave beautiful Fiji tomorrow. 

Dancing on the beach

We all had a relaxing morning at the adult pool before our big night out later! We relaxed, swam, read our books, and gazed at the impossibly beautiful views of the South Pacific. I took part in the Aqua aerobics again, and floated about in the pool. Mid afternoon we were picked up for our trip to Likuri Island, aka Robinson Crusoe island. An hour long bus journey took us to a jetty on Tuva River, where two boats were waiting to take us another half hour to the island. The river was thickly bordered by mangrove trees with their roots hanging down into the water; we were reminded of the film Apocalypse Now! It was nearly dark when we stepped on to the sandy beach and were ushered to tables around a central area, with a handy bar nearby. The evening began with a Kava ceremony followed by a hearty dinner which had been baked in an earth oven for several hours. I was gratified by the variety of tasty vegetables which accompanied the meat and fish. 
I’m usually a bit ambivalent about cultural displays for tourists, I sometimes feel awkward as if I’m intruding on other people’s traditions. However in this case the dancers were so excellent, and the host so friendly and humorous, that it was a really great experience. It was interesting to see the older experienced dancers compared to the young extremely energetic ones! There was a display of fire walking, a bonfire on the beach which had us all dancing, and finally a display of fire dancing which was very skilled and entertaining. Back in the boats we went on our journey back to our hotel, this time in complete darkness apart from the small lights of the boat; we could see wee bugs flying past briefly illuminated in the light, and silvery fish leaping out of the water. 
I suppose I should mention that by the time we arrived on the island the polls had closed in the American Election (they are nearly a day behind NZ because of the international date line so it was still the 5th November in the USA) and Trump was leading in the results. When we checked our phones again later back at the hotel it was all over - Donald Trump has beaten Kamala Harris and will now be the American President for a second term, four years after he was voted out of office. Oh well, it’s hard to understand how he won, both politically and personally, but as I said eight years ago, the people of America have voted so there’s no use grousing about it. 

Schooner Island

Today we went on a boat trip to Schooner Island, about an hour and a half by boat (the Whale’s Tale) from Denarau Harbour. We were served breakfast on the boat, with unlimited drinks including champagne. Schooner Island is a proper desert island! It is tiny, and consists completely of white sand with wee bits of coral in it. After a Kava welcome ceremony we grabbed snorkels and masks and followed the guide out to the reef. It was absolutely amazing; there are not enough superlatives to describe it! We saw so many brightly coloured fish; hundreds and hundreds of black and white zebra fish, and also zebra fish with yellow stripes instead of white. There were tiny bright blue fish, iridescent multi-coloured fish, blue starfish, and lots more. The guide gave us bread which we held under the water in upturned hands and the zebra fish came swarming in to eat it; the feel of their wee mouths bumping against my hands as they scoffed the bread was amazing. 
Lunch was in big airy wooden hut in the middle of the island and then James and Jamie went snorkelling again while Kerry and I read our books on a couple of the sun loungers that were scattered around in the shade of thatched shelters. I went for another swim and gazed around at the little waves lapping on the sand. The water was so warm - like a bath! And the colour of the sea was a beautiful azure blue.
We set off back towards Denarau late afternoon and sat up on the poop deck enjoying the views. As we passed some mangrove trees we saw a flying fish jumping along in and out of the water. 
We had a convivial dinner later at the hotel’s Asian restaurant and chatted about our adventures. 

Bula!

We woke up in beautiful Fiji with the beach and sea outside our window. A hearty and excellent breakfast ensued before we all nipped to reception to book a couple of excursions over the next four days. And then we all headed to the main pool to chill out, swim and read. An aqua aerobics class was just starting which was great fun, the Fiji music was great and we all had to do a routine and then shout Bula! Cocktails and mocktails by the pool followed, with exotic birdsong all around us and the beach just beyond the pool. There are lots of mynah birds and some bulbuls with tufts on their heads. 
In the evening we all walked round to Denarau Harbour, an easy thirty minute stroll. We looked around the smart clothes and souvenir shops, which looked as if they were aimed at people from cruise ships and luxury yachts, and then had dinner at one of the restaurants on the harbour front. 

Earthshine

James and I checked out of our Airbnb and then collected Jamie from the airport at 10. After dropping him at home we had breakfast at the Island Bay Beach House (of course!) There were huge waves sweeping into the bay; banks of turquoise water swelling up and then sloping down, crashing against the rocks. Spectacular. We took an Uber with Jamie and Kerry from Burwah Street to the airport and caught the 13.35 plane to Fiji. When boarding was announced the Air Fiji asked us if we were ready to fly to paradise! We had amazing views of Island Bay as we climbed up into the air, we could see the waves clearly. It took about three hours to fly from Wellington to Fiji, and after going through arrivals and biological security we got to the hotel at about 5.30 p.m. The Hilton is a long hotel with lots of different white painted villas and buildings. Our rooms are next to each other and they are lovely; facing on to the long, sandy beach. We went for a stroll along to the adult pool where we all had a swim before dinner. We saw a mynah bird sitting on the grass near us, and another one on the roof of a building. The air and the water were so warm, it was idyllic, and the sky was blue and pink and orange as the sun set. Dinner was excellent and we had a good chat before retiring to bed somewhat exhausted after our journey. The moon was a thin crescent, lit at the bottom rather than the side with its “horns” pointing upward. I could see the rest of the moon as a pale glow; this is called Earthshine.

Wellingtonians

We had a lovely Wellington day today. It has worked well spending a fortnight in this friendly and vibrant city, getting to know the area quite well. James and I had breakfast in our favourite Island Bay Beach House Café, sitting outside looking at the sea and the snow capped mountains of the South Island. We had a pleasant day walking around Wellington harbour area and meeting Kerry, Kevin and Jenny for coffee at Beach Babylon. In the afternoon we did some packing; one suitcase for Fiji and one to be left at Jamie and Kerry’s house in Wellington. After a very tasty dinner at Burwah Street made by Kerry we headed back to the Airbnb for a cup of tea and I phoned Jennifer for a nice chat and then we watched an episode of Vikings. I was sorry to hear on the news that Janey Godley has died today back in Scotland at the age of only 63. She kept us all going during the lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 with her hilarious voiceovers of Nicola Sturgeon’s daily Covid updates. 

A Swim at Freyburg Pool

This morning Jamie and Kerry were at work and James felt full of the cold, so James had a walk to Lyall Bay and back and then a rest at the Airbnb. I drove into town and met Jenny and Kevin at the Freyburg swimming pool on the harbour front. Kevin went to the gym and Jenny and I went for a swim. It’s a long pool at 33 metres and very bright and airy, and I enjoyed my swim very much. Jenny and I then popped up to the hot tubs from where we had a great view over the sea, but they were so hot that I had to keep dipping in briefly and then sitting up on the edge! I had a coffee with Jenny and Kevin sitting outside at the wee café beside the beach, it was a lovely location. 
Then off I set on an errand. Jamie needed to leave work at lunch time and get his car to a Panel Beaters in Upper Hutt and then to Wellington Airport by 2 p.m. to catch a flight to Christchurch. So I drove about forty minutes to Upper Hutt and met Jamie there, he dropped off his car and we drove back to Wellington and to the airport. We got there ten minutes before check-in closed and Jamie got his plane! 
Later we had pizzas at Burwah Street with Kerry, Kevin, Jenny and the two dogs Luna and Whisky. Whisky is fascinated by Luna! Another lovely evening.