Kitchen fun(!)

Hi there

27 June

No, not the 'fun' you are probably thinking of (you have a naughty mind?).  I was in Taupo a couple of months ago and there was an exhibition of local art and crafts.  I couldn't not buy this gorgeous 'kitchen Art' cat.  He's made completely out of recycled items from around the house, mostly kitchen items.  He has a little wire fish and a little wire mouse inside his tummy.

sculpture by Ru (Pos) Clements-Jones

***

A friend and I did another shortest day swim today because my friend couldn't make it last week.  The weather today was worse than last week.  Raining really heavily.  

Mid-winter Shortest Day Swim 2021

 

Hi there

20 June

Today The Young One and I thought we would be the only ones swimming from Hataitai Beach mid-winter shortest day swim.  The weather people had given us a storm warning.  It rained, was cold, and windy.

But, surprise, there were about 20 of us hardy swimmers there.  My friend, Jay (10 years winter swimming behind her) handed out congrats magnets to everyone that were swimming today.  There was a polar bear picture on the magnet, plus the year and beach name.  As we all arrived everyone was dressed in hoods and scarves and beanies and winter pants.  I couldn't recognise anyone because they were so wrapped up.  

What a success.  The most people so far.   Today the water temp was 12.3c; it's been colder this month, but the sea was rough.   

 

That little thing that irks me

 Hi there

I wonder if my four readers have any little thing that truly irks them.

I'm not talking about climate change, or politics, or world peace but ... well... for instance -

I'm short.  On the imperial ruler scale, I'm 5ft 1 inch tall.  When I carry home my full shopping bag from the local supermarket my bag tends to drag along on the ground beside me.  If I were just 2 inches taller or wore stilettos  this wouldn't happen.  The bag would swing jauntily above the pavement.

I always have to shoulder-carry my bag and it tends to slip frequently down my arm.  Or I clutch the bag to my warm and ample bosom and I end up with melted ice cream.

Oh, I so wish I were taller ..

****

19 July

Hi again.   I've just watched Susan Calman, Scottish comedian, on her travel documentary Grand Day Out.  You'll never believe this, but she said that what irks her is that her shopping bags drag on the ground!  She's only 4ft 11 so her problem is 2 inches shorter than mine.  And I thought I was the only person in the world with the problem.

The Domino Effect

 Hi there

I was in a petrol station shop last month, in a queue and waiting to be served.  I'd broken my journey on the way to New Plymouth.

It was a narrow aisle.  On the floor, leaning against the end of a rack of shelves were four or five standing-on-end empty metal shelves, one against the other, and reaching a height almost as tall as I was.  

A guy, leaving the check-out counter, pushed past me, brushing against the loose shelving -

One of the heavy shelves, the topmost one, fell onto my sneakered foot.  Hey, it hurt.  A good thing I was wearing socks.

I glared at the guy.  "You -  You - !". My mind couldn't process words.

A second shelf fell slowly, almost elegantly, down onto the same foot.  "You-  You-  You-". What with the pain and the surprise of everything, all I could do was gesture wildly for the guy to get the heavy shelving off me.

A third shelf fell  -

" You-   You-"  I'd obviously turned into a parrot.

Another shelf domino-dropped, with me still gesturing to this guy to lift the growing-heavier-by-the-second weight off me.  I was mouthing the 'you' word at him like a warped record.  He stared, dumb-founded.

Finally, after every shelf had dropped, he reached down and sheepishly lifted each one off my foot;  they were too heavy for him to do them as a job lot.  He apologised, and then sprinted away.

The man behind the counter kindly pumped my petrol for me.  I figured if this were in America, I could sue him for millions. Naughty guy, leaving obstacles in the way of customers.

It's a month later, and my foot is still aching.....😪

Outlaw Colours

 Hi there

In the early 1960's, when I was young - let's say teenage - there were certain colours that people couldn't  wear together because, well, posh fashionistas of the time decreed it was a giant no-no.

I got a beautiful  blue and green dress, real cheap, at a  DIC sale  because nobody wanted it.  I wore this dress to work.  All the 'girls' in the typing pool were horrified. "Blue and green never seen," several of the typists chanted.  By wearing blue and green together I had revealed to the world how little I knew about fashion.  However, I loved that dress and wore it for many years.

We also understood never to wear  black and brown together.  Or silver and gold together.  Or anything remotely glittery in the daytime.  And red-heads shouldn't wear orange.   

One hang-up that's still clung on for it's life is our wearing dark colours in the winter.  Why?  I love colours.  I want to wear them in the winter.  I walk into a clothing store in, say, April, and my heart drops.  It's a sea of black, navy, brown.  So depressing.