LEAVING THE VILLAGE.

At the end of April 2020 I left Ropata Lodge Village and stayed with my sister Bernadette in Island Bay, Wellington. Sadly things had not worked out there and although I lost a lot of money by moving, it was a good decision. I am now happily housed in Alicetown, Lower Hutt. In a brick, two-bedroom rental unit with wonderful landlords. It was a difficult time having all my stuff in storage and in finding a place to live. 

From 4 September to 22 October, I have been away from the Village. I made a fifty day trip to England, Scotland and Ireland. I flew Premium Economy with Cathay Pacific and  Air NZ. It was a lot more comfortable than economy. I had stopovers in Hong Kong and London.
I began my visit in London, where I then got the train to Plymouth I had purchased a rail pass in NZ and it saved me a lot of money as well as time queuing for tickets.
In Plymouth, I met up with my cousin Tina. We went to St Ives in Cornwall by train and had a pleasant if rather damp day there. We visited the New Tate Gallery which is itself a work of art.

                                                               MONTHS GO BY!

Since I last wrote on the blog, we have had a few more celebrations such as Valentine's Day and St Patrick's Day. We were lucky to have fine weather for most weeks following the New Year barbecue which was such a success.

We had the Wearing of the Green and finger food and drinking of Guinness on St Patrick's Eve. On the day itself I went down to the Irish Club as usual for the dancing, music and to have my dinner.Movies are now on Tuesday evenings as I have begun Bridge lessons. It is a 14 week training course. My friend Hettie goes with me. So far I have had two lessons and I am enjoying it.
I have been painting most days in my studio and currently have four paintings on exhibition. I have another almost finished and one at the planning stage for the Muriel Hopper awards.On Sunday 10 March, I began the week long celebration of Pat's life to celebrate his second anniversary. His relatives - Oonagh, Michael and Louise. visited the cemetery with me on the Sunday. Over afternoon tea, we shared photos and memories. Then on Wednesday, I cooked lunch and shared memories with Jane and Kevin. On Thursday, Hettie and I went for a day by train to Paraparaumu to celebrate Pat's love of trains and travel. On Friday Alice came for afternoon tea and sharing. It was during this we got the terrible news of the killing of Moslems in the Mosques in Christchurch. This flung the whole country into mourning.

                                       CREATIVE WORKSHOP.                                                                     

On Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th January, I took part in a workshop titled Creativity run by John Cornish at Hutt Art. We worked from 9am. till 4 pm each day.
We explored a lot of different media and learned new techniques. There were six of us at the workshop. Bruce from my Friday group was the only person I knew. Two women had come all the way from Napier.
I came away with lots of ideas for future work. These are some of the pieces I produced.

NEW YEAR AT THE VILLAGE.

On New Year's Eve, I showed two Columbo movies starting at seven o"clock. In between we had supper. Later others joined us when we turned on the TV and watched the fireworks from the Sky Tower in Auckland and counted down to midnight. I was glad to see the back of 2018. It had been a hard year for me with selling the house and moving here and then the repairs being done. Then I had health issues with my eyes and teeth and with a misdiagnosis of ovarian cancer.

At 5pm on New year's Day, we held a barbecue. The Committee, bought the meat and bread and those who came paid $5. Wine was also provided. Jan Fraser's son and daughter in -law came to help and Francie accompanied Nellie. We had 19 people altogether. The weather was very pleasant for sitting outdoors and everyone enjoyed it. The two oldest residents of 90 and 94 years of age were very reluctant to go home.

Bertie the Budgie.

On Saturday 27 October, I purchased a budgie on the way home from Wellington. It was a very cold and wet afternoon after 4pm. I chose him from among the budgies at Animates in Lower Hutt. I purchased a large cage and food and toys for him. He was carried inside a little cardboard box inside the cage.
He is turquoise, white and grey with a few dashes of purple. He is a young male budgie and very lively.
I got a cloth to cover him about ten to eight. he protested so I tried again at eight o'clock and he settled down. We have now established eight as his bedtime.
I put on the computer little videos of budgies singing and he tweets with them.
On Wednesday morning when I went to put a dust bath in his cage, he walked over my hand and flew out of the cage. I tried to catch him and he had a great time flying around the roo. Finally after three hours, he perched on the blind rail in the kitchen and I put his cage on the bench beneath him. When I came back from setting up the lounge down below, over an hour later, he was perched on top of the cage peering in. I left him for a while and then when I went back, he was eating seeds in the cage, so I closed the doors of the cage.

FUN IN THE VILLAGE.

On Wednesday, Halloween was celebrated in the Village with a pizza and salad meal accompanied by wine, donated by some Committee members. Some residents dressed up in Halloween costumes. Before the event, the Committee spent time setting up tables and decorating the room with pumpkin balloons. A good time was had by all. One of the residents, who never leaves her unit, joined us a little later and was surprised to see five new people she did not know.

Winter in Halifax, West Yorkshire.
This morning, I was reading that last winter in Halifax had been quite severe and looking at a photo, it reminded me of when I was there at the age of ten ; my last winter there.
The article said that winters until 2017 had been quite mild and they had not been gritting the roads as they used to years back. They are getting ready for a severe winter this year and are making preparations to deal with deep snow. The snow can be so bad that it will make it impossible to drive buses through it. It is often combined with deep fog.

ACTIVITIES AT THE VILLAGE

Since I came to the village I have established a Book in a Bag Reading Group. We are reading our second book and will meet in a week to discuss it. We are reading."I Capture the Castle", by Jodie Smith.

I run a Centering Prayer meeting in my unit fortnightly on Friday nights. At present we have four members, one of whom is just learning the method.

On Monday 24 September, I hope to start the Monday Movie nights in the Community Centre. I thought we might start with a James Bond movie, "Skyfall".
People can bring their own drinks and nibbles if they wish.

This is my twelfth week living in a Retirement Village. I left my beautiful home and garden behind in Stokes Valley to move closer to Lower Hutt city. I now live on the Main Street.
Moving to a Retirement Village is not for the faint-hearted. It is a big adjustment in more ways than one.
This afternoon, I can finally set up my balcony garden, when my cane furniture and plants get set in place. And, the sun is shining!