2 January: Monday. We awoke to a howling gale this morning. The weatherman promises unsettled weather for the next few days. Lots of reading in our immediate future.

3 January: Tuesday: The wind has subsided into a steady rain and lots of clouds and fog. This morning I baked Anzac biscuits. Now I am reading The Adventure of Kavalier and Clay. Buzz is reading something by Bryce Courtnay. Incy is happily curled up in her corner.

4 January: Wednesday: The rain has stopped, the sun is out intermittently, and the wind is back.
We did a few errands this morning, and Buzz is going to spend part of the afternoon with his friend John Perkins talking about greenstone projects. Buzz is working on a greenstone necklace for me.

5 January: Thursday. What a fun day. We took a drive to Woodville and Pahiatua, the latter being the first town we lived in when we came to NZ in 1971. We turned into Paterson Street to have a look at our old house and found it is for sale. We called in to the real estate agent and made an appointment to see the house. While we waited for the appointment time to arrive, we took a walk around the town. When we lived there, it was the center for the surrounding farming community. Now, there isn't much work there , but people commute to work in Palmerston North...about a 40 minute drive. The house has been seriously upated and is a lovely, cozy home...very different from the cold, drafty house we occupied all those years ago. We told the realtor we were thinking of an investment that we would rent out. He said we could get about NZ$250/week (US$175/week) for a small three bedroom ranch on a 1/4 acre lot! It could be something to think about! On the way back to Feilding, we stopped to browse in the second hand shops in Woodville and had lunch at the Fish Stop. We rated it 7 out of 10 on the Tauranga Fish Market scale.

6 January: Friday. The day started with a trip to the farmers market. I bought some veggies and some basil to plant in the garden. In the late morning we drove to Palmerton North to do a few errands and have lunch with Helen and Bob Chong. It is always good to reconnect with them. Helen made a lovely lunch, and we talked away the early afternoon. They are going to California in March to spend some time with their son Steven and his wife Kirin who are on sabbatical from Harvard.

7 January: Saturday. Happy Birthday, Ed Brody! We went to the Feilding community market this morning. Just a few vendors in the square..not really anything to write home about. A stop at the Feilding Arts Center was an excellent choice. There we found a wonderful textile exhibition of weaving, knitting, felting and dying in many forms: throws, scarves, jackets, handbags, and more. All were crafted by one woman, a sampling is shown here. I bought a lovely woven silk scarf and will collect it next week when the exhibition ends. In the evening, we went to Bulls to have dinner with good friends Rauf and Jo Rangooni. It was, as always, stimulating conversation. Jo has been involved in many volunteer efforts in her town and district for many years. She has now decided to go back to university to complete an BA degree. When she trained as a teacher, the degree was not required. I think she is so brave.

FIBRE & ART EXHIBITION Esther Nitschke M.B.E. (Photo from Feilding Art Center website)


8 January: Sunday. This morning: Buzz went trap shooting, Cathy and Max went to church, and I stayed in bed reading the papers from home and dozing! In the afternoon Buzz and I went for a walk around town. We called in to visit Roger and Doris Berry for a few minutes as we passed their home and then continued our walk. Along the way we saw so many beautiful gardens, and there seem to be an endless variety of hydrangeas both in color and type of blossom. As we passed the library we noticed a wonderful art installation done by 10-15 year old students. Across from the library is the toy library where one can borrow gently used toys...what a great idea instead of buying stuff kids only use a few times. The town is mostly flat, but Woodland Grove, where we are living, is at the top of a very steep hill. Climbing the hill at the end of our two mile walk was a challenge for me. I had to stop three times before I got to the top. Buzz is patient and encouraging. Brandon and Anthony, two of the Black's grandchildren joined us for dinner. Brandon works on a dairy farm milking 1000 cows twice daily, and Anthony is in the Army. We have known these young men since they were boys, and it was good to spend an evening with them.