Shedding a skin is a vital activity for me. from time to time But for others it is uncomfortable and something to be avoided.
The new beginning idea is at the forefront of my thinking right now.
A while ago, SWMBO and I decided to sell up and look for another property with a bit more land. We love where Roch-dene is right now (I take Roch-dene with me where ever we go), but the horses and, therefore, SWMBO need another paddock or two.
Roch-dene is on the move, again.
Not too far away, we found another place to be - loads of land, with native bush and a large lake. An island on the lake really appeals. The romance of that - the idea of being on our own bit of land surrounded by water!
Problem being we're in a buy/sell chain. We need to sell to buy, the people who want to buy our place need to sell and so on.
So, it may work out, we hope it will. Inshallah.
The other skin shedding exercise is happening at work. We are moving out of the old crusty administration/staff area so that a wrecking crew can come through next week.
Over the holiday break a spanking new space will be created.
Some love the idea (me) and embrace the change, others find it a chore but are doing what they need, others hate the idea of shifting out temporarily.
Meh. You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.
Love and peace - Wozza
Love and peace and breathe - Wozza
With the end of the school year fast approaching you'd think I'd have more time for reading (High-Rise by J G Ballard) but actually it gets more manic at this time of the year and the reading has slowed down.
Snatches of quiet time are the norm of late. Nothing much sustained. Not good.
For me, reading is meditation time. I can slow my thinking and relax my body. School is the opposite of that - fast thinking, fast movement.
Doesn't help that High-Rise is a rather one-dimensional Lord Of The Flies in a high-rise apartment block dystopian yarn. Although it's written well, I don't have any emotional attachment with any of its characters.
It was made into a film, but I can't find it on Netfix or elsewhere - although, true, I haven't tried especially hard to find it.
Already I'm looking forward to the next book - whatever that may be.
Love and peace - Wozza
I used to be a cat man. Never a dog man.
Then I met Jacky and it's been a story of loyal dogs ever since - Wynton, Bazil and Jerry (with two memorable miss-steps along the way - Tori and Dukie).
But cats? Another story entirely. We can't seem to get it right with cats.
Cats can be evil (Ben) or stoopid (Scraps). They can suddenly disappear on us (Waffles/Rocky) or get bowled by cars (Scraps). They can catch diseases (Kramer/Flower and Scooter) or they can hate dogs with an extraordinary passion (Seven).
Lewis and, to a lesser extent, Persia were pretty cool for cats but we had to give them away to lives of luxury when we went to live in England.
Latest in the line of cats was (yes, past tense) Sensei/Tom. You remember him. He featured in the previous post.
All was going well until he attacked Jerry for no reason and peed on Jacky's curtains (I thought I was part owner until she yelled out - 'he's peed on my curtains' while we had dinner).
So it's back to the SPCA for Sensei/Tom. No more cats!
Jerry is mightily relieved!
Love and peace - Wozza
Introducing another new member to the menagerie. After a brilliant weekend away in Keri Keri (the kids shouted us two nights away for my birthday) we cruised past the SPCA in Whangarei to pick up a tabby SWMBO had found a week or so ago.
Original name - Sensei. We're flirting with a new name - Tom, for obvious reasons.
Homeward we pootled, delivered Tom back to Roch-dene, and I picked up Jerry from 'Auntie' Mandy's place. She and Winston kindly dog sat for us - where Jerry and Winston formed an instant bond!
Tired, Jerry spent the rest of the afternoon freaking out Sensei/Tom, pining for Winston, and catching up on some zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz in ART.
SWMBO and I had a great restful weekend in Keri Keri - visiting the Stone Store and its surrounds, wandering around the town, fine dining at Cafe Jerusalem, eating bacon and pancakes for breakfast and shopping!
There's a pretty cool music shop (no vinyl though) in the main street so I whiled away an hour (or so) in there. Along with a few CDs, I picked up a Rory Gallagher DVD I hadn't seen before - Live in Cork!
While 'laxing in Keri Keri, I also finished book #44 (end of week 42) - The Abortionist's Daughter by Elisabeth Hyde: good detective whodunnit story.
Six books to go before reaching my goal of 50 books in 52 weeks.
So, now it's down to six books in ten weeks. Should be easy peesy.
Currently, I'm onto #45 (now week 43) - J.B. Ballard's High Rise which I picked up from Molly's Little Book Shop in Keri Keri.
I'm keen to reread the Gormenghast Trilogy as my last three - as the ten weeks takes in the Christmas holidays I feel that's doable.
Love and peace - Wozza
Friend of mine, let's call her Renoir set me a challenge recently.
Post a black and white photo each day for seven days on Facebook with no humans appearing in said photos.
Cool. So I set the Canon to monochome and wondered what to shoot.
Here's my first set from which to choose. More to come.
Interesting that my first subject was a variety of faces.
Love and peace and cheese - Wozza
Jerry Update:
Jerry has bounced back from his Parvo scare and is smelling the flowers (and, ah, digging them out) again.
Sail update: I've moved onto the sails over the deck to the front entrance of Roch-dene.
Reading update: week 40 book 43 was Gregg Hurwitz' sequel to Orphan X - an excellent thriller in the Matthew Reilly style.
Love and peace - Wozza
