life in music and libraries ….
I wrote this post on the eve of the Christchurch mosque attacks, fully intending to publish it on 15 March. The country stopped on that day, and we have been reflecting since on the horror that occurred. It’s still raw in our hearts and minds, but we are moving on, and I now feel ok to write about trivial and frivolous things again. Continue reading “Escape to the country”
For a little over 28 years I’ve been a mum. I suppose you could say it is what defined me for most of these years. That’s not to say I’ve not had a life outside of being a mum. I think I’ve used the years well, firstly doing a BA when the children were very young, and then doing a Masters degree in Library Studies when they were a wee bit older. In fact, No. 1 Son was born in the middle of my university exams, and sat with me through a couple of them as a tiny baby. Continue reading “Mum’s the word”
There’s a new dog in the house and it’s the first time this family has acquired a puppy. Life is certainly different today from a life and home shared with a genteel and ageing 12 year old hound and a cat who is soon to celebrate its 20th birthday. It’s because of these ageing two pets that we felt (or more accurately, I felt) that it was time for some succession planning, as home really isn’t home without a dog in the family. And most of the time I am working from home, and we are soon to move to a place in the country, so the time seemed right. Continue reading “Dog gone it”
We like to wake up to the radio in the morning, and be gently brought back to life with some witty banter and a fair degree of current affairs and other information. It’s like a pre-caffeine hit, for those who need one. For me, a non-coffee drinker, the radio wake up is my caffeine hit. For some time the choice of radio station has been quite difficult, and as a compromise in recent times we have more or less settled on National Radio during the week, and Radio Live on weekends. Recent changes to both mean that this year is not looking good for wake up time. Continue reading “Tuning in…”
Sometimes major life changes can feel kind of like a bereavement, and it can take quite some time to get over these changes. Almost two years ago I left a job I loved. Change was in the air, and the organisation was heading in a direction that was not aligned to my own way of thinking. I had thought I could be in this or a similar role until I retired, but the choice to go was my own, and even in hindsight, it was the right choice.
Today His Lordship and I went and helped an old friend sort some of the music in his garage. That friend is Bernie Allen, and he has had a life in music that spans from the 1950s and still continues today. For the best part of 15 years Bernie has simply been unable to open one of the doors of his double garage due to the many, many boxes of music that live there, and of course, there is a story behind each of these boxes. Continue reading “Thank you for the music”
I recently wrote that in France you are never far from a good meal. I have since had cause to stop and re-think those words, because on this trip, I have to say, the food was decidedly underwhelming, with some exceptions.
About this time last year, having recently sold our Auckland house, and with the prospect of loosening the noose around our necks that an Auckland mortgage brings, we planned a European cruise. Continue reading “To cruise or not to cruise…”
France is famed for many things that we all know and love – cheese, wine, romance (a la cinq a sept – that time when a man goes to visit his mistress before going home to his wife). The villages are so charming, the language sounds both erotic and exotic, and you are never far from a good meal. Continue reading “The pharmacies of France”
