Birthday Goodies and phone calls

 

I will start with a huge “ Thank you so much” for all the  Facebook messages, emails, phone calls, and more . You have given me so many good wishes,love, sunshine, flowers and everything else that made my day such a happy one.

Flowers arrived last week,a combined gift for Joyce ( her day was the 20th) and myself. A big thank you to Tonia,Matthew, Felicity and Charlie. We remembered your  dear Jeanette on her day, 21st.

Then I had been so good not to open the parcel from “ Quilting and Beyond” that had been ordered  some time  earlier. A rotating cutting mat, suction grip for the ruler, and some  fusing tape for batting.  This was from Hugh and Joyce , and more goodies from Joyce, a code cracker book, fancy braids, quilters pencils, 2 eraser blocks, stickers for cards. and a purple torch.

 

Hugh took me shopping, and I have so many fantastic Sistema plastic storage bins, oblong, with a  top shelf divided into the perfect sizes for threads.

When we arrived home, the florist had been again, with flowers from Jeanette in Auckland.

We have been friends since 1954, YES, add that up and it becomes 62 years. It began at Papakura High School,continued as first Jeanette then I were married, children arrived, life was  busy, and yesterday we agreed that coming from a farming life, we managed to economise,make do, recycle, and more. We have shared happiness, sadness, and  much more. Her dearest Trevor passed away almost a year ago, and on August 2nd, memories of him will be in our hearts and minds

.And we always remember our dearest Jocelyn,  who left us way too many years ago.

Attached to the beautiful flowers  was a spray of orchids.

More goodies to come, a Spotlight voucher, this will be a day out to look, dream, and get something special. Thanks Annette,Mike,.Josh and Dani.

Then a parcel arrived,a  big cardboard carton,and a cluster underlay for our bed. Thanks Kaz and Ralph, it is laid out all ready to go on. And I am sure, very sure, it will add so much comfort.

Then late yesterday afternoon a phone call on my mobile phone. I assumed it was someone in New Zealand!! I was wrong!! Hi, this is John calling from Ontario… now I have a lot of friends there so my mind quickly went to all  your names to remember a John.. the line was not very clear. so I asked ‘ Do I know you”? Could not hear his answer very clearly, then he said those worrying words “ Can you turn on your computer?  You have  a problem there”…I said “ You have the wrong number”, and closed the call. I checked the time, it was 10.50  p.m. !!!After looking up the number on Google, it seems this is a scam call. There are a lot of warnings with the same  number.. But, the funny thing about this, how did he get my mobile number? Guess these days anyone can do almost anything.

So all in all,a fabulous day, on the 25th here in NZ,and again when the 25th arrived in the North. 

Quotation of the day from Henry David Thoreau

“Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious

as to have friends at a distance;

They make the latitudes and longitudes”

Greetings from Jean

News from Abroad

 

Here in New Zealand, the television news is about local events, happenings, crimes, disasters, and weather, and naturally sport has to be on the list. World events are included, but lately I have only read of them on Facebook ( and then went to Google to find more) or on a friend’s blog.

The evacuation of 2 people from the South Pole, one scanty mention here, but this was worthy of so much more, this is  the third time only that it had been successfully undertaken in mid-winter at the Pole.

Then a few days ago, KB   of Romping and Rolling  in the Rockies wrote of the fire so close to their home. Updates on Facebook were so welcome, and to know they had evacuated safely was good news.

Thanks, KB, for the news of your bag and doggy medicines that  went to safety too. This gave me tears.

Cold Springs Fire, on the net gives so much information.

2000 people have been evacuated, hundreds of fire fighters, many fixed wing  aircraft and choppers in the air with fire retardant and water buckets, and  so many roads closed. Three people were camping on private property, and said “ they had nowhere else to go” when arrested, after tips from the public.The two men ,from another state,  are facing arson charges, and bonds were set at $200,000 ,  and    $ 150,000.  One young lady with them did not face charges. Boulder Country prosecutors had asked for $750,000 as they were considered a flight risk. They have admitted to not making sure their camp fire was adequately put out before they left their camp site. The cost so far has been tallied at $ 1.7 million dollars.

The Colorado National Guard is flying Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters out of the Boulder airport to collect water out of Barker Reservoir to drop onto hot spots and around the edges of fire lines.

When one of your friends  tells  of their news, sadness, happiness, or events like this, it brings us all closer together.I think of those  5 families who have lost their homes,  including a firefighter and  his wife, one of their dogs still missing,  the wild life , trees, and more all gone because of one moment of utter carelessness.Sadness is in so many places in our world.

Hugh and I have camped many times at Piropiro Flats. There are large areas of dry grass, bush surrounds the camp sites, and it is isolated. One year, a young couple from Europe were camping there, and a TOTAL fire ban was in place. Notices on all shelters and the large notice board. They had lit a fire on the ground, to cook their meal. I went over and explained about the ban, and that they should put their fire out, with lots of water… This would mean a walk down  15 steep steps to the stream… They said “ What will we cook our food on?” “ We only have this tiny gas stove with canisters and they are so expensive and don’t last long”

My reply, “ If your fire gets out of control, and sparks go into the bush, and starts a bush fire that spreads,  you will be liable for hundreds of thousand of dollars in fines, and even if you have returned home, you will be found and be liable”. They listened, were not happy at all, but did get water, and  thoroughly wet the embers. Hugh kept well away, maybe he thought one member of our family in the self-appointed  “ Fire Prevention Police Authority”!!! was  enough .

This is the Piropiro area, taken on one of our camping trips there.

Early morning sun at Piropiro

Swing bridge near a place called “ Angel’s Rest at Piropiro Flats

Quotation of the day from Zoe Zantamata

“ Being there for a friend is one of

the greatest gifts you can give.

Another one is allowing them to

be there for you too”

Greetings from Jean

Colours in the sky

 

Early morning sky from our place, November 2014

This morning dawned with a chilly start, and a night that saw me watching the Ladies Singles final at Wimbledon, a 1 a.m. start here in NZ.  A little sleep deprivation is OK in moderation .

Tomorrow, the Men's Final … there is Andy Murray, a man from Scotland but his country of sports is Great Britain, so I should show heaps of support there, as my Mum, Grandma and Grandfather were all born in Scotland. Then, on the other side is  Milos Raonic, born  in Titograd, SFR Yugoslavia (now Podgorica, Montenegro),

^{but his country for sports is Canada, his residence is Monte Carlo, Monaco.}

^{And thinking of all my friends in Canada, maybe this is where my allegiance should be.}

^{Today I had a short time  outside, in a sheltered place in the garden and soaked up some Vitamin D. Our Ginger Boy did the same late this afternoon. As the sun moved round further to the west, some of that warmth vanished, and then he moved to another spot.}

Snowdrops are flowering, and this shrub  in a large planter has these delicate creamy flowers. I would be so happy for an identification.

 

I pass on Josh’s thanks for all your comments yesterday, he had flown back from Rotorua this morning  and was busy getting the next semester’s  schedule, unpacking and  seeing  the Wellington harbour from the window . I suggested that he look ay my blog and see the photos there, and scroll down to the end. He did…. “ 16 comments, that’s great”  …he was so thrilled, many thanks from me too. A comment makes so much difference to a day, and I know how I value each and every one.

The next Semester  at University begins tomorrow, and a paper on Antarctica is on the list.

I wonder how many of the students knew about the Medevac and followed the story. The other day I listened to an interview on CTV with  the 5 men and one lady who were the crew and engineers on those flights. So humble, they all acknowledged the backup from so many people  in all parts of the world, that enabled this to  begin  and end safely.They did not dwell on their own skills, bravery,  or the fact that they dared to travel on this dangerous journey.Instead, they told of how they sang  “ The Lion Sleeps Tonight”, 2 verses over and over,  to entertain themselves on the 10 hour flight from Rothera to the South Pole. A meal of Buffalo Steak, some sleep, then a 10 hour return to Rothera.

Photo below, courtesy of CTV news.

The Kenn Borek flight crew shared details of their risky South Pole rescue mission, July 5, 2015.

Quotation of the day, author unknown

“ A ship in port is safe,

but that is not what ships are built for”

Greetings from Jean

Family News and Views

 

University exam results in New Zealand  are now given in Alphabet letters, with the appropriate plus or minus. I am pleased to announce       ( wow,how formal is that?) that we are so proud of Josh, a student at Victoria University, I guess when you sit your exams, the relief  when they are all over, then the wait till you know how well you did. So long since I sat an exam, but I still remember it all so well.

He is having a wonderful holiday and sent me some photos of the bike ride he and Mike did this week . This is the Umukarikari Track, on the eastern side of the Central Plateau.  They rode  to about 1600 m asl. ( 5249 feet), and it was cold  up there. Spectacular scenery, great views across tussock  land to the Central Plateau Mountains.

 

 

The view from the Eastern side of the Desert Road,looking at Mt Ruapehu on the  left hand side, Mt Ngauruhoe on the right. Mike on the right, Josh on the left.

 

Thanks,Josh and Mike for the super photos, A great day out together.

Quotation of the day,author unknown

“ When you have a wish to travel abroad

to another country,

look first at  what your own has to offer”.

Greetings from Jean

Antarctica Rescue in June 2016

 

Antarctica, Photo Credit of NASA.

All photos and text in italics  are courtesy of the Internet, the National Science Foundation and other journalists  and photographers who have followed this rescue and evacuation from start to successful ending.

There was very little coverage of this on TVNZ, and I have to thank Julie Palais  ( Program Director at NSF) for her updates on Facebook.

A Twin Otter Plane lands at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, photo is courtesy of Robert Schwarz, National Science Foundation ( NSF) June 2016.

On Tuesday 14th June, 2 Twin Otter planes from Kenn Borek Air Limited left  Calgary , Alberta, Canada, on their journey to the South Pole,  to   evacuate  a seriously ill worker,  a seasonal worker with Lockheed Martin  at the Scott-Amundsen base who required hospitalisation.  This is mid winter there, no daylight, temperatures about minus 60 Celsius,  (-70F) with the wind chill bringing it down to minus 75 Celsius.. The distance is a staggering 16,700 km, or 10,376 miles. On each plane there was a pilot, co-pilot, engineer and  a medical team member.

Kenn Borek Air  has a fleet of  43 aircraft including  26 de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter.

On 26 April 2001, Kenn Borek Air used a DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft to rescue Dr. Ron Shemenski from the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station. This was the first ever rescue from the South Pole during polar winter. To achieve the range necessary for this flight, the Twin Otter was equipped with a special ferry tank.

Details of the DHC-6 Twin Otter for you who like technical details.

The aircraft's fixed tricycle undercarriage, STOL ( Short take-off and Landing)  abilities and high rate of climb have made it a successful cargo, passenger, and medical evacuation plane.

Maximum Seating: 19 passengers, 2 pilots

Maximum Payload: 3,500 pounds

Cargo Door Size: 56" x 50"

Baggage Area: 126 cubic feet

Maximum Range: 4.5 hours, 750 miles

Cruise Speed: 165 mph

Fully I.F.R. Equipped, Including Global Positioning System

Operates on small wheels, floats, skis, wheel skis, tundra tires

Twin Pratt and Whitney PT6A-27 turbines rated at 620 shaft horsepower each

 

Kenn Borek  DHC-6 300 on skis at Rothera, Antarctica.  Photo courtesy Internet.

This was a huge undertaking and  and included contribution from many areas , weather forecasts from  the U.S. Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems        ( SPAWAR) Centre Atlantic,  expertise from the University of Texas Medical Branch,  various contributions from ASC.,  NSF’s Colorado based Antarctic logistics contractor as well as assistance from other nations.All those at airports who gave flight tracking data information and updates.

Tuesday 14th June 2016.

From Calgary to Denver, Colorado, 5 1/2 hours, 1447 km (899 miles)

Denver to Texas 1495 km (928 miles)

Texas to Liberia  ( Daniel Oduber Intl, Airport) 2306 km (1432 miles)

Liberia to Ecuador 1446 km ( 899 miles)

Ecuador  to Punta Arenas 5932 km (3685 miles)

Punta Arenas to Rothera 1612 km (1001 miles)

Rothera to South Pole 2497 km, (1551 miles) a 10 hour flight.

  The planes arrived at Rothera on June 20th.’The plane had to be fitted with skis to enable it to land at the South Pole, where there is only compacted snow for a runway. One plane flew to the South Pole, the other remained at Rothera as a back-up if a rescue was needed.

Thursday, June 23, 2016, 2:36 PM - Canadian aircraft have completed the medical evacuation of two people working at a research base in Antarctica.

The two workers, details of whose condition have not been released, were extracted from a base at the South Pole, which is enduring the harsh conditions of the Antarctic winter, and ferried by two Canadian-owned Twin Otter aircraft to Chile. The patients were later taken to an undisclosed medical facility.

One of the Twin Otters flew from the British Antarctic Survey's Rothera Station some 2,400 km to the U.S. National Science Foundation's Amundsen-Scott research base at the South Pole. After arrival, the crew rested 10 hours, after which the weather conditions were deemed suitable to fly out with the two patients, along with a medical technician.

That Twin Otter returned safely to Rothera, where the patients were transferred to a second Twin Otter, which flew them to Punta Arenas in southern Chile. They arrived safely on Wednesday.

I am sure that all who were involved in this mission can be grateful for a successful outcome, and those of us who cannot imagine the vastness of  Antarctica can read that it is  larger than USA, sorry all my friends in Canada, I could not find the overlay map for you. But Antarctica is about 1.4 times as big as Canada. This is USA overlaid on Antarctica.

 

Quotation of the day from Dr Martin Luther King Jr.,

“ Our lives begin to end

the day we become silent about things that matter”

Greetings from Jean

When Careful Plans Go Wrong

 

The June One Block Wonder with Sandy at  Upstairs Hobby Room looked fabulous, and was called   a Topographical Block. You can see why if you go to the link.      June Topographical Quilt blocks .

I loved the layout, and decided I would do blues, purples, greens and one other colour. The blue block was done, then I looked carefully, and decided there wasn’t enough contrast from dark to light.  It does look OK in the photo though. So I began the next layout, with all different fabrics, and YES, my favourite batiks.

The blue was what I thought would go round, matching up at each seam. but  blue went to green, oh dear,  I had cut the rows in the wrong order when I reversed them.More blocks have been sewn, CAT scanned, and I tried different ways to put them together. I can see the rose pink is  almost taking over the whole block, so If.. WHEN I make more, might need to change that one fabric. I am thinking that a whole set of blues as a border, not the same fabrics, but similar, this would give it a frame.

And to make sure this does get finished. I think a QAYG will be the easiest way for me.

..

Slight interruptions to the sewing, a visit to the oral surgeon   last week .How does he think you can talk when your mouth is full of hardware?? and numb  from one side to the other? When I mumbled what I thought was “ Yes, I’m OK” to his question, “Are you all right”,  he replied.” That wasn’t very convincing”. Thumbs up was the only way to reply after that. Adrenaline in the injections and no doubt in what he swabbed with afterwards, left my heart beating fast and the old legs a bit shaky. 10 minutes sitting in the waiting room, no doubt to make sure I was “ OK”.Very reassuring,kind, gentle, tall and good looking,  all a girl could ask for, maybe anywhere but there!!!

A very dear friend phoned me later that day, and came with yummy soup, a beautiful card, and a bunch of such fragrant Luculia flowers”. Thank you Rosalind and Jack, this and your thoughts earlier meant so much. This was a new shrub to me, I phoned around, and the next day managed to find one, the last one there, and it is waiting for a sheltered place in our garden. So a permanent  memory of true friendship will be in our garden. 

 

Quotation of the day, an Indian Proverb,

“ All the flowers of all the tomorrows

are in the seeds of today”

Greetings from Jean.

Blog Titles,To Be or Not to Be? That is the Question.

 

How does anyone decide on their blog name? Was it easy, a no-brainer, or difficult to the point of despair? When I began this  blog way back in 2011, I had no idea of where I was going, how to write a post, how to edit photos, or have a friendship list.  Then after talking to Marg Ussher who lives in the Auckland area, and throwing around a few ideas, her help in rearranging the words to what it is now was the deciding moment. For a long time, Walter’s compass was the header photo.

In  March , 2010, I made Walter Drake  ( 4th March 1919 - 15th April 2010)    a wall hanging, a “ Mariner’s Compass” to celebrate not only that day but to represent his time with HMS during WW2.  Our friendship was over some 13 or more  previous years, and he so enjoyed a visit  to our home here  in 2002 .

As First Lieutenant, and later Commanding Officer of Motor Launch 106 and finally senior officer of the 51st ML Flotilla, Lieutenant Walter Charles Drake, DSC, RNZNVR took part in thirty four successful mine-laying operations in enemy waters off the Dutch coast in the North Sea.

He was awarded a Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) in July 1944.

Along with this, I  also enclosed  some words, and the wonderful staff in the Merino Ward at Auckland Hospital kept the parcel, ( a bit more subterfuge )  and brought it in for him on the morning of his birthday, and after opening it, they hung  this  on the wall in his room.

To Walter

Happy 91^st Birthday 4^th March 2010

The Mariner’s Compass

Not sitting in the binnacle with the bridge just up above

No shouting down the voice pipe “Starboard 15. Stop Engines, Slow ahead”

A Mariner’s Compass in quilter’s terms, sewn with needle and with thread.

No swinging gimbal and no glass cover for salt spray protection

The four points, North, South, East and West, and others for direction.

Remembering those words; “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”

This is sent to you with friendship and with love.

Today I wrote a comment on  another blog on what was my most happy mail, real snail mail, and I am sure it was when Walter’s daughter Kristine sent me a card after Walter’s funeral to thank me, and to say that his wall-hanging  was at the Felixstowe Museum where memories of the Coastal Forces are displayed. It is on the wall, covered with special glass so it will not fade. A wonderful honour and huge privilege.A small part of our friendship, that has travelled from New Zealand to the UK.

Quotation of the day, by Mark Twain

“ Grief can take care of itself,

but to get the full value of a joy you must have

somebody to divide it with”

Greetings from Jean

 

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