Time flies you can't they fly too fast

I've always enjoyed that little punctuation puzzle. Time does move relentlessly onward, though, regardless of how slowly it seems to go when we are in the middle of something we don't particularly enjoy; or how rapidly it appears to go when we look back and see how long it has been since, say, our children were small. It has been awhile since I last posted anything here, so enough of this preamble, and on to the body of this little epistle.
We never tire of the view we have from our house - especially the one looking out to the ocean. There is something about the ocean that draws one to it.

Of course, the view across the valley of South Dunedin is impressive as well, even if it is filled with houses and businesses. It is especially pretty when the fog rolls in.

Karen didn't know anything about gall bladders until I took her to the urgent doctor and they sent us on to hospital. The next day she had surgery. Then the long recovery period and the after-effects of the surgery. She's discovered that eating some foods is no longer a good idea and that her nails and hair also take a while to recover.

Karen continues to be the center of my life. In addition to the great views from our house, we enjoy the closeness of the beach at St Clair. We can take a 30 - 40 minute walk that includes a round trip to the esplanade. There's usually a group of surfers busy catching the waves, even in the rain.
Looking through our photos, I find mostly pictures of our three grandkids, but for now I'll focus on our activities.

We took a trip to Wellington to visit the Mitchells in July. Talk about views! Here's one from their house. They've spent almost a year remodeling it and improving on it. It now has a lovely airy and modern feel. I think Karen got some ideas about remodeling from them, because she's started talking about changes we can make to our house (the one we were just going to move into and live in).

While in Wellington, we visited the Karorai Game Reserve. We had to have our bags checked for rodents before we could go in, because most of the wildlife in the reserve is birds. This was built on what used to be the water supply for Wellington. There are walking tracks in it that could take all day to traverse. They even had a little motor launch to take you from one end of the lake to the other and get up close to some of the birds in the process.

Wellington is the capital of New Zealand and the government is mostly consolidated in the building behind us, called the Beehive. It is very unusual and was voted one of the 10 ugliest buildings in the world last year, but I kind of like it. It is probably related to my sense of style. Karen takes me shopping with her as a sort of litmus paper - if I don't like it, it is probably stylish; if I do like it, she'd better not buy it.

One day in Wellington, while the Mitchells were busy with work and getting ready for their first grand baby, we took the train up the coast to Paraparaoumou and spent a couple of hours walking along the beach and dining at at a local cafe. After it started to rain pretty seriously, we took the train back. We nearly missed it, though, because we didn't realize that Paraparaoumou is the end of the line, so the train that pulled into the station from the south is the one to catch to go south as well.

One weekend when John, Sara, and Eli were visiting we decided to visit Larnauch castle. We didn't know they were having a wine tasting that day, but took advantage of the booths spread out on the lawn after we'd toured the castle and grounds. It was an idyllic sunny, warm Sunday afternoon. Talk about serendipity!

Even now we find ourselves thinking, "we live in a place that others visit on their holiday". This was a combined Saturday morning Farmer's Market and Global Warming Awareness event. Behind Karen (brown pants and white shirt) is the old train station - said to be one of the most photographed buildings in the country.

We've been enjoying gardening this year and are trying out a few different things.

The potatoes we had last year grew from compost we'd spread in the garden before leaving for a Northern hemisphere Christmas. They impressed us enough that this year we actually planted some. The plants are lush. I hope the potatoes are abundant as well.

Lettuce grows very well here, but pulling our the ornamentals on our raised planter beside our patio was the ticket to increased visibility and pleasure.
We planted a Thai chile plant that has peppers that range from purple to yellow to red as they ripen.


We've even tried some warm-weather plants like squash this year. This is generally not a good idea. We have to plant tomatoes in the green house to get them to bear.

Beyond Kiwiana

After our discovery of the Thermette (way cool), I decided to search for other Kiwi inventions, icons or 'firsts'. Here's what I found:

Bungy jumping: well maybe he didn't invent it, but A J Hackett opened the world's first commercial bungy jumping site in 1988 after achieving notoriety for illegally bungy jumping from the Eiffel Tower in 1997.

Jet boats: in 1953 William Hamilton, a NZ farmer, developed the world's first properllerless jet boat, now known as the Hamilton jet boat. What's more, he also invented the hay lift, a device to smooth ice on skating ponds, and the water sprinkler.

Atom splitter: in 1919 Baron Ernest Rutherford, a NZ scientist, was the first person in the world to split the atom

Stop the game: in 1884 William Atack was the first person to use a whistle to stop a sports game

Eggbeaters: Ernest Godward invented eggbeaters, spiral hair pins, and burglar proof windows

Jogging: Arthur Lydiard invented jogging and used it to help two Kiwis win gold medals in the 1960 olympics

Stamp vending machine: R. J. Dickie - about 1900

First flight: We all though that the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk were the first to fly [a heavier-than-air craft], but it is not true. The first flight was by a 25 year old New Zealander, Richard Pearse on March 31, 1902. How about that!

Ghost: the software used to copy computer installations and manage them from a central site

Fly-by-wire: I don't think this is the aviation control system, but I'm not sure. There's a Fly-by-wire ride in Queenstown that rivals Bungy jumping for thrills that is more likely to be a Kiwi invention.

Mountain Buggy: 1992 - an all-terrain pushchair for parents with a fitness-oriented lifestyle. John & Sara have one - it's neat

Pavlova: This is a bone of contention between NZ and Australia, with both claiming it as their own. However, being a Kiwi, I'm opting for their version: "This dessert was invented as a tribute to the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, who toured New Zealand and Australia in 1926. Pavlova is made of meringue and cream and is usually topped with kiwifruit."

Buzzy Bee: designed and produced in 1948 by Hec and John Ramsey, it has become an iconic NZ symbol

Other things named in passing:
Frozen meat
Tranquilizer gun
Seismic 'base' isolators (rubber and lead blocks which minimize earthquake damage)
Electric fences
Freezer vacuum pumps
Wide-toothed shearing combs
Electronic petrol pumps

Oh, wow! I just found a site that has heaps of things. I've copied some of it here.
If you want to see the source, it is at www.thinkb16.com/KiwiInventionsAndDiscoveries.aspx
Here they are:

1884 Air Tight Tin Lid - John Eustace
An air tight tin lid with a lip. Although others copied the idea, he was making 100 tonnes of tin cans a year in the 1920s.

1982 Baeyertz Tape - Dr John Baeyertz
Use for accurately estimating birth dates, still used world-wide today.

1988 Bungy - AJ Hackett
The world's first commercial bungy site was opened in 1988. In June 1987 AJ bungy jumped illegally from the Eiffel Tower.

1956 Disposable Hypodermic Syringe - Colin Murdoch
A disposable, pre-filled syringe.

1900 Eggbeater - Ernest Godward
An egg-beater that could prepare eggs for a sponge cake in three and a half minutes, previously it took 15

1944 Jogging - Arthur Lydiard
A training technique that saw his two protégés Peter Snell and Murray Halberg win gold medals on the same day at the 1960 Rome Olympics.

1953 Propellerless Jet Boat - William Hamilton
The world's first propellerless jet boat

1901 Spiral Hair Pin - Ernest Godward
This was a predecessor of the hair clip.

1919 Split the Atom - Sir Ernest Rutherford
The first in the world to in 1919. He was awarded a Nobel Prize for his efforts in radioactivity.

1970s Spreadable Butter - New Zealand Dairy Research Institute
After years of development, the New Zealand Dairy Research Institute released the worlds first spreadable butter in 1991, which was then made by New Zealand dairy co-operatives and now by Fonterra.

1950s Tranquilliser Gun - Colin Murdoch
A tranquilliser gun, also called a capture gun or dart gun, is a non-lethal gun which shoots tranquilliser darts filled with tranquilliser that, when injected, make the target animal sleep.

1972 Tullen Snips - John Hough
Scissors which could cut items as tough as one cent coins and by the 1980s more than 20 million had been made.

1884 Whistle in Sport - William Atack
The world's first referee to use a whistle to stop a game of sport.

1994 Zorb - Dwayne van der Sluis and Andrew Akers
Created the world's first Zorb, a unique adventure activity involving a giant plastic ball, a slope and speeds of up to 50 kilometres per hour.

Other Kiwi icons include:

Edmonds Cookbook: More copies of this book, published by the makers of Edmonds ‘Sure to Rise’ Baking Powder, have been sold than any other book in New Zealand. Few New Zealand children would leave home without buying or borrowing their mother’s copy of this kiwi culinary bible.

No 8 Wire: Kiwis are famous for their ingenuity and self-sufficiency. It is said that Kiwis can create amazing things — all they need is ‘a piece of Number 8 wire’. No 8 wire is a certain gauge of wire that was incredibly popular for use as fencing wire around New Zealand’s many farms. Because No. 8 wire was widely available, it was used for a variety of tasks, and it has become a symbol of kiwi adaptability.

L & P: L & P stands for Lemon and Paeroa, New Zealand’s most famous soft drink. It was invented in 1904 after its maker tasted some mineral water near the town of Paeroa, and mixed it with lemon to make a particularly refreshing drink. L & P was originally called Paeroa and Lemon, though the name was later reversed, and then shorted to L & P. This drink is still popular throughout New Zealand today. I love their ads: "World famous in New Zealand"

Whew! I'm starting to feel like the Russians alway used to say: "We had it first!"

Kiwiana

We discovered a bit of Kiwiana with our introduction to the Thermette. This is a wood-burning portable kettle that was invented in 1929 in New Zealand by John Hart. It was adopted by the NZ Army and issued to its soldiers during world war II. Many of them were stationed in North Africa where it was nicknamed the Benghazi Boiler. Since then, Kiwi families have taken it on road trips and picnics because it is so easy to "boil a brew" for tea, coffee, hot chocolate, or even just for hot water to clean up with.
Our colleague, Dale, couldn't believe we'd never hear of it, so she brought hers to work to show us.

Of course, nothing doing but what we had to try it out. Dale explained how it works while Hamish, another colleague, fired it up with just a few twigs we found lying around.

One of the reasons it works so well is that it is hollow! It is actually a water jacket around a chimney. You can feed the fuel down the chimney and the windier it is the better.

In just a few minutes we had flames shooting out the chimney, and a couple minutes later, we had hot water spewing out the spout.

We had our coffee cups ready with instant coffee and Dale proudly poured out the water If you look closely, you can see the ground behind her through the middle of the Thermette. How cool is that?

Click here to view these and other photos on Picasa.

Elinor Jumping

Christmas in Kansas

Out for a walk on a chilly day

I wonder how many family photos we have with a little one looking the other way?

What fun!

A quiet New Year's eve

Contemplating the mysteries of the new Dyson

The hat was a hit!

Urban cowboy and his steed

Technology helps the family share Christmas around the world

The boys, the cards, the fun

Family gathering at Christmas

Our week with snow in Vancouver just about made us captives. It began snowing the day we were to fly to Kansas for the rest of our holiday and by the time we got to the airport, flights were being delayed. We loaded about an hour late, then sat for almost three hours. At one point they pulled back up to the concourse to let anyone who wanted to depart get off. It was snowing so hard that they had to close the airport every 30 minutes to scrape the runways. The de-iced the planes as well during that time. Then they spent the next 20 minutes getting planes that were circling the airport down on the ground. The remaining 10 minutes was all that was left to get planes waiting to take off up in the air before they closed the airport and started the process all over. By the time we got to Denver, our connecting flight had already left. Denver airport was full of people in the same condition as we were. The hotels were full, the cars were all rented, flights for the next day were mostly full as well. Luckily, my cousin Sharon and her family live in Denver and she graciously invited us to stay with them. Not only that, she picked us up, fed us, and even got us to the museum the following day while we waited for the next flight we could get on - exactly 24 hours after the one we missed. We can't thank her enough.

A day late, but having had a bad experience converted into an adventure, we got to our destination in Newton. We swapped stories with our kids who had their own travel nightmares to relate, then got to one of the main goals of our trip - to hold and play with that new grandson. Although still a toddler, he's definitely all boy. He looks and acts a lot like his Uncle James.

Just seeing all the family was so good. Our children and their partners are a cohesive, fun group. We also got to see our brothers and their families and share stories of our kids, jobs, and activities. I'm glad to say that everyone seems to be doing well.