I must be getting old...

How often do we look back and think of those from our past?  Friends, now long gone...

This takes back me to two people we met long ago, neighbours at the time, but friends never the less. A time well stamped in my memory when we would invite Rose and her husband over for the evening. A time for a good chin-wag... Rose and I shared a common interest in music, we both loved to play the piano and our respective husbands enjoyed discussing their interests, albeit the same time. Now and again there would be an interruption. "Now-now Rosie dear!" A reminder to tone it down a bit.

Norm's many anecdotes, particularly of their travels abroad held us enthralled. We were just a young couple at the time, in our early twenties, two little sons and another on the way. Overseas travel and all those adventures - simply a dream... 

At the time of moving into our newly built home, Rose and Norm were overseas and as yet, we had not met them. As it turned out however, it happened quite soon afterwards and it was when Norm happened to be standing at the front of his place. He soon introduced himself and from that point on, we hit it off.  Age was no barrier, their sixty or so years made no difference and the hilarious times we spent listening to their adventures, we never tired of.

We soon learned that they spent six months of each year on some pacific island where the climate was warmer. The rest of the time, across the road from our place.

It was early in the peace that Rose shared her green tomato chutney recipe with me and I whipped it together the moment I got my hands on some green tomatoes. From then on it has been a family favourite.

Because they were overseas when green tomatoes were available, I would make enough for all of us -  I think of them with each new lot..

One year Dad gave us a bottle of Old Parr which we were delighted to offer our new friends. Neither of us were interested in the whiskey, but it went down a treat with Rose and Norm. The room livened up, stories flowed... "Now-now Rosie!" at frequent intervals and I think the room actually shook with all the hilarity.

Now, If you two should just happen to be looking down from wherever it is you are these days, how about dropping in to update us on your latest adventures.............?

FLEETING VISIT.........

"Ah! so you're the prime minister of Noo Zeeeeland...?"

"Where is that by the way.... er.... somewhere near that other place... um... Austraaaaalia?"

"And tell me, do you get mail down there?" Simple enough question from Letterman, but why the interest?  Hmmm, Let-ter-man....  What does it denote exactly? A man of letters?..... Perhaps he moonlights as a postman?

Well done Mr Key!  Stood your ground, albeit a few minutes. Worthy of a standing ovation all the same.

Anyway, who was actually behind those ten questions? Didn't sound like your usual address or perhaps you had a little help? Some Yank maybe, thrusting a fistful of notes into your right hand - at the last minute?

Guess I was expecting a little more. Apart from our beautiful scenery, much admired worldwide, a mention of some of our achievements would have gone down well. Considering our population of 4,331,151 or thereabouts;  Kiwis per capita have contributed significantly. In sport, the arts, science to name a few. And wasn't it around 1917, Earnest Rutherford split the atom?

Some notable quotes from the man himself:

On his vocation:                         "All science is either physics or stamp collecting."
On New Zealand innovation:    "We don't have the money, so we have to think."
On a self-important person:      "That man is an Euclidean point: position without substance."

Gets you thinking, eh...

The new acquisition

has arrived, but what has this photo got to do with it...?

It was the first of many appearing out of the blue. Some still, others in motion. All turning up in monotonous regularity. But how did that happen? The answer is simple; I don't know, but you can get rather sick of looking at a screen, keyboard and messy desk after a while.

All I know is that it was an arduous journey. A journey into the unknown and all because I merely - pressed a few things. My other camera was far less complicated, but I dare say things will fall into place soon enough: meanwhile, I will be snapping at everything in sight.

So, welcome to the new camera!  Hastily bought after the little freebie finally kicked the bucket and I was lost without it. Possibly it had been sourced from the Far East somewhere, part of a bulk purchase perhaps, maybe even bought on the cheap after being flung together from the sweepings of the floor.

Anyway, it was a right little struggler; churning out several exceptional shots before fading into extinction.  So, what the heck. It was no more than an inducement to Time Magazine. However, it feels more like parting with an old friend or saying goodbye to the family car, new owner at the wheel.
So, there we have it, another acquisition.  Oh!... before I forget -  just how the heck do I attach the wrist strap .......?