Day 1, Level 2: Scotland and scholarships

Auckland is back down into Level 2 proper. Two weeks and then reassessment to hopefully go to Level 1. 

Meanwhile UK is going back into lockdown mode. Son Sam is back at work for The Guardian after being furloughed for virtually six months. Had a chat with him tonight. He's off to Scotland this weekend for a golfing weekend. Way up north of Inverness. Go Sam! I never went that far north - but this will be Sam's second or even third time up there. He loves it. Must be our Scottish family heritage calling him! Ancestry on my dad's side is Scottish - from Glasgow. 

Reverend meets young girl (Elizabeth) from affluent mining family, they head to NZ, set up in the South Island, have kids, most of whom return to Scotland to study medicine (including two daughters, unchaperoned, unheard of at the time). They return to NZ to set up GP practices here. Medical pioneers.

Irony is that my dad was a GP - but all this history came to light after he died too young aged 56 in 1993. Some aunts researched and wrote a family history that was published several years later. Can't lay my hand on the book right at the moment for dates. Elizabeth (my great-great-grandmother) was one of the original social workers in NZ - she was also an advocate for the temperance movement. The former I'm fully aligned with, the latter - not so much!

Royal Dornoch Golf Course, Scotland - a renowned links course

Brett flew off to New Plymouth this morning to play golf this weekend in his annual lawyers tournament. Not sure Palmerston North golf course matches the glory of Royal Dornoch!?

Today I called in on the final week of a fabulous clothing outlet shop I've been frequenting for about 20 years - along with so many others. It is closing, it's owner retiring. So many racks of fabulous clothes, so many bargains. I nabbed some "now or never" garments. The end of an era. I think half the clothes in my wardrobe have been purchased from this place. I live in them, and they are still going strong. Some are literally 20 years old - and still worn regularly. Shows the quality of a well-designed and well-made piece of NZ clothing.

Made a rather yummy pork quesadilla for dinner. And then friend Marie called in - her husband had shoulder reconstruction surgery today. It went well. He was staying overnight in hospital. She went and had dinner with him. No wine. I suggested she call in on her way home (which is round the corner). We chatted and enjoyed wine. 

 

SHARE-NOTE OF THE DAY:
Scholarship ...

With my school Old Girls hat on, and being a trustee on a scholarship trust, I spent the afternoon in scholarship interviews. For girls doing science or engineering degrees. Wow, what an incredible calibre of girls. All four short-listed were academically excellent, with a passion for science. All completely different personalities and all wishing to achieve very different things into the future. Impressive. 

Quite how these girls achieve all they do is mind-boggling - academic excellence, leadership this and that, competitions, extra-curricular groups, languages, culture, art, sports, community initiatives and involvement. One is head girl. 

It's almost exhausting comprehending what they do and they're barely 17 years old. I do wonder if they're all pushing themselves too hard, too soon, too young. 

There is life to be lived and youth to be enjoyed. I do hope they don't miss out on savouring the preciousness of one's younger years. When those years are gone, they're gone, that's it - and you can never ever get them back. You can only relive them in the future. And you only want to do that if they're fabulous. 

So much pressure on young people these days to achieve and succeed and outdo and be utterly unstoppably fabulous ... it concerns me. 

Being half of that is quite okay.