Beyond COVID-19 NZ

I'm late posting this (it's 2am) - just checked latest new updates before posting this and discovered Sean Connery has died, aged 90. He was an acting icon. Today was Spring Race Day at Pukekohe Racecourse (Counties Race Club) - about 50 mins' drive south of Auckland. The Auckland Owners Association puts on a special day for members each year. It was supposed to be last month but Covid restrictions meant it was postponed. What a fabulous day we had today! There were 45 members and guests - and genuine camaraderie was present in the room throughout the entire day - and, indeed, around the whole course.  We had our own area, with indoor/outdoor flow, ran a Punters Club, had prize draws, a fantastic buffet (with outstanding bread & butter pudding for dessert!), and of course some great racing. People connected over a beer, a hot tip, a favourite jockey or a racing story. Many "small world" reconnection moments were experienced and new connections made. The Assn s

(NB: This is my 222nd post since Covid lockdown came into our lives! I haven't missed a day!) The digger and contractors were at work in the driveway as I came to life! It was pretty early and I wasn't quite ready to rise for the day and felt a bit guilty they were hard at it while I was still in bed. But I bet they're not still up at 2am working! They were hard at it all day, putting in posts for the retaining wall. Then the concrete truck came in the afternoon and did the pour. I went out to observe post insertion and, later, the pour. Fascinating, and the guys are doing a great job.  It's going to look great when it's finished, and a huge improvement, despite Mr Hideous nasty neighbour's attempts to sabotage things and get his own way (as in, remove the tree and its roots). Thankfully he hasn't been back to accost me at my front gate again. The other neighbours are all on our side and a very good plan has been put in place to create an excellent end resul

Short and sweet is the name of the game today ... Unlike yesterday when I had to deal with short and evil (aka nasty neighbour!) Spent most of the day in my office whipping through all sorts. Phone calls, editing, minutes, writing, emails ... I achieved a lot today. Completed some tasks. And began new ones. Spent time in the driveway discussing issues around that with contractor and Brian, to finalise a few things. Making good progress.  Sprayed a few flies - they are starting to come and are very annoying. Had a Zoom AGM for racehorse owners association in the evening - efficient and productive.  Cooked a fish/prawn semi-curry dish for dinner which was very tasty. Watched a bit of tv. Talked to Anna in Italy and sister across town. And then suddenly it was midnight after a warm, even muggy - and very busy and productive - day.  Am doing a stint in Auckland and dreaming of being back in Omaha.  Here's a photo of a log on Omaha beach a week or so ago. Such stunning light (no filters

Up even earlier than crack of dawn today - to take Brett to the airport. He's got a couple of week in the South Island for two golf tournaments.  Back home by 7am. Shortly after, the digger drivers arrived and set to work on the driveway again. I set to work on my computer.  Mid morning, I touched base with the contractors and the arborist (who came to guide how to work around our big camphor tree). Discussed what was what with the driveway, the tree, the cautions etc.  Two female neighbours came by and we chatted for half an hour or so. Mainly about the driveway works but also a rare catch up. The contractors were doing great work, the arborist giving good guidance.  I go back to my office safe in the knowledge all is in hand.  Late afternoon the doorbell goes. I move from my computer straight away - but the doorbell is on permanent ring - ring - ring. Ring. Ring. Wait up I can't get there any quicker.  I get to the gate - oh. That figures, it's Mr Hideous from across the

Crack of dawn start today. Not nice. But when you have your mind set on the right dial, it's okay.  I was doing a contract job doing board minutes today. It started at 8am and went for 6 hours with just a short break. Discussion was intense and complex. And of course it was all new to me as I hadn't done work for this company before. New people, new business terminology, new everything. Ambitious concepts discussed. Circumspection and extreme listening skills required! I've done minutes for about 10 different clients through the year - it's confidential, intensive work and I can say yay or nay when a job crops up as it works for me around other things I do. Pay is good, you're in and out of the meeting, no mucking about. Some are via Zoom or I just get the audio, so don't even need to go into a meeting room (they're the best!) But either way, it is pretty draining, especially first up, getting to know the people, company, dynamics, preferences, requirements

Oh another lovely lie-in! Why not!? My dreams last night involved topsy turvy houses with stairs that were virtually inaccessible and unused nooks and crannies in weird places that were strangely hard to access. And then suddenly these people came and dumped all their "storage" items into this weird house (my home) and suddenly there were no nooks and crannies - and no space for us! The neighbours upstairs had a strange arrangement that was more like a mezzanine to our house so we could overlook each other, up or down. It was all crazy and bizarre. I can't remember for the life of me the ins and outs of the previous night's dream where people were trying to sabotage me or whatever. And no doubt tomorrow I'll have forgotten the detail of last night's dream of house invasion! I do have a recurring dream where I'm in a strange looking commercial airplane and it's flying all askew and going under bridges and goes off on weird tangents and is a bit like a r

 A lie-in this morning. Why not? It's a holiday weekend. Take it slow ... I was wide awake at 5.30am and kinda keen to watch the impending sunrise but thought why and went back to sleep - and then had the most bizarre early morning dreams - about people doing things that impacted me hugely and negatively without giving me a heads-up about what they were up to (bizarre selfish things that encroached everything about my life) and then expecting me to just say yes, that's fine, and deal with it even though they knew it was disastrous for me but ideal for them.  Of course I didn't say, Oh yes that's fine. They were all about themselves, that was clear. I tried to make them see reason as to why it wasn't right, and the impact on me, but they didn't want to know. Even though, in their own way, they could sort of understand. Hmmm, I will have to give some thought as to what that's all about. Dreams always mean something! I often have vivid dreams - but not usually

There are 11 new Covid cases today, all in managed isolation. There have been community cases, including at a pub. We are being urged to be vigilant, sign in with the tracing app, wear masks when in public etc. I suspect the virus will bob up and down in our lives forever more.  It was a nice day today, but a windy one. We had a leisurely morning, I cooked bacon and eggs for brunch and then Brett and Michael went to golf. I had the races on, did a bit of work, hung out at home. Nice. Today was the Cox Plate horserace in Melbourne - won handsomely by a horse called Sir Dragonet. I didn't back it, but that didn't detract from my pleasure in watching an awesome and iconic race. Frank Ritchie who trains our Saintly Way trained Bonecrusher who won the now famous 1986 Cox Plate - a dingdong battle between Bonecrusher and Waverley Star, both NZ horses. He still smiles when he recalls every detail, and the trophy and photos are very cool to see in his office. Counting down to the Melbo

A bitsy day - mostly work. Went to Matakana mid-afternoon to get some supplies. A pleasurable outing. In fact, once I'd got my supplies, I drove down to the river (2 seconds!) and took a wander. I never go down there - because I can at any time of any day, so I don't! But today I did! Because I had a moment. It was gloriously peaceful. There's a river, trees, a weir, ducks of all kinds, and no one around. It's really lovely. River cruises are run when the tide is right and there's a heap of history around this river.  SHARE-NOTE OF THE DAY: Dinner on the deck ... Tonight we had our first dinner of the spring/summer on the deck. Brett and Michael are up. I cooked a beef stir-fry and we had G&Ts outside on the deck (we did need the outdoor heater on, as there was a chill factor). We ate out on the deck and it was very very nice indeed! Shades of summer ... Beef stir fry - served on my lovely Mallorcan platter from London friends Jill & Peter (who are right now

Morning - work. Mid-morning - work. Midday - more work. Mid-afternoon - getaway to Omaha.  The drive north was .... nice. Talked to a friend the entire way. Went to a Travel Club evening - a new concept a friend who has been in travel all her life has started. Had a person from Ponant cruises do a presentation on wonderful Ponant cruises. Nice!

Ticked off quite a bit in the morning and then friend Jan and I drove south to Matamata to watch Saintly Way (stable name Ziggy) run. We were the only owners from the syndicate who could go. It was a bit of a last minute thing as we didn't think he'd get a start - but he did.  It's a straight-forward 2-hour drive and we chatted away. We hit a real rainstorm at one point but came out the other side of torrential rain glad it was just a localised downpour. When we got to the track, it was drizzling and dreary. The track was very wet - there were lots of scratchings on account of that as the tracks have been pretty good recently.   We had a pre-race drink and watched Ziggy parade. He looked magnificent.  Trainer Frank and Jan - Ziggy in the background Ziggy's race got under way - he was nice and handy and was looking really good. But alas he didn't go on with it and ran down track. The jockey said he thought he had it won at the 600m mark but as they came round the hom

A windy day. Did a short walk to the beach, it was pretty nice down there, sheltered from the pesky westerly. There was a gorgeous warmth in the air and a translucent quality to the light of sea and sky - felt like summer! Only a handful of others down there. Well, I guess it is Tuesday morning! Did a bit of cleaning, a bit of work, a bit of research, a bit of writing. Waited for Indi to return from wherever she goes to. I'm heading back to Auckland city today.  Indi didn't show up by mid-afternoon so it was a case of making a phone call to "Uncle Peter", our neighbour to ask him nicely if he would mind feeding her. I'll be back up again on Thursday and she's in good hands for a couple of days.  A smooth drive home - and once there, got to see the results of some digging and retaining work being done on our property alongside the driveway - as a first stage before the entire driveway is resurfaced (the responsibility of all those who use the driveway). It'

I saw dawn today! Rare for me. And rather beautiful. I must do this more often! PS: I did go back to sleep for a bit after I'd witnessed this glory! Dawn, view to the east from Omaha bedroom. Taken at 6.20am I worked on my laptop all day, writing, writing, writing. A few admin things.  I had been intending to head back to Auckland for a racing forum in the afternoon - but Indi went awol and it all got too hard and too late. So I stayed put in Omaha (yay!) and continued writing. And a few more admin things.  The weather bounced between glorious and ominous. It never rained despite some black clouds crossing the sky early afternoon. Mostly it was nice.  Dusk was subtley gorgeous.  Dusk, view to the west from Omaha deck. Taken at 7.45pm Hmmm, which is better - dawn or dusk!? Both are glorious, of that there is no doubt, but for me dusk wins on account of its eternal Sally-friendly timing! Mars is still a bright red blotch in the sky. In fact, as I type this (at 1.36am NZ time) I just

A busy little day today, after a nice lie-in. Brett did some handyman DIY stuff and I made scones.  He headed back to Auckland after lunch, and new friend Lynn who lives in Matakana came over and we went for a beach walk. It was quite windy on the beach, with a slight nip in the air. A few surfers out.  Had a chat back at the house and then she headed home to get there in time to watch the rugby test match - All Blacks versus Wallabies. I mentioned we didn't have Sky so I couldn't watch it - and that was why Brett left so early, to get home to watch the game. I wasn't that bothered, although I do like rugby and have rather missed it - no games, and of course Sam isn't here to go to his Saturday games. Not that he would have been playing any even if he had been here.  Lynn invited me to go watch it at their place so I took up her offer. It was a bit of a scrappy game, but there were some star moments, especially by newcomer Caleb Clarke. We don't like his hairdo but