Day 30, Level 1: Driveway, Old Girls, Childhaven/Abortion, Navarra wine - and make-up

The driveway guys were hard at it again today - they're putting up the railings on the retaining wall. It's fiddly - the bottom rail has to be just so as there is a tricky gradient involved, especially with the tree roots. Slow going. It's coming along nicely. They'll be back in the morning - yes, Saturday.

It doesn't look like a whole lot of progress - but three guys have worked hard all day on these railings - from 8am until well after 5pm. As I say, slow progress but they're doing an excellent job, not just slapping them up. They're all bevelled on the edges to make them look sharp.
I'm excited to see how this driveway will look when complete!

While the guys were outside measuring and sawing and bolting and whatnot, I was inside doing a lot of mainly editing work today. 

I made good progress with the Omaha Newsletter - articles are flowing in. I also have to write the lead article, I haven't made a start on that as yet - but I have plenty of notes and ideas. Just need to find a good chunk of spare time to write it. I prefer to write that sort of thing in one hit rather than piecemeal, otherwise you can lose track of thoughts and placement and writing strategy. 

Sometimes I write this blog in bits and bobs and fits and starts, writing some stuff, coming back to it, and finishing it last thing - I'm the first to acknowledge that means it can be repetitive and/or rambling! But suffice to say I don't do a proper edit on this blog - it's a ramble of what tumbles out - and that's how it is. It's real!

I think I've mentioned that it's the Centenary of the Old Girls Association (OGA) of my old school (Epsom Girls) next year. I'm Co-President and we're in full swing with organising a weekend of celebrations. Part of this is the writing of a History Book about the OGA - written by the retired Archivist. I'm editing it. Worked on it for a bit today. Wow, those old girls in the old days were busy with functions and dances and balls and fundraisers and dress-up parties and sports events and helping the community and soldiers in the war in oh-so-many ways. There was huge activity, especially in the 50s - so many activities I could hardly keep up. They all sounded pretty interesting too! 

Our current day schedule seems tame in comparison - especially this Covid year when we've had to cancel or postpone everything! 

But even compared to recent years, we don't organise anything like what was organised 60-odd years ago. I guess we're all busier these days, juggling work and families and the frenetic pace of life in this era. But I'm sure those women of the day were the same, busy as. Ask a busy person ...

The sad thing is that if we organised that many events these days, we'd struggle to get numbers and it would all fall over. We stick to a realistic 2 or 3 a year. But not this year. The only event that we've been able to go ahead and organise with confidence is the Graduation Dinner in December - for the Year 13 leavers and their families. But even then, ticket sales are much lower than usual - for obvious reasons. We'll make a call next week. 

A chapter I worked on today talked about a place called Childhaven - a home in Epsom for unmarried mothers. Back in the late 1950s/60s old girls from the School donated baby clothes to Childhaven. There have been some awful stories come out about the place, forced adoption etc - along the lines of the film Philomena - which is a great film but a harrowing watch. Same thing was happening here. Up and down the country. It's scandalous and it was hidden for way too long.

It was another ten years before the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act 1977 came into play in NZ. It meant women didn't have to travel to Australia for an abortion, as they had had to do up to that point, but there were still a lot of restrictions. The recently passed Abortion Legislation Act 2020 amended various sections of that Act, and also also removed abortion from the Crimes Act. 

Abortion was legalised in the UK in 1967 - but not in Northern Ireland. Abortion was only decriminalised there in October 2019.

In May 2018 voters in Ireland chose to legalise abortion in a historic referendum. 

When I worked for the Europe Region of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (in London Head Office) in the 1980s, abortion was a hot topic. Ireland was struggling with it being illegal (as well as contraception until 1985), it was totally banned in Romania (along with contraception), it was prevalent in USSR ... backstreet abortions were dangerous but rife and it was a complex issue that was regularly addressed. Some of the stories are eye-watering, the pro-life reasoning staunch and those advocating for change active. The Roe v Wade case in the US was often referred to. 

Isn't the name Childhaven just such an anomaly? It was not a haven for the children, who were shunted off to new adoptive parents usually without their mother's consent. And it was certainly no haven for the young mothers who had been sent there under a shroud of shame. 

Haven = a place of safety and/or refuge. Hmmm, anything but. 

I've discovered, upon researching Childhaven a little bit further, that there was a book published by the daughter of the woman who worked as secretary at the home. 

First Names Only is a richly woven and moving story about a group of unmarried mothers living in a home in Auckland during the 1960s. The novel, by Elaine Blick, draws on her memory of Childhaven, an Epsom home for unmarried mothers where her mother was secretary for 26 years. Elaine was much the same age as the girls and struck up friendships with several of them and so came to know their individual stories. She has interwoven the lives of a group of them and shown how the experience of having a baby and giving it up for adoption left an indelible mark.

I'd like to read this book. 

Once the driveway guys had gone for the day - well after 5pm - I went to the supermarket for some supplies. With machinery and chaos reigning in the driveway all day, I just stayed put all day and got on with my own work as getting my car out was all too hard. 

Friday evening at 6pm - and the supermarket was like ghost town. Remuera was like ghost town. Where is everybody? It was good coz it was a quick in and out and back home. I'd contemplated suggesting a drink with friends - but after a busy week I felt pretty exhausted. Quiet Friday night in sounded good to me. 

I'd had an eye on some of the US Election stuff on and off through the day, but only vaguely. I did watch a bit of Trumps' speech, mid-afternoon. He seemed irked, on the back foot, even though he was continuing with his bolshy behaviour. For a moment I thought his head was sort of being pulled in of its own accord as reality was hitting home! But it was just a glimmer, I don't think there's any substance to it!

I made a delicious cheese & onion sandwich for lunch. So delicious I had two! I seem to have a thing for cheese & onion sandwiches these days. The ones you buy from the bakeries have just the right amount of softness and for some time I'd wondered how they achieved that. I did some research and learnt the secret. So now I make a very delectable cheese & onion mix and I'm very happy to share my secret!

• Grated cheese - today I used cheddar and emmental
• Finely chopped onion - today I used red onion
• A wee dollop of mustard - today I used Dijon, sometimes I'll use grainy
• A wee dollop of onion marmalade - today I used Bit on the Side brand - it's my fave
• Mayonnaise to taste - today I used Praise brand

Mix it all up, add some pepper (salt not required as cheese is salty). 

And now the secret ... add a tablespoon or two of boiling water. The heat melts the cheese to just the right consistency. 

Paste the mixture on some fresh bread (I used multigrain) and enjoy! I had mine with some chips (crisps). So good I had a second sandwich! You could add finely chopped ham or bacon if you must!

Onto dinner ... I wasn't all that hungry but I made a yummy nachos. Nacho chips go in the dish, chili beans on top (with some sriracha sauce and cream poured over), grated cheddar sprinkled over, sour cream plopped on top. Balsamic glaze drizzled over. Into the oven.

Ready for the oven (15-20 mins at 160)

Add mashed avocado (always after it comes out of the oven - there is nothing worse than the taste of cook avocado!), chopped cherry tomatoes  and a big blob of sour cream. Devour! OMG it was good. Terry - go for it!!

A portion, ready to eat (I did have another portion!)

I have to say the avocado I used for this is the BEST avocado I've had all season. Most that I've bought have been stringy, sub-standard and not very tasty. This one was fresh from an avocado courtesy of a friend's son's friend who works on said farm, and gifted.  I know where I will be getting my avocados from in future! No comparison!

Cooked avocado is a huge YUK from me. It's a taste I cannot stand.
Raw avocado, especially with balsamic and a hint of salt and black pepper - one of my fave tastes of all time. So simple, so delicious. I'll often devour an avocado for lunch - but I wish they were all as good as this one I had tonight. 

Here in NZ we have mostly Hass avocado - with the bumpy skin. You have to catch them just right or they're no good. I generally prefer the Reed avocados, they are more creamy and generally less stringy. But they're hard to find.

I opened a bottle of red to accompany my nachos. It's from the Navarra region of Spain, where we spent some time in 2015. I spotted it at the supermarket tonight and, as I'm on a bit of a stuck-at-home global quest in whatever way I can, I thought I'd give it a go. It's definitely not the best red I've ever tasted, but the concept of it reminds me of great times in northern Spain! Namely, in Olite in the Navarre - which is a noted wine district with bodegas etc. And a desert nearby (the Bardenes Reales) and the most incredible castle on a scale that takes your breath away. There was a gorgeous wine museum in the town, with stunning displays, and we sampled local wines in this beautiful setting. We also met the Game of Thrones actors who were staying in our hotel and filming in the desert. Got some good insight into the filming of that episode (I'd never seen it but I knew of it - and I did watch that episode when it screened!) We were there when they were filming. One of those right-time-right-place scenarios in life.

I had an article published in the NZ Herald about our Navarre experience - alas it's a Premium online article so only available to subscribers. If you want a copy, let me know and I'll email it to you. I can honestly say our stay in the ancient town of Olite which I'd never heard of previously, was an unexpected delight of the highest order.

A barrel being made

This sign should be put up in bars all over the place!

Navarra wine alive and well (and rare) in Remuera - consumed with nachos!
An attractive bottle next to lovely flowers - still going strong since our raceday last Saturday.

Brett is currently in Hanmer Springs, near Christchurch, about to start the second of his back to back golf tournaments. The weather down there - not good by all accounts, lots of rain forecast. Here in Auckland, after yesterday's hideosity, today was lovely. And the forecast isn't bad for the weekend. Hopefully it'll be good weather so the drivewaymen can get on with things. 

While I get on with more editing and writing. Needless to say, I've made no progress whatsoever on writing of my own book projects - too busy doing other writing! 

I really thought there would be more fireworks tonight - given the dreadful state of the weather last night, which rendered fireworks useless, I thought people would save them up and let them off tonight. Not so - only heard a few booms. Surprising. I think people have other priorites, and rightly so.

SHARE-NOTE OF THE DAY:
Make-up ...

I loved it once - oh how I loved it. But it's actually quite an evil thing in so many ways!

When I arrived in London in the 1980s I couldn't get enough of Boots and its huge array of make-up brands and products. I'd spend hours trying them out and even more hours deciding (decision-making is not my forte!)

I used to love shading eyes, blushing cheeks, selecting lipsticks - in effect, painting my face. It was the thing in the 1980s and I loved to shade eyes from deep to highlight, fiddle with eyeliner and kohl and various mascaras.

Through the late 70s, 80s and, when back in NZ, the 90s I would love doing my make-up in the morning before setting off to work. People would always comment on how impeccable my make-up was. In the UK it was the norm - but not back in NZ! 

For me, make-up was a ritual and a bit like painting. I amassed a wonderful collection of cosmetics and used them every day. Turquoise has always been my favourite colour and it would feature on my eyes. Plum favoured for lips. Donning make-up was a form of creativity and I loved it.

Until I didn't ...

In my 40s I developed rosacea (skin flare-up) and blephiritis (eye flare-up) - common in people with Scottish heritage - that's me! Both not nice things, and cannot be cured, only managed.

Make-up is a problem. Especially all those early cosmetics with their chemicals, parabens, and other nasties. 

I did a lot of research back in the early 2000s around both these conditions. The bottom line was - give up make-up. I did, immediately. At that time mineral make-up was just starting and I switched to that. What a difference it made.

I avoided putting anything near my eyes, especially all those eye shadows and mascaras. What a difference it made. 

I also switched my facial lotions and potions to ones without parabens. Problem solved overnight. 

Nowadays I wear very little make-up and prefer it that way. Mineral powder on my face, mineral eye colour, a touch of lipstick if I remember. And that's that. And only natural lotions and potions on my face.

My rosacea and blepheritis (which were both huge problems for a number of years in my late 40s) are now all but gone. I saw specialists and had steroids and various consultations and treatments. It didn't make any difference. When I thought - let's stop the make-up and switch to lotions without parabens - problem solved!

Bloody make-up! The worst culprit, I believe, was Shisheido - Japanese make up that I used a lot as it has been favoured by NZ women since the 1970s. They use a lot of hideous chemicals that are now banned. Thank goodness for the plethora of mineral make-up available today!  

Also, I think all the high branded expensive products that claimed they would make you look younger all through the 80s and 90s - Clarins, Clinique etc - all full of sh*t. At high cost. I have never purchased or used any of those products except for the occasional sample sachet - and that equated to extreme skin flare-up. No, no, no. Now they're all going au natural - to keep up with the entrepreneurial people like Natio, Sukin, Trilogy etc. And a zillion others. From the get-go, natural was always best. It just wasn't available back in the day. Thank goodness for the array of fantastic products now.

I still wear make-up for "special occasions" but very subtley and rarely - and it has to be mineral, paraben-free, natural. Or nothing. 

Golly - this was a long post - it seemed to be a more full-on day to report about than I thought and, before I knew it, my fingers started flying over the keys to capture today's antics (not highly exciting) and rambling thoughts (all over the show!) Rest assured, it doesn't take me long to type all this up as my fingers really do fly at touch-typing speed (100+ wpm) - flying alongside my mad mind. Sometimes I actually type quicker than I can think and it's as if my fingers take over my mind! That can be a problem as words get in a tangle - but nothing that can't be rectified with a little editing next day!

I've decided, after a couple of glasses, I don't like that Navarra wine at all! It's doesn't measure up to the quality we drank over there!

And to finish - I'm so glad that my Rosacea and Blepheritis are mostly kept at bay.