One week to go

I spent the morning studying the Eurail pass guidance and instructions, trying to get my head around what is required in order to book the train journeys we wish to take in Europe.  By late morning I think I’d more or less got to grips with it, so I’ll sit down on Monday, with no distractions, and see what I can achieve.

We left home just after midday to go and pick up a few items from the supermarket that I wanted to take when I visited two friends of mine - a husband and wife, each in a different care home.  It’s absolutely heartbreaking the turn that their lives have taken.  After our shopping MrMacD dropped me at my Pilates class - the very final one - and went off to find something for lunch.  I was very humbled by the warm farewells from my fellow Pilates classmates. It was sad to say a final goodbye to them, although I think we’ll stay in touch, which would be nice.

From Pilates we drove over to the North Shore so I could visit my friends.  I managed to see the husband, who has motor neurone disease and who has almost lost his ability to speak.  It takes a lot of concentration to understand what he is trying to say.  Unfortunately, when I got to his wife’s care home I wasn’t able to see her, as she has the flu and was in her room.  It always upsets me to see them the way they are now and remember them as they used to be.

Our last visit was to a friend from Napier who is in Auckland visiting her grandchildren.  She rents a small place for a few days and they stay there with her so she can spend quality time with them.  We always go and see them when she’s in Auckland and have got to know the grandchildren very well.  We had an enjoyable time tonight watching the live cam of the Little Blue Penguins in Oamaru as they came out of the water after a day at sea catching fish and then had to negotiate rocks and some rather large seals to get back to their nests.  It was fascinating to watch.

I am woefully behind dipping into journals.  I will try to catch up over the weekend.

The only photos I managed to take today were of the cupcakes our friend’s grandchildren had for dessert.  We were spoiled and had pavlova - which I didn’t take a photo of.