Friday - Last day of the week

Looking out tonight it is grey and windy the days are getting longer which is nice. Last day of the week, went to sit down excercises run by I think the Stroke Foundation, quite energetic. Makes me think of Nana who would not go to any activities at the senior citizens in Walkane because they were all too old. Good to do something in a group there were three others there from the Bridge club so it was quite social. Got some Cliff Kidney potatoes to chit will have a tyre crop again. Caught up with Janice later this afternoon she had bought some greens for the chooks. All the streets seem to be blocked with the road works for the water pipes I think and of course the bike lane! Jaunting off to have lunch with Julie in Whitby then popping over to see Mary and Paul for a visit tomorrow. Still watching the Vikings which I am enjoying even if it is the 2nd time!!

Cold and Grey

Looking out today after coming home from Bridge with David. Briefly we saw the sun shine out the window but now it is cold and grey. I had coffee in the greenhouse before I went to bridge which is always pleasant. My two tomatoes are coming along slowly, am also hoping to get some seed started. In reality it is still a bit cold. Yesterday was a bit nicer I went down for a sneaky lunch at Harrisons while the sun shone. It was lovely to see the little fat sparrows hopping about waiting for crumbs. That will have to be my latte lapping spot now Ruth Pretty has closed. Not much to write today Graham is chopping up steak then going to Rotary I have a frozen roast dinner to have. Not much sign of Pat-a-Cat she is truly wild

Books I am Reading The Garden of Evening Mist which looks promising

Out of Control

Winter is striking now the days although we are past the shortest days are grey and gettin colder. When I look out my window this afternoon it looks grey an cold. Went up to the village earlier it did not seem to be so cold but now later in the afternoon it is getting colder. Took Normas dog Ali on my morning walk around the block, she rarely gets a good walk, it is times like this I miss Max badly

. Seeing a picture of him still brings tears to my eyes. Poor Charlie just did notcut the mustard but I do hope he finds the home he deserves. I feel sad about him too. Now I am trying to befriend Pat the cat but I I have little hope of that being a success. Winter is cheerless Denyse is coming for a visit perhaps that will buck me up. I am going to try and write more not that it willbe very exciting at the moment

Snippet and Snicket

I have just finished a book set in India and was reminded of a snippet of info about Pearl and Daisy too. Cant remember how old I was but I recall Pearl being asthmatic. I guess maybe in the late 40's or early 50's Pearl had these asthma cigarettes that were used, she also had some medication that left yellow dribble on the pillowcases. When I checked the cigarettes out they were made from Belladonna, Strontium and Atropine all supposed to help with breathng.I don't think she found one. Its funny how the memory gets jogged but I clearly recall Daisy tearing the place apart one day looking for one of theses cigarettes when she was desperate for one. I don't think she found one. Don't know what happened but suddenly Nana didn't have asthma any more. I don't recall her going to the Doctor for medication or saw her taking pills of any sort. Sutherland Road was a small white timber cottage built at the front of what I saw as a longish thin piece of land. It stepped down to a lawn with a clothes line behind the cabins then stepped down to a henhouse and vegetable garden at the very end there were dwarf fruit trees. When you stepped out the back door on to the path it took you along the lefthand side of the property to an empty piece of land that lead to the Dairy on Queens Drive. This was called the snicket not sure if it was the path or the gate. Tis word is used a lot amongst the Maddocks to mean a variety of things that are small. Anything from a gate to a sweet. A word about the neigbours, on the left hand side was a large double section that belonged to the Ravens, they ran a trucking business and had built large garages to store the trucks in. On the right was an ordinary dwelling where Elliot ran a cattery business Denyse worked there in her school holidays. According to Nana the previous owner had put her head in the gas oven and ended her life. This probabaly was result of the depression maybe. Across the road lived the Newtons thats where Harold came from beside them was Nanas friend Audrey and 'The Bull' probably called this because he drank I don't recall ever meeting any of these people.

Pearl and Daisy part 2

Nana's mother Margaret Williams who was also known as Margaret Hamilton died in 1934 she was 65 years old. Accorning to Nana the Hamilton connection was not one that had happy memories, when Daisy named Anthony Hamilton Harris Pearl told her in no uncertain terms that she and her mother had had no time for him. Documentation that Robyn Taylor has she was known as Margaret Williams. So now we have 3 surnames attached to Pearl, Williams, Hamilton and Nagel. Remember in those early days people changed their names and remarried at will. Written records were not always accurate. Pearl was a resourceful woman and I am thinking that she turned her hand to Floral art and Millinary after her mother's death. I recall a Milliners block sitting on the dressing table in the main bedroom. James would have returned to his family after the depression had ended I have a memory of someone recalling that he had been a baggage handler at Wellington airport. When Daisy was 14 her words to me they cut her hair short and sent her off to work at Evans drapery in Cuba St. Money was still short. The Evans's were Lyall Bay people so posssibly Pearl used her wiles to get her daughter a job. This is where Fay met up with Mick Evans and probably this is where their liason started. I am not sure love was involved or whether it was a contiual thing or just opportunistic. This we cannot be sure of. Pat,Diana and Tom would have been sent to work as soon as possible. This snippet i missed from the 1st post Daisy at some stage during the depression won an elocution competition but was unable to take advantage of the prize as I guess there was no extra money for bus fares. But it she always spoke well. Pearl also was carefulwithspeech. I recall that when son Tom boughthome Aunty Mary she was critisised for saying ongion instead of onion. Remnants of Pearls Convent education perhaps. So now they are jogging on towards World War 11 and recovering as best they can from the depression.

Pearl Maddock and stuff No 1

193 Sutherland Road was the most important address of my early years. It was a smallworkers cottage, 2 bedrooms,kitchen/dining area and lounge. A fishpond on the front lawn behind a picket fence and on the lawn between the cabins a wishing well. I believe it was rented until after James Enoch's death. He had at some stage built 3 small roomsa short distance fom the house. These were built with the timber from NZ Butter Boxes according to a later owner who said the timber was marked. Wire and stucco strengthened them. Thesse extra rooms were built to house the expanding family. Daisy,Pat, Diana, Tom and Barbara. Sometime during the depression Pearl had her mother living with them I reacall Daisy telling me that she and her grandmother shared the small bedroon off the kitchen. These were hard times for families and this was what it wasa like for the Maddock family. I cannot give dates but recall being told that James who had been a shearer and had avoided war service until the last days only got as far as Trentham camp, Shearing was seen as an essential occupation. I think that after the war he worked as a shipwright until work in the shipyards ceased. If you look at the history of the Great Depression in NZ I think unemployed men were sent off to do what they called relief work doing hard physical labour preference given to married men with families to provide them with some income. Remember that James was 20 years older than Pearl so it might not have been easy for him and according to Nana she said it wrecked him. I am guessing he would have been about 50 which was a bit different from 50 today. It is obvious thet he was the gardener because I am woondering why they did not grow more of their own food. However Pearl had 4 chidren an aged mother and I believe she worked at a deparrtment store n Cuba St called CS Smiths which was near where the old Farmers was. Margaret Hamilton must have looked after the children at home so there was probably little time for gardening. During these early years Daisy developed pneumonia and spent about 6 weeks in Wellington hospital these are her words and no one came to visit her. When she finally came home from hospital the front porch was added to the tiny house for her to sleep in. This left her with weakend lungs for a lifetime, this would have been pre penicillen days

The London Apprentice

managed to get out for a walk today and a breath of air Graham still unwell. He as been struck very badly. Got a bit lost but managed to get home with the help of the bus

Here is one of Gre sitting in the the flower seat. Have to get the next load of washing out