Life in Eureka

I batted with chronic sinus and mucus vs stomach acid. I determined whether I got COVID-19 or not. The answer was no. Having chronic sinusitis during the Spring Season often brings the worst or evident. 

The passing of Queen Elizabeth II’s death was ineffectual as I saw the news about the new Prime Minister – Liz Truss replaced Boris Johnson met the Queen. I recognised the purple colour sign resembled bruised signs or peripheral cyanosis – the lack of oxygen to the heart. But I might be wrong, which can be similar to heart condition problems. As she met Queen Elizabeth II, PM Truss shook Queen Elizabeth II’s hands. 

My first-noon outing was just a quick one to see the Deaf elderly chap who will be 90 years old next month for his grocery. I wore a mask and greeted him as he was well and delighted to see me. Mr G Wood played Solitaires on his computer while the tv was on. On TV, the new screen was showing breaking news about Queen Elizabeth II’s passing death all day last Friday. 

Mr Wood asked me about the royal lineage to the new King Charles III. I explained to him through sign language then I decided to draw the line along with many names linking to King George VI’s ancestors.

See the photo here. 

G. Wood said Prince Harry is finished and gone to the USA with a bad wife. No King for Harry. What about the titles – Duke and Duchess? I told G Wood that it was up to the new King Charles III if Queen Elizabeth II had already made the plan. Harry’s children won’t have the titles but remain as Master and Miss. If Harry’s wife complains, she should keep her mouth shut and move on. For example, living oversea, like in the USA and no longer in England, they will pay their income, not the British Tax. If Harry and his family do not want to live in England anymore, then it is their problem, not the Royal Families. Yes, U.S./U.K. dual citizens have to file U.S. taxes. Wood said Harry’s wife is the lousy troublemaker, not the boss and lacks respect for the Royal Families. Mm, that was an interesting comment from him. Then Wood asked me how the name “Charles” traced back to the first Charles. I decided to draw the line along with many family names linking to Queen Victoria’s ancestors. 

Let’s recap the line linking to the names. 

King Charles 1 (born 1600 and died 1649) was known as King of Scotland and England) and his sister – Elizabeth Stuart, married Frederick V. 

King Charles I’s wife, was Henrietta Maria (1609 – 1669) of France, and they had nine children. Four sons – Charles (died stillborn), Charles II, James II and Henry (died two months later), and five daughters – Mary Stuart, Henrietta, Anne (died young), Elizabeth (died young) and Catherine (stillborn). 

Mary Stuart married William II of Orange and had one son – William III. 

Charles II married Catherine and had no children at all. 

James II married twice and had a daughter – Mary II. 

More complex – 

William III married his cousin – Mary II (her father was James II)

Elizabeth and Frederick had one daughter – Sophia Hanover, and married Ernest A.

Sophia and Ernest had one son – George I, and married Sophia Dorothea of Celle. George I, became a King and had two children – George II and Sophia. 

George II married Caroline of Ansbach and had four children – Frederick, Anne, Mary and Louisa. 

Frederick married and had a son George III. 

George III married Charlotte Mecklenburgh and had three children – Edward, George IV and William IV (who became a King but died). George IV became a king, married Caroline of Brunswick, and had one daughter.  

Edward (Duke of Kent) married Victoria of Saxe Coburg and had a daughter – Victoria, later Queen Victoria. 

Queen Victoria married Albert and had children. Their eldest son Edward married and had a son George V who married Mary. 

King George V and Queen Mary had two sons – King Edward later, but his abdication as he wished to marry the twice-divorced American woman. He abdicated the throne to marry twice- divorcee Wallis Simpson, became known as the Duke of Windsor and handed it over to George VI to become a King. 

So King VI was Queen Elizabeth II’s father. Note the Royal Families lineage I wrote down was just roughly outline, if you note any errors or no errors.

Wow, what an entertainment lesson for Mr Wood to understand but fair enough for his choice to know a better picture today. I headed straight home for a well-earned rest in bed as an afternoon nap.

understanding about the tax – https://www.expertsforexpats.com/country/usa/tax/tax-advice-for-british-expats-living-in-the-united-states/

Another link https://www.hrblock.com/expat-tax-preparation/resource-center/country/united-kingdom/us-uk-tax-treaty/

There is a good website about the Royal families genealogy. https://britroyals.com/stuarttree.asp

 Instagram user ‘murphy’s sketches’ 

I lost the count of years until I read the newspaper article about Princess Diana’s death and the significant impact across the countries today. It had been 25 years ago Princess Diana was killed along with Dodi al-Fayed, and the driver. At the same time, the bodyguard survived the high-speed driving that led to a crash in the 200m tunnel (Pont de l’Alma traffic tunnel-Cours Albert 1st) past the Cours de la Reine along the River of Seine.

That day – 31st August recaptured my memory of this significant impact on many people who loved Princess Diana and the Royal Family, which was the highlight of my three months travelling to Europe, England and Ireland. I was due to fly out to Heathrow Airport in a couple of days and raised concern about the delay due to massive crowds heading for the funeral on 6th September 1997.

I, along with other airline passengers – British Airways knew about this. I went ahead as usual before arriving at Heathrow Airport, and the airline flew a circle for about 30 minutes in the sky before landing. Coming out of Heathrow Airport by catching the taxi into the city of London to Shepherd’s Bush (12.5 miles), perfumes of flowers float in the air from Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace, which is located 4.1 miles from Shepherd’s Bush. These smells of perfumes from approx 60 million flowers laid surrounding Buckingham Palace between the time of her death and the funeral. The sight of flowers was excellent as I did not walk around there, for I caught a train to Notts where my cousins lived in Newark, Nottinghamshire and stayed with them before 6th September, and I flew out from Birmingham Airport to Dublin, Ireland.

I did not watch Diana’s funeral for a week during my stay in Ireland. I travelled around South Ireland from Dublin to Galway, down to Limerick, Tralee, Killarney, and Cork, via Mallow to Tipperary, Waterford, several villages and back to Dublin. That was my highlight of the Ireland holiday where our ancestors came from.

After my Ireland trip, I flew directly to Heathrow Airport from Dublin via transit airline to Paris, France. I stayed in Paris for a couple days before heading out to Zurich, Switzerland. Yes, more flowers were lying near the Flame of Liberty, Paris, by the tourists and Parisians.

Twenty-five years ago – times flew so quickly since I travelled around the world each year/every two years in the past. My first trip overseas was in 1981, and my last trip overseas was in 2009. Most of the time, I wish to go back and catch up with my cousins and friends overseas, but I see the cost of airfares, accommodations and transport are far too expensive. I count myself lucky because the prices fitted my travel budget in the past, and any leftover cash went back to the saving account. Today I am firmly staying on the ground with my partner, three dogs, our home, gardens, and works as I get older.

What a glorious day so far! Spring is almost here as the weather plays tricks on us each day.

Inspecting the gardens and magnificent cherry flowering trees with bright pink-red colours display in the skies. Hungry Silver Wax-Eye birds (green feather birds) swooped down from one branch to another, drinking nectars from cherry flowers. Oh, what a delight to see drunken birds feed their babies in a safe place in the trees.

Oh, what a wonderful sight to see so many bees and Silver Wax-Eye birds busying around three flowering cherry trees this morning! Oh, there are many bees flying from one flower to another, collecting pollen-nectar for making honey. Hark!

Oh, one more to mention about the glorious sunsets over the last night and tonight!

“I glanced out the window at the signs of spring. The sky was almost blue, the trees were almost budding, the sun was almost bright.” ~ Millard Kaufman

Over the last few weeks in New Zealand, there was so much bad wet weather down in the South Island – the worst hit area are Nelson, Marlborough and the West Coast. Many of the residents were stranded due to flooding, massive landslips, road slips and road blocks due to landslips from the mountains, and a couple of bridges collapsed. In Wellington, plenty of landslips, causing cars to collapse on the roadside next to the hilly Wellington city.

“For still there are so many things that I have never seen: in every wood in every spring there is a different green.” ~ J. R. R. Tolkien

We are in late Winter into Spring within a week or two weeks in New Zealand. This year we are experiencing the worst kind of wild and wet weather so far. for the last three to five years, we have not had much Winter rain through the longest drought in Summer. Then this year, we just have a wet and wild weather bomb, but wondering if this kind of weather bomb is just a one-off or to continue through Spring into Summer. We do not have a magic ball to know what the weather will be like here. It would be best to admire flowers blooming in the trees, fields and garden while the birds are busy collecting pollens and seeds for their babies or transferring them to fruit seeds.

“Spring is the time of year when it is summer in the sun and winter in the shade.” ~ Charles Dickens

Harks! Ah! Many fantails fly to greet me when I walk with our three dogs in the fields and gardens. There go many green finches and silver wax eye birds greeting me while they wait for seeds, where I hang up the bird feeder.

“It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want—oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heartache, you want it so!” ~ Mark Twain

Blast! Oh, rabbits everywhere and making plenty of holes where I nearly trip over while the dogs chase them out to the hedges or hide under the house and old concrete steps belong to the original house. Curse rabbits! And that’s good to have our three dogs to chase them out or exercise in the fields.

Oh sigh! I have a final project for the gardens and fields this year, or at least I think so. Mmm, let’s wait and see how the weather goes.

Another weekend retreat for us – staff under the Social Service Trust through Winter season 2022. The last time we were here was the first week of April 2022. The very first retreat break was July 2021.

The place we stayed in Flaxmill Bay, near Whitianga, was the best accommodation lodge to stay and wind down to relax. The director used the funding from Well-Being Trust for us, including the director.

The beach is just down the road from the accommodation lodge and is a 5-minutes walking distance. The garden is surrounded by native plants, shrubs and trees where you can hear many birds singing day and night. Fear not for me as I am deaf with a disability myself, and it does not bother me with the rattle noise from birds.

A ferry landing is down further the road to catch a ferry to and from Whitianga. You can walk down to the ferry landing via ferry ride and head to Whitianga within 59 minutes from the Flaxmill Bay Accommodation Lodge. It is much quicker by ferry in under 7 minutes than driving over to Whitianga along the winding road for approximately 33 minutes and 38 minutes on different routes. If you don’t like walking a long way, you can take a car to the ferry landing and park there for 2 minutes or so.

There are several recreation parks, beaches and cafes near Maramaratotora Bay, Cooks Bay, Hahei Beach and Hot Water Beach. The popular recreations are Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach, which many tourists visit.

Walking, relaxing in the lodge or sitting out on the deck where the sun is shining out, having a bbq one evening with mates or staff or even being lazy in bed or sitting around in the lounge reading books, watching tv or playing games. Oh, one more – yes it is friendly accessible for all disabled people/families. Ah! a perfect place for me to do writing (typing) blog, story for the book or admire out there to think about life such as philosophy or to take photography.

Why not spoil yourself with a holiday break or a retreat weekend treat? What are you waiting for?

Left for Papakura area this Saturday morning on such a beautiful fine day. Driving along the newest Waikato expressway (State highway) was delightful, and it was a smooth ride all the way by reducing the time from 1 hour and 30 minutes down to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remember, back to our childhood days, it felt like 2 hours and 30 minutes or less on the winding roads, traffic jams and through rural townships like Huntly. But today, it was brilliant and straightforward from/Eureka to Auckland.

Arriving at Taupiri, it was foggy surrounding the mountain – a special Māori place and, of course, a sacred mountain. The spirit surrounding the mountain gave me something special meaning when I look at this mountain from time to time through travelling to Auckland.

We passed along Rangiriri, Meremere and Mercer as I looked at the Waikato River. It was over flooding the farmland and the wetland reserves due to the rainy month – July. It is undoubtedly a bonus for Aucklanders to conserve water intake instead not from our Waikato River for the last five years. (video clip here) This area reminds me of a story from my great grand aunt Olive about uncle – Charles Watkinson, his wife Sarah Ann and two children – Vera and Sidney lived in Mercer. Charles worked as an engine driver on the river steamer Manuwai along the river.

https://m.facebook.com/631374070348816/photos/is-this-caesar-rooses-manuwai-the-back-of-the-photo-has-port-waikato-written-on-/1052640958222123/

https://digitalnz.org/stories/5acf2ae812575724c7ef6465

Reaching Pōkeno, the famous bacon place and the most significant ice cream scoop, provides a favoured stop by travelling to Auckland. “There are two stores – right next-door to each other – selling scrumptious icecream, as well as other food-on-the-go. The two shops are just as popular as each other, so take your pick. Come with an empty stomach, or icecream-loving friends, though. One of them, Pokeno Takeaways, sells 15-scoop monster cones for $18. Most people opt for more manageable version.” https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/five-of-the-best-ice-cream-shops/CA5UBAU2ZBWVIC654CNZC6V3E4/?c_id=6&objectid=11381565

What does Pōkeno mean? “very first inhabitants, and many who have taken up residence since, Pōkeno – meaning a ‘place of refuge’ – has gained the reputation as a safe haven where people can escape the stresses of city life and relax amongst friends and family.” https://www.pokenovillageestate.co.nz/history
Unfortunately, Pōkeno is no longer a quiet local village due to the demand for housing from the Aucklanders, and the population quadrupled in size today. In Greater Auckland, there are no rooms for housing, and the Aucklanders have to seek outside Greater Auckland to buy homes like in Bombay or Pōkeno.

Travelling through Bombay onward to Takanini – the newest area after Papakura. Our family ancestors lived in Papakura for many years since they arrived from England, Ireland and Scotland. Late Great grand aunt Olive lived there until she passed away, and I visited her several times to discuss genealogy. Olive was close to Ann Brown (our grand aunt) until Ann passed away within a month in 1988.

At last, we arrived at the Friend of The Farmer cafe near Ardmore, Takanini and met my partner’s whānau there for the day. What a sight to see the wall of books!

“Fiction is like a spider’s web, attached ever so lightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners.” Virginia Woolf

Wake up in the cold, foggy with a bit of sunshine peeking through the cloud in the garden. Oh, what a delight to see many spider webs in the roses garden!

Mum let dogs out for their runs around the property while walking around the roses garden and admiring unique works woven by spiders overnight. Quickly dashed inside the house as it was a frigid morning. Mum had a warm porridge breakfast while waiting for the sunshine to peek through the foggy clouds. Finally, outbreak – the sun looked through and shone over the roses, and mum grabbed her mobile camera to take photos for this blog. Oh, what wonder artworks made by the spiders that delighted that morning.

Yes, it is Winter here in New Zealand, and it is not quite the end of June. Thankful for the bountiful rain we need in the Waikato Rural regional, for we, the local rural community, do not complain about rainy weeks. 

https://faithlife.com/posts/4516849

Kindly remind Mum that today’s world is heading for destruction and the danger of global warming. Global warming is becoming destructive caused by mankind, Mother Nature and the lack of horticultural education to preserve trees and grow seeds to plants/trees. Trees/shrubs and boulders/large rocks can prevent erosion along the coastal beaches like Port Waikato or Raglan, New Zealand. For example, the war between Ukraine and Russia without warning made mum think about the late blind woman who foretold the future and said there would be a World War Three. 

Looking back to the spider’s web and the handwork, the spider continues to be woven the web each time any insects or humans break the web. “Spiders rebuild their webs by eating the silk then “recycling” it to make new webs. Webs have multiple purposes, but the most important one is to trap insects for food.”

“Spider’s web symbolizes destiny and mortality. Christian symbolism of the spider is usually that of a Devil, which captures by ensnarement just like the spider traps its prey. Folklore also associates the spider meaning with good luck, wealth, or coming rain.”

There was another detail that mum forgot about, and here is the quote. “In Ukraine, if you find a spider web in the house on Christmas morning, it is believed to be a good luck omen. An artificial spider and web are often included in the decorations on Ukrainian Christmas trees. There is also a popular spider inspired folk legend from Germany and Ukraine.9/01/2011″

The worst nightmare and shock affected the close-knit families when a policeman came to the door, or a phone rang early in the morning. 

Yesterday morning we read the newspapers in the Waikato Times and the NZ Herald. In the article, the family members detailed were a mother and a child who died and left a young father alive and injured. This detail brought back my memory of the 1st of February in Eureka. The worst serious accident happened on State Highway 1, south of Picton, South Island, resulting from a van (mover van) and a truck with two container trailers. Seven out of nine family members died instantly, leaving two other families injured, and the truck driver was barely shaken and had a mild injury. 

We learnt that the mover van had crossed the centre line while the truck driver tried to avoid it but ended up tipping over to the rail line 50 metres away. We watched the new video and can tell the brake line/tyre marks along both sides of the roads. We leave the clues to the investigation team to understand what happened the whole thing.  https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/129019470/seven-people-from-same-family-killed-in-crash-on-way-home-from-funeral-named

I tried to focus on other areas like gardening, genealogy research and jigsaw puzzles. My partner knew what to feel like having been injured and living with the accident in the past. Because he had been involved in vehicles and other accidents in the past, he is a truck driver. At the same time, I am a deaf-specialised community worker, deaf advocator and deaf historian. I have experience involved with assistance in the accident near our property back on the 1st of February. 

The family came from consistent church-goers. The father was a primary teacher who received extensive extra training for the high-needs children; the school dealt with behaviours that “fall into the broad categories of profound, severe and moderate disability”.

Consider there is more work to be done on the safety of driving on the road and the acute awareness of the road codes and speed. It is called Road to Zero. The campaign starts on the 13th of February 2022, and it is not okay for people to die or to be seriously injured in a crash. 

https://www.nzta.govt.nz/safety/what-waka-kotahi-is-doing/marketing-campaigns/current-marketing-campaigns/booth/

Your loss saddens our hearts, and our thoughts and prayers are with you. May our Lord bless and comfort you and your family during this time of grief. May the memories of this family and the love of family surround you and give you strength in the days ahead. Please accept our sincere condolences.

Kererū is in the picture here. The bird cloaks iridescent green and bronze feathers on its head and a bright white vest and sits on a branch. The kowhai flowering is displayed along the branch stem. Copyrights Joanne Bowe – NZ Artist and her website is www.JoanneBoweArtist.com

This year, this picture was a birthday gift from my brother from Hamilton, New Zealand. I have not framed this picture yet as it sits on my work table at home. Every day I am in the office here and look at the picture because it reminds me how life’s contrast impacts human lives every day.

Today is the first day of June, and it has been four months (1st of February) since we witnessed and were involved in the severe three-car accident site next to our property. I am a deaf Christian through my family’s strong connection to Christianity over many years. I have remained in solid faith throughout my life whenever I go and am constantly safe before coming home or leaving home for work, shopping and home visits. 

Māori have had a solid connection to kererū for many years. Currently, farmland owners and conversation teams regularly check in the forests, bushes, and farmlands to avoid gradually declining in areas where predation and illegal hunting are unchecked. Let’s look at the details about Kererū and why this native bird is rare and protected from having an extinction of birds in Aotearoa (New Zealand). 

“Māori have an enduring relationship with kererū that goes back to the arrival of the first canoes – a spiritual connection that transcends mere sustenance.

Iwi in former kererū strongholds – Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine, Tuhoe, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Whanganui, Te Ātiawa, and Ngāi Tahu – hold a particular reverence for kererū, which frequently features in tribal myths and lore.” https://kererudiscovery.org.nz/about-kereru/

What do the Kererū symbolise? They are symbolic of guardianship, forewarning, grief and awareness for Māori. “Are you taking enough care for yourself and your whānau and your provider, Papatūānuku (Earth Mother).” The kererū’s colourful feathers were used to make cloaks.

https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/nz-pigeon-kereru/

Recently our neighbour and his family moved to Morrinsville for a new pasture, and yes, he was one of us at the accident site. They are moving forward with a fresh start in their lives. We are not going anywhere, and we are staying put as it is our home. The battle with the Land Transport NZ and the Waikato District Council is not done, and they are working with us on improving the corner in the intersection, putting up new signs and reviewing road safety for school buses. But we are getting there and keeping the communication open to everyone here.

Now it is the Winter season, and the plan of growing sunflower sections is underway in our large open fields surrounded by five cherry trees in a straight line.

Anthophile (Anthophiles in plural) means anyone who loves flowers like sunflowers. 

Sunflower meanings include happiness, optimism, honesty, longevity, peace, admiration, and devotion. 

• Full of positive meanings. A sunflower tattoo tells the world that you are an optimist who looks to the bright side of life. It may also demonstrate that you are a person who is loyal and devoted to your faith, your craft, or those you love. It can also indicate that you are a person who believes that world peace is within our grasp.
• Sunflowers remind people of those who seek deeper spiritual understanding and even enlightenment. Often growing in fields full of other sunflowers, they also represent the community and fellow devotees to a given faith. They turn to face the sun.
• Admiration and devotion – religious faith. Sunflowers are also symbols of respect and steadfast faith. They turn their bright faces to follow the sun. So, a sunflower can also represent loyalty and devotion to another person, a group of people, children, animals, or a cause. It can also mean dedication to a professional calling or hobby.
• They are also symbols of vitality and longevity.
• Sunflowers naturally turn towards the sunlight. Because they gravitate towards the light, they are also symbols of truth and honesty. As they symbolise the idea of “shedding light on a manner,” sunflowers embody the saying, “The truth will set you free.”
• Sunflowers are famous for turning their big round faces towards the sun. For this reason, they are also symbols of optimism. Sunflowers, quite literally, look to the bright side.
• Like the sun’s own radiance, sunflowers send positive vibes. They are the perfect flowers to bring more joy to a garden or to put a smile on someone’s face. Optimism is also a form of gratitude in that it honours the many gifts in life. So, sunflowers also make lovely thank you gifts.

Sunflower Meaning, Symbolism, and Mythology

Yesterday (May 10th 2022), I received my orders – sunflower seeds and one envelope from my mother’s friend in Raglan. 

What was the reason I decided to get and grow sunflowers here? Mm, how can I explain here? 

First of all, my favourite flowers are sunflower, lavender, roses, tulips, daffodils, freesias and wisteria climber. Recently there was a severe car accident (three vehicles) near our property – a young baby and mother died, the loss of the Deaf Man, the past uncles and cousins and Ukrainian want to retain their own country against Russia through Peace, not war. One day in late February, a young girl who lives across the road from us came over and wondered if I could grow a sunflower garden here. Why not? We have plenty of space to grow flowers, vegetables and trees on our property except to reserve one room for my partner’s work truck to park. We will decide where to plant the sunflower seeds against the windy and even the pest animals – rabbits. 

Here is the photo of the needlework – a butterfly made by the Deaf man who passed away yesterday. His name is Eric, and he lost his Deaf older brother recently and left his second Deaf older brother and his Deaf wife. Eric’s gift to me in 2008 is ways for the work I supported him and his wife throughout the years and as a friend in the Deaf community. His needlework of the butterfly remains in my office in Hamilton, where I work under the Social Service as a deaf advocator, specialised community worker and tutor.