Much closer to home, David had a scare the other day - he had opened the garage door using the remote control, and halfway up, the door suddenly crashed down to the ground again! Aaarrrggghhh!!! On investigation, he discovered that the nut had come off the bolt that holds the door to the pulley lever! It had clearly worked its way loose over a period of time. FFS, that was scary.
We checked and there were no washers lying around on the garage floor, indicating that the bolt and nut relied on there being no friction between them to keep the nut secure. Dumb dumb dumb!! Even I know that a washer is required to prevent unintended loosening of a nut!
So David went to John's Hardware and bought a locking nut. And he is contacting the garage door installer to notify them - this is a security issue, as how many people actually check that the nut stays on? Certainly not us! Locking nut or not, I will be checking regularly in future.
With the various health issues facing friends and family at the moment, we have both noted that ongoing fitness and health are not guaranteed as we age, so we are being much more focused on eating well and exercising. Even though during our time on the boat, David does all of the locks and often walks or bikes between them, he found he had gained a few kilograms while we were away. I stand much of the day at the tiller and don't get much exercise - even though steering can be tiring for the feet, legs and back, it doesn't count as an energetic pastime, by any stretch of the imagination. So I had also gained a few kilos while we were away.
I am going to blame Mick and Julia frankly - not because it's their fault, but simply because I can ...
But if I'm honest, it really is because I like to cook, we like to entertain and we both like to eat.
As we are not going to cut down on entertaining, we need to modify our eating/drinking and increase our exercise.
So I am now on the intermittent fasting plan of 16/8, where I fast for 16 hours and eat only in an 8 hour window. It is surprisingly easy and tends to mean there are only 2 meals a day, at 11am and about 6pm. I have also cut down on the chardonnay dramatically - I know: shock, horror! and chardonnay producers in NZ have gone into voluntary receivership on hearing the news. (To make that easier to bear for me I have turned to rose - I don't like it as much so can happily drink far less of it ...)
I am also going out walking 4 mornings a week. Ann Persico and I walk together, virtually. It's the only way, as she is in Nelson and I am in Waikanae. But we set off at the same time and send photos and texts along the way. It's lovely, and I can text as I walk, so that I am hardly slowing down.
We have decided on 4 days walking a week - we start at about 8am before it gets too hot and walk for about an hour. As we are both in our 60s (me at the top end and Ann rather younger) we walk Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. That way we are giving our ankles, feet and knees time to recover from the rigours of walking fast on hard surfaces - not that it would matter what surface I was walking on frankly as my feet get sore anyway.
I think Ann walks the same circuit each day, but I just wander. I always loved doing this with Janneke back when we both lived in Johnsonville - we would set out and just turn up/down streets as the whim took us. So now I am doing it with Ann, albeit we are in different towns!
The first day (Friday) I crossed over the railway line and headed for the lower urban slopes before Hemi Matenga. However that walk was a bit of a bust as I had gone out without socks and got blisters. Rather than go home early, I found a couple of leaves to poke down in the heels of my shoes. I know, you don't have to tell me that I looked nuts...
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| They may look stupid, but they were effective for about 1.5 kms. |
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| I saw a woman putting out her rubbish bin, so I asked if she had any plasters. She didn't but brought toilet paper out for me to stuff in the back of the shoes. It worked but looked even more whacky than the leaves - especially as I had to readjust it on the way home and the only place I could sit was on the kerb with my feet in the gutter ... |
And I couldn't find my way back down the hill while walking with sore feet, so had to retrace my steps.
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| It was an overcast day and the hills of Hemi Matenga were obscured by cloud as I walked up Te Moana Road |
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| I did see this house on the way up one of the slopes - a photo was required because my dad lived in a house called Pear Tree Cottage in Stadhampton near Oxford when he was about 13. |
- I discovered that I fit into kids' size 6 shoes - much cheaper than adults' ones, and
- Rebel Sports gives a 15% discount to Gold Card members.
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| Size 6 kids' shoes ... |
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| Nice wide fitting - some kids obviously have fat feet, like me! |
On Monday, with my new shoes (and old socks) on, I headed a different way.
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| The hills were clear on Monday - not sure if they were alive with the sound of music though |
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| It wasn't that warm but hardy souls were doing lengths in the outdoor pool |
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| While others were sleeping in the sunshine ... |
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| Most sections are sold and some houses are already up. |
I also saw two pairs of oystercatchers on the open ground - I do like them. And I also discovered Millvale House, a dementia care unit which I have flagged for future reference, but I am not sure which one of us it'll be for ...
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| And seen on the walk - I need to find out what this shrub is so I can get one and plant it. |
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| Yay!! Our strawberry tree has started to flower again after a hiatus - it took a year or so off flowering after we gave it a severe pruning two years in a row.. It was on borrowed time, so I am pleased it is rewarding us with its lovely yellow flowers once more. |
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