61 And Counting Down

I visit Pete to check on progress with the shelves and the bed head. Shelves are going up on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the light is dimming and the days are drawing in. But the weather is still pleasant enough to enjoy my daily swims. I even get Sharyn to the beach. On Sunday Greg arrives with some framing and his hammer. He has framed Grandma, Linda Morris's, purse which must be 100 years old. It is one of a number of items I purloined from my mother while I was growing up, and used over the years...uni balls and Papanui balls. But it's become fragile so putting it behind glass is a way to protect it but keep it in the lime light. Greg's done an amazing job. A picture of Tui and Marie at about 3 and 4 years old, goes up. The frame is one I rescued from Mt Oakden when Marie moved out after 50+ years. She was so far from anywhere she never threw anything out. I picked up a pile of stuff no-one else wanted and brought it home. I've had the carved, wooden frame for 15 years and it fits the studio photograph of the two sisters perfectly. Tui and Marie were born a year apart, close as they grew up. Both clever, both independent and both caring, kind women. I'll see these little girls everyday as I walk down my hall and pay homage to women whose lives shaped my own imperceptibly and invisibly. Innocence captured in pre Depression sepia.  

Monday is my 61st birthday. Another year ticks over. I want time to stop but the alternative is worse. The English department presents me with a cake and I tell the kids it's my day. It makes little difference. I soothe my weary bones at the beach then roll up my sleeves to make birthday dinner. It's pot luck and everyone chips in. They're early so I give them jobs. It's easy to socialise in this new space...people cooking, people chatting, drinking, snacking. So different from the old house where the kitchen was at one end of the house and the living room at the other. Indoor/outdoor flow from the small porch and the back ste,ps. This house is civilised and I feel grown up. Anjie bakes another birthday cake, one of many for me and Judith chats while I get the dishes under control. It's been a grouse celebration. 

It's the last week of term, the wind down of a challenging start to the year. But I've survived. I get myself through with evening wines and swims in fresh sea water. The latest ever for me.