Hi Jane
I miss you too. The best part of my holiday was meeting all of you and making new friends. We did have a fun day on the longboat, didn't we?
By the end of my holiday I was ready to come home and looking forward to it. I had a few days in Auckland with my family up there and that was lovely, but very busy.
Since I have been home I have been very busy.Since I have been home I have been very busy.
For a few weeks before and after Christmas I worked at my old work relieving while a couple of the staff were on annual leave. My old work is an electrical contracting business employing about 15 electricians and the shop also sells gifts and little knick knacks as well as is the local Post Shop for the mail going in and out of Kurow.
Although I am retired I have a lot of volunteer jobs and a couple of paid ones. I am paid a monthly honorarium of $64 for carrying out the secretarial duties for the community society. This mainly involves addressing any correspondence, preparing an agenda and taking the minutes at the monthly meeting.
I also relieve at the Museum and Information Centre whenever needed and I get paid an hourly rate for the time I put in there. This work mainly involves greeting visitors and assisting them with any information they need but in addition people come into register their cars. I have been there quite often lately as the lady who usually works there has a number of out of town meetings to attend. I enjoy that because you get to see a lot of people.
On Monday mornings I go to another town about 20 minutes away to do Chi Ball (a combination of Tai Chi, Pilates and Yoga). Then in the afternoon I am the instructor for a gentle exercise group in Kurow. The gentle exercise group is attended by about 10 senior citizens and is fun, as well as keeping us active and socialising. We have a cup of tea and a chat after exercises. We also meet on Friday afternoons.
Kurow is the little village just across the bridge and closest to where I live. There are 228 people living in Kurow.
Tuesdays I mostly have free, although this Tuesday and next Tuesday I am working at the Museum and Information Centre. Usually on a Tuesday I catch up on things around home.
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I am a volunteer cook at the local rest home, Whalan Lodge. I don't get paid for cooking but I do get paid for 10 hours a week organising the volunteer roster, and planning the menus. There are only four residents at the rest home but we also cook for three of the town elderly citizens and their meals are delivered. The scheme whereby the meals are delivered is called "meals on wheels" and the people who deliver the meals are also volunteers on the roster. In addition we cook a meal for the staff which means 3-4 meals; the day shift, afternoon shift, night shift, and the resident registered nurse who manages the rest home. It depends on the shift because some of the staff have a family so they prefer to eat at home with them, whereas others live along so they like to have their meal with the residents at the Lodge.
Four residents isn't really enough to keep Whalan Lodge financially viable so that's why we have volunteers doing the cooking, the meal deliveries and looking after the grounds and vegetable garden. We are always trying to attract new residents but while there a many elderly citizens in Kurow, they mostly prefer to remain in their own homes and be independent for as long as possible. We did have a new resident, Beverley, start just after I got back from holiday. Beverley was a lovely lady who had been coming to stay at the rest home a few times a year for what is called "respite care". Beverley moved in permanently and was settling in very well. Beverley was so nice to talk to, so appreciative of everything that was done for her. Beverley read a lot of books. I took her to the library and she stayed there an hour or so choosing her books. To come with me to the library she put on her make up and got dressed up in her best clothes. Beverley was younger than the other residents, however, one morning she just quietly died. I know it is a rest home and the residents are in the last stage of their lives and so you expect deaths, which, after all is part of life, however, Beverley dying came as a shock because we all thought we would have her for a few years.
As well as being secretary for the Community Society, I am also the secretary for the local St Johns, the hotel social club, and the Hall Committee. I help my daughter with secretarial duties for the Haka Enhancement Trust which a group of people who live in the Hakataramea Township, where we live, and have a committee that makes sure that the township is kept tidy, mowing the grass verges etc. They look after a reserve, which is a piece of land beside the river. There are trees already on the reserve and the committee has planted some more. They are putting in irrigation, picnic tables and seating, and fencing it off so stock can't get in.
Well, I have yabbered on long enough. I have to go and get ready for church. I am going to walk there today which will take me about 30-40 minutes.