Tribute to Charmaine from Rosemary

Charmaine’s old friend and teaching colleague from AGGS days, Rosemary Ronald, sent a beautiful tribute to Charmaine –  she and partner Deb were unable to come, as they were out of Auckland, so this was what she wrote: Charmaine, Firstly Deb and I wish we could be with you today but we are lapping up […]

Ageing

We are definitely entering a new stage in our lives together. Tanya is slowing down, but trying to keep her body moving through daily walks and weekly gym exercises,Tai Chi and bike riding round West Auckland. She is also gardening, of course, growing vegetables in a small allotment offered to her by Adrienne, a friendly […]

The State of the World (outside Selwyn)

Profoundly Disturbing!!! Gunshots in Grey Lynn Deluges Drowning Districts Misanthropy and Misinformation Movements Messing with Minds Inflation and Family Poverty.. Ongoing Entrenched Sexism and Racism Rampant! Environmental Damage All Around!!! But we are constantly reminded through media like Maori TV and Radio Waatea, where Dale Husband, every morning, celebrates much of the amazingly positive creative […]

Summer Solstice, Aotearoa

“pōhutukawas in fading crimson, the sand below wreathed in its cottony tangles balls of red hair blown here by yesterday’s wind….” ……from a poem by Lauris Edmond (We found this quote in Juliet Batten’s lovely book Dancing wth the Seasons – inspiration and resilience through times of change) We hope that each of you can […]

1. Ageing is Damned Hard Work!

As two over-75-year-olds  we’ve become very aware of the challenges of ageing!  Instead of writing about the arts and other interesting aspects of our current privileged lives, we’ve decided to be forthright about some of the issues  we face, and our attempts to manage them creatively.   We are keen to make sure we keep body, […]

2. General Health and Fitness

We’ve decided to take a  proactive and preventative approach to our health, so we are getting ourselves checked out by professionals to make sure we can stay as fit a possible for as long as possible, and are less likely to become a burden on each other or a wider support circle.  Because of living […]

3. Exercise – body and mind

One of our big differences as a couple has always been our attitudes to exercise. Tanya says:  As someone blessed with relatively  good health and fitness most of my life, I have been startled to realise that I can no longer take my physical skills for granted! I already have two bionic hips and one […]

4. Managing Money Matters and More…

Since we began living together, we’ve always had wills- we’ve tended to update them before overseas trips in case a plane dropped us out of the sky together! – and arrangements for Enduring Powers of Attorney, in case of serious health or mental  fitness problems at some stage. At present, we’re working on ways of […]