It is with a certain combination of relief, embarrassment and frustration that I must report to you all that our previously reported loss of shirts from the Club Shop was incorrect. This last weekend we had our accounts audited and discovered that the figures matched. It turns out that the treasurer had a technical issue with his computer that was making it print out the wrong data. So no loss, except a bit of my time, the previous club shop holders’ and Jeanette Grant’s as well in checking if she had any unaccounted for boxes!
With the mention of accounts, it is an appropriate time to remind you all that we will have the AGM at the Vintage Car Club rooms on the 30th of this month. The rooms are situated at 39 Fairfax Avenue, Penrose. Please come and help make up the quorum. We need those numbers to ensure that the club can continue. Please also consider if you can add your name to the committee; many hands make light work!
As for rambling, my regular rambles these days are Thursday nights on the streets of Ellerslie to take up the hour between dropping my youngest, Jessica, at her football practice and picking her up again. Being the person that I am (a hunter gatherer at heart) I have discovered where there are Grapefruit trees in one of the parks (and they are very sweet!), where if the time of year is right I can pick Feijoas from the footpath and spotted, but as yet not tested, the odd Mandarin tree that hangs over the footpath too. One of my favourite finds however has been a Peugeot 307, spotted outside a hairdressers one night (though they may have been visiting the Thai takeaway that was also open), which just happens to have the number plate ‘Feb14’ – what more could you want to give to your Valentine sweetheart than a Peugeot?
My happy place is my garden. It’s where I feel relaxed, usually without a care in the world. The peaceful part of me enjoys nurturing my trees, shrubs, flowers and vegetables, and the stressed part enjoys ripping out the weeds, preferably roots and all! Unfortunately, I can’t usually find enough time to keep it weed free so weeding is sporadic a virtual blitz confined to sections of the garden at a time. This time of year I get particular enjoyment from the daffodils that I have strategically planted along our driveway and a couple of other spots. I also get great enjoyment from observing other daffodils, such as those found in the Domain, Ohinerau/Mount Hobson and in Cornwall Park. Those of you that are Facebook friends with me will have seen me post pictures of both my own and Cornwall Park’s. This last weekend I posted a picture and a friend of mine commented
“I wandered lonely as a cloud…”. This was a phrase with which I was unacquainted so I immediately interweb searched it. To my delight I found it is a poem by William Wordsworth, apparently written in 1804, first published in 1807 and revised in 1815. I can think of no better description of the delight that daffodils are and will leave you with his fantastic descriptive poetry, I hope it impresses your “inward eye.”
Hope you enjoy it,
Brent.
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.