Sojourn in Wellington

Had a wonderful holiday in Wellington.  Enjoyed the good weather and  change of  scenery getting around and about by train , bus and boat.  Took in Te Papa twice, went out to the Dowse, to Somes Island , on the train to Paekakarariki and sampled the restaurants in Courtney Place -  Mexican (Sweet Mother's Kitchen), Thai and Moroccan (Casablanca)  each evening.

Brainy

Spent all day yesterday up at the university  at the Brain Day organized by the Centre for Brain Research.  The CBR choir put on a performance/workshop, moreorless one of our usual sessions with audience participation. From where we sat it sounded great.

 The theme of this year's day was Brain  Fitness. Somehow when you know the physiological  reasons for the way the brain and its synapses work,  or don't work properly in the case of those with a brain disorder, the pesky symptoms are easier to put up  with . It was good to hear about all the interesting research going on in this and related fields  so people  can be hopeful that spin-offs for people with brain disorders are not too  far behind.

In the meantime there were plenty of tips for people to take home along the lines of stimulating the brain in the evenings too by not vegetating in front of TV.   Of course using the computer  with its bright screen is not conducive to good sleep afterwards  so it is a matter of striking the happy medium.  Developing the habit of concentrating on one thing for 25 minutes or so (the Pomodoro Effect) is good for training the brain  to function well at doing one thing properly rather than being distracted by emails/Facebook/texts etc. 

Then there are the usual things like a healthy diet and exercise .I will increase mine to encompass the weekends by including a long walk, each day. We are taking a neighbour's cute little dog Katie for a walk regularly  which is a new experience for us and adds a dimension to "just walking".  

Trip to Whitford and Howick

Well home again from our jaunt to Orewa and from there on a Historical Society trip to Whitford. It is not far from Howick and has a small village of shops and cafe but we went to see this Bob's Toy Museum, a private collection of hundreds of dolls, trikes, scooters, pedal cars, Matchbox toys as well as some bottles and kitchen and other household gear for good measure.  It took me back to my childhood when I first  got my walkie talkie doll, earlier a lovely dollspram.  After lunch at one of the cafes in the village we went to look over All Saints Selwyn church in Howick.  It is the oldest Selwyn church still in use, the one in Russell is older.  They also have a new church next to the old one, which they just  use nowadays  for weddings, special services etc.  The seats were pretty uncomfortable but the atmosphere was prayerful and inspirational.   Then  it was homeward bound again after afternoon tea in the parish hall. 

Stayed another night in Orewa then took in the storm which wafted over our way  from NSW, gaining momentum and  causing havoc throughout the country  - mainly branches and power lines  falling down.  Thankfully not in Orewa, nor  at our place in Ponsonby.  It has suddenly got a lot cooler with a southerly wind.  OK inside of course, now that we are home.There was heavy rain and showers and strong winds all day.

Made a nice roast lamb shank dinner with roast pumpkin and potatoes seeing I had enough time to do so.  We are staying in this Saturday night and going to a concert of the Auckland Symphony Orchestra tomorrow that a friend of mine is in.  It is a benefit concert for  a music therapy centre for children.  Our choir leader is the music therapist there too, and she has composed one of the pieces to be played tomorrow.