Fiery Sunrise, & Another Holiday.

This was the scene for Sunrise at 6am.
It is now 7am, & we are having a thunder storm, with RAIN! Yippee!
Sad thing is, I dont think it is going to amount to much, & dont hold out much hope any of the rain will be beneficial for our dams.

There is no sign of sky, only clouds. A very different outlook!
As I stood out on the balcony, facing the east, I looked at the red & thought of the old rhyme,
"Red sky at night
Shepherd's delight.
Red in the morning
Shepherd's warning!"
It usually seems to hold true.

Yesterday's memory trip brought another holdiay to mind.

This one was with my 'weekend friend' SJ, - she of the car- knapping.
Her older sister, V, had married a farming man, & they now had 3 children, & had moved over to the other side of the North Island of New Zealand, close to what used to be known as Mt Egmont. I think it is now known as Mt Taranaki? I am so ignorant of my own country of birth! I am ashamed. I am sure my brother will correct me here, if this is incorrect!

SJ & I had often stayed with V & R. when they lived close to our little town, but now they had moved away to the other side of the Island, & we had not previously been to stay with on the dairy farm where they were now living.

As I have previously said, SJ's mother was away a lot, & she didnt often go into town. She had an account at one of the dress shops & SJ could go & choose her own clothes, -within reason, of course!

She decided she had to have a new bathing suit for the holiday, so off she went & got herself one of the latest models, with the whole of the back done in shirring elastic- dont laugh! they were the height of fashion then! I think we were about 13, so womanly curves had begun to develop. Her mother was not told of the purchase- "I will worry about that after the holiday" my friend declared.

We travelled by bus, & it was a long journey. We made several stops along the way, some 'comfort stops' at small towns, & some food stops, also in small towns. I remember my dear Aunt met the bus at one town, & provided us with drinks, & some food.

One of the food stops proved the wrong thing, for a child sitting behind us, & she vomitted all down the back of my clothing! We were by now, close to the snow capped Mountain, it was evening, & very chilly. I had to remove my sodden & putrid cardigan. My friend took off her cardigan & gave it to me, so I would not be cold, & assured me she was not cold. As I say, she was generous to a fault really.

Anyway we were collected & taken off to the farm by V & R, with children. It was the first time we had met the new baby, who was about 9 months old.

We would get up early in the mornings & go with R to the milking shed, & help with the milking. It was a lot of fun, to we 'townie' girls, & I have never minded the smell of cows. We loved cleaning out the cowshed after it was all over & done, & even the smell of cowshit seemed honest, somehow.

R had a stubborn old horse, who knew that he only had to go up the hill once in the morning, & once in the evening, to get the cows in for milking. We were allowed to take the horse & ride him during the day. But he would not go up that hill , no matter how we urged or threatened him. And sometimes he would just stop on the side of the road, & nothing we did could coax him to move until he was good & ready. I always remember thinking he must have been laughing his head off at us!

R also had an old ricketty little truck, that he used about the farm, & of course, SJ, being crazy about vehicles of all types, was keen to drive it as often as she could. So between the horse & the truck, and helping V with the children, we had very full days. The weather was perfect summer, with clear blue skies, & hot days, which didnt seem to be as humid as the East Coast of the Island, which was our home.
I suddenly remembered I had this old photo of the old truck, complete with SJ at the wheel! I had one of the horse somwhere, but cant find it at present.


V & R had some friends who lived close to some Thermal Hot pools, & so we were promised a trip to the pools. As it was so hot during the days, we often wore our bathing suits all day, & it was fun to hose each other off, over in the cowshed at milking time, while cleaning up.

V had to go & have some teeth out, & so we were to be responsible for looking after the children, & preparing meals for a day or so, till V recovered.

One morning when V was feeling better we were off over at the cowshed again, & after the milking was over SJ decided to ride the stubborn old horse again. He really didnt want to go anywhere, having recently gone up the hill to get the cows, & he stacked on of his, "I refuse to move" acts. So SJ slid off down the side of the saddle.

A look of horror came over her face, & she turned around. There, in all it's pink, plump, round glory, was her bum! Fully exposed to all the world! She had snagged her suit on the buckle of the stirrup, & it had shredded, & shrunk the shirred back of the bathing suit. Leaving her complete cheeks hanging out.

I am ashamed to say I howled with laughter! I thought it was the funniest thing I had ever seen. She was furious with me, & panic stricken, as we were going to go swimming in the thermal pools that evening.

She was appalled to think R might have seen her bare behind, & I walked close behind her, sniggering of course, all the way back over to the house. V had gone back to rest, & SJ sneaked into the room where the sewing machine, & was trying desperately to mend the huge rent in the backside of the suit. But of course, shirring elastic is very unforgiving, & there was no chance of mending it.


Finally she had to confess to V, what had happened, & V laughed uproariously too.


SJ had to borrow a very unflattering bathing suit for our swim in the hot pools. And she had to go home & tell her mother what had happened to her new & expensive bathing suit.
And it took her a long time to forgive my uncontrollable mirth. Every time I thought of that for years after, I would burst out laughing.

Well, I am being hounded to get off this. SG has unexpectedly arrived & we are going to have to take him to Pre School. They are opening later, so DJ had no choice but to bring him up here, as she had to go off to work.


**PS I have added the pic of truck since some fake 'comments' came in, & also a nice comment from Diana.
I cant seem to delete the annoying comments, so if anyone knows how, please let me know!