General Chat

Leptospermum, Manuka, Tea Tree (not to be confused with Ti Tree - the cabbage tree, which is not a cabbage but a lily or agave or whatever family it is now in.)

Huia.

Now, Leptospernum I recognise. It is grown in the UK.

I once went on a local walk with a group of people, guided by a couple of the ARC rangers. One of the rangers who knew me called me back as we were going along, asked if I had seen the orchid. He pointed down, and I said it wasnt an orchid, it was a fungus. He told me his boss had said it was an orchid. I carefully moved the leaf litter from around the base to show the typical bulbous base to the stem and another person agreed with me. It was one of the stinkhorn fungi. Very pretty, but definitely not an orchid.

When we were walking the Milford track back in '84 I asked the ranger/guide what was the name of one of the shrubs as I couldnt remember offhand. He told me it was Kawakawa. I said it wasnt. He insisted so I said it was nothing like the Kawakawa we have up here. When I got home I looked it up in one of my books. It was Horopito, which has peppery tasting leaves (not that I taste them), which is why he decided it was Kawakawa, along with the fact that its common name is pepper tree. The Kawakawa is a member of the Pepper family, while Horopito is a member of the Magnolia family (well actually, I think the scientists have now put it into the pseudowinter family). Slight difference! I wish the rangers could all be educated correctly on the names of our native plants. And I wish the scientists would stop changing the names and families of our natives. As a teenager I spent a lot of time with my book trying to learn the latin, Maori and common names of the plants and now many have different names I get a bit confused as to which is the current name. I think the Manuka which used to be Leptospermum is now Kunzea.

Huia.

Hi Bob,

My dad was a bushman - prior to WW2 here in NZ and he knew all the trees hand him a leaf and he knew which tree it was from. We have a Totara in our backyard and a Rimu out the front - The Rimu is the nicest looking tree of them all.

I am very fond of our trees and our native birds.

I see there are a few ice - bergs that have departed from Antartica and approaching our coast line Huia.

Norma

Hasn't a lot happened since I was last on. Now there are not many in the UK who would know all those NZ trees, Kauri, (and Kauri stumps), Rata, Kowhai, Kahikatea, Pohutukawa, nor would they probably know that the latter has an abundance of red flowers at Christmas and that is why they are sometimes called a Christmas Tree but I like the name Pohutukawa it seems so strong to match its qualities. There were many on the coast where we lived as children. They seem just as much at home shading a coastline or beach as do Manuka or Kanuka along the gullies and streams inland. Both eminently suited for their locations and so typical New Zealand. To be quite honest I do not like seeing a pine poking its head up amongst NZ bush it looks so out of place.

It was good to hear that Phil is getting out and about and I am sure that the physio would have her mobile phone should she need to call for help.

Oh dear what are you all wanting to climb ladders for? I must be getting old for I would be looking for someone else to climb it. Something along the lines of "He held the lantern while his mother chopped the wood". But BH would be hopeless for she is not too agile with both feet firmly planted on the ground.

Have we had an Aussie join the group or is GranofOz the grandmother of the Wizard of Oz? Just joking of course.

Bob

Yes, OH holds the ladder and stands under me so if I fall I fall on him first. Now thats devotion.

Gail

Hee hee don't want to be gummed up - well look for a higher perch and maybe settle on a Kahikatea - but then I might get pine needles.

Nowhere safe for me.... as you are on the red one - I will take a yellow and sit under the Kowhai - was going to go for the other red christmas tree the Rata - then we would both be reddy for Christmas.

So Phil gets a D for sleep patterns - I get a ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
I don't do ladders very much - I can get up but it's the getting back down again that gives me problems, my legs get all confused.

What are you upto next week Huia - want to pick a day and I will see what I can do?

Norma

Norma, I hope it is a really old stump, otherwise you might get gum up where 'the sun dont shine' and that could cause you a few problems.

I am bright enough (I hope) to not need any fairy lights. Anyway I am no fairy! More like an elephant.

Huia.

Hi Huia in a Pohutukawa Tree,

Will you be decorated in fairy lights for Christmas?

Norma sitting on a kauri stump.

Huia, you sound much happier than you were a few months ago. Shows in your posts. Keep up the good work!

I forgot to say, Norma, that if Phil gets out he would want to go for a really long walk, not just round a couple of football fields, and the physio is just a 'slip of a girl', but then some of those can be very strong and hopefully persuasive. If I knew when she was going to take him I could go too, or at least be waiting back at the hospital so she can use me as bait to get him back.

Huia (now I feel as if I am a chunk of cheese!)

Hi there. It is nice to see I am not the only one posting!

I got a 'report card' on Phil yesterday. It goes into details of various things: communication, diet, hygiene/dressing, mobility, sleep pattern (he gets a D for that!), elimination, ability to maintain safety, behaviour, etc. Another sheet lists all the medications he is on, not sure what they are all for so I will have to google. It also has an absolutely ghastly photo of him.

There will be another review in 6 months.

Gail, does your OH hold the ladder for you when he is at home? I know I would think twice about climbing a ladder when I am on my own, although I could put up the step ladder and climb it if I had to, but not the lean-against-the-wall ones, that would not be so safe.

Huia (with her new board name for Christmas).

I don't let the old man up ladders either.Not that he has the time!

Hi everyone, my husband is my carer, he has a full time job as well. I can mostly be left on my own without fear of escape. My brain is fine, just have a problem with my right side. Have worked out most ways of doing things on my own, as Sharron has with her dad. If anyone needs any hints how to manage things and keep your cared person busy and being able to help themselves, and have some independence, just ask and I hope will be able to help.

My OH has one rule, I am not to climb ladders if he is not at home.

Gail

I was wondering if you would post today regarding your visit with Phil,
and I have to apologise cause I giggled when you said you hoped the staff member would get him back again from the park.

How did you get on with your meeting today with the staff?


Norma

I went to see Phil this morning. He seems so much better than he was when he first went into the private hospital. He was awake and walking around. I took him out into the small enclosed garden for a walk but the wind was a little cool. The physio apparently takes him for walks out there. When she heard that he used to do a lot of tramping she said she might take him to the nearby park some time. I just hope she can get him back afterwards.

Huia.

Hi there Bob, glad to see you and your BH are still in the land of the living. If you want to find the thread when it has disappeared, look at the left under Tools you will see My threads. Click on that and you will find a list of the threads to which you have added, hopefully not too many!

Phil has recovered from his illness, the tests that were done on the various people with sickness/diarrhoea have come back negative. When I visited him on Thursday he stood unaided and walked around unaided, something he hadnt been doing at the time he was transferred from Middlemore Hospital. I asked if he knew who I was and he was trying to think when the nurse said 'its your wife'. He thought some more and said 'the noisy one'. I am a little hard of hearing so tend to speak a bit loudly and he has supersensitive hearing so tends to shush me. At least he didnt call me Tub or The Old Crow!

Our son came up from Rotorua on Fri night and in the morning cut down and up (for firewood) some trees and we stacked it in the firewood shed. He then mowed the lawns and after lunch we went to see Phil but he was asleep in his chair and wouldnt wake up, although his eyes flickered a couple of times. Apparently he doesnt want to go to bed at night and disturbs the nurse when she is trying to do paper work by shuffling her papers. I hope he gets into a better timetable soon. No good visiting if all we see is Phil catching flies. There is a meeting on Thursday to discuss what is happening so I have some questions to ask. At least I am happier now that he seems so settled, unlike in Middlemore.

Huia.

Hi All

I seemed to have forgotten about posting here occasionally. It took a few pages to even find it.

We are mobile (well more comfortably) again. I have had a policy for car-purchase. Get as much car for less than a second-hand Corolla. So while it may cost an arm, at least the leg is safe.

Talking of legs, Jean, you have had a bad time and hope you are more mobile as well (well let's say without those sticks) for Christmas.

Huia. I hope Phil is fully-recovered from that debilitating illness.

I don't know whether I mentioned it before (and modesty not being one of my attributes) I was runner-up in our C Grade golf championships.
Now starts the Match-Play.

Everything seems to be running smoothly but still thinking about the likely change in housing requirements probably arising next year.

Regards

Bob

Have been struggling to get about and do cooking and housework on two sticks after a fall 3wks or more ago. Have damaged my coxyx and the muscles sorrounding it. Very painful. taking sufficient pain relief send me to sleep if I relax in the chair, so not a lot getting done! It is improving, but is worse in the morning when I get up. Oh has now developed a back ache and a cold in his kidneys, so we are a sorry pair! We look after each other, luckily. Borrowed a 2 tier 4wheeled indoor trolley from Red Cross, and that has been a great help. Cant be found an appointment for physio before the 27th. Hoping I will be better before then!

I hope all the carers are caring for themselves as well as their loved ones. Dont forget to take a few mins to come on here and let us know you are all ok.

Huia.