“Clickety Click 66”

If you had asked me to play Housie on a Saturday afternoon on a gorgeous, spring day in the Lions Den, I would have politely declined. That is until I saw the film Stray.

In Stray Jack , the main character, visits a small rural settlement and sees the lights on at the local Hall. Inside, a game of Housie is in progress. He is persuaded to join in. Memory Lane took me back to my childhood of the fifties when I lived in a similar settlement. In those days, the locals had to make their own entertainment; dances and films, Housie and Beetle nights…in the Tin Shed. Babysitters were practically non-existent so the children were often at these gatherings too. I was among the children who watched the adults enjoying playing Housie. During this scene in the film, I remembered those times with fondness.

When an invitation arrived from The Martinborough Branch of the New Zealand Red Cross to join an afternoon of Housie my childhood memory was stirred again. The floral border of the invitation was pure nostalgia conjuring up images of lace doilies, crossover curtains and of ladies-a-plate afternoon teas served on embroidered or crochet trimmed table cloths using fine china tea services. I was a member of the Junior Red Cross back then and learned to do figure of 8 bandaging and to tie slings. I accepted the invitation.

Val Johns was the Caller- “A House is when you have covered all the numbers on your card. A Line is when you have completed a single line of numbers. Both a House and a Line will see the winners selecting a prize from the Lucky Dip basket”. The calling began; “clickety click 66”, “on Its own number 9…” There was an anticipatory silence as the numbers were called. Some misheard and were disappointed to find they had not won a House or Line after all when asked to read out their covered numbers. As luck would have it, I won a Line much to the chagrin of Maree Roy who has played for many years and “never won a thing”.

The annual New Zealand Red Cross Spring Party and Housie Afternoon is a social service run for people on their own or who are isolated. Maree Roy and Liz Monaghan organised this year’s Party. Thirty -two people from our community were present and clearly enjoyed themselves. Several were in their 90s which made me feel positively youthful. Oh, and by the way, Dawn Hartnell’s feather-light Fielder’s cornflour chocolate sponges were to die for.                                                               

Fireworks

BOOM it’s that fun time of year again for late nights, bonfires and fireworks! 

Fireworks are fun for us but the loud explosions and bright flashing lights can be very frightening for animals. Scared cats and dogs may run away and try hide which could result in them getting lost or injured. Frightened livestock may also try to run away so unless they are in a safe and secure place there is a very real risk they will get caught in fences, or break through fences/ gates.  

Planning ahead is the key to help keep your animals safe on firework nights.

• Walk dogs before the fireworks start – this will help tire them out 
• ALWAYS keep dogs and cats inside when fireworks are being let off.
• Close all windows and doors, and block off cat flaps to stop pets escaping and to keep noise to a minimum.
• Draw the curtains, and if the animals are used to the sounds of TV or radio, switch them on.
• Distract them – special toys, chews, food puzzles and games can help.
• Don’t overdo reassurance, it can reinforce the behaviour.
• Hutches and enclosures should be brought into a quiet room indoors, or into a garage or shed.
• Both cats and dogs should be microchipped and have a collar and identification tag with your contact details on it. 
• Move horses and farm animals away from fireworks. Make sure all fences are secure. 

You could also contact your local vet if you’re concerned that the above tips won’t be enough to keep your animals calm and safe during fireworks. There are various calming aids available; one of the most fascinating and revolutionary developments in the fight against stress and phobias experienced by pets is the identification and use of pheromone therapy. Pheromones are natural chemical messengers, used in the animal kingdom, to communicate between members of the same species.  

Now that your pets are safe you can enjoy igniting the fireworks in all aspects of your life…               South Wairarapa Vets

From the Mayor

Councillors had a tour of the Waihinga Centre before the last council meeting. Everyone was very impressed with the upgrade of the Town Hall and the new Waihinga Centre building. It will certainly become the hub of Martinborough. Everyone who has contributed to this project will be very excited that it will soon be completed. The Town Hall will be a much-improved facility that has not lost any of the qualities that the community wanted to preserve, especially the acoustics in the auditorium. It will be a good functional space that also includes the supper room and a new kitchen.

The new Waihinga Centre will house the Library, Isite, Plunket Clinic, Toy Library and a coffee kiosk. The space is very welcoming and the impressive large wooden beams create the impression the building will be here in 100 years. The building is light and airy with the outlook onto the square. An opening date is still to be finalised, watch this space. 

Nature has an uncanny way of making life difficult for people who earn their living off the land as many of our residents South Wairarapa do. The frost that hit the region in the last week was one of those occasions. From what I have been told there will be financial and personal impact on some of our vineyards and this will have a flow on effect to our community as a whole. It is too early to estimate the damage and the impact at this stage. I am sure that the Martinborough community will do everything it can to help those in need.

I had the privilege of attending the Martinborough School Pet Day and judge the Best Dressed Animals. Pet Days bring the community together, are fun and encourage kids to do something different, it may be looking after their lamb or dog, creating a sand saucer or baking and decorating a cake. I was impressed that every child had to enter three categories so I am sure that there would be many who were doing things out of their comfort zone.  It was great to see so many parents, grandparents and members of the community support the school.

Library News

It’s November, my favourite month of the year (no gold stars for guessing why!).  The only downside is that it signifies that Christmas is not far away.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas but lack of organisation and planning leave me unprepared and frantic on the 24^th of December.  

This year will probably be no different.  The children’s Christmas books will be set free into the library on 2^nd December, however if you do want them earlier then please ask your friendly neighbourhood librarian who will hoick them out for you.  Hoick is a great word expressing such a lot – it comes from ‘hike’ and seems to originate in the early 1800s.  

We love words in the library and usually have a Daily Word.  As I write this today’s word is Caterwaul – another great descriptive word, almost onomatopoeic  – it did start its life as a description of a cat’s wailing.  Still, I digress.  

Library news – I suspect many of you will want news of the move.  I suggest keeping an eye on the Waihinga Centre Facebook site as there are some stunning photos there taken recently.  I myself check it to see what is happening.   There will, no doubt, be something in this month’s Star which will be much more informative than anything I can tell you.  

Of interest to all will be the opening hours for Christmas.  Our hallowed leader is being kind to us this year and we will be closed from midday on Saturday 22^nd December, reopening on Thursday 3^rd January at 9.30.  I suggest you stock up for those lazy, sunny days with lots of books, magazines or DVDs (in case of rain).  If you are travelling then it is an idea to stock up on the sale books and then you can leave them suggestively lying about for others to read when you have finished with them.  It also means less baggage on the return trip although it does means you can go shopping to fill up that space previously taken by books – one always needs more shoes.  Our sale books are so cheap (50c paperback, $1 hardback) that you can afford to take more than you think you need.  

The Summer Reading Programme for children aged 2 to 14 will be kicking off early in December.  This is a proven way to keep up the reading level during the long holiday break.  We only have 100 spaces so pop your child’s name down as soon as you can.  The lovely Ali Lintern is running it this year and as she ran the very first one in Martinborough Library many years ago, she is really on top of it.  

Hopefully we will also be able to run some craft/activity sessions as well but that will be dependent on where we are and what is happening.  We will keep you updated on our Facebook site with news of the move and activities.  

However meanwhile you can also see some of the new books which are coming out.  Our Facebook page has 472 followers with the most popular postings being funny cartoons.  We still have a way to go to beat the 45,100 views we got for the librarians Game of Tomes photo.   I have started recording a series of short readings from some of my favourite authors.  These are on the Facebook page so feel free to have a look.  I am hoping to persuade staff and customers to do the same, so if you would like to do a short video reading aloud passages from your favourite books please ask me.  

Finally a reminder that Book Club takes place on the second Friday of the month at 10am and Book Babies is on Tuesdays also at 10am.  See you soon and enjoy November.