A fairly ordinary week was had here except on Tuesday night when I came down with a nasty tummy bug.  It was not a good time.  But I did get the opportunity to consider which parts of me I was prepared to donate for the better of humanity. Me over react – never.  So here goes in no particular order.

• one liver – slightly gin soaked and indeed liverish at times
• one heart  – with dirty lefty tendencies, propensity to get very moved at any interactions with puppies, sad movies and any stories about battlers overcoming the odds.  Can tolerate a 10km run though – just saying
• grumpy Achilles tendons – not good for much actually
• nice big hands – ideal for page turning, and online interactions.   Have a definite aversion to manual labour of any kind
• determined chin – however seems to becoming a home ground for the beginnings of a lady beard.  Needs constant vigilance

Fortunately as you can gather I did recover and I am now back to normal – whatever that is.

One of the reasons Brett and I work together so well,  apart from him doing all the work and I do very little, is that he has a real flair for design and putting together those special touches that make a house a home.  But he is also quite happy (within reason) to take on board some of my ideas – more books, Maori it up a bit, snuggly blankets and incorporate them in a way so they still  look awesome and not just a higgedly piggedly mess.

Here is a link to his blog – just to give you an idea of his cleverness

http://brett.co.nz/

For the longest time I have been telling him how much I loved reading the Arthur Mees Encyclopedias as a child.  They were terribly out of date even then, and horrendously Anglo Saxon centric.  But before the internet (yes there was such a time) encyclopedias was where you went to get your random facts, and the Arthur Mees have these in spades.  I loved them because they were divided into different sections including Stories, Art, Philosophy, Things to Make and Do, and History.  I most enjoyed the Stories sections, but many a hour was spent pouring over them when there was nothing else to do.

Ian Sansom from The Guardian has written a nice piece on Arthur Mees and his vision to come up with an encyclopedia to answer his daughter’s many and varied questions.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/jul/21/booksforchildrenandteenagers.featuresreviews

Brett has managed to find a full set – with shelf for $1 and I am looking forwarding to revisiting them and also seeing where Brett installs them in the Lodge so they look cool and inviting rather than old dusty tomes.

No NRL games this week, as the Kiwis vs Kangaroos test is on this weekend.  It was due to be played on Friday night, but with Brisbane getting a storm as only Brisbane can, the game has been cancelled till tonight.  So instead of me telling you how much I love the Dragons and the Warriors here is something slightly different.

I read a great article (also in The Guardian) by Patrick Skene about Olsen Filipaina.  It seems amazing to imagine the NRL now without Polynesian players as they make such a huge contribution.  His experience with the Balmain Tigers sound horrendous, but he comes across as a real champion and gentleman.  Unlike Wally Lewis, ahem.

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/apr/30/the-forgotten-story-of-olsen-filipaina

Anyway all the best Kiwis for your game against the Kangaroos.  Just play your best and if you can channel a bit of Olsen’s awesomeness, even better.