An evening of Song, and Tea at Ruth Pretty’s

Our Saturday night entertainment in the hall was provided by the talented Ian Palmer of Feilding, who led us through an evening of singing and dancing.  It started off quite low key, with everyone joining in a sing-along of well known songs.  Ian walked around the hall, welcoming us all, telling the occasional joke, churning out the tunes.  Some braved the hot temperatures and got up to dance, but really, for us, the evening was all about the music.

Ian Palmer, Musician

It’s a well known fact that some of us feel we are loosing our memories a little as we get older.  But strangely enough we can all recall the words of those songs we knew and loved when we were young.   We sang along with gusto to songs recorded by Cliff, Elvis, Ringo and Boney M and never missed a beat.  My only regret of the evening was that he didn’t play the alternative NZ National Anthem,”Ten Guitars”, my favourite, so I could sing along to that as well!  It was a great evening, and so nice to see everyone getting involved.

Sunday was another perfect day, as far as the weather was concerned.  We started off with our usual Sunday morning breakfast of bacon and eggs, cooked outside on the BBQ.  That’s always a good start to the day.

Sunday morning breakfast

Dot and Honey came calling and the two cats quietly sniffed each other as they renewed their acquaintance.  Then Honey turned tail while Muffy held her ground.  We were pleased that there was no hissing or cat fights involved, but don't think they will ever become best buddies!

Honey and Muffy

The legendary Ruth Pretty Catering was just down the road, we were told.  Wellington caterer Ruth Pretty Catering is renowned for corporate events, weddings, private parties and large-scale extravaganzas, and had a cafe on the premises too.  Dot and I decided to walk down to check it out and make a booking for our group.  The premises weren’t as close as we were led to believe, and we arrived there hot and sticky, finally making it up the long, long driveway.  We were intrigued with all the lichen growing on the fence rails alongside the driveway.

Lichen on the fence and corn in the paddock

By the time we retraced our steps and finally made it back to the rally our legs were tired, we were even more hot and sticky, and just a little grumpy as well. But we soon got over it, and sensibly drove back down on Sunday afternoon for our coffee date.  We had originally planned it for just for the girls, but the husbands decided they wanted to come too.  And why not, they were very welcome to join us.  At just $6 for a coffee and cake combo, it was very reasonably priced, we felt, that even the most curmudgeon type of husband wouldn’t complain.

Afternoon Tea at Ruth Pretty’s

There was a Wine and Cheese on the programme for Sunday evening   There were three varieties of Yealands wine to try, Pinot Gris, Savignon Blanc and a Merlot and Alan and Judith hosted the evening.  Robin is the wine conessior of the family and rated the Merlot his favourite, while I‘m not too keen on still wine and after tasting the two white varieties, stuck to water after that. 

Alan and Judith served the wine

The raffles were drawn, with the big prize of a week’s holiday in Taupo.  We can report that the big prize was  not won by us, we are sorry to say.  And we didn’t win any of the other raffle prizes.  The Wainuiomata Caravan Club scooped the pool, with every van taking home a raffle prize – how about that for good luck!