26/3/2026 what hideous weather…

Well there was even less sleep than usual gained last night. The wind and rain was just relentless, and as soon as it was light I got up and dressed.  

I had my eye appointment today in Newmarket and booked an Uber to take me.  I knew they had put their prices up due to the fuel increases but the robbing bastards added an extra $15 to the journey and that wasn’t even at peak time!  Rude.  I got soaked to the skin walking down the drive to meet the uber. I haven’t got a coat, and I only have flip flops and beach shoes now.  Also on my list of things to do today is purchase some weather appropriate footwear, and no not wellies. Although to be perfectly honest the flip flops are ideal,  the water runs right through and they dry quickly . Maybe I don’t need weather appropriate footwear after all, maybe I already have it!  

Just getting from the Uber into the mall saw me being soaked again and that was most unpleasant, although as it’s so warm I dried off quickly enough once I was inside.  I went straight to my eye appointment even though I was 20 minutes early because I wanted to have a look at the frames beforehand.  I found what I wanted and moved to the sunglasses stand.  The optician was doing a promotional video and I was almost trying to melt into the sunglasses stand to avoid being in the film. Do you know how difficult it is when you’re wearing a brightly coloured floral jumpsuit, which makes you stand out like a sore thumb ?  It’s nearly impossible!!  Every time I tried to get out of the way they followed me.  It was the irritating over acting by the man in the promo I was trying really hard to get away from. He had a voice that was like nails down a blackboard to my delicate little lugholes. I failed miserably, it was only a small store. In the end, due to the rage bubbling beneath the surface I plonked onto a chair in the corner and had to talk myself down from punching someone.  FFS it was a simple eye test that threatened to turn into an MMA fight and quite honestly my money was on me!  

Finally I was called in to the pre test which involved a complementary hearing test. My hearing is perfect, the test involved a pair of headphones and you had to tap the ipad as soon as you heard anything, first in the right ear and then in the left. As my hearing is at the level of a bat I handed the girl the ipad back in a very short space of time. Once that was all logged to my account I had the weird blowing in your eye test. I find them most unpleasant, but that too was all ok. Before leaving the room to wait for the rest of the test I asked them if they could fix my glasses. The screw that was holding the lens in had popped out and I was left with  just one lens to see through, which wasn’t much good. Watching tv in my sunglasses caused Morgan great hilarity. At least I could see the film even if I did look silly.  

I was called in for the next part of the test and went through the usual questions. They wanted to know my prescription which I can’t remember obviously but they could work out from my glasses. As my glasses were being fixed she went to get them and the girl with bright pink hair (I liked her instantly) returned them to me all screwed back together and she’d even cleaned them while she was at it. BONUS! they were filthy! Such a relief to have them back, they are Si’s old frames and they have to be ok.  Yes I’m aware they’re just a pair of glasses, but his eyes looked through them, they balanced on his little ears, and he chewed the left arm when he took them off when I sat in his lap for a cwtch. So they’re precious. Really precious.

I had my eyes scanned in 3d which was cool, I’m not sure if I’ve had that at home but if I have I’ve never seen what my eye looks like, but now I have and they're actually rather nice as eyes go.  I have a freckle on one eye which I knew about , but I’ve got lots of freckles so one on my eye isn’t a big deal. I just have to wear sunglasses in the sun apparently. Prescription has improved slightly which is normal with age, who knew ?  Something that improves with age!  

I selected my frames, they're very colourful and then went to pay, all very smooth and straightforward. I go back on the 9th to collect them. 

I’ve been on the lookout for a gift shop and directly opposite the opticians I saw one. Sorry peeps. The bag is small and much as I want to bring stuff back for everyone it just isn’t going to be possible.  I went in and the lady behind the counter immediately struck up a conversation. She’s from Wiltshire originally and her granny is from the Rhondda.  We had a lovely chat, about bees, accents, empaths and kiwi birds.  I didn’t buy anything as I was just looking but it was really nice to chat and I’ll be going back in when I pick up my glasses.  

So my footwear issue. Whilst my flip flops are fabulously comfy they’re going to be chilly on the flight home, also will look ridiculous with the flight socks too.  I went to a couple of places thinking trainers would be a good idea, you know, ready for all that running I do… and then I found the trainer shop that measures your gait and fits you up with the best trainers.  I thought it best as the last trainers I had and the ones I brought out with me gave me terrible shin pains and killed my knees and hips. However I was unimpressed when I explained my problem. The child that served me didn’t even offer the machine analysis, and when I asked told me I didn’t need it before handing me a pair of trainers that cost more than a flight to Tonga!  I looked at him and said no thanks that’s not what I requested and walked out the store. It was for his safety really because that inner rage was itching to be released on something or someone and he was in the firing line just for the fact that he hadn't bothered to listen and because I wasn't a runner tried to tell me the machine wouldn't work to determine which trainers would be the best fit for me . I know that they do because I had already looked it up online.  

I continued my search for appropriate footwear when I saw the most beautiful pair of pinky purple Dr Martens shoes in another shop. I tried them on, and they were a perfect fit. I’d taken a pair of socks with me as I knew I’d be hopefully trying on shoes so I chucked my flip flops In my rucksack, paid for my new shoes and wore them out of the shop, and no cumbersome box to carry around with me either. Aren’t they smashing?

I did have to get into a short polite discussion when they wanted my email address to send me the receipt, and I refused. It's not for a receipt at all, it's so they can send you junk mail, and if you'd seen the state of my email box you would see why I didn't want any more shit going in there. I had the paper receipt instead and my inbox wont be inundated with junk from a shore store in New Zealand. I really am turning into the most objectionable person and I don’t even care.

Happy with the footwear situation, I popped into the chemist warehouse for some cleaning wipes. I need to do some apartment cleaning and refuse to pay $250 to the lady who owns  it when all the cleaning stuff is in the apartment and I can do it myself, especially when cleaning is supposed to be included!  I don’t mind buying cleaning wipes. I can leave them for Morgan when I leave if there are any left and they smell really nice. 

As I was in the same area I quickly zipped around Woolworths and picked up some yellow label fruit for the weekend and some treats for Morgan. I was again grateful for the rucksack and the ability to pack it to the brim  and then went back into Farmers to see what else was in their sale. Specifically I was after a denim jacket, I found one in a leopard print but it was a size 24 and whilst I don’t mind an oversize jacket it could have fitted me and Si in there with room to spare so I sadly left it there.  Right next to it was a lovely oversize Merino wool jumper in a gorgeous shade of pink which was perfect. Ok so it’s not remotely waterproof and it’s definitely not a jacket, but what it will do however is go perfectly with my radish trousers and that can only be a good thing. The same girl, Caitlin who was there on my last visit and was so helpful with all my trying on things, remembered me. Possibly after my trying on 300 items of clothing and not taking anything in the end I obviously made an Impression, and it probably wasn’t a good one. Once again she was outstanding, and checked online for a smaller denim leopard print jacket in another store, unfortunately I was out of luck which was a shame. I paid for my lovely jumper and as I was paying we started discussing the price of fuel and the impact on ubers, Caitlin told me to use Bolt as they have an offer on at the moment and you get 3 rides at 50% off. Once I paid i made my way to the door, and I walked past a man wearing a badge stating ‘store Manager’ so I decided to stop him in his tracks and tell him how fabulous little Caitlin was and how helpful she had been to me. He seeed a little surprises to recorded in such a manner but he said he’d feed it back to her. Obviously I had already thanked her for her help but a little bit of feedback is always good isn’t it? Once i had released him I left the store and went downstairs and sat on the lovely comfy sofas in the Mall and downloaded the bolt app. Wowzers what a difference, it was almost half the price of uber. I did a mental check of my shopping list and concluded I had nothing more to get today so booked a Bolt to take me home.

I waited in the doorway of the mall for it to arrive but the rain still blew in and soaked me through. I only had to wait a few minutes but I got even wetter than before just getting to the car. The drive back seemed really quick, and very shortly we were driving access the front at Kohimarama, I couldn’t see Rangitoto Island for the fog and rain and surprisingly the beach was empty ( immense sarcasm) although the white caps on te ocean were the biggest ive seen since i got here!

 The Cliff that Morg lives on in St Helier was visible but still the greyest day for a while.

I was dropped off at the bottom of the drive and I'd hoped for a break in the rain just long enough to get me to the porch. No such luck, it threw it down. Hey ho. I do wish I'd been more thorough looking for a coat, I may need to go into the city on the bus next week to hunt one down, although I really want it to stay dry much more than I want a coat. I’ve got coats at home! 

Morg is having a night off tonight but still rang and checked in which was nice. I had a bowl of soup for dinner and some fruit and did some more Bee study , and then spent a few hours online looking for puppy stuff for Frank. The usual, beds, collars, leads, crates, playpens and toys. Gotta make sure Frank has the best of everything. 

And once again another mundane day for you all  but ay least you all know I'm ok.  

Much love

Mrs Leonard

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