It’s Monday morning, day five of the nation wide lockdown to combat Covid-19. Normally I would have been at my desk in Anvil House, having fought the traffic from my home in Porirua for at least an hour. Today I walked from my room to my new home-office and it took 30 seconds!

As I am the Social Connection Coordinator for Age Concern Wellington, the bulk of my job is getting out and about in the Wellington Community. It involves meeting new clients and new volunteers, bringing them together in a match for friendship. I have also kicked off a new service called Connect! So far this has involved making time and space around the Wellington region where older people can come together for social interaction on a regular basis. The hope is that this will expand and begin to incorporate activities that already occur in the community, such as visits to the Wellington City Gallery specifically catering for older people.

What a change in a week! Like you, I am now staying at home. Of course, there are still older people who feel lonely and isolated in our community and the team at Age Concern are having to change how we connect these people to volunteers.

We are helping to connect volunteers to older people through supportive phone calls, food delivery, and an email penpal program. We are also more busy than even answering questions that the public have and directing them to support services as required. Many people have reached-out to us offering to help, and we are so grateful! If you'd like to volunteer, or if you need help, please call 04 499 6648 or email info@ageconcernwellington.org.nz

Working from home has its advantages, a cup of tea is never far away, and the washing can be brought in off the line when it starts raining!

Four weeks is a long time to be at home, but thank goodness we live in a time where technology can help us connect in a meaningful way!

Thank you for all your support and I hope to see some of you face-to-face in the future 😊

Kirsten

We're connecting isolated people through email and/or the post.

If you would like to become a penpal, whether you're young or old, please contact me and I can put you in touch with someone who would love to hear from you. Call Lynn: 04 499 6654 or email cws@acwellington.org.nz

We have a temporary shopping service for isolated seniors. We have many volunteers offering to help with shopping so if you, or someone you know, needs help please call 04 499 6648 or email info@ageconcernwellington.org.nz

 
You can also play online: https://www.puzzles.ca/sudoku/




More daily crosswords available here

Please send us your short poetry or stories from the past - email news@ageconcernwellington.org.nz or post to Age Concern Wellington, PO Box 11-108, Wellington, 6142. We'll feature one or two reader-submitted poems or stories each week here! Mary has contributed this lovely poem:

Peace and Quiet

Worn out by all our motoring friends, the endless tea and scone,
We went to find a weekend place where we could be alone.
We found a lighthouse on a rock; the rent was very low.
We bought a dinghy and a book on how to fish and row.

We chose our twenty favourite discs; we packed up crates of food;
And miscellaneous crafts and games to suit our every mood.
They taught us how to trim the light, and how to oil the motor;
They showed us to the lighthouse cat and warned we'd better lover her!

They said goodbye and went away - we gaily climbed the stair.
We planned to do all kind of things, so happy to be there.
We tried the boat. We caught a fish accepted by the cat;
We played the discs and laughed and sang and loved our habitat.

But then one day a fog crept down, it's clammy damp all round us;
The fog horn wailed a mournful dirge in minor key delorous;
As listlessly we trimmed the lamp, exhausted checked the motor -
The cat of course just slumbered on. (I'm sure she jeered the blighter)

We left that foggy lighthouse, and we quietly crept away;
And now we've bought a space capsule, and there we think we'll stay!
- Mary Corkill

If you used to participate in Say Go Exercise Classes, you can order a CD for $12 including postage. Call Ann: 04 499 6648 or email info@ageconcernwellington.org.nz

Remember - get up and walk around every 1½ hours, make a drink, do a little job in the house or just walk around and look out of the window.  

Keep healthy, keep moving!

With time on our hands, this could be a good time to clear out your wardrobe! 

Just think how it would feel to have a well organised, workable wardrobe. Imagine opening the door knowing you can pull out anything and you know it fits and does not need repairing. It will make choosing clothes each morning less stressful. 

Do you remember when you last emptied it out and gave it a good vacuum, and cleared those cobwebs lurking in the corners? 

A good way to start is to pile everything on the bed, put all your pants together, dresses together and tops in another pile etc... 

Give the wardrobe a good spring clean, then have three boxes close by. One for the op shop, one for clothes that need repairing, and one for clothes you may want to sell or give to friends. 

Decide how you want to organise your wardrobe. Do you want to have all your smarter clothes together in one half, and other clothes in the other half? Or do you prefer all pants together, all dresses together and all tops together. Or maybe you like clothes in groups of colours. 

So let’s say you want to have all your dresses together. Go through them one by one. If it doesn’t fit, decide which box to put it in. If you really can’t part with it, put it somewhere else, but not in your working wardrobe. If you haven’t worn something in two years, you are unlikely to wear it again. Try clothes on in a full length mirror to see how they look on you. If someone can take a photo, it helps you to see your whole self. You can then decide if you like how that dress looks on you.  

Make sure you have the appropriate coat hangers for your clothes. For example, hang trousers on hangers that grip them on the waistbands, to avoid a crease across the middle of the leg when you hand them on other hangers. Blouses made of light weight fabrics should be hung on padded hangers and jackets on strong wooden hangers if possible.

If you find a pair of pants you haven’t worn for ages, maybe you think you don’t have a top to match: try out several tops to see if you can make up an outfit. If you don’t have one, make a list of a colours that you think will go with it. Better still, take those pants with you next time you are able to go shopping. 

Go through each pile of clothes and return the ‘keepers’ to the wardrobe. You will hopefully enjoy the feeling of a well organised wardrobe and enjoy choosing each day what you are going to wear. Some colours and styles can affect how we feel: dress your best and feel good each day! Maybe you feel inspired to start on the t-shirt drawer next, or maybe it’s time for a well-deserved cup of tea! 

Thank you Lynn for the great tips!

A few lines to remember a song...

Tūtira mai ngā iwi
Tātou tātou e
Tūtira mai ngā iwi
Tātou tātou e
Whai-a te marama-tanga
me te aroha - e ngā iwi!
Ki-a ko tapa-tahi,
Ki-a kotahi rā.        
Tātou tātou e.
:
Tā  - tou, tā - tou E!!
Hi aue hei !!!

This is a time when we could be really creative, using up what we have in the recesses of our cupboards. Do you have tins of beans or packets of pasta that have been there for a long time? Maybe you have packets of frozen veggies in the freezer that are close to their use by date?

Have a look, make a list and google what ingredients you can throw together. Or if you don't have access to the Internet, have a look through some old recipe books. I recently found a packet of split green peas and it had a recipe on the back. I'm so glad I did: it was delicious!

Pick the words that become other words when you prefix them with 'K'

help                  hart               rusty
not                    in                  rill
ill                      wart              need
usher               edge              id
new                  in                  roll
null                  its                  earn
limp                 eagle             nap
rib                    eel                well
nock                ale                egg
aisle                nightly           arm
latch                ink                 nit
nip                   emesis          now
nave                eyed              end

Answers below...

For the duration of this pandemic, the Ministry of Social Development has activated their Government Helpline. Anyone is welcome to call with any non-health-related concerns. They have friendly people ready to speak with you, and they can offer assistance in a number of ways.

Call free of charge within New Zealand 0800 779 997

Careerforce has put together some useful hand hygiene resources on their website. Although most of us have recently been made acutely aware that our hands are one of the most common ways to spread germs and that we need to clean our hands thoroughly to make it less likely that we will pass on germs, did you know:

• To effectively wash your hands it takes at least 20 seconds from when your hands are damp with water or sanitiser. That's about the time it takes to sing "Happy Birthday" twice.
• It is important to dry your hands completely as germs tend to multiply in warm wet environments.
• Contaminated means that something has germs present. It could be because it has been in contact with something that is unclean and/or has germs.

Good hand hygiene breaks the cycle of infection. For more useful information and tips, please click here.

Countdown supermarkets is working to prioritise vulnerable customers who want to use their online shopping service. This includes people over 70. If you have online access, you can register here shop.countdown.co.nz. If you are not able to do this yourself please ask a family member or friend to register you for online shopping and complete this form on your behalf. 

You can find more information here: COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions. If you need help with the Priority Assistance application process please call the Countdown dedicated number 0800 477 655

If you have access to the Internet, this new website has a lot of useful information about COVID-19. Learn the simple steps you can take to unite against the virus and slow its spread. Find out what help is available and get the latest updates: https://covid19.govt.nz

BNZ has announced that 48 branches will open Thursdays between 10am - 2pm for the period of the lockdown to provide basic banking services to those who are unable to use its online or telephone services. In the Wellington area, the following branches will be open Thursdays (opening times may be modified as needed)

Would you like to see what's happening live around the world?

This website has some fun links to webcams: CLICK HERE