Viney ChroniclesJanuary — December 2011

Phone: +64 3 9608366Email: ian@viney.net.nzAddress: 82 Spencer St, Addington, Christchurch, New Zealand

Kathy turns 50!On 27 December Kathy suprised everyone

and turned 50. A very nice lunch celebration was held at Pegasus Bay Winery with lots of family present.

Kathy is coping well with being old (she claims it doesn’t bother her) and Ian is having counselling so he can adjust to being married to someone who keeps nearly being as old as him.

Through 2011 Kathy developed a rhythm of centering prayer, reading and journalling that she has found very helpful in her approach to life, God, and relationships. Significant authors this year have included Henri Nouwen, Richard Rohr and Brené Brown.

‘If life is overcrowded then you are doing more than is required for you to do.’ – Peace Pilgrim

Laura, Jonathan, Richard, Nicola, Ian and Kathy the matriarch at her 50th party

Vineys survive earthquakes, fire and general pestilence

Ian’s family home on Glenelg Spur being demolished in JulyThe Trimble building gutted by fire in May

On Tuesday 22 February the most violent earthquake to ever hit a modern city decimated buildings in beautiful Christchurch and brought daily life to a standstill as teams from around the world searched through the rubble for those killed and injured. The death toll was finally 182 people. Some of our best friends lost family members, friends, colleagues and flatmates. The iconic cathedral spire fell, most buildings with brick or masonry materials collapsed or have been taken down since, and modern buildings were also damaged and have been demolished in their hundreds. Massive amounts of liquefaction (silt forced up through ground by water as the earth shakes) covered entire suburbs to a depth of 300 mm or more. Most of the city was without water for several days, and many areas were (or still are) without sewerage for many months. Some suburbs have been deemed uninhabitable and the government is buying all the homes.

The Vineys had very little damage to their house, but the café had some minor damage and is being repaired during January 2012. Ian’s mother’s home in St Martins will have to be demolished. It’s habitable, but has no sewerage. The concrete pad split in two and one end sank 200 mm. The old family home on the hill was badly damaged and has been demolished.

Then on 18 May people in Ian’s company, Trimble, woke up to the news that their building had been completely gutted by fire overnight. Fortunately the server disks were able to be rescued from the fire-resistant computer room (the computer cases had melted but the disks were still readable), but it still took a week to get new servers online. Ironically, the building had been a week away from having earthquake repairs finished. Ian works in Building 2, which was unaffected by the fire but became quite crowded when it had to house many people from Building 1. A new building will be erected on the site during 2012.

Vineys at work and studyEveryone in education in Christchurch last year had

their schedule significantly disrupted by earthquakes. Nicola was studying vocals at Jazz School and had several changes to timetable and venues. The garage room had a piano installed so she could get enough hours practising. She also worked part time with Kathy and Vanessa in the office at Liminal (the company that owns the café), handling her duties with efficiency and good humour despite the frustrations. Simon, also studying this year at Jazz School, has another year of part-time study to finish his qualification. Nic and Si spent most of December in India, mainly at Freeset in Kolkata.

Laura’s school, Cashmere High, was closed for several weeks after February’s large quakes, then operated on reduced hours due to sharing their school buildings with Linwood College. However, Laura still did well in her exams, finishing NCEA level 2 shortly after turning 17. She has one more year left at high school. Laura continued working Sundays at Addington Coffee Co-op.

Richard finished fifth year at medical school, still based in Christchurch so he has been living at home. He continues to do contract programming for Savant, a local computer games company. Jonathan completed fifth year at medical school in Auckland, and continued doing contract website development, spending a month working in the UK before travelling around Europe with Alice in December.

Kathy continued to head the small administration team for Liminal. This year she spent a lot of time dealing with insurance issues relating to the earthquake. Fortunately, she had taken out business continuation insurance three days before the earthquake struck in February!

Ian worked half time at Trimble, with CTCT, the joint venture company with Caterpillar. He spent the other half of his time doing the finances for the café, keeping the computer systems going and learning some website development skills (see www.liminal.org.nz). Ian skiing at Porter Heights

Richard, Nana and Ian

Ian’s motherAfter the earthquakes Ian’s mother (a.k.a. Jean, JV

or Nana) found life increasingly difficult, and ended up in Princess Margaret Hospital for a month. She was diagnosed with Alzheimers and has been living in a rest home since July. Ian takes her out at least once a week, and Graham and Teena have helped her enormously when they’ve been in Christchurch.

Far left: Richard jumping off the wharf at Duvauchelle Bay

The Vineys’ budgie, Mrs Bird, had to undergo surgery for an abscess. The collar was to stop

her pecking at the stitches.

Nicola working at the café office

Kathy in her home office

Vineys in businessIronically, the Addington Coffee Co-op

café benefited from the earthquake, because so many other cafés and restaurants in town were closed for many months. This meant the staff grew to over 40 and have all been very busy, though they seem to enjoy working there. Turnover in 2011 was 87% more than 2010, which was very encouraging. In December Ian and Kathy were both involved in helping set up another arm of Liminal: The Addington Store was born. It’s a gift store with a locally-produced, fair trade flavour. The first few weeks of trade leading up to Christmas were very busy indeed. The store is being run by the Vineys’ friend Bruce, with help from other friends Ants, Sandy and Sharleen.

Alice, Jonathan and Richard after a day’s skiing

Laura and Finn at Christmas time

Laura on her scooter

Viney Health WoesThe family holiday north of Auckland

in July was disrupted when Kathy developed bursitis and tendonitis in her right shoulder. She spent most of the week in agony, followed by a cortisone injection and extended physiotherapy (thanks, Celia) before it came right. Ian has had plantar fasciitis since March which has stopped him jogging, and Laura broke her toe by mistakenly kicking the kitchen wall. And the budgie had an abscess.

Vineys at playThe children bought Ian a tandem ride

in a paraglider for his 50th birthday, which he eventually got round to doing about six months later!

In August Jonny and Alice persuaded Ian and Richard to go skiing, which was a very enjoyable day.

Ian paragliding at Taylors Mistake

Laura gets wheelsLaura bought herself a scooter early

in the year. She takes it to school and to visit friends, including her boyfriend, Finn. Riding the post-earthquake streets of Christchurch has proved a challenge, with new potholes appearing overnight in places. The scooter is very useful, but has broken down twice, meaning Laura has also learned about paying for one’s own repairs!

Laura turning 17

Ian skiing at Porter Heights

Most of the ‘Addington Crew’ on holiday in Hanmer in October

Vineys in communityThe Vineys’ ‘hub’ celebrating Christmas: Richard, Laura, Kathy, Shauna, Ian, Caleb and Ari, Tess, Christy, Catherine, Lucy, Millie, Pauline and Andy

Shauna with Andy and Pauline’s baby MillieNicola with Laura before her school formal

The Vineys still live in Addington with other friends who also want to be followers of Jesus. The community keeps growing, though only one person joined our hub this year. That was Lucy, a friend of Nicola and Simon from Jazz School. During the year the hub took an evening for each person to share their life story, which was a challenge to prepare but a great way to get to understand each other better.

Shauna stayed all year with the Vineys, who have enjoyed getting to know her so much better. Shauna is an ESOL teacher. She works at Delta Community Trust in Aranui, and has a passion for supporting immigrant families. She also looks sets to see if she can survive another year with the Vineys – maybe it’s because she likes her room-with-ensuite in the sleepout.