A bit of sunshine on the face and a talking book to listen to and Geoff Veysey's a happy man.
Mr Veysey turns 91 next month and even though his sight is gone, his outlook on life remains as buoyant as ever.
He and his wife Billie live in Summerset in the River City retirement village in Wanganui. It's been their home for about 15 years.
An engineer by trade, his working life was spent maintaining a bus fleet in Nelson, their home town.
World War II interrupted their lives and he served as machine gunner in North Africa and Italy until the war in Europe ended in 1945.
But it didn't end their for Mr Veysey. He and his mates were shipped to Japan as part of the occupation forces until he was finally repatriated in 1946-47. Back in civvie street he went back to his job in Nelson.
The Veyseys moved to Wanganui about 24 years ago and nine years later into Summerset.
"We love it here in the village. Before I completely lost my sight I used to always say we'd sit and watch the lawns grow and watch someone else cut them," he said.
"This place is really perfect for me because when I started to lose my sight it meant I had to stop driving.
"We've got no immediate family here anymore. Our only son and his family live in the USA, so it didn't really matter where we lived," he said.
But losing the ability to see hasn't dimmed Mr Veysey's love of live or a positive outlook. "I have the most marvellous time sitting in the sun listening to my talking books. The Blind Institute provide a great service.
"I can't see any point in being bitter about it. I've got to enjoy whatever I've got left and that means enjoying people and whatever crops up and make the best of it," he said.
He has outlived his four brothers, one of them noted sports writer Alex Veysey.
The couple has a collection of about 400 movie videos and DVDs, and every Saturday afternoon he and Billie would put on a film showing in the village leisure centre.
"It takes up a lot of our time but we thoroughly enjoy it."
Asked about favourite actors he says "some of the older ones" appeal.
During the war years Betty Grable was his favoured pin-up girl.
"She use to wear shorts that came down to her knees but that use to turn us on a bit," he said with a chuckle.