Sunday 30th November

Azzan’s alarm clock went off at 7:30am.
Sunday morning??
C’mon my lad give us all a break!
I’d already been awake for an hour or so but the girls were still sleeping.
I got up and had a bath with my book.
Azzan hoped into my bed and did some online spelling tests.
He’s very driven to raise his spelling age at present.
He then made some apple juice.
He got upset that my juicer is not juicing properly and he is not getting much juice.
I was a bit over the complaint as it is not a new one, and told him to clean up, forget using it and to use the Vitamix like I had already told him to.
I disappeared to my room for some peace.
Mahalia came in around 10:30am and decided to make the most of the bath water and had a soak for a long while.
Shoshannah staggered out.
She had worked until the early hours and not gotten home till around 2pm.
But in spite of that she was still fairly perky 🙂

I saw the sun was shining into my bedroom windows and thought it would be a great spot for my rocking chair.
Pat has just fixed it and returned it to me.

What would I do with out this cheeky young ratbag?
This morning he brought me a humongous bowl of porridge.
Just porridge.
Nothing else!
So I requested half of it to be taken off and some additives added.
He returned with a bowl of porridge topped with kiwifruit, strawberries and coconut yoghurt.
Now that’s talking 🙂
It went down a treat.
He got loose with my phone 🙂


And then he took off for a bike ride.
But he came walking back very sadly.
He had gotten a flat tyre but as it was his first one he didn’t quite understand why his tyre was completely falling off.
Shanni tried to help him but her bike kit has been left at home.
They found the hole but had to leave it at that point until some other help could be found.

I filled up the sprayer and tried to get it working but it failed miserably so I gave up and went and lay on my bed for a while.
Having a bit of a dozy day with a headache tugging away at the periphery of my brain.
Shoshannah did some baking.
David & Sasha arrived later in the arvo.
They sampled some scones and coffee and then we went out to see what there was left to kill!
David cranked up his chainsaw and took out several more trees.
They were lugged over to the firewood area.
Mahalia and Sasha cut all the branches off and David sawed up the trunks to add to the woodpile.

Sasha dug out the silver flax and a few other smaller natives.
David and I had a serious look at these pots which I wanted gone.
The poor trees have been in them for so long they are totally root bound.

There was really no other way to get the plants out and because two of the pots were splitting Azzan took the crowbar to them and delighted in making more mess.
How sad is this?
No wonder the poor things weren’t doing so well.
They couldn’t move in there!

Now what do I do with all of this?

The two trees are being adopted.
May they flourish in their new home with David & Sasha 🙂

Just gotta find homes for the other 3 trees now, am hoping we can get them out without breaking the pots as I have a home for those.
Shanni had to be at work by 6pm so she ate a quick dinner and then I zipped her up there.

I came back and had some tacos for dinner with Azzan.
Mahalia had already eaten.
They went off to bed soon after.
I had a long chat with Jesika while eating and then doing the dishes.
I got two rubbish bags out on the street and then emptied all the smaller bins and have a third bag waiting for morning.
I was about to head to bed when I heard something displeasing to my ear.
I found the two kids at it again – sigh!
So this time I sat them down and gave them a massive barreling.
Told them there will be major consequences if they don’t stop being so selfish, pull their heads in and deal with their disputes in a less aggressive manner.
Hopefully a good night sleep for everyone will create a new and more harmonious dawn.
It is 11pm and Shanni has just arrived back home.
They finished early tonight which is good.
Hopefully she will get a better sleep tonight.
Had some excellent reports back re her work today.
Apparently the chefs all reckon she is great, a very consistent worker.
So proud of her 🙂

 

Saturday 29th November

I woke at 3am, managed to doze a while longer, gave up around 5:30am.
The sky was ablaze with colour.

Just relaxed on my bed until 8 and then flew through the shower and as it was a sunny morning decided to risk wearing a sundress.
I had an appointment at 9:30am in city centre.
I was about to leave when Marah called up, then the two youngest had an altercation.
I left them to either sort it out or kill themselves – whatever floats their boat right now.
Am over it all!
I had my light jacket/long cardigan out to take but Shanni assured me that I wouldn’t be needing it today so I left it behind.
So I was later leaving than planned.
Walked a different route, motored south and then walked along Bridge St.
It was so pretty I took a few moments and photographed the river.

The ducks were rippling the water with their wakes.

Queens Gardens are so pretty right now and very inviting, will have to come back on a less busy morning.

I arrived at Nelson Beauty only 2 mins late and was soon relaxing under the care of Karol.
It was really nice to just shut my eyes and forget the world for an hour.
Thanks Karol 🙂
I had some free time after leaving so went for a wander.
The wind temperature was actually quite cool so I ducked into Glassons and found a pretty pink cardigan to wear.
I went to suss out the bikini Shanni had found but gave up and suggested she come in and get them herself.
Then walked across to Preago to wait for Jana.
We had not seen each other for probably over 20 years.
Sad when the busyness of life gets in the way of a friendship.
It was really lovely to sit and talk and hear about each others families.
We used to spend a lot of time together when our older kids were young.
A lot of water has flood under our bridges since then.
I was very fragile and tears poured even though I was trying not to let them.
Shoshannah arrived and went off shopping.
She came back a bit later to tell me what she had found.
It was time to move so after some farewell hugs and promises to catch up more and soon I went shopping with Shanni.
She had found some walking shoes in Urban Beach but I thought they were too light weight for the price, plus they were rubbing her small toes.
So we went off in search of something better.
Called into several shops and then ended up finding a really good pair in Rebel Sports which happily had a 25% reduction on them.
Then it was back to Cotton On to get her swimwear.
We were really weary and hungry so decided to head off home.
She walked with me for a short distance and then I sent her off on her bike as I could see it was easier for her than pushing it.
She & Azzan had tidied away my clothes so my room is now looking much more agreeable.
Thanks peeps – so appreciate you doing that.
Mahalia had also tidied up her room and put away all of her clothes.
She had also mown the lawn.
Azzan had cut down some more trees!
They had managed not to kill each other while I was away 😉
I was about to take Azzan to visit his cousins when Sylvia & Martin came to pick up the trailer.
We had a cuppa and a chat for a while.
Mahalia loaded up the cut foliage onto the trailer and then they were away with it so Sylvia can fill it up from her garden tomorrow 🙂
I drove Azzan to Tahunanui and dropped him off to play with Lucy & Tristan then I carried on to visit Estelle.
Tracey had arrived with her daughter so I spent a pleasant hour or so catching up with them all.
Back to pick up Azzan, he was sitting up at the table devouring wraps with the kids 🙂
We stopped off to get some groceries at Countdown.
It was quite late when we got back.
Mahalia had already locked the door and gone off to bed.
However the kitchen was a mess and the dishes not done so she was resurrected to clean up while Azzan & I unloaded and put away all the groceries.
I made myself a plate of dinner – Shanni had made a large pot of beans which were very yummy.
Managed to get Azzan off to bed and then I sat in my bed and ate my dinner.
Fell asleep watching something on my laptop so dumped it on the floor and snuggled down.
But then couldn’t sleep for ages  
Why is it I can fall asleep with a book or watching a movie but once they stop I’m awake and unable to go back to sleep!!

Friday 28th November

Sapphie serenaded us during the night so there were a few blurry eyed people in the house this morning.
When I got up Seb was in the kitchen and Sapphie was asleep.
Oh to be a baby and sleep at will 🙂
Phoebe had gone off at 7:30am to get some child free  grocery shopping done.
We babysat for a while so Seb could go get some ‘real’ coffee.
I did have some but had no plunger!
Sapphie loved helping Aunty Shani play guitar 🙂
It was so funny to watch her bopping and ‘helping’ with the chords.
It was a beautiful morning – I had the doors open and had put on a sun dress after my shower.
However it soon clouded over and became really chilly.
Martin popped in for a visit.
Nice for him to catch up with his little great niece – although she wasn’t too sure what to make of Great Uncle Martin!
She presents such a serious studios face when meeting you for the first time, but once she warms up she is hilarious.
Seb & Phoebe left soon after 10am – they had a bit of shopping to finish and then were heading back home as they had Lodge guests arriving.
I had to go into the city centre to sign some papers so I did a quick change into jeans, sneakers, merino top and sleeveless knitted vest.
It was so chilly I took my downie too.
Left around 10:30am and walked in.
My quick 3km round trip quickly turned into a prolonged over 5km trudge around the city centre as I had to go to several places just to accomplish the one deed!
My downie was soon removed as I got quite a sweat up.
In amongst all of this I also got a call from Vodafone to say my internet router had arrived so I picked that up too.
It has been a bit of a mission getting the internet sorted actually.
I went in to suss it out about 2 weeks before we moved in and they were getting it actioned.
But on takeover day I discovered the previous owners had not disconnected yet.
So contacted them and they seemed to be on to it.
However, discovered several days later they were refusing to allow their connection to be disconnected yet!!
The local Vodafone staff have been fantastic and have been trying their best to get through to head office that actually I live here and they don’t and I should be allowed to have a connection.
I’m incredulous actually, they don’t live here anymore and they are holding me up from getting connected – by the time I do manage to it will be over 2 weeks.
Totally frustrating
In the meantime it is costing heaps for me to continue using my Mifi units.
On the way home I picked up a 7.5L glass beverage dispenser that I had been wanting to get while it was on sale.
It was quite an armful to a carry home and I was also nursing my shoulder so by the time I staggered in the door I was absolutely exhausted.
The kids are getting a bit tetchy at present which is adding to my stress.
No doubt they are picking up on the pressures and acting out from that.
Shoshannah headed into town on her bike to suss out some clothing and shoes she needs.
I then discovered that the bank had made yet another horrendously huge mistake and was beyond upset.
It just skyrocketed my stress levels by 150% 😦
That is 2 major mistakes in past two weeks.
Really freaking me out now.
I am so missing having Tim here to help me with all of this stuff.
I just need him here to talk to, he was the only one who really understood me, who had my back, who just held me when things got too much.
If he were here I wouldn’t be living in town, I wouldn’t be having to make such hard decisions, I wouldn’t be under such stress.
People keep telling me that buying a house is one of the most stressful things in life, but actually buying this house wasn’t stressful at all.
It is all the other decisions that are bombarding my brain that are right now.
I just want to go find a cave to crawl into and tell the world to go away.
So over life right now 😦

The day really packed it in and began to rain.
I had a mountain of cardboard here so told Azzan he could burn it in the wood fire but then realised we had no matches.
Discovered on Thursday when Mahalia was sent off from work to do some errands that they will not sell lighters or matches to under 18s.
I sent the kids out to quickly pick up all the fallen debris and wood before it got too wet and I ran up to the dairy to buy a packet of matches.
I guess I am looking really old at present cuz I wasn’t asked for ID 😉
The rain was quite heavy by the time I got back so we flew inside and got the fire started.
It was rather lovely to have the fire burning and quite therapeutic for Azzan.
Shanni took shelter in Farmers and waited for the storm to pass over.
She had made some tofu(meat)loaf so we had that with salad for dinner.
I was so incredibly stressed and emotionally exhausted that I needed to zone out so I suggested we watch a movie.
We connected up the tv and dvd and then realised I had left the remotes back at home – duh!
There are controls on the hardware just not as easy to operate.
As we don’t have any lounge furniture yet the girls decided to improvise and unhook the swing seat & bring it into the lounge.
It was very comfy 🙂

We watched a whole dvd of Big Bang Theory as there was nothing else light and frivolous in my bag.
I ended up dozing through a lot of them.
Discovered later that Azzan has quite a collection of dvds in his room – oh well, next time!
Fell into bed around 10pm but was really restless, couldn’t settle to sleep till much later.

Thursday 27th November

I am waking early every day – often around 5am.
With little sleep and so much stress at present I am so tired I can barely function.
Today I managed to get the date right and was off down the road to my 9am appointment.
It is only a couple of blocks so about 8 mins to get to the Loveday Clinic so a nice morning walk.
The best thing about getting the early morning appointments is that John is on time 🙂
I took the slightly longer route back, about 1.5km round trip.
It’s good for my back to be walking.
Mahalia had work experience today so she biked there just before 10am.
Martin was here when I returned.
Azzan was giving him a garden tour 🙂
He had brought tools, so if there’s tools then theres gotta be action.
Bloke action!
The chainsaw was plugged in and the destruction began.
The front of the section has been planted with natives which have gotten far too big and I want to create a clean slate from which to landscape the way I want.
So we are taking out pretty much everything now, and over the summer I will live here, thinking, planning, scheming, as to what and where I want to plant in Autumn.

Another trailer load out and a heap of firewood 🙂

And then on to the dreaded buddleia bush.
I honestly do not know what possesses people to plant these things.
Horrendous they are!
They are listed as ‘5’ on the infestation curve and are a serious pest.
“No person shall knowingly sell, propagate, breed, release, or commercially display Buddleia, under Sections 52 and 53 of the NZ Biosecurity Act.”
This one was producing prolifically, once the tree was demolished I was pulling out wee seedlings like hairs on a dogs back!

There is a lovely maple growing, squashed in behind which has something wrong in the trunk and a few dead branches so Martin got Azzan sawing them out.
I pruned it back a bit and now we wait to see if it will be okay.
May have to check it out with an arborist.
There is a baby maple growing underneath which I am trying to save.
I whizzed off to bid on a wardrobe on TradeMe for Shoshannah.
15 mins later came out jubilantly successful on that score to find the guys had come back to have another go at the stumps.
There is a bourganvillia behind which was trying to spike anyone who went near.
In spite of the large thorns I do love them so am thinking I might train it along the fence so we didn;t cut it back much.
There is old weed mat throughout the garden which is proving to be a pain so Azzan was ripping through it with the crowbar while Martin dug around the stump.

We loaded up the trailer, managed to get heaps more on.
Azzan was being very protective of me.
He knows I am not meant to lift or carry anything so was stopping me every time I went to do anything.
I was allowed to use the loppers to cut the foliage smaller so it would pack on the trailer better 😉
The kids moved the larger bits of wood to the wood shed area and Martin chainsawed it up into fire sized pieces.
It can now sit and dry till winter 🙂
Martin & Azzan went off to unload the trailer and came back and had lunch.
Shanni had been cooking up a storm all morning.
It is lovely having her home, she’s great in the kitchen too 🙂
Martin left the trailer for us just in case we have time to fill it again.
So appreciate all his help – thanks Martin, just hope you didn’t overdo things!!  🙂

This is Azzan heading out on his bike again.
He is loving it.
He pleads with me to be allowed out the gate and up to the park and back 🙂
The other day he walked his bike right to the top of the Centre of NZ!
Today he left and biked on his own to Kip McGrath.
Mahalia was already there.

Seb & Phoebe arrived with Sapphire around 4pm.
They soon decided that they would like to stay the night so Mahalia was moved into the living room for the night.

She enjoyed some freedom to crawl about for a while.

I was so incredibly tired all day, bone achingly so.
Was trying to build up some energy to go out to an evening  function but failing miserably.
So finally made the call not go around 4:30pm.
Shoshannah biked off to her Kip McGrath lesson and the other arrived back soon after.
Mahalia and Sapphie were having such a lovely time.
Love these photos.
She is such a wee trick 🙂

Seb went off to get some stuff so I asked him to pick up the wardrobe for me.
He came back with it on his truck.
It was huge and heavy so I called up Nathan.
He popped around to help lift it inside.
It was a bit of a squeeze – never thought of the door sizes when I was measuring it up – duh!
Anyway, it fitted in well and the only injury was Nathan’s finger when he caught it on the fireguard – ouch that really hurt!!

The girls moved the smaller very impractical cupboard out to the sunroom and this was put in it’s place.
Shoshannah is pretty rapt to have somewhere to stash her clothes now 🙂

Shoshannah had made a salad and a vegetarian ‘meat’ loaf but we all needed some more and it was getting late so we got some pizza and fish & chips from the local and they were soon demolished by 7 hungry mouths.
Phoebe & Sapphie made the most of my big bath 🙂
Seb went out to catch up with friends.
We all headed off to bed – tired much!

Wednesday 26th November

It was a very breezy sunny morning.
I was organised for a chiro appointment at 9am.
Was not too sure if I had the right day or not though so called up just as I was about to walk out of the house and discovered it is for tomorrow!>
Then had an evening date tonight and thankfully discovered that it is for tomorrow too.
I am so out of kilter today – it is Wednesday but somewhere in the midst of everything I’ve misplaced the day and my brain skipped across to Thursday  

Marah had midwife appointments this morning so we babysat Eden.
Well, mainly Shanni did 🙂
She played outside with Shoshannah in the garden.

It didn’t take long before she was playing in the sprinkler again.
She loved it when Shanni swung her around over the sprinkler and each time the water hit her legs they would pull upwards and wriggle with glee.

Soon she was running around with no clothes on having an absolute ball.
Shoshannah planted her herbs and organised where she is going to put the zucchini and lettuces.
It was a great day to get washing dry so I hung out all yesterdays washing again plus more from today.
Martin cruised by on his bike midmorning and stopped in for a chat.
Its very social living here 🙂

I went to have a lie down on my bed and was invaded by a small person all clean and dry and dressed.
She wanted to be with Nonna.
She was sitting on my tummy making cute faces at me 🙂

Then it was selfie time.

She absolutely wore herself out so by the time Marah arrived back she was very ready for a sleep.
Marah had bought us a housewarming present from her and Anson.
She knew we didn’t eat chocolate or drink alcohol so resorted to a box of green stuff and strawberries and a gorgeous peace lily.
Thanks guys – very lovely 🙂

Shoshannah got hold of my phone again so here is payback time Shanni!
We helped Marah quickly pack up the car and Eden was pretty close to asleep by the time she left.
They had a good trip back home.

We had run out of eggs so Mahalia & Azzan hopped on their bikes and zipped to the supermarket.
Then Azzan finished making his brunch.
The kids were working on their school work in amongst the day.
There was a bit of an attitude problem in the house which I addressed firmly.
Azzan got upset, he hates any form of conflict.
I had to explain to him that as a parent there are times when I have to deal with issues, it’s my job in life to ensure my kids are brought up properly, to respect and be respectful etc, and that even though he loves his sister I am not doing her any favours by letting her get away with stink attitudes.
He was okay after than 🙂

Shoshannah headed off mid arvo to go suss out some work opportunities and then on to meet Katherine at the Queen’s Gardens.
Graham arrived with some things he had brought out from home for me.
Mahalia was rapt to get her shelving unit and immediately assembled it.
She can now put away her clothes.
Then she prepared to go meet up with Sophie at the Gardens.
Graham had other things to drop off so didn’t stay long.
Azzan seemed really down, a bit sad.
I asked him if he would like to go out with me for a drink.
His wee face lit up 🙂
So we locked up the house and walk down the street to the Sprig & Fern.
Got a drink each, he ran next door and ordered some kumara chips and we sat out in the later afternoon sun and enjoyed some mum & son time.
It was lovely 🙂
We were entertained by some cute wee sparrows.

When we got back I suggested that we should pack the trailer down a bit better.
So he hopped into it and pulled out all the large branches.
We cut the foliage up a bit smaller, took the larger pieces out for firewood and then he stomped it all down.
Made heaps more room.
Then he decided to have a go at getting the two karaka trees out that he had pruned back the other day.
It sure is good therapy for him and a sense of achievement when after moving all the rocks around the bases, digging around the roots, rocking back and forth, he managed to pull them both out.


Azzan is enjoying discovering things hidden in the undergrowth here.
He has already found several balls, and this now he found this metal pipe entwined in the base of the tree.
We are curious as to what it might be but will probably never know.
It’s a very old tree so most probably was part of the very first garden.

The four girls alls arrived back and carried on with their socialising.
I was going out to see Phillipa & Pat for a while so Azzan decided he wanted to visit Lucy & Tristan.
I dropped Sophie & Katherine off in town so they wouldn’t have so far to walk home.
Then left Azzan with John & Sally.
I was incredibly tired but it was good to have a child free adult only time out.
Love these pretty sweet peas from Phillipa’s garden.
They are so beautifully scented.

Pat had just cooked up a storm on the bbq so I joined them for dinner.
Had a pleasant evening and finally dragged myself away around 9pm.
Picked up Azzan.
The kids had gone to bed early due to busy day commitments tomorrow so Azzan had spent the evening helping John.
It is so good for him to have man time, he gets a bit over being with three females all the time 😉
The girls had cooked their own dinner and were watching a movie.
Azzan decided he wasn’t hungry so we fell into bed and left the girls to shut off the lights etc.

Tuesday 25th November

Eden brings a bright spark into life when she’s here.
She is up bright an early, running back and forth down the hall.
I text Marah to let her know I was awake and very soon after a wee person came peeping around my door to say good morning 🙂
She hopped up into bed with me and cuddled while Marah sat and chatted.

Mahalia was up early too so next thing they were both playing under the sprinkler.
Eden was so funny.
She would run up to the sprinkler and bow her head into the water jets and then run away with water dripping down her forehead.

Of course when you add a ball into the equation it is all the more fun.
Marah had appointments so we were chief baby sitters.
Actually Shoshannah wanted to be the head sitter and as we had things to go and do we left her to it.
First though Eden had a bath to warm up after her water play.
Then she was so tired she crashed into her cot for an hour.
I whizzed through the shower – after trotting around for ages hanging washing etc in my pjs and being very thankful for high fences 😉
Marah left to go do her thing.
The girls spent the hour sorting clothes.
They have decided to be amicable about it – for now 😉
Azzan made himself a very delicious breakfast.

The courier van stopped off and delivered my kitchen clock.
Most exciting.
We now have no excuse to be late!
We all love this clock.
It is way better than I even imagined it would be 🙂

Eden woke up so Shoshannah read her stories from the box of books Aunty Abby had given her, and then took her for a walk to the park.
Shanni told me later it was way easier to babysit without all of us there.
She had a ball with her little niece 🙂

Before I went out I painted my nails and Eden’s – she was pretty entranced with her pretty pink nails 🙂

Azzan biked and Mahalia & I walked into town.
Mahalia had a midday appointment to have her arms x-rayed.
She has an appointment with the specialist after New Year and needed this done beforehand.
We are really hoping and praying there will be a cancellation so she can be seen sooner but not holding our breath.
She is having so much pain in her wrists, stems from her broken arms several years ago and is really disabling her at times.
Azzan went on to the library while we were at Radiology.
We were fairly quick there so were soon walking along Hardy Street.
Stopped and chatted with Jane who was having her lunch break at her usual spot outside Morrison St Cafe.
Anneke walked by so had a chat with her too.
Then I sent Mahalia off to the bike shop while I popped up to pay for Shoshannah’s haircut she had on Monday.
Walked downstairs engrossed in replying to Mahalia’s text and then heard my name being called.
Had almost walked past Angela who was having lunch with Dot, Hannah & Ben.
Such a social street today!
Carried on to the Bike Barn where Mahalia had found the bike she wanted.
It was last years model in last years colours so cheaper than Azzan’s!
It was what she wanted so I sent her off to get Azzan while I paid the account.
I walked to Farmers to wait for them.
The cherry stalls have arrived in town.
I so love this time of year.
My all time favourite fruit.
Sat and munched on a few while waiting and Dot, Hannah & Ben walked by.
Kids arrived so we locked up the bikes and went to shop for Azzan’s clothes.
Poor lad is growing so fast he hardly has any clothes so today was his day.
Found everything he wanted on sale 🙂  so the kids took the bags and headed home.
I stayed and went for a wander.
I discovered Briscoes had another sale so I walked back there to get a few kitchen things we needed.
Left everything in a trolley to pick up later.
Then walked over to Hangar 58.
I as weary so happily crashed out on the window couch and chatted with Mike until Phillipa arrived.
We had a drink and talked for half an hour.
Phillipa had to leave when Nicola arrived soon after 4:30pm.
It must be nearly 30 years since we saw each other so it was very exciting for us both.
She & I flatted together during my 2nd year in Christchurch after leaving high school.
We talked and talked and talked.
So much to catch up on.
Decided to relocate to the restaurant and eat dinner and continue talking.
Mahalia & Azzan walked in later on to check up on me and see when I would be home.
Any excuse to ride their bikes 😉
We talked some more and then Nicola drove me home.
Shoshannah had text me saying “How late u gonna be? Shouldn’t be walking round town after dark it’s a shifty nabourhood :p”  🙂
Marah was on her phone and Eden in bed so we tiptoed around quietly giving Nicola a guided tour of the house and grounds, then she headed back to her motel.
Can’t wait for her next business trip to Nelson!
I loaded Azzan into the car and drove to Briscoes to pick up my trolley of purchases.
He helped me unpack everything and put it all away.
Marah had gone off to bed already.
Finally got the kids off to bed and then I did some tidying up and dropped into my pillows.
Been a good day 🙂

Monday 24th November

5:30am seems to be set firmly into my body’s alarm clock these days.
And I don’t wake up leisurely, gradually, gently, stay in bed and slowly unwind into a state of functionality.
No, it is an instant awakeness.
Groping blindingly for my glasses, where did they end up last night sort of scramble, then I can see to check the time on my phone and realise that yet again I have not slept past 6am
Oh well, it is a time of day when I can make the most of being able to quietly take time to catch up on here whilst draining my first bottle of water of the day, and an occasionally having a chat to my daughter who is also in a state of disarray with her sleeping patterns due to crazy shift work in the WA mines.

This morning I had a 9:15am appointment at the chiropractor so I didn’t dally in bed too long.
I was up and showered and had some porridge made when Shoshannah appeared.
She is normally an early bird too but today she was looking a tad dishevelled from her two late nights at work.
It takes time to get a rhythm into the body clock when it’s thrown out of kilter.
I wrote a quick list for the kids, paid them a quick wakening call before leaving and gave myself about 20mins to walk up the street.
It’s only two blocks from here to there and I easily walked it in 8 minutes 🙂
It is very enjoyable to stroll the streets and take in the surroundings that in past times I have whizzed past, intent on getting from A to B.
My rotor cuff injury is feeling a lot better, still very tender but a vast improvement from last week, but my sacroiliac area is still very inflamed.
It is so hard to deal with this one, I am not supposed to be standing around or lifting heavy things.
But too often I walk somewhere and then stop to talk and then all of a sudden I realise Im standing for too long and it begins aching terribly again.
It is good to be able to walk around this neighbourhood though so hopefully I can build up a better level of fitness over the next few months and get on top of it.

I walked back home and found the kids in varying stages of morning advancement.
Azzan had eaten his breakfast, gone for a bike ride, was doing his school work and had most probably done some more tree assassination!
Whereas Mahalia had just managed to have a shower and make her breakfast 😉

The guys arrived at 10:30 to deliver my bed base and replace the feet on Azzan’s bed.
They had mistakenly put casters on when I had asked for flat feet.
Mahalia was still in her pjs so took fright and ran for cover when she saw the men arriving 😉
They were a very bright and pleasant couple of guys.
I left them to sort the beds and went out to hang washing.
It was a great day to get things dry so we put through 3 loads.
Just ran out of pegs – another thing to add to my shopping list.
Shoshannah spent her day sorting her room out.
I measured up the space she has to see if I can find a wardrobe/storage unit to fit sometime as she has the smallest room and the most stuff.
Actually that is probably because we haven’t brought all of our things out from home yet!

Sally is home for a few months from the UK so she biked in from Stoke to visit me.
We had a guided tour of the property and house and then enjoyed the pikelets that Shoshannah had made, along with berry coulis and cashew nut cream.
Very yummy.
Sylvia popped in to visit bringing with her a housewarming gift and funky Beatles hologram card which Azzan instantly appropriated for his room 🙂
They both left around midday.

Shoshannah made a lunch.
The kids did more school work.
The afternoon didn’t take long to disappear and at 3pm, after leaving instructions for the two younger kids, Shoshannah and I were just walking out the door when Martin arrived with his trailer.
I left the kids loading it with all the garden rubbish which he very kindly took to the refuse centre for me.
He then returned the trailer for us to fill up again.
Thanks so much Martin – very much appreciate your help 🙂

Shoshannah and I had time to zip into the upholstery place to check out fabrics for the sofas Im getting recovered.
Came away with lots of samples to check out.
Just had time to head along the motorway to drop Shanni at her last guitar lesson for the year.
I zipped out to CRT to grab some stronger gardening tools, Azzan had broken the blade of the loppers I had last night!
I came back to Benge & Co and did a vege stock up and then picked up Shoshannah.
We stopped at Bunnings and knocked a few things of my list.
Shanni added a few herbs and zucchini plants to the trolley – she’s keen to get some into the garden.
I was so incredibly tired so we drove straight back home and unloaded.
The kids biked back from Kip McGrath soon afterwards.
I then had to go pick up Marah & Eden from the airport.
On the way I dropped some papers off to Nathan, swapped cars at John & Sally’s  so I would have the carseat for Eden, and left them to load a mattress in for us to borrow for a few days.
Arrived at the airport just as the plane was landing and met these two weary ladies at the arrival gate.
Marah was very pleased to hand Eden over to me.
She was hot and tired from chasing Eden around the Chch terminal and very a packed plane.

I got Eden into the car posthaste as she was quite a weight to be carrying and I am not supposed to be carrying weights!!
Left Marah to sit for a few mins and I ran back to talk to cousin Phil who was cleaning the airport carpets.
Back to the motel, got my car and left Marah to follow after she finished talking to Anson.
On the way back I received a phone call from Nicola.
She and I flatted together in Christchurch in 1976!!
We had pretty much lost contact bar her regular Christmas letters and she was calling to say she was in Nelson.
I had recently been trying to locate her so was so excited.
We made a date for tomorrow and then I headed on home.
Marah beat me in the gate by a few seconds 🙂
Shoshannah had cooked up a storm so we sat and ate a late dinner and then soon after all fell into bed.
I rubbed a good dose of cayenne cream into my back and hip areas and then applied hotties to the areas.
I was sitting in bed trying to read some business mail when I all of a sudden woke up with a wet front.
I had taken a drink from my water bottle and must’ve been drifting off to sleep as I did and it all slurped down my front!
Oops!
Time to shut down and get to sleep properly.

Sunday 23rd November

I woke at 5:30am.
Spent the next few hours in bed catching up on my blog.
Due to lack of internet and extreme tiredness I just hadn’t been able to formulate thoughts.
We had talked about biking to church but as the morning grew older and there was no sign of waking children I decided that maybe today it wasn’t going to happen.
They began moving around 10am.
I got myself through my shower just before 11am.
Clare messaged me to say she was bringing Aunty Doris for a visit.
I was out at the gate waiting to open it for them when Victoria, Rowan and the girls walked by so they stopped to chat for a couple of minutes.
Then Clare & A Doris arrived so I took them in and gave them the tour.
We sat around the table and chatted over tea and date scones that A Doris had made.
Bit rough not having any butter or jam to go with them, but coconut yoghurt was delicious on them instead 🙂
We were chuckling to observe Shoshannah preparing her lunch and Mahalia making her breakfast at the same time while we were having morning tea.
Bit of glide time going on around here!
They left around midday.
I suggested that we walk up to Founders Park to the Christmas Craft Market which was on from 10-4 today.
It was a glorious day, perfect for a wander.
Mahalia & Azzan biked and Shanni & I walked the 10mins to the Market.
There were loads of people coming and going and enjoying the day.
Two large halls of stalls and some outdoors too.
We wandered around them all and then came out to the food area.
After an hour of wandering and a couple of small purchases we were all hungry.
Three of us ordered Salmon & Avocado wraps from The Wrap Shack, and Shoshannah had an gelato which she then said was too sweet for her so Azzan ate most of it.

Mahalia & Azzan wanted to go for a bike ride so they took off.
Shanni and I went for a last cruise around the stalls and ended up back at dare darla.
The girls had seen some dresses they liked earlier but I had suggested they keep looking.
Shoshannah tried on most of the dresses in her size but the only one that really fitted her well was the one I knew Mahalia had fallen for – oh dear
She did find a top in a similar pattern so we preordered it in a dress if Darla can find enough fabric to make it.
She bought the dress plus a pretty top and wore the dress home.
I just knew there was going to be trouble.
And I was right.
As soon as Mahalia saw her wearing the dress she threw a fit!

I was tired so went and had a lie down.
Can’t cope with teen female dramas!
Shoshannah went off for a bike ride and to buy some fruit for us.

I decided to get up and go tackle the lawn.
Seb & Pat had shown me that there was Onehunga weed in it and so I googled what spray to buy, and in so doing found a blog of a guy who suggested that you could dig it out.
As our lawn is quite small I figured we could give that a try.
I asked Azzan to come and help me and told Mahalia to get dinner started.
Azzan & I crawled around the lawn for a while and dug up 3 supermarket bags full of the weed.
It was a very satisfying job to do.
It is a very insidious weed, you think you have got it all and then you turn around and theres another one, and another!
But now we’ve dug up all we can I will get the spray to deal to the tiny ones.
At least these big ones won’t be seeding all over the lawn now.

From there Azzan and I went to check out the back corner.
It was full of a wisteria vine flowing over from a neighbours place.
I know they are very pretty but this one was strangling the fence and the tee that I was wanting to take out.
So we began to pull it, and cut it.
I could see that the tree and vine were going to be disturbing the back neighbours garden so I figured I should pop over and let them know what I was doing.

It was a lovely way to meet Gary & Nin and their very cute wee 7yr old daughter Sasha.
They were very happy for me to take it all out as they have only moved in 3 months ago and their garden is an out of control mess which they are trying to deal with too.
When I came back and told Azzan he was gleefully right into demolishing it.

Then Mahalia came out to help and before we knew it the whole thing had gone!
Azzan was in decapitation mode so I let him get stuck into some other shrubs I want out.
Figured it was a positive way for him to expend his energies 🙂
He cut back the two very busy natives at the front gate.

Then he and Mahalia went nuts in the front garden.
There are quite a few trees here that I’m planning on removing so I can replant ones I want.
Pretty much the only one I will be keeping is the lemon tree and a maple
The lemon is suffering from the being squished in and unpruned.

I told Mahalia I wanted these trees topped so the afternoon sun will get into my room so she began clipping them.
But the pruning loppers Azzan was using proved to be too fragile for the job and I completely broke off one of the blades!!
I think I will have to go buy something much stronger tomorrow!

The pile of clippings is growing larger and larger.
I’m now going to have to do some research as to how to get rid of it all!

Shoshannah called us in for dinner.
We were all hungry by now so it was very much appreciated.
I took the chance to have a serious talk with the girls about attitudes and when to share and not to share clothing, asking permission etc.
Lightened the situation by addressing Azzan at the end of it and telling him that in future if he wanted to borrow my knickers he had to ask 😉
That cracked them all up!

Then afterwards I got all the bags of rubbish we have accumulated from unpacking and towed them out the gate along with the recycling.
The 2 kids went off for another bike ride.
Azzan is absolutely loving his bike so I am glad Mahalia is taking him out to teach him road safety.
Shoshannah commented that she is enjoying not being included in ‘the kids’ when I talk 😉
Had to slow Azzan down, he was wanting to do more pruning.
I showed him the weeds growing on the pavement side of our fence which he then happily went to pull out.
In doing that he discovered the small corner garden where the streets meet outside our fence.
It was a council requirement that the corner was taken off the fence for traffic visibility.
He now wants to go prune the shrub in it and re create the garden!!
Think we have unleashed a beast!!!

Beautiful setting sun tonight.


Azzan & Shoshannah booth gave me a foot massage – so appreciated tonight.
Thanks peeps xxxx
We all were in bed before 10pm.
Tired from a happy day.
Well, apart from the dress drama 😉

Saturday 22nd November

Woke to a misty morning.
It wasn’t at all cold though.
I went wandering outside.
Am loving the trees around here.
I have always wanted a Phoenix Palm.
Bought one years ago and planted it in the middle of the lawn, but when away one day Tim got David to relocate it and I never ever found out where it went.
They wouldn’t tell me.
My queries were always met with a wink wink big cheeky grin!
But as Tim didn’t like them I’m thinking it was disposed rather than relocated
But now – I have two directly across the road from me that I can enjoy without the hassle of having to clean up the fronds.
Hows that for super cool 🙂

Plus above them on the hills are thousands of native trees which the counsel has apparently been planting each year as an initiative to bring back the birds.
It is working.
The morning birdsong here is loud and lovely.

The rain came in heavier.
Seb arrived to help move the heaviest flatpack indoors as we couldn’t move it on our own.
Then he and Mahalia put together the smallest pack.
‘All you need is an Allen key and that is in the pack’, I was told.
So what do you do about the Phillips screws then?
I’m guessing the shop attendants don’t get the full story from the importers!!

I text Pat to see if he could bring one with him.
In the meantime Seb went off to find some decent food for his breakfast.
Apparently all the food in our house is too healthy and not greasy enough 😉

Pat & Phillipa arrived a bit later on and after a guided tour Pat was right into getting the mirror up and the other jobs done.
But they needed more things so we made a list and they guys headed off to do a man shop at Bunnings.
Phillipa found our bikes and trialled Mahalia’s and found it very much to her comfort.
So guess what is on her birthday request list 😉

The rain hadn’t lasted long but it was a good heavy downpour which was great for my new plants.
The men finally returned with chain and substantial hooks and got the mirror hung.
It is incredibly heavy so I wasn’t prepared to tackle the job myself – would’ve probably done myself in good and propper!!

Then Pat installed the auto door shutters on the pantry doors cuz the kids have been driving me nuts leaving them open.
We got the old lock cut off the garage door and a new combination one attached.
Phillipa and I sussed out extension leads to make the fridge and dishwasher function better.
I had also bought door bells so figured out how to set them up and attached them to the front and back doors.
I’d text the guys to see if they could get or had a tiny Phillips screwdriver and they arrived back with a full screwdriver set just for me 🙂

Shoshannah surfaced in amongst all of this.
I recommended that she paced herself, got some exercise and a shower and another sleep before work tonight.
She made a delicious rice salad for lunch and then went back to bed.
She is lark not an owl so will have to be very careful to keep herself rested and well if she is going to be doing too many evening shifts.

Pat & Phillipa left mid afternoon and then Seb took off soon after.
I was so incredibly weary that I didn’t want to go anywhere.
I have to get some spray to kill the Onehunga weed in the lawn but it will have to wait until tomorrow.
It is horrid stuff so I am glad the guys pointed it out to me now so I can get on to it before it flowers and gets prickly.

Sophie came to visit Mahalia.
After lots of girl talk and clothes sorting and trying on they helped me cut up veges for dinner.
Then Mahalia walked half way with Sophie and came home in time for dinner.
I cooked up a large vege tomato stir fry and we ate it with GF couscous and nachos.
Then I walked to work with Shoshannah.
It was such a gorgeous evening.

It was really good to go for a leg stretch as I haven’t had the chance for far too long.
I popped in to see Gay on the way passed.
Nice to see what she is doing in her garden.
Back home around 8:30pm
The sun had only just left the house and was still on the hill beyond us.
This is our corner, quite secluded from too much public viewing 🙂

Azzan was in bed when I got home and Mahalia was sorting out all her clothes.
It was good to get to bed early and actually sleep.

Friday 21st November

After only 3 hours sleep I was awake and showered and able to look after Eden while Marah got ready.
She thought Nonna’s breakfast was much more interesting than her porridge 🙂

I made an early call to the garage to organise Marah’s car while she is away.
Then we left the house just after 7:30am.
Kids both sound asleep so left a note.
We left me car outside the garage and drove to the airport in hers so we didn’t have to swap the baby car seat over.
Love this photo of our wee girl about to embark on her first flight 🙂

After a hg goodbye she was off, ‘C’mon Mum. We’ve got places to go!’ 🙂

I went back and swapped the cars over, left Marah’s there for them to work on and drove back to town.
I had a 9:15am chiropractors appointment.
It was so good to finally get some treatment after days of pain.
John nailed the problems.
Still dealing with the inflamed sacroiliac area but also have re-damaged the rotor cuff in my right shoulder.
It is the old injury that he and Scott dealt with several years back.
It is really bad so no wonder the pain I’ve been having.
I had quite an intense reaction to the treatment this time.
Haven’t done that for a long long time.
I had tried to get an appointment with Scott for some therapeutic massage but the earliest the receptionist could find was in 2 weeks time.
However just as I was about to leave Scott walked in the door and I hassled him about being too busy.
And he said he had 2 sessions free later on so I booked the first one at midday.
Always is best to talk directly to the man!!
From there it was straight round to my counselling appointment.
I was feeling very fragile – physically and emotionally so it was a very gentle session.
I went back to the house to see where the kids were at.
Mahalia was going to walk into town to meet Emma at the movies just after 1pm so Azzan walked with her and met me at the clinic.
I was about to head off to Richmond when Seb called me so I met up with him at Hangar 58 for lunch.
It’s good to connect and have some business meetings when he is in town so I can keep a finger on the pulse.
Azzan went for a walk and got himself a Pita Pit for lunch.
It was about 3pm when we left to go get Shoshannah from Richmond.
She loaded up the car while I talked with Ross & Andrea.
We came back via Bunnings so I could get a few things.
We bought some feijoas and a couple of other fruiting shrubs.
Then back to the house for dinner.
Mahalia was back already after a lovely time with Emma.
Ross & Andrea had arrived and Mahalia was giving them a guided tour.
They were very impressed 🙂

Azzan was off on his bike again.
He is very happy and apreciative of it 🙂

We were getting cleaned up and ready for bed when Nathan called up just after 8pm to see if Shanni wanted to work.
They’d been quite busy and were needing some extra help so she quickly threw on some clothes and I zipped her over to Hangar 58.
She was so happy to be finally getting some work.
I went off to bed leaving Nathan to deliver her home after work.
She finished around 12:30am and once he had finished skyping his fiancé he drove her back so she didn’t get to sleep till around 1am.

I was in bed around 10pm.
Azzan took ages to settle.
He came into me very late and just needed a long cuddle.
He was sad.
He is having a hard time expressing how he feels.
In amongst his happy times I am seeing a lot of melancholy & pensiveness.
We talked that maybe it is time he found someone to talk to.