Wednesday 21st January

Halia was up before me – unusual 😉
Azzan was not great still this morning.
Shanni made some green smoothie for us all, he managed to get his glassful down.
I had to take him to buy some clothes for the wedding so he rallied enough to zip him down to Farmers.
He has very definite ideas so in some ways it is easy to shop with him, when he finds what he wants.
And thankfully today he did.
Dress pants, shirt & tie combo and a vest.
When trying on the clothes a button fell off the vest.
Was pretty happy to accept the $10 deduction offered me 🙂
Back to the house to find a needle to sew it on with.
My sewing stuff is mostly back at the bay, finally Shanni produced some black thread and Mahalia a large needle.
Unfortunately, I broke the tip off it.
Called up the corner store and they had a pack so Azzan shot down and picked it up and the button was finally sewn on.
I was desperately trying to get some business banking done in amongst everything but it just wasn’t happening.
I decided my car needed a wash off as it was still covered in thick dust from the drive out.
Drove it up onto the lawn so that the water used would serve two purposes.
Waking the car and watering the lawn – am very conscious of water usage here in town due to dry conditions and water shortages plus we have to pay for every drop used!
By the time I had packed, which was actually quite easy, and added kids stuff to my bag and made sure they were all sorted, I ran out of time.
Shoshannah cleaned out the fridge and the girls made lunch.
I was starving so thankfully devoured a heap of the food.
Nathan & Mira got a ride out with Ben & Marie so they arrived around 1pm.
Then Thomas & Carolyn arrived too.
I was barely coping with myself by this point and the extra noise and people just about tipped me over the edge.
My PTSD levels have been quite high over the past few days, when they get like this I just do not cope with my own stress let alone anyone elses.
I had to give up on the banking, left it in a to-do pile for my return.
Best to do it when my brain is functioning properly, otherwise serious mistakes are made.
We loaded our gear into Thomas’s care and he drove us to the airport via the pharmacy so I could pick up some stuff for Azzan.
Flight was fine, no dramas, arrived at Wellington to a light breezy day.
Got the rental car sorted and then we were off.
It is a cute wee Toyota Corolla, takes a bit to adjust from driving a larger 4WD, but we managed to get ourselves out to Silverstream just fine.
There’s something about tunnels that is exciting – kids always want the horn to be tooting!

Took a detour into the city to get some Tank smoothies but it had just closed for the day, how inconsiderate, it was only 4:30!!
Found a sushi place with closing time deal so Shanni ran and got some so she could get some emergency tissues for Azzan.
Libby was home and ready for us when we arrived.
Nice to just stop.
We were all really weary.
Azzan was at collapse point so he retreated to his bed.
I chilled out with Libby while she cooked dinner.
Yummy chicken & rice with veges.
Relaxed afterwards over a wine & Baileys.
My laptop threw a total spaz attack so I spent some time on phone with Ross trying to sort the problem.
Unfortunately it was insurmountable so it has been put back into it’s case and left until I return home.
Libby went off with her book and the kids went to bed.
I relaxed for a wee while, gave Azzan some more meds and then fell into bed.
I was still too wound-up to sleep well, tossed for a while before finally crashing out.

Tuesday 20th January

I had a busy day planned with a series of appointments so knew I wouldn’t have much down time.
Mahalia wanted to make me a special breakfast as it was my birthday so I headed to the shower.
Before I could get in I got a call from Sunni and Lily, singing me Happy Birthday.
Then after my shower I quickly enjoyed Mahalia’s mini pancakes and berry coulis with iced water.

Azzan was delighted to come back and find his new desk that Nathan put together for him.
His decree was that it was perfect 🙂

Mahalia wanted me to write a list for her to work through while I was off at the appointments.
The put together the chair for my art desk and then built this outdoor table and seats.
Super cool Halia – thanks 🙂

I met Anson at the bank and we spent the next hour discussing finances.
Always terribly depressing 😦
Then Anson went back to the garage to see how his truck was getting on and I carried on to the lawyers to sign papers.
When I arrived I was overwhelmed to be given a lovely spray of flowers by Heather & Jon for my birthday.
I was actually in tears over their kindness.
Got all the formalities out of the way and then drove back to the house.
Jan & Talbot were passing through so popped in for a cuppa.
Caroline and Thomas also arrived so it was all became a bit busy and loud.
I was not coping terribly well with the noise.
Just so incredibly weary that any excess noise or stress is causing me to buckle emotionally.
I had to take Mahalia off to her appointment with the orthopaedic surgeon at 2pm so the others all left too.
Shanni was already at work and Azzan didn’t want to be here alone so he came with us.
We had a small wait, but finally got in to see Perry.
He showed us her recent X-rays and said that the bones in her lower arm had healed up perfectly.
So I queried why she is still getting so much pain.
He said that she is still growing, so the muscles and ligaments are taking time to keep up with the healing process.
Im not too sure if Mahalia was that delighted to hear she was still growing.
He was very cheerful about it all and showed us the growth plates in her wrists.
He estimated from what he could see of them that she has at least another centimetre to grow.
His prescription for her recovery was to take up rowing.
He was very enthusiastic about her physique being perfect for that sport and that it would help her strengthen her arms etc.
He even went as far as printing off information about the local rowing club for us.
So watch this space!!

Mahalia had time to walk up to her next appointment at the orthodontist so I took Azzan and we met Jan & Talbot for a late lunch.
As they had just discovered it was my birthday they wanted to shout me to lunch.
We went to Morrison St Cafe.
Azzan was flagging by this point.
I wasn’t sure what was going on but quickly established that his throat had flared up again.
It happens so quickly with him.
J&T told me all about how Peroxide works so incredibly marvellously as a gargle so on the way home I called in to the pharmacy and picked up a bottle.
I will do anything to prevent him having to go back onto antibiotics again.
He was so miserable.
He gargled, had a massive dose of Vitamin C and then went off to bed and slept.

I then took the chance to call up Vodafobne and get some of our connections sorted.
While I was talking Martin & Sylvia arrived with a present for me.
A lovely craft tote bag and table cloth clips for our outside table.
They stayed and chatted for a while.
Shoshannah arrived back from work.
She gave me the cutest wee orange casserole dish – she chose it cuz it is my fav colour and it was small.
I have never had such a small one before – very cute.
Then Mahalia arrived with a beautiful candle for me.
I just heard someone knocking on the front door.
I have  a bell there as we don’t use it much and it is at the opposite end of house to where we normally are, so it was lucky I heard it.
A lady was dropping off this gorgeous bunch of flowers for me.
Such a lovely surprise from Bri & Nick.
Thanks so much to you both – made my day so much brighter 🙂

Sylvia got them organised into vases for me – they look so pretty brightening up our kitchen.

Shoshannah invited Martin & Sylvia to stay for dinner.
It was fun.
She made all sorts of interesting dishes – making a point to cook enough for Uncle Martin with out coconut oil 😉
After dinner the girls began sorting out their dresses and working out what to take with them to Wellington.
They both are same size so are enjoying interchanging their wardrobes.
Not to hard to see who the class clown was tonight 🙂

Phillipa arrived when Shoshannah was dishing up dessert so she enjoyed some with us.
Then after the fashion parade was over Sylvia & Martin went off home and Phillip & I kicked back on the couches and chatted with mugs of herb tea.
We were going to go for a walk up to the Sprig & Fern but took a rain check as we were comfortable where we were.
It was a pleasant end to a rather stressful and busy day.

Azzan came back out and was not at all happy, he burning up so I gave him some more Panadol, Vit C and another peroxide gargle.
I popped him back to bed with a cold face cloth on his forehead and a water bottle.
He was back to sleep in no time.
It was quite late when I finally went to bed,
Jesika & Evan called up to wish me a Happy Birthday around midnight.
Was good to talk to Jesika – not too sure about the other one 😉
I actually went to sleep while I was answering all the lovely Facebook messages!!

 

Monday 19th January

I woke real early today – somewhere around 4am, just couldn’t get back to sleep.
The sky began waking up and I started taking photos.
The light was changing each minute, it was so incredibly beautiful to watch.
This is just a small selection of what I took – don’t want bore you to much with my fascination for the bay 😉
5:49am

5:54am

5:59am6:07am

6:18am

6:19am

I had my bedroom door open and Mo shot inside.
All had been quiet but he stalked up the hall yawling loudly and would not come to me.
I chased him down and chucked him out and hoped he hadn’t woke the troops.
However, just a minute later Azzan appeared and excitedly told me they were going for a swim!

It was rather a cool morning with a breeze blowing.
I thought they were both nuts but as it was their last morning for a wee while they wanted to make the most of it!
There are now three flowers open on Jesika & Evan’s wedding protea.
A bumblebee was buzzing busily about his business, flitting from one flower to the next in search of food.

6:22am

I stood on the deck waiting for the kids to jump, and waited, for what seemed like an age.
Mahalia told me later that she was waiting for me to go away 😉

Finally my persistence won over and 5 mins later they jumped!
The wasted no time at all in climbing out and running back to the house.
It was then I discovered there was no hot water.
Azzan thought I should’ve known and that I should’ve had the fire going so he could’ve had a hot shower.
My thoughts were that if they had known this fact last night whilst doing the dishes then maybe they should either have not gone swimming, or they should’ve lit the fire.
He was unimpressed with my logic and began to create a bit of a drama about it all.
But it was me according to him that was causing the fuss.
In actual fact, he has begun to get too argumentative lately and I wasn’t going to let him win this one 😉
Because I wanted a hot shower I got the fire going.
He boiled the jug and filled up a large basin with warm water and then asked me to tip it over him.
Drama closed – well this one was!

Mahalia took a while to get herself dressed and make up applied.
She had told me last night she would cook breakfast, but I had to hurry her along as Ben & Marie were up and waiting to eat.
She made scrambled eggs, baked beans on toast, I added some fresh tomatoes and avocado.
Azzan opted for 2 boiled eggs on Marmite toast with tomato & avocado.
The water was hot by this time so I enjoyed a long shower.

While we were packing up the last things into the car Azzan announced this –
“If nobody had encouraged Einstein then he wouldn’t have written those beautiful words, ‘Romeo Romeo, let down your hair!'”

I just bust out laughing.
This kid is far too quick witted!

Azzan ran the food scraps up to the pig.
Mahalia & wwoofers did the dishes.
I checked through the house to make sure everything was turned off and locked up.
Azzan ran the dvd player and Cat’s bday presents up to her.
He was looking very sad when he came back so we had a chat and a cuddle.
We then squeezed into the car and I loaded the weed eater on board, had to wrap it in a woolsack and lay it across Mahalia and over the back on Azzan’s knee to get it in.
Then just as I was about to leave Seb called up and asked if I could get some more stuff.
Good timing Seb, 2 more minutes and we would’ve been up the hill and gone 🙂
We followed Ben & Marie up the hill, it was a slow trip as we were both loaded up.
Seb met us at the top and we transferred the weedeater etc into his truck.
Then after hugs goodbye he headed off followed by Ben & Marie.
They are wwoofing for Phoebe for a few days before heading out to wwoof for Marah & Anson.

We had a non eventful drive out.
Just stopped off at Okiwi Bay to get ice creams, and then diverted to Rai Valley to satisfy Azzan’s needs for a pie.
We were chatting about future plans and dreams and discussing if we could get to Paraguay this year or not.
I commented to Mahalia that if we went she would have to be very aware of what she wore and of staying really close to us as Jesika was freaking out about us going over there.
I explained to Mahalia that as she is tall, blonde and rather gorgeous she would stand out majorly and be very sought after by the South American males and not in a good way
Azzan from the back seat said – ‘Right, it’s Granny pants the whole way for you!!’
Then something we said made Mahalia’s brain click into gear and she exclaimed, ‘Is Paraguay in South America? I thought it was in Europe!’
Oh my Goodness!!
It looks like there is going to have to be some serious geography studies undertaken this year!!!
But she was already off on the tangent of – ‘Can we go to Rio? Ive always wanted to go to Rio. That would be sooooo cool. Oh please could we go to Rio. I want to see the statue on the hill……….
What language do the speak there?……..’
Well I suppose at least she knows where Rio is 😉
Mel, you will have too do some major educating on Skype if you want Mahalia to come visit you.
She might just end up over in Russia or Iceland!!

We finally arrived in Nelson and went straight to the house.
Shoshannah had a sleepover last night with several friends and they were just back from a walk.
The kids unloaded the car, I got Shanni to help so we could get moving.
Thomas & Caroline have been staying in my room for several days while they find a rental house.
They had given the house a good clean and then gone out.
They returned and we had a good catch up.
Its been 7 months since they went back to Germany so it was good to see them both looking so well and happy.
The jacaranda is now in full bloom and a carpet of flowers is covering the concrete.
Shame such a gorgeous tree makes so much work.

There has been some major growth since I left.
If the guys don’t come and get the stumps out the trees will be full grown again!!

I left Mahalia & Azzan to unpack, loaded Shanni & Lottie in the car.
It was so incredibly hot.
Difficult to know whether to use the air con or leave windows open.
Nothing was really keeping us cool.
Shanni ran in to get her roster for this weeks work.
I shot in and picked up my laptop from the shop.
They fixed one problem but couldn’t fault the other, darn it.
Took Lottie out to Richmond and then popped in to see Ross, who conveniently wasn’t home and hadn’t received my texts.
Drove back to Nelson and picked up a few groceries and come back to house.
Shanni made dinner and I tried to catch up on emails and mail.
Thomas & Caroline popped back to pick up their stuff.
Dinner was delicious.
Shanni & I watched a movie and the kids carried on sorting to their rooms.
Even after dark it was still hot and sticky.
Azzan was very unsettled.
Came out several times for reassuring hugs.
It is hard moving between the two houses.
I am looking forward to the time when we can stay put for longer and put down stabilising roots.

 

 

 

Sunday 18th January.

Incredibly magnificent early morning sky today.
As you can probably tell by now, I cannot get enough of this view.
It changes by the minute, never ever the same.
 

Today was a clear sunny and very breezy day.
Great for getting the washing dry so we did several loads.
I talked to Anson and managed to get the fuel sussed for the weed eater so Ben was able to spend the morning mowing the lawns for me.
A great feeling to have them all cut and tidy before we leave.
Marie weeded the gardens near the back door and pruned back some vines.
The kids got into the attic room and began clearing it out.
So much stuff up there that I had either forgotten about or didn’t know seas stashed there.
I made some date scones and got them into the oven just as John & Triona arrived in their launch ‘Chopin’.
It was lovely having them pop in for morning tea.
We visited for a while, then Nathan & Mira walked around the track to see us too.
John & Triona left just before midday to go find somewhere slightly less windy to park up.
Nathan began sorting out all of his belongings from the attic, had a good biff out.
Then they packed up a few boxes of kitchen stuff that I had spare in preparation for their flat.
Ben & Marie cleaned up some leftovers for lunch, none of us really bothered to stop as we were all still full from the scones.
It took most of the afternoon to pack up and sort the attic.
Nathan had hurt his back so Mira and the kids did most of the lifting and carrying.
I then sorted it into the piles of where it was all to go.
He was in quite a lot of pain so I dug out some anti inflammatories and pain killers to try and help a tad.
Mahalia got the wood fire lit and I began getting the dinner prepared.
Nathan & Mira headed back round the track to Waterfall Bay before it got to late to see through the bush.
We had a deliciously cooked roast of mutton from the wood stove, with roast parsnip & beetroot, mashed kumara, cauliflower in a coconut cream sauce and peas.
Such an age since we enjoyed a home cooked roast.
The table was covered so the others all ate on the deck.

It was too cool for me and I was really tired so I took mine to my bedroom and lay back and finished reading my book.
I have been reading it for quite a while and was getting close to the end so I stayed out until it was finished.
Mahalia brought me a platter of raw pineapple and apple for dessert.
Perfect.
They all cleaned up they dishes and cleared the bench.
Afterwards I began packing the car.
I was feeling a bit unorganised this time as I didn’t have a clear picture in my mind as to exactly what we were taking out.
Finally managed to get the kids to produce all they wanted to take and then I packed the rest of my craft stuff and some clothes around it all.
It was quite late by the time we had finished.
I was going to fall into a bath, but Azzan offered me a massage so I wasn’t going to refuse that.
It was so lovely.
I drifted off to sleep soon after he left.

Saturday 17th January

Well the Metservice forecast got it right.
That amazing red sky yesterday was the prediction of a change in the weather.
After several weeks of intensely hot dry days we woke to grey wet skies.

It was with very mixed emotions that we received the rain.
We are seriously dry so was very happy to watch the rain falling on our parched land.
But it was also the day of the Te Towaka Home Guard Sports, not only just the normal annual sports day, but it was the celebration of the 70th year.
The children had been looking forward to this day all holidays.
It is one of the few local gatherings left now, and pretty much the only one that we attend.
I knew we needed to leave by 9:30am so was up and getting ready around 7am.
At 8am the heavens opened and it absolutely poured down.
I called up Liz, and she confirmed that it was meant to clear later so the sports was still on, plus they had invested far too much into this special day to be postponing or cancelling.
So I gave Ben & Marie instructions as to what to do with their day as they decided not to come with us.
We were loading our chilly bags of food and water into the car when Bri, Nick & Abby arrived down.
They were just going out for a last fish before heading back to Christchurch.
We said our goodbyes and then headed off.
I had been a bit concerned about the road as rain after a long dry spell usually means a very slippery trip.
But it was all good.
The surface was firm and we arrived safely just on 10:30am.
There were not very many cars there yet.
It was still raining quite steadily so we put on our raincoats and I popped my brolly and went walking to see who else had braved the day.
Chatted with Helen & Bex who had arrived over from D’Urville Island.
Hadn’t seem them in such an age so it was great to catch up.
More and more cars arrived over the next hour or so until there was a great turn out of people.


Bill & Harry were having trouble with the sound system so the proceedings got off to a later start than planned.
The rain had eased considerably when a piper commenced the formal part of the day.
Harry welcomed one and all, then Bill gave an account of how the Home a Guard Sports began, and Helen cut the cake.
We were then all given glasses of sparkling juice to join in a toast.
Balloons were released.

After that we were fed with hot chips, steak sandwiches straight off the bbq and steamed mussels.
Along with the sausage sizzle which could be purchased for $2 we all fed very well.
Mr Whippy drove down the hill through the mist and arrived soon afterwards.
The children was all given a ticket to claim a free ice cream.
Azzan was very anxious for the races to begin, he excluded his energies by practising with his new friend Kurt who he teamed up with for the 3- legged race and the wheelbarrow race.
Conny & Pete were their with Georgia & Tamara, so I made sure Mahalia remembered her cousins (who she hadn’t seen in quite a long time) and left her with them.
The rain had completely cleared by the time the races began at 1pm, all the clouds disappeared and the rest of the afternoon turned into a real sizzler.
I stripped off my raincoat and shoes & socks and was wishing I had brought my shorts or sundress.
Sun screen & sun hats were items I had omitted to bring, sorta doesn’t really factor in with raincoats!

Azzan ran in every race except the cross country.
He was a bit annoyed to only come 4th in the sprint, but as I pointed out, he was one of the youngest in the field.
Last year he was the oldest in his age category, but at 12 he now has moved up a stage and is competing against 12-15 year olds.
However he and Kurt did well in the other races and he got a 2nd prize and a 3 rd prize all was good in his world 😃
Mahalia wouldn’t put her long legs to use in any of the races, so I gave up watching and then missed her running in the Ladies Relay – and her team won!!
It was really good to catch up with so many people.
We are all scattered far and wide so it is a great time to meet up.
Lovely to see Robin & Margaret who were there with Sue & Stacey.
Mahalia & I sheltered from the sun under their umbrella for a while.
Sandra & Phil were there with some of their families, so it was great to chat with Rachel & Cath etc.
I felt a huge shadow beside me during the day.
Tim really enjoyed the sports days, he loved the relaxed atmosphere and time to chat with other local friends.
I was acutely conscious of his absence most of the day.
In fact there were many local identities missing, who still shadow the day and many of the events.
The nail driving skills of Phyl Aston are legend as were the cakes made by Phoebe McCauley.
Bill Partridge, even after so many years I still think of him often.
And Peggy Young will never ever be forgotten – and even though not many saw Alan arrive for a brief visit, we were glad he was able to be there with us all.
There are many more ‘shadows’ of the past who I am sure were all there, cheering us along and enjoying the day with us from loftier realms 😊

The raffles were drawn, Sandra & I were competing for the picnic hamper, but lost out to the very deserving Bex.
It was then decided and that we should all make use of it by planning annual picnic days at Patuki.
Great idea Bex!
I’m definitely a starter 😄
Then the trophies were awarded – despite Mahalia wanting to leave I stayed in until she and her team were awarded theirs.
It was after 5pm and the day was still piercingly hot.
My face and feet were beginning to feel very sun kissed.
Azzan had spent the rest of the arvo on the waterslide and jumping off the wharf, so he bundled up into a towel and we headed off home.
Thank you Harry, Liz and all your family and the planning committee for putting on such a superb day.
It was fantastic.
So much food to eat that we never opened our chilly bags until we were traveling home.
On the way home I kept on ‘seeing’ faces of folk I had seen and intended to go catch up with, then missed them as I’d get sidetracked over to talk to someone else!

We were all very weary when we got back and full from snacking so dinner wasn’t really important to us.
But Ben & Marie were hungry from work and kayaking so Mahalia whipped up a stirfry and I made a salad for them.
I had a soak in the bath, was drifting off to sleep so staggered myself off to bed and collapsed.

Friday 16th January

Woke at 6am and caught the most magnificent sunrise.


I’ve been sleeping with my curtains open and I’m so glad I did, because this was over in less than 5 minutes.
The next half an hour the sky changed moment by moment.

I got up and dressed and prepared breakfast for the Wwoofers.
I spent the morning sorting through sewing and art stuff.
Am getting to the last piles of things which are more tedious, they require more decisions.
Should be more ruthless than I am but……..,
it’s hard 😳
I made a batch of banana, apple & chocolate muffins and also some savoury scone pinwheels.
Anson dropped Nathan & Mira off at Waterfall Bay and then came over here.
The kids have been hanging out for a roast of mutton.
Mahalia wanted it cooked in the wood stove so Anson got a small one out of the freezer for me and I got the fire cranked up and popped it in, stuffed garlic into it and smothered it with salt and fresh rosemary and let it cook away all day.
I asked him to do some chain sawing for me.
A ponga (tree fern) had grown up into the power line to the house so he chopped that out and pruned the ones around it.
Then cleared a lot of Whiteywood and Kawakawa, they also had grown too tall and will grow back again very quickly.

Amazing how much light they block, and during the winter with the bank so close to the house it gets really damp here when the foliage is too big and too close.
When I first came here there were large trees and vines surrounding the back doors, and high hedging out the front of the house, it was really dark and oppressive.
Tim had a huge pruning and removal session and opened it all up, but it is an ongoing battle.
After a cup of coffee Anson headed off to load up the trailer.
Mahalia tidied up all her and Azzan’s stuff that they have been putting it one side to take to town.
The Wwoofers weeded the back bank and cleaned up the mess Anson had made.
Mahalia made a salad for lunch which we had with the baking I had done.
By midday I am usually flagging, have also been feeling really sick and yucky.
Am trying to drink as much water as possible to prevent dehydration on these really hot days.
But I think it is just that I am really tired.
It is taxing me doing all this packing pretty much on my own.
I feel that I am not making much progress, but then I see the piles of boxes in the living room increasing so I must be.
I am trying to work on emptying a room at a time now.
Have managed to completely empty 2 rooms so far.
I desperately needed a rest today but ran out of time.

Phoebe had invited us over for dinner so Mahalia made a rice salad and I took a dish of spaghetti & sauce.
Mahalia decided she needed to go for a swim 15 mins before I was planning to leave!
Promised me she would be really quick.
I guess 30 mins later was quick!!
We stopped off at The Croft so she and the Wwoofers could lift a couple of items of furniture back inside in case it rained.
When we arrived Pat, Seb & Luke were hard at the renovations, trying to get the gib stopping done before they ran out of daylight.

Dave, Nicky and Lydia were already there with Franklyn & Oliver.
Everyone had bought food and pitched in and helped get dinner on.
The girls and Nick arrived by dinghy.
It was a big crowd.
Azzan had been helping all day, he is good at getting stuck in and doing dishes.
He told me that he can see why Phoebe never catches up, every time he would turn around there were more dishes!
He also helped the guys, he was the smallest one there so was sent under the floors when they needed things done.
The bbq was fired up and meats cooked.
There was plenty of food for all.
It was an enjoyable evening.
The kids played games.

Sapphie was enjoying her two cousins company.

She has also become quite the little climber!

She loved the spaghetti I brought over and slurped up the ‘worms’ with great noisy gusto.

Phillipa arrived with her kids and Norwegian girls to join Pat at The Lodge for the weekend.
We had a quick catch up and then I loaded my crew in the car and headed back home.
It had been a lovely evening, but I was feeling quite upset over some personal stuff so was glad it was dark as I was crying the whole way home.
It was dark and later than I intended in getting back so we all went straight off to bed.

Thursday 15th January

This is why I sleep with my curtains open here 🙂

Such peaceful serenity waking here at 6-ish.
The sun burst over the hill soon after but then the cloud covered it and the rest of the morning was overcast.
It was actually rather nice to have a slightly cooler morning.
I got the breakfast out for Ben & Marie then went of have a shower.
They waited for Seb to come pick them up as he was coming to look for some building supplies.
They left with him around 9:30.
Then Mahalia & I had our breakfast and began work.
I spent the day packing boxes.
I have stripped all the books from the school room shelves and most of the hallway now.
There was quite a stash of lace and ribbons so I sorted them, was incredibly ruthless and now have a manageable amount boxed up.
Started on the sewing room, boxed up some material and began sorting through several other boxes which have been sitting buried there for quite a few years!
Jesika called up for a chat.
It was good to hear her sounding happier, she has a new job for the first of her two swing weeks and she is really enjoying it.

Took a break to deal to some salmon which has been in the freezer for a long time.
Not too sure if it will be ok, but I have trimmed it and brined it ready to smoke.
Once that is done I will know if it is still edible.
I fed Mo some scraps which he demolished so it must be okay 😉
Mahalia finished sorting out the recycling, it is now much tidier and ready to be taken out whenever there is free space on/in a vehicle.
We both were really weary so took to our beds for a rest and watched a movie.
Halia watched Schindler’s List, and I watched one that Azzan had cached on iTube called ‘to be fat like me’.
It was really good actually.
I went back to packing up books afterwards.
Cat and crew returned home from their adventures.

Lovely to see Jesika & Evan’s wedding protea blooming.
One in full splendour and several buds developing.

Phoebe called to say she was going to give the Wwoofers and Azzan dinner, so I put the sausages back in the freezer.
Mahalia made up a delicious salad which we ate with rice and some salmon.
She took her dinner down and ate it on the end of the wharf.

Luke bought Ben, Marie & Azzan home after dinner.
They all went swimming with the Cottage kids, lots of noise and craziness.
I went off to bed and left them to it.
Azzan went back with Luke for another night.
Finally sent them off at 10pm!

Wednesday 14th January

Breakfast – just loving the fresh summer fruits 🙂

Wwoofers spent another day in the garden.
It is starting to look like it is loved once more.
I got the fire going, Azzan bought down some loads of wood for me so it was soon blazing well and the water was piping hot.
Packed a few more books into boxes.

Mahalia started restacking all the recycling stuff into bins.
I tidied up the living room, it was getting very messy.
Azzan vacuumed through the house.
Made the place feel so much better.
I made a quiche and salad for lunch.
The quiche took a while as I was sorting the veggies in the fridge as I went.
The sting rays are enjoying having visitors who feed them.
They come swarming when they ‘hear’ the boat come in.

Joy, Tony & Phil zipped across in their boat, arriving around 11:30am, bringing pizza & muffins for lunch.
We had no sooner made a cup of tea when there was a knock at the door.
A man from QV had come to visit in response to a compliant I had made with the MDC re the drop in valuations throughout Marlborough, but specifically affecting my properties.
So we talked outside for a while and then he did a quick check around.
Joy had disappeared off into the garden by the time I got back inside.
She returned to say the man now had a flat battery in his vehicle and was in a bit of a sweat about it!
Not a lot I could do, but thankfully Tony had some jumper leads in his boat so he soon had him going.
We were then able to sit down, take a breath, and enjoy lunch together 😄
I chatted out on the deck with Tony & Phil, and then realised Joy was cleaning up the lunch dishes on her own!
I suggested they might like to take the boat up to Waterfall Bay for a visit, so we all hopped on board and went for a cruise.

Pat had arrived a couple of nights ago and was full swing doing some renno work assisted by Seb & Luke.
After Phil had checked out what the guys were up to he and the two Wwoofers headed back along the track.
Joy & I had a look at Phoebe’s vege garden.
It is very impressive, she is doing a brilliant job with it.
Seb has built a large frame and spread netting over it to keep out birds and possums.
It’s hard work trying to look after a 1 year old and do the garden and house and Lodge and feed the men, she does extremely well.
It’s not that long ago that she was really sick with ME, she still has ME days but is no where as bad as she was which is fantastic.
It is such a debilitating illness.

A neighbour had gotten a little too  close to the truck yesterday when Phoebe was on her way home.
Sapphie was helping to do the inspection 🙂

While we were chatting with her Azzan & Mahalia were hard out inside helping with housework.
Azzan just loves to go round to help Phoebe.
He told me it is because she doesn’t tell him what he does wrong all the time like I do – oops!
That’s the problem with having a perfectionist for a mother 😜

Joy, Tony, Mahalia & I came back in the boat and waited for a few minutes for Phil to arrive.
I waved them goodbye as they sped off to visit some more friends up the Sound.
It was super cool to have them over and even more super cool to go out on the boat, even it was just a short spin.
I haven’t been out boating here since Tim died, and although I didn’t go out a lot, I still miss being able to.
It was so hot that we all had a rest for a while, no one was feeling much like food yet.
When I finally went to make some spaghetti for dinner I discovered Mahalia had just eaten the whole bowl of left over Iraqi rice and Azzan was about to make himself some eggs and it was 6:30!!
I suggested it might be better if we actually got some dinner on for everyone.
The Wwoofers washed the dishes, although only the plates.
I’m finding it rather amusing and a tad frustrating as normally when we have Wwoofers here they pitch in and help with the evening dishes, but these two don’t seem to have that initiative.
And when they do, they just wash the plates and cutlery and leave all the other pots etc.
So I ended up doing all the dishes by myself while they all went off for a swim 😔
Luke came over for a late swim.

When he was leaving Azzan asked if I’ve could go back with him.
I checked with Phoebe and she was ok with it.
But then I discovered Luke was on his motorbike so I did the whole worried mother routine.
Azzan went off and found a bike helmet and away they went with my cautions ringing in their ears.
I could hear the poor overloaded bike blatting away up the hill.
There was oodles of piping hot water even though they had all showered, so I ran a bath, added Epsom salts and relaxed with my book for half an hour.
Began to doze off so decided it was time to get out.
Luke text me to say they had arrived with minimal damage 😉

Tuesday 13th January

 

A cooler start to the day thankfully.
Benoit & Marie went out to tackle the garden this morning.
The children slept in a bit later, I prised them out of bed around 8am.
After breakfast Mahalia got back into sorting the Sylvanian’s.
I got the wood fire going and then made up a large pot of Iraqui Rice for lunch.
Once Mahalia had finished we bagged up the families and furniture for each house set and then I fitted them into large plastic bins.
The kids loaded them into the car for me.

After lunch the Wwoofers weeded the rock garden.
Azzan & I took all the toys around to stash in The Croft to get them out of my way until I decide what to do with them.
By now it was unbearably hot so Azzan was flagging, and I was in a real sweat by the time we had unloaded the bins and then tidied up all the rubbish & furniture etc which the Wwoofers had dumped outside when they cleaned on Monday.
I cut some silverbeet for dinner.
We came back and gathered up some bins from up in the macrocarpa trees and brought them down to use for packing the recycling stuff into.
Mahalia had cut up veges for a stir fry.
After we got back she got the washing in and folded, and did a lot of potatoes for dinner.
We all pegged out on our beds for a while as it was just too hot to do anything else.
Around 5 I staggered out to get dinner on.
Made up the stir fry, I only have a small frypan here so had to do it in several lots, folding in the silverbeet at the end – yummy 😀
I had found a bag of Moki in the freezer so asked Azzan to go pick some lemons.
I laid the fish into oven dishes, squeezed lemon over and covered it with breadcrumbs and then baked it.
Azzan made the remaining lemons into lemonade.
Because I had the oven on I decided to make a good old fashioned Butterscotch Self-saucing Pudding for dessert.
That made the children very happy 😄
We had barely finished eating when the phone rang.
It was one of those stupid survey people.
I succumbed 😁
Went out on the deck to talk with him answer his stupid questions, ended up getting the secataurs and pruning the wisteria even harder!
Then Phoebe called to talk about a wee problem with the truck so the wisteria was cut more 😉

I had a soak in a bath with Epsom salts and read my book.
Slept really well after that.

Monday 12th January

I was up early today.
Another beautiful morning.

Got the fire going to heat the water.
Put out the breakfast foods and began making a tomato vege stew for dinner.
I made another carrot cake.
Definitely cannot raid Marah’s pantry for icing sugar anymore so I sprinkled crushed chocolate buttons on top.
The crew had planned to make an early start this morning to beat the heat.
Azzan was up soon after 7am but Mahalia was very reticent about rising!
Finally they were all up and breakfasted.
Azzan & Benoit took up the rubbish and the pig scraps.
Marie & Mahalia got the cleaning gear and walked round to The Croft once the guys returned.
They spent the morning cleaning the house.
I finished my breakfast and making the dinner.
The fire was going so well I was able to cook most of it on there.
Then I began cleaning out the large storage bins.
I have no need of all the bulk foods anymore so am using them to store the Sylvanians and Lego in.
I made a batch of date scones and just managed to get them into the oven as Azzan walked in the door.

The others were not far behind him.
As soon as the scones were cooked they were devoured by the hungry team.
While we ate we talked with B&M about Vanuatu.
Showed them our photos to give them an idea of what it is like.
They are keen to go to a Pacific Island when they leave NZ before they go back to France.
Gail phoned me so I left them to it and had a catch up chat with her.
So much has happened in the past 2-3 months since we last caught up.
Cat, Bri, Nick, Abbey and Henry sailed off in the ‘Vision’ for a few days.

Then B&M did some gardening.
They gave the wisteria a good hard prune and cleared the front steps.

The kids and I spent the rest of the day sorting Lego and Sylvania.
Ben loves Lego so was happy to help for a while 🙂

I now have about 50kgs packed away tidily in two large bins waiting for the next generation to be big enough 🙂

The Sylvanians however took much longer to sort.
Mahalia stuck at it all afternoon.

Azzan came and went, a bit too tedious for his brain to take too much at a time.
Also, he is still not 100% and his energy levels flag easily.
Mind you with this heat we are all flagging.
No one wants to go swimming during the middle of the day because it is too hot!!

Halia commented to me tonight that it is really funny how she has not played with the Sylvanian’s for so long but can still remember most of the wee creatures names.
Sue & Brian came for a visit in their boat.
We chatted while we kept on sorting the toys.
Azzan made the huckleback potatoes for dinner with some added suggestions from Sue.
She is the camp cook who he has been helping during some of the school holidays.
He does really well, and they have a great relationship.
If he gets too much for her she just tells him to go do something else, and he does ☺️
Seb popped around to pick up some VitC for Sapphie, she’s not been 100% either.
He brought me some smoked kahawai, they had been feeding en mass in the bay last night and Phoebe, Brian & Sue had a blast catching a heap of them.
I loaded the 2 bins of Lego and another of Belville Lego into my car.
Then I made a salad for dinner, whizzed up broccoli mush, heated the tomato stew and we were all ready to eat.
After dinner Azzan helped me box up books.
He insisted I was not allowed to lift the boxes and he manfully carried them in to the lounge where I am stashing them all.
I’ve given up doing much sorting and will just get them to town and then deal with them then.
I starting putting the completed Sylvanian sets into the bins but Mahalia was getting too tired so I cleared the pathway through them and told her to finish tomorrow.
They have a few hire DVDs to watch while here but their player charger has broken completely now so Halia ran up to see if Leeann had a spare player.
She was delighted to come back with Shanni’s old one which Cat had repaired.
Azzan gave me a wonderful foot massage while he waited for her.
He was telling me that he could tell what parts of my feet get the most pressure during the day, and I think he had it nailed because he gave those parts the most work and it was soooo good ☺️

A southerly change has blown gently through this evening, cooling the temperatures down nicely tonight.
Nathan messaged me today with pictures of Azzan’s desk that he constructed for me.
It took him 4 hours, so he has said that Azzan can do it himself in the future!!!
Am very grateful to have it done – thanks Natey Joel, really do appreciate it xxxx

The kids went off to bed to watch one just episode of ‘The Middle’ and I was asleep very soon after saying goodnight to them.