Saturday 28th February

I actually slept in till 6:30am.
That was nearly an 8 hour sleep last night.
A record for me these days.
I so needed it.
I gave Caspian a run around outside and then his breakfast.
Checked in on Azzan several times but he was sound asleep.
So I eventually headed to the shower, leaving the door ajar for the puppy.
Grief! It’s like having a baby in the house all over again!
He was so funny.
At one point I looked down to see his wee tongue poking under the shower door licking up water 🙂
Azzan finally arrived out in the kitchen just before 9am.
He was so pleased with himself that he had woken without my assistance.
He got my bike, helmet & lock out for me while I gathered up my things and gave last minute instructions.
He was happily cooking breakfast for himself when I left at 9:15am.
Nathan came down a bit later on and picked figs for me and then took Azzan to Phillipa’s and Caspian was looked after by him & Mira.

It was a gorgeous morning, I really enjoyed the bike ride.
It wasn’t really long enough though but I didn’t have time to dally so just took the shortest route to the Women’s Centre.
It was my first training day at SASH today.
There was just a small group of us, 5 plus two tutors.
We began at 9:30am and had a very interesting, informative day.
They warn you that in this type of work you may get triggered at times, today was just the beginning of the training but in amongst the basics there were things discussed which were causing stomach churning triggers within me already.
I know it is going to be hard as we move on but I am praying that I can deal with my own issues privately & appropriately and be able to help others in need.
We finished around 3:30pm.
It was so hot.
I biked back home, got in the mail and washing and then drove up to get Caspian.
He was happy to see me and sat on the front seat quite happily while I drove to pick up Azzan.
Phillipa had all of her g’kids there so Azzan had been having fun helping to entertain them.
We chatted for a few minutes and then headed back home.
Debated on the way what to have for dinner.
Azzan really wanted eggs on toast with salad.
He picked the last of the fresh lettuce from the garden and I made salads.
I suggested he might like chips instead of bread as I had eaten too much bread today – food was supplied and it was very bread based which doesn’t sit well with me.
He was off down the street in a flash 🙂
I poached some lovely farm eggs that Marah had given us.
Azzan cuddled up to me on my bed with our yummy dinners and watched a couple of episodes of Bad Education.
He was a happy lad.
Then I dozed for a wee while before getting up with a second wind.
Decided to have a go at putting up some of the shade cloth I had bought yesterday.
Azzan helped me lay it out and measure it.
I used the deck gaps as cutting guides and then I staple gunned it to the fence between us and the neighbours.
The boundary fence is pretty basic – just horizontal trellis which is not terribly private, so with the shade cloth it makes it less see through.
I plan to plant the garden out soon along there which will give more privacy too.
I got two sections stapled up and the third one half done, it got too dark to see properly so Ive left it till tomorrow.
I was pretty darned proud of our efforts tonight 🙂

When I came inside Azzan was cleaning out the fridge and shucking corn and getting veggies ready for tomorrow nights dinner.
I collapsed on the sofa in the dark and rested for a few minutes then made some fruit salad and muesli for dessert and came to bed.
Time for sleep now.
Am really trying to get the lights out much earlier.

Friday 27th February

Shoshannah was up getting things done when I hit the shower.
I took Caspian outside for his morning constitutional.
Mahalia was up at 7:30am all bright eyed and bushy tailed, she headed off for a bike ride.
Azzan wasn’t so pleased to see the morning as he had not settled till quite late last night.
I popped down to the vets with Caspian and got a collar and flea treatment at 8am.
Shanni headed off to her carpentry class just before 9am, forgot her bike lock so Mahalia whizzed up the road with it.
Ian arrived to have a look at the curtain rail in Mahalia’s room that fell off the wall a week or so back.
I was pretty annoyed at yet one more thing to have to fix etc.
But the upshot is that the track that was used was very inferior and not at all strong enough to support the weight of curtains.
He also commented that the curtains in her room are just the black out backing fabric, not  the real curtains per see!
So much for the ‘very expensive’ curtains I was told these were!
Anyway, he had a measure up and showed me what would be preferable and called me back later with a quote.
It’s more than I had hoped but at least it will be a way better job than what was there and it should last for years.
Luke arrived with some stuff he had brought out from Pot Ligar for us.
He chatted for a while and then went off to do some jobs.
I had a few things on my mind that I needed/wanted to get done.
I had told the kids that I wanted maths & english done and the beans & corn processed this morning.
I needed to get out of the house.
I spent most of the morning in tears or fighting tears.
Too much stress and worry and not enough sleep.
So around 10:30am I tried to leave, it took a while.
I found a couple of courier parcels on the mailbox.
One of them was my shoes that I ordered from Australia not even 7 days ago.
Berserk.com.au certainly came through on prompt delivery – thanks Fiona for putting me on to them 🙂
I had ordered them with slight trepidation as I usually cannot find shoes to fit easily.
However these were absolutely perfect.
I was thrilled with them.
There was a suggestion on another website that you order a size smaller than usual which is what I had done as that was the largest size they stock and it was right!
They are Hot Chocolate made in Venezuela and they certainly brightened my morning 🙂

I put them on and this time made it out of the gate.
Azzan wanted to go to the library so he biked off there for an hour.
I left Mahalia doing her maths and babysitting the puppy.
I drove on out to Bunnings and had a look at all the shade cloth.
Had a good talk with a lady there and ended up bringing three rolls home to try.
Then called into Grey Power to restart my membership.
Tim & I used to belong a while ago, it was strange joining as a single
I called into Melrose House to see if there were any ladies still at the coffee morning, and met Gay & Susan leaving. with Paddington Bear.
So we drove back to my house and they popped in to visit for a few minutes.
Mahalia gave Susan a guided tour.
Paddington Bear introduced himself to Caspian, they got along fine.
We absolutely cracked up when Caspian got a hold of his lead and began pulling him along.
Poor Paddington wasn’t too sure what to make of this wee bossy boots!
He got tugged about for a few minutes and then went and took refuge by his mother.

Susan took him off home and then I chatted with Gay for a while longer before she walked home.
I made myself a wrap for lunch and then went and had a lie down on my bed.
The tears were pouring by this time.
Feeling incredibly overwhelmed.
Nathan & Mira arrived.
Nathan had made croissants and brought me some.
They made very good comfort food – thanks Nathan xxx
I had Mira’s birthday present  – a wee bit late, but she loved it so I was pleased 🙂
Nathan & I talked about what I needed done tomorrow and then they left as he is working tonight.
Luke arrived.
Mahalia & Azzan wanted to go swimming so I said if they finished the veggies and cleaned up the house and Mahalia had all her tramping things loaded into the car then they could leave.
Shoshannah arrived home and got her things finalised.
She made some humus and then we drove into the city.
She got a new eftpos card sorted at the bank, lost hers the other day, then we stopped at Kathmandu to pick up a head torch.
The ladies there were fussing all over Caspian, they want us to bring him back anytime we like 🙂
Then the kids called to say they were finished swimming and were on their way into the city.
We parked at Tank and I got some drinks while we waited for them.
Then it was off to Richmond.
I had been wanting to get on the road before 4:30pm to try and beat the traffic, we just made it and had a reasonable drive until we got nearly there.
The traffic was already beginning to bank up for the last km before the lights.
We sidetracked to PetMart to get a lead for Caspian.
Then to Sasha’s.
She had just gotten home from work and was nearly ready.
Cat was there too with Nico who was very exuberant and bouncing all over the place.
Caspian wasn’t too sure about her bombastic behaviour.
It didn’t take long to transfer all the gear and then we left them to it.
They are all heading up to Mt Arthur for the weekend on a girls tramp.
Azzan & I drove home via Chilandos.
He ran in and got some take out meals and we came home to et them.
Caspian was glad to get out of the car and run around.
I lay on the sofa and watched some episodes of Twenty Twelve but kept on falling asleep so gave up.
Hung out a load of washing and did a quick tidy up then fell into bed by 8:30pm.
Its not quite 10pm and I am about to turn off the lights now so am hoping that I will get a good nights sleep.

Thursday 26th February

Such a busy day today.
This wee tyke can hop off the deck straight into the pool and then cannot get out.
It really is very funny.

We have now moved & emptied the pool.
I got the kids up before 8am in the hopes they would get themselves moving into the day a bit quicker.
Mahalia went off to work at Nelson Beauty for a few hours.
Don arrived at 9:30am.
It was a much cooler morning today, I had all the doors open but had to shut them after a while as the chill moved into the house.
Seb came and we three sat and had a good talk over some issues.
After Don left, Phoebe arrived with Sapphie after their shopping expedition.
Sapphie entertains the passersby with her waves and calling ‘bye’ 🙂
Azzan did some maths.
Then he began making clam chowder and getting some food ready for his lunch.
It was all a bit stressful as the day wore on as I couldn’t give him my full attention as there was so much happening and so many people coming and going.
I have so much going on that my head is about to explode with all the decisions I have to make and the things I have to do.
It is all just way to hard.

Anson pulled in soon after and loaded up all the garden prunings.
He took them away for me which was a great help.
Seb & Phoebe headed off on their weeks holiday in Golden Bay.
Then Nathan arrived to help with a few jobs.
He began by picking the figs.
The birds are beginning to show a liking for them so I am trying to at least pick the ones we can reach.
The birds can have the ones at the very top!
Estelle popped in briefly to check out my bike for comfort etc.
Its good to see her up and about and looking so much better.
Graham came to build Shanni’s bed base.

I was glad Nathan was there to help him.

They thought they were going to be clever and manoeuvre it into there room with the end on but no way.
So they had to unscrew it and then assemble in the bedroom.

Once it was installed Nathan headed off.
Graham had a look at some other projects I have in mind and helped me to sort out what I need to do.
Then he left to head home.
Azzan biked off to his counselling session.
The guy has moved closer to us so it is easier for him to get to.
He managed to find the place okay and commented to me later that it was much better than the first session 🙂
I’m pleased he has now got someone outside the family to talk to.
It’s been pretty hard for him to adjust to everything in the past 2 years.

I was getting tireder and more over the day as every hour passed today.
Mahalia popped in after work and then headed off to meet Azzan at Kip McGrath.
Shoshannah had a late kayaking class again so took a late bus into town.
I met her and the kids at New World and trailed around the supermarket with them as they got the food needed for their tramp this weekend.
Finally they were all finished and we were able to head home.
Azzan & Mahalia biked back.
Mahalia got in the washing and Azzan cleaned up the dishes.
Shoshannah got the food all sorted into meal ration bags and then she and Halia got their gear all spread out in the lounge.
I completed making the chowder.
It had clams, tuna, potatoes, carrots and green beans in a coconut cream sauce.
I scattered browned sesame & pumpkin seeds over it.
I had bought fresh Ciabatta buns to eat with it.
It was so delicious.
We were all so tired and hungry that there was not one drop left over and they all declared it to be a great dinner 🙂

Shanni was tired and getting stressed about organising everything so I suggested she go to bed and deal with it all tomorrow.
I was beyond tired, was feeling really frazzled and just wanting to go to bed.
Azzan pushed my buttons and I lost the plot.
But we did have a big hug and made up so all was not lost.
He & Halia went for a bike ride and I went to bed.
I needed space from the world!

Wednesday 25th February

I was up early and ready to receive Eden when Marah dropped her off just before 9am.
Marah had some appointments so we were babysitting.
Eden was really good all morning.
There was lots of puppy loving going on.

Then when she spilled her porridge Mahalia asked her to clean it up.
She did a good job but Caspian wanted to help 🙂

She decided that Nonna’s porridge was much more interesting so I am glad I made a large pot full today.

Mahalia took these – ‘smile Eden’

She helped me did out the week on the drive while Mahalia did some school work.
The peg bucket creates a lot of amusement and occupies Eden for hours.

At 12:30pm I left her with Mahalia and I walked into the city centre.
Chatted with Christine on the phone while I walked.
Nice to talk with her and catch up on news.
Met Marah after her scan.
So wish I had gone in with her as she was buzzing about how clear the scans were.
You can see another little Eden developing 🙂
We decided to go to Morrison St Cafe for lunch as we were both quite hungry.
It was good to sit and chat childlessly.
Decided to do a cafe crawl and have dessert elsewhere.
We walked over tho The Bakers and enjoyed mocha’s with eclairs.
So delicious and just what the Dr ordered….
well, maybe not, but they were darned good anyway 😉

We walked across to the pharmacy to get some things and Marah found these cute orange sock holder-on things for babies – she had to model them on No2 🙂

We headed back to the house and found Phoebe & Seb there along with Azzan and Sapphire.
Sapphie was enjoying a splash around in the pool.

Azzan had really enjoyed his time at the bay.
He had been helping Anson with stock work and mustering and also helped Phoebe clean the Lodge so he was quite weary but very happy.
He was having a big cook up when we arrived back and was thrilled to have some meat which Seb had given him to put in the freezer.
He is growing so much at present and it is taking a lot to fill him up so I am grateful for all contributions..

We went out to say goodbye to Eden & Marah.
Sapphie was doing her sailor lookout wave.

While I was in the kitchen I spotted three young folk (late teens/early 20’s) walking by, they stopped by our grapevine and reached in over the fence and were helping themselves to not just a few grapes but breaking off large bunches of them.
I had been watching them over the past days, waiting for them to be properly ripe so I could harvest them.
I went out to the gate and asked what they were doing stealing our grapes.
The two females took off up the road clutching several large bunches when they saw me coming.
But the guy with them, just very cheekily sauntered off, looking back at me saying ‘Sorry Luv, but you should plant your veggies in the backyard next time.’!!!!!!!
Couldn’t believe the cheek of them!

I shot out to Richmond to pick up Shoshannah at 4:30pm.
She had a late Outdoor Ed class so didn’t have time to catch the bus into town and be at work on time.
I whizzed her back and got her there with just minutes to spare.
She is learning to roll a kayak and because it is really hard for her she is trying to get to all the extra classes before and after normal school hours.
The kids and I decided to go for a bike ride as it was a gorgeous evening.
Turned off the dinner and took off on our trusty steeds.
We took the longer route into the city centre and Azzan & I stopped off at Cafe Affair for a drink.

Desserts looked pretty tasty so we opted for them too.
We really shouldn’t have as they were rather sweet and very rich.
Not at all what we are used to so were feeling somewhat uncomfortable afterwards.
 
As we rode back along the riverbank we caught sight of the setting sun and stopped on the Halifax walkover bridge to enjoy it.
It was so beautiful.

We rode on further and when we crossed the Collingwood St bridge it was so magnificent I had to stop and take another billion photos.
I won’t bore you with them all.
One is enough to see how amazing it was.

The kids kept going and I didn’t see where they went so I rode home.
The sky from my backyard was glorious.

The kids weren’t back so I let Caspian out to play for a while.
Azzan finally called me, he was a bit lost and had misplaced Mahalia.
She arrived a few minutes later so I sent her back to look for Azzan.
She he arrived back.
So by the time she got home it was all a tad stressful!
But they both were home so all was well.
We had a bit of a debrief about it and made a few ground rules about evening bike rides.
We had a quick dinner and I got the kids off to bed by 9:30pm.
Then I drove down to pick up Shoshannah from work.
I wanted to walk as it was a lovely evening but Mahalia wouldn’t hear of me walking after dark on my own 😉

Tuesday 24th February

Shanni didn’t have to get to school until mid morning so she was able to have a relaxing start to her day.
I stayed in my dressing gown till she had gone so she caught me outside picking ripe figs!

The tree is laden but they all ripen very randomly.

I’m going to have to ‘fig’ure out what to do with them all now 🙂

Caspian was in a very playful mood.
He is so funny, his favourite game is to zip into Shanni’s room when he finds the door open and grab a piece of her underwear and run like crazy with it.

I woke Mahalia before 8am in the hopes she might have time to get herself ready for the day before lunch time.
So I was pretty annoyed when she was still not dressed when Shanni left for school at 10am.
I had been awake since 6am and had been busy doing stuff even though I was still in my dressing gown so I ended up shooting through the shower before her.
I got stuck into some things I had been wanting to get done.
Anson arrived with his chainsaw and after a chat he cut a few branches off the trees at the back of the section for me.
Then he was off to do town chores and I carried on in the yard.
I raked away all the debris by the front gate which has been annoying me intensely for a while.
Then I tackled the creeping vine which was entangling the neighbours fence.
Also started raking some of the dirt to try and get it more evenly spread but it got too hot and I disturbed an ant nest so ended up getting the poison and dealing to it.
By this time it was way after 12:30pm so I got changed out of my work gear and into a town dress.
Mahalia was in her room doing Maths.
I left her to finish her work, deal with the puppy, have lunch and get herself off to her appointments.
I didn’t have time to walk into town due to the time I took in the garden so I drove in and stopped to get a Tank smoothie and then bought a ticket to the movies.
Found a carpark and ran back to catch the beginning of the show.
I had been wanting to see ‘Mr Turner’ for some time and it was on its last couple of days.
Tuesdays are cheaper viewing, and it was the only day I could take the time.
Plus I was so in need of time for just me so I took it!
It was a very intriguing movie, enlightening of the latter Georgian times.
Dorothy Atkinson played Hannah, Mr Turner’s servant who served him faithfully for 40 years.
She was probably the most memorable & fascinating character.
Turner himself was played by Timothy Spall, as a person he irritated the pants off me, but Spall played him exceptional well.
The cinematography was wonderful.
Well worth taking 2.5 hours out of my day to soak it all in.

Afterwards I popped across the road to the NCC and registered the puppy.
Then back home to play with him and get the washing in.
Jolly birds had dropped messes on my sheets so back into the machine they went with to soak in some stain remover.
The Mahalia arrived back and stayed put to play with Caspian while I went up to the Sprig & Fern with Gay.
We chilled out on the deck with a drink and a platter of humus, olives and rye bread.
It was really rather a lovely way to end the afternoon.
On our way home we chatted with my next door neighour Nin who is growing and selling veggies at her gate.
Mahalia had filled up on nuts so wasn’t hungry anymore so we decided to go for a bike ride.
It was such a lovely evening, too nice to stay indoors.
She pumped up my tyres as I hadn’t ridden my bike since we were out in Bronte last year.
Then we were off down the street.
It was so much fun cruising along after her.
I need way more practise though, I am not terribly confident and am rather tightened of falling off.
We cruised along the cycle trail near the Myazu Gardens and then stopped into visit Dave & Paula.
Rachel and her girls were having dinner there so we caught up with them too which was lovely.
Then back on the bikes and along to Milton St Takeaways to get a scoop of chips to add to dinner.
I poached some eggs in our new poaching thingees while Mahalia rolled around out on the lawn with Caspian.
He was loving his time with her.

We watched ‘Singing in the Rain‘ while eating dinner.
Then around 10pm after I had dozed my way through a lot of it Mahalia helped me to move some furniture and make my bed.

Monday 23rd February

I was up early so took Shoshannah for a driving lesson on her way to the bus.
We had time to drive a bit further before the bus.
After she left I stopped in at Benge & Co to pick up some veggies & fruit and then whizzed into Fresh Choice to get bread.
Home to see if Mahalia was motivating.
She wasn’t.
I had brought a couple of croissants so filled them for us both for breakfast – rather nice change.

Pat got the wash house all finished today.
I’m so rapt with it.
It is lovely and clean and white and has plenty of shelving.
Much more utilitarian than it was before.
I headed off to my morning counselling appointment.
I have been feeling really tired, and very flat over the past days so it was good to talk about stuff.

When I got back home Mahalia and I headed into town for lunch.
We ate at Chilandos as I had some vouchers.
They were lovely and so pleased to see us as it is a while since we were in there.
They always ask after Azzan 🙂
Then we drove out to Richmond and picked up Shoshannah.
It was a drizzly day so she was pleased I had come.
I wanted to go look at some landscaping supply places so the girls sat in the car while I went in to a couple and had a look see.
They seemed to both be too tired to do anything so we headed back home.

Mahalia went off for a bike ride later in the afternoon.
The girls cooked dinner.
It was very tasty.
I just sat and tried to get some stuff done.
Problem is when I try and do business things when I am tired I always botch things up.
Pointless waste of time

I should never have gone out the gate today.
One of those days when I just should’ve stayed in bed.
It is actually much harder to stay in bed in town.
That is one thing I miss about being at home.
Just having time to stop when I need to.

Sunday 22nd February

I woke at 5am and managed to get back to sleep.
But at 7am a little person was awake and zooming about so I got up to spend some time with Marah & Eden.
Caspian enjoyed playing outside with Eden.
She tipped out all the pegs, picked them all up again and got annoyed with Nonna taking photos of her 😉

They eventually headed off home.
By this time it was raining quite heavily which was great.
We so need the rain at present.

Alan popped in for a visit, it’s been a while since we caught up so it was nice to see him.
Shanni wanted to go shopping so I let her drive.
It was a new experience for her to drive in the rain, one more thing to think about!
She did well.
We shopped at Kathmandu and then I suggested she could drive up to get Katherine.
The drive up the hill was a challenge for her but she was fine, just came to a very close halt, bumper to bumper with their car when she put her foot not he accelerator instead of the brake.
That made me squeal!!
Thankfully there was no damage, just a lesson learnt 🙂
Katherine hopped in with us and Shanni drove back into the city centre.
I took the wheel and the girls went off to have some time together.

Mahalia a had a bath while we were out and took Caspian into the bathroom with her cuz she thought he would get into less trouble there but he found the toilet paper and this is what greeted me when I returned home!

His favourite place to hang out 🙂

Seb came in for a visit before heading back down the bay.
He and Nathan had been to an all day stag party yesterday.
I was supposed to be going to a friends garden party but was quite relieved when they called to say it was postponed due to the rain.
I just chilled for the rest of the day.

Saturday 21st February

I left the kids to sort themselves for the day.
They had plans to go swimming with Luke & Mira after lunch.
So before then they were supposed to be tidying the house and doing some school work.

I headed off just before 10am to attend Uncle Ian’s funeral in Stoke.
There was already a good crowd of folk gathering when I arrived.
It was a lovely celebration of his life.
He was a true gentle man who gave in many facets of life.
There were tributes from family, the Nelson Male Voice Choir, the NZRSA, and the Lions Clubs of NZ.

I have been to several funerals since Tim died, but this one, saying goodbye to Uncle Ian affected me more than any of them.
I couldn’t hold back the tears throughout the service.
The words of tribute were just too familiar.
He and Tim were of similar ilk, both just lovely men who lived, loved and served.

It was really nice to catch up Anna before she flew back to Chch.
Had to get a photo of the 3 sisters-in-law together before she left, all looking so pretty.
Anna, Fiona & Allison.

There was some amusement at one point in the afternoon.
I was talking to Allison about her forth coming baby and a lady was nearby left us to talk with a comment intimating that she was not part of the club that we two pregnant ladies belong to!
We just cracked up laughing 🙂
I am seriously going to take it as a compliment.
Being mistaken for being pregnant at 58, plus I have lost 10kgs in past few months as well!!

Afterwards I drove round the corner to visit Estelle.
She was enjoying a last lunch in the garden with Colin and his family before he flew back to Mexico.
It was nice to finally meet him properly.
We chatted for a while and then I left them to it and zipped round to the local vet to check out puppy schools.
They are full up so will have to try another vet.

Drove back to Tahunanui and hung out with Sally for a while.
We were both incredibly tired.
At 5:30pm we all piled into their people mover and were taken to the Nelson Suburban Club to share a buffet dinner with Aunty Doris at Tosswill’s Restaurant in honour of Uncle Ian as it was his favourite place to dine out.
It was a really lovely buffet, and that says a lot coming from me as I don’t normally enjoy them.
There were about 20 of us in our group.
The others were keeping a couple of seats near me for some friends and when they arrived we realised we knew each other!
Nicky and Dave used to come stay in The Cottage many years ago and we have stayed with them, but we had not seen each other in a very long long time.
It was an added bonus to the evening to catch up with them.
Afterwards Jonty & I hopped into Tim & Allison’s car and had a fun ride back to the motel.
It was such a lovely evening, am so glad I joined the party.
Then I said my farewells as I was so tired I needed to get to bed.
I arrived back to find Eden asleep in Azzan’s room and Mahalia about to head off to bed.
Marah was out at a hen’s party and Shoshannah was at work.
Azzan had gone back to Waterfall Bay with Luke after they swim at the beach.
He was so excited about going down there to stay for a few days 🙂
I crashed out very quickly.

Friday 20th February

 

 

 

 

I took Shoshannah to the bus stop this morning.
She had to get out to school to join the group of Trades students on the bus for the trip back into the city because it was the first day.
After this she is allowed to bike directly to NMIT.

Pat arrived to carry on with the washhouse.
I was busy getting things organised for the day, doing some online banking and making sure the kids were sussed with their school work.
A lovely morning for a walk today.
Nathan brought Carolyn & Sitta down to my place.
He stayed to do some yard work for me.
We left around 10:30ish and walked to pick up Gay, and we all walked together on up to Melrose House.
The clouds were clearing and the tide was in so the river view was stunning.

There was a great turn out of ladies at the Newcomers group today.
They had pushed the time forward to 11am today so most of us ordered lunch.
Lots of talk, lots of dogs, lots of food.
It was a lovely morning.
The sun came out strongly though so we ended up moving tables around so we could all shelter under the large sun umbrellas.
Unfortunately my schedule for the day was screwed around with as the coffee morning was pushed forward from 10:30am to 11am and my next appointment was pulled back from 3pm to 1:30pm so I didn’t have a lot of time between.
Slightly frustrating and by 1pm I could see it was just not going to happen so I called up and pushed things forward to 2pm just to make it a tad easier for me.
It was a good brisk walk back.
We left Carolyn & Sitta at NMIT as Thomas had left the car there for her, then I farewelled Gay at her corner and I managed to get back to the house just after 2pm.
Whew!
It was so hot and I was thirsty and sticky with sweat.
Perfect for a business meeting – not!
The house was closed up because the kids had gone off shopping and Pat & Nathan had also left so I zipped through opening windows and doors to get some air flow.
Don arrived soon after, I spent some time talking with him then he left me to think things through.
Shanni arrived back, she had really enjoyed her first day at Trades.
She has opted to do carpentry and is the only female in the group of around 30 she thought.
The tutor is apparently delighted to have her in his class.
She was fair buzzing and really looking forward to the future classes.

I lost Caspian and did a wee panics he didn’t appear to be anywhere.
Then we found him!

He has a new favourite place under the kitchen cupboard.
Cool and private 🙂

My washhouse is looking great.
Crisp, clean, and much more functional.
The water filtering unit has been enclosed to make it tidier, all the old steel plumbing has been removed along with the old concrete tubs.
Just got a couple more shelves to put up and then we can put everything in place.


I took Azzan for a drive.
We stopped in at NO1 Shoes and came out with 9 pairs of sandals for less than $17!!
Then over the hill to the recycling centre.
Azzan has been asking me to take him there, his entrepreneurial self has ideas of finding things there and then recreating them to sell on so he can make some money.
On the way he commented to me that he used to love going to the dump shop with Dad.
Tim hardly ever made a trip to town without doing a shop there.
It is not my favourite place in the world to shop so I don’t go there, but I realised how important it was to a young lad today so I was glad I made the effort.
He didn’t stop long, just enough time to fossick and find a wee treasure for Mahalia’s b’day and a pretty cool old frame to recreate.
He was happy 🙂
We then drove up the street to visit the cousins.
I had been trying to get to see them all since my return from Auckland but the days have just been a tad too manic.
It was lovely to spend some time with Sally, John, Clare and the various members who were popping in and out.
Azzan got whisked away with Lucy & Tristan and spent several hours playing furiously, getting filthy and general having a ball.
After a while I took Clare over to Aunty Doris’s and I visited with her for a wee while.
It was just 5 days since Uncle Ian had left this earth.
He wee house was full of gorgeous flowers.
I love this photo I took of them both last year, it was a precious time visiting with them not too long before he had to go to Whareama to be cared for.
Gonna miss this lovely gentle man.


Azzan walked over to meet me and we headed off home.
Shanni had work so she walked there around 5pm.
Azzan and I had a quiet evening.
Sophie stayed the night so she and Mahalia were doing girlie things.
The went off for an evening bike ride and a walk up the Centre of NZ.
I made a few phone calls.
I was thinking about heading off to bed when Shanni called at 11:45pm to ask if I could pick her up so I popped up and collected her.
I could hear some girlish chatter from Mahalia’s room and as it was nearly 1am I decided they needed to get some sleep so suggested they quieten down then.
Trouble with sleepovers – theres not a lot of sleep to be had 😉

Thursday 19th February

I woke at 2am.
Could not get back to sleep so sat up in bed and did some work on my laptop.
Of course by the time it was 7am and I needed to be getting up I was falling asleep.
I staggered off out to release the pup from his crate and gave him a run around outside while I hung out some washing.
He was in a very boisterous mood, obviously recovered from his visit to the vet now.
I had my shower and then gave the kids their wake up calls.
Discovered that the desktop computer had died yesterday so I loaded it into the car for Ross to check out for me – again!
I needed to leave for the meeting in Richmond before 8:30am.
I called in to Tank for a smoothie to help me survive the morning.
I was quite glad I was going against the morning traffic, at 9am as I was passing the hospital the traffic was still banked up right back to Enner Glyn!
I spent the morning in a business meeting with Ross & Sebastian, just sorting out where we are going and what’s happening in the industry.
Got the computers all sorted too.
I am so over all the internet hassles and email problems so am really hoping this change over to a new business server will solve all the problems.
I have had emails going awol for weeks now as we have been doing the changeover.
It has been driving me mental, so please excuse me if your accounts have not been paid of your letters have gone unanswered.
I am hoping that I have managed to retrieve most and can now try and sort through and deal with everything.

I dropped Sebastian backing the city where Phoebe & Sapphie were shopping.
Then home to see what the kids were doing.
They had gotten through a few chores which was great.
Azzan made me a huge sandwich for lunch – it went down a treat as I was starving.
Just frustrating that they couldn’t do any maths today as planned.
I brought home Shanni’s old laptop so the kids can now get stuck in tomorrow.

We did stuff around the house.
I was so weary.
Nathan came and took away a heap more of his stuff and did a big clean up in the garage for me.
Mahalia & Azzan booked off to Kip McGrath, their first lessons for the year.
Then Shanni arrived back from school.
She had been called into work tonight so made herself some food, took 5 and then headed off to Hangar 58.
Pat arrived to do some more work in the wash house.
Phillipa came to visit.
It was nice to just sit in the peace and quiet of the lounge and chat over a cuppa.
Until the kids arrived back that is!
They had really enjoyed their first lessons and were very excited about it all.
Azzan had gotten a book from the library that he has been wanting to read and Harriet is forming his lessons around it.
It is called Persepolis.
He is really in to it which is great – it is a graphic novel that he was telling me all about last week.
He got straight into his homework.
Mahalia helped me cook dinner.
Schnitzel with boiled potatoes, carrots & peas with salad from the garden.
It was really good.
I was so hungry.

Caspian was so funny, he started leaping in and out of the pool.
He got totally drenched so Mahalia dried him off with my hair dryer.
But later in the evening when Nathan came back to visit he started doing it again!

Because Nathan & Mira’s plans have changed and they are not going to Wellington yet, Nathan has been looking for some work.
He had a trial tonight which went really well.

I zipped down to pick up Shanni from work at 9pm.
Had to wait for a wee while until she had finished.
There was some live music, actually playing pieces I enjoy 😉
It was beginning to spit with rain so we quickly lifted a few things inside and grabbed the washing off the line, just in case it comes in heavy over night.
Be great if it does but Im not holding my breath!

Now the other news I mentioned last night.
My chaise lounge was delivered.
I was so excited and very very happy with the finished results.
I was a weeny bit concerned I had gone a bit too rad in my choice of fabric, but it has turned out far better than I thought.
So thrilled 🙂
I had chosen the fabrics months ago, and because  of the Christmas holidays the job was put on hold till now.
As expected, Craig has done a fantastic job of the upholstery.
It looks fabulous in the sunroom.
Just adds the perfect amount of colour there.
And it is so comfy and no longer squeaks overtime you sit on it!