October 2018

We have been home in New Zealand since October 5, so over three weeks now. Being on holiday feels like such a long time ago, the everyday mundane-ness of work has taken over. The trip home was easy, it seemed to go much faster than the outward journey, even the long wait in China. I think my favourite city was Amsterdam.

October has been quite busy for us. Luckily we came home to good weather because the lawns were all knee high and we still don't have them quite under control. The garden is mostly going well, the chickens have been escaping and we have been doing work both inside and out. I sawed a wine barrel in half to make new planters, I'm very happy with them. There will always be so much more to do though. Our biggest job at the moment is staying on top of the veggie garden, and building a new enclosure for the chooks. But I think plenty will get done in the next few weeks because today is Nathan's last day of work. He's going to be my unemployed house-husband for a while. He's hopefully going to build a patio, keep the lawns under control and keep the house tidy.

On my first day back at work, I got a surprise in the form of an extremely decorated desk. On account of having completely surprised everyone, they felt the need to go overboard. Some of the decorations are still up - we are supposed to be decluttering and keeping our desks clear but it's nice to have decorations. I also got a big glittery card and flowers. Work has been keeping me busy, and when I can't concentrate I can spend time 'de-cluttering'. Throwing away everything in your filing cabinet is quite satisfying. But when it comes to my knick-knacks, it's a different story. There is a lot of resistance to our upcoming building-move, and the 'flexible work-place'. We will not have as many desks as we do people, and this week has already shown us how hard that is, with everyone back from leave.

Other things that have happened in October include Cher getting a tummy bug and creating a big diarrhea mess on the carpet. That wasn't a fun evening. On the weekend Nathan and I went looking at motorbike gear and I managed to stumble and fall over, taking a shelf full of boots down with me. It was so embarrassing and now I have a bruise on my arm. We have planted new fruit trees, put up shelving and my new lillies have started flowering. And I have continued my halloween tradition of dying my hair - this year it is bright red.

From Amsterdam Airport

We are on our way out of Amsterdam and we have had a very good week here. The weather has been nice, the food is nice and we have done some cool stuff. Including going to a concert, Electric Light Orchestra, and we were only 8 rows from the stage. It was really good, I've never been so close to the stage before. We also went ring shopping here and now I have an antique sapphire and diamond ring from the late 19th or early 20th century. We did a tour of a diamond factory and saw raw diamonds being polished, that was pretty cool.

I would definitely recommend Amsterdam to visit, and would like to come back one day. Many European cities look the same to me so I was surprised that Amsterdam looks so different. Maybe the buildings are older  There are lots of churches and really big brick buildings, and all the houses along the canals are leaning against each other, some are definitely not standing up straight. We did the obligatory canal cruise that all tourists must do in a city like this. Only ours was a pizza cruise, with pizza  ice cream and limitless beer and wine. Despite that we were the only group in the cruise that seemed tiddly at the end! We also went up a big tower to see the view, another obligatory tourist activity. We didn't climb a church tower this time though  we went up this lookout that has been built at the top of a fancy hotel, and instead of going up stairs you get taken up in a psychedelic elevator, they call it their elevator experience. It had a glass ceiling and an LED light show as it went up. There was a swing up there but you had to pay extra and it's not like it was a bungy swing, just a big normal swing that goes a little over the edge. We just looked around instead.

We have been away for 3 weeks now so we've been a bit exhausted. We didn't go to any museums here, people will say we missed out on important cultural experiences but there choices a point on holiday where you just can't take in more information. Plus you need energy for museums and we were going to go to one but when we got there we realised neither of us could be bothered. So we went and got food and then I found a shoe shop. I have got some great new things on this trip!

So what do you do in Amsterdam for your last day on holiday when you are tired and over cultural activities? You go to a spa! I found one in the city centre, decorated in art deco style. It was a Finnish sauna. It turns out that means everyone is naked. At first it was all men but then other women started to arrive, which was a bit better. It was great though, there was steam, sauna, a cold pool and a little outside sun area. And the decor was so beautiful. No photos allowed though, which is understandable considering the naked people thing.

Now we are on our way home, it will be a long couple of days. We've had a great trip and are already planning where we want to go next!

Hamburg, September 2018

It was great to be in Germany again. I think it's been about seven years since I was there learning protein chemistry for my PhD. It actually feels like longer - I don't remember much detail of living there really. Our week in Hamburg reminded me of a few things though, like the great pastries, cakes, gelato and hot chocolate. And the shops that I used to love - I managed to get some nice stuff off the sale racks. We had a great Airbnb, a really big apartment, it was pretty much a house, all to ourselves. No WiFi and not well lit but it had a great shower.

We did not have a full itinerary in Hamburg, as we packed so much into our week in Copenhagen that we needed to take it easier. We both got lots of sleep, I think it took a whole week to really get used to the time zone and then in Germany we caught up on missed sleep. My brother came to Germany for the weekend so we did some tourist stuff together. We climbed a church tower, we went to the huge miniature railway, and we went to a flea market and the famous fish market. The weather turned bad so the church tower view was just average. The miniature railway was cool but we got tired before the end of it. And flea market was really good, I got an old brooch and an antique Christmas decoration and Nathan got a great deal on an almost new watch, of a make that he specifically was looking for. The fish market didn't have as much fish as we expected. It had a lot of everything else, including live bands (at 7am). Hamburg has the most markets of any German city. There was even a fabric market, right beside our apartment in Sunday! So many more options than NZ stores, all right next to each other!

We also went to the maritime museum so that's one in each city so far. It was really good though  lots of stuff about the ocean and science as well as ships and navy stuff. The only thing was that there wasn't enough translation - the main story was translated but all the labels and small things were only in German.

So Daniel's visit was good, and then the he left and we went on a day trip to Bremen (where I was during my PhD) and the weather got worse. I was not wrapped up warm, the forecast indicated a decent with day. It did not say anything about thunderstorms. We arrived to a cold but sunny day and took a nice photo of the windmill, and looked in some shops. Then the showers started, which was OK because we were looking in cute little shops and buying souvenirs and stopping for coffee. Then we went to explore the old town, which is a small area of tiny alleys that are the oldest streets in the city, full of little shops and cafes. The rain really started and then it began to thunder. We hid in an antique store and browsed until the thunder and lightning stopped. It cleared up after that and we went for a walk along the river to find the pancake ship, which is an old tall ship that is now a restaurant dedicated to pancakes. We had a rather late lunch and then tried to get back to the train station but got a bit lost, which was unfortunate because the rain started again and if we hadn't got turned around we might have avoided it.

On our last day in Germany we went to a free concert in one of their beautiful concert halls. It was a big old building with really lavish decor, high ceilings, red carpets, gilded everything. It was a half hour concert from a string quartet in the restaurant area. After that we had some last shops to visit and last ice creams to eat. Then in the evening the hard job of packing. We have probably almost doubled our luggage in the last 2 weeks, just from buying a little bit here and there must days. Luckily we could have 12kg carry on each from Germany to Netherlands otherwise we'd have been screwed. We have 2 changed pieces of luggage each on the way home so no worries there.

Finally we decided to go out and see just a little more of Hamburg. We went for a walk around Speicherstadt, the warehouse district, and saw all the lights on the boats. Then we went to the Elbphilharmonie, which is a big architectural masterpiece of a concert hall. We went up to the plaza to walk around and see the view.

Anyway, travel was fine after finally getting through Hamburg airport, and we arrived to warm weather in Amsterdam. It's pretty here. Now I have to make plans for the next few days. Here are a couple of my favourite photos from our wedding photographer and some pics from Hamburg.

Eloping in Denmark, September 2018

I am sitting in a first class carriage on a train that will take us from Copenhagen to Hamburg. We have been in Denmark for 6 days, they have been very busy

To begin with, we were supposed to arrive early Thursday morning but we missed a connecting flight, because we had the bare minimum transfer time. Between getting off the plane, through a large airport and security and passport control, it just wasn't enough. We rushed as much as we could and missed it by 2 minutes. So we got to Copenhagen later that morning but next thing to go wrong was my bag didn't arrive. The plane had been too heavy so some bags were left in Amsterdam. At least it wasn't in China! After all that, we didn't get to the city till after lunch and after our huge journey you know what we did first? We found a local pool and went for a swim and a steam. It was a great way to shake off the long-distance travel feeling.

Our first full day in Copenhagen was Friday and it was spent shopping. We had a suit and rings to buy, and I needed snap fasteners to finish my dress. Sewing projects always end up being last minute! I also was in general shopping mode and found a couple of great items. Copenhagen is expensive but I had looked up some good vintage secondhand shops in advance. One of my friends from Ireland met us in Copenhagen, so we had socialising to do too. That night we took it easy, and tried to catch up sleep, to be ready for our big day.

Now we've been planning this elopement since we decided to go to Europe last February, Denmark is one of the few places that foreigners can legally marry in Europe. Going to the USA would have been way easier but we really wanted to visit Europe. It's been pretty hard keeping the secret, hardly anyone knew. I made my dress, it is not perfect but only I see the faults. My something old is the clasp on the back, a gift from a friend, it had belonged to her grandmother. I borrowed a pretty hair clip from my sister, and my something blue was hidden under my dress ... And of course the shiny gold rings were brand new.

So on Saturday morning we got dressed up and took the subway to the city centre. We made our way to City Hall where we met our photographer, who Nathan found on Facebook. So there are real photos coming! I will hopefully have them in a few days. We were scheduled to get married at 10 and we were in tune but my friend was late - by about half an hour! Luckily, the celebrant didn't mind and let some other couples go before us instead. A lot of people were getting married at City Hall that day!

The ceremony was very simple, it was a civil marriage so no religious stuff, there was a celebrant and two official witnesses, all wearing robes and sashes. The room was sort of dim and the walls were covered in paintings - they gave us a book to tell us all about them. I hardly remember the words but my friend's partner recorded the whole thing, right up to the rings, so I'm looking forward to seeing that when I get it. The whole thing can't have taken more than 10 minutes, and then we were shaking hands with the celebrant and leaving. We went off and took photos around City Hall, and then it w time to go find some champagne.

It was so early and we had no reception to get to if course so we spent the rest of our wedding day at Tivoli, which is a garden and amusement Park right in the city centre, next to City Hall. We did all the rides in our wedding clothes and when we stopped for a drink we each stole our vessel as a memento of our special day. We tried a few of the games but didn't win me a giant teddy bear. I got a small dinosaur though. After that just Nathan and I went for a nice dinner, then it was finally time to get out of our wedding clothes, and until something a bit less dressy to hit the town in. There are no alcohol bans in European cities so we drank gin and tonics by a fountain in a city square, then went for cocktails. Then the grand finale - a fireworks display. We went back to Tivoli, where there are fireworks every Saturday this summer to celebrate their 175th year. What a lucky coincidence for us.

So that's it, the story of our secret elopement. Now we're married, which is a bit weird to say but I'm sure I'll get used to it. The next few days have flown by. We had bought these tourist cards that covered our transport and entry into attractions. So we had to get our money's worth of course. We have climbed towers, visited castles, gone to the zoo and tired carlsberg breweries. Press there was a canal tour of the city, which was really nice. We did a bit more shopping, souvenirs from Denmark include jewelry, books, china and art. I was reminded how badly a big city can smell  especially after a Saturday night, and the water in Copenhagen is bad. It has so much calcium that it tastes soapy and made my hair gross. Plus I've had a crook stomach, I'm hoping it was because the water was so different to what I'm used to and that I'll get better now.

Now it's time to enjoy some scenery and find out how this first class thing works, because the Internet says we get drinks and snacks but the train lady thinks not. We'll see.

August 2018

Nine days till we head away to Europe! I'm posting a few dates late days I've been busy. We have been trying to clear out our spare room, which is full of random stuff and junk  so that we can fit a bed in there as we have two sets of house and pet sitters. And I've been trying to finish a sewing project. Plus we're still really busy in the garden.

Our garden work has been building a raised garden bed that runs the entire length of the fence at the top of our property. It's Felsted now and filled with dirt, and a few pages. The plan is to fill it with very bushes that over time will create a bramble over the fence, to both act as a hedge and provide us with fruit. It will take a while to fill it with berry bushes though. We also have lots of seedlings to plant into the vegetable beds before we go. They've been in my mini greenhouse and I just hope that it's warm enough now for them to go outside  Then when we get back after 3 weeks hopefully stuff will be growing nicely.

Most of our non-work time in August was spent in the garden but we did also go to Christchurch last weekend. We went for a regular family gathering with Nathan's family  a very late mid winter Christmas. But it was also Rochelle's first weekend of her new life in Christchurch so that gave me a great excuse to have some time away from the in-laws. I bought her a kettle and took her plant shopping and set up her pretty china on display, with lots of blutack in case of earthquakes. Then on the Sunday night I took all Nathan's siblings and their partners to her place and we made pizza and had a big family dinner. It was very successful - the pizza that is, we used pizza stones and they made such a difference! I am buying a good one first chance I get.

Unfortunately the story of our weekend away doesn't end well. We came back to Wellington carrying disease, Nathan's whole family came down with a bad tummy bug and everyone was very sick. I thought I had got lucky because I felt fine on Tuesday but it got me too. Luckily Rochelle didn't get sick - I just gave her my cold instead. So we pretty much had the whole week off work last week, even when we felt better because we didn't want to spread our virus around work. Which was actually really good because when we felt better we got loads of work done in the house and garden, which would have been stressing me out otherwise because Nathan works must evenings and we would have run out of time.

Well that was our August and now the countdown is really on. Can't wait to get to Europe and spend lots of money on pretty new things. 

July 2018

July has been a pretty full month. First of all - it's only 6 weeks till we go on holiday! Almost everything is booked - the one thing left I want to book in advance is luggage storage in Copenhagen, because we will arrive early in the morning but can't check into our Airbnb until 5pm. I've even already made a list of what I plan to pack in my carry on and in my checked luggage. Next I should make a list of who I need to send postcards to or buy presents for.

In the meantime, life goes on despite the excitement of an upcoming holiday. This month we have acquired flatmates (a Czech couple, they will house-sit while we are away), had to get a new car battery and replace a taillight after Nathan backed into a pole, replaced the chicken's fence and clipped their wings, made curtains for our spare room (so that's the whole house done now) and started getting our veggie gardens ready for summer (I got a mini-greenhouse). We have big plans for doing stuff around the house while we have rent money coming in - after putting all the Airbnb money on our holiday it was really time to start putting some into the house again. As well as some new raised garden beds, I have big plans for shelving and a proper washing line. Of course, having to get a new car battery has already eaten into those plans a little so lets hope we have no more unexpected expenses.

Another interesting thing this July happened just yesterday, and has provided us with a strange little mystery. A parcel arrived yesterday, from Fastway couriers with no signature required, so it was just left at the door. It had my name and our address on it, printed on a courier sticker, and the name of the sender and their phone number is on it to. I wasn't expecting any parcel, I haven't bought anything recently and I didn't recognise the name at all. But it was addressed to me so I opened it, and inside I found 7 plates, well packed in newspaper. They are old, retro looking plates with a sort of ugly brownish pattern on them, and say Made in New Zealand on the back. I wasn't sure why anyone would bother to send plates by courier, when you can get old plates so cheap at the op-shop. But I guess from that stamp on the back that they are some sort of vintage collector's item. So I did some research and found the same pattern online, on Ebay, it is Crown Lynn and from the 70s. It turns out all those old recognisable plate patterns are a bit popular these days, if you have a set in great condition you can get about $10 a plate. So anyway, I sent a text to the number listed on the courier sticker and have had no response. I guess I will call Fastway to see if they can easily trace their mistake and come back to get them. But if none of that gets me an answer, I guess I'll just list them on trademe because they're not of the pretty Crown Lynn variety and I don't want them.

So there you have my strange story for July. Perhaps in another month's time I'll have an explanation for you. Until then, here are some pictures of my animals for you to admire.

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June 2018

So June is over and now it's nearly Christmas. What happened to this year? Is time flying by what happens as you get older? This June has been a mixture of a month. The first half was terribly slow, with non-stop overcast, rainy weather. But then since the shortest day the speed picked up and I'm sure it's been a week since it rained. Already the days are brighter and it fills like winter is coming to a close - even though it's not half way through yet! My garden is definitely confused - my first daffodil has flowered! I've been pretty busy this month - I have found some motivation again and been sewing and crocheting. I've even hemmed the living room curtains (they're not perfect, I'm clearly an amateur). And I'm nearly done with our bedroom curtains, they're all pinned up and will be sewn tomorrow. They look so much better than when they were pooling on the ground!

So one out of the ordinary thing I did this month was have a party. Not a serious party but a pot-luck with a bunch of work people. It's actually the first time we've bothered to have a gathering of people at our house. And maybe that's for the better, because there were two toddlers and several incidents with red wine and chocolate cake on the carpet. Nathan took a couple of sick days from work for a cold so he was home for once, which was great because he finally got to meet my friends. But he does get stressy about spills on the carpet! We ate so much food, and I made mulled wine and mulled cider. Then we played cards against humanity, which I hadn't played before. Later, when everyone was gone, we decided to watch something on TV to relax a bit and I topped up my glass with the dregs of mulled wine, and made Nathan a cup of tea. Then I proceeded to knock both of them off the coffee table, they were completely full and went all over the couch and carpet. So, after all the little bits of mess with guests and toddlers, it was really me that was the problem. We cleaned it up as best we could, but to be honest there is a rather large mark from the red wine. Luckily it is under the couch (we had moved it and when we put it back, the stain was covered up).

In the middle of June I went to Fieldays. In case you don't know, it's like a giant A&P show, plus a giant home & living expo, plus tractors. It's huge, when you go over the hill and then see all the tents spread out below you for the first time you just stop and stare. A lot of people take photos of it (me included). I had to work for my two days there and I'm glad I was in the education hub because it is way less popular and crowded (education and careers aren't really the point of Fieldays). Everyone said I would need lots of merino layers and gumboots, but then it ended up being sunny so what I really needed was sunglasses. It wasn't rainy and most of the main ways are paved but I bought gumboots anyway because they were on sale and they are bright pink! There was loads of great things to buy, you could easily spend thousands there. More if you were in the market for a car or boat. I got some treats for my team at work and for Nathan, and a lot of free samples of dog food. I did not see the Prime Minister - I was on my lunch break while she went through our area. I had to get up at 5am to get to the airport for my flight up there, and then there was a fiasco with the rental cars and a flat battery so my bags got stranded in a locked car at Fieldays till late - so much for an early night. Needless to say I was pretty exhausted by the end of it, and I don't think I could handle working more than two days at something like that.

Around the house we have just been busy as usual. As well as curtains and sewing, I have been out in the garden doing odd bits and pieces when the weather allows. Winter crops aren't really much of a thing here - when winter really hits it's just too cold and everything stops growing, except the silverbeet. I pulled up my carrots today because they didn't seem to be growing any more. They're not very big but they're really delicious, much nicer than the ones from the market. And I ordered new lilies and planted them down by the fence, can't wait for summer to see what they look like.

Then the other weekend we were outside and the animals were hanging out while we gardened, as they do. We were digging some big gorse out from amongst our native bush area, and Nathan was swinging a heavy mattock to get through the clay and at the roots. The cat was watching, and then suddenly without warning he raced out and under the mattock, mid-swing. He aimed to go under the handle as it swung down I reckon, and the handle definitely hit him a bit. He zoomed off (so probably not hurt if he could run so fast) and of course I was worried that he had a serious injury. It completely ruined our day, I was all worried and Nathan felt bad that maybe he'd hurt my cat. The little bastard didn't come back for about 6 hours. After calling him a few times and going for a walk round the block just in case he was lying somewhere suffering internal injuries, I went looking one last time before bed and looked under the house (I'd looked there earlier of course). He was right there, sitting on a pile of old carpet staring at me. He'd heard me calling, he'd come back to the house quietly and then refused to come in, probably just sitting there listening to me call for ages, and didn't even get up when I found him, I had to go under the house and get him. What a little jerk. In return for making me worry I made him be an inside cat for most of that week.

We are still slowly preparing for our holiday of course. The countdown is on, only 10 weeks till we fly out! We have all our accommodation booked and now I am putting together a folder with everything we might need, like flight details and accommodation details and all the things we might want to do. Because I'm a nerd and I like to organise things in folders. I have a pinterest board for it too - it's arranged by must-do, might-do and maybe-do. Because I'm not allowed to make a full on itinerary, apparently being spontaneous is more fun. We don't have a housesitter yet. I've signed up to a website that was recommended to me, Trustedhousesitters. Hopefully that will get us somewhere, though I probably should have signed up sooner. It will be great to be on holiday but I will miss home and the pets. I won't miss work though!

The Airbnb thing has slowed right down, there were a few short stays this month but only one booked so far for each of the next two months. We plan to keep on at it in summer, and the price will go up because it's tourist season. We're hoping to make at least enough to build a fence. We have made about 2 grand to help with our holiday costs and we only started at the end of February so I reckon next summer we should do pretty well. We actually have a guest staying this weekend, but I've got to say it's the strangest guest situation yet. This guy has come from up Kapiti Coast for a squash tournament at the local club. He showed up last night, stopped to chat and then went of for his squash game and said 'see you in a few hours'. He hasn't been back since. Should I be worried? Maybe, but then, it's not my problem to watch out for these people and it's not like I have an emergency contact for him. It's pretty weird though. I hope he does show up at some point though; he hasn't left anything here but he does have the key to my house.

That's probably enough for tonight, I should go do dishes. I have had a very quiet Saturday night, we have started seriously planning for Nathan to change career. At some point in the future he will work a normal week and be home with me on the weekends. It will be strange at first, but definitely a change for the better! Here are some recent pics off my phone to finish with:

May 2018

May has slipped by super fast, so fast that I can hardly remember what we have been so busy with. Maybe if I took photos of stuff other than the animals it would remind me. It all started in early May, 4 days in to be precise, when my team went overboard with a May the 4th be With You morning tea at work. There was a teensy bit of pushing and nagging on my part, being the uber-organiser and all. And luckily those team members that aren't nerds have nerdy husbands, who lent us many props.

Then the next day was a book fair in Upper Hutt. I bought about 20 books - I need a much bigger bookcase. So I've been neglecting housework and enough sleep each time I pick up a new book - but I'm trying to pace myself. I've been sewing too - slowly but steadily using up bits of my rather large store of fabric. But I am never content to just stop - I like having a project on the go and then when it's done, I just go straight on to the next. Again, I think the answer is just to have a bigger wardrobe?

We've also been getting a bit of work around the house done this last month. Not that much can really get done with Nathan almost always working overtime. But little things here and there. Getting rid of gorse, clearing the vege garden. I've finally started hemming curtains - about a year after I put them up but still, it's something. I need to keep up the momentum and get the living room finished because I'm going to try be social for once and have people over. Not a party, just a mid-winter potluck thing, but we've actually never had a group of people over since we moved in - we didn't bother with a housewarming, there was too much unpacking to do. And being rather anti-social we don't have mutual friends that we spend time with so it is just my people probably - mostly (all?) work people. Hopefully it goes well. Maybe it can become a tradition, we'll see.

It's only 3 and a half months now till we go on holiday to Europe. We have started booking accommodation and we're still finding out about all the awesome stuff we might want to do while we're away, and we used some of our Airbnb money to buy concert tickets. We've still got quite steady Airbnb bookings to bring in a little extra cash for the trip - and we'll definitely do it over summer to make up a bit for all the money we plan on spending overseas. But the novelty has definitely worn off, I'm sick of meeting new people. One of the things I dislike about it is the review process - it's important but I hate having to write reviews about people, always saying the same thing because it would be mean to say anything else, and it's not like posting a rating and review about a product or a movie - it's about people. And people we hardly know. I've stopped reading the ones that get posted about us. The next big Airbnb task is actually to figure out how to pay tax on it. And then before you know it, we will be the travellers staying in other people's houses and hopefully we can find someone really good to look after our house and pets while we are away.

April 2018

Today is the first of May and I think I'm not the only one wondering where April went. Work has been busy so most of my team feels pretty surprised that it's May already. Time seems to have started doing weird things, like today is only Tuesday but could swear that I've already worked more than two days this week. And last week, by the time ANZAC day arrived it felt like the weekend was desperately needed - but it was only Wednesday!

I guess one reason April has flown by is because work has been really busy. The science conference that I organise was last week and there were some last minute emergencies, and it didn't go perfectly on the day, but it was OK and feedback so far is almost entirely positive. I already have a list of ideas for next year though. And I'm lucky in that this year it wasn't just me making it happen, I have a new team-member that is working on some of my projects with me, and we have a support person to help with the logistics. Which is good because in April we were also running a tertiary level scholarship, and I've been organising the film schedule for a virtual field-trip, and there was this that we sponsored, so that was both really exhausting but led to a lot of good connections to get our curriculum resources noticed and used. This week I am catching up on things and then next week the craziness starts again.

Another reason April has been busy is the Airbnb. We have been pretty booked out, but a lot of short bookings instead of week-long stays, so that means a lot more work keeping the place tidy enough for first-time guests, making up the guest room every couple of days, and continually repeating all the things you have to say when someone first arrives. It gets exhausting. The novelty has worn off, and actually so has our popularity - I guess we're in the off season now and our future bookings reflects that. We still need to keep making money for our Europe trip, because we want to have a good trip and do lots of stuff and buy lots of things! So just to put it out there - feel free to send us donations!

So we are pretty busy but things are good here. We had a bit of a storm - and it was centered right over Wainuiomata. The thunder was so loud that it shook the house and woke me up, and at first I couldn't tell if it was thunder or an earthquake. The cat and dog didn't much appreciate it. We had freezing cold days and really warm mild days, so it's been hard to dress comfortably for work! My tomatoes have still been ripening, though after the storm a lot of green ones came down. I made a big batch of tomato relish and it turned out so well, that recipe is a keeper. My pantry is super full of jars of jam and relish now. I have also been sewing, making a dent in my fabric collection - but then on the weekend there was a fill-a-bag fabric sale at the op shop and I got more fabric. And this weekend there is a book fair so my book collection will grow too. When the weather has been good we've been working in the garden, clearing gorse and weeds from above the retaining wall. Now there are daffodils planted up there, and while in the long term we want to fill that space with useful plants, for now I have sprinkled a flower seed-mix to try and keep the grass away. It will look great in spring, I can't wait. Hopefully it won't all come up too early, while we are in Europe.

Plans for Europe, if you're interested and not feeling too jealous, are coming along nicely. We will spend roughly a week in Denmark, then Germany, then The Netherlands. We might do a day trip to Sweden from Denmark, and maybe a day trip to Belgium from Netherlands - but it depends how we feel when we're there. There is a big festival on when we're in Germany and an ELO concert in Amsterdam. We've been looking at museums to visit, and the best shopping spots. In Copenhagen is Europe's oldest amusement park (it's still functional) and a really big aquarium. In Germany we will mostly be in Hamburg but will spend a day in Bremen, where I spent time during my PhD, and maybe visit Lubeck which is famous for marzipan. In Amsterdam there is a cat-cafe and a pizza-cruise on the river. I'm looking forward to shopping, I want clothes and shoes, and buying lots of chocolate, eating all the great European foods and seeing lots of sights. My blog posts will surely improve greatly!

Until then, you can settle for pictures of the animals, the house and this skink that I found.