tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91321567351995699642024-03-14T06:52:48.610+00:00Downunder DiariesJaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672376025651666104noreply@blogger.comBlogger296125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9132156735199569964.post-20572274939816454212019-10-31T07:10:00.001+00:002019-10-31T07:10:19.290+00:00October 2019<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This month we have been pretty internally focused. I've been working on getting seeds started for the veggie garden and we have been replacing the fencing around the chicken yard, from waratah and wire to proper posts and rails. Here is me with blondie, who is the feisty one that chases the dog.<br />
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The weather has had some late Fridays so I don't know how well our fruit trees will go this year. But all my flower gardens are doing really well, I guess they've had a few years to establish now.<br />
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At the start of the month a friend asked me to make a cake for a family birthday. It was for a guy, and he was into computer stuff, so I made a motherboard cake.<br />
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Unfortunately she had a naughty dog that somehow got up onto the table and ate a third of it. They salvaged the rest. Bit there was a lot of green vomit later!<br />
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Now that the weather has warmed up we've started to take weekend outings on the bike. Here we are at the coast that is right at the other end of wainui. We never usually go there because you can't take dogs, as there are endangered birds nesting there.<br />
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Today, being Halloween, included some costume hilarity from my team. Its been awhile since we have done silly things, but my colleague recently bought an inflatable Trex costume...<br />
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Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672376025651666104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9132156735199569964.post-85408985808034586192019-10-01T20:13:00.003+01:002019-10-01T20:13:38.581+01:00September 2019<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This month has been a long one. It was the start of spring and in Wellington we have had a lot of ups and downs in terms of the weather. My plants are coming up well but it's lucky I didn't start to plant my seedlings out yet, because it turned cold again this week. The daffodils have come and gone, the fruit trees are starting to flower, and my lilies are starting to peek up.<br />
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The month started on a bit of a bad note. In the first week of September I was at work, in a team meeting, and my phone rang with a number I didn't know. My manager wasn't at the meeting that day so I popped out to answer it. It was one of the builders from next door, I didn't realise they had my number but I'm glad they do because he called to tell me that two roaming dogs had jumped our fence and attacked our chooks. The builders chased them away and called animal control, and helped the cat get down from a tree. One chook was injured - luckily the builders were there to intervene or maybe all my chooks and even the cat could have been killed. At first I thought I would stay at work but I couldn't knowing that there was an animal at home suffering so I came home and found the poor girl in her nest box, pretty still and quiet. I thought it was McQueen but I'm not so sure now, it might have been Goldilocks. I cleared away the feathers and saw a pretty big wound so I took her to the vet, who said the bone was fractured and her internal organs probably pierced. So I had her put down, otherwise I don't know how long she would have lasted and she was probably in shock and pain.<br />
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That was a bit of a rough day, and the cat didn't come back till quite late at night. We buried McQueen/Goldilocks in the chook yard and planted a shrub over her. At this rate the chook yard will be revegetated quite quickly! I contacted someone I work with who offered me baby chicks and she said when one of her hens hatches a clutch she'll give me the mother hen and the babies. That will be nice. For now, we just have three chooks left. We are getting much less eggs, but there are now so few of them that I can let them out to garden with me and still keep an eye on all of them.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-16Eh9e2RIII/XZOlOWEOtVI/AAAAAAAALZ4/dIkvTktDtTwBi58h0pn4GTluKBlxewpSwCKgBGAsYHg/s1600/IMG_20190914_183045.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-16Eh9e2RIII/XZOlOWEOtVI/AAAAAAAALZ4/dIkvTktDtTwBi58h0pn4GTluKBlxewpSwCKgBGAsYHg/s320/IMG_20190914_183045.jpg" width="240" /></a>There was a big plant sale in September too so we bought a bunch of native plants. We are slowly extending our little bit of native bush. I had to go to Auckland for work earlier this month - it was nothing great and two days of catering (and eating too much because it's hard not to try everything) left me very ready to come home. We then took a long weekend and had a little city escape for our anniversary - we got a room at the nicest hotel in the city and went out for window-shopping, food and drinks. We had a bit of a night on the town. It was nice, but the weather was crap. I got flowers - for the first time in six years.<br />
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We've been trying to take it easy for the rest of September. There is plenty to do out in the garden but the weather has often kept us in. I have been trying to get into a bit more sewing - I have a couple of projects on the go now. And I have been baking - I'm practising various frosting techniques any time there is a celebration at work that requires cake. Also, I have a sourdough starter and am trying to learn how to make sourdough. It is good, but not perfect yet. We've had some airbnb guests to bring in some money - I really want to get a fence built on our lower boundary soon.<br />
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In other pet news, the cat has started stealing the dog's bed every chance he gets, and when he gets pushed out of there he takes the dog's spot on the couch. Cher won't make him move, I have to coax her into bed and when the cat get a bit squashed and stood on, he finally moves. The cat has also been making himself at home in the chicken coop, I have caught him sleeping in the nest box when I went out for eggs, and he is often seen going in and out.<br />
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Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672376025651666104noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9132156735199569964.post-20124340859408457992019-09-01T08:26:00.004+01:002019-09-01T08:26:49.959+01:00August 2019<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7dNB0mUObEg/XWtx_kEBMeI/AAAAAAAALRQ/Cie3bG0veWQ9X0t8VfHTYcoi0hsEl0VdQCKgBGAs/s1600/IMG_20190804_105153.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7dNB0mUObEg/XWtx_kEBMeI/AAAAAAAALRQ/Cie3bG0veWQ9X0t8VfHTYcoi0hsEl0VdQCKgBGAs/s320/IMG_20190804_105153.jpg" width="240" /></a>August began with the most awesome purchase of a really great bookcase. I can't get enough excited adjectives in there, it really was just the best thing ever. Such a great day. It was the 2nd of August and I was a bit bored and checking my email in the evening. Then there was an email saying one of the bookcases I was watching on Trademe had a buy-now added. A buy now of $150 for a rimu bookcase, 2 metres tall and 1.3 metres wide, in great condition. That is such an amazing deal. I bought it and then emailed them immediately because I wanted it right away. We got to pick it up two days later, on Sunday morning. It's huge! And so great. Maybe they are moving house and want to get rid of stuff because when Nathan collected it they said 'do you want this mirror' and so next thing you know we have a new mirror too! It's a full length mirror, solid wood frame and backing, really good quality. I was in need of a good mirror.<br />
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I also got new gumboots at the start of August. It sounds boring but it was actually great - I got a refund for the cute ones I bought online that turned out to be rubbish and it was enough to get the good gumboots that I wanted, because they were on sale! They arrived super fast and then I didn't have to suffer through wet feet on any more dog walks. And I have a new coat - I made it. I started it last year and got discouraged so I put it away in the closet. I finally pulled it out when the weather got really cold and now it is finished. Of course, it's not cold enough for a wool coat now but I wore it into work once, and everything asked where I got it (it's amazing and purple you see). Now it will be waiting for next winter. Finally since we're talking about wardrobes, I also feel like I have new boots because I bought these great green leather boots in Amsterdam last year, but then I put them in the closet and didn't wear them. After looking at a shoe sale and nearly buying new boots, I decided to save money by wearing the ones that I already have. And they are great.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vt1G17fK6b4/XWtx_p6hdcI/AAAAAAAALRQ/PXn4lO1Y8ygpyk3XxXWYQip7I74XlKANQCKgBGAs/s1600/IMG_20190817_133930.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vt1G17fK6b4/XWtx_p6hdcI/AAAAAAAALRQ/PXn4lO1Y8ygpyk3XxXWYQip7I74XlKANQCKgBGAs/s320/IMG_20190817_133930.jpg" width="320" /></a>The biggest event in August was the book fair. After buying a great bookcase we had lots of space for new books. We got up really early (well normal time but it was Saturday), walked Cher and headed into the city to get in line. I got puzzles and books, he got cds (for the car) and books. I would have stayed longer but it's probably better that I got pulled away. We spent $100. And it was still early! So off to the market for fruit and vegetables - unfortunately the rain didn't hold off and we got soaked. So we went for brunch and read new books while we were there. It was nice, we don't go out often any more. Then when we got home and I arranged all the books in our bookcase.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VyDdiJ7vISI/XWtx_iYvZkI/AAAAAAAALRQ/jrEqzsCLyrgdr1v2f7sVkJBJuT4TWZIIQCKgBGAs/s1600/IMG_20190822_100612.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VyDdiJ7vISI/XWtx_iYvZkI/AAAAAAAALRQ/jrEqzsCLyrgdr1v2f7sVkJBJuT4TWZIIQCKgBGAs/s320/IMG_20190822_100612.jpg" width="320" /></a>At work our team had to put on a morning tea for our directorate - we take turns to do a themed morning tea. It's a little competitive. Our team in the past has done high tea, international soils day, and the most epic May 4th Star Wars morning tea. This time we wanted to have a science theme so we made it 'Science Fair'. It was a bit stressful to be honest, as I am the organiser and everyone was pretty busy and there was not much time for everyone to get into it. It went well, people were impressed and they really liked the food. One of the top hits was my colleague's sourdough, and she gave out starter for people to try making their own sourdough bread.<br />
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Mum came to visit for a night, it was only the second time she has been to our house and a lot has changed since then. I took her to the fabric store (they had a big sale) and I got lining for my next sewing projects, we went to Spotlight for patterns on sale (yay new dress patterns), we went to the new little art gallery that is right here in Wainui (and of course mum talked to the artists for ages) and then we went over to the little boutique 'eco' dress shop, where the lady makes clothes out of old clothes (Mum talked to her for ages too). In the evening we went to an event, it was why I invited Mum up. A friend invited me because she didn't want to go on her own. There is this thing called Sew Social and they put on events for people who sew. This was a cocktail event, it was quite cool to see what a lot of people have made. But it was also very loud, there were a lot of people in a small space. I won a prize, so now I have $50 to spend at a local fabric store. So it was well worth going to the event, I got some nice drinks, the food was decent (though not enough dessert so we had to get ice cream after), and I got 2/3 of my ticket price back in the form of a fabric store voucher.<br />
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All in all it's been a busy month. Now it is spring and time to start getting our veggie garden. Nathan made me a little greenhouse out of our old BBQ.<br />
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Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672376025651666104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9132156735199569964.post-22614850069815764942019-08-04T01:17:00.002+01:002019-08-04T01:17:43.862+01:00July 2019<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
July has been a pretty big month. I feel like I have been saying that a lot lately. But it's still true. A lot has been going on. I guess some of it is still the hangover from June though. So after having to book expensive travel to Australia for a wedding and buy a car, this month we had to get surgery for Cher. It was a bit more expensive than what I had saved but it could have been worse. I took a long weekend, I have plenty of annual leave luckily, and she went in at the start of the month for getting her three lipomas (big lumps of fat) removed. She came home all drugged up again, with a cone on because they thought she would nibble at the drain that was sticking out of her armpit wound. She didn't like the cone though and wouldn't settle so I took it off. She didn't worry her stitches or drain at all, but the drain was leaking plenty of stuff so I dressed her in big t-shirts for the weekend. She was pretty whiny for a couple of days, then was better after the drain came out. The wounds were all dry and healing well by the Tuesday, which was good because I was back at work.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DzmzVE10GNY/XUYjgTmw2mI/AAAAAAAALG4/tcrjrTfWB3EEV_lU7jUn_Wj8TShLe6YywCKgBGAs/s1600/IMG_20190722_114344.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DzmzVE10GNY/XUYjgTmw2mI/AAAAAAAALG4/tcrjrTfWB3EEV_lU7jUn_Wj8TShLe6YywCKgBGAs/s200/IMG_20190722_114344.jpg" width="200" /></a>With the surgery over, and the memory of my dead head fading, the month started to get a bit better. We've had some good weather, got stuff done in the garden. Went to the zoo for a work away-day and got to see the baby capybaras. Despite having spent lots of money recently, I have been on a furniture-buying spree. We got a cute retro shelf to hang on the wall - I'm not 100% happy with where Nathan hung it but at least my potplants have somewhere to sit in the sun now. The we were looking out for a proper bookcase. After bidding on a few and missing out and trying to figure out what our upper spending limit was, I made such a great bargain. But that was August so you'll have to wait for that one.<br />
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I've also been finding time for sewing, and have bought a ticket to a sewing social event. It is called 'Frocktails' and is at one of the cocktail bars in town. You wear something that you have made and meet other like-minded people. Of course I don't much like meeting a bunch of new people, so I'm going with a bunch of people I know already. My friend at work didn't want to go alone and now there's a crew of us. Including my Mum. She hasn't visiting us in Wellington in ages so it will be good to show her the progress on our house and yard.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XKzpnxf1XWg/XUYjgXZvE_I/AAAAAAAALG4/xumiiLDMlRwuPCpUGrqJbruoKgnRupKtQCKgBGAs/s1600/IMG_20190725_201130.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XKzpnxf1XWg/XUYjgXZvE_I/AAAAAAAALG4/xumiiLDMlRwuPCpUGrqJbruoKgnRupKtQCKgBGAs/s200/IMG_20190725_201130.jpg" width="150" /></a>I've been baking as well - I have committed to making a wedding cake so now I need to practice recipes until I find the perfect white-chocolate cake recipe. After I have been paid I am going to sign up to a cake decorating class as well. I've always wanted to learn more, as I can only do the basics of frosting. There's a place here in Lower Hutt that does a very reasonable price for about 6 or 8 lessons I think it is. As well as learning more about frosting, it will go into making figurines, air-brushing and doing the drip-cake thing where it looks like yummy stuff is dripping down the cake without making a puddle-y mess.<br />
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Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672376025651666104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9132156735199569964.post-29837980768393852992019-07-01T09:48:00.000+01:002019-07-01T09:48:07.995+01:00June 2019<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well today might not be the best day to reflect on June. It is July 1 and this morning one of my hens died of a massive prolapse. It wasn't very nice. Don't Google it. I think she was dead when I found her, I couldn't feel a heartbeat and she was only a little warm. But when I moved her I couldn't tell if her leg movement was reflex or actual movement. Luckily Nathan was still home so he made sure of it. But there was flapping - again not sure if it was reflex or if she wasn't dead. It was really not a good start to the day, or the week, or the month. After work we borrowed her and planted some plants on top.<br />
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This morning's little adventure came after a bit of an intense weekend. We bought a new (to us) car this weekend. The old car was really making lots of noise, like a grinding noise when turning sharply. Warrant was due in a month so it was just time, not worth fixing. Car shopping is frustrating and stressful but we found something we liked and bought it. It's got great service history and is in really good nick, if we look after it I think it will last well. On top of that, this weekend just been was a big one because we had tickets to the pink floyd experience. So we went out, had food and drinks and went to a completely mind blowing show. It's no wonder I'm so tired today.<br />
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Earlier in June we built an extension for the chicken coop because they were all sleeping (and pooing) in the nest box. Plus I wanted more space so I could get more chickens. Which I do actually need now that I'm two down (did I mention one just went missing awhile back?). I'm back to the original four as it was the two strays that are lost/dead.<br />
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We also planned a midwinter Xmas that everyone was either too busy or ill to attend - there's been some bad bugs going around. So it was a pretty small party, there were lots of leftovers, we played a great Harry Potter board game that a friend brought along and I will not bother making eggnog again, it is way too rich and creamy for me.<br />
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We also had to buy flights to Tasmania for a wedding in January so it's been an expensive month overall! Time to rebuild my savings account. We'll be in the south island over Xmas and New year's, probably in Christchurch but pay Xmas plans aren't set yet.<br />
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I gotta say, June was a bit of a rough and exhausting month and I'm glad it's over, shortest day has been and now the days will get longer.<br />
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Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672376025651666104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9132156735199569964.post-75996783002504056262019-06-02T07:17:00.000+01:002019-06-02T07:17:04.757+01:00May 2019<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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May was quite an eventful month. It started with a trip to Christchurch. We arrived on May the 4th and my sister wanted us to do a May the 4th be with you party (don't even get me started on the trip to the airport that Saturday - let's just say that midday Saturday is not a good time to drive through Wellington and that despite low speed limits in airport carparks, people can still manage to have massive car crashes!). So the May 4th plans led to my making a jedi costume, and considering that I was going to a moderate amount of effort, Nathan agreed to make it worth my while by wearing it for the entire day. So he wore it to the airport, in the plan, around Chch streets and then in the evening while we ate pizzas and watched a couple of Star Wars movies. The next day I got my sister a cat, as her graduation present. Meet Minnie, a 1 year old tortoiseshell girl. She's small and very cute. So if that sounds like enough excitement for one trip away, you'd be wrong. There's more. There was a birthday dinner (for my sister-in-law), and Rochelle's graduation dinner was also the first time that our parents all met each other. And then there was graduation itself. It was a very long four days! We had housesitters looking after everything in Wellington, and we were very glad to be home.</div>
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May here in Wellington has featured some nice weather, but cold. Cold enough that the cat has suddenly started joining us on the couch in the evenings - which Cher is not so impressed about. I have re-done my lily garden and redistributed all my bulbs. Unfortunately the weather didn't hold out long enough for us to really get everything sorted before winter - the grass is so long. We began building an extension for the chicken house. I never did think it was big enough and they all started sleeping in the nest box instead of on their roosts. Plus they are getting older and have stopped laying for the winter. So I want to get some more chooks, add to my flock (I currently have 5). If we have a few more they will need more space. So we have a frame, a floor and a roof. It just needs cladding! I've also been offered four 3-year-old Orpington hens. I wasn't intending on getting four more, but I am a sucker for animals needing a home so we'll see.<br />
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Also in May I went to Napier for work. It was nice to be away, it helped me to get less stressed about all the things on my work to-do list, and then I felt more ready for the next couple of weeks. I saw a friend I hadn't seen in ages, and another friend that I hadn't seen in a few months. Napier is not that far away, I really should have visited there before now. Anyway, I think I'll be going back sooner rather than later because they have this Art-Deco festival every year and I want to go. I have a few friends that are keen on dressing up so I reckon we'll make a road trip out of it for the next festival, or maybe the one after.</div>
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The other big thing that happened in May was the Tough Guy & Gal Challenge. Me and two friends were going to do it but one friend was sick so Nathan took her ticket. It is one of those run/obstacle course/wade through mud sort of things. It was held here in Wainuiomata. It was 6k but so, so much harder than a 6k run. I swear it nearly killed me. It was all well and good until I got to the hill. It was so steep, you couldn't just walk up it, you had to pull yourself up on ropes! I managed the course in 55 minutes, and then when I finished, I got myself an ice-cream. There was a cold wind though and I should have got myself some dry clothes! I have learnt for next year though - because we will probably do it again and hopefully manage to pull a team together, now that we can tell everyone how great it is (from first hand experience). After the race we found out that of all the events around the country (they have them in lots of different places) the Wellington one is the hardest, with the most obstacles and the only one with a big hill. The Rotorua one ends with a hot-pool - Rotorua is smelly but a hot-pool would have been nice...</div>
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Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672376025651666104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9132156735199569964.post-75677612070875102132019-05-01T20:28:00.001+01:002019-05-01T20:28:37.540+01:00April 2019<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
April has passed by so fast, I feel like just yesterday I was writing about March. Things that I thought I had loads of time to get done are now fast approaching. Work has been busy and home has been pretty busy. We have finished the patio and I have been hemming curtains. I spend time making Easter treats and at work we had an Easter baking competition - that I won. There were only three entries but it still counts. I learnt how to make marshmallow Easter eggs and that is definitely going to be a yearly thing from now on - I even managed to do the yellow yolk!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5VnCteJtJUI/XMnxU9krVNI/AAAAAAAAKu4/1F__r3AOwogV2JBhhlRE11vOlmJ7NdkVwCKgBGAs/s1600/IMG_20190414_143804.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5VnCteJtJUI/XMnxU9krVNI/AAAAAAAAKu4/1F__r3AOwogV2JBhhlRE11vOlmJ7NdkVwCKgBGAs/s320/IMG_20190414_143804.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="240" /></a>That's pretty much the extent of the excitement in April. We had a good few days off - some nice weather to get work outside done, some grey weather for staying in and watching movies. I discovered that Nathan is a master popcorn maker - guess I had just never asked him to make me popcorn before! I have done a bit of gardening but the job of lifting my bulbs and redistributing is still to come - hopefully we continue to get clear sunny weather through May! I also took Cher to Mitre10 twice this month - so we have gone from not knowing she was allowed in to almost becoming a regular. She was an embarrassment the first time but on the second time she was much better, probably on account of the cheese cubes I had in my purse! The poor girl seems to have a really itchy ear so I'm going to go to the vet and ask for advice - I can't just take her to the vet, she freaks out too much and would need to be sedated for them to look in her ear properly. I'm hoping that can wait until she goes in to get her lumps removed - which is looking like June because I just can't take any time off work in May.<br />
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May is going to be busy and it's day 2 already! Off to Christchurch this weekend, for various family celebrations. There will be May the 4th, a couple of birthdays, a graduation and hopefully a cat adoption.<br />
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Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672376025651666104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9132156735199569964.post-55070792456528416922019-04-07T06:52:00.002+01:002019-04-07T06:52:29.855+01:00February 2019<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
February has flashed by and not much has really happened up here in Wainui. We had some guests, the weather turned bad, then it got better, and now we've finally started on making a patio for our entryway. We did so much in January that this month I have largely failed in my goal to do more interesting things. But I have plenty of March plans so I think one quiet month is OK.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--vaISEEUnbY/XHt1ywrpapI/AAAAAAAAKgM/ysdrF6SIUa4V1muQNp_a6lLGmTuNGbjPACKgBGAs/s1600/IMG_20190203_152621.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--vaISEEUnbY/XHt1ywrpapI/AAAAAAAAKgM/ysdrF6SIUa4V1muQNp_a6lLGmTuNGbjPACKgBGAs/s200/IMG_20190203_152621.jpg" width="150" /></a>We have been making the most of nice weather. We've been to the pool to play on the hydroslide and been to the beach - not just to walk Cher but to go swimming. Cher doesn't much like it when we swim, she stays on the beach and barks at us. So we tempted her in with a tennis ball and then played piggy-in-the-middle to keep her in the water with us.<br />
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Then last weekend we spent the whole two days moving paving bricks. We bought them via trademe from a guy in Wellington city, and then we hired a trailer and went in to get them. We estimated the weight of the bricks and basically just filled the trailer. Then got a bit worried at how low the tyres were squished down so we went and put some air in them, and more oil in the car - it seemed to be completely empty. And then we carefully drove home, managing a high speed of about 30k over the Wainui hill. We called some friends to help unload, then went back to the city and did it all over again. When we got home the second time we weighed a brick and did some math - we reckon we were towing at least 2.5 times more weight than we should have been! We are very lucky we didn't ruin our car, or the trailer, or both. Cher seemed quite interested in the wall of pavers we built. By the time of my next post, we'll have pictures of the completed patio for you!<br />
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So after that weekend of hard manual labour, I could hardly move. But that eased up after a day. I felt very silly at work though because every time I sat down or stood up my muscles were so stiff and sore that an involuntary pathetic moan would come out.<br />
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A couple of days after that, I got a flat tyre. Luckily I had driven all the way to the bigger station that day in Petone, because I had shops to visit. When I realised that noise was coming from my car and must be a flat tyre, I was just around the corner from the tyre place. I could have stopped to change the tyre but I don't think I would have been very successful on my own ad it probably would have taken all night. So I drove to the tyre place but in doing so ruined the tyre. While checking it over they also looked at the other tyres and told me that they all need replaced within the next 6 months. So that was great. I got a new tyre to replace the one I ruined and before our next warrant, we'll get all the rest. Paying for the patio comes first, then new tyres. Yay. They lasted 2 years - the tyre guy was very impressed they lasted so long with going over Wainui hill every day. Apparently it's really that rough on your tyres.<br />
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Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672376025651666104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9132156735199569964.post-8859047385570795382019-04-07T06:52:00.001+01:002019-04-07T06:53:31.832+01:00March 2019<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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*Just went to publish this and found that February was never published - for the record, I did write it on time*<br />
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March has been a very busy month, which is why it has taken me so long to say anything about it. We started March by buying a whole heap of paving stones. We learnt some lessons about towing and luckily did not destroy our car or the trailer. We did have two back-breaking weekends though, first with moving the pavers to our place and then the next weekend, laying them. We definitely did the maths wrong because we have loads left over. We haven't finished yet though, we still need to hire a paver-cutter to do the edging. But first we are re-doing some of the centre because there's a bit of a noticeable hump. Only we have had guests and bad weather so finishing the job has been put off for the last few weekends. Actually last weekend was really unseasonable hot - too hot to work. So that is where we are at - we nearly have a patio. Summer is over and the weather has turned bad but still, we finally did something about it.<br />
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March has also been spent making preserves. Several weekends were spent making jam and relish. Our peach tree started dropping peaches by the bucket-full, but they were mostly unripe and not great for eating. I think I'll rename it the Jam tree because that's mostly what it's good for. I have so much jam, and the freezer is full of peach puree. There was a good crop of wild blackberries this year and I seem to have done OK with relishes this year too. None are excessively vinegary.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qLYKXYM9E8o/XKmKcswXGZI/AAAAAAAAKpQ/q-dWCOD6sqY0a-JR9ARgRAWvLcEa_0KvwCKgBGAs/s1600/IMG_20190313_151331.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qLYKXYM9E8o/XKmKcswXGZI/AAAAAAAAKpQ/q-dWCOD6sqY0a-JR9ARgRAWvLcEa_0KvwCKgBGAs/s320/IMG_20190313_151331.jpg" width="240" /></a>This month has also included dealing with a sick dog and a sick car. The car had stopped a couple of times just in the middle of driving. The car turned out to need a new cam-sensor. It wasn't so pricey to fix as I was worried about and the engine light is off after being on constantly for about two years. The mechanic didn't even say anything about my ignoring it for all that time. As for my poor dog - we noticed a new lump under one of her forelegs. She has a couple of fat lumps already but this had appeared so suddenly that I thought it must be an allergic reaction or something. So I took her to the vet but she freaks out at the vet - it's like she has a complete personality shift. Which means the vet can hardly look at her. They thought it was probably another fat lump but to be sure they needed to be able to put a needle in it, which they couldn't do with her going crazy and crying and struggling. So the next morning I took her in and they sedated her. I collected her after lunch - and it was just another fatty lump. I'm glad I got her early because she's not used to being in a cage or crate, so she started really acting up as she woke. I took her home, where I was torn between laughing at her (she couldn't keep her tongue in her mouth and could hardly walk, let alone go in a straight line), and feeling so sorry for her because every time she woke up she started crying again, so she must have felt quite ill. It didn't wear off till about 3am so next time I do this (and there will be a next time because I'm saving up to get her lumps removed) I will be taking two days off work, so that if she keeps me awake all night crying, I won't have to work the next day!</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6Mxql001A9A/XKmKcvtlgkI/AAAAAAAAKpQ/4cQuIgmdbhwAa8WSmCHOl67WEGoBe7tywCKgBGAs/s1600/IMG_20190317_152645.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6Mxql001A9A/XKmKcvtlgkI/AAAAAAAAKpQ/4cQuIgmdbhwAa8WSmCHOl67WEGoBe7tywCKgBGAs/s320/IMG_20190317_152645.jpg" width="240" /></a>You'd think that would be enough for March but all of the above was within the first two weeks of March! We also had a visit from a friend from Germany. We did some tourist stuff in the city, we went to Weta Workshop (the tour is not as good as it was a few years ago) and we went horse-riding. My butt was so sore after, and my horse was quite lazy. Her name was charm but she wasn't that charming - she kept farting! There was also a pop-up second hand clothing sale and I got a great dress and a string of real pearls! I was pretty pleased with my shopping. Finally, for the last weekend in March, we went out on the motorbike to a beers and bbq festival in Upper Hutt. I have just got proper riding boots so we had to test them out. Half an hour is quite a long ride on the back of the bike though. The festival was good, but they weren't expecting it to be so popular - the bbq food trucks ran out of food!</div>
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So that was March, and now it's April. Don't have any exciting plans yet so I'll have to work on that. Already have lots of plans for May though so maybe we'll just keep things quiet for the next couple of weeks.</div>
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Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672376025651666104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9132156735199569964.post-60306779609814219612019-02-02T22:03:00.002+00:002019-02-02T22:03:59.584+00:00January 2018<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sra_ZrNICGg/XFYN7aVgPvI/AAAAAAAAKZM/R-zo84vmnswkNllrmmOedVKzvIIb4urtwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_20190101_150139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sra_ZrNICGg/XFYN7aVgPvI/AAAAAAAAKZM/R-zo84vmnswkNllrmmOedVKzvIIb4urtwCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_20190101_150139.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iQC8IXUkNz4/XFYN_BQb6rI/AAAAAAAAKZU/_bdbjOSTC-cEtSQQtn_g3HbGj51jXiIXQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_20190102_175346.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iQC8IXUkNz4/XFYN_BQb6rI/AAAAAAAAKZU/_bdbjOSTC-cEtSQQtn_g3HbGj51jXiIXQCLcBGAs/s200/IMG_20190102_175346.jpg" width="150" /></a>At the end of last year I said I would try to do more interesting things this year. A very vague and quite easy New Years resolution really. Or at least, it's easy while you're still on summer holidays. We have started the year well, first off I got a motorcycle helmet for Christmas so we've started going on rides together. So there's something new. My helmet is cute and girly. The we had the in-laws visiting and they had their dog with them - she's a guide-dog pup so while she's still in the training programme she gets to go everywhere. However she has a heart condition so she won't be a guide dog. And I discovered that having a second dog in the house is way more stressful than I expected, especially when it's not your dog so you haven't trained it and it doesn't see you as the boss. Cher was OK with it, just a bit growly because she's a lot older and doesn't want to play constantly. However the cat hated it and hardly came inside the whole four days of the visit, and he is an inside cat at night so struggling to get him in at night stressed me out further. Finally, the pup chased my chooks. So all in all, I won't be welcoming someone elses' puppy into my home again! But at least she was cute.<br />
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Of course, just because I am trying to do more interesting stuff I have not stopped taking photos of the pets and garden, so here are my roses. I only choose ones that are both pretty and have interesting names. So from left to right below I have Betty Boop, Claude Monet and Blue Moon. They got black spot but we sprayed them and they're doing better.<br />
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Next up in January was Nathan's 30th and he never did think of a present for me to get him with all the money I had been saving up over the year, so we spent it all on activities instead. First we went up to Kapiti Coast and Nathan got to fly a helicopter. He said it was really scary.<br />
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Next we went to Upper Hutt and had lunch at a fancy garden venue, then we did some clay bird shooting and archery. I enjoyed the archery most, though I was more successful at close range and they didn't have arm guards so I ended up with a huge bruise up my arm. Nathan liked the shooting most. I think both activities could probably be done better - a more open space for the shooting and a knowledgeable instructor and arm guards for the archery would have been good. And it was super hot out there. But we had fun, and I'd be keen to try archery again.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8FXg5HhOEao/XFYOVw-au1I/AAAAAAAAKZ0/6__YdVs-EiY_PQM0-r0LlHSw4oLoz9VUgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_20190113_130412.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8FXg5HhOEao/XFYOVw-au1I/AAAAAAAAKZ0/6__YdVs-EiY_PQM0-r0LlHSw4oLoz9VUgCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_20190113_130412.jpg" width="240" /></a>The last birthday activity was axe-throwing. There's a place here in Wellington that has set up an axe-throwing place where you go with a bunch of people and play target practice with axes. It was probably the best activity of the bunch (except maybe the helicopter flying but I didn't get to do that). It was something completely different, the guy running it actually taught you the technique and gave you tips, and made it into a competitive game the whole way through. Daniel and his girlfriend were visiting us so they came along. I was really gutted that I didn't manage to beat Daniel. Usually you have to have a large group but January in Wellington is pretty quiet so we got lucky in being allowed to book for just four people. They also played good music so all in all it was a good day.</div>
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The rest of January has been the usual. We still have plenty to do outside and around the house. It's been really hot, and on one of the really hot days we had a very impressive fog to start the day off. We are lucky in that our house sits above the fog level so we just get this great view.</div>
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Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672376025651666104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9132156735199569964.post-46412376778801429202019-01-03T21:46:00.001+00:002019-01-03T21:46:34.286+00:00End of 2018<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have been lazy these past few days, and more inclined to devour the book series that I'm reading than to writing a blog post. Plus, I'm not even sure that I have much to say for the months of November and December 2018. Looking at the photos I've taken doesn't help much, they are almost all of my pets and the few that aren't, seem to be of my garden. My New Year's resolution is to do more interesting things and take photos, so that I have more interesting stories to tell. Instead of the usual - going to work, taking the dog for walks, working on the garden, repeat.<br />
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There have been some less ordinary things. I had a birthday - I took the day of work, we went to the city and I got two books from a secondhand book store (books that I really wanted but didn't know existed till I saw them there, and it was awesome). I had wanted an extravagant milkshake but the place was closed, turns out quite a few places don't open on a Monday (and I had one a couple of weeks later and it didn't live up to the hype). I've been mostly eating healthy but it was my birthday so the lack of milkshake required that we go find something else sweet and fattening. I had a brownie & salted caramel ice-cream sundae, which was good but I think just lots of ice-cream would have been just as good. Next year for my birthday maybe I just ask for a tub of fancy ice-cream and watch movies on the couch!<br />
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In November we also went down South, which was great. Except for the delayed flights. Both ways. AirNZ seems to be going downhill. I got all my visiting done and spent the weekend at Colac Bay - possibly for the last time if it sells. I visited Isabel's Weaving Studio - I always used to visit here and think that one day, when I wasn't a poor student, I would buy one of her woven blankets. Which I have finally done. We went to Gemstone Beach, where I picked up pretty stones but despite having the gemstone guide that is available, I have no idea what any of my stones are. Then we ate lots of pizza and cookies. Despite bringing swimming gear, we didn't end up being brave enough to go in the water. I probably won't be back for another year, maybe it's time that Southland people come up here to visit us?<br />
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In December the only notable events included food (and I'm not just talking about Christmas). At work my nerdy science team put on another themed morning tea (pushed along by me of course) and this time it was to celebrate International Day of Soils. All the food was soil or earth themed and we had educational labels, and handed out 'I love Soil' stickers. I made a layer cake that looked like a soil profile - sort of. There were layer dips/soil profiles, edible dirt and compost, gummy worms, and a hill-country landscape. It was great, we were very pleased with our nerdy-selves.<br />
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Later in December we had a small get-together at home - it was sort of a Christmas Party but when you book things for the last weekend before Christmas most people are already away somewhere. Which turned out to be a good thing because we were meant to be having a BBQ but Nathan dropped the grill plate and it landed on the gas pipes and smashed them, so that wasn't happening. But luckily the BBQ wasn't the real reason for the get together, it was actually a Gingerbread House competition. I made a castle, and a friend made Gingerbread Jurassic Park. There were four gingerbread creations and we let a 3-year-old be the judge, so the castle won (going bigger is always better).<br />
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Then it was back to normal life. We had Christmas, we had vacation time, we had Airbnb guests. We have an endless amount of work in the garden but we are slowly taming the grass and gorse, the veggie garden is going well and I have lots of flowers to take care of. We haven't gotten very far with any of the big stuff this summer but I reckon we'll at least get the patio done and then we'll have a nice outdoor area. Maybe we'll have to get a new BBQ and have a patio party.<br />
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So that was last year. I better get going with the resolution to do more interesting things before my next update.<br />
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Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672376025651666104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9132156735199569964.post-58339943266732739872018-10-31T08:21:00.003+00:002018-10-31T08:21:28.419+00:00October 2018<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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.<br />
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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.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DspcrPMVKmQ/W9llcLvx39I/AAAAAAAAJ_k/ppih3Uf6sdYpukE6u3sDvLSC0yrn8POKQCKgBGAs/s1600/IMG_20181008_074004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DspcrPMVKmQ/W9llcLvx39I/AAAAAAAAJ_k/ppih3Uf6sdYpukE6u3sDvLSC0yrn8POKQCKgBGAs/s320/IMG_20181008_074004.jpg" width="240" /></a>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.<br />
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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.<br />
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Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672376025651666104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9132156735199569964.post-22459536176950593402018-10-03T12:01:00.000+01:002018-10-03T12:03:06.243+01:00From Amsterdam Airport<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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!<br />
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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.<br />
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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!<br />
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Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672376025651666104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9132156735199569964.post-4430655701105114502018-09-26T20:34:00.002+01:002018-09-26T20:34:19.884+01:00Hamburg, September 2018<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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.<br />
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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!<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672376025651666104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9132156735199569964.post-17896358518695212122018-09-19T11:58:00.001+01:002018-09-19T11:58:06.642+01:00Eloping in Denmark, September 2018 <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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!<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672376025651666104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9132156735199569964.post-78418944927479939782018-09-02T20:40:00.000+01:002018-09-02T20:40:46.655+01:00August 2018<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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. </div>
Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672376025651666104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9132156735199569964.post-33982174137774146502018-08-01T10:39:00.002+01:002018-08-01T10:39:41.584+01:00July 2018<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OA51srkQ7V4/W2F-QnJ4d1I/AAAAAAAAJIg/Dx73DVjV5sga68Dxe2c3sMuPlqom1HplgCKgBGAs/s1600/IMG_20180708_180416.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OA51srkQ7V4/W2F-QnJ4d1I/AAAAAAAAJIg/Dx73DVjV5sga68Dxe2c3sMuPlqom1HplgCKgBGAs/s200/IMG_20180708_180416.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qSscRvL0ZnQ/W2F-QjeFh_I/AAAAAAAAJIg/iMewLBi4JcwgvaIWynrNlYBHbr8htu0NwCKgBGAs/s1600/IMG_20180721_171115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qSscRvL0ZnQ/W2F-QjeFh_I/AAAAAAAAJIg/iMewLBi4JcwgvaIWynrNlYBHbr8htu0NwCKgBGAs/s200/IMG_20180721_171115.jpg" width="150" /></a>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.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4aBpMqoEdXY/W2F_w_I5YxI/AAAAAAAAJKk/oQ-4EmDmEQ4DguScuUcTlkDD_V6gMdyzACKgBGAs/s1600/IMG_20180801_064700.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4aBpMqoEdXY/W2F_w_I5YxI/AAAAAAAAJKk/oQ-4EmDmEQ4DguScuUcTlkDD_V6gMdyzACKgBGAs/s200/IMG_20180801_064700.jpg" width="200" /></a>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.<br />
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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.<br />
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Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672376025651666104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9132156735199569964.post-58977224641126165662018-06-30T10:44:00.000+01:002018-06-30T10:44:01.158+01:00June 2018<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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!<br />
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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).<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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!<br />
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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.<br />
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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:<br />
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Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672376025651666104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9132156735199569964.post-44373682979450598822018-06-02T10:26:00.000+01:002018-06-02T10:26:29.937+01:00May 2018<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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.<br />
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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?<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672376025651666104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9132156735199569964.post-20279296091876617542018-05-01T08:48:00.004+01:002018-05-01T08:48:56.913+01:00April 2018<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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!<br />
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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.<br />
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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!<br />
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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.<br />
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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!<br />
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Until then, you can settle for pictures of the animals, the house and this skink that I found.<br />
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Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672376025651666104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9132156735199569964.post-39587046767256244272018-04-01T09:02:00.003+01:002018-04-01T09:02:41.163+01:00March 2018<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's the first day of March, it's only 7pm and it's completely dark outside. Daylight savings being over will take a bit of adjustment. Cher is sitting on the couch beside me staring because her dinner time is 7.30pm and she's confused - she doesn't know that it's only 7pm and not 8pm. The cat is too cool to beg for dinner, he's just sleeping.<br />
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March has been an interesting month. We have had several set of Airbnb guests - who would have thought that Wainui was a popular place to stay? Some are people passing though, just need a cheap place to sleep. Some want to have some quiet time and go for walks in the bush. And some are in Wellington more long term and need somewhere to stay while the look for somewhere to live. We've had one that could hardly speak English, an older couple from Singapore that were super chatty, told us about their lives and made me dinner, some young French people that shared our interest in fantasy books and sci-fi movies, and a young English couple, one of which has got a temporary job at MPI, just a floor above me!<br />
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Also in March we have done a lot of research about our trip to Europe, and finally booked flights. We're going to leave New Zealand on 12 September, go to Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands, and get back to New Zealand on the 5th of October. We're going to spend lots of money and make the most of it. I have a pinterest board so that when I'm browsing things to do in Europe I don't forget them. In Copenhagen there is the oldest amusement park in Europe - it still works just fine. And we have a friend with rich parents who have a fancy house near Amsterdam that we can stay in for a few nights. And we can visit Bremen, where I stayed for a month or so way back in the second year of my PhD.<br />
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Other March events. We went to see Star Wars with a live orchestra - it was awesome. Movies should always have a live orchestra. My tomatoes are finally ripening - they are still going. And I have some winter crops starting to grow - carrots and silverbeet, and more peas. They are doing the best so far. We are working on the area above the retaining wall, weeding it and getting it ready to plant. I got given a rhubarb plant and all the herbs will go up there, but mostly I'll just sprinkle a seed mix of flowers to try and keep the weeds at bay until the whole thing is planted properly. We figure that the area is not very useable, so we might as well plant useful things up there - herbs, berry bushes, small fruit trees.<br />
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Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672376025651666104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9132156735199569964.post-65655075018174241762018-03-01T06:23:00.003+00:002018-03-01T06:23:47.904+00:00February 2018<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Here in Wellington things are busy. February was not really very summery, but I'm still busy in the garden when I can be. Our tomato plants are growing and producing lots of little tomatoes but they're all green and maybe they won't ripen now. I'll have to make green tomato relish instead.<div>
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Our big news for February is that we decided to go on a holiday later this year. To Europe. We're thinking a couple of weeks in September but I've been told twice now that two weeks is not very long considering how far we plan to travel. So maybe we will go for longer. But we would need a house and pet sitter. Anyway, a big holiday like that will require money, and lots of it because I want to do lots of shopping and refresh my wardrobe. So last weekend I signed us up for Airbnb, we cleaned the house and tidied the guest room and thought maybe there will be the odd guest that wants to stay in Wainui. </div>
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Well within an hour I had a message! Now we won't go into that too much because to cut a long story short, that first booking was a bit of a disaster. They got in late off the ferry and it was super dark out here (and our house isn't visible from the street), I was asleep and didn't hear my phone and Nathan's didn't go off because of there being a typo in the contact number I'd provided (so all my fault really) - but at the same time, they should have come up to the house, seen the porch light was on and knocked because Nathan was waiting up for them. So I blamed myself because of course two young women might be nervous to go up a dark driveway in the middle of the night in a random suburb that seems like the middle of nowhere. But in hindsight, they really should have come up to the house so I guess I could have blamed them for being chickens and going off to the city to find some other alternative place to stay. </div>
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Anyway, learnt some lessons. And we now have our first guests staying with us for a week, a young French couple wanting some quiet time near the bush. And then in two weeks we have an older Singaporean couple that have not been to NZ since 1978. So I hope we keep getting bookings and make some money!</div>
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Nothing else much is happening. I'm getting to work with my sewing machine because if we are going to have spending money in Europe I can't be buying clothes until then, so if I want new stuff I have to make it. Plus I still need to finish hemming the curtains... I've also been making jam and relish - so much so that I have not jars left but I still have a tree covered in peaches and a box of apples in the fridge. Tomorrow is recycling day so maybe while I walk Cher I will keep an eye out and scavenge from recycling bins? But to be honest, they're mostly full of wine and beer bottles.</div>
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And once again it seems that I have only bothered to take photos of the animals this month. Obviously I need to get more of a life. So here is the cat in my freshly turned garden, the dog when she was sad with an upset stomach, and the chooks chilling in the bush.</div>
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Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672376025651666104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9132156735199569964.post-23164247214450210862018-02-02T08:33:00.000+00:002018-02-02T08:33:13.875+00:00January 2018<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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In January I would say I have been at work for just over half the working days in the month. I took a long break over Christmas, we've had a public holiday and we took a long weekend to Auckland for a concert. Plus we've had extremely hot weather. So all in all it's been pretty cruisy. I have spent my time off reading, sewing, gardening and watching tv (it was too hot to be outside much during the middle of the day so I had plenty of inside time). Plus I started doing yoga with a youtube channel. It was great to have a break, if only I could work so little all the time. </div>
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My veggie garden is going well - we've been collecting the laundry water for the garden because of the water restrictions. The broccoli patch is boring, I don't think I'll bother with them again, but the tomatoes are doing awesomely, and the beans, and I have cute little cucumbers growing. We've been eating from our own garden, plus the chooks are laying lots of eggs. When I'm home on my own in the evenings I've pretty much been living off salad, veggies and omelettes. Here are a couple of snapshots - the cucumber as it started flowering, my last lilies to bloom and the first tiny tomato.</div>
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So we went to Auckland, which was even hotter than here. We didn't do much there, except go to see the Roger Waters show. It was good, but not quite as good as we expected. There were two sets, and they both started and ended really well and the encore was good. But there was random stuff in the middle that I didn't know, and it looked like most people didn't know - perhaps some of his newer stuff. There were some great bits, like they had a group of local children for Another Brick in the Wall. There wasn't much in the way of lasers though, just some at the end. When it comes to a Pink Floyd experience, we are glad we went but in the future we'll go back to the tribute band when the come around instead, and get all the classics.<br />
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So work is, well, work. It started off nice and quiet, there were a couple of sad goodbyes as colleagues moved on to new things, and now we're getting into the real swing of things for the year. My big things for the next few months are organising a scholarship and a conference. Plus our organisation is undergoing a bit of a restructure, so that might be interesting. And I have my performance review coming up so I have to figure out what I want to talk about. It's hard to make a development plan when you're not really a career-oriented person. Just taking opportunities as they come doesn't really work itself easily into a development plan.<br />
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So here is Cher, enjoying the heat. Till next month :)<br />
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Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672376025651666104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9132156735199569964.post-70094449153767656012017-12-31T10:43:00.002+00:002018-01-05T09:11:56.202+00:00December 2017 - the end of another year<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well here we are, it's new years eve. To us it seems like this year has gone so quickly. This time last year we had been in our new house for about three weeks, and it was far more bare than it is now. There is so much to do, so many things on my list, so many visions of how things will be, but we've actually done a lot already. We have a bit of lawn now, fruit trees and veggie gardens, the chooks are all grown up and laying a lot of eggs, I learnt how to make curtains and Nathan learnt how to make tile splashbacks.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-r-sHyy9PPlI/Wk8-bEFFSFI/AAAAAAAAIX8/7yRvNtDFgT4_92yGoOigeRtcAz9YZxH1wCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_20171220_105605.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-r-sHyy9PPlI/Wk8-bEFFSFI/AAAAAAAAIX8/7yRvNtDFgT4_92yGoOigeRtcAz9YZxH1wCLcBGAs/s200/IMG_20171220_105605.jpg" width="200" /></a>As for an update from December - what has this month brought me? Well, work is finished for awhile and that's a relief. I have another nine days off. Work finished with three urgent briefings and completely over-the-top christmas decorating in the office. I didn't win or even get commended but I have to say, there was no criteria, and no time put into the judging to take in the crazy amount of detail that a couple of the pods (the science team pods) had put into their decorating. Not that it matters, the prize was only chocolate and the ideas can be pulled out again next year. Not sure what to list on my time recording for all that decorating though. We were fully encouraged by our director so I am in no way responsible for that waste of time. And it's surprising how many people got really into it - I can't help but feel that it was an outlet for how frustrated people are feeling with mid-level management right now (a.k.a. the aforementioned director). Anyways...<br />
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So December is a bit light on the news front. Other than work we have been just doing the usual. Working around the house mostly. I went to a neighbour's secret santa party, it was a ladies thing. It was fine and it was cool to see in her house but these things are always a bit awkward. We've been here a year and that was only the second time I have talked to our furthest-away neighbour. As usual, said we should get together sometime. Will we actually do it this time? On Christmas eve our car broke down. It started making a noise on our way down Wainui hill, and by the time we got home it was really noisy and the battery light was coming on. So we didn't go boxing day shopping as planned, we stayed home for two days watching movies and eating way too much (my tummy is still unhappy about how much I ate). Then we got really lucky, a local mechanic opened on the Wednesday, and he managed to get a part a fix the car right away, and it could have been way worse. Some sort of tensioner-pulley that holds the drive belt and makes the alternator and power steering work and fallen to pieces. He put in a new one, it wasn't cheap but wasn't super expensive. And it was done within a few hours. I was stoked to have the car back, and the battery was empty so I had to go for a long drive, during which I noticed that the car was driving so nicely! Obviously it had been going downhill for ages without me really noticing, and now it's really smooth and responsive.<br />
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As for Christmas, well that was pretty good but really quiet. It was just the two of us, and like I said we watched movies for two days straight. I got a jigsaw puzzle and two books - they are all finished already but of course that is why I wanted them. And I got a super expensive set of fancy Le Crueset saucepans. We ate way too much, and had a seemingly endless supply of candy and chocolate. I'm really glad that's gone. The cat got a toy but was more interested in our boxes and Cher got a bone because she has stinky breath by she was more interested in begging for scraps of ham. The chickens didn't get anything but they've still been laying well - I have 6 hens but got 7 eggs yesterday! We watched Christmas movies exclusively on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (both Die Hard movies count). Then Christmas was over and Nathan went back to work. I've spent my days reading and now I'm trying to get productive and do sewing. I just finished a hoodie out of this navy jersey fabric that is covered in sequins. Probably the most awful fabric I've ever tried to sew.<br />
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Right so it's nearly 2018 and it's time to go drink bubbly and listen to good music. Like last year, we are home in our house for New Years. We'll keep an eye out for fireworks and try not to stay up too late (the dog is already whining that it's bed-time). I'll update this with photos tomorrow (update on the photos - I got some in, and now my touchpad clicker won't work. Need to buy a mouse...).</div>
Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672376025651666104noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9132156735199569964.post-28849576567612966792017-12-01T07:04:00.002+00:002017-12-01T07:04:13.706+00:00November 2017<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tUvJklAenbE/WiD7u8o6DzI/AAAAAAAAIIk/q30PDq4NmlArYxhgjsBWv6UN7DAU7UAEQCKgBGAs/s1600/IMG_20171129_181251.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tUvJklAenbE/WiD7u8o6DzI/AAAAAAAAIIk/q30PDq4NmlArYxhgjsBWv6UN7DAU7UAEQCKgBGAs/s200/IMG_20171129_181251.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6gsGWp6Kuzk/WiD7uxQNI4I/AAAAAAAAIIk/xCcN52qoH4MJvhMq3P1nMm4BOCYorLpnACKgBGAs/s1600/IMG_20171130_183224.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6gsGWp6Kuzk/WiD7uxQNI4I/AAAAAAAAIIk/xCcN52qoH4MJvhMq3P1nMm4BOCYorLpnACKgBGAs/s320/IMG_20171130_183224.jpg" width="240" /></a>This month seems to have flown by. It's nearly Christmas and it already feels like the height of summer. I actually can't remember when it last rained here, and we've already gone from water restrictions to an absolute ban on sprinklers. And that happened just three days after I bought a sprinkler! It was going to be great, I was going to multi-task and water the garden while also being free to get other stuff done, plus it would save me from all the mozzy bites I get when I'm outside watering in the evening. But now it's right back to using the hose. Only it is very dry here, the grass is all getting brown, and it's forecast to be a pretty hot dry summer so I'm going to do my bit to save water and only use hose water for my veggie-beds and herbs - I'm setting up a laundry drum this weekend to catch my laundry water to use in the garden. Which is coming along very nicely by the way - my broccoli plants finally have little broccoli heads growing in them. They take up a lot of space though and grow very slowly, considering how much broccoli I like to eat I don't think it's worth growing it next year. I could fit so many more other veggies in that garden bed and broccoli isn't overly expensive. My flowers are doing well too, all my lillies are starting to flower. They are protected from the wind because last year when we moved here (which will be exactly a year in 8 days) the summer was cold and windy and all my flowers got destroyed as soon as they opened. They're pretty safe from that this year.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OdTxRdhAsN8/WiD8maM2qNI/AAAAAAAAIIo/8J64ZPB6xt4MfkLxOetMP4AQzIaujjZUgCKgBGAs/s1600/IMG_20171106_083739.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OdTxRdhAsN8/WiD8maM2qNI/AAAAAAAAIIo/8J64ZPB6xt4MfkLxOetMP4AQzIaujjZUgCKgBGAs/s200/IMG_20171106_083739.jpg" width="150" /></a>So what else has been going on? Well I had my birthday at the start of the month so I'm 30 now. It's not so different. There were fireworks in the Wellington Harbour, the last time they'll be doing that for Guy Fawkes because apparently they're spending their fireworks money on matariki in the future. A great idea but riskier in terms of weather. And we went up the Kapiti Coast - weather wasn't so hot yet, there was a cold wind and piles of blue jellyfish washed up on the beach. It's still nice to get away and just be somewhere different though. And Cher came - she certainly didn't mind the presence of lots of smelly dead sea creatures on the beach!<br />
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Then I went down south for a conference, which went very well and also had a couple of really amazing speakers. There was my favourite fabric pop-up sale and I bought yet more fabric - I am actually getting into sewing and finishing some stuff though, I recently finished a blouse and a dress (I started both quite a long time ago though). Work has been fine - pretty busy. Things are getting quieter now so I can catch up on all the things that got put aside when everything got busy. And we're having a Christmas decorating competition - I'm going overboard of course.<br />
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Now it's the first day of summer and if it gets hotter I'm going to have a tough time of it. Work gets pretty stuffy and all this insulation and double glazing at home means I come home to a hot house in the afternoon. I think I need a paddling pool. We are having a very quiet Christmas this year, just the two of us - I'm feeling ready to get decorating so we'll look for a tree this weekend. I'll probably have to tie the decorations to the branches because my ridiculous cat will definitely think the whole set up is a toy for him to play in. I'll be taking a whole two weeks off over Christmas and I can't wait. Three weeks to go. I'm so tired of work, I need a rest. No plans yet, but if summer is going to be so nice as the last weeks of spring were, then we definitely need to get a BBQ.<br />
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Looking back through my photos, in November almost all of them are of the animals. With a couple of pretty skies thrown in and one where you can see some of our house. I'll make a point of taking better photos of other stuff for the next time - after all it is our house-anniversary in December.<br />
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Jaimiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11672376025651666104noreply@blogger.com0