Happy Days

Well Sis has been here for just on a week and tomorrow we head up to Christchurch by plane and then over to the Coast. One of our cousins is coming out to the airport for a catchup and a coffee between flights so we're all looking forward to that. I've been busy packing today, I keep thinking of things I've forgotten to put in but I think I'm set now. Not to worry though, there are shops in other towns if needed :)

 

And what have we been up to this week? Not a lot really but Lorraine (Sis) assures me she's quite happy. One day we went over to daughter Jacqui's house so Aunty could teach her to crochet, another string to her crafty bow. That's them up above and you'll see Jacqui did end up with a moon boot on her injured foot. She's happy but says it's heavy :)

 

 Lorraine is the quilting sister and so another day we drove over to younger daughter's place to deliver a quilt to teenage grandson. He was out and about with his mates so we put it on the bed for him. He was suitably impressed when he arrived home and saw it.

Sunday was a wet miserable day so after lunch we had a look through some old photos of Mum's. I'd been looking for old school photos to put up on the reunion page and hadn't found any. There was one box left to look at and that's where we found them. The last box! Above is one the class photos with me and two of my siblings. I was a year ahead of them and teachers taught two classes. We're all in the second row, my brother on the right, I am sixth in from the right and sis is three in from the left. Large classes with up to 40 kids was the norm and the teachers had full control.

 

And how could we not go out for a meal? Of course we did! Lorraine, Jacqui, Vanessa Bob and I all went out for lunch yesterday. Bob and his harem :) The meals were big, read huge, I brought some of mine home and had it for tea. If that was lunch I wonder what the evening meals are like. We went to the Concord Tavern, we haven't been for quite some time, last time we were there they were upgrading the dining room and it is so much nicer now. That's Bob up above, coming down the entrance steps. It was a great hour or two just enjoying being together as family.

Lorraine and I have also been out for a couple of short walks, dictated by the cold, wet weather, and we had an afternoon in the shop and dressed the window together.

That is all for now.

Until next time,

Diana

Socialising and a cyclone

 Preparations are almost finished for Sis arriving from Aussie on Wednesday night. All I have to do is run the lux (vacuum cleaner) over her bedroom and we'll be ready. Not that she will care if I don't get the floor done, but I will. Then after a week of catching up with people we'll both head over to the West Coast to our school reunion.

In the meantime it has been quite a social time here. We have a friend living in a rest home and her North Island family were down for a few days. I managed to catch up with them over coffee and cake one afternoon. Bob was coming but the man arrived just after lunch to install our new heat pump and was still here at tea time. Never mind, they'll be back again before too long I'm sure.

And on Friday we had a phone call from his sister. "Do you want to meet for lunch, we're on our way on the bus. It gets in just after 11." So we met them for early lunch, I was on duty at the shop filling in for someone, the reason for eating early, but we all enjoyed having a good old catch up on the family news. They usually come out when I'm not working and we can relax a bit more.

And talking about visitors from Aussie, we have friends over for the 50th Anniversary Otago Rally car event. This is the same couple who gave us both a run in his rally car when we were over there in August. I'm not really expecting to see them though as they are quite involved in the rally and now need to deep clean the car before it goes in the container to head home. But it would be nice :)

The weekend was quite eventful as well with Cyclone Vaianu bearing down on the country. It was due to make landfall around midday Sunday  over Auckland city but changed course tracking down the east coast and made landfall further south. I feel sorry for the people in the area, I think this is the third time this year they've been hit with some sort of weather bomb. Roads closed, trees down and slips. So devastating and demoralising for them, but thankfully no loss of life. We were very thankful as it was a big storm and covered the whole of the North Island and part of the South and we have quite a few family members up there. None of them reported any damage except for branches off a couple of trees, apart from that just some rain and not much wind. 

God is good. 

I think that is it from me just now.

Take care, keep well until next time

Diana

Easter Sunday

 Christ is risen!

He is risen indeed!

Good Friday

The day started slowly with hot cross buns for breakfast and then it was out the door and off to the Good Friday service at church at 10am. It was a nice service with readings and songs and a shorter sermon than usual, followed by morning tea. More hot cross buns and biscuits. Yum :)

After lunch we delivered the Easter treats to our great grands grandparents as one was out of town and the other was staying the night. Eldest daughter Jacqui has injured her foot and is having treatment, if it hasn't improved when she goes back this week she'll be getting a moon boot. She's hoping so because she thinks she'll be able to get a bit more mobile. She's bored with mainly sitting and resting it. 

After visiting with Jacqui for a while and delivering Arlo's goodies we went over to youngest daughter Vanessa's and delivered Theo's treats. He arrived to stay the night with her just before we were leaving so it was lovely getting to see him, but he sure is a little whirlwind. And he looks cute with his new haircut just like his Dad's. A mullet!

So we had quite a relaxed day, a nice day, and we enjoyed it :)

Wishing you all a Blessed Easter - and don't forget, 

it may be Friday but Sunday is coming.

Diana

Touching base

Jacqui has a good crop of strawberries, I wonder if she has enough to share, though? Hmm..

Autumn has arrived and the weather has settled down to some extent. There's very little to no wind, mornings are cool and we sometimes need some heating on while we're having breakfast. Then at the other end of the day we can be sitting with the fan blowing the air around to cool us down. It's pleasant enough to sit out on the swing seat and read for a bit in the afternoons as well and that's always a big plus in my mind :) The picture below is taken from my granddaughter's office window, a city view, with the leaves just starting to turn.

The house next door has sold. Not the one with the new roof but on the other side. It has been empty for two years since the old couple both passed away. The family have been clearing it out and getting it cleaned up for sale. It took two years of family coming to get it done, about three months of intense daily clearing out of papers and personal items then weekends there was always someone there doing something. It taught me that I need to clear clutter out of our house before it gets too much for us and not leave such a big job for our kids. A young fellow has bought it, he looks to be in his 20's, and it'll be interesting to see what he does with it :) It needs a lot of work inside (and we wouldn't mind if he got rid of some of the trees on the fenceline). Just saying.

 

I'm looking forward to my sister coming over from Aussie next month. We're heading over to the West Coast for our primary school reunion and staying a week altogether. I wasn't going to go as both the girls I was really good friends with have passed away and I haven't really kept in touch with anyone else. And the old school building is gone so I can't even wander around there and reminisce - we'll just have to make do with photo's I guess. But sis was really keen and I didn't want to let her go by herself. I'm quite looking forward to it now and I'm sure I'll enjoy it once I'm there. One of our cousins is flying over from the Gold Coast to see us! He was thinking of coming over for a holiday anyway and thought he might as well come while we were at the reunion, he spent his early childhood there as well and wanted to do a nostalgia trip. So that's a bonus. 

This is the programme, or part of it, there is also a lunch 

on the Sunday. There's plenty of spare time to go gallivanting and looking up our old haunts, if they still exist :)

Not a lot has been happening, we're both in good health at the moment, have just had our six monthly checkups. And life goes on in it's own little rythm.

Keep well until next time,

Diana

Tuesday 4 - How?

How?

 

Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4...

Let's jump right in...

1. How did you end up in the place where you are living?

We've lived in three different towns and five houses since we were married. This was the fifth and last move obviously. Our previous house was a cold and damp and we almost immediately applied for a State House. There's usually quite a long waiting list for these houses but we were given one within a few months. I met one or two people who were quite put out that we had been given one so quickly, we were accused by them of jumping the queue and "how could you get one so quickly when you've only just moved here?" We didn't do anything except apply and our current home was inspected as everyone else's is. Anyway, we were put into a house that was only three years old and a few years later had the opportunity to buy it - and here we've been for nearly 50 years.

Our home prior to putting the front fence up. The cone? Who knows?

2. How did you end up with the job you have/had?

I was a nurse in a previous life, the one before I married. But the job I retired from was as a caregiver in a newly built Rest Home. They advertised for staff and I was interviewed but passed over. Then a couple of months later they called to see if I was interested in doing a few night shifts. After that I became a part of the furniture and worked in all the units and on all shifts as well as a short stint in the laundry. I worked there for over 20 years and retired when I was 70.

3. How did you end up with your life partner?

Well Bob is a dart player, he doesn't play any more but still follows the game. My cousin and I went down to the local pub to meet some friends and I walked through the door and straight on through a dart game. Literally. I walked between the dart board and the player who was about to throw his dart. Bob. He came over and introduced himself afterward and we've been together since.

No, I'm not floating, just perched on the very edge of Bob's chair.

4. How did your weekend go and how is the week ahead looking?

Busy, busy, busy. Saturday we went shopping for Theo's birthday present and Sunday was church followed by a shared brunch. On Monday we had a lovely busy morning with Arlo, morning tea, spending his pocket money and then the library. and I still have a couple of afternoons volunteering in the shop, a doctors appointment, bible study group and a visit to my friend in a rest home. So reasonably busy.

Spending some pocket money.

If you'd like to join in or read other's experiences here's the link:  Tuesday 4

Take care until next time,

Diana

A cluster of birthdays.

 We've had a little cluster of family birthdays.

On Tuesday I went out for brunch with some of my favourite people to celebrate my birthday. I rang the girls and invited them. Vanessa was working and couldn't make it but Bob, Jacqui and I went and enjoyed a relaxed couple of hours together.

Jacqui arrived with flowers from her garden.

Bob and I both ordered pancakes with berry compote and maple syrup, it was very yum. Jacqui is gluten sensitive so had to get something a bit more boring but she didn't complain.

When we'd finished the waitress brought a little carrot cake out with a candle on it which was a nice surprise. And a doggy bag just in case.

Wednesday was Amy's birthday, a great niece. She turned 17. She's in the North Island and we don't see the family much but her grandparents went up to celebrate with her.

Then came Thursday and wee Theo turned two. We'll take his present over sometime in the weekend.  We've seen photos and videos and it looked like he had a lot of fun. He had cake as well and of course two candles to blow out :)

Most of our birthdays seem to fall in the few months either side of Christmas with just a few scattered throughout the rest of the year. I don't think we have any for a month or so now.

And that is all my news for just now.

Keep well and safe until next time,

Diana