The Tuesday at work

 Hi,

No cat content. But just so you all know, Moxley is very naughty. Hahah. She knows we are careful if she is around when we open the front door. So now she waits out of sight then bolts through our legs. She did it to me on Monday and this morning (Wed) she did it to Mike. Hahah. He caught her and brought her back in.

Anyways. Yesterday I went for a run after work with Mike and Callan. I did 3k and they did 5k. And in the evening Kaustubh pinged me to ask if it was Mike he had seen on Wellington Live's social feed. Yes, yes it was. And good to chat to Kaustubh too.

Tuesday morning iced latte from French Kiss

Mike and Callan make Wellington Live's socials while out running

Anyways, we ate leftovers (or Indian curry out of a bag - that was Mike). I made more cold soaked porridge. And we were not long out of bed after some life admin.

Mike took the Wed morning gym session so I had a lazy morning and caught the bus. Was unsure if the road resurfacing would cause problems. No - the bus came.

Will the bus come?

It did come - and I got another French Kiss iced latte

Bumped into Khemry on my way to work. Wish most of my mornings had a chat to Khemry in them - what a lovely start to my day. She is excited about putting an offer on a house in Lower Hutt. Fingers crossed for her.

And I got an iced latte. Asked for a bucket of it and the chap laughed. Said maybe they should bring in that size.

And now my day stretches ahead.

Run after work. And a walk home with Barb. Woot.

Hope your day is ace!

Love,

Angela

The Monday at work

 Hi,

Usual WFH day on Monday. It was so cold and wet and windy. Yuck. I pinged Mike halfway through the morning that I was cold at my desk in the office. And he checked the temp in our bedroom and it was 14C. So he turned on all the heat pumps. Before I knew it, it was cozy in the house. So funny.

Sourdough

Two cold soaked porridge brekkies

Mike got home after work quite late. But I made a quick tea (asparagus and Salmon) and that was all sorted. I also made us both porridge for the morning. Let's see what Mike thinks of that.

Up early this morning. 5.30am. Made sandwiches for us both with the fresh bread from last night. And I ate my porridge. It was ok. I think I can improve it.

Rode in. Went to the gym. 85kg deads. 3 reps x 5 sets. Phew.

Gym with Myra at lunch today. Then a run after work with Mike. That is the plan. But it is cold and it is a busy day. Who knows how I will feel.

Have a brilliant day.

Love,

Angela

The weekend in Wellington for me and Mike away tramping

 Hi,

Big weekend of fun for both of us. Mike with Andrew and Janine into the Tararuas to bag Dundas Hut. And me at home to do all the things.

Friday stunner

Friday was gorgeous, if the northerly was a little strong and had a wee bite to it. But I was ready for my bike ride with Maureen on the new bike.

Made sourdough for Kara

Made bread before I left. And chilled with the cats too.

Smudge looking like a model

Then loaded up the car with its precious load. And away to Seaview to meet Maureen at 11.15am. 

New bike ready for its first adventure

She was a little late as apparently Placemakers has changed locations since the last time she was there. And I was at the new location. Which happened to be next to a bit of our workplace. Hahah. We unloaded the bikes and took off. And after 50m Maureen said:  errrmm, I have a problem.

Turns out her Sram gear battery was flat. She was stuck in a fairly low gear for the entire 40km ride we did. Lucky she has legs of steel.

I asked if we could still ride. Hindsight says maybe we should have just ridden to a cafe at that point. But what does hindsight really know before anything has happened? So off we went. Went to the 4 square and got lunch and stamps for Kara.

Continued to the bike shop at the road end to see if they had a charger for the Sram. No. But they were very nice. Pacey - thank you!

Headed south - with a handy tailwind. Around the corner to a lunch spot by the lakes. Then we attempted to ride around the lakes. This tested my riding skills with steeps bits and a bit of mud. Maureen was in one gear - remember! She stopped around a quarter the way around at a puddle across the track where the lake had risen. It was on a bend and we couldn't see how big it was. So I stepped onto some grass to see if I could see further. And promptly went into my shins into the lake. And still couldn't see.

Maureen was giggling. I said I had no problem continuing because I was already wet. She decided to keep dry feet and we rode back the way we came.

Maureen rides ahead

Top of the lakes

And back again

Had to contend with a fierce headwind and road works on the way back. Maureen went through a stop sign holding back traffic at one point. I waited. The stop/go chap got on his radio. But no one stopped her. I watched as she vanished into the distance. But luckily they let me go first. So I zipped up to catch her - with my gears and turbo mode. 

We said goodbye to each other and I went home to shower and pick up the bread for Kara. Got takeaways with her and we chatted for ages.

Hello Kara

Saw the aurora was sparking up so I headed home via the south coast. Parked the car and got to watched the show. At 9pm, I could see the faint aurora with my naked eye. But the camera picked it up easier.

Woah - big aurora

9pm Fri I saw this with my naked eye

Saw some green in the aurora too. So red bands, and green to the horizon. Such a lovely evening. Not many people where I was. I sat in my car at Breaker Bay, facing directly south.

Accidentally took a selfie

Left there at 10:30pm.

Good sleep.

Made more bread. Did a lot of gardening. Prepped for vegetables. Trimmed back the harakeke over the roof.

 

Another day another sourdough

Mike added my Spring Challenge number to my wall

Trimmed the harakeke

Sunday saw me inside as the weather finally turned. Did a garage gym session. 40kg bench! Woot! And then got stuck into sanding the stairs.

Finished sanding the stairs

I think paint

Mike got home as I tidied up. And he noticed as soon as he went down the stairs. Yay. We unpacked his gear. Had tea. And I made cold soaked porridge for brekkie.

Made cold soak porridge for brekkie

Off to bed fairly late. Mike missed his bus for gym and only made his bus for the GP appointment. I ate my cold porridge. It was fine. May need to tweak it.

Eating the cold porridge

And Monday sees it hosing down outside. Yuck. High of 11C. What?  Oh well. Back to normal weather then.

Enjoy your week. I need more iced latte right now.

Love,

Angela

The Wednesday with Master Kong dinner to say goodbye to Amy

 Hi,

Yesterday was busy. At lunch I went to hot yoga with Barb and Juliet. And it was hard work. How and sweaty. But nice and stretchy.

After work, Mike drove in and met me behind work to head to Master Kong to see Amy before her big move to France next month. We are buying her wee futon single bed to replace my old bed in the office. Good to hear all about her plans. She is moving to Grenoble next month. She'll be looking for work as she settles in with an old flame she has rekindled the spark with.

After dinner, we put my bike on the car and I drove us home. Mike packed for his weekend tramp to Dundas Hut.

Good sleep. Up to get ready for PT session. Left the garage as it started to rain. And then it bucketed down cats and dogs. Within 800m I was absolutely drenched.

Got to work and had to towel off. Fortunately I keep spare socks etc at work. Changed into them and really only had wet shorts for my PT session.

Did bench. 40kg 4 reps x 5 sets. And finished with 25kg inclined bench. 10 reps x 3 sets. So good. 

Grabbed some Lewis Road iced coffee on my way to work from the gym. Took the selfie.

Thursday iced coffee at work

Next year is set

Saw that the Spring Challenge for 2025 is set now. Glenorchy. Which is a lovely part of the motu. Wow. I am keen. Let's see if Nicola or Iona is as keen,

Got lunch with Sally M from my last work today. Yay! It has been a while since I saw her. She is one of my cat content lovers. Hahah.

Mike catches the train from town at 4.15pm today. Andrew will collect him and then Janine and they are going in to a few huts in a big weekend. Hope the weather is kind.

Have a good weekend.

Love,

Angela

The Tuesday with a walk home with Mike and Barb

 Hi,

Busy times at work. Ate my sandwich at my desk for lunch. Home made sourdough.  Mmmm.

French Kiss cart iced latte

Went for a run with Mike after work. After telling Iona we were not very windy (Blenheim was!) I ate my words. It was so windy. Even for Wellington. Mike had to rescue a woman who got blown off her bike and couldn't get up again because of the wind!

After our run we walked home with Barb and Mike through the bush. Such a good walk, even if it is quite long and quite steep.

Walk home

City view

Exploring

Home to make tea and chill out.

Up for a bus in. Because I walked home.  Hahahah. PT session.  80kg deads.  4 reps x 4 sets.

Then brekkie at Pravda with Roanne. Haven't caught up with her for ages.

Pravda iced latte

Hope your day is a good one.

Master Kong to say goodbye to Amy today.

Love,
Angela

The Monday with WFH

 Hi,

I worked from home yesterday. A benefit of this is you get cat content. Smudge was so cute. She came down to the office and climbed up over my keyboard and purred loudly. Then snuggled on top of my PC cover to sleep for a while. I think she was safe in the knowledge that Moxley was absolutely dead to the world on the couch upstairs.

Smudge joined me at my desk

She sprawled over my PC folder

Meanwhile, Moxley slept deeply on the couch

And I baked sourdough after work

After a busy day, I finished and baked my bread. I had also put the slow cooker on so I had a lovely stew to eat for tea. The sheets got washed and dried. So I had clean sheets to slip between. As I waited for Mike to get home from his day. 

Turns out he ran 6km. Then met up with a colleague from a previous workplace and went out for tea with them. Hahah.

Good sleep. But I did not want to get up at 5.30am this morning. Finally did. Made sandwiches for our lunch. And rode in. Met Quentin at the gym for my PT session. Squats. 60kg. 4 reps x 4 sets. Bench 35kg 6 reps x 4 sets. Leg press. 120kg. 8 reps x 3 sets. Then some torture on the leg extension for my hamstrings. Yeah, nah. Jason arrived at this point for his session and must have dreaded the thought of Quentin having him do this one day. Hahahah.

Work. Hopefully a run after work and a walk home with Barb. That is the plan.

Take care.

Love,

Angela

The weekend with a new bike and the trap line

 Hi,

Friday was choice. I picked Mike up from work and we went to visit Well-Hung Joinery in the depths of Ngauranga gorge. Hahah. But they do not do just doors. So we had a spontaneous lunch at Press Hall before my haircut. And a lovely iced latte at Sweet Release with coconut milk. Mmmm.

Spontaneous post-lunch coffee at Sweet Release

I dropped Mike at work and went to Evo Cycles to collect my new bike. So, so nice. Ta Peter and Matt for sorting me out. The suspension is set up for me now. Took it home and immediately jumped on for a ride. Rode around Izard park for a while to get used to how it shifts. And then did a bigger loop around the roads. It eats up hills. I love it.

My new bike

Evidence of Moxley coming off second best?

After work, Mike ran to 40 for tea and I drove out. I spotted him on the motorway so waited at the Esplanade to say hello. He looked so relaxed - and this was easily about 11km into his run. Wow.

Mike running to 40

Had dinner with Sally and Andrew. Home to finish bread and get ready for a decent sleep ahead of the trap line day.

I made sourdough

How to ripen your avocados

Planning the trap line route

October rolls around like a sneaky month. One minute you're in September. Then boom. It's Dad's birthday. Ange's birthday. World of Wearable Art is on in Wellington. And this month? It's trap line month. Time to get out in the bush behind Wainuiomata and see if we've caught lots of critters that usually terrorise our native species.

Despite Dunedin copping a deluge, we're remarkably dry up here. So we decided Saturday the 5th would be a good day for the trap line. The three of us - Angela, Mike and Andrew - were all available and Callan wanted to join us again. We were all on. 9.30 at Sally and Andrew's place was the plan.

Mike and I woke up early but lazed around a little. I made scrambled eggs for brekkie and hung out the washing. Then we packed and headed to the Hutt a tad early.

Andrew was ready so we chilled out until Callan got there. Stacey dropped him and headed off to take photos for her photography assignment. We got in the Subaru and headed over the hill to Wainuiomata. Stopped off at Melody's house to get the eggs and new cereal bait. Way less smelly than Erayz. We were heading off from the car up the hill around 10.25am.

Checking first trap on SG - SG8. 

A cleared drain

We got to the sign at the bottom in about 12 minutes. That's a good pace - it is often more like 15 mins. Then Mike and I did the Sunny Grove traps and grubbed out drains on the way up. Andrew and Callan pushed on to do the longer route of KAT 4 to 9 and UTS 5 to 11. As I grubbed out a really hard drain,  Mike said he'd go to the next trap and clear that and wait.  After I finished the really badly clogged drain, I took 5 steps and found the next trap.  No Mike.  Next one after that.  No Mike.

Another trap done

Found him at the next one.  Turns out he missed the two below.  We'd get them on the way back.

Almost at the top

Up to the top and it took us about 1 hour 15. Not too bad.  Dropped the grubber at the sign and continued to the top of KAT. It's about 800m from the sign and well-marked.

View from the top

Top of KAT

We started down into the bush to KAT1. Lovely clear track at the top.  No critters in these.  KAT2 is where we found a stoat ages back.  So I was pleased it was empty.

Bush is looking lush

We got to KAT3 and could hear Andrew and Callan in the bush across the stream.  We got to the flat bit and discovered they had just arrived after finding the tricky KAT5. They also put up pink ribbon to make it easier to find next time.

We had lunch together as it was about 12.30 by this stage. I had made wraps for me and Mike.  And also picked up a delicious fresh cream donut from the Waiwhetu bakery. So good to tuck into that after my wrap.   

I had a play with Callan's thermal scope.  So interesting.  I walked away from everyone and looked back at them through it.  Totally imagined myself as the Predator, hunting Arnie. Mike had a play with it too.  Callan is off with his hunting buddies next week so I hope they get to use it.

Under the trees the temperature was a bit cooler.  Sitting around having lunch, I started to cool down in my T shirt.  But once we started off again, it was perfect temps again.

Callan and Andrew headed downstream to do UTS 7 to 11 with a long walk out.  We headed upstream to do UTS 6 to 1.

When we did the last trap at UTS1, we'd been walking for 3.5 hours. We bush bashed up on the wrong side of the tiny stream and ended up about 150m back along the Whakanui track.  Didn't take long to get back to the grubber at the top of Sunny Grove track.

Grubbing more drains

We picked that up and started back down.  Cleared out all the drains.  Mike checked the two traps he missed.  Big fat rat in SG4. Callan and Andrew caught us around SG7. We cleared some drains together as we walked out

And out the bottom to the car

Back to the car.  Got into slightly less terrible footwear.  Mike backed the car into the driveway behind us and Andrew spotted Mike's water bottle sitting on the footpath. Lucky.  It is a fave bottle of mine from Shiretoko in Japan.

Dropped Andrew home and headed into town.  Dropped Callan at the Bluebridge terminal - a convenient place to meet Stacey.  We went to work for Mike's bag and got stuck in WoW traffic for a bit. But home in great time after a fantastic day.

Another loaf

Made another loaf Saturday night. And off to bed. The rain started down too. Up Sunday for pancakes for brekkie - ta Mike.

Harakeke needs a trim

Did a workout in the garage while Mike demolished the laundry. We are so ready for the new cupboards. It's only been 10 years.

First job - clear all the junk! We definitely need some shelving.

Ready for the demolition work

After

And done.
Mike was nervous about taking out that post, even though it is definitely not holding anything up

We also chatted to Toby in the evening - after our tea. Booked flights to Sydney for him and Tessa. They are now going there for 2 weeks around mid/end of November.

Chatting to Toby - he played with his hair!

And the weekend was done. So good. Loved the trap line. Great to have an excuse to get out into the bush. And help save the native birds at the same time.

Hope your weekend was as fun as ours. Enjoy your week ahead.

Love,
Angela