The Wednesday with work and packing for Mike

 Hi,

A good blog is a fast blog. Hahah.

Rode home after work. Nearly got skittled by a ute driver going into New World. Skidded my back wheel as I hauled on the brakes. Was scared. Shouted a bit after the fact.

Mike got me a French Kiss cart iced latte

Wholegrain wholemeal sourdough

Got home and fed the cats and then made sourdough. Mike got home after his dinner at Hillside Kitchen with work mates.

He packed for Carkeek hut siege attempt #7. Then bed. Up for various things Thursday morning.

The weekend of chaos starts. People coming and going. Super excited to see my parents. And Iona. And everyone else.

Have a great weekend.

Love,

Angela

the Tuesday with planning and a spontaneous dinner out

 Hi,

Planning day came and went in a blur. Seemed ok. Let's see how the quarter pans out. Already got told about a piece of work needed this morning that was not in the plan. Hahahah.

Planning iced latte fortification

Moxley Monday

After work, we went out for drinks at Bin44 and then dinner at Otto. Karin, Emma and Michelle came. Other work colleagues were there too. Funny.

The food at Otto is so vegetarian and vegan friendly. Very nice too. Mike like the beers on offer.

While we were there, my parents and Mike's mother were also having dinner in Dunedin. And today my parents drive to Chc to see Toby.

Right. Better get stuck into the mahi. Have a great day.

:Love,

Angela

The Monday back at work

 Hi,

Big day at work today so short blog. Monday was good fun working from home. Less meetings than usual so got a bit done to prep for today.

Cats enjoyed my presence - but they were tetchy with each other. I think after Smudge saw Tenzing off, she was on edge and Moxley was in the wrong place. That is - far too close to Smudge. I caught Smudge holding firmly to Moxley's ear.

My pics are not inserting. Goodness knows what that is about.

Mike got home after work and we chilled with tea and TV. Chatted to Mike's Mum for a bit. She gets to see my parents today and they are having dinner at No7 Balmac. I love that place. Had a good sleep and up early as a real shock to my system.

Gym with Quentin. Bench. 35kg 6 reps x 5 sets. Yeah - my arms are like wet noodles now.

All day planning at work today. Wish me luck!  Have a great day.

Love,

Angela

The weekend in Wellington with trap line work with Callan and Ange

 Hi,

Well, here I am at my desk at home starting the working week after an excellent holiday break. Yes, I will blog more about our adventures for you. And yes, I apparently say that every January and you never hear anything more. Sorry. Hahah. Mike found a bunch of draft posts in my blog recently that were my good intentions.

Friday saw us take Chris and Gail to the airport for their flight to AKL. And Mike and I jumped at the chance for lunch at The Botanist. Woot!

Smudge cat model

Moxley with all paws on deck

Saturday was gorgeous. Mike and Janine did park run in Waikanae. We got a few things done around the house. Callan and Stacey were on the ferry coming home from their southern fun.

The Botanist with Mike

Sourdough

Sunday was a bit wet. But we had trap line to do and Callan and Ange said they would help! Woot. We picked up Ange early and got the eggs and Erayz all sorted. Then decided to have a coffee. But nothing was open. Except Maccas. I do not like their iced coffees. But they had a good poster up for it. So I got a selfie!

The best was to take a selfie at Maccas with iced latte

Me and Ange tackle Sunny Grove and a bit of KAT

We got a view

Slightly wet

Ange and I did Sunny Grove and drain clearing and Mike and Callan hared off to the top to do UTS and KAT.

It took me and Ange 1 hour 45 to get to the top. Not bad. No rats. We them popped into KAT to do 1, 2 and 3. Still no rats. So back to the main track and down to finish drains. Met Ian McDonald from the trust and chatted to him about his new trap line. With cameras and feral cats. Ange got a sore knee and we had a nice slow descent from close to the top.

We sat in the car in sunshine and read books until 6pm when Callan and Mike got out. They had done the UTS part we missed due to a lack of eggs.

We all got just 1 rat. UTS2. I guess this is good.

Back home after a quick supermarket trip to get Drano and drop Ange home. Readers - the Drano did not unblock the bath.

We had tea. Stared morosely at the slowly draining bath a few times. Got washing done. Tidied a lot.

And now - work!

Hope your week is a good one.

Love,
Angela

The Monday at work

 Hi,

Mike and I are working from home this week ahead of Christmas. Today (Christmas Eve) is the last day for us this year. The weather is still a bit gloomy - overcast. No rain and not much wind. And it is not cold.

Yesterday Mike luxed out the RAV4 and popped our last Rolandbrau sticker on it. He also got the tow hitch ready for painting. Degreased it, scrubbed off loose rust and washed it. Painting next.

Rolandbrau sticker on the car

We got a new toaster - thank you Ma and Dad

Mum got cross with our admittedly useless toaster and she went out with Dad on the bus to buy us a new one. So we do not get cancer. It is a superb toaster. Dad has used it. But as yet, I have not. This is the same as their one back in Aus. So I know it is a good one. Good riddance to the old toaster - it was only ever just - ok. Mike and I put up with burnt toast for years. Don't tell my mother that last bit.

She was asleep until I disturbed her with my phone

Moxley looking adorable

Mike and I went to bed fairly early. And had such a good sleep. And now it is Christmas Eve. We got up to pick up the croissants from the Karori branch of the Shelley Bay Baker. And Mike went a bit mad with all the bread products. At 8:10am the queue was out the door and they were well on their way to selling out all their goods. We helped.

Merry Christmas iced latte from Shelley Bay Baker in Karori

And that is a wrap for 2024. We have Christmas lunch with all the whānau. Then away to Wairoa for NYs. Back for Heaphy and then before you know it, work will be upon us.

Hope you all have a fabulous Christmas and New Years. See you in 2025. I like that year. 45 squared. Seems good to me.

Love,

Angela

The week before Christmas

 Hi,

Oh - I have not been blogging, have I? Oops. Shows you how busy and out of routines things are. Let's recap.

18 December

My parents arrived Wednesday as scheduled. Toby and I spent the day shopping and enjoying brekkie at Seashore Cabaret before heading to the airport to pick them up off their afternoon flight.

Broccoli all grown up

Seashore

Seeing off Tenzing

Toby and Zoltan

Selfie time

When Mike got home from work we all went to the Khandallah pub for tea. Nice food. Caught up on lots of news. Toby got his Christmas present - noise cancelling airpods. And even with them not connected, as soon as you put them in, you could hardly hear anything in the pub. Wow.

At the pub Wednesday night

Watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation on Wednesday evening, as we have to do. 

19 December

Toby and Mike were up early to head to the airport. Toby's flying visit was over already. We miss him!

The weather was terrible. Rain and driving southerlies. Mike and I worked at home. 

20 December

Friday saw Mike collect Polly from the airport and then work from home. I took my parents out shopping to Queensgate. It was frenetic 'Christmas Crazy' there.

Shopping

Is this the... final Countdown?

Iced latte. 4 out of 10. :-(

Our next door neighbour is away her Chrismas holidays so we are feeding her cat, Lion. Mike fully trained me in feeding duties - I was disappointed to find out I did not need a chair and a whip. Lion is a beautiful wee cat. A torti - with splashes of ginger like Moxley. Oddly though, Lion's tail sticks straight up like Smudge's one.

Lion training

Our cats are expectant

21 December

Saturday saw me and Dad head to the cricket while Mike did the Ōtaki park run with Janine. Crazy - an hour and a half's drive each way just to run 5k. They are collecting Parkruns for some unknown reason.

Stunning weather out there

Mike finishes strong

Home iced latte

Basin - White Ferns v Aus

So ready for it

Loved the cricket. It was free entry! Was supposed to be $20 but I reckon the complete wash out yesterday and the impending doom of rain in the forecast meant they were hoping to get more punters coming along if it was free.

I loved it. Such good cricket. Aussies batted first and were anchored by a century by Annabel Sutherland. Good run rate. 291 total. Big ask for the White Ferns chasing that down.

Dad and I were either baking in the sunshine, or scurrying under a tree from the light rain. But mostly it was hot sunshine.

There was an awesome coffee cart there

We left at around the 15th over in the NZ chase. They only had a few more overs before thunder and rain stopped play. So we saw the best of the match.

Dad and I got off the bus in Willis St and walked down Lambton Quay, hoping to find Mum doing some shopping and wandering.

We did! Saw her waiting for the #4 bus at the end of Lambton Quay. We all went home together. And it started raining heavily then. As we walked from the bus stop to our house the thunder started. But we got home dry and safe.

Wholegrain sourdough

Washed the top cupboards

22 December

Got a few jobs done around the house. Mike mulched the garden and it looks so good now. I washed the top cupboards and they came up fabulous too.

Mike mulched the garden - here is the lower one done

And now both done

The catnip is thriving

Merry Christmas Neil

Mum and I went to visit Kara. As we got there and got cups of tea underway, Ange and Danita arrived for a chat. We all caught up on all the news. Then Neil got home with Rasta and then he and Danita and Ange left. Mum and I chatted for a bit longer. Then we headed home via a quick supermarket stop for milk.

Hey Lion

Fed Lion. She likes Whiskas shredded chicken. Tucked into that straight away.  Fed our cats. Fed ourselves. 

Mike went to meet some of his tramping friends for dinner at some Gordon's Barbecue in Johnsonville. He said it was delicious but he had burger envy. He might make me go and eat the jackfruit burger which is the only vegetarian option (other than chips). 

The slow cooked mānuka smoked wagyu brisket was pretty good though, apparently

Off to bed. A day and a half of work left. Then Christmas. And holidays. Yay!

Have a great day!

Love,

Angela

The Monday with Toby here

 Hi,

Toby got here on his flight from Chc. He settled in at home and Mike and I both worked from home. Then he headed out to see some mates.

Wet and cool weather

Me and Toby at Dillingers

Baked bread when I got home

We saw him at his dentist appointment and then went for dinner with Sally at Dillingers. Good to all catch up.

We headed home after that and I baked bread while we watched YouTube. Juliette popped around, worried about her cat getting fed over her break. So we need to try and sort that if we can.

And then bed. Slept well. Cough still a bit annoying.

Drove in this morning for a last brekkie with Maureen before Christmas break. Mike enjoyed our chatter. She is off up north soon for her fun in the summer sun. Meanwhile Wellington is set to enjoy a cold, wet Christmas. Pah! What does the forecast really mean?

Have a great day.

Love,

Angela