The weekend with cleaning and moving out and Michelle and Tim arriving

 Hi,

So much has happened since my last post. Raf the builder came on Friday along with Sally and Andrew. Raf fixed a lot of the wee jobs around the house while Sally and Andrew packed up the rest of the house.

Sally did all the extraneous things still in the house. Andrew got the big pieces ready for moving. Raf did his thing.

Raf got the trim on the bathroom and now it looks nice and finished.

New trim on

Looks nice

He went out and got a new door and fashioned it into the wardrobe door for Mike's wardrobe. How cool is that?

Wardrobe door on

Kitchen cleared out

My last night alone

Tom came to help and Andrew and Sally got a trailer and they all got the last big things out. The bed went to Tom and Elly's place with the couches. And after Tom left, we got the bookcase onto the trailer for Sally and Andrew to take to their place.

That left me in the empty house. I decided to stay the night on the outdoor furniture squabs as my mattress. Worked great. Got Uber Eats. Went to sleep.

All gone

Bedroom upstairs

My sleeping bag in the lounge

Next morning

Chillax iced latte

Went to Chillax for brekkie. Read my book. Back to meet James the house washer. What a charming man. He even gave me a Mars bar. 

Reading with my iced latte

James the house cleaner was amazing

Looks so good

Front door

Never seen this part so clean

Steps

When James finished the front door area, the cleaning team arrived. I said hello to them and pointed out some possible issues. The new shower install. The new trim. The recent plastering. They were all good. Assessed it at maybe 5 hours of work. Wow. They were not wrong.

Top bedroom after the cleaners inside

Penny, Gloria and Tatiana were amazing cleaners. 4.5 hours - and they called in a 4th person 2 hours in. Good on them.

The place looked incredible after they left. The drawer on the downstairs bathroom was broken as was a drawer int he kitchen. But I supposed vigorous cleaning might do that to old drawers. We can sort those out.

Walls are so clean

Floor is so clean

Kitchen is so clean

Clean

Splashback looks like new

I went out to Juliet's birthday at Ortega Fish Shack for 6pm. What a lovely evening. So many people into the upstairs to celebrate her milestone. Juliet is a wonderful person to know. A lot of work people turned up and I sat opposite Barb. Michael was next to me and a very talkative dinner party guest. I learned lots about wine and food.

The food served was superb. Yum! Best gnocchi ever. Mike arrived and managed to get two courses of the food. Yay!

Then at 23:00 I took Barb and him home. We could not get Tom on our messages so we stayed the night in our house. Sleeping bags on the squabs. One last night together in the house. 

Shelley Bay Baker for brekkie

New fence at 40

Picked up Michelle and Tim from the airport at 3pm

Dinner at Seashore Cabaret

Mt Vic view

Mike worked in the garage all day and James came back to finish the outside. Less wind meant he could do the chemical part.

I went to see Sally and Andrew and got a wash on. Helped with their fence a bit. And then headed back to collect Mike and go to the airport to see Michelle and Tim arrive.

We ate a bagel and went to international arrivals and only just sat down when they came through. Whisked them to Sofitel in Bolton St and they stayed to shower. We went home to sort out our move to Elly and Tom's house. Elly made us feel very welcome.

Then off to pick up Michelle and Tim for tea. Seashore Cabaret for a decent meal with a lovely view. And a quick drive to Mt Vic to see Wellington at night. The brisk wind meant we did not stay too long up there.

So nice to see them both. I hope they have fun during the day this week. We will see them in the evenings.

Have a great week.

Love,
Angela

The Thursday with a new shower installed

 Hi,

Finally the rain has stopped and I can see some sunshine and blue sky. Yay. The team from Golden Showers came yesterday to take out the old upstairs shower and replace it. They were an hour. So efficient and our shower now looks very modern.

New shower

Instructions

Stain and varnish

After work I did two more coats of stain on the wood trim. And after a good sleep, got up and did a varnish. Not sure it will be ready for the builder today (Friday) - but let's see.

Raf the builder is here now. 8.30am. And started on the window bead on our only remaining old window. He has a list of jobs from Mike.

I have to empty the house after work today. Seems a huge task. Sally and Andrew will come to help. Not sure how much I will be able to lift. Sore back from a dead lift on Tuesday.

But as I said, it is sunny.

Have a great day. Enjoy the weekend.

Love,

Angela

The Wednesday with no cats and no Mike

 Hi,

The cats have arrived in Chc and had their first sleep there. Mike and Toby and Tessa have reported an easy transition for them.

Meanwhile, we had the carpet laid downstairs and it looks so good. Awesome work.

New carpet going down

In the spare room

In our old bedroom

Mike removes the old curtains

Cats in crates

In the back of Sally's car

Sally kindly took Mike and the cats to the airport. They both took a pill that Mike gave them and it zonked out Smudge. Apparently she slept all the way and then some.

About to check in

Carpet done

Looks very nice

Old bedroom

Spare room

Old bedroom

Nicely done

My old wardrobe

Moxley out in the car in Chc

The cats hid by our old bed in the new house and so Mike, Toby and Tessa took off to let them explore on their own. I heard Mike and Toby sung up a storm at karaoke at The Foundry. Hahahah.

I had my skin check up. With crazy dates coming up for me, I just booked in next Wednesday to get some biopsy work done. Will mean I have stitches for Spring Challenge. But it should be ok. The following week is crazy work week and it gets too close to Nepal.

Oh well.

What else? Weird sleeping at home with no cats. They have always been here. Sometimes we are not. But they are always here.

I woke up to roll over in the night so I did not disturb the cat. Didn't need to worry.

Hahahah.

Take care. Have a wonderful day.

Love,

Angela

The Tuesday with City Mission

 Hi,

Yesterday was so busy at work. We both worked from home. The only project management piece yesterday was the City Mission. They came around 10am and took a few things away. But after work (went late for both of us - Aussie timezones) I painted more. Ange came to collect her TV. We have enjoyed using that for the last few years.

Off to bed. And I slept well. Exhaustion might be starting to contribute to good sleeps. When I woke, the phone reminded me that today (Wednesday 16 Sept 2026) is the day the cats go to Christchurch.

My reminder this morning

Mike is leaving for the airport at 11.30am for his flight to Chc with the cats. I know it will be scary for Smudge. Moxley will just likely want out to explore. I hope they like the new wee house. It'll be good to have Toby and Mike there.

Meanwhile, the carpet layer has arrived. He is taking off the doors downstairs and laying a new carpet. It'll look good. The last carpet had not stood the test of time too well.

I have an appointment at 1pm too. Hopefully that goes well. Tim's last day at work today. Good on him for making the move to start his own business with Juliet. I wish them all the success in the world.

Mike went to his PT session this morning. And brought home brekkie for me. Thank you.

Iced latte from Margies that Mike brought home to me

Have a great day.

Love,

Angela

The Monday with plumbers

 Hi,

What a day, what a week. Tasman Plumbers came and took out the old cracked vanity and replaced it with a shiny new one.

Old vanity out

New one ready

New vanity in place

Busy at work. A late meeting got cancelled at short notice so did not have to work late. Phew. Made some tea (leftovers and scrambled eggs - we do not have a lot available).

Then painted skirting board in our old bedroom downstairs. Took a few hours. Did my wardrobe door too. Needs a second coat or more still.

Finally into bed. Up for my first PT session in weeks. But it was tough. Deads. Tried 80kg. Did 1 set of 4 reps. But on my second set I tweaked my back on the right on my third lift. And game over. Did some massage and then went to brekkie with Quentin.

Reimer was there and Mike joined us. Good chats. Then into work to drop off some pie substitute for pi minute this afternoon (3.14pm today - 3.14 15/9/26 makes the first 8 digits of pi) and a parcel from Quentin for his previous house owner. 

Post gym brekkie

Stashed

Bolt Bins came to take away our skip

Shiny truck

Home with Mike to see our skip getting taken away. New skip arrived to fill up. City Mission come today to take away some stuff (we hope).

Have a great day.

Love,

Angela