The Wednesday with wing night for Mike

 Hi,

After coming home from the gym in the morning, work kicked in.  Big day.  Although it was quite busy - it was a good busy feeling.  Didn't feel too exhausted by the end of the day.  But let's see what Thursday has in store.  Big go live date on Monday coming up.

Home iced latte option

Mike made brekkie

After work Mike headed into town for wings night with his work mates. I made my tea and pretty much went to bed after that.  Read a bit.  Mike wasn't late home - maybe just before 8pm.

Had a good sleep.  Another day of rain.  The slip is now open on Lennel Road.  We went down there this morning for gym.  I drove back and saw it in daylight.  Big mess on the bank still.  Hope the concrete blocks work.

It's my Friday.  We have a walk to the water catchment tomorrow after work.  And a few tasks for the weekend.

Have a good one.

Love,

Angela

The Tuesday with Spacey Jane concert

 Hi,

After a day working at home Mike and I were ready to head into town for our Spacey Jane concert.  We had a lovely dinner at Bin44.  I had the pumpkin risotto.  Mike had the fish n chips.

Smudge lurking through the monitors - Urban cat style

The evening was a bit rainy, but not too bad.  And no wind at all.  We were 5 minutes early at the Shed 6 doors and the rain was falling lightly as we waited.  The gates opened and Mike did his awesome queue technique and we were in fairly quickly.

Waterfront after Bin44

Turns out we got to the front and were only 3 people from the fence before the stage.  And sometimes there were quite short people in front of me and I had an excellent view.

How did we end up in the mosh pit, 3 people deep from the front?

Spacey Jane

Park Rd were the support band on at 8.30pm and played until around 9.15.  They are a local band and the young people around us knew all their songs!  The lead singer had a really good stage presence for someone that looked Toby's age.  With awesome frantic dance moves between song lines.

Speaking of young people.  Yes, we were by far the oldest people.  If I had to guess, I would say the average age was 20.  If you were 25, you would have been one of the oldest in that crowd.  As Mike said, after us, the next oldest person was probably the lead singer of Spacey Jane.  Hahahah.

One young guy spoke to Mike as we stood in the mosh pit surrounded by exuberant, enthusiastic youths and asked if we were related to someone in the band.  When Mike said no, we were just here to enjoy the music, the chap said that he reckoned his Dad would do the same.

Hahahah.

Spacey Jane probably played for an hour - or a tad over that.  Not a long set.  The crowd loved it.  They did play the two songs I know well - and they were crowd favourites.  Mike and I were energised by being surrounded by a bunch of young folk out enjoying the concert.  Not a lot has changed from when we were in our 20s in concerts.  Hot, sweaty.  Beer cans thrown around (ok - the cans seemed to be Jim Beam and Coke cans).  Vaping.  A bit of pot.  Still young and stupid.  Hahahah.  But people were kind to others.  Someone left and said I could have their spot. Another difference is the amount of phone use.  They all put their phones up and recorded stuff.  Constantly.  Snapchat was the app the young guy next to me was using all the time. No need for a big screen - you can just check out the phone above your head.

We saw a few people faint. In fact, when one young woman fainted just in front of us, the lead singer noticed and stopped the song. He came over to make sure she was alright as they picked her up and brought her over the security fence.  In fact, earlier the security guy had jumped the fence and picked up a person to our right and carefully carried them out.   

I was in my hoodie all night - and it was hot.  But lucky I do deadlifts for strength, eh?  

It finished and we headed out into the much cooler night outside.  Jumped in the car and were home by 11pm.  Up at 6.30am for a session at the gym.  Leg day.

Have a lovely day.

Love,

Angela

The Monday with me working from home and Mike working from the real office

 Hi,

Work was work.  Busy week ahead.  Mike was in town for the day and I was working from home.  But after work I managed to convince myself to go to the gym for Spin class.  Went to the 1 hour one from 6 - 7pm.  Mike came home on the re-routed #14 bus.

Monday night Spin

When I got home from Spin, Mike had tea all ready to go.  So I sat down to eat.  Yummy too.  And finished off with Mike's cookies from Sunday.

Mike's hokey pokey cookies

Weird position for me and Moxley after spin

We had a bath to relax (and, well, for me to get clean!) and then hopped into bed.  Had a good sleep but the alarm went off far too early.  Hahah.

Up for my PT session in the gym with Quentin.  60kg deads.  With back work after that.  Tomorrow on leg day.  Thursday on bench.  Oossshhh!

Back home via Mojo.

Mojo iced latte

At home Mojo iced latte

Mike and I both working from home today.  And we're at a concert after work today.  Spacey Jane.  Shed 6 or something.  It'll be fun.  I will tell you all about it tomorrow.

Have a great day.

Love,

Angela

The weekend at home

 Hi,

We had a really quiet weekend at home.  And in fact, we did less than usual - which was kinda nice.  Friday saw me take back our Animates online order to the shop. My label on the outside - someone in Waikato's order on the inside.  A lot of cockatiel seed in that order.  No kitty litter or the right cat kibble.  So I drove to our close Animates here in town.

After checking with them, they said to bring in the order.  SO I hefted the parcels out of the car and into the shop.  They jumped on the phone to sort it out.  I asked if I should pick up my order from their shelves.  To help.  They said yes.  I went to heft even heavier things into a shopping trolley.  

But as I wandered around, almost done, the staff came over to me.  Said they were told it would be much easier to do this at Lower Hutt.  They could just swap it over.

Frankly, I know how bad the POS system is at this place.  So I do not doubt for a minute it would have been painful for the staff.

But, as I drove out in the rain and poor conditions, I got quite cross.  Given the almost 30km round trip and time it took for me, I reckon I added about $15 in petrol.  But the staff at Lower Hutt were great.  Mollified me somewhat.  And I bought more kibble (because, seriously, I know swapping the smaller bag the online shop only offered for the bigger bag available in the shop would have been too hard for their POS system).

Anyway.  I am now contemplating using the vet (the only other place that stocks the kitty litter our cats use) instead of wrangling with the POS system at Animates.  More trips as they only stock smaller bags.  But - I could walk to the vet!

Sigh.  Anyway.  Got home after skirting the slip that has closed the main road into Wadestown.  

Moxley on Mike's lap on Friday

We finish taste testing the oat milk chocolate

Rainbow over the Z station

After Mike finished work, we walked down to Lennel Road to see the slip that has closed the main road into Wadestown.  It tried to rain on us, but we stayed fairly dry.  Did 5km in the end and explored roads we haven't been on before.

Friday evening walk to see the slip in Lennel Road

On the walk bridge across Lennel Road

The slip is huge.  Looks like a big bank of dirt has come down.  We saw a huge dump truck get filled easily.  Mike said Stuff said it might be blocked until Tuesday.

Digger on the slip

The house above the slip must be very worried.  Not a lot of ground remains between the side of their house and a precipice.

Lots of dirt!  And a house that must have nervous occupants

The hole

Saturday saw us up to fix a wee hole in the weatherboards outside our new window. I needed Mike's help in the end as I could not figure out the drill bits that let me cut out a weatherboard plug the right size.

The tools

The fix

But we got it done - and it fitted perfectly with some No More Nails.  And a quick run to Mitre10 to buy the gun that lets you pump out the glue.  Hahahah.

Moxley draped over me

Sally and Andrew popped over for tea and we had home made burgers with some venison mince.  We also watched a movie:  The Gray Man.  It was okay.  Better than some we have watched on Netflix lately.

Cute window cat

Sunday was another lazy day.  In the evening Andrew came to visit and then Sarah, Hamish and Ryan came over for burgers.  Andrew stayed (he managed to keep his eyes open - just!) as well.  Good catch up with them all.

Then off to bed.  Today (Monday) sees me at home working and Mike in town working.  Might drive in for spin after work.  Tomorrow is Spacey Jane concert.  That is going to be funny as I reckon Mike and I will be by far the oldest people there.

Have a wonderful day.

Love,

Angela

The Wednesday at work and a lunch with Celia

 Hi,

Rainy Wednesday.  I caught the later bus in and worked from the actual office.  Main reason was because I had a lunch date with Celia.  Always a good reason to actually go to town.

Wet day bus ride

Empty work place

Work iced latte - rainy day outside still

Iced latte at lunch with Celia

We enjoyed lunch at Mojo and planned a bit of our trip to Mt John in early September.  I need to book stuff!

Headed home with Mike after work finished.  Packed #14 bus.  Had some soup for tea and I wasn't long out of bed.

Good sleep.  Up to more rain.  I drove into town with Mike for gym. But I drove home again after my PT session. Mike is working in town today.

Birthday iced coffee

Working from home on Thurs iced coffee

Busy day at work for me.  But it is my Friday.  Woot!

Have a great day.

Love,

Angela

The Tuesday with working from home

 Hi,

We both worked from home on Tuesday. It was certainly the day for it. Cold and wet.  And windy. I did get to the gym in the morning.  Drove in and then drove home.  I did a knee session as both knees complained when I carried Mike's coffee down the stairs to him this morning.

The knee session worked a treat.  Even today I can bound up and down the stairs with impunity.  I must do the knee exercises again today.

Home made iced latte after my gym

At lunch time I cut Mike's hair.  Good use of the work from home time. And then we both tried the new Oat Milk chocolate from Whittakers.

I give it a good 3.5 stars our of 5.  And although I would not buy it again myself (unless I develop a milk allergy because going vegan is not terribly likely) if someone dished it up to me on a tramp or at a party, I would partake.

It is not very creamy.  Tastes a bit like a dark chocolate.  Not too sweet. I read it was gritty - but I did not get that impression at all.  It looks good.  Tastes ok.  Would eat again.  Might not buy again.

Review of the Oat Milk Whittakers chocolate

How is that comfortable?

I found a hole in the frame around our new window - like the size of a 50c coin.  Mike said it would have been under the old architraves.  So the weekend now has a new job.  Make a plug and glue it in.

I reckon that was the source of the Gollum noises the night before.  Not heard again - the wind has dropped though.

After work we had a quick light tea and went to bed very early. Mike was asleep by like 8pm! I think the covid booster shot might have had something to do with that.

Up for the bus into work this morning.  Lunch date with Celia.  Woot!

Have a great day.

Love,

Angela

The Monday back at work

 Hi,

Had a good first day back after an awesome weekend.  Mike and I met at the Gateway walk in clinic and got our 4th booster for covid.  It was seamless - 12.25 pm and out by 12.45.  No issues.

4th booster

Okay - let's try this

I popped into the supermarket on the way home and grabbed the new Oat Milk Whittakers block.  Let me try that and let you know.  Spinoff did a review - I hope it tastes better than what that indicated.

Moxley wants her tea

First spin since January

I got out to Spin after work.  6 - 7pm.  Mike did a run with Janine in the gales.  This was my first Spin class since January.  Wow.  And an hour was tough.  Hahah.

Bin44 spontaneous dinner

Sally and Andrew were at Rosies with Mike and Janine when I finished so I drove over and found a park and we all had tea at Bin44.

Janine headed to the station and we dropped Sally and Andrew home and then got home ourselves and fell into bed.

There was a weird noise when the wind blew hard (and it did that a lot!) in our bedroom somewhere near the new window.  We never figured it out - it sounded like the cat puking.  Or Gollum swallowing a lot.  Whatever it was, it did not keep me up.  Although I did hear it through the night once or twice.

Drove into town for my PT session with Quentin.  Knees day.  

Have a great day!

Love,

Angela

The weekend in Blenheim

 Hi,

Huge weekend - I packed and drove into town on Thursday night after work to meet Mike.  He and I both were saying goodbye to Dion from work at Rosies.  So sad to see Dion leave - but I reckon he will be great at his next job.  And I have told him to ping me when he is in town so we can go lift heaving things together.  :-) 

I had made banana bread during the day and Mike suggested I take it to Blenheim - so I did.  Packed that with my gear.  

Made banana bread with the recipe Tessa sent me

Mike drove me to the airport and we grabbed a quick bite of sushi before I wandered down to the Sounds Air gate.  The 7.30pm Blenheim flight was running late.  They boarded at 7.40pm.  But our 8pm flight boarded straight away and we left at 7.50pm.  Hahahah.

Quick flight over and Iona met me at the airport and took me home.  I met Twigg for the first time.  She is a gorgeous dog.  We watched some TV before I was too sleepy.

In Blenheim

Meeting Twigg

Up Friday for a bit of a walk with Iona and Twigg to Taylor river which was still recovering from recent floods.  We watched the workers raking out debris stuck under the walk bridge.  I thought that would take days - but later in the day I saw it was all cleared.

Mike ended up with a migraine Friday afternoon.  Poor guy.  Maybe he was pining for me too much?

Then off for a coffee catch up with Mandy at Catalyst.  Always a good place for an iced latte.  Then we wandered to an open home at the start of Iona and Col's driveway.  Tiny wee house.  Nice and tidy but they did want $600k.  Wow!  92sm house.  Lovely first home for a couple. Or someone wanting a small place with low maintenance.

Iced latte @ Catalyst

Iona and I wandered around town before going to see the latest Thor movie. I laughed my way through that movie - comedy gold in places.

Back home for tea and a movie and then bed.  The movie we chose was a harrowing epic about a young Irish woman in Tasmania and genocide of the local population.  Abhorrent content to watch about an awful bit of Australian history.  And although it was fiction, history speaks for itself and these sorts of things must have happened.  The movie was well done though - good characters and acting and lovely moody forest scenes. 

Up early for trapline day.  We left home at 8am and were at the cafe at Pelorus by 9am.  We were just tucking into an iced latte and scone when Allan and Jean arrived.  

Saturday sunrise

Driving to Pelorus

Cafe at Pelorus

Without mask

After catching up with news (Ashley is 9 weeks old now and Jacob is a good big brother) Jean and Allan picked up the low trap lines and Iona, Col and I started on K line with U line to follow.

10am getaway from the cafe all loaded up with bait and replacement traps as needed.  Including gas canisters for any A24s.  11am saw us at the bottom of the hill.  And we got to the top around 12.20pm.

K Line trapline

Happy Iona

Col checks out the roots of a massive tree

At the top of K Line

Yep

Looking back down the valley

Lunch at the top

Quick lunch at the top and we got some views as the mist cleared. Enjoyed my egg sandwich - thank you Iona.

Mist clears

Selfie

Fungus

72 traps later we finished K line and started back up the track to the top of U line.  U line is off track and we enjoyed that part of the bush bash.

Fern and sun

Cool shelf fungus

14 of those traps later and we walked out of the bush at 3pm.  So a 5 hour wander around in the bush - quite a lot of fun.

Back home and Iona got tea ready for us while Col and I took Twigg for a walk and we picked up provisions at Countdown for the rugby.

Kiwi pear meets lemon mutant

Saturday night rugby

Yeah.  The rugby.  Ireland smashed NZ.  32 - 22.  But the All Blacks were not even in the hunt. Ireland deserved it.  Totally.

Up Sunday for a walk before brekkie.  Off to the beach to pick up rubbish and enjoy being outside in the brisk conditions.

Sunday beach cleaning walk

An afternoon of hardware stores and second hand sales. Great fun. Also dropped into a lovely open home of some sort of mansion.  Wow!  Huge section.  Lovely house.  Col and I could live there happily.  Hahah.  Iona was like:  No!

Admiring the colour of my iced latte

Cheers!

Then a lazy Sunday afternoon before tea and then a drop off at the airport for my 7pm flight home.  Brilliant weekend.

Mike was at the airport to pick me up.  We wandered home and I unpacked and got ready for my week ahead.

Awesome fun weekend.  Mike was up early for his gym session with Quentin.  And I am working from home.  Mike has a run with Janine after work.  Woot!  I will go to spin and meet him in town to take him home.  Hopefully that all fits in.

Have a lovely week.

Love,

Angela