The Wednesday at work

 Hi,

We had Diwali morning tea at work and I ate a really delicious puff pastry with paneer in it. Yum. And Gokila gave me a Manchurian to try - a spicy vegetable ball in a red sauce. Readers - it was not spicy. But it was also delicious.

Work iced latte

I did enjoy a work iced latte with Madeleine before the morning tea started. They have improved their coffee.

Diwali morning tea

Wind got up as we got ready to leave work. So Mike and I bussed home. We were told to stay at home for Thursday due to the red wind warning. Trains are cancelled all day. And flights are disrupted.

We are a bit worried about getting to Auckland for our connecting flight to Malayasia. Let's see what happens.

Canterbury is in a state of emergency already. Hope they are all ok down there.

Khemry is going to come and look after the cats while we are away. We need to make sure she is ok for that. But otherwise, we are all go.

Have a brilliant day. Stay safe.

Love,

Angela

The Tuesday with work

 Hi,

Got home and fed the cats after work. Mike was out with Janine. Chilled before he got home. And then not long out of bed, really.

Good sleep. Up before the alarm and we both walked into town. 

Sunrise Wed morning

Ended up at the gym together. Me with Quentin on squats.  And Mike on bench on his own. I did 60kg 4 x 4 and Mike did 70kg bench!  

Then off to see Juliet at Pravda.

Pravda iced latte

Good to catch up with her. She compared notes with Mike too - on their recent diagnoses.  

I also exchanged messages with Ange last night - and she had been overnight in the hospital after a Tassie Devil encounter. Huge gash on her shin. It looks so terrible. Waaaaah. Hoping she recovers without any infections. She is full of antibiotics. Fingers crossed for her.

Have a great day.

Love,

Angela

The Monday with working from home and packing

 Hi,

Working from home yesterday showed me how much the cats really love us humans. Both cats stayed with me the entire day in the office. Both started on the Halloween stuff. Smudge on top of the pumpkin and Moxley in the skull.

Cats in the Halloween things

Moxley falls and stays sleeping

And then the skull rolled off the edge of the chair - and Moxley stayed sleeping inside it. Too funny. Smudge moved to my desk though. Must have been too much for her to bear.

Smudge moves to my desk

The falling skull was too much for her to cope with

Now on the couch

When Mike got home we had tea and then packed for our trip away. Not sure we have been packed this early before for any trip. How odd.

It is so windy. We have had stronger winds - but there is something unusual about the wind right now. Gusty. It is hard to explain. Anyway - there was no way I was going to ride to work in this. Had a good sleep despite the wind. As we went to bed, Alexa stopped working. We didn't know at the time but Amazon has had a big global outage.

Woke up and discovered Alexa was still not working. Had to use light switches. Couldn't listen to the radio. And what's worse I couldn't make Mike a coffee.

French Kiss cart iced latte

Took the bus to gym. Had a great PT session with Quentin. Deadlifts. 90kg 2 reps x 5 sets. Then bench. 45kg 1 rep. Then 37.5kg 4 reps x 4 sets. Boom!

Hope your day is a fantastic one.

Love,

Angela

The weekend with tramping and Wellington things

 Hi,

Toby won the inaugural trophy for winning the Kahoot quiz at his uni class. He was very proud. I am proud too.

Toby won the inaugural Criminal Justice and tikanga trophy

Thursday after work, Maureen came over to pick me up and we headed to Catchpool for our tramp to find kiwi.

The weather was nice in Wellington but as we crossed into Wainuiomata, we drove into dark clouds and the rain just started to lightly spit. It stayed like that until we got into the hut, to be honest. We stayed dry though.

Started walking around 5.00pm I reckon. My pack was about 12kg but I made good enough time. 34 mins to halfway bridge. I have been much faster - but it was ok. 

Toby tree

At the bridge

Made it to the river around 1 hour 10 mins I think. I had been watching the river levels because we have had some decent rain. But by Thursday it had dropped away to just above normal levels. Maybe 1.8 cu (normal seems to be 1.2 cu). So we decided it would be ok in crocs and we would keep our boots dry. 

I went first to check it out. And it was pretty high - above my knees. And there was a channel and it was fairly fast. But it was ok - I just had to scrunch up my toes to keep my crocs securely on my feet.

Maureen had just bought new crocs for this trip. And she wore them across the river then declared them too small. And looked at mine and said: yours look big on you.

Well, yes, They have always been a bit big. So we swapped. And now I know the joy of well-fitting crocs. Who knew? Maureen is also happy with her lime green crocs. Win, win.

River looks ok

We got to the hut and sorted out the fire and our beds. I was hungry so got dinner on. Well - ok - I boiled water for dinner. The dehy meals went down well.

In the hut

By then it was fairly dark so we got changed into warmer gear and left the hut at about 8:30pm. Crossed the river again - this time in well fitting crocs. And then headed up towards Turere lodge to listen and find kiwi. We heard one in the distance at Turere. Continued on for a bit past the new bridge and heared the same kiwi again. Decided to continue until we were about 400m from Haurangi before heading back. Saw glowworms - so that was cool.

Next time I think Haurangi will be a better centre for kiwi spotting. 

Off to bed after a decent 5km walk. I had a pretty good sleep. Up to a sunny calm day. We had brekkie. Wild bacon in rolls. :-) And cleaned up and headed back to the car.

Friday morning

Walking out

We got a coffee at the coffee cart near the churches in Lower Hutt and visited Sally to catch up with her. 

Coffee cart in Lower Hutt

Walking out

Cleaning up

Thursday evening crossing

Saturday saw Mike get up for our trapline. He had 5 punters on his trip up Sunny Grove and KAT. Callan and Andrew took Caitlin up UTS.

I made some salsa for Ange's birthday party at Danita's house. What a lovely evening. Celia, James and Charlie came. Lize and Clive. Natalie. Nick was there too. Danita pulled together a fantastic Mexican-themed dinner. Thank you for a lovely evening.

Saturday evening birthday cocktail

Sunday cleaning out the gutters

All clean now

Sunday morning Mike woke with a migraine. Waaaahh. So we had a quiet day really. Got the car cleaned on the inside. We did the gutters because Tom came to get my bike rack for the panniers for their Heaphy trip and we stood and looked out over the grass-filled gutters. Hahahah. Well done, Mike. Next rains we can laugh with impunity.

Off to bed fairly early. But it was hard to get up. Mike missed gym - he was still not right. So we ate porridge and felt a bit better.

Windy again here. Sigh.

Hope your week is a good one.

Love,

Angela

The Wednesday with working from home still

 Hi,

Yeah - I dunno. I just feel a little off this week. Maybe I have some low key thing. Dunno. Anyway - in the afternoon I did feel better than the morning.

Cats hang in the office with me

Banana bread

The cats were happy I stayed home. Hahah. Smudge on the pumpkin and Moxley inside the skull. Too cute.

After work I ate leftovers from my evening out with Khemry. And baked banana bread. I have not done that for a while now. Got my dough ready for a sourdough loaf too.

Mike gets notified when I'm stretching dough

Working from home. So up this morning for my PT session with Quentin in the garage. That was good. Squats. But light - 30kg. 6 reps x 4 sets.

After work I am off for an overnight tramp with Maureen. We want to try and see kiwi in the wild. So heading to Orongorongo valley for the night. Back tomorrow.

Mike will hold the fort for the night here. :-)

Weekend looks busy for us. Mike and Andrew are taking a bunch of people to do our trapline. Mike hopes to convince some to join the team. And I will try parkrun and then make salsa ahead of a birthday party for Ange at Danita's place. Woot.

Sunday we have to get Christine's boxes into the loft and then set up my bike for some cardio in the garage gym. Exciting!

Take care.

Love,

Angela

The Tuesday working from home with Mike

 Hi,

Well, Mike shook off his migraine and worked most of the day yesterday. But he was not 100%. Easily zonked out.

Khemry and her mini

After work I headed to town to meet Khemry at the train station and we went to Johnsonville to pick up her rug. Yes, it was a huge rug. But we rolled down the passenger seat back and the rug fitted legnthwise from the dashboard to the boot easily. Khemry had to sit in the backseat though.

Navigated the traffic to her house and I got a tour. What a gorgeous wee house. Lovely floors, great kitchen. It has a really nice feel. A perfect house for her.

Then we got in her wee mini and drove to an Indian restaurant not far from the PaknSave at Lower Hutt, near High St. Had a great meal. Then she took me back to her house and I jumped in our car and headed home.

Chilled with Mike on the couch - where I actually slept for a bit. Weirdly. Then off to bed. Neither of us could get up on Wed morning. So we cancelled gym with Quentin and had a leisurely brekkie at home.

Mike has just left to bus into town for work and I will work from home.

Hope your day is a great one.

Love,

Angela

The Monday working from home

 Hi,

Mike was a bit late home from work after his run. He caught up with friends and by the time he got home, it was too late to have dinner. So into the fridge it went. But I had it earlier and it was delicious. Slow cooker for the win.

They were touching!

We went to bed and slept well. Mike woke at 4am with a migraine so he is having a slow start to his day and will work from home.

I am also WFH again. And I will meet Khemry after work today and help her with a new rug that didn't fit in her car.

Yay!

Have a great day!

Love,

Angela

The weekend in Masterton for Oktoberfest

 Hi,

So much has happened since my last blog. Thursday night we went out to Petone for tea with Kara and Janine at Gear St Union and then onto Epuni Hall for a community theatre show. Wedding Singer the musical. And it was actually really good fun. I was doubtful - but they all came through in a great rendition of the story. Bold performances. Solid performances. Just how you hope.

The Wedding Singer - the musical

Spoilers: it all worked out in the end

Buried by cats

Friday I ended up staying at home. No chance to ride my bike with Kara in town or by myself in the Wairarapa. Too windy and rainy. I did bake bread.

Sourdough

Picked up Mike and headed over the hill. Checked into Solway Copthorne and relaxed ahead of dinner out for us. We went to The Good Spot Eatery, a lovely Asian fusion cafe/restaurant. Had some delicious food in a great atmosphere with attentive staff. Then back to our room.

Up for parkrun.  Henley Lake was the parkrun venue - and only the 5th event for them. What a lovely run. Mike enjoyed it so much he went for a second loop. I got my #25 parkrun. Yay.

Masterton parkrun

Running ...

And done

Brekkie in Masterton

What sort of energy drink is that?

We went to Reduced to Clear but found no bargains this time. Checked out Cycle Tom cafe and enjoyed their bike shop too.

Judder bar sign

Oktoberfest set up

They are ready

Janine came over and off they went to Oktoberfest.  Maybe 30 - 40 punters. They had a lot of fun.

Sunday was more rainy and windy weather. We checked out and drove home and played with the cats. hahah.

Katla (the RAV4) got dinged - someone drove into it while Toby was at a cafe. But they left a note - what good people! So we're sorting that out. Front bumper and bonnet are a bit dented.

Enjoy your week. More windy and rainy weather here.

Love,

Angela

The Wednesday with working from home with Mike

 Hi,

The day wasn't too bad yesterday. Sunny enough. Mike decided to work from home too. We got a lunch run in. Well - he did. My right calf is tender so I just walked.

Lunch time run

Young Toby

Mike from a few years back for another Oktoberfest

We were in bed fairly early. And up for a bus ride in and my PT session. Incline bench. 30kg. 8 reps x 4 sets. Then calf work. Because - you know.

Thursday morning PT session

Iced latte time

Caught up with Shane for brekkie. And now at work.

I will ride home furiously at 4.30. Get changed and drive to Petone to meet Mike (he is running there) and Kara and Janine. Dinner at Gear St Union something cafe something. Then off to see The Wedding Singer (the musical). Umm - yeah.

I will let you know.

Then we're off Friday to Masterton for a random Oktoberfest at the Solway. Ok. Secret pizza Friday night.

Good stuff. I will go cycling.

Have a great weekend.

Love,

Angela

The Tuesday with a wonderful catch up after work

 Hi,

One thing I do not understand is why my 2 days at work feel more like 4. This week is quite the adventure. 

My incredulous face at the lovely weather

The day was wet when I rode in but calm. And then the morning was beautiful. Clear skies. Lovely. Then at 2pm it hosed down with truck loads of rain. And when we met up in Rosies with everyone, sunshine again.

It was so good to see Joycie, Steph and Sally. What a great bunch of people. So good to hear news - Steph's new job, Joycie is starting a new role next week and Sally has had such great travel holidays recently.

Made our lives look pedestrian.

Mike and I ubered home and fed the cats. We noticed the moon on our way home - huge, full.  It looked so stunning. Turns out it was a supermoon. The Harvest moon.  All I knew then was it looked so gorgeous. 

Moxley has a grass pad from a work colleague and she loves it. Hahah. Mike popped it down and within seconds she was on it. Nibbling. And a few mins later - puking up grass.

Right. WFH today. Just had garage gym with Quentin. Squats. Tough day at the gym for me. Ended up doing 40kg 4 reps x 4 sets.

Have a fabulous day, everyone.

Love,

Angela

The Monday back at work

 Hi,

Lucky it was a WFH day yesterday because the day was chaos from the start. I was home when Mike's new passport was delivered so I signed for that. And mine turned up on Friday when we were in Chc. So I headed out to Johnsonville NZ Post to collect it.  All with no bother at all.

Courier delivered Mike's passport

Car apparently read a 130km/hr sign somewhere

On the way back I took the motorway and somewhere the car read I could do 130km/hr.  Hahahah. No. No, I could not. Not anywhere in NZ on a legal road.

Mike got home after work and we had some tea and watched some YouTube and went to bed. We were still a bit tired from the weekend.

Up to ride in and the day was so lovely. Wet road. But now we have no wind and clear skies. Went to my PT session. Deads. 80kg 5 reps x 4 sets and then wrapped bench press. 40kg. 5 reps x 2 sets. Then a dodgy set with only 2 reps. Then a 4th set with 5 reps. Not sure what happened in that 3rd set.

Anyways. The day stretches out before me. Meeting Steph, Sally and Joyce from our last work after work today. Yay.

Take care.

Love,

Angela