The Monday back at work for us

 Hi,

We both worked from home on Monday after flying back from Auckland. Cats were happy about that. We did get a good view of Blenheim and the sounds as we flew in to land. The rest of the north motu was shrouded in cloud.

Downstairs mirror is done!

Upstairs mirror is ready to go

Dave had sorted the downstairs mirror in our absence and Chelsea had sorted the cats. Yay for both things.

Marlborough Sounds

Tomatoes are still green

Mike got the toothbrush wired into the mirror downstairs

After work, Mike wired in the toothbrush to the new mirror downstairs. And this morning I used it and the fancy demister when I took a shower.

The vanity is now clear of all the facial regime products. When Dave gets back to hang the upstairs mirror, Mike will do the same up there.

I did online gym this morning with Quentin. I still have an unsettled stomach. No idea why but best to stay home, I reckon.

While I was showering, Mike found Moxley had snuck into the wall space on the stairwell. Cheeky gremlin cat.

So cute! Until I thought about what would happen if she started running about in the ceiling space

Rainy here today. But no wind so it is drizzling down vertically. 

Hope your day is a good one.

Love,

Angela

The weekend with Eurovision

 Hi,

What a big weekend. And I could not put up a lot of the pics from Friday as they were a bit gruesome - Juliet's injury is still spectacular.

Thursday night I made sourdough for the weekend. And Friday saw me up early to do track clearing work up Sunny Grove with Andrew.

Sourdough for us

Track clearing with Andrew

Cute fungus

We left the car at about 9.15 and carried up loppers, spade, grubber and saws to the first high junction and then wandered back down, clearing away overgrowth on the side of the track. And overhead. Wow. It was exhausting business. And when Andrew finally said that I needed to get away, I was surprised to see almost 3 hours had gone by.  11:53am. Where did that time go? It was very satisfying.

Andrew dropped me back at their place and I jumped in the car and headed to Chillax for coffee and cheese scones and went around to visit Juliet. Met Dan properly too.

Chillax iced latte

I chatted to Juliet at her place then we went into her GP for her wound dressing. They took one look at it - conferred with a GP - and sent Juliet to ED. Oh dear. We went to get a few things from her home, said goodbye to Dan who was going to work, look after the girls and then come into ED later. I dropped Juliet off at ED and then heard back that they were pumped her full of antibiotics and keeping her for a few days to observe. Not good. But obviously she is in the best place for the nest outcome. Her injury is still very nasty looking. I hope she responds well to the treatment and gets home today.

Friday night relaxing

Waitangi park run

We were up Saturday morning for Park Run. And I pushed myself and ended up almost puking at the end. Hahah.  8 seconds outside my previous PB. But it was slow to start and windy as! Saw Simon and Becky and then Felix and Fiona from work. Very social. Mike went for another run while I sat in Joe's Garage.

Hey Felix!

Joe's Garage after our run

We had a very nice brekkie then Mike went to see about cakes in Arobake and I went to Shut up and Dance with Jessie. New instructor today. Spice Girls was the theme. Hahah. Good fun.

With Jessie after Shut Up and Dance

At Swimsuit post dancing!

Quick coffee at Swimsuit on Dixon. Mike met us and then off home. Got the house tidy for Eurovision the next morning.

Up for Eurovision nice and early after a noisy, windy night. Little did I know then why it was so noisy in the night!  Got the food all ready. And around 7am when it kicked off, the punters arrived.

Brekkie laid out

And it starts

Keen as

Iced latte

Some of the punters

Ange and Danita were first on the scene. Sarah turned up not too long after the start. Grant came! Yay! Maarten and Irina. Kara. Christine had been put to see Tilly and arrived halfway through the songs.

We all did not enjoy Austria this year and sure enough.... they were contenders through the jury judging. Australia didn't make the final. Milkshake Man got the heave ho in the semis. But when Israel got the top spot and only one vote was left, we were all rooting for Austria. And they came in clutch! Snatched the victory. And yes, the guy can sing. But it is opera. Sigh. Okay. More evidence I do not understand European tastes.

When Mike was saying goodbye to people, he glanced down the side of the house and saw the greenhouse had been destroyed by the winds overnight.

Fixing the mess the weather caused

Last harvest

So we braved the pouring rain and tidied up best we could. The plastic looks almost intact. The main thing will be if we've lost poles over the edge into the bush. We tidied it up, Mike got the last of the chillies, and we went back inside.

We did also tidy the garage so I can actually use the gym up there again. Will do that today in my lunch break.

Great weekend. So busy. And so cold and wet.

Have a great week ahead.

Love,

Angela

The weekend picking up the new car in Chc and driving back

 Hi,

When we worked from home on Thursday, Moxley was outside and got bailed up by Tenzing and ended up with a scratch on her nose. It looks ok but we're just checking. This is her first encounter with a cat that is not just telling her to back off and give her space (Smudge's MO).

Nose is scratched courtesy of Tenzing

I found 2 tomatoes that have actually changed colour. So I have taken them off the plants to ripen. But the plants have wilt now. Waaaah. So sad.

Not sure how many will survive to ripen.

First tomatoes

Friday saw me get an Uber at 6.30am to the airport. Got on my Jetstar flight at 7.45am (it was actually a bit later than that - maybe more like 8am). But it made up time and I was only about 5 mins late.

Friday morning Jetstar flight to Chc

Toby and Tessa picked me up in Tessa's car and with lectures cancelled we went to Little Poms for brekkie.

At Little Poms

Picked up Mike's cap

Walk to uni

Then back to Toby and Tessa's place before walking to uni for a lecture with Toby. Identity one. Māori one - this lecture was about early Chinese history as a marginalised (very!) part of the society here. Great stuff to learn about.

Then Toby and I caught a bus to the dealer and picked up the car. Will handed over the keys and I drove off, trying to learn about the car as we went.

Picked up the car

There it is!

Keys from Will

Back to check in at The Coachman. Dropped Toby home. Went for a run and to meet Tessa at the UC gym. But I overshot the crucial road and ended up a bit far away. Oops. Got to the gym and did a session with Tessa. She is really strong! A bit of PT work and she would be smashing it!

Back to change and then meet at the South Garden chinese restaurant in Brake St, just over the road from Toby's work at Woolies.

Steph, Sam, Angus and Hayden joined us. That place was delicious. Would recommend. And we could all walk to it. Well, the Ilam people could.

Back to a good sleep at The Coachman. Then up to Park Run. Except the rain meant I just stayed in bed. Oops.

Checked out and picked up Toby and Tessa. Went to Oddfellows but it was Scone Saturday. So we had a scone and coffee. Then went to another cafe for eggs.  Moment Cafe. Very nice.

Saturday iced latte at Oddfellows

Work of art

Yep

Second one at cafe in town. What was it called?

Moment cafe. That is what it was called. Very nice. I had the French Toast. Would go there again.

Then Toby and I dropped Tessa off and then headed north. I was getting used to the car as we went. The Adaptive Cruise Control is pretty amazing.

As we went over the 80km zone north of Cheviot, I got pulled over for speeding. The cruise control was not handling the 80km zone and uphill curves. It dropped my speed to 40 for one of them. So I put my foot on the accelerator. Came over the hill onto a flat bit - and was doing over 80 before I even noticed. But I noticed the police car lights immediately. Oops.

We started from Chc with almost a full charge. Except for the drive to The Coachman and our brekkie places. By the time we got to Kaikōura, we had about 10% left. 30k range. Got to the ChargeNet charger on Westend - but it was busy. So found the New World one. As it charged, Toby and I went to the pub over the road. Enjoyed some drinks and chips.

Pub across from New World in Kaikōura

Looking staunch

Picked up the car with 85% charge and dropped Toby off to wait for his bus at 4.30. I left about 4pm from there.

Got to Blenheim just after 5pm. Maybe around 5.20. Checked the garage progress at Iona and Col's house. Then headed to Vicky and Alistair's place for dinner there. So good to see everyone and catch up with their news. Alistair's dad is quite sick so that might be a sad thing soon. Sending lots of hugs their way. Vicky told me about enjoying meeting my mother especially. Hahah.

Our old laundry tub is a feature in the lounge - hello Twigg

Stitch extracted

It was so painless

When we got back after tea, Iona decided to operate and take my stitch out. Col watched on but I found it too scary. I softened up the site by soaking in warm water. Then there was a lot of squeezing at the end where the stitch was trying to escape. But once it poked out, Iona got it and easily took it out. I felt absolutely nothing. I was so surprised.

Off to bed around 11pm. Up at 5.30. Groan. I am sorry to do that to them! Into the ferry queue at 6.30am. And onto the boat and away on time at 7.45am.

Ferry queue

Lovely smooth sailing. Bit of a wee swell in the strait. An older woman fell in front of us - where I was sitting next to some young travellers. But she was ok. Sat for a bit then wandered off. Lucky. Could have been worse.

Mike was away running with Janine so I had the house and cats to myself. Found more tomatoes that were ready.

Tomatoes have ripened

Scratch still visible

When Mike got home we drove up to Waikanae. I tried a wee run while Mike used the fast charger at Waikanae Beach.

Kapiti

Kapiti

Love this view

Meanwhile, just behind the dunes, the car charges up

Then back for the trickle charge at home. Then to bed.

Monday morning at 2am Mike woke with a migraine. So he is tucked up in bed. I took his PT session at the last minute in the garage. Deadlifts.  70kg. 4 x 4. Very nice start  to my day.

Lovely day here in the capital. The big project went live at work. Go grab a coffee when you refuel your car.

Enjoy your week.

Love,

Angela

The Monday working from home

 Hi,

Mike worked from home as well - despite having a migraine in the morning. He was even in meetings. But I think he caught it early and took meds and slept. And felt ok.

Moxley helps Mike with his work

Tomatoes

I can see quite a few

But all green

I checked my tomatoes. They are all very green still. But I have about 25 of them growing. Some big - most small.

After work, Mike and I did a run up through Northland tunnel and down Otari Wilton bush.  6.5km. Then a hydrate at home and Mike did the loop again. He now has 10 km to go for his Feb 100 km goal. Good on him - especially with a migraine that morning.

Anyway, we had a late tea. And went to bed. But I was a bit too excited about work (there was a late pilot for our project at a couple of sites) and kept wondering how they got on. Hahah.

Up for a bike ride in. But it was quite windy. So switched to a bus ride in for gym. The gym was heaving with people. We had to wait for a bench to come free so Quentin said I could do knee push ups as I waited. I looked at the hard rubber floor and then my knees. And Quentin said:  Oh yeah, you have soft knees!  Hahahah.  Yep. My knees are soft.  But I did bench with Quentin once one came free. 40kg.  4 reps x 2 sets, then 3 reps x 2 sets. And a heap of accessories. My arms! They feel like my gluts now.

I might see what it is like after work and try to walk home.

Take care. Enjoy your day.

Love,

Angela