Hi,
They tell me it is going to be beautiful here this afternoon but this morning we're in a cloud of fine, fine drizzle. I took the bus in because I took the car home for Keas yesterday while Mike attended the tramping club summer planning session. He is in to lead 4 or 5 trips over the summer. Woo hoo!
Karen said it will be 37C in the part of Sydney she lives in. Wow! Amazing weather. I think I'd melt. I wore a t-shirt all yesterday evening at Keas in a beautiful 14 or 15C evening. 37 would kill me I am sure. Keas was great fun. We read all about the kea bird and Toby told them about the Kea attacking my backpack and showed everyone the hole the kea pecked in my backpack. I must bring it in to get it fixed. Maybe next week after Paua Hut tramping this weekend.
Ok. Time to get stuck in. I'm off to the TAB to place my bets for the Melbourne Cup in a few hours. Toby, Mike and I have picked horses 4, 6 and 10. And I think I have generated enough enthusiasm for a sweep here at work. Alright!
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
Good morning on Mon, Nov 2
Hi,
Nov 2nd eh? Must be Jupiter's birthday (our old dog - and I still miss him) today and Melbourne Cup tomorrow. Woo hoo! Better sort out a bet for me, Mike and Toby.
The weekend was great fun and quite busy. We went swimming on Saturday morning and Toby swam very, very well and listened very well. Good on him. After that we went to Sally and Andrew's house to fix their computer (C drive full and emails not coming down due to lack of space) and ride bikes (Toby - well, he rode for about 3 m and decided he wouldn't do it anymore) and have lunch. It was very pleasant.
Then a rush home after Mike made vegetarian lasagne (his best dish!) at Sally and Andrew's place to save time. We dropped Toby off at William's party and dropped the lasagne off at our party then rushed home to pack Toby's overnight bag and sort out a Halloween costume for him. He got a sheet with eyeholes and when Mike dropped off his bag and costume (and William's present), Toby was overjoyed to have his own costume. Better keep that for next year.
We went to our party after that - Christine's great Halloween party. Yummy food, good company. I enjoyed it. Then Mike and I went home and watched The Pianist for a sobering late evening. We had no idea what it was about so to find a good movie about horrible events in Poland was a bit shocking. So when the movie finished at midnight we watched Time Team to stop us thinking about it all. Didn't work. Mike and I both had dreams affected by the movie. I was hunted all night and Mike seemed to be constantly shifting in his dream.
Sunday we went and got wee Toby and Chelsea turned up at our place. We got ready for Kea Day and wandered out to Aotea Lagoon. We had a good day. Toby was so tired after staying up "all night". Our activity was just the right one - not too busy. We had some that loved it. And we sat in the sunshine all day doing almost nothing while the kids ran around like mad things. It was great!
A relaxing evening was had by us as Toby was exhausted. So, all good.
Phew! The ride in was lovely this morning - a strong tail wind. Off to Keas tonight.
:-)
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Nov 2nd eh? Must be Jupiter's birthday (our old dog - and I still miss him) today and Melbourne Cup tomorrow. Woo hoo! Better sort out a bet for me, Mike and Toby.
The weekend was great fun and quite busy. We went swimming on Saturday morning and Toby swam very, very well and listened very well. Good on him. After that we went to Sally and Andrew's house to fix their computer (C drive full and emails not coming down due to lack of space) and ride bikes (Toby - well, he rode for about 3 m and decided he wouldn't do it anymore) and have lunch. It was very pleasant.
Then a rush home after Mike made vegetarian lasagne (his best dish!) at Sally and Andrew's place to save time. We dropped Toby off at William's party and dropped the lasagne off at our party then rushed home to pack Toby's overnight bag and sort out a Halloween costume for him. He got a sheet with eyeholes and when Mike dropped off his bag and costume (and William's present), Toby was overjoyed to have his own costume. Better keep that for next year.
We went to our party after that - Christine's great Halloween party. Yummy food, good company. I enjoyed it. Then Mike and I went home and watched The Pianist for a sobering late evening. We had no idea what it was about so to find a good movie about horrible events in Poland was a bit shocking. So when the movie finished at midnight we watched Time Team to stop us thinking about it all. Didn't work. Mike and I both had dreams affected by the movie. I was hunted all night and Mike seemed to be constantly shifting in his dream.
Sunday we went and got wee Toby and Chelsea turned up at our place. We got ready for Kea Day and wandered out to Aotea Lagoon. We had a good day. Toby was so tired after staying up "all night". Our activity was just the right one - not too busy. We had some that loved it. And we sat in the sunshine all day doing almost nothing while the kids ran around like mad things. It was great!
A relaxing evening was had by us as Toby was exhausted. So, all good.
Phew! The ride in was lovely this morning - a strong tail wind. Off to Keas tonight.
:-)
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Friday, October 30, 2009
Good morning on Fri, Oct 30
Hi,
Wow - next time we chat it'll be November. Amazing. The weather is still a bit cold today and the wind is still a bit strong. but my ride in was fun. I saw 50 km/h on my bike computer coming down the hill as I tucked in behind the handlebars (it was a southerly I was flying down the hill into).
I think the Kittos return from Fiji today. They'll be very relaxed after their break and I hope I hear all about it.
Toby and I have started a new Thursday evening routine where we go to the Wadestown Library. Hopefully we can catch up with wee Tom and Christine regularly then too. That'd be nice. Christine has a new horse called Victor and he is lovely to ride (unlike Georgia who was very skittery - apparently). Perhaps Toby and I might try one day. Or, just feed him carrots!
The weekend is looming (although not fast enough despite the 4 day week) and we have all sorts of plans. Swimming, walking, computer-building, parties, sleepovers, Halloween and National Kea Birthday on Sunday. Phew. I'll need Monday to recover. I must fit in a big grocery shop too as we're plum out of everything! I had to do an emergency dash to Woolies last night to get bread and milk.
We're all good - Toby slept well and only woke when I went to kiss him goodbye this morning. He did shout out during the night but I am not sure why.
Tennis club night tonight. Toby and I will put in an appearance (and maybe grab a sausage from the sausage sizzle).
Love,
Angela
Wow - next time we chat it'll be November. Amazing. The weather is still a bit cold today and the wind is still a bit strong. but my ride in was fun. I saw 50 km/h on my bike computer coming down the hill as I tucked in behind the handlebars (it was a southerly I was flying down the hill into).
I think the Kittos return from Fiji today. They'll be very relaxed after their break and I hope I hear all about it.
Toby and I have started a new Thursday evening routine where we go to the Wadestown Library. Hopefully we can catch up with wee Tom and Christine regularly then too. That'd be nice. Christine has a new horse called Victor and he is lovely to ride (unlike Georgia who was very skittery - apparently). Perhaps Toby and I might try one day. Or, just feed him carrots!
The weekend is looming (although not fast enough despite the 4 day week) and we have all sorts of plans. Swimming, walking, computer-building, parties, sleepovers, Halloween and National Kea Birthday on Sunday. Phew. I'll need Monday to recover. I must fit in a big grocery shop too as we're plum out of everything! I had to do an emergency dash to Woolies last night to get bread and milk.
We're all good - Toby slept well and only woke when I went to kiss him goodbye this morning. He did shout out during the night but I am not sure why.
Tennis club night tonight. Toby and I will put in an appearance (and maybe grab a sausage from the sausage sizzle).
Love,
Angela
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Good afternoon on Thurs, Oct 29
Hi,
Well, it is now way past lunchtime and I remembered I haven't done any of my usual morning things - blogging, checking syncing is working at work. I had Toby drop-off duty and obviously my routine has all gone to ruin. So, blogging in the afternoon now. But I am worried about syncing. If it's broken I'd rather not know at this late stage. Heheheheh.
We had a good evening last night. Mum and Dad collected wee Toby from school and got him ready for karate. Mum cooked up a lovely dinner and we ate (after a wee delay) when Dad and I got back from watching Toby learning some complicated sequence of moves. Phew! If he gets the hang of it, it'll look very cool.
The delay was due to my mother being crippled by her walk in the gardens with Vivienne and Ramble. Heheheheh. She is out of practise so it was very good for her. I hope they go for regular "coffee" walks in the future! Hopefully Mum has stopped hobbling today. Time to get her out again!
Mike came home after tramping club and we fell into a coma. Mike had to be at work by 6am this morning so when the alarm went off at 5am I was very confused. Still, at least I could keep sleeping.
The weather is still cold and windy today. But hopefully we will be getting better weather tomorrow and for the weekend. Bring it on. My garden is a shambles.
Have a great afternoon and evening.
Love,
Angela
Well, it is now way past lunchtime and I remembered I haven't done any of my usual morning things - blogging, checking syncing is working at work. I had Toby drop-off duty and obviously my routine has all gone to ruin. So, blogging in the afternoon now. But I am worried about syncing. If it's broken I'd rather not know at this late stage. Heheheheh.
We had a good evening last night. Mum and Dad collected wee Toby from school and got him ready for karate. Mum cooked up a lovely dinner and we ate (after a wee delay) when Dad and I got back from watching Toby learning some complicated sequence of moves. Phew! If he gets the hang of it, it'll look very cool.
The delay was due to my mother being crippled by her walk in the gardens with Vivienne and Ramble. Heheheheh. She is out of practise so it was very good for her. I hope they go for regular "coffee" walks in the future! Hopefully Mum has stopped hobbling today. Time to get her out again!
Mike came home after tramping club and we fell into a coma. Mike had to be at work by 6am this morning so when the alarm went off at 5am I was very confused. Still, at least I could keep sleeping.
The weather is still cold and windy today. But hopefully we will be getting better weather tomorrow and for the weekend. Bring it on. My garden is a shambles.
Have a great afternoon and evening.
Love,
Angela
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Good morning on Wed, Oct 28
Hi,
What a glorious morning in Wellington - sandwiched between two cold southerly blasts as tomorrow's forecast is bad. The ride in was perfection itself - no wind, sunny, dry. I wore my sunnies! Hooray!
Last night was fun. Toby was collected by Gramps and taken to the Formula One exhibition at Te Papa. Unfortunately Toby zoomed through the exhibits at Schumacher times and poor Gramps hardly saw a thing. They spent the next few hours at other parts of Te Papa. We found them at closing time and went for dinner at Hogs Breath Cafe. Toby enjoyed his chicken schnitzel (although I do have to say the Blue Bridge ferry chicken schnitzel meal was better and cheaper!) and we all had a great time. Dad drove us all home.
Tonight is karate night. Then Mike is off to tramping club night. Not much else happening. I'll try and sort out the Kea activity for this Sunday.
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
What a glorious morning in Wellington - sandwiched between two cold southerly blasts as tomorrow's forecast is bad. The ride in was perfection itself - no wind, sunny, dry. I wore my sunnies! Hooray!
Last night was fun. Toby was collected by Gramps and taken to the Formula One exhibition at Te Papa. Unfortunately Toby zoomed through the exhibits at Schumacher times and poor Gramps hardly saw a thing. They spent the next few hours at other parts of Te Papa. We found them at closing time and went for dinner at Hogs Breath Cafe. Toby enjoyed his chicken schnitzel (although I do have to say the Blue Bridge ferry chicken schnitzel meal was better and cheaper!) and we all had a great time. Dad drove us all home.
Tonight is karate night. Then Mike is off to tramping club night. Not much else happening. I'll try and sort out the Kea activity for this Sunday.
Have a great day!
Love,
Angela
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Good morning on Tues, Oct 27
Hi,
A wonderful extra long Labour Day weekend. Mike, Toby and I left on the 9pm ferry on Thursday evening and had the ferry to ourselves (apart from some commercial drivers - there were hardly any normal passengers). We got ourselves a cabin and I read and went to sleep. Great fun! The best way to cross Cook Strait! Mike and Toby watched a movie before coming to sleep. I heard some incoherent story about talking dogs in Hollywood getting dognapped to Mexico. But - I could be wrong.
We drove straight to St Arnaud and Mike slept in the day shelter under the "No overnight camping in this shelter" sign. Apparently sleeping from 1.30am to 7am is not overnighting according to Mike. Toby and I slept in the car. Toby slept well and woke at about 8am. We had breakfast and mucked around chasing ducks (saw a nosey weka too) and sculpting logs of wood before we set off to Lakehead - DOC said it would take us about 3 hours.
We stayed on schedule for the first 30 minutes and then I have no idea where the time went. Toby had a ball poking into every boggy swamp we crossed, and running around on any beach we came to - so I guess that is why it took us the best part of 6 hours to walk there.
We pitched the tent not far from the hut under some trees in a perfect spot - apart from a lot of sandflies. Mike cooked up a storm in our billy - rice with tuna and coconut cream with fresh broccoli and carrots infused with sun-dried tomato oil. Gourmet or what??!! We ate everything.
Our exertions meant we were all asleep by 7.30pm. Then, around 8pm Mike woke saying "Who's that?". Scared me silly. We waited and listened and heard some voices approaching and I thought Mike must have heard that. But - no! It was a cheeky kea that had found our rubbish and was checking out our stuff under our tent fly. I ended up getting up and chasing him around the campsite in the rain with my headtorch on. I am sure I saw a kiwi scuttle away at the edge of the campsite. We could hear kiwi calling during the night. To stop the kea's antics, we had to pull both our packs into the tent and I ended up sleeping scrunched up sideways at the bottom of Mike and Toby. A little uncomfortable.
The next morning was beautiful. We packed a day pack and Toby polished off 6 Weetbix and we walked further up the valley to a swing bridge where we crossed and had lunch. Toby loved the tramping and kept up a constant commentary about anything and everything. When Mike pulled out the chocolate he could see that the kea had got in and nibbled two squares off our block. I groaned because the chocolate had been buried deep in my almost new backpack.
Back to the hut and we saw some families had taken it over and Toby was chuffed. He ran around in bare feet (he never does that) chasing after the other children and had a ball. So much so, that he chose to sleep in the hut with everyone else. I immediately checked out my pack expecting to see ribbons shredded down one side. But the cheeky kea had surgically removed the chocolate using precision pinhole surgery. I have a wee hole halfway down the side. It must have amazing smell to find chocolate under pack and two layers of plastic! Back to Macpac for some mending.
The kea turned up at the same time this evening too but this time our packs were in the hut. He poked his head under the tent flap and I said "Nothing here for you" and he took off. The families all took photos of him when he checked out the new arrivals at the hut and they called him Charlie the Hopper, the Cheeky Chocolate Eater.
Next morning dawned misty but warm after more night rain. But by the time we prised Toby away from the other children (well, they left to tramp out so it made it slightly easier for us) we left and headed back to St Arnaud. We had decided to camp in Nelson for that night so we kept up a good pace (a good Toby pace) and got distracted by hot beaches and clear blue lakes once or twice. Toby stripped down to swim at one beach but the cold water kept him dry! He
sunbathed instead. We got back to St Arnaud at 1pm and ate a pie at the general store after checking out the MX-5 rally cars meeting at the lake and then headed off to Nelson.
The road there was gorgeous and Mike enjoyed the drive. We created Digimon monsters most of the way. Heheheh. Toby likes to create new ones with great powers and cool names. Mike and I have to rack our brains for ideas whereas Toby's monsters seem to flow freely from the depths of his brain.
We found the Tahunanui campground eventually and picked our tent site. We found some food and playground equipment and had a good relaxing evening. Toby slept in his own wee tent and Mike and I slept in ours. Toby did very well.
Next morning we went into town for Maccas and to buy Toby some tramping boots like Josh had on (a boy from the hut - they were all from Nelson so they told us where to buy them). Then we headed off to Picton via Queen Charlotte Drive and caught the ferry back home.
The cat was pleased to see us and we got lots of smooches. Thank you to Vivienne for keeping her bowl full and closing our window we had left open. Ooops.
Back at work int he rain this morning. Toby has a great afternoon with Gramps planned. Gramps has tickets to the Formula One show in Te Papa and will collect Toby at 3pm from the meeting tree at school. Then we'll see everyone for dinner afterwards in town.
Have a great day! I hope your weekend was as good as ours.
Love,
Angela
A wonderful extra long Labour Day weekend. Mike, Toby and I left on the 9pm ferry on Thursday evening and had the ferry to ourselves (apart from some commercial drivers - there were hardly any normal passengers). We got ourselves a cabin and I read and went to sleep. Great fun! The best way to cross Cook Strait! Mike and Toby watched a movie before coming to sleep. I heard some incoherent story about talking dogs in Hollywood getting dognapped to Mexico. But - I could be wrong.
We drove straight to St Arnaud and Mike slept in the day shelter under the "No overnight camping in this shelter" sign. Apparently sleeping from 1.30am to 7am is not overnighting according to Mike. Toby and I slept in the car. Toby slept well and woke at about 8am. We had breakfast and mucked around chasing ducks (saw a nosey weka too) and sculpting logs of wood before we set off to Lakehead - DOC said it would take us about 3 hours.
We stayed on schedule for the first 30 minutes and then I have no idea where the time went. Toby had a ball poking into every boggy swamp we crossed, and running around on any beach we came to - so I guess that is why it took us the best part of 6 hours to walk there.
We pitched the tent not far from the hut under some trees in a perfect spot - apart from a lot of sandflies. Mike cooked up a storm in our billy - rice with tuna and coconut cream with fresh broccoli and carrots infused with sun-dried tomato oil. Gourmet or what??!! We ate everything.
Our exertions meant we were all asleep by 7.30pm. Then, around 8pm Mike woke saying "Who's that?". Scared me silly. We waited and listened and heard some voices approaching and I thought Mike must have heard that. But - no! It was a cheeky kea that had found our rubbish and was checking out our stuff under our tent fly. I ended up getting up and chasing him around the campsite in the rain with my headtorch on. I am sure I saw a kiwi scuttle away at the edge of the campsite. We could hear kiwi calling during the night. To stop the kea's antics, we had to pull both our packs into the tent and I ended up sleeping scrunched up sideways at the bottom of Mike and Toby. A little uncomfortable.
The next morning was beautiful. We packed a day pack and Toby polished off 6 Weetbix and we walked further up the valley to a swing bridge where we crossed and had lunch. Toby loved the tramping and kept up a constant commentary about anything and everything. When Mike pulled out the chocolate he could see that the kea had got in and nibbled two squares off our block. I groaned because the chocolate had been buried deep in my almost new backpack.
Back to the hut and we saw some families had taken it over and Toby was chuffed. He ran around in bare feet (he never does that) chasing after the other children and had a ball. So much so, that he chose to sleep in the hut with everyone else. I immediately checked out my pack expecting to see ribbons shredded down one side. But the cheeky kea had surgically removed the chocolate using precision pinhole surgery. I have a wee hole halfway down the side. It must have amazing smell to find chocolate under pack and two layers of plastic! Back to Macpac for some mending.
The kea turned up at the same time this evening too but this time our packs were in the hut. He poked his head under the tent flap and I said "Nothing here for you" and he took off. The families all took photos of him when he checked out the new arrivals at the hut and they called him Charlie the Hopper, the Cheeky Chocolate Eater.
Next morning dawned misty but warm after more night rain. But by the time we prised Toby away from the other children (well, they left to tramp out so it made it slightly easier for us) we left and headed back to St Arnaud. We had decided to camp in Nelson for that night so we kept up a good pace (a good Toby pace) and got distracted by hot beaches and clear blue lakes once or twice. Toby stripped down to swim at one beach but the cold water kept him dry! He
sunbathed instead. We got back to St Arnaud at 1pm and ate a pie at the general store after checking out the MX-5 rally cars meeting at the lake and then headed off to Nelson.
The road there was gorgeous and Mike enjoyed the drive. We created Digimon monsters most of the way. Heheheh. Toby likes to create new ones with great powers and cool names. Mike and I have to rack our brains for ideas whereas Toby's monsters seem to flow freely from the depths of his brain.
We found the Tahunanui campground eventually and picked our tent site. We found some food and playground equipment and had a good relaxing evening. Toby slept in his own wee tent and Mike and I slept in ours. Toby did very well.
Next morning we went into town for Maccas and to buy Toby some tramping boots like Josh had on (a boy from the hut - they were all from Nelson so they told us where to buy them). Then we headed off to Picton via Queen Charlotte Drive and caught the ferry back home.
The cat was pleased to see us and we got lots of smooches. Thank you to Vivienne for keeping her bowl full and closing our window we had left open. Ooops.
Back at work int he rain this morning. Toby has a great afternoon with Gramps planned. Gramps has tickets to the Formula One show in Te Papa and will collect Toby at 3pm from the meeting tree at school. Then we'll see everyone for dinner afterwards in town.
Have a great day! I hope your weekend was as good as ours.
Love,
Angela
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Good morning on Thurs, Oct 22
Hi,
I think we may be lucky with our tramping weather.
Nelson Lakes National Park
Thu Oct 22
Morning rain clearing then fine spells for a time. However, rain or showers developing about the ranges late afternoon, sometimes heavy. Snow lowering to 1000 metres at night.Wind at 1000 meters: Southwest 50 km/h, dying away in the morning.Wind at 2000 meters: Severe westerly gale 90 km/h, dying away in the afternoon.Free air freezing Level: Gradually lowering to 1400 metres.
Fri Oct 23
Mostly sunny.Wind at 1000 meters: Light.Wind at 2000 meters: Southwesterlies.Free air freezing Level: Rising to 1800 metres.
Sat Oct 24
Mostly sunny. Light winds.
Sun Oct 25
Cloudy periods increasing, late showers possible. Northwesterlies.
Mon Oct 26
Rain or showers. Northwesterlies, dying away.
We had a pleasant evening. Mum and Dad had dinner sorted and Toby sorted. The karate went well - Dad enjoys coming along to watch. We both live in hope that Toby will learn all the moves and astound everyone. He is actually very good with the moves he already knows.
We got packed up after Mum and Dad left us to our mass of belongings strewn all around in preparation. Phew. The architect is coming to chat to us after work today so we're heading off at 1600 to meet him. Then we're driving to the ferry to catch the 9pm sailing. Yawn!
It's going to be great fun. Mum will feed Merlot two days and Sally will intervene on the other days to save Merlot from starvation. She has a basket to sleep in in the laundry and her food is there too (and more in the laundry cupboard). I hope she's ok. No neighbours are home this weekend so she might end up sleeping in the laundry.
Merlot slept all night on Toby's bed last night. Very cute.
Have a great weekend - especially if it's a long one!
Love,
Angela
I think we may be lucky with our tramping weather.
Nelson Lakes National Park
Thu Oct 22
Morning rain clearing then fine spells for a time. However, rain or showers developing about the ranges late afternoon, sometimes heavy. Snow lowering to 1000 metres at night.Wind at 1000 meters: Southwest 50 km/h, dying away in the morning.Wind at 2000 meters: Severe westerly gale 90 km/h, dying away in the afternoon.Free air freezing Level: Gradually lowering to 1400 metres.
Fri Oct 23
Mostly sunny.Wind at 1000 meters: Light.Wind at 2000 meters: Southwesterlies.Free air freezing Level: Rising to 1800 metres.
Sat Oct 24
Mostly sunny. Light winds.
Sun Oct 25
Cloudy periods increasing, late showers possible. Northwesterlies.
Mon Oct 26
Rain or showers. Northwesterlies, dying away.
We had a pleasant evening. Mum and Dad had dinner sorted and Toby sorted. The karate went well - Dad enjoys coming along to watch. We both live in hope that Toby will learn all the moves and astound everyone. He is actually very good with the moves he already knows.
We got packed up after Mum and Dad left us to our mass of belongings strewn all around in preparation. Phew. The architect is coming to chat to us after work today so we're heading off at 1600 to meet him. Then we're driving to the ferry to catch the 9pm sailing. Yawn!
It's going to be great fun. Mum will feed Merlot two days and Sally will intervene on the other days to save Merlot from starvation. She has a basket to sleep in in the laundry and her food is there too (and more in the laundry cupboard). I hope she's ok. No neighbours are home this weekend so she might end up sleeping in the laundry.
Merlot slept all night on Toby's bed last night. Very cute.
Have a great weekend - especially if it's a long one!
Love,
Angela
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)