The weekend with Mothers Day

Hi,

Toby did so well without Mike to prompt him for Mothers Day.  Mike packed and left early Saturday for his tramp.  I tried really hard to get lots of housework done.  Honest.  Well, I made headway in the laundry mountain.  And I did clean the main bathroom really well.  And tidied a fair bit.  But other than that, not a lot else.

Turns out Aidan and I didn't go out in the morning.  Archery practise was cancelled because of a huge tournament, and that obviously meant the other things we had planned were no longer on the agenda.  But Toby was far better and his appetite came back and I spent a fair bit of time making him food through the day.  Yay for a healthy Toby.

Come 5pm I got ready for going out with Ange, Serge, Celia, her parents, and James (Celia's boyfriend).  I went and picked up Benjamin for his babysitting duties and then collected Ange.  We got to Shed 5 quite early but enjoyed chatting and people watching.  Eventually the others arrived and we settled down to chat.  The staff were so slow giving us menus.  We were there a good 30 minutes (I mean the others - not me and Ange) before they gave us menus.  Very odd.

The food was superb!  I had the ceviche  as my entre and the seared tuna as my main.  Scrumptious.  I got an extra spoon and had a taste of Ange's dessert too!  Mmmmm.  All great food.  And when we split the bill, it was so cheap.  Weird.

Dresses all round!

Celia nearly fell off her chair when she saw me in a dress.  So much so that we needed to capture it in photographic evidence.  I even have huge boots on!  Such a girly girl!

By the time we left after 11, and I dropped off Ange, and took Benjamin home, it was late when I finally fell asleep.  Probably close to 1am.

So, it was a groggy Mother that tried desperately to greet her excited son with enthusiasm on Mothers Day the next morning.  I think I managed it.  Toby gave me a present (a recipe book!) and we looked at it together.  Then he said he'd make me a tea in bed.  And he went outside the door, then leapt back in and threw a cut out letter "T" on the bed and laughed and laughed.  I thought it was a great joke too!

Then he really did go and make me a real tea.  The first time he has made me one on his own.  It was perfect.  Really milky, but perfect.  Then I said I'd love some toast.  He went away for a little bit before coming back with a big bowl of Weetbix.  Said he couldn't find the bread.  I was happy.  He made it just the way I like it, with cold milk.

"T" in bed!

After a lazy morning I went out to see Sally and Andrew and collect feijoas from their trees.  I had a cup of tea and ate all their other feijoas they had picked for themselves.  They are really rather tolerant of me.

I went back via the supermarket to do some grocery shopping and bumped into Kirsty (from a ski weekend last year) and she told me that it was illegal to do ironing on Mothers Day (my afternoon plans).  Then I dropped off a bag of feijoas at Aidan's letterbox.  I just missed her because she found the feijoas a few minutes later when she left her house.  So she texted me to say I couldn't possibly iron and she was coming to get me to take me to see Christine and Victor for her first horse riding lesson.

Aidan gets Vistor to obey her every command

And Aidan tries to obey Christine's every command!

No, that way, Aidan!

Good fun to watch.

I had fun watching and taking photos and chatting to Brian and wee Tom.  Aidan really enjoyed herself, judging from the big grins I saw from time to time.  It is tough work riding a horse.  At one stage Victor decided Aidan had pressed the throttle and started trotting and bucked a bit.  You should have seen Christine spring into action (as did another spectator) to head off Victor if he decided to really start going.  But Aidan was as cool as a cucumber.

Aidan helped put Victor away (brushing him down) and putting his cover on before leading him to his paddock.  Then she dropped me home and I cooked tea for Toby before heading to the family dinner.  Another scrumptious dinner, which I only just finished when Mike rang wanting a lift home from the ferry terminal.  So I hurriedly left dinner and collected him.

He'd had a cold, wet tramp all weekend.  Meanwhile, 80 km down the road here in Wellington, we'd had lovely weather.

Mike is off to Chch today.  In driving rain.  Lucky the pilots can use instruments!

Have a wonderful week ahead.

Love,
Angela

The Thursday with lunch and tea that made things all better

Hi,

Well, work threw a spanner in the works with a bit of a mess.  But after some concerted effort in the morning, it was mostly cleared up and won't happen again.  Did cause some headaches for people though.  Oops.

The weather was pretty bad - with it chucking down rain quite heavily at times.  But I managed to get away for lunch to meet Aidan.  And didn't get wet while walking over her way.  But we were a bit undecided about what to eat.  We tried two places before settling on a third place.  I ordered a vegetarian curry and roti.  I was expecting lentils - which I like.  I got vegetables, floating in a curry.  Potatoes, carrots (shudder!), pumpkin and cauliflower (eeeewww).  Aidan just looked at me like I had rocks in my head, because she knows what I like and dislike.  It certainly made for some laughs.  I ate my roti and dipped it in the soupy curry.  And Aidan gave me half of her roti too.

I drove home to collect Toby to take him to the doctors - again.  Turns out the tests were inconclusive (not giardia, not something else that Mike mentioned that you only hear about in the news so I was pleased it wasn't that!).  So, this doctor ordered more tests including a blood test.

I am guessing that at some stage today we will have to go home and collect a sample and bring Toby in for his blood test too.  Poor kid.  This doctor thinks it will go away by itself and it probably a viral stomach bug.  Oh!  Ok.

Right.  I need some tea.  Lots of tea.  I have so much work to get through.

Lucky the weekend is almost here.  Mike is off tramping.  It's Mother's Day and I suspect I don't want Toby doing any food prep.  Hahah.  Maybe I'll buy myself a present tomorrow.  I am going to head out in the morning with Aidan (I think).  But I might see if I can get Toby out to a movie.  Or pamper him in some other way.  And I certainly hope he is ok for school on Monday.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday that was far better and Mike went to Chch

Hi,

Well, wee Toby is still sick.  But I hope we get the lab results today and maybe we can make some in-roads into treating him.  He gets waves of cramps and still has to stay close to a toilet.  Mike bought some electrolyte so he hopefully won't be getting too dehydrated.  And he seems to be able to eat chocolate without any bother.  Not much appetite for anything else.  Although cherry tomatoes are still a huge favourite.

The weather was wild overnight.  It woke me and Mike up at around 4.15am with strong gusts.  I caught the bus in this morning, but at the moment the wind seems to have dropped.  But the rain has kicked in.  The bus was so crowded.

I have lunch planned with Aidan today although she has given herself an "out" by saying if the weather is atrocious she won't want to walk over to anywhere near my work.  She's just soft.  I'd definitely walk over to her work anyway.  So I hope lunch is still on.  Just might not be the lunch she was looking forward to at places near my work (more variety down near my workplace).

My trousers are a bit damp from my walk from the bus stop to work.  Might take a wee while to dry out.  Probably around about the time I walk to Aidan's work - hahahah.

Right.  Time to have a cup of tea.

Enjoy your day.  Stay dry and warm, if you're in Wellington.  Days like this I imagine everywhere else is sunny and warm.

Love,
Angela

The Tuesday that was manic

Hi,

It's entirely possible that I really disliked my Tuesday.  Pretty sure it had next to nothing going for it. Not even an iced coffee.

Mike went home at lunch time to collect Toby's "sample" and drop it off at the lab.  Hopefully we hear about it later today or tomorrow.  Toby is still sick but getting through some homework.  Yesterday he felt a bit better but isn't eating very much yet.

Mike is off to Chch today for his regular meeting down there.  It is pretty windy here today so it should be a fun flight.  My bike ride in wasn't too bad.  The roads were a little wet from recent rain, but the wind is warm and strong, so it was already drying out the roads.  The clouds are heavy and black though.  It looks pretty threatening.  Might be a wet run later today with Mary.

Right.  Time to start the day.  See if I can get some things done that were impossible to achieve yesterday.

Love,
Angela

The Monday with Carl!

Hi,

Well, lunch was a real treat.  Carl was over for his big birthday bash (he's all grown up now he's hit 40!) so we had a birthday lunch on May 4th.  Fitting really.  But only Celia stepped up.

Hi Carl!

Princess CeLeia - I like that name!

I wanted to catch up with Carl for dinner too - but Toby is still sick and Mike had prior commitments.   Oh well - sometimes these things happen.  Mike volunteered to cancel his thing and Aidan volunteered her services to look after Toby.  So, thank you.  But in the end, it was probably best that Toby had a quiet evening at home.  I made him his second favourite meal - spaghetti Bolognese.  But he still didn't eat very much.

The doctor suspects giardia.  So, we have to collect a sample and take it fresh to the lab for testing.  Oh joy!  Let's see what they say.  Let's see what Mike says if he has to collect the sample this morning.  Poor guy.

Busy day at work.  I need a tea so desperately.

Have a fantastic day, whatever you're doing.

Love,
Angela

The weekend with horse riding for Christine's birthday

Hi,

What a great weekend.  Friday night we watched a parody movie of the Hunger Games called The Starving Games.  It actually had a few laugh out loud moments, so I did manage to make it to the end.

Next morning Mike was up really early to get ready for tramping.  He woke up at 5.30am.  Wow, I thought.  He's really going to do this.  But, he didn't.  He read the entire internet, even that wee bit he usually doesn't bother reading.  Until 9am.  Which is when he had told me he had to leave.  So, he jumped in the shower.  When he was done, he wandered around in my towel for a while, sorting out his life.  I asked why he had my towel and he said he thought it was his.  So, all week he had been wondering why it was wet every morning.

Right.

I always have the left hand side of the towel rail.  Turns out, for 20 years, (or however long we have been sharing a towel rail) Mike reckons he has been using the left hand side towel.  Actually, I don't think so.  I would have noticed in the intervening 20 years.  But, anyway.  He says he has the towel on the left because that's where he sleeps in the bed.  Hahahah!  Weird logic.

I have him sorted now.  His one is beige this week!  We're going to use colour classification from now on.  And the fact my towel is always on the left.  :-p

He left, eventually, and Toby and I got ready for our fun.  Toby seemed to be better after his stomach upset.  Yay!  I dropped him off at the Tabor house with Lex and the boys and collected Aidan.  We drove to Johnsonville, and met Christine after driving around looking for a car park for the day.  Found one up beyond the police station.

Soon we were collecting Celia and people were checking gear.  And off to Beachbrook Stables (Gillian is an ex work colleague) to get our horse riding in.  Aidan had decided (and rightly) that it was a great birthday present for Christine.  Given Christine's birthday is March 7th, it is an indication of the busy lives we lead that this weekend was the first weekend we could book in.

It was great fun!  My horse was called Sara, and had a tendency to lash out at other horses with her back feet.  So I had to make sure other horses kept away.  And she was a little naughty.  But she was well behaved for me this day!

Aidan was on a white horse and Christine was on a huge horse.  Yeah - I know nothing about horses.  But I think Celia was on a pony.  Her horse was small - but went like stink!  Hahah.

Selfie riding a horse

Celia on her pony

Aidan, Christine and me

Iced coffee in Otaki

Me, Aidan and Christine after the riding

We had a great ride up and down the beach.  We got on the horses and walked down the road to the beach (maybe a kilometre).  Great fun!

Everyone that knows about horses and riding (that is, Christine, Gillian and the handlers) all thought Aidan was a great rider.  Said she was a natural.  Had a great stance in the saddle.  Aidan was quite taken with the riding and wants to go out with Christine on Victor now.  Yay!


 Brian took a photo of the three of us after the ride.  Very nice.

I got an iced coffee in Otaki.  Aidan even tried some and quite enjoyed it.  I took a photo of her enjoying my iced coffee, but she said it wasn't allowed on the blog.  Not sure why - I thought her obvious enjoyment of the iced coffee goodness was wonderful.



Back home and Aidan had to take Lex and Jane to the station for their train ride home.  Josh got home just as I was playing with Lulu.

View from Aidan and Josh's house

Toby and I headed home for the night.  Next morning Toby felt a bit worse again.  But we went to see the Avengers movie.  Had a bit of a bother at breakfast at Mama Browns.  We asked if we could eat before our movie.  They said yes.  But we had to leave before we saw any food.  Shame.  I tried to pay but they wouldn't take it.  We'll be back.  They were lovely.

Waiting for breakfast at Mama Browns

 Movie was good - first one was better.  Most one liners were ok.  One bad one made me glad Toby didn't understand it.

Back home and Mike was home soon enough,  I had a mountain of laundry and ironing.  Shudder!  Made it through though.

Toby is sick again today.  Off to see the doctors today.

Have a great week.

Love,
Angela

The Thursday with a wonderful lunch

Hi,

Well, my day was so hectic, it wasn't funny.  But lunch - lunch was the highlight of the day by far.  And dare I say, possibly even the week.  A client took me to this French cafe a few weeks back and I said to Aidan that when she got back from her trip and manic work life, we should go there for lunch.

So Aidan met me for lunch on Lambton Quay and we walked over to Featherston St to Louis Sergeant and we ordered some lunch.  Aidan was funny - she decided we should eat decadent stuff so we needed a salad to start.  And what's more - we should share a salad.  We chose the salad Nicoise and I don't think I have ever had a better salad Nicoise.  The tuna wasn't just canned tuna which is often the case.  It was thick seared slabs of tuna.  Perfectly done.  I was in heaven.

Aidan got to practise her French too.  We ate the cheese platter afterwards and it was pretty good too.  Then, foolishly, I listened to Aidan and we got a dessert each.  I should have stood my ground and said we only needed one to share.  They both defeated us.  Aidan's was a lovely pink creation, but I didn't enjoy it that much.  Mine was the chocolate mousse things again.  It's called l'intense.  And it lives up to that name.  It nearly killed us and we only ate a third between us.

Mike got the rest!

Aidan posing in front of Marie Antionette

Aidan prepares to taste her dessert

After that I managed to get through my crazy afternoon by having two meetings cancelled.  Yay!  Got some work done.

I drove the car home and made some dinner for Toby and me.  Mike was working late but I was trying to lure him home.  I sent a photo of the meal I made along with the salad.

Come and get it, Mike!

But that wasn't enough.  So I thought I'd send him a photo of me to lure him home.  I knew Aidan had taken one of me at lunch so I asked her to send it to him, saying this is what he was missing at home.

So, she did.  She sent him this:

Dynamic Angela at lunch

I asked if he got it, and she replied that he said "kbro" and she thinks he might be drunk.  I was so confused.  I went to collect Mike from town as he decided he needed to come home.  And when I found him, I asked if he got the message with my photo from Aidan.  He said no.  But when he looked, he saw the message and saw it had been read.  And then figured out that Toby's iPad also receives the text messages.  So Toby had got the one of me with Aidan's message saying "Come home to your beautiful wife" so Toby had replied "kbro".  Poor Aidan.  No wonder she thought Mike was not himself.  He wasn't!   Hahahah.


 Mike got home in time to eat some too.  Well, I watched him eat.  He was in a good mood and laughed lots as we chatted away.

This morning is lovely here.  The harbour looked beautiful in the early morning orange sunlight.  The view from my desk isn't too bad either.

View from my desk this morning

Some of us are going horse riding this weekend for Christine's birthday (that was in March).  The weather looks good.  I want to take Toby (if he is well enough) to see the new Avengers movie.  Sally - you want to join us Sunday morning?


Have a great weekend.

Love,
Angela