The Wednesday to make you all jealous

Hi,

Work was work.  But I rode home and enjoyed the ease of the ride compared to the galeforce winds the previous time.  My chain popped off at one point though.  A sure sign I need a service on my bike.  Mucky hands after that.  Lucky it happened near a whole bunch of agapanthus.  They are perfect for ruining with greasy muck.

Got home and found Mike there, to my pleasant surprise.  He was working from home.  He had dinner all sorted while I froze on the couch.  Mainly because I was all sweaty after my ride and sitting around in bike shorts with no heater on, in winter.  Sure recipe for being freezing.

But the reason I wasn't cooking was because I was off to have dinner with Ange.  Woot!  She texted when she got home just after 1800 and I left.  Watched her cook lamb meatballs with smashed feta potatoes.  Mmmmm.  She has started subscribing to My Food Bag.  My Food Bag  They just started a subscription for singles.  She gets four meals a week to cook, and one of them (this week, the meatballs one) is big enough for two.  So you can invite someone to share, or eat it two nights running.

Ange is smashing those potatoes

I am prodding those meatballs

And the finished meal was scrumptious

And this is why you are jealous.  It was so good.  We sat down to watch television and one of her favourite programmes was on, with the grand final.  My Kitchen Rules.  Little did I know when it started at 1930 that it lasted for 2 hours. I was pretty tired by the end.

Back home and into bed.  But a book caught my attention and Mike was working in bed, so I never went to sleep until 2300.

Made for a hard morning this morning.  My alarm went off for my run at 5am, but next thing I knew it was 5.25,  So, the run was deferred until tomorrow.

My ride into work was fun though.  I got soaked.  Soaked enough to wring my socks out in the shower at work.  That hasn't happened for a while.  Mind you, I have been even more wet than that before.

Right.  Time to kickstart the day.

Have a wonderful day.

Love,
Angela

The Tuesday with an optometrist appointment for me and Toby

Hi,

Had a crazy day at work.  Mainly because I had two lunches and an early tea.  Hahah.  I ate my yummy home made bread roll at my desk but then Ange got me out for lunch with Roanne and I ate this huge cheese board.  It was full of good cheeses.  Mmmm.

Then my optometrist appointment came and although my vision isn't as good as it once was, it turns out one eye is still 20/20 and the other is legally fine for driving still.  So together, I am good!  And apparently that side of your sight actually doesn't deteriorate usually.  They think I should be sweet for a bit longer.

Toby was in after me and his eyesight has only changed slightly from his previous prescription.  No need to adjust anything yet.  He just has to wear glasses when he thinks he needs them.

We ate sushi with Mike afterwards and that was my early tea.  So full.  I worked for a bit while Toby did some homework and then we drove home.

Mike had a quiz night with some mates at Bethel Woods.  Said it was so hard.  Hahah.  He got home and I stayed up reading for ages.  Eventually went to sleep and slept well.  Getting up at 5am a few days a week means my internal alarm wakes me up around then.  Annoying when I don't have to get up until 6am!

I have dinner at Ange's place tonight.  Woot!  Looking forward to that.  And my ride into work was lovely.  So dry.  The wind has gone.  Yep - wonderful.  I pumped up my tyres and I think that had a lot to do with the smooth, sweet ride.  They were so low.  Oops.

I have tickets for Florence and the Machine in November.  Yeah!  Bring that on.  I love delicious anticipation.  With Nepal coming up, there is so much to anticipate.  Aidan shared a link on Facebook recently about holidays, and apparently the anticipation far outweighs the afterglow.  So, I am revelling in it.  Just saying!

Have a fantastic day!

Love,
Angela

The Monday with lunch with Aidan

Hi,

Well, the weather was wild yesterday.  I met Aidan for lunch and we went back to the Vietnamese place across to road but tried something else.  We both enjoyed what we ate.  Mmmm.  I walked back towards Aidan's work before saying goodbye and then bumped into Sally and Andrew.  That was a great surprise.  We haven't seen them for ages.  If we have some time this weekend, we'll try and catch up.

I left work just after 4pm and rode up Molesworth St and nearly scared myself silly.  The wind was so strong.  I guess the only upside was the rain was light, and not falling vertically.  I never seemed to get wet.  Guess it was more like riding inside a blow dryer.  But I told myself if it got any worse I was going to push my bike home.  Weirdly, I told myself that three times on the way home.  But I like to think it didn't get worse.  Each time I contemplated getting off was just as bad as the previous time.  And not worse at all.

Cooked tea when I got home around chatting to the builder that Mike was meeting.  I couldn't tempt him to stay for it - but he missed out on my incredible spaghetti Bolognese.  Off to buy groceries after tea.  We were away at the weekend so we missed crucial things like tidying the house and buying food for the week.

Collapsed into bed not long after coming back and slept the sleep of the dead.

I caught the bus in this morning.  Turns out the gale force winds and rain don't make me super happy about riding in.  And Toby is coming into town after work anyway for an appointment.  So, it made loads of sense.

Right.  Time for tea and to kick start the day!

Have fun!

Love,
Angela

The weekend away skiing

Hi,

It was a happy birthday weekend for Karen!  Did you see what she announced?  Tyler and Abby get to be flag bearers for the opening ceremony for the Netball World Cup this Friday.  Yes! Tyler is holding Fiji's flag, and Abby is holding England's flag.  Such awesome news.  I can't wait.

Friday I got away for an iced coffee late in the day.  I figured it was ok because we had a long drive up to Ruapehu that night.

Iced coffee goodness at Mixed Business

We were a tiny bit late getting away from Wellington.  It was close to 5pm by the time we left.  But the traffic wasn't too bad.  Toby had his iPad to entertain himself and at least I could see lots out the front window from my seat.

We got to the lodge at 10.30pm.  Not too bad.  We were staying at Graduates which is just behind WTMC.  I liked it a lot.  Great fun!  Off to bed around midnight.  Ooooo - that's a late night for me.  Toby crashed!

Selfie with lenticular cloud behind me

The awesome lenticular cloud

Mike and me in the queue

The weather looked awful Saturday morning but we went up anyway.  Fortunately I bumped into Mike at the base lift and I snaffled him from his leadership duties.  We went up to Knoll Ridge and the skies cleared up there.  We jumped out to ski the valley t-bar and had such an awesome time  together.  We did run after run.

Finally we caught up with Vivienne and John and Doro and went over to the West Ridge chairlift.  John followed Mike off into tiger country while Vivienne and I enjoyed a great run through lovely snow down to the chairlift.  Mike popped out onto our run from an icy off piste yucky part and we asked where John was (Vivienne and I were both thinking it didn't look like terrain that would be a lot of fun for John).  Mike was surprised to hear John was behind him and went back into tiger country to find him.

I state I am yet to ski with John, as I don't count the 20m we were on the same run before he hared off after Mike as a "ski together".

Anyhow, we got on the chair, and the weather seemed to change.  Sure enough, as we got off the top, it clagged in.  Couldn't see a thing.  We went back down the run, but it was horrible.  The undulations were invisible.  Got on the chair and decided to head back to the main ski runs.

Mike and John were in the cafe, so we went there and had some food.  Then, it was still pants.  But getting late.  So we did the normal run down Waterfall express and back down Rockgarden.  Doro trashed her board just above the Waterfall Express chair base station.  Her bindings popped out completely from her board on one side.  She walked down.

Back to read in my bed before a yummy tea of roast beef and roast vegetables.  And dessert.  Mmmmm.

Early to bed for me.  But Mike and Toby were later and they had problems going to sleep.  So our sleep wasn't the best.

Next morning it was raining hard and yucky.  So I decided to stay in the lodge.  I should have gone skiing and I have learned that lesson now.  Anyhow, I did my chores and read a bit.

We all left around 1pm and headed back to Wellington.  Late lunch at the Brown Sugar cafe in Taihape and then home around 7pm.

Great day skiing on Saturday!  Woot!

Have a lovely week.

Love,
Angela

The Thursday with lunch with Aidan

Hi,

Yesterday was a far nicer day than I expected from the forecast.  So nice that when I met Aidan for lunch, so wasn't even wearing her red beret.  That meant she snuck right up on me without me noticing until she was virtually right there.  I hope she doesn't think I was ignoring her.

We went to Rahzoo, which is one of my favourite lunch places.  I always eat the feta and spinach enchilada with two side salads.  Mmmmm.  I am astonished that I can eat so much spinach in one meal because there is a lot of spinach and not so much feta.  We chatted away about various things.  I usually like to walk afterwards with Aidan.  But I had drunk so much water just before lunch it meant I was so desperate to find a toilet that I had to return to work.  Gee, with my ignoring her at the start of lunch and a fast abandonment at the end, I might have relationship damage control to perform.

I drove home in a rush yesterday because Mike had the car in town and I was running late with some last minute work things.  But Toby was all good.  We had tea late and packed for the weekend.  Then we dropped out gear around at Doro's house.

There is a full moon tonight.  The second one in July so it is a Blue Moon.  Just like the expression.

We're off to Ruapehu this evening after work.  But the forecast up there is a bit pants.  I have books to read.  Oh - I have no chocolate.  I might need to find some.  Hahah.

Wee Karen has a birthday tomorrow.  Happy birthday wee girl.  Those that don't know her might think she is about 5 years old from my birthday wishes.  But I think we can add a few decades onto that.  She is my baby sister though.  And very cute still.  I hope she has a lovely day.

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with dinner out for me and Toby

Hi,

I managed to sneak out for a coffee with Mary in the morning to catch up with her news and the iced coffee at Mixed Business was as good as usual.

Iced coffee

Toby fixed my photo

When Toby got a hold of my phone, he kindly edited the photo for me.  And put a smiley face over the top.  Can you even recognise it is me?

Toby is a bit big for the Postman Pat truck

Toby got off the school bus in town and came to my work.  I took him to our appointment and then we bought sneakers for Nepal for him.  So he can walk for hours in good shoes.  Size 10 US.  Ridiculous size for his feet.

From there we went to Mama Brown's for dinner.  We both ate the ribs.  Mmmmmm.

Waiting for tea

 Mike came past and collected us after dropping in to say goodbye to Martin.  He's off to live in San Francisco with Amy.  Wow!  Lucky.

We got home and I went almost straight to bed.  I was a bit tired.

This morning is wet and cold here.  Although I haven't seen any rain as yet.  But time for a tea.

Have a wonderful day.

Love,
Angela

The Tuesday that came and went

Hi,

I think I might be back in the normal groove of work now.  Busy day ahead.  But it is my sisters' birthday today!  Woot.  I hope they have a lovely day and the weather is better than here.

Yep - today is a little yucky here.  Not too cold, but it is wet.

Yesterday I got the car from Mike at work because he was headed off for dinner and drinks with colleagues.  Aidan fancied a lift home so I detoured to collect her and we had a good catch up on the way to her place via Kelburn and her boys.

I got home and chatted to Toby.  He seemed happy enough and had done his homework already.

I got tea ready - slow cooker.  So not a lot to do.  And it was yummy.

Mike came home after his evening out and we all went to bed.  And listened to horrible weather starting.

But it is halfway through the week and we have a ski weekend to look forward to.  Yay!

Have a fantastic day - especially if it is your birthday.

Love,
Angela