The Monday working from home

 Hi,

I did go for a run yesterday in my lunch break. Into the Otari bush. It was hot work but glad I went. Mike and I both worked from home because he is a bit sick.

Smudge on our bed in the sun

Cats stand off

We actually both tested for covid after our workday in case we had that. Well, I say "we" but in the afternoon I could imagine a scratchy throat. No sign of covid but Mike is definitely sick. Slight cough. Maybe his nose is getting runny. Hahah. And his asthma is kicking in a bit.

Bringing down the house - or the old ceiling anyway

Out it comes

Mike points to key elements

Anyway, it did not keep him back. He got the old ceiling down from the laundry and replaced it with the ply. So easy. Then he tidied up and the place looks fit for Toby and my parents now. Woot!

And up goes the ply

Sourdough

I baked bread and made sandwiches for work and made our overnight porridge. We were both quite industrious.

Tomatoes survived the stormy weather

Mike and Moxley

Off to bed and a good sleep for me. When I left, Moxley was sprawled over the entire bed leaving a small space for Mike.

Gorgeous day for my ride into town. PT session with Quentin. I got a PB in squats - which was quite surprising because I have not done a lot of squat work. 80kg. Not too shabby.

Bit of a rubbish pic from the video - but there you go!

Happy with that effort this year. Thank you Quentin.

Have a great day! Crush it, evceryone!

Love,

Angela

The weekend in Wellington with bike rides and renovation work

 Hi,

What a big weekend. Friday saw me catch up with some old Intergen crew. Heard about Ed's leg rehab and his work prospects (all good) and from James about his new gardening passion. Celia updated them both with what she has been doing (lots). And it was really good to see them all.

Friday brekkie catch up

Friday bike ride with Andrew

Dropped the car off at Porirua for an air con check with Thermo King. They said it would only take 30 mins so I just hung around. Sure enough, Riaan was done and took me through the settings on the car air con for optimal cooling. It was fine - just needed a bit of gas after sitting for a while unused.

Back home to get ready to drive out to see Andrew for a good bike ride. We went up Te Whiti Riser, them along the fire break back towards the mountain bike park. Did a wee easy bush track and loved it.  Only about 300m or so. Then down a trail in the bike park that was hard for me on the corners. Did a bottom easier trail. Then up to the top of the hill up the road and down the awesome single track to home.

Smudge modelling on the deck

Mike modelling on the deck

Saturday saw us up to enjoy the sunshine. Mike took the ceiling down in the laundry to paint with polyurethane.

Ceiling down to polyurethane it

Inspected by Moxley

Getting bigger

I made a wee greenhouse for my tomatoes

Sunday saw us head to Lower Hutt to watch the Grand Final. Windy! And Nga Manu didn't quite do it. That first quarter saw Swell get too many on the board.

Sunday Grand Final

Windy conditions - when isn't it windy here?

That first quarter did it

Meanwhile, Mike did so many running laps of the AFL ground
that he became the Strava Local Legend

Neighbour had a spare wilding pine so I picked that up from them on Saturday afternoon and decorated it Sunday.

Wilding pine sorted

Decorated

Moxley clings onto me

She loves a good sprawl

Detail

Yes, there's the tree again in case you missed it

Buried by cats

Mike and I went out to Float Sunday and enjoyed a really good relaxing session. Loved it. Back to relax at home.

Monday morning snoozefest

Windy weather Sunday night. Wow. Crazy.

Hope you enjoy your week as the Christmas crazy kicks in.

Love,
Angela

The Wednesday with an unexpected Bin44 dinner with Sally and Andrew

 Hi,

Wednesday - you were a surprise at the end. I got a random iced latte from French Kiss cart with Juliet to kick off the day after my gym session.

Iced latte with Juliet

Iced latte at lunch with Emma and Mike

Mike and I went out with Emma for lunch to discuss ADHD kids and other stuff. Her family is from Stromboli  - just like Carolin's dad. How cool!

Dinner surprise

We were about to head home after work to do nothing when Sally pinged us to say she was at Bin44 with Andrew. So Mike and I went down there and ended up having tea with them.

A quick makeover for Sally's hair

Sally wondered if there was an app for changing your hair colour to see what it looks like. Mike did a bit of googling and research. Nothing was happening. The anticipation was killing me. So I took a pic of Sally and did it myself. Sally will rock any colour, I reckon.

Got home and baked my bread and watched a movie with Mike. Then took our blood pressure with our new device.

Sourdough

My lower number was a bit high. So I will take it regularly for a while and see what is happening with it.

This morning I checked my broccoli before I left the house. It is bigger than on Monday! Woot!

Broccoli is growing

Rode in. Headed to the gym. And got my PB in deadlifts. 110kg. It was hard! My face was very red with that exertion. And possibly I could have locked out a bit better at the top. But it was great! Yay. Thank you Quentin.

Keep going, said Quentin

Got it!

Iced latte at Smith the Grocer

Had brekkie with some work mates this morning. Busy day. Anniversary dinner with Mike tonight. 25 years. Woot!

Weekend we have a lot of mahi around the house. Polyurethane the laundry. Maybe gaze more at the top step to understand what we need to do there.

Have a great weekend. 

Love,

Angela

The Tuesday with work

 Hi,

After a PT session where my bench failed to impress me, Quentin and I went to a quick brekkie. Jason joined us for the last 5 minutes. Good catch up.

Iced latte with Quentin at Smith the Grocer

Google street view shows the van!

Busy at work. Then I rode home and fed the cats and myself. Mike had some architect forum person to charm and secure for a future meeting. When he got in he made me another light tea. Yay!

Off to bed. Slept well. Up for my ride in and PT session. And Mike is taking the RAV4 to Raj for new tyres. So it is safe for the summer fun.

Have a great day.

Love,

Angela

The Monday back at work

 Hi,

Worked from home on Monday. So yay - you get some cat content today. I also watered the garden and saw my broccoli has started its head. Yay! Four of them look healthy.

Stairs again for you to admire

My broccoli is growing

Snuggles while I work

Closer

After work buried by cats

After work I baked some bread. And while I was pottering around, Moxley gave her hunting call. We saw sparrows on the deck. So I opened the door, thinking she'd chase them off and have a bit of fun.

I am not doing that again. She caught one! Strutted around the deck like the boss cat she is. I closed the door so we did not have bird feathers and entrails in the house. Smudge looked on proudly from inside.

Moxley caught a sparrow

She dropped it so I ushered her inside. Where she just stared at it

She eventually dropped it so I took her inside. And the wind ruffled the bird's feathers enticingly. So Moxley was glued to the door.

Mike got home and threw the bird off the deck. He told me it flew away and that is what I choose to believe.

Sourdough

Meanwhile - the bread came out well.

Got a few things done in the evening. Off to bed. Good sleep. Up for a ride in for PT this morning.

Have a great day.

Love

Angela,

The weekend in Wellington with parties and bike rides

 Hi,

Friday saw me working - and that meant my weekend was only 2 days long. I have no idea how anyone  does a 5 day working week anymore. Hahahah.

Christmas party was nice and low-key. We stayed really late. 9.45pm! Hahah. Good to see everyone. I got lots of hugs.

Here we are at the party

Saturday was chill in the morning. But Mike and I met Maureen at the local cafe for an iced latte (well, hot coffees for them) before Maureen and I went for a bike ride.

Saturday iced latte

Such a good day for it. Up behind Crofton Downs and up to the Skyline. Then north to Mt Kaukau (it is actually quite a long way). Maureen took me down her route into Johnsonville through bush. And then we sped down Old Coach Road to the valley bottom.

Top of Mt Kaukau

I look pretty pleased

While I was out riding, Mike was doing messages and got a lot of stuff ready to progress a few projects. So I know what we're doing over the next few weekends.

Maureen and I tootled back up from the bottom of the valley and wandered a few streets in Johnsonville. I had no idea where I was so Maureen guided me to a spot I recognised and said goodbye to each other at Onslow. Got home after the 25km fun. Then into the car to head to Kara's place. Sally and Andrew came over too. Takeaways. And a good catch up with Kara. Who is not faring too well - her femur is refusing to knit. So she us really hoping some progress happens in the next few weeks. We left her place quite late (maybe 10pm!) and popped a huge bag from plums from 40WLW at the Sampson's household before going home to bed.

Moxley snuggles

Mike plays with me and Moxley

Taking up the masking tape on the painted stairs

Sunday saw a lazy day for me. But I did get the stairs all done. Yay. 3 coats on all the risers. Took off the masking tape and it all looks so good. Sweet. top stair to sort out - and the stringers replaced.

Then off to bed. Up for a quick drive to town this morning to get my bike and PC from work. Friday night meant it was all there. But back to WFH today.

Hope your week is a good one.

Love,

Angela