The Tuesday with work stuff

 Hi,

Busy times. Iona had fun on her birthday. Col took her up Mt Patutu just north of Kaikoura. Sounded like an awesome climb - if steep! Told you they had legs of steel.

I was chatting to two women at work yesterday and realised we were all called Angela. So took a pic for you all.

Trio of Angelas at work

Mike and I decided to head home and have tea and rest up instead of going to the innovation debate. Mike must have been exhausted as he was asleep by 7.15pm.

We watched the RocketLab launch from Mahia - and after 3 mins flight time, they lost contact with it. Seems as though it might have had an unrecoverable issue. 

Moxley looking cute this morning. This is for the extra cat content I have been asked to supply.

Up today to ride in for my PT session. And today is planning day for my team for the next quarter. 

And we remember Vivenne today as it is the anniversary of her passing. Still so sad to acknowledge. It feels like she should still be walking her dogs and testing at her work. I suppose that is what memories are for - processing through things like grief by remembering the person doing their usual things.

Have a wonderful day. Remember Vivenne as you move through your day.

Love,

Angela

The Monday back at work

 Hi,

Today (Tuesday) is Iona's birthday. 60 years. Wow. Happy, happy birthday to her. They are off to climb another mountain today. Mt Patutu near Kaikoura. 

Yesterday was a day. I saw my doctor (an online consultation as she is herself injured!) and then got sent for blood tests. And given a vial to collect other specimens. Hmmm. Fun. They will hopefully run tests for my 50 year service and add in some other tests. It is overdue, in case you were doing the maths on my age and thinking I was very young. Hahah.

Monday morning commute was different, eh?

Nice view of the Sounds

Wellington looms into view

At the blood lab

And Tuesday morning iced latte

Mike arrived late Monday and it was good to see him. He unpacked his gear and we put a wash on. Up early to drive in because Mike's Mum was arriving at 7.25pm and we had a debate about innovation to attend just before that in town. All good reasons to drive in. 

On the way into our usual car park, weirdly there was a queue to get into one entrance and nobody in the other entrance. Oh! A 4WD jeep was facing the wrong way. The driver then drove up the side of the concrete bank to avoid the barrier, and quite fast out the wrong way. Clipping, well, barging the dangling overheight barrier with a clang as he went. A bit of excitement!

I went to my PT session (40kg bench, 2 reps x 5 sets) and Mike dropped off my sample (above and beyond, there, Mike!).

But as Mike was having his morning brekkie and coffee, his Mum texted to say she had landed. At 7.25am. But she totally said 7.25pm in her text yesterday. Hahah. We're unsure if she made a typo or wanted to do her independent thing (as she usually does just get herself out to her wee unit happily enough) and gaslit Mike. :-p   Heheh.  

No. It is good to have her up this week. The anniversary of Vivienne's passing (tomorrow). So to have family together will be a good way to help each other.

It is my busy week at work. Waaaaah. Hopefully it all goes super fine.

And I am sending thoughts to Iona and Col as they tackle Mt Patutu today. They do both have legs of steel compared to me. 

Have a fantastic day.

Love,

Angela

The weekend in Blenheim

 Hi,

What an amazing weekend Mike and I both had. And I see he has his own blog post coming with his adventures with Toby and Kara for Peak to Pub. So no spoilers from me.

I went to Blenheim with Maureen to celebrate 60 years with Iona on the planet. We parked at the airport for our 1930 flight in plenty of time. I even got a croissant for a quick tea.

Then we had a bumpy flight over to Marlborough. Took off to the north and took forever to fly over the harbour before turning to the southwest. 

Thursday evening airport time

The flight was full. And it was certainly bumpy the entire way. Maureen said she had a good view of the runway as we came into land and it looked like a wrestle for the pilot. But from where I was, it was pretty smooth.

35km/hr winds were just tricky.

Iona was there to meet us. And we got back home to their place soon enough and settled in. Like usual, I was fast asleep as soon as my head it the pillow.

Grove cafe

Up early to see Maureen settled into her working day and me and Iona off via an iced latte at Grove Road cafe to meet Nicola at Picton to walk to The Snout.

Picton

Lovely weather for the start of our 3 - 4 hour walk. We headed up a hill and then I promptly walked past 3 car parks that we could have driven to for the "3 - 4 hour walk". So we were doing extra, then! Hahah.

Sunny and hot

It was beautiful weather until 40 - 50 mins from the very tip, when it started to rain. By the time we emerged onto the actual point, it was super blustery and raining. A quick pic or two, then we scampered back into the bush for the backwards journey.

Then... not

Wet

We popped into Bob's Bay for a slightly different return route. And did the 13km comfortably - finishing in brilliant sunshine again.

Lunch at Gusto in Picton to finish off. Said goodbye to Nicola and then we dropped into Mandy to return a book and catch up with her news. They have been through the wars. Mandy has a fractured sternum from hitting a wall in her car and Helen got taken out on her bicycle by a wee kid and was banged up.

Then sunny

Back home to see Maureen finish up the last of her working week. Then time to cook tea - some of Tony's venison. Mmmmm. Iona cooked up a delicious meal.

Maureen at work

Cooking up a storm

Twigg relaxes

Up early Saturday to watch the All Blacks trounce Namibia in the World Cup pool game 2. 71-3. Then off to climb Mt Robertson. That is the one with the golfball on top as you drive from Picton to Blenheim.

Warm start - but it was cold by the time we got to the top, believe me. We did 20km altogether. And it took 6.5 hours. It was steeply uphill for some of it and steadily uphill for most of the rest. 

Start of Mt Robertson climb

900m still in front of us

We're going there!

Lovely bush

Resetting a trap

Not far now

And... the top

We ate lunch at the top - around 1315. Egg sandwiches. Mmmm. We did not hang around long as the wind was biting.

Sobering read

We've finished!

Down to Whites Bay and then up through the pines to the car. Wow!

Back home around 1730 to quickly all shower and head out to Good Home pub to celebrate Iona's birthday. We enjoyed good food and a robust chat on what constituted a sport. Darts is out, by general consensus. Speed skating is in. 

Sunday saw us up for oaty pancakes and watching Ireland play Tonga. Then off to Quail Valley walk in the Wither Hills.

Heheheh.

I like the Quail Valley walk

Spring

Views for ever!

Selfie

Back home via Mitre10 Mega where we met up with Marion and Malcolm. And then off to do E Line at the oxbow.

E Line traps

White gumboots

I got to wear some white gumboots as some of the traps are in quite a boggy part of the reserve. We only got a mouse in the C13 trap - nothing on E line.

Iona and Maureen got a laugh at me as I tried to scale the fence. They both sailed over it. Whereas I was more slug-like in my absolute lack of grace. Maureen looked almost ready to giggle.

Another iced latte with wait staff photo bomb

White gumboots

Storm damage

It had been windy all day with a severe warning for Wellington and into Marlborough. But Iona and Col got away with a tipped over rubbish bin. The old people's home around the corner did get a tree land on it - but also looked undamaged. Lucky.

But our flight to Wellington was looking dodgy. Iona dropped us off and stayed for a bit. They have changed the 10 min park to a 2 min drop off zone. So she didn't stay long with us as we checked in. We were told they might have to cancel as Wellington was too windy.

Sure enough, our 1900 flight was preceded by a AirNZ cancellation and they fly much bigger planes. So Maureen suggested we start queuing in case ours was next. And it was!

We were second in the queue to get rebooked on a 7am Monday morning flight. Yay! Col came back to collect us. And we had tea when we got in again and a lovely sleep before getting up at 5.30am to head home.

Unexpectedly back 

Monday morning looks good to get back home

Last of the stash Col bought me

Good weekend

Byeeeeee

The flight back was only a little bumpy and we landed easily in Wellington. Maureen got her car out with minimal fuss ($2 extra - seems cheap for the extra 12 hours!).

An easy commute to my place and a goodbye to Maureen and a hello to the cats. Well, Moxley was keen to see me. I had to call out to Smudge for a bit before she came to say hello.

Place was good. No issues. Cleaned up for the cats and chased a bumblebee out the door. 

What a lovely weekend. Such good fun. Always get so well looked after when I am there. Thank you to Mike for letting me go when I should have been supporting his bid for his first Peak to Pub race. Thank you to Iona and Col for hosting me, again. And Maureen for being a champ and coming to play with us all. :-)

And thank you to Kara and Toby for helping Mike for the weekend. Shame about the weather for all of us.

Have a great week.

Love,

Angela

The Wednesday that felt like a Thursday so Mike forgot his Wednesday task

Hi,

Ohhh - I have a guest blogger. Have a read of Mike's adventures!

Mike here to start the blog. My Wednesday started off okay with Angela off to the gym session I normally go to - because, well, I have been no-showing it a little too often recently. So I got to sleep in and play with Moxley who was being cuddly and demandingly cute. She was doing her thing where she pats at you with barely-unsheathed claws when you don't give her enough attention.

It was not going to remain so relaxed. It was time for a morning routine right out of when Toby and I would be late for school.

I was comfortably on the late-ish bus, settling into social media on my phone, when I REMEMBERED THAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO DROP THE CAR AT THE MECHANIC TODAY. Gah! I was just going past the mechanic, about 3km from home. What to do? As the bus pulled up at a stop, I spied a rental scooter parked up and made a snap decision to use it to get home again. I hurtled off the bus, activated the scooter and off I set. I can do this!

All was going well for about the first km ... until the scooter ground to a halt with a flashing red 'battery empty' light. Oh. I was committed now, and still a long way to go. But, it was downhill soon! I gamely paddled away at the scooter until I reached the downhill bits. Turns out a scooter with a flat battery has quite a bit of rolling resistance and it still needed my help. But it was still quicker than walking and I got there in the end.

Jumped in the car and hurtled back to the mechanic. Then it was time to forage for a bus. No buses for thirteen minutes! But I knew I could walk down a short street to a more popular stop. Off I hobbled, I mean trotted (because there is nothing wrong with my Achilles, thanks, and my multisport race this weekend will be fine). Onto a 'foreign' bus which got me into town but on a strange unfamiliar route. I think I got off on a sub-optimal stop.

Angela had let me know the crushing, terrible news that the work coffee machine was broken so I had one more detour to a café which involved chatting to work colleagues who were similarly detoured. I made it half an hour late in the end which was pretty good given my unexpected bus/ scooter/ push/ drive/ walk/ bus/ walk/ coffee journey.

Hahahah!  His mornings are always way more exciting than mine.

Work was busy. We had a business unit wide meeting for 4 hours that they want to do every 6 months to ensure everyone is aligned to the latest safety and well-being initiatives. And I think it went really well. Well done to the leadership.

Went to 6pm Spin with Erin and Myra after work. I really want to get to Spin most evenings after work, when I am not busy with other things.

Spin with Myra

Spin with Erin

And... all of us!

Erin dropped me back at work and I jumped on my bike and rode home. Mike made tea for us. Buddha Bowls. But, with these plant-based chicken nuggets as the protein. Yeah, nah! I didn't like them. I had to smother them in Tuiomato sauce. Hahah. We might not buy the home brand ones next time.

Then at 8pm Mike remembered that he'd forgotten the car. Again. To pick it up this time. I hope the mechanic keeps it tucked up warm overnight.

Slept well. Up for gym. 25kg incline bench. 8 reps x 5 sets. Then accessories. It was very unusual compared to the normal flat bench.

Mike got me my iced latte stash from work. And he had his PT session after me. I drove home and got ready for my day.

Thursday morning Lewis Road iced latte at home

Maureen is coming to collect me at 1800 from home. Then our flight at 1930 to Blenheim for some active birthday fun with Iona and Col.

Mike has his huge weekend at Mt Hutt. Wow. I hope he enjoys himself and finishes strong. Toby and Kara will be around to help him out.

Have an awesome weekend wherever you are. Think of Mike at 10am on Saturday as he starts his race. Send him kia kaha vibes.

Smudge joins me as I work from home

Enjoying the sun

I got asked for more cat content. There you go! Smudge could be a cat model.

Love,
Angela

The Tuesday that felt like Wednesday

 Hi,

I got to Extra Extra with Mike for lunch yesterday. But you know, it is not a fave place. Iced latte was too strong and mushroom burrito was a bit average. So, despite Mike loving it, I am not placing it high up my list.

Lunch iced latte with Mike at Extra Extra

Got to the optometrist for my 4pm appt and chatted to Andrew, a lot. Took close to an hour. He checked my vision and apparently my long distance vision has improved. Hahah. And my close up has hardly changed (a quarter of some value). So no need for any changes. 3 more years before I need to go chat to him.

I was a bit late for our meeting in the car park with Mike and Andrew. But traffic flowed okay - if slowly - to the Hutt. Sally was there at Queensgate already and bought us dinner. So we gobbled that down (I had a salad at Nandos) and headed to the IMAX for Stop Making Sense. The Talking Heads concert movie from 1987 or so. Remastered.

In Imax

It was good, tbh. And I didn't know what to expect. Thought I only knew one or two songs of theirs really well. Turns out I knew most of them. And David Byrne was a genius in his own, unique way. His concert was a truly theatrical experience. 

Dropped Sally and Andrew home and got home ourselves. Fed the cats. Went to bed. I didn't sleep super well. But up early to ride into town with fantastic weather.

Wednesday is a cracker of a day

Iced latte from Quentin

I lifted that!

I did get an iced latte from Quentin at my PT session with him this morning. Do you think if my PT asks me if I want an iced latte as he heads to the gym, that I actually have to admit to an addiction? Ooohhhh.

Anyway - it worked a treat. PB in squat rack. 55kg. 3 reps x 5 sets. I might have been grunting a bit on my last set because the guy in the rack next to me clapped when I racked the last one. Said well done.

Maybe my wobbly legs made it look tough? Hahah.

Then back to work. And some caffeinated fast talking from me has meant Erin has asked me to cut down on my morning intake of iced lattes. Hahahah.

Spin after work today. Then ride home and pack for the weekend. Me and Mike. Mike for his Peak to Pub race at Mt Hutt with Toby and Kara. Me to Blenheim with Maureen for some fun with Iona and Col.

Busy, eh?

Have a great day.

Love,

Angela