The Wednesday with work and travel to Chc

 Hi,

What a funny day Wednesday was. Worked from home. Busy. But got away to get my Uber at 2.30pm. AirNZ had said there might be weather delays - but my regional flight to Chc was on time. Yay!

Smudge finds her early morning spot

Lewis Road for the win

Found Toby and Tessa in pickup and soon we were in town near Break Free - my accommodation. But we decided to get some dinner and Tessa wanted to try Banh mi. And it was delicious.

Found KaTLa at Chc airport

Toby and Tessa

Banh mi for dinner - yum

My room

I checked in easily (remembered to have a credit card this time - they could not handle my phone credit card last time) and waited for the concert to start.

The reason I was here in Chc was because Mike and Toby wanted to see Peter Hook and the Light playing. Peter Hook is the bassist from Joy Division and New Order. Not my cup of tea. But I was happy to come for Matariki.

But with Mike sent to Singapore for work, Toby had to find other friends for the concert. However, his main punter pulled out and his next buddy also piked an hour out. I looked at Tessa and she looked at me.

And I decided to go.

We walked there at 6.45pm to the Town Hall. We were there last year for Spacey Jane. I never knew there were different theatres inside the town hall. We were in a similar bit different venue from Spacey Jane.

Toby and I were very early for the 8pm start. We could have been right at the stage - but we hung back a bit to enjoy it all.

Early birds at the Peter Hook and the Light concert

Let's go!

Selfie

Peter Hook

Halftime water refreshment

Big song

Toby was having a great time. He knew a lot of the songs. I am glad we travelled together last year and I heard a podcast series on Joy Division. Gave me background context I guess.

It was good fun. The band are very good and they seem to be living a great life. I know 3 songs. And they came towards the end. In fact - might have been the last 3 songs. I assume their biggest hits.

I am happy I went with Toby. It was good. Didn't get back to my hotel until close to 11pm. Toby walked me back - thank you Toby.

I was asleep when I turned out my light in 5 seconds flat.

Strange bandit iced latte

Up to Uber to CityFitness for my PT session with Quentin. Ear buds in and him on my phone worked great. He could hear me easily. Did bench. 40kg 4 reps x 4 sets. Then some triceps/biceps.

Off to Strange Bandit for brekkie and now at work.

Hanging with Toby and Tessa for the weekend. Not much planned. Gym. Parkrun. Not much else. A pretty chill time. Mike is back Saturday morning. Yay! Cats will be happy.

Thank you Sally for looking after the cats.

Enjoy your weekend.

Love,

Angela

The Tuesday with work

 Hi,

Busy times - and it is so weird not having Mike here. The cats are having to do with their second human. Not sure they enjoy that as much. 

At work

I did catch the #13 home and managed to time it with Barb's ride home. So we had a good chat on the way.

Sorted out the cats and finished the leftover pumpkin soup - ta Iona and Col. It was still delicious. Then I packed for Matariki. And took pics for Sally so she knows how to cut open the capsules for Smudge's medicine and where to find the shredded chicken to hide said medicine.

Smudge does seem to eventually eat all the chicken. They key is to give Moxley her heaped teaspoon of Fancy Feast, and to smother a small tablespoon of shredded chicken with medicine and mix it all in. Then feed Smudge downstairs.

Moxley has never been a huge fan of chicken. So it seems to work.

Suspicious white powder activity in our house

Smudge only needs half a capsule

We hide it in shredded chicken

The chicken stash

Not sure it is making any difference to Smudge. She still seems hesitant to jump up anywhere. As I type this she can't even jump onto Mike's office chair easily. 

Now she is strutting around the desk and across my keyboard. ksd,x/Cd she says.

I will see Toby briefly today when he collects me from the airport. But he is off to see Peter Hook (without Mike) tonight. So I will see him after work tomorrow.

Have a great day!

Love,

Angela

The Monday working at home with Mike travelling to Singapore

 Hi,

Mike is off and safely in Singapore. He is awake already - he woke at 4am his time. Hahah. His flight from WLG to AKl was delayed by 2 hours and they missed their connection to Singapore. They got put on a 2pm flight instead and got in around midnight our time.

Meanwhile I was working from home. Did get some laundry done despite the weather (ok - yay for a washer/dryer). After work I baked some bread and decided Chevy was the recipient (she is on reception at work).

Sourdough

Moxley was happy to cuddle up while I watched You Tube.

Moxley on my Timtams pyjamas

Had a good sleep. Up early for the 6am bus and a run on the treadmill before my PT session. Did deadlifts. 80kg 4 x 4. Then bench. 40kg 3 reps x 2 sets.

Gym with Quentin Tuesday morning

Brekkie and iced latte after our PT session

We then went to Smith the Grocer for some kai. I got brekkie and Quentin enjoyed the cinnamon brioche (they are so good there) and a coconut hot chocolate.

Then off to work for the two of us. As I got in, I fished our the sourdough for Chevy. And found out it is her birthday today. What perfect timing. Happy birthday Chevy.

I will bus home tonight and plough through my list of tasks. So many things to get done. I will WFH tomorrow so I can uber to the airport for my flight to Chc for Matariki.

It is all happening.

Have a great day.

Love,

Angela

The weekend in Wellington that was really short

 Hi,

Not sure how anyone survives on a 2 day weekend. The housework was the first to suffer. Hahahah. Friday saw me and Mike working from home. And we got out at lunch time for a run - my first one since the cold struck. It was a bit tough but we did it.

Smudge smooching

Our usual trail run through Otari Wilton bush was cut short with some tape. We couldn't go the next 150m to the end. Mike went to check it out. Hard to tell, he said.

Run on Friday

Saturday saw us at Waitangi Parkrun where we met Lisa. It was cold and windy but stayed dry. I did a slow 37 min run. If you could call it a run.

Day walk on Saturday

Janine wanted to walk somewhere so we planned the Kaitoke Ridge track. We did it years ago when Toby was quite young from a camping weekend at Kaitoke with the family tramping club people.

This time Mike and I collected Maureen from her place and met Janine at the Waterworks Road end of the track. She left her car there and we drove around to Kaitoke and left our car there.

Headed up the track at about 11:50am. Maureen and I missed the first turn off after about 100m because we were totally engrossed in our conversation. Lucky Janine was paying attention.

This track is about 3 hours. The first part is a fairly steep track up until you get to the ridge. Not too bad. Good firm track - wasn't too muddy or rooty. There are not really any views on this track - the trees are just a little too big and obscure most of it apart from the odd glimpse.

Pretty much the only view

Janine takes a selfie of us while Mike takes a pic of us

The track is hard clay with a layer of mossy green sludge that can get quite slippery. Yay for my Asics trail runners. We also saw the emergency track down to the wee A frame shelter we went to once. It does not meet the main track but I saw the orange triangle about 20m off in the trees about 2/3 the way to the Waterworks end.

It took us 2 hours and 40 mins. Not too bad considering the slightly slippery conditions. Everyone was peckish so we popped into Brewtown on the way back. My first time there. We went to Boneface and had some food. I got a smoked mushroom burrito. It was pretty good.

My first time at Brewtown

The day walk

Back home to chill. And then up early (4.30am) to go watch the Football world cup with Maureen at her place. Canada v Morrocco. What a great entertaining game. Canada played so well and never got any goals. Morrocco played fairly well in the second half and got 3 goals. But Morrocco were capitalising on Canada pressing forward to try and get a goal and leaving defense open for a counter. But - good fun.

I got a home made iced latte too. Thank you. And scrambled eggs. Mmmm.

Home made iced latte

Back home to tidy and get ready for a run at the gym. My treadmill kept stopping - gah! Then a few books from Unity for Anusha and home to pack for Mike's trip away.

More tidying. Then Sally, Andrew and John popped over for takeaways. We tried Dehli7 in Northland. They had pani puri - yum! Food was so good. Goat curry for me and Andrew. And it was delicious.

Then off to bed. Mike was up early to catch his flight to Auckland and then to Singapore. And I am home in  the wind and the rain. But not as bad as Dunedin. Polly is ok - Mike rang her last night. But it sounds pretty yucky down there. And cold.

Take care everyone.

Have a good day.

Love,

Angela

The Thursday with work and not my last working day of the week

 Hi,

Well, up on a Friday for a day of mahi. Better get used to that, eh? Hahahah. My cold seems a lot better this morning although I am cautious as Mike reckons he has been well and then felt worse the next day. And tbh, he is not cured yet - I hear him coughing still. Hahah. But yes, much better.

Today we take Smudge to the vet to get her checked for possibly arthritis. She has not been moving around as freely as she used to in her kitten era. Or even her middle aged cat era. Let's see what the vet says about it. She might need some medicine.

Otherwise, Friday is trucking along. Got to work. Wait, what? And then we have a Wellington weekend. Got a lot to do here so that is probably a good thing. So much decluttering and planning.

Parkrun tomorrow. But it might be a walk for me with this cold lurking still. And nothing else really planned socially.

I hope you have a wonderful lead in to the weekend. My parents start their cruise today (but tomorrow our time). Seems like Dad enjoyed the Football World Cup England game at a pub. I love it!

Have a great weekend.

Love,

Angela

The Wednesday with a cold and WFH still

 Hi,

Happy birthday to Andrew and Callan today. Woot! Hope they have a good day.

Still at home - pretty much the same with my cold. Bit of snot. Bit of a cough. Sound croaky. But mostly okay.

Lewis Road at home

After work I decided to try a dinner I saw on Instagram. Sushi sandwiches. Actually - there was no name given to this culinary delight and mine looked decidedly less impressive that the online version I watched.

Sustainable salmon mashed with some mayo. Avocado. Rice. Spinach. Scrambled egg. Layered into squares on two sheets of seaweed. Then rolled up and wrapped in rice paper. Then lightly fried to get it all to seal in.

Made sushi sandwiches

They tasted better than they looked

Mike enjoyed them

Mike said they were delicious. I thought they were also pretty good. The rice paper was the wrong shape that I got here. I had round sheets but it really needed rectangle shape to fold up the whole thing easily.

Baked bread

Baked a sourdough loaf. And Mike is now tasked with taking it into work to give to Callan for his birthday.

Up Thursday morning for an online PT session with me. Quentin said I should just do stretching inside in the warmth. So we did that. Yay. Mike went in for his session in the gym.

Heard from the parents in London after their first cruise. They had their daypacks stolen in their hotel lobby. CCTV caught it all. Classic distract and steal. Mum and Dad have spent a few days sorting that out. But their passports were not in there - so yay for that. They will head off to their next cruise soon. The long one!

Hope your day is a good one. I am back to working Fridays so you get a post tomorrow. Oohhhh.

Love,

Angela

The Tuesday with a cold and WFH

 Hi,

Stupid cold. I am officially calling it a cold now. No denying it. But it is just annoying rather than anything else. Pathetic cough. Croaky voice. Slightly dribbly nose. Would rather be snoozing. But nothing too drastic.

I cancelled all my outside engagements. Best to keep my germs to myself. And Mike. But he probably gave them to me so he should be good.

Made pumpkin soup

I made pumpkin soup with the home grown pumpkin Iona and Col gave me. Mike said it tasted good. Yay!

After work he got waylaid by Sally at the pub by our work. Hahahah. But he got home eventually and ate some soup.

Had a good sleep. And up today to WFH. Because... germs.

It is the first day of my new job. Same workplace. Woot! Bring it on! And for my sins I am now working fulltime. So Fridays are a working thing again. Not quite so exciting. But let me admire the bump in pay for a bit to placate me.

Hope your day is a good one.

Love,

Angela