Hi all, I
hope you are all fit & well.
I would
have to admit that daylight savings came and went with hardly a blip. That
surprises me, as we are usually both hammered by that extra hour lost in the
mornings, but we both have coped admirably!
We have
had loads of rain - there are no farmers in the Nelson Tasman region who can
possibly be complaining about the lack of rain. Luckily we have also avoided
the heavy downpours that so many other areas have had, so although the grass
underfoot sounds like a wet sponge, there hasn't been any flooding.
We have
been using our once-UWH time to start to look at house plans. And now I think
we have decided that we need to put together a creative brief & just go to
an architect.
We have
been to a few of the Arts Festival programme items; we managed to get along to
see Elena, a violinist based in Wellington, with her group at the Woollaston
Estates last week. That was a great evening out with John & Jo, kicked off
with Jo's cooking, and completed by lots of Woollaston Estates Rosé!
We also
got to see "Cycology", a creative music piece done by an Australian
guy who actually drilled out various parts of a bike and fitted clarinet
mouthpieces onto them and played them. Very interesting combinations he created
by using recording loops and overlaying them.
In
Nelson, as with everywhere in New Zealand, we have just had local body
elections. We had a group of concerned business people from throughout our
region form a group called "Hands Up" and they were all voted into
Council. We have an interesting mix of 6 old hands and 6 new hands as our newly
appointed - or reappointed - city officials. We also have an ex-Tasman District
Council mayor as our new mayor. I think we will be having some very interesting
council meetings over the coming months; and if Hands Up stays focused on their
election platform, then we should be seeing some great things happening.
This
Saturday night we are off to Woollaston Estates once more to see Viva, a
chamber music orchestra, accompanied by a Russian trumpet player. Should also
be a great night out.
TradeMe
has been getting a hammering from us again lately. I am still finding things to
flick onwards to new homes. Jan is still deciding on what he wants to part with
in dribs and drabs, so a few items each week are being sent on their merry way.
And all the dosh earned from sales goes into our travel account, so we have
'money for nothing' when we are on holiday.
Our next
trip away is to Sydney for our wedding anniversary in November. Our Wellington
trip is now in the second weekend of December (14-16), which will be a good
family catch up for Tina's birthday, and everyone else we can possibly fit in.
Take
care, everyone. Alles liebe :-)
Sam & Jan
