Hi all,
Wow, it
has started to get quite cold now, with the dogs developing a new message to
tell us; the "it's cold, we want the fire on" message. It took me a
while to work it out, but it now happens quite regularly. Dogs are great at
training humans, aren't they!
Speaking
of dogs, we have had lots of doggy dramas in the past three weeks. We took the
two of them into the vet for their annual inoculations, and, while we were
there, had a lump on Fliss' backside analysed. The analysis came back that it
was the worst kind of canine cancer - a mast cell tumour, so we had Fliss under
the knife that week after the results came back from the lab. They tried to get
30mm margins all around the lump, but when the analysis came back after the
surgery, there was one side that had only 1.5mm clear. They had to do quite a
lot of reconstruction of her bottom to get a 60mm lump out of it, as well!
However, she has made a good recovery after the surgery, and now we will have
to wait & see if the cancer comes back. At the same time that all of this
was going on, Coco hurt herself. I initially thought she had twisted a gut, but
it turned out that she had hurt her back somehow. She was on lots of drugs
& lay about drugged & moaning all weekend a couple of weeks ago.
However, she is now back to normal - relatively! - and we are $2,100 poorer.
Ouch.
This week
we have been sorting out the materials for Dave Singer - builder - to build the
shed. We have sourced some corrugated iron, some laserlite, an old external
door and bought a new roller door. Hopefully Dave will get it boxed up and get
the floor concreted this month. Jan has engaged a contractor to get the power
onto our shed, so that should get underway next week too.
I have
had my provisional accreditation from the Institute of Directors, which is
great. I now have to keep an eye on positions available and ensure my name gets
put forward for the right positions.
I have
started work on CAT modules 19 & 15, but it is pretty busy! I am seriously
thinking about postponing the Diploma in Career Counselling until early next
year, when Jan starts studying again in Semester 1; I am worried about our
internet access out there & don't want to have to drive to town in order to
submit work.
The Trade
Show went OK; I don't think there will be any immediate customers from it, but
I made some useful supply contacts, and it was a good reason to update my
marketing collateral.
I am
keeping the Rotary President's role at a reasonably low level thus far (we have
a great team) with not too many hours having to be dedicated. I attended my
first area President's meeting on Monday night with my VP (Jo Garguilo). We
would have been the youngest there by a decade, which was very interesting.
Lots of the requests the district administrators had for us about information
sharing we couldn't help them with; could we pass on our bulletin to an
administrator (no, we couldn't, we don't have one - we have a blog. But they
were welcome to register to get email updates), what help did we need with
membership (none, our membership is growing steadily), could the person who
organises our speakers liaise with their counterparts in the other clubs (no,
each member takes a week and organises a speaker so we cut out a position...
but they could check on the blog who was coming up). It has made me even more
focused on ensuring we eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy in our club.
Jenny L
was up again a few weeks ago, and it was wonderful to see her again. We went
out to Karanga & visited with Donald and Bunty as well. Jen managed to
source me a Franke Kubus sink & drainer, which was great... which reminds
me, I need to send her some details about the bath that we want to buy to see
if she can get a deal on that too!
This last
weekend Jan sanded and re-polyurethaned the kitchen benches and the kitchen
window ledges. We still have all the painting to do inside and a few more tidy
up jobs. I had a chat to Paul Inwood about possibly doing some joinery in the
new house, and Jan & I were talking last night about asking him if he can
also do some of the Montrose Dr repair work as well. Ah, yes, and then the recarpeting.
So this
Friday, at last, we head to Hanmer for the 20 year Canterbury Uni anniversary;
it should be a good weekend. I hope the Lewis pass is open; otherwise it will
be a 4-5 hour drive the long way! Then the next trip away is September for Otto's
birthday in Wllg (eta 7 on Friday night, Sept 25, leave Sunday 4pm Sept 27).
We move
out to Roses Road in November, we think (at this stage), and rent Montrose Dr
for a year or so.
We are
still talking about arrangements for Xmas; this Xmas coming we are supposed to
be in Wllg with Jan's family. However, we are worried about how to ensure
security of the building site if we go away. The neighbours (Le Gros, Orinoco
Vineyards) were telling us the last time we were out there that there have been
a lot of robberies around Roses Road. Lyn Redden's place (right next door) has
been broken into half a dozen times (a sign of the economic times; and the
quietness of the neighbourhood). We are pretty uneasy at leaving a house-load
of our existing property in a container, and a house-load of new building
materials & appliances in the end bay of the shed with no-one there... and
it won't be so easy to get someone to come & house sit; it will really be
low-rent camping out. So this will take some working out. If any of you
Wellington folks know what your plans are for December already, let us know;
maybe we postpone coming to Wllg until next Xmas...?
Right,
that's all for now. Take care & alles liebe!
Sam & Jan
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