Wow. Dunno where the year has gone already!
We have been watching the rain pass us by for some time now. While we have plenty of water still (the advantage of having three huge tanks), it is not so good for the garden - nor the neighbour's pasture!
We are now firmly into firewood mode, and have had some old tracks cleared by Jimmy Sagar so we could fell some trees close to our power line, and get at some trees which had fallen a while ago.
Jan is happy as a sandboy with his chainsaw... and I have discovered that acetone-free nail polish remover gets pine sap out of clothing, so I am happy too :-D
Hartmut sent us three beautiful bowls that he made (not the one that discorporated and hit his forehead, needless to say):
I have published my first issue of the CDANZ magazine, which has been quite intense, along with all the other things I am trying to do at the moment. Now I get a breather until late March, when the next one will be in the starting blocks.
Jan is busy at work still, but seems happy enough with how things are going.
Montrose Drive still hasn't sold, so we have decided to keep it on the market & rent it out. We are meeting some potential tenants there today.
Kathleen & Frits are coming to stay for the weekend, and we have a full-on programme planned, including the Sarau Festival on Sunday. Additionally we may well see Andrew, Jennie & their family today, on their way to the Neudorf concert.
Next week I am in Tauranga (Thursday & Friday), the week after I am in Wellington (Sunday & Monday) and Jan is in Auckland (Monday & Tuesday). Things will also crank up for Semester 1 from the 25th (though I need to be in for orientation week before that).
The Masters work is coming along painfully at the moment as I am still writing a RFP for a presentation at the International Leadership Association conference in Auckland in Anzac week. But it is coming along. So we will see.
In Anzac week we also take off on the North Island Tour with the Rotary International exchange students for twelve days. They will leave me in Auckland for the conference and go on to Hobbiton etc. I will then fly into Rotovegas to catch them up (and miss Hobbiton!). Should work out just fine. We CAN do everything! And Jan will have his trusted lieutenants in Timo, Kazu and Karin.
Camila is back at school, after a lovely holiday at the beach (pictured here with Beto (her Dad), Célia (her Mum) and Ana Silvia:
Tessa got engaged to Sandra last Saturday in Nelson, at a family gathering at Mike's place. I don't have any photos yet, but when I do get some, I will post them.
Simone has sent some photos of Andreas with Michael, and herself and Michael:
It is my folks' wedding anniversary on the 13th, so hopefully we will get to celebrate with them the weekend before.
Right: I know I haven't covered everything, but this will do for now. Will add more when I get time!
Jan & Sam
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