The beginning of October brought the study break with it, and some warmer weather. Unfortunately Jan has had to work, but I have been at home writing and catching up on marking; and on writing up some research I did last year to present at a CDANZ conference at the end of the month.
Barb was up in Nelson briefly with some of the Trust beneficiaries on a camp. My brother had organised a fishing charter for them to go on, which was great, and I got to catch up with them all at the Anchor Bar & Grill for lunch.
Magda arrived back in NZ for a brief visit, before she starts her new nursing job. We caught up with Jules and the twins, which was really nice: and reminds you that life goes very fast, so we need to make the most of it while we are here!
We picked up some kiln dried wood through Kevin - and used his truck to deliver it to Tracey, H & Erica now that they are out at their new place in Hira. On the way back to drop the truck off, we stopped at the Mudcastle and had a bottle and a half of bubbly with Glenys & Kevin. Boy, they do the host thing well. It was nice to see them.
Jan finished his assignment (essay), which completes this course for him. Now he gets a break until sometime next year... and he resigned from the Port Company. As he has to give two months notice, his last day will be the 30th of November.
The conference I presented at went well, and I had a good audience. Despite a very full programme, I caught up briefly with Tina; Brigitte and John; Jeremy, Otto and Lara. I even got to see Otto playing hockey (AstroTurf) although I was too under-dressed to watch outside!
The Faulkners had a 'mid-winter' shindig at their place, in the middle of spring (these things can slide a bit!). It was a good night of catching up with all the Rose Road peeps, including Zig & Lib who were just back from 6 months in Europe.
Finn is continuing to grow. He is turning into a monster...
We got the fence line on the wetland between us and the Le Gros's place cleaned up by Xaver's remote control machine. It cut through the gorse, blackberry and old man's beard in no time. This will help us to be better neighbours, by not having noxious plants right against their lovely native planting.
We will go to Germany in the first week of December, and that will allow Jan to go to visit his new - potential - employer to get the detailed hammered out about the new job. We are thinking of starting in Ulm, then working up through the country. I am keen to go to Berlin, and to stay in Germany for Christmas, but Jan is not keen on either of those ideas. We will see as the planning progresses.
In July next year several of Jan's buddies are going to Fiji for a cheap, mass birthday celebration in the sun (or as sunny as it gets in Fiji in July). The planning for this event has been going since August, but we are now getting more of an idea about costs: ouch. Not very cheap, but will be very enjoyable, I am sure. We will be spending a week on Plantation Island. Flights are paid, room deposits are paid. Done.
That should all keep us out of trouble for a while.
Sam (& Jan)
