Fire danger is over, and people are now able to use farm machinery without restrictions again. Daylight saving has come off, and we have had a reasonable amount of rain. Our aquifers are still a bit low, but we have enough water, with more on the way, no doubt.
This month kicked off with my birthday, and with lots of birthday wishes: thank you so much for all of you who were kind enough to send me messages! Of course Jan had already gone back to the USA, but Justine was here and we organised to go and see Dawn.
Dawn with bantam friend (she has two pet bantam cocks who come inside at night to watch TV :-)
Dawn gave me an excellent birthday present: a lovely wooden platter (I have admired hers so many times she bought me one):
Justine and I had a great few days together, talking, shopping, lunching and playing ladies. Wonderful... though Justine was so close to the maximum allowable luggage weight when she flew back. She ended up wearing all her heaviest items. She took some of the clothes that I was going to donate, as well as an extra pair of shoes in her size that I bought for her online (she is my shoe-sister), and a pair of mine which didn't work for me (she is wearing them in the second picture below). She has a small but growing Fluevog collection of around nine or ten pairs. While she was here, she tried on all of mine, taking notes on fit so she knows what works in all the different shoe families. Then she can buy online with confidence. She is planning another foray to the Amsterdam store in May. The obsession is so contagious…
Justine and I went to see the Kiwi movie, Daffodils. It was interesting. Justine had seen the stage show in both Edinburgh and in Salisbury, so knew a lot more about it than I did. The arrangement of the NZ music was often so different that it was only later that I realised what the songs actually were (Drive by Bec Runga took me quite a while to work out). Justine took the tour at the new Pic Picot's Peanut Butter plant:
Finn managed to burst his stitches chasing a fantail on one of the days that Justine was here, while I was at work. The scars had been going to be minimal – the closures had been so neat they looked more like plastic surgery than normal surgery. Dammit. Never mind, I just had to keep him quiet for another ten days until he could get the second set of stitches out. That meant that I had to arrange a dog sitter once Justine went back to Wellington. Luckily John was still here, so he and Aniko kept an eye on Finn for a couple of days when I was lecturing, before Aniko left to return to Europe and the study break started for me.
Erik came to stay for the Nelson dog shows, along with Barbara (who brought the loveliest flounder for dinner, AND cooked it!) and in the entourage had the first - for him - boxer with a tail. His name is Duncan, and he is very cute. Finn thought he was awesome. Duncan thought that Finn's home-made chew toy was awesome:
Since we moved in to Rose Road, we have had a bracket to put the dryer up on the wall. Still in its packet. On the top of the freezer, waiting to go on the wall. For nine years. So I hired one of the builders from in the valley and got him to come up and fit the bracket to the wall, then helped him lift the dryer up into place. While he was here I also got him to hang a picture that was too far for me to reach, and to screw the new legs for the spare room basin firmly into place. Three more jobs now complete. Only about five more inside jobs to finally complete our building task list!
Otto and Lara came to stay for a week, which was such a lot of fun! They helped me barrow 8.5 tonnes of gravel into the barbecue area, which doubles as the dog run, to cover up what remained of the old mussel shell that we put down about four years ago. It looks great! They both worked so hard.
We went op shopping together, and I managed to buy a pair of almost brand new jeans and a belt ($9 and $3, respectively). I had been going to look for some new jeans when I went to Canada, and now I don’t have to. Op shop top, jeans, dress (and birthday present pants from my Mama) all shown below:
Lara and I went to visit Dawn, and Otto got a shooting lesson from Lexi and Hugh. They both spent time with Lexi, and there was also a street party at Lemonade Farm that they came to, and met all the young people in the valley. We all had lunch at the Moutere Inn with my mother, on a lovely warm afternoon, sitting outside (though the photo below shows lots of cloud, it seemed like a sunny day!). It was such a pleasure having them both here. I hope they want to keep coming down to visit.
This month I finally managed to replace my old pack, which I threw out a couple of months ago as the harness had crapped out. It was 30 years old, after all. I looked in the shops for a new pack, but they are all made of thin plastic, which will never last amongst matagouri or supplejack. I couldn't find a new canvas pack, so I went looking for a second-hand, canvas one. I found an old Kathmandu pack for sale on TradeMe, only to find that I was buying it off an old friend of mine, Tiffany! Keeping things in the family, so to speak. Tracey, Erica and Jenny did the Milford, with Tracey borrowing my ‘new’ pack. The pack went well, and Tracey, Jenny and I are talking about doing the Wangapeka together later in the year, or early next year. I just need a suitable dog-sitter :-)
Jan C & Sarah came around for morning tea, and for a catch up, which was nice. They are all well.
I caught up with Warren, Tracey and Erica as well, this month. Warren helped me get rid of Jan's old cathode ray TV, which was something like a 32 inch and as heavy as lead. At last I can now get in and out of the garage using the side door: nine years that TV has prevented us from using that door. We plugged it in for a weekend once when Camila was here, so she and Anna could binge-watch the Director's Cut of the Lord of the Rings (which reminds me: I promised to post the DVDs to Thomas!).
After the weightlifting job of the TV removal, Erica, Warren and I had lunch at Tozzetti's (along with a rather startlingly purple berry smoothie for Erica).
I have been continuing to put things that are rarely used into the shed for Jan to decide what he wants to let go when he is back in NZ next (July), while continuing to sell, donate or otherwise get rid of double- and treble-ups on house stuff. I also went through our towels and figured that we probably don’t need twenty guest towels along with thirty of our own towels. We have now trimmed down to twenty overall, with the remainder being donated to our vets (who were most grateful). There are now spaces in the cupboards.
Speaking of the vets, Boo has been back to the canine physio for treatment, and is learning lots of new tricks, such as walking backwards, and doing sit/stands on a block of wood. She is quite quick at picking up what is expected of her. Her condition didn’t really progress after the first session, so we got some different exercises. Hopefully the next time we go, there will be a greater improvement.
My work is going well, and my supervisees are on track. I had a couple who were struggling, and they have transferred to the full year programme, which will make all the difference for them having more time to get their heads around what they need to do. Work is more or less ticking over. I have done a Te Tiriti webinar over four weeks which was very interesting and insightful. There is going to be a follow-up, which I would be keen to attend. I also plan on restarting my PhD early next year, which will be good. I will need to have a good group of professionals whom I can call on for repairs etc at Rose Road though, because even a small thing like the gutter being blocked gobbles up both time and money.
With all the visitors I was feeling a long way behind, but a few long days caught me up towards the end of the month. Enjoying the view helps too:
It is well and truly autumn, as we have had a few foggy days:
It seems to me that all Jan does in the US is work. He has hardly left the village he is staying in, although he does catch up on a Saturday night for a BBQ or pot luck dinner with work colleagues. He is working afternoon shift which often sees him starting at 9 and - of late - also finishing at midnight or later. He is working six days a week, sometimes seven (though he tends to do a part day on Sundays so he can get his washing done). I think he has had three or four Sundays off since he has been there - which is four months now. However, he has moved out of the hotel, and is staying in a little bach by a lake, sharing with one of his colleagues. He has taken some photos, starting with snow, and showing how quickly it was all gone:
So to recap, at the end of May I will be going to Toronto to meet him as he transitions out of Grayling and down to South Carolina. He will take the car from MI across the Canadian border. We will spend a week together, then he will drive to South Carolina the next job. Next he is back in NZ for a three week break in July: with one week in Fiji with the Hutties.
My conscious efforts to be less busy almost feel like they are paying off a little, as I am now finding time to do the things that Jan - or Jan and I - would have done. It does mean that I have to say no to a lot of invitations so that I can fit it all in. So, if I turn down your invitation, please invite me again: I just don't have time for everything!
Back to you all next month.
Sam (& Jan)
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