News from Nelson – September 2008

Hi all,

I hope this finds you fit & well. Spring has arrived here with a rush, and it is sunny, lovely and warm.

Things are still busy with us. A couple of weekends ago we went to two Chamber music concerts at the School of Music, where the New Zealand String Quartet were playing, accompanied by Michael Houstoun. Jan enjoyed the first concert (which was much more traditional) I enjoyed the second (which was much more modern). We have also just got the programme for the Adam Chamber Music festival, which kicks off in January 2009, and has some great concerts that we will be purchasing tickets for.

The Nelson Arts Festival starts next month, and there are quite a few things that we want to see. However, we are trying to be judicious about what we go to, so we can get some time on the weekends out at the land as well. However, we have booked to see "The Butler" (performance theatre taking a hard look at the social manners and conventions of western culture), and will probably go to a performance of Carmina Burana at the Cathedral. http://www.nelsoncitycouncil.co.nz/artsFestival/

We have been out to the land to pick up some dry firewood for next winter. Jan started sawing up the timber waste from the tree-felling & has stored that in the shed ready to be split, and I have grubbed half the driveway of gorse. There is still a lot to do, but last weekend we were up in Wellington, and next weekend Jan is in Christchurch (at an Underwater Hockey Tournament), so it will be in a fortnight that we get out there again.

Jan is also away in Chch on September 24 & 25 on an load-shedding (electricity-savings) feedback workshop. The electricity supplier got a number of manufacturing companies to shed electricity load at peak times over the winter when the hydro lakes were low, so is seeking feedback from those who took part. Jan will be giving a presentation to the group on how Nelson Pine found the process and what the issues and bottlenecks were.

I have been doing a bit of self-discovery; I have just completed an HBDI (Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument) analysis, which I found very interesting. Apparently I am almost equal in all four quadrants, which is fairly unusual. I like unravelling people's thinking so I am hoping to get Jan to complete it too. Then we will know more about how we differ. Very useful! Go to http://www.herrmann.co.nz/index.htm for more information.

We have caught up regularly with Kathleen & Frits & John & Jo in the past couple of weeks, which has been good. We also saw Jennie with Maya & Ella over at Upper Moutere when we were picking up Otto's birthday present the weekend before last. Both the girls are growing up so fast!

It was great to see everyone in Wellington last weekend - thanks to Dougie, Morv, Mike & Birthe, Karen, Hui-Ping & Christél for coming into Clarke's to meet us. We had a great - if short - catch up. Sam & Moose were over in the Wairarapa & Guy & Sonia were organising short people's soccer, so we missed both of them, sadly. However, we did meet Moose's sister Liza & her husband Tony. Everyone is looking very well & seem to be happy, which is brilliant. Christél has some extra-special news, as she is getting married on October 10th (awesome!).

Jeremy, Tina, Otto & Lara were all in good form too. Tina & Jeremy had organised a very good birthday party for Otto at a Church Hall, which was a brilliant idea. All the kids, safe, confined in one robust & closed space; all the toys there; kid-sized tables & chairs; catering space; just fabulous. Karen T was brave & came along with us for the afternoon as well. Despite this being a kids birthday party, we had a very relaxing time. Maryanne Cathro (friend of Tina's & our wedding dressmaker) was there too, and it was great to catch up with her too. She has moved to Wellington - having taken Tina's old job. Dave is still in Chch, negotiating the final details on the sale of their house down there.

We had a good catch up with Hartmut & Uta - we all went out for a walk around Karori Park after Brunch on Sunday. The weather was fabulous and we all enjoyed a good walk while Otto & Lara rode their bikes around the park. On Monday Jan organised getting his new permanent resident's sticker in his brand new German passport, bought an MP3 player (which he has already had to send back because it appears to have a fault), and Hartmut came in from the Hutt. We had brunch at a café along the redeveloped waterfront between Te Papa and Oriental Bay, swapped computer files, programmes, stories and Jan & Hartmut tried to get the MP3 player to work! It was very restful.

Last night I went to the Moon Festival - a Chinese Mid-Autumn Harvest Festival - at NMIT. This had been put together by the international students, and there were a load of dances and songs from students from 26 different countries. One of my students, Rasleen, did a folk dance from India, which had everyone clapping along with her. There were four young men from Saudi Arabia who did a dance to music where the beat was nearly impossible to find, but was very interesting. A student of mine from the summer semester, who comes from Cambodia, did a very expressive hand dance... and there was so much more. They all appeared to have a wonderful time.

Jan was at orchestra practice last night. He has rejoined a group of musicians - although they are fairly aged and inexpert - and is enjoying getting the viola out again. He has applied to attend a strings master class next February at the Adam Chamber Music Festival, which culminates in the attendees taking part in a performance. Because of this he is motivated to get involved again, which is great.

That's it for now. Take care & I will write more soon. Alles liebe!

Sam & Jan

News from Nelson – August 2 2008

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all fit & well. We have been avoiding the colds & flu that seems to be plaguing the city - so far, anyway.

Sadly my Aunt Ann lost her battle with complications from breast cancer last week, in Australia. Her funeral was yesterday. It sounds as though it was a family time for celebrating her life; my Aunt Jill said that all the children were wearing jerseys that Ann had knitted them.

Julie C is 10 weeks pregnant with twins, and Sterl's cancer has returned. How's that for a double-whammy on one family. Julie seems in fairly good spirits - she is trying to rest & focus on the positive.

Wendy Sawyer has returned to the UK - the call was too strong to stay here. She had some real problems trying to leave the country though - several flights cancelled due to bad weather, but she finally got away in the end. I look forward to getting the TrainGirl UK reports again.

John & Jo are back from their travels to nearly every continent (they missed Africa). Bonnie was very excited to see them back, but still likes to come and visit our lot - we have caught up a few times since their return. We also watched the Canadian film "The Corporation" with them last weekend. A great film, and I have bought a copy of the DVD to show some parts of the film to my classes. Very thought-provoking. Worth a look if you get the chance.

Jo brought back an ingredient statement for doggie ice cream from her travels in the Bahamas, which Janet has kindly turned into a recipe. Jo is going to have a crack at making it up, then testing it on our expert taste panel (I am sure that the three of them would eat a manhole cover if they could get their teeth through it, so probably not likely to fail the taste panel test!).

We caught up with Kelly & Duncan Atkinson for a movie ("Prague") and a coffee. It was great to see them - it has been far too long. Dunc has been working all over the planet on helicopters, but an eye problem has brought him back to Nelson, possibly permanently. If so, despite the restriction for Dunc, and from a purely selfish point of view, it will be good to have them here to play with more often!

We have also caught up with Dawn, whom we don't see nearly enough either (for a long goss, food & wine), and Murray & Julie T (for a dog walk along the Boulder Bank & coffee). They are all in good form, enjoying life and having holidays. Oh; except Julie who is newly in business, so Murray is going to Cairns without her. I know JUST how she feels!

I had a chat to Linnea Brown the other day who was telling me that Kelly McGrath is currently somewhere in the UK. I haven't heard from her in ages - so Kell, if you are reading this, please email & let us know what you are doing!

We held another Kiwi movie night for the Nelson Newcomers Network - this time showing Sione's Wedding. I think I enjoyed the film even more the second time around. It is such a nice movie; and very telling about the differences between Pacific Islanders and Pakeha.

And we also had Sharon & Ian McGuire around for a movie - Stickmen - before the left on their three month sojourn in Oz. Another good night. Last Sunday we also had Frits & Kathleen around for breakfast to celebrate their holiday, Frits' performance in the half marathon, catching up again after so long, being well, and all sorts of other things that we could celebrate. Jan, Kathleen & I also managed to get a Wasgij done, while Frits read the Sunday Star Times - all excellent entertainment for a rainy Sunday!

I have been busy with Rotary projects and with all the other things I do, despite promising myself that I would slow down once Jan got back from Germany. And I have taken a couple of half days during the week and watched some docos that I have been saving up and read a couple of books, which was nice. However, because of the Olympics, Jan has been joined at the hip with the telly. And because I enjoy TV sports as much as an enema, I tend to go back upstairs to the office. So even though I am supposed to be taking things easy, I have been finding work to do at night rather than 'enjoy' the ranting of commentators. But it is finished now at last. Yay!

This weekend we are going to a Chamber music concert at the School of Music with Jan's boss (the New Zealand String Quartet), and going out to the land to pick up some more firewood and frown at the gorse! If the rain has stopped we will do some gorse control.

We didn't have any damage from the big storm at the land, so that was good. We have got lots of gorse growing again though. We really need to get out there & spend a full weekend dealing with it; but every weekend seems to get more and more wedged into it and it is getting harder and harder to find time. The next two weekends are quite busy and then we are in Wellington for Otto's birthday, then Jan is in Christchurch for UWH the weekend after that. Which takes us through to September 27 and well into spring. And LOTS of growth of the bionic prickly plant. Ah well, we can only do so much.

My folks are due back in another week - it will be wonderful to have the dog sitters back again! They are currently in the North of England visiting obscure rellies, and no doubt having a ball. We have missed them :-)

That's it for now. Take care & I will write more soon. Alles liebe!

Sam & Jan

News from Nelson – August 2008

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all fit & well?

Jan arrived back from Germany on Sunday, very tired but well. He is not so impressed with Emirates Business Class though; he thinks Air New Zealand is better! His trip to Flensburg was about 80% successful; the factor hadn't finished the work they should have done, but he thinks he spent enough time to get it all roughly right. He will find out when the containers and the commissioning engineers arrive in a couple of months.

He had a great time catching up with everyone in Ulm; Svenja's baptism turned into Thomas & Bettina's confirmation/blessing of their marriage (a surprise to everyone), as they had only had a civil ceremony so thought they would add a Church ceremony on while they had everyone together. Jan has taken lots of photos, but so has Oli - with a great camera, I might add. You can see Oli's images online at http://gallery.me.com/oliverschuette/100047.

It was wonderful for Jan to see the family together at Eberhard, Uta & Oma Lieselotte's like that - he was staying at the same hotel as Claudia & Gerhard, so they had a couple of good late night catch ups. I have seen some of the DVDs (one isn't working properly, but no doubt Jan will get Oli to send another one) and half of the photos. We have had lots of presents come back in Jan's luggage too, which is lovely. And Uta needs a special thank you for taking Jan shopping and helping him buy a perfect gift. Herzlichen Dank!

He had a flying visit to Eppingen to visit Andreas, Katrin & Christian, drop off some crunchies for them; then got to to Besse to see Tante Thea, and to Treysa & Oma Friedel. He also caught up with Dieter and Gudrun and Anne & Herbert, before having an uneventful trip back to Frankfurt to fly out.

John & Jo are back this Saturday; with Jan being away for three weeks, I have just realised that we are getting to the end of their time away as well. We are picking them up at the airport, and - if they are not too jet lagged - will take them out for breakfast before reuniting them with Bon dog. Coco will be at a loose end when Bonnie goes home again!

It has been stormy here lately - we had a huge storm last Wednesday that ran up the Richmond Ranges from the South (just like Cyclone Alison, for anyone who remembers that) and pulled a lot of big trees down. Isel Park, an old English-style park in Stoke, lost a third of its trees. A Sequoia on the corner of Collingwood & Hardy Streets fell, and - despite there having been a police cordon on all approaches for about half an hour - nearly got a car (the driver had exited a carpark inside the cordon!). Two trees came down at NMIT, several at ANZAC Park, several on Nile Street, and a couple of really big oaks out at Waimea College (another smaller tree came down on some Waimea students in the bus shelter, but they got off with minor cuts and bruises). Cathedral hill seems OK, and around the port. However, there are tree surgeon's trucks everywhere currently! The sequoia coming down can be viewed on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtCzlZogjZQ. And you too may think "Duelling Banjos" while listening to the idiots' background conversation!

The storm put the power out at home for five hours and it was out for eight hours in Richmond... in fact, power was only restored late on Friday to some of the outer areas of the city. The water main down from the Maitai dam was damaged and is still under repair - so we have been on 30% water since last Wednesday. They are saying the repair should be finalised today (whew!). Mind you - at least we still have water. Some houses on the hills have been on truck water only since the storm.

There was no damage at home, and I am very glad that we had the fireplace. I heated some soup up on the fire, and lit some candles and did some lecture prep! When the storm hit I was lecturing at NMIT. The power flickered a bit, and being on the fourth floor in such a howling gale was interesting, but we got through with no problems. However, getting home took me half an hour to make a three minute drive through the city because of road blocks and diversions (one being the sequoia that hadn't yet fallen).

This weekend Jan & I will head over to the land to see if we still have a shed. It is open to the south east, so will have caught a bit of the wind. I have heard that the winds kept fairly close to the Richmond Ranges though, so here's hoping that we got off OK.

Last Saturday night was Sharon McGuire's farewell from the Chamber of Commerce. It also coincided with the All Blacks playing Australia so all the rugby-heads abandoned the farewell dinner for the hotel lounge to watch the live match. So after a lovely dinner and some great table conversation, I snuck home early! However, I am catching up with Sharon again for coffee today - she has kindly agreed to come along & speak to my students about her personal philosophy of leadership and I am going to give her some background on the class.

This past week an old school friend, Suzie, has got engaged; this will be her third marriage! Talk about an optimist :-) Nick, Wendy & I all met at the Honest Lawyer to wish her well. Then I caught up with Wendy again on Saturday out at the Stoneridge Café in the Moutere for another friend's 50th birthday party. I hadn't seen Wendy since New Year, so to catch up twice in a week was quite staggering.

However, while Jan was away, I really put my head down and worked some very long hours. Oh, and went to the vet (Fliss got a sting from a mason bee, had a very bad histamine reaction and got two eye ulcers that haven't healed yet), had a flat battery in Jan's car - automatic and didn't respond to recharging - so got a man in to take it away and fix it, and had to get a Trespass notice issued with the Police against Karen Holland (those of you who know her can email me & I will fill you in on the goss). And it rained and rained and rained and rained. The ground in the back garden squelches underfoot!

I have had a good catch up on the phone with Jennie Ladley, and skyped with Jan, and with Jeremy & Tina.

My folks sound like they are having a good time in the UK - latest reports are that they are keeping busy and seeing lots, so that's good. They are heading up to Geordie-land shortly to see all the Gateshead crew. Uncle Norman is still keeping on; after the storm he was quite frail, but seemed OK again by Friday last week.

In the next few weeks I am planning on doing very little aside from delivering my lectures & keeping my current clients happy. I might go away for a couple of days myself, but haven't decided where & when yet. On Wednesday night I will be doing the second-to-last piece of voluntary strategic planning work for the Brook Waimarama Sanctuary, which will be good. The last piece should be complete by the time I write again. They are putting pressure on me to come on the Trust, but I am resisting!

Right - I think that's it for now. Take care & more in a few weeks. Alles liebe :-)

Sam & Jan

News from Nelson – July 2008

Hi everyone,

Wow - we have been flat out still in the last three weeks (surprise, surprise). Jan went off to Germany yesterday, but discovered the week before last that his passport had less than six months to run. So he had a mad scramble to get a new passport & get all his gear ready to head off in time. He had to go up to Wellington for two days last week to get a temporary German passport and a new NZ permanent resident's sticker. At least he also managed to apply for a full passport while he was over there as well, so he doesn't have to stump up in person yet again to go through the whole process as soon as he gets back. So, Jan is in Germany, arriving in Flensburg today.

He is due to finish in Flensburg on July 25th, and will hopefully head down to Celle to see Ruth on his way to Svenja's baptism in Ulm on the 26th; then after spending a couple of days with Eberhard, Uta & Oma Lieselotte in Neu Ulm, he will head back north to Eppingen to visit Andreas, Katrin & Christian around the 29th; to Besse to see Tante Thea, to Treysa & Oma Friedel on the 30th. Then back to Frankfurt on the 1st of August to leave for home.

We have Bonnie staying again for six weeks while John & Jo are attending a number of motorcycle trade shows in Europe & the US. Bonnie has once again slotted in just like one of the pack. She & Coco play all the time, while Fliss sleeps in front of the fire :-)

Jan has started on his three month gym membership at that new gym, but of course his regime has been interrupted by the trip to Germany. He has been to a stretch class, a Swiss ball class and a resistance training class. He was very impressed with the facilities and the range of classes; the only thing he thinks they are missing is a lap pool.

It has been very cold here of late - we had a dusting of snow on the hills immediately behind the city. I have never seen snow down so low before. But a good day's sunshine and it was all gone again. The local ski field are very happy though!

We caught up with Sandra & Gary a couple of weeks ago, to find out that they are heading off to Perth. Gary has a transfer with Brightwater Engineers to head up a project over there. They are taking Archie (their dog) and renting their house out over here while they see how it goes. So we won't be seeing them in the next six months either!

The business house pool challenge at the Shark Club was fun - that must be three weeks ago now. I made a couple of really good shots and then went utterly to pieces. In fact, I am sure one game I played must have just about taken the record for the slowest game in the universe... mind you, that does mean that the opposition were rubbish too :-)

We went to the Playhouse on Friday night a couple of weeks ago with Ian & Sharon McGuire to see "The Mystery of Irma Vep". This was a two man play with eight characters. It was pretty amateur, but we still had a good time. Food was good and the company even better.

Mo & Bean's joint 40th Birthday Party was held in their garage on the same Saturday that we had the big snow. They had good gas heaters and a brazier, but was a freezing night! I wore a polar fleece jacket and hat, and wore leather gloves, wool trousers, polypro socks and a merino top. Even Jan wore his thick down jacket. But there were about 60 people there - so many old Sealord hands that it was more of a "who didn't we know" rather than who did we know.

Jan & I also went to see Dame Malvina Major sing in a gala performance last Friday, which was wonderful. Nelson Pine was sponsoring the event so we got very plush seats indeed, and were invited to drinkies afterwards. Great music!

I have just finished the second half of my Foundation Course for the Certificate in Adult Teaching. With that, finishing off getting lectures ready for next semester, getting Jan organised for his trip and three dogs, it has been a pretty full on time of late.

In the next few weeks I am going to Sharon McGuire's farewell functions from the Chamber of Commerce, keeping my clients happy, doing some voluntary strategic planning work for the Brook Waimarama Sanctuary, Rotary, helping the new Manager bed in at BDC, starting to lecture for semester two at NMIT and trying to keep three dogs exercised. That will be enough!

Right - I think that's it for now. Take care & more next time. Alles liebe :-)

Sam & Jan