Te Waipounamu

Hi all,

Saw a great little article today about naming the islands in which we live here in Aotearoa New Zealand. The North Island looks likely to be officially named in Māori Te Ika-a-Maui (the fish of Maui), and the South, Te Waipounamu (the greenstone waters). Pretty cool, I reckon, and about time.

Read more at http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8985750/Naming-day-close-for-NZs-main-islands

News from Nelson - July 2 2013

Hi all,
A quick update on what we have been doing in the past few weeks.

This weekend we went to see Te Radar's Antarcticana, a monologue with pictures on Antarctic exploration, which was really fun. He speaks very well.

Jan hired a digger this weekend, and now the big pile of dirt that was waiting to cover over the water tanks IS covering the water tanks. This means that the next stage of the house can take place: getting a clothes line! Yay!

Coco is missing Fliss, we think, though Bonnie seems to have not noticed anything amiss. 

We have felt a few of the earthquakes that have been plaguing Seddon (poor beggars - the ground has been shaking under them for a fortnight now). We were at home, and Jan was watching a film, when the 6.8 one struck. It went on for a long time too, and neither Jan nor I knew whether it was going to get worse, so didn't know whether we should rush outside or not. Jan checked in with the Welly family, but everyone seemed to be OK. All good.

Last weekend Sharon & Ian came to stay, and we watch lots of movies, Sharon won the pool tournament, and we had food for Africa. Nibbles that the dogs have now eaten up the leftovers of, and - of course - waffles for breakfast on Sunday morning. 

I cooked a roast chicken and winter roast veges that night, but there was so much left over (because everyone filled up on nibbles), that we couldn't have eaten it before it had passed its use-by date, so I made stock from the chicken carcass and made roast chicken & vege soup. It was the most stellar soup I think I have made this year.

That same weekend we went to visit Gary & Nic at their new place in Marahau, and luckily Nic fed us soup and bread, combined with a lovely long walk along the Marahau waterfront. I think we would have died if we had been faced with too much more food!

We caught up with Jen L in May, at her folks place in 88 Valley, which was great. I got a few shots of a brief walkabout we did, none of which I had posted, so have one here:

We picked up some tiny paintings at the Suter Art Auction a few weeks ago, and, along with some other pictures we have, have put them all up on the wall in the front loo...

It is very nice as they also reflect in the mirror. The big one in the middle was given to us as a thank you for taking the Rotary kids through the far north. It is Jan & I sitting on the beach at Tapotupotu Bay looking out to sea (and sneakily taken by one of the exchange students).

I was also awarded our Rotary club's annual Fred Coe award for a bit of service above self at our change-over, which was a total surprise. Fred is one of our members who unexpected died a few years ago, and his wife donated this perpetual challenge trophy in his memory, and presents it each year to the recipient. The trophy is a streaked rainbow glass creation:

We also farewelled Karin, who headed back home to Sweden - very briefly - because she is going to a drama school course in London early next month, and will be staying with Justine in Willesden Green. Love to see those connections start to be made!

I dropped some baking into the vets to thank Jonathan for driving all the way out to our place to put Fliss down, and they were very grateful (as were we!) for that small gesture. And enjoyed baking that two gluten intolerant vet nurses could eat (added bonus of all my cooking lacking ordinary wheat flour).

I have been having a bit of a baking binge lately - I had to supply the raffle prize at Rotary a couple of weeks ago, and made a batch of shortbread and a banana cake. I was a bit worried that the raffle winner would have thought that home baking was a bit of a cheat, but they seemed quite chuffed, and said the whole office enjoyed it. I enjoy the process of baking, and it is great to have it eaten up by others!

I have just had conditional approval provided on my Masters human participants ethics committee application. I haven't gone through all the little tweaks that they want me to make yet, but will tomorrow. Phew: it is a relief to have that largely done. I have written one of my long cases for my experiments on my students later this semester, and am half-way through the second. My other lecturers are all on board, and I am nearly ready for the major part of the work. Time has gone amazingly fast.

Kathleen & Frits & Amy are coming out next weekend for a mid-winter Christmas celebration, which should be fun. And there will be too much to eat then, I am sure. Thank goodness for freezers, eh.

Jan has his next concert (the Children's Concert) coming up in two weeks, so will be out at rehearsals a bit. He goes in November to the US to the big Trade Show he is attending there. Because I will be teaching my final classes and marking here for the end of the semester and the graduation of my students, I will stay home (though I am also supposed to be attending a CDANZ meeting during that same time, I think we may decide keep things simple).

My next trip overseas will be to Rarotonga in April for my brother's wedding - along with Jan, of course! We booked our tickets and accommodation today, so we are all sorted for that. I will be in Welly another time or two this year, and in Christchurch for four days in the middle of October - 17-20 - for a Careers Symposium and CDANZ AGM - Jan is coming with me, so we hope to catch up with all you Canty guys whom we haven't seen for ages.

Right - that will do for now. Back to you in a bit & hope you are all keeping well

Jan & Sam

News from Nelson - July 2013

Hi all,
A sad catch up this time, as Jan & I had to have Fliss put to sleep on the weekend.

We had her at the vet only a week ago, and Jonathan had said that we would try some different meds, but said that if we were not in the top 10% of owners, she wouldn't have gone home from the vets that day. Jan wasn't ready to let her go, though, and we came home with her to try a few more things. However, she only got to Wednesday before we realised that she was really going downhill quickly, and we arranged for Jonathan to come out home on the weekend to send her on her last big sleep. However, despite that, she had got pneumonia on Thursday and by Saturday had almost put herself to sleep.

We have buried her next to Drew in the garden, with a baby Lancewood (Horoeka) on her grave. For all the non-Kiwis, see them at http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/lancewood,tree/Interesting).
 
Both Jan & I were very quiet over the weekend, just pottered around at home and watched some films, and remembered her. She had been my friend for 13 years.

Her life in pictures below. Her birthday:

Four weeks

One year:

Two:

Three:

Five, with Drew:

Seven, with Coco:

With Bonnie:

And with Coco again:

Nine at the mudflats with Coco & Bonnie:

And on the Atawhai reserve (Jan in delightful shorts):

At Montrose Drive:

With Jimmy in Chch:

Is it dinner time?

At Montrose Drive with Coco:

At the land:

Last year, with Bonnie:

And with Camila:

And Camila on the day she left to go home (Bonnie, Coco & Fliss):

In April, in the rubbish bin!

Last day, Saturday 13 June 2013:

We have ordered a canvas to put up in the office of one of our wedding photos that had both Fliss & Drew in it. 

That's it for today - I will post some more news a bit later on.

Hope you are all well.

Jan & Sam

News from Nelson - June 2 2013

Hi all,
Another quick note to catch you all up again.

This weekend Jan has his concert, The Grand Ball - he says they are sounding OK, but a bit ragged in places. I will see - or hear - tomorrow night!

I am off to Welly on Sunday for two days, for my next CDANZ meeting. I have just put out my third issue of the CDANZ Ezine, and am starting to get into my stride now. I have some plans for content improvement, but I will have to see how I manage: it does take hours and hours to put together every quarter.

It is the semester break at the mo; I have got all my results in, and am working flat out on preparing my courses for next semester, and my ethics application for my masters. I am hoping that I might get time to work on my new website, which has been in beta for eighteen months (!), but I am not feeling positive about finding the time!

Last Friday night we went to a quiz night with Janet & Robbie, which was really heaps of fun, and raised lots of dosh for the Wakefield School, to purchase one of those folding stages for their hall. We came 7th of 25 teams, despite the quiz masters having some answers wrong :-D

I am looking forward to next week, when the concert will be over, and Jan will be less tired. Four rehearsals in the week leading up to the concert really takes it out of him - the 45 minutes drive home certainly doesn't help, either. He was going to take tomorrow off to sleep, but one of his longest serving staff members is leaving tomorrow, so he needs to go in after all.

At the moment I am writing a case study on Lance Armstrong for use in my research in September. I always thought he was a jerk, but after all the research I have done, I am staggered that international cycling hadn't taken any action when it was so obvious that Lance and many others were doping. Regularly. Consistently. In fact, UCI's inaction effectively condoned drug abuse in the cycling community. For fifteen years. Amazing.

We had a lovely sunrise the other day, unfortunately it blurred, but the colours are nice. Enjoy.

Jan is off to Rotovegas in September (10th to 12th). I think I will be in Wellington on the 8-9 for another CDANZ meeting.

Then I will be in Chch for Thursday, Friday & hopefully the weekend of October 17-20. Hopefully Jan will be with me too, but we still have to work that out.

Jan is in the US in November, as I mentioned last time.

Right, that's all for now. Will be back in touch in a few weeks.

Sam & Jan

Brr - a bit of snow; luckily, far enough away!

Some snow on the Richmond Ranges fell over the weekend. Photos from our place:

Hope you are all keeping warm!

Jan & Sam

Henry, and Henrietta

A comment by a friend today - about Henrietta Lack - sparked an old childhood memory of doggrel ending "Henry, and Henrietta". Apparently it was something my Grandfather used to recite to my mother:

They were wrecked on this lonely shore, Henry and Henrietta
These two and no more, Henry and Henrietta
They had no food, fruit or nuts, Henry and Henrietta
They hadn’t anything to build a hut, Henry and Henrietta
They walked along this lonely shore, Henry and Henrietta
But soon there was but one, no more, Henry; well, Henry ate her.

What is even more amazing is that Google has it nowhere :-)

Top Documentaries

And just another quick aside: we have been watching lots of documentaries of late: some real crackers, in fact. The Shock Doctrine (2009); Inside Job (2011); Side by Side (2012); Searching for Sugar Man (2012); The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005). Check them out if you get a chance.

News from Nelson - June 2013

Hi Everyone,
I can't believe another month has ticked by. I have no idea where the time has melted away to!

Jan & I have both been flat out - Nelson Symphony Orchestra, dogs, study and work. Bonnie has been to the vet several times with a few fairly minor ailments. Fliss is getting so wobbly now she is tripping over her own feet. We have got little boots for her now so she gets good purchase on the floor - and I wouldn't have persisted had she still not been so bright, so keen for her dinner and a cuddle. But we know it won't be long. As soon as she stops enjoying telling us off because we haven't lit the fire quickly enough, or she goes off her food...

The cycle of all things, eh. And I wouldn't miss a minute of it. At least our families are currently fairly well, though I know Tanja is having trouble with her knee following surgery.

Temperatures are dropping, and we have had quite a bit of rain lately. No problems with having enough water. There is a shed full of wood to stoke the fire, and it is very cosy here - sometimes too cosy! I constantly find myself throwing the covers in the night because I have got too hot (and no, it's not the menopause!).

My father had a birthday BBQ at our place on May 26th. Uncle Norman, Mike & Donna came out too, as did lots of my folks' friends - Ralph is an RSA member (Vietnam) and borrowed the RSA van to bring a swag of them out, which was great. We had Ana from Brazil staying that weekend as well. Twenty for lunch worked out just fine. I made black forest gateaux - though only one got eaten. In fact, there was so much food that we made doggie bags up for everyone to take some bits home, because we would never have fitted it all the leftovers in the fridge!

We went to a Chamber of Commerce function at the Suter Art Gallery, about the new development project there. 

Last weekend we went to the basketball (Nelson Giants vs the Bay Hawks) with Sharon & Ian, which was great, preceeded by dinner at Krauts. Herman and Agnes Seifried were there as well, and Jan said to me, "That guy looks familiar - who is he?"!

We caught up with Frits, Kathleen & Amy on Saturday night, which was great. Amy did the dinner (mushroom risotto), Kathleen did the dessert (a light chocolate mousse), and it was just lovely. 

Yesterday I finished my assignment marking, to have a colleague contact me in a bit of a state. Lots of things have gone really badly pear-shaped in their lives, so I am now marking their assignment work this week. What can you do? As I explained to Jan, if I was at the end of my string so much that I asked someone for help, the last thing I would want them to do is say "sorry, mate; I have just finished and don't fancy doing any more"! Nothing wrong with a bit of 'cast your bread upon the waters', I reckon.

I have been to dinner with the Sport & Rec team at NMIT: Jan has caught up with work colleagues. He is also going to the US in November for a week-long industry tour and conference, and to Rotovegas in September to present at a conference.

Jan has been practicing for the next NSO concert (29 June), which should be really fun. It's programme you can really imagine being performed at a grand event, with a little light entertainment - Tea for Two - thrown in:

On the Sunday of that weekend, I am off to Wellington for another CDANZ meeting - the Sunday and Monday, then back home. I hope to catch up with Tina & Jeremy then too. Tina is so busy at work I don't know how she does it, and Jeremy's clown doctoring is going well (see the story below this one for the latest thing in the paper). My next CDANZ meeting will be October for the Career Symposium & AGM in Chch, I think. Then I think I have a conference in Queenstown to go to in November - but I am reconsidering whether I should attend that one as Jan will be in the US then. Julie from CNZ was down in Nelson last week for a meeting, and we caught up for coffee. It is great how you start to roll your contacts out around the country with involvements like this.

We are off to a quiz night this coming Friday night with Robbie & Janet, which should also be fun. We have also been trying to catch up with Glenys & Kevin, but just have not got there yet!

And some other sad news - while we were in the North Island, our neighbour, Kath, died. As many of you know, she had a brain tumour diagnosed when she was pregnant with Harrison. "They" said she would have three to five years after the treatment - she had three before it came back, and then the end came quite quickly. It is very sad, though Ian seems pretty stoic about it. Hopefully Harrison will remember his mum.

Sunrise from Roses Road last week:

Hoepfully we will all stay healthy, eh. And be kind to each other, and remember that we are a long time gone, so make the most of it while we are here. And remember we don't get points for it.

Right - that's all I have time for. Just a quick update :-)

Jan & Sam

Jeremy as a Clown Doctor

Check out what Fairfax Media has to say about clown doctoring at http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8739085/Dispensing-laughter-the-best-medicine 

But you can enjoy the photo of Jeremy - aka Dr I V Drip - at work here anyway :-)

News from Nelson - May 2 2013

Hi everyone,

Wow - I cannot believe where the year has vanished to so quickly.

It has been a while since I updated everyone on what we have been doing: that is partly to do with the fact that we were away for a fortnight on the North Island tour, and then came home with colds. I am now finally getting over it, over a month later. However I will do a condensed version!

North Island tour was great - lovely weather, and the stand outs for me were Cape Reinga and Waitangi, once more. Even Jan said he would like to spend a few hours at the Cape, just soaking up the atmosphere. It really feels like a special place.

I have just finished putting together the photobook - which you can view at http://momento.co.nz/gallery?cpid=10281&auth=51a346aa4bccd3.10433652. Ana, another exchange student from Brazil, who lives about an hour away from Camila, came to stay last weekend and helped me finish it. The book will hopefully be printed and will get to all the Northern Hemisphere students in time for them winging their way home at the end of June or beginning of July. Karin, who spent lots of time here with Camila, is going home to Sweden, as is Kazu - to Japan. I think they both have had a very full year!

We won't be taking the tour next year: we will need our holidays for my brother's & Donna's wedding in Rarotonga, and for going to Brazil. That will keep us busy. Then the year after is Oma Friedel's 100th birthday in Germany - in the midst of the German winter. That will probably be a holiday where we don't have a free suitcase to bring chocolate back in!

Last weekend, as well as Ana, we had my folks, Mike, Donna and some of their friends - eighteen of us in total - here to help celebrate my Father's birthday. We had a BBQ with loads of food. I also had a wine for you, John! We had a lovely afternoon, and Graeme & Julie offered to housesit for us, if we end up needing someone - and if Amy isn't available, of course!

Speaking of Amy, she is now working at NMIT and studying online. I think she is really enjoying being back in Nelson too. Jan & I will hopefully catch up with Frits & Kathleen as well, the weekend after next.

Jenny came to stay a couple of weeks ago, which was great. I picked her up from the airport & we went home, drank wine, ate crisps and talked. Jan had orchestra practice so had to catch up later. We dropped her back out to Bunty & Donald's house - and stayed for hours, catching up with the whole family's news. 

Last weekend I was doing some washing, only to have the machine shudder to a halt. Wouldn't go, ended up with an error message. Jan thought that perhaps there might be something stopping the pump draining, so opened the hatch to manually drain the pump... to find that the pump drain wouldn't open. So he juggled it around and managed to unstick it. To find the following cache of extras! And the really amazing thing is that we don't own any hairclips!

This coming weekend we have the Founders Book Fair. I am organising volunteers from our Rotary club: we have traditionally handled the security on the first Saturday. It runs for a week here in Nelson, one of the largest second hand book sales in the country. We will get the chance in our breaks to stroll about & buy. Last year I picked up some antique management books; the year before a Bill Bryson hardback (the ‘Short History’ one). Jan got a matched set of Neville Schutes, and some old engineering “how to” books which are hilarious. Surprises every year. I have just started slumming on Vernon Coleman – totally escapist lite ‘mystery’ rubbish – but hopefully someone will have de-dunged their bookshelf and I will benefit from their purge.

I still love my iPod! I have just been reading - listening to - 1421 and 1434 by Gavin Menzies, about the Chinese exploration of the world. They are both very interesting books, and followed well on me re-listening to Simon Winchester's The Man Who Loved China, biography about Joseph Needham who created, wrote, researched and project managed the Science and Civilisation in China volumes (which runs to something like twenty seven thumping great tomes). 

Jan might be going to the US to a conference in November, and I might be going to Queenstown for one - in the same week, if you can believe it!

Dogs are in general OK, though Flissy is getting very frail, and wobbly in her back legs. We have bought little boots for her to help keep her more stable on the polished floors.

Right, that will do for now. More later.

Jan & Sam

News from Nelson - May 2013

Hi all,
Wow lots to report since last time. Jan's grandmother died in Germany, and a memorial services has just taken place. More on that later.

We have been very busy: trip news etc will follow in a few days once we have our heads back in the right place. A few photos follow, taken by Amy as she house sitted for us.

Back to you all with an update once we are organised :-)

Sam & Jan