Theyear is racing past!

 I thought I had better do another post before it is December! - Golly Christmas is creeping up on me this year. 

This morning it has rained steadily - drizzled rather than downpour but the back deck is a big puddle. 

We had some lovely days recently so I shouldnt complain!

This weekend i took the kids down to join Jonathan and Amy at the Levin Christmas parade where the combined Levin Christian churches have a group which asked J and A to bring a donkey and join the parade as Joseph and Mary. they provide the costumes even the padding to make Amy look really pregnant and Joanthan's beard is looking quite the part. The kids join in too - the girls as angels and Callum as one of the Shepherds. ( They get to give out lollies to the spectators).

The chidlren are up on the truck at the back 2 andgels and one shepherd.

Jonathan and his two angels Cordelia and Annabel ( Callum was a photoshy shepherd)

The weekend before i had been away in the campervan ticking off another one from my bucket list. I went down to Cape Palliser which is the most southeasterly corner of the North Island. Lighthouse has 255 steps and is quite steep. held the handrail tightly on the way down!

Yes - I climbed to the top! Got steeper the higher you got.

View west - campervan in the car park at the bottom 

Its a rocky coast!

Ngawi fishing fleet! mostly crayfish boats I am told

 

Bulldozers and boats!

Then after an early breakfast and a wee walk I drove back to the Putangirua Pinnacles reserve where I wanted to walk to the lookout to see the famous Pinnacles. This was going to be quite a walk so I took my walking poles and wore my best boots and set off early so that Tui wouldnt not get too hot in the campervan. And yes it was a walk - harder than I had done for ages - took me an hour to get to the lookout on the ridge track - shady bush but a steady uphill climb and the steps got steeper nearer the top. Gorgeous views though, and I walked back down the steep downhill track to the stream bed and then a gravelly rocky walk back along the stream. Legs felt like lumps of lead by the end and very glad of my sticks but pleased I made it. dont need to do it again. Lovely reserve to camp in but I believe there are mozzies so glad i stayed at Ngawi the night before. 

Putangirua Pinnacles reserve

The road hugs the cliffs all the way round...

A steady climb along the ridges but it gets steeper 

yes, it was a glorious view of a unique  rock  formation - 

That is the stream bed at the bottom - 

After a refreshing cup of tea and a sandwich I drove back to Lake Ferry village where Denny , a quilter i had met in Auckland lived and we spent a lovely hour chatting and me admiring her needlework - she does great needlework as well as enjoys quilting. 

Thisis a Sue Spargo design from her book Homegrown - made as a pin cushion and given to me by Denny

I was feeling quite pooped so took it carefully as I drove back north and through Martinborough A fellow campervanner friend advised me to continue to a lovely spot on the Ruamahanga River called Morrisons Bush - a large grassy area with some trees , private owned but made available at very low cost for camping to the Motor Caravan Association members - definitely need to come back in the summer. 

Morrison's Bush

Then after a very peaceful and long sleep I drove quietly back to Eketahuna and stayed at the camping ground there - Diana was still there and it was good to catch up again. I have made a new friend in her and that is great, she is a very intersting lady and a fountain of knowledge having lived in her lovely motorhome for 12 years. 

Home again by lunchtime on Monday afternoon, ready for the school run. 

It has been a busy few weeks as the children have had several sports commitments that i volunteered to get them to - so Mondays is Cubs and Keas, Tuesdays Callum has soccer coaching at Ashurst and Annabel has judo, Fridays both the girls play for a school Touch rugby team ( hilarious fun - not very serious although they do learn good skills). So that is three afternoons a week that i am a bit of a chauffeur but I am enjoying the close contact with the kids. This last week I also went along to the Rose City quilters and heard a very interesting speaker who was a quilter who had been trekking in Nepal to Annapurna BAse Camp, and the Garden Club had a Christmas lunch  bus trip to Foxton beach. Nice group of people and I was able to get to know a couple of them a bit better chatting on the bus and over lunch. 

Next weekend i am heading up to Auckland for a residential weekend so need to get some of my computer related tasks done - the publication  i am putting together to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Auckland branch of the School of Philosophy will be a pleasure although a challenge. And i am also proof reading the PhD thesis of one of jonathan's students.. not a difficult task for this one - her English is quite good. 

Well back to some housework - the family is coming over for a roast lamb dinner tonight and the rain is still drizzling down... Time for a cuppa! and the heater is now on. 

View east from the lighthouse

After my afternoon hike to the top I went back to Ngawi the little fishing village where freedom camping is allowed on the shore - the wind was very light at that time so i felt safe but the shape of what trees there were made me realise I wouldnt want to park on the seashore when it was really blowing. The crayfishing boats are pulled by little bulldozers - apparently they need caterpillar treads to cope with the sloping gravelly beach rather than the usual little tractors you see pulling boats on these shores. The wind picked up a bit during the night but not too bad - chilly though - straight from the Antarctic. The cliffs are gravelly soft rock and slips are very common - the road was passable at that time but a few narrow spots where i was glad I wasnt driving in the dark. 

Ngawi

Quite the social butterfly

 The last couple of weeks have been amazingly busy . Something to go to almost everyday. There are now people here I know well enough to be recognised and "Hello Liz" is quite nice to hear. So  here is a pictorial record of some of the activities.

My birthday dinner at Malay restaurant  

Lovely flowers for my birthday from Gil and Dorothy

The first of the U3A seminars  

Friday afternoon touch rugby game - Cordelia on the left 

I get to be the driver to get the girls to their touch games. Huge number of kids and parents - I calculated over 300 primary school kids from different schools. No score kept but lots of running madly - sometimes int eh wrong direction!
 

Annabelle at touch rugby afterschool Friday - she is short hair in red and black on trhe right

The giraffe statues at Greenhaugh gardens  

Part of the beautiful gardens at historic homestead Greenhaugh Gardens  

The third U3A lecture 

Judo practice session - Annabelle on the left

Annabelle has decided to do judo on Tuesday nights and after some negotiation with mother we went along - Jonathan joins in the adult session following the children's one. She is a beginner yet but had a big smile on most of the time.

Cordelia on the flying fox at the esplanade playground - 

Then this weekend i have visited several quilt shops  as part of a promotion in the local region - I liked this wall hanging - only part of it showing but i have bought the pattern - could be quite fun!

Prior to the U3A lecture I had been to a couple of hours of song and music by a group called Operatunity which made music in great costumes and trained singers "I love Paris"  - had lots of lively songs that we all knew. Target audience is Seniors and they are almostt monthly throughout regions of NZ - I enjoyed and will go again.The lady in the photo was the violinist. Singers were trained opera-level singers with well painted backdrops. Daytime concerts with lunch provided.

The Garden Club talk this week was about a visit to Croatia - the lady who went had been to some of the places we went but also Zagreb and Lubljiana in Slovenia - interesting to see what someone else photographs.  

So Monday ngiht i am off to my first night of the Rose City quilters - I will enjoy that!

Woops now it is October - golly!

 The weeks are flying past and the best thing is that the weather is starting to get warmer. we are now in daylight saving but I am wearing a T shirt today!

I spent the first week of the school holidays back in Auckland. I needed to catch up with a few people and so i drove up in the car and stayed with Gilbert and Dorothy for five days. Wonderful spot to be - close to the harbour - lovely walks with the dogs albeit very windy the first few days. Harbour Bridge had major hiccups due to wind and a truck being blown over onto one of the major vertical beams. Reduced lans meant big traffic jams but the engineers got onto it pretty fast and it will be resolved in a big hurry. Temporary fix was up on a few days. I was able to catch up with several friends - dinner out with KAren and Anne, lunch with Stephanie and another lunch with Lynn and her husband John. Then Gilbert and Dorothy took me out for a pre-birthday dinner to Swashbucklers - seafood restaurant down at Westhaven. Lovely fresh seafood - I had the Pirates platter to get the full range scallops, mussels, prawns, shrimp, salmon and battered fish! as well as a delicious sea food chowder with huge lumps of sea food in it. 

A full day of sewing with my friends at Wattle Downs was great and then i stayed the night with GloriaM which was also very good company. Felt quite spoilt. Margaret has finished her Birds in the Garden quilt - here it is!

then the long drive back to Palmeston north on Friday - but gorgeous weather - no snow on the Desert Road and home early enough for KAren and her cousin Sue to drop in for a fish and chips tea on their way to Wellington. Lovely.

To top off a great week Jonathan and Amy had all the kids at the farm for a camping night including a little fire and toasted masrshmallows. One little girl slept in the campervan with Nana and the other fled there in the wee cold hours so it was very warm and cosy. Callum and his friend came up for breakfast but they had to sit outside. 

Today I have been babysitting as Jonathan had a meeting and a class to take at Uni and the kids and I had a quick trip to the local Bike park and playground after Cordelia had made cheese muffins for lunch. They enjoyed the break although they were diving back onto their devices as soon as we got home. 

So now I have done a little bit of gardening and need to catch up on my sewing. and a few other tasks. 

But with the sun shining it is a glorious day. I do like nice weather.

September is racing past.

 I have been in the house four and a half weeks now and after a very quiet week this last week has been quite a social week. The groups that Christine introduced me too plus the U3A study groups meant every day I had an activity. I enjoyed getting out of the house. 

First I had a weekend away in the campervan. Saturday  I went to Eketahuna to meet up with a solo female motorhomer i had met a couple of years ago and spent a couple of interesting hours chatting to her. Nice little camping ground there - apparently safe and well looked after - stream running alongside the camp ground and plenty of sheltered space. 

Eketahuna Camping ground

Then I drove throuh Masterton out to Castlepoint. It was quite a nice day when I got there which was better than the last time I was there when it was very windy and wet. Very lovely spot and Tui and I did a really good walk along the ridge line and then down to the beach. Bit tough on the legs and I was a bit unfit but great walk. The lighthouse is in a very picturesque setting. I decided not to stay the night as it was getting windy and the forecast for Monday was for gale force winds. Just about blew me over walking up to the lighthouse.  And coming back the van rocked a few times so glad I had made the choice to come home.

                                              Deliverance Cove

The walk up to the lighthouse

I walked along the ridge and then down to the  beach. 

Then when I got home I mislaid the house and car keys so had to phone Jonathan to bring around the spare keys to let me in! felt really stupid. (I found them two days later). 

So on the Monday I was runnign round getting the spare set of car keys a new battery so that I could use them until I found the old ones. That evening I drove Annabelle to Cubs.

Tuesday I went to U3A book club - they are nice ladies and we discussed some books written by NZ authors. Then after I gotback I picked Jonathan up from worka nd dropped Cordelia to Keas.  Amy cant do everything especially when all three children at there. Everything in this town is pretty close together so it is not big deal to drive out to the University and back again. My last full tank of petrol lasted three weeks and likely to last even longer this month. 

Wednesday I went to lunch with the U3A organisation - it was their 20th anniversry since their formation. Met some interesting people - men as well as women although most of the men looked considerably less well preserved than the women.  I am going to try and go to more of their study groups. Some very interesting. like the Science group..

Thursday I had a TV technician come round and sort out the TVs and aerials. I now have three functioning TVs. Probably way too many conisdering I dont watch Tv that much but Netflix and Youtube work on two of them and they both have some really good movies and shows. 

Friday was Garden Club again - met up with Katherine Broadbent ( husband a plastic surgeon)  who had been at aschool at the same time as me at AGGS. She went to Bayfield school with Susan Adams and was in class 3A2 to my 3A1.  Apparently she was Games captain. i dont remember her so think perhaps she was the year after me. NZ is a Small world!  The speaker this week wasnt very exciting but they re nice people and I think it will be good to keep going to this group. 

Then in the afternoon I picked the kids up from school as Marcus was quite sick and Amy needed to stay with him. Jonathan had a four oclock lecture so after the kids came home here with me for afternoon tea and we watched a movie on Netflix we went out and picked Joanthan up from  after his lecture. 

Saturday  has been quite busy  - Took Callum to football this moning and he had a good game - he got a good  goal - pleased with himself. Then drove to the farm - swapped kids and took the girls back into town to a birthday party. They had fun. Everyone coming here for dinner tomorrow night.

Meanwhile I have been sewing a project I started ages ago - not my usual colours but it should look Ok when it is done.  The paints I ordered from helen Godden havent arrived yet and I havent found where I packed the samples I did at Charlotte Scotts workshop - I am looking forward to finishing them. 

Also been working on the next issue of Vision magazine. Unfortunately the USb  stick with photos that I need to do a 60th anniversary publication for the School of Philosophy hasnt arrived yet, so that is not on track but there is no one hounding me for it so guess I will make my own deadline. No panic. 

Hopefully tomorrow will be a nice sunny day if the weather forecast is right. I am going to a concert given by the local Palmerton North group called the Renaissance singers - they are singing  Keats poems put to music.. that should be a new experience. Might go out to the farm in the morning or else do some gardening.  All good. Then in the evening the family is coming round for dinner!

 

Been here four weeks now.

 Well I have definitely settled in -  I now have the landline arranged, the new cat door  ( dog door) installed and now all I need is to wait for the TV person to get my other TV hooked up and I think I am all set.

The sun is shining today after a week or two of on and off rain, so I am glad to see Spring might have arrived. It was a busy weekend with pick up kids on Friday afterschool as jonathan had a meeting and I broght them home to fresh muffins and then saturday I went and watched callum play soccer. his team played more cohesively this week and they beat a previously unbeaten team> They passed well and it was a pleasing game to watch although one of their members apparently did a naughty tackle just about at the end which left a bit of a sour taste for the other team. Then it was a quick drop off and take Cordelia up tot he school where she was particiapting in a Jump Jam competition. Jump Jam is a kids aerobics team thing and the teachers deserve gold medals for the work they put in setting it up. Cordelia's team was very well practised and although not perfect they were clearly totally enthuiastic and enjoying themselves. Cordelia is in the second row between the boy and the tall girl. Huge grin on her face. The facial expressions ( told to smile a lot) were hilarious. Lots of teeth showing with Cordelia. She came back and stayed the night with me - a very chatty little one to have around but helpful and very cuddly - 7 years old is a lovely age!

Friday I had a trip out to Ashurst with Christine and the Garden Club to a place called Edible Gardens - the owner Sarah is a real fruit tree expert and it was very interesting. she propogates as well as sells and has had years of training.. Knows all the best varieties too which will be fun! Nice group of ladies and afterwads we lunched at the Cooperage Cafe - nice food although if i am going to be eating out two or three times a week this is going to be interesting for the budget.

Last night we had our Sunday night family dinner - not gourmet - this week I did Cottage Pie and Amy brought round a lovely Fruit Cake topped pudding. All good - fire going well and jonathan brought his guitar and the Backgammon game. They dont stay late as the kids need to go to bed but it was lovely. Going to be a nice tradition to start I think. 

Today I have sewed on a quilt that needs finishing, planted some seeds, did washing and some sketching and then some painting... Nothing exciting - just a daily challenge the Travel sketching class was given - today was the leaning Tower of Pisa so here is mine. 

Pretty basic but it would be good enough for travel sketching - interestingly I have seen this one. My  tutor in the class i used to go to in Auckland is setting two per week for us to try out and even though I am no longer there I can still practise - be good for me!

So all well here - tonight is Cubs and Keas so I need to do my pick ups and drop offs. and tomorrow is my first Probus meeting. They have a good speaker coming so I am sure i will enjoy that.

Settling In

 It has been a busy week. the big container on the truck only just made it up the driveway but after returning to the depot to get a shorter wheelbase truck they made it and the unloading went well although i was flabbergasted at howmany boxes there were to unpack. 

It has been a slightly tiring week as I tried to find things. Sometimes the label on the box hid all sorts of other treasures and occasionally it was like Lucky Dip but everything was safe and htere were no tragedies of broken goods. The packers had done an incredibly good job although the amount of packing paper (newsprint) was incredible. They came and picked it all up however so i didnt have to dispose of it.

Jonathan has been a great help - he and friend Hennok got the washing machine and dryer installed which i could never have done on my own as the dryer is above the washing machine. One TV is going - not sure about the others but I am in no hurry. TV is the least of my concerns. 

Minor crises do occur. The first time I went out int he car to pick up a few supplies when Jacinda announced we were going into level 2 I returned to my car to find it had a puncture and my AA membership came in handy again. The Tyre repair people pointed out that the tyre would probably not pass a Wof as it was worn and driving even the little bit I had on the puncture had worn the side wall of the tyre. So more expense but  Jonathan's tyre people gave me a discount and were very helpful. 

Jonathan and Amy came to dinner and we are going to have Dinner at Nana's on Sunday nights even when they dont have the children, that will be fun and give me an excuse to use the good china and glasses. as well as try out some new recipes i hope.  The children rode their bikes over on Tuesday which they found exciting. I think they are a bit over excited when all three are together - probably safer when only one or two... the little one looks slightly out of control on her bike.

I made contact with the local U3A group. they are very active and have one of the most active U3A groups in the country. The lady i rang up about membership hosts one of the Book Clubs and invited me over. A very pleasant afternoon with six other ladies. Interesting books were discussed, quie a variety, and quite a nice group I think. i will go again and they suggested I go to the U3A 20th Anniversary lunch so I have paid for that.

 Tui has had a clip and I had a haircut. i think her hair cut was more successful than mine. I will need to look for a good hairdresser, the drop in one in the Plaza was not a success. 

Christine has been over several times to help with unpacking and picture hanging. We have put up quite a few of my quilts, very handy for covering marks on the walls where we took down shelves and the previous owners had taken down pictures. One day i will do a complete repaint I suspect but not right now. The quilts look lovely and cosy and it really feels like home with them up on the walls. 

The internet was the only other slight crisis. At first I had internet because apparently the Wards had not terminated their account with Spark and I was using their wifi but once i contcted Spark re the telephone landline it got complicated and apparently becuase they did not have a landline I cant get one connected with out a site visit from a technician to check the wiring. That will not happen for two weeks but my frustration did result in the Spark contact person getting the actual internet connection done promptly so now I can do all the stuff I like on my unlimited wifi and data  - so I can watch movies etc as well as do all the emails and blog entries. 

Here are some photos of the house 

One end of the open plan living room

 

the fire in the snug ( and they even left me a huge supply of firewood!

One side of the "snug" - my new name for the lounge.

The dining room side of the Open plan living room

other side of the "snug"

lovely flowers which arrived today from the Kate Edger  educational Charitable Trust which I have worked on for about 15 years.

The entrance hallway.

I should really take a photo of the raised bed gardens - four good sized ones in which the previous owners left me carrots, spinach, red cabbage, celery, passionfruit vine and space for me to plant more!

So I am pretty much getting organised. i have found msot things, the sewing machine is uncovered and ready to go althought he sewing room is stacked high. I think my fabric stash secretly grew in size while it was in transit.  I will sort it tomorrow! In the meantime I might just have a rest from unpacking tomorrow and play a little.