Blog

 

i got up 30 minutes early today by mistake having dreamt my alarm clock had gone off.  i wondered why it was so dark

UD and AB left us today to continue their antipodean tour.  it was really great having them here albeit for just a few days!

then it was back to ordinary life

i had a day of meetings, jane caught up on some domestic stuff

 

kezia had her swimming lesson, jane’s gym class teacher didn’t turn up so those who were there made their own lesson up using their own ipods as a backing track

 

kezia had her swimming lesson followed by some team pizza.that gave me enough time to sit upstairs and watch a film with my noise cancelling headphones on.  Exit via the giftshop is worth a watch if you have time.

kezia found jane’s jandals and tried them on for size when we weren’t looking (but then we did look)

my day started at work in a conference room having my body photographed wearing nothing but my underpants.  (i was having a molemap checkup rather than a breakdown)

jane, UD and AB went to Wenderholm regional park where they walked up the hill and admired the view

they had a coffee in Orewa too i think.  and they took pearl for a little walk

esther had an orchestra practice from 3.30pm to 7pm.  kezia had swimming until 7.30pm

i did some technology with UD then we went to get some fish and chips

 

here’s an eastern rosella in the garden

there was wine involved.

and this evening there was time for a final family game of racing demon

AB and UD arrived back from their 2 day trip up north.  here they are showing us what they saw and did.

i had my monday morning coffee church men group and then a busy day at work with a presentation.

jane did her first hour at her new job teaching 3-4 year olds french for an hour.  sounds like it went well.

esther had a tennis lesson and this evening had her church youth club

and kezia won all her swimming races at her school swimming competition (except breast-stroke where she came third).  i think everyone was quite amazed and she’s feeling very pleased with herself!

and in other news, a shark killed someone at one of our local beaches (the place with the gannets).  All nearby west coast beaches are closed for the next few days.

busy day for all. me at work and jane with her church job and watching someone else teach the preschool class she’s teaching tomorrow.

simon’s birthday

and this evening jane and i went to see the Stone Roses.  Great seats.  great band

relative movements:

AB and UD had a good day in the Bay of Islands which included bobbing about on a boat

Dad and Marjorie were also on a boat and have now reached the south island on their tiki tour.

 

 

 

for those interested they played the same set list as the one below (which was posted by someone on twitter after their dubai concert)

i took esther to school this morning by car as she had her trombone, her violin, her tennis racket, her PE kit and her usual school books.  then i drove home again to start work

 

jane drove AB and UD down to get their hire car.  it’s only 10 minutes from home but took 40 minutes because the road was so busy!

i went to see the dietician to report back on my food experience since i saw her in December.  she’s given me some more leaflets and wished me good luck, so i think i’ve been discharged with an action plan

 

jane did millions of house work, went to the gym, more housework.  she picked up kezia from school (as she had her violin lesson today) then took kezia to swimming. she was going to collect esther on the way back but esther’s tennis took so long that she ended up waiting until 6 to collect esther before going back to pick up kezia.

this evening a lady is coming to talk to jane about a pre-school french lesson she’s running on Wednesday which will be jane’s new one hour a week job so that’s exciting!

i spoke to dad last night and he’s in wellington and goes to the south island tomorrow.  Meanwhile AB and UD are heading north (avoiding a forest fire – watch the video to hear someone saying ‘holy mackerel’) for a mini-roadtrip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(thanks to UD for use of some of his photos (today and the last few days!)

jane was up early with pearl to take kezia for her 6.30am swimming lesson, then a walk on a local beach

kezia had tennis and won both her matches today in the blistering heat.  yay!

AB and UB did some admin stuff first thing, then we drove over to watch a bit of esther’s tennis

whilst esther and jane were tennis-ing the rest of us went up mount victoria with its metal mushrooms (air vents of the reservoir beneath)

we had lunch down in devonport before heading up north head where we rendezvoused with jane and esther

kezia, UD and I went to explore some tunnels but it was so hot we didn’t stay up there long

here’s a lava bomb

AB loves geology

 

we stopped to look at Lake Pupuke and some lava flows on the way home by which time Pearl the dog had had a dip in her little paddling pool

we then all had a dip in the pool

here’s esther getting her hair band out of the pool

then this evening we’ve been out to the Wine Box for a lovely meal

here’s my emu, kangaroo and veal (i think)

hello

i was up early to have breakfast with dad and marjorie as their tour passed back through auckland last night.  they seem to be having a whale of a time (or more accurately a dolphin of a time) and the weather has been great for them

Aunty Barb and Uncle David’s (to be known as AB and UD from now one) luggage arrived late morning

then jane took them over to Muriwai for a look at some gannets and the view

david spotted these people having their photos taken and infiltrated the group to get his own wedding photos

this evening has been taxiing esther and kezia about between swimming lessons

 

it’s the weekend.  yay!

jane’s aunt and uncle arrived today from scotland.  they arrived, but their luggage didn’t.  it made it to Sydney apparently so should be here soon.

i chaired a three hour meeting this morning which involved lots of disagreements, but not as many as it could have so i’ll chalk that up as a victory.

jane bumped in to our across-the-road neighbours when she was walking Pearl and ended up inviting them along for the walk which was good.

this evening jane’s aunt and uncle (who from now on will be known as A Barb and U David) drank pink champagne (a tradition for them apparently) and then went for a walk in the cemetry and came back rather tired.  A Barb fought the sleep back longer and delivered sweets and birthday presents.

here’s a good reason to retire to New Zealand …

 

after yesterday’s visit by queen victoria, we had queen elizabeth in auckland today

 

my day started with our monday morning coffee church group then various work panics

jane did some lots of domestic running about and sorting, and picked up kezia from school this afternoon

kezia survived camp but didn’t really want to talk about it!

this evening jane’s gone out to her book club

esther had tennis after school.  she got there with a friend on the bus i think.  and this evening she’s been out at a church youth thing

i got home to find both jane and kezia lying on their stomachs looking out the window

 

turned out they were looking at this rather fat praying mantis

i went out to take some pictures of it upside down under the trampoline

weird things