It's good being outdoors

Now the weather's getting a bit better we are spending more and more time outdoors

which makes me happy. Sunshine and blue skies and clouds and warmth....

Craziness

I cleaned the pantry tonight. I pulled everything out, chucked away anything that looked old or we didn't use, wiped down all the shelves and put everything back in a tidy fashion. I even got the step ladders out so I could reach the top shelf to clear it out.

This is so not me. I loathe cleaning and will use any form of procrastination to avoid it.

But this is what happens when I know Mum is coming to stay...I have to at least pretend to be a domestic goddess and that I remember everything about cleaning that she ever expected me to learn.

So I have 6 weeks to get the place tip top and ready for motherly inspection :-)
I am so excited she is coming to stay and at least this means the hosue will get cleaned once this year!


And in other news - my new phone has a dent in it after only 4 days...what is it with me and dropping electronic equipment? !

About bloody time...

Yeah, it's been ages, I know.

We've been busy

• working
• hibernating
• avoiding the rain
• admiring signs of spring
• watching the grass grow into a forest helpless to do anything about it
• buying new pink phones (well just one)
• buying comedy dvds (Bill Bailey, Peter Kay and Billy Connolly - ten bucks each - bargain)
• meeting flights at 4am
• showing 40 18-21 year olds the joys of NZ and Auckland
• getting new jobs (just one of us but guess which one...)
• planning trips to sunnier shores

I'll try to be a little more regular but it might be tough bearing in mind the rest of this year is pretty much mapped out in front of us and is gonna be pretty damn busy with

• trips to see the rellies
• looking at wedding venues
• having a visit from Lyn
• working out a long term plan for the city
• working 50 hour weeks
• briefing 150 18 years olds going overseas next year (and their parents)
• going to the beach
• some home improvements
• turning 27 (how is that possible?)
• dusting
• mowing the forest

Puddles and Rodents

It was a wet weekend with lots of rain and puddles...and rain is what I can hear while I type this as well. Lovely!
We've been fairly lucky though....I don't mind putting up with some rain when I can stay indoors!

We bought bikes last week and have been cycling to work and so far haven't been caught in the rain. That's good....as long as I keep staying dry on my way to work and home again it can rain as much as it likes while I am cosied up inside!

In other news we have a mouse outbreak last week...never a good thing but something that's pretty common in homes in NZ...especially when the mice want in from all the rain! The bugman was out today though so I am keeping my fingers crossed for no more Mr Mouse....4 in 48 hours was quite enough thank you! And the dog was useless....hiding behind me! I threatened to exchange him for a cat which seemed to sort him out a bit!

That's all for today - short and sweet! How's everyone else?

Ridiculously early has it's benefits

I had to be up at 6am this morning in order to drive to Porirua (near Wellington and about an hour and a half from home) for a payroll training course.
Getting up before the sun is out or any time before 8.30am generally makes me very grumpy indeed but I managed to get through the day.
Being the good student I am I whizzed through the course and finished before 4pm enabling me to stop once or twice on the drive home and be a tourist....

Here's Kapiti Island taken from the State Highway (I promise I pulled over into a lay-by to take this):

and here are the ranges (Tararua I think? Correct me if I'm wrong...the ones that go towards Wellington) looking all lovely and snow-capped:

Not bad for a days work!

Winter

Well winter is well and truly here and it has been pretty chilly lately. We have even had to scrape ice off the car a couple of mornings. And on Saturday it sleeted....enough to make it look like snow (it's practically unheard of to snow in Palmerston North)...and with the sleet came sleetmen....the Palmerston North alternative to snowmen! I was so annoyed I didn't have the camera with me when we saw them dotted about! They were so cute!

And with winter comes horrible, yucky winter jobs like cleaning blocked gutters. I, of course, had the very important roles of holding the ladder, turning the tap on and off for the hose, passing up buckets, hoses etc.
Being outside ready to hold the ladder and pass things up at a moments notice gave me a good excuse to take some winter photos. This was the first clear day in a while. It felt like it'd been raining for years (when really it was only a couple of weeks) which meant that Lake Palliser came back to life...

But it's not all bad...we have at least one sign of the good weather to come...I can't wait for the daff's to flower - they always cheer me up immensely. I remember the daff's giving me a smile after days of feeling sorry for myself when I had the chicken pox last year in August.

And you just can't beat the sky on a crisp, New Zealand winter's day...it may be cold but you get to look up and see this...

So yes, I am looking forward to longer and warmer days but I am trying to make the most of winter while it's here!

3 years....

....wow, on this day (24th June) 3 years ago we boarded a plane headed for New Zealand and we've lived here ever since.
Never did I realise then all that would have happened to us up until now.
It's been an amazing journey and I reckon there are still exciting times ahead.
Three years....man, where did the time go?

Snapshot from the weekend

Phew - we are busy lately but hopefully things will take a little more of a relaxed pace soon.

Graeme was in Auckland last week, we were in New Plymouth at the weekend and I got back from a 2 day trip to Auckland tonight.

Here's a photo to tide you over until I can get on here for a longer post:

It's Mount Taranaki (a.k.a Mount Egmont) taken from New Plymouth...pretty awesome huh?

And in other completely unrelated news I bought the cutest pen ever today...not only is it pink but it is also covered in little doodle giraffes! (Select 'Giraffe' from design to see just how cute it is!)

Back soon (I hope!)