Kate and Graeme's NZ Adventure

2011

2011-01-02T20:05:00.003+13:00

Happy New Year

Wishing you much love, happiness and fun for 2011

Tis the season

2010-12-15T09:57:00.005+13:00

About time I posted something on here wouldn't you say?! Especially if you got our Christmas newsletter and decided to pay a visit.

We are busy getting ready for Christmas. We have family coming to stay and can't wait. It's Lukes first Christmas and while he may not remember it in years to come, we will so we are trying to make it special.

The tree is up and decorated. Most of the presents are bought. We are almost there.

Wishing you and yours a very merry Christmas and I will try to be back very soon :-)

One year ago today

2010-11-02T16:44:00.001+13:00

Wow, that year went fast!

Love you G xxx

29 @ 29

2010-10-29T11:00:00.000+13:00

1. Paint my toenails

2. Scrapbook at least 12 moments of baby’s first year

3. Plant sunflower seeds/grow sunflowers

4. Eat tiramisu

5. Get my hair cut

6. Summarise/scrapbook our first year married

7. Read a novel

8. Lose 5kg

9. Decide if I’m returning to work or not

10. Participate in a Christmas ornament swap

11. Write a Christmas newsletter

12. See Harry Potter 7 (part 1)

13. List 29 reasons why I’m a good mother

14. Blog at least 29 times

15. Email at least 50 photos/videos of baby to family

16. Finish rainbow crochet blanket

17. Get a nice photo of all 3 of us (plus maybe the dog)

18. Take baby swimming

19. Send 10 postcards or letters (with photos of baby maybe)

20. Buy at least 10 bunches of flowers

21. Try 10 new recipes

22. Create a photo wall (in the dining room?)

23. Make bunting for baby’s bedroom

24. Have a picnic or tea party

25. Find ways to celebrate each season

26. Give away at least 29 things

27. Try to take at least 1 photo every day

28. Write my birth story

29. Have 12 ‘dates’ with my husband

You can see my 28 things list here and my 27 things list here.

Review of 28 things aged 28

2010-10-28T16:17:00.007+13:00

You can view the 28 things list here.

I have tried a couple of times to colour code it so it's easy to see what's complete, what was started and what wasn't done but for some reason it won't publish it.

At first glance the 28 things list could be considered an epic fail.

I completed 8 items.

But to be honest, I am pleased with what I achieved.

Not only did I complete those 8 items, I also made some progress with another 17 items even though I didn't finish them.

Only 3 items weren't started or completed and 2 of those were because I was pregnant and didn't want to do them for safety reasons (ride a horse and play badminton).

And let's not forget that in this last year I have achieved something pretty amazing. I got pregnant, grew a strong, healthy baby and then delivered him into this world (without any drug relief I might add).

Some things are more important than a list I drew up 13 months ago.

I realised pretty early on that I had made the list 'too much' - it wasn't a list of 28 things at all - most items had a bigger task than doing just one thing. It was do 28 of this or list 100 of that. I made it too hard.

Even if I hadn't been pregnant/a new mother for the whole year I think I would have struggled completing more items.

So I have made a 29 list but it's a fair bit simpler than last years. I'll try and share it with you over the next few days.

Keeping Busy

2010-09-27T16:19:00.004+13:00

Our beautiful baby boy was born on Tuesday 10th August at 12.40pm.

We have been very busy between then and now getting to know him and learning how to be parents.

Hopefully at some point in the future I might be able to blog with a little more regularity but at the moment it's going to be very hit and miss.

So while you wait for some regular posts I decided to leave the cutest photo ever in this post :-)

Long time, no post

2010-07-31T14:29:00.003+12:00

Wow - is it really the last day in July today? Am I really supposed to be having a baby in the next month? Eek! Seriously, where has the time gone?

My last day at work came and went and I thought about posting about my finishing work feelings.

We lost Graeme's Grandpa and I couldn't get the right words down to explain that.

And now I am 3 weeks into my maternity leave, baby's official due date is in 9 days time, we have a cot and a buggy (finally!) and I'm very much aware that there won't be too many moments to sit and think about putting words together soon.

I really can't wait to meet our new little person. I admit to being a little apprehensive about his journey into the world but knowing I will get to meet this little bundle that's been keeping me company with his little kicks and fidgets at the end of it makes me realise that it's going to be worth it.

I wonder what baby will be like? I think it goes without saying he's going to be gorgeous! How could he not be? What will he be when he grows up? When is he going to arrive?

There's so many thoughts and worries and questions at the moment but I have surprised myself and feel much calmer than I thought I would at this time. Maybe it's the hormones or some maternal instinct but there's part of me that just knows baby will be here when he's ready and we will do the very best we can for him when he gets here.

And until then I will do my best to put my feet up and rest up ready for being on round the clock duty when he does make his appearance!

June

2010-06-12T16:30:00.004+12:00

Wow, June. How did we get here? Time is flying by and I honestly don't know where it went!

We have been busy getting ready for the arrival of baby and have now chosen most of the big items we want (cot, buggy, carseat etc) and either have them here or they are on order (fingers crossed they arrive before baby does!). We've also been attending antenatal classes and only have 2 left to go. We've already done the tour of the hospital and have a box of nappies ready to go so we are almost prepared!

I've found I've really had to slow down lately and am often tucked up in bed at 9 or 9.30pm most nights (what a nana!). Undisturbed nights are well and truly in the past and I'm often awake a few times in the night trying to get comfy. I'm trying to see the good side of this - it's getting me ready for being up and down in the night with baby!

I'm also feeling a little less creative and full of ideas lately. I think my brain is busy focusing on baby related things and everything else has gone out the window.

I've been notoriously bad at taking photos and without photos I don't have much fodder for blog posts. I've had a look at what's on the camera today and then headed out into the garden in the rain to get some photos to share so I could finally update the blog. All flowers today - some brightness and prettiness to take away the winter blues.

It's been quite cold here some days and the fire is on most nights these days. I've taken to lighting candles and putting the fairy lights on to make the most of the darker nights with some twinkles!

I still struggle with the turnabout of the seasons in the Southern Hemisphere and it's weird to think Graeme will be celebrating his birthday next weekend in winter. I still have to buy his presents and am currently deciding whether or not to bake him a birthday cake, birthday muffins or birthday cupcakes...in fact I might go and have a peek through my reciep books just now to get some ideas.

And I'll promise to try and leave less time between posts next time :-)

Autumn skies

2010-04-25T18:33:00.003+12:00

I've been snapping away photos of Autumn colours as I've seen them the last couple of weeks. Capturing the leaves on the trees changing colour. I love autmnal colours. I'm sure it comes with being an Autumn baby. I hope to share some of the pictures once I've got a few more.
Tonight though it was the sky that caught my eye. What beautiful colours and looking very much like autumnal colours. Enjoy :-)

The Coromandel (our honeymoon)

2010-04-17T17:50:00.005+12:00

We had always planned to have a honeymoon once all our guests went home. It seemed silly to ride off into the sunset while they were all still here so we spent as much time with them as we could while they were here and planned for a honeymoon a little further down the track.
There were many ideas flung around for where we could go for our honeymoon but in the end we decided to stay here in New Zealand and have a new adventure in a part we'd never been to before.

So we packed up our car and headed to the Coromandel Peninsula. It's a long drive so we stopped overnight in Taupo on the way. We went the week leading up to Easter which turned out to be a genius idea because the roads weren't yet full of Easter holiday traffic.

We stayed 3 nights at the Crows Nests Apartments in Whitianga. It was beautiful. The start of Autumn so not particularly warm and in fact it rained a bit - but it was still lovely. We strolled around the town, took the wee ferry to the 'other side' and explored over there and drove a bit further afield to see what was nearby.
We particularly enjoyed Hot Water Beach It was a little like Disneyland in that it was full of tourists. There's hot water springs under the beach so at low tide the place is swarming with people with spades of all shapes and sizes, digging holes, looking for the hot water. On this particular day it was raining quite heavily so everyone had waterproofs and jumpers on over their swimmies. As soon as warm water was struck - off came all the outerwear and everyone swarmed into the hot water pool. Very strange but lots of fun!
We also attempted the walk to Cathedral Cove but some parts of the path were slippy and steep and given I was 21 weeks pregnant at the time we decided not to take any chances once I'd lost my footing once!

All in all, a lovely, relaxing time away. Unfortunately it seems a long time ago now (isn't it always the way just a couple of weeks after you return from holiday!) but will be a lovely time to remember in years to come.

Raspberry and White Chocolate Muffins

2010-04-02T11:42:00.003+13:00

One of my favourite muffin flavours is raspberry and white chocolate muffins but I've only ever bought them from cafes. After eating a particularly nice one whilst on holiday (more on that later!) I declared to Graeme that I would attempt baking my own version. Graeme found me a recipe online which I adapted slightly out of sheer laziness and for quicker mixing times!

Here goes....

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups self raising flour
100g butter
1 cup caster sugar
1 cup milk
1 egg (lightly beaten)
1 cup raspberries (frozen or fresh)
1/2 cup white chocolate bits
Icing sugar (for dusting)

Method:

Preheat oven to 190degrees (I have a fan oven so set it at approx. 170degrees)
Lightly grease muffin tins (I use silicon trays so spray them lightly with spray oil)
Add the flour and sugar to the bowl and mix
Melt the butter in the micowave (for approx. 40 seconds if the butter is chopped) and pour into the dry mix
Add the milk, the egg, raspberries (straight out the freezer) and white chocolate bits
Give it all a stir until mixture is just moistened (don't mix until completely smooth)
Spoon into muffin cups
Bake for 20 mins (I checked them after 15 and they definitely needed the extra 5)
Stand for 5 minutes and then turn onto a wire rack to cool
Dust with icing sugar
Eat and enjoy :-)

The original recipe suggested rubbing in the butter to the flour but that seemed like too much effort to me and they came out fine with melted butter instead.

They are truly delicious and were particularly tasty warm.

This recipe makes 12 (large-ish) muffins.

Crochet

2010-03-10T20:24:00.007+13:00

I'm wondering if this post falls under the "NZ adventure" theme of this blog but hey I'm excited about it!

Ever since finding the Attic24 blog I've been wanting to have a go at crochet. Which is how I ended up adding 'Crochet Something' to my http://kandgnzadventure.blogspot.com/2009/11/28-things-aged-28.html.

My friend Laura was a crocheter and showed me the basic stitches last winter but after September last year things got very busy and my new-and-still-shiny crochet hook was cast aside.

Now, unfortunately for me (but fortunately for South Africa where she is volunteering as a teacher) Laura doesn't live round the corner any more to mentor me in my new crochet hobby.

The great thing is though that there's heaps of inspiration and help on the internet. Along with the Attic24 blog there is another blog I've found very useful now I've decided to pick up my hook again. The blog is Little Tin Bird and Heather who writes the blog recently posted a pattern for granny squares. At the weekend I had my first try at granny squares using Heather's pattern. Here's my first attempt...

And of course - once I got started I had to try a couple more....

Aren't they gorgeous! They are made with cheap wool I'd bought ages ago to practice with so I doubt they will amount to anything other than being my first attempts!

The plan from here though is to buy some lovely soft colourful wool and make lots of granny sqaures and turn them into a baby blanket! We'll see if I get that far before August but I figure it's a good hobby for sitting down and making myself rest when everyone starts telling me too. If I make any progress I will keep you posted!

Favourite Things

2010-02-27T13:09:00.005+13:00

Well I did kinda manage more than one post in a week given my last post was Monday and today is Saturday. I'd hoped to post earlier but it's been a bit of a rough couple of days.

My allergies have free rein because I'm not taking any medication due to being pregnant and they are slowly getting worse and worse.

On Thursday night I think I managed 2 hours sleep and spent quite a few hours worrying about how difficult it was to breath and trying not to wake Graeme with all the sneezing and coughing. We went to the pharmacy on Friday first thing to see if they had any suggestions and I was sent straight to the doctor.

It turns out I have developed asthma - probably as a result of being all blocked up from the allergies.

I found this quite alarming but after speaking with the nurse and a colleague it turns out it can be quite common and normally only lasts the length of the pregnancy. Weird huh?

So now I have an inhaler which I am to take every 4 hours when I'm awake.

And I'm still sneezing and coughing with annoying regularity.

So to stop myself feeling too sorry for myself I want to focus on some happy, cheerful things. The camera has been quite neglected over the last few months but this week I've been taking a few snaps here and there and thought I'd share some of my current favourite things...

1) homemade nachos...tortilla chips with salsa and cheese (melted) and then a big dollop of sour cream on the top. I have a feeling baby will come out with a taste for nachos after the amount of these that I have been eating lately. And it's a very quick and easy to prepare meal too!

2) non-alcoholic Malibu flavoured chocolate (which my wonderful husband spotted in the supermarket)...lovely for a nibble every now and again. I also picked up Baileys flavour but haven't tried that yet.

3) this carrot cake recipe which I printed ages ago and got around to trying last weekend. No yucky sultanas or cream cheese topping in site. It wasn't as carroty as I would have liked but I put this down to me using very small carrots. Will try chunkier ones next time.

4) which leads on nicely to my favourite blog (where the above recipe came from) - lots of colour and inspiration and cheerfulness. It's made me want to have fresh flowers in the house all the time and try my hand at crochet!

5) beach-hut napkins, half price and I used a wedding gift vouchers (we bought other kitchen-ey stuff too but these are my favourites). I love beach huts and beachey scenes and may try my hand at getting this image onto a canvas

So there you have it - a few things to make me smile. I must remember to keep the camera handy and keep snapping as part of my 28 things list is to capture the seasons and document and summer is almost at an end.

Garden Helper

2010-02-22T20:08:00.003+13:00

I've not been much help at all in the garden lately. It's too hot, I get sleepy really quickly and I can't lift anything heavy!

But the good news is that G has another helper whose always keen to assist in anyway he can...

There's also a video but I can't for the life of me get the embed code to copy across properly. Here's the link if you want to have a look... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL9FL-0jCaY

So as Graeme trims the branches from the trees, Rhett pulls them across the lawn and shakes them (I think it might be to make sure they are dead?!) and then the branches are pulled to bits until he finds a nice chewy bit to sit and chew...for hours.

It sure helps us fit the debris in the green waste wheelie bin but makes a mess of the lawn!

I think he might be a bigger help than I've ever been!

I might be trying something new this week - more regular posts - I have a recipe to share and some general chit-chat so I'll try and post at least once more this week.

News

2010-02-12T21:09:00.002+13:00

I'm not sure this will be new news to anyone as the phone lines, skype sessions, facebook status' and tweets have been a buzz this last week or so....
But it is, after all, the next stage of our NZ adventure so I will share it here.
Bubs is due on 9th August. We had a scan at the start of this month and all seems well.
Other than extreme tiredness, unpleasant nausea and a ridiculously sensitive nose I've been keeping pretty well.
We are very excited and of course, a wee bit apprehensive about what changes this will bring...but we can't wait to meet Bubs :-)

Big Day Out

2010-01-25T21:25:00.007+13:00

On Thursday 14th January we finished work a little early, packed a bag and headed up to Taupo to stay the night. We stayed in a hotel on the lakefront and ate dinner watching the sunset. It was lovely. The hotel was safari themed and unlike anywhere I've stayed before.

On the Friday morning we left Taupo and carried on up State Highway 1 to Auckland where we were attending the Big Day Out. We were lucky enough to be able to check into our Auckland hotel a little early (another strange room - this time because it had a 'capsule/pod' like bathroom - very strange!) and leave the car behind before training to Mount Smart Stadium.

It was packed and a little overwhelming on arrival. Too many people, too hot and too much to look at. So we grabbed an ice lolly and found a seat in the shade and took part in some people watching. It was such a mix of people - all ages and all kinds. We stayed pretty close to the main area which held the orange and blue stages but moved seats a few times depending on what was going on.

My top 3 acts were:

No 1. Muse (how could it be anyone else!) They were amazing. Lasers and big screens and guitar playing acrobatics. What's not to like?!

No 2. Dizzee Rascal - I'm a little surprised by this as was expecting to like him but not necessarily love him but he really got the crowd going and Bonkers was amazing!

No 3. Lily Allen - unfortunately not as good as I'd hoped and the sound seemed a bit off but she was still worth a watch and got the crowd going with a couple of her more daring songs!

So a good time was had by all. I was exhausted by the end of it. Between the 3 hour drive from Taupo and a hot day and lots of music and clapping and singing I was ready for my bed by the time Muse were done. We had to get the train back to the hotel which was surprisingly easier than I had anticipated and we ended up back in our room just after midnight.

The next day we drove back to Palmy stopping in Hamilton to catch up with Kelly and Michael on the way. The weather on the Desert Road was shocking (very heavy rain and low visibiloty) but we eventually got home about 8.30pm. Needless to say we didn't do much at all on Sunday over than sleep and pick up the dog from the kennels :-)

Sunday Strolling

2010-01-10T21:30:00.005+13:00

It is past time for a new post methinks. The trouble is that the last one was so epic that I'm not sure how to match it. So I won't even try! Instead I will talk about this weekend and what we've been up to. Very mundane and ordinary but a nice way to document normal life.

Yesterday I started off with a little baking after a lazy start. I made chocolate chip cookies which were delicious and then had a go at making Quiche which made a yummy lunch.

In the afternoon Graeme headed down to Wellington with some soccer team mates to watch the Phoenix Game so I had a few hours laid out before me with no real plans. After dropping him off at the other side of town I decided to do a little bit of shopping on the way home. And I found these beautiful socks! Two pairs but I wore one of each for photo taking! Aren't they cute? I also bought some colourful bowls for the kitchen and some craft supplies amongst other things.

And then I didn't really do much at all. Read some inspiring creative blogs, had a bubble bath and read some magazines. The time flew by really and I couldn't quite believe half the weekend had been and gone already.

Today started with a lazy morning and my normal Sunday morning chat with my Mum.

The sky was looking grey and the forecast was for rain but I had a desire to be outside even if it meant being rained on. So we loaded the dog in the car and headed over to Ashhurst. The weather held out and it was a lovely relaxing walk.

We walked through the woods and along the gravel road and through the fields and up the steepest hill ever and finished at the cafe for refreshments. The good thing about Ashurst Domain is that a lot of the fields and paths are sectioned so we can let the dog off the lead for a run knowing he can only go so far.

One of the usual sectioned parts had some unexpected inhabitants this time. It was full of baby cows! They were gorgeous. We were a little worried about the dog with them as he had never been so close so he was kept on a tight lead and was very well behaved. The cows tended to move out of his way but as I brought up the back slowly, taking pictures as I went, they were more interested in me! This one (below) actually got so close to lick my bag and hand!

And this is the view from the top after the steeeeeep hill. For those of you that have been to this part of the world - this is actually the Manawatu Gorge in the background. A very windy stretch of road that can be hair-raising to drive!

When we got home we were all feeling rather tired about our stroll in the fresh air so we've had a rather easy-going afternoon. The Lord of the Rings trilogy has been playing on TV so we've had that on in the background between grocery shopping, folding washing and dinner preparations.

And now, it's soon to be tidy up and bed time. The end of another weekend. It's a shame. I enjoy being at home with my boys and pottering around. I'm feeling tired just thinking about getting up at a respectable time and going to work. But we have to keep the dog in food somehow :-)

It's nice to keep note of what we've been doing though. It will be interesting to look back on in time to come I imagine to see how things have changed.

And one more picture to show you. This isn't a project from this weekend but I did get around to photographing it yesterday so wanted to show it off. I am far too lazy to do this kind of work in the hot summer sun. This is the work of my lovely husband - last weekend. The mulch on the beds kept coming down to the grass and you couldn't see where one started and one finished. It made cutting the grass a little difficult. So we bought the edging and Graeme spent a few hours fitting it around the curves of our back flowerbed. I love it - think it's a nice finishing touch for the garden and makes the lawn look even better when it's freshly mowed!

And that's me for now. I seem to have got my photo taking inspiration back after a couple of months off so I am hoping I can keep taking photos to share on the blog. See you soon.

The Noughties : : 2000-2009

2010-01-01T20:27:00.005+13:00

Wow, end of the decade. This, like the end of the year, snuck up on me somewhat. I’m not sure where these last few days have gone following Christmas and thinking about it that could be said for this last year and the decade as a whole. It’s sped by. I really can’t believe that this time 10 years ago me and my friend Lou were in Scotland to celebrate Millennium Hogmanay and I met the guy that finally, this year, became my husband.

I started this list the other day and today I found all my old diaries and combed through them to get the right dates for some things and make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything. It’s made me really nostalgic. I’m very lucky to have some lovely friends and family and I miss those that aren’t near me every single day. I never would have imagined in 1999 that I would be where I am now but I’m glad I’m here. It’s been up and down all the way but an amazing decade.

I wonder what the next one will bring?!

2000 : : 8 months of a long distance relationship, completed my A levels, moved to Scotland, started full time employment, almost got snowed in over Christmas

2001 : : Bought a car, bought our flat in Glasgow and got settled in, had a road trip from Scotland to Essex for a seaside holiday with the family

2002 : : Went to Crete - Greece, got a new job, went to the gym regularly, my Nan died

2003 : : Went to Gibraltar, got Dave the hamster, went for a lovely break to the Lake District, took a web design course

2004 : : Went camping in Inverarry, went to Zante - Greece, got engaged, went to Alton Towers, started book reviewing, played alot of badminton, planned our travel to New Zealand

2005 : : Sold the flat, car and most of our belongings, gave up our jobs, had an amazing leaving party, arrived in New Zealand end of June, travelled round for 5 weeks, settled in Palmerston North, bought a car, went to Brisbane, Australia to see the rellies, my Dad came to stay for Christmas

2006 : : Got permanent residency in NZ, took a Freelance Journalism course, got a permanent job, Len – my Nan’s partner died, bought our house, got the puppy, started scrapbooking, Mum came for her first NZ visit, Dad came for Christmas

2007 : : Started my new job, went to Melbourne to go to the Grand Prix, wrote a novel, got chicken pox, got Graeme on a horse, went to the UK for Christmas

2008 : : Celebrated Hogmanay in Glasgow and then went to Italy, Hong Kong and Thailand, got indefinite returning residents visas, Graeme started his current job, went to Brisbane to visit the rellies, booked the wedding

2009 : : Had a trip back to the UK to escape NZ winter, Graeme’s Gran died, finally got married

2009 Ta Da List

2009-12-31T17:09:00.005+13:00

Previous lists can be found here: 2008 2007 2006

In 2009 I:

Finally got married
Visited Ireland, specifically Dublin, for the first time
Got a promotion at work
Saw the All Blacks play France
Met John Campbell
Saw Kings of Leon live in Wellington
Saw Billy Connelly again (the 1st time was 2005 in Glasgow)
Decorated the lounge and dining room
Planned the wedding
Visited friends and family in the UK
Ate Rossi’s ice-cream at Southend seafront
Conquered all the scary rides at Chessington World of Adventures
Finally got engagement photos taken
Got a spray tan (without looking orange)
Grew my hair the longest it’s ever been
Visited Huka Falls and Craters of the Moon
Found a scrummy pancake recipe (thanks Delia)
Learnt to Crochet (Thanks Laura! I still need heaps of practice though)
Bought and used a bread-maker
Discovered Big Huge Labs Mosaic Maker
Took lots of photos from planes
Baked muffins, cakes, biscuits and savouries that tasted good
Kept a holiday journal
Had my photo taken with a bagpiper (and Graeme’s 2 cousins!)
Went through the Clyde Tunnel holding my breath the whole way
Visited the Guinness Storehouse and had a diet coke in the Gravity Bar
Learnt Something New every day in September and scrapped it
Bought the prettiest, sparkliest shoes that receive attention wherever they go
Visited Kelly and Michael and went to Hamilton Zoo
Assisted at my first ever Kiwi Sausage Sizzle
Removed all the sequins from my wedding dress so it could be dry-cleaned (thanks Mum. Now I just need to find someone to sew them back on!)
Completed 22 of my 27 things to do aged 27 list and wrote my 28 @ 28 list
Took 3814 photos (a bit more than that actually because I deleted the really blurry ones as I went along)

And it was taking all those photos that helped me write this list! Without going through my monthly photos I would never have managed to get this list as long as it is. So there you have it.

Bring on 2010 and all the Ta Da's that will come with it :-)

Blogging from the iPhone

2009-12-27T11:08:00.001+13:00

Wow, look at me getting all technological and blogging from graemes iPhone. Shame I forgot to put a capital G for Graemes name and don't know how to go back to it without deleting the whole word though.
Not worked out how to add photos yet, that will be my next challenge!
Today I think we are heading to the movies. We are deciding between The Lovely Bones and Sherlock Holmes. Graeme is more keen to see Sherlock and I don't think I'll argue - who can resist Jude Law!
Well I better post this and give Graeme his phone back before he gets withdrawal symptoms!
Back soon and hopefully with photos!

Muddly

2009-12-26T20:56:00.004+13:00

No not muddy, MUDDLY. Which is how I'm feeling at the moment. Got lots of things whizzing around in my head and no focus to get any of them done.

I think it's end of year-itis. Feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything I want to get finished before 2010. And when Kate feels overwhelmed she does nothing. Not good.

For example, I thought I'd make a start on my 2009 Ta Da list and couldn't get past Number 3. Now I'm positive I've achieved more than 3 things this year (and yes I did remember 'getting married' - that's number 1!). But I can't for the life of me remember how I've completed the previous 3 years lists (which I'll link to when I get the 2009 list completed). I think it will be a pouring over of the calendar and diary and blog posts and see how far I get.

Boxing Day is always a strange day. A bit of a comedown I suppose after the big day. We've kept it fairly low-key really. We did brave the Plaza which I didn't think was possible. It wasn't actually too bad - probably helped by the fact we went at 4.30pm when everyone else was laden with bags and heading back to their cars. I didn't get much but my husband bought an iPhone. I would be jealous but he's promised to let me play with it too. Who knows - maybe my next blog post will be from the iPhone.

So I will head back to my muddly-ness and leave you with a picture of our forever puppy - isn't he gorgeous?!

And yes, I hope to be back in a day or two with a Ta Da list.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T12:39:00.003+13:00

Wishing you all a wonderfully festive Christmas wherever you may be.

Love and slabbers,

from

K, G & R

xxxxxx

Feeling a little festive

2009-12-13T17:44:00.004+13:00

The christmas box has come out of the cupboard...

the decorations have been unpacked...

the twigs have come out the garage and been de-spidered...

and the christmas candles have been lit...

Things are starting to look a little like Christmas around here.

December already!

2009-12-04T20:59:00.004+13:00

Not quite sure how it happened but it's December already. Christmas Day in 3 weeks time. Wow. Where did this year go? Who knows?!

We have the advent calendar up - filled with Thorntons chocs from the UK food shop - and a poinsettia but that's the extent of the festive decorations so far. Oh, and we bought a christmas smelling candle but haven't burned it yet.

I'm working all weekend (yuck!) so not sure how much I will get festive before next week but I will try.

We are both pretty snowed with work at the moment and looking forward to the break over xmas to rest and recuperate ready for a new year and a new decade. (Never mind where did this year go, what about the decade!)

We have the proof book from the photographers and hoping to pick photos for our album and thank you cards soon.

There's lots to do and it doesn't feel like there's enough time but I'm sure we will get through it all.

Oh and somewhere in the middle of work this weekend I have to write my xmas cards cos I'm already a week past the last posting date.

Very random post but thought it was time for an update and I've not got any photos to share but will try to rectify that over the coming weeks.

28 things aged 28

2009-11-22T21:04:00.005+13:00

(Had been planning to post more wedding mosaics but can't remember my password for the mosaic programme - hopefully will get more up in the next few days).

Following on from the success of my 27 things to do aged 27 list I came up with a similar list for my 28th birthday.
Like last year, I will try and do sporadic updates to show how I am getting on.

Here goes:

28 things, aged 28

=complete

=started

=not done

1. Post 28 hand-written letters DONE
2. Get married – become Mrs. G DONE
3. Perfect my new ‘married’ signature DONE
4. Have a honeymoon DONE
5. Watch 28 movies DONE
6. Play Badminton
7. Ride a horse
8. Read ‘A Brave New World’ by Aldous Huxley
9. Swim 20 times 3/20
10. Scrapbook our wedding photos (not scrapbooked in the usual sense but I have the professional album plus an album of guests shots so I'm calling this DONE)
11. Walk Rhett 75 times (nowhere near 75 unfortunately)
12. Capture the seasons on camera and document (Half done - I got the photos but didn't document them in anyway)
13. Give myself 50 beauty treatments (about 20/50)
14. Purchase 28 bonus bonds
15. Scrapbook 50 times
16. Keep an everyday life journal (300/365 days at least)..(I made a good start on this but didn't make 300 days)
17. Make an acrylic mini book - I bought the album, might get round to making it this year!
18. Blog 50 times - 29/50
19. List 100 things I love about myself
20. Try a new recipe every month DONE
21. Crochet something DONE - I haven't finished it bit I've definetely crocheted something!
22. Tell Graeme I love him 100 different ways
23. Have a K&G date night every month
24. Eat 365 portions of fruit
25. Choose a song per month for my 28 compilation album
26. Go on the Wii Fit/Treadmill 50 times
27. Phone a friend every month
28. Spend time each week making the house ready for company

One thing already completed before I've even posted the list. Result!

All on our lonesome

2009-11-15T21:04:00.001+13:00

f friends 13
Originally uploaded by Katie in NZ

The last of our guests left this morning on her way back to the UK (bye Sarah!) and the house feels so empty.
Don't get me wrong - it's lovely to finally have some alone time with my new husband (still smile everytime I say or type that) but we miss everyone so much.
For the last 3 weeks we have had at least one person staying with us and most of the time it's been much more than one.
The three of us (me, G and Rhett) are rattling around not quite sure what to do with ourselves.

So between weepy missing everyone moments I am trying to keep busy. Today I baked rolls and fairy cakes ans we watched Elf (best Christmas movie ever!)
We had some amazing fresh fish fried in breadcrumbs for our tea. This morning was the first of the Palmy Farmers Market which will hopefully become a permanent Sunday morning fixture in town. We also bought cheese. Next week I'm hoping to get some local and fresh eggs and veggies - yummy.

Will get mosaicing with some other wedding photos soon and get them posted.
On Friday we also had the excitement of access to our online album containing 397 photos by the official photographers - way too many to choose from! They are all lovely.

This is turning out to be quite random now so I am off for a bubble bath and early night.

This photo is us with all of our friends that came to the wedding.

Wedding : : The Boys

2009-11-07T21:45:00.002+13:00

: : Top to bottom, left to right : :
1. At the hotel, 2. Posing at the heliport, 3. Same
4. Arriving at Boomrock, 5. Same, 6. Waiting for the bride
7. Groom shooting, 8. Bestman shooting, 9. Posing
10. Extreme golf, 11. No garters, 12. What does a Scotsman wear under his kilt?

Wedding : : Food

2009-11-07T21:08:00.005+13:00

: : Top to bottom, left to right : :

1. Title, 2. Starter - Beef fillet with horseradish filled Yorkshire pudding & rocket salad, 3. Starter - Buffalo Mozzarella Vine Tomato basic & proscuitto
4. Main - Snapper fillet, pan roasted with pepper provolone tapenade, warm snow pea, scallion, pear tomato & bell pepper salad, 5. Main - Lamb rump with roasted kumara, pumpkin, potato & parsnip with mint jelly, 6. Dessert - Traditional New Zealand Pavlova with Kiwifruit Strawberries & Cream

I had the buffalo mozzarella, lamb and pavlova. Graeme had the beef, lamb and pavlova. It was divine.

*

We also had canapes after the ceremony which were amazing. Unfortunately, we were all busy with activities and photographs when they were served so there are no photos but they were beautiful. The pakorah was my favourite :-) Here's what we had:

Lemon chicken skewers with lemon pickle
Boomrock venison sausage rolls with Maharaja chutney
Carrot & pistachio ‘pakorah’ with yoghurt & poppy seed dressing

Wedding : : Details

2009-11-07T20:08:00.004+13:00

: : Top to bottom, left to right : :

1. Bride's bouquet, 2. Mother of Bride buttonhole, 3. Wedding cakes

4. Bride's hair, 5. Bouquet's and dresses, 6. Mother of Groom buttonhole

7. Place setting, 8. the Table, 9. Table decoration

Just some of the details I want to share here. If you have an aversion to weddings you may want to avoid the blog for a couple of weeks. If you love weddings, come back every few days and I'll try to make regular posts.

mr & mrs

2009-11-04T23:35:00.001+13:00

i us 17
Originally uploaded by Katie in NZ

On Monday (2nd November 2009) we became Mr and Mrs.
It was an amazingly beautiful day and we are currently over-awed by the amazing photos our guests have taken.
This is just one of them.
We will try and get more posted over the coming days but if you want to dive straight in and see them all - go here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/katieinnz/sets/72157622606789289/

27 things at 27

2009-10-22T23:24:00.004+13:00

Well I didn't go too badly with the list as a whole.

There are some things I just didn't do but that's okay. If they're still important to me I've added them to my 28 list (yes I am doing this all over again!) perhaps with different wording or making them more measurable. If they're not important for me for my 28th year then c'est la vie - life changes and so do I.

There are also some of the mammoth tasks (i.e. requiring weekly or daily actions) where I was one or two off the total but that's alright - if I got more than 95% I'm calling it done and drawing a line under it! These last 5 weeks have been pretty different to how I had planned and I have to accept that some of these things just weren't a priority.

So out of the 27 things on the list - I completed (or will complete once I've got past the end of today!) 22 (hey - my lucky number) of the items.

Out of the 5 I didn't d0 - 2 have been ditched as they are not a priority for this next year and 3 have been reshaped and added to the 28 list.

The 28 list is only handwritten at this stage but I'll get it on here some time soon.

And I would recommend something like this - so much more fun than new years resolutions :-)

Wedding Favours

2009-10-22T23:02:00.002+13:00

I've been busy this week organising the favours for the wedding. I decided to make origami boxes for the favours. Anything involving paper and my hands is always good!

So here they are above - the pink bases and the start of the name tags.

And below - I've now folded the blue lids as well and even made a set of tags and boxes for me and Graeme - although we will only be getting part favours...trying to keep it a surprise so can't spill too much just yet!

I've also found pink ribbon to match the flowers and ordered some black and white tartan (which I hope will be here in time!) that's the closest match I can get to Graeme's kilt. I will tie the ribbon round the boxes and then tie on the name tags. These will then be the place name settings at the table.
Gorgeous huh?!

Birthday Blog

2009-10-22T22:42:00.006+13:00

Today is my 28th birthday. I must say it's been quite a strange birthday. Not bad by any means, just strange with everything else we've got going on at the moment!

I finished work yesterday so I could take my birthday off but Graeme was still at work today. He was also out for pre-wedding drinks with the football lot last night so was perhaps a little worse for wear this morning (!) but still managed to wish me a happy birthday and show plenty of enthusiasm for me opening my presents and cards before he went off to work.

I did well with presents and got some books, a CD, some British chocolate, a Kate pen, a gorgeous tiny plate to keep my rings on when I'm not wearing them, some British pounds and some cute heart window stickers. Lucky girl :-)

As it was Graeme's last day at work - they held a morning tea for him and had decorated his desk 'wedding style'. I went in to see everyone and must say Graeme looked very fetching in the veil they made him wear :-) I didn't have the camera with me...and even if I did I'm not sure he'd let me publish the photos!

After leaving Graeme to do some work I took a stroll back to the car via George Street which is a lovely little boutique-y type shopping street. I decided I may as well spoil myself just a little and had a stroll round the shops.

I bought a few 'nick-nacks' including this tiny K & G - sorry for the bad quality photo. I collect K & G's and have them scattered about the house! The little symbols on the G are 'Buzzy Bees' - a true kiwi icon.

I also couldn't resist this sign as soon as I saw it! And I didn't know Rhett could read but he obviously can because he has been in and out of the back door all day long. And it was raining so I had to dry him off everytime he came in! He really does have ants in his pants at the moment. I think he is picking up on my slight anxious/stress/worry-ness that's in the air....it's all getting a bit close now and I am feeling a little restless myself.

And finally - here's the freshly dusted and reorganised mantle piece with my birthday cards. They're not all here yet - apparently there's a couple more on their way over with my Mum.

And that was my 28th birthday :-)

1 more day left at work

2009-10-20T22:03:00.002+13:00

I can't quite believe it. After tomorrow, the next time I go back to work (I hope!) I will be married.

Gradually getting more organised and slowly ticking things off the list.

Feeling yucky tonight though and in need of some sleep so this is going to become possibly the shortest blog post in history.

Hope to be back with photos tomorrow.

Night night.

In two weeks time...

2009-10-19T23:25:00.004+13:00

We will be Mr and Mrs. How awesome is that?!

I really wish I could add more words and photos to these last few blog posts of my 27th year but as you can imagine - there is much to be done.

Tonight we have been making changes to our ceremony and I have been making origami boxes for the wedding favours.

And our first guest arrives on Saturday (Princess Louisa) - I have her airport sign - which she requested months ago all ready for her arrival - complete with glitter glue - it's classy, let me tell you :-)

The picture is of my beloved fairylights in a basket with collected shells and pebbles and the ornament was our wedding present from Graeme's Gran and Grandpa. It seems right to have it out, twinkling next to the lights and ready for our guests to arrive and the big day to take place.

7 more to go after this one

2009-10-17T22:09:00.004+13:00

On my list of 27 things to do aged 27 (it's not up to date by the way - I'll do a conclusion post once I'm no longer 27!), number 19 on the list was to Blog 52 times.

I have to blog 7 times after this post to complete that goal. And it's my 28th birthday on Thursday so I have until Thursday to do it.

I also have to walk the dog more times than there are days left and also finish my 28 list so I'm already to start on Friday with that one!

Wish me good luck :-)

He's Home

2009-10-14T21:19:00.002+13:00

...and sleeping off the jet lag after being smothered with hugs (of course)!

So good to have all our feet on the same piece of ground (or carpet) and to be operating in the same time zone.

And next on the agenda is a wedding...

Looking Forward

2009-10-12T21:54:00.006+13:00

I promise I will consider going back to the Holiday in Review posts at a later date but at the moment I am trying to focus on the future and the things we have to look forward to.

Namely, this time in 3 weeks, fingers crossed, I will be Mrs Graeme ;-) (by the way - that could very well be the most amount of commas I have ever put in one sentence!)

Graeme is on his way back to NZ as I type and I cannot wait to wrap my arms around him and give him the biggest hug ever in the history of the world. I have a fortnights worth of normal hugs to give him let alone all those ones I was desperate to give when things were tough and we both needed it.

It's been so strange in the house without him. Me and Rhett have been wandering around aimlessly quite a lot - both expecting him to be here somewhere and then remembering why he isn't :-( But we have lots of great family and friends sending messages and emails and tweets and all sorts of things that keep us smiling. And we have some great locals nearby as well.

So yesterday (Sunday) we took a walk down the river with our neighbour and his dog Ramses. Rhett was most excited about riding in the back of the ute and had his head stuck off the side the whole way looking at where he was going and breathing in all the fresh air. (Can you believe this is the dog that once used to be sick just looking at the car?!) We walked for over an hour and a half and it was nice to be out in the air and watching the dogs sniff everything in sight and go paddling every now and again.

By the time we got home and washed the stinky water and mud off Rhett I managed to snap a quick photo of us both enjoying the long awaited sunshine while Rhett smelt nice and before we both collapsed to relax after our eventful day :-)

Graeme's Gran

2009-10-11T22:05:00.002+13:00

Graeme with his Gran & Grandpa at Loch Lomond, July 2009

I’ve been debating all week whether or not to mention what has been happening these last couple of weeks and have finally decided that it’s the right thing to do.

Graeme’s Gran – Margaret – died on Friday 2nd October.

After the news came that the doctors could do nothing more for her we got Graeme on a plane as soon as we could. He arrived in Glasgow on lunchtime on Thursday 1st October and was able to spend time with his Gran before she died. I am so thankful that he was able to get there in time to see her and so grateful to her for waiting to see him.

There is so much I could say about Graeme’s Gran. She was a strong person with a huge personality. I think the words from her funeral service describe her well so I will let them do it for me:

Margaret was a person of great warmth, faithfulness, encouragement and love. She had a good sense of humour and a quick mind and she enjoyed life. People, especially the family and close friends were very important to her and she went out of her way to support and help them.
She had a great interest in knitting, gardening, cooking and baking - and she had a knack for ‘sorting things’ when people had problems. She loved all sorts of music, she enjoyed travelling and visiting places and finding out about the history of wherever she was.
She had her own ways of doing things and encouraged others to work the same way. She set high standards for herself and others.

One of Margaret’s requests was - that those who are able to - to give blood as she had to have several transfusions during her treatments. So please do so if you can.

She will be greatly missed.

Just Because...

2009-09-22T22:03:00.004+12:00

Because there are 70,000 things going round in my head right now and I haven't had a minute to sit and sort through the Ireland photos to do my Dublin post let alone any others.

But I just had to get some photos off the camera to email to a friend and I saw this one and it made me forget the 70,000 other things and smile.

And perhaps you need to forget some stuff and smile too...

Recipe for Malteaser Tiffin (Fridge) Cake

2009-09-10T21:14:00.003+12:00

A brief break in Holiday in Review posts. I haven't got my Dublin photos organised yet but wanted to post something :-)

While we were in Scotland I got this recipe from Graeme's Gran. I tried making it recently and it's amazing!

It is very sweet and even I (Queen of Sweet!) can't eat more than one piece at once. I took some to work and they loved it so much they all wanted the recipe.

Here's what it looked like in my baking tin....

And here's the recipe....

Ingredients:

100g margarine (I used butter and it worked fine)
3 tbsp syrup
150g milk cooking chocolate
225g digestive biscuits, roughly crushed
225g malteasers, halved or crushed
400g white or milk cooking chocolate

Instructions:

Melt the first 3 ingredients, then add the biscuits and malteasers.
Mix well and spread over a swiss roll tin.
Cover either with melted white or milk chocolate.
When chocolate is set cut into squares.

My notes:

We couldn't find milk cooking chocolate at supermarket so it was standard plain cooking chocolate and it was yummy but the milk might go better with malteasers.
I put the tin in the fridge to set but kept checking on it and before the chocolate set hard I made cut lines which I think made it easier to cut up. It was a bit tricky getting the first bit out of the pan though!
550g chocolate is a huge amount - we only got about 500g or just under and that was still plenty to give it a thick chocolate top.

Enjoy and do let me know what you think if you try it :-)

Holiday in Review - Part 2 - Scotland (part 1)

2009-08-31T16:42:00.009+12:00

After arriving in Glasgow on Sunday evening (26th July) we got a good sleep but found ourselves awake at 5am on the Monday morning! Isn't jetlag great?!

We took it easy on Monday and caught up with family and visited Graeme's cousins new school (the same primary school that Graeme went to which has been rebuilt on a new site since we were last there). The jetlag was still evident that night because we were asleep by 8pm!

Tuesday was a brilliant day. We headed up to Loch Lomond Shores with Graeme's Mum, Gran, Grandpa, Aunt and 2 cousins. (Hi Nicole and Emma!)

It was reasonable weather and lovely to look around the shops there and take in the sights of the loch. We also took a drive round to Balloch Castle and were surprised to see it all boarded up. But we were still able to walk round the grounds and right down to the loch side to take lots of pictures and admire the scenery! We finished the day off with fish and chips from the chippy and Balloch which we sat by the river and ate before all piling back in the cars to head back to Glasgow. All in all a lovely day.

Wednesday was Graeme's Mums last day with us before flying back to Bristol that night so we went for a family lunch and got some family photos before dropping her at the airport. It was sad to say goodbye but great to know the next time we see her will be in New Zealand when she comes out for the wedding! On the way home from the airport we stopped in at Pollock Park which we used to visit alot when we lived in Glasgow and took an evening stroll to admire Pollock House and the gardens.

On Thursday we headed back up to Loch Lomond with Graeme's cousins to pick up a wedding present that we had ordered on the Tuesday. Graeme's Aunt, Uncle and Cousins had bought us a beautiful print of Loch Lomond in Autumn by Daniel Campbell so we drove back up to collect that and had a great excuse to have an ice-cream by the Loch! We had a great laugh with the girls in the car and after heading home to cook dinner for Graeme's Grandparents we took the girls to Braehead shopping centre to hunt out some bargains!

On Friday we got the train into town and met some friends for lunch (Hi DJ and Craig!) - yummy Chinese! It was really good to see them - felt like ages since last time (December 2007).

I used the excuse of being in town to do some shopping and got a few things. Probably the most shocking thing of the whole holiday occured on this day. I went into Borders/Paperchase and DIDN'T buy anything. I know, crazy huh?!

That night we headed over to Shawlands and caught up with Alan and Lindsey in the pub which was good. I had a big surprise when I bumped into Terry and Gordon who I worked with way back in 2001 and had a good gossip with them about what they've been up to!

So that's the first 5 days in Scotland. Next post will be aboout our couple of days in Dublin and then we were back in Glasgow for a night before heading down to Essex.

In other news - I'm just back from a weekend in Auckland with work. Life is back to being hectic once again! We are currently trying to get a lot sorted with regards to the wedding, tidy up house and garden ready for our guests and work is set to be fairly busy for both of us. Here's hoping for a lay-in sometime after the wedding :-)

Holiday in Review - Part 1 - Getting there

2009-08-23T11:37:00.005+12:00

So it's been a while. Mostly due to the fact we were away for almost 3 weeks and it's taken me over a week to catch up on sleep :-)
Before that, my only excuse is too much excitment at the prospect of a holiday and seeing family and friends to sit down in a chair and type a post - pathetic eh?!

Anyway - I have plenty of photos and a few words to share - a review of our time away. I don't want to bore you in one sitting though so thought I'd split it up a little for you.

This time - you get an idea of our itinerary and news and photos from the 30 hour journey.

So we said a fond farewell to the dog and headed round to Palmy for our 6pm flight to Auckland on Saturday 25th July. We managed to get to Palmy just in the nick of time to check our bags all the way through to Glasgow (handy!)

We then had about 4 hours up in Auckland before our international to London Heathrow via Hong Kong.

The flight wasn't too bad. We managed to get some sleep (I think I got about 4 hours in the first leg and none on the 2nd). I watched 'He's Just Not That Into You', '17 Again' and 'Monsters Vs. Aliens' plus some episodes of 'Two and a Half Men' and 'The Big Bang Theory'.
The food was okay, I stayed clear of alcohol and popped my homeopathic No Jet Lag pills every couple of hours.
We were surprised to find the shops at Hong Kong shut when we arrived at about 6am in the morning. Okay, I realise it was 6am but I just figured a busy international airport like that would be open round the clock.
It didn't matter too much though - we sat ourselves down and watched planes and people and the hour and a half wait flew by.

We got to Heathrow about 2.30pm in the afternoon and managed to get through security and customs without too many long lines or hassle.

The coolest thing was being able to switch our mobiles on as we taxied in and my phone beeping with messages from actual friends and family (not just the standard text from vodafone UK) welcoming us to their timezone and checking if we had arrived yet! I called my Mum from a payphone at Heathrow - pleased to call her at a reasonable time for once and we mooched round the shops to kill some time.

Then we headed down to the BMI lounge to wait for our flight to Glasgow. Honestly - that's when I started to wilt. I was half asleep on a typically-uncomfortable airport chair when a message was read out calling a list of names of people flying to Glasgow. I couldn't be sure but I thought perhaps I had just heard two completely new and previously unheard pronounciations of our names so we headed over to the desk. Turns out since we had checked in (back in Palmy about 28 hours or so before) the plane type had changed meaning our seats were invalid.

I thought I reined myself in quite well here because at this point - 28 hours into a journey with about 4 hours sleep - I was ready to scream and cry if someone told me we weren't getting on that flight.

But it wasn't a message to say we weren't getting on. They actually told us they were upgrading us! They must have taken one look at us and realised we needed reclining chairs to get some sleep! An upgrade on the longer journey would have been preferred but I wasn't going to complain and soon we were sitting on big leather chairs that could recline almost to the point where we were laying straight!

Needless to say we slept most of the flight - even declining the free meal (with real china, glasses and cutlery) in favour of keeping our eyes closed.

I did manage to wake up in enough time to get some photos of Glasgow as we landed though. And we managed to wake up pretty quickly at the excitment of seeing family we hadn't seen for over 18 months!

Graeme's Aunt met us at the airport (and it was strange seeing the new layout and security measures at Glasgow - brought home exactly what had happened since the last time we had been at that airport) and we loaded up the cases and headed over to Graeme's Grandparents house. It was so good to see all the family and we sat in the lounge and chatted. And then Graeme's Mum landed (from Bristol) about an hour and a half after us and she turned up too! We managed to last until about 9pm catching up with everyone before we wilted and had to make our way upstairs to catch some zzzzz's :-)

Next post - a summary of what we got up to in Glasgow and Scotland.

Oamaru and other news

2009-07-05T20:26:00.001+12:00

Oamaru Whitestone-pola
Originally uploaded by Katie in NZ

I love Oamaru (not worked out links via Flickr 'Blog This' yet... http://www.visitoamaru.co.nz/?welcome).
It's just gorgeous - between the penguins colonies, beautiful whitestone and knick-knack shops I am in heaven whenever I visit.
I was there mid June for work and took this photo.
And no, I haven't somehow miraculously got my hands on a polaroid camera. I've been playing with Polardroid - you drag and drop your photos to it and it turns them into a polaroid complete with polaroid quality! Cool huh? (www.polardroid.net)

What else is new? Hmmm, I finally got round to cutting some flowers from the bush in our garden and putting them in wee glasses on the fireplace. They look gorgeous - haven't got the photos of the camera yet but will try and post it soon.

It's been chilly as here. Winter well and truly but the good news is that winter solstice has passed so the nights should be drawing out.
Not long now until we spend some time in the UK and Ireland with friends and family. I can't believe it's July already.
And it's less than 4 months until we get married. Wow - so much to do before then. We are almost sorted with rings and I am hoping to sort out my wedding dress this week. That's most of the big things at least half sorted. I am sure it will all come together in the end.

And I've been doing lots of baking: muffins, biscuits, cheesy crumbles and fairy cakes - all rather yummy I do have to say. It means that we know what ingredients are going into what we're eating and also helps warm up the house when it's chilly!

Be back with more photos soon.

Mt. Taranaki (aka Mt. Egmont)

2009-06-29T22:19:00.001+12:00

090617
Originally uploaded by Katie in NZ

Trying out my Flickr 'blog this' button to see how it works.
This photo was taken a couple of weeks ago when I drove over to New Plymouth for work. It's a 6 hour round trip so I was pretty tired by the time I got home. The views were pretty awesome though. A beautiful snowy mountain to drive towards in the morning and then this view in my wing mirror as I drove home. And yes I was driving when I took this shot. And yes that tiny little point in the wing mirror is the mountain :-)

Blogging from a new location

2009-06-29T22:06:00.005+12:00

Worry not - I have not moved. I am right where I should be. Just blogging from the laptop tonight rather than the PC. The reasons for this are 2 fold:
1) The PC is so slow lately it's driving me up the wall and 2) Graeme's poorly and watching Lord of the Rings in bed so I am cosied up next to him watching Lord of the Rings with one eye (which is closing firmly at the bits that scare the living bejeezus out of me) while blogging at the same time.
This does mean I don't have my usual access to photos but hope to upload one or two through Flickr so you won't be too bored by my words and will get some visual goodiness.

It's been busy as usual round here but we've been enjoying ourselves. Graeme turned the grand old age of 29 on the 20th so we headed off down to Wellington for the weekend. Primarily to see the lovely All Blacks who were just as awesome as you would expect them to be. They may not have won the trophy but it was still an amazing feeling to be in the same stadium as them. We got absolutely soaked and chilled to the skin but it was so worth it!

We also got some wedding bits done and are pleased to report that we have chosen a celebrant so we have someone to marry us in November. That's a relief, let me tell you. As much fun as it would have been to have Lou ordained to marry us, I would quite like it to be official, thank you very much.

Well the batteries going on the laptop and Frodo's debating whether or not to throw the ring in the fire so I will call it a night for now and hope to be posting another update soon.

Signs of Winter

2009-06-14T18:33:00.007+12:00

I can't believe how long it's been since my last post. I keep meaning to sit and find some photos and get them posted but it's been hectic. We have both been very busy with work and hardly saw each other last week. It's settled down now - for a week at least - so I thought I would make the most of being at home and near the PC to post!

I have already started writing my 28 @ 28 list (in the same vein as my 27 @ 27 list which can be found here http://kandgnzadventure.blogspot.com/2008/11/list.html) and one of the things I have added is to capture and document each season. I love watching the changes of the seasons and often take photos but have never documented them or done it with any regularity.

Of course, I am too impatient to wait until my birthday to start doing this so I have already started taking pictures of winter (it will probably be document one of the seasons on my 28 list). I have dotted a couple of the photos through this post.

I am lucky enough to do a lot of travelling and flying with work which is how I got photos of Mt. Taranaki and Mt. Ruapehu with snow on them. Aren't they gorgeous? Totally makes me wish I could snowboard or ski to make the most of them. I also recently bought some fingerless gloves which I thought captured winter well. I have been printing the photos when I order others to be printed and will probably turn them into a mini scrapbook.

So that's what I am up to at the moment. As well as arranging a UK visit, my wedding, a mass invasion of family and friends, working and a hundred other things! Busy is good though - I get more done when I'm busy.

And I hope to post sooner next time so you are not waiting so long next time :-)

Ten Things Right Now

2009-05-17T19:49:00.003+12:00

Lists are the way forward...

1) I just downloaded Coldplay's free album for fans here

2) In 9 weeks time we will be in the UK (local time)

3) We are going to see the All Blacks play France on Graeme's birthday

4) I am wearing a blanket over a hoody

5) I love our newly decorated lounge more each day

6) I watched last week's Grey's Anatomy on TVNZ On Demand tonight and sobbed most of the way through it

7) We had lamb and roast veggies with couscous, natural yogurt, flaked almonds and mint sauce for tea tonight

8) I can hear Graeme on the Wii Fit (between Coldplay tracks at top volume!)

9) I ran out of hayfever meds on Friday and my eyes itch like nobody's business. Totally going to doctors tomorrow.

10) My hair is getting super long and I like it.

Something new - video blogging

2009-05-09T15:52:00.003+12:00

So much easier than a large flowery description and a gazillion photos.
Here's the lounge:

Flickr Mosaic

2009-04-26T11:50:00.003+12:00

This was lots of fun...
Here it is on my Flickr account with credits for the photos.

Here's how it works:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.

b. Pick an image you like.

c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker.

1. What is your first name? Katie
2. What is your favorite food? Tiramisu
3. What high school or college did you go to? King John School
4. What is your favorite color? Pink
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Rob Pattinson
6. Favorite drink? Starbucks
7. Favorite dessert? Tiramisu
8. What you want to be when you grow up? Content
9. What do you love most in life? Love
10. One Word to describe you. Crazy
11. Dream vacation? Around the World
12. Your flickr name. Katie in NZ

Now consider yourself "tagged" if this looks fun to you!
(Discovered here: http://scrapbooklady.typepad.com/katie_the_scrapbook_lady/2008/06/mosaic-tag.html)

A New Zealand Great

2009-04-18T00:02:00.002+12:00

G and I just spent too long (and too much of our bandwidth) watching clips of comedy shows on YouTube. We eventually ended up at this clip which G had seen before and recommended.
It's awesome and we think it just sums up kiwis rather well. Take of that what you will :-)

arggggguuuurrrrrh!

2009-04-16T20:46:00.003+12:00

Note: I wrote this post yesterday (Thursday 19th April) and it was longer than this one now but Blogger ate it and I thought it was lost forever. Surprisingly it was in my drafts when Blogger allowed me to log in again today so here it is. It's not in it's entirety - there were a couple more paragraphs at the end but I am looking at the positives here (see below :-) ) and just grateful that 85% of it remains!

That title has been coming out of my mouth fairly often this week. It does not even deserve a capital letter as it's a negative noise and I need to get over myself and perk up.
I think I am becoming more kiwi as the days go by. I hope, in some ways, I am. That laid back attitude and ability to pick yourslef up and get moving right along is something I admire hugely...given the right situation.

So apologies, my little blog, for neglecting you. I've been meaning to swing by and pay you a visit and leave you some words but it just hasn't been happening.

Here's an update:

Decorating is on to Plan B....possibly even Plan C by now.

The stripped walls in the lounge are un-smoothable. No amount of sanding is ever gonna get those suckers smooth. So we are looking at getting it skimmed. Which means tradesmen. And waiting. And being stood up. Do these people not want my money?! Luckily, NZ tradesman are a better breed than some others I have met. The one that stood me up at lunchtime called back an hour after I left a 'where are you?' message with his receptionist and apologised. We shall now be getting up at an ungodly hour tomorrow to see him before going to work. (You can guess how grumpy I will be if he doesn't show this time can't you?). The one that didn't call me at 8pm last night as promised called at 8pm tonight instead - again with apologies and will be coming to quote on Saturday.
Once we know how much it will cost we can determine if we will have a redecorated lounge anytime soon or if we will be facing gibboard and wallpaper paste marks for the next few years.

The good to come out of all of this is that the dining room is painted. Two coats thank you very much. All good (we didn't have to strip wallpaper in there as it was in a decent condition). Now we just have to clean up the skirting/cornicing and we will be good to go.

Work in progress photos are generally being put here. I am too lazy tonight to wait for Blogger to load them so you will have to click to view this time :-)
And the hunt is on for a rainbow chandalier similar to this one. I may have convinced (heaven knows how) G that it is a good idea and I want to get moving before he has a chance to change his mind. I also ordered curtains and blinds today too. Because we can't sit here with the old ones pinned up with drawing pins forever.

Busy Bees

2009-04-05T21:03:00.004+12:00

Wow - what a week. It's been a busy one that's for sure. Between us we spent 4 nights away from home (2 each) and I drove about 800kms. We've tried to spend all weekend catching up on....sleep, housework, washing, home cooked meals, each other, decorating, TV and the list goes on.

Hopefully this week will be a little easier. No overnights this week and with Easter Friday it's a 4 day week. Never have I needed a 4 day weekend more!

The decorating isn't going as fast as we would have hoped. We are STILL stripping wall paper in the lounge. Must be about 75% done now. Then we need to sand, prime and finally paint.

We've picked the colour and are trying to sort out new curtains. I think it's fair to say we won't be finished over Easter as was the original plan. But we are definitely planning to be done by the end of April as it's starting to get colder and stripped walls make me feel cold!

And while I was away I found a gorgeous throw at half price in Oamaru which should fit well with the new colours. It will be perfect for adorning the back of the couch ready to drag down for napping and reading on a chilly weekend afternoon.

Speaking of weekend afternoons...soccer season has offically started with G's first game taking place yesterday. They have Easter weekend off and then it's back into the regime of Saturday afternoons. All good for me - I have the perfect excuse for doing girly things like painting my toenails, watching chick flicks and scrapbooking.

Wedding plans are coming along nicely with a few RSVPs and guests booking flights over the last few weeks. We have the photographer booked (and engagement prints ordered and on their way to us...engagement photos nearly 5 years after we got engaged!) and have chosen the hotel in Wellington where we will stay the night before and night of the wedding. We're also getting there in the way of flowers and a cake.

The only thing that we haven't made any headway in and that I am slightly worried about is a celebrant. Anyone reading this able to recommend a great celebrant in the Wellington region?

Hope to get round to a Wellington and also a South Island post soon with some photos and links for soon-to-be guests.

The photo above is sunrise taken on State Highway 1 between Dunedin and Oamaru on Thursday just gone. Makes the early starts and time away from home worthwhile :-)

Kings of Leon = Awesome

2009-03-28T16:58:00.004+13:00

We saw Kings of Leon at TSB Arena in Wellington last night and they were amazing!
I was so giddy with excitment that at first I struggled to take photos...
but I managed to get a couple of good shots (as did G when I passed the camera to him).

Highlights were: Sex on Fire (obviously!), On Call, Use Somebody, Knocked Up and Charmer but the whole thing was pretty good! They were on stage about 90 minutes and the atmosphere was pretty good.

We have been spoilt by Barrowlands and Carling Academy in Glasgow and tend to find other music venues very poor by comparison but Kings of Leon put on a blooody good show and the sound was fantastic!

We also squeezed in some wedding stuff including staying the night at the hotel which we have chosen to stay in the night before and night of the wedding. It was lovely. We signed the contract with our photographer and paid a deposit (eeek - things are becoming real!), found a good idea for wedding cake and spoke to a really nice florist. Things are coming along exactly as they should.

Hope to be back tomorrow with some photos of Wellington and the hotel.

Reinventing the lounge

2009-03-22T16:45:00.013+13:00

Warning - this is a picture heavy post. Probably the most amount of photos I've ever attempted in one post. Hope you can see them all (there should be 11).

So calling it redecorating would just be a euphanism. It's bloody hard work so I have decided 'reinvention' is a better suited description of what we are trying to achieve.

We moved in 3 years ago at Easter (how did time go by that fast?!) and at the time said we were pretty happy with most of the decor but we wanted to paint the lounge and dining room soon. Soon is now!

I used a very tecnhological way of determing when we should start by working out that the actual painting would take the longest so a 4 day weekend at Easter would be the perfect time to do this (now I hope to god that the painting will take half the time of the stripping or we could be here all year). Given our rather hectic schedules over the next few weeks and the fact we are both spending a fair amount of time away from home we decided this was the best weekend to get the stripping done.

The wallpaper has to be stripped because it isn't in a fit state to be painted over (not to mention how many coats would probably be required to cover up the orange...sorry, I mean terracotta).

That white strip is where I demonstrated to Graeme the unfitness of the paper by peeling it easily away from the wall. Oh how I wish the whole lot could have been that simple...

So we started stripping yesterday at 11am after our first trip of the weekend to Bunnings where we bought scrapers and a tiger (for perforating the paper to help the steam/water/whatever you are using to soak into the paste to make it easier to remove) and a new mailbox (possibly to be mentioned in another post when it comes out of the garage and gets put where it's supposed to be!)....

Look at those pretty swirls.

There was a point yesterday where I decided this was a fine enough pattern to remain on the walls indefinetly.

We started with the tiger swirls, a sprayer filled with hot soapy water, the scrapers and our bare hands...

It was a slow and painful process.....

and an hour or so later we ended up in Bunnings for the second time.

This time to hire a wallpaper steamer.

which moved things a little faster but still not quite as fast as we had hoped. We did continue to make steady progress (and managed to fit in a Starbucks break with some friends before getting back to it late afternoon). The only thing getting us through at this stage was listening to music DVDs at top volume (Muse and Travis in case you're interested)....

It felt like we were never going to finish this one wall. We made a pact to finish it before we went to bed and put on a Bill Bailey DVD when the music DVDs finished. And at just before midnight we finally made it...

By this time I had developed "the claw" where my hand was stuck in the position of holding a scraper and it hurt to stretch it out. We went to bed exhausted and wondering if we could get away with just leaving it looking like this forever.

But with a new dawn came new enthusiam and so this morning we were right back to it and make a fair bit of progress on our second wall...

We only had the steamer for 24 hours so it had to go back at 1pm today. We still have a long way to go but we've made a good dent in it.

We bought some wallpaper stripper to try on the evenings we are at home this week and then will probably hire the steamer again next Sunday and hopefully have it finished.

We got coffee on the way home and sat down to look at our achievements...

There is one member of the household who is quite concerned with our antics...

He can't work out why we are making so much mess and why his bed is in the dining room!

Hopefully I will keep snapping pictures as we get further along and I will be back with some more photos and updates as we go along.

The exciting bit is that we actually bought some tester pots today so we can start playing with colours ready for when we can actually paint our chosen colours on the walls (which will be after an undercoat goes on).

I blinked and when I opened my eyes again 9 days had passed...

2009-03-19T19:51:00.006+13:00

....and other excuses about why it's been longer than a week since I last posted include:

* a 15 hour work day in Auckland + an afternoon arrival back home the next day
* two days + 1 night in Wellington for work
* walking by the river with my boys and taking photos of windmills
* fun new squeaky cow toys to play with
* taking Rhett-ster to the vets for his annual check-up and jabs and getting a clean bill of health
* deciding to decorate the lounge and dining room when the pair of us have more days away from home than we have at home between now and Easter
* making copious amounts of chocolate cornflake cakes...just because they taste good
* trying to plan a wedding
* hand making envelopes because it's really quite fun
* framing the coolest art ever - personalised especially for G from me
* baking bread
* drinking wine for the first time in ages and miraculously not getting a hangover
* spending 2 hours on the phone to an old (that's a reference to the length of our friendship and nothing whatsover to do with the fact she is older than me!) friend

It's not just Graeme that's awesome at the moment. Life is pretty damn good too. Busy as a beehive but good with it :-)

I can't think of a suitable title so this will have to do...

2009-03-10T21:33:00.005+13:00

Just a quick one tonight.

I'm off to Auckland tomorrow overnight leaving Graeme to fend for himself with the 2 dogs...at least the 3 of them will get some peace and quiet while I'm gone. I'm suffering from a change of seasons cold and perhaps being a little bit whingy about it. I'm on the mend now though after boosting myself with echincea and vitamin C and keeping the oil burner topped up with eucalyptus oil (why does all this good for you stuff have to be so hard to spell?!).

I thought I'd share some recent photos to make up for my lack of words. Hope to be back with an update at the weekend.

Hopefully they are all self explainatory and you do not require captions as I am feeling too lazy for that.

Catch ya later

March = Autumn

2009-03-02T17:01:00.005+13:00

As our seasons are in reverse to the northern hemisphere that means that March is the start of Autumn. It feels a little autumnal at the moment. There's a few leaves falling from the trees (more to do with the wind then the actual change of seasons I think) and it's starting to feel colder in the evenings and first thing in the morning.

In previous years we still carry on having some nice sunny warm days throughout Autumn and that's what I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this year.

I'm feeling a little cheated by summer this year - it hasn't been nearly as nice as previous years. Too much wind and rain for my liking.

But the weather is what it is. I can't change it so I shall try not to moan and just enjoy what is.

I have the day off today as I worked yesterday (Sunday). I flew up to Auckland (on an obscenely early flight) to see another group of our volunteers off. Apart from being really tired from an early weekend start it was a good day and got even better when I settled down with a book when I got home and realised I didn't have to go into the office today! On the flight back from Auckland I managed to get this lovely shot...

I think it's official - I am addicted with taking photos from planes :-)

In other news we currently have two dogs which is lots of fun! Our neighbour is away so we are looking after his dog for 3 weeks. He's quite different from Rhett. The main difference being that you have to coerce him to eat! After nearly 3 years of Rhett scoffing anything that falls in his bowl or anywhere on the floor within 3 seconds it is a big change. And we have to remember to feed the dogs at a time we can stay and make sure it's Ramses eating his food and not our greedy dog! Mostly they are well-behaved together but there's quite a few mad half hours and tugs of war just like this one....

It should be an interesting couple of weeks.

We're both fairly busy at work at the moment so we will be trying to make the most of the weekends to make up for long hours during the week. Hopefully that means we will have some good photos for you over the next wee while.

Happy Pancake Day

2009-02-24T19:46:00.002+13:00

My belly is full of pancakes and sugar and lemon juice (fresh from the lemon tree in our garden).
I am content.
And I can totally recommend THIS recipe.
BEST. PANCAKES. EVER.

Happy Pancake Day!

Taupo

2009-02-23T19:57:00.007+13:00

We got back this afternoon from a few days at Lake Taupo.

It all started when we couldn't get tickets to see Billy Connolly in Palmy because they had sold out. I did a quick search and discovered there were tickets left for the Taupo show so we decided to make a weekend of it.

We drove up on Saturday afternoon which was pretty rainy and miserable. We could hardly see the mountains from the Desert Road and then we got stuck in a bit of traffic due to an Iron Man contst which had people running from Turangi to Taupo (crazy people!). But we arrived in the end and checked in to our hotel about 10 minutes north of Taupo - the Bayview Wairekei Resort. The hotel was lovely. We went for a swim that afternoon and Graeme attempted to teach me to play squash (for those that don't know I am hugely unco-ordinated) which was heaps of fun! Then we had dinner at the resort cafe that night.

On Sunday morning we headed out to Huka Falls which were just down the road from the hotel. They were spectacular. We went for a walk up the track both ways but didn't go too far because I was not wearing "suitable" shoes. But we went just far enough away from the crowds and got some lovely photos. This photo was taken from the bridge right by the carpark so it was swarming with tourists!

We also went to the Honey Hive and took a drive down to the Prawn Farm (although we didn't go in) before heading to town for some lunch. We also managed to fit in another swim that afternoon before getting ready to go into town for dinner before Billy.
We miscalculated our time though and ended up only able to have starters for dinner because we needed to leave to get up to the Events Centre on time. (Yummy starters though - the most amazing onion rings and rosemary & feta pizza bread at Dixie Brown's - must go back some time to actually try their dessert cocktails!)

Then came the show which was fabulous. This was the second time we have seen Billy Connolly live (the first time being at the Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow in 2005 before we left for NZ) and he didn't disappoint. I had heard him tell some of the stories before (in DVDs, TV shows etc) but they were still funny and he added lots of other details in as well. I was also pleased that the zoom on our camera allowed me to take this shot...

He was definetly worth the money and the huge wait we had in the carpark when it came to leave!

This morning we visited the Craters of the Moon before leaving Taupo. It's a site of geothermal activity and involves a 45 minute walk around a site which has lots of steam and mud pools and 'craters'. It stunk of rotten eggs (due to the sulphur but thankfully it wasn't quite as bad as Rotorua!) but was worth a visit.

Then came the drive home (which normally takes about 3 hours) which was better today with no rain. We stopped in Taihape on the way back for coffee and cake and made it home for 3pm.

This afternoon we've been unpacking, sorting through the photos and got some food in (cupboards were empty!). And tomorrow it's back to work for both of us. After having 11 days off I think I may be inconsolable come tomorrow morning!

Hope you all had a good weekend too!

Yucky weather

2009-02-15T19:04:00.006+13:00

I wrote this post on Sunday 15th February and had to save it as a draft before I could finish it. I am only just getting round to finishing it and posting it - sorry for the delay! So please bear in mind this post doesn't relate to this week.

What a week.

The rain started on Tuesday and we had a ridiculous amount of rain in a 2 hour window which meant the city's drainage system couldn't cope and there was a lot of flooding.

Had I stayed at work all day and not ventured out until after 5pm (as is the norm) it probably wouldn't have affected me. Once the rain slowed the drains started to work and by the time Graeme got home he said the roads were fine.

But I had a meeting in town at lunchtime which I couldn't miss. So I ventured out. Got to the meeting and was lucky enough to get the park right outside the door. Still managed to get soaked running in though. Meeting went well.

Then I decided to do the banking and some stationery shopping before heading back to the office. When the parking meter took my money and didn't give me a ticket that's when I should have realised I would be better off hibernating. Luckily I spotted a traffic warden across the street so marched over to them (I should point out here that I was wearing flimsy sandals and a skirt because the day had started off nice!). The traffic warden wrote down my number plate and let me off for 10 minutes when I explained what had happened and that I didn't have anymore money. Then as I stepped back to go in the bank my foot landed in a puddle about 2 inches deep....yuck!

Got to the bank and had problems there but all fixable. Then I went stationery shopping and everything got soaked as I tried to load it into the car. But I was done in town and could head back to the office.

That's when it got worse! I couldn't turn down some roads because they were completely flooded (see shot below) so I kept turning hoping for a road that was less flooded.

The worst part came when I pulled up behind a minivan and a car pulled up behind me and we were all trying to turn left. There was a council worker in the road measuring the flooding and he told the van to go the over way.

So the van started reversing....

I put the car into reverse and looked behind to see the car behind me in the exact same spot. I looked front and the van kept reversing (at this point I was swearing). I lent on the horn but not quick enough to stop the van before it hit me.

And the driver behind still hadn't moved! Then he had the cheek to reverse pull out and give me a dirty look as he went past!

So the van pulled forward and up a drive to do a u-turn and I turned also. I had to get out of the car to check the damage in inches of water (I was absolutely soaked at this point). Luckily there was hardly any damage - just some scratches so I waved the minivan driver on when he stopped to check.

I was okay but in panic mode at that point. I rung Graeme and said I was going home and not driving again so he could either get a taxi home or I would go to his work then and there so he could drop me and have the car. He chose the taxi option.

The water went down pretty quickly once the downpour let up which was good. It's pretty much been raining on and off since then which is a wee bit depressing though!

Lovely long weekend

2009-02-08T20:13:00.008+13:00

It's been a fabulous 3 day weekend! Very relaxing and I managed to get a few things ticked off my to do list as well.

After being away last weekend the days all seemed to merge into each other and after an 11 day working week I was soooo tired by Thursday night. I felt that all I had been doing was sleeping and working for so long. But I'm pretty much recovered now.

On Friday we went into town and did a bit of shopping (including a visit to the new discount Dymocks store where I picked up Tales of Beatle the Bard for $11 - bargain!) and then took a wander through the Square to see the Waitangi Day celebrations. I couldn't resist a photo of the NZ flag given the occassion and also talked Graeme into taking a fabulous shot of the Clock Tower.

On Saturday we caught up with friends over coffee after a cruisey morning.

And today (well, I'm sure you will be as surprised as I was that I did this!) we cycled to the swimming pool and went for a swim! It was lovely. It's been way too long since we'd been to the pool (especially considering I have pre-paid swims so we don't have to pay) and we are committed to going back soon - hopefully next weekend.

Our neighbour was away for the weekend so we were dog sitting too. It's lovely to have 2 dogs and I was trying to convince Graeme we should make it a permanent number but he wasn't so sure after all the play fights and barking in the middle of the night! Oh well.

This week is a 4 day week for me as well. I am off on Friday then all of the week after and don't go back to work until Tuesday 25th February. I have some annual leave to use up before the end of the month. Plans at this stage are to scrapbook, walk the dog, go on some bike rides, pay a visit to some wedding photographers (and possibly florists and maybe even some cake tasting) and have a bit of a clearout at home. Plus blog some more! So you might hear from me a bit more often over the next couple of weeks.

Back Home

2009-02-02T22:03:00.006+13:00

It always feels so lovely to come home after being in the big smoke.

Auckland's okay and I would certainly recommend it to anyone visiting New Zealand but it's not home.

I flew up to Auckland on Thursday afternoon and got home yesterday (Sunday) afternoon. I had a great few days...I was working but it's a great part of my job - welcoming volunteers into New Zealand and showing them the sights.

I was very brave (or stupid...I can never tell the difference!) and drove in Auckland for the first time...not only that but I was driving a 12 seater mini van (also for the first time) and I am pleased to report no crashes or even scrapes. I had to drive on the wrong side of the road to get in a supermarket carpark and then had a couple of minutes panicking that the van wouldn't go under the height barrier but it all came right in the end...phew!

We did the usual sights and despite already having hundreds of photos from Auckland attractions I still took more!
The top photo is the Auckland sky line taken from Devonport (my first visit - it's really cute and reminds me of little English coastal towns in the middle of summer holidays) and the second photo is taken from the Sky Tower looking down.
As well as seeing the usual sights, me and my boss also took a stroll round Viaduct Harbour to see the Louis Vuitton boats....we were also lucky enough to be in the same bar as Brad Butterworth (although some New Zealanders may deem that unlucky from what I've heard!) but didn't get close enough for photos or autographs.

So a good weekend but very tiring - I was up at 5am on Friday and 5.30am on Sunday and didn't sleep all that great knowing I was away from home and having to be up early.
We have a 3 day weekend coming up though so I will have plenty of time to relax at the end of this week. It's Waitangi Day. No plans at this stage other then relaxing and hopefully enjoying the sunshine.

Have a good week :-)

Mostly photos

2009-01-26T22:22:00.005+13:00

Just a quick one tonight because I'm feeling yucky. I actually meant to post yesterday but ended up in bed early with a pounding headache. This morning I felt alright and I went to work but this evening I am feeling bleugh again so I am heading off to bed as soon as I hit the publish button on this post.

I'll just share some photos with you for now.

We went out to Ashhurst on saturday to meet up with some friends. It made a nice change from Starbucks and we met at The Herb Farm Cafe. Everyone had a piece of cake apart from me and they came with gorgeous flowers as garnish. My muffin didn't have anything so I stole Graeme's flower and took this photo...(the muffin was yummy by the way)

And then on the drive home we had the most awesome view...

And last week I came across these gorgeous little pansies (or are they violas?) in our front garden....aren't they cute?

I'm up in Auckland later this week and over the weekend for work so there may be a lack of posts this weekend. The following weekend is a 3 day-er though due to Waitangi Day and then the week after that is a 4 day week as I have the Friday (13th) and all the following week off.

I'm hoping the weather stays fairly decent for my time off and I'm hoping to get up to date with some wedding planning.

Okydoke, off to bed - hope you all have a good week!

Sharing

2009-01-18T21:12:00.006+13:00

It's a 3 day weekend for us this weekend! Woo-hoo! All due to Wellington Anniversary.

Basically NZ is split into regions and each region gets their own public holiday during the course of the year. Palmy falls into the Wellington region and the Wellington day falls tomorrow. Which is great!

What is it about that extra day tagged onto the weekend which makes me feel so much more relaxed and care-free? With the added benefit that I honestly believe that extra day will allow me to cross off everything on my to do list! I am crossing things off at a rate of knots this evening...let's hope that can-do attitude lasts until tomorrow!

So - we've stayed close to home and been pottering. Having a clear-out which is still in progress and will probably take all year!

We took the dog out to Ashhurst earlier and had a lovely long walk. It had been pouring down all morning and there's nothing I love more than walking in the woods when it's just rained. I love that smell! Weird huh?! I will dot a couple of photos from our walk through this post as part of my sharing this evening!

I would also like to share a quote I stumbled across this week which has kept me pondering...

You are here for a purpose.
There is no duplicate of you in the whole wide world.
There never has been, there never will be.
You were brought here to fulfil a certain need.
Take time to think that over.
(attributed to Lou Austin)

I wonder what my purpose is and what certain need I am here to fulfil? Being a shameless romantic who blogs sporadically about life in New Zealand whilst procratinating? Hmmm, maybe I need to ponder some more!

What else do I want to share? I think this website definitely deserves a mention (especially with less than a month to Valentine's Day) http://iloveyoumorethanblank.blogspot.com/
I've subscribed to it in Google Reader (along with the other 1 billion websites and blogs I follow!) and love reading through the lovehearts for all the little heartwarming (and some not so heartwarming) ways people love someone more than something else!
And yes I did submit...4 of the little lovehearts on this post belong to me! http://iloveyoumorethanblank.blogspot.com/2009/01/011609-1030-am.html
and anyone that can guess 3 or more of the 4 gets a prize!

I'm working hard on my 27 things list and have updated the post here with the things I am working on. I am fast approaching the 25% way through mark (coming this Thursday) and want to get a couple more things crossed off by then. I have found a healthy recipe for Tiramisu and hope to get No. 13 crossed off tomorrow. I am also planning to get No. 10 done. I have already started the letter twice and then run out of motivation. I am hoping for an epiphany of what advice I should give to my future self in the next 24 hours.

So there you have it. That's enough sharing for one night. I don't want to bore you!

Just one last thing before I publish this post - a quick wave and hello to Michelle who I know reads this blog but doesn't comment...Hello Michelle (and Paul)!

This last week

2009-01-11T17:14:00.008+13:00

So I go back to work and then feel everything is a bit too boring and normal to be adventurous and I don't think I have anything to blog about.

But I've just been sorting through the last weeks photos and there has been a couple of interesting things I can mention...

Last Saturday I flew down to Christchurch and stayed overnight before seeing off 18 young volunteers on their gap year. That was good. It's a great part of my job to see our volunteers off on the start of their year long adventure when I've been working with them for almost a year leading up to it. Everyone got away safe and sound and I watched their big plane take off before boarding my little one to head back to Palmy.

Side note: Airports are torture for me...I have spent a lot of my life saying goodbye to people I love. Watching emotional scenes at airports reminds me of every single time I've had to do it. It's hard. But also makes me feel much more able to see someone off knowing what's likely to be going through their head. And I didn't embarrass myself by bursting into tears so we're all good!

And I love Air New Zealand after they let me get on an earlier flight home at no cost.

After getting back on Sunday afternoon I was a free woman until Friday.

Graeme went back to work Monday so I pretty much pottered around all week watching movies, taking photos, reading books and walking the dog. It was nice and relaxing.

Then on Friday I went back to work and it wasn't as bad as I thought. Apart from my office having no air conditioning (I am spoilt at home!) and it being too hot it was fine. And a nice easy slide back into work rather than a full week all in one go!

The weather here has been hot. On Thursday it was reported that Christchurch got to over 40. Palmy was probably approaching 30 that day.

And then the weekend comes and with it the rain...no surprises there. But I am grateful I am not having to deal with the minus temperatures like the UK at the moment.

What else? Hmmm, I'm on a health kick and so far so good. All part of my 2009 word and 27 things list. I am also wading through books at a fair old pace and should have the 'read 27 books' knocked off my list fairly soon. And of course blogging today is going towards my 'blog 52 times' tally.

Still loving the new camera although the light's been yuck with the rain this weekend so I haven't been using it that much. There's only so many prictures of the dog I can take....I want to go outside and explore. If the weather is better next week hopefully we will be able to take Rhett for an epic walk and I can snap along the way. The beach would be nice - it feels too long since we were there.

Hope you all have a good week!

Resolutions? No, thanks.

2009-01-02T19:22:00.005+13:00

So I decided against making any new year resolutions. I have a couple of alternatives up my sleeve instead...

Firstly, I plan to continue with my 27 things aged 27 list and tick things off of that regularly.

And secondly, I have been inspired by the very talented and creative Ali Edwards. She picks a word at the start of each year to become her focus. You can read more about her thoughts on one little word here.

The word I have chosen for 2009 is GROW.

I have chosen this word because it seems to cover everything I hope to achieve this year. I want to grow healthier, fitter, stronger, slimmer and wiser. I want to grow creatively, grow personally and grow my relationships.

And I'm sure I'll think of a few other things to grow as the year moves on.

So I am collecting things that will work as inspiration for my growth this year and I've set up an inspiration board above the computer to display my collection. I've also been doing some brain-storming (or is it thought-showering?!) and research into the word GROW to see what other ideas emerge.

I hope to post fairly regular updates on how I'm doing at both my 27 things list and my 2009 word.

2008 Ta Da List

2008-12-31T17:01:00.004+13:00

Okay - here it is. It probably looks pretty random to anyone reading it.

One thing led to other things being listed and then I ended up going through some of my journals to feel the gaps.

You can see the previous lists here and here.

Visited Italy
Visited Hong Kong
Visited Thailand
Saw a good chunk of South Island
Become more confident driving long distances (after driving around South Island a couple of times!)
Journalled Christmas
Booked the wedding
Made and sent wedding invites
Saw friends and family in the UK
Made my 27 things to do aged 27 list and started ticking things off
Stood up for what I believed in at work
Held the fort
Voted in NZ for the 1st time
Bought a bike (and accompanying safety equipment)...and even used it occassionally!
Went back to Brisbane and Queensland
Walked in the rainforest treetops
Went on a road trip with my Mum and had the best time
Tried on wedding dresses and found one I love (not bought it yet though)
Graeme become Corporate Accountant at PNCC
Started wearing skirts and dresses again (& enjoying it!)
Did a lot of scrapbooking
Got a new camera
Stopped taking the pill
Found the most amazing wedding venue
Got a new water system and HRV for the house
Read way too many vampire novels and fell in love with most of them
Got granted returning residents visa’s indefinitely
Bought a treadmill (I need to use it more though!)
Attended ANZAC Dawn Parade in Christchurch and listened to the Last Post with goose pimples on my arms
Started a year long scrapbooking project which is now ¾ done
Celebrated 3 years in NZ
Blogged with much more enthusiasm and regularity compared to 2007
Took part in my first ATC (Artist Trading Card) swap
Finally upgraded my antiquated cell phone (which I’d had since June 2005 and it wasn’t up-to-date when I bought it!)
Kept a gratitude journal for approx. 11 months of the year
Found one of my most favourite places on earth (Queenstown)
Finally gave in and got prescription sunglasses and wish I’d done it earlier

Christmas in Review

2008-12-31T16:18:00.010+13:00

I can't believe a week ago was Christmas Eve. The time has just flown but at the same time Christmas seems like a long time ago now!

It was incredibly quiet but a good time was had by all!

On the day itself we were up reasonably early for us (and given it was a public holiday) - at 8am, opening our stockings. We then went into the lounge to open our other presents.

We did well present wise and love all our gifts! Having the day to ourselves meant we could actually each watch DVDs we'd been given for Christmas.

After present opening we had bacon sandwiches for breakfast and took the dog for a walk. And after watching our DVDs we had amazing Roast Lamb done on the BBQ. Then we played a bit of Singstar and spoke to family on the phone. It was a fun day and very relaxed.

And that's how it's been since the big day really.

As usual when I'm on holiday my sleeping patterns got completely out of whack so I am trying to get myself into a better routine to make it easier to go back to work. The routine may go out of the window tonight though. We don't actually have any plans at this stage - will see how we feel. There's something happening in town if we decide to be social but it may be us at home with some drinks and ringing in the new together. We shall see.

Been to the shops a few times to get bits and bobs. Our biggest Sales purchase has been a new camera which I am totally in love with. And slightly obsessed with the macro setting too but hopefully that will pass as I learn a bit more about the different functions!

My other obsession has been the Twilight books. OMG! How did I not read them before now?! With the movie being released in NZ on Boxing Day and all the mentions I had heard of the series over the last few months I put the first book - Twilight (by Stephenie Meyer) on my Christmas list. Graeme kindly obliged and I started reading it on Boxing Day....and didn't stop until yesterday when I had worked my way through all 4 books! They are fabulous and I wholeheartedly recommend them! And so I also dragged Graeme to the film last night. As is always the way for me - it was nowhere near as good as the book but I loved it and definetly want to see it again.

And I've been working on my 2008 Ta Da's list - hope to get it posted before midnight but if not it will be posted over the next few days.

Hope you all had a great Christmas and wishing you all the very best for 2009 and whatever it may bring!

Have yourselves a merry little Christmas!

2008-12-24T15:19:00.006+13:00

Just wanted to post a message wishing everyone a very merry Christmas and all the best for 2009.

Graeme has now finished work and we are on holidays! Yay!

We are meeting some friends for Christmas Eve dessert tonight and then will come back and snuggle up to sleep so Santa can visit!

Hope to be back soon with a photo round-up of Christmas.

Take care everyone.

Makeover!

2008-12-23T15:49:00.004+13:00

I decided to give our blog a bit of a makeover - it's way past due!

I changed the template - just to one of the blogger ones at this stage - may try designing one soon and I made my own header using a photo from Lake Tekapo.

Would love to hear what you think and please do let me know if there are any glitches I need to attend to.
The biggest problem I have spotted so far is the width of the blog post column - I had to go back and edit some of the photos so they didn't 'hang off the edge'...may have to see if I can widen the column.

So hope it all looks okay on everyone else's screen!

I'm off to learn how to recycle candle wax which was the other thing on my project list for today!

Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with a wee Christmas message.

4 more sleeps!

2008-12-21T20:05:00.006+13:00

Can you believe how fast the time is going? It's flying by.

We've been fairly busy with end of year and christmas stuff and looking forward to our holidays. I officially finished work on Friday and Graeme finishes on Christmas Eve and then we don't have to go back until the new year so we will be getting a good break.

We are keeping our fingers crossed for some decent weather so the dog can get lots of walks, we can have lots of BBQs and the garden can get a tidy-up!

I've been keeping up with my Christmas journal which is making me feeling rather festive.

The house is decorated but I want to get some housework done this week so we are tidy and clean before the big day.

My presents are all bought apart from one more for Graeme which I hope to get tomorrow.

And then I just need to wrap Graeme's presents and we will be all ready to go!

I've been watching Christmas movies this week. I own Elf on DVD (how could anyone not?!) so watched that last Monday when I had a day off.

TV here has Christmas movies every day up until Christmas now and tonight we have Bad Santa which I seem to recall being pretty amusing so we will watch that or tape it tonight.

Shrek the Halls was on a wee while ago which was great fun!

And even though I've seen it countless times I will be tuning in for Shrek when it's on over Christmas!

Christmas dinner is decided too - a leg of lamb (organic if I can get it - we will see) with some BBQ'd veggies followed with lemon meringue (made with lemons from the garden). Should be super tasty - all I have to do is fight the crowds out at the shops to buy the ingredients!

And I'll leave you with this picture - the gorgeous Christmas bouquet my boss got me to say thank you for all my hard work (which will be hard for some of you to believe I am sure!)...isn't it beautiful?

The twigs have emerged!

2008-12-11T22:36:00.004+13:00

We (when I say we I obviously mean Graeme) checked the twigs for spiders and declared them to be beastie free so I brought them in tonight and got them all decorated.

How festive!

We also made Candy Cane Cookies (recipe here) and I couldn't resist making messages with the candy canes like the heart picture in the recipe.

But do you know how hard it is to make a G with candy canes?!

And I am very happy indeed as I am now having a 4 day weekend!

Getting my weekends back!

2008-12-07T19:06:00.005+13:00

I've had to work the last 3 Saturdays and it's been strange having one day weekends. I get time off in lieu but it's just not the same as having Saturdays and Sundays off. It was a good part of my job that required me to work though and I got some great shots of the mountains from the planes to Christchurch and Auckland so it wasn't so bad.

It will be nice to get my 2 day weekends back though!

And it's not long until I finish up for the Christmas break. I will be off from Saturday 20th December right through to Saturday 3rd January so will have a nice long break.

I've been decorating a bit for Christmas already - I have 2 stars up in our large front window (see photo above...and how amazing does that sky look?!) and some red felt Christmas trees out in the lounge.

I've also made a button tree and have put that on the dining table with a snowman ornament that Graeme's mum bought us a few years back (and it miraculously got half way across the world without breaking when we emmigrated to NZ!)

The Christmas twigs haven't emerged yet - I am waiting to de-spider them while Graeme is around before I bring them in the house.

I'm also keeping up with my Christmas journal...all this Christmas spirit is making me feel really jolly!

The List...

2008-11-30T18:00:00.004+13:00

Here it is in all it's glory...27 frivolous, fun, serious and life changing things...

27 things to do at 27

1. Buy a wedding dress DONE
2. Write my 2nd 50k novel
3. Paint something ceramic DONE
4. Scrapbook (at least) 27 photos DONE
5. Read (at least) 27 books DONE
6. Get to 70kg or less
7. Spend a day watching movies DONE
8. Try out a spray/fake tan
9. Curl/colour my hair DONE (colour)
10. Write a letter to my future self DONE
11. Take 365 photos (at least 1 each day) DONE
12. Walk Rhett (at least) 52 times DONE
13. Make tiramisu DONE
14. Eat (at least) 365 pieces of fruit
15. Be a good Samaritan DONE
16. Write a poem DONE
17. Choose 1 song per month for my 27 compilation album DONE
18. Read a classic DONE
19. Blog (at least) 52 times DONE
20. Kiss Graeme (at least) 3 x 365 times (1,095) DONE
21. Lay on the warm grass & make up stories from the cloud ‘pictures’ DONE
22. Incorporate rainbows into my life DONE
23. Document my time with Graeme ready to celebrate 10 years together DONE
24. Moisturise my overworked hands every single day DONE
25. Vote (after careful consideration) for Prime Minister DONE
26. Develop & maintain a sensible house cleaning routine
27. Choose a wedding ring & an inscription DONE

And more on Christmas...

2008-11-26T21:02:00.007+13:00

I mentioned Christmas briefly in my post yesterday but more in passing and in a I-can't-believe-how-fast-it's coming-round kind of way.

Christmas will be strange for us this year.

It will be the first year that we haven't spent any of the day with our families.

Way back at the start of our relationship (in 2000 can you believe?!) I struggled with the festive season as I was living 500 miles away from my family and friends and felt strange about spending the day with Graeme's family. That year, we decided to stay at home in our wee rented flat in the tenements of Glasgow but had a visit from Graeme's mum.

In the years that followed in Scotland we always spent some time with Graeme's family over Christmas and also flew down to Essex to spend time with my family as well.

Looking back - I wish I had taken as many photos then as I do now as it would be great to have a record of those Christmas'.

In the three years we have been in New Zealand, two of our Christmas' were spent with my Dad and last year we flew back to the UK for Christmas.

So this year feels quite strange. Not bad but strange.

We have had a busy year and I think it will be good for us both to have some time together at home to relax and recharge our batteries. We already have a lot planned for next year (not least getting married...finally!) so it will be good to take some time out and talk about what we want to do and how we want to do it.

And who knows what our future Christmas' will be like. I imagine next years will be low key rather like this year but after that anything could happen....!

So seeing how I am currently obsessed with taking photos and documenting my life I thought taking this class would be an awesome idea! It will be interesting to look back in years to come at exactly what we did with ourselves over the festive season.

I'm really quite excited as I am using this class as the opportunity to introduce festivities into our lives....I have already a few decorations (we haven't had a Christmas tree the whole time we have been in NZ but I had some rather festive looking twigs one year which I will be reusing this year!) but have gradually been buying a few more over the last few weeks.

I have made a head start on my Christmas journal so I am all ready to go and I will hopefully get round to posting some more photos of it on this blog as I go along.

So watch this space...the class starts next Monday and I am hoping that despite a busy couple of weeks I will be able to keep up and come out on the 6th January with 37 journal entries all prettied up with festive paper and photos!

1 month to go

2008-11-25T13:59:00.006+13:00

Wow - this time next month it will be Christmas day...crazy huh? How can it almost be that time again when it feels like last Christmas was only yesterday? !

I have a lieu day from work today as I was working on Saturday (and will be the next 2 Saturdays too) so I am trying to get my ducks in a row....as usual I am finding myself hugely distracted by other more interesting things though. So far, I have put the dishwasher on but not unloaded it, put the washing on but not hung it out and washed my hair but not dried it. Could this be the day for getting things only half done? I hope not!

Had some extremely warm weather here - yesterday was actually horrible because it was ridiculously hot and humid and there is no air conditioning at work which makes me very grumpy! Today isn't so bad as there is a strong breeze. This is what our HRV thermometer was telling us on Sunday afternoon....I am so glad I don't have to live in my roof space!

And here are the windmills from my last post taken from a different angle...from a plane on Saturday afternoon...

I have had a request to post my 27 things @ 27 list which I will do...maybe later today but right now I have to get my hair dried as Graeme just called and we have a lunch date.

Ciao!

Just a quick one

2008-11-17T21:22:00.006+13:00

I really did mean to do a longer post today with a few more photos but we just had a complete computer scare. I logged on earlier this evening ready to download my latest photos from the camera and blog with them when I couldn't access our Shared Pictures file - aaaah! Cue full panic! We did back this file up a few months ago but I had a major fit when I realised that we hadn't backed up any of the latest Australia or South Island pictures.

Luckily after Graeme had a long look and tried various things he managed to restore the folder but now he needs to get on the computer to do some work plus we need to run a back up of our photos!

So - if you are reading this - please learn from our panicked lesson and back up today :-)

I'll leave you with this...some stormy clouds over the wind turbines at Ashhurst on our walk with Rhett yesterday.....

Bye Mum, see you in less than a year!

2008-11-09T18:25:00.006+13:00

Wow - was it really over 2 weeks ago that I last posted?

The time while Mum was here just flew by but we really did have the best time ever. The travelling was great but in the end it felt really good to get home and then spend another week with Mum at home.

We did lots of cool stuff but at the same time it just didn't feel that she was here long enough.

We dropped her off at Wellington Airport on Friday afternoon and as always, it was horrible. I hate saying goodbye. But it's really great to know that we will be seeing Mum plus other close family and friends in less than a year when the wedding rolls round. And I really should be busy enough between now and then that the time should just fly!

After my last post I took the weekend off, Graeme flew down to Dunedin to meet us and we had a wonderful 3 days of travelling and playing tourists. Queenstown is quite possibly the most beautiful place on earth! I LOVED it and can't wait to get back and explore some more as we really didn't have long enough there. Here is just a taster of how gorgeous the place is (and yes I do want to try that parachute gliding thing next time I'm there!):

As part of my 27 things I want to do aged 27 I decided I wanted to take at least one photo every day. I have been keeping up so far and had a rather difficult task today of picking one photo to represent each day since my birthday. I am now all caught up. Not sure if I want to post all of them but I will post some every now and again. This one is the first one for the year taken on my birthday....

Anyway, will try and get on again soon with some more beautiful photos. We've had cracking weather today and if the kiwi summer continues like this I will be spending HEAPS of time outside so you might not hear from me very often!

Take Care x

Still on the road...

2008-10-24T14:34:00.003+13:00

Just a quick one today and I'm afraid to say no photos because I am typing this from an internet cafe. Tried to get photos off the camera onto the laptop last night and the battery on the camera went meaning none of the photos came across - argh! I will try again later so keep your fingers crossed!
I am writing this from Gore which we are visiting for a few hours. The whole week has been good so far. Mum has been enjoying the travels and seems quite happy milling around when I am at meetings. It's been good to catch up with people workwise and see they are (mostly) doing okay and enjoying NZ!
We are driving back to Dunedin this afternoon and have a big weekend planned! I have 3 days off and we are going to be proper tourists!
Highlight of the trip so far...taking Wednesday evening off (my birthday) and going to see the blue penguins at Oamaru - highly recommended - was amazing!
Hope to be back with photos soon!

Blogging on the road...

2008-10-19T18:26:00.006+13:00

I am writing this post from a motel in Wellington. I am excited because my Mum is due to fly into Wellington just after midnight tonight! It's been over 9 months since I last saw her.

We are staying overnight in Wellington and then hit the InterIslander ferry tomorrow across to Picton. I have to go over to South Island for work and Mum is coming along for the ride! It's going to be great! I will have some company for all the long driving and Mum gets to see a lot of South Island for a fraction of the price it would normally cost!

It will be weird being away from home and Graeme on my birthday but I have booked Mum and me to do something pretty cool to try and make up for it. We are going to be in Oamaru so we are going to see the Blue Penguins which are gorgeous! I had my photo taken with one on my lap when we first arrived in New Zealand and it will be even better to see them in their natural habitat!

I am also keeping my fingers crossed that we see some seals in Kaikoura and some snow capped mountains as we drive around!

I will try and post as we travel round... so watch this space!

Of course - there was a certain someone who didn't look happy when I started packing my suitcase....

Have a good week!

Spring = Sprung

2008-10-12T18:52:00.007+13:00

October has always been my favourite month...due in part to it being my birthday month (hint, hint!). I used to love it because of the Autumn colours and now I love it because it's slap bang in the middle of New Zealand spring.

Everything seems green and lush and new (the green and lush coming mostly from ALL the rain we've had) and it makes me want to slow down a little and enjoy my surroundings.

In preparation for my 28th year (how did that come around so darn quick?) I have come up with a list of 27 things to do aged 27. It's a mix of serious and frivulous and a lot of it has to do with slowing down and enjoying my surroundings. If I'm feeling particularly brave maybe I'll share the list on the blog over the next few weeks.

My Mum leaves the UK tomorrow for her trip down-under. She's got a few days in Aussie before heading over here. It will be GREAT to see her and I have a few things planned to keep her busy including a whirlwind tour of South Island. I hope to take lots of photos and will try and get some posted while we are away. Graeme has to work so will be staying at home but we are catching up with him for a few days in the middle of our trip.

I've got a pretty busy week on the lead up to Mum's visit but all is good!

Beautiful views

2008-10-05T22:44:00.003+13:00

There are 101 things I should be doing right now (sleep being one of those) but all I really want to do is keep looking at this photo...

...and think about how gorgeous New Zealand is.

Can I also make a reading suggestion? Everyone should read this book which I did today and it was amazing. I am feeling very inspired right now.

Aussie

2008-09-27T21:36:00.006+12:00

We went to the Gold Coast in Australia for a few days. The weather was lovely, we had lots of fun and it was really great to catch up with family (Thanks for letting us stay The Kelly's!). Here's a collage of some of our photos.

Lots of bright colours. We spent the day wandering around Brisbane, went to O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat, took a walk along Surfers Paradise, visited my Auntie's new barbers salon and spent some time chilling by the pool. Very relaxing!

On the way to Wellington to catch the plane to Australia we also visited a wedding venue which we are in the process of booking a date with (more on that later!).

More outdoors...

2008-09-14T13:33:00.000+12:00

It's good being outdoors

2008-09-14T13:13:00.005+12:00

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

2008-09-03T22:02:00.003+12:00

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...

2008-08-30T16:02:00.006+12:00

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

2008-07-21T21:11:00.004+12:00

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

2008-07-09T19:38:00.003+12:00

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

2008-07-07T18:39:00.006+12:00

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....

2008-06-24T22:14:00.003+12:00

....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

2008-06-12T22:08:00.004+12:00

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!)

Random photos to give you an update (I'm too tired for lots of words!)

2008-05-27T20:26:00.010+12:00

Here's something I made on my week off which is meant for the spare/craft/treadmill/junk room but which is currently on top of the mantle piece making me smile because it's glittery and covered in bling...

There's not much been happening other than work, work, work!

This is what I was doing all weekend:

which was actually lots of fun! And me being me I still managed to spend money as well as 'woman' the stall! Here's the goodies I bought home with me...

...including a delicious reserve red wine for Graeme's birthday and the most yummy handmade belgian chocolates (all gone already of course and yes I did share them!).

It's not all about work though - we did manage to fit this in on Sunday....

And that's all I have for you right now! I'm off to laze in a hot bubble bath and have an early night! And working all weekend will be made up by a 3 day weekend approaching (Queen's Birthday - woohoo!)

A week off in photos

2008-05-17T13:08:00.006+12:00

Hmmm, haven't taken as many as I would have liked due to batteries running out on me and bad light but here's a few which help summarise a pretty good week off!

There's been lots of laying about and relaxing:

There's been a bit of walking (but thankfully no running into big stinky ponds due to the wound!)

And of course there's been running around with large sticks and chewing them:

And there's been some cracking weather - it's been up at 18 degrees - in May! Which is the month between Autumn and Winter here. I got a shock yesterday when I got in the car and the temperature was 23! But it soon cooled a little once I was on the move - it's just where the car had been sitting in the sun.

I've also been taking pictures of yellow things the last couple of days. I once read somewhere that yellow is a very insprirational colour and that Roald Dahl wrote his stories on yellow legal pads with pencils (I'm sure it was Roald Dahl but feel free to correct me). Of course - I then went out and bought yellow legal pads and waited for inspiration to strike.

It does every now and again but lately it's been the yellow outside that I find pretty inspiring...

The Dark Lord is currently in Palmerston North (plus a trip to the vets and a week off)

2008-05-12T16:12:00.005+12:00

Yep - you heard it first here - Voldemort is in New Zealand...and not only that...he also zapped my dog and left a Harry-esque lighting strike atop his paw.

Poor Rhett - although it seems to be me that took it more badly. I was the one the vet took the time to calm down on Saturday morning while the dog just enjoyed all the treats, cuddles and attention coming his way!

Luckily - the vet didn't think it was serious enough to warrant putting him out and stitching it up - she gave us the option but we went with option b - the much cheaper for us and less stressful for pooch - antibiotics and twice daily cleaning with salt water - ouch! So far he's been a trooper and let's Graeme squirt salt water in his cut while I hand out the treats. Ah yes - he is loving the treats!

So we'll give it a few days and see if it starts to heal. He is going to have the coolest scar ever!

In other news - I have this week off - woo-hoo! (Can't remember if I have already mentioned that?) So there may be one or two posts up this week - we shall see!

I have planned a busy week of (but not confined to):

sleeping
watching movies
baking
scrapbooking
taking photos and learning how to take better photos
decluttering (not fun but it's desperately needed!)
and basically having some fun, rest and relaxation

Graeme is going to be at work for the most part although he is off Wednesday. If the weather is bad we will probably hire a Nintendo Wii from the video store and have a play. If the weather is good - who knows (it probably would have been a trip to the beach or a river walk but the vet's advised us not to let the dog swim until the wound has closed over).

Right - I am going to go and be wifely and start making dinner before Graeme gets home from work (making sure of course he realises this is not going to become a habit!)

Edit: Forgot to mention - the tooth ache won over and I ended up at the dentist last Thursday. I ended up with my first ever filling...and without an injection - it hurt! But as the dentist said - it was worth putting up with 5 minutes of pain while he drilled etc then have my face frozen for a few hours (from the injection). And I have to go back for a couple more in a couple of weeks....between vets and dentists bills the bank balance is taking a whollop lately!

Some more South Island pictures (blogger permitting)

2008-05-07T22:00:00.000+12:00

Fingers crossed this post isn't in vain. Here are some more South Island pictures for you to have a gander at:

On the ferry across to South Island

Coming into the Marlborough Sounds

Some Christchurch architecture
...and more to follow later on!

And in other news - I have tooth ache - uh-oh! Never a good sign and this isn't the usual twinge of my wisdom teeth - this is full-on-I-can't-drink-water-because-it-hurts-too-much pain so methinks a trip to the dentist is required. Funnily enough though, I seem to be able to drink warmed up fizzy lemonade without too much pain...as long as I hold my head on it's side so the liquid doesn't touch the sore bit!

And I have next week off work - woo-hoo! And it's all lieu time so no annual leave required - even better! I have big plans for sleeping, watching chick flicks, some baking, being crafty and generally being lazy! Plus maybe a blog post or two if you're lucky...or unlucky depending on which way you look at it ;-) I can't remember the last time I had a week off work for no reason other then to chill out so I am reeeeaaaallllyyy looking forward to it.

A Trip down South

2008-04-28T07:52:00.002+12:00

I'm quite lucky really...I got to travel around South Island this week and work paid for it :-)

My new boss started on Monday and on Tuesday she decided we should go to South Island on Wednesday to get a few things sorted out. So we had a mad Tuesday trying to get the arrangements sorted and we were on our way early Wednesday.

It was a fantastic few days! We drove to Wellington and then took the ferry across to Picton.

From there we drove down to Christchurch with a brief stop in Blenheim and also Kaikoura - to take pictures of the seals right next to the road!

We had a full day of meetings in Christchurch on Thursday and then on Friday we got up at 5.30am (yep, you have read that right!) to attend the Dawn Parade as it was Anzac Day. It was an amazing experience and well worth getting up early for. It was held in Cathedral Square in Christchurch.

From there we spent some time looking around Christchurch and then headed South in our wee hire car towards Dunedin. We stopped along the way to take pictures of the war memorials with the wreaths on them which was fascinating. Sometimes it was the smallest of towns that had made the biggest of efforts.

We stopped in Timaru for a lunch meeting and in other various places along the way including Oamaru to see some penguins, Moeraki to see the curious boulders on the beach

and Shag Point to see some sea birds and penguins.

We arrived late into Dunedin on Friday night and had a busy day of meetings on Saturday before flying back to Wellington late Saturday night and driving back up to Palmy. A very busy few days but it was good fun and a very inspiring trip.

Please note: Unfortnately blogger doesn't seem too happy about uploading all my photos tonight so two will have to do for now and I may need to try again in a day or two to get the rest up for you.

Baking - part deux (sort of!)

2008-04-21T08:35:00.000+12:00

I went back to basics with the baking this weekend...chocolate cornflake cakes - yum! A throwback to my childhood. I remember making these with my Mum when I was wee...except I was too much of a weakling to break up the chocolate (same goes today - G did it for me). And for those of you who think that is Smarties on top - you would be wrong...they are pebbles - how totally wrong is that name?! Even so, they are very yummy and such a comfort food! The chocolate is Belgian style and delish. G refuses to take any to work to eat for morning tea but will happily eat them at home. I have no shame and will be taking one to work with my packed lunch tomorrow!

And here's another photo for you - from a walk along the river last weekend:

The dog actually run straight into the water for like the first time ever!It was nice and sunny and we had a good walk. Didn't get out this weekend for a walk though because it's been so cold. We put the electric blanket on the bed today - that's how cold it's been. Freezing....it seemed to change so suddenly and it's not been a great week weather wise (unless you like heavy rain and chilliness). It did give me the perfect excuse to curl up on the couch and watch a DVD yesterday afternoon though while Graeme was out getting muddy at the soccer.

Hoping for a good week coming up - it's all change for me at work with a new Manager starting tomorrow and also it's a 4 day week due to ANZAC day on Friday. Fantastic - I'm ready for a long weekend!

Nelson day trip

2008-04-13T21:03:00.008+12:00

I had to travel down to Nelson this week for work. I hadn't been before but had heard that it was lovely so as well as lugging all my work stuff there I also took the camera.

I hadn't taken pictures from a plane before so decided this week was as good a week to start. Here's my first glimpse of Nelson. It was very green...

There is only 1 direct flight from Palmy to Nelson each day so I had quite a convuluted journey. I left Palmy at 7.10am and flew to Christchurch then had 20 minutes to get to the gate for my flight to Nelson. Coming home I had a 25 minute stop (and a long walk from one gate to the next!) at Wellington. The landing and take off at Wellington was pretty rocky (which it was the last time I landed there...I think it has something to do with all the wind they get there!)

You can see from this picture that the water was a little rough.

I also got some great views of the Manawatu going and coming back (Manawatu is the region where the city of Palmerston North is). In this photo you can see the Manawatu river winding it's way out to sea.

That's all I have for you right now! It's been a tough couple of weeks but we're working our way through it. Hope you are all safe and happy :-)