The Canaster Queen is Back, lol

Modestly I say, I have not lost my touch heh, heh. Have been playing several new card games recently at the WM's place plus scrabble, boggle, chook foot (a domino game) to name a few when last night I remembered I had a canaster pack - unopened at that, so thought it was time to christen it. The WMH and I started playing at 10pm while listening to the tennis out of one ear (already forgotten who was playing) and I lost the first game. By the end of it some of my remembered tricks had come back into sharp focus in my mind and whammo, the next two games were resoundingly mine. As I usually get beaten in most games, it made a pleasant change I must say. It bought happy memories of a weekly game session I used to attend in Hamilton days with friend Val now living in Sydney and another work colleague.

Have not done much in the last two days except attend meetings with the new boss as we gear up for the beginning of school next week. Much is still in the unknown quantity basket, as there is no definite numbers yet of returning students but we know for sure our numbers will be much less than last year.

The weather remains cool. I have turned off the aircon and have a cardigan on as I type this. The sky remained overcast today but I did get some washing dry as it was breezy. When I went out to array my laundry on the clotheshorse thing I use for smallish items, there were three magpies sitting on the ledge of my verandah and two on my clothes horse. It looks as though they have been using it for a perch over the holidays. The extra magpies are the babies of last year I think. My garden is very much an ex garden with all plants withered and beyond dried out. Hopefully I will get myself organised in the next few weeks and get to the plant shop to replace my usual herbs and spinach which are the mainstay of what I grow.

Have continued to eat up at the WM's place and tonight I took up some pastry I had in the fridge and used some rhubarb they had to make a rhubarb pie. The pastry was a smidgeon past its youth but it all worked out and slathered with custard, who would know, lol. Cannot wait to do some grocery shopping tomorrow for some fresh supplies. We are off at 8.30am as the WM needs to go to the dentist before we attend our comissioning Mass at 2pm so I will get some wandering about in, while she attends the fangsnatchers.

Frightened the life out of myself earlier today and have done serious damage to the carbon footprint or ozone layer as I emptied a good amount of flyspray into the bathroom. As I picked the bathmat up off the floor to fling over the shower rail, a black spider about 1 1/2" long ran up the mat. There was a strangled sort noise in the room and I realised it came from me as I threw the mat upwards and leapt out into the laundry, whereupon I sent a nuclear holocaust amount of spray onto the mat. Unfortunately, there is no ex spider to be seen so may have to suffice with a flannel wash at the sink tomorrow morning until I get get the WM or someone else to investigate. She is not squemish about insects whereas I cannot abide them. I have ant death and more insect death goods to buy tomorrow before I can relax again. My can of spray that constantly emits into the atmosphere ran out over the holidays and the ants have also returned in force while I was away.

Watched Roger Federer beat his American opponent tonight during the tennis semi-finals so his next game is the finals on Sunday night I think. There has been much on the telly about the 'hot' weather in Melbourne - between 30 -35/40o - and how it has buckled the railway lines and caused powercuts. Am having a small chuckle as that will be a normal day out here once the warm weather comes back again.

Am feeling a mite weary after last night's late finish so am off to bed with my book.

Back in Oz

Yes, it is year 2 in the back of beyond, lol. I arrived in Perth on Saturday around 5.40pm WA time. Had a great flight with Air NZ and scored good leg room again. I slept for a period of time as soon as the flight took off and then watched 'Morse' followed by some games of Tetris!!!! Yes, I found the games thingie on the back of the 'in flight' entertainment gizmo. Who knew, flying could be so much fun. The only frustration was the pilot kept freezing the game to communicate with us and it threw my concentration!! Next time, I will be better prepared, lol and play much earlier in the flight!!!.

Don't know what happened but somewhere on the trip over, my eyes and nose started streaming - it was like, there was NZ air, here is OZ air and now you can have a reaction to it. Went through a box of tissues Sat. night and woke up with a thumping headache. I had panadol, but no telfast so took some panadol and bought more tissues when I got to Perth domestic airport. Had to be out of the motel Sunday morning and in the courtesy van by 11am. Since my tickets were booked to Gton, the service changed flight times so was not due to leave until 5.30pm instead of 2.30pm. In spite of having people I could have caught up with in Perth, I felt too lousy with my streaming head, so curled up with a book and read and dozed for most of the day. Had a great flight back and the WM and her family came to pick me up. We went into Gton for a quick McD bite to eat and then walked along the waterfront and waded in the tide which was going out. The air was walm and once my feet got used to it, so was the water so it was great to dabble with the lights of Gton as a back drop and an awesome sunset in front of us. It was now getting really dark, so after a petrol and loo stop we headed off. Oh my, new technology in the car. The WMH got an ipod for Christmas that you can tune in to the car radio and so no need for CD's at all, you just program your playlist in and away you go. Listened to some 1960/70 hits and then the entire soundtrack from 'Mama Mia' on the way back here. And wouldn't you know it, just to make me feel at home, out jumped a smallish kangaroo, who got nudged once and then tried to run in front of us again (another nudge I believe, and it bounced off finally to the side of the road - still alive I believe!). A cup of coffee later after viewing the WM's new tiles on the kitchen wall, new air con in their room and a huge amount of goss caught up on, I finally headed back to my own little house on the prarie.

I must say, I gingerly got out of the WM vehicle and left lights on to shine at back door in case there were any nasties curled up or lurking. There was none I was immediately aware of so opened the door and was nearly laid backwards with the enveloping heat. I was VERY pleasantly surprised at how tidy I had left the place and once I had switched on the fans and the aircon, pretty much dropped everything in a heap and went to bed.

It was a VERY warm night and with my running nose, I felt I hardly slept at all and had the wierdist dreams (ergo I must have slept at some stage, LOL). The airconditioner did not seem to be working very efficiently and the fans merely blowing LOTS of warm air about. It did mean, that at long last, the following day when I got up, I removed the second duvet inner (the winter weight one, lol) leaving the light feather one still in the cover. Went up about midday to collect my mail at school and stayed on at the WM's place. More catching up and lunch and dinner -they are feeding me until I can get groceries this Friday, bless them. After dinner, another staff member came up and we had several hands of euchre which was fun. I prefer 500, but it was a good start. The WM's family are very into all sorts of games and had played Boggle which is a word game and two other new card games already that afternoon.

watching the news at dinner, there was a cyclone warning which continued to flash on the screen at different times during the night - the warning was for further up so no worries here. We did see how the rest of Australia celebrated Australia Day and lots of fireworks seemed to be involved. $4,000,000 worth was set off in Perth that night and although spectacular (you would hope wouldn't you!!!) I note last night the state govt thinks they are doing wonderous things spending $5,000,000 to support the people affected in Hopetoun where BHP has closed an entire nickle (and something else) mine. In effect, this place which many people had moved to and set up businesses, will become a ghost town within in months, if not weeks as there is nothing else to sustain the township other than the mine.

Yesterday I had a very lazy day, finishing one book and reading another in between sporadic attempts at tidying the desk in my bedroom and checking up mail on the computer. I woke up and had to get up to look outside because in my sleep, I was sure I had SMELT and heard rain. There didn't seem to be any evidence of it, but again I could smell rain and finally saw some spots on the window. The day became more overcast and finally poured several times. I think this is our left over from the cyclone which has caused much flooding and damage at a place called Onslow much further up. Watched tennis last night and the Australian girl Jelena unpronounceable surname played a blinder but in the end lost to her opponent. Jelena was in the competition as a wild card and ranked 600th and something last year and got to the quarter finals which has blown everyone away. She is a gutsy player and I think we will see a lot more of her. The woman she played last night is ranked 3rd or is it seeded 3rd so all very nerve wracking to watch as it came down to the final game in the set.

We have a staff meeting at 11am and will get our first ideas of what is happening for the year. The new Principal will be taking it so it will be interesting to hear his plans and outlook for the year. I had better gather myself for the day. With the cooler air outside, my aircon is almost cooling the air inside. Everything feels slightly dampish but at least it is not muggy. The sky is completely grey with some black clouds out one window - it feels like autumn/winter, lol. I note on the news last night that NZ is to have a high for the rest of the week and especially for this coming weekend which will be good for the wedding that is happening in Rotorua. Have lots of news to tell about the rest of NZ hols but will have to dribble that out bit by bit when I have a slow news day here, heh, heh.

The rest of the week in Wellington.

Following on from my last post, I did not get to the zoo in the end but did go SWIMMING and to the movies again. I know, the swimming thing was a bit of a shock to the system. I ended up being in the water for over two hours, with the small one staying in a record 4 hours! Wednesday was a relaxing day after the big day in town and Thursday looked to be a bit inclement hence the decision to go to the pool instead. I read for a bit and then decided to brave the waters. My togs (swimmers, bathing costume, depending on where you come from, lol) had their 3rd outing in the 10 years that I have owned them. I did go into the Karori pool the last time I was in Wellington but found I had pretty much forgotten how to swim and did not manage too well with my face under water. Anyhoo, I decided to buy some goggles so I could see under water - foolishly not from the $2 shop before I went so they cost me $17!!! They are however UV ray protected, lol so who knows, should I manage an outside pool ever, my eyes will be fine. I started off in the childrens pool which is kept at a blissfully warm temperature. (The WMH was very rude when I spoke to him on Skype and wondered whether Green Peace had been on standbye at the pool, lol). Spent some time throwing a ball across a steel pipe to encourage the grandson to use his mended arm a bit more as he was still favouring it quite a bit. I then had to be a shark and swim under water (thanks to the goggles) and catch him then he would catch me. I thought I should have a go in the big pool and see if in fact I could manage a few lengths. The good news is I made it up and down for about 8 lengths trying several different styles of 'swimming'. Only got a few mouthfulls of water and certainly felt as though I had done a cardio workout by the time I crawled out. The best part of the day was using the spa pool which was a very decent heat and had bubbles and jets - the fizzy pool as the small one called it. We were both pink when we hopped out of that one (before I passed out with the heat, lol) - I headed off to get changed and lo and behold, when I came out, there were a couple of school mates in the pool and a whole Ben 10 super hero game was in play. Luckily, I had gone armed with a book so stayed put until hunger made me call it a day.

Although the boy had a normal bedtime and was full of energy that night, he was still asleep after 8.15am next morning and he remained pretty wasted the whole day. We decided to go nowhere and blobbed, playing snakes and ladders, memory (again) and watched endless cartoons with a spot of Wii and a turn on the computer to play some games. I was more than happy to lax back as well as the weather was not overly warm that day either.

Saturday, went to the movies again - this time to see "Bedtime Stories" with Adam Sandler, Lucy Lawless, Guy Pearce, Courtney Cox and several other fine character actors. It was a great movie pitched at both adults and children with lots of laugh out loud moments. Had arranged to meet niece Laura for lunch and for ease decided on the food court at the Cinema complex which meant the boy could get his favourite McDonalds meal deal. And joy of joy, he got a choice of three toys to go with his meal and yay, one of them was a Ben 10 character he had yet to collect, so one very happy lad indeed. After our graze we decided to walk up to Lambton Quay to Starbucks to say hello to Tim, Laura's bf stopping at a couple of books stores along the way. I was very strong and resisted buying anything and the lad was very patient with the both of us. Got a txt from son to say he would pick us up so met him and D in L at Starbucks and it was back home again.

The son and DinL were heading out for dinner so the lad and I cooked up a batch of pop corn and settled back with a movie on the cartoon channel and a DVD. Got sprung only getting him into bed as they arrived back (they went for an early dinner but I thought they were going to a movie as well, lol). We did get pj's on and teeth cleaned before they arrived though.

Yesterdat morning it was up reasonably early as we had a movie to make. The lad and I started at the front gate while he introduced himself on camera and we went around the house and environs as he commentated while I did the camera work. Got some good footage so will try and edit it this week. Who knows if there is a budding Peter Jackson lurking within,LOL. We just finished our movie making and it was time to go as we went back to the Maranui Surf Club for lunch and then a quick trip to the Warehouse and Dick Smiths before heading to the airport.

Yet another new way of checking in since I last used Wellington airport - I got a ticket from a machine after putting my credit card in it and received a sticker for my luggage as well. I then weighed it and put it on the conveyor belt before moving to the lounge to wait for my flight. It is a bit wierd going through xray machines for a domestic flight which is new since I have been away and even there, I just wiped the barcode across a machine and I was on my way onto the plane. Hardly a person involved at all except at the xray machines and to wave a wand over me (which went off!!! - domes on my jeans thank God!).

Have been out this morning to meet one of the people renting my house and to have a look about the place. I am about to head out to Awhitu and will stay the night with Kay and Viv - in a tent - so I have officially camped whilst back in NZ, lol. Am trying now to sort out catching up with folk before I head back to Oz - the time is starting to run away now.

I Like to Move It, Move It .....

Yes, I have been to see Madagasca 2 and it drove me nuts during the movie trying to guess who was doing the voices of all the animals, lol. The story was fairly hokey but with many humerous moments and more than enough to keep a young boy enthralled. My favourite is the penguins who have some very witty lines. I was also happy to see there is going to be an Ice Age 3 as we saw the trailor for that before the movie. I do hope it is as funny as the first one as I was a little disappointed in Ice Age 2.

We had begun the day with a slowish morning as we had some of series 3 of 'Danger Mouse' (a cartoon the boys and I used to watch years ago) to see. Breakfast done, we walked up and the bus arrived at the same time we did which then dropped us right outside the cinema doors. We were a little early so browsed through Whitcoulls and then got our tickets, popcorn and drink for the big event.

Movie over, we went down to the food hall to McDonalds for lunch and got the lion toy with the child meal for the lad - a total hit there. We walked out the back door of the cinema theatres, across the road and we were at Te Papa. I have only been there to see specific exhibitions before so this was my first time looking at other displays. Saw the HUGE squid remains (in preservative) that was found not so long ago - a truely hideous beast and definitely the thing horror movies could be made about. I have to say, I thought the whole naturalist part, with skeletons of dinosaur type creatures, whales, moas etc was very good and would give the naturalist museum in London a run for its money (notice am STILL getting mileage out of that trip, LOL). I particularly liked the bird sections as they had sounds to go with the exhibits. It was a trifle bizarre seeing Phar Lap's skeleton in a display case after seeing his heart at the National Museum in Canberra. I tend to think that maybe he should be all together as his skin is in another museum. It seems a somewhat sad end to such a fine animal - maybe if he was together he could be shared to each museum for a few months at a time.

There are lots of interactive parts to the museum and it too has room you can experience an earthquake in while footage runs of the Edgecumbe earthquake in 1987 (which I remember of course). The grandson was particularly interested in the volcano and earthquake exhibits with all the interactive bits and pieces. I was amazed how it took him only two or three goes to work out what to do (at 6 yrs old) and marvelled at the technology bought to bear in many of the exhibitions. We didn't do too much 'olden day' stuff as that did not appear to hold any interest for the lad though we did watch several short movies on where people live and how people came to live in NZ - all very interesting.

It was just on 5pm when we left the museum and grabbed an ice cream before catching another bus back home. A quick stop to get some more vegies and back for another barbeque dinner - yay. I have babysat tonight while son and daughter in law went out for coffee and a game of 10 pin bowling. After such a big day, the lad was out to the count not long after they left so it has been a quiet evening. Am about to head off to bed as the zoo could be on the cards for tomorrow's activities - will be dependent on the weather and then I think Thursday may be an at home day. I was told the movie was awesome and today was a much better day than yesterday, so no pressure for the rest of the week, lol.

I'm in Wellington.

Arrived in Wellington yesterday to glorious weather and one very excited grandson (with his parents) met me at the airport. I don't think he drew breath for the rest of the day as he caught me up with all his news, LOL.



First stop was the Maranui Surf Life Saving Club at Lyall Bay which is also a VERY popular cafe for a graze. The food was extremely tasty and the view was fantastic across the bay. We did the obligatory throw several rocks in the tide from the beach thing that you do with small boys before taking the scenic route back to Karori where the family reside. It was then time to meet Mojo - the chocolate labarador/Chesapeake American gun dog - who obligingly leapt about with excitement to see everyone home again. I am not a dog person but in 24 hours have had a tummy rubbing session, had dog asleep on my feet, taken the dog and boy for a walk (or was it the other way round, lol), been licked and had tug of wars with favourite toy! with the aforementioned canine!!!.

The next bit of excitement was opening the belated Christmas presents. The boy had been wonderfully restrained about even hoping there was something in my suitcase but could not resist asking as I put it in the bedroom, what did I have in there, lol. He was thrilled with all his bits and pieces - the whoopee cushion, fake teeth and glasses being the immediate hit, followed by the Ben 10 stickers and sox coming pretty equal with two other sticker books he received. The photo frame was the perfect size for his baby footprints!. We haven't got to the 2008 Boy's Annual yet but have all week to investigate that book, lol.



As time was marching on we decided to walk up the road and get some things for a barbeque so had pork chops, prawns, courgette and capscicum kebabs and sweet corn, with fresh French stick bread for dinner followed by watermelon and gosh, apart from the kebabs, everything was the boys's favourite!! (funny that, lol). The evening was still pleasantly warm so we went for a walk around the block with Mojo before coming back for some quiet time and bed. Then, once the lad was in bed, I came across one of his toys - Wii - the next version up from playstation, that is an interactive computer gaming thingie. I WANT ONE!!! No 1 son had had a go first and I thought the 10 pin bowling game looked fun and it was. It is very bizarre to stand in front of a TV screen with something like a solid remote in your hands, doing bowling motions in mid air so to speak. Well, would you believe it, I did brilliantly (she says modestly, lol). I got 4 strikes!!! and then had to have another go just to make sure. I then thought I would have a go at the tennis game and that was hilarious - I actually won both my games on that but as the degree of difficulty was increasing with my winning I decided to quit while ahead heh, heh. Next was baseball, and I have to admit, I failed miserably here. I was taught to start to swing as the ball left the bowlers hand but on this programme that meant I struck too early, so had to slow down and wait until the ball reached the edge of the pitch before I actually connected bat and ball for a strike, and then it was a foul, lol. I stopped then as my arm was aching from all the unused to activity but could have had a go at golf and boxing if I so wished. You can actually work up a sweat (sorry ladies, a glow, lol) playing these games which were especially designed to get kids up off the couch and get moving. It has kept the grandson occupied and moving while recouperating from his broken elbow and of course helps expend much of his energy on those Wellington days that prove to be inclement (and of course then Dad can play as well, lol). There is an elastic band that goes around your wrist connected to the controls because when the game was first invented, numerous TVs were wrecked when controls would fly out of players hands with excitement. NB if this makes you want to race out and buy one - take into consideration the placement of lights in your ceiling heh, heh as they can be casualties too when doing a serve in tennis for example.

Have had a reasonably relaxed day today. Have been up to the library to get a couple of DVD's and lost a game of memory playing with Superman cards AGAIN! (They all look the same to me, lol). Had another yummy dinner tonight - this time barbequed hapuka caught by No 1 son himself last weekend in the Hawkes Bay (it had been frozen in the meantime, lol). It was the fattest fillet of hapuka I have seen and was totally sweet and melted in the mouth. More grilled capscicums, courgettes, sweetcorn, with tomatoes and eggplant as well. Depending on the weather, the grandson and I could be heading to the movies tomorrow and maybe a look at Te Papa. Will let you know how it all goes.

Happy New Year for 2009

Pinch and a punch for the first of the month and all that jazz. It has been awhile between posts - I have started three that have not made it to the finishing post but as it's the first of Jan 2009, I thought it was appropriate to make a new start.

I have found myself overtaken by extreme lassitude since arriving back in NZ, with short (very) bursts of energy which is starting to feel a little tedious. It is hard to relax when I feel there is 101 things I SHOULD be doing or is that merely COULD be doing and this is what a holiday is all about???

I had a lovely Christmas - started the morning with son No 2 and his wife, the cat and the dog, with pressies and a lovely champagne, barbeque breakfast. I was thrilled to receive Óutrageous Fortune 4' (NZ TV series that I love) and some tasty bikkies. Mid-morning and it was time to head down to Waiuku to Kay's for lunch. Got to Mum's to grab a few things only to find my car hissing as a tyre went flat when I went to leave again!!!! Was already dressed and ready to go so in no mood to change a tyre then and there. Fortuntely a phone call later and brother in law Mark kindly came and picked me up.

Had a very nice lunch then pressies and back to Mum's for a Nana nap indeed. We managed about an hour shut eye and then out to Noelene's for a Bulte gathering of extended family and friends. Yet another feast as everyone took something to contribute - almost a Vicar of Dibbley Christmas moment by then after a day of grazing yummy food.

I have to confess now, I have not made it camping (in a tent) like I had planned. A mix up in bookings led to a 'no room in the tent' situation. I was lucky enough however to be invited to stay with friend Denise at a cottage belonging to a friend of hers for two nights and we made day trips to the camp instead. Oh the trauma of having to cope with a flushing loo and a BATH!!! Managed to have a bath both nights - or should I say soak as I took a book with me!! That is something I totally miss in Oz as my bath in Hamilton was the size of a small swimming pool and I loved filling it up with bubbles for a total relax (also relishing in the ability to use water with such mad, gay abandon, LOL).

The camp this year at Awhitu is different, unusual and interesting. I have never seen it soooo full of people, tents, boats etc, nor have I seen sooooo many rabbits since looking at the annual bunny shoot in Otago on TV. The ground is literally moving with them. Twelve in one bunch up at the flushing loo (known as flushing meadows lol). It poured with rain most of the second day when I decided to come back to Mum's after dinner. I was feeling rather damp and wanted to get organised for the next day with an early start to attend the funeral of a friend's mother who passed away on Christmas day.

As I was scritching through my bits and pieces, I found I had three movie vouchers that had to be used by the end of December so yesterday, making a very late charge, Mum, Clive and I went up to Manukau City to see "Áustralia". Wow, is all I can say. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and would go and see it again in a heartbeat. The scenery is fantastic and I found the storyline very moving. Hugh Jackman - voted the sexiest man alive at the moment (and on the cover of the lates GQ magazine ) was brilliant (and not only when he was semi clothed, lol). There were many familiar faces playing other parts - Bryan Brown I thought played an excellent cameo role and I enjoyed Nicole Kidman's portrayal of an aristocratic English woman coping with life in the back of beyond. I laughed, then felt like shedding tears through several parts of the story and the three hours that it took passed by like a flash. The movie ended with me wanting to know what happened next..... I have seen some critics rubbish the movie but for entertainment value - I think you get your monies worth.

New Years Eve was spent at friend Viv's place - another combined meal with numerous Bulte family members and friends. Just before the annual fireworks display was completed - this time away from the house - down the driveway in fact - everyone gathered back in the house to get out of the rain which had threatened earlier in the evening. Having five out of the six sisters in attendence it was great to have a sing a long that is a mark of this particular family's functions. Mostly old songs and some Christmas carols with lovely harmonies abounding. Some of the songs we sang, were one's we (Kay and I included in this lot) learnt at Kariaotahi School over 40yrs ago!!! Around 11pm someone put the Vicar of Dibbley's Christmas DVD on so there were a lot of laughs for those watching. The countdown began just before midnight and we saw the New Year in as the rain started easing and with a message that a new baby in the family was on it's way (no news yet).

Today has been another lazy day - friends have visited Mum and Clive for lunch and I have downloaded my new toy - a photoshop type program for my computer so I can organise all my photos and edit my videos. Watch this space.

Have begun the year without thought to any new resolutions. I am getting to spend time with family and friends and that is what I aimed to do for this holiday. I am off to Hamilton tomorrow for lunch with my old boss from Elna Sewing and Embroidery days (a shop I worked at in Rotorua, pre Hamilton days) and a friend I met through the Rotorua Embroidery Guild. On Sunday, I am off to Wellington for a week to see the No 1 grandson and his parents so am looking forward to that.

A very Happy New Year to those of you who have followed this blog and I wish every good thing for you as the year unfolds and the strength to cope when challenges arise.