Home and happenings

We've been home now for about 5 weeks and for the first 3 weeks or so, I was exhausted. A mix of jetlag and physical tiredness from the previous month or so of getting Waka Huia ready for going on brokerage. And probably the effects of stress too.

But in the last couple of weeks I have started to feel like I am back to my former self - so watch out, world!

While we were away in the UK, quite a lot of work took place here at our villa - all of it outside. 

• The patio out the back by the lounge and bedroom was laid and the concrete was acid treated so the top layer could be washed off and the small stones exposed. It looks cool!
• The driveway and paths to the back door and the clothesline were concreted - there was a bit of a delay on that work because the team found a longstanding pipe leak beneath an old garden that had to be dug up. And it was winter here when that was occurring so it was all fairly wet and muddy - must have been a pain for the other residents around us. However they were very interested in what was taking place and have caught us up on it all.
• Shona, the amazing woman who has been our gardener for a few years now, took on starting to get our garden established while we were away. She worked with Clint the head gardener here at Parkwood on where our gardens would be, the size of them and what needed to be done to get the grass removed, ground dug, compost delivered ... The woman is a marvel. She also had culled plants from our Rata St garden, she'd propagated cuttings from there too, and most magic of all, she successfully transplanted Caitlin's rose.
• Since we have come back Shona has continued her sterling work and the gardens are showing the promise they will fulfill over the summer.

This was taken 9 days ago

And this was taken on Saturday (2 days ago). Everything is growing vigorously and looking very healthy. Janet our lovely next door neighbour, kindly donated the rocks from her daughter's place. The rocks, I hasten to say, are unwanted there, so Janet has brought back 2 boot-loads and I've brought back one. She is bringing another load this week so we can finish the job. We decided that rocks would look better than driftwood. So the driftwood has been returned to the beach...

We had breakfast outside yesterday. See the dwarf apple tree between the stakes? The blossom is bursting out, the other plants are taking off big time.

 

 

Caitlin's rose with a new bud - 9 days ago

 

A new feijoa, a canna lily from Rata St, and a lovely thing that has purple flowers from Rata St - 6 days ago.

 

Herbs in pots outside the kitchen window by the pond.

Bloody nettles growing around the lemon tree, dammit! They are little but fierce - already they sting. But I was brave as I pulled them out. Note to self: get some gardening gloves...

While we were placing the rocks around the lime tree plot (thai curries here we come!), this female blackbird was hunting for worms. She had no fear of us. I think the birds are very tame around here because there are almost no cats. Pukekos, rabbits and ducks, but only a very few cats - yay!!

When we came home, we had no car - regular readers will remember that we sold the car to Ann and Salvi and delivered it to them at Wellington Airport on the day we headed for the UK. We had ordered a new Toyota Yaris Hybrid Cross and were told it would be here by the time we arrived home in late September. No sooner had we paid the deposit than we were told it could be later than that but they would see us right for a car to tide us over.

Fast forward to August and we were told that the new car wouldn't be available until November -  a full year since we had ordered it, by the way... So we started to reconsider, but thought we'd find out a bit more. It turned out that seeing us right for a car to tide us over meant we could have a car of theirs for $49 a day for 2 months, i.e. ~$3000, AND the Yaris had increased in price by about $3000 as well. 

Upshot: a total rethink. But what to buy instead. I knew I wanted a late model red car, but had no idea what. Looking on TradeMe is so bloody daunting - there are about 30,000 cars for sale and how on earth could I narrow that number down to something we would like?

We went without a car for a couple of weeks, and walked (I biked) up to the village or to the supermarket or to the railway station. One morning as we started out on our way to the station on foot, our neighbours Wendy and Robin stopped and asked if we'd like a ride. Yes we said, and then I tried to persuade them to let us buy their car: it fitted the bill

• red
• automatic
  
• small enough to get into our garage
• very comfortable in the backseats
• quite peppy (1500cc)

They would not sell us theirs but not to worry. As we caught the train into Wellington we looked up Honda Jazz, found several online and I called the Honda dealer and arranged for a test drive after our osteopath appointments. The one we drove was silver but it handled well, so a red one was brought down from Auckland for us. A 2022 Jazz Crosstar with just over 4000kms on the clock. Yay!!

So we now have a car that cost significantly less than the Yaris would have. Not hybrid and I do feel a bit bad about that, but am trying to assuage my conscience...

On Thursday this last week, we had a 1970s pot luck dinner here - 17 people came with food they used to make in the 1970s. It was all very reminiscent! And yummy. Do you remember that we used lots of canned food back then? 

Hedgehogs made by Grahame - very yummy. We could tell they were constructed by a chap because the toothpicks were rammed deep into the oranges ...

 

Potato salad, a shredded lettuce salad with carefully arranged grated carrot, tomato and cucumber (peeled) on top; chicken casserole with canned apricots and Maggi Onion Soup; canned beetroot; a cheese fondue with french bread and vegetables for dipping; scalloped potatoes; garlic bread; tuna pie made with canned tuna (of course), a can of mushroom soup and chopped onion topped with crushed chippies and sliced tomato and grated cheese; cheese tart (I've been making that since I was 19 or 20 so that definitely counts as 1970s food ...). And of course Maggi Onion dip, and mayonnaise made from Highlander Condensed milk, vinegar and mustard.

Desserts!! A yummy thing Sally and Ross made: chocolate, meringue, cream, with peaches (canned, obv) and passionfruit pulp. A jelly ring made by our neighbour Susan, complete with strawberries and grapes, and Ambrosia made by Joan our 92 year old neighbour across the road. It had marshmallows and peaches and strawberries and CREAM.

 

David has been busy almost ever since we got home on Weaving Memories work and I have been not working for money at all. I think I am happily easing into being retired, but we shall see...

I was planning to head to Taranaki to stay with our friends Judy and Jim so Judy and I could go to the Taranaki Garden Festivals and David could get on with WM work without my calling on his time. But then we had a text from Jim to say Judy was in Wellington Hospital with a brain bleed after a fall off her bike. Bugger!!! 2 surgeries, with a fairly large piece of skull removed and stored for re-fitting. Double bugger!!

So this morning we went in to see her - she is doing amazingly well, so much so that the surgeon is planning to re-fit the skull section on Friday, rather than in 5 weeks or so as he originally expected. Yay!!!

She has been moved from a room with an en-suite to the Treatment Room across from the Nurses' Station - because she kept getting out of bed to go to the toilet unaided and without her helmet on. The Treatment room doesn't have a toilet ...

She's bit puffy in the face - not surprising, having skidded along the road and then having a total of 5 hours of surgery. And she is now wearing her helmet!!

Jim and Judy - she was happy to see us!

xxoo

Listening to the chaps...

We were with her for over an hour today with lots of chatting and then we took Jim for lunch. And she was ready for another sleep when we left. The brain needs a fair amount of rest for healing.

We had been going to go for a bike ride when we got home but somehow neither of us felt like it...