Its not Kneesy

I have been checking to see if Jill has been blogging on my site since I put pictures on hers but no. I dare say we will get a fair few when they move. So here are some photos of body parts which have been causing me some grief lately. Firstly the knee which I injured recently at Ohiwa. I was just celebrating being back in reasonable shape when I was walking up the path at school, talking to some student over my shoulder. The the knee gave way and I hit the edge of the path with my other foot and over I went. (I think this is very puffy - but just the angle I took the photo from)

This is the ankle that I sprained as a consequence, so my life has been quite quiet as I tend to nod off as soon as I put my foot up as a result of the painkillers. However I've stopped taking them now and can move slowly, and in a straight line without my crutches. Steps and rough ground may take a wee while longer.

However I got the candy cane award (a walking stick at Christmastime) at school from Sonja. She was the teacher who was not far behind me and was able to pull my skirt down and prevent my knickers being seen by too many students!!

Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness?

Isn't that Autumn? Yet have a look at these photos. Can you see the mist rising off the squash? The weather has been so weird lately. We consistenly get cold winds. As for fruitfulness, we have been inundated with raspberries from Anna's, so I have been making jam and put down some Framboise - raspberries in brandy - which cant be consumed for eight months yet.

My Christmas dollars have now been spent. Which is just as well as I love shopping, and have a great tendency to buy "just one more thing".

One more week of school, finishing on Tuesday the 7th. I have a pedicure and painted toenails lined up for the Wednesday, as my treat for making it through another year.

Double Dutch

Our theme for race day this year was Doubles. We all took doubles on race 3 and 4 which was very stressful for duncan on the computer, but we did have one guy get over a $100 return on this. We had everyone come dressed as doubles. Duncan and I went as North and South magnets, we had a couple of bikies, two sets of cowboys/girls, and Sitzje and Ineke came in their clogs with little dutch themed scarves. Murray and Shirley came as life guards - even had matching speedos on!!. They have been involved in surf-liesaving for 40 years, so every second race, they disappeared and came back in a different outfit. They missed out on the birthday suit and the wetsuit. One was too bulky to bring, and the otherone wasn't.

From our back yard to theirs.

In our back yard we have a whole heap of gewurztraminer. Its clone is Colmar 456. So when we decided to go to France next year it seemed only logical that we explore the wine district of Colmar. Its in Alsace Lorraine - a region which has a bit of an identity crisis as it has been French, but invaded by so many other armies throughout the centuries. We hope to spend 3 days there followed by a day in the bigger city of Strasbourg. Their national dish is sauerkraut, but the buildings look very Swiss. They also grow quite a bit of Pinot gris as they are close to Italy, and the hot dry weather allows them to ripen Tokay - which we normally get from Australia! Should be interesting.

We are using a travel broker instead of a travel agent this time and it seems that for people who sort of know what they want this has been so for a very positive change. We have been alarmed by the number of seats already booked on the planes, but all is in place and we should be confirmed by the end of the week.

Warming to the Awning

Couldn't get away to Ohiwa until Saturday afternoon, but got the awning up before drinks that night. The instructions were translated from Spanish. Several key areas seem to have been omitted. Velcro straps weren't there. We were introduced to fitons, which is a bit like a piton for scaling icy peaks. However, despite these sticking points we were so pleased with the functionality of the awning, and lots of options in the cool wind which plagued the weekend. There was a huge crowd in the camping ground, but no one we knew. Many with dogs.

I washed the sheets and blankets, but didn't risk the bedspread as the weather was quite cloudy. Duncan did some good runs, spurred on by reading the Kerre Woodham "Fat chick in Paris". I had quite a bit of marking to do, so all in all a quiet weekend. I took my togs - as a child, first swim of the year at Labour weekend - but didn't use them!

Back home to Gisborne and hot dry norwester.

Wet wet wet!

I was just preparing to do a blog about the joys of spring when the weather changed. The rain has not let up, and we are approaching a very worrisome night. This is the racecourse quickly filling up. Millie suggested it should be called Lake Gisborne

The weather has been made worse by the strong winds, and before that the hail - but I havent ventured over to the Back Block to investigate the damage yet.The water will make it very hard to get the sprayer around the vineyard, so we will be wide open all all the mildew diseases.The racecourse drains out through our property. The drains are getting very full. The ducks next door are loving it.Still the rain is pelting down!!! Wet, wet, wet!

Summer, here we come

This last week has been all about getting the caravan ready for summer. We took it up to Tauranga to get the freeview TV put on. This caused our first problem as the firm - that we had been recommended didn't have a plug to use with a caravan point, so, since we hadn't unhooked the caravan from the car we went for long walks while they completed the job. Then we trundled on to Ohiwa, and set up in time to watch the six o'clock news. The statellite dome finds the station itself and the reception is brilliantly clear. On Wednesday we did a bit of tidying up. I'm changing the loo system from liquids whose perfume was almost as overpowering as that which it is trying to mask, while Duncan de-spidered the nooks and crannies. Then we went for a game of golf at Opotiki. I played extremely badly. When we got back Duncan went to try the dea of using anchovies for bait, which wasn't successful. Nor was trying to teach his cellphone to swim.
Up bright and early on Thursday to go to the awning place in Taupo. We decided to get walls on our roll out awning, but the lady warned us that this would need to be taken down in stormy weather - which is not what we wanted. So after vowing and declaring we wouldn't get a proper awning for this caravan we came to the conclusion that for the christmas break, it was the best solution.
Duncan had a go at the hole in one at Lake Taupo. He managed to get one ball onto the pontoon, but it rolled off the back. I was amazed to read later that there is one winner every fortnight! Decided to pick up a case of European wines from scenic cellars, and had a lovely lunch there before heading home in rainy conditions.
On Friday it was up and over to Whakatane to get the old awning off as the new one will not operate with this on. More driving and walking around. Did the big circuit of the beach estuary when we returned - saw one godwit. The wind was pretty cold - it might have thought it was still in the artic.
That night as I went to the loo, my Crocs suckered into a patch of mud that I did not see and I landed on my knee, then skated forward getting mud from top to toe. Next morning I could not use this leg. I think I have related most of this in an email, so here is the picture: