What we did with Theo

Last weekend we hopped in the car at Friday lunchtime and went off to Hamilton. Good trip up and not nearly as much wet weather as we had expected. Simon cooked tea and we settled in.
Next morning we were left in charge while Simon and Jackie had a night in Thames. What a shame the weather wasn't nicer. We had to go up town so that I could get some paper from the Trade Aid place for a market day project. We decided to grab a bite at Sierra  and Theo picked his own - but then we had a bit of sharing around. A good place to go as we got a Gold Card discount of 10%!

 Then back to do the serious playing! There were stickers for the sticker book.

 A rather hardened set of playdoh which we moistened with water which was very messy, but with a huge amount of enjoyment.

 In the odd bright break there were games of soccer and a new variant of Piggy -in-the-middle. I've never used those rules before.

 Duncan felt that a bit of rough and tumble was called for. "No Grandad, you have to do that on the bed or you'll get hurt" Simon texted a few times during the day. We were doing OK as babysitters - never heard him cry once.

 Next was a visit to Barry and Liz who are in reasonable health and looking forward to their campervan tour in Oz with Wren and Margaret. After playing very quietly for over an hour Theo said, "I want to go home now" Placated with another piece of Liz's shortbread we managed to stay another half hour. What a good little chap!
Dinner, bath and bed and at least three books and he went off to sleep and we didn't hear from him apart from snoring until the morning, although I did go in and straighten him up a couple of times.

Sunday was another miserable day , so it was more inside activities like the old favourite of making a house with blankets and chairs and the sofa.

The miserable weather meant that Simon and Jackie were home just after two - I think that they were a little underwhelmed by the welcome they got. Theo just kept on playing - but it was nice to have a snuggle in the deconstructed house.

I had cooked dinner, but not being used to the oven it was not too brilliant. Will pay to go out next time! Then we were allowed the TV on to watch Dancing with the stars - they don't watch too much TV in that house which is why Theo has such wonderful powers of concentration for a 3 1/2 year old.

Time to go on Monday morning - a ferocious farewell from this little lion! We didn't have much rain again on the trip home but it got very cold going over Traffords Hill - 4 degrees and the Waioeka was running very fully with lots of waterfalls - Not a day to be doing the Tauranga Bridge crossing!!
PS I think Duncan has been able to fix his glasses that got mangled in the rough and tumble!

Hard Core Climbers

Queen's Birthday weekend allowed us time to get down to Dunedin. Both Duncan and I had very fraught mornings, but everything worked out OK and we arrived in Dunedin about 5 pm. Millie had prepared butterchicken which Jill put the finishing touches to as Millie had  ice-skating, and Jill had handmade Naan bread. This delicious meal was finished with mango mousse.
It was cold and dull the next morning which was a shopping expedition. Grandad and Alex went off to hunt down shoes - Alex chose bright pink Vans, while Duncan went for something more restrained in grey and a pair of slippers. We got Millie a skirted black coat which I hardly saw her out of, Jill  and  I got Kumfs, (hers were boots with zips and small studs and mine had tigerskin) and I bought Jill a leather handbag as an early birthday present.
We went out to lunch at Ironic, and since most of us had Mexican meals we managed to knock off a nice bottle of Spanish wine before heading home for a nap. A nice easy meal of soup and ciabatta for dinner and then we watched a documentary from Netflicks, starting with the lady who burned herself on MacDonalds coffee and continuing with an insight into the corrupt judicial system in the US.

Next morning Duncan went off to play golf with some optos. We were both a bit shocked at how dark it was just after 8am. The sun was very low in the sky almost blinding us as we began the steady climb of Flagstaff Hill.

 It is only 2-3km up but steady uphill all the way. The cold air bit into my lungs, causing quite a bit of huffing and puffing  - just as well there were views to be looked at on the way.

 Just at the top was it a bit slushy underfoot and I steadied myself on the rocks as we neared the top.

 Then of course there was the inevitable selfie. Believe it or not I am actually holding Jill's hat on here!

 Here I am at the top. I just want to stress that I had a skivvy, jersey, padded vest on underneath my coat - I'm not really that wide.

From up here you could see all down the Dunedin Harbour and I mused that if a tsunami came there wouldn't be much hope for St Kilda residents as it would barrel  up the harbour as well as come in at St Claire and St Kilda beaches.

There were plenty of pockets of snow on the side of the track and amongst the tussock. I managed to miss Jill with this snowball as we wended our way down, with thoughts of warming Hot Chocolates at the Cadbury factory.

Unfortunately the Cadbury Factory was closed so we went home and showered and changed and THEN went to the Cadbury factory. My year 9 and 10,s are doing a statistics project on candy coated chocolates - ie, a very serious body of work on Pebbles, smarties and M and Ms.

 More shopping followed. I went and helped Rua choose a new outfit, the shirt of which you can see below - just a shame that you can't see the red and black plaid trousers that go with the quite plain shirt. We went to Customhouse for dinner - unfortunately they had changed their name and menu recently, but the food was still very good quality.

 Millie scrubbed up beautifully for this occasion. There's no doubt that being in school shows certainly improves your make-up skills.

 Monday morning we played Monopoly with the kids - the NZ version with up to date money values which was a little confusing for the old codgers. However Duncan still managed the win.

Then on the plane for a long, but quite pleasant trip home. Great trip, and so pleased we didn't stay longer for floods and earthquakes in the subsequent days.

Alcohol Free for a month - Bucket List No 1

For over 47 years I have been a regular imbiber of alcoholic beverages. While at university, Friday night at the pub was normal and there was usually a ”stir” (1960s term for “party”) on Saturday night. At one of those stirs I met Gwenyth and we found we had a common interest in wine. Our interest in the fermented juice of the grape led us to sharing a bottle of wine over dinner most nights of the week often preceded by a beer or two. This has been routine for all of our married life (42 years). I have never considered myself an alcoholic but I have always looked forward to the evening wine with dinner.

In September last year Gwen and I decided to make our “bucket lists” (10 each) to be revealed on New Year’s Eve. A number of items involved travel but I felt there should be a few that were outside my comfort zone and going alcohol free for a month seemed to be well out my comfort zone.

Finding the appropriate month provided a few problems as I didn’t want to compromise birthdays, anniversaries or holidays, but I could see a time frame of 30days (same as April) from Easter Monday to 5^th May. On Easter Sunday we went to an Indian restaurant in Mt Maunganui where I had 1 beer and 2 glasses of chardonnay. As a result I felt that Monday would be a good time to start my alcohol-free challenge. Gwen was a little bemused when I told her just prior to dinner that the time had arrived to “give it a go”.

Just water tonight

So I got through the first 3 days without too much stress, but Thursday was golf day and after golf one adjourns to the clubhouse to discuss the events out on the course and anything else that comes up along with a few beers. In my case I had a 500ml handle of lemon, lime and bitters. Everyone else was curious as what was going on. Some thought I was unwell, others were bemused while a few were encouraging. When I told them this was it for the next 27 days I got some strange looks because I’m sure most believed I couldn’t do it.

Have I missed it? Well yes and no. Yes, because I see Gwen having a glass or two of wine in the evening and my friends having beer after golf. No, because I believed I would feel better, it would be good for my health and I might lose some weight. I have lost less than 1 Kg.

There have been side effects. I take warfarin to prevent blood clots and I need regular blood tests to measure the thinness of my blood. My last two tests have revealed that my blood is not thin enough so I have to increase my dosage of warfarin. The internet tells me there is no agreement as to the influence of alcohol on the effects of warfarin. Obviously, in my case, I need alcohol to reduce the amount of warfarin required to keep my blood thin enough to prevent clots.

It is now 6^th May and not a drop of alcoholic liquid has passed my lips since 4^th April. I have been told there is alcohol in the bitters of lemon lime and bitters. If there is it is extremely little and doesn’t count. Anyway I found that drink quite sweet so I changed to non-alcoholic ginger beer which was also sweet but had a tang to it.

That first beer!

Well that was bucket list number 1. The only problem with it was that it took 30 days to accomplish and there wasn’t much fun doing it. I don’t feel I’ve achieved all that much at all – not like travelling to an exciting destination as an example. All I can say is that I HAVE  DONE IT!!!!

Mmmmm a salmon steak and a Quartz Reef Sparkling Rose.

Easter Fun at the Mount

We got an early start on Good Friday to head up to Mount Maunganui where we had "Book a Bach". We  guided Simon and Jackie to our spot, and Jackie had gasped at all the old Bach stuff which is quite sort after now such as the Mc Alpine Refrigerator Jug. I was more taken with the teapot with the tea cosy of knitted pansies! Their bedroom was a bit squashed with Theos bed in there too, but we managed to cope. Jackie and Simon headed off for a quiet lunch and left Duncan and I to adjust to the continual talking by Theo, including that hardy perennial "Why?"

 The weather was warm, but what we hadn't counted on was the fact that the water was also warm. I didn't put my togs on, but got plenty wet anyway.

 Theo showed great confidence and even the odd time he got bowled over by a wave he seemed to get up with only a minor look of surprise.

Bring on the surf!!

I love this picture of us both waiting for the wave!
That night it was my turn on cooking, so it was kebabs, rice and veges, with a less than succesful (but had potential) cake.
Next morning Simon and Jackie took the kayak out in the harbour while Theo, Duncan and I built sand castles. There was a cruise ship in so a continual stream of people walking up and down the boardwalks along the shore. It was quite cold, but by lunch-time it had warmed up quite a lot. We went to Tay Street Cafe, and had soon colonised enough tables for all of us - Carla and Rodney, Rachel and Paul, Me and Duncan, Simon and Jackie and Theo and Lyn. The food was pretty good, but Simon got very hot in the sun. So this afternoon I put my togs on to go to the beach. The water was still very warm.

 We played lots with  balloons which you blow up using a pump and then stay afloat for quite a while, but we had a few fly over the fence to the neighbours. Theo was philosophical about it.

 The agony of trying to tie your shoe laces

 He actually got the first bit right.

Hot cross buns with Grandad.
Simon and Jackie on cooking tonight - pasta with bacon and chicken.
Next morning Simon and Duncan went to play golf. Jackie and I checked out Spotlight, but it wasn't open - what a shame they didn't say so on their website, instead of "4 Day Sale" which sort of implied that they would be. We came back and wandered up town for morning tea , I bought a necklace, and then went to the park where Theo swung for a very long time. So we were quite late when it came time to go to the beach and the wind had got up so soon Theo was shivering. We went to the Hot Pools - Duncan uses his Gold Card for OAPs there. Unfortunately Theo didn't want to get out of here and there were a few tears as we exited!

 After a bit more balloon playing it was off to an Indian Restaurant for dinner - very good food, especially the Naan bread.

 Next morning it was time to pack up and give the bach a thorough clean so that we got our bond back. Didn't manage to catch up with Carla again - even though she was in apartments just over the road. Just time to take some family photos before we left.

 I had to go to Spotlight as there were things I wanted to get for Market Day. We don't have a Spotlight in Gisborne anymore which is a great shame when it comes to all those craft things.

 Simon and Jackie headed off for home, but I was allowed a half hour shop at K and K at Bayfair which I was able to use to pick out 2 tee shirts, a cardi, a vest for golf and a snood! Well, who can blame me with 30% off all new season stock.

Then we went out to Jill and John Thurston's bach at Papamoa (yes I know they only live at Te Puke). We had lunch with them and then a drive around Papamoa. The Papamoa road I used to know (11kms long) was just dotted with baches, but now it is full of flash houses and several streets deep. There is a huge population of mainly permanent occupiers, a couple of schools and several shopping areas. On the way home I started to feel a sore throat coming on. Its laid me low for a few days now. I just can't keep up with these grandchildren! But it was lovely.

Spending the OAP

Duncan's birthday dawned a clear crisp day in Queenstown and after breakfast, presents and texts we left with Pinotthyme Wine Tours. Jim has worked in the wine industry, here and in Oz, had his own vineyard and made his own wine. He had just sold his vineyard and gone into the wine tours business. Joining us on the tour were Tom and Jenna, a young couple from Queensland. I did wonder about Tom's occupation when we suggested that they should try a bungy and he retorted - "I'm not going to risk a detached retina" It turned out that the young Tom Cruise look-a-like was a doctor and his tall, willowy partner was a nurse.
The first winery of the day was Peregrine, where the riesling was a stunner, but the servings were miserly (which, of course may have been a good thing at 11 in the morning!)
Aurum was next - a Kiwi grapegrowing family whose son married a french wine maker, Lucy. We arrived just as a group of voluble  french wine buyers were leaving. Fortunately Lucy switched back to English when they left. She is from Burgundy so we are expecting great things from her Pinot Noir.
We had been to Wooing Tree before, and here we found the first - and only - decent Chardonnay of the day.

I think I'll go home in the red ferrari.

We had lunch at Cromwell in an Italian restaurant. I had an apricot smoothie, Duncan had a beer, but Tom and Jenna had another glass of wine! - we were impressed by their staying power and love of the drier wines. After wandering through the artist's quarter we set off to Quartz Reef - a favourite sparkling wine of ours - and were impressed with the sparkling rose which had a bit of extra oomph to it.

A calm Lake Dunstan

At the historic village of Cromwell

Tom, Jenna and I enjoy the terrace at Mt Difficulty

It is a spectacular drive up to Mount Difficulty wines, with intense blue skies behind the rugged bronze peaks. Mount Difficulty is now the biggest wine company in the region, and their wines are more readily available in Gisborne. The Chenin Blanc was very interesting.

Duncan checks out the Brennan Vines

"Save the best till last" applied to Brennan - a winery that we had never heard of before. The tempranillo (that far south!!) and a vertical tasting from 2009, 2010 and 2011 which showed the development of the skills of the winemaker were highlights.
So with several dozen of the product to be sent to us we enjoyed stocking up our wine cellar.

A glass of bubbles to start

 After a rest and an upgrade of dress we were picked up by a complimentary taxi to take us to The Gantry for dinner. We were impressed with the 6 course degustation menu, but the 6 accompanying wines might have been a glass too far!!

 However we wine matched each of our three courses. I had pea and smoked bacon soup, followed by duckliver pate with cherries (really an entree) then roast peach and Mille Feuille for dessert.

Duncan's main

 Duncan had tomato, basil and red pepper soup then salt crusted venison - very tender - and a deconstructed lemon meringue pie where the lemon part was semi freddo and the base was a sprinkling of toasted crumbs and nuts.
I was highly delighted to see that they hadn't added the 15% surcharge for Otago Anniversary Day on, so I decided to add a tip - then at the till I mentioned this and he thanked me for my honesty and added it on - as well as the tip!!!

Cheers!

A truly memorable day. Duncan got his first payment of the pension the next day $61.13. Didn't quite cover the Birthday Celebrations!!

The Diffuse Bees do Relay for Life.

Its taken a while to get this BLOG posted and catch up on sleep and housework that we should have done on the weekend that we did the Relay 4 Life to raise money for the Local Cancer society. The idea is that you raise funds by getting sponsorship, but we ran a sweepstake, and then walked around the showgrounds track for 24hours.

Me and Olwyn - both had Diffuse Large B cell Lymphoma. The red sashes were for survivors.

 We put the tent and gazebo up on Friday night the all assembled at about 11am on the Saturday. The survivors lap started at 12.00 and while the mayor droned on at the opening, a drone flew overhead taking pictures which distracted every-one! Me Olwyn and Stef walked the survivors lap and then the rest of the team joined in.

Robyn, Dawn, Anna and Norma

 We were recording the laps for the sweepstake, but got a bit distracted by having an interview filmed in the second hour. then we received the prize for the best dressed team and tent and soon we realised our lap rate was very low,so we put it in the hands (or is it feet?) of our fast walkers and were soon averaging 10 laps an hour. We just had to make sure we had some of the team on the track at all times.

Penny, Stef and Anna

 Even Duncan donned a stripey shirt and a set of wings! (no photo though!). We were Diffuse Bees after the type of lymphoma Olwyn and I had (Diffuse Large B Cell) and so we had a "B" banquet for dinner that night, starting with Bharghee mix, Brie, Bluevein, biscuits, and blinis with beetroot relish and cream cheese followed by burgers with beef of beetroot patties with bean or beetroot salad. Dessert was berries from Anna's bountiful garden, brownie, beaten cream and boysenberry yoghurt.

Robyn and Dawn on Night patrol

 I went home soon after that as at 9pm there is a commemorative service for those who have died from cancer. I am not quite ready for that. Plus I needed some sleep. Up at 4 and back on the track by 4.30am. The night walkers had made good progress in the lap count. Most of us had individual goals. I did 50laps (20km) but Dawn, Penny and Anna were going for a marathon of 106 laps. Regrettably Dawn got blisters in the early hours of the morning, but the other two completed.
I was on cooking the bacon and eggs as the organisers decided to only have a healthy option breakfast of fruit and cereal. Let me tell you that if you've been walking since 4.30am THAT does not fit the bill.
We were struggling to keep fresh people on the track by 10am, but Duncan was back and put into service while the rest of us began the pack-up. It was decided that we would walk the last lap together - I have to say I swore quite a bit when they suggested this! Then got out and did it - and proud of it!!

The Ladies of the CWI decided to knit the track since they are all getting a bit old to walk it.   It didn't quite stretch all the way.

We raised close to $3000 for the local Cancer society and we sincerely hope our efforts will inspire others to do the next Relay for Life so that we can have a rest.
226 laps has really worn us out.

Footnote: Dawn and Anna are now training for the Rotorua Marathon.

A day at the cricket

After much discussion I dug my toes in about going to a World Cup game unless NZ was playing. So last weekend we left after Saturdaylunch for Napier. We stayed at The Nautilus on the waterfront as our friends Fred and Leigh were away in Twizel watching their granddaughter race. We settled on a Thai place for dinner which was just a walk away from the motel. Next morning Duncan went for a run - which proved his undoing as he suffered a really sore knee while I made the filled rolls and packed up the cushions and water. Finally we took our place in the stand and took a selfie.

 You can see we are in our jerseys here and although the wind blew all day, later in the day is got so very hot. It was great to be at a ground again, and just to see the running and the distances involved. The wickets that glow when hit were much better in real life too!

 Here we are - there must have been a wicket! The Afghani's batted first and it was great to see our bowlers in action in the flesh. Many people had the orange Catch a million teeshirts on, but Duncan finds Tui beer so foul he couldn't bring himself to buy one. The man next to us had one on, but I really don't think he was too serious as he took off his leg (artificial)  and used it to store his beer in. He was rubbish at the Mexican wave as well.

 This man in front had the most amazing hair - I wanted to run my fingers through it! It was like a very soft bristle brush.

 The Blackcaps set a very aggressive field - here we have 3 slips and two gullys. We tucked into our rolls and enjoyed a cider while all about us ate hotdogs and pale chips.

But once McCullum was out and the sun really started to beat down on us it was not so pleasant. I queued for an icecream - $5.50 for a magnum. However we stayed right to the bitter end, and saw the win before walking back to our motel. We went Indonesian that night, with Ristoffle - sort of like Indonesian tapas with about a dozen little dishes. We drove home early on Monday morning, so a nice little break away.