To Quakeville and Back Again ...

Kate and I left for Quakeville last Thursday.  Had to travel via Blenheim as the Lewis Pass and Hope Saddle was closed due to heavy snowfall the day before.  The night before we left we baby sat Isaac while David and Stacey went out to tea.  Aunt Blondie read him a digger book.

We shared a cuppa soup for tea the night we arrived, for some reason the cupboards were empty and we had to go supermarket shopping!  Mark worked Friday and Saturday till Noon, then we drove to Geraldine and back for a visit with Bev, Eldon & Kyle.  Friday morning early we dropped Mark to work after two circles...he thought he knew which way we went.  Then collected Stuart from the airport after which we found a carpark at Hornby for breakfast.  It's good they have those double ones so you know your neighbours aren't going to clonk their car doors against you!!

Mark took us out to tea at a classy wee joint in Riccarton called Rotherhams on Friday night.  They had lovely desserts after lovely meals.  Kate of course chose the chocolate choice.  You had to be careful not to spear yourself on the toffee thingys - they were very long.

Mark has adopted Dad's photo of the Albatross for his background on the Mac.  And some mysterious shopping trolley seems to have turned up in his carpark area.

This was Monday morning as Mark was going out to the taxi and off to work again.

Then it was time to pack up and get on the road again.  Mark has his own two car parks numbered with his apartment number.

The road through the Lewis Pass and Hope Saddle were still covered with a lot of snow, and the car kept telling us it was 3 degrees (or less) outside, so take care with driving!!

And next morning Stuart came to pick me up as the work car wasn't at home... and it was lovely to have a nice home made coffee :) One in italian glass, other in Burleigh mug.  Quite a saving with Kate - she doesn't drink coffee!!  Stuart found some more beans in Christchurch - Lazy Sunday and Hanky Panky.  Sounds promising...

Thanks Mark for a lovely few days.  It was good to see you again :)  Miss you.  Glad we could fill your cupboards up just in time for Matt & Amy.

A Fishing We Did Go ...

Fiordland Trip Instructions:  "Pack as lightly as possible" - Yeah right.

 Cutting the water to open sea

Where Stuart did some barfing for the first day and a half ...in between fishing and filleting.  Lots of groper who pop eye when they come to the surface.

Some very large grey sharks which could hardly be held off the deck, and good sized blue cod.

Some special deep sea Blue Nose - which even if they're not as big as the groper, are more sought after.

 And some amazing wing spans of Albatross trailing the boat and skipping on the water behind.

The mafia at the end of the trip ... 

 All in all a good time was had, and plenty of fish filleted, vacuum bagged and frozen to bring home.

Along with some live crayfish crawling around in my chilli bags, drowning in my kitchen sink, flopping water everywhere and barely fitting in my biggest pot!

 And the boy who decided to give his razor a holiday as well !!  He showed his mug at work for a whole day, but managed to shave last night :)

Down on the Farm ...

Here's some closer ups of the beasties.  Thankfully the remaining six have decided the vaccines are working and look reasonably happy on their feet.  They haven't been named yet, but we were wondering about Stew, Porterhouse, Rump, Ribeye etc...

These two lovelies are a bit more 'beefy' than the others, and a wee bit more standoffish!

And, Oscar has found a new friend.  Do you want to play..... Oh come on don't be stuffy.... and lets get a little closer  :)  He was funny to watch.  They've obviously got a wee rapport going on.

And, not to be forgotten, Isaac is so into gabbling to mum, nan and anybody who'll listen or pay attention!  And when he gets all excited in the telling, he adds emphasis in the telling, and his little arms are going around like little windmills! 

And tonight we've lit the fire.  Once the sun goes down you feel the chill happening.  But we're getting lovely sunny days after the frost thaws out.

Sorry, the pic before this was a bit blurry when he was smiling.  Grandad loves the fireplace!  Just have to watch him when he thinks it needs stoking all the time :)

And it's really winter now ...

Frosts each morning on the ground, but lovely sunny clear blue sky days.  The sun had been on this one for a while... and the tracks are residue of some very wet weeks prior.

And I haven't been shopping like EVERYBODY else, but do you really need to when there is still such beautiful things around us?

I'm sure our plants really don't know the season.  Evidence that autumn has only just gone.

We picked all the ripe lemons to juice and freeze as we use them every day, but there's heaps more ripening up.

The odd bunch inside keeps us enjoying natural beauty and the Daphne is blooming well with a lovely fragrance.  Who can question there is a creator?!

So have fun shopping folk, they'll all go out of fashion next season, but all this stays the same every year :)

And another rainy day in paradise ....

Sunday, and we've had endless rain since Friday night.  The 15 litre bucket in the ceiling must be full, because it started dripping on Roselles chair and she got a wet (seat).  Apparently Bainham has had 1.9 metres!!

Dave, Stacey & Isaac came to see us for lunch today, along with Grandad here, and we enjoyed Lester Gibsons nice piece of roast lamb he brought us last weekend.
Isaac was full of stories with Stuart today, just like he was at home with his Mum and I yesterday ... while Stuart and Dave did 'farm jobs'!  Well slushed around in their gumboots, looked at the cows and all the water, but managed to trim the hedge down the drive.

Don't tell anyone, but I think I'll be full of mischief before very long!
Each week I'm getting a little more vocal and very much more responsive.

I had a great old chat and goo with Dad...

And when I'm not chatting I've very much found out how to stuff one if not all my fingers in my mouth!
I don't even need a dummy a lot of the time.

And here we have a nice wee happy family... just prior to filling my pullups (Isaac that is) with epic proportions! 

Thankfully our spec house went unconditional last week.  The 25 page report the new owners got done shows we have to take a spec of paint off the roof somewhere and adjust a striker plate on the entrance door.  Think this report writer could find a job in christchurch doing more worthwhile things...

So, we've managed to keep a couple of boys busy for 4 months and cover our costs, what more could we expect?!  It did have good views down over the town and out to the estuary.

Now it's time to catch up on the sleep that decided I didn't really need last night :)  I can hear Stuart has already logged his in. Love ya.

It's June already ...

Have been slack at updating, just like some have been suggesting ...  Perhaps life has settled down and nothing too much happening..   BLUE went to the vet for his bi-annual shot and checkup, and came back with a new travelling bag, which included an extra weekender bag for his things, and a free blankie with a new box of Frontline :0  He didn't mind trying it out at home either.  Quite comfy and purred loudly.  Must be a modern male to wear pink perhaps?

It was embarrassing to be caught photographing the rubbish in my nightie one morning, (and seriously how do you explain it?)  but I couldn't believe what I saw ...

And if anybody knew how attached Stuart gets to his things, then they'd understand how difficult it must have been to leave these in here...   After wearing them for a couple of weeks like this at work, I think he decided that maybe the soul had really died.  Each night he dried his socks and shoes in front of the fire :(

And, today we enjoyed cuddles and chats with Isaac.  He is responding really well to chatter ... and here it looks like he's trying to really get his point across to Grandad!

Definitely a Flowerday talking with the hand signals :)  He smiles are so very cute!