Birthday Time

First up I must congratulate ALL entries in the caption competition last month - and the winner is.............drumroll please............... EVERYONE! They were all great entries. Well done. Now the pressure is on to find another good photo for the next competition. Watch this space.

Claire is up to her usual tricks of passing assignments left, right, and centre. The last assignment to come back had a pass with MERIT. No simple old passes for Claire, oh no no no! She's a machine!!

And speaking of passes, I also know that Mum is doing extremely well and got an A in her last assignment which is brilliant!! Well done Mum. Sending you a great big congratulatory virtual hug!!

Claire turned 30th on 3rd September - of course no one believes she's THAT old.... which is good because that hopefully means that no one believes that I am 5 years older that THAT.

Mark whisked Claire off for a romantic mini-break to the Capital for two nights which sounds like it was lovely. They said they had a great time with just the right balance of relaxation and tourist attractions, as well as a lot of people watching (commonly known as 'staring') which is ALWAYS fun (as long as you're stationary and don't walk into a sign).

We had a few people around for a takeaway meal on Saturday night and then invited others to come along later for drinks. It was a good turn out and everyone seemed to have a good time. It was good to catch up with some we hadn't seen for a wee while.

We also had Alex's 19th birthday on 6 September. 19!!!! Wow - time has flown by.

Claire and I were invited to join the Pak's, Henry, Sam, and Mitchell for dinner at Garden Restaurant on Sunday night. It's a buffet and is mighty yummy. I left there feeling like I was actually going explode. Paula also snuck in a yummy chocolate birthday cake which I HAD to have a slice of.

We had our end of season function for work at the end of August. We don't have anything much at Christmas as it is our busiest time so they put on a dinner and band for all staff and partners mid year. It's always a good night. I got a little (lot) tipsy and ended up losing my camera. It is a shame as there would have been some brilliant photos with some hunky guys on it. I initially thought that someone may have picked it up and would return it to me at work so I put a notice up on the noticeboard at work but after two weeks I can safely assume that I won't be seeing the camera again. Someone obviously needed it more than me. The hardest thing about that is that it is either someone I work with or a partner that has taken it. Doesn't make me feel very good about the morals of my workmates. If I had a dollar for everytime someone asked me if I had found my camera I could afford a new one! Nice that they all care though. Oh well, that's life I guess.

My new favourite thing is SKYPING. Ooh it's so great - seeing AND talking. So great for those far away AND for growing babies!

Exciting news - I will be joining Weight Watchers on Tuesday which I am looking forward to. I have slowly but steadily put on 21 kilos in the 6 years that I have been home from my OE. That's a lot. I looked up on the WW website today and apparently my weight is perfect............ if I was 200cm tall!!! Easier to lose weight than lengthen my body I think. So Tuesday is D Day. I thought I would bring it up so that I am more likely to be motivated knowing that you all know. That's the theory anyway.

Oh and something completely unrelated but worth a mention - one of our sales guys from work, Robert, is the proud father of the new Miss South Island. His daughter, Kelly, was approached while working at Dragonfly in Rolleston and asked to be part of the pageant. She agreed and won it!! She is now getting ready for Miss NZ at the end of October. Very exciting. I think Robert is getting ready to quit work and be her manager if she wins that one!

Min & Tobes say meow purrrrrr. Little fatties. Bless.

The Good Life

From 17th-27th August I was invited to housesit for friends of my workmate out in Templeton on their little 10 acre farm. The house is beautiful, big and new with SKY tv (a bit of a treat for plebs like me). The farm consisted of 5 sheep (two of which were pregnant) 8 chickens (1 was sitting on 10 eggs), about 24 bantams, and two cats. It was my own little slice of heaven for 10 whole days. The chickens/bantams had a great set up with pens I like to call 'Chicken City'.

My chores included feeding the chickens/bantams morning and night, collecting the eggs, feeding the sheep in the mornings, feeding/patting/talking to the cats. One cat was hardly seen as she is very timid and prefers to sleep in the barn only coming in at night to eat. The other cat, Duddie, is the complete opposite. He even followed me into the toilet one day and jumped on my knee!! We had to have a little chat about boundaries after that. He was great company and followed me EVERYWHERE. Even out to feed the chooks - they weren't bothered by him and he wasn't even interested in them.

The 10 eggs under the hen were due to hatch on Saturday 22nd August and sure enough, when I went out on Sunday afternoon there were 3 little chicks. Soooo cute! Now, those of you who are lucky enough to have SKY may be familiar with The Girls At The Playboy Mansion - a doco about Hugh Hefner and his three young, blonde girlfriends living at the Playboy Mansion. Being a non-skyer I got instantly hooked on this mind-numbing dribble and decided to call the 3 little yellow chicks Kendra, Bridget, and Holly after Hugh's girlfriends. After talking to Nicki (the home owner) when she returned, she said it is possible their names may have to be changed to Ken, Bruce, and Hal. Although it is a little early to tell.

When I returned home from work on Tuesday 25th there were two sets of twin lambs! Ooh if you know my love of all things mini, you can surely imagine how excited I was!! One of the little ones didn't look to be doing too well so I went in for a closer look. He wasn't looking all that flash which concerned me but he was breathing which was a good start. His Mum warned me to stay back by stamping her hoof. I went back to the house and when I came back out 10 minutes later all 4 lambs were up and jumping around. I was so happy I think I cried.

Thursday morning was my last shift before heading to work and from there going back home. Although it was nice to get back home and see Claire and our own cats, I miss the farm life. I feel I have done my apprenticeship now and am ready to take on Uncle Brian's 200ish hectares! Ha! Although nothing would get eaten - how can you eat it if you name it??

Captain's Blog: Stardate 0408:2009

What a crazy, fun, noisy, funny last week we have had at Roxy Inn! It seems somewhat like a ghost town this week in comparison.

Mum was the first to arrive on Saturday 25th July. Claire and I whipped out to the airport to pick her up in the afternoon. It was sooooo lovely to see her and get much needed Mum hugs.

Gavin, Catkin, and Annabelle (Henceforth referred to as The Southern Barts) arrived not long after we got home. Mum got right-of-way with cuddles as she was only staying for the one night.

Paula, Kazio, and Alex came around and we had a lovely family dinner... with 2 types of cheesecake... jealous much? It was a lovely evening.

On Sunday we went for a walk around the streets towards the Port Hills. It was a beautiful sunny morning - perfect for a walk. After lunch we played Scrabble and drank tea until having to drop Mum out at the airport again. Sad days :( There were a few tears in the car on the way to the airport but not for long as I pulled out the Smell mype joke!! It never gets old, that one.

The main reason for the Southern Barts visit was that Catkin had a two day vaccination course to attend. So on Wednesday and Thursday Gavin and Annabelle had quality time together without Aunties trying to grab, pinch, and prod poor Annabelle.

The week went well and Annabelle had lots of smiles for everyone. Catkin cooked a lovely dinner on Friday night which we all enjoyed.

The cats were very unsure of the 'midget with tourettes' (their words, not mine) invading their house. Everytime Annabelle saw either cat she got very excited and her little legs would start kicking! By Sunday morning Min became brave and by tricking her with the brush (which she LOVES) we managed to get her in arms reach of Annabelle. Annabelle got to pat Min which made her squeal with delight, and made Min scamper.... for a little while, but she came back. This went on a few times. It was hilarious.

We waved goodbye to the Southern Barts around 9am on Sunday morning as they started their journey South to Ohau for a night at the lodge before heading back to Queenstown the following day.

It has been suggested by a long time follower (thanks Apes! Great idea) that we have a regular caption competition. I found the PERFECT photo for this. Feel free to leave your caption in the comments below.

My entry - "And that, Nana, is how my Daddy fixes the Landrover!"

Watch This Space

We have Mum coming for one night only tomorrow AND the Southern Bartlett's coming for a whole week! The next blog will be action packed!!

So many exciting things are about to happen so watch this space!

We did win our netball again last night. Yes, we are a force to be reckoned with! Final score was 22-13.

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?!

Big exciting news first: Claire got a PASS WITH DISTINCTION in her last assignment. She was very proud of herself and rightfully so. Claire said that the fact that I mentioned it in the last Roxy Review might have been good luck so I thought I might talk a little about Lotto this time.... just put it out there.... and see what the universe throws back at me.... Ok, enough sillyness.

Extremely well done Claire!

We had a work shout last Friday night for Peter Isle's Retirement and 40 year service. For those of you who don't know, Peter was a special needs employee at work. He worked down in the factory but lately had become a bit of a liability and the call was made for him to retire before he hurt himself or someone else. The fact that Peter had worked for Carter Holt Harvey for 40 years is really saying something for the company in my opinion.

There was a good turnout at the function and he made a very good speech - handing over the responsibility of Carol Singer to one of the other members of staff. When someone asked what he was going to do now he was retired he replied 'find another job'. I'm not sure he understands the concept of 'retirement'.

A couple of 'Peterisms' have come out over the past few weeks which have made me laugh. These are my favourites:

'That guy is N.I.T Nil!'

'There's no rest for the wicketts'.

'It's no skin on my nose'

My favourite, favourite is his name for the old cafe lady Prue. He has always called her Prune. Bless.

I got a lovely letter last week from Lucy King who I used to babysit in Auckland. Her and her mother were coming down to Christchurch for the weekend and wanted to know if I wanted to catch up with them. You bet I did!!! I hadn't seen them since I left Auckland 3 1/2 years ago.

On Saturday I went and met them at their hotel in the city and then we went for a cup of tea in New Regent Street before heading to Merivale Mall for some shopping. It was really lovely to see them again. Lucy is 12 now and so grown up. She is still a really lovely person.

We spent about 4 hours together chatting and looking at ridiculously overpriced wares in Merivale, and I dropped them off at the Arts Centre on my way back through. It was a lovely day.

We had a visit from Russell and his sister Carmel on Sunday. Carmel was in Christchurch visiting friends for the weekend. It was lovely to see her again. She is very involved with the Wellington International Ukelele Orchestra and has been kept busy with their sell-out concerts. Sounds like a lot of fun.

Russell busied himself bullying and rough-housing Toby (which I think Toby secretly loved).

I seem to have a bit (a lot) of an obsession with Scrabble. I play online with my dear Mum and some friends but lately I have been finding myself counting the point values of words etc when I am bored. The other day I added up the entire points value of my keyboard. It's 87 in case you ever need to know. Is there a Scrabblers Anonymous anywhere??

Please join me in welcoming a new Follower to the blog... To the right of your screen you will see this blog now has TWO followers. Feel free to link on if you want.

As Mad As A Hatter

Unfortunately this blog starts on a sad note.  Grandad Bartlett's sister, Aunty Nancy, passed away on Sunday 21st June.  Paula and Kazio went down to Invercargill for the funeral and Gavin managed to get across from Queenstown for it also.  Paula said it was a good turn out and got to catch up with the cousins aswell.  They also got over to Queenstown the following day and looked after Annabelle while Gavin was in a meeting and Catkin was at work.  Nice quality time with the wee Princess!

I finally got out into the vege garden a few weeks back and tidied it all up for Winter.  I got all the weeds out and then covered it in compost. It was a bigger job than I had anticipated but was very pleased with my efforts. As I was digging around in the compost bin three little mice ran out and along the fence.  Cute!  Not sure where they took cover until they could return and start rebuilding their houses in the compost.  

Lynnie and Courtney had a garage sale a few weeks back so I offered to help them and thought it might be a good chance to try and sell some baby Aloe Veras too.  I sold two and made $5 BUT I spent $10 buying their old bread maker!  Ha!  I have yet to try it out on yummy bready goodness but was very happy with my purchase.

They did really well and got rid of most of the big stuff they were selling.  They were planning on having another one the following weekend out at Lynnie's mums house in Kaiapoi.

Last week we had THE most dramatic game of netball ever.  One of the guys on the opposing team was gobbing off at the ref when she penalised him for something he had done.  He wouldn't let it go and kept swearing at the ref so she sent him off.  He sat on the sideline and was still swearing at her so she stopped the game and went upstairs to get one of the guys to escort him out.  While she was upstairs the rest of the team walked off the court.  AND we were winning!  Very bad sportsmanship from the whole team!  Anyway, we won by default and some people from the sideline made up a team so we could continue our game.  We won even though the score doesn't count.  

The team that walked off were at the top of the points ladder but no longer play at Howzat so now we are at the top!!  Yipppeee! 

A couple of weeks ago Russell played for us and brought along his new girlfriend, Melissa Archer.  She seemed really nice and reminded me of a blonde Kathryn Bartlett.

Last Saturday I drove up to Picton to see my exclusive man-friend Lance.  I was planning to drive back on Sunday but when Sunday rolled around I just couldn't be bothered so we decided that I should stay another night and, seeing it is SOOO quiet at work at the moment, I rang my boss at midday to see if I could take an annual leave day on Monday. At 12:02pm I rang Claire to tell her I would be home on Monday.  At 12:05pm I had my first vodka & redbull.  Much better than driving home and having to go to work the next day!!  It was very stormy up in Picton so we stayed in and watched movies in the warmth.  Nice.

On Thursday at work we had a Mad Hatters Tea Party.  We occasionally have theme days - just our department - and this week it was decided that we would have a hat day. Everyone brought a plate for a shared morning tea and a hat.  My boss Julian had a ridiculously oversized cowboy hat which made me laugh loudly every time I looked at him.  Hilarious.  I made and took along some chocolate caramel slice which wasn't as good as usual due to the fact that I had iced it while it was hot (like I usually do) but the butter in the icing melted and kind of settled on top looking a little dodgy. Anyway, everyone was very kind and said it was yummy.  Even Barb in the cafe at work had a piece ... and then another... and then asked for the recipe.  And she's a pro!  So that's saying something.

I was invited to join cousin Patrice, Vawn, and kids for dinner on Thursday night.  They had flown to Christchurch in the afternoon and were at a motel by the airport for the night before heading off to Cairns for a 12 day holiday. Unfortunately Claire couldn't make it as she had an assignment due the following day and was around at her boss's house getting it checked.  We went down to Robbie's at Church Corner for an early dinner and catch up.  It was really nice to see them again.  AND I managed to finally win at a game of Hang Man with Dylan and Krystle.  FINALLY!  I was very happy - maybe a little too happy.  Even though they are only young they are VERY good at the game.

After dinner I went off to netball.  We won our game 14-8.  Our WA Ashley Hampton brought her whole family along for support so we had our own cheerleaders!  It was a good game considering all our defense (Karati, Sandra, Kyra) are out at the moment so we've had to find subs for the past few weeks.

This morning we got our chimney swept.  So what, you might say.  It is a big deal to us as we were getting clouds of smoke billowing out every time we opened the door.  Even setting the smoke alarm off in the hallway!  At least we know the alarm works.  Which is a good thing.  

I had thought of a cheap way of cleaning the chimney by tying a rope around one of the cats and lowering them down the chimney.  Somehow I don't think Min would see the funny side!

The chimney sweeper guy said there was the gap only about the size of an egg at the top for the smoke to pass through...  The rest was caked in soot.  Anyway, now it's all done and safe again.  

Bring on the snow!

The past few weeks have been pretty busy. The weather has been cold and a little bit miserable although this week there have been some sunny days which have allowed washing to be dried on the line... outside. You know how exciting that is at this time of year!

Claire has been busy doing her assignments which seem to be going well so far. The first assignment came back with a pass WITH merit which was very exciting. She just posted off her second assignment yesterday and we have our fingers crossed for a pass with DISTINCTION. Ooh err.

Mark ran the Christchurch Marathon on the Sunday of Queens Birthday weekend. His time was 3 hours 37 minutes which was a little more than he had hoped for but still an amazing effort none the less. He said he was at the start line when it started sleeting and hailing and briefly wondered what on earth he was doing. Claire was his number one supporter meeting him at each checkpoint with water and words of encouragement.

Paula and I went to Queenstown this weekend just past. It was the first time that Great Aunty Paula (GAP for short) had met Annabelle AND the first time in about 20 years that she had been to Qtown. We left Chch on Saturday with our standard boot load of vegetables and got to Hensman Road just after 4.30pm. It was a great trip down - I had grabbed a few of the 'Ave's Beats' CD's to listen to on the drive but we didn't need them as we chatted for the first 5 hours of the drive. I learnt some family history I didn't already know.

Annabelle was as cute as ever and had lots of big smiles for us. Although everytime I tried to take a photo she would stop smiling and then start up again as soon as the photo was taken! I did manage to get a couple of good ones though. Bless her.

Gavin and Catkin are well and happy and healthy. It was a great weekend.

Paula and I both had Monday off so we left the Southern Bartlett's house on Monday morning for our journey back to Chch. The weather was perfect - sunny but crisp. There was a sprinkling of snow over The Remarkables which looked spectacular as the sun was setting.

Last week David Bain was found NOT GUILTY of murdering his family. A verdict met with mixed emotions by the public. This week some new evidence has come to light which was not allowed during the trial. It was the 111 call made by David when he found his family dead. Some 'experts' believe he is saying 'I shot the prick' amongst laboured breathing. It was on the news last night and when Hilary Barry suggested that he actually says 'I'm out of breath' it sounded more like that to me. I think it would sound like a lot of different things if you are told what to listen for before listening to it. Anyway, Joe Caram is still his biggest supporter and tends to answer all questions directed at David. Kind of like an agent.

I was so fed up with Woman's Day last week that I wrote a letter to the Editor. I turn a blind eye to their spelling, gramatical, and factual errors but when they published a full page and a half Nivea ad of the winner of NZ's Next Top Model BEFORE the final show had aired I was LIVID!

I also mentioned that they should change their cover 'stars' occasionally as they tend to rotate between 'Brangelina', 'TomKat', Jennifer Anniston, and Posh. Every week it's one of those on the cover. Boring. I may have also had a dig at the Editor's letter the week earlier about having to have a cold shower due to running out of gas. She rang her gas company and was told there was a 4 day delay due to their work load. The way she wrote it sounded to me like she expected everyone to drop tools and cater to her needs because the world revolves around her. I got a little volcano in my tummy! Pretty certain I will switch to Woman's Weekly now for my gossip/crossword fix.

We won our netball again last night. Whoop whoop! We played against a team we hadn't played before. Final score was 25-19. Claire and I have decided that Richard Hampton is our lucky charm as both games he has brought Ashley to have been successful. We're currently trying to persuade him to come to EVERY game but he's not having any of it. I'm sure I'll find something to bribe him with. He likes carrot cake muffins and I make a mean carrot cake WITH cream cheese icing. Mmmmm..

This weekend will be pretty quiet. Claire has a workshop for her registering teachers at ours tomorrow morning so I thought it would be a good time to book in for a wax. Ouch. Might go and check out the new mezzanine floor at Riccarton Mall afterwards (if I can walk). The weather forecast is for cold Southerlies and sleet which is a shame as I was planning to get into the vege garden and clean it all up and put compost over it so it would be all ready for planting in Spring.

Still waiting for a decent snow fall so I can legitimately take a 'Snow Day' off work. Come On!!

Min and Toby say 'Feed me Meow, hiss nip'