And A Happy New Year!

Apologies again for the delay in getting another post uploaded. I have been slightly unmotivated due to the heat - yesterday at 11am the temperature outside was 33 degrees Celcius! It was like walking out to a sauna. And my exclusive man friend Lance came down to Christchurch on New Years Eve to spend a few days which was nice. He drove down in his new Jeep Wrangler which makes him look tres cool and a little bit of a cross between McGyver and Daisy Duke. Ha!

Christmas in Queenstown was fab! Annabelle was very spoilt but seemed far more interested in the boxes and wrapping paper than the actual presents. Although there were a couple of toys she stuck straight in her mouth - a sure sign of appreciation! She also recieved some beautiful clothes so Catkin had fun dressing her up. So cute!!

Cute alert: Annabelle has learnt to wave so all aeroplanes and helicopters flying overhead get the cutest little girl in the world waving at them. Bless. I had a little movie of it but can't seem to upload it on to here. Sorry. You'll have to settle for another adorable photo instead.

The food was tasty and the company was awesome. Everyone had a wonderful day. Dad had to be prompted to say his customary line "Well, that's Christmas over with for another year" after dinner. He is currently working his timing for this Christmas.

We had beautiful weather in Queenstown with rain only one of the days which allowed us to go walking a wee bit which was good.

On Boxing Day the ladies (Trish, Catkin, Anne, Annabelle, Claire & Danielle) went out to Lake Hayes and walked around part of the lake which was really nice while the boys (Gavin & Pete) went for a look at the $10m holiday home Gavin is working on currrently in his job. It's not my cup of tea - too much glass and all I can wonder is how on earth one would clean the windows! It's appropriately named The Jagged Edge and hangs out over the cliff with wonderful views of the lake and mountains. The following photos include an artists impression of the finished design and the site as it currently appears. There's a bit of a way to go.

On the 28th we took a day trip over to Balclutha to visit cousin Patrice, her husband Vawn, and their two kids Dylan and Chrystal on their farm. It really is in the middle of nowhere with long loose metal roads to get there. The farm is massive with both sheep and cattle. They also have goats, 10 farm dogs, one guard dog, and a cat. Both kids have their own mini motorbikes too which makes getting around the 1000 odd hectares a lot easier.

After a yummy lunch they took us up to a pond on the farm to go yabbie fishing. Yabbies are freshwater crayfish but are a lot smaller than their salt water relatives. Still as prehistoric looking though and their nippers are still as dangerous. Dad caught the biggest one and after a few hours we took them back to the house and Patrice boiled them up for us to eat accompanied with garlic butter.

Claire and I left Queenstown on the 29th and headed to Omakau which is 27 kms from Alexandra, to stay with a friend of mine from work and his family who were camping for two weeks. It was a fun night and we had a few wines and loads of laughs. We were woken at around 4am by a gale force wind ripping through the camping ground. Luckily the tent we were in stood up to the strong winds but someone over the other side wasn't so lucky and had to drop their tent when it started ripping. The only other casulty was the gazebo our crowd had put up as a communal dining tent.

We left Omakau at about 9am to head home and after stopping in Naseby (which we have renamed Snoozby due to the fact that no one seems to be in much of a hurry) for some breakfast and then took off to travel through Danseys Pass. What an experience! NZ at it's most rugged. The road was loose metal the whole way and some parts were more like a goat track than a road. I don't think I travelled over 40kph! It also started hailing and sleeting up the top which slowed me right down. But coming to the Danseys Pass Hotel right on the road side was so quaint. We stopped for a hot chocolate and a good old nosey! It was just gorgeous.

Getting back on to tar sealed roads was a strange feeling and when we got up to 100kph I felt like a race car driver!

Claire drove from Highway 83 all the rest of the way home and we made it home in good time both feeling a little jaded from the long slow drive.

For new years eve Claire went with friends out to Duvauchelles, over by Akaroa for the night.

I stayed home with Lance and a friend of his came over and we had nice quiet drinks to see in the new year. We had thought about going into town but never quite got around to it. It would have been a mission to get a taxi anyway I am sure. It was a nice night.

And now it's day three of the new year. Only 362 days and we can do it all again!

Merry Christmas from Queenstown!

Just a quick entry this time to wish everyone a very merry Christmas wherever you may be.

Claire and I set off for Queenstown this morning just before 10am and arrived at 5pm.  Mass this year will be at 10am Christmas Day as it is too late for Annabelle at midnight tonight and we would like to all go together.  Claire is coming this year hoping to get another solo from me... I've been practising just in case.  

Merry Christmas!!

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Good Night!

Sad News: Claire and Mark broke up recently which was a massive shock to everyone - especially Claire. It seems Mark wasn't sure what he wanted and after two weeks of dilly-dallying around, keeping Claire hanging and giving her false hope, big brave Claire took matters into her own hands and ripped that sticking plaster off, ending things and reclaiming her life. I was SO proud of her - not an easy thing to have to do. Neccessary though, it seems.
It's such a shame as Mark was a nice guy but the way he handled the last two weeks was so disappointing. For someone he claimed to love, he didn't show much respect.



Weight Watchers is still going ok. I seem to have been stagnant for the past two weeks - not putting any weight on (touch wood) but just staying the same. It's hard at this time of year when there are often chocolates and treats in the office, and work parties. But when I think I have been unfocussed I think about how much worse I was before I started Weight Watchers and don't beat myself up so much. Being 'naughty' now means having 2 chocolate biscuits - not a whole packet like I used to! Weight loss to date is 8 kilos. I'm a third of the way to my goal weight. Only 16 kilos to go. Easy.

I was asked to house sit again out at the mansion in Templeton for the weekend just gone. My shift started Friday night and I came back home on Sunday evening. There were twice as many chickens this time and lots of baby chicks. Sooo cute! It was a nice relaxing weekend with, of course, plenty of SKY watching. I can't believe with all those channels SKY has to offer there was really nothing very good to watch. But I still managed to find things to watch. I've had my fix for the next 6 or so months. It's such a time waster!



It's hard to believe next week is Christmas!! How did that happen? This year has gone way too fast for my liking! Claire and I are driving to Queenstown on Christmas Eve. That's the extent of the plan so far. I've been asked to join the Hampton's for a night at Omakau where they are camping on my way home from Queenstown. Other than that I am just going to fly by the seat of my big girls pants!

Home Is Where The Heart Is

Claire and I jetted up to Warkworth for the weekend last weekend. It was great!

We arrived early on Friday morning within an hour of each other. Dear Dad and Mum were at the airport to pick us up.

After many hugs we headed North to Warkworth. Home.

Mum, Claire, and I had lunch with A Mary and Heather on Friday. We went down town to Ducks Crossing for a lovely bite to eat in the sunshine. There was lots of laughter and funny stories. It was so good to see them both.

On Friday night Mum cashed in a voucher I had sent her for her birthday for a belated birthday meal of her choice. We had Beef & Pasta salad. Mmmmmm.... Then the cooking montage for Saturdays bbq began while Claire kicked Mum's cute little butt at Scrabble.

Saturday was another brilliant day and some friends started arriving around 12.30pm for an afternoon bbq. There was lots of laughter, wine, and food. It really was a good day and most stayed until after 9pm. Mum said she had a great time too and Claire said she laughed lots. Just what the doctor ordered.

On Sunday (after the AB's dominated in the rugby) we went over to Matakana to see Uncle Bryan and Aunty Bev. Uncle Bryan is still recovering from a hip replacement but doesn't seem to have slowed down at all. He took Claire and I for a ride on his Mule (a 4 wheel drive golf carty-like vehicle) up to the top of the farm. It was fun but laughing with mouth wide open while travelling at speed = bugs in mouth. Not fun.

We also saw the site where they plan to build the new house WHICH looks very impressive from the plans.

We left for Auckland around 4pm and stopped in to have dinner with Kathryn and Moos at their new pad. A nice little two bedroom unit in Epsom. The carpets had just been cleaned and were still drying so we sat on the couches under the trees and ate dinner. It was lovely.

The weekend went all too quickly and before we knew it we were on a plane heading back to cold and rainy Christchurch. The weather down here suddenly turned very wintery this week but this weekend just been has been summery again. Phew. The vegetable garden is looking good though.

Old Friends

I can't believe it's already been nearly 3 weeks since I posted the last blog. Time flies. Especially at this time of year!

Exciting happenings at my work (in a round about kind of way). You may remember back in a September blog I mentioned my work colleague Robert Johnston's daughter Kelly entering and winning the Miss South Island beauty pageant? Well, she was in the Miss NZ Queen Of The World competition in October and won that one too! So now Kelly, Robert, and his wife Jenny, have all jetted off to Berlin, Germany, for The Queen Of The World competition. What a great job that would be! Robert is away from work for 3 weeks so I am looking forward to hearing all his stories on his return. He is one proud father. Of course, the comments querying whether he is her biological father are wearing a little thin. Watch this space...

A few weeks ago on a Saturday Claire and I met with Paula at Denny's for lunch before going to a movie. On the drive there down Gasson Street we passed an old friend. It was Timmy!!! For those who don't know, Timmy is a big white Mitsubishi L300 Van that I used to own. He'll always have a special place in our hearts. Claire was driving so I leant across and tooted the horn and we both waved like maniacs. The guy driving looked a little dumbfounded. Timmy would have known though. He looked good. You can imagine how exciting it was for us.

A few weeks ago was Show Weekend here in Christchurch which meant the Friday was a public holiday. It always seems to just break up that long slog between winter and Christmas, and usually the weather is starting to warm up by then too.

This year I decided to head to Picton for the long weekend to see my exclusive man friend Lance. The weather here on the Friday morning had looked promising as I had gone for a walk early but as soon as I got home and put some washing on a mini tornado seemed to strike. It rained most of the way up to Picton but the rest of the weekend was fine. I even got a little sunburnt on Saturday whilst sitting on the deck, playing Scrabble, drinking cocktails. Ah, that's the life. It was a very chilled out weekend. Just what I needed.

Last week at Weight Watchers I had lost another 700 grams which was good. Total loss to date 7.7kgs. Only 16.3kgs to go. Easy. I won't be able to go to my meeting tomorrow morning as I am catching the red eye to Auckland for a weekend in WW. Ooh I can't wait! Claire is coming up now too so it will be great to have a weekend of Mum hugs and Dad jokes.

I spoke to the Southern Barts on Skype (Oh how I love thee) on Sunday night and was informed that Annabelle has started to crawl. Oh happy days!! Gavin said she isn't all that fast ... yet... but has a cute little grunt. Well, you try crawling everywhere! It's hard work!!! So cute. She will be a little menace around the Christmas tree - I can't WAIT!

Speaking of the wee cherub I found a photo for the caption competition in the archives. Please feel free to leave your submissions.

And saving the BEST for last. Happy happy birthday for tomorrow Apes! I hope you have the best day ever and that you are suitably spoilt. We'll all be thinking of you. xx

People Of The Hill

Since beginning my weight loss mission I have taken to walking up the hill once a week usually on a Saturday morning. From home I walk up to the Sign Of The Takahe and back which originally took an hour and a half but I have recently got my time down to one hour and 20 minutes! During my walk I have time to brainstorm for the blog and think about my hunky boyfriend who, this week, is my hero. More about that later.

I'm not the only person crazy enough to be walking around early on a Saturday morning - there are 3 types of people out and about at that time:

The walkers

The runners

The cyclists

Us walkers are all friendly and always say good morning to each other.

The runners are in two sub groups - the mature runners who say good morning or at the very least smile on their way past, and the young runners (mostly male) who are fully focussed and have no time for niceties. They are there to run!

Then there are the cyclists. The cyclists don't talk to anyone unless they are in a group of cyclists and in that case will yell to each other. Whatever time of the morning it is. Now, I gave them the benefit of the doubt due to the fact that they are concentrating on keeping their bike upright while going forward up the hill - not an easy task I can imagine. BUT then coming down the hill they STILL are too cool to korero (that's Maori for 'talk' for those who don't speak the milk) they do however have time to blatently perve while enjoying the downhill speed. I guess I should be thankful that I am a wee bit perve-worthy. I will try and remember to thank them next time!

Getting to the top still makes me proud of myself. The inner me raises my arms and runs around on the spot whoop-whooping not unlike Rocky in the movie of the same name, while the real me staggers, ever so cooly, over to the drinking fountain trying not to collapse as my legs suddenly feel like they are made out of jelly.

It all seems to be worthwhile though as last weeks weight loss was 900 grams. Total weight loss to date is 7 kilos. Only 17 kilos to go. Easy.

Claire has been a busy little B-artlett in the garden. She has made a tyre garden. Yes, that's right, a garden out of tyres. It looks nice and Toby loves having a new warm place to sleep.

The veges are all in the main garden now too so hopefully they will start growing rapidly so we can take what we can fit in the boot to Queenstown with us for Christmas. Fingers crossed.

The potatoes are growing rapidly so that's good.

The Southern Barts came back to ours for 2 nights after Melbourne. In the week that they had been away Annabelle changed heaps again! She is really growing up fast. It was nice to see them again so quickly and it sounded like they had a fabulous week away.

I took the day off work on Monday and we walked into town for lunch and visited EVERY outdoors shop in the city. It was a fantastic day so perfect for being out and about.

My exclusive man friend Lance was down last weekend. Unfortunately he had left by the time The Southern Barts got back into NZ so they still have not met him. Catkin doesn't think he is real. He is so!

Anyway, Lance and I went out for dinner on Saturday night to Costas Taverna in Victoria Street. Very yummy it was too. We caught a taxi and on the ride there my mobile somehow got out of my zipped up bag and was left behind in the taxi. Please note: Absolutely no alcohol had been consumed at this point. I still can't work out how it happened. Anyway, when I discovered my mobile missing Lance called it and the cute little taxi driver answered it. He was out at the airport at this stage but promised to keep in touch and would drop the phone off when he was back in the area. After dinner we went to the casino to watch the rugby and then headed home. Cute little taxi man rang just as we arrived home and Lance told him there would be $20 in the mailbox if he could drop the phone off there. In the morning the phone was back!! Happy days. And THAT is how Lance got elevated to Hero status.

Last night Claire, Mark, and I went to an 18th birthday party. Ashleigh Hampton from our netball team had a bbq/party at home and we were lucky enough to get an invite. It was a really great night - lots of laughs. It wasn't a particularly late night either and I think we all woke up with clear heads.... I know I did anyway.

It seems to be the month for birthdays - we went out for a pre-birthday lunch with Lynnie today to Harrington's Brewery in Belfast. It was yummy. We hadn't seen Lynnie and Courtney for what seems like ages so it was really lovely to catch up with them.

This week is a short week due to Show Day on Friday. Yay for short weeks! It will be nice having a sleep in on Friday morning knowing that the rest of NZ have work as usual! I might even set my alarm just so I can go back to sleep again. Ha!

But wait, there's more!

I know, like me, you just didn't get enough of the cuteness that is Annabelle on the last blog so I'm adding a little more. Claire took some brilliant footage of the wee poppet and this one just makes me laugh. She's so good at just entertaining herself. And so talented!!

In this wee movie you'll see her doing the Haka, practising her words (Dadda), and cleaning the floor with a little spit and polish. Bless her.

And she always has big smiles for her adoring Aunties!

We're counting the sleeps til Christmas in Queenstown.