The Power Of 'Erbs

So, there's an old wives tale that says if you give someone a parsley plant, pregnancy is not far off. Our massage therapist, Jenny (who has just this year left us to move up to Auckland (boo hiss)) and her husband, Kuni, were trying for a baby and didn't seem to be having much luck. So remembering this tale I bought a little parsley plant for her and gave it to her on my last massage with her.

I got a text a few weeks ago to say that the parsley plant had worked and they are expecting a little baby later on in the year. Hooray!! It will be a gorgeous little baby too, Jenny is a kiwi and Kuni, is Japanese. Kawaii!! (that's 'cute' in Japanese for those who aren't as multi lingual as I am).

Which brings me to my next story. A few months ago Paula and Kazio (Aunty and Uncle) came for a visit. Kazio brought me TWO parsley plants. Suspiciously I asked him if he knew the wives tale and he and Paula both said yes. Ha ha - funny little people. Anyway, both plants have not survived so well and are pretty much dead. Says it all really, doesn't it.

1 + 1 = 3

The biggest news of the month by far is that Claire and Scott are expecting a baby in November. Exciting times for us all. Claire is just starting to get a little bump now (which doesn't even compare to my bump and I haven't even got a baby in there!!)
Averil is hoping for the arrival to be on 27th November - her birthday. And will allow Claire and Scott to call the baby Avery if it's a boy or Averil if it's a girl. Oh, the kindness of sisters.
They are not going to find out the sex so it will be a surprise. I like that stuff. I have a feeling it's of the blue variety BUT I also thought that when Catkin was pregnant with Annabelle. Even when Gavin said she was a girl I wasn't convinced and wanted to ask him to check again!

In other news, Averil and Eru are still madly house hunting in the weekends. Going to open homes left, right, and centre! It's nearly a full time job by the sounds of it! I'm sure the perfect home for them is just waiting for them to find it and then move on in.


I've had a few Intimo parties this month and am still really enjoying it. My new recruit, Jane, is so close to completing her Quick Step ($5000 in sales in 50 days) to recieve her free sample kit. Her last day for qualifying is Thursday 28th June and she has a party out at Woodend. The hostess has said she is expecting 30 ladies to attend so I offered my services to go and help Jane otherwise she will be there forever!! Even if all 30 ladies don't turn up (which happens more often than not) I can answer questions in the lounge while Jane is doing fittings. I REALLY want her to reach her Quick Step goal as much for her as for myself.

I was house sitting out at the mansion in Templeton for 10 days until last Sunday. The first weekend I was there Scottish Jenni from Ngaruawahia came down for the weekend and for the bi-annual Rent-A-Crowd Templeton Pub Crawl. World famous in Templeton! This time we only made it to ONE pub. Ha - not so much of a 'crawl' as a 'sit in'. It was fun with lots of laughs. Everyone stayed the night and Eru cooked breakfast the next morning (bless him). I was on bacon duty though which was easy peasy.

I moved back home on Sunday and before I left I was writing a wee note to Grant and Nicki (the home owners) to welcome them back when there was a knock on the door. It was Barry the neighbour with a young German Sheppard. Barry had been working down the back of his section cutting down trees and had noticed a commotion with the chickens. This stray dog had been having a whale of a time chasing the chooks. He managed to kill 3 and injure 2. It was a nightmare!! There were feathers everywhere. I managed to find the two surviving chooks and made a little hay bed in an old laundry basket for them. The rooster, Johnno, had lost most of his tail feathers and was skulking away down the paddock - afraid to come back.
I had locked the dog in the shed as Grant and Nicki were due home soon and I thought they might like to ring the owners themselves (the dog was registered with phone numbers on it's tag). Not so nice to have to break the news to them after they had just arrived home from a relaxing holiday in Hawaii!!
Nicki sent me a text later that night to say that one of the damaged chickens had survived and will be fine, the other one didn't. Didn't want to know if it was put out of it's misery. The dog's owner lived 1km away. Luckily this time the dog has had a warning and won't be destroyed although I don't like the thought of having to put the dog down, I also don't like the idea of it getting out again and doing the same thing - possibly to a child next time.

I had a weekend up in Warkworth last month. After spending two nights with Kathryn (thanks Aunty Kitty!!) and going to the Intimo Showcase, I caught the bus up to Warkworth on the Friday morning. I spent the day with Kristine and William and LOVED it. William is 9 months old now and is just gorgeous! So placid and content. And cuddly.


I had talked Mum into having an Intimo party and it was a huge success. Nice to catch up with some of the ladies from Mum's last party too. And to see lovely A Mary! Kathryn came up on the Saturday and stayed the night up there too which was nice. As usual it was over all too quickly and I was heading back to Chch too soon.

We had snow!! Early June which is very early for snow. Nice, but very cold. The factory was closed on the Wednesday at 11am and we had a late start on the Thursday at 9.30am. Even starting late was scary driving to work - skidding and sliding around. Did not like that at all, at all.

We had a girls weekend in Hanmer Springs a the beginning of June. Claire, Averil, Renee, Me, and 4 other of Renee's friends. One of the girls, Lou, is with a guy whose family own a holiday home up there. Just perfect for the 8 of us. It was just after the snow so we had to park down on the road and walk up the driveway as it was too icy to try and drive up. Once inside we cranked up the fire and stayed in all night drinking wine, eating nibbles and generally talking rubbish. It was fantastic! I felt really relaxed the next day.

Well I started writing this over a week ago! Must finish here and add some photos tonight so I can publish it. Hope you are all well!