Beautiful day for a colleague's wedding this afternoon. She's crossing the border to our Botanic Gardens and then I will cross the river and border for dinner.
Glad to see that you have that in the right order. The border is not the river but the southern bank. An important difference.
Pack, pack, pack. I move tomorrow week and while removalists will pack and dismantle, I pack my clothes. I did a cull a while back, but the hangers! so many. Some are cheap plastic. If they break, they break. It looks like tuna and salad for lunch for a while. Loads of tiny tins. When all that goes, I guess it may be Oportos who have just moved i n downstairs. Or what is called a tradie meat pie which actually has chunks of meat and good gravy, not just mince meat. Won’t be for long. Then to sort my filing cabinet which is actually a box and which is overflowing. A lot of it does not need to be kept but I will take it with me to shred and add to compost bin.
Back from an overnight work retreat which was a waste of time, except for the nice walks I took through the bush property. The provided scones with jam and cream for morning tea were quite nice too.
Been there, done tha, Climacus. Not in a work situation but builiding team to run residential conference. Stupid activities which irked me and made me resentful. Chief leader could not work out why quite a few of us were not happy. They were totally unsuitable for us altogether. Backed up by the actual conference. Yes team meetings were necessary. Past leaders had combined them with afternoon tea. New leader had them compulsory at 6:00AM. Then wondered why there was a mutiny.
Not only social activities but deep and meaningful discussions about the conference. She was a pleasant person, well experienced but seemed that year to be totally unable to cope with fact that not everyone could live on that schedule and also that quite a few of us were wired quite differently to her . Some of the activities for team building etc left us cold, very cold.
On a more pleasant note. I am almost totally packed to move next Tuesday. One son did most of the kitchen yesterday and also packed good china and other breakables very carefully. When he had finished and sealed boxes up, he informed me he had left me two flat pasta bowls which could be used as dinner plates as well as breakfast bowls. DIL will be down tomorrow. An experienced packer and mover, she can finish the job and she and son will be back early Tuesday to supervise the removalists.
Yes: the lack of awareness is a killer for me. I like to think I'm generally fairly aware, and open to new activities, but when they overtake any sense of purpose or people are not considerate of a variety of activities (when time allows), I get a bit cranky.
Hurrah for all your work on the move, Loth. Not long now...
Just heard a manager from a vendor in Georgia (USA) I work with is leaving... Happy for him for new opportunities, but very sad to see him go. Despite him being over there and me being in regional Australia he has supported me and encouraged me to get out there in the analytics community, and made those opportunities happen. A big loss.
Nothing should be compulsory at 6 a.m., except sleeping.
Although I made it to 6.00 this morning, that's normally the time I'm beginning to think about heading back to bed ... my sleep patterns were completely destroyed by my stint in A Certain Job™ a few years back and have not recovered
I have never participated in team building activities, but I have heard of a type that sounds good. The people involved spend a day working on a public-service project, such as building a playground. As they work together on what they know is a worthwhile project, they come to know each other better and recognize each other's strengths and weaknesses.
The new Central library opens in Christchurch today, Freezing winds and driving rain may dampen the celebrations a bit. I'm not going until Monday when then will be fewer people around as the children will be back at school.
A bakery here runs the Bread and Butter Project where they teach refugees how to make bread in a commercial bakery. Fancy schmancy sort of bread for fashionable cafes. I see they often have firms sending staff to help out and learn the ropes for a day or so as team. If nothing else, the project gets more publicity.
Long live the ABC despite all that is being thrown at it now. Last night I was trying to find some details about the bad storms in QLD. SMH and its sister sites had nothing at all. SBS which is usually up with things like that had nothing. ABC was the only site with anything at all. It was a bit general, but at least there was something.
I was trying to find if friends with a farm had been clobbered for the second time in or three days. They missed last nioght.
Whew! Pretty well done packing. Cupboards emptied, artwork taken down. Just taking a break. There are a gew odd bits and pieces to attend to, but it is done. Removalists arrive between 7-7:30 am on Tuesday, so I have two days to make sure all is well. Food in fridge will just nicely run the distance and I can buy chicken etc downstairs if needed.
Thank you all for good wishes. They run an app up there which allocates points for tasks and rewards for finishing tasks. All of this is decided by the pwerson using app. Grandson is very gooid.he is also getting some good rewards for a just 13 yo boy.
Yesterday I saw a notification that both sons and grandson were giving my new bedroom a thorough clean. Tasks but no reward. I don’t cry oftem or much, but that made me down here cry as I imagined them doing it. I am somewhat overwrought with the whole process and with another matter quite different to deal with as well.
How lovely to move into a bedroom that has been especially cleaned by loving people.
When I went to stay with my brother in Wellington once, my nephew had tidied the room, made the bed and put chocolates on the pillow like a posh hotel. I cried too.
Yes, Huia. Very moving. The middle brother turned up here this afternoon, unannounced. Did two runs to the bins downstairs. Tidied garden which has gone ahead with a bit of rain. Stuffed numerous small bags into larger bags. Cleaned a couple of kitchen cupboards, tomorrow’s job. And brought me coffee. And talked. Good boys, all of them. A bit past boys but still my boys.
Thanks for good wishes from so many for move. I have been here almost 24 hours now. Son brought me up and I arrived at 9:30 am. DIL with plenty of experience stayed to supervise packing. I had forgotten to organise exit clean so did that with agent by email. So quiet her. Blissful and children go past walking to High School almost next door. I am used to seeing multiple school buses.
I have a new job (just waiting for paperwork) and celebrated yesterday with a visit to the patisserie for a croquembouche and dinner at the kind-of fancy (for Albury! ) restaurant on the roof of one of the pubs. Very nice.
Quiet weekend ahead. We were promised rain but it seems to be passing us by. I hear Sydney may be in for it though!
Enjoy your new home and new lifestyle Loth. Great that you've got lots of people on hand to help you settle in.
Climacus, sounds like a very nice way to celebrate.
Hope your apartment sale went well, Lothlorien, and sorry to hear about your brother-in-law. Are you settling in OK at the new home and enjoying being reunited with your things? It should be a much nicer place to be in the summer than your old apartment.
Thanks CK. I have most clothes unpacked but do not have the luxury which I did have of two big built-in wardrobes. I will need to store some seasonally. My wardobe needs work. It is an old style and rail for hangers is very high, made worse by legs on the wardrobe. I am short. The place is known as Lilliput manor, there is a brass plaque on gate pillar stating this from its building. This has caused much family morth as sons realise just how much shorter I am than the rest of the family. Sons are 6’5” and DIL is 6’.
The air here smell s like my much loved mountain air and the row of huge cypresses was delightful to smell yesterday. The garden needs work but we will leave most of that till we see what we really have. I was given a potted lime tree to replace my much loved dwarf kaffir lime.
I am settling in. I was last of three households to arrive and much cupboard space was already taken. We are working on that.
A beautiful morning here, forecast to go to 30. I will take my tea and sit outside and watch the chooks. The yard is secure and we let them out every third day to forage. They love it.
BTW does anyone else know chooks with the luxury of a well built sandstone and tile henhouse?
Loth: When I lived in Blackheath (for 20 years) I often worked at Springwood office during summer and it would be a little cooler than the 'Riff' and much warmer than Katoomba.
Yes. BMCC website quotes some meteorological expert as saying that Springwood, Winmalee and Faulconbridge had the best climate in the world. I still prefer higher up but here suits work better for two of the group. DIL was called out the other day and was quite late getting home. Here is doable. She works as a chaplain at Westmead Children’s Hospital.
My kowhai tree is in flower. I've been examining it every morning when I go to check front garden. It's one of those ones with kind of zig-zaggy branches ( I can't think of the word, but there are a few native trees that have this kind of growth). When I moved here about 27 years ago it was just below the low brick fence which was cutting off some of the light. Now there's a wooden fence that is about a metre high and it has grown higher than that, so is getting more light.
Christchurch unfortunately doesn't have the tui population that Wellington has, but there are some nectar loving smaller birds that will enjoy it.
I have been watching every morning about a dozen tiny blue wrens hopping around in front yard. Really tiny, they hop around picking at the ground and chirping noisily to each other.
My kowhai tree is in flower. I've been examining it every morning when I go to check front garden.
Christchurch unfortunately doesn't have the tui population that Wellington has, but there are some nectar loving smaller birds that will enjoy it.
I could just make out one last flower on my winter kowhai (I had to google O Henry's short story "The Last Leaf' though the circumstances are totally different.)
We once walked round part of the Otari native plant 'museum' with a friend from Christchurch. She spent some time taking photos of a tui in a tree.
I like heat but not Darwin heat, and I have major problems with humidity. It is cold up here today, grey and misty too.
Ah. the changeability of the Mts. I recall one 'summer' the mist hung around for almost a week, no sun, we ended up in Bathurst for the day as we had gone sir crazy!
Delighted to announce - without outing myself - that I have been appointed to a sort of inner sanctum / senior position in ecclesiastical realms - no, not a bishopric! - and begin in it in about two weeks. It's been a long two years since my fight with the authorities and it's good to be back.
Comments
Glad to see that you have that in the right order. The border is not the river but the southern bank. An important difference.
Back from an overnight work retreat which was a waste of time, except for the nice walks I took through the bush property. The provided scones with jam and cream for morning tea were quite nice too.
On a more pleasant note. I am almost totally packed to move next Tuesday. One son did most of the kitchen yesterday and also packed good china and other breakables very carefully. When he had finished and sealed boxes up, he informed me he had left me two flat pasta bowls which could be used as dinner plates as well as breakfast bowls. DIL will be down tomorrow. An experienced packer and mover, she can finish the job and she and son will be back early Tuesday to supervise the removalists.
Hurrah for all your work on the move, Loth. Not long now...
Just heard a manager from a vendor in Georgia (USA) I work with is leaving... Happy for him for new opportunities, but very sad to see him go. Despite him being over there and me being in regional Australia he has supported me and encouraged me to get out there in the analytics community, and made those opportunities happen. A big loss.
Although I made it to 6.00 this morning, that's normally the time I'm beginning to think about heading back to bed
The new Central library opens in Christchurch today, Freezing winds and driving rain may dampen the celebrations a bit. I'm not going until Monday when then will be fewer people around as the children will be back at school.
Link here:thebreadandbutterproject.com/
I was trying to find if friends with a farm had been clobbered for the second time in or three days. They missed last nioght.
Chicken. Mmmmmmm. May get some for dinner. Was wondering what to have.
Yesterday I saw a notification that both sons and grandson were giving my new bedroom a thorough clean. Tasks but no reward. I don’t cry oftem or much, but that made me down here cry as I imagined them doing it. I am somewhat overwrought with the whole process and with another matter quite different to deal with as well.
When I went to stay with my brother in Wellington once, my nephew had tidied the room, made the bed and put chocolates on the pillow like a posh hotel. I cried too.
Small acts of loving kindness are very moving.
Now to start unpacking.
I have a new job (just waiting for paperwork) and celebrated yesterday with a visit to the patisserie for a croquembouche and dinner at the kind-of fancy (for Albury!
Quiet weekend ahead. We were promised rain but it seems to be passing us by. I hear Sydney may be in for it though!
Climacus, sounds like a very nice way to celebrate.
And I clearly know nothing about rain clouds. Went out for a walk and it started showering and thundering!
May his memory be eternal!
The air here smell s like my much loved mountain air and the row of huge cypresses was delightful to smell yesterday. The garden needs work but we will leave most of that till we see what we really have. I was given a potted lime tree to replace my much loved dwarf kaffir lime.
I am settling in. I was last of three households to arrive and much cupboard space was already taken. We are working on that.
A beautiful morning here, forecast to go to 30. I will take my tea and sit outside and watch the chooks. The yard is secure and we let them out every third day to forage. They love it.
BTW does anyone else know chooks with the luxury of a well built sandstone and tile henhouse?
Loth: When I lived in Blackheath (for 20 years) I often worked at Springwood office during summer and it would be a little cooler than the 'Riff' and much warmer than Katoomba.
Christchurch unfortunately doesn't have the tui population that Wellington has, but there are some nectar loving smaller birds that will enjoy it.
I hope you, the chooks and the wrens will all be very happy!
I could just make out one last flower on my winter kowhai (I had to google O Henry's short story "The Last Leaf' though the circumstances are totally different.)
We once walked round part of the Otari native plant 'museum' with a friend from Christchurch. She spent some time taking photos of a tui in a tree.
GG
Personally I think Darwin has the best climate in the world, but, you know ...
Ah. the changeability of the Mts. I recall one 'summer' the mist hung around for almost a week, no sun, we ended up in Bathurst for the day as we had gone sir crazy!