That sounds excellent @Sojourner. We are hoping to go to Glenbrook in the middle of November to hear the Bach Akademie, who were here in Canberra few weeks ago and were excellent.
We have just had a brief trip to Sydney to visit mother-in-law (96). Seems much the same as before we went away. Possibly slightly less steady on her feet. She’s in residential care, so they’re keeping an eye on that. Short-term memory gone, but still able to ask sensible questions about the places that she had been to when we were showing her photos of our trip. We also finally managed to take a trip on Parramatta ferry on Monday, which was warm enough for that to be pleasant.
On Tuesday lunch was had at the cafe above Clovelly beach, which has just been refurbished.
Return from shopping was amazing - the bus and I arrived at the stop together. Someone got off and I got on. I looked down the bus and I was the sole passenger, which didn't surprise me because it was a good day for staying home.
Today I'm on duty for a couple of hours at the Community Library. I will make sure I get there early and turn the heaters on as my partner lives some distance away and comes by bus so is likely to be cold. Fortunately the building is new, a gift from the 2011 earthquake so has efficient heat pumps.
I'm very glad you didn't have to wait around too long getting chilled @Huia. I hope your community library stint has gone well. I guess in terms of the earthquake recovery, there has to be some upside somewhere and if people being able to be warm and comfortable with efficient heating, let's be glad of that.
I felt badly for you with your disappointing cake @Sojourner. I have been caught a few times at a cafe I frequent, which has nice coffee but the cakes are only average, which can be very disappointing when hoping for a quick treat!
Today has been a bit of a write off. I had a dreadful sleep so have spent a bit of the day having power naps. However, I have managed to get a couple of loads of washing done and collected Cheery son's girlfriend for a visit. They have just watched a short movie and are enjoying catching up. I must get her home before tiredness strikes and I'm no good to be on the road.
While they were glued to the TV I got myself outside and gave my pot plants a good drenching. I have done something to the hose in the front garden, so I'll need Cheery husband to help me with that at the weekend, but the back hose was fine and it's nice and long, so I just have to drag it around to the desired areas. All nicely dealt with and if I don't get back to the plants for another few days, all should be OK.
Sticky date pudding steaming on stovetop:#1 daughter & partner coming to dinner. Osso buco already made (2days ago) so just needs reheating. Will heat( ready cooked) gnocchi, bake some pumpkin & steam broccoli so no big drama ahead. Looking forward to seeing them both after a couple of months.
#2 daughter (UK dweller) is in Corfu for a few days with friends: we had a natter via Whatsapp and she sent me a pic of herself with one of the local cats; a little calico the very image of my Miss Lily. If she could bring the little madam back to Blighty she surely would!
I hope you had a lovely dinner with your daughter @Sojourner, your dishes sounded absolutely delicious!
I've woken up to a very grey day and decided to get out into the garden whilst there was no wind. I only spent about half an hour outside, but that was enough for me, it was sooo chilly!
Cheery son is finding it hard to move off the couch at present, as long haired cat has cuddled up to him and doesn't look like moving any time soon.
Cheery husband has gone over to help with presale cleanup of his mother's home. He came home very tired last night and I tried to encourage a day off, but he might take tomorrow for a rest day. I suspect not, and then he'll be going back to work next week still tired, what can you do???
Cheery daughter had a movie marathon with a friend at the weekend, I am wondering how she shaped up after that! Fortunately I think she is on afternoon shift this week, so a bit of a chance for a lie in, thank goodness.
I've just realised that daylight saving starts this Sunday. eeek!!!
I don't mind too much once I get used to it, but the beginning and end are a bit confusing. One year when I was studying I decided to ignore it completely for 5 days while I finished the last three pieces of work for my M.Ed because a change in eating and sleeping times might be too much of a distraction. I passed, which probably would have happened anyway, but I didn't want to risk it.
As I mentioned on the Tidy House thread, I'm feeling excited because my brother and sister-in-law may be visiting in the New Year. I hope they can make it, since the death of my oldest brother earlier this year I am more aware of how much I miss both him and our youngest bro, who lives in Wellington.
I'm glad to read that you will be looking forward to visitors, @Huia, that will be lovely.
How did you go with the changeover to daylight saving? I am relieved to say we still have another few days until our own savings time begins. I have been enjoying the early mornings, and once daylight saving begins, I hate the first few days of changeover. Urk.
Cheery husband and I had an impromptu picnic down by the lake at the weekend. We should try to do that more often as other than our Saturday morning jaunts to the Swedish shop and Hammerbarn, we don't treat ourselves often enough. Bring on his retirement!!
The sun is shining here and it looks like it's going to be a great day. I had better get myself moving and onto jobs - make hay while the sun shines!
Somehow the switchover went easily for me this time, probably because I didn't have anywhere I needed to be by a certain time, but I did get bitten by Aroha (my cat whose name means "love" in Maori ) because I brought her in for tea when she was expecting another hour playing.
Maybe I should have named her Utu, which means revenge.
I totally recommend retirement. Sometimes I wonder how I ever had time for work,
I totally recommend retirement. Sometimes I wonder how I ever had time for work,
I agree.
Establishing a new home takes up all my time and energy at the moment. I don't reccommend it.
Yesterday a thunderstorm and hail was predicted. We had just 5ml of rain instead.
Today we picked up our electric car. There is so much to learn about operating it! I'm hoping we can run it mostly on the excess solar EV that is sent to the grid for peanuts.
I am a fan of retirement too @Huia. I was never a fan of work, it got in the way of doing all the fun things, though I liked my colleagues very, very much.
Getting sorted in a new place is a big job @LatchKeyKid. We've been here almost 8 years and I feel as though we've pretty much got the house working well for us, though we are anticipating having do replace some things, like the hot water service and maybe upgrade our solar at some point.
How is your electric car going? Which sort did you decide to buy? Was there anything in particular that guided your decision? At some stage I'm sure we'd like to get one but, I don't feel well enough informed about them to make a good decision. Currently we are keeping husband's old Prius going and I don't know if I really want a car with all bells and whistles. Just something basic would do me!
We got an MG 4 urban.
It fitted through the our narrow garage doorway and the 360 view function gives more confidence for navigating the doorway.
It was also one we could afford.
It has only a 400km range on 54 Kwhr, but that is mostly sufficient. Charging off the mains is slow at 1.7 Kw, but we generally have about 15-20 KwHr we won't need to export.
It's quiet, and seats five, so it's good for 4 adults and an almost 3 year old that are visiting this Christmas.
We could not afford the only Toyota EV, so we just hope that China won't use any kill switch they may have secreted in their system.
Came home late from supper and sat outdoors looking at the Southern Cross star galaxies in a clear night sky. Magnificent.
There is a vintage MG Car Club that has a get-together every year and meet up at Merweville in the Karoo. It is a lovely sight to see lines of low-slung MGs tackling dusty roads between kopjes away from the busy highways.
Those car club activities sound great @Huia and @MaryLouise and being able to see all the stars, how awesome! We get a lot of light pollution, so it is hard to see the night sky well at my place. Cheery husband sometimes sets up a telescope, but he hasn't done that for a good while, now.
Very interesting hearing about the new cars, certainly something to think about! Our old Prius just had a big service and new tyres. It will be 20 years old next year and has been a fabulous vehicle. Great to run around town, fairly cheap to run, and even though it's probably considered old tech now, it's been perfect for our family.
Enjoyed a drop of rain last night and raced out early this morning to get onto the weeds. Otherwise, just enjoying having a home day.
Aotearoa/NZ has a General Election on the 7th of November. So far I don't know which party/parties I'm voting for (under MMP we have an electorate vote and a party vote) - I definitely know which parties I'm not voting for, ( looking at you Winston Peters, who has similar policies to Nigel Farage). Not voting is not an option for me - if you don't vote you can't complain, and I reserve the right to complain loudly and frequently.
(On the other hand dad used to joke, "Don't vote, it only encourages them" and voted every time.)
Your MMP sounds interesting. A quick question - can your electorate vote differ from your party one? Could you (at least in theory) vote Labour for your party vote, but National for a particularly good candidate in your electorate?
Yes, GeeD, many people do split their votes. I'm considering it because we have a good electorate M.P, but I would rather give my Party vote elsewhere. The NZ Green Party in particular recognise this and some of their some of billboards just say, "Party vote Green."
@Cheery Gardener . Our 2009 Prius has given us good service. It has 340,000 km on the odometer. A couple of years ago we thought we would dispose of it as the ABS required a repair that would have cost more than the car was worth. However, it still passes the Roadworthy test, so we have kept it and are more careful when driving in wet conditions. It's registration expires in March, so we will see if it can be re-registered in Qld.
The trainer/coordinator of the Disaster Recovery Chaplaincy Network called me yesterday and told me that one of their chaplains who is a Quaker lives in Meanjin and will see if she can arrange a hook-up.
Yes, GeeD, many people do split their votes. I'm considering it because we have a good electorate M.P, but I would rather give my Party vote elsewhere. The NZ Green Party in particular recognise this and some of their some of billboards just say, "Party vote Green."
That's a good deal of km @LatchKeyKid and I think our Prius has similar on it's clock. Having had a bit of attention recently, sadly it's going back for a new water pump in a week or so. Anyway, at the moment we are happy to keep nursing it along! I hope your fellow chaplain meet up comes off, I am sure it will be good to have another person in your network.
I'm glad you raised the vote splitting question @Gee D as I know so very little about NZ, particularly the voting system, so great to read your answer @Huia and to send myself off to do some further reading!
So very sad to read of the attack on Helen Haines, thinking of her friends and family.
Yes. The serious assault sounds all too like what happens in the USA. She is still pretty unwell, but reportedly she seems not to be getting worse or dead.
Comments
We have just had a brief trip to Sydney to visit mother-in-law (96). Seems much the same as before we went away. Possibly slightly less steady on her feet. She’s in residential care, so they’re keeping an eye on that. Short-term memory gone, but still able to ask sensible questions about the places that she had been to when we were showing her photos of our trip. We also finally managed to take a trip on Parramatta ferry on Monday, which was warm enough for that to be pleasant.
On Tuesday lunch was had at the cafe above Clovelly beach, which has just been refurbished.
Today I'm on duty for a couple of hours at the Community Library. I will make sure I get there early and turn the heaters on as my partner lives some distance away and comes by bus so is likely to be cold. Fortunately the building is new, a gift from the 2011 earthquake so has efficient heat pumps.
I felt badly for you with your disappointing cake @Sojourner. I have been caught a few times at a cafe I frequent, which has nice coffee but the cakes are only average, which can be very disappointing when hoping for a quick treat!
Today has been a bit of a write off. I had a dreadful sleep so have spent a bit of the day having power naps. However, I have managed to get a couple of loads of washing done and collected Cheery son's girlfriend for a visit. They have just watched a short movie and are enjoying catching up. I must get her home before tiredness strikes and I'm no good to be on the road.
While they were glued to the TV I got myself outside and gave my pot plants a good drenching. I have done something to the hose in the front garden, so I'll need Cheery husband to help me with that at the weekend, but the back hose was fine and it's nice and long, so I just have to drag it around to the desired areas. All nicely dealt with and if I don't get back to the plants for another few days, all should be OK.
I've woken up to a very grey day and decided to get out into the garden whilst there was no wind. I only spent about half an hour outside, but that was enough for me, it was sooo chilly!
Cheery son is finding it hard to move off the couch at present, as long haired cat has cuddled up to him and doesn't look like moving any time soon.
Cheery husband has gone over to help with presale cleanup of his mother's home. He came home very tired last night and I tried to encourage a day off, but he might take tomorrow for a rest day. I suspect not, and then he'll be going back to work next week still tired, what can you do???
Cheery daughter had a movie marathon with a friend at the weekend, I am wondering how she shaped up after that! Fortunately I think she is on afternoon shift this week, so a bit of a chance for a lie in, thank goodness.
I don't mind too much once I get used to it, but the beginning and end are a bit confusing. One year when I was studying I decided to ignore it completely for 5 days while I finished the last three pieces of work for my M.Ed because a change in eating and sleeping times might be too much of a distraction. I passed, which probably would have happened anyway, but I didn't want to risk it.
As I mentioned on the Tidy House thread, I'm feeling excited because my brother and sister-in-law may be visiting in the New Year. I hope they can make it, since the death of my oldest brother earlier this year I am more aware of how much I miss both him and our youngest bro, who lives in Wellington.
How did you go with the changeover to daylight saving? I am relieved to say we still have another few days until our own savings time begins. I have been enjoying the early mornings, and once daylight saving begins, I hate the first few days of changeover. Urk.
Cheery husband and I had an impromptu picnic down by the lake at the weekend. We should try to do that more often as other than our Saturday morning jaunts to the Swedish shop and Hammerbarn, we don't treat ourselves often enough. Bring on his retirement!!
The sun is shining here and it looks like it's going to be a great day. I had better get myself moving and onto jobs - make hay while the sun shines!
Maybe I should have named her Utu, which means revenge.
I totally recommend retirement. Sometimes I wonder how I ever had time for work,
I agree.
Establishing a new home takes up all my time and energy at the moment. I don't reccommend it.
Yesterday a thunderstorm and hail was predicted. We had just 5ml of rain instead.
Today we picked up our electric car. There is so much to learn about operating it! I'm hoping we can run it mostly on the excess solar EV that is sent to the grid for peanuts.
Getting sorted in a new place is a big job @LatchKeyKid. We've been here almost 8 years and I feel as though we've pretty much got the house working well for us, though we are anticipating having do replace some things, like the hot water service and maybe upgrade our solar at some point.
How is your electric car going? Which sort did you decide to buy? Was there anything in particular that guided your decision? At some stage I'm sure we'd like to get one but, I don't feel well enough informed about them to make a good decision. Currently we are keeping husband's old Prius going and I don't know if I really want a car with all bells and whistles. Just something basic would do me!
It fitted through the our narrow garage doorway and the 360 view function gives more confidence for navigating the doorway.
It was also one we could afford.
It has only a 400km range on 54 Kwhr, but that is mostly sufficient. Charging off the mains is slow at 1.7 Kw, but we generally have about 15-20 KwHr we won't need to export.
It's quiet, and seats five, so it's good for 4 adults and an almost 3 year old that are visiting this Christmas.
We could not afford the only Toyota EV, so we just hope that China won't use any kill switch they may have secreted in their system.
There is a vintage MG Car Club that has a get-together every year and meet up at Merweville in the Karoo. It is a lovely sight to see lines of low-slung MGs tackling dusty roads between kopjes away from the busy highways.
Very interesting hearing about the new cars, certainly something to think about! Our old Prius just had a big service and new tyres. It will be 20 years old next year and has been a fabulous vehicle. Great to run around town, fairly cheap to run, and even though it's probably considered old tech now, it's been perfect for our family.
Enjoyed a drop of rain last night and raced out early this morning to get onto the weeds. Otherwise, just enjoying having a home day.
(On the other hand dad used to joke, "Don't vote, it only encourages them" and voted every time.)
The trainer/coordinator of the Disaster Recovery Chaplaincy Network called me yesterday and told me that one of their chaplains who is a Quaker lives in Meanjin and will see if she can arrange a hook-up.
Thanks for that.
I'm glad you raised the vote splitting question @Gee D as I know so very little about NZ, particularly the voting system, so great to read your answer @Huia and to send myself off to do some further reading!
So very sad to read of the attack on Helen Haines, thinking of her friends and family.