Just dropping in to say hello

It's been a while so I thought I would drop in a say hello :)

Not a lot has been happening, so it's not really a post filled with news, more just bits and pieces.  I am settling in well at my new house and new job, though I suppose soon I will have to stop saying they are 'new' lol.  In a week I will have been at my job for 5mths, and I've been in my house with the cats for 3mths (I think), so they aren't really new new any more.

The cats and I are getting on quite well.  Lulu is basically my little shadow, generally speaking whatever room or area I am in she is as well.  Where possible she is also helping me, or 'helping' as I prefer to say.  The only thing I have found so far that she doesn't like is when I sew and I think this is because she can't be on my lap and its much harder for me to pause what I'm doing to give her attention.  She does very much like gardening in all its forms, though yesterday Zeffy decided to help with the gardening as well and it turns out it is much harder with two helpers than with one...  Normally Zef can be found on his front seat snoozing in the sun, or lack thereof - I do live in Stratford after all lol.  While he loves pats and cuddles he is a much more independent cat than Lulu.  Oh and Lulu also loves to play, a LOT!!!  And she often gets a tad cranky when she thinks I give up too soon.  She doesn't understand that there are other things I want/need to do, or she does understand but just thinks I should still put her play first, which is highly likely.

The rest of the house is good too, I very much like my little place.  Am slowing doing stuff outside (some with Dad's help) to get it how I want it.  Some things will be long term things, so aren't focusing on them yet.  Same with inside, most of that is long term stuff, and some of the short term like painting a few areas needs to wait till its warmer so am not worrying about it much at all.  Am making the most of having less to do and am reading and playing with cats instead hehe.

Work is going very well.  I love the role and my workmates are awesome.  Yes there are a few that try my patience but that happens everywhere.  I don't even mind the 30ish mins commute either which is nice, was a bit worried that that would bug me quickly.  My wallet is noticing it and have had to wiggle a few things around to be able to afford it, and the cat food, but it's ok.  I still think the cats and the job is worth it and that is all that matters.

I hope you are well and that you have survived winter without too many bugs finding you 💜 

Not long till spring time, and warmer weather (yay).  I am def enjoying the sun being up a bit later so I have time to do a few things outside, if I feel so inclined, after work 😊

It’s been a very good wknd

It has been a very good wknd this wknd. Nothing extraordinary happened but still it’s been very good. I have got all boxes unpacked now, and just a few things left to organise/sort. The house is definitely feeling like home. Also feels like I’ve been living in Stratford for more than just a few weeks, which I’m taking to be a good sign lol.

Yesterday was Inglewoods last home game (rugby), so I headed down to watch Paul play, and by that I mean catch up with Bridie while we sort of watch Paul play lol. The weather was rather ick and we both wondered if we truely loved Paul enough to be there, but we stayed and our crazy was well rewarded… Paul scored two tries!!!!! He’s an old man now, for rugby atlst, and I can say that cos he’s older than me for another few weeks lol, so him scoring one try was pretty incredible, two was insane. He hasn’t scored all season, though he has had a couple of assists. Inglewood lost the game, but Bridie and I don’t care cos Paul scored lol, well that and they have lost every game (I think) this season so we weren’t expecting any different.

Then after that Dons came and saw my place and we hung out, then we went thru to NP to go to Mike’s which is a gluten free restaurant. Once again we just got a bunch of starters and shared, cos we can and it’s not often that we can so we are making the most of it hehe. The food is yum as, and so are the cocktails we have tried so far. Bit limited on those as have to drive but still worth going.

Today I wandered round to my friend Diane’s, it’s a lovely walk and you get to go through King Edward Park for some of it which is lovely. I had something to drop off and something to pick up, Fred wanted the day off hence the walking. 

I also did some baking this afternoon, my new to me oven seems like it will do the trick. It’s a bit smaller than my old one so just have to adjust a few things, but only really if doing biscuits as the tray I had to get fits less on it.

The rest of the wknd was either spent pottering or chilling, so a nice one all round. I hope your wknd has also been a good one.

Oh and this is my 500th post. Crazy!!! Thanks to everyone who has been here from the start, and thanks to those who have come in along the way.

💜💚🧡

Zeffer & Lulu

I realised that in the last post I don’t think I let you know my furry friends names… how slack of me 😂 They are Zeffer (aka Zeffy) and Lulu. Zeffer is full black (whiskers included), Lulu is black and white. Often Lulu can hide her white when she is sleeping, but you can usually still tell them apart cos Lulu will be sitting on me and Zeffy will be beside me. 

Lulu does not really stay still long enough to get a good photo of her markings, but Zeffy is a bit of a poser esp when outside on the front porch area lol. 

Anyhow here are some pics of them. I’m sure they won’t be the last ones you see

Zeffy

Lulu

 

My ‘outdoor’ cats

For those that do not know I moved into my new home King’s Bday weekend. It’s a lovely 2 bedroom house in Stratford. With it came two cats, the previous owner was moving to a non-pet friendly place in Auckland and she had two rescue kitties which were offered to me. I thought about it before saying yes as I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to take on even one cat let alone two, but after talking it through with a friend I decided to say yes. It’s their house and I thought it would be nice to let them stay somewhere familiar and also together (they are brother and sister). I was told they are outdoor cats, and that they spend over 90% of their time outdoors. Well they are now called ‘outdoor’ cats, note the quotations cos they sure spend a whole lot of time inside for outdoor cats 🤣🤣

To be fair Lulu spent some time outside in the weekend, when she was helping me out and I was outside lol. And they do sometimes disappear outside for long stretches of time. But overall, if I’m inside they are too. And if I’m sitting somewhere atlst one of them is on me if not both. 

They are very gorgeous, and love to snuggle and also play. The favourite toy at the moment is a piece of cord I found, leftover from something from Pa I think. It is hard when they both want to play and there is one on each end, it’s not that long a piece of cord and had quite a few scratches on my hand by the end of Sunday lol. It also gets challenging when they both want pats/love cos I don’t always have enough hands it feels. But overall I think we are bumbling along ok and figuring each other out. 

They don’t know it yet but they are going to become gluten free kitties cos they love me that much 😶😆 am sure they won’t mind… corse gluten free cat food is more expensive than normal cat food, and I have to buy twice as much. But this time I’ve chosen to do it so hoping it hurts a little less 🤞🏻😄

I was going to add pictures of the cuties but blogger won’t let me access photos on my phone or iPad and I don’t have my computer set up yet, and I’m also stuck and cannot move (probably most impt lol) cos both of them are on me at the moment lol. So photos shall come shortly, hopefully over the weekend once I’ve sorted out my spare room which is my office and creative space 🤩💜

Kiwi Release

For work yesterday I got to do something I never thought I would get to do, at least not without a lot of planning and groundwork to work out how to get my name on a list... and then the opportunity arose at work and I jumped at the chance (even said yup I'll come before I checked with my manager lol, though when I did ask her she said she had been waiting for me to ask as she knew I would be keen as).  What did I get to do you are wondering, well I got to help with a kiwi release 💜

It was so amazing and special, and very magical.  Altogether 13 kiwis were released, our group took 6 and the other group took 7.  We were on York Road Loop Track just out of Midhurst.  The Kiwis we released were all pretty well behaved, a couple were not impressed at having been stuck in boxes for so long but they calmed down quick enough and most went into their burrows perfectly happily.  One even fell asleep on Tane (the handler, him and Sue were the only two that got to touch the kiwi, which made perfect sense to me), which was rather sweet.  I didn't photograph many of them (only 2), as I wanted to experience it not behind the camera, but I did get a few photos as you can see below.  And I decided to film one of them being put into their burrow, that was the only one who decided that it wanted to escape and make a break for it.  Kinda happy I got that one on video as it was cool to see one running hehe.  

We carried them in pairs, one on each side of the box.  I was with my workmate Michelle and she sung our kiwi a waiata (song) as we walked which was also very special.  Turns out they are quite heavy, and when you pick it up with your dodgy shoulder it gets even harder quickly.  The other option was my dodgy hand and I thought overall the shoulder was the best bet out of the two lol.  We had to keep the box level and not let it brush the ground or the bush at all so there was a lot of concentration when we were walking with the kiwi.  It turned out that all kiwi released into the wild are at least 1.9kg (fighting weight) so when combined with a wooden box they are not light.

And how did this opportunity arise you might be wondering, well the Iwi does mahi (work) with one of the partners who do the releasing and our youth programme helps as well.  They helped with the release at Stratford Mountain House on Thursday and us kaimahi (workers) were invited to the Friday one as they know we are also keen to help and experience releasing kiwi.

The blue tag on the bottom right marks the burrow

Video of the one that hightailed it hehe

Sold and bought

Hey all, 

So this one is just a quick one really, mostly cos there are not enough hours in a day when one has a long commute to work and back (Aucklanders I have no idea how you do it on a daily basis!!! 😱 lol).  But in exciting JB news I have sold my house in Hastings (settlement was last Friday), and I have gone unconditional on one in Stratford (settlement is in 4 weeks time) 🎉 

I am very happy and while it might seem rather rushed for the buying of one, it is definitely the right house.  The moment I walked inside I felt at home, and even my friend who was open homing with me said she could see me living there, and this was moments after we walked in the front door 😻💜

I am not sure how long this link will last, but here are some photos for those of you keen to check it out 😊

https://homes.co.nz/address/stratford/stratford/23-achilles-street/Yp0nP

Week one done and dusted

I not only survived but enjoyed the first week in my new role (yay).  It is always a bit of a did I make the right call kinda thing when you start a new job I think, and even more so when you are moving somewhere new for it.  But not only did I survive, but I also had an overall great time and think I am very much going to enjoy working there.

For those of you who don't know, my new role is Exec Management EA at Ngaruahine Iwi Health Services.  I know, it sounds flash as aye hehe.  Starting along with me was the rest of the exec team, except the GM, he is the one consistent.  The organisation had been through a restructure and from that had created and recruited to an Executive Leadership Team (ELT).  There are 6 of us in total, and yes I am part of the exec team.  I know, surprising to me too.  First organisation I think I’ve ever been in where the EA is considered part of the team, not just the admin for it and reporting to someone else.

My first day was Tuesday (Monday was part of the Easter long weekend) and it started with a powhiri, then a morning tea with the rest of the staff (well the staff that were there, there is a lot of out and about for most of the staff.  It’s a very community focused organisation), then we did the IT onboarding side of things.  After lunch we started what we would be doing for the next couple of days, which was the exec team getting together to get to know each other, learn more about the organisation and make a plan for going forward.  Today was a relaxed ease into your role day, and it really was a very relaxed day.  We got shown around the different Ngaruahine Iwi Health Services sites in Manaia, there are three.  I also went along to the Yarrows Bakery shop, so glad I am gluten free else I think I would be spending a lot of money there lol.  We also got time to chat with some of the other staff and I have already been told I should not be allowed to sit next to about 3 people cos they think we will be trouble lol.  See why I like it so much already :) and then there was time to sort out our laptops and work phones, so mine are now all coloured to make me happy (ie purple hehe).

Normally I am going to be based in Manaia, but Wed and Thu we were in Hawera at a local restaurant.  I was nervous about the catering side of things, cos you know I’m not the easiest to feed at times… lol.  But they totally nailed it.  Not only did I get more than just fruit, or plain rice, but I got tasty meals which were full of flavour.  And they even went and got some gf bread so they could make me sandwiches like the others got for one of the snack meals.  Definitely ate too much though, but I couldn’t send food back in case they thought I didn’t like it (plus it was so yummy that I wanted to eat it all hehe).

Some of the smaller yays of the new role, but still very impt yays, are that my desk is one that I can have as a sitting or standing desk.  Car parking is easy as, just round the back of the office (though lets be honest Manaia is not very big so its not like walking would take long if I had to park further away lol).  The toilet paper is 3ply (any of you govt or local govt workers will know how amazing that is).  

All in all it has been a great week, though I am looking forward to a nice relaxed chilled weekend now.  Just me and the two cats that Aunty Susan is looking after… who are not at all demanding dinner while I have been typing this, not at all… lol.

Goodbye Hawke's Bay - Hello Taranaki (again)

I have officially left Hastings, and am now back to living in Inglewood.  I drove over yesterday/today with a stop over at Mum and Dads last night.  It's nice to split the trip, cos it is a long one, plus I needed some warmer clothes and they were already at mum and dads lol.  I am happily all unpacked now, the cats have been fed and like typical cats I have not seen them since feeding them dinner.  (For those that don't know I am staying with Susan, a long time family friend, while I get my unit sold and find a new place to call my own.  Susan is fostering two cats, and she is currently in Australia so it is up to me to keep these two cats fed and alive for a couple weeks... 😶 and yes Susan is Aunty Susan but as I don't need an adoptive Aunty anymore, rumour has it I'm all grown up now, thought I'd give calling her just Susan a go 😊 lol).  Anyhow, I thought I would sum up my time in Hawke's Bay somehow.  Cos it was quite a while that I was there, the longest time I've lived anywhere since leaving home to go to uni way back when.  And as you likely know I like numbers so here is my time in Hawke's Bay in numbers 😄 

8 yrs 1.5 months - total time lived here

1st home bought (and now on the market to hopefully be sold)

4x places of work, 5x different roles

4x Art Deco’s attended

1x props room needing sorting that lead to a wonderful and strong friendship

0x props rooms actually sorted (lol)

4x book groups joined and regularly attended (each for a while at least)

3x local theatres joined

2x major health setbacks

2x major health setbacks overcome

11x tattoos (give or take… lol)

Things I have not been able to accurately count (for different reasons):

Amazing friends

Book events/launches attended

Authors met

Theatre shows taken part in, either back stage or front of house

Winery sessions - hanging with friends or reading a book on my own

Visits to The Figgery (I did buy myself a The Figgery t-shirt before leaving, it was a must really)

Dinners cooked by Namaskar

Kilometres run

New to me music discovered (some is new music, some is old music I didn’t realise I loved)

Dance parties held in my lounge (Glenny can confirm my dancing has not improved, not even a little bit, but my enthusiasm has never wavered lol)

Radio shows produced/part of

Hairstyles and hair colours

People are weird

I know the title of this post is no surprise, people are weird, we all know that lol.  But in this particular instance I am talking about them being weird in the way they are commenting about me losing weight.  And I just thought I would put it on here as it might help someone else down the track, some day, eventually.

I have been running pretty consistently since September-ish (thanks acupuncture), and a happy byproduct of that is that I am losing the weight I put on when I couldn't do any exercise at all (boo chronic fatigue crash).  I am running for me, cos I like it and it makes me happy (not always in the moment I am running, sometimes I just think I am crazy to chose to do that lol.  But I am always happy at the end and at some point during the run), but returning to pretty much my normal/standard weight has been a wonderful perk.

People are weird comes into this equation because the following seems to be happening with those who have commented on it:
Those over around 55 have been very wow good on you losing weight.
Those under around 35 have been concerned that I am losing weight.
Only those who are around my age(ish) have asked if it is intentional and if I am happy/ok.

Now I am sure everyone is happy for me and/or thinking of my wellbeing, but from the receiving end I do much prefer the people who are asking if I am happy/ok before being excited/concerned.  Not just assuming it's a good or bad thing.  It's such a small, and it's not like I am mad at those who are commenting straight off, but if you know someone who is losing or gaining weight maybe ask them first before reacting 😊

And that is just my little note for the day, I hope you are all having a good week 💜