April 3rd A Rare Substance

Today up to 12 noon, we had more rain then in the entire month of March. Mother Nature not satisfied with that record, decided to leash extremely heavy downpours in the evening, along with thunder and lightning - which to appease myself when it is happening I have to sing the following in a very loud voice

Thunderbolt and lightning - very very frightening me
Gallileo, Gallileo,
Gallileo, Gallileo,
Gallileo Figaro - magnifico

I think from the look on George and Minnie's faces - they are glad when the thunderbolt and lightning have stopped

April 2nd A Day In the Life of Minnie

Time for a short back and sides for our girl. Adrienne has been Minnie's personal hairdresser for around 9 years now, with the added convenience that she comes to us.  I was surprised at the completion of Minnie's grooming when Adrienne said to me that we have a decidedly unique dog. I asked why?  Apparently for the last few grooms, Minnie hasn't liked it when Adrienne has gone to tidy up her left back paw. She winces as if in pain and it is a no go zone. Adrienne cannot see any injuries or soreness, and I even had it checked out at the annual vet's visit. There is absolutely nothing amiss with Minnie's back left paw.  Adrienne has found a solution to the problem so she can trim and tidy and cut the claws on this paw. The Blow Dryer!  Yes, she switches it on - holds it between her own legs and while that is going - she can do whatever she wants with Minnie's back left paw, with no commotion whatsoever.  Blow Dryer not going - can't touch the paw. Blow Dryer going - touch, trim and cut around the paw to your heart's content.  We are all still trying to figure that one out!

April 1st This Way To Love

You can take the left turn, or you can take the right turn - just follow your heart

March 31st Half Way

Look, look - they have provided a couch for us to have a rest on and watch the world go by, and exactly at the half way mark on our walk. What more could a dog want

March 30th It's Rock and Roll

This evening we attended a concert by Bill Haley Jnr & The Comets.  Not only were his father's original rock n roll hits played, but before each song, Bill Haley Jnr gave a background to the song, ie where it was written, where it was originally played, and the history that has gone on before. For instance Rock Around The Clock was put on the B side of the record as they needed something - the record company had their own idea of what was to be on the A side. And they only had a very short amount of time to get it right - so they did Rock Around The Clock in two takes, and for the first time ever the two takes were over dubbed. History speaks for itself as to which song went on to rock the charts for decades.

It was interesting to hear the background to the songs, as well as hear the songs live of course. I have never seen a Double Bass instrument used the way it was - the player was fantastic and energetic, and doing Jimi Hendrix type moves with the Double Bass.  The Saxophonist put Micheal Jackson's dance moves to shame. It was a really interesting evening and one we both thoroughly enjoyed.

 

 

The very retro fountain at The Founders Theatre - what were they thinking?

Well that's what we thought we were here for

The theatre soon filled up and all we could see in front of us was a lot of bopping grey heads

March 29th A BBQ With A View

Dinner at a friends and this was the lovely view in front of us. Parkland galore

March 28th The Collector

I happened to be reading an article today regarding how a NZ woman was vying for a Guinness Book of Records title for collecting Zebra.  Apparently to qualify for an entry in the Guiness Book, you have to have at least 308 items or more. So George and I decided to count what I have in the kitchen / dining area alone. Just in this one wee room - there are 68 elephant items. That is in one room on it's own. There are salad servers, tea pots, cups, fridge magnets, salt & pepper shakers, plates, egg cups, an apron, a clock plus ornaments etc etc

We decided not to extend the count to the rest of the house as it would require both of us having to take a day off to tally the numbers. Just call me Elephant obsessive!

This clock was purchased at Rome Airport

March 27th Mickey Is In The Sink

Well at first my soap suds looked like Mickey, then I thought a baby elephant - at a stretch. Or maybe a dog?What does my sink of empty soap suds look like to you?

March 26th Granddaughter's Day

I just heard the funniest joke

Must keep up with the business world

T

This swimming lark is fun

March 25th And This My Friends

Is all I have to say about today.

It was grey, it was bleak

and the sun I wish to seek

After all this it did not rain

I hope it's not long until blue skies return again

March 24th Something Fishy Is Going On

Marh 23rd Guess What''s In Season?

Whoop Whoop! The Bluff Oyster season is upon us again, and even though I still have some of last season's in the freezer - I could not resist purchasing (and eating) these.

March 22nd The Power of Three

Today was a http:/www.foodlovers.co.nz get together. Due to varying circumstances only three of us were able to make it, but we still had a lovely time.  With only three in attendance, someone had to take a photo so here's Lynette and Helen.

And we had better not forget the lovely nibbles prepared by Helen, and the obligatory glass of Bubbles

March 21st Run Minnie Run

Notice not a weed in sight. All the stones were lifted this week, new weed mat laid, and the pavers set into concrete. But not before a super heavy duty, blast your arse off around the moon twice, weed killer was applied.  We like green, but not in this area

March 20th Relics From A Bygone Era

Well I don't know if I should share this or not. Today I cleaned my office out - as in cleaned papers, paraphernalia gathered over the years from working as a Travel Agent. This included items that made it into my office, because I couldn't think of where to put them. My motivation was that I would find a place for them - but I have been self employed working from home for nearly 9 years now, and it still hasn't happened.

Until... technology and the modern era caught up with me. And anyone that knows me, is fully aware that I love my bells and whistles, and any tooting faluting technology I own has to be the latest. If it blings and rings, baby it has to be mine. Apart from .... I LOVE WINDOWS XP.  Yes I have a laptop with Windows 7 on it, and I am always grumbling and bumbling that it isn't as good as XP.  Well can you imagine my devastation when Microsoft announced they would no longer be supporting XP. Which meant my Amadeus CRS (Central Reservation System for airlines)  would also no longer support XP due to its kick and a shove into the graveyard of former operating systems. So guess what has to go? Oh and for Apple afficionados - not an option as our CRS isn't compatible with Apple - Windows only!

Oh Good Bye Sweet Tower of Mine

 So then I stumbled upon all of my business cards from careers past. These are from my days as an HR Consultant in Australia, Bank Manager here in New Zealand. Then at one stage the Bank went through some redundancies, so I thought I would take my Real Estate Salesperson Licence as a just in case. Interesting course, but I was never made redundant and never became a Real Estate Agent. Instead later I went to work in a cafe while I decided my options - and here is my Student card when I decided Travel looked interesting. And my past and current business card from Travel.

What else did I find? Who remembers using these - valuable to me as an adult student

Finally, I stumbled upon my Drivers Licence reissued in 1985,and originally issued in 1975. A little hard bound book sure beats plastic 'fantastic' doesn't it?

What an awesome trip down Memory Lane. And I have a lovely clean office to boot!

March 19th A White Butterfly Did Flutter By

Every time I see these white butterflies in the garden, I always have a little chuckle. They are the monsters of the vegetable world, plundering cabbages, lettuce and anything else with edible green leaves for humans. I well remember my father in law, whom we all knew as Billy or Billy Boy, chasing these blighters in the garden with his tennis racquet and getting the boys to do the deed for him as well. Now when I think of it, if anyone had seen this display, they must have wondered what on earth these crazy people were doing, running around the garden, swiping at imaginary tennis balls with their tennis racquets!

Needless to say, I only take photos of them now and I can imagine my 'boys' reaction if I asked them to chase butterflies with a tennis racquet. However I may try it with the grandies one day - family traditions and all that

Have you ever tried to get one of these blighters to stay still for a photo op? Believe me, it's not easy

March 18th A Welcome Home Committee (Of One)

This little fella was slap bang in the middle of the door when I arrived home. This is one insect I don't mind, and can hold without going into a seizure of behemoth size!

March 17th To Be Sure, To Be Sure, To Be Sure

Begorrah, Begone, Betwixt
I wonder what the Irish will come up with n'xt
Today is St Patricks Day
If you live over this way
But in Ireland it's the day after this

Happy St Patrick's Day to all Irish Men, to all Irish Women, to all Irish Children and anyone Irish in between

Purchased from a gift shop near Blarney Castle in Ireland. Where we went to kiss the Blarney Stone - but I didn't. You don't know where the lips before you have been!!

March 16th Bulbuous

A man went shopping for garden watering system plants, but also came home with these as well.

Me thinks our garden may be blooming beautiful this Spring

March 15th Storm Damage

Storm Damage in the Waikato. George's car appeared to cop the worst of it

ps the car has not hit the fence - we had visitors, so he parked as far forward as possible

March 14th The Definition of Friendship

Our lives comprise family, friends, acquaintances and some bloody scary or horrible people you would rather not know!

Today for me was the true definition of friendship. First up was a 'customer' lunch. This couple have booked their travel arrangements with me since I started in travel way back in 2001. So they have been with me through two retail agencies and into self employment. However since I have been in self employment our contact has been limited to emails and phone calls - due in part to their now living south of Lake Taupo, a fair distance away.

This week I had a phone call. Mr was in a hospital up here for a knee operation and Mrs wondered if we could catch up. Well after such a long period of time lunch was definitely on the menu. We spent two hours, catching up on each others lives, our grandchildren, our ills and aches, and our combined love of travel.

When a get together ends in a massive hug and you feel you have spent that time with a friend, who is coincidentally a customer, that is a definition of friendship. That is until she refused to have her photo taken for my photo of the day - which actually is understandable as that would well be my response as well.

Onto another definition of friendship. Age is no boundary to friendship. We have known Cristina since her arrival in NZ from Romania. We met her partner Crae just over a year ago. In that time our contact has been minimal. It was lovely to get together for a well overdue dinner Words flow freely and you laugh and chatter, and yet you have seen little of each other due to the constraints of modern living and busy lives.  We had a wonderful evening hosting Cristina and Crae here for dinner. How does this interaction define friendship - when once again you just have to finish your evening together with a huge hug. When the door closes and you turn to each other and say aren't they a wonderful couple - that is the definition of friendship.

Fortunately for me, Cristina and Crae weren't shy to have their photo used for today's blog. Let us raise a glass to friendship.

March 13th Blowing Raspberries

Well picking and eating raspberries to be exact. A nice wee crop from the garden, and more to come

March 12th A Night Out

A night out wining and dining - well dining for George as he was the driver and wining and dining for me as I wasn't driving. Good to see a lovely Montepulciano wine on a Chinese restaurant menu.

So we were dining at Three Leg Frog Restaurant, and I think this may have been a good omen when we parked. There wasn't a three leg frog in sight, but do you think three fish would do?

Well if you''re in a Chinese restaurant, it stands to reason the man's beer must be Chinese. He wasn't quite expecting the bottle to be so large however

Now why didn't they have this colour when I brought mine? Although this is one of the older cuzzies

Riff Raff is a shadow of his former self

March 11th All The Way From Californ-I-A

Let me present to you, all the way from  Temecula CA in the United States of America to the small metropolis of Hamilton New Zealand, the one, but I am sure not the only, Broadband box thingee (spotted on a suburban street whilst walking Minnie - hence the jandal/thong you can see in the lower right corner)

March 10th We Didn't Do It

March 9th Make A Wish

Who can remember blowing on these as a child, and making a wish

March 8th The Sun Sets on Saturday

A great day up in Auckland for a family get together. But as I tend to do, I get so carried away with the moment, I don't think to take a photo.  So you will have to make do with the evening sunset when I got back to Hamilton

March 7th The Darwin Award for Car Parking

If you can't park your car, clap your hands

If you can't park your car, clap your hands

If you can''t park your car - in life you won't go far

and an idiot, yes you are

If you can't park your car, clap your hands

March 6th The Invasion of A Creepy Crawly

Yikes, I am sure glad I wasn't the one to stumble upon this out in the garage. Although knowing my luck, I wouldn't have stumbled on it - the damned thing would have landed on me. I give you the not so humble New Zealand Weta

March 5th Peek A Boo I See You

Someone seeking solace in the park. Or as my over active imagination likes to think - he is hiding down here for a secret rendezvous. 007 lurks in the suburbs!