Wonderful weeks

Most important news! Meet my new grandkitten - Storm!

Isn't she beautiful and so well camouflaged in the sofa blanket - careful when sitting down!!

Mark and Emma got her in the New Year. She is absolutely the most gorgeous kitten ever! Sadly I can't go over and kittensit during the day!

Mark has just been round to finish the deck of my house. In my next blog I will put a photo of it with my new furniture. It will look very smart. Can't wait for Mark to come over for dinner and to have our first meal there. Provided that the weather continues to be so warm. Today it was 30 degrees and horribly windy. Off to see Lion now in the air conditioned cinema. Heaven! 

Wow, what a fabulous movie. Recommend it to everyone. Not a lion in sight I should add!

I have had a brilliant first month of the year. Busy with house and garden, but super to see the amazing improvements. Still a few to go but certainly getting there.

Not only that I met up with loads of longstanding dear friends. The first get together was a 70th birthday party for a wonderful musician friend and children's entertainer Kerry. 

 

He and his wife Mary have been friends of mine since my kids were tiny and we would spend hours singing with Natural Magic and watching the puppet shows, as in the photo above. Then we had marvelous evenings at Kerry and Mary's home by the beach with many of my international students from Polytechnic.   Musicians would just turn up and start playing in a fabulously relaxed environment. At the party I felt as if I had gone back 30 years with so many familiar faces and singing all my favourite songs. People were dressed as pirates as Kerry and Mary  are also known as the pirate band. It was great and everyone so happy - most of us without any alcohol ! Kerry enjoyed his birthday bottle of rum.

 

There is a ukelele group which I definitely plan to join either now or later in the year. 

It looked such fun and Kerry assures me it is easy. Was lovely to have my friend Kerstin there too.

 

The food was pot luck and really delicious as always. Atmosphere electric and although the wind blew nobody really noticed it much in the cosy little garden.

Next day I enjoyed heading to the airport for my 40 minute flight to Nelson, to my great friends Alison and Bruce. Super flight with wonderul views of the coast and mountains . Nelson airport requires the plane to take a short trip out to sea and then bank steeply to land very close to the sea. It is spectacular.  So too was the house Alison and Bruce have .  Below is a photo of  the kitchen and living area

 And here below the view from my bedroom 

 Pretty incredible and so fabulous to go to sleep looking at the stars and to wake to such a view. What a paradise! So quiet except for the bird song and the sound of their sheep. They all have very strong characters so I would certainly find it hard sitting down to dinner and eating 'hedgehog' (with the black tuft on her back) or 'intrepid' ( who tends to wander away).

 

We did have a great meal of Roger the ram but fortunately I had never met him!

I hadn't been to Nelson since the boys were tiny, so I had forgotten how beautiful it is around there with all the long sandy beaches with hilly forested   backdrop. It is truly idyllic.

 

It is also an excellent wine region, so of course we had to sample some 😀

 Not only the wine is superb, the houses and scenery are also magnificent

 

We also enjoyed a bit of culture, visiting  the WOW , world of wearable arts, exhibition. It was out of this world with a definite wow factor. This is my favourite costume

 There were also some brilliant cars on display. What a cutey

 

We did lots of nice food and drink things in quirky places. This was the table at a cafe run by a commune. Delicious food (no snails on the menu) and fabulous environment. 

 

Just down the road this amazing old barn

 

And in Motueka an incredible church conversion

 

Not really my type of clothes, but nonetheless a place worth visiting.

We enjoyed a drink on our final evening at a spot near Rabbit island. Very pretty area and loads of great bars and cafes and of course fabulous views.

 

Sunset from Alison's balcony was spectacular as we together enjoyed the top class tennis matches at the Aussie Open. I was sad Stan didn't quite make it. 

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What a brilliant week!

The day after I got home I started my new career, as a tour guide! What fun, though I was extremely nervous and could not sleep the night before. 

I have no idea how many tours I will do but I have another this week and one in French next month. What a perfect day out travelling from Akaroa to Christchurch and back, practising my German and meeting nice people. 

 

Akaroa is always beautiful. Luckily I have good friends just outside Akaroa, so I combined the tour with an overnight visit to Liz and Brian. I realised just how lucky we are here to have such unbelievably special homes with breathtaking views. 

 

That was the view I woke to. Actually it is a pity to close your eyes ! 

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I hope to be a regular visitor over the next months when I do my tour guiding. It went so well and I got great feedback so I returned home feeling very fulfilled.

 

Of course, I had to stop on the way back at this lovely lake, Lake Forsyth, which is quite like the Scottish lochs with hills descending to its shores. 

Then a visit to a beach I have not been to for years but which I love, Birdlings Flat

 

No golden sands here but millions of coloured pebbles, worn flat by the pounding waves. This is a dangerous beach - no swimming - but fantastic to enjoy, especially with that weather and virtually alone. 

This is my saying for the week. So true for me! I try not to procrastinate. After all, who knows how long we will be blessed with all the senses and all these incredible places to see and people to visit. 

 

Post Christmas working bees and concerts in the park

 

Just after New Year David had one free day and we snatched the opportunity to transform the above rather sad looking guest room, with its badly stained carpet, into this beautiful guest room with freshly painted walls.

 

It was very exciting to see the transformation particularly as neither David nor I had ever painted before. David did the majority of the work, but I enjoyed doing my bit too. Today the new carpet went in, and now it is a room to really feel proud of.

David headed south to his new flat and job in Queenstown, and to cheer myself up and get out of the empty house , I headed to Lazy Sundays in the Park. What a wonderful invention, and thankfully the weather played its part too.

I have never seen so many people looking for car parks and heading to the concert, picnic bags and deckchairs under their arms. I had to park on the other side of the golf course but really enjoyed my walk through the park.

 

 The Archery Lawn at the gardens was packed and the Celtic music we listened to was fantastic. Sitting eating left over mince pies and drinking ginger beer in the shade of a huge fir tree  was simply blissful.

 

The colours everywhere were so intense it was breathtakingly beautiful.

 

This new edition to the Botanical Gardens is very special and a well used perching area for the local bird life.

 

The River Avon - such a restful spot near the heart of the city. I was thrilled to see a massive eel and huge trout. Sorry, no photos!

 

After a restful weekend and lots of fun with a group of German and Spanish guests , along with Tine a teacher from Zuoz, it was time to work. I am very grateful to Mark for giving up an entire week of his holiday, plus a weekend, to redo my deck at the back of the house. It was getting a bit scrappy and had a couple of holes, and it was clear as Mark ripped it up that it was definitely due for a change..

 

Even pulling up the old boards was a massive job and the sudden hot weather certainly did not help, with temperatures in very late twenties. Here the end of a long and for Mark, very hard day. Back breaking stuff. 

 

While he slaved in the garden, I had rooms to clean and curtains to save. I had taken my curtains down to wash before my guests arrived and the linings completely disintegrated on one set. I was faced with a big bill or some repair work. I am pleased to say I have been able to save them.

 

After four days of work Mark has produced what will be a beautiful place to sit. Considering he has never done this before, he has done an amazing job. I am so lucky to have such handy sons. I even became his assistant today,  and have definitely decided that I will not make it a new career! Such hard work and so tiring in the full sun. Still, it is great to be able to help a little and not just bake muffins, and watch him work!

 

Not finished yet. Tomorrow will be another big day. Forty square metres of timber needs a lot of screws! Once it is finished, I will stain it, but we need to wait for the temperatures to drop a bit.

Christmas and New Year

So, 2017 is here and I realise time will fly by now leading to my trip back to Europe in May, this year!

I am sitting in this wonderful shady spot in my gorgeous garden

 

 On my very comfortable new sun lounger cushion, watching the trees swaying violently in the gusty warm wind , and listening to the beautiful ringing of my garden bells. Not quite as loud as the bells in Pfaeffikon 😀. Occasionally the bells  are deafened by planes directly overhead, landing in this fierce norwesterly wind. 

Not such a pleasant welcome to Christchurch and the New Year unless you like heat, 31 degrees, and wind.  Sitting under the tree writing a blog is a good thing to do. Maybe a walk later and as night falls a spa!

It has been very changeable weather leading up to the new year, with lots of warm windy days. Evenings have been quite cold. Rain almost unheard of. The ground is drying out rapidly.

Thankfully there are plenty of beautiful sheltered spots to visit, to gain respite from the heat. I love these huge, rhubarb-like leaves down by the river

 

 

And the magnificent, complex patterns in the reflections of the NZ cabbage tree. 

 

I have had some great walks cloae to home, usually through parks and along rivers. They don't quite match the fabulous Pfaeffikersee but they are still wonderful.

Christmas was a very relaxed affair , starting with a breakfast bbq in the garden with my visitors Jane and Rob, Ollie and Kerstin who are here till February, and David. We had a huge plateful of bacon and egg, and roesti, which was extremely popular. All very relaxed. There was a touch of the Provence thanks to my lovely tablecloth I bought there.

 

After a brief lunchtime walk, it was time to welcome Mark and his lovely girlfriend Emma for long afternoon drinks in the garden followed by roast ham and all the trimmings. Once again, I felt super at ease and just loved having the family here at home. We are still trying to finish the ham. I had never cooked a ham before and was concerned I would not have enough, despite being told by a very sweet shop assistant that the piece I had should feed 20. I did not believe him. I should have!

Mark and Emma showed us up by dressing for the occasion. Luckily for them it was not that warm so their outfits were perfect.

 

Boxing Day was fantastic weather so David and I went out to a nearby wetland area, Travis Swamp, near the coast. I had not been there for years and was delighted to see how it has recovered since the quakes. Christchurch was built on this type of swamp, so no wonder some houses had problems. Many neighbouring residential areas have been cleared and the land is gradually returning to its former glory and the birds and plants returning.. 

 

I loved the patterns of this very attractive weed which was covering some of the more stagnant areas.

 

Christmas by the sea! Fabulous. There were some people swimming, but David and I simply enjoyed the walk along the beach by the sea. We are very lucky here.

 

Then suddenly my house emptied. Mark had gone south to a wedding, David north to Hanmer and my visitors had left. What a strange feeling. I did not like it much so headed out to the botanical gardens, another lovely place to visit.

 

What a restful place to sit, stare and think about the past year and the year to cone, 12 hours away.

 

I faced the prospect of New Year's eve alone for the first time ever, but was invited across the road to an open house. It was great. 

What a great way to start my new year with a cuppa in the garden using my fantastic  new tea set I got for Xmas. Very classy, I think!

 

Christchurch and Akaroa

Yes, I have been very busy in house and garden. I am thrilled at the results and hope now to relax a bit more over Christmas. I am so pleased I am not still working and trying to do things only in evenings and weekends. Am delighted to have the spa for my aching limbs!

This is as Christmasy as it gets. At least we have a real tree with that wonderful scent. 

 

 Christian , an ex student of mine, and his wife, are here for a few days. I worked hard to create a lovely room (in photo below) for them and was very happy with how it looked. I have moved downstairs to less luxurious but still very adequate quarters.  

 

Of course, having guests is a great excuse to travel, so off we went to one of my favourite places Akaroa, only 90 minutes from home. How spectacular it is as you go over a small pass and get your first glimpse of the bays leading to Akaroa. I am hoping to pick up some tour guiding work in 2017 so will be visiting this wonderful place frequently.

 

We had some delicious fish and chips/burgers sitting overlooking this gorgeous view. The gulls were very keen spectators as we ate but pretty well behaved until we scattered the final crumbs for them.

 

The  Norfolk Pines, 'upside down Christmas trees' as Christian called them , look super with the magnificent backdrop of Akaroa bay and the near cloudless sky.

 

We took a two-hour cruise out to the Pacific and along the rugged coastline . We were lucky to strike a really calm day after some very blustery ones, so could get out to sea. The cliffs are really breathtakingly beautiful with such vivid colours from the volcanic rock. The blowhole was working very well as it was high tide.

 

Buster, the boat dog, appeared very disinterested in this part of the trip, but went absolutely beserk whenever we spotted the very rare Hectors dolphins, the world's smallest dolphin. We saw quite a lot of them, as they enjoyed swimming alongside the boat, with Buster racing up and down the boat trying to keep up with them.

 

Apparently he has fallen in once - hence the life jacket with a loop so he can easily be hoisted back on board!

We all thoroughly enjoyed this tour, not only for the scenery, but for the wildlife which also included penguins and seals.  In fact, the day was fantastic from start to finish - brilliant barbeque when we got back home. 

Next day was spent around Christchurch, with first stop being Lyttleton. I adore the market there! It is so colourful and so relaxed.

 

There were a number of buskers, but this little girl was a real crowd pleaser. Her voice was not great but she was unbelievably self-assured and cute. She must have made a fortune!

 

Then we headed through the tunnel to Brighton pier, where we were almost blown off by one of the fiercest winds I have experienced for a long time . Still great, though, with fanulous views along the coast.

 

The street art around Lyttleton and Christchurch is still exceptional. I loved this one at the market

 

And this one in New Regent Street in the centre of Christchurch

 

It is a really picturesque street lined  with lovely cafes. Hard to believe that only a street away there are still empty blocks of land. For some unknown reason, this street survived the 2011 quakes almost unscathed.

 

Christchurch is an exciting place to be. History in the making. It is very interesting to see the artists' impression of buildings and the steel structures as building commences.

 

The Avon River projects have virtually been completed and my guess is that this is going to be a stunningly beautiful city when everything is finished.

 

Christchurch life is pretty laid back and there is humour everywhere - even in the supermarket at the end of the wine aisle!

 

It is really good wine too. 

Today I tackled my Christmas cake making. A bit later than usual, bur this mass of dried fruit has turned out very well!

 

Here the finished version after five hours of baking,  still to be iced! 

 

So Christmas is around the corner and at last at 9.30 p.m. we can turn on the lights😀

 

Happy Christmas to everyone wherever you are.

Garden week

So, not a lot to report but the garden is now looking great and very tidy. Still lots to do, especially at the front where new planting is needed, but now time to  sit and enjoy the back garden, which is still secluded even after so many trees and bushes were removed.

My seedlings have coped well with changeable temperatures and lots of dust and debris in the air. 

 This is my favourite seat for as many meals as possible. Luxury.

I went in to catch up with friends in the Polytechnic. Was as if I had never been away. It seems there will not be any relieving till February but that is fine and I am also looking at tour guiding too.

I loved being in the container Restart area. Such a brilliant concept and great to see the beautiful, mostly glass , buildings going up everywhere.

 Watching the window cleaners it was clear this was not a job for me!

Some funky statues too.

 Sadly my Ipad played up so I did not get shots of the fast developing main shopping area. It is incredible how quickly they have progressed. Magnificent architectural masterpieces everywhere. Will get shots of them next time.David has now shown me how to take photos with his smart phone so technologically I should have no excuse!!!

This morning David and I went to one of my favourite nearby places, Riccarton  House and Bush. There is a bustling, high quality farmers' market there on Saturdays and wonderfully tasty food in a tranquil setting with beautiful gardens, the first Cantabrian homestead, river and small area of dense native bush. A perfect setting.

 

The Kahikatea trees in the forest are magnificent giants, hundreds of years old. It is amazing to think that much of Canterbury was once covered with native forest, cut down to create farms. 

There is seating right in the centre of the forest where you can just sit, look up and listen to the melodic song of the NewZealand bellbirds, fairly uninspiring birds to look at but masters of song. 

The forest is now a hive of activity since a predator free forest was created. I cannot believe the increase in bird life in a relatively short time. Everywhere there are twittering fantails searching for food and the loud swishing sound of the huge wings of massive wood pigeons as they fly high above from tree to tree. I just love it there.

Sunday morning the family celebrated David's birthday with a delicious brunch. It was great to have Mark's girlfriend Emma with us too. It is years since I have celebrated one of their birthdays with them both. Sadly, I will miss Mark's next one too as it is just as Zuoz starts. 

More photos of the city to follow in next blog. It is certainly an exciting time of change.