The boy's paddock

Not done a post for a while, spending plenty of time out in the paddock watching Jan train her horse, Jussy. Nice to relax here during the summer holidays instead of rushing around all the time!

With both of the horses now in the same paddock it has made life a bit easier instead of having to split our time between two separate places.

Tatua Dairy

I was working at the home of "Squirty Cream" today, fascinating stuff!

Busy week!!

Been very busy with work, poor Jan has been ill, so a bit of a stink week. Let's hope this weekend fares better, and jury duty next week.....

Spring is definitely here!

After having had the most horrible bout of flu, it was a pleasure to wake up this morning and see the early morning sun start to stream through the blinds.

After the normal morning ablutions it was down to the paddock to remove Jussy's coat, after a bit of TLC it was our turn to whizz off in the car to Phillips Equine near Matangi for Jan's riding lesson.

It has been a while since we have been there so it was nice when we headed up the driveway in to familiar territory.

Jan mentioned that to see how much you have grown you must return to a place and it was certainly the case today. Her riding lesson went very well and her confidence was brimming over at the end.

I took the opportunity to collect some pine cones for the fire and just take in the beautiful sweet air and sunshine.  I had completely forgotten about Fathers Day and the kids surprised me with a couple of sweet little gifts and a suitably abusive card!

The flowers were blooming and the scent on the air told me that winter was behind us. We may still get the odd blip in the weather but the worst is behind us now.

So it has been very much a horsey day today, and a nice day at that.

Glee club show

Louisa's glee club had their annual show yesterday evening. And as evenings go it wasn't bad at all.

Took pride in how our daughter has stage presence ( and then some!) can belt out a good tune and enjoy the fact that here are a group of kids doing something that is worthwhile.

She looked stunning, very mature, and impressed us after the show when she was speaking to her former school principal, excellent manners and conversation with the adults.

Haircut time for our Mini Schnauzer - Pippa

Now spring is here it was finally time to attemp to clip our little girl. Her hair is very matted and it has been nigh on impossible to cut her, especially as the clippers met their end a few weeks ago.

So when we were offered a pair of professional clippers to use we jumped at the chance.

So, Paddy was first, he only got a part clip and is yet to be finished. But Pippa was a different proposition. So here is the result, mid clip and the leftovers!

Exam time

Bit of a surprise tonight in that we had a Te reo Maori assessment. Now I am more familiar with my grocery shopping list and asking the price of goods in shops...

Have to admit it is proving difficult remembering stuff but it is bloody good fun with a great kaiako (tutor)!!

Sunday is horse day....

More than the others in that it is the main day for RIDING!!

I even took the time to hop on myself, a first for a long time! And sitting on the back of an ex-racehorse is so different to sitting on trekking ponies - higher up, slender neck, you can just see they are bred for speed. We are so lucky to own 2, and thankfully they have settled down nicely to be such lovely pets, and companions. Just to see Jan, my wife, talking to the horses with total affection for the beasts, a lifelong ambition coming true for her, it makes me glad that a chance has finally come her way.

Kieran's current stables just outside Cambridge, nice view.....

Sacred Heart Girls College, Hamilton. School Ball 2014

Time to pose for the paparazzi!

Preparing to go

How smart do you look

We'll it was finally Louisa's turn. She has worked at the salon seeing so many girls go before her.

After her recent hospital woes it was doubtful at one stage if she was even going to make it. Her boyfriend was in Wellington and it was doubtful if he could make it.

Thankfully it was arranged for him to attend with the permission of his football academy, and he duly flew in to Auckland at 5pm this evening.

A mad dash back to get them ready and to the ball on time ensued. In the end there were no snags so the journey south ended with us just making it to the house in time for him to get changed, get many photos taken by admiring parents and big brother who the drove them to the ball.

They looked a million dollars, let's hope they can look back on the experience with fond memories in the future.

For my old mate Jim!

Hi Jim, I know you have the address of the blog. Here are some pics from our transmission site on top of Mount Te Aroha.  3000ft altitude and at the moment it is VERY cold with an Antarctic blast whistling through the tower - but at least it is sunny, so just enjoyed a coffee and donut sitting by the trig point 😊

South Pacific in the background

The tower

Panoramic view

Karaka horse sales

Kieran, our eldest, goes against the grain as the majority of his colleagues hate going to the sales, but not him!!!

He sees it as an opportunity to learn and mix with the leaders in the field. It is a good way to learn and he is taking every little bit of knowledge and building on it in his studies.

Graduation

Very proud of my significant other half, Jan, for passing her degree in education (adults). So now she has BEd after her name, and all being well after more hard work and effort at Waikato university (and working full time), she will have MEd too!

Well done, we are all proud of you.

Horses

We now have 2 thoroughbred horses, brothers, and both 5 years old. They are called Rory and Jussy. 

Kieran is working in the equine industry while he is at uni, but Jan is realising a lifelong dream.

They may not be everyone's cup of tea, but they are adorable, noble creatures.

Kieran on his Rory

Gentle Jussy

Jobs!!

Lots of mistakes today, lack of access and waiting for people to let me in to sensitive areas... All this secrecy over a telephone exchange makes me chuckle when I think back to my previous "jobs" 😉

iPhone blogger app!!

Never thought of this before, was always difficult getting in to blog mode, often the moments had long passed. Now I don't have the excuse any longer 😁

Coromandel, Easter 2014

one of my rare blog posts......

Well, our supposed family camping trip up to Northland got off to a great start,  Louisa had to work, and Kieran had to do a group assignment for uni, so taking the bull by the horns, both Jan and I decided we would head to Coromandel and try something different, we would do a little camping tiki tour....


As Kieran had used the small tent in the week prior returning with it completely wet, I had dried it and loaded it in to the trailer ready for the off-  only problem was that the tent bag was minus the tent poles, not the best of starts! ( Luckily the big tent was in the trailer so we had a chance of at least getting the tent erected.  We managed to do this after a fashion but it wasn't the best of fits as the tent resembled table mountain more than a dome ... :[   )

 We headed for the Coromandel peninsula and decided to visit Hot Water Beach.   We hadn't been there for over 5 years so decided to have another look.

http://www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=18&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CMYBEJoTKAAwEQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FHot_Water_Beach&ei=wZdZU_6GE8aIkAWW5ICwDQ&usg=AFQjCNHIRho58IMjOfiUDZaR1lf35VqXXA&sig2=2m81ogJHcpMwBur59S5UqA&bvm=bv.65397613,d.dGI


After sorting the tent, we headed down to the beach to marvel at the natural volcanic action that heats the sea water on the beach - and the tourists!  Coach loads of Japanese arrived and they were sitting in water so hot that it scalded your feet, but they were oblivious and just happy to enjoy the unique experience. We laughed at them!
We met lots of nice people and chatted away until it was dark and we returned to the camp site for  a hearty fish and chip supper whilst giving some German tourists well earned tourist and location information.... and a chat about football  of course!

Next morning and it was off for a drive to Whitianga and Mercury Bay, where Capt. Cook charted Mercury and plotted New Zealands position on the world maps being drawn up.

A completely different place to the previous day, we headed for Simpsons beach, had a walk in the surf and just soaked up the sun and the surroundings.  That evening saw me go fishing, with Jan wrapped up like an eskimo while I fruitlessly fed the fishes and was only successful in catching pipis (little clams) that took a  liking to the anchor wires on my sinker!  I enjoyed it though, just being out in the fresh air next to the sea is always special...

Returning to the camp site after a good (albeit expensive!) pizza supper, we found our inflatable mattress had deflated a little, I re-inflated it but that was a waste of time, cue Jan sleeping in the car and me on the deflated mattress!  We also had the small matter of Louisa having had to go to the clinic in the middle of the night due to a painful infection she had picked up.

Next morning was damp and cool, the weather was turning with storms forecast. Decision time - should we carry on and take a chance or head for home?

We visited a few beaches on the way, Cooks Beach, Hahei and back to Hot Water Beach with the view that we would take a cabin that evening instead of hoping the tent would hold up... as it was there were none available so we headed for home via Tairua and Thames where we stopped for a coffee and some of Deb & Charlies cafe excellent custard slice.

So, a good break with pitfalls but many memories.   And some great ideas for places to take our visitors when they arrive in the future....

 

Neglecting my duties again

We have been so busy, work has been amazingly busy, the kids have kept us on our toes, and life just goes on - Kiwi style!

We are truly blessed to have such gorgeous healthy kids and we love them with all our hearts.

Winter has been mild, spring has sprung early, and we are all looking forward to getting out and about again.
We have to get a visit to the mountains in before the snow disappears, if not for skiing at least doing a bit of sledding.
Fishing gear will need to be sorted and the camping trailer will need to be sorted as well to allow the damp out.

I have dusted off my ham radio gear, getting active on the local V/UHF repeaters while I drive around to and from work and the other love of my life, my Fender Strat guitar is still keeping me relaxed,

So, with the increasing opportunities for days out - watch this space!!

Ruapuke camping weekend

Another weekend camping, this time at a "nearby" site for us, Ruapuke Motor camp, not too far for us, over on the west coast near Raglan.

Great weather, given some freshly caught fish by one of our neighbours, beautiful fried in a little oil and butter.
Good family time and some nice memories on the rugged west coast.

yet another catch up....

Been slacking again, been so, so busy......

Summer is now long with us, it has been very hot and dry the whole of January, we have only had 17mm of rain in Cambridge, the ground is parched, brown and tinder dry. The local councils have issued water bans to stop people using sprinklers on their gardens..

So, we welcomed Jan's mum again, she flew in from a cold UK to a warm Auckland night just after Christmas.  We did the usual trips around the locality, meeting people and just catching up. But we decided to go to Island View Holiday Park over on the East Cape as we enjoyed it earlier on in the year.

Then went to various little places, but decided to do a bit of camping over at Waikiti Thermal Valley which was amazing, especially the visit to the nearby Wai o tapu thermal park with it's strange bubbling mud pools, geyser and volcanic lakes.... baking hot day as well which made it a bit of hard going.

A new experience for all of us as we had never done these things before, it was well worth it, the camp site was great, a different experience to our normal camping places...!

Auckland

Have been working up in Auckland for 2 weeks over the last month, stayed in the Scenic Hotel on Queen Street. I must say I haven't really liked the idea of city living since leaving the UK, and I still feel that way. But to visit and watch life go past at such a pace was interesting. Some lovely views up there it has to be said. The Sky Tower, the listed building that is the Scenic Hotel, the Town Hall and the hustle and bustle of Queen Street and the CBD....