Ann & Peter

in New Zealand

Haere Mai

A friend from the bonsai club who's moved to Whangarei, Dianne, came back to Hamilton for a couple of days so we had a few friends around for an evening meal. There were 10 of us all told - sitting at the dining table was very cosy.

Ann's been doing more cooking - Thai curry soup, coconut and pumpkin soup, pumpkin and kumara soup, spiced nuts, chocolate roulade, orange ice cream. But she still refuses to cook her own dinner - that's what she keeps Peter for!

Peter has been looking at some software for keeping records of our bonsai trees. He found one he liked and since writing an article about it for the NZ Bonsai Association magazine he's had calls from several people in Wellington and Christchurch about it.

The pile of wood left over from the trees coming down last July has finally got a lot smaller as we've cut the wood up (and used some on our fire in the evenings).

Peter went up to Auckland for two days on another IT course and has passed 2 more Microsoft exams.

Jaz has been escaping again - this time while we were in the garden with her!!!! One moment she was sitting next to Ann, the next we had one neighbour calling across the hedge to say she'd got out and another neighbour actually herding her back on to our section!

We've had to buy a new laundry basket - this one has a steel frame. The last one (plastic frame) got trampled in the doggie stampede to get at the tea towel Ann had used to roll up her chocolate roulade.

Ann breaks up for winter hols in early July - yay! No public holidays in Term 3 so 10 full weeks then another two week holiday before Term 4. As we started back at the end of January we break up on 11th December this year - long summer break - another yay!!!

This is the coldest winter we've had in quite a while. Usually July is the coldest month but June has been so cold and frosty at night - but clear and sunny every day so we shouldn't moan. We had our shortest day of the year too - so now the days are lengthening - not that we really notice it at the moment. With the cold nights Jaz likes being covered with her blanket when she goes to bed - Peter now calls her 'Yoda'. Maxie just thinks she's nuts!

We've just had the paddock levelled and it'll be sown with grass seed soon then it should look great and be much easier to mow as it's now flat. We've got to order lots more trees/plants so we can plant a hedge down the other side of the driveway - it'll take between 60 - 70 plants - the driveway is 95 metres from gate to front door. Mind you it's been raining this last few days of June and the driveway is beginning to flood again - like last year. We may have to put some sort of drainage in before we continue planting - otherwise the new plants might just float away.

We've moved the hot house so Peter can build Ann some more raised veggie beds. He's done one which now needs filling up with soil so we can transfer the strawberries into it. That will leave the old strawberry bed free for more spuds.

Whilst working in the garden one weekend Peter heard a lot of squawking coming from the paddock. A local hawk had killed a Magpie and was sitting on it in the paddock. Three other Magpies were mobbing it from the air and followed it squawking when it took off with its lunch.

Jaz and Maxie's dog licences have been renewed for another year - despite threats from both of us that if they didn't stop raiding the laundry, escaping and waking us at 3am barking at nothing! Needless to say neither dog took any notice of our threats at all.

News from Home

John had a little bit of excitement earlier in the month when a tornado touched down at their local shopping mall only a couple of miles away damaging roofs and roof top air conditioners. They also had strong winds and huge hail stones - 1 inch +.

Paige won her egg and spoon race on sports day - well done Paige!

The News of the World was mentioned on the main evening news - and described as a 'UK scandal sheet'. See - even Kiwi's know what rubbish the newspapers in Britain are.