Kia ora

Ann has been very good – taking it easy with lots of nana naps in between regular physio exercises and gentle strolls around the garden.  Sleeping was a challenge as she couldn't lie on either side but the pain is all wound soreness/stiffness and not arthritis (in that hip anyway) which is great. By the middle of the month Ann was walking 1km to meet Peter and the girls on the way back from their walk. At the end of the month she was doing 2km with only one crutch.

It's not only Ann who has the nana naps
	Ann celebrated her 54th birthday quietly. Peter took her to the hair dresser before he went into work, then Jean popped over for lunch. Jean showed Ann some of her Tai Chi moves and Ann responded with some of her bionic hip moves! These beautiful flowers arrived from Dave and Ann.
In the mornings Ann has been doing a bit of repotting in the garage. Of course Jaz need to be close so she chose the old dog bed instead of the nice new one.

We had to take Jaz to the vets as she’s been rubbing her ear constantly. Just a large plug of wax said the vet and gave us ear drops to put in her ear – which we have to do outside because as soon as we squirt them in she shakes her head like mad flicking liquid everywhere – nice!

Jaz has been struggling to get in and out of the car for a few months now and has been getting more and more reluctant to get into the car – except that she doesn’t want to be left behind either. Finally Peter came up with a great solution. We put the old dog bed by the car door, Jaz jumps on to it and then straight into the car. The dog bed is light weight and can be stored in the back of the car.

Peter’s been enjoying the pears this year. It’s the first year the tree has produced any and it’s done us proud – dozens of sweet, juicy fruit. The only problem being the birds – they love the pears too and can strip a fruit right down to the stalk! Unfortunately the birds won the race to see who could eat the pears first - they beat Peter 2:1.

We’ve been eating our own grapes for the first year too. They’re also sweet and juicy – and great for lunch boxes. We've also had the first of our watermelons and Ann has been busy making her own lemonade from our lemons. What's more - we've had black, red and white raspberries, plus we made about 1.5 litres of fresh juice from our mandarins.
Our plan to get more Monarch butterflies into the garden is working. The swan plants have loads of caterpillars on them. Now we’re just waiting for them to turn into chrysalis then into butterflies.
With the recent trend for taking 'selfies' with no make-up on (and donating to cancer organisations) the dogs wanted to do theirs (Jaz thought it was another term for 'walkies'), unfortunately Ann photobombed them.
Despite the warning half way through the month that there was a cyclone heading our way we have had very little rain. The grass in the paddock is brown and only the tough weeds are showing any green.
	Our 'coppice' trees are growing well - despite the drought. These are two years old so another four years should see them large enough for Peter to start chopping down and turning into firewood.