We’ve finally been able to get Jaz and Maxie to tolerate the vacuum cleaner on them so now when we bath them we can run the Dyson over them to get rid of many of the loose hairs!
Ann is learning to be quicker getting her boots on at ‘walkies’ time as the dogs race around so excitedly she ends up getting her head swatted repeatedly with excited, waggy tails as she ties up her laces!
Ann’s birthday was a very busy day. She spent the day in school going from computer to computer fixing, mending etc, then dashed home, fed the dogs, put them in the car and drove back to Hamilton (35kms). Then she did the grocery shopping, got some fuel then went to the pub to pick Peter up as he was at Beer Club. Then they drove to Hamilton Lake, walked Jaz and Maxie around the lake (which took longer than it should have because they’d never been before so had to sniff every single tree, bush, weed etc). Then Ann drove everyone home. Peter had eaten at the pub so Ann’s dinner consisted of two apple pies and a snickers bar at 9.30pm!
However Peter did take Ann out for a very nice meal the following Saturday evening (I should think so too)!
Maxie was most annoyed by intruders in the shape of a pair of geese which landed in our garden and proceeded to inspect the lawn, hedging and flowerbed. They finally flew off and she was able to relax!
We have a new gate between the dog’s run and the paddock. This allows us to get to the compost bins a lot easier than walking all the way round the outside of the house.
On Sunday 16th we had a planned electricity outage whilst repair work was carried out on the transmission station at Karapiro power station. As it was going to last from 9am till 6pm we decided to take a trip to Taupo. Ann bought a couple of wine barrels – unfortunately they were empty but will make great planting tubs.
We let the dogs wander on some very long leads whilst we stopped for lunch by the side of the lake.
Unfortunately Jaz had a little trouble with a cabbage palm.
Peter went on a 3 day course in Wellington. On the Monday evening he went for a walk through the Botanical gardens whilst there was still some daylight left. The gardens are on a hill overlooking the city and the path down follows a steep valley. Peter has to remember that he’s not as young as he once was – he hurt his knee (pulled a ligament we think) and is now wearing a knee support to try and reduce the swelling
There are a number of large sculptures in the gardens, including a large bronze Henry Moore.
At the bottom of the gardens is ‘The Beehive’ – New Zealand’s parliament building.
They were also practicing in the Dragon Boats in the harbour.
On Good Friday we managed to move the shed from under the trees to the other side of the garden. This gives us room to cut down some of the trees lining the drive without the risk of them landing on the shed.
Peter also got some timber for the Bonsai Staging (hopefully it’ll be finished by next month).
Ann was just thinking about changing her car – then went out and bought one! It’s a Toyota Estima, 2.4 auto, eight seats etc etc. It’s the same age as the Honda was (10 years old) but is in much better condition and with only 66,000 kms on the clock (the Honda had 144,000kms)
We’re not sure how impressed the dogs will be when they realise that they can’t hang out the windows as we drive along – the windows only open at the side for a couple of inches. Mind you Jaz only endures a few minutes of fresh air then lies down but Maxie likes to stick her nose out for the whole journey (whether it’s 2 minutes or two hours).
We’ve also had a couple of uninvited guests. A pair of mice were spotted running up the hallway. After eating half a pound of cheese the mice finally succumbed to Peter’s attempts at trapping them (using a combination of frozen peas stuck to the trap with cheese). All this after making themselves at home in one of the bedrooms (not ours!) for days (possibly weeks depending on how long they’d been inside before we spotted them). Jaz and Maxie were absolutely no help whatsoever in catching the mice. Whilst we ran around the house setting traps, blocking doors and moving furniture they both lay back on the sofas (yes they have one each) and watched in between snoozes. Possibly they were assessing our mouse catching skills (not a high score), more probably they were laughing their socks off (so to speak) at our feeble mouser skills.
News from Home
Alex had one of her artworks displayed.
Artsonia is the world’s largest kids art museum online. It’s the newest way to celebrate creativity in the classroom and get families involved in art education! All parents can join and display their child’s artwork.
