Christmas news.

We had a lovely day with Eddie's sister's for Christmas. Her step daughter, and family were there too. Along with her daughters and family there was 16 for Christmas dinner. We thought it was going to be wet, but it was a nice day in the end..

On Boxing day we went and visited friends and ended up with another Christmas lunch, as 2 of their children were there. It was good to catch up with them after quite a few years. Their son  has a job in Tonga surveying the sea bed. It hasn't ever been done. On Wednesday he went to France to help sail his boss's new super yacht home to Tonga. Such a hard life!

Decorating is going along very well. In spite of vertigo on the first day. Eddie  had the day off yesterday and Saturday and is feeling ok again today. At least he was until he started masking up and now he is a bit wobbly again, but he is carrying on like a trooper. The last of the living area is going to be done today and then it is just the bathroom and the bedroom to do. Not much when you say it quick. We took down the range hood and I have given it a good cleaning. It's amazing where the goo gets too. I used 2 buckets of water.

I had taken photos of the decorating progress and somehow managed to delete them, so it will just be the finished product. I'll try and be more careful with the before and after of the bedroom.

Yesterday was a bit exciting as our grandson, who lives in Melbourne, came to see us. They are here for a week or so. He goes home on the 1st. His girlfriend, is with them.  It was nice to meet her too.

decorating progress

On Saturday we went across to Cambridge to the Mitre 10 Mega store. It's very new and a nice place to shop. We went and looked at their roller blinds and came home with enough for our living area, except for the big window at the back as the sizes weren't right for it. We also forgot the kitchen window, so we will have to go back again one day. They are black out blinds, so the light can't get in and the heat can't get out. We are going to look at a price for the roman blinds on the big window at the back. Eddie has put 2 of the blinds up. He will get the rest up over the holidays. It's quite amazing how much light they keep out.

I went for a walk on Sunday on the Wairongomai track near Mt Te Aroha. It used to be a mining area in the early 1900's and 2000 people lived there. All that is left is a chimney. Lots of mining bits lying in the bush. It's a bit like a museum out in the open. Pretty bush too. There are some photos below.

Some sparrows were making a nest in the bumper at the back, so Eddie pulled all the nesting material out and they moved to the apartment that the starlings abandoned in the goose neck. That has been well wrapped up in rubbish bags now. You have to give them an A for determination don't you? Last night, Eddie was outside and realized that the air con water wasn't running off the roof as per normal, so he got up to have a look and found that he had made a damn, when he blocked the black birds from getting in there. It's all go around here!

This is a view from the track where the village used to be.

Butlers Incline where the ore was sent down. It is hard to see how steep it really  is from the photo.

Some photos of views from the track

Jobs done and a sunny weekend

We had a busy weekend., but we have had sunshine all weekend. Such a nice change.

We found out why the carpet was looking so grubby. The oil heater that was sitting on it has been leaking. We found the little puddle of oil when we moved it one morning. Just as well we have a new heating system coming along.

We got the quote for the roman blinds, which was a bit more than we thought it might be, so we are going to have to think about it again.

I had the beginnings of a migraine on Friday. The vision in my left eye went fuzzy and it was hard to focus, so I left work early. I had it once before, about 2 years ago. I went to bed and slept for 2 1/2

hours. I have felt really tired all week, but I don't know if that had anything to do with it. I was feeling more like myself on Saturday morning.

Eddie had 3 jobs to do over the weekend. Put the roof racks on to the dodge; put in the diesel heater and connect the califont. All the jobs waiting for a sunny weekend. Well the roof racks weren't quite right, so he had to muck about with them for quite a while. The califont leaked and it came back from the repair place with out one of it's connections. The diesel heater kept blowing the fuse. The heater will have to wait for the auto electrician as it was beyond Eddie's expertise, but we do have continuous hot water and roof racks on the dodge. 2 out of 3 aint bad.

The starlings are still trying to nest in the goose neck. A couple of weeks ago, I found 2 dead chicks under the goose neck and at the weekend Eddie pulled the nest out and found some eggs, which broke and they were well past their use by date. We have also had blackbirds in the vent for the air con. I think we have been standing still for too long. We think we took the starlings for a ride when we did the COF ha ha.

Another quiet weekend. Will the rain stop?

We had another quiet weekend. The weather wasn't the best. Again. It is becoming a bit tedious. I was going to do a tramp, but the track is quite steep and slippery, so it was postponed. I just did a small walk 20 minutes out from home and 20 back again. I didn't feel like doing a big one this weekend.

Eddie watched a programme about how the caravan is made and realized the vinyl had been laid before the carpet. So he took up the bit of carpet that had got quite grubby and we couldn't get it clean, and there was the vinyl looking quite pristine. I have to get a piece of carpet edging to finish it off by our chairs. He also took all the pelmets down. They were covered with a horrible brown fabric. It is amazing how much more light is in the van now. We are waiting for a quote for some roman blinds.

The thunder is rumbling around again. We have just had a really heavy shower. I guess it will stop eventually and then we will be wanting rain. We are never happy.