Fallen Trees

 

We had a 24 hour power outage over the weekend. During the storm, on Saturday night, a tree was blown over and managed to take a branch off another tree, take down the power lines and the fence. We thought they would have fixed it over night, but they didn't start until about 8 30 the next morning. The power finally came back on at 3 30. Our new solar system worked well, so we were very pleased with it. We lent Janice and Jim our generator for their freezer. (They are the people whose property we camp on).

fallen tree

The tree it damaged

They aren't the prettiest trees in the world, so I suppose it is no real surprise that it fell over in the wind.

Well I wasn't going to go to work, but a friend asked me if I would like some part time work at the local garden centre. The boss is going away and they are a bit short staffed. I said I would, but I might only be there until September, but that was ok. I am going to started on Wednesday. It is only casual and I am not going back until next Wednesday. Every bit counts towards filling the hole in the bank account.

A little news for the week

 

Well it has been very quiet over the last week. The weather hasn't been too bad, but cold of course, so it is nicer to stay indoors and hibernate. It's winter what else do we expect. Then we complain it is too hot in summer. We are a contrary lot. 

There was a good frost this morning. On frosty mornings we use the water in our water tank as the hose from the tap is usually frozen. It hasn't defrosted yet and it is nearly 10. The frost has gone though and it is a lovely sunny day. 

Swaps have asked Eddie if he would consider going to Taupo for the road work season at the end of August. He has found us a place to stay at the National Equestrian Centre for a reasonable rent. We are just waiting to see if it will happen. It will mean we will be there until about March, so we would be able to go north before it got too cold. He is hoping to get some more information today.

The starlings are already making a claim in our goose neck as a nesting site and putting grass in it ready for a nest. They must have been really pleased to see us back again. They are going to be very disappointed if we go to Taupo.

A Social Weekend

 

We have had lovely sunny weather this week, with good frosts to start the day. It's a good one on Monday morning. It's was -2 under the awning at 8 o'clock, so I expect it was more out in the garden. I was glad to be indoors at a balmy 19.

We have been social butterflies this weekend.

Old friends had a 50^th wedding anniversary on Saturday night, so they had a pot luck dinner with them and their family, which was fun.

On Sunday night we went to dinner with Eddie's work mates. We usually get together on the 4^th July to remember their work mate, Jason, who died 4 years ago. It was good to catch up with them all after being away for a while.

On Monday, my sister in law, Carole, came to visit me. She lives in Christchurch and her daughter and family live in Dunedin, so we don't see each other very often. Her daughter and her husband have an archeology business and came to Taupo for a conference. Carole came up to take care of her granddaughter, Hermione. As Matamata is only 1 ½ hours from Taupo, Carole decided to spend a day with me. It was a lovely surprise when she rang and said she would like to come up.

Hermione is 18 months old and very cute. (of course). She was quite shy and only smiled at me from a distance. We had lunch and took Hermione for a walk in her buggy. She likes buggy rides. Carole said she took her for 1 ½ hours the other day, and she was quite happy. The other 2 girls stayed with their other grandparents in Dunedin. Because they live so far away and we haven't made it to the south Island yet, I have yet to met Mavis and Violet.

Stupidly, we never took any pictures.