Hey Guys
I'm officially growing up and moving out of this blog. I have moved to www.africanjeffari.blogspot.com. Hopefully it's going to be awesome. I've even got a nice wee account at photobucket to store photos in and a hit counter...
The content might be a little different in tone to what you are used to given the audience is somewhat broader but hey!
party on.
Not long to go now til wedding.
So far today I've managed to sort out some info for our charity, pay the removal company, repay a friend for the sound of music musical last night, email aunty chris, finalised my annual leave situation, book a dentist (gulp), play with wedding seating plan and organise our couch to go to charity. This arvo will involve banking some cheques, arranging couch pick up, checking trade me auctions and seeing kate off to Hamilton where she is working for a week or two. Oh, then i am going to do a will (www.publictrust.co.nz) and then ?? Don't even ask where work fits in.
I hope that gives everyone a flavour of the current state of things.
Craziness
....So exciting though. Can't wait.
cheers Jeff
Friday, February 22, 2008
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Happy New Years from Timaru.
Hi to everyone----if there is anyone left accessing this site. I guess everyone has been too busy over the last month.
Happy New Year to you all, wherever you are.
We had a great few days in Auckland----we went to Banque with David, Mary, Jeff and Kate for a sumptious birthday dinner----Excellent food, wine and company.
David, Mary and 2 others signed up for a new apartment on Monday, while we went shopping in Newmarket. At 11pm we all went to Saint Mathews in the City for a Xmas Carol Service and paid $19 for 90 minutes parking at Sky City Casino.
Xmas Day was big dinner day at Parkfield Tce---bacon wrapped prunes, lovely glazed ham, salads, new spuds and chocolate souffle with berry sauce and ice cream for dessert. Fantastic.
On Boxing Day, off to the Ellerslie Races. A new experience for us all, and while Jeff made money, David lost money, Ashley came out just better than even. A good day out, followed by an excellent meal at Marys parents place on the North Shore.
We flew back South on the 27th, and have been taking life pretty easy for the last few days. Caught up with the lawns, garden etc.
Yesterday was wettish in the morning, so we cleaned out the office, recycled lots of paper, books, and general accumulated stuff. I have also started reading Gareth Morgans latest book that Barbara gave me for Xmas---we stayed at home last night, and I have almost got it
finished.
We are meeting John and Jean at Caroline Bay for lunch in an hour or so. Then we will watch the traditional concert.
I go back to work on Thursday and we are going camping to Pohara near Takaka for 10 days starting on the 15th. We may see some of you in our travels to and from.
Take care and have a great 2008.
The wedding invites have been sent---so if you could get them back soon, that would be very helpful. Thanks.
Cheers, Ashley and Barbara.
Happy New Year to you all, wherever you are.
We had a great few days in Auckland----we went to Banque with David, Mary, Jeff and Kate for a sumptious birthday dinner----Excellent food, wine and company.
David, Mary and 2 others signed up for a new apartment on Monday, while we went shopping in Newmarket. At 11pm we all went to Saint Mathews in the City for a Xmas Carol Service and paid $19 for 90 minutes parking at Sky City Casino.
Xmas Day was big dinner day at Parkfield Tce---bacon wrapped prunes, lovely glazed ham, salads, new spuds and chocolate souffle with berry sauce and ice cream for dessert. Fantastic.
On Boxing Day, off to the Ellerslie Races. A new experience for us all, and while Jeff made money, David lost money, Ashley came out just better than even. A good day out, followed by an excellent meal at Marys parents place on the North Shore.
We flew back South on the 27th, and have been taking life pretty easy for the last few days. Caught up with the lawns, garden etc.
Yesterday was wettish in the morning, so we cleaned out the office, recycled lots of paper, books, and general accumulated stuff. I have also started reading Gareth Morgans latest book that Barbara gave me for Xmas---we stayed at home last night, and I have almost got it
finished.
We are meeting John and Jean at Caroline Bay for lunch in an hour or so. Then we will watch the traditional concert.
I go back to work on Thursday and we are going camping to Pohara near Takaka for 10 days starting on the 15th. We may see some of you in our travels to and from.
Take care and have a great 2008.
The wedding invites have been sent---so if you could get them back soon, that would be very helpful. Thanks.
Cheers, Ashley and Barbara.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
To everything there is a season....
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Dear All,
Well after several attempts at trying to blog I have finally manaaged to remember how to sign in. It is so long ago that I posted that I do not really know what news is current and what is so yesterday! Anyway I figure that hopefully some material will be of interest to someone out there in the mysterious Blogland. All is well here in Spur Rd. We have had a crazy mix of weather in the last week but I guess that is par for the course at this time of the year. Ash and I both have very full diaries filled with all sorts of events between now and Christmas. Every day more events seem to be added..so much so that there is a long string of days when there is at least one extra thing on every night. We have 2 full Xmas Dinners on the 9th and 11th, plus a double 21st, and all the Craighead events of the last week. Next week I go to Hamner Springs for a week with the entire 4th form, 3 parents and 6 staff. Hopefully it will be ok.
Ash is busy at TDC and also has quite a few committments with his Presidency role so lots on in the next wee while. Ash is looking good though and he does a fine job looking after our garden and lawns. We purchased about 6 new white poenies last wekend at the rose show. We hope they flourish as well as the coloured ones we planted the first season here. The roses are beautiful this week..a joy to behold.
I was appointed Guidance counsellor/careers advisor at school starting in 2008. I am very excited about a change in direction. I will have 2 teaching classes, a full theory paper to do by distance education, and the job. As soon as I was appointed I was given the opportunity to attend a 3 day Intensive Therapy Training [solution focused] in Auckland. It meant I had a chance to catch up with Jeff and Kate, David and Mary. It was neat to see them all. They are all busy in their respective jobs. Congratulations to Mary on her admission the the Bar.
We are looking forward to catching up with the family on the 16th at Jenni and Pete's.
Ash and I are flying to Auckland on Sat 22nd Dec for 5 days. Should be fun. I have been up there twice without him so I will be able to show him around . We will be home at New Year and Ash will go back to work for 2 weeks before we head off for our camping adventure. All seems so far away at this point. I am trying to find out about study leave etc at present.
Must go as I have a pile of things to do by the end of tomorrow. Most of this afternoon was spent at a meeting on the new "Te Kete" project..so much more to learn. Cheers to everyone. Results are out. I hope they were all favourable.
Love Barbara and Ash.
Dear All,
Well after several attempts at trying to blog I have finally manaaged to remember how to sign in. It is so long ago that I posted that I do not really know what news is current and what is so yesterday! Anyway I figure that hopefully some material will be of interest to someone out there in the mysterious Blogland. All is well here in Spur Rd. We have had a crazy mix of weather in the last week but I guess that is par for the course at this time of the year. Ash and I both have very full diaries filled with all sorts of events between now and Christmas. Every day more events seem to be added..so much so that there is a long string of days when there is at least one extra thing on every night. We have 2 full Xmas Dinners on the 9th and 11th, plus a double 21st, and all the Craighead events of the last week. Next week I go to Hamner Springs for a week with the entire 4th form, 3 parents and 6 staff. Hopefully it will be ok.
Ash is busy at TDC and also has quite a few committments with his Presidency role so lots on in the next wee while. Ash is looking good though and he does a fine job looking after our garden and lawns. We purchased about 6 new white poenies last wekend at the rose show. We hope they flourish as well as the coloured ones we planted the first season here. The roses are beautiful this week..a joy to behold.
I was appointed Guidance counsellor/careers advisor at school starting in 2008. I am very excited about a change in direction. I will have 2 teaching classes, a full theory paper to do by distance education, and the job. As soon as I was appointed I was given the opportunity to attend a 3 day Intensive Therapy Training [solution focused] in Auckland. It meant I had a chance to catch up with Jeff and Kate, David and Mary. It was neat to see them all. They are all busy in their respective jobs. Congratulations to Mary on her admission the the Bar.
We are looking forward to catching up with the family on the 16th at Jenni and Pete's.
Ash and I are flying to Auckland on Sat 22nd Dec for 5 days. Should be fun. I have been up there twice without him so I will be able to show him around . We will be home at New Year and Ash will go back to work for 2 weeks before we head off for our camping adventure. All seems so far away at this point. I am trying to find out about study leave etc at present.
Must go as I have a pile of things to do by the end of tomorrow. Most of this afternoon was spent at a meeting on the new "Te Kete" project..so much more to learn. Cheers to everyone. Results are out. I hope they were all favourable.
Love Barbara and Ash.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Bull Story
Hey Everyone in blogger land, I have had the best year ever, with formals 21st and leavers stupid things for school. Leavers dinner was in November and held at the limes room at the town hall in chch, some of the photos are alrite and yah.
This photo to the left here is of me and kate, we are in the same Geography and Toursim class.
Folios are stupid, Tracey a word of advice Don't do all three or even two. i did two and thay were hell to finish.
But with my only Exam tomorow which is Geography, thats gunna be easy. Good luck to Tracey and everyone who is doing exams this year, hope u all pass.
Does anyone reconise this man? Me and George call him DAD, Some call Him Chris and the rest of you may call him Uncle Chris, this is what he looked like on the 1st of November to support Movember.
Although he didnt warn mum or me or anyone, except for all the guys and gals at James Bull locksmiths, mum went ape when she saw this man walk in the door, but now it has grown backand he looks normal again.
Well hope to see all of you guys over the festive season or even hear from you.
Merry Christmas and A happy New Year and Happy Birthday adn Anniversy.
From Brigette Bull
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Hey Blogosphere, Jeff is here...
I have decided to update y'all with one of my sporadic blog posts. I haven't got heaps of news but i guess that's not really the point. The last weekend gone we went to "We Will Rock You" which was excellent and a "p" party in hamilton which was good also. We tried to picnic in the rain sunday but alas.
Earlier in the week davie and I caught up with jen and pet(aunty/uncle) which was nice. Few beers and some nice italian food on the viaduct.Previous to that we caught up to matt(cousin), went to a "round the world" party, spent labour weekend at waiheke and visited hamilton a fair bit. So lots of little stuff on at the moment you could say...
Work is alright. My days are spent computing away feverishly which can be tiring but is enjoyable for the moment. It's all supply network modelling at the moment. i.e what if we increase production at x, do we need to ship more at y or change this or do that or whatever. Fonterra seems to be waiting for the big capital structure announcement on the 15th of november so we'll see what happens. You never know...
Flat is still holding together. We have decided to stretch out our tenancy til mid-november with kate staying here too. It'll be good to save the odd dollar to spend in far off places. Speaking of which, it is pretty certain we are going to honeymoon in Africa. Exciting stuff. We are planning a tour from joburg up through to nairobi and visiting 5-6 countries on the way.
Kate is well. She is in hamilton at the moment. She has been there ~8 weeks and has 3 more weeks there before starting work at starship hospital here in auckland. She is completing her diploma in obstetrics and gynae and still deciding if this is what she wants to do. Mum is up at the weekend and so i'll take her down or get kate to come up and we'll all have a bit of a catch up.. (future mother in law - daughter in law sort of thing)
Wedding plans are good. The invites have been ordered and should be here next week. The photographer etc are all booked and so now we just have to deal with a few details (shall we say).
...jeff
I have decided to update y'all with one of my sporadic blog posts. I haven't got heaps of news but i guess that's not really the point. The last weekend gone we went to "We Will Rock You" which was excellent and a "p" party in hamilton which was good also. We tried to picnic in the rain sunday but alas.
Earlier in the week davie and I caught up with jen and pet(aunty/uncle) which was nice. Few beers and some nice italian food on the viaduct.Previous to that we caught up to matt(cousin), went to a "round the world" party, spent labour weekend at waiheke and visited hamilton a fair bit. So lots of little stuff on at the moment you could say...
Work is alright. My days are spent computing away feverishly which can be tiring but is enjoyable for the moment. It's all supply network modelling at the moment. i.e what if we increase production at x, do we need to ship more at y or change this or do that or whatever. Fonterra seems to be waiting for the big capital structure announcement on the 15th of november so we'll see what happens. You never know...
Flat is still holding together. We have decided to stretch out our tenancy til mid-november with kate staying here too. It'll be good to save the odd dollar to spend in far off places. Speaking of which, it is pretty certain we are going to honeymoon in Africa. Exciting stuff. We are planning a tour from joburg up through to nairobi and visiting 5-6 countries on the way.
Kate is well. She is in hamilton at the moment. She has been there ~8 weeks and has 3 more weeks there before starting work at starship hospital here in auckland. She is completing her diploma in obstetrics and gynae and still deciding if this is what she wants to do. Mum is up at the weekend and so i'll take her down or get kate to come up and we'll all have a bit of a catch up.. (future mother in law - daughter in law sort of thing)
Wedding plans are good. The invites have been ordered and should be here next week. The photographer etc are all booked and so now we just have to deal with a few details (shall we say).
...jeff
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Hi ho, hi ho, it's back to work we go.........
Hi all...if there are any bloggers out there that is!!!!
Suddenly the holidays have come to an end......they seem to have been a bit of a whirlwind really.
We went to Christchurch to celebrate Jayne's 21st on 29 September, lots of fun an a good chance to catch up with lots of friends and family and to meet many of Jayne's friends. Opps, the photo didn't rotate as I thought it would....just turn your head a little and that should work!
This one is of the three girls near the end, before they went clubbing and Jayne hit her head on a staircase banister and went to hospital on the insistence of the bouncer....quite a cut and a very sore head for a couple of days.
We enjoyed catching up with Kate and Chris and George and Bridget...their home was very handy for us to change and make a a base....thanks to them and thanks also to Ashley for making the trip up to Christchurch, nice to see you! We had a really enjoyable evening in Hanmer on the Sunday evening before travelling home in the heavy rain on Monday.
Coming home was very sad as the day before we went to Christchurch a wee 6 year old girl form our school was killed in a car accident, her funeral was on Tuesday...it was called a Service of Love and was incredibly sad and beautiful all rolled into one. Tomorrow we have counsellors at school for staff and children, am hoping that the day will go smoothly.
I was supposed to be in Auckland for a conference Tuesday until Friday but ended going up Wednesday and back Friday, all was all very rushed and I felt quite washed out....apologies for no phone calls Jeff and David but our sessions went til 5.30 each day and the we had a dinner Thursday evening and flew out at 4 on Friday, it was hectic, lots of good information and some great speakers...the Minister was there and we all felt proud to have our school mentioned in his speech!!
Tracey and Tim are ready for school tomorrow, not overly excited but keen to get back into routine. They coped well while I was away and Willie was at work.
Willie has started doing Wednesday and Thursday nights in the apples, that should last until Xmas, they are bagging cool store fruit for the local market.
Hope this finds all well, those returning to school have a busy and enjoyable term!
Love to all
Janice
Sunday, September 16, 2007
San Antonio
The Alamo in downtown San Antonio.---A very special place to the Texans where independence from the Mexicans was fought out in the 1860's---and failed. David Crockett was killed in the battle of the Alamo along with 177 others who were holed up inside the shrine.
The San Antonio River Walk--very pleasant dining experience by the canal/waterway near the City Centre.
Hi Everone.
As you can see I have returned from a week away visiting San Antonio, Texas. I attended the American Public Works Association Congress in the HUGE convention centre. There were 5000 registrations, with 10 concurrent streams of education sessions as well as a huge exhibition in the main hall. There were 3 ballrooms which could seat 1000 for dinner.
I found the whole experience quite educational and informative and next time would like to spend a bit more time on the ground,....after 24 hours travel getting there.
Barbara has held the household together very well while I was away, and it is hard to believe how much the daffodils, tulips, and camelias have all burst into flower in the last 8 days. The lawn needs another cut---it is also in excellent shape.
It was good to catch up with Tim and Willie when they were down three weeks ago, and will see quite a few of you at Jaynes 21st in 2 weeks time. Barbara cannot attend as she is going to Sydney via Auckland---to catch up on Wedding Plans and to have a break away after a long exhausting Term 3.
When I went through Auckland I caught up with Jeff and Kate, who went to great efforts to get out to the Airport to share a coffee/coke.
We have now booked our flights to Sydney for next March. Everything seems on track at this stage---I have even got myself a new suit already hanging in the wardrobe.
Well done to Mum and Dad on the bowling club Life Membership..... a nice surprise indeed.
Take care everyone, and we will catch up with most of you over the next few weeks.
Kind Regards, Ashley and Barbara.
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