Monday, May 28, 2007

auckland now from jeff.

Hey Everyone

Jeff here! Sorry I haven’t been blogging but I haven’t really had time or the internet access to do so. I find myself having to skip my lunch hour to blog away. I changed to time on the blog to NZ standard time. I hope this keeps Ash happy. Also, FYI, anyone can read the blog quite happily. Hence why it’s called a blog. The website is http://familyhappenings4.blogspot.com/ and so you only need to log in to change it. Also instead of adding posts you can edit posts too. Thus Ashley could go back and delete his or we can edit out spelling mistakes. Finally, I wouldn’t want to comment on too many employment situations to the world!!

Um, yeah, so I am in Auckland. It was sad leaving Palmy and an almighty effort but least that is sorted now. In the next week I am indeed moving into a flat on Dave’s street. This should be good hopefully and will keep me out of trouble while Kate is overseas.

Work is cool. I work in shipping and logistics now. Obviously this is a topic I know lots about so feel free to hit me with your questions. Did you all see Marge in the news? I met her last year. What a nice cow!!

Will update more fully in due course. Hope everyone is alright…

Jeff

Sunday, May 27, 2007

The time!

Following Ashley's comment...........This website allows you to convert time to NZ time...perhaps someone could do this!!

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

Reporting from Wint Nelson!

Hi All
Wild and windy Nelson all day today, fine and warm also! A little different to the storm of Wednesday night which opened up over Stoke, closing schools and roads for the day. We just got the tail end of it, the rain was very welcome, not so much the wind tho.

Like the red and black Ashley, very parochial indeed! My purple has no significance! Wonder where the other family members are!!

Planted some more freesias here as well and a few polyanthus out the front. The new planting around the goldfish pond under the stairs is doing really well!

School is busy, our 2nd new caretaker for this term starts next week, he won't need to be much better to be more honest than the last!!

Tim and I joined our school to be the noise crew for the Giants versus the Saints basketball game on Friday night. Giants won by two in the last 30 seconds of the game. They were indeed lucky as the Saints showed much better form and their goals went in! It was noisy, our kids did well and they also won the match with another school at half time!

If you are looking at Aquatic Centres our new one in Richmond is very popular....maybe you could bring your team up this way Ash!! They do very good promotional stuff around the schools and have popular sessions for teenagers on Friday nights as well as running successful Flippa Ball programmes for kids after school during the week. They also do holiday programmes. I guess the day to day running is not what you are looking at at present but the one here has won awards for meeting the public needs. Lisa Stove....you know my friend Gail, her sister is the programme manager here and has given the centre a great profile.

Am busy reading CV's at present as I am the Principal Adviser for the local Catholic School who are appointing anew principal....a bit of a learning curve with all the Catholic bits and pieces but apart from that it is a very interesting process! Am also running some special principal meetings as part of my work at MOE so all in all not much spare time these days!!

Tracey and Tim are good, both lost their games yesterday but played really well...... Tracey is a great goal shoot and flies through the air when they put her at centre! Tim almost scored yesterday but go penalised for holding the ball up....could see the goal line but couldn't get the ball to it and couldn't pass it either!

Willie thinks this is the last week of night time apples......... this new shed works til 11.30 and they are often running late so he is never home before midnight! He is off to Whangarei the weekend after QB to celebrate his dad's 85th birthday.

That's about us here in windy Neslson

Love to all
Janice





Timing

The post timing seems to be the time of starting the typing, in Google time --California maybe?. Can we change it to local time?.Ashh.

Timing of Posts

Hi, Does anyone understand the timing put on each post??. I have just put o post on, and the time shows as 6.21pm Saturday. This is 19 hours and 20 minutes behind our time?.Ashh.

Sunshine in Timaru

Hi Everyone,

The weather is great, lots of sunshine and no frosts yet. The grass in the paddock is still growing and we now have 45 of our neighbours sheep grazing it for a few weeks. The sheep are mainly black and are very friendly.

Barbara and I both had awful head colds last weekend and last week. We spent most of last weekend in bed sleeping it off. I am now well again, but Barbara has been to the After Hours doctor this morning and has a sinus infection, and an inner ear infection----a 10 day course of antibiotics has been prescribed as a remedy. Hopefully in a few days she will be bettter.

Tomorrow, the Chief Exec and I are taking the Mayor and Councillors to Oamaru, Dunedin and on Tuesday to Alexandria. We are looking at Aquatic Centres so that we can consider all the types of facilities that should be included in our new complex, that I am responsible for, and which is to be opened in 4 years time.

Janice, the freesias arrive mid week and are about to be planted, along with another bag of daffodils----hopefully the forecast rain will allow them to get a great start to life.

Cheers, and good gardening to you all. Ashh.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

We are back one

We are back on board. Three computers in the house and only the one not connected to the net working. LOL

Saturday night here. Richard, Line (his girlfriend) and Thomas are in front of the tv. Some car stuff on at the moment. Christina is in Branderup at her grandmothers. She had a soccer came today wish they lost. Not many wins as they have moved up to the a higher league.
She has finished written exams. History, biology, danish and maths. She was unlucky and drew history rather than German. She still has one written exame in french.
On the 8th of june she finishes school and has then only oral exams left. the 29th of june is her last schol day in Toftlund. she starts on the 19th of august in Højer boarding school.

Richard is happy at his productions school. He has chosen the metal line of schooling. He is really happy about getting paid for going to school. $562 a fortnight. Breakfast, lunch and afternoon coffee paid for. after the summer holidays he is going to get his drivers license. He can get this while going to school and at a third of the price. $2150 for a danish driverslicence.

Thomas has just finishe three days work at the local motorbike shop. Eights class kids have to get out of the school so the nineths class can have their exams in peace.

He is of to the local A&P show on the 1st of june.
Brian and I are of to CPH for a week end away.

Got hold of Mum and Dad last week. They seem ok and happy.

Sounds as if you all are well and busy as we are here.

Brian has spend two days putting some concrete out the back. Not amused when "Bamse" and "Granddad"(family dog and cat) left their prints.

If anyone is interested I have a used three week holiday for sale.
I an on my last leg of my holiday and start again on wednesday. Yak
No holiday before the 6th of july again.
And then again in august when Brian turns the big 50.
Have got the food ordered. Quich for starters and then 5 different grill meats with 12 different salats and a big birthday cake.
Enough for all 80 invited guests. Again if anyone is over here !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well take care and keep blogging.

Friday, May 18, 2007

We love blogging................

I've managed to catch up on all the blogs. What an interesting bunch we are! Its great reading. Another lovely day here. Hard to believe winter is just around the corner.
Chris, Brigette and I are in Auckland on July 3 and leave evening of the 8th. Band contest is on the North Shore. Love to catch up with anyone who is around.
Have a great day and enjoy the weekend. Take Care.
Kathleen.

PS: My nearest mate on my Virtual Super 14 mates list is 10 points behind and Chris is still last!

Thursday, May 17, 2007

news views and spelling cues

Hello there from warm, windy paradise! Nice to see another family member on the blog... glad to see the instructions worked well for you Kathleen!

Nice to know where the spellchecker is on the blog...thanks to the helpful hint, my guess is that it was Dave who passed on the tip......

An eventful week where our school caretaker resigned.......he was highly upset when he was found to be leaving the premises for an hour daily and charging the time he had away to us........ lucky he resigned before he was sent on his merry way....and then he told me he had been doing it si
nce he started 3 weeks ago....so docked pay and off he goes!! Here's hoping the next one will at least be honest!!

Willie is now at another pack house for three weeks as the first pack house apple season has finished for night staff. The new premises are in stoke, five minutes away , very handy....they don't finish until at least 11.30 so we hardly get to see him! :-(

Tim has his school cross country tomorrow, Saturday rugby has started....a stomach covered in sprig marks was the result of last weeks game...this mother doesn't like that too much! Basket ball starts on Wednesday and that has much less physical contact, yet is quite aggressive....am not sure which is worse!

Talking of rugby....who shall I support in the final? You will have noticed my 0 points after last weeks pics! Hmmmmmm.....

Nice to catch up
LOLJanice



bits and bobs, odds and blogs

Greetings Earthlings

Sorry to hear of your ill-health Kathleen, hopefully going private will lead to a speedy recovery.
BP eh george. nice work. 3pm til 11pm, i remember that shift well, not at a service station, but in the restaurant business. I like it, means you can make the most of the sunlight hours and have most of the day to recover from the night before (if one is so inclined...)

I went to the Sylvia Park Hoyts a couple of weeks back to see 300. It was awesome! definitely worth a visit. The mall itself aint bad either, but if i was you i'd stay well clear of the pet shop as one seems to bring home all sorts of wonderous creatures and paraphernalia. Do let me (and Jeff) know when you're in AKL, perhaps we could scale the sky tower or something.

Jeff's noticable absense from the blog is due to him galavanting all over the country working on some mysterious, top-secret dairy business. He is in AKL at the mo, we went to the comedy gala last night, and are grabbing a bite to eat in Newmarket this evening. I'm showing him around the place , as rumour has it he'll be moving into a flat on the same street as me sometime soon...

well back to work
Dave

Crusader Country

Hello. We are still here. Thank you Janice the email got here and to Chris at work.I missed all the news so have a lot of catching up to do. As you may have read, I had a stay in hospital. I developed severe pain on SSunday afternoon while shopping for tea ingredients with Chris. Sorry Jayne and Amy, we'll try again soon. The doctors have discovered Gall Stones. Yuk. Very, very painful. Sunday night was a long night, seeing another doctor at 4.30 ish (am) and then admitted. Came home on Tuesday on a very low/no fat diet. Feeling much better, and we have decided to go private and get rid of the stones. Thank you for the good wishes.
A belated happy birthday to all those who have celebrated recently. Hope you all celebrated well and enjoyed.
Congratulations David and Jeff on your graduation.
A gorgeous day here today. Yesterday we had nor west winds and was mild. Have jandals, jeans and short sleeved short on, it's so mild. Nice though.
We pruned our flowering cherry tree at the front about 3 weeks ago. Lots more light in now. Chris brought himself a chainsaw. He had a great time!
George is now working at BP Avonhead. He works 3 pm til 11pm, Tuesday through Saturday. Is enjoying. Easter seems so long ago. We had a lovely time there. Got traffic jammed at 11.30 on Good Friday morning where the motorway goes into 2 lanes before Kaipoi.Did a u-turn and scooted through Rangiora. Same on way home again, as we left later than planned. George crashed his mates uninsured car. No one injured which is a miracle. The car not so lucky. The car has finally been sorted and a replacement purchased. Insurance was strongly suggested to the owners!! Brigette is looking forward to her Formal on June 9th. We have hired a dress and hopefully, now have all the extras sorted. She is enjoying photography and Tourism this year, having already been to Kaikoura for 2 weekend trips. Brigette is still at Hoyts, Riccarton. They all went Rock climbing on Tuesday. Loved it.
Chris is busy at band with National Contest in Auckland the first week of next school hols. (First week of July). Brigette and I are also going (All going well!) We plan to go to the new shopping centre ? Sylvia park, so Brigette can check out the new Hoyts. They have a huge screen. Will be a nice break.
Hope this finds you all well as most of us are. Take care. Love to all
Kate

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

THANKS

Found the spell checker........ thanks!!

FYI

you'll find a check spelling button to the left of the 'add image' button in tool bar :)

Monday, May 14, 2007

Nelson News

Hi All
Well doen Davey and Jeff...... great that you have both completed your studies and have the piece of paper that counts! Well done! Having read Amy's note she would love to be in your shoes!! The photos are great, what a greal looking bunch of cousins our kids have !!

Kathleen has not got onto the blog for a while, mail\nly because every time I send her the instructions the email bounces back to me...soem interesting stuff happens in cyber space!

Had acll from Amy and Chris tonight to say Kathleen is in hospital..she was supposed to be cooking tea for Jayne and Amy on Sunday when she was at the supermarket buying the goodies fir Chris to cook when she was taken illl, rather thden take her home Chris tok her the Doc and then to hospital , this wa slate yesterday afternoon and they finally got her admitted at 5.30am today...the drs were busy!! Anyways, no panic sems she has kdney or gall stones or a bladder issue...should be home tomorrow, watch this space!! And needless to say, Jayne and Amy stayed home for tea!

'Tis late as I write this, Willie finished in one aaple shed last week as their work ran out and started at another one tonight..just for 3 weeks but they don't finish until 11.30..........

Mum andDada stayedhere for the wekend as they played bowls yesterday, they are both looking really well and were in good spirits. They went hane today ready for ameetin gthis afternoon and cards tonight.

Ni eot get somenew contributors to the blog....... Well done !

LOL Janice


Grad

Hello!
I'm exhausted after returning from a very long weekend in Dunedin! It was a huge success though - even managed to get accross the stage without tripping! great to catch up with everyone again - family, knoxies, lawyers and alma mater alumni alike. Great to finally get those pieces of papers - means i've jumped through all the hoops and paperwork and there's no way they can claim them back. excellent!

Congrats on getting your Masters Jeff, nice work! We shall have to catch up for a celebratory drink. Does anyone offer a doctorate of dairying?

Good to hear of your tortological fun Amy, glad someone else has to suffer through the joys of civil wrongs...

will write more soon.

Dave

Yo!

Hi everyone
Just thought I'd give you all a bit of a catch up as I have been quite slack on the blog front. Uni is keeping me busy.... just had a week of Law Misessionals which was a whole bunch of fun... three exams, one week, always a good time! Davie I'm so jelous that you've graduated... it seems so far away... congrats all the same tho!
I'm in the middle of assessments at the moment (as per ususal) with a torts essay due friday and then a political science report a couple of weeks later then exams (although i only have one this time) then a month off, but I'll be staying in Chch for at least the first two weeks as I have a netball team I'm coaching an another one I'm playing in. Also keeping me busy!
Had a great day on friday, a nice sleep in with brekfast in bed from my lovely flatmates and then a relaxing day followed by a bit of a boozy dinner at our favourite indian then back to our flat for just a few more drinks. It was all much enjoyed!
Anyway best be off... I smell dinner!
Take care everyone!
Love
Amy

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Davids Graduation





Hi All, We have had a great weekend in Dunedin with David and Jeff. Graduation went exceptionally well, with all the arrangements going like clockwork. The images say it all.
The family group photo is taken after drinks, in the main stairwell of Knox College.
Regards, Ashley and Barbara.

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Nelson catch up

Sometime since I have contributed here, life just seems to be busy .....same for us all I guess.

Tracey has just retuend tonight froma geography camp ayt lake Roto-iti, seems like there was as much fun as work, but she did folow the rules and hand her cell phone in at night! she was the on ein her group who waded into the Buller River to get samples of gravel etc from the bottom, seems to think she had numb feet all day after that!!
This weekend we start the ball gown shopping mission.........it will be interesting....... she has lots iof ideas, including me making her a gown, which I may do depending on the complexity of what she wants..... we have six weeks to get organised so watch this psace.

Managed only one day in Palmerston North last week due to Nelson airport being closed by fog, missed Jeff in Palmerston due to lack of time! This week was looking quiet for me at work but got to work on monday morning to find the caretaker's resignation on my table...he only stated two weeks ago...anyone out there looking for work?? Then our Admin officer only worked Monday as her mother in law died........ the rest of the week looks good, but let's not talk too soon!!

Beautiful autumn days here, yesterday was warm but today a crisp! Have planted many many feesias due to a buying spree on Trade Me, like winning all you bidded for!! A lesson learnt!!...Ashley are you still wanting some, I will post them this weekend if you do.

Amy is 19 on Friday
......I believe there is some serious partying planned...hope the birthday box arrives on time!!


Night work in the apples finishes this week for Willie....they were all told onMonday that here would be no more work come Friday, a bit out of the blue as last year they worked until mi June. He will quite enjoy some nights home now that the temperature has coled off....we keep findinghim jobs fromthe local paper but the repsonses are not always positive....probabl;y because of the type of jobs we fins....sous chef, livein housekeeper, panel beater etc.....!! Maybe I should pass him the application form for the Brightwater caretaker!!

Mum and dad will be over later on Saturday to play bowls on Sunday....guess I'll get to cook the Mothers' Day dinner and birthday dinner all in one! Thouight I would send my some flowers on Wednesday for her 75th birthday, anyone else interested in adding their name on the senders card?

Am skyping some friends as I write this........ modern tecnolgoy id interesting....has anyone seen the youtube video clip called shift...I can email it to you if you want to see it .....it contains some interesting bits and pieces about change...... light hearted but some things to think about

Best wishes to all

Janice








Sunday, May 6, 2007

Timaru Update

Hi Everyone

We are all well, and have a good weekend. The sunshine was excellent, the lawns and the climbing roses got a haircut. Barbara had an "Open Day" and chapel service at school from 1 pm.

Last Wednesday I had a rather eventful trip to Wellington---the 7.10 am flight was cancelled because the plane did not arrive the night before, so we got bussed to Chch. Coming home the weather was just as bad, so the plane was cancelled again----and so we got transferred to Chch and a bus trip home. A long day, to say the least.

We are preparing for a busy few weeks, starting with Davids Graduation in Dunedin this coming weekend, and an unlikely trip to Jade on the 19th. The Crusaders seem to come out of the weekend with a few difficulties, mainly centered around the Bulls next Saturday.

As always, we are keeping a watch out for updates---we normally check the web daily, with 2 blogs on the go---David has set one up for Barbaras side of the family, and everyone seems to be tuned in.

Regards, Ashh.

Thursday, May 3, 2007

Cell-phone Registry

Hello everyone,

This inbox on my cell-phone is rather depleted of family members' numbers, so I thought I'd post mine on here, and then people can text me their numbers at will. sound good? excellent.

Dave 027 424 9018