Hi there! It is a stunning day here again today. The weather has been magnificent over the last fortnight..down to a cotton shirt during the day. First real frost [and a good one ] this morning but this is a small price to pay compared with the beautiful sunrises and the snow on the mountains gleaming in our view. Saturday was damp and awful but surprisingly the perfect 'winter' weather has returned.
The silly thing is that we have both had a nasty cold and flu so maybe it is the cold that kills the bugs. Ashley has the garden looking great for this time of the year. He light-prunned the roses a few weeks ago and they have rewarded us with another round of beautiful flowers and even more growth. We are hoping the grass stops growing soon so that we do not have to get it mowed before we leave. [we do remember a similar warm spell last year that came to an abrupt end with a dramatic snowfall!]
Ash leaves for Invercargill tomorrow night as he has a big executive meeting just after lunch on Wednesday. He will be elected President of the National Executive of Local Government Engineers so he will have a big few days until he returns home on Sunday night. Sadly I cannot go with him as I have already taken some leave for the trip away. Our Principal is still on sick leave with a brain tumour and so the staff is taking the strain. On Wednesday Night I have PTA interviews officially from 7-9 but mine start at 6.30-9.30 and then a waitng list...due to 3 senior English classes. I have already had many interviews last Friday.
Ash and i went to Waimate on Saturday afternoon so that I could deliver some pre-made food for dad [casseroles, mince, scones etc] and to check mum and her bags. She was highly organised and had made very good decisions about her gear. She travels to ChCh today and flies out to Singapore tomorrow. She and 2 other women are joining a bus tour to go around the British Isles; they have about a week or so in London and then join a second tour down the Continent as far as Italy, France, Austria , Switzerland etc. it is quite a plucky move considering she has only been as far as Australia previously. Dad is planning a mini trip to see his brother and sister in between his community committments.
We are looking forward to seeing the next week thru as hassle-free as possible. I hope Ash manages to get South and back without encountering nasty weather.
We are both getting very excited about our trip. We have been reading up on Istanbul..we have booked an extra 2 days there as the culture sounds amazing. We hope to stand at the point where Asia mets Europe and spend time visiting the amazing mosques, harem, bazaar, palaces etc. It will be a culture shock for us. It seems we have to get Hep A vaccinations this week and take heed of the travel advisary! I am more concerned about the possibilty of an earthquake or heatstroke.!!
It will be lovely to see Brian and Hella and family. Hopefully we can celebrate his 50th birtday a little earlier. It is a long way from Athens to Bilund but will be good to see everyone again and the dear wee village they live in.
Thankyou for the freesias. They have been planted and yesterday we discovered more bulbs in our shed so I guess they will go in this pm. It is a big bucketfull from all the pots we had when we shifted...they certainly have multiplied.
Hopefully everyone has had a good Queens Birthday. Jeff in a flat yet? David..did you get to the Coast? Kathleen..when is surgery? Kate is currently in Veitnam/Cambodia.
Time for lunch!! Hope to hear from you soon. Barbara and Ashley xxx
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