Boring would be good.

Sorry I have not posted a blog for ages. Life has been a whirlwind of continuous changes. But mostly exhaustion! And surprises.

House maintenance
We finally saw the end of the scaffold and plastic wrap. Which I still continue to discover bits in the garden occasionally.. The cost was a total blow out on replacement of the butynol so I stopped asking how much everything was costing and begged the scaffolders for a big discount. We should be free of maintenance for that for a good 20 years we hope. The weather threw the works at us during the many months of work. Was supposed to be 3 weeks! Turned to 3 months

Family grows
Nick and Julie with baby Chloe moved in mid September. It was not with out its ups and downs. Storing their mini house of furniture at my mums and fitting it into my house was a good lesson in logistics. But only my logistics as the family left it to me. Months of clearing 2 bedrooms and piling baby furniture up was hard work. Hence the hospice gained and I have yet to sort more. The move went so well until the moving truck clipped the power lines and ripped it and the chorus line from the unit. Hours of phone calls and sorting got it restored by 8pm to the neighbours. Our first day of baby sitting was pretty full on.

Primary carers
Colin and I care for Chloe 4 days a week but with them living with us it is more than that. Friday and weekends are our days off. 7.30am starts are taking their toll on me. By Thursday I am wasted and fell asleep on the floor with Chloe last week and Colin had to leave his sanctuary of the office to help me. I had a belly dance show on Sunday so practice and babies do mix. Chloe is mesmerized by my music and dance and can't take her eyes off the veil flicking around. Have to have a few tricks up our sleeve for entertainment of babies. I work on number, colours , nature and animal recognition often. Speech and play   trick is to get a kiss XXX 000 from her. She face plants her forehead to your face as she hasn't worked out how to pucker lips yet. Very cute.

Colin
He has continued to stay well. Only a mild cold and chest infection this year set him back a little. Juggling medication has been long and slow but he is still here. The liver function tests are variable but at  manageable level. I have to enforce an afternoon sleep on him and that helps. After all we are out late dancing 2 nights a week and stopped the Sunday nights. Part of our exercise routine to stay fit. He sits in the office for hours working on accounts and insurance and helping with Nick's house build documents and plans. What would the kids do without us??? He will be coping alone for 2 weeks shortly.

Me
Life has been totally changed. It is hard for me to get on with the things I need to as daily baby sitting and meals for a bigger family take up the day. Just negotiating the baby furniture and cleaning up after baby eating is full on, let alone the washing and getting chores done. There is always a meal on the table at night. Bar 2 nights where I could not function. Colin and I spent weeks getting our unit ready for rental. Interesting taking a baby with you and doing 2 hourly feeds while trying to paint, clean and clean the deck and spray etc. Wouldn't recommend it. Though my nieces are keen to help babysit and Chloe loves them to bits.  More fun than hanging out with the olds.

Kitchen
Our kitchen is 23 years old now and needing an upgrade but we keep holding off as we had the shower leak and the roof replacement this year. Well a hidden leak from the pipes has caused  major flooring problem which needs replacing and involves removing the kitchen.  All a huge job and with baby in the house it is going to be fun times. We have to remove all the furniture in the kitchen family dining and laundry and landing in the Garage. Time for a big throw out and upgrade of kitchen at the same time. My brain is working overtime in the logistics again

With Christmas looming and no presents bought I am not in panic mode yet. Though I leave Colin and Cameron on 6 December to travel to China with Nick, Julie and Chloe. Have done no packing or organizing, this time and will just be following along. No the flooring can't be done while we are away due to backlogged work. Hurrumpf! Is what I said. Well more than that.

Winter Blues

Winter Black and blues it should be. What a horrid winter it has been for us. With the house maintenance nearky at an end we have had to weather the storm so to speak. The nastiest storms have whipped around our house damaging the shrink wrap and causing flapping noises. On and on with problem solving to get this job completed.  Because the roof tiles have had to be lifted on the edges we have had to turn of the moisture master and that has increased the moisture content in the house making iet freezing. Let aline getting no sun to heat the roof either. Finally we put the moisture master back on last weekend and BINGO, INSTANT  warmth. No crying windows in the morning and crying walls after showering. Amazing.

I also decided under Colin's duress that I would relent and use an electric blanket. Because we have a super king bed it is super expensive to get one so I used the single spare electric blanket at the lower part of the bed and it works perfectly. Just a shame I didn't think of it earlier. I have been wearing 3 to 4 layers of wool all over just to stay warm in the house. Traipsing outside to the car has been a pain in the deluge of rain and finally we can get to the garage again.

Chloe is growing up quickly and we see her perform new tricks each week. My mum turned 88 and Chloe sat on her lap for a photo. Chloe is super strong and extends her body if she doesn't want to do something so it is hard for mum to hold her now. Little grand daughter is grasping things, nearly sitting up and packs  powerful yell with her lungs.

Have given 3 speeches in the last 3 weeks to south Auckland probus groups. Speech is on Ah Chee history and think they all enjoyed listening to,   when great grandfather came to New Zealand in 1867 and the development since then of the family. The power point display works but toting my big screen tv and laptop for display is a missiion. 

Colin has had his first visit to his new GP, with the flu and a  chest infection developing. Luckily Colin is the best patient as he never complains and just spends a long time sleeping. Antibiotics are helping with the chesty cough. We have been lying low and not doing too much.  Unfortunately we have heard of a friend in hospital yesterday and a cousin with cancer this week. Keeping on trying to keep ourselves healthy.

I have since become Vegan to try and help my skin problems. Not sure if it is making a difference but I am doing reasonably well with the new food regime. Just a nuisance having to cook 2 meals but it is interesting what I can actually eat.  Vegan is so limiting as nothing from an animal and I am not to eat eggs or tomatoes or dairy. Made going to the Italian restaurant very challenging for Cameron's birthday last month.

Molly 88 Chloe  3 months

Granny giving me a bath. 

Birdcage cake for Mollys 88th

Vegan paella

Dad's history for my probus speech

Break Away

I have luckily had a weekend away with good friend Faye who invited me to Sydney. Lovely 5 days with out cooking or cleaning. Just shopping and sightseeing and seeing  VIVID, the light show in Darling Harbour. Caught in up with cousin Berenice who escorted me around one night. The show BODYGUARD was excellent with delightful singing. Top notch and worth seeing.

Came home with a suitcase full of items for others and a Ikea kitchen and ikea food play toys for Chloe. In the future. Nothing for me but a long wanted LE CREUSET casserole and getting it for $300 off. Just now cooking up a bonza beef stew in it.

Food in Sydney was stimulating and I have come home with renewed vigour to revamp my boring meals. Have to think Nadia Lim inspiration.

Colin is still stable and we are looking forward to a hospital visit July to see if medications can be altered again. Pleasingly nothing to report.

Our house is undergoing maintenance by replacing the butynol on the flat roof. Easier said than done and everyone has their 2 cents worth of advice. Afraid they are all wrong and know nothing about it. Scaffolding that usually takes 2 1/2 days ended up 3 weeks due to the size of our project and difficulty 11 plus.
The shrink wrap has  become a  disaster. The storm last Tuesday ripped the top off like a tin can and trying to repair it has taken another week off the schedule. Health and safety have sent the workmen off site. Unfortunately the repair is just as leaky as before so next week we are looking at a whole new lid on the plastic. We look like a chilly bin. Curtains are  drawn and the wrap makes it extremely dark inside. Well I don't want a builder staring at me in the toilet do I?!!  It has happened before.

Chloe our little grand daughter is growing and doing new things in leaps and bounds. She laughs and smiles a lot and has discovered her hands.
Grandma went crazy buying beautiful clothes in Oz. So little choice here.

Son Nick is getting a new house build off the ground so Colin and I have spent long hours on the internet doing research on design and fittings. Many meetings later he hopes to get to council soon. Wish it was us with the build but costs have skyrocketed in the last 5 years.

Grandma Grandad

Life has been full on  with moments of joy at seeing out little Grand daughter Chloe who is a darling . It has been a difficult 6 week for her mum, Julie and our son Nick because she was born by C section. This made it harder for Julie to recover and nurse the baby. The benefits of having her mum staying for 6 months have been tremendous. It has taken the pressure off us but there has still been a lot to consider. Today was her 6 week immunization which Julie needed our support for. Poor little Chloe had to have an injection in both thighs and she didn't like it.   after a cry, and feed she went off to sleep.

We had her 1 month party 2 weeks ago. I organised it in 1 week as there was a deadline. 46 people and  lots of food made for a wonderful afternoon. Chinese celebrate  one month after the baby is born. This is a  celebration to let everyone meet baby and her coming out as such. Babies are not supposed to leave home before that so they are protected from bugs and germs till they are a little stronger. A very good idea.

Colin is still well. Sometimes I am not sure what his brain is doing though. Think it is the diabetes and if his sugar is low he doesn't function as well. It is a little frustrating and stressful for me as the load is on my shoulders continuously.  Some days I feel like I really need a break. Lucky that is coming up in June when I have a few days away with a friend.  We are dancing a little less but still keeping up our fitness. Just.

A month of house maintenance ahead which I am not looking forward to. Taking ages to get the scaffold in place due to the difficult design of the house.
Let you know how it goes in a month

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF

Spend an hour cutting down vegetation and fill the garden bin. Talk to the scaffolders working on our house. Head out to Remuera and pick up Niece for lunch. Venue is closed so we find another restaurant. Rush back so she can visit with our grand daughter. Drop niece off on way to Take Chloe and Julie for check up and 6 week vaccination. Little Chloe screams with an injection in both thighs. Poor baby. We wait 20 mins and comfort Chloe after a breastfeed. Take them home. Head  home hoping to miss the traffic. Meanwhile micro managing a few other things while on the road. Get home to prepare for dinner. Catch a nana nap on the couch( that's ok as I am a nana now). Have a rant during cooking dinner. Finish off costumes after dinner. I need my bed. 

Baby Chloe Arrives

March is moving on. 30 March and our first grandchild is born. Can't believe that she is finally here. We have done so much to prepare for her and are hoping that she grows up full of personality and in loving and nuturing environment.
I just want cuddles. If her initial hours are any indication, Nick says she is grumpy and doesn't sleep, then i think she will have a mind of her own.

Colin is still improving and we are due at clinic this week for his 3 month check up. We might be going to bed too late which is causing his tiredness. Lack of regular exercise apart from dancing 3 times a week is a factor. The club have had no dancing 2 times a month much to our disappointment but we have arranged private dancing. Can't go with out our socialising.

Julie and Nick doing well considering that Chloe is a very unsettled baby. Can't wait till she grows a bit. 

Mini me is due

As usual a busy period for us and thank goodness a slow down week. Unfortunately a very wet week where I can't complete outside jobs.

Baby shower
Very soon as in the next 3 weeks our grand daughter will arrive. We put on a baby shower for 20 plus of Julie's friends. Couldn't have done it with out Colin, Cameron and Mary (Lillian's mum) Games of smell the nappy, taste the baby food and guess julie's  waist measurement went down well. All my work on the food was appreciated too.

Colin is still fine. Juggling medications has become routine for him. Off to diabetic clinic next week to sort a few things. One being a very high cholesterol with a reduced liver function probably doesn't help. I have been passed a print out on what to cook. Haha. That isn't going to change much. Apart from dropping cheese and ice cream I really don't know what we can do apart from not eating. Efforts to do more exercise are thwarted by Colin's strange sense of when to go walking. I am sure he has a phobia of the sun. Hence all the dancing. Just part of the exercise routine.

Happy New Year 2017

I am amazed how fast the year has flown already,  as we are already nearly 1 month into the New Year.
We had a relaxing Christmas and as usually a full on New Year party at the Cossie club dancing the night away till the wee hours.

A resolution  is to get stuck into culling the extra things around here with emphasis on the garage and office again.  Who knows how we will get there as we keep getting  distracted.

We have been up to the bach 3 times this January as we were trying to make the most of the weather.  Haha what weather? It has been unseasonably cool and the sea has been quite cold for swimming. Colin won't come out to the beach due to the sun but I think he has actually become phobic now.
The strawberry picking was so good we went about 5 times and the ice cream factory nearby was a factor in our weight gain. Which means we are starting to walk again but just a short one as Colin gets fatigued.  We have never been able to take time out like this due to Colin's work but now that he is retired we can suit ourselves.

Colin's health
He is still well and the specialist has finally lowered his prednisone slightly. It may be that he will always need to stay on it to keep his liver functioning. We have had a switch off this month from doing anything. Taking a holiday from retirement.  His blood test stay good and the  Dr is happy with the results. I  am still keen for a lowering of the test results eventually. It has just gone 2 years since the start of his illness and 1 year since his graft versus host complications.  I am hoping that his stem cell transplant is still going strong this year.  We need time.

It will not be long before our first grand child arrives at the beginning of April. Something big to look forward to. I just realized that it will be a job to child proof the house. That's are other small and big projects in the wind so might be a busy year ahead again.

Xmas 2016 at the Chins

Walking at Omaha

View of estuary 

Summer produce,  bumper crop of lettuce and beetroot 

Phaelenopsis first time it regrew