General Chat

So....we are racing towards Christmas at an alarming rate. Shopping done, last minute bits and pieces done and now packed and ready for our trip :-)

Merry Christmas!!!

Thank you for getting the information on Huia Sue, when I saw the first FB post last night it was a bit vague, which is why I didn't post anything.
She had an encyclopaedic knowledge of her area and posted so many old photos on her various groups

A very Merry Christmas to you, your OH and family and best wishes for the New Year. Stay safe and come back to us <3 <3

We have lost Huia :-(

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year xxxxx

Congratulations to your daughter. That's great news!

So OH has almost finished packing the to-be-checked luggage ............... 2 cases and 1 cardboard box (mainly books). He'll finish it tomorrow morning, and we'll take them down to station mid-morning. The baggage allowance is 2 free items each.

The stained glass is well wrapped in bubble wrap, in a canvas bag (the kind grocery stores sell to customers who want to be "green), and has one of my "arm" pillows on one side and OH's track suit bottoms on the other :-D

I think I will be able to handle it on my knee as I'm pushed around the stations in a wheelchair :-D

We'll pack the carry-on bags after we've checked in the bags ......... he has one pile in one room, and I have my pile in the bedroom :-D

Tidy up, shower etc, early dinner at the local Japanese place, and to the station.


The weather is frigid, and is expected to be around or below freezing for maybe as much as 2 weeks.

Mind you, we're going to see even colder temperatures across the prairies.

Hello ladies :-)

Our weather is the opposite to yours....set to be 37C today and tomorrow followed by cooler days. I wouldn't be going out except I have a meeting this afternoon. Air conditioning in house, car and the meeting venue so shouldn't be too bad.

My daughter has just been promoted to manager of a branch of SpecSavers. She was asked to apply for the job. Very proud of her :-D

true, you do need an organizer!

OH posted off the 7 calendars that we send to certain family and friends ....... now all we have left are the 6 kiddie cards that I have to do the cheques for. But they are all "local" as in the western part of the country, so I'll get those done for mailing on Monday.

I am organized for the trip in some ways, but not in others!!

Our friend who died in January was our daughter's godmother, so J has inherited a lot of things from her. One was a 15 x 18" stained glass of an Iris flower that we brought back after last Christmas. J looked at taking it home with her in July, but couldn't carry it on the plane because of something else she was taking. So it was "mum and dad, could you ................... " ;-)

Now, WE have to work out how to take this rather delicate item with us. It obviously can't go in the checked bags, no matter how well we pack it ......... the train guys are better than airlines, but there are still 3 changes of train plus whatever happens in the baggage car. So, we have to take it as carry-on ........... and that is limited.

I thought (!!) I had it worked out ...... but it turns out the bag I was thinking of isn't as big as I thought it was :-| :-P

OH has bought lots of bubble wrap, but we have to work out that next step!

Not to mention all the other stuff she wants us to take but that will go in checked!
We do get 2 free checked bags each, and then 3 more each at a pretty decent charge if we need to. I let OH pack all the checked baggage, just make sure that every thing that has to go is in one place.

Then I disappear while he mutters away under his breath :-D

We do each take care of our own carry-on case .............. we have pack in that all that we need for 6 days. It can take me several attempts to get everything together that I need!


The snow was late arriving here ............... it didn't start until after about 5:30 am, and we've only had about 1 or 2 cm here (lots lots more elsewhere!). The main streets are clear, but the side streets are not. I'm hoping that is it .........................

......... we're going out to dinner tonight to our favourite restaurant as "our" Christmas. We do get taxis there and back so OH won't have to face the driving.

The others will help with the cooking, but it needs someone to organise it, or we will end up with things missing and Xmas day is not the time to find out.

Yeah all the cards ready for posting, I need to get the stamps tomorrow. I took my old lady for a hospital appointment this morning, then we went out for lunch as a treat, so I didnt have time to buy them today

how long are you away for?

Are you responsible for doing ALL the catering??

I used to have to do the same "think" when we went to the cabin ............. 60 km to the nearest real grocery store makes one think twice!

Sounds like you are all organized Sylvia. I will get some stamps tomorrow and get the cards posted. I still have all the local ones to write which we hand deliver, but they can wait
I did a big spread sheet this morning, going through all the ingredients needed meal by meal while we are away. It is like a military campaign making sure you have everything you need when you are self catering.

Hi

it's is cold,with a sunny, clear blue sky here ..... the 3rd day in a row.

That is about to change, with snow expected to arrive overnight and tomorrow.

It seems there is snow across much of the country, and some areas close to the Rockies have declared an extreme cold weather warning with people told not to go out unless they have to. The temperatures are down to around -40C :-0


OH has finished most of our Christmas letters and got them into the mail. Now I have to do the kiddie cards, along with the cheques we send them. I also have to set up an email version of the Christmas letter to send to a couple of people for whom we do not have a mailing address.

Then we are done!

It is a good job, you were there to help. I often get asked to sit in next door, but I dont mind

I have been writing the cards this afternoon, I havent any stamps of course :-(

Oh what fun Linda.... :-| So frustrating but at least you had Eve's dad to talk you through it.

I planned to do my Christmas cards this evening but we have been invited for food and drinks by our neighbours. They are a youngish couple who we helped in an emergency the other afternoon. They were stuck in Sydney by heavy traffic and they phoned desperately needing their little girl picked up from daycare. I think we have been invited as a 'thank you'. The mum is Thai and cooks lovely food :-D

I was going to write all the cards this morning, but late last night when OH pressed send to send an important email, the laptop disconnected itself from the wifi. The router was still working because both my phone and iPad were both fine.
I couldn't fix it.so left it until this morning. I messed around for ages, but couldn't sort it, so I sent an SOS to Eve's father. Normally he would take remote control but with no internet he couldn't.

We communicated by iPad messenger, he sent the instructions and I sent photos of the various screens which came up, so he could tell me the next thing. It took the rest of the morning,but he fixed it. I only got one card done.

I had to take my old lady shopping this afternoon, so that was the rest of my day

I'm the same Linda....just can't get motivated to do anything Christmas at the moment although we have had two Christmas lunches coming up. We are really looking forward to our trip to Hobart and Aiden and his dad are excited about our visit.

Sylvia - take care in all that snow :-)

There is freezing fog outside again today, so I think I will stay in!

I hope you are all sorted for the trip Sylvia.

I must get myself organised to do some Xmas shopping and send the cards, I can't get seem to be bothered this year

There is freezing fog outside again today, so I think I will stay in!

I hope you are all sorted for the trip Sylvia.

I must get myself organised to do some Xmas shopping and send the cards, I can't get seem to be bothered this year

Linda .... that sounds awful!! Glad that you are OK.



Snow, snow, snow :-D

Traffic chaos :-0

melting, melting

icy, icy icy :-(



that's today ............ and it is not yet 1:30 pm :-)

I am fine Sue. :-)

It has been icy all today. I had to go into the square to post something. There was a massive queue in the Post office, I lost the will to live by the time I got to the counter.

I cleaned the inside of all the windows today, so I am feeling virtuous as well

Oh no Linda - what a scary thing to happen. Now I'm worried about you :-(

It's been very warm and humid here. Today was so horrid I stayed indoors most of the day with the air conditioner on. I cleaned out the linen cupboard and felt very virtuous after I had finished :-)