It’s been a busy long week, while our American friends are celebrating thanksgiving, Thelma and Louise have been filling up their days (and nights) with activities and adventures!

On the building front, floors are finished and the new kitchen is patiently waiting for its stone bench! Dans tradie boys have been working behind the scenes, plumbing, painting,cleaning and reinforcing! All pitching in to help me make my house a home!

After a couple of weekends we’d rather forget the “All Blacks” redeemed themselves with unstoppable ferocity, and brought home the tri nations championship (almost – one game hinges on Australia or Argentina being able to notch up a huge score to take it off us). This was after a day of organising Louises world, uncluttering and reinventing the wheel in her little bolt hole!

Then the fun began, Louise decided this year it was time to drag Thelma along to her Christmas party! Dragging out the old glad rags(in My case the best of my op shop clothes) and head to the city for a night on the town.

The plans were stymied by the Auckland council deciding to hold its Christmas parade on the same Sunday afternoon. The lunch was flagged as all city roads were closed until later in the afternoon and parking up at our hotel before imbibing would have been impossible. Possibly a saving grace and not sure these girls would have been still standing for the “posh” 8.00pm dinner atop the sky tower!

Needless to say the plans flew into action at 3pm when access was available and the festivities began….

Having collected Louises boss and friend we set off to explore the neighbourhood…in search of a little pre dinner refreshment, pausing for a picture with the city’s landmark….The Auckland Sky tower…and the party destination.

A snack and appetiser was required to provide sustenance for the evening ahead. Nothing like sharing a social time next to the ongoing inner city roadworks and apartment dwellers doing their Sunday shopping, lugging bags of groceries back for the week.

It was then back to the room to change and try and make a couple of party girls out of beach girls. It was a big job, folding ourselves into dresses that hadn’t had an airing for a couple of years, trying to work a bit of make up magic (especially for me who never wears the stuff), and fluff the hair out into something interesting! One can only do so much, we were ready! We collected our suited buddy and teetered to the evening venue.

Lost in space, well almost lost in the middle of the road, Louise decided we should stop and stay in position for a photo opportunity not to be missed.

The weather was slightly overcast as we revolved around the Birdseye view of Auckland city, looking at our harbour bridge in the distance past the America cup village and the Auckland Marina.

The sun broke through as it was setting on the CBD and lightened up the other not so tall buildings.

Thank goodness we ate and did a little preloading, not only were drinks ridiculously expensive (a $9 supermarket bottle of Rose was selling for $46). A fantastic three course meal saw us stuffing down the dessert at 11.30pm…and it was time to party. Louise was on form, Thelma ready for bed! But no don’t be a party pooper…

The colours of a kiwi Christmas were lit up and the casino was close by. We fed the machines $20 ( our gambling limit) and then relaxed above the roulette tables watching others throw away much more than we care to think of. Where do all these people come from at 1.00am on a Monday morning?

This is where the pictures stop (not that there isn’t any) and a short summary follows….Thelma called it quits at 2am and Louise and her partner in crime rolled in around 5am! Thelma feeling very smug that she at least had three hours sleep under her belt….as checkout time was only five hours away!

A week of hospitals, nursing, nurturing and finally peace…

The colours of a Friday evening stroll along the beach are pink…and we check ourselves into a happy place.

The week has been full of hospital visits with Dad coming home on Wednesday to recover. While the travelling and interrupted work days came to an end, I was then on call 24/7 for a couple of days getting him back to some sense of normality. Yesterday, after pumping electrolytes, vege soup, porridge (and other bland foods) into him he turned the corner and we have averted a return to the hospital we hope.

Meanwhile on the building site, Dan has had his back against the wall meeting deadlines and council inspections. My floors were finished and the next step in the project on hold while nursing duties took over.

I managed to get the brother to commit to a Friday night and Saturday with Dad so I can have a big site clean up in readiness for the kitchen in a couple of weeks.

So here I am! Ready to get the Sadie hat on and clean and clear…but I was given the biggest surprise last night when I arrived! Dan had spent his first day off in two weeks hanging all the doors, putting on door handles and skirting boards all around the new wooden floors in readiness for my painter to come back and do the final touch ups! I almost cried when I saw that he had fitted everything back in place to surprise me. Kindness in a world of turmoil.

We shared a quiet dinner and took a stroll along the beach appreciating the great things in our lives, moments of peace and calm.

The days of 2020 tick over and the sun sets on another day and rises in the morning, I drink my first coffee, load up the vacuum cleaner, mop and rags and head to the building site to start my day.

What are you doing for Christmas? They ask. In my world we can’t look that far ahead, it sure is one day at a time and the best laid plans will change. Rolling with the punches, the ups and downs, and living in the moment is the only way to hold onto our sanity. Beach yoga starts today, but yoga comes in all forms, and cleaning and clearing will activate muscles that have been sitting in front of a computer all week I’m sure!

The weekend culminated in a 6am start for Thelma, this time, hitting the road solo to share the momentous occasion of her friends parents 60th wedding anniversary lunch in Tauranga.

Step back and Friday saw the inside painting of the new house complete and was celebrated by earlier than usual beverages, followed by the waiwera residents drinks on the waterfront.

A pleasant evening after a stormy week and a few more beverages….

As the sun went down lighting up the island like a pot of gold. Strolling back to the cottage while the legs were still operating, dinner and bed after a busy week, somewhat oblivious to the world.

Saturday brought uncertainty weather wise (and the need for sunglasses even though it was overcast) but a trip to bunnings (hardware store) was in order before any painting could be done. Dan had all his tradies working so the final job before returning was smoko for the crew! And it was almost lunchtime.

The rain held off and the painting of the pink house was almost complete! A couple of touch ups and second coats needed but on the whole the green house is now marshmallow pink! Finished in good time to head back to the cottage, build a couple of plates of asparagus rolls and tidy up (myself) for the evening birthday party.

The girls with the birthday boy, well fed and watered(in my case) and cocktails and wine for the walkers and non drivers!

A party next door was not to be missed by the canine family as the joined us at the fence.

Home before the evening storms rolled in around 10pm which deterred any notion of staying up half the night watching rugby (atmospheric conditions blanked out the tv reception). Possibly a good thing by all accounts and comments about the game and an early night was needed for my early start today.

It was ambitious to do a return trip in one day, getting in a visit with mums dear friend Barb before lunch and another drive by another friends house on the way back….so I’m a south Auckland girl tonight in readiness to get a quick trip to work in the morning before heading back to Dads for the week.

Choosing to drive from one end of Auckland to the other on the predicted wettest day of Spring may not have been the wisest call. An early start 5am avoided the morning madness but a two hour crawl home topped off an overall crazy day…

Unloading containers in the torrential rain called for kiwi ingenuity, building pallet wrap sides for the gazebo to protect our precious cargo!

Another week closer to 2021, the US still holding its breath to see who will lead their country, and the Auckland water crisis may be averted for the upcoming summer. I am sort of excited to be able to get behind a water blaster or hose again!

Russell Rose is flourishing in the current climate, being well cared for by his good friend!

There are shorts days, jeans days, hard days and good days. We try to celebrate the successes, Dans house is looking like a house with windows and weather boards, mine is sporting a fresh coat of paint inside and out, George is exploring new activities…

Not always winning, a game of touch produced a damaged shoulder, for a 6’7” human, the bigger they are the harder they fall! But the new toy in the background is producing dulcet tones morning and night! My office is getting very full these days.

With Christmas looming we are thinking more often of those loved ones far away and all we want is to hold and hug them. But as usual life in NZ is busy, as we manage several projects in our lives and try to keep up with friends. Dreaming of a cold coors by a pool in Texas or a Cisk at the cafes by the grand harbour in Senglea (Malta) partaking in crazy Kareoke nights with my very musical cousins! (And not very musical self)

At least I am blessed to have my three sons near and not in far off parts of the world!

Now it’s time to get through a Friday, fight a few more fires and roll into what looks like a very social weekend ahead, rain or not!