Thanks for today's mails. Glad I wasn’t there to be blamed for the boiler Di!
This may have to be part 1 of 2 cos the growed-ups have gone out & left me in charge & I have to make dinner soon.
Luckily there are a squillion eggs to use up & all 4 kids like boiled eggs which is nothing short of miraculous.
2nite is the 1st time I will be telling the tin lids to go to bed which should be interesting.
Methinks there may well be an attempted coup. I have already had the 'You're not my Mummy & you can't make me do anything' speech from Genevieve. Luckily emotional blackmail works great on 7 yr olds & my reply of "You are right, I can't make you do anything I just thought you might like to help cos you are a good kid' seemed to nail her (for the time being)
Drove into Blenheim today to do all the corres I needed to. The drive there is beautiful. It takes about 30 mins & the views take my breath away every time. You pass through a range of hills which are exactly like Glencoe in Scotland. That will probably only help Lindsay, but for the rest of you maybe Q can find a piccie on tinternet?
Today I
1. Opened a bank account
The manager shook my hand & addressed me as 'Carol' throughout. She also recommended I join The Young Farmers.
When I asked her how to go about it she took my tel no & said her daughter Louise would call me.
That is what NZ is like. Imagine your bank manager doing that for you in the UK. Yeah - right.
She then told me the best place to buy my camping/walking (called tramping here) supplies, which was "Warehouse"
2. Went to "Warehouse" - what a fantastic place - imagine B&Q but without the glamour. If you need it Warehouse sells it.
I had previously gone to a 'posh' store called Smith's. The salesman wanted to sell me a sleeping bag for $169 (about 55 squid)
He told me that it would keep me warm at -5c & it packed down 'real small' I told him that for that much money I expected it to roll itself & carry me. Actually I didn’t cos 'nobody likes a ' come on altogether now.
But I thought it.
Publishing break ...
I bought the following in Warehouse.
Sleeping bag
Holdall
Rucksack
Plastic bathroom bin
Bedroom lamp (the one I have makes my room look scary)
Woolly socks
Torch (for glow-worm caves) ( ED - You will not be allowed to take it in with you matey )
200 litres of shampoo (for $1.99)
And possibly the buy of which I am post proud
Drum roll please...
"Anorak in a bag" & also "Pants in a bag"
Navy blue, silver reflective trim, zips on the legs AND they pack into their own pouch!
Both for $34 or 10 of your English pounds! I am going to go try them on before tea; I am so pleased with myself.
Di - you would be horrified. Stu - you would be impressed, cos they are also perfect for golf.
I spent less in 'Warehouse' on all of the above than I would have done on one sleeping bag in Smiths. Result.
Right - off to 'cook' dinner now. Oh, I forgot to mention. Chris approached me this morning looking a bit worried.
He said 'there's good & bad news' the good news was there has been a cancellation on the Class 2 heavy traffic theory test.
The bad news is it's tomorrow & I have to get thru the truckers equivalent of 'Roadcraft' in 1 night. AAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHH
He then said 'Make sure you pass, cos it's expensive' No pressure then
Upon opening the book the bit in bold that I have to know commences
Front axis - On a veh that has 2 axle sets & is steered by the front axle, the axis means the centre point of the front axle.
Fairynuff. It then goes on 'On a vehicle with only 1 non-steering axle the axis is the centre point of the non-steering axle'
Still awake? We continue merrily 'Rigid trucks under 9.5 metres in length must not exceed the lesser of:
3.2 metres or 60% of the wheelbase, i.e. the distance from the front axis.
The book has 150 pages.
Bugger.
Right, move over Jamie Oliver (he's huge here by the way)
Wish me luck for bedtime, will hopefully post Part 2 later.
Cx ps. no time to check grammer/spelling, please forgive any mistakes.
Well, they are all in bed & quiet so they are either dead or asleep.
Cocky - I will never complain about Harry again. Actually, that's probably a lie.
All was going swimmingly, then Stu rang.
I wonder why phone calls from home make me cry ?
You would think they would cheer you up. I suppose it just emphasises the distance.
Anyway, sorry Stu, I have stopped sniffling now & I am ok. Sounds like he has done well in his exam which is great to hear & a weight off my mind.
Have just plugged in my new lamp, room looks less scary now.
Neddy story for Cocky.
Rode another gee today, Fliss who is 23.
Nobody has told her she is 23 & after reaching the river, we turned around & she decided to bolt for home.
Luckily, she is about 14.2hh so I just eased my weight onto her back & explained that it wasn't good manners to cart the new groom flat out all the way home.
Once we had agreed on a suitable canter speed she went quite nicely albeit I would prefer decent leather reins to stop her & not the canvas ones she has.
I take my hat off the Zoe, who does x/country on her.
Zoe's description of riding Fliss is that you 'are a passenger'.
Stirrup lengths are interesting.
Even on the last hole my knees are around my ears & now I know how William Fox-Pitt feels when he gets on an ordinary horse.
The neddies here are as follows
Jess who is my borrowed gee. 15.3hh, mare, fine dark bay, 2 white feet.
Fliss, mare, 14 something, 23yrs, dk bay, white star, 4 white feet. Looks kind of New Forest/Arab x
Millie, mare, 14 something, neurotic but v.pretty. Light bay, 4 white stockings, white blaze. Bit chunkier than Sable.
Fegus. Imagine gelding pony 2/3rds size of Snips. Exactly the same looks. Will send fotie. V. cute.
Shrinky. Bright bay, not sure of gender. About 11hh. THE cutest thing I have EVER seen bar none. Another Snips lookee-likey.
Honey (palomino) & Ben (dk.brown) are turned away so I haven't seen them but must be quite big as the 15yr old twin boys ride them. Honey is apparently a v.good jumper.
Then there are the 2 I am lungeing for the Pony Cub because thay have to much attitude for the little kids to ride them.
The grey who was new to lungeing yesterday remembered very well & I actually had a trot out of her today so I am marking that as a success & will be advising Mark Todd shortly.
Right, I am off to study trucks & panic about this test tomorrow.
Night-night Blighty.
Cx
PS Weeny-your description of the 'star-kitty' made me laugh out loud. Keep me up to date with more mog-tales.
I opened my door on Ginger-Tom's head today, if he wasn't brain-damaged before, he is now.
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