Just spoken to Deb, Clare and the girls or tried to so let Derek talk instead. They were preparing dinner. Hello all of you xxxxx
We have had a varied couple of weeks. Derek has been away A LOT so I have spent much of the time on my own or at work. Luckily the weather is very warm, half an hours rain in three weeks which has turned our lawns yellow and the hillsides are now full of California poppies giving them an orange glow. Thousands upon thousands of them!
A week last Wednesday we were up early and off to Invercargill for Derek's hospital appointment. There were hardly any cars on the road at that time of day and we went via Alexandra and Gore which is a beautiful and quiet road to travel on, gorgeous rolling countryside and farms as far as you can see. It was a little misty so early in the morning, we set off at 5.30am, so when we got to the lakes above Alexandra the mist made them look quite spooky!
Derek's appointment was at 9am and all is good, just have to wait for an operating spot now which should be in about 3 months so no rush there - well there never is a rush here really!
I took Derek on to the airport then for his flight to Auckland via Christchurch. These small regional planes always go in small hops which is OK if you like flying which Derek loves. He doesn't mind his stopovers in the airports either as he goes into the Koru lounges to work too.
I spent the rest of the morning shopping. I had gotten a detailed drawn map of Invercargill from Coleen and Lynece who had been done the day before on all the shops I needed to visit so it was nice and easy. Invercargill has lots of useful shops that we don't have in Qtown and Cromwell so it is so nice even for someone who doesn't do lots of shopping. I went to Spotlight and bought a jelly roll of material for Lynece and one for me and other fabric, food in Pak 'n Save (a supermarket that is much cheaper than our prices further north) and to Mitre 10 for a lawnmower, an electric one this time Joy of Joys! No more pushing the other one around the garden for hours then raking up all the grass, we have a grass box now!! (I used it on the Friday - before the grass what was left of it turned yellow!) It's a long drive back up to Cromwell, just over three hours and a long time to drive on your own but it wasn't too bad. I just stopped once for something to drink as it was such a hot day.
I have also been doing lots of gardening truing to keep the weeds down. The roses are all out, the smaller ones in just about every colour and they look lovely. It is a good time of year in the garden. The tomatoes are starting to form, as are the cucumbers and the broad beans have been prolific. I pulled them all up on Friday as they have nearly finished. We now have lots of them in the freezer to add to things and I have put some more tomatoes and cucumbers out in their place.
Right must close and go off to get some eggs from the Farmers Market in the Old Town.
Just going to share some photos of the grandchildren that were taken this week.
BIG HUGS to all of you.
TTFN, thank you for looking and take are of each other xxx