March 09

Hi guys - I thought that you would all be pleased to know that it looks like our summer has come to an end (although I remain hopeful that it hasn't) the days are getting shorter and cooler and the evenings are positively freezing. We have taked certain measures so as not to freeze this winter, Brent has put thoses nasty brush type bars on the bottoms on the external doors and some of that 1970 sticky foam stuff round the door frames and windows! Can you believe that we have to go to such measures. Its funny actually, i saw an advert on the TV the other day for the new weapon against the cold weather - a radiator!!!!! Imagine putting some of those into your home! amazing. It is true what they say some things about NZ are truly 30 years behind.

Aside from the inevitable onslaught of the autumn and winter (we will no doubt see more sunshine than you guys thought) we are doing well. We have eaten all the veggies out of the garden including the winter crop that i mentioned last time and we are just starting to think about what we can grow next. My last batch of broccolli was eaten by (now very fat) caterpillers, so I am thinking that organic gardening is NOT the way to go. Josh loves them - he thinks that they are facinating, he spends ages looking for them. The raised beds haven't quite gone in, we have bought the timber but have lacked the time and strength to move it. The spa pol is also in and is lovely! 2 recliners and lots of jets much better than the portable one that we had. We often sit in there of an evening reading, drinking wine and gazing at the stars - we can even see the milky way some nights. The (soon to be) courtyard has been paved, this has made a huge difference to the outside area as you can walk out there in bear feet without the fear of standing on glass or nails! We have inherited the Wedlake family swing that has been in the family for over 30 years - Josh and his friends are loving it.

Brent and I have been to some great concerts over the last couple of months, things that we probably wouldn't have seen in London, Bill Bailey, Billy Connolly and Iron Maiden, all very very good. We were supposed to see the Killers too but they cancelled the NZ leg of their tour (we are just not important enought down here) which is a real shame coz I was looking forward to that! The tickets were my birthday pressie from Brent so instead we have bought each other ski passes for Porters Pass and plan to do a lot of skiing in the upcoming season. i think i might need a few refresher lessons.

Speaking of lessons - we were at Auntie Helen and Uncle Steves house and Josh jumped on an old bike - and started to try and ride it, it was far too big for him but Raymond helped him to lower the seat and ride around the yard, he thought that it was just the best thing - until he saw the Chev that Steve is re-building (see pictures). Steve and Helen tragically lost their youngest son Jamie in a road accident on the 21st Feb, he was 18, him and his dad were members of the hot rod club and the chev was to be Jamies project. Steve is rebuilding it for Jamie. Josh has volunteered to be Steves apprentice, he was climbing all over the Chev the other dayasking why the doors weren't on it and if he could use his screw driver to put them back on. It made Steve laugh so thats all good.

Other exciting things that we have been doing - hmmmmm Josh and I went out on a steam Tug boat over at Lyttleton, was fab! He just loved being on the boat, he got to see the engine and how the pistons worked, he got to steer for a while and spoke with the captain - we saw little hectors dolphins jmping out of the water and a blue penguin too (this impressed me more than him).

Brent took Josh out to the Swananoa agriculture and produce show where he had his face painted up as a pirate! he came home and told me all about it. Josh loves having his face painted and is a very lucky boy as sarah (bens mum) is just a whizz with a paint brush!!!

Look out for the next exciting installment!!