Jim & Karen

We have been for a weeks holiday driving down the west coast from Christchurch to the very bottom of the south Island, passing the Moeraki Boulders, to the Catlins coast and to Milford Sound.

We did a mixture of camping and staying in motel type rooms depending on the weather and what was available. We did not get rained on but it was a bit windy on a couple of days.

There are lots of pictures in the galleryover here.

we had a really great time and the scenery was really great. A lot of driving to see all the things that we wanted to, but it was worth it.

I have started a major project in the garden, in the area where the washing line was we have removed an old trellis fence that was covered in a huge climbing rose and cleared the area. I am planning to try and drop the level by cutting into the bank behind to give us another seating area, but one that gets a bit of shade during the day.

Karen took part in a fundraisng event for Cancer research at the weekend, Karens ward had put a team together to take part and I helped put up the tents. It was a 24 hour “Relay for Life” event where relay teams walked around a track for 24 hours carrying a baton. Quite a lot of money was raised.

On top of all that we also hosted a party for a couple of leavers from Karen’s ward, a good time was had by all  – of course!

Another milestone passed recently, we have now been in New Zealand for over two years! We went out for a meal in town with Ben & Claire and Gareth & Ruth to celebrate.

Up till now the summer weather has not been very good – plenty of grey days. It’s picked up a bit now and just in time for some of the free activities that are so regular here. We went to see some of the performers at the Buskers Festival which was really good.

This Sunday we went to the Kite Day at New Brighton it was a nice day with a decent breeze and the Kites looked really good. Karen really liked flying the kite as you can see so I am going to have to get her one of her own.

There are more pictures of the kite day here at the link below

 http://www.christchurchdailyphoto.com/2010/01/31/kite-day-and-buskers-at-new-brighton-beach/

and also on the Gallery -  http://pics.jleiper.com/thumbnails.php?album=29

Also, thanks to Ben & Claire (and their land) we are now the owners of half a cow and a pig. Some of you know I have always fancied the idea of getting a little bit of land and doing the smallholder thing.  Our garden is not big enough for me to have any animals but going into part ownership with Ben & Claire is the next best thing.

Apart from looking forward to beef and pork I have just got a rifle so hopefully bunny burgers will be back on the menu soon.

Next Friday we are off to Classical Sparks, the free concert and fireworks display.

Busy, busy, busy

More soon..

Happy New Year to everyone – hope you have a really good time.

Karen and I went out with Hillary & Paul on New Years Eve, first a meal and then a few drinks

Then – off to Cathedral Square to watch the “Black Velvet Band”

And then – at Midnight – watch the fireworks

Today – New Years Day – Karen and I are off to Akaroa for a couple of days camping, then it’s back to work on Monday.

We hope you all have a really great new year

Possibly  just to make you even a bit more jealous we had a lovely picnic on the beach for our Christmas Lunch!

After a relaxed cooked breakfast in the sun on the patio, we had a Webcam session with Julie and I ended up carrying the laptop round the house to give Andy’s sister a “guided tour”. We then packed up all the goodies we had – with a bottle of wine of course (thanks Julie) and headed off to the beach.

It was lovely and sunny but the water was a bit too cold for a swim so a paddle had to suffice.

After a lazy couple of hours it was off to Ben & Clares via a quick visit to Peter & Gill. I attempted to fly a small plane I had made from balsa but suffered a most embarrasing “crash and burn” as the motor cut out on the maiden flight. Oh well, back to the glue and try and find out what went wrong. Then there was a cricket match in the field.

Then back home for an hours webcam with the Wood Mill Mob  to see the girls opening their presents, much fun watching Fern and Esme “Dressing up” while Neve watched on quite happily.

It’s back to normal now as we are both working Boxing day but we have Sunday off so depending on the weather we will find something to do I’m sure.

Hopy you all had a great Christmas

Best Wishes

Jim & Karen

Happy Christmas to everyone who takes a look at this blog.

We will be thinking of you all in the UK shivering in the snow while we have our Christmas Picnic on the beach.

Just to make you jealous here is a typical NZ Christmas scene.

 Hope you have a wonderfull Christmas and a good New Year.

 Love and best wishes to you all from Jim & Karen

Back home in Christchurch again after the 3 week trip to the UK to see new granddaughter, family, friends, Uncle Tom Cobbley and all……

 As hectic as usual, even apart from Neve arriving on the scene. It was really good to see everyone again, sorry if we could not get to you bu there was only so much time available and a lot of ground to cover.

 Neve is lovely and is already growing well, the verdict so far is that she will be like Fern but not so thin. Fern is loving going to school to do her “gluing” and Esme, as usual, is running rings round everyone.

We got back to Christchurch on Tuesday 29^th after the usual long journey via Singapore. This time though I had booked an 8 hour stop in the Transit Hotel in  Terminal 1 prior to the holiday. This meant that we could go straight there from the airplane without all the hanging around that we had last time. We had a good 7 hours sleep and then went to the rooftop swimming pool for a swim and a rest for a  while longer. By the time we had walked through the building back to terminal 2, with a stop for a coffee and sandwich on the way, we only had to wait 5 mins at the gate before boarding for the last leg. Our house sitters, Paul and Hilary, did a marvellous and Paul (because he works next door to the airport) had even driven our car in so that we could get straight in the car and drive home.

The weather in the UK was pretty good while we were there but the weather here has turned cold again even though it is springtime.  We had a good day on Saturday so I managed to get the Veg Patch turned over and ready for planting, but the next day it was really chilly and we even had some snow flurries!

Neve Garbutt

Say hello to our “third” grandaughter – Neve Garbutt

 Neve weighed in at 8lb 2.5oz and mother and baby are both doing fine.

It’s been a busy week – Fern (the eldest grandaughter) started infant school this week and couldn’t wait to get off to school in her new school uniform.

 Will post some more photos as soon as I can .

I have just realised that I have been neglecting the blog again……

Sorry about that, but I will have an excuse for another period of neglect soon as we are back off to the UK again, this time for a rather special event.

We are about to become grandparents for the “third” time. When we get back I will put up some pictures etc and try to be a bit more regular in my postings.

I don’t feel too guilty as we do not seem to have done much in the last month or so, with it being winter and still recovering from Susan’s visit – only joking Susan  – we have been saving up for this trip back to the UK.

We were originally planning to visit the UK in July which is the worst part of the Winter here (although the winter here is not so bad as the UK)and had booked flights accordingly.  But Michelle with her impeccable timing announced that she was pregnant and the baby was due in early September. So, having changed flight dates, and just as the weather here is starting to improve and spring is in the air, we are off back to the UK where autumn is starting and the weather is probably gong to be not so nice.  Still, it will be nice to see everyone again.

Will post how we got on and pictures of the new baby when we get back.

More soon(ish)……..

Last Saturday we hosted a 50^th birthday party for our friend Ben. The party had the theme of a Casino and we spent a fair bit of time getting the place decked out with tables, lights, cards etc. Everybody dressed up in their best bib and tucker and quite a distinguished lot we looked with dickey bows and posh frocks galore.

After the food, the tables were set up for Roulette, Poker and Blackjack (Pontoon) and the games commenced. We charged people $1 for a stack of chips and the idea was that the person with the most chips at midnight won the “pot”. I was quite busy explaining rules etc and acting as the Master of Ceremonies but it all went really well and everybody seemed to have a good time.

The weather has been a bit miserable here lately so it was a nice to have something cheerful going on. It was so successful I might do it again sometime, but only after I have had a long rest first.

Last Thursday Susan returned to the UK. After the usual long journey she got home safely and was welcomed with a suprise party by her family. Before she went we had to cram a few more things in…….

We had a trip to the local wildlife park, it was a lovely sunny day Susan had a bag of food and was feeding anything that moved and Karen made some new friends….

That was a bit exhausting so a quick trip to Governors Bay for a coffee was called for

Followed by a quick trip to the “Local Shop”

Little Britain

And to round it all off Karen and Susan went to the Cook Islands for 5 days, and left me behind !! Charming!

They were a bit concerned about the weather before they went, but apart from one short burst of rain it turned out to be nice and they had a really good time

So now Susan has gone back to the UK (and taken the good weather with her) Karen and I have to try and settle back into a normal(ish) routine again, things will seem a bit quiet for awhile as we were allways trying to make the most of the time Susan had with us to make sure she had a Kiwi experience to remember.

The weather has certainly turned to Winter here now but we still get the sunny days so even though it is cold it is still possible to spend time out in the garden hacking away at the bushes and trees that seem to grow like mad as soon as your back is turned.

At the moment the next big thing for us is our trip back to the UK in September for the birth of our “third” Grandchild but knowing us I am sure we will be doing something unexpected any day now.

More Soon……