Kia Ora Guys

It was my last Monday on fulltime cleaning duty as next Monday would be my first day at work in a while, so I put that extra bit of effort in to make the place sparkle!!! I also made the most of having the time off by watching the Moto GP from Donnington Park and since it was July,it was raining which made for an eventful race.

Mel had a late start Tuesday as we were both up and sat waiting for 9am so we could try and get our hands on a pair of tickets for the AC/DC gig coming up in February next year. After trying to get tickets in the UK for big gigs we were expecting a real battle and wondered if we would be lucky enough to get two.The drama was short lived and after just a 20 minute wait online we had secured a pair of tickets for the concert and were both ecstatic.

The rest of the day passed with me running errrands and before I knew it Mel was home and telling me about the pay rise she would be getting,it was nothing earth shattering but every little helps and it shows that they really appreciate her efforts there.

I hadn't been up North Head for a while so I walked into town via there on Wednesday as the weather was great and the views of the City were fantastic too,I came down off North Head and walked along the newly reclaimed beach,the sand was still fresh from being dumped so my feet sank into it as I walked along. Earlier that day I had started to untangle one of Mel's necklaces that she had got into a mess. I had made a start on it before I left the house but it was proving difficult so I thought a break form it would help.

Back home I set back to trying to untangle the thing but after several hours it was proving a real handful,so I took the drastic measure of dismantling the thing and rebuilding it which took up the whole afternoon and some of the evening,needless to say it is being looked after from now on!!!!!

My Friday started with the job I don't really like and I had the scraper in one hand and towel in the other as I defrosted the freezer,because it is so small it takes a while to do it right. I called round to see my mate Doug to see how he was and have a beer,but he wasn't feeling too good so I just stayed an hour or so,before leaving him to rest.

I was on with dinner when Mel got home and tonight it was homemade meatballs with pasta in a spicy arabiata sauce which turned out to be delicious. Down at the bar the barmaid gave us free tickets for the big rugby game tomorrow and we accepted gratefully but left it open whether we would go or not because the weather forecast for Saturday was dreadful.

Saturday saw us drive across town to Green Lane to a book fair,I couldn't believe how busy the place was and there were thousands of books to choose from although they were strewn everywhere, Mel managed to sniff out 3 that she fancied unfortunately my taste in books is much narrower than Mel's and I left empty handed. As we walked back to the car the weather changed dramatically,but Mel had her trusty mac in her bag which helped a bit but by the time we got to the car we were both drenched.

It was then a mad dash from the car to the supermarket as the rain was bouncing off the tarmac.By the time we got home the it was pouring down and we didn't fancy standing out in the rain to watch the rugby so we decided to pass and instead took the bus to the ferry terminal so we could get into the city. We wer on a mission to try and find a few new bars but after walking around for 20 minutes we ended up at an old favourite,before we moved onto the Sky Tower where we were treated to some cabaret as we sat and chatted. It did seem quiet in town tonight and by 9 o' clock we were back on the ferry heading for the North Shore.

I felt Mel get up around 6.30am but didn't move myself until 7.30am. Now I know you are all sat there wondering why we were up so early on a Sunday,but we had a breakfast invite for 8.30am at Sue and Dave's and also watch the All Blacks take on the Springboks, Kiwi's are rugby mad but I still prefer league myself and it turned out they lost but we did have a delicious breakfast......

The game finished and we jumped into the car and set off for Takapuna, first stop was the bank to pay our credit card bill. Mel had tried earlier to do it online but they charge so we went into the bank to take care of it. Normally we wouldn't bother but the interest rates here are huge so it's more about the principal of having to pay extra to pay your bill.... As soon as that was taken care of we headed to Paper Plus as Mel was hoping the new puzzle book would be out although it wasn't due until tomorrow.

As soon as we got into the store she made a beeline for the puzzle section and her face lit up when she spotted the new edition on the shelf!!!!!

It was market day in "Taka" today so the place was packed and it took us a while to negotiate the traffic to get to the car wash. The car hadn't had a wash for a few months and you could tell, I got Mel to give me a hand and as I brushed she sprayed and 10 minutes later we had a clean car.

Next stop for us was the swimming pool to burn off some of the breakfast we had eaten earlier. It still amazes us that it's only $6 for a swim,sauna and hot tub, but today it was only $6 for us both as we had a coupon. We swam our lengths and rewarded ourselves with a dunk in the hot tub which was cool as the sun was shining,and the steam rose off the water into the chilly air.

The water we had brought to accompany our picnic had split in the boot and soaked the interior,but luckily it was only water and not milk or beer which would have been a nightmare to clean up. After eating our lunch at the picnic table on the beach we headed to the coffee shop for coffee and a cake as we had another coupon!!!!

The warm sun came through the window and kept us toasty as we ate the cakes. We got home and already the car was plastered in bird muck,which always seems to happen when you have just cleaned the car

As we would both be at work tomorrow (yes I start the job tomorrow!!) I cleaned out the car while Mel took care of the bathroom.This just about rounded off our day but I just had time to ride to the pond and feed the ducks before returning home to cook dinner and tonight it was Beef Wellington,yum yum...

I expected to be more nervous than I was about starting work but maybe I will be in the morning,but the thought of earning a bob or two is quite nice. Will keep you posted on how things go.

Lots of Love

M & M

xx