Winter is coming....apparently

Well we've been at our new place almost a month - I know this because we have our first inspection coming up,  There are still boxes in places there shouldn't be, but never mind. We will get there in the end.

Today we decided to go for a drive and see if we could find some autumn colours. There are some around up here, but not en masse like you get in other parts of the country. So we decided to go to Hamilton and do a spot of shopping on the way. Chartwell Square Farmers - I don't like the way your floor moves for no apparent reason - we both thought it was an earthquake or five, until we remembered that we were in Hamilton and not actually in a seismic zone.

Anyway shopping done we headed for the Hamilton Gardens which I ashamed to say I have never visited before, despite having spent the first 13 years of my life and then a couple more later on in that city. To be fair when I was younger the site was still a quarry, and the gardens themselves were just getting started. We didn't find as much autumn as we had hoped, there were patches but often in hard to stop and photograph spots. However I enjoyed the wander around the gardens and we didn't see everything, so I am sure there'll be another trip sometime soon.

I have just made a spectacular jump in technological accessories and purchased an iphone. So there is lots of learning happening there. I took the opportunity today to start getting to grips with it as a camera in readiness for our upcoming holiday.

Actually Freezing

The Camellias are all bursting into shades of pink and red in the garden and there is the promise of Spring in other plants too. Bulbs are peeking through the cold soil and some even flowering. The Magnolia and Rhododendron have buds waiting for just the right time to surprise us and the cherry trees have wee buds growing on their bare branches. But it is still REALLY cold. There have been bone chilling frosts and even some snow - though only a dusting which just looked like frost and was gone by mid morning.

Glad this was a Saturday and not a rubbish collection morning - touching that handle would not be a great start to anybody's day.

So Autumn didn't stick around much

WINTER IS HERE

Well it feels like it anyway. The last of the leaves are clinging to the branches, and the temperatures have dropped significantly. Getting out of bed in the mornings is getting harder.

There have been amazing sunrises and sunsets all over the country, frosty mornings, threats of snow, some glorious days and plenty of crisp clear nights. 

 sunrise 21 May

 clear nights

 bare trees, some already laden with the promise of spring

Camellias beginning to burst into flower to brighten the wintery days

and these I almost forgot I had planted !

Starting to get a bit like Christmas

Well it's been a while since I found time to get to this again. Things didn't work out work-wise so I can't even use that as an excuse. 

The training phase went well, but then once everything was set to "go live" there actually didn't seem to be much work at all. After 2 1/2 days of pretty much twiddling my thumbs and trying to organise my desk and look busy I decided enough was enough. Since then I've been looking for something new. Sometimes I think I should have stayed, got paid for being bored out of my mind and just kept looking for a new opportunity. Oh well. I've been getting interviews, phone ones and in person so fingers crossed things will fall into place soon.

It is hard to believe that Christmas is almost here. We both LOVE this time of year normally, this time we've had a bit of trouble getting in the spirit. But we found the box with a tree in it, and I found some of others marked Christmas. We're keeping it simple.

There has been a bit of baking going on - not me though - I just want to make gingerbread....and I have no idea where my cookie cutters are, and it has taken me many trips to many different stores to be able to find some replacements. Seems everyone else is making gingerbread too ! At least I don't need cookie cutters to make white Christmas which is also on my list of things to do.

We've been for a couple of night time drives all over the city, getting totally lost at times as it is difficult to read maps and directions in the dark. Nevertheless, we have found some great Christmas light displays. This has been one of our regular Christmas traditions and it has been great to be able to do it here as well.

It has been very un-summery weather - winter clothes are getting well aired after having been packed away since June. I'm almost expecting snow on the actual day. There have been plenty of late snowfalls with the recent frequent cold snaps, so who knows.

Meanwhile things in the garden are trying their best to get on with what they should be doing this season. Currants are turning red, strawberries are growing in abundance, raspberries and grapes are beginning to appear, lettuce is growing, apples are swelling, feijoas are flowering....

and some things have just gotten away on me...

maybe I should put some pretty lights on it.

Boxes and Boxes

Well, we loaded the car up and set off from Blenheim last weekend to make camp for a night in our new home. Our furniture and belongings arrived on Tuesday so only one night of roughing it was required.

What was an empty, quiet house on Monday night has since transformed into one filled with life - and many piles of unpacked, stacked up boxes and packing paper. We're still looking for a pillow and have discovered that we may have "donated" some things we thought we had kept. Like coat hangers particularly. a quick trip to the Warewhare has resolved that though. Slowly things are finding their new homes.

We are also finding our way around the city and even had a "peak hour" trip to the Emergency After Hours Clinic the other night when my fingers happened to get in the way of the knife when chopping pumpkin for dinner. OUCH.

We have plans (or I do) to get some veges planted in our amazing garden and to sort out the extra belongings that have also come out of storage. if you are in Christchurch and looking to buy some secondhand furniture - I may have what you are looking for watch this space. It will have to wait 'til my hand is working a bit better than it is now though.

Next task is to get registered with some agencies and get a job.