Cabin Fever

It’s been such a long time since we’ve been away for a caravan trip, we think we might be suffering from cabin fever - “a type of hysteria brought on by spending too much time indoors”.  Or in our case, it’s been seven long weeks between caravan rallies, and we are starting to get twitchy!  The wet weather doesn’t help one little bit, and we are sick of TV.  Mind you, Robin is never sick of watching rugby, but that is another bone of contention to the non sporty member of the household.

So it is just as well that we are finally going away next Friday.  Not that we are actually travelling very far.  Our club rally is at Levin, that’s right, our new home town.  It will take us all of five minutes to drive there.  But we will get to spend the weekend away, and catch up with all our caravan club friends.

After the rally we are heading north, first stop at Taupo.  There has been a lot of heavy snow up that way recently, and the Desert Road has been closed from time to time.  Just for a change, we plan to travel highway 4, Turangi via National Park..  After several days staying at Taupo, we will journey over the Taupo-Napier road and spend a few days in Hawkes Bay.  Roll on Friday – we can hardly wait.

More Workmen come Calling

We had a couple more small jobs planned  – but who knows when the workmen might arrive to attend to them?  It’s a bit of “wait and see” while we wait patiently.  The glass man phoned through bright and early yesterday morning to advise that he would be there shortly.  He and his assistant arrived with the glass splash-back we were having installed behind the stove, carrying it carefully inside using a large suction cup.

Installing the splash-back

There is a lot more to a splash-back than just a piece of glass with paint applied to one side.  The glass used is low iron content glass to obtain a near perfect colour match. After cutting, the glass has all its edges polished and then washed. Then it is put into the furnace for tempering where the glass is heated to 650 degrees Celsius and rapidly cooled to produce the hardening effect.  After checking for imperfections, it is transported to the painters for surface treatment, sprayed, sealed and baked in the painting oven.  The fitting process took about half an hour, and the workmen will be back at the end of the week to remove the temporary wooden prop holding it in place. 

Some of our interior paint work needed a few touch-ups as we felt it was not up to standard.  After voicing our concerns to the construction company, the friendly young painter finally arrived this morning.  “I’m here to fix up someone else’s mistakes”, he declared. The final quality control check through the house before we took possession did not pick up these imperfections, and the original painting company is no longer used, we believe.  The hall needed the most attention, and he set to work first sanding the wall before applying  new paint.  The other jobs were smaller and were soon attended to. 

   

Sanding down the wall

Robin has been busy too, changing the position of the clothesline from the back fence to the side fence, where we have recently had a new concrete pad laid.  A lot of measuring had been done before I was asked to come out to help.  A few holes needed drilling to attach the fittings.  The battery drill was next to useless so out came the heavy electric drill to do the job.

Drilling holes in the fence

This was a two person job and I was needed to be the builder’s mate and hold our “Super Fold Clothesline” in the correct place while it was reconnected back together again.

 

Just about done

With this job out of the way, Robin can now order his new shed, which will be erected where the clothesline used to be.  You know what it’s like, this job can’t be finished until something else has been done.  We are getting there, slowly.  

And the Sun sets in the West

It’s been a funny old Sunday, we experienced a bit of everything today, as far as the weather was concerned.  Reasonably fine to start with, although a bit blowy.  And quite warm too, no need to turn the heat pump on at all.  By mid afternoon the clouds rolled over, and down came the rain.  That caused a flurry of activity, as the resident washer-woman rushed outside to rescue the laundry off the clothesline.  Crisis over, the sun made another appearance.  The sun sets quite early at this time of year, just after 5.00pm.  We watched as the golden sun seemed to hover over our village, before sinking down out of view.

The sun setting in the west

Something smells good – that’s our dinner cooking.  The lamb was so tender it just fell off the bone, served with baby roast yams sizzling in the oven.  Plus a selection of other healthy veggies too, and caramel pears for dessert.  Not a bad end to a lazy Sunday.

That got his heart racing!

She sidled up to him and whispered in his ear,  “I want you to take those trousers off right now”.  “Do you dear?”, he asked expectantly, his heart racing madly.  It was the middle of the afternoon, and he thought all his Sundays had come at once.  “Yes”, she replied.  “I need you to try these new jeans on so I can shorten them for you”.  What a let down, he thought, as his heart rate returned to normal.  There was nothing for it, but to turn the telly on and watch a bit of rugby.  That would fill in the afternoon for him nicely.

We’re Happy – the Brits told us so!

Retirement makes people feel happier and healthier than they had done at any point since their mid 30’s, we read in the paper recently.  A British study released by the Office for National Statistics shows that people in their late 60s feel like they are back in their prime.  That’s good to know, and presumably retired people down here in the colonies feel the same.

What makes us happy?  Getting away for trips in the caravan must rank very high in the happiness stakes, whether it is just a weekend away, or a longer trip.  In fact, weekend trips these days are only governed by our busy calendar.  If we have nothing else to stay home for, why not stay away a  few extra days either side of the weekend?  We do now – because we can! 

And there is nothing more satisfying than being tucked up in bed during the cold dark winter mornings with the wind blowing a gale and the rain belting down.  Gone are our days of rising at 5.00am every workday.  And we don’t miss all those years of public transport, waiting at bus stops and railway stations, jostling for a seat, and the long trip there and back.  Getting home late, lighting the fire, cooking tea, then before you know, it was time for bed and the next day was the same old grind.  Back then, I worked out that with all the travelling, a seven and half hour working day meant eleven and a half hours away from home each day.  No wonder it was such an effort day after day..

Our new home makes us very happy indeed, in fact, we never thought that we would ever own a brand new home at this time in our lives.  It is nice and sunny, well insulated, and just the right size for the two of us.  With a handyman who cuts the lawns, there is no problem with taking an extended holiday and worrying about the grass getting out of hand.  Not only that, but he washes the exterior windows regularly too!  On reflection, we probably should have moved years ago, but these big decisions take time to mull over, don’t they?

I’m a great believer in always having something planned to look forward to,  but the biggest thing in life is being together with the love of your life through thick and thin.  It just can’t get better than that, can it?

What’s happening in our Village?

There has been plenty going on in the empty villa next door.  First came the deliveries of timber and bales of insulation bats.  It seems that the unit next to us has finally been sold. 

The builders have been busy and put the interior wall linings and ceilings in place.  Then came the plasterers, and finally the painters.  The kitchen cabinets have been installed, and the electrician has been in to do his wiring.  Things move very quickly in the last few weeks of the build.

While this villa is still being fitted out, the Real Estate Agent is using it as an “Show Home”  for other prospective buyers to view.  Then another unfinished unit close by will be completed and become the permanent Show Home.  We have met our new neighbour several times when she has visited to check on the progress of her new home, and she seems a very pleasant lady.  Although it has only been a few months, it will be good to have the other half of our building finally completed and lived in.  

Several trucks and a posse of workmen have been busy installing a Speed Hump at the entrance to the village.  This was deemed necessary as it appears that many drivers have been ignoring the 15mph sign.  Not us, we hasten to add, we are always law abiding citizens.  It seems a rather flat speed hump to us, but hopefully it will act as a reminder for drivers to reduce their speed.

.  Recently installed speed hump

Digging the Dirt

“Ding dong” pealed the doorbell.  A young lady courier stood on the doorstep – she had a pallet of timber for delivery.  Our kitset garden bed had arrived from Kiwi Back Yard.  All their outdoor products are made from chemical-free macrocarpa timber.

Kit set garden bed

After several trips around to the back yard, the timber was finally where it needed to be.  A quick glance at the instructions, and Robin was away, slotting the pieces into place.  Rather like an easy-peasy jigsaw puzzle.  Then it was just a matter of digging into the large dirt pile, moving it shovelful  by shovelful  into the adjacent raised garden bed. 

Almost done

Our carefully nurtured rhubarb plants which came with us from our previous home in Upper Hutt will soon be transplanted into the new garden.  And no doubt we will be visiting the garden centre to buy some vegetable seedlings to plant there too.  With the job done, Robin wanted nothing more than to sit down with his feet up and a cold refreshing beer in his hand.