Eric arrives soon

Eric will arrive next week for Christmas vacation.

We have been offered a house to stay in for the rest of our stay in NZ.

Our good friend Prue is going to UK to visit with her Daughter for Christmas, so we are going to house sit for her. There will be the garden to water and flowers to deadhead and generally keep the garden tidy.

It will be great to have something to do outside again.

Christmas is coming

Yes! it is suppose to be coming but as normal we are finding it difficult to get the same Christmas feeling as we use to have in UK....why!! you may ask...well it is Summer here and Christmas is supposed to be in the winter after all.

The decorations are up and the sun is streaming on to them through the windows, all the doors and windows are open and most folks are in teeshirts and shorts.

Christmas lights are up everywhere but you have to go out late at night to appreciate them.

Just to prove it is Christmas here as well, this our front door with it's welcome wreath.

Christmas shopping has gone well and I have actually enjoyed it this year, and it is almost complete.

The family will all come here to Rotorua so we will have a house full ....6 adults and 4 children...... a Christmas celebration like we have not seen in a long time.

Rotorua NZ

So, here I am in New Zealand.

The weather has been great until yesterday when the big black clouds rolled in dropping there contents and the winds decided to blow, but the gardens need it and the farmers as all ways.

The roses in the garden are a picture and this wind is doing them no good at all.

Lets hope it subsides a little as this weekend is the time I have promised Ben a trip to the beach in the camper van. Here is the van I am living in very comfortable and have been very happy wandering around in it. and so far I have not taken up offers of "inside" beds from friends and neighbours.

The house and garden have changed a little with a "new family" living in it, with all their "stuff" around the place it has taken on a new look, so it was quite easy for me to come back here as it did not look much like our house on the inside. The garden is much the same but on a spare plot of land, we have the making of a fort for the Grandsons to play in. I am given to understand there will also be a sand pit , so we look forward to pictures in the future of the finished items.

Christmas gifts

Ben on his new bike  ............... Bet this is the first Christmas gift photo's you have seen of 2007 gifts

Alex on his new bike

As Alex is not quite into bike riding yet he has a push rod and handle on the bike but it will not be long before he his off riding on his own.

The push rod on this bike also operates the steering so easy for the person in charge of him.

Home in New Zealand

As most will realise from reading the date, it has been ages since posting on the blog.
There has been good reason for this as we have been on our travels.

We came home to NZ to attend the wedding of our niece Kerry to Daniel


as you can imagine the bride looked stunning and it was a beautiful day

Our grandson's Ben and Alex where ring bearers and looked cute in their tuxedos.

Eric then flew back to Dubai the following day, but I stayed in NZ where I am bumming around in the camper van staying here and there.
I have just spent 5 days at a beach resort where the van was parked within 10 meters of the beach, the weather came to the party and was beautiful. I had my bike along with me and managed a ride every day, I also swam in the hot pools each evening and did a fair amount of walking.
Iain and Claire and the boys joined me for the day on the Sunday when the weather was at it's extra best, my niece and her family who live a few kilometers away from where I was camped also joined us for a BBQ in the evening.

I have spent a few days with Kathryn and Steve and the boys, where I managed to do Christmas shopping for them all. The boys had new bikes and we helped with a new BBQ for the grown ups. I bet you wish you could do your Christmas shopping in one day.

Eric will be back in time for Christmas, when we will have the first family Christmas where we have all been together for years... to many to count, but of course we have 4 extra little folks around this time, Ellis 6 , Ben 4 , Harvey 3, and Alex 2 so it is going to be a real child orientated time.
The silly season starts here next week with the commencement of Christmas Dinners and bashes, I have 4 to attend so far. Of course not a thing to wear, but being summer that is really no problem.

From a new Gmail user.....

That is it...the Yahoo debacle that they call an email server has had it's day in this house.
It has been getting worse each day some days I could not even log on to it, then others when you are working on it it closes down or does not another move when asked.

Now they have finally cooked their goose when they changed the format and I had moving adverts all across the screen which you only had to scim across with the mouse and up popped another...so bye bye Yahoo for the period we are staying in Dubai..

Hello Gmail...now..., listen here you have to live up to the wonders that people keep telling me about you.

I have had 2 days of trying to work out your system and I am getting there, I keep re- listening and watching the "getting Started" video, I have pressed the help key quite a few times, but there are somethings you need to look at like

"you can not select a list of the addresses you wish to forward to" you have to write each one individually. Now come on even Yahoo had that!!



I will give you a fair try , but you have to remember you are not talking to a whiz kid here but someones Grandma and I can get frustrated with new things, I am getting to that stage in life when I like things I know ( unless I am learning a new Quilt Block or technique).

With Love from a new Gmail user


A Picture just to remind you it is only 45 days to Christmas.

Shame he does not get a bedroom

Our Grandson Harvey asleep under the table, seems Harvey did this maneuver himself.

Time for a Hair Cut or my frayed nerves

Now a hair cut or trim is not a major thing where you live, but here in Dubai for a Expat woman it is traumatic.
Finding a hairdresser who can speak English is the first hurdle, when you have convinced yourself that you have achieved that, you go on to the actual sitting in the chair....then the real trauma begins......my hair is in a bob it is straight and grey and I would like to keep it like this but all hairdressers seem to think they know better... ....so after a shampoo where she tries to convince you that a colour would be good and why would you want your hair natural colour.
No one has natural colour hair now, this is very old fashioned, she has now written you off as a waste of time, you are not going to spend enough money in her salon. So back to the chair.

Questions begin ..

Me....have you cut straight hair before..
Girl....Yes! madam
Me.....like mine
Girl..No madam

At this point you want to get out of the chair ASAP, but you are tied in with the flumptious gown and heavy weight shoulder cutting mat and dripping hair. So you think okay we will talk our way through this.

Me....Please do as I say
Girl... Of course Madam
Me ... I want you to cut it same shape as now but taking off only 1/2" inch just a trim not a restyle.
Girl... Of course Madam you will have a good cut and look beautiful.

Now you know she has not been listening or understood what you have said and you now realise her English is just the pleasantries, and her sales talk at the hair wash station was learnt parrot fashion, because that is what her boss has taught her to say.
She Picks up her scissors and begins to part the hair, it is like a horror film.
I always come away with shattered nerves and a near disaster of a haircut and not quite but almost near to tears.
Now I have had 5 haircuts here each has been as good if not better a disaster than the last.

Now resulting from all this trauma, the good side of this story is Eric is becoming a great hand at trimming off the long ends straightening the back pointing out bad areas and generally soothing my frayed nerves when I get back.
So I think he will re-train in Rotorua as a Ladies hairdresser so get in line and make an appointment.

Sorry no photo of my disasters but here is a really cute one of Ben having his hair cut and there is no trauma in sight and the barber is definitely cuter than the girl who cut my hair yesterday.