There’s a new dog in the house and it’s the first time this family has acquired a puppy. Life is certainly different today from a life and home shared with a genteel and ageing 12 year old hound and a cat who is soon to celebrate its 20th birthday. It’s because of these ageing two pets that we felt (or more accurately, I felt) that it was time for some succession planning, as home really isn’t home without a dog in the family. And most of the time I am working from home, and we are soon to move to a place in the country, so the time seemed right. Continue reading “Dog gone it”
Tuning in…
We like to wake up to the radio in the morning, and be gently brought back to life with some witty banter and a fair degree of current affairs and other information. It’s like a pre-caffeine hit, for those who need one. For me, a non-coffee drinker, the radio wake up is my caffeine hit. For some time the choice of radio station has been quite difficult, and as a compromise in recent times we have more or less settled on National Radio during the week, and Radio Live on weekends. Recent changes to both mean that this year is not looking good for wake up time. Continue reading “Tuning in…”
My year of moving on
Sometimes major life changes can feel kind of like a bereavement, and it can take quite some time to get over these changes. Almost two years ago I left a job I loved. Change was in the air, and the organisation was heading in a direction that was not aligned to my own way of thinking. I had thought I could be in this or a similar role until I retired, but the choice to go was my own, and even in hindsight, it was the right choice.
Thank you for the music
Today His Lordship and I went and helped an old friend sort some of the music in his garage. That friend is Bernie Allen, and he has had a life in music that spans from the 1950s and still continues today. For the best part of 15 years Bernie has simply been unable to open one of the doors of his double garage due to the many, many boxes of music that live there, and of course, there is a story behind each of these boxes. Continue reading “Thank you for the music”
Bon appetit
I recently wrote that in France you are never far from a good meal. I have since had cause to stop and re-think those words, because on this trip, I have to say, the food was decidedly underwhelming, with some exceptions.
To cruise or not to cruise…
About this time last year, having recently sold our Auckland house, and with the prospect of loosening the noose around our necks that an Auckland mortgage brings, we planned a European cruise. Continue reading “To cruise or not to cruise…”
The pharmacies of France
France is famed for many things that we all know and love – cheese, wine, romance (a la cinq a sept – that time when a man goes to visit his mistress before going home to his wife). The villages are so charming, the language sounds both erotic and exotic, and you are never far from a good meal. Continue reading “The pharmacies of France”
We built this city …
Last week I went to Christchurch for work for a night. It is the first time I have been back to Christchurch since late 2010 when I was there briefly between the September and February earthquakes. We had a house there and we called by to check it out when we were passing through town to see ow the tenants were faring, and to check on the reported damage.
Continue reading “We built this city …”
The nest is empty
So much has happened, where do I start? How do you summarise two weddings, a son departing for the other side of the world, giving up my job, His Lordship starting a new job, and having to move house in a few paragraphs? Continue reading “The nest is empty”