Christmas

-

 It’s that time of year again, & as I sit drinking my early morning coffee, I’m pondering the complexities of the season.

It’s Summer in New Zealand, time for holidays, swimming, salads, ham, bbqs & summer fun. Picnics, walks, friends & family

Being on the road full time, Christmas with all its hype fades into the background. Suddenly there’s only people that are important. Gifts & feasts are secondary. 

I particularly feel the lack of people at this time, as everyone rushes around madly trying to finish off the working season, buying presents & generally preparing for what’s to come. 

Living the way I do is just about being with people really. Connection. I value the people in my life very much. You’re very special to me 🤗 🎁 People are the gift 😘 It’s about relationships, both vertical & horizontal. 

I was going to take a sunrise pic to go with this post, as it was particularly beautiful, but it’s in suburbia, where the views aren’t pretty, so I decided not to. Besides, you’ve all been inundated with those pics, so I thought I’d keep it simple.




Waking up out on the roadside, near people I care about, is about as good as it gets. River & streams & sea & gardens, mountains & expansive views are wonderful too. But people who care about you are special prizes, all on their own. No frills, no bows, no fuss. Have a special Christmas with those you love & who love you. They may not be immediate family, but that doesn’t really matter. 


I’m driveway sitting this year 😂 & being forced to eat all the zucchini myself 😂 It’s terrible but  I’ll cope somehow... chocolate zucchini cake 🤔 



Might take a bit of eating eh. 8 plants to harvest from, & they’re all producing well 🤦‍♀️ 

First thing this morning😍


Gotta love a city that makes walkways under the main roads🤩


A farm beside the city boundary


A second building


Time to clean off the grime from mechanical fingers & road grime. Learned the jif trick from my son😉 it’s a cheap cut & polish 🤩


And it’s bath day 😂 She loves it...Not! Usually runs around like a nutcase, but is too cold after a cold bath in a bucket 😂 Changes in all departments this year.

Merry Christmas everyone. 🎁 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Sad Day

-
Image
Today I advertised Steamin Along for sale. It took me hours to manually put in all the details & I had a lot of trouble adding the photos to the ad. I’m not sure why but Trademe would only let me upload a few & I can’t find a way to edit it. I’m wondering if it’s because it’s listed as a classified ad rather than an auction.  https://www.trademe.co.nz/trade-me-motors/caravans-motorhomes/motorhomes/5-59-metres/auction-3250669219.htm Anyone who knows the answer gets a cyber chocolate fish. Anyhow I consoled myself with a walk at lunchtime…very bad idea when you walk past a bakery 😂 So I bought the equivalent of a sally lunn bun, now called a Boston bun because of the shape I’m told. It’s a childhood memory for me, of a special treat we had as a family from time to time. No idea of the sized pieces a family of 9 would get 😂 but I bet it wasn’t much. I’ve been distracting myself by watching videos about cookies you can make, diy van kits, & all sorts of other nonsense 😂 ...
Read more

Amping it Up

-
Image
So yesterday I decided to make the tricky transition from semi knowledgeable woman to electrically charged woman. I went to a day workshop to learn about electrical systems. By morning tea my poor brain was veritably sparking with amps & volts. Memo to self…must buy one of these It’s a solar controller 😉 Jostling with a couple of hundred other women who were like wolves at a meat sale I tried to absorb the information & fill out my knowledge based on Electrical systems for Motorhomes. Why you ask, when Steamin Along is going up for sale? Because I’m looking at doing my own build😉 I forgot to take pics of the setup on display, such was my need to get out of there mid afternoon 😂 It was crazy! With women fawning over the speaker like he was the best thing since sliced bread, I couldn’t get near the equipment to look at it. We talked about solar panel setup, bus bars, volts, amps, amp hours, energy storage, diesel heaters, batteries with blue tooth & monitoring systems etc....
Read more

A Pictorial trucks eye view of Benneydale & surrounding area

-
Image
  Did I mention how quirky this place is? It’s arty & an eclectic mix of styles, with abject poverty & wealth standing together in unison. A most amazing & very obvious comparison. A house in a field just waiting for visitors Fabulous art in some places, including the buildings themselves A beautifully restored cottage The old & new together I just love the original dwellings of yesteryear The ordinary is necessary for the significant to stand out Fabulous Rock formations And caves 🤩 A common sight in rural New Zealand, the lone farmhouse or shed There was a Lot of water on the land from a storm A heck of a lot actually Layered rock used to make stone walls. A funny story goes with this. My cousin showed me a stone wall & I told him I wasn’t into the modern stone walls with cut rock… It’s a natural formation it turns out 🤣  Darling verandah style porches That’s a swollen stream for you! Some pics were taken on the way to the quarry & others on the way...
Read more