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I'm not so sure he would have been keen to accompany us to the world cup football games for women in Wellington this month. I've got the feeling he may have had some issues with my attire.
Spring is in the air, resulting in great views in the evening from our deck.
When some friends came over to visit us, Nienke assigned the important task of coming up with an idea for dinner to me. I wanted to make something a friend of mine once made when we were still young students cooking in turns in our student house. From memory it was a white fish (cod I think) with onions on top and then wrapped in bacon, finished of with a lemon/white wine/old cheese sauce. I checked with my friend in the Netherlands, but either his or my mind is fading. Anyway, if it wasn't that, I may have invented a new dish. It probably won't make it into the Weight Watchers cooking book, but it was delicious.
Sometimes you have to wait for a train or a funeral procession. In Te Horo it is quite often for about 300 cows crossing the road, to seek greener pastures a bit further south.
OK, I did say that I was done with female football. I really was. But how often does a Dutch team play a game here in Wellington? So, I felt like it was my duty to be a patriot and dress up in orange to support the Dutch team in their quest for success. Besides, Nienke had convinced me to get tickets, which was not an easy task. What a mess is that FIFA website. I was able to buy tickets for the men's world cup in Qatar (that finished 1 1/2 year ago) and later kept bidding on tickets that vanished before my eyes. A desperate mail in which I asked for help was replied to with the announcement that they would contact me within five working days. I guess they are still on day 4? In the end, after opening a third account, I managed to get tickets.
And once more we treated Wellington to a Orange parade. Maybe not with as many as the previous week, but here was some support from disappointed americans who had already bought tickets for the games of their invincible team who for sure would end first in their group. Ha!
Although we own enough orange garments to dress most the inhabitants of Te Horo Beach, we could not convince my tennis mate, an Austrian, to get properly clothed.
Maybe he did foresee what was coming. The Dutch coach used the same tactics that their male counterparts used in their world cup match against Argentina. Passing the ball to each other and then either losing the ball (80%) or give it an almighty kick forward to the lonely striker with about 5 defenders around her (19%). No chance. The Spanish played real football and deserved to win. Quite disappointed in the Dutch team, they did not even have the decency to thank the supporters who came from all over New Zealand and spend quite a bit of money to support their country(wo)men.
The same day we went to a tribute theatre show about Simon and Garfunkel. They must have been at the game as well as they were just as uninspired as the Dutch women. The Art Garfunkel guy sounded like a gremlin on helium. Luckily it was not just me. Janes' partner Chris jumped up halfway through the show to head home, but our spouses made us sit it out. By the way, they live in an amazing apartment on a pier in the Wellington harbour. Sitting in a comfortable chair with a nice chardonnay, enjoying a fantastic view, made us quickly forget the setbacks of the day.
Ran out of water again. As the tanks are made of concrete and I am not allowed to shoot on the property (it's a civilised neighbourhood) a leak from the tanks seemed very unlikely. We did not have a lot of rain lately and we were wondering if the water was actually getting into the tanks. Only one way of finding out. Checking the gutters. Not so scary on this side, but it was pretty high on the other side. The gutters were full of muck; sand, pine needles, pine pollen, leaves, bird feathers, etc. Time for a good clean. Next step is to put a hose in the downpipes and check if there is actually water running into the tanks. I need my lovely wife to assist me for that, so that will be a job for later.
And while I was up there I installed some bird spikes. They just loved to sit here and build nests in the gutter. And while sitting on the gutter and enjoying the amazing view they tend to drop things on the bonnet of our cars. Luxury problems of course.
Power cut. It still happens in 2023. Apparently fighting birds caused problems with the powerlines. We did not notice that our humongous boiler had switched of as well. So two days later it started to get colder in the house and suddenly we had no hot water. Luckily the heat pump did come with an English manual and not a Chinese one.
The planting has been done and the post for the new garage have been put in. Exciting. After carrying loads of mulch up the hill I kind of understand now what Tantalus' torment must have been like.
No comment......
Our golfclub is quite popular. Unfortunately. Outsiders are able to play tournaments and organise team building days. Good for some money for the club, but it does mean that it is always busy on Fridays. We don't like that. We don't want to share our techniques and game plans. Something like that. Today the John Deere importers had their annual day at the club. They had parked machine everywhere. Couldn't even negotiate a discount!
Not bad ay? A nice sunny day with snow on the mountain tops behind me. Only in NZ.
Yes, finally. Progress. Concrete. We started the whole process in February. The Councill took ages to get us our resource consent and later the building consent. They invoiced us for almost 40 hours of work, only for the resource consent. For a simple pole shed. Unbelievable. I guess you understand that I have parked my plan for an underground tennis court on a high shelf....
See? That is fast work. Nienke said she would like a colour on the wall in her study. Done in a day. My lovely wife has been very busy. I know I promised she would write the blog, but she only started her new job last week and it has consumed a bit of time and energy. Patience, she'll tell her story soon enough.
Our builder is a nice guy, but he only works like 1-2 hours a day or so. Anyway, we head of to Vanuatu tomorrow morning and when we come back it will be finished, he said. Vanuatu is a group of 80 plus Pacific islands stretched over 1300 km, about 3 hours flying from Auckland. The older readers amongst us know them as the New Hebrides. We're going to visit three of the island. Snorkelling, reading books, eating seafood, catching a huge tuna, climbing a live volcano are a few of the things we have planned.
And while I was up there I installed some bird spikes. They just loved to sit here and build nests in the gutter. And while sitting on the gutter and enjoying the amazing view they tend to drop things on the bonnet of our cars. Luxury problems of course.
Live music at a local restaurant. A good night out. A very reasonable band from Wellington playing covers. Just ladies dancing. Who said 'men can't dance and ladies can't play football?'.
Watch this space!
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