Saturday, 1 August 2015
Sunday at Bremworth Park
We actually we went to our own Ward for church on Sunday
and as always had a lovely meeting. What was especially nice was that we were
able to arrange a Dinner appointment with Dear Sister Sayce. She invited us
over to her house months ago but we’ve been so busy. So we set a date for
Tuesday. I hoped that nothing would happen so that we had to cancel that
appointment. I’m glad to say we went as planned. She only lives 3 houses away
from us. So we didn’t have to walk far. As Elder Saunders is slightly (hmm)
fussy with what he eats and it can get very embarrassing trying to explain what
he does or doesn’t eat. But Sister Sayce got it perfectly right. She made mince
pie and mash with vegetables of course but that wasn’t for him. With desert you
cannot really go wrong, so crumble and custard was yummy too. The time was 7.30
so now it was time to go home as Sister wanted to watch her cooking programme!!!
I started to add one and one together and actually came up with two. This was
the same show that I was watching with Sister Belliston. So we stayed a little
longer to watch the beginning of the finals. Although I happily watched two episodes
of the show Elder Saunders just persevered through those few hours.
Check out the flat!
Wdnesday
On our back to Hamilton we took a slight detour. Actually it was quick a big detour as it took us an extra hour and a half out of our way. One of the missionaries flat was reported to be cold even with all the heaters we have given them and apparently the Elders were always ill. I think it was a bit of an exaggeration but we had to check it out. We were offered another flat in that area so though we would check that out at the same time. The flat was a bit dreary but the new one was very nice. Maybe a bit large but we can look up a few of the rooms. So I think our visit was worthwhile and Elder Saunders is going to swap them over.
Then to finish the day off we popped into the Witts and we were welcomed with a bowl of homemade leek and potato soup. Yummy, well I thought it was yummy obviously Elder Saunders wouldn’t eat it!!!! But he had bread and Jam so couldn’t complain. We were spoilt by Sister Witts throwing together a quick desert but blow me if I can remember what it was. How we love spending quality time with our friends.
On our back to Hamilton we took a slight detour. Actually it was quick a big detour as it took us an extra hour and a half out of our way. One of the missionaries flat was reported to be cold even with all the heaters we have given them and apparently the Elders were always ill. I think it was a bit of an exaggeration but we had to check it out. We were offered another flat in that area so though we would check that out at the same time. The flat was a bit dreary but the new one was very nice. Maybe a bit large but we can look up a few of the rooms. So I think our visit was worthwhile and Elder Saunders is going to swap them over.
Then to finish the day off we popped into the Witts and we were welcomed with a bowl of homemade leek and potato soup. Yummy, well I thought it was yummy obviously Elder Saunders wouldn’t eat it!!!! But he had bread and Jam so couldn’t complain. We were spoilt by Sister Witts throwing together a quick desert but blow me if I can remember what it was. How we love spending quality time with our friends.
Blow Out!
Early Tuesday morning we headed off to Gisborne to move
the sisters to another flat. We were quite excited to see snow on the hills as we came closer to Gisborne. It rarely snows here which is why we were excited. We arrived in Gisborne just as the Missionaries were
finishing their district meeting. What a lovely welcome I got. They all started
singing happy birthday to me that was very special. I had actually baked
cookies for them all, yummy. So that was a nice treat for them. But when we all
went outside the missionaries said “you’ve got a flat tyre”, as if we would
fall for that one. Did you see the post a few days ago when I asked what is Gisborne
going to be remember for? Well here’s your answer. Flat tyres!!!! So yes we did
have a flat tyre. Elder Saunders did inflate the tyre a little which was enough
to get us to the garage. Then the drama started. The garage man said because we
did not have their tyres on the front wheels the lease plan was invalid. Also
one of the tyres was just on his limit so again invalid because he said it was
under!!! Thankfully after he had checked with the leasing company they agreed
to pay him so he changed the tyres. As
it all turned out alright in the end it also did us a favour because by the
time the tyre was changed so also was the trailer loaded with all the sister’s
furniture. Now it was time to supervise the unloading. Which did not take long
because we had the help of 6 Elders and 4 Sisters.
We had a nice relaxing evening. While Elder Saunders and Elder Belliston chatted in the lounge Sister Belliston and I sat on her bed and watched an Australian cooking programme. I have watched it once before so knew a few of the couples. I think it is called ‘My Kitchen Rules’. It was fun to watch but more fun to chat with Sister Belliston.
We had a nice relaxing evening. While Elder Saunders and Elder Belliston chatted in the lounge Sister Belliston and I sat on her bed and watched an Australian cooking programme. I have watched it once before so knew a few of the couples. I think it is called ‘My Kitchen Rules’. It was fun to watch but more fun to chat with Sister Belliston.
Friday, 17 July 2015
Happy Birthday To Me!
First thing Monday morning we went to the estate agent’s
office to ask for an Electrician to checkout our system. Thankfully he came out
within the hour and found the fault in the outdoor water feature. He sealed it
the best he could but we have left it unplugged just in case it blows the
electric again and no one is at home to reset the lights. The lights are also for the front porch and
our neighbour’s under cover car port which she needs to be able to park. Hence
the first job for the new missionary couple is to sort out the electric. There
are fish in the outdoor pond and if the water is not filtered through then mosquitos
will breed in the stagnant water.
So guess what we did for the rest of the afternoon. Well Elder Saunders slept and I watched the birds!!!!! Actually I had a nice chat with my friend Gay in England. I did appreciate the company especially as it was the middle of the night in England! At 4.50pm Elder Saunders was still sleeping and I was afraid that we would be late for a dinner appointment we had at 5.30. But he woke up just in time for us to arrive there at 5.31. What a lovely birthday treat. I felt spoilt. Chicken baked with apricots, maggots glazed with honey, cauliflower and broccoli cheese, mashed potato. Jahzae had make garlic bread and Djahni had made a banoffee pie especially for me as she knew that I loved it. We later participated in Family Home Evening. I was asked to choose my favourite hymn. That is always so difficult to choose but as it was FHE what other song could we sing but ‘Family Night’. Saunders and I started to sing it quietly to see if they knew it, but they didn’t so we ended up singing a duet of family night. Now our family may be asking did we get the last few lines correct or even did we sing the ending the same. Nope, nothing changes. We also played the simple ‘Heads Down, Heads Up game. Then we taught them the very complicated ‘Spot’ game. Some of you may be saying, that’s not a complicated game. But you try explaining and playing it when you are laughing so much. What a blessing to have made friends with such a special family.
My yummy Banoffee pie. It was really not that hard to cut. It just made a good photo.
So guess what we did for the rest of the afternoon. Well Elder Saunders slept and I watched the birds!!!!! Actually I had a nice chat with my friend Gay in England. I did appreciate the company especially as it was the middle of the night in England! At 4.50pm Elder Saunders was still sleeping and I was afraid that we would be late for a dinner appointment we had at 5.30. But he woke up just in time for us to arrive there at 5.31. What a lovely birthday treat. I felt spoilt. Chicken baked with apricots, maggots glazed with honey, cauliflower and broccoli cheese, mashed potato. Jahzae had make garlic bread and Djahni had made a banoffee pie especially for me as she knew that I loved it. We later participated in Family Home Evening. I was asked to choose my favourite hymn. That is always so difficult to choose but as it was FHE what other song could we sing but ‘Family Night’. Saunders and I started to sing it quietly to see if they knew it, but they didn’t so we ended up singing a duet of family night. Now our family may be asking did we get the last few lines correct or even did we sing the ending the same. Nope, nothing changes. We also played the simple ‘Heads Down, Heads Up game. Then we taught them the very complicated ‘Spot’ game. Some of you may be saying, that’s not a complicated game. But you try explaining and playing it when you are laughing so much. What a blessing to have made friends with such a special family.
My yummy Banoffee pie. It was really not that hard to cut. It just made a good photo.
Antartic Sunday
Sunday was a lovely morning at church. The Relief Society
lesson was about listening to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. We all shared
special personal experiences from our lives. Lunch for me was left over pasta.
Elder Saunders just went to sleep. He is coming down with a nasty cold and was
feeling quite poorly. So that left me to sit on the hillside behind the house.
Actually it’s the spa pool area, photos to post if they come out good. Anyway I
sat up there all by self for nearly two hours, well not quite by myself. I had
the birds to keep me company and the scenery was magnificent. 
The plan of keeping warm with the electric fires failed Sunday night as the electric kept tripping. Every time we reset it the alarm went off. I spoke to the lady downstairs to apologise if she could hear our alarm and it was actually louder downstairs. So we had to go to bed with no heating and lights so another cold night.
Kiwi Walk
Last night, Friday we decided to go on a Kiwi Walk. There is a special kiwi Reserve in Ohope so as the Kiwi's only come out at night we decided to go in the dark. I don't need a tourch I have my phone light!!!famous last words. We were only 10 mins into the walk and my battery was down to 50% so turned around and came back out. By the time we got to the entrance it was down to 33%.
5 minutes into the walk there was a sign post pointing the direction, 25 mins one way or 20 mins the other way. This would take us roughly to the midway point. Let’s go for the longer first leg we decided. Such a pretty first leg, for the first 10 mins. Then we went up and up and up and up and up and a flat spell must be near the top? Then we went up and up and up and up. By this time I was not feeling so good. Those of you who know me will know that general I avoid high place. But from the bottom looking up it didn’t look THAT high. I started to get panicky and started breathing deeply but that only last for so long. Poor Elder Saunders had me holding on to his sleeve for dear life. Until finally I fell to the ground and focused on getting my breath back to normal. Come on girl pull yourself together!!!! So after saying a pleading prayer I started to breath more normally and felt a lot more calm. Had I miraculous been transported down to the bottom of the bush and not still in the bush up the highest mount in New Zealand? (That’s just a little bit of an exaggeration but it’s poetic licence as I’m the author). NO, we were still on our way up to the top. But I was calmer and actually able to enjoy it a bit more. Well actually not really enjoy but tolerate the awful conditions! I now held Elder Saunders hand and calmly (not) climbed the last million steps. (Listen this is my story and if I want to use poetic licence I will, ok). It took us almost an hour to complete the first leg of 25 mins. But made it we did! There’s a photo that I took to prove it. Now the only way is down. So down and down and down and down and down and down and down and up and up, now wait a minute we already done the up bit??? Okay, only just a couple of hundred steps. (Tell the truth now about 40-50). Until finally we reached the bottom, yippee we made it. Now you may ask did we see any Kiwis, of course not they only come out at night. So are we to go back at night? Of course (not).
The view from the top Proof that we were at the top
Finally out!
As we were travelling home the phone battery completely died. If we had
continued on the walk into the pitch black bush the phone would not have been
the only thing that would have died. Little did I know what was on the sides of
the path through the bush!!!!!
Saturday afternoon we decided to go on the walk during
the day. Such a lovely start to the walk…..5 minutes into the walk there was a sign post pointing the direction, 25 mins one way or 20 mins the other way. This would take us roughly to the midway point. Let’s go for the longer first leg we decided. Such a pretty first leg, for the first 10 mins. Then we went up and up and up and up and up and a flat spell must be near the top? Then we went up and up and up and up. By this time I was not feeling so good. Those of you who know me will know that general I avoid high place. But from the bottom looking up it didn’t look THAT high. I started to get panicky and started breathing deeply but that only last for so long. Poor Elder Saunders had me holding on to his sleeve for dear life. Until finally I fell to the ground and focused on getting my breath back to normal. Come on girl pull yourself together!!!! So after saying a pleading prayer I started to breath more normally and felt a lot more calm. Had I miraculous been transported down to the bottom of the bush and not still in the bush up the highest mount in New Zealand? (That’s just a little bit of an exaggeration but it’s poetic licence as I’m the author). NO, we were still on our way up to the top. But I was calmer and actually able to enjoy it a bit more. Well actually not really enjoy but tolerate the awful conditions! I now held Elder Saunders hand and calmly (not) climbed the last million steps. (Listen this is my story and if I want to use poetic licence I will, ok). It took us almost an hour to complete the first leg of 25 mins. But made it we did! There’s a photo that I took to prove it. Now the only way is down. So down and down and down and down and down and down and down and up and up, now wait a minute we already done the up bit??? Okay, only just a couple of hundred steps. (Tell the truth now about 40-50). Until finally we reached the bottom, yippee we made it. Now you may ask did we see any Kiwis, of course not they only come out at night. So are we to go back at night? Of course (not).
The view from the top Proof that we were at the top
I'm glad you can't see behind those glasses. Sophia what is this plant?
Wednesday, 15 July 2015
On The Road Again
On Friday we went into the office for a few hours so that
I could sort the post and other bits. Elder Saunders sorted out any paper work
he had. We won’t be back in the office until late Wednesday afternoon or
possibly even Thursday. Before we left Hamilton I picked up a Subway from the
shop just down the road from the office. Shhh don’t tell anyone but the owner
is a church member and gives full-time missionaries a half price deal. Yummy!
We arrived in Whakatane about 2.30 and collect the keys to the flat for the new
missionary couple arriving in a couple of weeks. We planned to stay here for a
few days before going to Gisborne to move the Sisters into another flat. It was
very cold the first night we stayed even though we brought two oil heaters that
did not take the chill off the air. The only other heating is a log fire that
first needs cleaning before it can be used. So our first shopping trip on
Saturday was to buy electric heaters. So Saturday night was nice and toasty.
Saturday evening we had arranged to meet the Waihirere family at the chapel to collect some doughnuts. Their daughter Djahni is fundraising to go on a netball tournament next year in Australia. They bought a fundraising pack of Mamas Donuts while they were in Hamilton on a Temple trip that day. So we bought a box. President Waihirere said he was coming around to our flat to help us eat them. “No you’re not.” “Yes I am,” “No you’re not,” “Yes I am.” So the conversation went on and on for a few minutes. We had invited the Missionary Elders around to share doughnuts and ice cream plus I knew he had eaten some earlier. Also he had been travelling since early morning so no way would he come back to our temporary home (just a few days - but a really lovely few days). So just as we were leaving the chapel he said “Meet you at your place!” It was a really fun visit and he didn’t eat my doughnuts, he left that to the missionaries.
Yummy ice cream
Sister Saunders!
Saturday evening we had arranged to meet the Waihirere family at the chapel to collect some doughnuts. Their daughter Djahni is fundraising to go on a netball tournament next year in Australia. They bought a fundraising pack of Mamas Donuts while they were in Hamilton on a Temple trip that day. So we bought a box. President Waihirere said he was coming around to our flat to help us eat them. “No you’re not.” “Yes I am,” “No you’re not,” “Yes I am.” So the conversation went on and on for a few minutes. We had invited the Missionary Elders around to share doughnuts and ice cream plus I knew he had eaten some earlier. Also he had been travelling since early morning so no way would he come back to our temporary home (just a few days - but a really lovely few days). So just as we were leaving the chapel he said “Meet you at your place!” It was a really fun visit and he didn’t eat my doughnuts, he left that to the missionaries.
Yummy ice cream
Sister Saunders!
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