More than Enough!

We have had more than enough....packing and taping, paperwork/documentation, trips to lawyers, accommodation that is less than satisfactory (and dirty...was! I cleaned!) eating on the run, expensive but tasty food, you name it.
It is time for us to go Home!

We just ate a meal of mashed pumpkin, sautéed mushrooms and rib eye steak (on sale) with an egg on top followed by a green salad. A cup of coffee is cooling on the coffee table. There is no dining table in this accommodation. We sit at the aforementioned table or with a plate on our knees. The child unit sat cross legged on the floor when he joined us for a meal.
Lunch out with the mother unit cost us $60, and we only drank water...oh, I did remember to take photos.

Waz always enjoys (mostly!) Fish and Chips, and was expecting much more tasty fish than this. It was obviously previously frozen, which was disappointing, given the proximity to fresh fish in this city surrounded by water. I guess the garlic aioli was tasty, with the home fries, coz he licked the bowl.

 The mother unit thoroughly enjoyed her sweetcorn and zucchini fritters with bacon, tomato relish and sour cream. She handed a rasher of bacon off to me to finish.

 My Eggs Benedict on Hash Cakes was delicious, and the hollandaise sauce was very tasty, and plenty of it without being swamped. I loved the pea shoots as a garnish, and the wilted baby spinach.

Because the mother unit gets out less and less these days, it was nice to see her enjoying her meal, which she thought was very 'special'. I think it was tasty, which made it so special. At 90 (in Sept) her taste buds dont always register flavors, but the bacon obviously touched a good spot, for her:)

We had taken Mum for her flu shot prior to lunch, and then took our time at the garden store café, enjoying the setting and especially the scent of the jonquils just around the corner.

Hang on a moment...didnt we just leave France in SPRING? with Daffodils and jonquils et al flowering their heads off ?? And Summer has just come to a close in New Zealand, so this would make Autumn/Fall in NZ wouldn't it? Hmm...Spring bulbs in the Fall? Im not complaining, just interested to see the tulips. Hyacinths and other spring bulbs in full bloom and on display...in Fall!

We have found a café nearby to the Storage Unit that has less expensive Lattes. The Bunnings Hardware stores usually have really good food and coffee we find, so having remembered that we had enjoyed regular coffees at a Bunnings in Rotorua, last year, we sought to find the café in the local store. YES! $3.50 for a medium latte, vs $4.50 -$5 elsewhere, nearby. Their sweet treats were also at least $1 less expensive than the opposition. We will return if we need a latte in the future.

Remember I talked about the silkiness of the foam on top of the latte? Yes, it has to be the good NZ milk. Never have we tasted it this good elsewhere in the world.

Having bought some bacon when we first arrived, I finally made bacon and eggs for breakfast the other morning. This is shoulder bacon, typical of bacon in NZ. Very little fat, and mostly meat. Delicious! In France English style bacon is known as Poitrine fumee, and it is more like American bacon. Bacon per se, in France looks more like what is known as Canadian Bacon, and looks more like ham to us. We tried the French Poitrine Fumee before we left France and decided we have to try some other form of the meat.

 These are the color of egg yolks that are not kept in the cooler or fridge. American egg yolks by comparison look like nothing we are familiar with, and they taste like the chemical wash they go through before being put into cartons and kept in coolers in American supermarkets.

They are not 'free range' but are 'cage free' eggs... from the hens, that is. They taste like eggs should. These are the kind of eggs we get in France also, but pay half the price. These ones Size 6's (small)were around $6 for 1 dozen.

So what else have we been up to?
Filling out paperwork has taken a bit of time. It all has to be translated, and thanks to GoogleTranslate I am able to do that and it makes sense when I re-translate it back to English. I do have to watch my turn of phrase somewhat as when I re-translate it, I get some weird stuff! lol.

Time consuming, but I am learning French at the same time.
We started numbering all the cartons that were packed some 6 years ago for storage. We are up to item #198. So much isnt going to be numbered, but we do that for things that cant easily be identified...hence those in cartons get a number. We have done plenty of throwing out, repackaging, giving away to family items that we just wont use in France...we have area rugs already, so cousins were grateful for the donation. The one rug had belonged to our grandmother so it has special significance.
Toys have been donated to the grandchildren generation. Not my grandkids, but the children of my cousins. Thousands of dollars worth of legos, Lego Mind Storms (robotics) and assorted other toys were given to the same cause. We are glad they will be used and hopefully passed along when no longer useful to the recipients.

Going through the children's (now adults) books, school records, trophies etc has brought back many memories. I have photographed as much as I think relevant, and while I hate to throw most of it away (recycle), those days are gone and the boys dont want it to clutter up their lives. Fair enough!

I found Piano recital trophies, which I wish could be recycled...what on earth do I do with them? Son doesnt want them, and I would have to post them internationally...think $$$.

I have loved looking through the youngest son's Montessori school folder and following each years' activity summary, his likes and dislikes, poetry, photos, artwork etc. I have photographed those items I think are significant, and will recycle the paper.
I think he was 7/8 when he wrote/drew this. I love the spelling! He HATED writing...as he says, and still ! He read anything and everything. As he says, it is his most favorite thing in the whole world:) And still!

 Self portrait age 8. I'm interested that he thought his skin was brown. He is quite pale in actuality.

 Always a highly creative child, this hat perfectly illustrates my child:) A little bit of everything is included...just in case! That is a telescope  at his left eye.
My kids recycled all the family cardboard and paper, so making something like this at school was second nature to him. I believe he is about 6/7 in this photo.

We will sign our updated NZ wills tomorrow morning and revisit the shipping company to sign more documents. Hopefully this is the end of the documents to be sent to France with the container.

We are expecting inclement weather on Sunday, Mother's Day. We have a lunch date with some good friends, and then afternoon tea with Mum and my brother and his kids...perhaps the child unit will join us. We celebrate each day with mum, at her age.

We have a trip 2 hrs north to visit Waz's dad who turned 96 in April, next week after the container has been packed. We always enjoy visiting his sister and brother- in -law on the farm at the same time.

Well, it looks like we will miss the Royal Wedding due to being in the air at that time (on our way home to France), on the 19th...yeeha! says Waz. He is happy to be missing all the hoopla!
I remember I was working  in Venice, Italy when Chuck and Di tied the knot. We sat in the Bar/Restaurant at Camping Fusina and watched the Royal goings on on TV.  That's my "Remember where you were when..." story. lol.

With 95% of storage unit investigation complete, there are only a few things we weren't able to access due to large furniture being in the way. Waz rather contorted himself into small spaces to document and number boxes that we packed back in 2012. We will finish it off when the truck arrives on Monday. In the meantime, we deal with ersatz issues and things, spend some time with my brother whose business isnt far away, and enjoy the odd meal out with family members.
There have been some items in our possession that we have felt needed to stay in New Zealand. They have gone to the respective family members to deal with in due course. We were in two minds about some of the artwork, but we dont want to rid ourselves of some of the precious NZ art that will eventually grace our walls in France, and we will enjoy them as we always have. We just hope that our family will recognize them for what they are and similarly enjoy them or return them to NZ, eventually. We wont be here to know, so we have faith that the right thing will be done when that time comes.

Yes, sounds a bit morbid, but we have had to think a wee way down the road, to be honest. Looking ahead is always a bit like crystal ball gazing, and we dont have the benefit of that, unfortunately...or not. It is too late now...things will be on their way by the middle of next week. Our Florida goodies are already on the water/ship and we are following their progress online. We hope to see them by the end of the month. Yay! Better get cracking cleaning out the basement in France!! Phew!

Bye for now. A busy week coming up!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers, and isnt it wonderful that some of us still have our mothers around to celebrate with!
I think every day should be mothers day, frankly...and Father's Day too! Lets just celebrate each other, enjoy each day that we wake up, and move forward with grace.

Au Revoir.