Never let it be said....

...that we lead boring lives!:)

Getting to our home in France was not what we organized, but we went with the flow, as you do.

Leaving a very wet Auckland...whoa neddy! Back up the horse....
All seated and pulled away from the Gate at Auckland International Airport, we were stopped. We thought we were waiting for another plane to land before taxiing onto the runway.
Announcements, announcements, anouuuuuuncements! (sing the song, it helps!)

"We will be returning to the gate as we have smelled a burning of some electrics. We just want to check it out with one of our engineers".

Deja Vu? This happened the time before last also! Crikey! Something about leaving Auckland...are we really supposed to leave, one could ask??

One hour later, all checked out, some water being distributed up and down the aisles etc...no snacks yet...this is almost 9pm, and thank goodness we had thought to have a pre-dinner dinner.... knowing we would be eating about an hour after take-off, as you do on these long-haul flights.

So, back to the runway and take-off this time. With a 13 hr flight to San Francisco ahead of us, I just wanted to take my 'mother's helpers' (two little blue sleep aids!) and nod off, but I knew I would be starving in the morning, so endured (not really) the evening meal which was delicious, coming from the AirNZ kitchens, and especially the Kapiti Ice-cream 'Lemon Shortcake'! WOW! If you haven't tried it, do it!
Auckland was pretty wet for our departure, which always creates it's own issues...turbulence isnt my favorite take off or landing. A fully laden aircraft lumbering into the clouds above the ocean...well, I dont look!
An Airnz plane waiting for passengers...raining much!

We were packed in more closely (sardines doesnt really describe it)!than usual it seemed. Waz was pissed off that he had a leg support in the middle of his foot area, and our knees touched the seat in front, especially when they reclined their seats, in front. Older plane? Our trip TO Auckland had been fantastic, with heaps of leg room in Cattle Class.
While the little blue pills helped somewhat, it was a restless night for both of us.
I dont normally watch movies, preferring to sleep on the overnight flights, but I did end up watching a couple. Dont ask me what I watched, I cant remember any of it, lol.

During the flight we made it known that we would now be missing our connection in SFO, to Paris, being an hour late with an already tight layover. The airline staff were fantastic, and booked us on the only flight to available to Heathrow, now flying with British Airways instead of Untied, and onwards to Paris from there with BA.

It is 37 years since I landed at or left Heathrow, London, and I hoped it would be a LOT different to my memories of  the over-crowded place it had been. Silly me! It was as crowded as I remembered, but more modern and attractive...but crowded. I think someone who doesn't frequent the airport must have designed the spaces around the gates/restaurants, which all blend into one. I object to having to find a seat in a restaurant when most of them are taken by people who are no longer eating or drinking, but hanging out waiting for flights because there is no other space to sit.
The food was expensive (spending British pounds, now) of course, and not frightfully imaginative, and the English Breakfast tea we ordered came with milk...no question about whether you wanted it that way, lol...you got it the way the English drink it...and we haven't drinked it (deliberate grammar error) that way for a millennium. But it was hot, so it was ok!

Eating at regular times when the body tells you to eat...well, I'm not sure the body was telling me anything other than go to sleep, at this stage, but we ate anyway. Dont ask me what we ate, coz I dont remember! sheesh!

Onwards to Paris. A 45 minute flight on an aircraft (inter-European hopper) where, to get a cuppa you had to fork over about 2.30 pounds. No such luck mate. We asked for water, which came from a tap on the aircraft...warm. lol.

Arriving in Paris, you notice the lack of toilets immediately. At least the Heathrow toilets were clean. We always fail to understand what the French dont get about keeping bathrooms clean...but that could fill a whole book, and I dont want to go further into that. Those of you who know French loos will know all this! lol.

We were only 5 hours behind our previous schedule, and checked into our favored Ibis Styles (ee beece steels) Hotel at the Airport...Terminal 2, Roissey-Pol stop on the shuttle....Always comfy beds!

They didnt have our booking, claiming that we were booked into the hotel 20 mins down the road. Eh? I didnt have the confirmation printed out...for lack of a printer, but they accommodated us, and upon seeing that we are indeed multi-repeat customers they gave us a free drink at the bar. WOW!


We also had a room on the 8th floor which meant we had a fabulous view over Terminal 3 activities, out the huge window. Nice! This cloud formation was like no other we had ever seen.

As it was 5.30-pm by this stage, and I was fading fast...lack of sleep and good regular food will do that for you....we decided to stay at the hotel and eat our dinner there. Food being a necessity, by this stage, but not something to remember...I think I ordered the Smoked Salmon Salad. Not memorable, but I needed veg/salad, and a pick-me-up...being the rolls with butter while we waited for the main course and copious quantities of water.
What delightful American table mates we had, this evening. Always a pleasure to communicate with those who travel and find out where they have been and where they are going. My blood sugar level had obviously risen, as Waz had to drag me off to bed....to sleep! 8 pm and the light was OUT!

4am and the light was ON! Yep! 8 hrs of sleep later....and we were up and dressed and waiting for the buffet to open downstairs which it does at 4.30am.
Plenty of other people out and about at that hour, similarly sleep challenged, I imagine.
We heard what we thought were kiwi accents across the way, and of course I had to enquire. Nope! Aussies, but hey, we all come from the lands downunda, right? They joined us at our table and we learned a heap from these delightful people. I love hearing where people are from and the fact that it is such a small world, we knew the same people from their hometown:)
Joan and Peter (mother and son) were off to the D-Day beaches and St Malo/Mont St Michel for the next week before flying to Germany to connect with their cousins there. As Limousin Cattle breeders in Australia, they return to the origins of the cattle each year (being France) for selection of sire sperm (AI or Artificial Insemination) and to get together with other breeders worldwide, of course.

A walk in the cool morning air followed our first breakfast...we have a circuit around the hotel that we favor, and we enjoyed the cool but not cold air. This is coming up summer here! yay!

Paris was a warm and lovely 26C yesterday. What a pleasure to see all the green leaves on the trees, and for us the anticipation of the vines being in full leaf.:)
We decided, at about 7am to have another breakfast and stash some food for our trip on the TGV to Angouleme. They dont seem to mind...in fact, we are always encouraged to eat as much as we like and have numerous breakfasts if we wish.
So with our hands full of hard boiled eggs, thick slices of Pain Cereal (Grain bread), some fruit and a couple of pouches of pure apple sauce, we went back to make final departure preparations in our room. We were due to leave the Airport on the TGV, via about three stops, to Angouleme, arriving around noon. We did in fact arrive at 12.15pm, but as the Car rental place was closed for lunch (who does that!??? small towns, that's who!) we had to wait until 2.30pm for them to re-open.
eating our lunch in the main hall of the newly renovated Train Station, we spent time observing people, various doing word search in French (Waz is getting really good at this!) and finding more food. Our small selection of food from the Hotel failed in most departments, but the greatest flaw in the meal was the lack of cheese! How could I have forgotten the cheese??

Let me back-track a day or two.
Our final day in Auckland was spent cleaning the apartment, finding that we did indeed have a mouse under the sink, and it had an affinity for the dish brush...eh? I left the mess there, as I had not been provided with a vacuum cleaner.

 Cleaned up, we decided on breakfast at one of our favorite if pricey restaurants at Silverdale. We had enjoyed a meal here with friends the previous sunday.
Our Eggs Benedict were pretty and tasted great. They should have at $19! Love NZ bacon! Waz likes his bacon super crispy and eggs hard. I like mine lightly cooked (eggs) and bacon average. The pesto as a garnish was excellent, as were the pea shoots.

After breakfast we made final preparations for departure, leaving the apartment around 10am.
A visit to the Mother Unit was in order, and having worked with her all the previous week to make some big changes to her diet, I was determined to make sure she had enough food to last her a while. Getting her feedback is important, and we made a couple of changes, which necessitated Waz and me going to the grocery store. That complete, Waz and I enjoyed our last lunch in Auckland and headed back to Mum's to make her some lunch. She was still in her night wear, not feeling 100%, and she was most grateful for some tender loving care.
It is tough to leave our elders when they aren't feeling well, and I dont know when I will see her again. We do what we can for our family when we can, but it never seems to be enough. Mum's mental state has deteriorated, and I have been grieving over this since we left. I have no idea what state she will be in the next time I'm home, and I fear that she may be in an even more compromised situation and possibly not living independently any more. Tough calls to make! We three siblings are determined for her to live a quality life as long as she is able, in her own apartment within a retirement complex. There is no elder care available there, so thank goodness for socialized medicine in NZ where she can get help in her own home from Govt. agencies!

The car had to be returned by 3.30pm, and we were glad it was the weekend in Auckland. The traffic is lunatic no matter the day, but slightly less on a Sunday.
A stop for fuel and a coffee before returning the car and being driven to the International Terminal.

We did our thing at departures and passed through security so that we could enjoy some quiet time before the flight boarded just after 7pm. I was feeling pretty emotional about Mum still, and found tears flowing without having much control over them. I let them flow!

Oh, now I remember...I watched the movie Lady Bird. This of course was exactly the wrong movie to be watching, about a mother - daughter relationship, at such a time. Just as well the cabin was dark inside!

Back to Angouleme: Finally the car rental shop opened and we found we didnt have a booking with THIS depot, but with one up the road some 2kms. To heck with that! They did honor the booking (same company) and today when we returned the car, he insisted on showing me on their website, which depot I should have booked under. I swear it wasn't there when we booked!
Anyhoo...we had to rent a car to get home, the half hour drive from Angouleme. We booked the car for a day (not inexpensive, I might add...we need to figger this out a whole lot better!) and returned it this morning. Our Depot manager was very personable and we managed to laugh at our jetlagged logic (or not) together. He was most understanding.:)

Waz followed me into Angouleme in our car, this morning. We had set up the GPS so that I wouldn't get lost (he is normally the navigator) but once I found the signs to SNCF Gare, I followed those. Good to know my brain still works on jetlag! ha!
When we picked up the car yesterday we had stopped off at Auchan in La Couronne, a suburb of Angouleme which is closer to home, and did a food shop. We wont have to be buying food for another week hopefully! Too much to do. The car was pretty packed full of suitcases and food, and it took a while for us to unload when we got home.

Speaking of home...WOW! All the green everywhere. What a delight to be driving the familiar roads which in winter were in a less verdant countryside, but this time we are surrounded by vines with leaves, trees with leaves and fields with green crops. Gorgeous!

The house wasn't too dusty after 5 weeks away, and we felt inclined to get to work straight away. With our first container due on June 6th or thereabouts, we are feeling the push to complete so many small items on our long list.

I think I have finally 'hit the wall' tonight. Since the middle of the afternoon, I have been pushing myself to complete projects, but not really had the wherewithal to do so. Waz is a bit of a machine too, and completed a fair number of projects that were outstanding. Only at my insistence did he not go out at 7pm and do some more. They can wait.

Im off to bed now. Cant keep the eyes open a moment longer.
What a dry post, lol...sorry! Im sure there will be plenty more in coming days.
Some photos for you to enjoy. Garden and lawn are a total mess, but they can wait!

Night night.

I had pruned heavily before leaving in early april, and now everything is overwhelming.

 What a glorious surprise!

 Good thing I pruned and cleaned the lavender up, before leaving it in early April.

So many grapes on this old vine that climbs up the side of the terrace out back.

 Fresh food and favorites for lunch.

 Stunning bronze Iris came out this morning.

 Love this gentle colored iris.

 A single white climbing rose. What abundance!

 Waz is checking out the sprinkler heads which were more like fountains.The Columbines in the foreground are almost finished blooming. it is hot out there.

 I discovered a clematis which I then encouraged to climb over the front gate trellis.

 A lovely red rose blooming it's head off in a back corner of the hugely overgrown garden.

 Waz re-anchored the gates so that they now shut without having to manhandle them into place. Yay!

That's it folks.
 xx

Finito, Fini, Finished!

Well, almost! We still have to have all the documentation approved, and then perhaps I will regain my composure and half a brain, and be able to somewhat relax for the rest of our time in NZ. This process is stressful!

Today we finished the process of packing, packaging and getting ALL our 424 wrapped/boxed items onto the truck to be loaded into a 40 foot container. Who would have thunk there would be so much 'stuff'?
We are at the point where we say things like "Well, if it all sinks, we wont miss any of it!". We cant insure items we have packed ourselves, so we opted for Total Loss! What more can we do?
We have to put a value of 30% of retail (roughly) on the items, which means the whole shipment is basically worthless, lol. Given that everything has been in storage since October 2012, and we havent seen 999% of it since then, it is now 6 yrs older than originally.

I remember moving to a new home on Maui, and after 2 years I emptied some of the cartons, to find that we just didnt need the contents any more. I donated a truck load to charity. Some of it was brand new.

We have signed a piece of paper to say we will not gift, sell or donate anything we are importing, within the first 12 months of our residence in France.

Phew! I feel that I have been a crazy woman all day. We started packing, packaging and loading the truck yesterday with a crew of three excellent folk. Crown Worldwide Relocations is a New Zealand company well known for the quality of their moves. We were happy to employ them, and can honestly say we are delighted with the service so far.

The only fly in the ointment appeared late morning in the form of two new men, to load the truck, as the two others from yesterday kept packaging. Our remaining two from yesterday worked like Trojans both days, and we learned a lot about packaging and packing...two distinctly different things.

Just getting started!

Our two new fellas were not as careful, didnt appear to read the FRAGILE signs all over some boxes, and didnt know how to spell Heavy! HAEVY?? I did (with a big smile on my face) remind them to read the signs on each box, and insisted that they were careful when I thought they were being a bit rough and ready. I shouldn't have had to do that. I almost felt as if I was watching those luggage handlers at the airport! They seem to forget that people have personal belongings in their bags, and that they paid good money for the bag itself.
I have made my feelings clear to our company contact.

Fitting in the pieces of our lives. They couldn't fit the 40ft container into the parking lot, so they had to transfer it all from the truck to the container at the depot, which is a quarantine area.

We have been rising at 6am to be at the Storage facility by 8. It is still dark...this is middle of May in NZ, and winter is just around the corner. It has been 20-24C during the day, but cool in the mornings and evenings. Today was normal humid Auckland weather and it didnt take much to raise a sweat.

While the company folks packed and packaged, Waz and I checked, identified items to pack and where, and number and inventory. I am the keeper of the numbers, each of which had to go onto each carton/item on a white sticker. This was distinct from the other 'old' numbers that some of the recycled boxes had on them.
The company have their own numbering system, and they have to know what is in each box, and preferably eye-ball it for themselves, so that we dont pack anything illegal. They sign for it all on behalf of the company. We threw plenty of illegals out and took plenty of no-go's to the local Women's Shelter shop, with the rest going to my brother who has a business nearby, fortunately.  Gardening equipment or anything with rust on it is a no-go due to bio-security concerns. Best not to pack anything that might raise eyebrows and sniffer dogs at customs!

We were most anxious to get our lovely black sofas out of the unit. We knew they might be moldy, but didnt know HOW moldy, and were prepared for the worst.  I dont remember cleaning the leather prior to storage. So, out came the love seat...a 2 seater. They have electric footstools, which is one feature we love about them.

I had purchased a leather cleaner and conditioner in advance of their big reveal, and rather tentatively started on the clean-up. Voila!

The white thing in the middle is the electrics. The sofa came up like new. Phew! It was duly wrapped, after a suitable time to dry off...not before we had a sit down for old time's sake:)
Waz wished the recliner reclined!

How to wrap a sofa!

The pile outside the truck grew. One of the crew spent the majority of his time fitting it all into the truck.

At 3.30pm the truck was trussed up, but they managed to fit yet more in there within the next hour. We were desperate to leave at 4pm, but there was another hour to go before they left and we got to lock up, and totally exhausted, make our way home to our cottage in the country.

We were so glad to finish for the day...but wait! I had homework...I had to type the inventory in both French and English at the end of the day. Thank goodness for Google translate. I do know enough French to know when I haven't entered the correct phrase or words to elicit the correct translation. It takes a little time, but I am also learning more vocab as well!

Another 6am start to the day, today, as we were told the crew would be at the Storage facility by 8am again. We beat them by about 1 1/2 hrs. They were busy transferring our goods from truck to Container, apparently. It gave Waz and me an opportunity to take a look at what was left, and to do some packaging for ourselves. I had requested that they take the 3 seater sofa out as soon as possible, so that I could clean and condition it. This one was in better shape than the other, which was interesting considering how damp it was in the unit. Some of the leather had almost no mold at all!

Voila! Like new again:)

Wrapped and shipped!

When the truck left for the depot this afternoon, I took our washing to the laundry in Silverdale 5 mins away, and while there found someone to give me a haircut. It was a bare trim  with no wash or dry = $32, thanks. It took all of ten mins.
I also managed to find mum a warm sweater in almost new condition, at the Hospice Shop.
Waz stayed behind to help one of the Fellas from Hibiscus Coast Guard (where Waz used to be a member) dismantle the infrastructure inside the Unit. We have donated the timber to their cause.

I arrived back at the unit with all the freshly laundered clothes just as the car and trailer was pulling out and Waz had keys in hand to pass back to the owners of the facility. We said our farewells and made our way to  my brother's workshop to drop off those items we chose not to pack. He has 'inherited' rather a lot of 'stuff'!
Home and a cuppa, and straight to work finishing the inventory.
Some shitty news from France about documentation needed that we cannot under any circumstances provide....and I have sounded off about people who tick boxes for a living without thinking outside those boxes. We have never lived a 'normal' life and it creates problems at every turn. You would think??? that they would get curve balls all the time, wouldn't you? I am not sure I look forward to tomorrow's mail! They are asking us to provide evidence that we are moving 'back' to France, who our employers are/were (in the USA) and an attestation from some 'authority' in the USA to say we have lived there for more than the past 12 months.
To begin with (and we have stated and signed this information) we are retired and have been for the past 6 years. We dont have nor have we ever had employers in the USA. We are NOT returning French people! What part of this information do they not understand? Because it is written on a form, nobody has questioned its relevance to us! Blimey! Anyway, moving right along!



Sunday was Mother's Day. We all gathered at Mum's apartment to celebrate. Lovely to have my brother David and his two sons there and joining my youngest son, Waz and myself. We bought a Carrot Cake for the gathering and we boiled the kettle for cups of tea. Conversation flowed between all of us, and we remembered to take some photos! Cant take enough of our mother at 89 3/4. She is doing so well, and we love spending time with her. It is very difficult to be so far away from her at a time when we could do so much with her, but she has a wonderful support system in place, and I look forward to those free phone calls from landline to landline, once we return to France.

Mum has 7 grandsons...no granddaughters! Something in the water?? Our elder sister lives in the USA and is mother to two boys. I have three and David has two monsters. My youngest son Sam (26) is on the right. James is the eldest of David's on the left (15 and 6ft 1") and youngest, Mitchell, is in the middle (13). Mum loves to be surrounded by all the Grandies.

Having dealt with a medical emergency on Friday, we are happy Mum is doing better. She looks marvelous in these photos.
I am  working with mum to increase her nutrition. Medics said she was underweight for her height, and I concur. She is determined to live independently as long as she can, and one way to do that is to eat better food, and get enough calories. We have seen a huge difference over the past four days, since she has been eating more protein and drinking a complete supplement first thing in the morning when her blood sugar is lowest.  Long may it last. I will do my best to ensure she is in tip top shape by the time we leave for France.

Well, its now 9.30pm and I am at the tooth-picks to keep eyes open stage. A nice hot shower sounds wonderful...

We are having lunch with friends tomorrow and dinner with a dear cousin. We made the appointment with the friends early this time, as we always seem to miss them, on previous visits. Looking forward to catching up on all their news, and probably welcoming them as guests to our new home in France, later in the year.
Friday we are having dinner with Sam (son) and will see him for the last time, this visit. He is doing really well, but I miss so much about his company and person. We make sure to have plenty of hugs, the two of us. Hoping he will choose to visit his old mother and Waz in France some time soon! We live in hope:)

Ciao for now...Au Revoir?  A bientot!

Visiting with Family and Mother's Day.

We set off around 6.30am this morning, bound for Whangarei, just over 2 hours north of Auckland and our current location.
We ate scrambled eggs on Vogel's Toast (Brand of bread which we crave when we return home to NZ) at home, but stopped in Wellsford for a much needed coffee and toilet break. It was raining, and we had forgotten our brolly (umbrella). No matter, we didnt melt when we made a dash from the car to the coffee shop.

We always love coming over the hill at the top of the Brynderwyns (a particularly windy and dangerous stretch of hill country road) and looking out across the cinder cone dotted countryside to the Whangarei Heads, stretching out in the Pacific Ocean. It is a sight that tells us we only have 45 mins of driving to get to Whangarei township. Warren's birthplace.
We stopped in downtown for another toilet stop and to check out our favorite souvenir store. We bought some mementoes to take back to France. One of those is a very Kiwi house number made of porcelain and brightly painted. It will be affixed to our front gate.

Our visit up north was to say hello to Waz's 96  yr old dad. Poppa was found to be in fine shape...in fact, much better than when we saw him last year in August. He still has his marbles and marvels, and he had a good chat with Waz about our new home, while I was accosted by a charming young woman named Trudy, who turned out to be a very tender 94 yrs old. Trudy and I had a wonderful conversation, and I learned a lot about her life in the short time we had sitting together.
We were given a tour of the facilities by poppa, and left him just before his lunch time. We stopped at the supermarket on our way out of town, buying some food to share when we visited with Waz's sister and brother in law on the farm, next stop.

All kinds of changes taking place on the farm, and it is always wonderful to catch up with them and have puppy loves with Duke, the gorgeous Black Lab, who shares a birthday with our former dog Possum. Both of them are now 11 yrs old. Duke has semi-retired from Bird dog and Farm dog to Inside dog. A good transition in my eyes:) He is always most appreciative of a tummy rub.

We enjoyed lunch together, lively conversation and catching up with family gossip.
We left there going on 4pm, heading home again. The rain came and went, but everywhere was pretty damp and lots of surface water on the road. We took it easy.

Wellsford was the stopping place for dinner. We were hungry by 5pm - all that talk!!...and we decided to eat there. Waz enjoyed an Indian Take Away, and I opted for Fish (Hoki) and Chips. They were delicious and so fresh.

I dont like driving the winding roads in the dark, and there was a surprising amount of traffic for a Saturday. Wet roads dont encourage risky behavior fortunately and the traffic was generally well behaved. We arrived home just after 6pm, and have been happy to catch up with my mother, who has not been well. She sounds much chirpier today, thankfully.

Tomorrow we meet old friends for brunch, and then gather with my brother and his boys, and my son, at Mum's apartment to celebrate Mother's Day with her. At 90, these times are precious, and she is a wonderful mother, so this is a great pleasure for us all.
I know she will miss us when we leave, and with no set date for our return visit to NZ, we will make sure to have frequent phone conversations with her in the future, from France.

So, that's our day today. No time for photos, sorry. Another day!

We Come By it Honestly.

Our genetic makeup that is.

I found my box of personal papers, while on this packing journey.

It contains all my old school reports from the year dot. It contains my Ballet and Latin American Dance exam records, from the ages of 10 through 12. It contains records of my cooking career, the letters of reference from my employers, many and various, and some of the gazillion courses I attended and attained certificates and Diplomas in.
I have to admit to being a bit tentative in the opening of it.

I hated school, was not always successful there either academically or, as it turns out from the comments on report cards, on the sports field. Comments suggest I could have had more enthusiasm for the activities, lol. I did well during the school year and in class, but failed miserably in exams. School certainly is no predictor of adult success!

I was successful as a member of various theatrical performances and as a member of the school orchestra. I wasn't a Yehudi Menuhin on the Violin, but I tried hard and led the 2nd violins in my final year of High School.
I was also a successful Ward's Maid at the local Geriatric Hospital, on weekends, while in my final year of school. I loved it there, and it paid exceptionally well. I remember being paid $45 per weekend. In the early 70's that was a lot of money!

My sister and I often rode a 50 cc Motor scooter to High School. This was not a common mode of transport for young ladies in those days and when we moved from small town NZ to city NZ, we were considered a bit 'country', but somewhat envied I think, for the amount of independence we enjoyed as a result of having lived in a small rural town.
Motorbikes later featured as my only mode of transport in the form of a 250 XL Honda on-road/off-road bike. I obtained my motorbike license at the age of 15, four years before getting my car license.

Graduating High School after four years, at the age of 16, and not knowing what I wanted to do with my life, I entered the workforce as a Pharmacy Assistant, graduating eventually from counter work to assisting the pharmacist fulfilling prescriptions. I learned how to count drugs and read illegible Doctor's notes and signatures. That's about all I remember of that job...oh, and that all the condoms were kept out of sight under the counter, making anyone who wanted them to have to come to the counter and ask the young women working there, for the condoms. How incredibly embarrassing!
I earned $15 dollars a week, and learned that if I wants to purchase any clothing, I had to put the item on Lay-Away, paying it off each week, out of my meagre pay packet. Good thing we grew up sewing our own clothes.

My second job was as a Media Assistant at an Advertising Agency in the big city. I was also the mail clerk and worked the Tea Trolley on the Tea Lady's day off. I liked that job as there were always left over chocolate biscuits available at the end!
From this job I applied for and was accepted into the NZ Army as one of the first 9 women to train as Chefs. It sure was a man's world...I learned how to swear like a trooper in the Army, much to the chagrin of my parents, but the delight of my much younger brother:) I have to admit to not losing that ability much:)

I wont bore you with my whole job history, but my love of travel and food has taken me around the world and enabled me to have experiences open to only a fortunate few. I think the only drawback to a lifetime of travel is that there is always somewhere else to go, so 'settling down' becomes increasingly challenging.
That's a warning, by the way!

While we may be setting up home in the Sunny Charente, we are happy to use France as a base for further travel throughout Europe when the feet begin to itch again.

So, here I was wondering if I should throw away all these report cards, certificates etc, and wondering whether anyone in my family will ever look at any of them and is it stupid of me to take them with me? I think I will. I can make a judgement call on that at a later date. I might just write a memoir in the meantime, and they will prove valuable for that. My kids might even marvel at their mother when I'm no longer here, and wish they had known me better?? One can hope.

Yes, all this change does rather bring about some navel gazing, doesnt it. As we stare down the final move of our lives...as we think of it...we dont intend to bring anything back or take it to our next move, whatever that might be. This move is somewhat finite. They might cart us out of France in a cardboard box, or we might decide, somewhere down the years, that we want to be somewhere else. Either way, this is the last time we pay to take our 'stuff' anywhere. You read this here!!

Time with family, kids and elders in recent days has been delightful, and always good to catch up as our kids and their cousins grow both in physical terms and emotionally. My almost 15 yr old nephew is now 6ft 1", where he was at least 4 inches shorter than that 6 months ago when I was here last. He is a delightful young man and I look forward to watching his progress in the next couple of years as he decides on a career course. His younger brother already has large hands, so I am guessing that he too will be a tall young man. Height does run in our side of the family, yet their mother is barely more than 5ft tall! lol.

So, I am going to leave you now, take my dear husband to bed, and hopefully enjoy a good night's sleep.

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful Moms, and I hope you enjoy the generosity of your families tomorrow and every day.

Night, night.

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.

Finding ourselves on the Home Run.

This blog is being started on day 5 of our 17 day trip to NZ.
Our flights on the 30th April, from Jacksonville, Florida to Chicago (good sushi to be had in the airport, there), to San Francisco (where we took advantage of our one time United Club Cards) and then an overnight flight to NZ (12 hours) found us arriving at 5.30am on the 2nd May. You always lose a day on this flight.

We picked up a rental car (a cute little Toyota Corolla, this time) in the early hours and headed to our favorite breakfast place. We had to sit in the parking lot of the Albany Mall and wait for the Hollywood Bakery to open so that we could indulge ourselves in some good kiwi kai (food). NZ lattes are THE best in the world...no joking! The foam on the top is silky and smooth, and I think the milk is the best anywhere...not being too biased, of course:)
Breakfast consists...for Waz...of a steak and cheese pie, and a cinnamon apple muffin. At Hollywood bakery you get a free muffin with a med/large hot drink.

 One of the things I miss the most, elsewhere in the world, is a Club Sandwich, which may sound really funny to many of you, if you know what they are, but I have loved them for as long as I can remember. This one was particularly good! My free muffin was a blueberry. Not so good, but we were hungry. Airline food out of the USA is not our favorite, and the rubber omelet we endured with the tater tots (like rubber also) was not very filling or very appealing.

I ended up eating this sandwich with a fork, it was so large.

You know that spacey feeling you have when you have been sitting in an aircraft for too long? Yes, we had that in spades, even though we each managed a good number of sleep hours.
I have to admit to taking drugs for my night time flights, and they work wonders. It sure helps when you have to hit the ground running, like we did.
After breakfast we did a quick food shop, and headed out to visit the mother Unit.
 She is always our first stop (not too early these days, as at 90, she needs a little more time to get up!) and there is nothing quite like Mother Hugs, no matter how old you are! We cherish all the hugs we can get from her these days. She is in good health mostly, but memory issues drive her nuts! She has always been so 'onto it' and I know this is very frustrating for her, now.

She was up and breakfasted and waiting for us. Lovely to spend a little time with her before we ventured forth to check on the state of the Storage Unit. Opening the door has been something we have done each time we returned home, usually shutting it again soon after. This time we opened and evaluated how we were going to 'attack' the task ( a little daunting, I have to admit) of removing, inventorying and readying all our left over belongings to be shipped to France.
We were especially interested to find out how our lovely leather sofa's have survived almost 6 years in storage. We didnt wrap them when we put them in the locker, and we hoped this was a good choice. They are in fact not too moldy, and we purchased some product to help us get rid of that when we take them out.

We weren't able to enter the Airbnb rural cottage until 3pm, we were told. We had communicated our needs to the owner, but received no reply. It turned out that there was no internet from the property due to horrid storms the previous week. We didnt know this at the time, and were not pleased that we could have been here a whole lot earlier than 3pm! sigh!
Anyhoo...We were also not pleased to find the place dirty, the owner making excuses for the state of the place, and arguing with me about the state of it. The advertisement said he provides breakfast, but we have not seen that to date. I have a long list of no -show items for the property and we will be having a discussion with the owner about how much time I have spent cleaning his cottage! Not happy about arriving to this after spending so many hours on planes. He has been conspicuous by his absence! Not a bad thing as it turns out.

We are spending our days repacking some things, packing those things that never got packed in the first place, taking inventory (today) and translating that for the required documentation, just as we did in Florida.
Visiting with Family and friends is lovely always, and we are hoping to spend more time with the mother and youngest son units.

We have some travel to do once the unit is empty and on it's way, in the couple of days we have left in NZ.

Finding homes for some of our items hasn't been too hard. We have had to make some executive decisions about what to take out of NZ, especially items that should stay in the family. We dont want  them to get lost in France.

Because our home in France is already furnished, we are making some tough decisions about items that aren't so precious that might just stay here. The Women's Shelter have benefitted from some of them, and we are happy if they brighten someone else's day.
We seem to have an inordinate amount of clothing, but then we did run a business and have to 'dress' appropriately each day. I dont know if we will wear some of it again, but I guess there are charities in our nearby towns in France that would benefit from those we dont want. We dont have the time to weed through everything while we are here. We have just one week to get everything sorted for shipping.

The Shipping agent has been to investigate and tells us we need a 40ft container. We wont fill it, but we also wont fit everything into a smaller 20ft container. Such is life!

We are so enjoying the good food in NZ. It is pricey and we get sticker shock each time we bring our cards out of the wallet, but the quality is certainly excellent. Tonight we enjoyed such a flavorful steak (just under $10 for the two pieces) that we will have to find another couple of pieces of while we are here. With fresh fish in the freezer, mushrooms that are dark and musty when cooked, just as mushrooms should be, crisp carrots that snap and are so sweet you can eat them raw (something we didn't do in Florida), sweet crisp broccoli and apples that actually taste like apples, we enjoy the freshness that isnt familiar to us in Florida, strangely.

Sorry, no photos...I know, I could have at least photographed the dinner, right! :)

Next time!
Time for bed...oh...didnt I tell you about the ice-cream for dessert?? shame!

Kapiti Gingernut ice-cream is THE best! WOW!  We also have a passionfruit cheesecake ice-cream to 'compliment' the other...well, you know how it goes when you are faced with such a wonderful choice of gorgeous flavors!
Ok..time for bed. Ciao...or should I say...Au Revoir!

What does 'Home' mean?

This subject comes to you courtesy of all those who have been asking what it is like being 'back home'!

"Home" and the saying "Home is where the heart is" means several things to me ...now.
Let's take a closer look at all this.

We (Waz and I) are Home. Home in New Zealand where we were born, grew up, were nurtured and where we nurtured our own...well, some of them.

Though I have left many different times in my life, I have returned many times too. The longer I am away the more I feel like a foreigner in the country of my birth.
Having lived outside of NZ for 28 years, I dont know that I feel that I 'belong' anywhere in particular. I am hoping this will change as we establish ourselves in our new home in France.

Waz didn't do the famous Kiwi 'OE' (Overseas Experience) in his early 20's, so what we are doing now is his big OE. Much of what we are doing and what we have done in the past 5 years has been driven by him. His quest to take advantage of all the opportunities on offer at this time of our lives, has taken us to some pretty amazing places. Not only that, we have both been outside of our comfort zones many times, with this only serving to make us more determined to keep ourselves 'on our toes' as it were, than ever.

Because of circumstances that were totally unanticipated, our lives together have been very much driven by serendipity, we feel.

We didnt know that at some stage we would be like a couple of snails, with our home literally on our backs...well, maybe under our feet...and floating. Being able to take our home with us, put down an anchor and call the marshes, an island, a bay or a dock 'home', has been an incredible experience.
When we didnt like the neighbors, we upped the anchor and moved on!

We are fortunate to have made fast friends (Boaters) with some who remain fast friends. People we didnt think would remain have put down roots on terra firma and become an anchor of sorts to us. We cherish their friendship and know that they will be there when we return. We hope they will take time in their retirement to visit our new anchored home and enjoy our hospitality as we have enjoyed theirs.

We dont have a good track record when it comes to staying 'home'. In the 7 years that I lived back in NZ, 2005 - 2012, I moved house three times (buying and selling each time). Waz was very much a part of the last house move, and it was one that we chose together. We lived there for three years before selling and moving to our floating home in the USA. We are hoping to make our new home in France one that we want to stay in for a very long time. Watch this space, I guess:)

So, why do we feel more 'at home' in France than we do in NZ? Or the USA?

That's a challenging question to answer, and I will start with the NZ one: The NZ real estate market is very over-priced (high) and it would take a large chunk of our retirement fund to buy a home here, and we would be forced to live well away from our families due to high prices in the city of Auckland, and north of that. The cost of living is outrageous, and we dont feel that we could afford to live here and have the quality of life that we want at this stage of our lives.
USA: Apart from the politics and the current political climate, we couldn't decide on a place that we felt we wanted to settle. Climate plays a large part in our decision, and coming from NZ which has a temperate climate, we did not thrive in the heat of Florida or the summers that most of the USA swelters in during the summer months. We dont want vast quantities of snow to battle each year and deep cold isnt on our list of must have's. There are many reasons not to settle permanently in the USA right now, and you will notice I'm not ruling it out at some other time....but I dont want to be too negative about it, so will stop there with the excuses.

After our family gathering today (Sunday), we took my youngest son home to the central city. We spent the day with him...or rather, he spent the day with us (saturday) and we enjoyed just hanging out together, doing some much needed shopping for him and having sweet treats in a café while we waited for our laundry to finish at the launderette next door.

Son and Waz discussing the various tools my son needed.

My brother had been fishing with his younger son over the weekend and he shared some of his catch with the greater family (smoked) and we were invited, having dropped our passengers off, to pick up some more fresh fish from his business, not far from our rental cottage. We came home and cooked the lovely fresh Snapper in butter, and ate that with salad and new potatoes. Yum! We have another meal's worth in the freezer:)

 Dessert was Feijoas from my cousins acreage up north. They were wonderful! Elsewhere they are known as Pineapple Guava or Guavasteen. They come from the Myrtle Family.

So, home! Let's address the 'heart' part of this issue, while I'm into the navel gazing...
As long as Waz and I are alive and kicking, our home will be wherever the other one is. We are happy with our own company and that of each other. We love being together 24/7/365, and have done pretty much for the past 12 years. If by any chance either one of us wasn't there (heaven forbid!) we have decided that we will carry on wherever we find ourselves. Putting down roots is an important part of our decision to relocate to France, and we already have a wide network of friends of all nationalities with whom we enjoy spending time there. We dont see that changing when the other is no longer around.
So, heart and home sound pretty good to us. We make a home wherever we are because that's what we do best. So I guess home can be anywhere. Some places are just more inviting than others:)

So, that completes the navel gazing for today. Enjoying the company of family is very much 'in the now', so we dont dwell on the 'what if's' of life, but stay in the moment with them. Our senior members are now 96 and 90, and we celebrate each day they are with us, and enjoy their company, however fleeting.
Waz is snoring beside me. He worked exceptionally hard today in a physical way, so no wonder he is pooped! Time to get my book out and read a few pages before turning in.
Night, night!