Just back from a lovely long weekend on the South Island with the parents of our good friend Treats Lady, aka The Bringer of Treacle Sponges, and got a bit snap-happy due to beautiful surroundings, spectacular Autumnal colours and perfect light conditions. (Three unbroken says of blue skies really helped the trip).

Our friends picked us up from Queenstown Airport and en route to their home near Cromwell we stopped off for lunch and a wander round the picturesque historic village of Arrowtown, preserved to give (the many) tourists an idea of what Gold Rush-era Otago looked like.

Work is having a morning tea where everyone brings something thelat represents where they are from.

What can I bring with a Yorkshire feel? It’s got to be mini roast beef dinners!

Something I’m reading up on at the moment is the Greek/Roman philosophy of stoicism and how it can be useful to apply in your everday life.

This book is broken up into daily bite-sized chunks that are easy to take in and think about, and is already helping me to not worry about the things I have no control over and to be more discliplined in my thinking.

The author also has a good website for getting an idea of what it’s about :-

https://dailystoic.com

I never thought I’d have Marcus Aurelius as an inspiration but there you go ….

Got to the first gig of 2024 with a visit to the Opera House to hear Scottish instrumental rockers Mogwai. Wow that was some noise! At times I could feel the kick drum reverberating up the seat and into my back. 90 minutes of proper rocking out, but without the irritating mosh pit.

Here’s a fairly accessible example of Mogwai’s music if you want to check them out (would be good for your ukelele band to rock out to, Dad!)

They’ve been knocking about for 20 years now, so it was nice to go to a rock gig and not be 20 years older than the band and audience. There were a fair few flat caps and long grey beards about that night.

Just hoping the tinnitus fades before my next gig this weekend!

Last weekend we managed to coax The Duchess onto a plane for the first time since 2019 to enjoy a change of scenery and catchup with relocated friends, flying over to Nelson on the South Island ( confusingly it’s about level with Wellington, which is on the North Island).

We were escorted around the sights of Nelson and Richmond, enjoying the arty atmosphere of the area via the Art Gallery, the gardens, an impressive cathedral and some lovely coffee shops and cafes.

We could definitely see ourselves living in Nelson, providing I didn’t have to commute back to Wellington every weekend.

Note for Dad: Our friends are South African, hence the random picture of their tamati sous, which I tasted and can confirm you would like if you ever found yourself in SA (as if!).

Our furbaby is considerably less furry tonight after her first trip to a groomer in two and a half years.

It’ll take a bit of getting used to being pretty much a skinhead from neck to ringpiece, but should be more comfortable in the sun though we now have to be careful of sunburn).

Finally reached the end of Dry January – was it just me or did it have 35 days on the month?

Now that the liver has had chance to recover it’s time to put away the zero percent beersies and get reacquainted with the vino. Yes!!!!

The annual montage of celebs that died in the past 12 months, nicked as usual from B3ta.com.

Enjoying a last feast of the year at our friends Chris and Holly’s place.

Even by Holly’s standard it’s an amazing cheese board! Will be dreaming tonight …