And so another year begins.
To tell the truth the ending of 2012 was not a happy one for one of our friends namely our flatmate Louey who was let go from his work a few days before Christmas. With his family due over in two days and his home in Sth Africa sold and the contents of it in the middle of the ocean his life turned upside down and we had to witness his distress. He thought about returning home but in the end decided there is a life for him and his here and it is still worth a shot. So he has moved out of our home and is at the moment housesitting my nephews house in Auckland (with his wife and daughter who still came over) while my nephew housesits my brothers house in Murwai while my brother holidays in Gisborne. So you see everyone is happy at the moment and all will work itself out in the end if we believe in ourselves and allow opportunities to arise.
Kent and I have been very happily out and about on our bikes, for those new to this blog Kent rides a 1450 and I ride a 1200 both Harley Davidsons our pride and joys. At last they are both on the road at the same time and at last we have had good weather for riding. I am no longer the faster rider, after coming off even though it was a very simple spill I am now very aware of my vulnerability and am almost too cautious. I'm sure this will settle down in time, well I certainly hope it will.
Over christmas we were lucky enough to have my sister Dawn and her husband visit from Galveston, Texas. It was just great to spend time with them. We took them to Napier with us to a surprise 70th birthday for Kent's mum which was organised by his brother Darren & sister Shona and was a great success. We chatted to his mum the night before for about an hour and apologised for not being able to get down to see them both and though she didn't know it we were just down the road at Darrens house. After Napier we headed north to Gisborne and visited our nephew Johnny and had breakfast with him then headed through the gorge to Matawai where our grandparents met and lived. By the time we got there it was raining so we couldn't search out where their farm had been but we did get to see the school where Nana taught and got to see some memorabilia in the local pub/museum.
On up to Opotiki, Whakatane (bought some berries there and icecreams), Waihi, Thames, and up highway 26 and into the back of Papakura and Lukes place where Isaac (my nephew and Dawns son) met us. We had started at 6 in the morning and arrived at about 7 at night after a 700km journey. That was Sunday the 23rd and on the 24th a few of the family had dinner at Isaacs home and got to take some pics. Mum was there (now 90 yrs old), three of her children (Dawn, myself, Martin), 8 of her grandchildren (Isaac, Luke, Laetitia, William, Timothy, Jeremy, Scarlett, Sabine) and 6 great grandchildren (Maddox, Theo, Sebastian, Katherine, Spencer, Mateo) along with assorted inlaws and outlaws. Just a small portion of our ever growing family, six cousins were born in the six months from April to September last year, 3 boys and 3 girls all but one in NZ.
Four generations of women - all with different surnames but bound by blood and love. Me, Katherine, Mum, Laetitia.
We spent Christmas eve night at Laetitias home and on Christmas Day went out to Piha to lunch with William, Tim & Jeremy at their house with a beautiful view of Lion Rock and the Piha beach. Had to say goodbye to Dawn & Alan there as they were off back to the USA at the end of the month and we headed back to Rotorua that day.
A big thankyou to our friend Craig who babysat our house and fed Molly and watered our million and one plants.
Now into the New Year, has to have capitals doesn't it. What will it bring now that the end of the Mayan calendar has passed without a hitch??? I think there has been a change but it is only my personal view. I think people are more sensitive and mindful. I'm going to look out for those moments when serendipity pops up. I think those moments will occur more and more. I already have had a few of those moments, you know, when you think about a friend and decide to act on that thought and ring her and find she is in the middle of texting you. Small moments but moments just the same.
Time to stop, this is getting too long. I do have intentions for this New Year but I am not going to voice them until they are at least started if not achieved. Words are too easy, action is harder. Boy you should see our gardens (talking of action) they look just great!!
