Bring on 2024

This is what the streets look like a few weeks after the Pahutukawa trees bloom. It is quite a mess and yet kinda fun in a holiday spirit kinda way. Nature’s confetti. Happy New Year!

We let too many weeks go by. -sorry this will be a little long…

2024 is already moving along quickly. The holidays have come and mostly gone. And we were able to enjoy lots of good times with many friends. We did manage to get a few things done as well. 

Most importantly, we found a place to “hole-up” until we can move into our new home. … yes - it looks like we have found a house! It is not a done deal yet. And as I am writing this we are eagerly awaiting the word from the bank that we can get approved for a mortgage. I may have to update this post shortly. We should hear in the next day or two. (read holding breath)

Meanwhile, I get ahead of myself… our pet sitting gig wrapped up on the 13th of Jan., so we have been looking for another place to stay. We are guessing it is still at least 6-8 weeks before we can take possession of the house and we did not want to wear out our welcome with friends. And to be honest we are getting a bit tired of the repetitive moving. We found a nice room in a small two bedroom apartment. We are sharing the place with a friendly middle-aged woman. 

Finding short-term housing is challenging especially a furnished option as we don’t have anything- it is all in storage (not accessible). We found this room but then had to run out and purchase a bed. The apartment is furnished but not the room. We got a great deal on the mattress - end of year Boxing Day sales! And a bed frame, a set of sheets and then found a desk and some cube shelves -used online, to create our make-shift room for now. Borrowed a chair(not pictured) and towels and a blanket from friends.

At the same time, we have been helping some friend move from their flat of 7 years to a new place. Cleaning, boxing, prepping, moving, garage sale, etc., the usual routine. 

New Years was nice and casual. We spent New Year’s eve with friends -potluck dinner, pumpkin pie (Eric made) and played an entertaining game of Root. We spent the next day relaxing. 

Mother Nature was certainly set on starting the new year fresh. We had an evening of incredible wind, ~ 60 mph followed the next day by a sudden down pour that woke many of us up out of dead sleep with the fear of the roof collapsing in. 

When the sun was shining we spent some time walking and hanging at the Chocolate Fish Cafe. And another stroll through Zealandia.

For Eric’s bday he wanted sushi so we tried a recommended place in town called Arashi - and had a delicious meal. There is much less variety than sushi back in the states, but it will be okay.  We also got to finally reconnect with our 13th Age (D&D like RPG) campaign and played for over 5 hours. It had been Aug. of 2022 since we last played. Way too long. We did all manage to survive the battle - barely, and we live to fight another day. The campaign is not yet over! (Had to improvise the monsters as our supply is still in storage- yes the plant was a monster!)

Eric did a small photo shoot for our friend Kim. She has collaborated with another local artist to create an amazing sculpture of Earth Mother that they hope to get backing for. The sculpture would potentially be about 3 stories tall. I have been asked not to share photos just yet. 

Kim also restored an old cat sculpture that sits in front of the Miramar library. We attended a very nice blessing ceremony welcoming the cat. The piece was created many years ago and the original sculptor had passed away. It took awhile but they were able to locate and contact the sculptors son and he helped Kim with the restoration. It was restored using Pal Tiya  - a material Kim and her husband Warren developed for the use of lasting out door sculptures. It’s really cool stuff. Check it out.

https://www.paltiya.com/

 

https://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=156661

We started to moved into our new temporary place on the 11th and spent our first night there on the 12th. It is quite comfy. This should be our last place until we move into the house. 

Two more games that I helped create at SimplyFun have launched - My Mine and Prickly Path. Also, Team Digger (Jan 2023 launch) has won another award -Good Housekeeping 2023 Best Toy. Yay!

This brings us up to date. People are going back to work and businesses are starting back up. We are both actively looking for work while starting to get things in order to hopefully move into a new house by the end of February - early March -if all goes well. 

Stay tuned!

Happy Holidays

 

This is a Pahutukawa tree- also known as New Zealand Christmas tree, as it blooms in mid to late December. They are all in full bloom now and are quite prominent throughout the city.

Tis the season… the week leading up to the holiday break was a bit crazy. 

Most of our friends were busy finishing up work related stuff. Here in NZ it is the norm to close down from a day or so before the 25th and not return until the 8th-15th of Jan. Very nice. Many people travel during this time of year, and Wellington starts to feel very quiet, except when the cruise ships are in.

The sellers of the house we have been hoping to buy were suddenly eager to get an agreement in writing and signed before the break. So we spent time going back and forth with the lawyers to get that done. Exciting !

Buying a house is a very different process compared to the US. And buying a house “off market” adds some complexity. 

It has been a great experience so far. We have met the neighbors on both sides. As well as enjoyed getting to know the sellers for 3 hours at the local pub. 

We did get back to Zealandia for another great walk in the sun among the birds. And helped decorate a few trees. 

Also saw the Miyazaki movie, The Boy and the Heron. I enjoyed the story though it was certainly odd. It was visually remarkable and was pure joy to see the artwork. He is truly a master. 

We had some nice evenings with friends as well as our “regular” group on Friday night. Henri made her famous and delicious bacon and mushroom risotto. Kim and Warren provided two salads -potato and mixed greens. Eric made a pumpkin pie, I made cookies and Lance provided the beverages. Great holiday fun was had by all. 

We watched “Violent Night” on Xmas Eve eve with friends. And then had a quiet Xmas eve and day just the two of us. 

The weather was not great but finally broke on Boxing day - yes that is a holiday here. So we enjoyed a walk and meet-up at the Chocolate Fish Cafe. It was a beautiful day!

There won’t be anything new to report on the house or the job front until things start rolling again in the new year. So just gonna enjoy the sun and time with friends. 

Wishing everyone Happy Holidays! And a healthy and happy New Year!

(NZ Flax providing the silly reindeer antlers.)

Two more weeks have gone by...

 

Still can’t believe how quickly time is flying. Even when we have very little to do in the overall scheme of things, the days just keep flying.

The last two weeks…

We continue to enjoy great meals and catch ups with friends. Walking almost every day when the weather cooperates. Oh- if you missed it, we had a freaky insane storm blow through on Tuesday. Thunder! Lightning! Hail! and a tornado (small) that hit lower hutt area!

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/301025728/mini-tornado-causes-havoc-in-lower-hutt-as-violent-storm-sweeps-new-zealand

We have finally watched the latest season of Loki. And really looking forward to the Xmas Dr. Who episode. Eric has been enjoying playing Baldur’s Gate 3

We have moved to our current accommodations where we will be staying and caring for two sweet kitties -Bella and Penfold, until Jan. 11th.

We are also caring for another friend’s kitties starting next week so Eric and I will split our time enjoying the company of kitties through the holidays.

I managed to get invited to the Weta FX holiday party. This is no ordinary party…but an all out extravaganza of a party! Eric and I had been fortunate enough to attend a few of the Halloween parties when we were living here before. But never The holiday party. 

It was held this year at TSB Arena and Weta FX had created about 8 separate areas/party spaces. Each with its own theme and vibe. There was live music and DJs, a silent disco, an interactive experience and more. Amazingly catered with a multitude of types of food and treats, and lots of beverages- themed and otherwise. It was all truly impressive.

I have been told by many that this year’s party was not up to the usual standard for Weta FX, but since I had no comparison I couldn’t say. The bar must be pretty high if folks thought this was a “lower budget” party. Sheesh…

For some the mood was certainly subdued due to the Unity announcement made earlier. Unfortunately it is a rough time for many as layoffs are abundant through many sectors at the moment. And holiday time is the worst time to have to deal with such things.

Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast just made their announcement and many friends and colleagues are now finding that they are in search of new jobs in the new year. It really sucks and my heart and thoughts go out to all who have been affected this year by layoffs. It has been nice to see the outpouring of comments and support on social media. 

On to better news…

I have started baking holiday cookies and Eric is planning some pumpkin pies! We have ventured forth to the “US store”- yes that is a thing, and have procured some Libby’s pumpkin purée. (At a cost that might make your head spin) There WILL be pie!

www.us2u.co.nz

Speaking of treats!

The Chocolate Fish Cafe has reopened! 

For those that do not know, this cafe is an amazing place located on Shelly Bay. It has been a local gathering spot for many years. Originally located at Scorching Bay and then moved to Shelly Bay. It is one of my favorite places. It was closed down earlier this year due to a fire and asbestos contamination (toxic air quality) from an old building that was across the way. There have been other controversial issues surrounding the development of Shelly Bay, but thanks to Peter Jackson & Fran Walsh

Shelly Bay is now being restored to its natural beauty for us to all enjoy for years to come! 

House update

We have seen several more open houses…and still nothing that fits with what we are looking for. The housing market here is very different from the US, and it would take another several blogs to get into all the challenges and differences. But suffice it to say -tough market, tough times. And Eric and I are a bit picky- LoL 

But there is a silver lining - we hope…

We met up with some great folks that are wanting to sell their house.

It is quite an amazing home. We have had several conversations and enjoyed hanging with them at a local pub. Nothing has been solidified yet but we had a building/home inspector do a report on the property and were thrilled to learn that there were no surprises. (It needs some work, but we expected that)

The talks continue and we hope to be able to report more soon.

Fingers & toes crossed. 

Happy Post-Thanksgiving!

 Hope your feasting and shopping went well.

We had a wonderful feast with about 20-25 people. It was pot luck and many dishes were shared. Eric made a homemade batch of salsa and I made a 5-layer dip. Both were well received as they were the only appetizers until dinner was served. Stephen was our host and it was fun to meet a bunch of new people. I was sorry I did not get a photo of the whole group. But I was enjoying the company and conversations - I don’t automatically think about pulling out my phone for photos (I think that is 

a good thing?)

Not quite sure where 2023 went. It has flown by. Not going to recap the year at this point, but suffice it to say, it’s hard to believe there is only one month left before we look at ringing in a new year. 

This last week was spent mostly relaxing. We moved from a nice air bnb to another friend’s place for a few weeks before we start our house/pet sitting stint that will get us to almost mid-Jan.  

We saw a subtitled foreign film called “Society of the Snow” based on the Uruguay flight with the rugby team that crash landed in the Andes. It is an amazing film. Really intense and hard to watch though. Not sure I would recommend it. 

Also saw “The Marvels” which was just a fun popcorn movie. 

We enjoyed it. 

And we are really enjoying the new Dr Who episodes! 

Not much more to report on the house or job front yet. We saw a few more homes, but nothing to pursue. Trying to just enjoy ourselves and the holiday time among friends.