Time Flies!

Gee has it been this long since i last posted on here!  Thats the damage of being a facebook addict i guess.  But i liked writing my blog...so i now have to try and catch up the past 4 years on here...eek. It will take forever to fill in all of what we have been doing...so i reckon i will just pick bits out and do the whole 'key moments since 2008'...

Time has flown and time to start back tracking on events

Well it has been a long time since i have posted on the blog, so i think i am going to have to retrace my steps. Alas i am the only Brit left in the house, surrounded by kiwi creatures and bloke! Yep poor Dessie finally gave up her stand in support of all things British back in June and passed away peacefully. Well i am supposed to be doing work and my Uni assignment right now, so i think i should come back to this blog once those missions are completed...However i vow to write most days from now on with a mixture of nostalgia and the present, who knows you should have caught up by about this time next year :) back soon.....xoxo

An update in brief

Well a lot has happened in 3 years, we lost Wolfie and Simba to cancer and Merlin had an arguement with a train and sadly lost. We still ahve Dessie and i am sure she will update her pages soon!!. We also have flcik the Border Collie, Dylan the Samoyed and Pare the Tabby as well as Chooks and sheep!!

We got married in April this year. I left the probation service and have been working for the past 3 years as the regional Neighbourhood Support Coordinator. Nice cosy job with cool people generally!

I will update more over the weekend.

Lesson One - Take over in two weeks!

What a lovely welcome to an organisation, it was a lovely touch.

This was my desk on my first day

My old desk, nice enough but you have to admit, not too interesting a view!

The art of achieving the ultimate goal of a nice desk with a good window view, plenty of storage and room to include your own cupboard for coats etc, is an accomplishment that few make in years of being in an organisation, lets put it this way, I have achieved this goal in yep! you better believe it in two weeks!!!

And so.....

This looked good........definate potential!!!!!!!!

This is/was Jo's desk

I got the nod and that was it, you have not seen anything move faster, no believe me, I didnt even wait for Jo, the leaving member of staff to leave the company, let alone let her desk get cold! she has now been sitting in my old desk for the last week. Ok in my defense I did not mercilously and physically chuck her out of her desk, after the boss walked past and mentioned to us that I could have Jo's desk when she left to which I replied Oh YES!, Jo did offer that she would start moving things across beforehand, well I just 'helped' thats all and the process went a whole lot quicker and I was nicely settled with plants on the windowsill and photos in place within an hour, looked like I had always belonged there!

Jo, the leaving member of the team who has been a great support to me since joining could only stand back and watch this 'take over' in Awe! Shock! Wonderment and Bemusement! and to quote ' i wish i could do that!' 'I am so impressed!'




And here we go all settled in like I had always been there!!!


And please note my leaving present from Julian Graves...The Mug!! Sitting nicely on top of my USB cupwarmer! never should my tea get cold again!!

So work is going really well and i am loving it, everyone has been really nice to me too which is always a good thing. Have to say in all honesty though the Julian Graves clan were even nicer and friendlier, I still miss you guys and the laughs we used to have!!!

So anyway I am off to Auckland for 2 weeks training on the 30th April, so looking forward to seeing the big smoke, and also they have a place called DressSmart I have heard that have 70 designer 2nd shops like 'Clarks Village' type thing....ohhhh I am so looking forward to a mooch around them!! However spent a fortune on new clothes for the trip this weekend so will need to moderate expediture! Need some brown boots though........oh and i want and need some pink UGG boots....... Good job Paul is joining me up there for the weekend to keep me on a tight leash!! I hope I will have internet access in my hotel so I can write the blog lots while up there, well when not out exploring with my fellow course mates.

Got my first paycheck this week too as it is fortnightly pay out here and it was so nice!!

Ok the other thing that is of major importance is that google earth has been updated with imagery of where we live, as many of you will remember when we tried looking at Julian Graves (yes we did do some work!) there was'nt any images of the Dunedin area so you couldnt zoom in and get clear piccies, well guess what now you can. I have sent most of you an email with the exact coordinates on but here are some piccies of pretty much near our place. You can just about see where I have put a pin marker. Email me for exact coordinates if you didnt recieve my email.

Ok time for the animal updates

Merlin - Hell on legs x two, he is evil incarnate, he is better now so wishes to inflict maximum suffering on all.....do you get an inkling of what i am saying????
On a serious not he had blood tests this week and apart from the bad blood he seems to have naturally as being the demon monster he is, he has 100% health back so is now of the highly expensive kidney diet food and back on the top of the range but still quarter of the price normal kitty food!! And still psycho!
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Wolfie - Hey he just seems to be plodding on well enough, seems to be doing really well actually so what more can we ask? He is quite lively and switched on.

Simba - Well Simba is Simba! Simba is being very clingy again at the moment so I guess he wants more attention. He still smells like a sewer! He enjoys going on his doggy social club trips on a sunday, and is now participating a lot more now.







Dessie - Well she is still a prima donna who likes to dramatise everything and winges away like the old woman she is about the injustices of life!!

The Sheep - Well they are sheep arent they, and they are not in our freezer so i guess they can think themselves very lucky for that!! Anyway they seem to be doing their job adequately.

Paul and I have just started getting settled into the winter routine of the Playstation, and are plowing away at Conflict Desert Storm and shooting Iraqis and the such. So late nights are common place over the last week!!

Oh and came across these fantastic audio video clips on youtube, you must watch them they are brill and fab.

This is a cool dancing on the treadmill and song, really cool!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv5zWaTEVkI

This is the old wrinklies doing The Whos 'My Generation' WIKID!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqfFrCUrEbY

This is of Top Gears Jeremy, The Hamster and James in Alabama believe me this is worth watching, the are running for their lives in February this year !!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHj25zd1K_A


Thats all for now, till later x

Quick Update

Ok So Merlin has gotten the all clear, he is now producing red blood cells and the only inbalance is his Potassium levels, so we hope he will sort that out soon!!

I have been in post for a few days and loving my job!

Looking forward to the weekend, playing golf etc. We have Pauls mum staying and Pauls mate too so busy as well.

Just thought i would let you guys know what was happening. I am away at end of April for whole 2 weeks of training. And loads more, at least a week away in every 3 weeks for the next 6 months, so that will keep me outta mischief and also let me appreciate how much i miss Paul!! Violins and everything , please!!!

Will update stuff at the weekend anyway, Love Sarah

I have a job! and other updates too......

Ok so a couple of weeks that have been a little up and down. I am sure you are more interested in the current state of affairs with the fluffies!

Well Merlin unfortunately went into kidney failure on Saturday night of the 11th, and was admitted to vet hospital and on a drip for 4 days, was then taken off the drip and given fluid injections instead. We have had him home now for a week and he has been doing well fingers crossed. He is on a special kidney diet and he had a blood test this week and it showed that his kidneys are working but he has high potassium levels and also has non responsive anaemia. We have to keep our fingers crossed that his kidneys are able to continue to function and that the potassium returns to normal and that his bone marrow starts responding and the anaemia goes. . He is his usual naughty self as you can see it hasn't slowed him down too much at the moment so hopefully he has made a full recovery. Life without Merlin this week has been really flat and depressing. We went in to see him every day at the hospital, and once he was off the drip took his toys in. He had all the vets, nurses and staff all wrapped around his little paw pad, they thought he was such a character!! I think this was a diplomatic statement as he would trash his cage every day, swipe at anyone going past his cage, and generally show all signs of anti social behaviour that he has!! On the last night he had trashed his cage so bad he had to be moved to a new one!! They also clipped his nails, I feel the flicknives were probably too much!! We kept expecting to see various nurses etc with bandages etc, post Merlin!!

It was funny on Friday, as he has this habit of going into the bush further down the road which we are concerned about as it leads to the busy main road and also we hadn't seen our sheep for a couple of days I thought I would take Merlin and the intrepid adventurer (Simba) into the sheep field to try and find them and introduce Merlin to a safe and much more interesting and larger area for exploration. Well we followed the perimeter fences and little Merlin had to be rescued from one tree (another fine mess his tail got him into - see end of piece for explanation!!) and as soon as I went too far ahead he was calling me back, not so brave after all! Well them poxy sheep alluded us, found a dead possum, was expecting to find a couple of dead sheep, but on the last bend in the field I spied them, standing under a tree, hiding, however so did Simba, and Simba thought 'these need exercise, I need to chase these!' and off he went, to be severely called back by me. We all survived the adventure and hopefully if we take Merlin up there a few more times he may get the hang of it and choose there as his adventure playground.

As you can see he seems to be doing well at the moment...

Wolfie went for his CT Scan on Wednesday 13th and the news there is somewhat more negative. Unfortunately he had got a tumour in each lung and they are quite advanced. It is inoperable unfortunately, but we can give him as good a time and quality of life for the time he has left. We stayed up in Christchurch that night and so the boys had a change of scenery and a different beach to play at. On the way back we stopped at the river for a paddle. Ironically he has been better than ever really in health since and much more active and alert, so all is good so far in as much as his quality of life.

The boys supervising me updating blog

Simba we think is suffering from depression! He is even more 'Kevin the teenager' than normal, and he seems very low. I guess they know when one of their kind is sick, so we are trying to bolster his mood.

We have found a doggy social club which we went to last week, last Sunday we took the dogs to a different doggy exercise area and met up with some other dogs, and advised of this doggy get together that happens weekly usually on a Monday evening at another doggy exercise area, but after this week they were going to move it to a weekend as the clocks have gone back and it gets dark earlier. For those who don't read Simbas blog, they have really cool playgrounds around an acre in size with agility equipment and seats etc that is all enclosed and just for dogs to romp about in. Well wickid!! So on Monday Simba, Wolf and I (Paul was dying in bed with Man Flu!!) went along to meet the others. There were around 15 dogs in total all running about together. Simba and Wolf however decided to sit on the sidelines and watch!! Ever lazy my dogs!! So now we will all continue to meet up on Sunday afternoons sometimes at one of the exercise areas (there are 5 in total in Dunedin) or at the different beaches around. So the dogs can have a social life at least!

Paul and I have taken up golf in earnest, we have purchased the clubs, the shoes and having lessons with our pro Anthony. We have our 3rd lesson tomorrow. We are really enjoying it and looking forward to joining a club and playing a round weekly.

And onto the home improvement updates, well we have had the chimneys swept, mended the coal range and so now have a toasty warm house at night. The range is going all the time for the last week so also have constant hot water as it has a back boiler, so saving a little on electricity from heating the water. We are also in the process this week of replacing the tin roofing on the veranda with polycarbonate sheeting instead as this lets in more sunlight and looks nicer too. We are about to start the process of enclosing the back/court yard with a polycarbonate roof as well so we will have an outside/garden room (not quite a conservatory, but should work) for the winter, as we have the fire bath there already it will be nice to cover the rest so we get out of the bath and can sit under cover eating and drinking with the patio heater on too. This is the plan at least.......

Ah yes and we have also installed a dog flap in the door of the utility room (laundry to Kiwis) that leads to the tin shed where we cut out a hole for the dogs to access the back yard. It was getting a bit draughty in the evenings with the door open so we decided to install a doggy flap in the door and this works great, the dogs now have their own executive entry and exit from their accomodation suite to the outside world. Hey I even put down astroturf for them in the section of back yard from their door to the main part of the yard! They are like so spoilt!!







Ok so kept you in suspense long enough.........

Yep I have a job, and it is a 'proper' job as well!!!!!!!!

I start next week on the 2nd of April.

I bet some of you are wondering now what I will be doing, well email me if you need to know, i had it posted on here but now I have started I want to remove the job title.

We went out for a meal last night to Etruscos again to celebrate my job among other things relevant to us (unfortunately Speights, where they do lovely cider and fab steaks was fully booked so we will go there in a few weeks on our next date of meaning to dine out) we had a lovely time and meal, followed by a wander around town with a coffee and dessert in a place called Metro followed by a drive and listening to music in the car chilling.

However the chocolate mud slab that I ate gave me horrendous indigestion all night......

We are still addicted to 24 and are on the last series now, so i don't know how we will survive without Jack Bauer in our lives!! LOL

Oh yes and another thing, I have a kiwi driving license now, as I took my driving test this week, and passed!! believe me Brits, it is not that easy as they have some different traffic laws out here that take a while to get used to....

Oh and I have to go for my medical this week then off to immigration to put my application for residency in.... needles and pain.... I don't want to think about it.... and thats just the medical!! LOL

I am sure loads more has been going on but I cannot think about it all, but hey I can always add another post later if I remember.

Ah yes the explanation of Merlins tail, we have come to the conclusion that Merlin suffers from split personality/Bipolar disorder and the tail is the 'bad' Merlin. He is as sweet as anything as long as the tail isnt wagging, and boy when it wags that means trouble!, trouble for us, trouble for him, trouble for all!!

The tail tells him to do things... honestly you can see him negotiating with his tail regularly.

Here are a couple of pics of Paul and Merlin - Man and boy together, Paul is trying to give Merlin some sound advice on the pitfalls of drug dependancy!! Look at Britney and Robbie for example!!!

Oh and before i forget the Rugby Season has started!! this is the view from our front, so I can keep myself entertained Hardly the All Blacks but they all have to start somewhere I guess LOL

What a week and our nerves are shot!

Wolfie on Monday Evening

Ok so we have had a rollercoaster week of emotions here......

It all started on Saturday morning with a unwell canine by the name of Wolfie, he was listless, panting and coughing. My immediate thoughts rolled towards heart failure as he is 13 after all. Off to the vets we march, and leave him for them to look at. No sooner were we home and the phone rings with basically an affirmation in sorts that he was indeed presenting with congestive heart failure, however they wish to carry out some chest xrays to confirm this.

Later in the afternoon another phone call, the xrays are non conclusive, he has a mass in the chest area, unsure if this is an enlarged heart or a cancerous tumour. The vet prescribes diuretics and ACE inhibitors (standard cardiac drugs) and recommends we take him home and review options on Monday and the consideration of a referral to another clinic for an ECG to determine the state of the heart. Well we had a restless night as we had wolf sleep with us so if he was in distress we could comfort him, and he was coughing most of the night, however pitiful this was and he sounded like a 60 a day smoker with chronic bronchitis, he still had fight in him and we had to let the drugs start to work. Sunday was a hard day listening to him cough, but he still wanted to do things. We started to prepare for the fact that he was going to go downhill.

Monday came and no improvement, but the more we saw the more it just didn't seem totally conclusive of a tumour, too many factors were not clear. We looked even down to the possibility of salt water from the sea in his lungs, collisions with Simba and falling out of the car even. I was still holding onto the hope that it is heart failure or as he was presenting, a severe chest infection rather than a tumour. Having talked to the vets they also agreed that too many factors just didn't add up and he was booked in for an ultra sound ECG on Tuesday. Monday evening he came out into the garden and seemed quite bright even going for the ball as we played with Simba, however his breathing was still terrible and lungs full of fluid.

Well he was like a weak old man who could hardly move on Tuesday, it broke my heart taking him in, i really had a feeling we were at the end of the road.

An agonising 2 hours went by and i got the dreaded phone call from the vet, basically confirming that the heart was A1 but the mass was there and was most likely cancer. However he said could Wolfie have been involved in any trauma? I said i couldn't rule it out as 50kg of Simba regularly bowls him over and he fell out of the car the other day. Ok says the vet, i will do further scans to see if there is the possibility of a rupture.

Another 2 hours go by and the result is again inconclusive, but is leading more likely towards a Lung Lobe Torsion rather than a tumour as the shape is not tumour shaped but the consequent draining of fluid from the lung indicated more of a trauma related injury than a cancer.

OK what are the options......

Yep you guessed it a specialist hospital 4 hours away who can do surgery to removed the damaged lung. They will make the referral and come back with time scales and costs if required.

So anyway we go home and Wolf is given some heavy duty anti inflammatories to help. He was the best he had been for days, wasn't coughing or panting and managed to have a good sleep too, he was pretty knackered from all the coughing.

And so that leads me to today

I had a job interview, so as i didn't want to leave wolf for too long i went and Paul popped home to babysit and then i rang to say when finished and he went back to work.

I come back home.....

HORRORS!

In the time of Paul leaving and me getting home (about 15 mins)Merlin has eaten 5 of Wolfies medications of the anti inflamatories (they are meat flavoured chewables!!) (not used to children and keeping this sort of thing safe!!!)

I ring Paul and Paul rings the vet

This is like a major emergency as this is the equivalent to a human taking 1500 paracetamol, this can cause kidney failure. A cat would be prescribed 2mg, Merlin devoured 500mg!! do the maths yourself!!!

So Merlin is in hospital having had his stomach pumped. I hope we can pick him up tomorrow morning as we miss him like mad. Amazing that a kitten of 4 months old can literally take your heart hostage!

We however will not know the long term damage to his kidneys for a week. Fingers crossed we got to him in time.

Wolf however is like a new dog in relation to his mobility, the drugs he was given are the sort used for hip and joint problems in dogs (carprofen/Rimadyl) He can walk around with no discomfort. So even though these are like mega expensive once he recovers from the lung surgery (fingers crossed it is the torsion and not an unusual tumour) we will see about having him put on these because it really is amazing the improvement in his mobility.

So yes you have guessed it we have discussed Wolfs options and we are going to take the chance and have the surgery done in Christchurch next week. We feel we owe him that, as his heart is good, his mobility can be improved, and if it is the torsion then he can make a full recovery. We are not ready for him to leave us yet, he loves life here and he should stick around to enjoy more of it.

Please keep all fingers and toes crossed for both Wolfie and Merlin.

I will of course keep you posted.

Wolfie at the moment is sprawled out sleeping and quite happy, the fluid hasnt returned to his lungs and his joints dont hurt, thats got to be good as he has a long road ahead of him he needs to be strong to recover.

Pics of Merlin helping with our golf practice yesterday... you can just tell he is trouble!

The Comings and Goings...............................

Well finished the room and i have to say it is looking good, so at least we now have a single bed guest accomodation option in addition to the main double guest room. Then also with 2 sofas in the lounge we can accomodate many! The biggest bonus of this extra bed is that it doubles up as a day bed overlooking the harbour so will be an excellent spot in winter to sit and read a book glancing across the harbour now and then at whatever activity is going on. And of course for watching our ships when they come in to the wharf.

Here are some pics of the new 'day room' i think we will call it!

And then today the cats have had their cat flap put in the door so no longer need to have a howling gale through the open window, a definate plus point!

Trying to teach Merlin how to use it is a different matter!!

This should be entertaining....... NOT! As I can guarantee now that he will be calling out to be let in and out during the night, and then with Merlin being Merlin he will think this is a good idea and not bother to learn to use the cat flap at all!!!!

Well we have had a marked improvement in the weather because I have put my summer clothes away, yep I finally surcumbed to the realisation that the kiwi idea of summer (Dunedin wise at least) is not my idea of summer. Paul sold me a pup on that one!!!! So summer clothes have gone into hiding and the sun has come out. However I am not going to laugh in the face of fate, I dont expect it to last. However it is pleasant to be sitting outside in the sun for a change. I can only hope that when we come back to the UK in August there is a heatwave over there as I cannot last too long without extreme sun and heat. My skin demands it, as does my mental wellbeing.

So yesterday me and the boys went down to Blue Skin Bay and both went for a good swim for a change, and boy they needed it as they were stinking!! Too many rank rancid bones was definately oozing from their pores! Now they smell ok again and will be allowed back in the living room again with us of an evening. They were being exiled because we couldnt bear to be in the same room as them.







Well Simba has progressed really well with paper delivery, so should soon be able to get him a job. It is good to get the paper delivered to the bedside of a morning I must say. Along with the coffee waking us up, it is well 'up there' on the luxury stakes.

I purchased some golf clubs and they were delivered yesterday, so Paul and I tried them out last night and pretty pleased I must say. Having not played at all in 11 years, (can you believe it is that long, I cant!) and Paul hasn't played much either (well so he says, not sure i believe him on this one!!!) Paul did the better drive, but me an my faithful 7 iron far out did him with the 6 iron! My driving (golf wise, I hasten to add) always was pants! So we are looking at getting him a set and taking it up together. Finding recreational activities that are not team focused is the key as we are not interested in being in any clubs, I, for one have so had enough of the whole club mentality complete with accompanying back biting and I really am not competative enough to play competatively at anything. I only do the dog thing because Simba enjoys it, and it is an opportunity for him to mix with other dogs, as I feel a bit sorry for him, after having had such a heavy social life in the UK, to no social life at all here. Anyway we just want to do stuff for fun, enjoyment and quality time together! Oh and of course I want to get a pink golf club bag and wood covers!! It just has to be done! Then also pink golf shoes would be good too ummm!! LOL.

We are also going to make a 9 hole pitch and putt course in the garden that we can play around on, as we have enough room and it will be quite interesting I must say, with some interesting gradients to chip up!! We already have been playing Boule on the lawn with Merlins assistance!! And we are going to make a mini Croquet lawn as well as an agility course for Simba, if you have this much 'diverse' land you might as well find some use for it I say!!

Merlins assistance with Boule!




OK that leads me nicely onto the Incredible Bush Adventure Part 2

Let me set the scene......

Having learned from past mistakes we decided on several essentials to complete this essential mission.

• Have GPS - check



• Have Compass each - check



• Water - check



• Mobile phone each - check



• Spray Paint can each - check



• Walking stick for bashing stuff - Sarah - check



• Sensible Clothes both - check



• Sensible shoes both - check



• Hats each - check



• Leatherman - Sarah - check



• Walkie Talkies - Bugger! Flat battery in one!



• Rucksacks to contain all above - check
  

So we had decided in advance that Paul would start from the top and I would start from the bottom with the intention that so long as Paul used the GPS unit having marked the waypoint of where I was entering the bush. He could leave me there to follow my compass (yes ok you may get up off the floor laughing at this, he gave me good instructions on where the arrow had to point OK!!) while he drove to signal hill and entered at the nearest point to home according to the GPS. SIMPLE AS!!

I of course was having the help of the intrepid guard dog Simba (now here you can quite simply laugh hysterically at that statement I know!!). But we had to also ensure that while walking up through our field that he didnt get covered in 'Billy Bids' (those pesky burrs that get stuck all over him and then we have a major trauma or negotiating with him to remove them!!, you remember!!) So we had a solution......

And off we went

Once we reached the top of our field and I had regained my breath, we undressed Simba. The fearless adventurer (Simba), (I use this term loosely) and I headed into the undergrowth. So every time I passed a tree I spray painted it (pink, it was on special offer, and I now know why!!)) and looked back and made sure I could see my mark before spraying the next etc. About 10 mins later i get a call from Paul and he has already abandoned his mission as the nozzle of the can fell off into the bush after the first spray! (by the way his was blue paint) Ok, I say come back and meet me at the bottom.

Well this is where Simba is not so very stupid, but I have so little faith in him... Well I couldnt see my marks could I! they dried very faint!! and Simba zipped off and I said no I dont think it is that way etc. Eventually I hear Paul who has managed to follow my marks and was met by Simba, and yep Simba was right all along!

Anyway we go back, off course I fall over twice!

So here are a few pics of us in the bush and Simba having refreshments in the sheeps water trough.

Ok thats all for now, till next time