just a quick pop in id hoped to catch you shad ive just been watching billy connolly on tv and he was new zealand i missed the first bit and all i know was he was in a national park that has beautiful mountains and absolutly stunning fjords could you please tell me the name if you know it it looks very like the postcard my freind sent me from newzealand treid to find it but cant have looked hard enough im sure it was mount rapheal but not sure at all thanks so much
kirsty

ps forgot to say part of it was called "dusky sound"
and it had dolpins
kirsty

I think you must be talking about either the Fiordland National Park, which has huge mountains and very deep fjords or the Marlborough Sounds where the mountains are not so high and the fjords not so deep. Either way, the scenery is beautiful and they are both in the South Island. Let me see if I can find some pics to jog the memory.

Here you go. Which one springs to mind??

Aah well in that case, you were in Fjordland National Park. It's one of the beautiful places on this earth, mainly because very few people live there, and those that do, care passionately about their environment.

I am soooooo tired! I have filled a box with clothes to give away on Monday. tomorrow I'll sort the Xmas stuff with Jen. She wants to see what's going in the trash room for others to pick over I even hung the winter drapes. It took me 6 or 7 tries but I got them up there! tonite is a movie and some codeine with tylenol!! No ride today, as the weather was cold and windy.
I fear my days around town maybe gone now. Oh well. almost time to start learning to draw and watercolor.

Tig~ Congrats AGAIN!!! You are quite the winner in the "family"!!! gotta love all those t-shirts and medals!! Wear them proudly You're gonna need an addition to the house for all the goodies from these races! Get the decorations ready cause I'm on my way. maybe after you, I'll decorate Shad's pad!

Shad~ Poor hedge. sending it good vibes. Can you hug a hedge? Have I hugged a hedge today?? Why not! (((((HUGS)))))
sunday was probably worried you were dropping her off at yet another house!!! Hope the gardening is keeping you busy! LOL What, no hammock time?? or is it too cool yet? As your sister I would visit you every day and beat the brother's backsides for them! Sounds like my brother!!! When he gets a guilty conscience, he calls for forgiveness. Now we probably won't talk for another 20 years! Enjoy the time at home. Thinking of you and the sun!!!

Linus~ We are just cleaning and sorting fools this weekend you and I! Tell Craig that aunt Fanny hopes he feels better soon. i think we all believe in Santa Claus a wee bit. jen and I do and wait for him every year. One day he'll come!!! I will go and look at your website for the pc stuff. Thanks. We may get more ideas! LOL More ((((((((Teel hugs)))))))))

I can hardly move . wonder what tomorrow will bring. One of the neighbors wants to go shopping at a BIG mall on Monday. I haven't decided. I do need ornament hangars or paper clips.Hmmmmm. Shopping!! Have a wonderful night and a great day for Shad and the garden saga.

OH, I missed seeing these last few posts! I'm always on the wrong page!! LOL Lovely pics!

thats the very place shad i just couldnt believe it was so beautiful dont know why i never associated new zealand with fjords and im definantly with billy connolly here if im lying on the floor being tortured with hot coals and threatened with castration then i might admit its more lovely than loch lomond but since im not i wont
yes ladies im sitting here at 1.51am ive just sponged down craig and given him more paracetemol given him a drink and i dont think he even came to full awakedness the whole time if hes still like this in the morning then im calling out the doc craigs never ill {apart from his asthma} hes only ever had antibiotics once in the whole of his life so this really is not like him hence me being the over protective mother
dh is flat on his back snoring like a train ,benjy is lying beside him snoring too conner fell asleep reading his book and cleo is guarding craig even the blooming fish are asleep talking of fish back in 5 sorry about that started talking about the fish and forgot i hadnt fed jaws ,jaws is a plecostomus or in plain terms a bloody big catfish all nine inches of him and hes also nocturnal and requires a different diet from the rest of the fish so i have to put the tank light off wait 15 minutes for the fish to settle and then feed jaws so he can have his algae wafers all for himself for fish
good greif cant you just tell i cant sleep here i am talking about the diet of my fish boring you all to death so im going before i get kicked off and ill talk to you all tomorrow at some point
kirsty

Actually, Kirsty, parts of NZ are very like parts of Scotland especially the Western Highlands. I felt very at home in Scotland although your mountains are not as high as ours and we don't have castles.

Sorry you can't sleep and have to feed Jaws - it must be a big tank if you can have a fish 9 inches long in it. Nemo would manage to get lost in it several times.

Work to do.

actually shad the tank is only 2 feet and everybody says the fish will only grow to fit the tank someone aught to tell my fish that as they bloody wont stop growing
so after the year hopefully with the money ill save with not smoking ill be able to buy a bigger one otherwise soon theyll not bw able to turn around and ill be able to buy more fish as the tank is very crowded and i only have jaws ,4 angels ,two silver sharks ,one female siamese fighter, three cherry barbs and five neons and the neons really need to be in a shoal but they start off {and stay really }small and the other fish would think they are lunch
craigs still really unwell having to wake him every hour to drink and make sure hes rousable spoke to the doc this morning ive just to keep an eye on him and if his temp goes above 40 {at the moment its 39.2} or if he cant be roused or if his breathing goes funny then ive to call him out immediatly so he has to be checked constantly and ive had no sleep so im going on the setee for an hour and dads taking over so ill speak to you all later
kirsty

Kirsty~ So sorry Craig is still so sick. I always worried about Jen like you too. They are extra special with their "differences". Sendin him good thoughts and hope you get some sleep too.

Shad~ Sweet Dreams.

Today I want to drag out some boxes of unused stuff. Yesterday I tackled the linen closet and got a box full of crap out of there!
Jen hasn't called so I will start and put things I think she will like aside. Feeling a wee bit draggy with the codeine from last night but it put my back to rights again. (actually I just can't feel it! ) Have a great day and see you all tomorrow!

Miss Nae~ Will you come out to play?!?!

hi all i think im going to use up this new home all by myself !!!! spoke to teel the naughty gril is talking about signing herself out tomorrow if the specialist doesnt come but then again if hed come on friday then she wouldnt have had to stay in all weekend
craig was a wee bit better but now hes off again so well just see am going through the same gut things out phase dont know if its just because im bored and need stuff to do with my fingers? so ive just fed the tribe and now im going to put on another washing and do the dishes and maybe i might be hungry myself later speak to you all later
kirsty

I hope you are taking care of that back Linus. Racing around being so busy and all. I must have cought the no sleep thing from you as I couldn't sleep last night and played spider solitaire on the computer until well after midnight. Woke up at 4am and couldn't get back again.

So I thought I would get up and go do something while it was lovely and cool, and on that thought Sunday the cat decided cuddling was the best way to go and we went back to sleep until just after 5.00. Got up and got ready for the gym. So I've been up for 3 hours, done 40 minutes at the gym, had breakfast and just finished a Turkish apple tea with my brother who popped in on his way home from work. I think I will go out in the garden for a half hour or so before I get ready to go to work.
Speaking of which I need to check out the map to find out where I have to go. I know the general direction, but sometimes streets are hard to find in that area.

Hope everyone is well and happy and getting or keeping on plan. Christmas is around the corner and we all know we need to plan well ahead to prevent any substantial gain during that time. Gotta go. I'll let you know how the job goes tonight.

Hey Linus,we used to have a sucker mouthed catfish like that, he was huge! We called him Zorro. I got a 70 gallon fish tank for him to swim in as he grew so large he couldn't move in the little 2 ft. tank. He lasted for about two months in the new tank as I couldn't get the ph balance right. His scales started falling off and he never recovered. He was about eight years old, and lasted longer than most of my fish. I am still not adept at balancing the tank water, I only have little albino catfish and some tetras now, they can take my lack of knowledge.

Shad-How was your first day at the new job? Are you smiling?

Mel-I thought of you as I made little ribbon bows for the small tree I have in a planter outside. I even took an old plastic Christmas table cloth and stapled it to the bench seat by the front door. It is the only part of our house that looks Christmas like, but I was briefly crafty

Hopefully Teel will be feeling centred and ready to come home soon. Doctors, hmph!

I just ate a box of Smarties chocolate candies and thought about how much I haven't exercised while I have been hacking and snuffling. Back to the drawing board. Chocolate is good for you, I believe that. Little diet motivation pills.

well looks like another night of no sleep craig is really sick his temp is 41 and he just keeps throwing up so im sitting here playing settlers wondering if its worth going to bed before i have to get up and force feed him liquids and paracetemol at 2am ???
MEADOW ive never bothered with ph levels and such i just listen to the fish if they are going dull in colour time for a partial water change if the water is looking murky im leaving the light on too long if the fish are keeping to the top of the tank then the pump and filter need cleaning
ph balancing is worth doing if your keeping very expensive fish like discus and things apart from that just put lots and lots of plants make sure you have a good filter system and let nature do the rest
well ladies ive made it too the first week with no cigs and i do feel so proud of myself ive not killed anyone my kids and dh are still talking to me in fact dh keeps telling me how proud he is of me and keeps buying me little things like flowers and wee ceramic pigs and chocs but most of all im pleased with myself if i can do one week as well as having pmt,and pms then ill never smoke again {hopefully everything crossed} but even better still i DONT WANT A FAG hopefully it will stay that way but im not that niave but hopefully ill be strong enough to abstain anyway im off to finih playing my game and SHAD watch out for the solotaire im totally addicted and can play for hours and hours
kirsty

Hello, good evening to those still awake or just waking and to those still in the land of nod.
Today was not a bad day at all. At least I felt that I had something to contribute to the cause - even if there does seem to be a bit of political undertones in the office. I can handle that. It happens in every office.
I am continually surprised at the lack of preparedness of some of the companies I go to. This one has some real funny ideas. Not to worry I will handle that too. I am quite happy in the job at this point of time. Hours are interesting, I can go to work as early as I like from 6.00am onwards and leave any time after 3.00 just as long as I put in 8 hours. I thought I might shift my gym again back to Carindale and go there at 5.30 when they open. Then I can go straight on to work after a shower at the gym and come home around 3.30 or 4.00. That gives me about three hours of daylight to do something around the house.

Linus I am so sorry to hear about Craigs illness. I hope that by the time you read this, his temperature will have come down and you will be able to grab some sleep at last.

Meadow, sounds like you are being very creative with the tree and the bench. At least the visitors will be getting a touch of the spirit. What happens inside?

Is Nae hiding from us by any chance. Hope she is okay and just busy.

Mel, hope this finds you okay as well. You busy little bee you, take it easy too please. Don't need you to wear yourself out over the holiday season.

Happy, packing, packing, packing. Poor thing. She'll never look at a box again without thinking of the awful job of packing and unpacking again.

Okay, best go put my journal entry in and start the dishes, fold up the washing and make my lunch for tomorrow. I'm just getting too organised here. this can't happen. The new job has a big cafe with cheap, cheap lunches and dinners. However I don't think it is a good idea for me to eat there as the meals are huge and probably full fat. Or maybe I'll be full fat! See you