CHristmas 2010 - Adrian Kealey - Picasa Web Albums

CHristmas 2010 - Adrian Kealey - Picasa Web Albums

Hi everyone, last post before festive season. After some really great weather for a month in November it has all turned to mush with wet and warm being the norm. Very unusual for Levin, it is more sub tropical, like Auckland. Everything growing at great pace including lawns unfortunately!
Avril's first day of no work so she is off into town with Lauren to finish Christmas shopping. We have reached the end of the festive season functions with a clear calendar for the rest of the week. We now have a refurbished cinema in Levin with cafe and couch style seating. We have been a couple of times and went to see "Made in Dagenham" the other day http://www.paramountpicturesintl.com/intl/uk/madeindagenham/ Good movie, shows how far we have come in terms of fair pay and how women were discriminated against. We also saw "Skin" recently, about apartheid. Amazing what people do to other people and how laws can be changed at a whim to suit who knows. Worth seeing just to realise how twisted some cultures get. http://www.skinthemovie.net/site/
I haven't sent cards this year so this is our greeting.
We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. May 2011 bring all you wish for.
Adrian and Avril

Another week gone by. Great to catch up with Geoff and Liz even though they unfortunately had to cut their visit short to return home for funeral on Monday. Spent Saturday in Wellington with them, mainly to visit Te Papa, our National Museum including a display of Brian Blake's work. Check link below to check it out http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/WhatsOn/exhibitions/BrianBrake/Pages/default.aspx?redirectedurl=true

Sunday after they left we headed out for a garden party with the wine club, very relaxing.
Hannah booked in for op to take out tonsils and adenoids Monday morning. As Avril was not working yesterday we went to Wellington for day to see how she was. Hard for a 4 year old to have to endure but should be worth it as she constantly had nasal infections and antibiotics. Getting a bit grizzly by the time we left about 5 but due for some more pain killers so hope she had a settled night.
Guy coming today to fix ceiling in spare bedroom. When I gave ceiling a closer inspection during preparation for redecorating found hairline cracks all over plaster. Not happy to just cover with paint as they just come thrrough again so got expert to have a look. He is going to gouge out cracks, fill, put tape over then re plaster whole ceiling-that should fix it!!!
Booked caravan sites at Paekakariki, just north of Wellington for 5 days to New Year, then off over to Masterton in the Wairarapapa (Map of lower North Island) after that with friends who also have van. Hope to take Hannah with us for  some of the time.

Not sure what to countdown first Avril leaving work or Christmas. Both are fast approaching though.

Great weekend at Himatangi Beach with weather brilliant and company, a lot of laughs. No doubt it looks strange for Santa to be arriving in brilliant sunshine in a cart!! The kids love it (grandkids).16 caravans attended the rally and we fed about 50 on the Saturday night with a whole ham, chickens salads etc.

Last week was notable for the fact that after 20 years I finally made contact again with Eva (from Indonesia), who we hosted for a year in 1988/9. Amazingly I found a card she had bought out with her full name on and when I Googled it came up with heaps of stuff including a Facebook reference.Also amazingly she is now living in Melbourne with her husband and family. She is an English Literature lecturer doing her doctorate there. Hopefully we will be able to visit whilst she is living there. Still looks the same, and married the boyfriend she left behind whose photo was up on her bedroom wall during her stay.
Geoff and Liz arriving Thursday afternoon for a few days so will be good to catch up. 
We have just booked tickets for Womad, http://www.womad.co.nz/tickets.htm?gclid=CNb-lPGQ1qUCFSBugwoddz49lQ in New Plymouth next March. Includes camping on racecourse so we are right there for the 3 days of the festival. Will be our treat for year as it is quite expensive.