Fast Forward 2 Years...

It's funny, how things don't go to plan.... reading back over the previous post with me eagerly awaiting a perfect Christmas, I couldn't have got it more wrong!  The in-laws brought a nasty bug south with them and we spent Christmas morning at the urgent GP followed by a Boxing Day trip first thing in the morning to the urgent dispensary for drugs.  They remained ill for most of the rest of their stay of two weeks, sleeping all day and emerging to watch endless gameshows around 3.30pm at warp volume.  There was no Christmas lunch and definitely no Christmas cheer.  Once we had put them on the plane, Fergus, David & I did a high five and let out a collective sigh in relief!  The very next day I made a very belated Christmas day lunch for the pair of us which we devoured with happiness in our hearts.  It was a good try at a family Christmas... but sometimes you just have to suck it up, cupcake, and realize you are just not cut out for "family".  That said, we will get on with what we are good at - being a couple.

And here we are.  Not native Malburians, it's true, but well ensconced into the lifestyle of our chosen home doing lots of lovely couply things like walking through Autumn leaves, enjoying weekend getaways and winery lunches.  Last Christmas we went to Hans Herzog Winery for Christmas lunch and although I've had better (Rydges, Auckland in 2014 & 2015) it was wonderful that someone else did all the work. 

During the early part of 2016 both of us found employment.  Dave, full time, at Oyster Bay wines working as a vineyard operator, and me in a part time admin role at Marlborough Lines - the local electricity network provider.  My role is literally perfect for me - I work flexi hours with Fridays off and am able to start at 7am meaning I can finish by 1pm if I don't take lunch.  I love it.  Dave also starts at 7am and is done by 3pm which gives us time together in the afternoons - great when its swimming season!  It wasn't really on the cards for me to find work, but I saw the ad and applied and the rest as they say, is history.  Some things are just meant to be.  Financially we are doing ok.  We both only earn fairly average money, but we have what amounts to a third weekly wage coming in from our rental property which has never had a day untenanted since we bought it 2 years back and of course it is appreciating all time, as properties prices steadily increase in Marlborough.  We started playing on the share market a few years back and have made some reasonable returns there too.  We currently have shares in 4 areas - IT, powdered goats milk, cancer research & development, and an arthritis remedy that is supported by clinical trials.  It's been a learning curve and we have lost small amounts (three figures) but the gains in the four figure range, have outweighed the losses and it's been better than any money in the bank would do!

Fergus, our rescue cat, who was an uphill struggle for the first year and half has finally settled down and is now reasonably stable in his behavior towards us.  We believe him to be part Norwegian Forest Cat due to his large size and huge paws and little ear tufts.  Standing he can put his paws flat on the kitchen bench, and weighs in just shy of 7kg.  Absolutely cannot tolerate children at all (with ya there, Ferg!) and still gets angsty at sudden movements or perceived threats, but hasn't drawn blood for several months now.  It's taken more than two years but he now will smooch past us, gathering pats and strokes, instead of how he used to eensure he always gave us the widest berth.  He did bail up our a tradie who came to do some tiling while the pair of us were working.  Poor guy said he has never been afraid of a cat in all 35 years he has been tiling - until that moment!  Said that if Ferg had taken one more step towards him he would turned and fled the house!  Apparently our boy was snarling at him like a feral cat...  Go Ferg, the ultimate home defender. 

In the past two years we have achieved quite a few improvement here at our home - of course the major projects were installing the swimming pool and completely re-landscaping the garden which is over a third of an acre so that it's all easy care with loads of natives.  Our flax "bank" - formed from soil dug out to put in the pool - is now nicely mature with beautiful bronze and red flaxes that move organically in the breeze and provide great privacy as well as a wind break.  We have a gardener who comes every fortnight, and keeps things shipshape with minimum effort and we adore her!  The view out the window is parklike and very pleasing.  Other projects were the kitchen & scullery renovation, replacing the bath with a two person spa bath, cutting open the house to change our bedroom window for a ranch slider out to the terrace and pool, and installing our impressive 24 panel solar system with battery storage,  I would still like do to do more with the bathrooms, and we know that the carpet will be replaced when we no longer have our fur baby... which hopefully will be many years down the track.

It took more than two years for the repairs allowing SH1 to reopen allowing access down the coast to Christchurch - the impact to us was immense as we no longer had ALL that traffic going past our door!  The grand opening was Dec 15th, 2017, meaning we had a wonderful summer of peace and quiet while we relaxed by the pool.  Heavenly.

We've been lucky enough to have many trips away in the past two years as well.  Highlights have been our trip through the Rainbow Road in our 4x4 - an all day affair to Hanmer Springs to stay the night, and our trip to South Australia where we visited many wine regions, and stayed on a station in the outback of the Flinders Ranges.  Our explorations around Marlborough are ongoing, and we hope to go camping more next year. 

No idea what we are doing for Christmas yet.... could be under canvas!