Annual Christmas Epistle 2023

Yeah nearly forgot to post it here!

:P

uuuuuh - hopefully the pictures come across too . . . . 

Copy paste thing

2023 Christmas letter


  

 Another solar cycle completed as our older son would say!! The year started with a bang – we left on 27th Dec for a 10 day trip south in our Bearmobile #2– and saw our Jonno’s place of work – at Milford Sound! We arrived in basking sunny warm temperatures – very UN-like Milford!! We had a great time catching up with Jonno – and were spoiled with food and accommodation!  His office window looks out over Mitre Peak – priceless!!! We also managed to stay at various other places – some for free!! We took our time getting there and back! The trip also involved a rare excursion across a lake and into Doubtful Sound! You catch a bus to catch a boat and then another bus to catch yet another boat to be in the Sound – then the return trip!  We had ZERO waves on the ocean – it was billiard table flat!! Very agreeable and also very scenic as well as once in a million days! Certainly are spoilt in NZ with our vistas!

 The other major trip away was up towards Nelson and Marahau (the beginning of Abel Tasman National Park) in the middle of February!  Our Motorhome is getting a good work out – apart from the short weekend trips away!! It is our second home away from home and also our respite care from all the worries of our lives and world! - Then in August we had a trip away for 10 days in Raratonga – a tiny island in the middle of no-where in the Pacific Ocean – so leaving a cold and damp Christchurch at the end of winter and arriving at 25c!!  No- we did not swim or drive our Bearmobile there – instead we caught a big plane for that particular trip!
    Michael has moved out of his flat in Hanmer – again – and came and stayed in our granny flat!! He wanted a job and there were more offerings in Christchurch then Hanmer!! So we had him living with us – sort of! He is very independent – but shared three evening meals with us during the week.  He has picked up a job with a firm doing electronic soldering initially for 4 days – and now full time!  He is enjoying the extra income and being able to save cash for various projects!  Since then he has moved back out again into a flat with two other males, who he knows well – so we are home alone again!! Wonder how long that will last!  2 weeks from writing this he will celebrate a full calendar year without getting once into the hospital for treatment on his leukaemia or complications from that!!  Break out the bubblies to celebrate that!!


   We are keeping well.  Reinhold’s CLL is just – there – parked at the moment! So there is long term remote monitoring for this condition!! Being of the older generation – one of the male things to watch out for is a prostrate – which needs more care.....  Not that the girls have any worry in that department!  Reinhold continues to enjoy his woodworking and often spends time in the workshop with his mate Roger, restoring old pieces of furniture and creating new projects.   The latest being a Oak-wheelbarrow with containers for pot-plants!

Pam is keeping well and busy.  If she is not reading while on our trips away, then she is knitting various garments for little folks we know from our relatives – or friends! She is also looking forward to retiring from work – although that is yet 5 years away!  It is going to be a long wait me thinks!  Here she can be seen practising the relaxing lifestyle!!     
We took on a major project in our garden – ripping out a few herbs and a ton of weeds and stones and other junk – took over 600kg to the Dump or recycling center – then found out how unfit we were when we started digging the soil over – in preparation for a flat weed free surface – then laid a weed mat over that and planted NZ Red Tussock grasses and tossed a whole lot of wood chips over that.  This should keep that area tidy and maintenance free – so that we can go away more often in our Bearmobile #2!! YESS!!!! Job well done!!

    
    Not being on Facebook any longer (and Pam says she would NEVER go onto that) we do miss out on the snippets of what our friends are up to, so feel free to email or write back to us.  We always like to hear the news from friends and family and see their lives progress! Those who use ‘signal’ are certainly good sharing the news and pictures!! Those little ones are now more grown up children and we enjoy seeing those pics too!! 


    

Well – time to close for another year!!  As I type – it is raining on the roof of our Bearmobile #2 with a typical late spring/early summer weather – temperature of 9c outside!! Almost winter again!! Time for a hot drink!!  Take care and hugs from the both of us!







Seasonal greetings to all!!

R+P







Have fun!