(1000 Posts)
AngryBeaver Sat 11-Aug-12 00:58:37

Arrgh,had to start a new thread!

Yes,you can get more land in Tauranga. Well,somewhere like Omokoroa or somewhere.Wouldn't want to live much closer than that. And I woulkdn't want to live at he Mount. Lovely as it is. Too touristy,imo.
We would like enough land for a pool (eventually) maybe a sleepout and still enough for a veggie patch and garden for kids. Don't neeed acres +. Wouldn't say no though,if we could afford it! Be nice to have a few sheep or something/

I think Mum would have to fly to Tauranga. So that would be
Manchester-London,London-Singapore, Singapore-Aukland,Aukland- Tauranga

justa howws the back? Hope physio was a help,we may have driven past you!
Your house sounds great.
My mums friend lives in Silverdale.She has about an acre with some sheep etc
Wasn't overly impressed at but didn't give it a proper look I suppose,just stopped to buy flowers for Mums friend! Always worth another look

vvviola Sun 25-Nov-12 20:32:39

Oh, for those on the North Shore... I've found another cafe with a play area for containing biddable children (i.e. not mine for very longgrin). Palmers Planet on Greville Road in Albany has a cafe and a little play area. It occupied DD1 yesterday long enough for me to pick some new tomato/courgette/cucumber plants.

I have however been banned from going there without some moderating influence... there's all sorts of pretty house stuff that no-one actually needs but is so completely irresistible grin

vvviola Sun 25-Nov-12 20:33:36

And that message looked a little odd after AB's sex strike post grin

AngryBeaver Sun 25-Nov-12 20:51:08

lolly House is great, you get the sun in all the right places. Lovely deck out the front. Nice sized front garden complete with swing and tree house. 4 beds, kids rooms are nice, our room is a bit small, but don't care. Kitchen is small but not bothered. Back garden is great, and we have an extra carpeted room off the garage.
It just feels like a family hime.
The last one felt like a mobile home with our furniture in it.
It was creepy and dark.
I used to hear running in the hall at night, but when I went to check, everyone was alseep!

Then dh came pegging into the room one day going "ohmygodohmygodohmygod"
I said "what happened???" he said "ohmygodohmygod! Look at the hairs on my arms" I said "what happened??" he said "someone whispered something in my ear and I am NOT joking"
DH does not believe in spooky stuff (I am on the fence, but sway more to non believing) I was completely freaked out and asked him not to tell me anymore as I was on my own so much.

Then when we were out of the house I said "ok, tell me what you head" and he said......"I'm here" aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrgh!
Then we asked the estate agent if anyone had died in there and she says fucking YES! A man. But we know no more.
So yes, new house is GREAT!!

thelittlestkiwi Sun 25-Nov-12 21:28:57

Oh AB! Have you googled the address?

justaboutchilledout Sun 25-Nov-12 23:11:43

ooh to Palmers Planet. Shudder to ABs old house.

AngryBeaver Sun 25-Nov-12 23:30:59

Jealous of cafes with play area. Nothing like that round here. There is one playcentre but it's a bit lame, expensive to get into and just old couches to sit on for adults, coffee is minging. So shalln't be returning!
We could really do with something like vvviola described, lots of things like that I miss from home.
Haven't googleed house.
There was also strange writing on the walls off the wood storage. Looked like a child used to get locked in there sad

lollystix Mon 26-Nov-12 04:32:56

AB - how could you stay there?!! That's freaked me out reading it. I'm afraid I'm a big believer in those sorts of things (DH believes its all bollocks). How long we're you there for? Did the kids pick up on anything?

Sex strike Friday night - was considering it but was do cross after visa comment. Don't think he noticed

vvviola Mon 26-Nov-12 08:07:04

Ooh AB, I'm generally a bit of a skeptic but that sounds freaky!

My parents are driving me nuts, and they're not here for another 10 days. Trying to sort out cars, accommodation and stuff for trips to Nelson & Wellington. It's hard to strike a balance between affordable & comfortable. Not helped by the decor in most of the motels - I'm sure they are lovely but most of the photos look like they were taken in the mid 70s!

AngryBeaver Mon 26-Nov-12 08:15:19

Not much choice lolly. Plus I refused to trhink about it. Once when dh had a night off, we were watching tv in the living room and he heard the running and said "Er, what the fuck was that??!" and I said "don't say anymore please!" Fingers in my ears lalalalalalalalalalala!
And he said "have you heard that before?" and I replied "Please be quiet!"
That's how I roll. Don't talk about it it's not happening...
I once ran into dd running out of the playroom hyperventillating.
I said "what's wrong darling?" and she said "I don't like it in there it's creepy, I'm not going in there again, close the door!"
It was a big room full of their toys but they never went in there.
It always had a dark depressing feel to it. The front of the house was ok , but the back was really dark and cold and eerie.
I never got much sleep there because I used to get up and check on each child about 6 times a night.
SOOO glad to be out.

WhatSheSaid Mon 26-Nov-12 08:32:53

Spoooooky stuff...

I just rushed through a couple of photo book orders for the in-laws for Christmas as the UK site I use for it had 30% off for one day only. That's just about all my Christmas shopping done <been scouring the sales for the last three months>

AngryBeaver Mon 26-Nov-12 09:14:27

Well I'm not much of a believer myself, but I'm a big scaredy cat. And lets just say I was uneasy. The end!
whatSheSaid how organised are you?! Mind you, I don't buy for any adults now apart from mum and her dp. Have bought a nice sunhat for Mum, and a really nice scarf that i want and a posh nail set.
Have got lots of stuff for the kids.Gotta love the dollar shops for stocking fillers. Ds1 is 4 and suddenly loves Spiderman (no idea why) and I saw a costume in the dollar shop for $6. Saw the same one ina shop for $30!
Kmart is good too. Went on Friday. Have nice kids character helmets. Getting dd rollerskates (god help us all)
Nothing for dh. Any ideas? He doesn't really like much. No intersts apart from golf, but no one to play that with.

AngryBeaver Mon 26-Nov-12 09:33:10

Found this good website if anyone is interested.
I am trying to be more organised and make a meal planner.


meerkate Mon 26-Nov-12 10:18:26

hi girls! good grief - so much to catch up on shock it's lovely to get all your news, though i am terribly sorry about your friend frik - that's just awful. makes being far away so much harder. i spent the weekend at a medicine-and-the-arts type conference/festival in cheltenham - 'medicine unboxed' - it was absolutely brilliant, though talk about being made to feel intellectually inadequate by all the ludicrously intelligent speakers present! the theme was 'belief'. highlights including sebastian faulks (my new literary crush) and, justa, former bishop of edinburgh richard holloway - fascinating man - and also rhidian brook who made the film 'africa united' which the kids and i watched last week and thoroughly enjoyed, i hadn't heard of him justa but i bet you have? often on 'thought for the day'. a 'man of faith though i don't call myself religious' is how he described his belief system. holloway described the bible as 'full of compassion and wisdom and...an awful lot of bollocks'. my kind of christian grin anyway, not much to report on the NZ job front, we are considering a return to perth where we still have friends and job contacts, though it's much less 'us'. i just love the magic and the soul of NZ's fairy-landscapes so much. mind you, i do love some things about perth too. we'll see. meanwhile we are being massively extravagant and taking the kids to india on 14 dec for two weeks, to see friends who live in kerala. so that will blow the budget for months to come! then we move the house the week we come back shock eek! AB totally freaked out by your haunted house!!! i am totally signed-up to that sort of weirdness (DH, in contrast, is a hardened cynic). SO glad you are outta there smile All your accounts of family visiting and the dilemmas thereof brought back lots of memories of when we were last D/Under for two years. I found that one of the hardest things - not seeing my parents for months on end, then having them stay for...months on end confused No easy answers!!

WhatSheSaid Mon 26-Nov-12 17:28:35

AB I don't buy Christmas presents for any adults either, except mil and fil. And dh. He's bloody hard to buy for too. Ive got him an M and S polo shirt and a Darth Vader alarm clock (I love it, hope he does). I'll prob just get some chocolate as well.

meerkate conference sounds great. Hmm, never been to Perth, I think I prefer NZ to Oz though (despite loads of Kiwis moving to Oz!)

meerkate Mon 26-Nov-12 18:31:07

Me too, WSS. NZ has more soul, somehow smile But I do like Perth - well, Fremantle and Perth's inner suburbs, anyway - the endless lifeless outer ones are scary to behold, no way I could live in one of those - would far prefer to live with the UK rain!!
Our wider family rarely does adult presents any more - I do get DH a couple of little things but that's about it!

voddiekeepsmesane Mon 26-Nov-12 19:10:31

Sorry guys but I'm gonna be a sceptic. NZ soul? really? Maybe it has changed in the last 8 years since I have been back. Britain and Europe have more soul in their litlle finger than NZ (or Aussie)

Just my opinion though (ex pat Nzer who walked away ...thats a lie I ran very very fast to Britain in my mid 20's)

New Zealand had and has soooo many problems, like all countries (both financial and social) but because it is such a small country you can't hide from it (unless you earn good amounts or are ignorant enough to turn a blind eye)

At least here in the UK/Europe you can find the right section of society to fit into.

WhatSheSaid Mon 26-Nov-12 22:58:01

Interesting to hear expat Kiwis opinions, voddie - I know lots of NZers do move overseas, either Oz or Europe or elsewhere. I do meet quite a lot who have moved back here once they've had dcs. What sort of problems do you mean, in comparison to problems in the UK? Social - poverty etc? Or something else? I would never defend NZ unreservedly, of course it has problems - the UK has some fairly horrendous areas and also of course some lovely areas and places. A persons viewpoint may depend on what they came from in the UK (in my case a fairly deprived northern town with race riots making the top headline on the six o clock news) to what they come to in NZ.

xMinerva Tue 27-Nov-12 03:21:58

Wow, ok lots to catch up on.

I check every day for a while and nothing then I leave it and there's 20 odd extra posts blush

Just doing dinner so will catch up this eve.

Hope everyone ok.

vvviola Tue 27-Nov-12 05:46:55

Well, I just passed up my big chance to star on local tv grin

Had a bump in the car today - someone ran up the back of me (all fine, but my neck & shoulder are v sore so if they aren't any better tomorrow I'll probably have to get them checked out).

Then someone else who was, I think, too busy looking at our accident, knocked over a cyclist (who will thankfully be ok). There was a TV crew with the ambulance and they were going around interviewing everyone. We declined. I will confess to being a bit hmm when the guy who hit us, who had looked totally distraught by the whole thing, paused to adjust his hair before he would allow them interview him.

I'm still a little stunned, but happy my stunnedness won't be on national tv grin

justaboutchilledout Tue 27-Nov-12 06:15:29

Poor you!

WhatSheSaid Tue 27-Nov-12 06:32:06

shock hope you're ok viola. Was the TV crew with one of those reality cop/ambulance/etc shows? My friend's mum tried to bring honey in though the airport the other week and got fined $400, I keep wondering if she'll turn up on Border Patrol (if that is the Kiwi customs one I am thinking of).

vvviola Tue 27-Nov-12 06:47:02

Yes, WSS, it was a reality programme. It was all a bit surreal. DH had driven up when I called him and he spoke to the guy. I was bf DD2, who cleverly used the opportunity to reintroduce a bf we'd managed to drop, and the tv guy was saying to DH "are you sure she doesn't want to be interviewed, she'll be on tv, it'll be cool for the kids", while peering in the car window at me. grin

DD1 is a bit shaken by it I think. We've had a lot of almost existential questions about why cars crash into each other and what it means when they do. If I didn't already have a headache she'd have given me one with all her questions grin

AngryBeaver Tue 27-Nov-12 07:57:06

wss Bradford?
vvviola poor you, it's such a shock being hit. Hope your neck and shoulders are better tomorrow thanks

WELL, what a day we've had! I was doing dd's hair this am when I noticed some black stuff in her hair. I thought she had been playing in the sand pit, but then it dawned on me...nits!
I know some will think this is silly, but I have had a dread of getting nits for all my life!
Dh checked her and confirmed (I was nearly sick) then checked ds1 and he had them too. ds2 was clear as was dh. I took a breath and said check me. He said I had it ...and I ran around the house screaming!
I dispatched dh to get "the most effect treatment they have" Then spent the next 3 hours applying the lotion and combing out <bleurrrrrgh> nits! The kids were crying and wailing. I had to show them cakes they could have after and tell them I would let them pick any dvd they wanted! Poor things.
THEN I boil washed EVERYTHING...pillows,cushions,teddies,clothes,sheets.
The machine has been on all day.
I also bleached all the surfaces and hoovered everywhere.
I still feel sick!
And I was supposed to be at the hairdressers today which I was really looking forward to!

Anyway, I thought I deserved a drink after kids were in bed (I decided this around 10am!) and spotted a bottle of vodka in the cupboard.
Knew we had tonic and there's a lemon in the fruit bowl. Great thinks I, at least I can wind down later.
Finally settled ds2 about 8,and got my glass out. Got vodka out. Guess what?
IT'S FRIGGIN EMPTY! Dh, the complete tool, has put an empty bottle back in the cupboard! Why? Why would you do that?
I feel a kick in the left testicle would be justified at this point

AngryBeaver Tue 27-Nov-12 08:00:04

On another, more sane note. Does everyone know about this?
www.free-tv-video-online.me/ it's brilliant!! Plus, if you have a laptop and a hdmi cable, you can wire it up so you can watch it via laptop on your tv

justaboutchilledout Tue 27-Nov-12 08:20:51

OK, AB, (deep breath) Did you use a pesticide lotion or a suffocation one?
Because a lot of the nits here in NZ are resistant to pesticides.
(bitter experience)
It might take more than one treatment before you get them all.

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