[tag=PRP | □=□ | □ | □]
[tag=PRP | tag=□ | □ | □]
[tag=PRP | word=□ | □ | □]
He has what is in effect exclusive use of a small sitting room with a fabulous view over the Lough - - no-one else uses it because the TV is in the other , larger , sitting room - - and no-one else dares to sit in " his " chair that looks out through the window . She also spent many delightful periods as paid house sitter with her close friend Kirsty , which involved long nights of watching videos and eating copious quantities of ice cream . Watching rehearsals is definitely the way to generate enthusiasm for new art forms , and makes you realize how much you learn about music from playing in an orchestra . People came from all over the North Island , and the eclectic mix of recorder-playing , swimming in the local natural hot pools , and bird watching proved to be a winning combination . It was a great experience , a great ending to our six months traveling work-holiday ( one of us was working , the other holidaying ; guess which ) , and a great alternative way to celebrate Christmas than sitting at home sans kids , a twosome with a turkey . She drove two close friends and a girl visiting from Scotland up north for a weekend of relaxation . She picked up a quartet of crumhorns while visiting Calgary , a gift from a fellow recorder player there . Except that one of his hosts in the International Development Center he was visiting at Tulane University , an expert on disaster cleanup and management , was spirited away to the Nevada desert by the US Army for secret meetings for most of the duration of Ian 's visit . The lodge staff having been tipped off in advance , we celebrated the birthday with gorgeous gooey chocolate cake and champagne , and ended the day sitting round the campfire singing Everly Brothers songs in the gloaming , surrounded by pine trees . The first , in March , took in New York ; a conference at Princeton University in New Jersey ; seminars at NEC Research and Drexel University in Philadelphia ( where who should turn up but Robert Aish , a friend from Essex days thirty years ago ) ; a " distinguished visiting lecture " at Texas A & M University ; a visit to ex-colleague Lloyd Smith ( the man who originally hired Ian at Waikato ) at New Mexico Highlands University ; Grand Falls , Colorado ; and the annual Data Compression Conference at Snowbird , a ski resort outside Salt Lake City . To be more accurate , Ian ( the friend ) and son sailed while Ian ( your hero ) lay groaning on his bunk , suffering from a curious stomach ailment . Nikki 's best NZ friend Kirsty was also visiting , and it was nice to catch up with her too . Recently we let our hair down and played at a lunchtime event at a nearby winery , sitting on a big canvas-covered patio and performing Broadway music and popular opera songs while the audience helped themselves to buffet lunch . ( Ian is considering growing them . And today , here , it 's high summer : Ian is sitting in the garden , man and his laptop , with birds chattering in the trees in front and a sheep gently complaining in the paddock behind , a sleepy-eyed cockerel , jet-lagged or otherwise time-challenged , in the distance .