Drizzly, grey day today and quite cool in the house so it became a tidy-up more drawers and cupboards day!

But wait - I started out the day doing some Just Dance routines from YouTube which was a great way to get some exercise.

Ian concentrated on the office cupboard shelves and some of the myriad boxes of ‘stuff’ downstairs while I sorted clothes and removed some very summery items to make room for warmer tops. Still confident of a trip to the Sunshine Coast some time this year so have stored clothes that would be suitable for that climate within easy access.

Made little bacon & egg pies in the large muffin tins for our lunch with some lettuce from the garden and other salad bits and pieces. Certainly not starving - yet! In the afternoon Ian carried on with what he was doing and I started on the hall cupboard that has all sorts of things - cards, gift wrap, bags, candles both large and small, and my stash of gifts for a ‘rainy day’ which I’m thinking might prove to be very useful.

I moved the teddies around to give them a change of scenery - it is lovely to see families walking down the street and pointing out the bears. My 70+ bear is feeling very useful in his old age.
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Quite cool today - cloudy all morning with sun in the afternoon but very fresh breeze.

Made some scones in the morning and delivered some to nextdoor neighbours Nevill & Rosemary along with some whipped cream and raspberry jam. Also we went for a walk around the block and left some at the home of our neighbour below us whose husband sadly died yesterday after a battle with cancer - only mid-50’s.

Tidied another box of things and threw quite a bit out - not having normal rubbish collections but at least we have a house with spare rooms where we can stash things until we can go out and dispose of the clutter at some point.

Thought I had a photo of the bears but will get one in the morning when its daylight. Sounds like a boring day today but there was never a moment when we weren’t busy. :-)

Had an early start today when Ian’s alarm went off at 6 am!!

Nowhere to be, and nowhere to go, so not sure why it had been set at all! After some muttering we both managed to go back to sleep and didn’t wake up until nearly 9 am - most unusual for both of us.

Ian spent some time in the garden harvesting rhubarb, spring onions and lettuces and shared some of these with neighbours. There is a movement throughout New Zealand to put a bear in your window for kids to go on a bear hunt as in the book ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’. I sorted through soft toys - one bear is 70+ and another is 40+ - and put them on window sills in the front bedrooms so that they can be seen from the road. Such a lovely feeling when you walk around the neighbourhood and see that people have gone to an effort not just with bears but with any soft toy they have on hand.

Ian and I decided that Saturday nights would be dinner party night so I prepared a roast chicken and made a rhubarb flan for dessert. Was still finishing in the kitchen when the door bell rang - couldn’t think who it could be when no-one is supposed to be out and about, esp. at 6 pm - it was Ian, dressed up in his suit and tie! I said “you’re a bit early but that is fine, you can look after the bar while I go and get changed” - set the bar a bit higher than I was expecting but I rose to the occasion and put on my ‘little black dress’. We had a lovely dinner for two with candles on the table, nice wine and no devices!

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Sue&Ian

A bit cooler this morning but time to sort out a few more essentials.

We have always kept an emergency kit following the Christchurch earthquake but apart from taking out ‘past due date’ goods from time to time we haven’t had to access it much. So took everything out to make a note of what was there. Likewise in the pantry - sorted the cans of food on the shelf into priority - not sure how long that will last!

Had a Zoom connection with Katherine and the grandchildren. It is important that we keep regular contact. We hope to check in with James tomorrow. It was too late to include him in the link as he would have closed down his computer for the night.

Had delicious home-made soup for lunch with meat balls and rice in it and a couple of crumpets on the side. After lunch Ian did some office work and I did some baking and cooking. Made chocolate chip biscuits and caramel slice - never made it before and the caramel looks a bit dark but went ahead with the chocolate icing anyway as I’m sure that will mask the over-done caramel flavour. While I had the oven on I used the rest of the meat balls that I had prepared to make polpettone, an Italian meat ball and tomato sauce recipe. That will be for a meal in a couple of days because tonight it is Friday and Friday night is after-work drinks and casual meal.

We did go for a walk around our neighbourhood (a permitted activity). We have seen so many people walking past our house - didn’t realise there were so many walkers in the vicinity - maybe they are usually at work, or maybe they are coming from further away to get a bit of hill work in ??? Everyone waves as they go past and when we were out we waved to several neighbours that we haven’t seen for a while so all good to have that community contact albeit from afar.

Well, I can hear Ian opening the cupboard with the glasses in it so I think it’s time I joined the Friday night drinks crowd.

I’ll keep you posted - see you tomorrow! :-)