February 2020 finds us house sitting in a rural location, Ararimu (meaning Rimu Tree Path), about 15 minutes drive from Pukekohe, minding Miss Muffet the cat, keeping our eye on nine young beef stock and helping take care of extensive gardens and lawns. This location is ideal for Peter getting to work (and tennis!) and also convenient for visiting family and grandson minding days.
Summer has been hot and very dry so we are in the midst of a drought season right now taking care to conserve every drop of water that we can and praying for rain to fill the water tanks. It sure reminds us how much we take for granted our usual town water supply.
February is a celebratory month for our family with our grandson Lewis turning two and both Peter and I also having birthdays. Not that we want to be reminded of our ever increasing age…….
A highlight this month was the arrival of dear friends from England, Ann & Charlie, who spent almost a week staying nearby at a superb AirBnB called The West Wing in Drury. The weather was great so we were out and about exploring the scenery, paddling in the surf, feasting on fish n’ chips at Mission Bay, and enjoying each others company.
Following straight on from one lot of visitors to a day spent with long time friends Ian & Petrina who came to Auckland from Nelson for a long weekend. It’s great when you get to hang out with people who you haven’t seen for a very long time and you pick up where you left off as if no time has passed from one meeting to the next. These really are the best friendships.
With rolling hills, masses of trees around, loads of space between houses, peaceful sounds of nature and gorgeous star-lit skies at night (especially since we haven’t had much rain for a long time!) we are thoroughly enjoying our new (temporary) home.
