All those online for NZ timezone!

[buzzybee]

Hi all. Used to be a regular on MN when I lived in London but since moving back to NZ have found it harder to make the connections due to all the brits being asleep when us down under are online! So if anyone is keen to start a thread for those of us in this predicament please reply! My DD has just turned 5 and started school last week (scary). Have just found out I'm expecting number 2 - due roughly Xmas day...

KJM - you've not missed it, if you are able to come its this coming Saturday (I hope!!)
Why don't we go for "Plum" since its a bit more child friendly? Sibble your DH can always take a bus up to Cuba St from the railway station!

So, its opposite Farmers in Cuba Mall. Hope to see a few of you there 11am this Sat!

And hope you all had a great Easter. Really nice here, did loads of stuff and enjoyed the good weather.

Looking forward to it. In case something happens I wont' have internet access from Thursday night so my mobile is 021 1699 813 - drop me a text. I still need to get part of the wedding present so will hit the shops before hand hopefully.

We had a fantastic easter, weather hot, body boarding, boys making sandcastles, crab hunting - ds1 caught about 30 one day!! bbq and wine with friends. Back to school and normality today though ready for another long weekend this weekend. Such fun.

oh bugger....just checked mumsnet for the first time this week..
now I really have missed it... I was in Porirua at 11am wandering round the shops, I'm feeling so so so so so I would've come, serves me right for being so offline...hope you had a good time xx

Sorry about my language there ladies, I was having a really tricky weekend and missing your meetup just put the cherry ontop. So sorry it rained on you, hope you managed to find a dry space for you and your lo's.

Hi ALl, back from Wellington on the 6.45 flight this morning - all rather tired but have sent ds1 to school. In for a very quiet night I hope. We eventually found the wedding, it was in Newlands!!! looked in the phone book and a joint effort of trying to remember snipits from the invitation meant we made it albeit an hour early - better early than late I guess. Sadly the boys were over tired, over excited and quite possibly the worst behaved I have ever seen them - positively psychotic. dh was not amused, consequently we were home and in bed by 9.45. Had a fantastic day sunday though catching up with friends from home and their children - little angels on Sunday as boys and toys to play with. Oh well.....

Anyway great to see you both and buzzybee looking forward to possibly catching up with you in Auckland in the next hols.

oi, so have we moved in over here ! I don´t mind either way

its raining here and my roof hasn´t been fixed and have new ceiling in - makes me want to swear kjm

Been getting into 30 hour working week, taking awhile to reach target, but thank goodness the job is flexible about that. The kids have been great and seem to not mind at all being at the plant nursery with me. The guy who owns the land, had a band practice today and the kids were out dancing

hey paps, not moved just visiting, there's a message back at home for you
Oh dear sibble, children and weddings, they just don't perform when you need them too do they, or rather they do!

Hi Sibble. Lovely to see you again. Glad you made it to the wedding OK despite the child issues!

Sorry we missed you KJM

Looking forward to coming to Auckland soon.

Is it raining with all of you? My washing is piling up out of control... We don't have a dryer to try and save planet/save bills, but wet washing - what do do???? Arrggghhhh. DC are inevitably trashing house, going crazy.

How is everyone doing? Very quiet on here.

I drove back from the Marlborough Sounds to ChCh yesterday in the absolute pissing rain (well, until past Kaikoura anyway). On my own with the children, and starting a huge cold. it was bloody awful . I nearly abandoned the lot of them and did a Reggie Perrin into the Pacific

I dry our clothes infront of the storage heater in the hall, looks awful but I've given up. do have a dryer but try not to use it very often (and it was my parents' old one so at least I didn't buy a new one!)

Hello all, know what you mean about the washing, ds is having a wee relapse (literally) with night times at the moment so am resorting to drying sheets over the doors, doesn't do much for the interior decor I must say! Still the sun is shining today and of course Ds had a dry night last night so no washing...typical! . I find that having two racks on the go helps and I rotate them from the spare room (unheated) to the lounge (heated) and pop them out on the deck if the sun does shine, takes about two days to dry that way.

I am obsessed with my washing. I get so happy when it is a sunny, windy day. A drying day! Like you all, we seem to have permanent displays of damp items draped over furniture etc. a lot of the time. I really must broaden my horizons....

Well Shells it's very refreshing to hear you don't just chuck it in the dryer as I'm feeling all green and enviromental tonight, having been to the Sustainable home and Garden show today up here in Kapiti. It was really interesting and inspiring to see so many forward thinking enterprises in one place....and my Ds actually had his face painted for the first time ever what fun!

My DCs NEVER want their faces painted. They just don't like the feel of it. Funny isn't it.

That sounds interesting kjaysmum. Did you see any things you'd like to try?

We're trying to cut down our electricity bills (heating the house with woodburning stove burning our own wood, looking at solar water heating) and ideally would love to wave the power company goodbye but I suspect we'll always need some electrical power even if just off a generator.

Well DH desperately wants to build an Eco house....bless him. I, however, am biding my time in our rental till the prices stabalise and we have a second wage coming in, just with the hope to buy a place! So in the meantime, we are very restricted, but we are going to start a wormfarm in the garden and get composting properly, take shorter showers!!!!that's my fault finish transfering to energy saving light bulbs, switch off more.. you know, all the obvious stuff, Dh has a whole bag full of info he brought home but I haven't had a chance to read it yet...of course ..ok back to my organic horticulture course homework now... that's not an evious face by the way it's me turning green!!

oh, i must pick your brains KJM. i am trying to make a good compost heap and its not going brilliantly.... how are you going to do the worm thing?

If you text me your address, Shells, I have a really good handout I can send you on composting, I gave it to my neighbour whose an old fella and it's working great, have just built mine and am following the same instructions. My cell phone is 0 2 1 1 6 5 3 8 9 8. The worm farm...well we were going to buy one, but they are about $150 for a decent one and having just done a Permiculture unit at college which encourages recycling old waste we've decided to have a shot at this.....
wormfarm it doesn't look as smart as a bought one so I've got some old green paint and figure I could always paint it up (I may even get arty on it )
Hope that helps

You guys are so good. Our power bill is huge despite never leaving anything on stand by, using eco bulbs where we can (don't wokr with dimmers for some reason and we have alot of dimmers), always washing at 30 degrees etc... We also lop a few pines each year for wood for the fire if none fall in high winds - dh has worked out that at the rate we use them we probably have about 50 years worth so think that's OK, we also replace with natives....our chooks eat alot of our scraps and getting a pig for ag day to eat the rest. BUT.... I do have a dryer caved in last year - first time ever - as dh was adamant having the damp clothes hanging around all winter was adding to ds2's bad chest. I also set fire to some pj's drying them too close the burnt a hole in the carpet lucky I was in the room!!!!

You could have a point there sibble, we did have a lot of condensation last year..hmmm, your place sounds great what with all your trees (paps is the one to know about the natives now hey )and chooks an' all, did you mean you're getting a pig or you have one?

Shells, I have a booklet here it's by the Dept of building and housing, thought you may be interested....it's called "Your guide to a $marter home" you can get it from the council. There's also a website here may be worth a look and there's a phone number for the "Eco design Advisor" for "free impartial advice about your home" Wellington:499 4444.

Sorry just re-read the thread that info was actually for you Welliemum hope it helps...

That's a brilliant website, kjaysmum, thanks so much! I've bookmarked it because there are so many topics there that we're thinking about at the moment.

KJM. Worm farm is going to be my winter project. Better start collecting newspapers! Sibble - I think all the stuff you are doing sounds great. Its impossible to do everything - you just have to do the best for your circumstances.

great

Hi just checking in...we've had no internet or phone for the last two weeks - total nightmare! Have ahd to spend evenings TALKING to dh and other such archaic activities! Hopefully we'll haev interent again soon btu who knows really. Long story. Tried to change provider and it all went horribly wrong...

Anyway - Buzzy I'm still keen for the meet up, if I dont' get interent again soon I'll text you. I think we said Tuesday of the week of the 21st April?

Have to go - have sneaked into dh's work to email from here. Back soon I hope