The Ferrit Winter Sale is Coming to an End

Buon Giorno!

Not a lot happening up this way i must say... Jeff took the week off work to tour around the North Island with Kate, and to hit a few slopes along the way. lucky for some!

Have a combined 24th birthday for a couple of Knox friends to go to tonight, always fun to catch up... especially at a classy (cough) BYO.

Ciao

Dave

PS And yes, (contrary to common belief) that foxy minx isn't Helen of Troy, but the pulchritudinous Mary.

Rhodes--The Place To Be.

Hi Everyone, We are loving our expedition. The whole package has been going wonderfully well. A mini heat wave in Turkey, and now Greece takes a bit of getting used too, but we are managing well----just need to keep the liquid balance going. The old town of Rhodes got a detailed examination today----incredible to learn and saee so much all in one place---particularly the Crusaders. Off to Lindos tomorrow.

At long last Ash is starting to see that history has a great deal to offer...the layers of civilisation is incredible and the extent to which remains are being constantly uncovered is very interesting. Itis very beautiful here..I did not think there could anything more beautiful than Ephesus but now I am not sure. We have found ice-creams to be an important part of the diet...our tour has included many buffets so we have had a wonderful chance to try all the Turkish and Greek cuisine..clothes seem smaller! The heat is unbelievable..feet struggle the most but face wipes and an occasional swim and beer make it tolerable. Many fires aroune Athens. Turkey was incredibly hot..broke records for heat at this time of the year. We are so happy. Thinking of you all. Love Barb and Ash

Thanks to the emailers with their news. Cheers, Ash and Barb.

hi from chch

Hello all still no more news from ye ole matriarch on the continent.
I have no idea whether they went to any shows in westend.

Next weekend Dad is coming up to stay before picking up the globetrotters on Monday morning , I will pop out to the airport to try to gleam a few details.

Well Jen & I were looking at Matts photo and are curious as to whether the young lady beside Dave is Mary. (having never met)

Welcome home Kate hope Veitnam was a wonderful experience for you.

Great to catch up with Cam & Emma, Nick & Liz & Liv at the weekend the Party went well ,hope you had a great time Nick.

Roll on spring! Chris

Hello family

Hi all,
Sorry I havn't blogged for a while. I've been really busy lying around watchin movies. Not alot of news to tell on my part, I've rarely left the house for the last few weeks. All is well with my wound, I've healed up fantastically and am no longer in any pain. Nicks 21st was good, I'm headin up to ChCh this w/e to visit a friend. Got one week of holidays left and suprise suprise, i've left all my law work to do in the last week. The most exciting thing i'm doing at the mo is singing in my church band, but it'll be the last time this w/e because I'll be back in Dunedin next w/e. So all round a pretty non-exciting blog posting, I'm sure i'll have some more exciting news when I get back into the exciting world uni.hmmm.
Any hoo
love you all,
Live

Waikato Times

Hi All,

Managed to get my coloured text back! Well, its been a while since I posted. As mentioned in Dave's post a while back, I met up with him and Jeff in Auckland. Meet at the chocolate botique to have a "denso" ie melted chocolate. Dave was not satisfied enough with this and decided to follow up with a caramel slice!! Indulgence of epic proportions. Included is evidence of Dave enjoying hi choco treat and his caramel slice (be it a tad over exposed)
So, great to catch up. Weekend after I was in Hamilton to go to Fieldays (Largest agricultural show of it's type in the Southern Hemisphere). I also saw Ocean's 13 and broke my car...high voltage coil. But, $260 later and I was back on the road the next day!

Weekend just been I headed up to Tauranga to visit an old Uni friend who has just taken a job with Fletcher construction. Headed into town on Saturday night to watch the tri nations match.

All that aside, work has been good. Getting busier and more involved all the time, so those are all good things.

Great to hear about everyone else's overseas travel and the likes. Nick, I was talking to mum who said very complimentary things about your 21st. Wish I could have been there! Hope you had a good one. Well done on your last assesment mark Victoria, sounds like you are doing wicked!

Thats enough for now, will post again when I have more things to talk about.

Matt

P.S. That last photo definately did not highlight how rediculous Dave's caramel slice was....
(Behind the glass)

Kate is back

Hey All

Jeff here but i have kate at my side (how cute eeewwww) Anyways she is rather sunburnt and i am rather jealous. She has heard about and laughed about the family blog and now i am introducing her to it.

Kate, can we get a quote? "no, you can't have a quote" she says. Why not? "Jeff! delete it..." So anyways, she isn't corporating but luckily i can fabricate in her place. There are some delightful photos on our computer - all 589 of them! wow. Cool. Her trip sounds cool though. Intrepid journeys are the way to go. Kate fell in love with Saigon as the best city in asia. Crowded but unlike many other cities it was also reasonably clean. She also enjoyed siam reap, bangkok and ??

Righto. I am taking off on annual leave this week to hang with her. I think we are going to head to Mt Ruapehu but maybe stop off at Taupo on the way? Haven't decided yet so the next step after i post this is wotif.

Take care eveyone. Dave is also well. He is sitting opposite me!

Jeff

Is that a dorklander whingeing about cold

My my I am sure the cuzzie bros in dunnos,timos,tokos waimos and (from block-o-ice- feet) chchos feel real sorry for you guys in auckland.
Glad to ear job is good. Are you going to be skiing this year??? chris

Shirley is back!!

Hey Team

Jeff here. I haven't extruded anything onto this blog in the recent past. A lot of my news is Dave's news and thus i have been loathed to pollute the airways with any further ramblings.

Yeah, so basically,, the story is that I am living at Daves flat. Its a little cold, a little damp and under equipped but i's also great. i am quite enjoying the locale, close to the city and shops but yet quiet and remote as well. Unusually we live next to a prison.

Work is also going well. I work on a range of commercial projects in the world of shipping, warehousing, trucking and logistics planning.

Not much else to tell. It's rather cold here and the public transport is rather novel.

See, told ya I didnt have any news. Kate gets home next week. That's exciting.

Jeff

hello everyone got a message from mum so have attached.
As you have heard ats nose isnt broken but the middle bit(sputem??) has been bulged and displaced making breathing difficult and making it look broken. So we have to meet the ENT specialist again in a month to see about surgery to sort it out.

I have a busy week with tennis,our 27th wedding anniversary, school production(Wizard of Oz) scout do(big costume party) and NICKS 21st. shall be great fun.

talked to barb & ash just now they are about to board.

good luck for exams assignments nick, victoria is in thick of them this week .

glad to hear liv getting better looking forward to seeing all o'cs this week plus emma.

Hope kate doing well in veitnam.
I must get up to auckland. Would like to go to "We Will Rock you"
love chris

from mum

Hi all Tried last night the set up here different
Having a great time
\wonderful driver and tour leader she swats up stuff tso as we have an insight into the history of where we are going
Weather pretty good
On our way to London Seems we are from one feed to another
Good travelling companions
LOVE TO ALL JEAN ANNETTE ETHEL

Pat talking

Hey everyone its Pat here... uhhhh just saying thanks for the birthday pressies... all nice with great cards... oh i went to the doctor again about my nose and he said it wasnt broken so yeah thats nice to hear even if he might turn out to be wrong...

Hanging In

Dear All,

The od non-fancy, practical and quick update! Ash and I are frantically trying to get everything completed so that we can get away. Nothing new!! No matter how carefully one plans the best laid plands of mice and men oft go astray..according to Robbie Burns and echoed by John Steinbeck.
Anyway we are thinking of everyone and in case time runs out we just want to say goodbye! The reality of the trip has not really hit although the travel notes make for some serious reading. Time to pack a headscarf and long -sleeved shirt.
I have had terrible trouble with ears and sinus and so can only keep my fingers crossed that the antibiotics will work. Fourth doctor's visit today..was to be for vac for hep A and Hep B but the nurse hesitated and called my doctor in..we all agreed that due to the incident at the weekend that it would not be sensible to load the system any further. I feel happier as a result. Srilll low on energy but probably due to trying to do 2 weeks work in one this week.
glad to here Olivia is getting well. I have been thinking of you a lot. dad sounded great when I was taling to him. Hopefully Patrick is over the worst of his ordeal. Auckland sounds great..it is lovely that the boys managed to catch up with Matt. Amazing to think they live so close at present. We recieved a lovely postcard from Kate. She sounds very happy in her travels around Cambodia.
Toddy seems to be recovering from his surgery so hopefully all will be well soon...I have the guilts about putting them in the kennels now that it has turned frosty. Thank goodness for dog coats and heated kennels.
Have not heard from mum for a few days so sent her an email. She should be in Scotland at present. Her first news indicates a happy trip so far. Hopefully that is still the case. I cannot believe how far North they travel.
Today I have managed to get internals completed for monologues, despite horror issues with swapping of tapes and lack of a power cable for video camera. It has taken tonight to fix it all up. Everything has to be perfectly sequenced and cross-referenced for moderation..takes hours.
Glad to here Melbourne went well. I love that city. I would dearly love to take my form 7 classs to Miss saigon as it fits in with the themes of "A Quiet American".
Anyway too much rambling and still much to do before bedtime. The last few nights I have been up in the night working but need to stop that now hopefully. I always wake about 1 am and
feel ready for work..easier to do for a couple of hours than worry. Time for a break and to be honest I will not miss the frosts we have had the last few days. Ash seems permanently attached to his office desk at present..also trying to catch up.
Congratulations on 25 years marriage to O'C ..a big personal milestone. No doubt you will celebrate it in suitable style. Happy Birthday especially to Nick. Have a great party. We will think of you as we visit Troy that day.
Bye for now, Barbara and Ashley.

song played on a silent saxophone

Hi everyone,
Pete and I enjoyed Miss Saigon,but rather distracted by the ailing daughter back home,(my favourite song is actually Kims nightmare I think).
We had a little retail therapy,had some walks and saw some interesting art,a highlight was a kareoke bar at the amazing Crown Casino complex,we didnt know who was the most amusing the performers or the small audience.
We retrieved Liv on wed a week ago,she needed the tues after Queens Bday to work out what to do re exams etc.She is home now and recovering more quickly than anticipated which is great.I hope Barbs and Pat are also improving in a similar style.
We went to wellington on Sat,for the test,this seemed to entail much sitting around in cafes and one great restaurant on the waterfront called St Johns,the old St Johns ambulance premises.We spent sunday with Cam and Emma which is a great excuse for headng to wellington,they are looking happy,Emma has a job as a policy analyst for the Education dept and Cam is busy with his web design and art.
This is a big week coming up for many,Barb and Ashs incredible sounding trip,Mums continuing one,and the OCs have one 25th wedding aniv,one post50 birthday(not mine)
and Nicks 21st,oh and midweek I am having a debrief cocktail party for our Art show group,eeks all in 4days!!take care everyone,cheers Jen Pete Liv

Welsford to Waimate....

My what a busy week... so busy in fact that i'm able to while away the hour and bloggity blog blog blog.

Me, Mary and Jeffy managed to catch up with young Matty Matt Matt twice over the last few days. The first time was in Parnell at the Chocolate Boutique - where you order a hot choc and you get a slurry of rich heart-attack-in-a-glass-72%-cocoa-mass-goodness. mmmmmmmmmm........mass.

The second time was at Wagamama's in Newmarket. Wagamama's, for those of you who dont know, is quite a famous international brand of Westernised Japanesesque restaurants. Some people rave about them, I detest them. I'm sorry, but soy beans that are so stringy that you cant chew them is such a poor excuse for an entree... Jeff seems to love the place, apparently i'm just ignorant, and that one goes there for the procedure of dining, and not for the food itself...

And conjealed wasabi and chocolate butter icing on plastic chocolate cake? seriously... needless to say my microwavable TV dinners are much tastier and i dare say nutritious - $4 for 'fresh' lasagne in only 7 minutes. i'm all class.

Jeff's well and truly moved in now, it's so nice having some furniture again... we catch the train together every morning. awwww.

Well, had best get back to it.

Davo

PS Hope you're getting better now barbs!

barb hope all improving

Hi all hope barb is getting on top of that infection and over the reaction.

Great to see mum is using blog I will copy any news you post on this mum and zap out to your email tree friends.

Dad has been with Keith and now at Dons.
He arrives here tomorrow will be great to see him. I will take wed off work to spend some time with him.
Will also take pat to hospital for nose resetting on wed(booked out today)

Pat got to have his party yesterday 6 of them went Paintballing and had a ball(pity you missed it Matt).

Matt is in auckland now. bye now Chris

Timaru Today

Hi Everyone,

We hope you are all well, and that all the travelling is going great. Jean should be in Scotland today, and John is probably in North Canterbury.

We are really looking fwd to our trip, with only 7 sleeps to go. Most jobs seem to have been done----only need to collect tickets, buy some more money, take dogs to the kennels, and get on the plane.

I returned from Invercargill last night to find Barbara most unwell with Sinus troubles, and she has been in bed all day today. Hopefully the new antibiotics will kick in tonight.

Toddy has had a tooth root abscess and has had 2 teeth removed today.

Ashley is well!!!!.

Cheers, Ashley and Barbara.

Travelling well

Hi there. It sounds as if mum is really on track and has become the real tourist. Great to hear from you. I hope you are really enjoying that beautiful countryside. it is great to hear that you only have a small tour. It makes such a difference.
Yes! we are looking forward to our trip. Ash has been away since Tuesday night but well be home tonight {Sunday] Very cold and snowing down where he is. Not too bad here.
I have continued to have an interesting time with the ear infection and sinus. it was particularly bad when I had 3 hours of non-stop interviews on Wed. I finally went back to the doctor on Friday night and was prescribed a different antibiotic.[it is essential to get rid of the proble before flying]
Anyway late yesterday I began to feel very strange and also itchy. I just thought it was something I had eaten. However by 1am when I woke i found my mouth and lips badly swollen and lots of other scratchy things all over my body. I stayed up most of the night trying to work out what to do.
This am i went back again to yet another doctor. I have had a severe allergic reaction to the antibiotics so had to have prednosine and antihistamine and a new antibiotic to try and improve thins. The 4 week bug!! Missed no school but fairly low on energy at present.
The dogs have been good company but I see Toddy has a sore on hime and will need to go to the doctor. My visit alone today was $140! Ruby $130 Toddy???/

Just hope Ash is ok. He seems to sound cheerful enough. Thankfully I am well organised and have most of my planning and packing done.
Hope Olivia is back home and well; assume dad is travelling, Patrick is ok and generally all is well. Jeff have you got a home yet? Love Mum and Barb

Travelling well

fenj

Hi here we are again
started bus trip today call 5.45 bags out 6.15 breakfast 6.30 away 7.30
only 16 people on tour went to Stafforshire lovely thatcheh cottages
on to Leeds what a beautiful cathedrel Presbitarin lovely buildings
barb and ash you will be getting excited

John hope you are OK looking after your self
Annette and Ethel fit and well me also Done a lot of walking
was,t sure if this got posted lastnight as it ran out of money
Love to all Jean and from us all here

well, guess i should put another post up, not all that much to say though really. ive had a few exams already but got more and my practical assessment coming up in the next few weeks. hahahaha, the gig in palmerston north was terrible, the woman who was meant to be promoting it was too busy organising her wedding in europe so noone knew anything about it. it was also at a bar thats just changed hands and isnt really up and running yet. was quite fun though, and probably a good first gig back for our trumpet player whos had a few months off with leukemia, and the people that were there were actually quite into it. i also got up and played a few songs with a solo artist called lindon puffin, that was fun too. wellington was interesting too.. stayed on the floor in a flat of some old friends of our sax player. got to catch up with a few people from high school and jazz school though so that was cool. we had a swing ball in chch last friday night that was really fun and went well, so that was cool. il have to find a photo of the band and put it up on here sometime, the guys all wear zoot suits. the rock/originals part of the band is just writing and hopefully will be recording sometime soon, we have some gigs coming up next month. well.. so much for not saying much.. il try have something interesting to put up next time. oh yeah, nick, u can go to www.myspace.com/4manbob and on there is a link for sideshow, they havent been updated in ages though. sweet. everyone have a nice day

Fenj on the move

HI all
arrived safely in LOndon we were exhausted after the flight from Singapore 12 hrs but as we couldn,t sleep the night before
Distance to air port etc were up about 24 hrs
FIGHTS GREAT WELL LOOKED AFTER
WENT ON TRIP TO AROUND TOWN NOT ENOUGH TIME TO SHOP but the idea was 4 us to go back again
went to Santosa Joan Dennison lovey spot Cable car underwater MYLION there big new attraction and amarvellous music and night show at the beach
caught the round town bus

Today, Tomorrow, Tokoroa

Hello all,

Firstly, wow Liv!! Sorry to hear about your medical encounter! The weirdest thing about it is, it is a rather uncommon occurence, yet a friend of mine got the same thing within the last year also! Rather bizarre, but I wish all the best for your recovery!

Managed to get down to Christchurch in the long weekend to catch up with the family and Patrick's nose. Very unlucky! But was great to see everyone. Watched Hannah's musical with mum and Victoria which was very good. It is called "On this Island" and was based around a group of Jamaican styled characters. All upbeat music and a mere 1 hr 15 so very full on.

I am heading up to Auckland this weekend as I have a course there on Monday and Tuesday to learn how to use AutoCAD. With any luck I'll get to catch up with Dave and/or Jeff (and I'll need it on account of the last time I mentioned it to Dave was well over a month ago!).

That's all for now, hope everyone is well. Excellent to see that Grandma is off on her big trip, great to hear about Jenn and Pete's and looking forward to hearing about Barb and Ash's adventures also. Get well soon Liv and Pat!

Matty Matt Matt

P.S. Dave, I believe the coloured text feature has been erradicated as I haven't been able to colour my posts either

Back on-line..

Hello!
Seems everyone has been in the wars of late, and, if going on recent performance, it seems I must be next (working on the youngest in each family theme)... cant wait, as I dare say 3 days off work would be worth a broken bone or two... although definitely not over my birthday!

I for one wouluf definitely like to be on G/ma's email tree, hopefully she'll blog once of twice as well. I've been slack on the blogs of late, email access has been a prob with my former flatties taking our connection with them. But, never fear I have the dial-up working and my ancient laptop on (you know its old when the spell-checker doesn't recognise 'internet' and 'e-mail').

Speaking of the former flatties, the couple we were living with moved out a couple of weeks back. Jeff will be taking their place in the flat soon for a couple of months until he gets settled in his new job and they (Jeff and Kate) decide what they wish to do re travel, accomodation, etc.

Have been catching up with Jeff a bit of late, he's been waiting for his stuff to arrive in AKL from Palmy for a couple of weeks now and is getting sick of the lonely apartment as you can imagine. Hopefully his stuff will arrive on Sat so he can move in.

I spent Queen's Birthday weekend at Kuaotunu Beach (North of Whitianga) with 12 mates from Knox. It really was heavenly. We even had amazing weather. I fully recommend to anyone wishing to get away to book a bach online, so easy and relatively cheap. We got a bach that sleeps upto 18 for $180 per night. Perfect.

Very envious of you Jenni and Pete - Jazz in Broadbeach - where the only thing to complain about is too much jazz. sigh...

Mary's high on life, she was working out at East Tamaki (miles away from Central Akl) for her first rotation at Lion Nathan, but as of couple of weeks ago has started at the Newmarket site (stone's throw away from home) in the innovation team. She's lovin the new role, marketing and designing new bevvies, etc. On her first week they sent her to a 3 day conference (pub crawl), think she's only just starting to recover. She's also started her legal profs course (online) for which she has her first assessment on Saturday. haha I say.

OK i'm starvin.

See you in the soup, when the peas grow :)
Dave

PS Please imagine this post is in my signature blue colour, seems my browser wont load editing functions...

pats nose

Hi all man Livvies back sounds rather awful hope not so painfull now.
We have got Pat with a broken nose.
Last week at school he was punched by a thug for questioning why an apple was herled at him.
Has been pretty sore and miserable and come out with some beaut black eyes.
Had 3 days off school and missed soccer.
Next week he goes to hospital to get it set under a local and hopefully can avoid having to have it reset under GA.
Said thug is suspended and with a bit of luck may disappear. I find it disturbing that a third former could do so much damage with one punch.
Unfortunately wasnt up to celebrating his birthday so maybe this weekend,

I have set up mums email tree so if anyone wants to get forwards of messages from europe just email me on tuite@slingshot.co.nz cheers Chris

And may all the world sing......

Hi there! It is a stunning day here again today. The weather has been magnificent over the last fortnight..down to a cotton shirt during the day. First real frost [and a good one ] this morning but this is a small price to pay compared with the beautiful sunrises and the snow on the mountains gleaming in our view. Saturday was damp and awful but surprisingly the perfect 'winter' weather has returned.

The silly thing is that we have both had a nasty cold and flu so maybe it is the cold that kills the bugs. Ashley has the garden looking great for this time of the year. He light-prunned the roses a few weeks ago and they have rewarded us with another round of beautiful flowers and even more growth. We are hoping the grass stops growing soon so that we do not have to get it mowed before we leave. [we do remember a similar warm spell last year that came to an abrupt end with a dramatic snowfall!]

Ash leaves for Invercargill tomorrow night as he has a big executive meeting just after lunch on Wednesday. He will be elected President of the National Executive of Local Government Engineers so he will have a big few days until he returns home on Sunday night. Sadly I cannot go with him as I have already taken some leave for the trip away. Our Principal is still on sick leave with a brain tumour and so the staff is taking the strain. On Wednesday Night I have PTA interviews officially from 7-9 but mine start at 6.30-9.30 and then a waitng list...due to 3 senior English classes. I have already had many interviews last Friday.

Ash and i went to Waimate on Saturday afternoon so that I could deliver some pre-made food for dad [casseroles, mince, scones etc] and to check mum and her bags. She was highly organised and had made very good decisions about her gear. She travels to ChCh today and flies out to Singapore tomorrow. She and 2 other women are joining a bus tour to go around the British Isles; they have about a week or so in London and then join a second tour down the Continent as far as Italy, France, Austria , Switzerland etc. it is quite a plucky move considering she has only been as far as Australia previously. Dad is planning a mini trip to see his brother and sister and Chris and Steve in between his community committments. We hope to catch him on the Sat before we leave.

We are looking forward to seeing the next week thru as hassle-free as possible. I hope Ash manages to get South and back without encountering nasty weather.

We are both getting very excited about our trip. We have been reading up on Istanbul..we have booked an extra 2 days there as the culture sounds amazing. We hope to stand at the point where Asia mets Europe and spend time visiting the amazing mosques, harem, bazaar, palaces etc. It will be a culture shock for us. It seems we have to get Hep A vaccinations this week and take heed of the travel advisary! I am more concerned about the possibilty of an earthquake or heatstroke.!!

It will be lovely to see Brian and Hella and family. Hopefully we can celebrate his 50th birtday a little earlier. It is a long way from Athens to Bilund but will be good to see everyone again and the dear wee village they live in.

We planted more freesias and then yesterday we discovered more bulbs in our shed so I guess they will go in this pm. It is a big bucketfull from all the pots we had when we shifted...they certainly have multiplied.

Hopefully everyone has had a good Queens Birthday. Today is Kate's birthday so she will be celebrating it in Cambodia or possibly Vietnam. Patrick also has his birthday at this weekend. I have sent a card etc up. We were really concerned to hear about Olivia. We rang her on Sat pm and offered to go and get her to bring her home. Ash was talking to her and said she was back at Knox and being looked after by the students there. Olivia if you see this we wish you a quick and comfortable recovery...as I underastand it you will be home soon for a break and some TLC. Please contact us even now if we can help..we have tried to ring so now will text.

Chris..I hope you can get to see mum and friends. They will be all a little overwhemlmed as they prepare to leave.
Jeff and Dave..I will catch up soon. Especially Dave..time to hear from you..maybe tomorrow. Love Barbara and Ashx How was "Miss Saigon" worth seeing again??
Time for lunch!! Hope to hear from you soon. Barbara and Ashley xxx

Po

Hi,

Firstly, sorry I haven't posted recently on how the tramp went. I've been waiting to get photos off other ppl, but haven't managed to, so here are a couple, they're not very good, but theres one of the amazing view when driving to Paradise (that's actually the name of the place). The other is of us getting ready for bed. We managed to sleep outside both nights which was amazing. So in total it was an awesome w/e, I absolutely loved it, although I did find it slightly challenging.

Now in order to update, I have just had surgery and am currently recouperating. I'll tell ya the story so that you can all stop worrying.It will be brief becz i'm having trouble with the kneeling and typing and the codine makes me feel a little woozie.So i've had this abcess for a wee while and should probably got it out a while ago, but didn't want to due to working in the holidays etc. It started to flare up a couple of weeks ago, so I went to the dr. to get some antibiotics and decided that i'd had enough of this thing so I also talked to the dr. about how to arrange for surgical removal. She looked at it and said that it was bordering acute and that I may need it out immediately otherwise she would right me a referal letter. I was booked in to go she her agiain the next day to make this decision (depending on if it got worse or not). Unfortunately later that night it got alot worse. I was taking voltarin but it did nothing, by the time morning came around I was in screaming agony. I managed to drag myself to the phone (I couldn't walk you see)and ring student health (why didn't i ring an ambulance?) At the time it seemed the sensible idea to go back to the dr so that she could access it. My friends took me to student healh where they carried me in and rushed me through to triage in screams and crys (to the horror of all the patients in the waiting room). My poor friend catrin was behind the curtain when the dr. looked at it and all she heard was..."now lets have a look" (shrill scream from me) "oh no, she needs to go to surgery straight away" haha poor girl she was terrified. I then got an ambulance to hospital. It was raining outside so the ambulance ppl covered me in a sheet so that i didn't get wet as they took me out on a strencher. (so the poor ppl in the waiting rm saw me being carried in, then medics racing in, then shortly after, wheeling me out under a sheet).So anyway thats pretty much the exciting part. I then went to ED where they doped me up on morphine, they told me i was a low priority case and that It may be days waiting in hosp. b4 I could get the operation, Then the surgeon came and looked at me and said that I would get in it the next 8 hrs. Horay, that was good news. So i got wheeled up to a ward. Put on a drip and starved until I could have the op (man I was hungry). luckily I didn't even have to wait that long. I had the op at 4, got out at 6 and it was all gone. The nurse in recovery told me that it was 4 times bigger than a usual 1 and thats y I was in so much pain. They let me out of hosp. the next day and I was at church that night(probably shouldn't have been, but I had to see all my friends who were frought from worry). So now I face the long recovery. They can't sew up the hole that they removed the abcess because it would be hollow underneath, so instead they pack it and dress it each day until the scar tissue fills the hole in itself. So I currently have a 4cm deep, 3cm wide hole in my back. Yay fun times. Am looking forward to going home coz then mum can change they dressings each day instd of a nurse coming up. Also, as much as my friends are all lookoing after me, I constantly have visitors, which mneans that I get hardly any sleep. Also no1 looks after you like your mum really ay.

So anyway there's a wee story for you all, sry it sounds a bit dramatised, believe it or not, that was the less gory, played down version.

But I'm happy and healthy now, so theres nothing to worry about.

I wish you all happy days, if ever you feel like the stresses of work or life are getting you down, count yourself lucky you don't have a gigantic hole in your back. :) thats sure to make you feel better,

So bye for now,
with love,
Live

haha ps sorry havent quite figured out how to do the photo thing and accidently put ther wrong picture, so sory about that. Don't know how to delete this pic of Matt (by the way he doesn't have any direct relevance)

up up and away

Hi all First Liv hope you are OK that back would have been uncomfortable on your tramp. Look after yourself
Jeff sounds as tho life has settled down hope you like the job and also your new surroundings Send Kate our best wishes
Pat happy Birthday see you perhaps Mon
Hope you enjoyed show jen and Pete
Barb hope you are OK not long till you take off see you tomorrow
Chris lovely little get to gether at Jens last weekend
Nic would love to have a go at a Samba at your Birthday Party but will be on my way to Amsterdam 21st and under the stars (I Hope) in Venice 24th But you have a nice time and be careful where you drop your cell phone
Vic hope your gigs in Palmy were a sucess
Well bed time for me
about 25ladies from Lions and afew other orgs we are in came to coffee at Cafe'on Queen is am lovely
Well hope I will be able to write from afar Jen Has so that should be great
I have sent chris a number of Ethels family and Annettes husband and the odd bod who would like some mail hopefully she will be ale to copy and post and send on Midnight better get off to bed. Team Nz on there way out to course for first race starts in an hour or so
Love to all for now Mum/G/Ma

dont give up on me baby

Hello from Jen and Pete in Melbourne,
flew out this morning from Chch at 9.45,which meant being up in timmos at a slightly harrowing 5.15,after an extremely late night/morning.
No probs,great city,but just to let you know that Liv has had an acute admission to Dunedin Public Hospital,she had played her symptoms down to keep us at bay,or on the plane,whatever,she has had surgery to remove an abcess on her lower back,this has been present for some time but has been kept in check with antibiotics.
She had the op under general anaesthetic about 4pm and we have spoken with her,she sounds pretty good,and will probably come home to convalesce,we will retrieve her when we come home, not sure how she will go with middyear exams but will wait and see.
Anyway must go,bonvoyage Mum,(GMa),have a wonderful trip,love you lots,
Jen and Pete