The Traveling Kiwi

Well….I know it’s been a while and you are expecting progress. All I can say is that the Rubix cube is throwing off some pretty weird color combinations. The water was turned off but somehow the hose bib still managed to leak – apparently I could only turn the water off at the mobile not from the street and the hose bib was plumbed after the shutoff – have you ever tried to replace a fitting with the water shooting out full stream? So lucky it was a 90F day and the neighbor whose home was being soaked was away. Then with the new toilets in I made an executive decision to turn the water back on. Fortunately all was well. Now I have to track down the kitchen cabinets that I thought I had found but seemed to have slipped away on me.
And yes I have been distracted, very distracted .. I have discovered some new healing techniques that I am working on and it is so engrossing I can hardly think of anything else. I have had the chance to test some of them on my clients and the results are incredible, I am so so excited. I feel like I have tapped into a source of incredible knowledge and I am compelled to capture it all as fast as I can. My project is slowed down for now while I take this detour, this amazing incredible life detour -wish me luck, I am changing my world.

Posted in Uncategorized

Have you ever thought that a renovation project is like a rubix cube – you know how it’s supposed to look when it’s done and you kinda know what you are supposed to do to get there, but as soon as you make the first move, in what is obviously the correct way, suddenly all the other sides go to hell and everything is all over the place – and – gasp – for a moment you think you have totally screwed up and you should never have even started in the first place – well I am sure no one else has ever had this feeling – but I confess I have….several times lately, when the whole wall came off in the bathroom, when they told me the laminate for the kitchen was discontinued and the new stuff not only doesn’t match, it doesn’t even fit with the old laminate. When the new lock on the door won’t work and I had to slide thru a 5inch space to get back in, when I bought a new vanity online and it has two sinks that won’t fit the plumbing – I won’t go on- but you get the feeling. Where is that supportive shoulder when you really need it? My Rubix cube has mixed up colours – yes colours has a u for you Americans 🙂
I am consoling myself with my score on tile – 26cents and 35cents a sq ft – my bathrooms will be tiled and my problem with the laminate solved – I hope. Pictures to come when it is all laid – feeling pretty pleased with myself – I still can’t believer luck finding these close out lots on a July 4th special 75% off wow – it’s nice tile- feeling pretty happy with my scavenging skills.
It has been suggested I need a few more photos of me – I hope you notice a few more means one – I am not good at selfies and I never allow anyone to take my photo so…. Well maybe I might find one when I am not melting in 90+F heat …. Watch this space

Posted in Uncategorized

Not yet before and after – more like before and step one. The kitchen has been cleared, cleaned and demolished. The girls helped me remove the sink and blast through the walls, but I was proud of how far I got by myself. you will note form the before photos there was some creative use of garage hangers and shelves.
I am waiting to hear if the cupboards I want will be available next week, I have the countertop laying against the wall and the flooring is ready to go down. My wonderful kitchen design involves finding out what the job lot of cabinets look like and installing them to fit the countertop – it will be an interesting puzzle but my budget doesn’t allow for actually buying what I want, more of a scavenger hunt.
I thought while I am waiting I would replace the vanity in one of the bathrooms and happily removed the old one this morning, unfortunately half of the rotted wall came with it and what I had thought would be a quick job has turned into a major undertaking. I will replace the thin plywood wall with drywall/gib board and find a nice cool morning to recaulk all the windows on that side of the mobile. I found a well priced small vanity but realized when I took out the old one that how the the pipes come out of the wall means it will be 6inches short of the side wall, not a problem except the wall behind is 1980s wallpaper and not in great condition. I don’t want to replace that whole wall as well and it is the same thin plywood, so I am going to build little box shelves down the side – a design feature 🙂 Some how I  am getting the impression there may be a few design features before we are done.

Posted in Uncategorized

…. In unexpected places…

Posted in Uncategorized

This is an old photo from April when I came through Union Station in LA – I thought I would play with it.

Posted in Uncategorized

A very dear friend asked me what a day in my life looked like. While I am proud of my recent ability to live off the smell of an oily rag it is not exactly something to write home about. So I waited till today…when I signed the lot lease and took possession –  I am now the proud owner of a mobile home – my first project. Another  very kind friend loaned me the money to see if I can flip the mobile and make myself some money. With no car the prospect initially was rather daunting, but I just happened to manage to negotiate a 20 year old Saturn along  with this fully furnished mobile, so I am off and running. This is a 1979 double wide and well used with no modernization. The plan is to clean it up, modernize the kitchen and bathrooms with a budget of $2000 and flip it for at least a $6K profit.

Number one I need to find a whole new kitchen – I decided $500 would be how much I could spend on materials. I found 15 new cupboards online for exactly $500 and I will find out if they are what they say they are on friday when I go look at them and hopefully pick them up. Next I needed a countertop and I just happened to be offered one for free from my new neighbor. I found two cartons of laminate that will put in a new floor so now I have to figure out how much of the work I can do and how to get the work I can’t do done for another $500. There are a couple of ceiling issues to deal with and a couple of walls to come out, its going to get interesting. I  will show photos once I have before and after photos. 

I have also put my website up and I am doing my EFT/energy healing again, I have participated in an alternative healing Fair and will do so again next month. So far I have made some good contacts but no paid work. I expect that will come as I meet more people and get the word out about what I am doing. I am doing lots of study and incorporating new techniques and technologies into my work – most recently epigenetics from Bruce Lipton. I love doing this work and can see myself doing it for free when I am able to.

Cooking for my friends gives me my creative outlet and they are never sure what I will come up with next. My brother sent me some beetroot relish and last nights creation was a burger with brie and relish on toasted sourdough – maybe doesn’t sound as good as it tasted but my review nominated it best burger ever – I think it was the secret seasoning in the patty or just that I cook with love – you can’t beat it, makes everything taste better.

My days are never the same, I just know that every day is a new adventure and that everything always works out in the end… if it hasn’t worked out yet… it is not the end.

Posted in Uncategorized

Did you ever have a dream, .. an impossible dream..something that you want more than anything else in the world, but something you know you can never have. Yet you live your life in anticipation, making decisions that keep the slimmest possibility alive. And as crazy as it seems somehow you can’t allow yourself to give up on the dream. There is a part of you that wants the magic of the how to just appear…. I am learning to let go of figuring it out and having the answers to anything and as I do it almost feels that impossible dreams are closer than they ever were….it makes life just that much brighter and the journey just that much easier.

I saw a manatee today, this week I have seen Osprey fishing, clumsy Pelican swinging on the rails of the bridge, Dolphins dancing and a fever of Sting Rays  ( who knew they were called a fever… and one does wonder why) My quick iPhone photos make me crave a real camera with a telephoto lens, but just to see this sort of wild life and experience them up close in their natural habitat was once one of my impossible dreams…. I think I need to just keep dreaming and believing

Posted in Uncategorized

mmmmm mmmm mmm fish and chips

A very kiwi spread

So many delicious choices

Best Coffee Ever!! – 5am Christchurch Airport and my favorite underground coffee blend

Posted in Uncategorized

My beautiful niece Beaulah and her new husband WeiLi on a beautiful sunny day at a lovely Ohoka estate, family and friends and very very special day for all of us.

Me getting in on the pic

Posted in Uncategorized

The ruins, the artwork mixed with roadworks and construction, its a strange feeling just walking the streets…

Posted in Uncategorized