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This past week/end I have been hosting my dear lady (D.) on a visit from Wellington. I organised this trip around Christchurch A&P Show Weekend (regional public holiday). Here are some of the highlights for posterity....
There were a few dramas getting D. /to/ Christchurch, but we managed to connect (doofus here was waiting at the wrong gate) and spent Tuesday evening watching Strange Magic, which could be described as a Disney-style animated musical but is so not. I greatly enjoyed it.
Wednesday I still had to work but Wednesday evening we had dinner with one of D's old friends.
Thursday I had taken off work (making for a 4 day weekend) and we started with breakfast out at Drexels and shopping for a sunhat and other protection. D had an engagement at Uni later in the morning (which went well) and then it was off to the Show. I wouldn't normally bother but A&P Shows were a significant part of my childhood and D had never been. We did deliberately /not/ go Friday in order to avoid the crowds, but the number of people was still a bit overwhelming in places. We did the circuit; looking at a variety of livestock* and vintage machinery, taking a break to consume fresh strawberries and ice cream from the food pavilion, checking out the shearing competition, looking at various stalls selling jewellery and sitting beside the main ring watching horses for a while.
* sheep are apparently much larger than expected
Wiped out from the show we had a nap and a D'licious home-cooked dinner before heading to the movies to see Thor: Ragnarok. Surprisingly (especially given it was opening night for Justice League and Thor has been out for a few weeks) the theatre was packed. The movie was excellent.
Friday was planned as a quiet day, but we ended up spending much of the afternoon driving around town on various errands. We did take a stroll around The Tannery shopping area where neither of us had visited before, but much of it was closed for the public holiday. Friday night (after another D'licious cooked dinner) was a party at my place (combination flatmate's birthday and KAOS end-of-term party) - that was actually very lightly attended and finished quite early which wasn't entirely a bad thing for us as the pace of the past few days was starting to be felt ...
Saturday morning I dragged myself over to the Hall for a couple of hours while D. slept in. Saturday evening we went to a BBQ at J & D's but retired relatively early, spending the rest of the evening watching Batman v Superman (which I hadn't seen) in preparation for Sunday.
Sunday was a particularly beautiful Christchurch spring/summer day and we spent some time smelling roses and lying in the shade looking up at the sky, first at the Hall and then at home. Sunday night was a second movie excursion this time to Justice League in a very under-capacity theatre. The movie wasn't /brilliant/, but it was watchable and entertaining and I liked the characterisation of the young Flash which I think will strike a chord with many of my friends.
Monday sadly it was farewell as D. returned to Wellington on a midday flight. But there are only a handful of weeks until she will be back for another stay. (And yes a trip to Wellington is planned for me in January.)
~~~
Not everything was sunshine and roses. Obviously not going to go into the personal details here but I again proved to be as potentially hurtful when happy as when angry, not thinking how the other person might interpret things before saying them. My clumsiness left D. upset and my metaphorical foot firmly in my mouth a number of times :( I am grateful that we were able to talk through these incidents to come to a better understanding.
There were a few dramas getting D. /to/ Christchurch, but we managed to connect (doofus here was waiting at the wrong gate) and spent Tuesday evening watching Strange Magic, which could be described as a Disney-style animated musical but is so not. I greatly enjoyed it.
Wednesday I still had to work but Wednesday evening we had dinner with one of D's old friends.
Thursday I had taken off work (making for a 4 day weekend) and we started with breakfast out at Drexels and shopping for a sunhat and other protection. D had an engagement at Uni later in the morning (which went well) and then it was off to the Show. I wouldn't normally bother but A&P Shows were a significant part of my childhood and D had never been. We did deliberately /not/ go Friday in order to avoid the crowds, but the number of people was still a bit overwhelming in places. We did the circuit; looking at a variety of livestock* and vintage machinery, taking a break to consume fresh strawberries and ice cream from the food pavilion, checking out the shearing competition, looking at various stalls selling jewellery and sitting beside the main ring watching horses for a while.
* sheep are apparently much larger than expected
Wiped out from the show we had a nap and a D'licious home-cooked dinner before heading to the movies to see Thor: Ragnarok. Surprisingly (especially given it was opening night for Justice League and Thor has been out for a few weeks) the theatre was packed. The movie was excellent.
Friday was planned as a quiet day, but we ended up spending much of the afternoon driving around town on various errands. We did take a stroll around The Tannery shopping area where neither of us had visited before, but much of it was closed for the public holiday. Friday night (after another D'licious cooked dinner) was a party at my place (combination flatmate's birthday and KAOS end-of-term party) - that was actually very lightly attended and finished quite early which wasn't entirely a bad thing for us as the pace of the past few days was starting to be felt ...
Saturday morning I dragged myself over to the Hall for a couple of hours while D. slept in. Saturday evening we went to a BBQ at J & D's but retired relatively early, spending the rest of the evening watching Batman v Superman (which I hadn't seen) in preparation for Sunday.
Sunday was a particularly beautiful Christchurch spring/summer day and we spent some time smelling roses and lying in the shade looking up at the sky, first at the Hall and then at home. Sunday night was a second movie excursion this time to Justice League in a very under-capacity theatre. The movie wasn't /brilliant/, but it was watchable and entertaining and I liked the characterisation of the young Flash which I think will strike a chord with many of my friends.
Monday sadly it was farewell as D. returned to Wellington on a midday flight. But there are only a handful of weeks until she will be back for another stay. (And yes a trip to Wellington is planned for me in January.)
~~~
Not everything was sunshine and roses. Obviously not going to go into the personal details here but I again proved to be as potentially hurtful when happy as when angry, not thinking how the other person might interpret things before saying them. My clumsiness left D. upset and my metaphorical foot firmly in my mouth a number of times :( I am grateful that we were able to talk through these incidents to come to a better understanding.
