{"id":12422,"date":"2025-11-23T23:46:43","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T23:46:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/?p=12422"},"modified":"2025-11-23T23:46:43","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T23:46:43","slug":"weekend-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/23\/weekend-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekend update"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nothing much has happened this weekend but I haven\u2019t posted anything for a week so I\u2019ll fill you in anyway.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a long weekend for me up at the beach house since I\u2019ve got today (Monday) off. I arrived on Thursday night and on Friday morning did an endoscopy list at the local cottage hospital with the surgeon who operated on Simon just a few days before. Yes, it\u2019s a small world. That same afternoon he started Simon on antibiotics because his gallbladder had been very pussy (I mean full of pus, not kittens, should I have spelled it differently?) a fact that he had failed to mention before then, possibly because Simon had self discharged as usual on the day of surgery. Anyway, the swab result had just come back on Friday afternoon and Simon is now on some modern drug that\u2019ll see off his gut flora for some time to come. \u00a0In any event, he is feeling better for it, which is good news. Readmission to hospital with an abscess would not be a good thing.<\/p>\n

Simon isn\u2019t a fan of the beach, where it is too sandy and rest home like for his liking, so has stayed in town to drink beers and read a book in peace and quiet away from yapping pooing dogs. I may not have mentioned we are dog sitting for our daughter for the next three weeks. Her fianc\u00e9 is graduating in Dunedin in early December. Georgie is a fabulous dog, much more congenial and well behaved than either of our troubled pooches, but the downside is that he hasn\u2019t got to grips with pooing outside as yet. The long wet grass is far less comfortable than the lounge carpet it seems.<\/p>\n

I took him and my two to Petone beach last week. In all the excitement Georgie forgot he hates the water.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Georgie full of regrets. Note exuberance in the background.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There is long grass at Waikanae too but strangely Georgie doesn\u2019t have toileting accidents up here. I\u2019m reading a book called \u201cMeadows from Lawns\u201d, I\u2019m up to page 180 but haven\u2019t worked out yet whether my current approach of benign neglect with our grassy areas counts as a meadow, or if it\u2019s just an embarrassing weedy mess. The birds and insects like it but our gardener does not. Did I mention he rang me at work the other week, almost in tears, begging to be allowed to take a weedeater to it? I didn\u2019t want to hurt his feelings so I said yes. Clearly the customer isn\u2019t king when it comes to landscaping. And\u00a0<\/em>he charged me for it.<\/p>\n

The weather has been unseasonably balmy this weekend. I\u2019ve gone on a mad spree of planting various exotic fruit trees up here. I\u2019m more than happy putting in the grunt work at the front end, it\u2019s the ongoing maintenance that I lose interest in. I\u2019ve instructed the gardener to chainsaw down some failed previous experiments that if I\u2019m honest, might have survived with more effort on my part. To be fair, they weren\u2019t all my idea. A previous gardener planted a purple fleshed peach, which seemed a nice idea until they stain your teeth or you drop some on your white shirt. I\u2019ve looked at it with distrust ever since and wasn\u2019t too sad when it succumbed to leaf curl fungus. I\u2019m happy to misquote Darwin here and say in the microcosm of my garden, it\u2019s a dog eat dog world and it\u2019s the survival of the fittest. It\u2019s an organic garden in my hands only because I\u2019m too lazy to spray chemicals around.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sitting in the spa pool currently and listening to our neighbour talk to the new owner about her property. It has been on my to do list to get to know the neighbours better, but hey ho, I\u2019ve left it too late and they are moving into a retirement home next week. The husband was the one who didn\u2019t recognise me when I said hello last year and I haven\u2019t seen him since, so I suspect he\u2019s been quietly dementing at home ever since, poor thing.
\nI know nothing about the new owner except that her name is Carol and she wants to put a spa pool in. Not sure why these two facts fill me with so much disquiet.<\/p>\n

I have just saved a bee like insect from drowning. It looked really tired after drying itself so I\u2019ve made some sugar syrup to perk it up. So far it has spurned it, even though I\u2019ve surrounded it so that it can get a taste.<\/p>\n

\"\"I had a brief panic that maybe it was actually a wasp, or even a hornet, to the point where I sent an urgent message to my insect loving offspring to ID it. If necessary I would have got out the fly spray, much as I would have hated to do it. But luckily, it is neither of these nasty creatures, so it gets to live another day, even if it is too dumb to avail itself of my sugary offering.<\/p>\n

I had my first swim of the summer this weekend, without really understanding its significance at the time. My vigorous planting activities in the warm sun had me hot and grimly, so a quick cool off in the river seemed the natural thing to do. Having the three doggies with me made it a much more complicated process than it would be for a normal person, but I got about ten minutes in the water between shouting at the dogs and carrying them back and forth across the banks as they got stuck chasing me, various birds, children, and each other. \u00a0A good time was had by all anyway (apart from maybe the birds, and possibly the children).<\/p>\n

The storms earlier in spring destroyed all the flowers on my plum tree, and most of those on my pear, so it\u2019s going to be a lean year as far as those fruits go. I have bird netting on the cherry which is always the first tree to fruit. It was planted by the same erstwhile gardener with unorthodox tastes as put in the purple peach tree, so it\u2019s not surprising that it has a strange quirk. The cherries are pink when they ripen, not cherry red, which is all well and good but can lead to confusion when you try to judge whether they\u2019re ready to pick or not. However, they taste good when you get it right so I\u2019m not going to complain (too much).<\/p>\n

The swan plant is also covered to protect the monarch caterpillars from whatever beastly creature has been feasting on them throughout the year. Sadly I miscalculated so that there are only three or four caterpillars in there with most of the bush remaining uneaten. These few are living the life of Riley and will never know what fate would have otherwise had in store for them, ie fighting with siblings for food or being harvested by wasps. But are they happy? We will never know.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had busy active days \u00a0whilst I\u2019ve been up here, and my nights have been relaxing in contrast. I\u2019ve been trying out low and no alcohol cocktails, which have been surprisingly good, made easier by a good supply of lemons. The TV regularly locks me out of a variety of streaming services so I\u2019ve been watching French movies on Prime which have been great. The highlight was the French remake of the Palm Springs comedy with Andy Samberg, this time set in Morocco. You can\u2019t beat a good time loop movie.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m tired and ready for a snack and a nana nap now. I\u2019ll be heading back into town later this afternoon, with a plan to attend my second Zumba class and then go to the film society movie later in the evening, as long as Simon\u2019s health isn\u2019t causing too much concern. Back to work tomorrow. The idea doesn\u2019t fill me with dread, in spite of my enjoyable weekend, so luckily I\u2019m in no hurry to retire. (In this economy?? I know.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nothing much has happened this weekend but I haven\u2019t posted anything for a week so I\u2019ll fill you in anyway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8Ukf-3em","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12159,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/20\/saturday-20-september-glasgow\/","url_meta":{"origin":12422,"position":0},"title":"Saturday 20 September Glasgow","author":"Interloper11","date":"September 20, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Not a good day. Simon is sick. He was up most of the night with biliary colic type tummy pain, probably gallstones which he\u2019s never had before. He felt well enough to have breakfast and set off on our scenic coastal drive to Glasgow, but felt worse and worse over\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3269,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2019\/09\/12\/put-your-hands-on-your-head\/","url_meta":{"origin":12422,"position":1},"title":"Put your hands on your head","author":"Interloper11","date":"September 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The worst part about being married to a Simon is the problem of reported speech. Early on in our relationship I had a lot of trouble trying to avoid the phrase \u201cSimon says...\u201d because of the old children\u2019s game. You know the one - you say \u201cSimon says...\u201d followed by\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5093,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/06\/novel-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":12422,"position":2},"title":"Novel","author":"Interloper11","date":"July 6, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Discovered over the weekend that Simon and were reading the same book. I found this out not by talking to him (pfffft) but because my Kindle kept asking me if I\u2019d like to go to the furthest point read. It wasn\u2019t my usual style of book - it had goblins,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5122,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/12\/hooray\/","url_meta":{"origin":12422,"position":3},"title":"Hooray","author":"Interloper11","date":"July 12, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s 3:30 am and I\u2019m finally going home. I\u2019ve spent more time in the hospital during my 48 hours on call than I have out of it. I\u2019ve spent way more time with the neurosurgical registrar called Simon than I have with my husband Simon. Hell, I\u2019ve spent more time\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8887,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/03\/day-7-fukuoka-cont\/","url_meta":{"origin":12422,"position":4},"title":"Day 7 Fukuoka cont","author":"Interloper11","date":"May 3, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s late and we\u2019re sailing out of Fukuoka Harbour, I\u2019m watching the lights of the city go by my window as I\u2019m writing this in bed. Simon remains in the Commodore Bar having a nightcap but I wanted to write this before I went to sleep. What an amazing afternoon!\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/accordingtokirsty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/68B49238-3F0C-49AB-8ED1-D9A605BABD74-225x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7974,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2022\/06\/15\/old-scheduling-email-18-august-2017\/","url_meta":{"origin":12422,"position":5},"title":"Old scheduling email 18 August 2017","author":"Interloper11","date":"June 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Haven\u2019t had one of these for a while! Reading through it, I see I was complaining \u00a0about the weather even back then\u2026 From: Kirsty Jordan Sent: Friday, 18 August 2017 1:17 p.m. To: Wellington Anaesthesia All Staff Subject: Race Hi All, Feeling a bit too overwhelmed to comment on global\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12422\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}