Trade Me travels

I don't know how much of the Trade Me saga has been reported on our blog - we have really been able to find a few bargains (things we know we need and at the same time, know we don't have in the container)The other side of Trade Me is that it's often just fun to be part of the auction on-line and then ultimately win the thing! A case in point is the Kirby Vacuum Cleaner that we have wanted to own for ever - admittedly, the one we ended up bidding for and winning, was insanely filthy and missing a few minor parts - but at the end of the day when the chappie at the Kirby shop told us that such machines sell for, on average, about $400.00 and we paid less than half that, we were extremely chuffed with ourselves!
The fridge that we so desperately needed, since there wasn't one in the 'garage for destitutes' - has turned out to be perfect for the job, just a pity that there isn't a freezer section so at this point, we are still not able to take advantage of the specials at the supermarket that require that we freeze things. No matter, we are watching the Trade Me site every day at some point or another and are bidding on freezers up to a point - that point is usually a figure that we feel we are prepared to pay for a second hand freezer - sometimes someone else is clearly very desperate for that particular item and then it is very tempting to 'push them up' and then jump off the train before we pay more than we wanted to! Wicked but great fun! Usually, if we really are serious about something, we put an 'auto bid' on up to a total that we feel is reasonable - sometimes it pays off, sometimes not, but whatever the case, we have really got a couple of stunning bargains.
We have got to see other parts of our district in the course of the Trade Me purchases - more than once, we have needed to go and pick up an item which is about half an hour's drive from Hamilton - we have in this way got to see quite a bit more of the 'local' countryside - somehow we haven't managed to remember to take the camera with us on these trips - the scenery is ALWAYS amazing - it doesn't seem to matter in which direction you travel - it's always a lovely drive and makes us think of the times when we have travelled in the past and been so thrilled with the spectacular scenery in South Africa like the Hex River Valley for example. It seems like it's all like that - hard not to get blase about how stunning the rural areas around here are.
We went out to a farm near to the little rural town of Morrinsville yesterday evening - (to pick up a high pressure water blaster thingy) (for a snip I must hasten to add) and drove through the town on the way there. Morrinsville looks like something out of a movie - little low buildings lining the high street with arched light poles and cobbled main street. Each light pole has a hanging basket brimming with flowers - pinks, whites, reds and mauves and the effect as you look down the street is quite incredible. We slowed down enough to study the baskets - it bothered us that these floral 'balls' must get watered at some stage and are way above head-height. On closer inspection, we realise that each basket has a little pipe which feeds from the light pole - clearly someone switches something on somewhere and hey presto the baskets are watered! I would also imagine that the whole enterprise took a bit of forward planning so that the light poles are 'configured' to be able to supply water to the baskets at the flick of a switch! Naturally, Jo said: "Amazing nation, the English!" Don't ask!
Our band is up and running - still at the rehearsal stage, and practising once a week, but it looks very much like we will be taking Sunday mornings in Hamilton by storm in the very near future. I can't remember when last Jo and I had the opportunity to play in a band where everyone really knows what they are doing - and there are other approaches and ideas that are good ones! And don't throw away the fact that we so enjoy doing something like this together - shades of the old days and the Freestate Choir!
The Easter weekend is approaching and we have been warned to expect pretty crummy weather - there are big rain clouds heading our way from across the ditch which they anticipate will last for at least a few days - not a moment too soon - the Waikato river is very low. I am hoping to have my bulbs planted before the weekend and have taken four DVD's out at the library - all movies we have wanted to see for some time, so we could well spend the miserable weekend cuddled up under soft cuddly throws and lolling in front of the Trade Me TV!
We are also hoping to track down a CD which will enable the Skype webcam to be installed on this laptop computer - had a long chat via Skype with Alta and Sarel in Jefferies Bay last Sunday and although they couldn't see us, they could still hear us! It was amazing to technological plebs like me to be able to watch the computer screen and see them while we chatted to them 13,000 kilometres away! "Amazing nation, the English"
Dis al!