A week in the country

Well that's a bit misleading.  And a bit of a JAFA moment, if truth be told.

The "country" being the Bay of Plenty, specifically Tauranga, even more specifically Papamoa; and I'm here for the week while my lucky parents are having a sunny time in Fiji, in company with John's folks.

My job is to house-sit their home and business-sit our Tauranga branch office.
And as I am currently typing away on dial-up internet, entries and comments may be a bit thin on the ground this week.  Please don't think that I am ignoring you all.

Other than the diabolical dial-up internet, there aren't too many down sides to this week away from home.  I get a bit of peace and quiet in the evenings and I get to forget the horrors of housework.  I'm also able to make some headway on my current work-in-progress, Fantasy Triptych. 
The other major upside is access to Sky TV.  Well, the Food Channel on Sky, actually.  As someone who loves to eat, this is great fun.  Unfortunately, I am embarrassed to say, John is hoping a week of access to such culinary inspiration will do something to improve my rather feeble gastronomic efforts at home.  He insists that I am a good cook, just that I don't cook often enough.  I keep trying to convince him that I am a "three meal wonder"*, but he just doesn't seem to want to buy that.  So, this week I am cosying up to Jamie, Rick, Nigella and anyone else who looks like making an interesting bit of nosh. 

On the work front, our Tauranga branch is a pretty quiet place too so I am actually getting to do all that important work stuff that gets run over and squished by the very pushy "must-have-your-attention" things.  You know the sorts of things I mean. Customers. Suppliers. Petty annoyances like those.   Instead I get to read and plan and gather information.  And pretend like I know what running a business is all about.  And while we're on the subject of business (briefly, I promise), I've just signed up to start a BBS.  Part-time. Slowly. Back into study-mode.  Noticeably, just like interest rates I appear to have an educational cycle of approximately 8 years. Almost exactly 8 years after completing my BA, I rejoined the educational establishment and did a post-grad diploma.  Now it is once again 8 years on and I am signing up for the big brother of that diploma. Hmmm.  Predictable, who's predictable.
At this rate I'll manage a PhD by the time I'm 60.  8O

Okay.  That's enough for one entry.  This dial-up thing is gonna kill me.
If the weather clears up, I'll head the two minutes up the road to the beach and take a couple of snaps for those of you who aren't familiar with this part of Godzone.  Trust me, if you like beaches, this is the place to live.

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*  Lentil Shepherds Pie (to die for, even if you're a carnivore)
*  Sweet and Sour Chicken (an ancient recipe, but you can't go past fresh pineapple in SnS sauce)
*  Homemade pizza (crispy, chilli-spiced crust, with pesto^ and/or tomato base, and any luxury topping you can think of)

^  Idea stolen from Becky.