November in NZ means longer days, warmer sunshine and
rapidly growing grass. Shorts and t-shirts are workwear! As the weather settles
a bit more I am cycling to work more often. A great way to start the day and
beautiful still mornings are replaced by afternoon sea breezes which generally
give me a tailwind on the way home. It’s also a nice feeling to know you have
done a couple of hours exercise by the time you have returned home.
Wheelie Fantastic
work and gardening keep us busy and now Lisa has added to her workload by
getting chickens. The chooks arrived yesterday. Lisa got a call to go to go to
a drop off point to collect them. They seem a bit traumatised at the minute and
are slowly being introduced to their surroundings. When we eventually get some
eggs, they will work out as the most costly known to man. Chook house, feeder,
feed, water holder, fence and chooks (6) all add up to a four figure sum. Their
names are not yet finalised, but they are going to follow a theme (scrambled,
poached, mayonnaise, Florentine….2 more needed). I was given the job of locking
them in to their house on the first night. Lisa was at work, so Bonnie and I
waited to dusk and went to the pen to lock them in. Unfortunately they haven’t
got the hang of going in to perch, so they wouldn’t co-operate and go
‘upstairs’. As I am not so keen on flapping birds, they were left ‘downstairs’
until Lisa got home. Chook training could take a while to complete!
On the lifestyle block it is also time for the Llamas to get
sheared. It was due to happen yesterday but due to circumstances beyond the
shearer’s control, it has been postponed. They now look ridiculous but due to
problems with trying to get photos loaded onto the blog, I can’t let you see
them. I will try again and post some photos on the next blog.
December means end of term/school year for schools, with
their long summer holiday starting. That means I finish my tutors job and go
full-time with Wheelie Fantastic. As cycling trails are opening up and cycling
is getting more popular, we are starting to see new businesses start up. Not
least at Mapua wharf(which is getting more popular in general). We now have the
new ferry owner hiring bikes at the wharf (approx. 20 metres from us). Another
business is close by also, scooter hire! 4 bright yellow scooters (moped) are
waiting for their first customers. As Christmas is fast approaching, the shops
have lots of sales on and Christmas music plays while we all walk around in
glorious sunshine. My brain gets a bit scrambled with Christmas messages in
summer. We don’t plan to do anything Christmassy, except enjoy a day off
together and perhaps eat some nicer food than we normally would on a Tuesday. Then
after the calm of that day, we will be full-on busy with casual day hires of
bikes. We already have bookings and we are doing a promotion on a national
internet bargain website, called Grab One. It is really big over here, with
special offers which you buy online.
We have just found that we can use the swimming pool at the
local primary school, which is approx. 1km from our house. Nearly all schools
have pools and for a small fee, they give you a key so that you can go and use
it anytime during the school holidays. They take the reasonable view that if
you use the pool and you drown, it’s your own fault! Looking forward to some
swims on hot, sunny summer evenings.
We haven’t seen much rain for a while and some people are
starting to buy water to fill up their water tanks. We are OK so far as we have
2 large tanks which hold 50000 litres between them. The grass on the lawns and fields
are turning brown. Hotter days are now mid 20’s in the shade. It gets dark at approx.
9pm and is light by 5.30am. You can tell the temperatures are creeing up, as Bonnie spends more time sleeping in shady places during the day and then starts to function again at 7pm.
On the 12/12/2012 (yesterday), we went to a friend’s
wedding. They held it at their own
house, with the ceremony in their garden/orchard. In true kiwi style (although
they are both Irish), it was very casual. It was a lovely day and all the relatives
who had come over, seemed to enjoy the informality of it all. Hopefully a few
photos will follow soon.
Season's Greetings to all readers and best wishes for 2013.
