A Steamy Recovery.

It was reported in the paper today that the sun shone for the first time in Alexandra for 5 days! Which was just as well, as people have been getting a bit grouchy with all the grey skies. No wonder Kiwis have the biggest canabis habit in the world.
Wanaka certainly returned to it's beautiful self. It is actually quite easy to forget when you don't see the sun shine on it for a few days. Not that it made me grouchy. Spooks phone made me grouchy though. I had just dropped off to sleep after a long period of wakefulness when, at 4am, it called him out. Unfortunately it was his boss's phone and the call-out was for Nelson - 10hrs north. And Spook didn't know how to respond properly, so it continued to call out for about 4 more times, before he finally turned it off.
So it is quite a tired Spook on his birthday.
I was on a builders clean today. It was nice to be in an ordinary house, for ordinary people and we did the clean in one day. Tomorrow we move to a 6 bedroomed house with 4 bathrooms and big living areas and loads of windows!!! Sigh.
When I got home, I had a very quick turn around to grab a coffee and get changed to go and pick up Meg and her Kahu Youth Group mates, and take them to Oakridge Resort Hot Pools, in the hope that they will not turn to alcohol and crime. They needed a spare car and pair of eyes and I drew the short straw. I had to sit in a pool of 37degrees and try not to cramp Megs style. When I got too hot, I moved into the larger swimming pool of 35degrees. The palm trees were back lit by the 'thirsty brown hills' of Otago, and the pools gave off more and more steam as the sun sunk in the sky and the temperature dropped. It was not a bad way to end a day of cleaning. I'm only sorry that the birthday boy couldn't join me.
grateful for:
the moments when I feel comfortable living here, as if it were normal. And that feeling I get when I come round the corner and see Lake Wanaka in the late afternoon sunshine.

Sunshine and sorrow.

The cloud finally lifted after 7 days. The grey, square looking modern house in the picture was a Builders Clean for us. A mod-cons show house. There are 2 cleans to run between this week, but a day off today.

I had coffee with Maggie and Mike as it was good to grab a chance to do so. That was a lovely start to the day and managed to take me to mid-day. I nipped to town to get some nice wine for Steve and Shannon to thank them for the night out and called into the Art Gallery to say hello to Christy who I hadn't seen for ages. She was on the Art Therapy course and invited us to the 2CV night. It's great wee gallery and we had a good blether. I finally got home and did some baking and cleaning, trying to make it look like a days work. We had an old sheep from Gore for dinner, so I must phone the farmer and thank him as it tasted pretty good.

It must have been the sunshine that made everyone so happy and sociable!

Didn't get all the things done I had planned, but hey ho.

The sunshine didn't suit everyone today. There was a shoot out in Christchurch today. A guy in a wheelchair let of 100 rounds in a built up area and the police shot him dead.

Meg and Me.

Meg and I were taking it easy today. It was just nice to be up in the sunshine as poor Spook (well, after Canada, maybe we shouldn't feel so sorry for him)went to nurse the sewage along. Finn had a sore leg from yesterday and was enjoying Sam's company, so with the promise to learn Lecrosse, he stayed to be put through his paces. Meg and I met John and his mum up there, but no matter how sociable she thought it might be to ski alongside me, she soon found out that it was not remotely sociable. I would have to get a pair of skis on to spend time on the slopes with her as I am still more competent on them than the board. We will probably manage that before the end of the season. Meg had tired legs but enjoyed being there. It was even quieter than yesterday. Don't know if it is anything to do with the recession. If it is not busy over the winter holidays, it will probably be a worry for them. With so many ski fields in the area and the small population, it's hard to imagine it getting too busy. There are likely to be less foreigners around as they struggle to find work to see them through the season. A boy we gave a lift down the hill, may have to go home to England early. His Kiwi companion kindly offered me a snowboarding lesson tomorrow in return for todays lift , but I'm going to stay home as I need to clean up the house a bit and catch up on things as I will work the rest of the week.

I walked past some young English boys in the supermarket today, staring at the shelves, and saying in shocked tones that they had been told things would be cheaper over here........not in Wanaka boys!!

grateful for:

Spooks hard work and wages.

Drinks at 6.

Upper Clutha started with their usual skill and passion and got broken down eventually by the big boys from Maniototo. Wee Hank threw himself in the path of one and rebounded clean off his feet. But it has to be said, there are also a few small and very fast boys in that team. However, the big guy that was doling out a fly kick and a push here and there away from the ball, was making mothers twitch on the sidelines. Our boys lost, but still enjoyed their game. One game to go against Wakatipu next week and then a 7's tournament after the holidays.

So we did a quick turn around and headed above the clouds for Meg's first look at Cardrona ski field and Finns 2nd as he managed the last afternoon of the season last October. John came with us and skied with Finn, while Meg and I fought our way through the afternoon. She had had very little sleep at her friends the night before and it was making snow go down her gloves, her clothes make her sweat too much, bits jag into her side from her ski suit, and caused the Polma lift to keep tossing her off. We worked through it, but preferred to do the last run alone, to cool off!! Then it was back into the mist which had claimed the whole valley by now and kept Wanaka in it's grey cloak all day.

Big rush back to make it for pre show drinks at Steve and Shannons. Meg and Finn stayed at their house while we were out, and Spook did manage to laugh at a few jokes, though Comedians are not his 'thing'. It was very kind of Shannon to invite us and if it seemed inappropriate to chat about toilet cleaning and poo amongst Interior Designers, ex-models (Spooks favourite lady of the evening and the one he empathised with most!!) and Established Otago Landowners, then that was no loss, really. I thought the Rhys Darby was funny and very likeable. Shannon felt a moment of nostalgia as we had met at a similar 'do' last year, when we were the charity waitresses. It was quite nice to be sitting at the table this time.

Emergency Blog

Spook and I were invited out to a fund-raising dinner and show tonight and I am too tired to get my thoughts together. It was a $200 a ticket night, and when Steve and Shannon had 2 members of their party let them down at the last minute, they asked us along. It was a stand up comic called Rhys Darby, from The Flight of The Concordes. He was very good. I will do a morning blog to catch up on the rest of the days activities which involved rugby against the Maniototo gangsters and a trip up to Cardrona for some light snowboarding activities.
grateful for
the generous invite.
the warm bed waiting for me.

HAPPY

I knew I should go up to the ski slopes. Most of my money is invested in doing so. That and mobile phones. I had to buy Meg a new sim card for her old phone, which was $30 and the minimum top up was $20. Finn got her 'no longer required' phone and that got a $10 top up. Meg got a free$10 top up for filling in a personal profile for vodafone. Finn complained that he only had $10. I topped up my own phone but forgot that I had vodafone and bought a telecom top up for $20. Finn has Telecom so he now has $30 credit and I had to buy another $20 for me. Spook doesn't have phone as his broke.

I was worried that I might become SAD about all this, so headed for the sunshine as it was dangerously grey. But I was really nervous. I don't know the slopes, it's on the other side of the world, and I get this vertigo sort of feeling that I'll fall off the mountain. I do deserve to suffer a bit. When I was 17, friends and I borrowed a Nissan Cherry and headed for Aviemore. 2 of us could ski and 2 couldn't. After stuffing 4 sets of skis and boots into the car, I took a wrong turn and ended up at The Wall. This invovled the 2 non-skiers getting on a chair lift without ever having had skis on their feet. I told them there wasn't much to it and made them get on. Nothing could persuade them to get off at the other end and the last I saw of them on that trip was as they headed a lonely trip back down the chair lift.

When I was 30 I talked Irish Kate into coming snowboarding with me. Having been brought up in Ireland, she had never been on a ski slope. I reasoned with her that as I had only actually boarded once and wasn't very good at it, we were pretty equal and it would be great fun. After clinging on to her board and me all the way up the chair lift, she was so relieved to get off alive that she put her board down and it shot off down the hill without her, ploughing through anyone in it's way and straight to the bottom.

So it was good to feel a bit out of my depth and to gain some insight into my past - or at least what friends might have thought of me. The slopes were far kinder to me than Scottish slopes had been to my friends and with the shadowy whisper of Nicky S chanting "falling leave, falling leave" I made my way safely, though more dropping acorn than falling leave, back to base. I came down with a German man who was on his first attempt at snowboarding. We were pretty much on a par and quite pleased with ourselves. He asked if it was my first day. I laughed and said I had been working at this since I was 3o, and tried not to look 45.

grateful for:

my first ever season pass

forgiving slopes and forgiving friends

being above the clouds (you can just see Wanakas lid past my right arm)

SAD.

It felt mild when I got up to light the fire at 6.45am. It was 6 degrees in the kitchen and when I opened the door to let Cougar Cat in, it seemed the same outside. Without any breeze, there isn't the chill factor we get at home. With the heat pump and the fire, it was up to 17 degrees within 25 mins.

Spook had the day off and I had to be out the door by 7.45am. I am not accustomed to this role reversal. I got on my hands and knees to polish up floors and Spook got on his bike. He cycled out to Treble Cone roadend. He took this photo of a Dunny on the way. This is at Hospital Flat Conservation Area. Not a very inspired name. There are lot's of wee climbing areas with rings embedded in the rock. They also provide eco toilets called 'long drops'. These are all over the place. We could probably do with these around Fort William, like up at the climbing area of Poll Dubh, half way up the Ben and on the top. The drops are long enough not to be able to examine the efforts of others. Not sure what happens when they fill up.

The day remained grey, but the cloud was quite high and it certainly didn't depress Spook and I they way it does the Wanakonians. There was a little article in the paper today about Seasonal Affective Disorder and explaining to us how it affects around 500,000 people, particularly in June, July and August. I assumed they were talking about a Scottish summer, but no, it was definately Wanaka. The article also explained how the cloud inversion works and complained about all these happy, sparkly-eyed skifield workers who work above the inversion layer. The journalist reckons we have had 4 weeks of it. We had lot's of lovely weather last week. This just proves how resilient we Scots are.

We spent the night trying to get Spooks blog onto the NO Fuss website - it is a long blog and we tried twice. On the 2nd attempt we lost it when we pressed the button to publish it. I didn't cry, but he will be writing it himself on the 3rd attempt!

I am off tomorrow, but will not be going to Cardrona on it's opening day (or will I?) because the children are outraged that I could send them to school and then go off and have fun without them. But the sun will be shining up there and I don't want to be a sad mummy, so I may consider it for health reasons.

grateful for:

the anticipation of the cup of tea my husband is going to bring me in bed tomorrow morning for the 1st time in a couple of weeks.

Cougar Snackletts.

Turns out the cougars do have a sign after all. (courtesy of Mel Shand. Which reminds me, Mel, I still owe you a girls treat away for the fantastic art work you did for me that was a star turn in the Planning Offices). I have sent this on to the Squamish people so that they can have it made into official signs.

Down at the magnificent new farmhouse this morning (where i was sent because Mary forgot she was to pick her mother up from hospital), I was mistaken for the owner, by one of the tradesmen whom I hadn't met before. I think it was my hat. Clearly lent me a classy look. It wasn't long before I was on my hands and knees scrubbing the expensive floor and the illusion was lost. Mary has gone into relaxed and not bothered mode because I have shown a great capacity for leadership in the 'who wipes and who vacs' department. After 4 years of doing this, she is understandably struggling with the prospect of another season of smelly skiers who miss the toilet pan and frazzel the cookers with grease. Builders cleans are light relief before all that starts. It is interesting to watch the strain on the site managers face as painters trip over tilers, joiners and plasterers fill the cleaned out grooves for the grout with dust and sawdust, and everyone messes up everything we've just cleaned. An easy-going and obliging manner is the main qualification for the job. Och, that's just me all over!!!!!!!!!!

I was called into the real estates today to look at a sofa on a verandah. I had asked her to look for a sofa with a verandah and a house wrapped round it and that was what she had found. She said as soon as she saw the sofa she phoned me. But it was unfurnished (apart from the sofa) and really, we are probably better to stay put just now. However, she indicated to her boss and said he wanted to meet me. That was puzzling, but it turned out that he had been told to watch out for Mo and Spook by a well known director of a well known ski resort in Fort William. As soon as he heard I was coming in, he decided we were them. He and Marion were old mates from a long time ago. If I'd known that a few months ago, I would have gone in sooner and maybe found my sofa on the verandah before now!

My friend Maggie, was telling me how awful the winter has been. Hmmmm. If this is as bad as it gets...

grateful for:

bad Kiwi winters.

reminders that we cant really be that far from home.

friends with a wonderful sense of humour and the ability to illustrate it.

I wonder if the Cougar's have a sign warning of these 2 dudes hiding in the bushes.

From Lush to Grey.

So he's back. The plane made it through the clouds safely. I suppose the clouds were the least of his worries, having fought off Cougars and very large beers. When I came over to Scotland in February, it seemed very grey compared with Wanaka. It's good to know that it is only the season that is grey as Wanaka looks pretty grey just now. Mind you, it hadn't been grey above the clouds and he could see Mt Cook and Mt Aspiring towering above the other mountains.

It has been a terrific trip, lots of cycling and not too much alcohol (despite the size of that beer). Uncle D is an athlete now, so Spook has to take it all a bit more seriously. Uncle D was only 40mins behind Spook over 65k ,in the race, and that is a substantial difference from the old days. It is possible that Uncle D may have found a new, fitter freind by the time we get back home. (Pele, I should think).

It was funny driving to the airport and picking him up as if I lived here (oh, I do!). And it was great seeing Hugh again. Meeting McPhees in airports is always going to have a lovely Spean Bridge sort of feel about it. Helps that missing 'sense of belonging' feeling. Spook had come so close to watching the rugby with Hugh and a bottle of whisky.

The children have taken it very much in their stride and it is nice to have come to a more peaceful era after 9 months. They are delighted to have their Dad back though, as am I. He has tomorrow off and so do I (despite work seeming busier for me, it is always a slight illusion). There are so many builders in at the two cleans we are doing, that we can't get much done.

grateful for:

Spook being here so that the maths homework can get done. He was also a big help to Finn in advice when drawing a plan of the house so that he could show the escape plan in the event of a fire. I love that boys homework.

Inverted Clouds.

I was too busy to take any photos today and it had another one of those cloud......inversions, going on. I did think of editing yesterdays blog, but as I have been getting my words wrong for ever, I decided to leave the cloud conversion in. The clouds didn't lift all day, which is quite unusual. I started work at 8.30am at a fancy new build and we got through a lot as Mary has hired 3 new staff. This was my first day as supervisor as Mary had a very important meeting to go to at 1.30pm. (her twice weekly hiphop dance class). I have 2 hours at the big farmhouse tomorrow to help the girls get set up for the day before going to pick up my darling husband at the airport. I came home a bit late and found the kids playing Uno with john so left them and went over to have coffee with Stacey from Gore, who was up to paint a room in her new holiday house. When I got back home, Meg had a chocolate cake cooking in the oven. Then I nipped back and helped with a wee bit of painting before Desperate Housewives - a Monday favourite.

Spook will be on the plane now, and we are really looking forward to having him home. I haven't put a number into my mobile to phone to see if Queenstown is fogbound. It is possible that he could be diverted to Invercargill or Christchurch. Invercargill is closer at 3+ hours rather than 4+. Not to mention nasty slippy roads. You never know when that inverted cloud stuff is going to be around and they don't have the fancy hook-on radar systems at Queenstown.

Anyway, getting late so posting blog and then a quick look at the local paper.

Happy Fathers Day.

I had thought that we were half way through the winter, but according to Google NZ this morning, it is the first day of winter. We had a lovely long lie as the clouds were doing their morning conversion thing and it was chilly. WE had coffee and hot chocolate in bed all together with the cougar cat (she has a very wild streak and we reckon she's a close cousin). Then we got up and tidied up the house to make it look more welcoming for Spook. Finn was most helpful once he stopped trying to just drape the cloths over the line without pegs. We had a walk by the lakeside and a great blether with a man I see down there a lot with his dog. He is half Dutch/Belgian and was brought up at Lake Tekapo. He went shooting on an estate at Strontian many years ago and also stayed in the youth hostel in Glen Nevis. He used to have a girlfriend who lived on Lochee Road in Dundee, so he was chuffed to hear that I lived on that road for 2 years. He's wanting to meet Spook for a cup of tea and talk Highlands.

Finn insisted on being a Southern Man with the shorts and the ice.

I read in the Sunday Herald this morning (online)that it is Fathers Day in the Uk. There is no sign of a fathers day over here, so Spooks had it. Hopefully he wont notice anyway as he stuck between time zones. I caught my Dad before breakfast this morning and after my tea. Still can't get used to such big time differences. I think Spook will know all about it after such a short visit to the Northern Hemisphere.

Cardrona.

I forgot to take the camera to the game today, so you are spared more rugby pictures. It was a good run to Cromwell, through the mist and the whore frost. The boys on both sides were a bit shy of tackling for the first half on account of the very hard ground. But Cromwell fought a great battle which they lost and Coach Timu gave out 8 chocolate bars to be shared by all the boys (tackle of the day wins a snicker bar) as the tackling was all good when it came. He then awarded every boy in the team 3 points. There are only 2 games left and he is obviously keen to make sure every boy has points to their name, to be proud of. All boys glowed.

We went to Cardrona Inn for chips as Finn has been keen since we got here to see if Aragon is still sitting there in the corner. He wasn't but it was very pleasant sitting by the fireside. I have here a photo of a fine example of the outdoor eating area we require Spook to build when we get back to Scotland. It is easy to forget that we might not have the climate for it, but it's a very ncie thought. Meg wondered if this saddle would be any good for the horse at home that she doesn't have. (yet.) The ski area is behind the Inn.

We went to Edgewater Resort (the first place we stayed for 2 days when we arrived) to watch the 2nd attempt by The All Blacks to beat the French. We joined John's mum and Dad for a drink and thankfully the game went the Kiwi way this time.

grateful for:

children that are a pleasure to be with.

Stunningly beautiful weather.

Muddy as!

oooh, getting colder. 2 degrees in the house this morning and Mary's windows were frozen on the inside. -4 predicted for Wanaka and -7 for Alexandra. I went back to the big farmhouse we were cleaning the other week. I thought I had enough layers on, but the sun wasn't on the house early and by 10.30am I had to sneak off for half an hour for another layer and figured I could throw a quick coffee down my throat. Mary was not working today and although I wasn't claiming for the time, I thought I could come and go without anyone noticing. Unfortunately I slipped on a melting bit of mud on the way back in and let out such a scream, there was no-one on site who didn't see me, or the big slick of mud down my entire side. I was very careful not to stand on the $60,000 wooden floor (the cost for one room and the stairs only) with my muddy feet.
Finn went to Sams new house after school today. I went round to pick him up and as usual had a glass of red wine and didn't pick him up. He walked into town with Sam and John for a pizza. I came home and made Meg and her friend Nadia a pizza before they went to Nadia's youth club. She attended The Holy Family school before Mount Aspiring College, so there may be a little light praying at this group. Between it and the Kahu Youth Group, my daughter just cant go wrong. Finn and I are watching Sister Act so we'll be fine too. Rugby against Finn's mates in Cromwell tomorrow and then I'll need to take him to the pub to watch the next All Blacks v France game.
Spook phoned and is still sleeping on Wanaka time ie, he's not sleeping! But at least he will see the Cougar coming. There have now been about 4 shootings of Cougars in the last week and a 3 year old girl was attacked. The children looked up Cougars on youtube and have decided they don't want to go to Canada.
grateful for:
big roughty toughty men on building sites saying "all righty". And not laughing when I was scrabbling around in the mud.
The cold evening and young people around in cold weather and climbing gear, looking like a mountain town that I can relate to.

Stop Press.

Reading the editorial again today, in the hope of more gems, it is concerned about the effects of snow and swine flu on the economy. And sure enough, every school in Dunedin was closed on Tuesday, and all public transport, as the snow ground the place to a halt. Most cars that went on the road ended up in the ditch and one ended up in the harbour. In Auckland, entire schools were closed due to swine flu. In Wanaka, we have been warned that should there be a pandemic, the chemist will be closing to protect itself, so we can bugger off and get our Tamiflu somewhere else.

There once was a cleaner from......

'Red sky in the morning, Sheperds warning' doesn't seem to bear fruit over here. Maybe it's because we are upside down. The lake photos were taken at about 4.15pm, so with the shortest day coming up on Sunday, it does appear that it is not as short a day as we get in Fort William!! I know paddling on flat water is very dull for you kayakers out there, but I would love to have been this boy today.

I have been reassured by Canadian Cathy, who is keeping me informed via Facebook of my husbands movements, that the Cougars only pick on the small and vulnerable and only 20 deaths have occured over 100 years. The boys are out on a long ride today and Cathy was going to meet them for a BBQ at Cliffs house (Cliff only does BBQ and brought his own one with him to Scotland last year, in case we didn't do them and he would get hungry). I'm not sure how long the ride is, but worry that Uncle David may feel small and vulnerable after it.

I occupied myself by making up Limericks with Mary at work today. She has been interviewing for winter staff. She had about 70 applicants, but probably only needs 2, + 2 on standby. She rejected a lady who didn't quite look the part as she hadn't plucked the whiskers on her face (I shaved as soon as I got home!) and didn't take the beautiful Argentinian young man who couldn't clean very well, but it wasn't an easy decision. Mary was having an angry day about someone who had crossed her (bad thing to do), so I diverted her thoughts to the Limericks. She was much better, but a tad ruder, than me.

I retrieved the car from the garage with it's new clutch and took a package to Pete, at Spooks work. We had a coffee and a blether and I showed him the editorial in the paper, which was sitting on the desk. He had to examine it to assure himself it wasn't my letter to the editor that had incorporated itself into the wrong column. I'm sad to say that this was his last day. He refuses to go to the Badlands in the North, and that is where the work is. That is a big loss to Spook. The good news though, is that the plant is the sweetest smelling plant ever. You wouldn't know there had been a poop near the place.

The children and I played pictionary and drama games tonight. They seem to get quite a lot of drama and performance at school and both enjoy it.

grateful for:

the empowerment I feel from my big pile of dry wood.

Tough Times.

Heat pump and fire on this morning, got us up to Mediterranean temperatures. I had the fire on since 6.20am, but it was still only 5 degrees at 7, so the heat pump got us up to speed.
Meg had a doctors appt for a spot of conjunctivitis and then a dentist appt which declared her to be a cavity free zone. Finn had a bank appt to open an account and deposit his birthday money (he WILL write to you, Granny), and then we all went for a hot chocolate to celebrate.
The snow hit Dunedin badly yesterday, and the rest of the south, with ice wreaking havoc. We were so lucky just to have the clutch worry and not the snow chains too. I look at the bag in the hall that promises 'snowsweat - easy fit, no mess, no fuss, no worries'. If the snow comes before Spook gets home, I'm staying in and working my way through the pile of wood.
You cannot imagine my delight in reading the editorial in the Otago Daily Times today. I was beginning to think I was alone in the world of anit-booing. I never expected to find support from this quarter. They commented on the shame of the bottle throwing as the French did their lap of honour (from the bad people in the terraces), "as well, right around the ground - and right around New Zealand - the unedifying sound of booing as oppostion kickers aim for goal has become standard. How unnecessary and rude and what a bad example of poor sportsmanship to the children present. Even worse in its its disrespect were the cases of jeering during the singing of La Marseillaise."
The papers are full of stories of people out of work (Wanaka) and social services running out of money to give unemployed. A leaflet came through the door asking me to vote on a citizen-initiated referendum which asks "should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?" The anti-smacking bill outlawed smacking in 2007, but no-one has really been very clear on it. The referendum will cost $9million. Hmm.
The children are very contented and have been sitting up in bed writing a love story. Meg is doing the writing and Finn is co-writing from the bunk below. It is a love story set on a small farm (characters are father and daughter Calum and Jessie McDonald, so I'm assuming it's in the Highlands - though Roddy in Nelson has a mate called Barry McDonald who is a Maori, so assume nothing). Sadly, the mother is dead, but it involves a much loved horse and a motorbike and lot's of good friends. For a girl who got out of English class for the doctors today and was happy because she hates English, she did what I would have called 'English' of her own free will tonight.
grateful for:
being able to buy 2 toilet rolls from Megan tonight for 50cents and rent one of her DVD's for 40cents. Good to get a bargain in the recession. She is saving for an ipod touch. Finn bought sherbert for 50cents and tipped her another 50. He then had an idea for a fund-raiser of his own. Meg doesn't like to sleep in her own room. When she went to bed she found his door closed and a note pinned to it. 50cents rent per night.

check out Josh's blog on Los Aventuras de Josh. I love your blog, Josh! Have you ever been to Tomintoul? I think you have found the Kiwi equivalent in that cowboy town photo.

Warm as!

That looks a wee bit like a religious symbol in the foreground of the truck picture, but it is the washing line.

It was good that on the day the 1st snow arrived at our level, so did the wood. I thought my husband might want to see where I have invested his money. Actually, I ordered it before he left and The Southern Man said it would be here on Tuesday "Good as gold," he said. Spook and I figure that when they say use that expression, they are genuine, straightforward kind of guys. I don't think I have heard a woman use it. Sometimes you get "Good as gold, sweet as". Even better.

Finn got boot marks all over him at training today. His head, jaw, shoulder and legs. He made me take pictures for the blog but they looked less remarkable than the pain he felt. I watched the end of training and he kept tackling after the incident, but melted down in the shower for about 30 minutes afterwards!! He got a pair of Lions 09 Tour rugby shorts in the post, with a potted history so he can wear them with pride and follow some of his countrymens progress. Please can a rugby fan reassure me that we, as fans and a nation of Scots, and English/Irish (Paddy), do not boo the other side. When the French came on the Kiwi's booed and every time they did a conversion the booing got really loud. I daresay they have a bit of a thing against the French side, but I was furiously whispering to Finn that this was not the sporting thing to do. A Kiwi girl, who is a teacher, told me that "they do it to us, too", (how many times have I told Meg and Finn that this is not a good excuse?) and "They like it - it helps them to focus". Do we do that? I will hang my head in shame if we do.

Meg met a young woman at Kahu tonight who used to live in Aviemore and knows Danny McAskill well(the fantastic Scot who does urban stunt riding on his bike - look him up on Youtube to see what I mean). Meg thought she was really cool and said it was nothing to do with the number of peircings on her face. I may have to re-consider the value of the Youth Group.

I managed the first of my 3 runs while Spook is away. An hour, and I can feel it. The man himself has been re-united with Uncle D and has already done some 'awesome' biking (don't know if he is speaking like a Canadian, American or a Kiwi - a Scot would just say it was "reely goood"). He was planning some trail running but discovered 2 cougars were shot on that trail last week. One of them snapped up a walkers puppy(that's not a kind of crisp). They don't usually come down so near the town. Spook is considering the wisdom of the run (these are my words). He is still looking after us from afar as we slept in this morning and only woke up because he was phoning at 7.20am. I missed the call but was brought from my lovely slumber by the incessant ringing.

grateful for:

the extra insulation that the pile of wood lends the house. And hopefully, the lack of insulation and the position of the wood burner just behind the wall where the wood is piled, will warm the wood through the wall, dry it even more, and stop any rising damp from the pile of wood I have piled. I am not moving it anywhere but into the fire now.

Finn Ramsey

I so love Finn's homework assignments. Fairly regularly, he has sums to practice, but more likely it is something more domestic. like tidy his room and take in the before and after picture, sew some buttons onto something, cook the tea. So this is the tea. He did choose his favourite. He likes his bacon well cooked!! If his father is reading this, he will note that his son had his hair cut.

I was nearly moved one night when Finn asked me to sit down beside him. He took both my hands in his and looked me in the eye and said "Mum! I want you to know that I really appreciate everything you do for me" I stared at him for a moment and then said "Homework?" He nodded somberly. He was very disappointed I hadn't broken down in tears as one mother had. Every now and then he tries the same trick when he is in trouble for something.

I took the car in to be fixed today. We only just made it over the hill to town. $1400 to get everything sorted and through it's Warrant of Fitness (WOF). Happy days!

It was windy last night and I was surprised to wake to clear blue skies and 6 degrees in the kitchen. Balmy. That's the Westerlies for you!

grateful for:

Spook having arrived in Squamish around mid-day my time. Seems Uncle David was missing his bike and his mate, but all of them should be re-united by tomorrow.

A morning spent cleaning up at the house at Mt Barker. The birds and warmth were like spring. I stood and looked at the view and had a wee twinge for my own doorstep.

Clutching at Ferns.

There is still a faded fern on Finn's face which will need to be scrubbed off tomorrow morning if I am not to look like I have a neglected child.

As far as I know, Spook is currently winging his way to Canada via Los Angeles. I last heard from him as he was heading out for a wander round Christchurch, having spent the night in a backpackers for young party people. He was probably just taking to the skies as we were climbing a hill out of Roxburgh on the way to Alexandra from the south, and a terrible burning smell assailed our nostrils. We had been listening to loud music and I had failed to hear that I was revving the engine harder than the car could drive on account of it's very dodgy clutch. We pulled over as the car behind was flashing lights and he told us we had smoke belching out the exhaust. We had to creep up every hill from there on in silent anticipation of blowing the clutch completely and take a big run at the hills when we could. We were still about 90mins from Wanaka, so every kilometre closer was a boost to our morale. It was good that Spook didn't know this, to add to his dismay. I will put the car into the garage tomorrow. It is Spooks great pleasure that he doesn't have the tools to fix such things! We knew it was on the way out and just pushed our luck. The children and I still managed to appreciate the amazing view accross to the timeless lands of Maniototo in the distance - but we couldn't risk stopping for a photo.

It is a little weird not having Spook here, but at least I have the electric blanket. We have a busy-ish week, with some work for me, Meg has her sustainability day out tomorrow, there's rugby training twice and a game at Cromwell on Saturday, I promised to try to manage 3 runs while Spooks away, and I have to get my boobs squashed in the scanner on Thursday. I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but the last appointment got cancelled as someone stole the lead, which comes from the bus and plugs into a lampost and so the bus was without electricity. I notice they are still using the same system and therefore still at the mercy of whatever high-jinks go on in town of a night.

It is a beautiful, starry night, so I wonder it the cold spell is back. I have a consignment of wood coming on Tuesday and will have to stack it in a place that looks like it belongs to me. The neighbour and I are working through the pile of gathered wood from opposite ends and it wont be long before we meet in the middle. The heat pump is a good bonus, but you can't beat that fire.

grateful for:

my new queens size electric blanket which replaces the single ones Spook and I had on the bed, creating a very icy border between us. It was Spooks job to bridge that gap, so I think he will probably be even more grateful than me.

Meg making the tea tonight. (cheesy pasta)

Cheap grocery shopping in Dunedin.

Vive Les Francais.

The picture on the right shows why Spook never got to fly out of Queenstown. We did have a very positive experience at the airport though. Firstly, we got to meet up with Hugh McPhee from SpeanBridge, who works there (me and Hugh had a date many years ago). Hugh and Spook are old buddies. The laidback and friendly attitude of the staff helped to soften the blow of the fog bound airport and the tannoy announcements inviting people to take up an offer of a bus to Invercargill sounded supportive. The next annoucement was that there was a young man in the foyer, who had decided to drive to Dunedin for the rugby and did anyone want to go with him? We liked that. Couldn't imagine Glasgow announcing that one over the tannoy or anyone offering or taking up the offer in our suspicion ridden culture. We had to leave Spook and hope it would all turn out well, knowing that Hugh could shelter him in Queenstown if necessary. We were settling in to enjoy the match when he texted me to say he was at Lake Tekapo, on a bus to Christchurch where he had to find accomodation and wouldn't be flying out until 5.30pm the next day. Bad news when he has people meeting him at the airport in Vancouver, not to mention brother David. He is more than a day behind now.

We had a pleasant, and fogless drive to Dunedin which looks like a lovely, characterful city. Meg is happy at Kate's house and we had a good night at the match with Finn eyes agog at his first big match of any kind. The All Blacks didn't play too great and the French played very well, so they did deserve their win. Unfortunatley, we didn't notice that John Timu was there at the start, recieving his Cap along with others being honoured.

We are staying at Every St, which is a street that has been in the papers for the last 13 weeks due to the biggest murder re-trial in Kiwi history. A man accused of murdering 5 members of his family (relations by marriage of our old neighbour, Stewart), and who has just been aquitted with very mixed feelings in the community, had been convicted and served 12 years of his sentence for allegedly committing the act 3 houses up from the one we are in. Finn felt that it lent the street an air of mystery and intrigue.

grateful for:

getting to attend an All Blacks game at Carisbrook, which is to be replaced by a new stadium, much to the sadness of many fans.

For not being 3 doors further up the street.

And really sad for Spook and his long journey for a shorter holiday - we will be home in Wanaka before he gets on the plane at Christchurch.

Ma Wee Boy.

Well, that's him into his rehearsal year for teenagerdom. It hasn't been a bad start. I slogged away this afternoon to create a cake that I felt would blend two of his great loves. Chocolate and mayonnaise. It weilded a nice gooey cake, but Finn never made it in to the house after school. I had to cut it in half and take it out to Shannons car as Finn was ensconced there with John and they were off for another 'last' play at See-ams. 5 days until handover of the Lakehouse. Shannon and Steve were going out to a Barn Dance at Hawea. Spook and I thought that sounded like a great thing, but I never saw a man less wanting to dance in a barn than Steve who was trying to ply John's parents and I with wine when we went to pick the boys up and use us as an excuse to not go. But I had to get Finn to the pizza place for the birthday takeaway and choose a DVD for family viewing, and I had a husband at home who was professing to be very sad at leaving us. Steve said he understood. He always says that to Shannon when he is heading off for a trip, leaving her and the 3 children behind - it's standard practise. And indeed, Spooks sadness will be short-lived when he heads to the Sunshine Coast and then Whistler for lots of cycling (and sunshine, one presumes).

Another wet round the edges kind of day, but not too cold.

grateful for:..............och, lot's.

Grand View (of a Possum)

Spook and I went up Grand View Ridge. Sounds like Wallace and Gromit got here before the Maori's with a name like that. However, it did have a grand view, looking backto Wanaka and the shape of Mt Iron in the middle. Not that I made it to the top. There are the usual zig-zag roads and I thought I'd cut a few zigs off. The steep but innocent looking slope turned out to be covered in wild rose thorn and it's baby off-spring. There seemed to be many other jaggy things too, but none so lethal as the Spear Grass further up the hill. I put an exploratory hand down and it was like sticking my finger into a needle. Sharp as. None of this dulled the pain of climbing steeply, but I did get a bit closer to Spook by cheating. I turned back with him when he met me on his way back from the top.

We picked the children up from school after lunch and took them to Queenstown for the game against Wakatipu. Meg got to come too so that she wouldn't be home alone. We got a bit lost looking for the right pitch so the boys didn't get to play the first part of the game (John is staying with us tonight as his parents are away). John always plays an admirable game as one of their best players, but it was good to see Finn really getting stuck in again with a renewed confidence. The Wakatipu boys played better and had very fast sprinters with ours only managing one try at the very end of the game. They still got only positive feedback from coach JT. It's good how he never lets their heads go down but points out the things needed to make their game better. This game was played tonight as so many are going to Dundedin on Saturday to watch the All Blacks/France game. I'm chuffed that we are going too. With no game to play, we can drop Spook off at the airport in Queenstown, have a farewell coffee with him and head south to the big city.

We came home to a roastie toastie house as the electricians were in fixing the heat pump when we left and we asked them to leave it on a peep. It was probably about 16 degrees when we got home and shot up to 20 degrees easily with the fire lit. Mind you, it is a very mild night. The pump works by bringing in the warm air from outside. we should get 3 kw of heat for the price of 1kw, but when it gets very cold and it has less warm air to find, it drops to 1kw for 1kw. It's supposedly a very good system. It's nice to have that when our hunter/gatherer is leaving us for 10 days. Maggie said she would send Mike up if anything broke down while Spooks away and would send herself up if I found myself howling and crying, so it's good to know they are there.

grateful for:

Not having actually killed the Possum in the picture as, much as they are hated here (they are Aussies), they make a nasty thumping noise when you do hit them.

still having an 11yr old boy, as tomorrow I will feel older, having a 12 year old.

Chain Worries.

No photos again. Wet day round the edges and dry in the middle. But not dry in the tennis courts so Maggie and I walked round Mt Iron and had coffee with Mike afterwards. Then Spook and I had lunch and sorted out a few things in town for his Canadian trip on Saturday.
The dampness seems to mean snow higher up so the general advice is to carry snow chains at all times now. We have never put chains on, so Spook did a bit of research and came up with exactly what I imagined would happen as you only put the chains on at the point at which you need them - not in the warmth of your garage.


The first time: Break fingernails prising up the tabs on the plastic box to display beautifully coiled shiny charm bracelets. Lift the first one out and watch in amazement as it coils into a glittering twisted lump in your hand. Pick up the second in disbelief as it repeats the same trick. Spend the next 30 minutes untangling the knots . . . which would have been 10 if the pair hadn't decided to mate with each other. Separated, they're laid down beside the drive wheels and you look at the instructions stuck inside the lid of the carry box ands realise that your Serbo-Croat isn't what it should be so you decide to go with the pictures. Which bear no visible relationship to the objects laying besides your wheels 30 minutes later you're soaking wet and shivering with the cold, the rest of your fingernails are caught in mechanical parts you have no name for and everything you touch is now indelibly marked with your fingerprints. You have something that looks like it's slung between two nipple rings, and just as taut, chipping the rust protector off the inside of your wheel arches . . . . . . but they will get you up the hill. Arriving at your destination, you take them off . . . which oddly is an absolute doddle, and coil them into their plastic box. The next season: Your fingernails are safe; At some time during the Summer the plastic tabs have been knocked off and you lift the lid to an amorphous brown lump that creaks and sheds small pieces as you prise it out of its nest. The pictures in the lid are now a ragged illegible sticky mixture of paper shreds, ink smear and pulpy hydrated glue so you rely on your faded memory. Which leads you to spending twice the time and 10 times the frustration to achieve the same miserable result as the last time . . . only now, your fingerprints have a lovely 'burnt sienna' tinge to their longevity. Next year . . . you buy a new set and repeat . . . 'cos they're a different design.
(excerpt from chat forum on snowheads.com)
Meg arranged to meet Ceilidh at 5pm tonight and was determined that they would run no matter what the weather. Indeed the rain started at 5pm and she and Ceilidh ran last night's loop without stopping and she came home in the dark, soaked but pleased with herself. Spook and I were ashamed of our lardyness. Finn had played basketball after school, so it was just us who hadn't worked up a sweat (actually, just Spook, as I did go up a small Mount).

Happy Barker.

There are no pictures today because it was raining. Not very inspiring at all and we are not used to it. It did clear up eventually but stayed cold. Meg and I went for a run with Anne and her older son, Elliot, (who put on a big pace when he saw Meg was there, iether to impress her or to get away from her because she was a GIRL). Meg ran ahead of Anne and I and Elliot ran ahead of her, which was all fine as Anne and I just blethered and Meg ran well because she wasn't blethering. When it came to the return journey, we let the Anne and Elliot run on and we enjoyed the time to talk and catch up on the day. It was dark when we got home, but Meg was inspired to plan to go out earlier in the day on her own and see how well she could keep running.
My 4 hours of work today became none as Mary couldn't find the keys. So she put it off until next week when she will hopefully have resovled that problem. I tried not to wind her up about job offers from window cleaners. But I did spend a very pleasant morning lost in the great stories of the pioneer women. In fact, my favourite, happy story was by Lady Barker - a coincidence, as it was the big house on Mount Barker that I was supposed to be cleaning today. Lady Barker's ghost must have stolen the keys so that I could sit down and be entertained by her writing. Has to be noted that the experiences of those wealthy women were far more fun than that of the poorer. I am not making comparisons with modern times - honest.
Finn had rugby training and Meg was being saved by the Kahu Youth Group while I abandoned her to a good book. Spook is nearly off work for 2 weeks now, but still has to go in tomorrow for some time in the morning so I am going to catch up with Maggie and Mike and perhaps have a quick game of tennis if it is not raining.

If you are getting a little bored of the limited views from over the hedge in Wanaka, go into my profile and look at Josh's blog. Los Aventuras de Josh (cos he spent a year in Spain mountian bike guiding). There are some lovely views, including one of Spooks poo (so to speak).

Cool.

The webcam is not showing up so well now. This was 7.50am, and 5pm. The day itself, was lovely and warm after about 10am. But it was pretty cold up at Spooks work, when he was heading home at 6pm and the moon was coming up over The Grand View Ridge.
I was cleaning a very expensive sort of farmhouse style place set on a big section (plot). It is going to be extremely plush when finished. In a couple of weeks we will be cleaning a place that is worth a few million. Not everyone is suffering in the recession. Mary said that the English window cleaner that she subcontracts to, has a holiday house and needs a cleaner for the winter season. He told Mary he would like to ask me to work for him. Mary was sputtering at the audacity, but I managed to look interested enough to guarantee iether a biscuit with the morning coffee which she regularly buys me, or a 2nd coffee in the afternoon! As if I would leave Mary. This man doesn't even DRINK coffee.
The childrens list, compiled last night, makes scary reading. Thankfully the chipmunk has been scored off after further research proved that it could be costly. The mouse is still on it, 2 goats, 2 pigs, a horse, chickens, guinea pigs, and maybe a hermit crab!! Now that they are confined to a house and small garden, they are thinking they have been wasting the space at home. Not sure where the hermit crab is going.
grateful for:
it getting near bedtime as Spook was called out at 5.20am so we have both been awake since then.
the fire being lit at 6am and therefore nice and cosy at breakfast time.
the lovely smell of bread cooking as I am trying a 'can't fail' recipe!!

Worms, and other animals...

A pleasant day was had by all except Spook, who was abandoned at his usual post. Finn and John tossed the rugby ball around and Meg read in a sunny corner of the house. I cleared a bit of the yard for a consignment of wood, which I shall have to order next week, so that I can carry on with morning and evening fires with a clean conscience (not really sure how much of the wood that was gathered is justifiably ours - but with the heat pump not fixed.......).

The boys went for a swim at the pool, and Meg and I enjoyed our late afternoon fast walk by the lakeside. We bumped into See-am and family on the shore. Sam has lovely social skills and said that if the pool had turned out to be closed, John and Finn could have come to his house - there is one more weekend left before they move to the pool-less house that they have bought.

Whilst Meg and Finn may appear to be much more settled, there is a helluva lot of planning for when they come home. Meg (SO like her Auntie Al) has decided she is getting a Chipmunk when she lives back at home. She and Finn are designing a life for it, safe from cat attack. She is going to rescue Battery Hens, (SO like her Granny), and was googling 'how to build a henhouse'. She has also googled 'how to create a wormfarm (SO unlike her mother - yuch). It is comforting that she is not googling 'how to hang out at the Co-Op and look 2 years older so you can buy Buckfast'. She and Finn are tucked up in his bed right now, with a drwing pad, re-designing the croft.

Grateful for:

Megs Gym and Health teacher, who has got her into the Sustainability Group, which must have something to do with the wormfarm, at least. I mean........where else could that have come from??

And the wee dram I am planning in the beautiful moonlit night before bed.

The wee love birds which were grooming each other in the garden.

Lord of Maniototo

It was a great drive to the land of Maniototo. It is otherwise known as 'a timeless land'. The vastness and emptiness of the place never fails to impress. I thought I would include some pictures of Finns team mates + a flicker of the ginger locks. The eyes in the hat belong to Thomas and the wee guy with the ball on the Maniototo side was very, very fast. Our boys lost but had a very determined and succesful start which broke down eventually. The boy with the moustache is Hank. He plays an amazingly determined game every moment, every time and we reckon the 'tash was designed to scare the opposition. It certainly made them wonder! The Upper Clutha boy in the middle with the ball - Hamish - got player of the day.

Finn and I took a wee detour home as he said Rohan, from Lord of the Rings was along this road. We climbed a hill and came round a corner and he said "that's it!!!!". He is sure that this is where the King of Rohan lived. He was pretty chuffed with himself. It is the murky picture.

John is staying the night and he, Finn, Max and another boy are playing outside in the dark with a torch and some moonlight. It's hide and seek with a spotlight.

grateful for:

wide open spaces.