Yuch-less.

Boring, I know, but we don't really go very far. Thought I would show the webcam photo over the hedge now that the snow is further down and the sun is back. Still warmth in the sun when it is here. This is the winter the Wanakans expect and no wonder they are not happy when they don't get it. I hope we get some of this when The Sinclairs are here. They are spending the night at Pigeon Bay on their way to ours, arriving tomorrow. In honour of their visit, we did a proper tidy up this time. It's great to have Meg's help, but with her ferocious work ethic, it was hard to get my coffee break. My normal superficial clean was abandoned for a full fridge clean out - I never knew there were so many bits to a fridge. She handed me more and more shelves and dookits and each was accompanied by words such as 'gross, bhlr, yuch, oh my god MUM'. Every cupboard was emptied and wiped out, the window sills (which were very yuchy when we moved in) have all been wiped, bedrooms gutted. I sat down for coffee and a wee read of the paper and after 5 mins she was up making cheese rolls ( a Kiwi phenomenon) and asking for instructions, while Finn was asking more spelling words (l.o.c.h.a.b.e.r. - proof that it is never far from our minds), and I eventually had to abandon my goulish following of the latest macabre court case which is another book in the making, like the last one. Inspector Rebus never encountered anything as bad as this. I consider this part of my embroilment in NZ culture, along with the nightly watching of Shortland Street. I have never kept up with a soap opera before (apart from Desperate Housewives). I shout at the stupidity of the characters and the amazing changes of personalities they go through from good to bad and vice versa. It is just as well the winters are short. It was all I could do not to delay our dinner invite last night until after 7.30pm. I am a free woman after that time.

We live in one half of the house on account of the freezing, damp nature of the other half. Today, I put the oil heater on in that half, so that we would feel more inclined to clean it, and because the dampness was not going to make The Sinclairs feel very welcome. The wall down the side of Finns bed is wet and when I touched the outside of our duvet this morning, it was cold and damp. This is so familiar from student days. It was amazing to have a warm and dry whole house. I even carried on working in it after dinner which is usually 'run to loo and back again' time. The children never spend time in their rooms and Finn couldn't believe it wasn't cold in there tonight. I don't know what it cost to have the heater on, but I think it might be worth it.

greatful for:

Megs thoroughness - it is like a breath of fresh air. I feel cleansed.

Oil fired heater.

Megs friend who brought a late/early birthday present of a calendar with photos of all her friends on it.

Spooks colleague and friend, Pete, has squeezed some more months of work out of the company. Apart from the security to Pete, Spook was really going to miss him.