A little Empathy.

I went to work for a very wee while, at Hawea Flat. This Alpaca was in the paddock in front of the house I was to clean. He had a couple of mates - a white one and a black one. But this was by far the cutest. I only cleaned for half an hour, when Mary turned up and told me the owner had changed her mind and we are to wait a while longer. So I got to go home and start packing, which is a huge relief to Meg. I took a big load to Wastebusters - all the things I bought there over the last year, with a few things slipping threw the net.

4 boys came home for tea. Meg did her last after-school work. Cathy told me that she is hoping we will all join them on their boat trip, if the weather warms up. With 18 days to go, it is going to be hard to fit it all in. I need to take Mary to the Cinema Paradiso to see Sunshine Cleaning. After swooning around Hayley and going on about Mcleods Daughters (an Aussie drama about cool chicks running an outback station), I said that no-0ne would ever make a drama about cleaners. Well, that appears not to be the case. So if there is a night out to be had for just Mary and I, this is it.

We went down to The Turners for a glass or two of Pinot Noir. There is a particular one called Fenton Road, and it is 'sweet as'. FAR too palatable. We had a wee memorial talk about the date, which has not arrived in the NOrthern Hemisphere yet. They were very close to the effects of what happened in 2001, and it is quite shocking to hear of some things first hand. I think it does mean something to them, that we remember exactly where we were and what our first reactions were. New Zealand seems a very long way from all of that. On saying that, I do seem to remember a report on the radio this morning, that there had been a bomb scare in Auckland and the transport system had ground to a halt. Steve thought this was quite funny, as Auckland doesn't really have a transport system.

I walked home with Finn and Thomas (Meg and Spook ran all the way home) and we watched the stars. I got a running comentary from the boys as that has been their project this term. We saw a few shooting stars. It is a warm evening.

grateful for:

several glasses of water. I need them to stop my head spinning.