8 days worth of blog

I know, it's been over a week since I blogged. Sorry. We are trying to adjust to Eric being at Uni, and working, and studying. The pattern of single parenthood is emerging. Roll on November. Yes I know, lots of people do, year in year out, what we are dealing with now ie not having enough time, one or both working 8am - 6pm, juggling childcare etc. It's called the rat race and it's part of the reason we left the UK. We are getting up at 6.30am and I do try and get the house sorted, supper organised etc. I also have to do the after school activity runs piano, guides, horse riding etc, AND I am supposed to work 40 hours a week. I am rapidly using up the time I am owed at the moment. I am going to be working at the weekends to catch up before long. I was hoping to have all of Monday in the office to catch up as I had been out the last 3 days of the previous week, but I got called into Hamilton and then I got a call from our local paper who were doing a story on a child who died from Meningococcal Disease and wanted to clarify the technical facts. She had got it all wrong so I went through to their office on my return from Hamilton and sorted that out. About a minute after I got back Bridget arrived. Bang went my 'office' day. Doesn't that sound ungrateful, sorry Bridget, I didn't mean that! It is always good to see you.

I had a very scary experience today. Close your eyes for the next bit if you are squeamish. I let the dogs out when I got in from my various talks today and wondered, 5 minutes later, why Inca didn't come back when called. I went out to the back paddocks, scanned the neighbours paddocks, went round the front, no Inca. Finally he came and I decided that something dead, or a good bone, had kept his attention somewhere. I sniffed his breath, smelt fine so he obviously wasn't eating something rotten somewhere. Anyway he instantly disappeared again. On investigating I just saw the top of his tail over the some huge logs under a tree way down in the dip of the back paddock. Deciding something must have died there I went down to find a lamb with half it's side missing. Unfortunately it was still alive, just. Where was Eric when I needed him? In Hamilton at Uni. I did that panicky run around on the spot thing (ie 'fire' mode) and tried to think how I could kill it. I decided that it had to be the rifle and went to text Eric for a lesson. He phoned me back and instructed me how to get into the gun cupboard and step by step how to load the rifle. 'Put in the magazine', 'What's a magazine look like, I only know paper ones with pages?' 'Is the bolt in?' 'What's a bolt?' You get the picture. Now anyone who knew me in the UK will know how anti guns I was, and the tensions when Eric bought home his fathers shotgun (I insisted the gun cabinet be in our, very difficult to access, attic). By the time I put the magazine anywhere near the rifle (the magazine has the bullets in it) I started shaking and telling Eric, 'I really don't like this'. Anyway, thinking only of this poor creature I trekked across the paddock to shoot it. I cannot tell you how relieved I was to find that it had already died. In fact I nearly dropped the rifle (I didn't Eric!). I immediately pulled out the magazine and felt a huge weight lift from my shoulders! I don't know why a rifle scares me so much more than a shotgun, I guess I am more familiar with the latter. Needless to say I left it to Eric to dump it down the offal hole! YUK. So this blew out my hour of office work today, I then had the horse riding run to do.

We have a Japanese student at the moment, Yuri. She is easy, language-wise as she spent 4 years in America, and has a good grasp of English. I doubt she can understand Alice (accent) or Harriette ('Kevin-like' teenage mumbling) though. She is quiet though and I am not sure if she is happy. Harriette and Alice's incessant arguing does nothing to help either. They are also getting up at 6.30am now and need earlier nights but we are not really managing that. Richard and Robyn also have a student who is very chatty and lovely. I am pleased as it is the first time they have had one. They all came for roast pork on Sunday. Another attempt at an early night, I said we would eat at 5pm. Well by the time we had all gone down to look at the piglets and waste time just gazing at them and got back to the house Pen, a colleague of mine turned up (expected) to pick up some equipment I had, and stayed for a coffee, it was about 8pm by the time we ate. Roast pork was followed by 2 pavlovas (Robyn and I had both done one), 3 ice creams, jelly, peanut butter tart and fruit salad!!!! Dining Cedar Lodge style!

Well not a lot else to report. Photo's as promised. As you can see, Ninja and his siblings, are thriving.