Winter and a sleepover

By jove it’s been cold. You remember all that bad weather I talked about, well it’s been causing havoc everywhere around NZ from about 100km south of us and down. 100’s of homes in the Canterbury region (half way down the South Island on the east side) are still without power, FOURTEEN DAYS after the snow. Now in rural areas that means now water in many cases as our water comes from a bore that relies on a water pump. Generators are in huge demand. You can remove the grill top off the log burners and expose a hot plate on which you can cook but it is incredibly slow, and gas is not a common fuel for cooking or heat in NZ, well not in the rural areas, not sure about town. The central North Island has been intermittently cut off over the last few days as the cold front has moved up, depositing snow all over the place. We even had a flurry on the top of the Kaimais here this week. The wind is bitter cold and everyone is talking about the coldest winter since 1945. Having said all that, we don’t think it’s too bad but then we’re hardy Brits used to far worse than this!!! The wind has kept the frosts away though, well until today that is. I spent last weekend clearing up after a massive storm the previous Tuesday and if you saw the drive now you’d wonder why I bothered.

Eric borrowed this



from neighbour Derek last weekend. Needless to say he was as happy as a pig in mud. Our drive was in a terrible state and we couldn’t afford the $7 000 quoted for the repairs, so Eric used the grader blade on the tractor to try and address it. The worse section is the middle bit which is on a steep slope and has seriously big tree branches pushing up through it. The actually level of the drive is better but the little metal (gravel) that was on there has not gone and it is muddy. Add to that the tree debris and branches that have come down this last week and it looks a real mess. Next job is to clear the debris and get the local quarry to deliver and spread a few tons of metal.

We are holed up in the bedroom as Harriette has a sleepover. It’s terrible as it means we have to stay in bed on a really cold morning!!!! Yes I know, after 2004/5 we said never again but she is a bit older and had fewer friends this time – 4. It is not her birthday until the 3rd July but that is the start of the school hols and many dairy farming families take their annual holidays at this time of year as they have dried off (well not the farmers literally, the cows) prior to calving which starts late July/August. That is to say some of her friends won’t be around on her birthday. They started watching DVD’s at 6pm and were still at it at 6.45am!!! They had been quiet and had had no arguments and all assured me they had fallen asleep for at least part of the night but I nonetheless turned the DVD off at that point. I then came back to bed and thought that was a bit pointless/daft as there was no way they were now going to go back to sleep and with no DVD to keep them quiet they were bound to start being noisy. As it was they didn’t and they weren’t. I think they must have gone on the computer for awhile then Harriette barged into the bedroom with the grace of a small heffalump and asked where the waffle iron was as they were going to have waffles for breakfast. Couldn’t find it (I now thinks it may be in the cottage) and so they resorted to pancakes. Kitchen looks like a bombs hit it and the living room looks like an overcrowded dorm but I think they’ve had a good night. They have all got to start shifting soon as one girl is being picked up in 10 minutes (at 10am) and the rest have to get to netball. Daddy has just phoned to say they are coming down so I have arranged that they will pick the girls up. That means I can deposit children and come back without waiting around on freezing netball courts for 2 and half hours.

Alice had her school disco last night so as well as Harriette’s 4 friend coming home on the bus Alice bought Grace home so they could get ready together. I then picked them up and took Grace home. Her mom has kindly suggested that Alice go home with Grace after school on Wednesdays so they can go to Guides together. Saves us a trip into town which is great.

Two of our neighbours Highland cattle have had calves this week. They are in the paddock directly in view from the kitchen so we have watched them finding their feet and getting to know the 4 month old calf already there. There are just the 3 moms and 3 babies in that paddock. They are so comical and when I can face the cold I will wander over and take some pictures for you. Unfortunately the cows and their afterbirth smell must be very alluring to labs as we have caught Inca trying to sneak off over there.

Eric has started receiving back answers from the many letters he has sent to local law firms, one has suggested he come in for a ‘chat’ next week but most of the other have been ‘sorry no vacancies at the moment but we’ll keep you CV on file’ replies. Plodding on.

It looks like a beautiful day out there so I had better get up and rally the troops. Definitely a soup day so I think I’ll go and make some cream of pumpkin and put bread on for lunch. Thai curry tonight. I know it’s Saturday and it should be pizzas. We were going to have curry on Thursday but I had to go to Kawhia that day and I bought some flounder (plaice) off a local fisherman and so the beef didn’t get used. The guy had only just got in and was still working at his boat so the fish was a fresh as you could get. Friday already had “fush n chups” allocated so it’s curry tonight and an early to bed!! Off to see Juliet and Kev tomorrow, Kev is unemployed again so things are a bit grim up there. I was going end by saying keep warm but I guess you guys in the northern hemisphere don’t need to worry about that. Until next time…