tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64149757849072571282024-03-14T19:22:34.982+13:00To withdraw myself from myselfJohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965300148218903639noreply@blogger.comBlogger252125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414975784907257128.post-5061382851859335292020-04-13T17:45:00.002+13:002020-04-13T17:45:53.267+13:00Blowing off the cobwebs...It has been a while... I certainly hadn't intended the blog hiatus to go for more than six years, but one thing led to another, and the longer I left it, the harder it became to start the engine going (a little bit of shame as well as feeling like I didn't have anything important to say).<br />
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Whilst we're under lockdown for Covid-19 seems to be as good a time as any to bring the blog back to life. We're still in New Zealand, and I'm very much of the opinion that we have ended up in the best location to see out the pandemic, in terms of leadership (who else has a Prime Minister who takes the time to <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/413598/easter-bunny-essential-worker-says-pm">reassure children that the Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny are essential workers</a>?), the early decisions that were taken (restricting and then closing borders as the scale started to become known), and then a very speedy move from beginning general restrictions to a more complete lockdown. We have had clear and calm messaging, and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/10/delivers-the-stats-like-no-other-new-zealands-covid-19-crush-on-health-chief">leaders who have stepped up and inspired trust</a>.<br />
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The approach seems to be working; whilst we do have our cases (19 new ones today), and, very sadly, our fatalities (a total of five have passed away so far), it feels like we will come out of this faster, with less human-cost impact, and with more resiliency than other countries. It doesn't mean that life will go back to 'normal' any time soon - it has been made clear that any restriction lifting will be gradual, so as not to undo all the good work that we have done. Our tourism industry, which normally contributes nearly 6% to GDP -(with supporting industries contributing a further 4%) has already taken a huge hit from the closing of borders and the complete halt of non-essential internal travel. We have our share of the increase of people losing their jobs. The knock on impact for service based businesses may well see a proportion shutting for good, even with wage subsidies.<br />
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I can also feel very lucky in the ability that I have to work from home, with very little loss of productivity. And I get to spend my days sitting at the dining room table, looking out over the fig tree and the grape vine, and watching the birds feasting on fruit, insects and seeds. There are certainly worse places to be in isolation...<br />
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Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965300148218903639noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414975784907257128.post-80424569932985954672014-02-06T18:16:00.001+13:002014-02-06T18:16:39.232+13:00Basil<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RAUUV-qK4Rs/UvMVztKCjpI/AAAAAAAAB4o/RZ528ZhFS1I/s1600/Basil+in+sunbeam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RAUUV-qK4Rs/UvMVztKCjpI/AAAAAAAAB4o/RZ528ZhFS1I/s320/Basil+in+sunbeam.jpg" /></a></div><br />
I'm writing this with a bundle of ginger purring away next to me on the sofa. Occasionally, he looks up at me and gently points out that I seem to have stopped stroking him... He's also very interested in the sound that the keys make on the laptop and will bat at the top of the machine.<br />
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After ten years of living together, John and I have finally got a cat; we knew we had to wait until after we got a house of our own, and then had various holidays, both back to the UK and with family and friends coming here, and with one thing and another, 2014 became the Year of the Cat.<br />
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We picked him up from our local <a href="http://www.animalrescue.org.nz/">animal rescue shelter</a>, after making quite a few trips to see the cats in their care. We'd already decided that we didn't want to have a kitten (it's less fair when we are out at work all day, and we didn't really want to go through all of the fuss of toilet training!), but didn't really have anything in mind by way of colour, breed or sex; all we knew was that we wanted to get a rescue cat, rather than buying one from a store.<br />
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Basil caught our attention from the first visit; he was in an isolation unit(multiple cages in a room, as opposed to cats being able to mingle together), because he hadn't yet had his vaccinations (there had been a delay because he had developed crystals in his bladder), and was very noisy about the fact that he was missing the company of people. There were a number of cats who caught our eye, but Basil won out (even after he caused us a lot of hassle by getting out of his cage, and straight under the other cages in the isolation area - we eventually got him out by making a fuss of another cat! He certainly likes to be the centre of attention...), and we took him home 10 days ago<br />
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It took him a few days to settle and get used to our routine (and he's still not overly happy about being shut out of the bedroom at night, and the fact that he's currently not allowed outside until he has the rest of his vaccinations), but he is an incredibly friendly and sociable cat. He's taken friends coming round, both for the evening and for a weekend visit, in his stride.<br />
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I'm just having to remember what it's like living with cat hair everywhere (i.e. don't kneel down to make a fuss of the cat when you are wearing your smart, black, work trousers...)!Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965300148218903639noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414975784907257128.post-13450143531686779752013-11-10T18:52:00.001+13:002013-11-10T18:52:10.523+13:00Busy...Yes, I know it has been far too long since I posted. Life has been very busy these last seven months, and something had to give. Unfortunately, in my case, it was my online life - I've also increasingly reduced down the amount of time I've spent on Facebook (down to the point that today I went on there in the first time in over two months, and realised that I'd missed nothing at all...) as well as not blogging.<br />
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I've moved job roles, still within the same organisation, but now for a completely different department. Not quite a promotion, but a sideways move within a career that I love, which is helping me get the experience I need to move further up the ladder. It's a great role, with fun people to work for and with, but it requires a lot more work (physical and mental) than my old one did. That, coupled with continuing work related exams (eight down now, another two before the end of November, and then only five after that before I'm completely finished), means that my ability to think coherently at the end of the day, or over a weekend, is dramatically reduced.<br />
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The garden is also taking up a lot of time - I've made great headway this year as I do bits and pieces every weekend. Spring has well and truly set in here down under, the vegetables have started growing (peas, beans, pumpkins, tomatoes, purple sprouting, potatoes, leeks and garlic are on the menu - though we shall see how successful they all are as the summer progresses!), I've planted a herb bed to give me more than parsley, thyme and oregano to play with (sage, rosemary, chamomile, verbena and chives are added to the list), and interspersed the herbs with sweet peas to give the trellis some colour over the summer. I've increased the number of fruit plants - as well as the feijoa, lemon, grapes, chilean guava, strawberry plants and fig (the feijoa, grapes and fig are a long term project - I'm not expecting to get anything from them for at least another three years), I've now got a redcurrant bush and a cherry tree, both of which will (depending on how much I can wrestle from the birds...) fruit this year. <br />
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And lest you think I've just been concentrating on edibles, I've also been having fun with the roses; the orange and pink one from the photo in the last post isn't ready to bloom yet (I think it is sulking from being rather heavily pruned over the winter), but the pink one has already given me a few flowers to take indoors, and we have a bright yellow one which has grown up through the decking (I gave up trying to pull it out, and have decided to keep it as long as it doesn't try to take over too badly!).<br />
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The orchestra season is coming to an end - we have one more concert in a couple of weeks, with a film and TV show theme. It's going to be great fun, particularly for me, as, barring a couple of pieces, it's not too exposed for the bassoon, meaning I can relax a bit more than I have been able to over recent concerts!<br />
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Hockey season has been and gone - we came fourth in the league, which was pretty much where we'd aimed for, and sets us up for a good season next year.<br />
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And shortly it will be Christmas, and then 2014 - not sure where the time has gone!Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965300148218903639noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414975784907257128.post-15785573707863798692013-03-16T15:37:00.002+13:002013-03-16T15:37:56.841+13:00Dry<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4VdGacYz9sU/UUPOLsAeLWI/AAAAAAAABJM/Aw67-Zp7s7s/s1600/cropped+rose+2+small.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4VdGacYz9sU/UUPOLsAeLWI/AAAAAAAABJM/Aw67-Zp7s7s/s320/cropped+rose+2+small.JPG" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eYv-8di3tc0/UUPOMOSewFI/AAAAAAAABJU/bXreND28SeE/s1600/cropped+rose+3+small.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eYv-8di3tc0/UUPOMOSewFI/AAAAAAAABJU/bXreND28SeE/s320/cropped+rose+3+small.JPG" /></a><br />
Roses from the garden<br />
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Yes, it's been nearly two months... It's been a busy time - prepping for our next orchestral concert, getting back into study (having passed my Level 4 foundation diploma in purchasing and supply, I'm now into the Level 5 study and exams), out twice a week with different sci-fi activities, and hockey has started again, so my writing has suffered a wee bit.<br />
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It is immensely surreal at the moment to imagine the UK in the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21735680">grip of snow</a>, with my father in law taking four hours to do a half hour journey, and my brother taking 12 hours to do a 2 hour journey (7 of those were stationary). Here, we have the opposite problem. Very little rain has fallen since January, and we are in the middle of <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8429468/Entire-North-Island-drought-declared">an officially declared drought</a>, a total fire ban, a total outdoor water ban, and could potentially see water rationing (still only a possibility, but enough for our local papers to do a <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8433056/Historic-water-rationing-looms-for-Wellington">scare story</a> on it...)<br />
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We're doing our bit - conserving water from the cooking pot so that I can put it on the veggies, and I'm looking at getting a rainwater butt installed so that we don't have the same problem this time next year. Sadly, though, it looks like I'll lose the last of my beans, and the silverbeet seedlings that have just started to take off - there's not enough of the grey water to go round, and I've spent too much time on my tomatoes to lose them now!<br />
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Fortunately, there is some rain forcast for this weekend, so I'm waiting with all of my pots and pans ready to catch as much as possible when it does come.<br />
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And, the silver lining is that with the total fire ban, we've been asked not to use motor mowers (for fear that sparks or the heat may catch the grass), so, what a shame, I can (for once) not feel guilty about my grass (and the dandelions) getting knee high...Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965300148218903639noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414975784907257128.post-91387076695283070632013-01-21T21:43:00.000+13:002013-01-21T21:43:33.985+13:00Golden harvestThe garden is still flourishing, and we are still enjoying the fruits of my labours (even if it sometimes feels that those labours were simply to put a seed into the ground and watch what grew...) <br />
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I panned for edible gold this weekend, digging into the second of my potato grow bags. Whilst there were only a few large potatoes (large here being defined as big enough to cut in half and still be visible in a roasting tin), there were enough middling sized ones to fill my collecting bowl, and we should get four meals out of them. There is something deeply satisfying in burrowing into soft soil (made nicer by the fact that, as they are in grow bags, I know that I'm not going to be digging down into an ants' nest, as I did when I grew potatoes on my allotment) and sifting out the glowing nuggets from the darkness. The largest of the potatoes made up part of our Sunday roast, along with peas, mangetout and the first of the runner beans. The flavouring on the chicken was also from the garden - my thyme bush which was on the verge of giving up the ghost a few weeks back has now bounced back into life.<br />
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The weather has been a bit topsy turvy over the last few weeks - torrential rain, followed by days of glorious sunshine and temperatures well into the twenties. My tomatoes are adoring this, and have exploded with fruit, to the extent that I've had to tie up outlying branches, as they have been tipping the pots over with their weight. It's also been nice for me - I've had a few days off from wandering round the garden with my watering can, and has the added bonus that I get nice surprises the next time I'm out when I see how much has grown in my absence.<br />
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Some of the surprises which greeted me this weekend have been the flowers which have sprung up. Mainly weeds, but a few deliberately planted as well - principally the sweet peas. They have been so plentiful that I have had a vase full constantly since Christmas, giving the room a subtle fragrance. Today, I was able to add to the vase: pink geraniums, purple lavendar, white Japanese anenomes and the stunningly orange crocosmia (I still can't really accept that a flower that beautiful is a <a href="http://www.nzflora.info/factsheet/Weed/Crocosmia_xcrocosmiiflora.html">weed</a>, and my heart breaks a little every time I pull up a stem complete with bulbs at the end. But, if I don't want it swamping every thing else in the garden, I have to control it somehow!)<br />
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Whilst the nights are drawing in, and we are sending the sun back over to the northern hemisphere, it is still Summer here, and my garden is giving me great pleasure.Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965300148218903639noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414975784907257128.post-31246844284621091532013-01-04T17:04:00.000+13:002013-01-04T17:04:13.748+13:00New Year2012 has passed by in a flash. When I look back, it amazes me how much we managed to fit in to what seemed to be such a short space of time.<br />
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Both family and friends have come to visit, and we have done some more exploring of our adopted country. <br />
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I've sat five professional exams, with good results from the three that I've received so far; the last lot will turn up at the beginning of Feb, and I then find out whether I've got the first professional qualification out of three. Work has had its ups and downs, but mainly ups, and I know that there are good things coming in the year ahead.<br />
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I've learnt a new instrument to a semi-decent standard; good enough to play Hall of the Mountain King, but I still have a long way to go to pick up the notes outside the central register. We had three concerts, two of them performed twice in different locations, plus Beethoven's 9th Symphony as a workshop, including choir.<br />
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I've played for the women's first team in hockey, though I don't know if I'll get asked again, as I certainly struggled over the whole season - I was improving by the end, but we narrowly missed relegation at the end of the season, as well as being relegated at the start. So, I won't complain if I'm playing for the seconds next year, but I won't say no if I get asked to play for the firsts again!<br />
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We've spent a lot of time with the different sci-fi groups, at least one, and quite often two evenings a week with friends from one or other. They've introduced me to films that I wouldn't ordinarily have watched, both old and new, some of which I've enjoyed, and some of which I haven't, but all worth it from an experience expanding basis. I've learnt a lot of new board games, all of which have been good fun; I've even won a couple over the last year! I've reviewed a good number of books for <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=sffanz+site%3Asffanz.org.nz%2Freviews%2Freviewdocs&q=Jo+Toon&sa=Go">SFFANZ</a>, again, most of which I've enjoyed, and a few I've had fun explaining exactly *why* I didn't like them!<br />
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We've had our first year in the new house, enjoying being homeowners - no need to ask when we need to put in a nail, no more flat inspections (now it's just the panic tidy and clean whenever we have friends over for an evening or to stay - which is happening more and more. I may have to do regular housework at this rate!). <br />
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I've spent very many hours in the garden, with varying success - the weed patches at the front don't look hugely different for the amount of time I spent pulling them up. I do vaguely justify letting the grass grow to seed on the basis that the sparrows and silvereyes enjoy eating it (and then they go and eat the caterpillars which are nomming their way through my potato leaves - obviously that which is poisonous to humans has no effect on insects!).<br />
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Though, when I do look at the changes that a few months have wrought, I can see that the work has had some effects (here come the photos!) - this was the front garden in February:<br />
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and this is it now:<br />
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with a close up of the roses, geraniums and lavender (and weeds. The problem with roses, particularly heavily scented, and therefore thorny ones, is that they discourage casual, walk past, weeding. Good quality, leather gloves, are needed to get at the area in and around the thorns with any measure of safety...)<br />
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This is the decking in Feb:<br />
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and this is it now... The green tubs contain the potatoes (nearly ready to be harvested) and the red ones should have contained my heritage tomatoes, but they have all died now. The basil in there is doing well, though - I made homemade pesto sauce for the pasta last night, with four different varieties of basil.<br />
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The grapes are liking their sunny wall, though I now have a book on fruit growing, and know that I need to redo the canes that they are up against - a bit of work once autumn comes. The fig tree persists at growing at an angle back into the bushes, no matter how hard I try to get it to bend back upright again. It is happy, though, and has put on 36 cm along its longest branch, 25 along the next (and this from a plant that didn't have any branches at all last year) - it has added an extra third to its height!<br />
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The tomatoes which have survived (those passed to me as ready grown seedlings by a friend) ended up on the grass - they were on the decking until some very high winds started to send them flying, and I was worried about losing the baby tomatoes that were growing on the plants.<br />
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The area that I am most proud of in terms of effort put in is along the back fence. In Feb, it was covered in a nasty weed called Bears Britches.<br />
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Now, it is home to my peas,which have been feeding us about once every three meals for a good month now, beans (which have just started to flower) and sweet peas (which have refused to use the bird netting or the bean poles to climb up, and which are instead using the feijoa...). I also spent a considerable amount of time clearing out eleven bags of weeds (mainly Wandering Willie) from around the compost bin and the kowhai tree, discovered the concrete that had already been laid down beneath it (which saved me a job and money - I was planning on putting down some form of tiling!), relocated the compost bin so that it is completely upright, and added a weedmat to try to keep the weeds down for a little while. I think I've gained about 20 sq foot of garden for the effort - now I just have to make sure that I keep it tidy...<br />
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The vege box is also being put to good use - here it is when I built it back in April:<br />
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Now I have three giant borage plants (mainly used for attracting the bees, but I have added a couple of the smaller leaves to salads), a whole host of spinach, five very happy asparagus plants (the fern like ones on the right of the picture - I'm not allowed to pick any this year or next, but in 2014, they should give us a meal or so every couple of days; and at $2 a bunch at the cheapest in the market, that will do me fine). There's also one lonesome salad pepper / capsicum plant, still cloched under a half coke bottle. The rest didn't make it, but I have silverbeet seeds ready to go where they stood, once I know that the final one is going to survive an onslaught of other plants!<br />
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My birdbath is still giving me great joy - only today, we had the birds queuing up to use it - first a blackbird, with a thrush waiting, then, when the thrush had a go, it was joined by a couple of sparrows, jostling for the best space (they managed to move the thrush over half way round the birdbath before they both got bored and flew away!)<br />
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All in all, 2012 has been a good year, and I am looking forward to seeing what 2013 will bring.Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965300148218903639noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414975784907257128.post-33786936633365219982012-12-25T21:54:00.001+13:002012-12-25T21:54:43.164+13:00Christmas thoughtsChristmas evening in the garden. The sun has dropped low enough that I don't fear burning. Around me, summer lives in all its glory. The family game of cricket in the distance, hearing the whoops as an uncle or father is caught and bowled. The birds sit and chirp in the rustling trees, tui, kakariki, sparrows and blackbirds, occasionally swooping overhead, flashes of black, brown, green and red filling the air. Our neighbours garden, running the hosepipe over the parched plants, and pruning back the roses. Smells waft over in the breeze; roses, sweet peas, tomato plants and the roast lamb in the oven. The wind is cooling on my skin after the heat of the day.<br />
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This is so different to the traditional northern hemisphere Christmas with its dark evenings, frosts and sharp air. Since moving, I have found a different feel to the festival; Christmas is no longer an anticipation of the Earth turning, coming out of the darknes and towards Spring, but a joyful celebration of life around us in all of its glory. It is a reminder that we should not spend all of our time planning and looking forward to the future, but, every so often, take the time to enjoy the here and now. <br />
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This is something that I, a pathological planner by nature, am inherently bad at doing. So, my New Year's resolution, made sitting with a glass of wine, and finding the moment, is at least once a day to enjoy the present. What sprang to mind which illustrates this the best are the two verses that I first heard on the Divine Comedy album Promenade: <br />
Happy the man and happy he alone,<br />
Who in all honesty can call today his own;<br />
He who has life and strength enough to say:<br />
“Yesterday’s dead and gone.<br />
I’m gonna live today.” <br />
(from Booklovers)<br />
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Happy the man, and happy he alone,<br />
he who can call today his own:<br />
he who, secure within, can say,<br />
"Tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today."<br />
(the end of the album, taken from Horace)<br />
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Now, if you'll excuse me, there is a glass of wine and a summer evening to enjoy.Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965300148218903639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414975784907257128.post-37634417459804702652012-12-16T11:06:00.002+13:002012-12-16T11:06:48.872+13:00Suddenly... food!Whilst I was busy, not only did Spring sprung, but Summer a came in (no cuckoos, but plenty of tui, blackbirds, silvereyes and thrushes...). Without a huge amount of effort on my part, the various seeds that I scattered have started to produce food. We've had a couple of meals of spinach, plus enough for me to have in my salad at work every day this last week. We've also had a couple of meals with mangetout in them, and a couple of good size handfuls of strawberries. nothing that would allow us to be self sufficient by a very long way, but incredibly satisfying none the less.<br />
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The tomatoes are flowering (though I am using the seedlings that a friend passed over - I only have one surviving heritage seedling left of each of the tomatoes and the capsicum/salad pepper - I wasn't able to get the good balance between too much water and too little. Better luck next year!), the potatoes are growing, and the beans seem to be springing upwards even as I watch. The blackbird loves the amount of weeding that I've been doing - as soon as I'm safely out of the way, he flutters down to see what insects I've overturned this time. He even helps by pecking out the little weed seedlings that I've missed in his haste to find even more bugs. Though he isn't always helpful - he has also eaten a good number of strawberries (bird netting and silver foil didn't deter him, though stringing up old cassette tape looks like it has done the trick), and appears to have attacked some of the potatoes in my planter (they are leaning sideways, with quite a good hole dug down the side of the planter; I don't think it is the neighbourhood cat...).<br />
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Our fruit plants, in the main, are doing well - the grape vines have doubled in height since I planted them (though I've now got a book on growing fruit, and realise that I need to do a heck of a lot of pruning with both them and the kiwi when autumn comes), the lemon tree is covered in blossom and baby lemons, and the chilean cranberry has a host of delicate pink flowers all over. Even the olive has joined in, with little white flowers and tiny fruit developing. The feijoa is stubbornly refusing to flower, though it, too, has put on a huge amount of growth since being planted in the soil. I'm hoping the fact that it is planted at the end of the bed that has the peas and beans will help it for next year (and in the meantime, we've been offered plenty from a friend when his tree, currently covered in flowers, fruits)<br />
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The flowery areas of the garden are also starting to show their colours; the roses have bloomed, and really loved being dead headed - as soon as I cut the dying blooms, they both put on an extra couple of inches all round, and doubled the number of flower buds! The pansies haven't stopped flowering since I put them in in the winter, the geraniums are just starting to show their pink buds, and, of course, the weeds are all coming out in hosts of different colours; pinks, purples and oranges. It makes it so much harder to pull them up when they are all pretty!<br />
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I'm very much looking forward to the Christmas break - it will give me two weeks to relax, and really get into some of the weedier corners of the garden (of particular interest is the point where the compost bin currently is - the weeds have sprung up around it so much that the bin is actually on a tilt from where it is being pushed over!). And maybe even just the chance to sit outside on the lawn and enjoy the fruits of my labours...Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965300148218903639noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414975784907257128.post-79180767742298744662012-11-10T09:01:00.003+13:002012-11-10T09:01:46.106+13:00Just Resting...I know it's been two months - life has been spinning out busy. I have two exams next week (if I pass those, then I have the first qualification sewn up), two orchestral concerts - the same programme (including Hall of the Mountain King - just a little bit nerve wracking to have an opening solo in one of the most well known classical music pieces!), work is even more full on than ever (if that is even possible), the garden is calling out for attention (I am that lawn owner that everyone else looks at and tuts about - most of the other houses in the drive have lawns where the grass does not get above an inch long - mine is knee high at the moment and housing small tribes... I do have another garden post planned - whether it ever sees the light of day, I don't know) and I have a reading pile that is threatening to topple, including one review book which has been guilt-calling me for a month (no non-exam serious reading allowed until the end of next week...). And breathe...<br />
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I do *think* about this blog a lot, though - I am constantly composing posts in my head - I just need someone to come up with a way of extracting that whilst I'm on the move without me actually having to type it out!<br />
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On a small side note - sorry, WWW, but I'm going to have to put the Captcha back on - I'm getting over 100 spam comments a day. Whilst Blogger does dump them before they hit the live posts, I get emails for each one. I don't want to block anonymous posting (as I have friends who don't have blogger accounts), but I do need to do something!Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965300148218903639noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414975784907257128.post-91767620218878762642012-09-02T23:31:00.000+13:002012-09-02T23:31:28.947+13:00Where do you come from?We had some friends to stay for a week recently; it's the first time we've seen them for three years, and it was wonderful to be able to show off the country we've adopted, both locally, and also on a road trip up the country to Rotorua. Whilst the weather wasn't as sunny as I'd hoped (it's always nice to see the country in the sun and under blue skies), but we weren't washed out as badly as it could have been given that we are coming out of winter.<br />
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We took our friends to see the various tourist attractions, both natural (including getting within a few paces of seals at the Red Rocks colony, who hadn't read the signs saying that seals and humans had to be 20m apart, and insisted on sleeping across the path!), free (we love going round Te Papa - there is something new every time we go; this time, there was an exhibition on Maori cloaks which was fascinating), and paid (both a Maori cultural evening, and <a href="http://www.waiotapu.co.nz/">Wai O Tapu</a>, which we went round when my parents were here, and was equally good for a second viewing).<br />
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A question which gets asked a lot when going round tourist attractions (as well as by people who hear our accents) is "Where do you come from?", and this is a question which has recently given me a lot of pause for thought. Whilst I'm very happy to say that I come from England originally, I now find that I have to qualify it by saying that I live in New Zealand (or near Wellington, or Upper Hutt, depending on who is asking and how well they know the region).<br />
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The question was compounded when I was asked to fill out a survey on behalf of a PhD student investigating the way that immigrants settle into New Zealand, particularly (gauging from the questions) looking at the way that culture and values affect how easily people settle and integrate. I feel very lucky in that we've not had to learn a new language to come here, and there has not been a huge culture shift in terms of values or behaviours, but the survey did give me a lot to think about in terms of where my "home" identity lies.<br />
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Settling in hasn't really been a huge problem for us (see most of the rest of the blog for examples...), but it does mean that I feel a certain tearing of loyalties when asked where I come from. This particularly came to the front during the Olympics, when the NZ women's hockey team, the Black Sticks were in the Bronze medal playoff against the UK. I wasn't able to watch the match (nasty timezone difference!), but if I had, the question of who to cheer for would not have been an easy one to answer. In the end, the match wasn't particularly a good one, compared to how well the Black Sticks had played for the rest of the tournament, and England won deservedly, but I found that I was disappointed that the Black Sticks didn't get their medal after doing so well against the best in the world in previous matches. England is where I come from originally, but New Zealand is where I come from now.<br />
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The word "home" also has similar conflicts; does it mean the house we have bought, where we are paying our mortgage, and where I'm enjoying pottering in the garden (my back is not speaking to me today...), or does it mean where my family and UK friends live? It depends on context, but it raises mixed pictures and emotions when the word gets mentioned.<br />
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I suspect that the conflicting loyalties around home and where I come from will remain for a long while to come; the longer we are here and the more we settle, the easier it becomes to say that New Zealand is home, but I think also the larger the emotional split will become when I think about everyone and everything we have left behind.<br />
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Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965300148218903639noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414975784907257128.post-88611595215511199712012-08-13T13:55:00.000+13:002012-08-13T13:55:28.359+13:00The inevitability of natureThere have been a few reminders over the last couple of weeks of the face of nature, and how, despite all of man's technological power, nature will win out in the end.<br />
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New Zealand has had not one, but three volcanic eruptions. The first was <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/science/7425606/Visitors-warned-off-erupting-volcano">White Island</a>, a highly active volcano off of the coast of Whakatane<br />
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Then <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/science/7453567/Magma-bubbles-higher-in-Mt-Tongariro">Mount Tongariro</a>, which hasn't erupted since 1897, in the middle of the North Island<br />
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And then a 25,000 raft of pumice was discovered by the navy off of the coast, leading them to suspect that <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/science/7455060/25-000-sq-km-sea-of-pumice-floats-off-New-Zealand">Mount Monowai</a>, an underwater volcano between New Zealand and Fiji had erupted.<br />
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All maps courtesy of Google.<br />
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<a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/7466073/Widespread-flooding-in-Christchurch"><br />
Christchurch</a>, still recovering from the earthquake, has now been hit by flooding caused by a lot of heavy rain on already sodden ground.<br />
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Man can try to shape the earth as much as he pleases, to try to bind the world to his will, but inevitably, we are brushed aside by the natural forces which control us all.<br />
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In the garden, Spring is arriving, and we have snowdrops.<br />
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<br />Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965300148218903639noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414975784907257128.post-79374373670716669222012-08-01T22:34:00.001+13:002012-08-01T22:34:52.222+13:00Whoops!I hadn't realised that it had been a month since I last posted - apologies! Life has, as always, been very busy. I sat the second and third exams for my professional qualification on the same day (I don't recommend taking six hours of exam in one day - my brain was absolutely fried the next day!), and have now had the results from the exam I sat in May (I passed, so am 20% of the way to the overall qualification).<br />
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Hockey has had ups and downs - we're sitting at fifth in the table, so have to work hard to make sure we are in the top four by the end of the season.<br />
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Otherwise life continues apace; we have friends coming to stay in mid August, so I'm hoping that the winter weather has started to warm by then, as it has been a tad chilly over the last few weeks; we've had some glorious days, followed by frost, and we're feeling the lack of insulation in our house. We have definite plans for double glazing for next year!<br />Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965300148218903639noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414975784907257128.post-59461155133049976112012-07-01T21:49:00.002+13:002012-07-01T21:49:51.097+13:00Another busy week...Wow - I'm not sure where this week, and indeed this month has gone. How have we gotten to be over half way through the year?<br />
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It's been manic at work - end of financial year and a drastically reduced team has meant that I've been running very hard just to stand still. Hopefully things will be a little calmer this week coming.<br />
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We've started rehearsals for the annual <a href="http://www.hvo.org.nz/next_workshop.html">orchestra workshop</a> - Beethoven's 9th. I am really excited by this - not only because it's a piece that I adore, but because we get to be tutored by members of the NZ symphony orchestra - I'm looking forward to getting some expert advice on the bassoon.<br />
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Hockey has been a little better this week - I've played twice, once for the firsts (a 2 all draw) and once for the seconds (a 2-0 win). I'm feeling just a little bit sore now, though - my back didn't appreciate me throwing myself onto the turf quite so much!<br />
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I had a go at the garden last weekend - took out the bears breeches<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-idEoGtdr3gg/T0my4mF7XTI/AAAAAAAABBA/gfvXPlX_t2Q/s400/SAM_1484.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-idEoGtdr3gg/T0my4mF7XTI/AAAAAAAABBA/gfvXPlX_t2Q/s400/SAM_1484.JPG" /></a></div>to make way for my peas and beans in the spring; I wanted to sow in some mustard seed as green manure. I think I've won the first battle, but there's a long way before the war is won - the roots that were coming out were at times as wide as my wrist! There's already another bears breeches plant coming through, but it was too wet this weekend (both on and off the hockey pitch) to get back out and have another go. We shall see how this fight goes...Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965300148218903639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414975784907257128.post-17161185322344041542012-06-24T19:47:00.000+13:002012-06-24T19:47:00.824+13:00A Geek goes Poing!Well, I was intending this week's post to either be about the NatCon of the beginning of the month, or <a href="http://www.matarikievents.co.nz/">Matariki</a>, the Maori New Year, which has just happened.<br />
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However, last night, we went to see Sir Ian McKellan doing a one man show. He is doing a whole series of them around New Zealand to raise money for the <a href="http://www.isaactheatreroyal.co.nz/">Isaac Royal Theatre</a> in Christchurch, which was badly damaged in the earthquakes and aftershocks, and needs a lot of restoration to return it to its former glory. Whilst the vital repairs are covered by the theatre's insurance, they are reliant on fundraising for the remainder. So, when we heard that Sir I. was doing a one man show in Wellington, and particularly for such a good cause, I didn't even have to stop to think before buying the tickets.<br />
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So, we rocked up to the Opera House on a very blustery night (the car door was whipped out of my hand when I got out - fortunately, there were no traffic for it to hit!), and took our seats about 20 minutes early. As the auditorium started to fill up, we were looking round for friends that we knew were going to be there, and I was keeping an eye out for anyone else I know - the joy of being so socially and work-active in Wellington means that I do have a tendency to bump into friend or colleagues in the most unlikely of places. A couple of gentlemen a few seats in front of us caught my eye - I was fairly certain that I knew them, but just couldn't put my finger on it. Until Martin Freeman walked up in a long brown coat and flat cap and greeted them. Then I realised that they were two other members of the Hobbit cast. The geek inside of me started to bounce a little bit - I'm not in Wellington enough to have been able to do much cast-spotting, so was a little excited that a few of them had decided to come and support their colleague in his show.<br />
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Then Sir Peter Jackson took his seat. And Billy Connolly. And James Nesbit. And Aiden Turner (who sat two rows in front of us). By this point, we realised that most of the Hobbit cast still remaining in Wellington were sitting only a few rows away, and my inner geek was trying very hard not to start going "squee" out loud!<br />
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The show started with Sir I. doing a (from memory) reading of the Balrog scene from Lord of the Rings, complete with Glamdring (Gandalf's sword). It was a fantastic opening, and the evening just got better. He invited questions from the audience, leading to reminiscences which ranged from how he felt about someone else playing Magneto, to appearing on Ricky Gervais' "Extras", taking in how and why he came out as being gay at the age of 49, and what happened when he went to Buckingham Palace for his knightood. The first half ended with him performing a pair of Gerard Manley Hopkins poems, The Leaden Echo and The Golden Echo.<br />
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GMH is a poet that I had to study at school, and absolutely hated him when I had to read his work, but have grown to admire more now that exam results do not depend upon me being able to rip the words apart! Sir I. was able to show the richness of the work with the multiple layers of meaning and the musicality of the rhythm and repeating words far better than I was ever able to appreciate at school.<br />
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The second half of the show was all about Shakespeare. Between the audience, we were able to name all of Shakespeare's plays, and Sir I. spoke on about half of them, including reminiscences of when he was in them, and also performing roles for us, including both Romeo and Juliet, Richard II, Hamlet and Sir Thomas More (not one of Shakespeare's official plays, but one which Shakespeare helped to write).<br />
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Finally, he invited the members of the Hobbit cast who were in the audience to come up on stage and collect buckets for more Theatre donations, and audience members to come up and join them all for a bit of staging of live Shakespeare (the "Dead French Soldiers" bit from Henry V)<br />
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We ended up the evening joining the queue/crowd to get Sir I's. autograph and a photo taken with him (for an additional donation, of course) - we didn't stay around to meet the Hobbit cast as a number of other friends who were in the audience did, as it was already late, and the crowd was getting a bit much for me. But most definitely a poingtastic evening - I love living in Wellington!Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965300148218903639noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414975784907257128.post-35375192390035147592012-06-01T01:20:00.001+13:002012-06-01T01:20:17.724+13:00I know, I know...It has pretty much been a month since I last posted. A month which has been full of incident, mainly work based (and therefore not bloggable about...); suffice it to say that I've been flat tack, and have also sat my first professional exam - the first module out of five which will get my Level 4 of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply. Level 7 will get me my MCIPS which will allow me letters after my name (besides my BA, which I don't really use...) - it's going to be a long road, but will be well worth it in the end. At least, that's what I'm going to keep on telling myself as I trudge through the text books and practice papers! Two more exams in July and two in November will see me through (as long as I pass them all, that is...).<br />
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The garden is looking a little bit shabby as winter is setting in, and I have less time to potter during daylight hours (leaving for work and returning in the dark means far less weeding time...), though there are still a few blooms on the rosebush, and the birds are loving our berry filled bushes. We have a large collection of silver-eyes and thrushes who are eating their fill every time I look out of the window; I love having a garden which attracts so many birds! We've had our first significant frosts of the season (bye-bye dahlias...), as well as the first significant (an hour and a half) train delay because the tracks, overhead power lines and train were frozen. Must not grumble that winter happens every year, because by all accounts, even for where we are living now (which is in a cooler area than our rented place), this is pretty cold. The vege box now has a good growing of mustard, which I'll dig in when it gets tall enough (the books all say 50cm, so it has a way to go as yet); I've already started planning what I'm going to put in there (it slightly changes every time I see another cookery show!), and am really looking forward to getting going in the Spring.<br />
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The orchestra is nearly at its next concert, <a href="http://www.hvo.org.nz/nextconcert.html">On Wings of Song</a>, whilst we are still listening to the recordings of the last! We're performing with a choir called <a href="http://cantala.co.nz/">Cantala</a>, who are also led by our conductor - they are a school choir who have won awards in the national school choir competition (The Big Sing), and who are also competing in a competition in Vienna; as part of their European Tour, they are also performing at St Pauls Cathedral and Notre Dame, so anyone in the vicinity, please do go and support them - they are really very good. I am still enjoying playing the bassoon - the pieces we are playing this concert (main ones for the orchestra are Finlandia and Rossini's Boutique Fantasque) really let me get at the bottom notes, which weren't really used in the last one, and there is something really satisfying about hitting a really deep bass note - it really seems to connect the body to the instrument in a way that you don't get with the high ones...<br />
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I've been a bit quiet on blogging about hockey this season - we haven't been doing very well! We've gone down a grade, and also lost our first match of the lower grade (though I feel I played a lot better than I did in the higher one, and we only lost by one goal, rather than by 7...). We have to fight our way back up into the higher grade, but I think that we can do it as we all get together better as a team; we have been hindered slightly by the fact that so many of us have come up from the seconds to play in the firsts - the different team dynamics have made more of a difference than I think people had realised.<br />
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We're off up to Auckland this weekend for <a href="http://unconventional2012.wordpress.com/">Unconventional</a>, the national science fiction convention. I'm very excited, because the guest of honour is Trudy Canavan, a writer I very much admire, and she is running a writer's workshop. I might have happened to be first in the queue when that one got announced! Full report will (possibly!) be posted after the weekend.Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965300148218903639noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414975784907257128.post-78111902256457046072012-05-06T22:06:00.001+13:002012-05-06T22:06:18.334+13:00Concert<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d3cbq2GcP2k/T6Yz6eRjb0I/AAAAAAAABDo/iPVX15ijYKw/s1600/Basoon.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d3cbq2GcP2k/T6Yz6eRjb0I/AAAAAAAABDo/iPVX15ijYKw/s400/Basoon.JPG" /></a></div><br />
This picture was sent to me by our conductor - sadly, I can't find it online to give the photographer credit, but it's a great shot. Definitely not how I feel about playing my new instrument!<br />
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We had our double performance of Rachmaninoff's third piano concerto and Cavalleria Rusticana over this weekend, playing to a sell out theatre in Upper Hutt, and having to put out more chairs in the school hall in Lower Hutt. We were helped considerably in this by the large amount of publicity we got; not only did we get in both our local papers, but the Wellington based national paper, the Dominion Post, gave us a plug, and Melanie Lina, the piano soloist gave such a good interview on Upbeat (link <a href="http://www.radionz.co.nz/concert/programmes/upbeat/20120430">here</a>) that she was picked to be on the Best of Upbeat (three interviews chosen out of the fifteen done over the course of the week), so we got a double plug, including the Saturday morning.<br />
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It was such fun to do - there were obviously bits which we could have done better (I don't think I've ever done a concert where I've been 100% happy with my performance), but overall, the audience was happy, and we enjoyed ourselves. Which really is the main thing! I don't know how our conductor managed to hold his arms up for the whole thing (40 minutes for the concert, then just over an hour for the Opera)...<br />
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The bassoon went really well - I didn't fluff too many of my solos, came in (most of the time) in the right place, and am still really enjoying playing it. I just feel so lucky to have been given this chance of trying something new, and that everyone had confidence in me to let me go with it. On to the next concert - in just over a month, we are doing a dual concert with our conductor's award winning school choir, <a href="http://cantala.co.nz/about/">Cantala,</a> who are about to head on their European Tour. <br />
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In other news, holy cow, it's May! I'm still not sure where the year has gone. The hockey season is well underway - we're just finishing up the pre-season round robins before the league proper starts. We've not done fantastically - as of last week, had lost two and won one - I'm still waiting to hear how the team did today (as I was playing bassoon at push back...). But, we are a new team, with half of us coming up from the seconds into the firsts, and we are still learning how we all play together, and where people will be at any point in the game. It will be interesting to see how the season progresses.<br />
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I've not had much of a chance to get out into the garden over the last few weeks - bassoon, hockey, sci-fi and work (including studying for work related qualifications) have rather taken over... However, we had a day off at the end of April (Anzac Day; the NZ equivalent of Remembrance Sunday), and I got to sit and watch the bird table (part of the house warming present from John's family). One of the blackbirds was having great fun...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HEmhYutUKHM/T6Y-ez-QOSI/AAAAAAAABD4/ExSuNgHXQsQ/s1600/SAM_1531.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HEmhYutUKHM/T6Y-ez-QOSI/AAAAAAAABD4/ExSuNgHXQsQ/s400/SAM_1531.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gr38b1O_Kg8/T6Y-fPjTdUI/AAAAAAAABEE/QSXl5rqMh6I/s1600/SAM_1532.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gr38b1O_Kg8/T6Y-fPjTdUI/AAAAAAAABEE/QSXl5rqMh6I/s400/SAM_1532.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YRBtnZFUw5Y/T6Y-fZBwF_I/AAAAAAAABEQ/QbCv2jPJO9w/s1600/SAM_1533.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YRBtnZFUw5Y/T6Y-fZBwF_I/AAAAAAAABEQ/QbCv2jPJO9w/s400/SAM_1533.JPG" /></a></div>(This would explain why I keep on having to refill the bath!) <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ijlrEXzmOo0/T6Y-fvemNcI/AAAAAAAABEc/XgcKf-lMmoo/s1600/SAM_1534.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ijlrEXzmOo0/T6Y-fvemNcI/AAAAAAAABEc/XgcKf-lMmoo/s400/SAM_1534.JPG" /></a></div>(The poor silver-eyes didn't get a look-in!)Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965300148218903639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414975784907257128.post-78534783918754667102012-04-09T22:43:00.009+13:002012-04-09T23:50:30.584+13:00Easter Weekend DIYWe've had fun this Easter weekend - we had a couple of house projects planned for the extra days off. Slightly stymied by the fact that in NZ, trading laws mean that shops (barring supermarkets, corner shops and pharmacies) are not allowed to open on a Good Friday. A fact that we didn't know before we set out looking for an open DIY store! Fortunately, our local DIY place was open on Saturday and Sunday ready for us to spend our hard earned cash...<br /><br />Our first project was building a vege patch for me. I wasn't planning to do this before Spring, but having started reading a gardening blog on <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/blogs/woman-v-wild">Stuff</a>, where the author suggested that I get it in before Winter started and planted a green manure crop to dig in for Spring, I decided to stop procrastinating and get on with it.<br /><br />So, starting from the back garden:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-66yXIpisVB8/T0myIqebH5I/AAAAAAAAA-o/z7SfyzQhEBU/s1600/SAM_1465.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-66yXIpisVB8/T0myIqebH5I/AAAAAAAAA-o/z7SfyzQhEBU/s400/SAM_1465.JPG" /></a></div><br /><br />I dug out four by six foot from the grass and broke up the clods:<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qvC7Y_f8TeM/T4KzwF68diI/AAAAAAAABBg/p4md7lAMc_o/s1600/Vege%2BBox%2B1.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qvC7Y_f8TeM/T4KzwF68diI/AAAAAAAABBg/p4md7lAMc_o/s400/Vege%2BBox%2B1.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729339314773194274" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uRClrZn-8sg/T4KzwcGwGdI/AAAAAAAABBo/eDvbGG-zd4I/s1600/Vege%2BBox%2B2.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uRClrZn-8sg/T4KzwcGwGdI/AAAAAAAABBo/eDvbGG-zd4I/s400/Vege%2BBox%2B2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729339320728295890" /></a><br /><br />We spent a bit of time in the timber section of our DIY store with a very friendly man who helped us pick the right types of boards and cut them for us. The boards were ready cut so that they would slot together meaning that we only needed to nail the corners, and didn't have to spend time balancing (and dropping) the boards on top of each other.<br /><br />Once the box was put together, I started filling it; beginning with a layer of cardboard and newspaper to try to keep the weeds down as much as possible. Then I added a layer of dead leaves (the magnolia and oak trees have to be good for something!), some compost from the bin (less than I'd hoped - I only managed to get a couple of forkfuls of properly composted food. But at least I took the opportunity to turn the compost over), some grass cuttings (yay - I mowed the lawn, too...), and finally a couple of bags of shop bought compost (plus three more after this photo was taken)<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-70BMJp1B8ck/T4K3WSJtIJI/AAAAAAAABB4/NsOx8jfeWng/s1600/Vege%2BBox%2B3.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-70BMJp1B8ck/T4K3WSJtIJI/AAAAAAAABB4/NsOx8jfeWng/s400/Vege%2BBox%2B3.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729343269426241682" /></a><br /><br />I also had a lovely surprise whilst I was digging - I was listening to a very happy bird singing away above my head, thinking it was our Tui, when I looked up and saw that it was a Bellbird - fantastic to have (at least) one of those in the vicinity, too. <br /><br />Meanwhile, we were also busy inside. One of the rooms in the house was a very bright green, both walls and ceilings:<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Xn1rTjZSIHU/T4K3ocrR6eI/AAAAAAAABCE/eAau_-rnzxg/s1600/Room%2B1%2B-%2BBefore.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Xn1rTjZSIHU/T4K3ocrR6eI/AAAAAAAABCE/eAau_-rnzxg/s400/Room%2B1%2B-%2BBefore.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729343581489064418" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L6k9bSdQjO8/T4K3pnC8D_I/AAAAAAAABCQ/DEMf2BEJf1I/s1600/Room%2B2%2B-%2BEnvelope.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L6k9bSdQjO8/T4K3pnC8D_I/AAAAAAAABCQ/DEMf2BEJf1I/s400/Room%2B2%2B-%2BEnvelope.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729343601452519410" /></a><br />(White envelope to show the true colour - the camera was having fun with the block colours)<br /><br />We played around with various tester colours, and picked a just off-white for the ceiling and an ice-blue for the walls (we weren't sure whether the green would show through so wanted to pick something that would at the very least tone down the green). The long weekend helped us here - we had enough time to paint the two coats each on the ceiling and the walls with gaps between for shopping, building the vege box and visiting a friend.<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MoWLmzm4KS8/T4K6u6QX0yI/AAAAAAAABCc/2wK85XnX3Vk/s1600/Room%2B3%2B-%2BCeiling.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MoWLmzm4KS8/T4K6u6QX0yI/AAAAAAAABCc/2wK85XnX3Vk/s400/Room%2B3%2B-%2BCeiling.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729346991043367714" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--G0Za9fvP3U/T4K6vPJWfWI/AAAAAAAABCk/TcM-_dmXIdw/s1600/Room%2B5%2BWalls%2Bone%2Bcoat.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--G0Za9fvP3U/T4K6vPJWfWI/AAAAAAAABCk/TcM-_dmXIdw/s400/Room%2B5%2BWalls%2Bone%2Bcoat.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729346996651064674" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--h4VnsDYxBg/T4K6vXR3bdI/AAAAAAAABCw/7aTX0heSuMI/s1600/Room%2B6%2B-%2BWalls%2Bdone.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--h4VnsDYxBg/T4K6vXR3bdI/AAAAAAAABCw/7aTX0heSuMI/s400/Room%2B6%2B-%2BWalls%2Bdone.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729346998834261458" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QaDh_q0Ld7w/T4K6vvUiy2I/AAAAAAAABDA/xPUpgSJQmr4/s1600/Room%2B7%2B-%2BEnvelope.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QaDh_q0Ld7w/T4K6vvUiy2I/AAAAAAAABDA/xPUpgSJQmr4/s400/Room%2B7%2B-%2BEnvelope.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729347005287943010" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wesr9VLIZLI/T4K6v5RH-6I/AAAAAAAABDM/q6D_Vh77VB4/s1600/Room%2B8%2B-%2Bfinished.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wesr9VLIZLI/T4K6v5RH-6I/AAAAAAAABDM/q6D_Vh77VB4/s400/Room%2B8%2B-%2Bfinished.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729347007957957538" /></a><br /><br />We're very pleased with the final results - for our first go at decorating, it went really smoothly (only one minor panic where a spot of paint missed the protective plastic - fortunately, the paint rag was handy and it didn't stain. Next time, we're buying a larger dust sheet - we just couldn't find one this time...) We kept the top border in green to slightly tone down the coolness of the blue, and the dark blue curtains (which I took the opportunity to wash whilst they were down...) really help to set it all off.<br /><br />Added to the DIY, I also cooked a roast chicken and a quiche - definitely feeling the domestic goddess!<br /><br />One more flower for the gardening aficionados to identify - this was a dead root up until a couple of weeks ago - I've not the foggiest what it is!<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7iMAtsmMs00/T4K8wfpGXWI/AAAAAAAABDY/JwBnAK6tg5M/s1600/Unknown%2BFlower.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7iMAtsmMs00/T4K8wfpGXWI/AAAAAAAABDY/JwBnAK6tg5M/s400/Unknown%2BFlower.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729349217282317666" /></a>Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965300148218903639noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414975784907257128.post-2010215794029490382012-04-01T18:57:00.002+13:002012-04-01T19:29:26.595+13:00Indian SummerIt has been a gorgous March - we may have had a bit of rain during some of the weeks (not so much of a bother when one is stuck in the office), but the weekends have been stunning. Blue skies, slight breeze and warm sun have meant that I've spent a lot of time outside in the garden, mainly making sure I keep on top of the weeds, who have also enjoyed the autumn weather (four bucket loads into the compost today...)<br /><br />I've also been busy with the publicity for the next <a href="http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/2012/opera-concerto/lower-hutt">orchestra concert</a> (5th and 6th May - Upper Hutt on the 5th and Lower Hutt on the 6th). It's a big concert, so we need to get a big audience! We've now had a run through with the pianist, which was stunning - it helped so much to understand what is going on whilst I'm bumbling away in the bass register!<br /><br />Hockey season has already started - I'm now in the first team (along with six others from the seconds), which is a little bit nerve wracking, but we won our first friendly match as a team this week. We'll see how the season goes...Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965300148218903639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414975784907257128.post-45299436073236609072012-02-26T18:16:00.002+13:002012-04-01T19:12:00.410+13:00Garden...Yes, I know it has been over a month since I last posted; life has been incredibly busy, and (work-wise), just a little bit stressful (two major projects with drop-deadlines in the same week, on top of my day job...). I've not been sitting down at the computer so much on a general basis, as evenings where we don't have our usual social activities have been spent playing with my new toy. <br /><br />Just before Christmas, the orchestra acquired a bassoon, and spent a month or so using contacts to try to find someone who could play the instrument, didn't have one of their own, and, far more importantly, wanted to come along on a Monday evening and play for us. Unfortunately, there was no-one in the neighbourhood who wanted to join, even with the lure of a bassoon, and so I volunteered. There were slightly selfish reasons on my part; I am one of four oboes in the orchestra, one of whom is ex-professional, so the chances of having anything 'stand-out' in the near future are slim (and, to be honest, the tone that our lead oboe gets from his instrument is just stunning, and there would be no reason for him *not* to have the solos); four oboes is a huge amount for the size of our orchestra anyway (we are not a quiet instrument at the best of times, and four of us does tend to rather unbalance the woodwind section); and, when I was 11 and choosing my instrument, I had originally wanted to play the bassoon, but circumstances meant that I ended up with the oboe instead. Not that I am unhappy about my choice, far from it, but the chance to have a go at the instrument I'd always wanted to play was too much to pass up! So, I have been putting in long hours learning a new set of fingering (fortunately, I can already read bass clef), ready to play Rachmaninov's third piano concerto and a concert version of Cavalleria Rusticana. So - hopefully, I've not bitten off more than I can chew; I've got till May to get it right!<br /><br />I've also had to spend (oh, the pressure!) a lot of time pottering in the garden. Summer is definitely on its way out now; the days are getting shorter, and the temperature is starting to noticeably drop. But the garden has thrown up a lot of surprises; every time I've gone outside, there seems to be a new set of flowers there, and I'm being very careful not to dig up very much until I know exactly what is already planted (whether deliberate or not). But I am starting to get a picture now of how I'd like the finished garden to look; it's going to take quite a few years to get to that position.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">EDIT - Thank you to everyone who has emailed me or posted with answers to the anonymous flowers below - I have updated to show the identified ones :-)</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-66yXIpisVB8/T0myIqebH5I/AAAAAAAAA-o/z7SfyzQhEBU/s1600/SAM_1465.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-66yXIpisVB8/T0myIqebH5I/AAAAAAAAA-o/z7SfyzQhEBU/s400/SAM_1465.JPG" /></a></div>This is the back of the house; there are trees along the back fence, including a magnolia, what I am assured is a young <a href="http://www.doc.govt.nz/conservation/native-plants/kauri/">kauri</a> and a <a href="http://www.doc.govt.nz/conservation/native-plants/kowhai/">kowhai</a>. I am really looking forward to seeing the kowhai in Spring; our neighbour over the fence has said that the bright yellow flowers attracts at least six Tui every year. I'm planning on putting our main vege patch here, too, as a raised bed.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mvgpqOQHwQU/T0myInbmIjI/AAAAAAAAA-w/jHidEWwohXE/s1600/SAM_1467.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mvgpqOQHwQU/T0myInbmIjI/AAAAAAAAA-w/jHidEWwohXE/s400/SAM_1467.JPG" /></a></div>This is looking along the side of the house. There are flower beds all along the fence, and the tree in the background was covered in bright red flowers when we first moved in (I'm still not sure what type of tree it is, either - I've not been able to find it by searching online).<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-30yEn33RA3g/T0myIysTI8I/AAAAAAAAA-4/Lz32JByXjgg/s1600/SAM_1470.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-30yEn33RA3g/T0myIysTI8I/AAAAAAAAA-4/Lz32JByXjgg/s400/SAM_1470.JPG" /></a></div>A profusion of the flowers which have surprised me over the summer. I'm aware that people would probably classify all of these to be weeds, but they are far too pretty to pull up!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bFb3v-Dg5A8/T0myI7SsUKI/AAAAAAAAA_Q/mWpnJ3Jzc4U/s1600/SAM_1471.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bFb3v-Dg5A8/T0myI7SsUKI/AAAAAAAAA_Q/mWpnJ3Jzc4U/s400/SAM_1471.JPG" /></a></div><span style="font-style:italic;">Dahlias</span><br /><br />These bright pink flowers are stunning. The individual blooms don't seem to last for more than a few days, but they keep on flowering.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EecuL6ODP-o/T0myJapaU8I/AAAAAAAAA_Y/OG7nhdVFsvU/s1600/SAM_1474.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EecuL6ODP-o/T0myJapaU8I/AAAAAAAAA_Y/OG7nhdVFsvU/s400/SAM_1474.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is our decking, which gets a huge amount of sunshine. I'm planning on seeing if I can train some grape vines up a trellis against the wall.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yHroF59ydIg/T0myZA5iNTI/AAAAAAAAA_k/himm8TCxaQg/s1600/SAM_1475.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yHroF59ydIg/T0myZA5iNTI/AAAAAAAAA_k/himm8TCxaQg/s400/SAM_1475.JPG" /></a></div>This will be the flower-patch. At the moment, it is mainly weeds, and those stunning orange flowers. There's a rhododendron bush, plus a couple of others that I can't name, and I'm still mulling over what else to add. My lemon tree already has its home there.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v6YIppx9Nsw/T0myZXlbQZI/AAAAAAAAA_w/s7ak-4tOp18/s1600/SAM_1476.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v6YIppx9Nsw/T0myZXlbQZI/AAAAAAAAA_w/s7ak-4tOp18/s400/SAM_1476.JPG" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Crocosmia / Montbretia</span><br />A close up of the orange flowers. Again, I know that these are technically weeds (you can see them all along the road embankments at the moment, too), but they are simply gorgeous, and they are attracting the bumble-bees to the garden, which makes them alright in my book!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dHCI-MVT38U/T0myZyvYDEI/AAAAAAAABAI/iwXjWhAhUzY/s1600/SAM_1478.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dHCI-MVT38U/T0myZyvYDEI/AAAAAAAABAI/iwXjWhAhUzY/s400/SAM_1478.JPG" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">A different type of Dahlia</span><br />Another flower which completely surprised me - the bush that it is growing from really didn't seem like anything much!<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bx9wCVhbht4/T0myaGALmQI/AAAAAAAABAU/H5wWVyuZN8Q/s1600/SAM_1480.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bx9wCVhbht4/T0myaGALmQI/AAAAAAAABAU/H5wWVyuZN8Q/s400/SAM_1480.JPG" /></a></div>The front garden. There are little shrubs planted by the previous owners on the other side of the fence, as well as an agapanthus and a flax (again, more Tuis when it is flowering), so I'm hoping that we'll be able to build up a bit more of a hedge around the fence; good for the birds, and will give a bit more privacy in years to come.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uqOQVugCHf8/T0my4CVLFdI/AAAAAAAABAg/h3F5-OSU_6k/s1600/SAM_1481.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uqOQVugCHf8/T0my4CVLFdI/AAAAAAAABAg/h3F5-OSU_6k/s400/SAM_1481.JPG" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Pineapple Lily</span><br />This is an interesting plant - again, completely unprepossessing, then it suddenly sprouted these flowers and actually became quite pinky/purple for a short while!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2X2E8YkVXlc/T0my4F98WeI/AAAAAAAABAo/oe3El87x5AM/s1600/SAM_1482.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2X2E8YkVXlc/T0my4F98WeI/AAAAAAAABAo/oe3El87x5AM/s400/SAM_1482.JPG" /></a></div>One of the unknown bushes - it briefly flowered with these very delicate yellow and white blooms.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gq29Dzguj94/T0my4b7d50I/AAAAAAAABA4/cSfxvyZ2VIE/s1600/SAM_1483.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gq29Dzguj94/T0my4b7d50I/AAAAAAAABA4/cSfxvyZ2VIE/s400/SAM_1483.JPG" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Japanese Anemone</span><br />These are all round the garden, particularly up against the house. Again, they are probably weeds, but very pretty!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-idEoGtdr3gg/T0my4mF7XTI/AAAAAAAABBA/gfvXPlX_t2Q/s1600/SAM_1484.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-idEoGtdr3gg/T0my4mF7XTI/AAAAAAAABBA/gfvXPlX_t2Q/s400/SAM_1484.JPG" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Bears Breeches / Acanthus</span><br />These, too, are all along the back fence. I already know that I'm going to need to take a lot of these out, as they really are taking over.<br /><br />So - a brief tour round the garden at least; the inside of the house is a bit messy, so photos of that will have to wait! If anyone is able to identify any of the plants from my photos, please let me know - it's one of the areas where my Google-fu has let me down; there are just too many pictures of flowers on the internet, and as I don't know whether any of them are NZ native or not, I can't even narrow the search that way!Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965300148218903639noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414975784907257128.post-4341852595562752542012-01-15T17:04:00.015+13:002012-01-15T18:05:28.948+13:00Busy timesHappy New Year!<br /><br />It has been a busy month and a bit, and I have rather neglected the blog... After moving in, we had a week to clean out the old flat (no issues with the final inspection - huzzah) and then get the house ready for the arrival of my parents for Christmas. The week also included the last orchestra committee meeting of the year, an evening tea with the ex-landlady, the last Sci-Fi meeting of the year and the wedding of our ex-next door neighbour's son.<br /><br />We had a fantastic time with my parents - we were incredibly lucky to have 10 days of glorious sunshine before we got caught by the tail end of a cyclone. This meant that we were able to spend Christmas Day on the beach as well as do all the tourist sights of Wellington with the sun shining and the sky blue. We started our Tiki Tour on Boxing Day; travelling first to Napier, where we had supper overlooking the harbour,<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-is20Ily_GxA/TxJUEe6O9SI/AAAAAAAAA5s/5iBKPoSbi1M/s1600/SAM_1152.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-is20Ily_GxA/TxJUEe6O9SI/AAAAAAAAA5s/5iBKPoSbi1M/s400/SAM_1152.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697708914570622242" /></a><br /><br />got to see some fantastic Art Deco<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CDIRXvjSEhc/TxJUEsQnryI/AAAAAAAAA54/PKxmigeb-Xc/s1600/SAM_1169.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CDIRXvjSEhc/TxJUEsQnryI/AAAAAAAAA54/PKxmigeb-Xc/s400/SAM_1169.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697708918154178338" /></a><br /><br />and took a wine tour (no photos of that - the wine was too good!).<br /><br />We spotted black swans and ducklings at Lake Taupo<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qM4CaT59UIk/TxJVIL9bPWI/AAAAAAAAA6Q/gHuusa-hS7A/s1600/SAM_1200.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qM4CaT59UIk/TxJVIL9bPWI/AAAAAAAAA6Q/gHuusa-hS7A/s400/SAM_1200.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697710077714840930" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZWnXQIjQ7Dg/TxJVIThd7wI/AAAAAAAAA6g/JACqUwh6H_g/s1600/SAM_1203.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZWnXQIjQ7Dg/TxJVIThd7wI/AAAAAAAAA6g/JACqUwh6H_g/s400/SAM_1203.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697710079745060610" /></a><br /><br />We stopped by the Huka falls<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2b_0ngN1Daw/TxJVUtUbShI/AAAAAAAAA6o/J8xOseVklD4/s1600/SAM_1208.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2b_0ngN1Daw/TxJVUtUbShI/AAAAAAAAA6o/J8xOseVklD4/s400/SAM_1208.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697710292828113426" /></a><br /><br />and then saw some amazing geothermal pools at <a href="http://www.waiotapu.co.nz/">Wai-o-tapu</a>, near Rotorua.<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L2WmKsls8Ss/TxJVwPwqHoI/AAAAAAAAA7E/RBqK7I0KSzc/s1600/SAM_1222.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L2WmKsls8Ss/TxJVwPwqHoI/AAAAAAAAA7E/RBqK7I0KSzc/s400/SAM_1222.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697710765929799298" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SHOwgrBUfO8/TxJVv039PaI/AAAAAAAAA60/p9-72WfZ4gk/s1600/SAM_1219.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SHOwgrBUfO8/TxJVv039PaI/AAAAAAAAA60/p9-72WfZ4gk/s400/SAM_1219.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697710758712655266" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aC3QdoeI1tc/TxJVw6c0p4I/AAAAAAAAA7M/iFWbal9DXXI/s1600/SAM_1230.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aC3QdoeI1tc/TxJVw6c0p4I/AAAAAAAAA7M/iFWbal9DXXI/s400/SAM_1230.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697710777389328258" /></a><br />(we have a room which is painted the same colour as that last pool...)<br /><br />We had a slightly damp time in Auckland, as the cyclone was settling in for the long haul, but enjoyed catching up with family, and also introducing my parents to the Parnell Chocolate shop.<br /><br />New Year's Eve was interesting - we spent it in Te Kuiti, which is just outside Waitomo. It was not the most exciting of towns, particularly if you are looking for somewhere which will serve food (that isn't just a takeaway)... So, we spent the last hours of 2011 at the motel room, eating a microwave supper (the motel rooms only had microwaves, rather than fully functioning kitchens) and playing silly card <br />games. An absolutely perfect way to spend the evening!<br /><br />Unfortunately, because of the amount of rain that had fallen, the <a href="http://www.waitomo.com/black-water-rafting.aspx">Black Water Rafting</a> that I had booked was cancelled; instead, we went on a walking tour of <a href="http://www.waitomo.com/ruakuri-cave.aspx">Ruakuri Cave</a>, with a very entertaining guide, who on his own admittance had partied very well the previous evening. He certainly needed his flask of coffee! <br /><br />Our next stop was Mount Taranaki; we were incredibly lucky with the weather, because we arrived there on the first day that it hadn't rained. Whilst the mountain was still shrouded in cloud, we were able to go on a couple of walks, one which was certainly damper than the lady at the DOC site had led us to expect (full blown fording through streams which were now gushing rivers...). But it was well worth it when we climbed the side of a waterfall at Wilkies Pools and saw the cloud clearing above us:<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UHLRKqWEsIw/TxJZAU4MijI/AAAAAAAAA7Y/3u_NGzXSyMI/s1600/SAM_1377.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UHLRKqWEsIw/TxJZAU4MijI/AAAAAAAAA7Y/3u_NGzXSyMI/s400/SAM_1377.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697714340716382770" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PLqom1x1cqs/TxJZAlPA3jI/AAAAAAAAA7g/1_UBh-Q9PG0/s1600/SAM_1395.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PLqom1x1cqs/TxJZAlPA3jI/AAAAAAAAA7g/1_UBh-Q9PG0/s400/SAM_1395.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697714345107054130" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0jHggcDF-mc/TxJZAq_eQ_I/AAAAAAAAA7w/xTslD7iLpSY/s1600/SAM_1401.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0jHggcDF-mc/TxJZAq_eQ_I/AAAAAAAAA7w/xTslD7iLpSY/s400/SAM_1401.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697714346652484594" /></a><br /><br />We then headed back to Wellington, a round trip of 1779 km!<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zfHBeWgCvE0/TxJaO4V7D3I/AAAAAAAAA78/qrnEOcEQjWs/s1600/Route.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 390px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zfHBeWgCvE0/TxJaO4V7D3I/AAAAAAAAA78/qrnEOcEQjWs/s400/Route.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697715690266103666" /></a><br /><br />Our final excursion was to <a href="http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-visit/wellington-kapiti/kapiti/kapiti-island-nature-reserve/">Kapiti Island</a> - I'd been looking forward to this trip for months, and wasn't disappointed. We got to see loads of birds, and hear even more:<br />North Island robins followed us all the way round<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GlLrKZ8b6jk/TxJbtxgTRLI/AAAAAAAAA8I/8ULjMz33azo/s1600/SAM_1415.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GlLrKZ8b6jk/TxJbtxgTRLI/AAAAAAAAA8I/8ULjMz33azo/s400/SAM_1415.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697717320518157490" /></a><br /><br />Saddlebacks were incredibly noisy in the trees as well as popping over to see what we were doing<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eJ0dQBrEVQY/TxJbt_msIaI/AAAAAAAAA8Q/iu-eptvZGUg/s1600/SAM_1418.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eJ0dQBrEVQY/TxJbt_msIaI/AAAAAAAAA8Q/iu-eptvZGUg/s400/SAM_1418.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697717324303049122" /></a><br /><br />The Weka were everywhere, particularly when they thought there might be a chance of getting something to eat!<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W0EzEELlHoo/TxJbuWmkXtI/AAAAAAAAA8s/y_WFZyoLmYA/s1600/SAM_1413.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W0EzEELlHoo/TxJbuWmkXtI/AAAAAAAAA8s/y_WFZyoLmYA/s400/SAM_1413.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697717330476555986" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pxE7Sojrp2k/TxJbuE7w62I/AAAAAAAAA8g/bL534Xl8Dco/s1600/SAM_1425.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pxE7Sojrp2k/TxJbuE7w62I/AAAAAAAAA8g/bL534Xl8Dco/s400/SAM_1425.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697717325733620578" /></a><br /><br />And, best of all, whilst waiting for the boat to take us back, we got to see the Takahe, with their chick; there are less than 250 of these birds remaining, so to know that the conservation work on reserves such as Kapiti is working is fantastic.<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uoF3YFrhg7M/TxJbu-y-zeI/AAAAAAAAA80/opmmMTh7bSM/s1600/SAM_1450.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uoF3YFrhg7M/TxJbu-y-zeI/AAAAAAAAA80/opmmMTh7bSM/s400/SAM_1450.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697717341266038242" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LvnW6IpNgr0/TxJcF3mr6fI/AAAAAAAAA9E/EUYlLMcBGtg/s1600/SAM_1458.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LvnW6IpNgr0/TxJcF3mr6fI/AAAAAAAAA9E/EUYlLMcBGtg/s400/SAM_1458.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697717734472411634" /></a><br /><br />Then it was back to earth with a bump as we took my parents back to the airport and got ready for the first day back at work after three weeks off. Since then, we've mainly been focussed on the house; doing DIY (I got to climb all over the roof painting the rusted areas with a solution designed to turn the rust back into iron; I was then supposed to paint it with a primer to stop it rusting again, however, it has either been raining or blowing a gale ever since), fixing the dud battery in the house alarm (we thought it might have been a bit of a bad introduction to the neighbours to have the alarm go off during a power cut, particularly if it was on one of the evenings that we were out) and turning the garden back from a jungle into something that looks a little bit more respectable.<br /><br />I know I owe photos of the new house - will get them up at some point - promise!Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965300148218903639noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414975784907257128.post-34052601544389465922011-12-08T20:37:00.005+13:002011-12-08T20:49:54.155+13:00Yay!As of about 2:00 this afternoon, we joined the ranks of those who are in debt by really rather a huge amount to the bank - our house purchase went through with only one last minute hitch; the bank didn't fax the solicitor to say that the mortgage had been paid into their account, which meant that they couldn't confirm the transaction with the seller's solicitor. All sorted out before I could get *too* twitchy about it, though!<br /><br />All I can think of at the moment is this xkcd comic (click to make it readable!):<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/homeownership.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 340px; height: 130px;" src="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/homeownership.png" border="0" alt="" /></a>Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965300148218903639noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414975784907257128.post-36576980647432156882011-11-23T21:26:00.002+13:002011-11-23T22:28:55.643+13:00When one door closes...Buying a house in New Zealand is interesting to say the least, compared to the UK.<br /><br />For a start, there is the phenomenon known as the Open Home (I am aware that they are prevalent in the States, too, but not at all in the UK). This is where sellers throw open the doors of their houses for half an hour to an hour, usually on a Sunday afternoon, and allow people to look round. Usually the sellers are not on the scene, but your local friendly estate agent is there to greet you - you look round on your own, rather than having the 'here is the kitchen, here is the bathroom' experience. These open homes are advertised in various property press magazines, and on a good day, you can daisy chain five or six of these together. Whilst the agents also hand out little pamphlets on the houses, a notebook is essential to keep track of the salient points of each house and to stop them all blurring into one big property by the end of the day. (I have filled up over half a notebook, one page to a property, with the houses we've looked round since early September!)<br /><br />Estate agents do also show you round properties, but most of them seem to focus on the open homes as their way of getting many people through the door for less effort on their part.<br /><br />Then there is the process to actually buy the house. In NZ, your offer is made as part of the contract, which means that, once you have negotiated the price and any conditions (usually checking council documents, building inspection and arranging finance, though you do also usually go into the offer with a pre-approval on your finance, so this is a case of sorting out the paperwork and getting a valuation on the property if required), it is a binding contract. You then have a set period to fulfil those conditions, usually five to ten days. If you confirm to your solicitor that you are satisfied in those conditions by the end of that time period, then the contract goes unconditional, and you pay your deposit (which you then lose if you end up pulling out of the contract for any reason). Then, on the agreed settlement date, you pay the balance (or get the bank to transfer the money to the solicitor - for some reason they won't even let it touch my bank account...) and take vacant possession (unless you are buying the house for renting, in which case you may opt to keep the tenants). Then you get to move in!<br /><br />We've managed to go through a couple of interesting variations to this process whilst house hunting.<br /><br />The first house that we looked at was owned by a lady who had put her house on the market because she'd seen another further up the coast that she wanted to buy. Unfortunately, she hadn't put an offer in on it, and by the time we put our offer in (three days after it had gone on the market), the house she had fallen in love with had sold. Rightly or wrongly, the estate agents persuaded her to go ahead with the sale anyway, and she signed the contract, inserting a clause that stated that she had to put a conditional offer in on another property in ten business days before we could go unconditional. However, over the next two weeks, she had a change of heart (possibly pushed by her teenage son, who wasn't as keen on moving as his mum was...), and ended up not putting in an offer. We had a suspicion that something was going wrong when, five days before the deadline, she was still quibbling over the property that she was interested in, concerned that it was in an earthquake zone and at risk of liquefaction. Given that her current place was just two streets away from the main Upper Hutt fault line, we couldn't really see what the fuss was about. But, she failed to meet her condition, which meant that our contract was void, and she took her property off the market. All very disappointing, particularly as I'd already relandscaped the garden in my mind...<br /><br />That was on the Wednesday. Our estate agent doesn't work on a Thursday, but on the Friday, he took us round three properties, two of which we liked, one of those very much (great location, recently refurbished inside, small but usable garden, large enough for our book collection *and* guests - it ticked all the right boxes). On the Saturday, the agent called us to say that someone else was putting in an offer on the house that we really liked, and did we also want to put in an offer? At that point, we said that we would wait until we'd been round the open homes on the Sunday as we didn't want to tie ourselves down and miss out on other properties (there was at least one other which I was very interested in from the internet details). After the open homes, the one from Friday was still our favourite, so we asked the agent whether it was still possible for us to put in an offer. He said yes, and came round that evening with the paperwork.<br /><br />Because we were now in a multiple bid situation, we now hit something slightly new again compared to the UK process for buying a house. We had to put forward our best and final offer, which would be presented to the seller in a sealed envelope. The seller would then open the two offers, and choose the best one to proceed to contract with - no playing each buyer off against the other to get the highest price (and therefore no gazumping, either).<br /><br />On Monday evening, as I got in from work, I had a call from the agent to say that our bid was the preferred, and, because we hadn't had anything tricky in the conditions we wanted to put forward, they were proceeding straight to signing the contract, which would be lodged with the solicitors in the morning.<br /><br />So - slight panic mode, as we had five days down for our conditions. I called up the builder who we had already contacted as part of the work we had done on the previous property. He had space available on the Tuesday, as someone else had cancelled, and so I took a half day off work to be able to go up to the property to receive the verbal report (the written one followed over email in the evening). There were a couple of issues, but nothing major, and we were able to use those to get a slight discount on the property price.<br /><br />On the Wednesday, the valuer went round to appraise the house - his report came through on the Friday, and by some strange coincidence, it was exactly the same amount as we had offered for it... We were then left hanging over the weekend to find out whether the bank was going to approve the mortgage - we already had the pre approval, but needed them to give us the go ahead on this particular property. We had to have everything sorted out by the Monday evening to meet our five day deadline...<br /><br />The bank kept us hanging on until almost the last minute - with 50 minutes to go on the Monday, they approved the finance, but we still then had to get the documents over to the solicitors and then wait for them to tell us that we could pay the deposit to the estate agents. We were able to go unconditional just after 5.00 on the Monday - a week and a day after sitting down with the estate agent to put in our offer.<br /><br />We now have two weeks to get ourselves ready and to formalise the mortgage paperwork before we complete the contract on the 8th December - from viewing the house to moving in will have been four weeks. Quite a bit to do, particularly given that we have two Sci-Fi social events this Saturday, plus an orchestra concert next Saturday. But I'm starting to work through the tick list - ordered the removal van and handed in our notice on our rented house today... Calm, orderly, and I'll try not to panic at all!Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965300148218903639noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414975784907257128.post-66154231860133049042011-11-06T09:33:00.005+13:002011-11-06T11:58:21.663+13:00Two years in...I'll try to get a bit better at blogging - a month is really too long between posts...<br /><br />Last night marked two years since taking off from the UK, tomorrow morning marks two years since we landed in New Zealand. Tomorrow, I take my lunch hour to go to the Wellington branch of Immigration New Zealand to apply for our full blown Permanent Residency visas which will allow us to enter and leave New Zealand whenever we like. (confusingly, they've changed the process since we landed; under the terms that we got our visas, we have Permanent Residency, but needed to apply for our Indefinite Returning Residents visas; now, under the new rules, we are only Residents, and need to apply for our Permanent Residency visas...)<br /><br />I still have days when I have to pinch myself to convince myself that we are really here. It just seems so surreal that we are walking around half a planet away from where we were born and raised. And I still have days when I walk round with a great big grin on my face, usually those when the sun is shining and the the wind is blowing enough to stream out the various New Zealand flags around the capital city.<br /><br />The last two years have gone by so quickly, and I really feel that we have settled in completely. We have a fantastic group of friends, particularly within the sci-fi community, and I believe that our very active social life is one of the reasons that Wellington truly feels like home, and this has been mirrored in conversations with other migrants; those who have settled and don't spend half their time looking back 'home' are those who get out and about, meeting people and making friends.<br /><br />I have been incredibly lucky to land a job that I enjoy (well, about 80% of the time, which is far more than most!), and the likelihood that this will turn into an ongoing career (helped a lot by a very supportive manager and overall head of department, both of whom are as ambitious for me as I am for myself!). Given the number of jobs that I applied for, and the near miss with the job that collapsed just after we arrived, I believe that I have really fallen on my feet.<br /><br />We are currently house hunting, so will shortly be setting down further roots when we in-debt ourselves to a bank. The area that we are looking in is further away from Wellington, but the longer commute is offset by better property prices and some lovely houses.<br /><br />Of course, I miss the UK, but for me, it is always going to be friends and family that I miss, not anything material. The internet has been a brilliant way of making sure that the friendships that we have can continue, despite the distances between us. Skype is a great modern invention - free video calls anywhere in the world? Even the concept was only a Sci-Fi idea twenty years ago (a quick look on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webcam">Wikipedia</a> states that the first webcam was developed in 1991...), yet the weekly call home to both sets of families is now an integral part of our life - I would hate to think what it would cost if we actually had to pay over and above our monthly internet charges!<br /><br />The last month has been busy, not only with the usual social activities (plus a few dinner and play dates with people from the board-gaming group), but with house hunting. New Zealand has a great tradition of Open Homes, where people who are selling houses have public viewings for a short, advertised, period of the day (usually about an hour). This means that, with a bit of careful planning, you can get round five or six houses in an area in a long and slightly exhausting afternoon. You do get to know all the estate agents, too - there's quite a few that we are on first name terms with now! The process of buying houses is slightly different to the UK, but that is a whole new post, and will wait until we have reached the end of the journey (I don't want to jeopardise anything - superstitious much?).Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965300148218903639noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414975784907257128.post-79612044986122067522011-10-09T15:21:00.006+13:002011-10-09T16:14:32.147+13:00Superstar!Regular readers of my blog will know that I really do love my wildlife. And here in NZ, that primarily means birds.<br /><br />One of the rarest birds here in NZ is the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kakapo">Kakapo</a>. There are just over 130 of them left in the world, and are all on two colony-islands off the coast of New Zealand. They are flightless, nocturnal parrots, and are incredibly engaging, intelligent and full of personality.<br /><br />Viewers of the BBC Natural History Show 'Last Chance to See' (Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine following in the footsteps of the radio show of the same name which Carwardine and Douglas Adams did 20 years previously) will remember the episode of their encounter with Sirocco, a male Kakapo, who, after being nursed through an illness as a young chick, imprinted on humans, and now is not interested in other kakapo at all.<br /><br />For those who haven't seen it, this is the relevant clip (the title says it all!):<br /><iframe width="450" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/9T1vfsHYiKY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />Because Sirocco really doesn't seem to find other kakapo attractive (he even has his booming bowl by the pathway between the conservation volunteers' sleeping quarters and the outside loo!), he is now the spokesbird for the conservation programme, and he is currently "on tour."<br /><br />He's spending a month at Zealandia, and John and I went to see him last week. Sadly, because he is nocturnal, they had to have dim lighting; good enough for us to see him, but we weren't allowed to use flash on the camera, which meant that I didn't get that many photos which weren't either blurred or black.<br /><br />However, if Long John Silver had had a kakapo as his parrot, I suspect that he might not have been taken as seriously:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BG6ewUsZaTk/TpEN7kdoSLI/AAAAAAAAA40/pc6zftZ28QA/s1600/293900_10150405246591101_579696100_10328080_405405132_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BG6ewUsZaTk/TpEN7kdoSLI/AAAAAAAAA40/pc6zftZ28QA/s400/293900_10150405246591101_579696100_10328080_405405132_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5661321523632818354" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TgxufYt7qmo/TpEN7_OivnI/AAAAAAAAA48/ggUoU6m6UkY/s1600/321644_10150405246561101_579696100_10328079_1311635919_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TgxufYt7qmo/TpEN7_OivnI/AAAAAAAAA48/ggUoU6m6UkY/s400/321644_10150405246561101_579696100_10328079_1311635919_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5661321530817298034" /></a><br /><br />He is just as engaging in 'real life', constantly hunting for the next macademia nut. His handler was in the enclosure to talk about him and to introduce him to his visitors; she is an excellent show-woman, and was able to give a fascinating talk about Sirocco and the kakapo in general. His enclosure has a live stream from the web cam thanks to <a href="http://www.3news.co.nz/Default.aspx?TabId=1568&articleID=227338">Three News</a>. It's only available from 8.30 pm NZ time, probably running till about 10.30-11pm (I know that my colleague had to change the time that he was going to visit because poor Sirocco isn't getting any sleep - Zealandia is just too noisy with all the birdsong during the day!)<br /><br />It was a fantastic evening - hopefully not a 'Last Chance to See' (Kakapo live for 80 years naturally), and well worth the visit.Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965300148218903639noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6414975784907257128.post-41613535637087509662011-09-15T18:30:00.000+13:002011-09-15T19:41:40.380+13:00Geek and Proud!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://c715241.r41.cf2.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/geekoutbasiclogo.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="http://c715241.r41.cf2.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/geekoutbasiclogo.png" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />This is my blog post for the <a href="http://www.speakoutwithyourgeekout.com/">Speak out with your Geek Out</a> week, a movement set up, initially in reaction to the latest (well, it was the latest, but that was a couple of weeks ago, so I'm sure there's been another one since) geek bashing post on the internet. I'd link to it, but I've since discovered that the lady who wrote it gets paid per person who clicks onto the page, and suffice it to say, I don't want her to get any more money! <br /><br />(I had intended to do multiple posts this week, but as this is the first night I've had in so far, and I'm not going to have another evening 'off' until Sunday, I think it's just going to be the one!)<br /><br />The week is designed for all of us geeks, of whatever flavour, to consciously post about our hobbies and to show the world that we exist. Whilst there are enough of us who are loud and proud about being a geek, there are also plenty of people, children, teenagers and adults, who think that they are the only ones. There are also plenty of people, children, teenagers and adults, who still think that being geeky, particularly if it is to do with Sci-Fi / Fantasy, is a legitimate target for mocking. I had an example of that this very week, where a friend was very disparaging of the fact that I was going to be staying in on Thursday to watch the NZ broadcast of the first Doctor Who in this second-half series. If I'd said that I was staying in to watch whichever Rugby World Cup game was on at the same time (quick Google later - Russia vs USA), would I have had the same comments? Fortunately, I have a good enough relationship with my friend (and a thick enough skin) that I could take his attitude in the tongue in cheek manner in which it was obviously intended, but I was a little bit disappointed that the comments had come up in the first place.<br /><br />I was fortunate in that my parents had plenty of sci-fi and fantasy round the house when I was young; I look back on the bedtime stories that I was read, and the majority of the ones which stood out seem to have been sci-fi or fantasy of one sort or another. That didn't stop me from being teased about it at school, but it meant that I always knew that I wasn't a complete outcast - if my parents liked it, it had to be ok!<br /><br />From that young age, with the discovery of (amongst many others) John Wyndham, J.R.R. Tolkien, Douglas Adams, Robin Jarvis, Roald Dahl, I moved on to Terry Pratchett, Ursula Le Guin, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C Clark and so many more. I read the school library out of sci-fi and fantasy books - it was a very proud moment when the head librarian asked me for recommendations for more books to get in. As a family, we watched series such as Red Dwarf, Robot Wars, Neverwhere, Crime Traveller and Scrap Heap Challenge. Now, as an adult, my primary reading material is either sci-fi or fantasy (though at the moment, my bedside book is called <a href="http://www.cookingforgeeks.com//">Cooking for Geeks</a>, all about the science of cookery, and I'm reading a business book on the way to and from work), I very rarely watch anything that doesn't have some form of sci-fi or fantasy content, I go board gaming once a month (and occasionally have friends round for 'in between' gaming sessions), I belong to two science fiction clubs, as well as an orchestra (slightly classical-music geek, too) and I'm starting to turn into a bit of a craft geek, just because I don't have enough things going on (I am teaching myself to crochet, and really rather loving it). So - I may be a 'scatter gun' geek instead of a one-hobby, in depth geek, but I'm still proud of my obsessions.<br /><br />So - why it is important that those of us who are loud and proud about our geekly ways are able to shout about it? We need to show those who are being teased, whether it is gentle mocking or outright bullying, that there is nothing to be ashamed of, and that they are not alone. The internet is a great socialiser for this - there is a world of knowledge and connections at people's fingertips that just wasn't there when I was a teenager, but there are still people who feel alone, or ashamed of not being 'normal' in what they enjoy.<br /><br />However, I have news for them. Anybody can be a geek, about pretty much any subject - it isn't just those of us who have the entire Terry Pratchett collection, or who can quote whole chapters from the HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy (or lines from the Goon Show). How is the football fan, who plasters his bedroom wall with posters of teams through the ages, goes to every game he can, sleeps under a team duvet and has replica home and away strips hanging in his wardrobe any different to a Star Trek fan, who has posters of the stars hanging over her bed, watches every episode when it comes on TV, sleeps under an Enterprise duvet and has a replica uniform hanging in her wardrobe? It just takes knowledge and enthusiasm to be a geek, whether you recognise that's what you are or not.<br /><br />I sign off with one of my favourite quotations from The Divine Comedy (MasterMind) (another latent obsession of mine): "So tell me what the hell is normal, and who the hell is sane? And why the hell care anyway? The dreams that we have had are gonna prove that we're all mad, and that's OK."Johttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965300148218903639noreply@blogger.com4