Eats plants
It's Oscar's 1st birthday today. He had a small party with family and cake.I think he liked the cake:Multi-taskingThe cousins are presently trying to evict a family of head lice who have decided to squat on their heads. With each mention of the work "nits", I suddenly find I have a desperate urge to scratch… Continue reading Oscar’s birthday
Another lovely day yesterday. We took my aunt to the museum, then had lunch in Parnell followed by a drive along Tamaki Drive to Mission Bay. Auckland Art GalleryAuckland CBD from the North Shore. Mount Eden is the green hill to the right.Takapuna beachOutside the museumAuckland MuseumElizabethElizabeth again, on the steps outside the museumDaniel the turtleMy… Continue reading A Day out in Auckland City
Elizabeth turned two today. This time two years ago I was just home from hospital after a glorious, completely pain-free and very quick birth. She came into the world two weeks overdue and weighing 3.8kg. Now she runs, jumps, cries, laughs, chats and even sings (in tune too!). We had a small party for her at… Continue reading Elizabeth’s birthday
We visited Karekare beach yesterday, a wild and windy beach on the west coast with black sand and lush forest right up to the shore line. Karekare beach is famous for having provided a location for the film The Piano:Source: http://blackclockwork.tumblr.com/post/3104397418Our photo of the same spot. Unfortunately the piano is no longer there.I love the west… Continue reading Karekare
Yesterday we took my aunt to see Mount Eden, a huge bowl-like volcanic crater. We last visited the place in September and it was so enjoyable that it has been on my list to see a second time. On our first visit, we walked up from the lower carpark with Ben carrying Elizabeth in a backpack.… Continue reading Mount Eden again
Fabulous Christmas day today. We had lots of wonderful visitors including my sister and so we had a full traditional lunch with turkey for the carnivores and Jamie Oliver's pistachio nut roast for the vegetarian. The nut roast was delicious. Ben getting intimate with a bird on Christmas EveInspecting Santa stockings on Christmas dayOpening presentsElizabeth wearing… Continue reading Christmas
I got a couple of cool photos of the cousins today.
Ben is home again and my sister arrived with her family today so I'm feeling very happy about the world. What a difference it makes having some family around to talk to. The kids were both so thrilled to have Ben back. Daniel said some sweet things on his return. He was asking Ben why… Continue reading Crocs
My Australian passport is still under my maiden name. I wanted to change it when we first got married but it ended up in the too hard basket. I decided to give it another go this week but it's proving very difficult. I was not born in Australia so they want to see proof of… Continue reading What’s my nationality?
I had to get a urine sample from Zeki this morning. This was easier than I expected, especially when I saw that he was about to piss on my basil. Mental note: must wash all herbs thoroughly before cooking! The vet is going to test his thyroid function. He still scratches lots but our new… Continue reading Babies and geriatric dogs
I had a great sleep last night. Elizabeth didn't wake until 5am and so I slept the whole night through (if 5am can be considered a civilized time to wake.) Let's hope she sleeps well again tonight. My fictitious intruder has vanished as well. I think I got too tired to be bothered conjuring up… Continue reading What are you afraid of?
Daniel doesn't always understand non-verbal communication. If I say to him, "what colour is that car?" and there are four cars in the vicinity, he won't know which one I'm referring to. That was until this week. While Ben has been away, Daniel has been forced to come on dog walks with me and I… Continue reading Non-verbal communication
I've not been sleeping all that well recently. I lie awake terrified of earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes and murderous assassins. When I do fall asleep it's only temporary as Elizabeth wakes me eventually and then I convince myself the murderous assassin is making his way up the stairs to our bedrooms and lie desperate to go… Continue reading Just another day
Daniel has been asking to see Santa for a wee while now and so today I took them both to see the only Santa in the southern hemisphere who is not sweating like a pig: Snowplanet Santa. He made his entrance from the top of the slopes:That's Santa: red suit, white beard, centre-fieldDaniel could barely… Continue reading Santa
The traffic in Auckland is horrendous on days the volcano does not erupt. When it goes, cars will be useless and evacuation will need to be on foot. But where are the hundreds of thousands of evacuees going to sleep? Have they thought about that? There's no such thing as a volcanic-ash-safe tent. Maybe there's… Continue reading How I learned to stop worrying and love the volcano
It is really hot today and I have resorted to using a damp face washer to keep myself cool. I don't understand why people like hot climates. When it's cold, it's quite easy to add another layer and presto, you feel warm. But when it's hot, there's only so many layers you can take off… Continue reading It’s too darn hot
I'm still breastfeeding Elizabeth but would like to wean her in the not-too-distant future. She'll be two on New Year's Eve and two is a good age to stop. The World Health Organisation recommends breastfeeding until two or beyond and the first two years of their lives is the most dangerous in terms of childhood… Continue reading Other side
We have a sandpit! Ben spent the weekend digging:Then it rained and rained and created a pond:This morning I put in the sand and now we have two happy children:It could probably do with a little more sand but they don't seem to mind.
There was a Mag. 5.7 near Wellington last night. It was 40km west of Wellington and 60km deep which is a reasonable distance away and depth compared to the Christchurch quakes, yet it still caused some minor damage. The brand new (< 5 years old) Meridian building is reported to have lost some louvres which… Continue reading Auckland’s ring of death
It has been quite hot in Auckland the past couple of days and yesterday I was thinking of having a whinge about it and feeling sad about no longer living in a cold climate until I checked Metservice and discovered that it was actually hotter in Christchurch. It's not actually that bad anyway. We get… Continue reading Bricks, Christmas trees and other things
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