Summer in Wellington

Wind fairies

It may have been the last day of summer.

It was just Ewan and me here that morning. The sun shone warmly.

I sat outside by myself, allowing the sun to warm my legs. Ewan slept. The washing dried itself on the line in a satisfying manner.

When I looked up into the sky, there was a mass of fairies flying around. (You know, those dainty, flossy, spherical seed carriers). I counted fifty, then stopped as more kept coming. Sometimes they were hard to see against the blue sky (being so dainty), but then the light would catch them and their bright whiteness shone out. They flew surprisingly fast, catching an updraft which seemed to be located directly above our back lawn, or streaming southwards over the house.

Ten minutes later or so, they had mostly disappeared.

A puff of energy in the hottest part of the day - and a very efficient distribution system.

Momentous events of the last 24 hours (or so)

- Ewan is TOO BIG for one of his quintuple zero outfits! (Actually I think that's due to a bulky nappy, but still, any growth is good!).
- Ewan received his first mail - notification of his paediatrician's appointment.
- I had my first hot drink in about a month (Earl Grey).
- I keep finding new grey hairs.


It was a southerly today. There was a bit of a chill in the air. The sun is setting noticeably earlier and is beginning to shine under the eaves into the lounge. It's starting to feel autumnal.

I guess summer happened during my time in hospital.

Sunday

(Passably) interesting things about my day:

• I ate wasabi cheese. This was very good - the wasabi gave it zing without being overpowering.
• I went to the Bordeaux Bakery with Isabelle. I had my usual conundrum when ordering French food. Do I a) order using proper pronunciation (and risk seeming wanky?), b) order using the French words with Kiwi pronunciation, c) point and grunt? I chose d) translate (approximately) into English and point and grunt. So rather than pain au chocolat et mille feuille we had chocolate bread and custard square. Not that I could have any of the custard square.
• I hung out three loads of washing, shivering in the howling gale. It sort of got dry.
• Brendon found more daffodils in the empty section next door and brought them into the house to bring some lovely spring cheer.
• Isabelle and Aidan played peacefully all afternoon, constructing a train track between their rooms.
• I am eating energy chocolate. It doesn't appear to be working.
  

Snippets

It's been rainy. Cold. I'm tired and have a snotty nose. So not much blogging lately.

Orla has decided to vote with her feet and abandon the highchair to sit at the table with the big kids. This has pros and cons. Being small, she sees no real difference between sitting on her chair and standing on the table. I, however, see quite a pronounced difference. And a highchair tray does keep a bowl of dumped porridge somewhat contained.

Isabelle has been doing swimming lessons at school for the past three weeks. She hasn't done lessons before, and is really enjoying them. Apparently she needed goggles. Luckily the supermarket sells them for $5.

Aidan is doing simple additions on his fingers. This is what happens when your big sister learns additions at school. He is tested (by her) in the car on the way home: "Aidan, what is 10 + 7?".

I went out for lunch on Saturday at a real restaurant with adults. It was fun.

We are about to enter our local birthday season. The parties are booked - invites are pending.

Morning play

There is a certain perfection in the fine summer morning. The air is warm and inviting, yet still crisp and refreshing. The sun beams happily and brightly down, yet the fear of burnt skin is far less intense. Energy levels are relatively high.

And so it was this morning! We walked to work with Brendon, parting company at the duck pond. The ducks benefited from the bread that had gone mouldy in our hotter and moister than usual kitchen. They had quite an appetite (which always makes duck feeding more fun), as yet unsated by the bread brought by the hordes of children who arrive by morning tea.

We proceeded to the playground, which was happily deserted. Here's Orla in the swing watching Isabelle and Aidan below her in the shade on the seesaw.

After a play we took the cable car to Lambton Quay, and were home on the bus by quarter past ten.

I've always thought that humans evolved in hot climates to rise with the sun, sleep through the hot afternoon, to rise again when the day cools. This worked well in Barcelona - our children were certainly not the only ones playing outside at 11.00 pm! And perhaps parental obsessions with "sleeping through the night" would be eased if the "night" were shorter!

Back in our temperate climate this arrangement probably works less successfully.

In the meantime I shall suppress my atavistic desire to sleep after lunch and stay up late with my children, playing in the warm twilight.

On a warm summer's evening

Finally, it's like summer has arrived. We have had several days of lovely weather - sun, stillness at times, high temperatures. I should say - high temperatures for Wellington. This is a city where I have seen 19 degrees described as "balmy" and 20 degrees as "sultry" in the local newspaper. Come on guys, that's room temperature, not cause for celebration!

But I digress - after a morning of work (Playcentre meeting and working bee), we treated ourselves to our annual flutter in celebration of Wellington Cup Day. And what a fine investment we made, with our combined $29 of bets returning well over $70. Kinda makes up for last year!
This time, sans tv but with newly installed broadband (slow broadband, but still a definite improvement) we listened eagerly to the radio to cheer on our horses. Moments after our triumph, we were able to turn to tab.co.nz to discover what our winnings were - they were up on line with impressive speed.

For the record, I chose Young Centaur for a win (success!), Resolution for a place (success! came second)....and another one for a place (no success).

It was six years ago that we last attended the Wellington Cup itself. It was hot. I was secretly pregnant with Isabelle.

Oooo! Someone just phoned while I am on the internet!

The wonders of modern technology....

Twas the night before Christmas

So here we are on December 24th, fresh from the children's Christmas service at the family church. Isabelle dressed as an angel. Orla wore a little gold tinsel halo and a little white dress. Aidan wore his swimming togs, which he had been wearing since his swim earlier in the day. (He had his spiderman singlet over the top for that touch of formality).

The presents are all wrapped and are waiting to be placed under the tree. The ham has been picked up and the crackers are ready in the back room. The only thing that is yet to be done is the tradition reading of "The Night Before Christmas" by Grandad.

This must be my 32nd reading of the poem: I am so familiar with how Dad reads it that I cannot bear any other rhythms than those by which he performs it. On the years when we have had a Wellington Christmas I have read it aloud myself. It would not be the same if someone else read it differently. (No, you must pause there and let your voice trail off here, not the other way around!). The proper cadences are an essential part of the tradition.

It has been hot here today, a real summer's day. Drinks are being set up outside and Aidan is fresh from another swim.

I might even have a little bit of wine myself.

Catch up

So much to blog about and so little time to do it in! I keep writing new posts in my head, but they never make it anywhere near the computer.

Suffice to say that we had a great trip to Christchurch and we are now back home again. Still haven't finished unpacking, but the house is in a reasonable state (for a change) heading into the weekend, so that's all good.

We have pretty much stayed at home since our return, thanks in part to the terrible weather we have been having. We were very short on groceries by Thursday. I looked at the rain. I thought of hauling three children around the supermarket. I thought of hauling groceries down the steps in the rain, probably with at least two crying children waiting inside. I logged onto the computer and did an on-line shop. Four hours later our groceries arrived. Ahh! Lovely.

Today we went for a little walk to the playground. On the way home Isabelle collected up various treasures. In the afternoon she spent time in her room creating. I heard much sellotape being dispensed. An tonight, she distributed the gifts she had made. Grass twirled around twigs shaped into bracelets. A bottle cap attached to some vegetation (especially for Daddy "because he likes beer"). A twisty tie round and round some grass encircling a leaf. A twig with a stone sellotaped firmly to one end. Beautiful things.

Packing in the rain

Today was spent packing and washing (so that the washed clothes can be packed).

Of course, it rained for most of the day. As it has for the last few days.....

So, sadly the drier has been busy. Clothes also hang limply on the drying frame outside, where I hopefully put them in a tiny dry patch on the south facing side of the house.

I went into the bedroom earlier to find Isabelle and Aidan packing Aidan's suitcase. Their version of packing involved emptying his drawers and putting every single item of his clothing in various bags. It was very well intentioned. I have just finished repatriating said items back into his drawers.

I think I'll have to leave the rest of it until tomorrow when most of the washing should be dry.

Catch up

So our trip to Christchurch went well. We did the christening, we saw all the aunties, uncles, grandparents and cousins. Time went by too fast as usual.

The trip home was eventful, as only traveling with young children on a plane can be.

All was going well. As I hoisted Orla into the front pack to get on the plane, I heard a squelch. Hmm, hope that's just air..... As the helpful flight attendant handed her back to me as we set ourselves up for the departure, I saw a tell-tale yellow-brown stain seeping through her clothes. Argh! Her first real poo leak since newborn!

As the flight attendants were directed to close the plane's doors, Aidan announced "My pants are wet". I ascertained that this was just a minor leak (seat was dry, thank goodness) and told Aidan he would just have to hold it in until we took off.

Eventually we were able to get up. Aidan, Orla and I squashed into a toilet. Aidan produced. We washed hands and made it back to the seat, where an outraged Isabelle said that she had missed out on getting water. I reassured her that I'd get her some, retrieved my nappy bag and went to change Orla.

The change table on the plane was tiny, but at least there was one! Change nappy, change clothes. I made it back to our seat where it was apparent that we had not only missed the water run, but that the lollies had bypassed us too. Luckily a flight attendant appeared and was dispatched to get lollies and water. When she returned, I handed her Orla and passed Isabelle and Aidan their water.

Then turbulence hit.

I took back the water. Orla and the flight attendant had disappeared down a few rows into an empty seat. I retrieved Orla and buckled us all back in again for the descent.

Isabelle and Aidan were in high spirits by now, seeing how many lollies they could put in their mouths at once. The plane was tossed around in the wind. Adult passengers began looking up and moving around in their seats uncomfortably. I tightened everyone's seat belt. The children laughed "Ooooo! Up and down! Up and down!", happy and oblivious to any perception of risk.

I knew that it really was as windy as I thought when the purser said words to the effect of "well, that certainly was a wild ride" over the pa system once we were safely on the ground.

Brendon was waiting for us. Funny how that flight seemed to go so quickly!

Weatherpixie

Have you seen my weatherpixie? It's down there, on the right hand side.

It's set to Wellington airport.

A morning out

We popped into town this morning. Keeping with the buried treasure theme, Aidan got a pirate-island theme duvet cover and pillow case, for when he goes to a big bed and Orla goes into his cot. Although I explained why we were buying it, I don't really think he understood. But that's OK - we have another couple of months in hand before she outgrows the bassinet.

After a bit of birthday gift buying, we had morning tea with Daddy in a cafe - always a highlight for young and old (due to fluffies - complete with mini chocolate fishes and marshmellows - for the young folk, and a nice hot coffee for me!).

At home, the older two romped in the new duvet cover and pillow, covering themselves up, wrapping up and rolling about.

We had a major rain storm last night - evidence of recently-rushing water was all over the streets in the form of various debris and mud. Apparently we had a dry April, so we must be making up for it all at once.

The four elements

Fire - tonight the older children made most of the dinner. The pizza on the blue plate was created by Aidan, the one on the yellow by Isabelle. This was quite a good late afternoon activity to engage tired children!

Air - Today was very windy. Quite depressing really after a good run of really nice weather. Ah well, at least the washing got dry.

Earth - We have a little hole in our lawn which is getting bigger by the day. Aidan loves playing in the sandpit at Playcentre, and digging in dirt seems to hold a similar attraction. He loves digging for potatoes (great when we need some for dinner!). He also seems to enjoy throwing dirt at Isabelle - not so good and demanding immediate correction....

Water - Well, if our bathroom didn't need redo-ing before, it certainly does now! Yesterday we had a major flood (both taps on and plug left in basin at lunchtime). I discovered the mess when the water had almost reached the lounge, so there was a substantial amount of water to clean up. Part of the lino in the bathroom is now bubbling up. The bathroom cabinet door is swollen with water and can hardly close, and it looks like quite a bit of water has escaped down between the toilet and bathroom walls. There goes the photo spread in House and Garden.... ;-)

Due date

Today is Orla's due date. She is 4 weeks and 1 day old.

We had our last visit to the midwife today - Orla now weighs 3.4 kg. This is about halfway between what Isabelle and Aidan weighed at birth, so sounds about right! Next stops are our GP for the six week check, and Plunket.

It is a funny thing to miss out on the end of a pregnancy like that. Pregnancy is a means to an end, so ought not to be missed. And many women do find the last trimester uncomfortable and difficult. But oddly, there is a funny feeling there, as though something has been lost, and a feeling of truncation.

Continuing in the summer theme, we had another bbq tea outside tonight, followed by a second round under the sprinkler. Both bbq teas have included potatoes fresh from the garden - delicious!

Summertime

Summertime is definitely here. We have been enjoying several days in a row of beautiful weather, and tomorrow it looks set to continue.

The first real sign of summer was that today I washed almost all the pillows in the house. This is something that is only possible when a) you have cleared the backlog of washing that inevitably exists in a house with young children, and b) you are confident that you are going to be able to get the pillows, and all your other washing, dry. Both conditions require an extended period of fine and warm weather.

We had another bbq tea outside tonight, enjoying a still and almost completely fly-less evening. Brendon once again did the full meal preparation - exhausted from doing both the dishes AND cleaning the toilet, I had a wee nap on the couch in the half hour or so before dinner. ;-)

After tea the older children ran around outside and played in the sprinkler. Lots of shrieking, running, wetness and happiness. Both are now asleep, exhausted from their play.

Two other random things - first, Aidan is now well able to throw items onto the roof. This milestone is not altogether welcome! Second, I was able to diagnose ailment of the week about twenty minutes ahead of Dr House last night. (And why was a generalist diagnostician conducting brain surgery anyway?).

(Sorry, I guess you have to have seen the programme for that last bit to make sense....!)