Tui

Every night for the past week, the same tui has been sitting outside in the pohutukawa and singing as it gets dark. I know it's the same tui because it sings the same song, it's quite melodic and a little melancholic, not like the broken robot noises other tui make.
Good night, sweet tui.

Five of my favourite things about our new home

1. Harper's pumpkin seedling. He waters it in the evening with his wee watering can, but gets impatient and empties it out over the leaves.

2. The improvised bbq, made from a neighbour's discarded bricks and the grill and plate from Ange's old bbq. We had everyone over on Saturday evening and I still had the delicious smell of wood smoke in my hair the next morning.
3. The orange carpet. We didn't realise just how orange until we moved in. Before that, we'd only seen the floors covered in drop cloths (the landlord was repainting).

4. My garden. In a few hours, Harper and I went on a mission to collect up everything we needed to build a raised bed. We went to Lower Hutt to collect barley straw and lucerne hay, got the boxing, collected some old tyres, got four bags of commercial compost, snuck next door when the neighbours were out and scraped all the grass clippings off their just-cut lawn, and emptied it all into this 2m x 1m plot with our homemade compost and some sheep pellets. It now contains red onions, beetroot and peas. In tyres, I have agria spuds, H's pumpkin, and four cherry toms. Grow you good things!

5. Harper and Sweeney's swing. Grandad Derek was just up from Christchurch, so after collecting the required materials, he spent the afternoon putting it togethe. When Sweeney came over that evening, we tested it out and taught Sweeney how to swing. Harper's still a bit little, but he likes pushing it. I sat on it yesterday and nearly broke the branch, so alas, no swinging for this monkey.

Five things about moving house

We have moved house. We are no longer residents of the cul-de-sac. Instead, we live on a vertiginous hillside, in an army green house, with a spectacular view of Makara Peak and the dying light of evening. We're k-town dwellers now.
Last night was goodbye to:
1. The brown, impervious-to-spilt-milk carpet.
2. The path of death leading down to the clothes line.
3. Shane doing his laundry, blowing his nose, emptying his bladder. And the wildebeest. *shudder*
4. Ving and his concrete shed, his utter disregard for the environment, and his 'beautiful day! Oh you big boy!'
5. Other residents of the 'sac; Dad187, Martin, Miss Piggy, Jaffa the Ginger Ninja, Ving's mum.
And it's hello to:
1. The four children who live next door, school-aged to baby-sized.
2. Living in a suburb the size of a small town.
3. Steps. And more steps.
4. Having a backyard.*
5. Pink and blue lino like you wouldn't believe.*
It's a bit chaotic at our new digs - I've lost my mobile, have only one of each of my pairs of work shoes, and who knows where the kettle is? We have no landline yet, but the shower is awesome (the 'sac's shower was utter crap) and last night just finding some pjs for Harper was an investigation on a par with locating the survivors of Oceanic 815.
A special shout out here to Anne and Ces who braved the steps and a rather ratty Harper to help us move. We couldn't have done it without you.
*photos coming once we find the camera

A stuck door

So it's getting dark outside and I'm sitting here at my laptop again, working on my freelance stuff, but finding it hard to settle and pondering making some toast. I'm thinking about how this time next week I'll be setting up my 'office' in our new flat, and working at a desk in a room, not stuck in a corner of the dining room with an old duvet cover seperating me from the Postie who is on the other side of it watching a DVD with headphones on. I know in about half an hour he'll get up and announce he's going to bed which just kills me every time, because then the house becomes even quieter and everyone is asleep and though it's only about 9pm, it feels like 2 in the morning. And I feel like I've barely even talked to him - we're like those ships passing in the night.
Someone said to me today, 'wow, you must be exhausted', and I have to say I am. It catches up with me every now and then, and I have one of those days where I'm shoving my shoulder up against time, banging it like a locked door, feeling stuck in the same minute over and over again. There is a great deal of Groundhog Day-ness about my life right now, even though what with moving and having a job with lots of variety and people and news, things seem stagnant. I think it's just me though. I will be glad when time starts moving again and I will break down that damn door and perhaps even do a bit of knitting.

Five things

1. It's a glorious day here in our glorious city. After weeks of storms and rain and hail and lightning and general ew-ness, it's nice to be squinting into the sun again. The harbour looks radiant.
2. I despair at people sometimes. We're capable of incredible kindness, generosity, creativity and love. And then something like the balloon boy hoax happens.
3. Sweeney came and stayed at our place on Saturday night and gave me some insight into how children are crafty and will avoid going to bed with all manner of techniques, including quibbling over the distance the bedside lamp should be from the actual bed. I can remember my Nana and I having songs and stories in bed when I was little, and how I never wanted her to leave. Just one more Amazing Grace? I also loved getting into bed with her on cold mornings and snuggling up to her Oil of Ulan-smelling skin.
4. As part of Sween's staying over, we watched Finding Nemo. I hadn't seen it before. My new motto in life is keep swimming.
5. Only one week and two days before we move out of the cul-de-sac. I will be glad to not have to listen to our downstair neighbour doing his housecleaning at 2am anymore. Not to mention his other nocturnal activities.

Five more things

1. We have just signed the lease on a house with an Awesome Backyard (TM) in which I can plant some veges that might survive the winter, unlike the deep dark gully of our current yard. The front yard is all grass and quite vertical; perfect for rolling little boys down it.
2. I'm wondering when it will be safe to take my coat to the drycleaners - it's spring but feels like midwinter.
3. Kakapo are one of my favourite creatures. Especially after seeing this.
4. I am writing a story about Baby Loss Awareness Week, with the help of this book. I realised I know so many people this book would help.
5. Harper is bi-lingual. This morning he said 'aporo' as I spooned aporo into his breakfast. Sweeney on the other hand, is not. I asked him last night if he wanted more kai, and he said 'no, I want more food.' Then we had a discussion about the circumarket. He's more bi-wordal than Harper.