Why living in Jville is better than the city

4.30pm

4.35pm

4.40pm

Happy o'clock

Hole ...

... where this little guy used to be.

He's having a riot in Chch with his nana popping fuschias in the garden, assisting in the very important task of taking out the wheelie bins, and developing a love of peas straight from the pod.

Meanwhile his parents are sanding and plastering and scraping and painting and waterblasting.

Two weeks to go till he comes home. In terms of getting chores done before he gets back, it's not enough time. In terms of how much I miss him, one minute is too long.

An offer

I want to grow food and plant trees in this garden: I want to cook meals and make pots of tea in this kitchen:We've had an offer accepted on this house and now we just have to go through the process of hoop jumping, red tape cutting and box ticking.
And then it will be ours, wah ha ha!

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

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.

Five things

1. I watched Koyaanisqatsi on the weekend - it isn't anywhere near as good as Baraka. I don't think a shot of a plane taxiing for three and a half minutes is art. The hairstyles were funny though.
2. Go to The Larder in Miramar. The sausage rolls are Am-ay-zing. I want to go back and try the souffle.
3. We've exhausted the amount of time we had to buy a house, so now it's back to renting. Our landlords are returning from overseas and we have to move out by the end of the month. All I can say is pfft.
4. Harper has added 'mine' to his growing vocabulary. He usually says it quite aggressively, hugging whatever is 'mine' to his chest. He's also really into shoes, and this morning put on a pair of my high heels.
5. It hailed last night and this morning, even though we're in mid-spring. Coincidentally, one of the back windows in my car won't go up.

It's all happening

Man. We've had an offer accepted on a house - not my dream house - but a house, and as I type, Postie is on the phone to the solicitor nutting some stuff out. It's exciting, terrifying.

And in other news, Harper had his hair cut for the first time today. It's too dark to take decent photos, so standby on that one. Postie did it with some clippers and made rather a nice job of it. Looking at photos of before, I don't know why we didn't do it sooner. H was beginning to look like a member of the Bay City Rollers.