The bold adventurers go camping

A report by Tilly, typed by Hannah.

Yesterday, me, Reuben and Dave got ready to go camping in the Hunua Ranges.  First we had to check our gear and put our sunscreen on.  Then we had to pack everything into our backpacks and get in the car.

Greetings from the future

Happy New Year y'all!  We got to 2017 before most of the world and can report that it's good so far -
in NZ at any rate.  Here's a round up of our recent Christmas events.

Christmas Day started with the traditional opening of Christmas stockings.

Reuben was bemused by the presence of a mandarin in his.  Just a joke, we said, because back in the day, you'd have had a mandarin and a lump of coal and you'd have been happy!

Harriet's carnival mask was a popular stocking filler.  It went on a trip to the beach















which is absolutely heaving at this time of year, as you can see

stayed on through present opening and didn't come off when Harriet crashed on the sofa for a mid-afternoon nap, while we were waiting for the now traditional beer-butt chicken to cook on the BBQ.

Although in fact this year, it was actually 'wine with bouquet garni-butt' chicken.



Aren't we posh?!

On Boxing Day, we went to Ambury Regional Park.  Why haven't we been here before?  There were farm animals to see, shady trees for good picnic spots



lots of space for a ramble down to the foreshore of the Manukau Harbour



and some fine views.



Plus good trees to climb with branches wide enough for sitting and reading.  Very important when your name is Reuben and you are rarely voluntarily without your nose in a book.

Yesterday we had time to kill in Auckland while Dave checked his patients at the hospital, so we explored part of Auckland Domain that we hadn't visited before. Reuben and I found this face in a rock carving

while Harriet was very affected by the statue of Cain and Abel.

"Oh no!" she was exclaiming as I took this shot, "a killed person!"

Meanwhile, Reuben had noticed something else interesting about the statue.  "Oh look," he said, "someone's stuck a flower up his bum."  Let it not be said that my children don't know how to appreciate Art. Just the kind of thing one of them would do, I was thinking, so trust them to notice it when someone else beats them to it.  Here's a close-up for you if you didn't spot it first time:

The pièce de résistance, I'm sure you'll agree.  Then we got back to our picnic spot.  "We saw a statue with a flower up its bum" said Reuben.  "That was ME!" exclaimed Tilly, beaming with pride.  Right, well - as I said, they sure know how to appreciate Art.

Then we headed down to the Viaduct for some less highbrow splashing in the pool in Silo Park and some ice cream in the Wynyard Quarter.

Good fun that was funny in the sun that was sunny, to misquote Dr. Seuss.

Why Hannah has been neglecting her family

I haven't spent much time recently sipping cocktails in my negligée while buffing my nails, but I have been slaving over my Diploma in translation.  As of last Friday, all the marks have been totted up and it's OVER.  Yay!  

Christmas Spirit

The sun is sunny, the sky is blue and the temperature is about 20 degrees today, so it's clearly time to start making Christmas cake.

How else to measure out 125ml of whisky, apart from in Harriet's bottle?

Hannah is less busy, Tilly is excited, Harriet worries about vampires and Reuben thinks that Dave may or may not be inspirational

Wow - can't believe I haven't updated the blog since June.  There was the small matter of surviving  semester, which started in July and was horrible while it lasted but is now OVER!

Celebrating the Shortest Day in the snow

Snow in Auckland is as rare as hens' teeth, but at Harriet's nursery they celebrated the Shortest Day by buying a load of snow and dumping it in the carpark for the children to play in.  Here she is enjoying a snowy frolic with her buddies:

The nursery had announced it in advance, which is why everyone else's child had come prepared with hats, gloves and boots. That detail had slipped my mind, which is why you can see my underdressed child is the only one wearing trainers.  However, it's 15° today, for all that it's technically "Midwinter", so I don't think she suffered too much!

I am a winner!

Good news!  Last week, I did my first ever paid translation.  (Drug interactions in diabetic patients causing hypoglycaemia, since you ask)! Not that I have the money in my account yet, but theoretically that thousand words has earned me $160.  Yes, if you divide the amount by how long it took me, the hourly rate would be paltry, but this is the first money I have earned since November 2012, so it's VERY exciting.  Up until now, my contribution to the household finances has been trying to avoid spending money, which always feels like a Sisyphean task.

To add to the excitement, I got a call yesterday from the supermarket to say that I had won the weekly $500 prize draw.  Woo hoo!  Here I am displayed on the winners' board earlier this morning.  

Today's winner is H. Bur..., H. Bir... what? Nah, forget it - today's winner is Hannah.

$500 is about 2 1/2 weeks of food shopping, so it's really useful.  Thank you Pak'nSave!  (Still think your name is rubbish, though).