Snow

Yes, we love snow.  It is a rare event so we are all facebooking like mad and loving the look of the place.  The fire is on and we have electricity so just cosying up and enjoying the ride. 

Just finished reading #46

When God was a rabbit - Sarah Winman

Loved it.  Dark and funny but not dark in a way that you feel like you are in a dark room and too scared to go out.  Darkly optimistic if there is such a thing.  Great characters that you just can't help but wanting to know.  Told through the eyes of Eleanor Maud through a reasonaly trautatic 30 year period.  Elly is a loyal non judgemental girl who was born exactly the year I was so her songs and significant world events match mine which is just a wee bonus for me.    Set in London (I think), Cornwall and New York it such a delight to read on a cold weekend that you just don't want to put it down.  It is really about Elly and her brother, the bonds of family love (in many forms) and the acceptance of all kinds of delightful and interesting people.  Jenny Penny, Nancy the film star auntie and eccentric Arthur are favourites.  When I was telling some friends about it the other day I was laughing with tears and I didn't realise until then how bloody funny it was.  Highly recommend.

Just finished reading #45

A secret kept - Tatiana De Rosnay

I finished this bookgroup book this afternoon while sitting by the fire after a stint in the garden.  I thought it was an enjoyable light read that fulfilled my need to be absent in mind from my surroundigs.  Set in Paris and other bits of France, I got 'Google Earthing' to check out some of the locations.  I think it is a good sign when you do this.  I also had a croissant for breakfast as well so I was in the zone.  The author penned 'Sarah's Key' so I knew what I was getting into.  I read a review which totally slammed it but I don't care, I enjoyed it for all its flaws.   So, the main character is called Antoin.  He is divorced, unhappy and hates his job.  Helping his sister celebrate her 40th birthday in a favourite childhood holiday spot, he unwittingly opens up the wound of losing his mother as a child.  Along with his teenage kids issues, his ex-wife issues, a car accident and long hidden family secrets we are treated to a Parisian tour.   I liked how it ended,  I liked the writing, the story and the characters.  A nice weekend read. 

Kindness

I am on a bit of a roll tonight.  After a month of inactivity, largely earthquake related inertia driven, I am feeling inspired to share a whole lot of stuff all of a sudden. In one week we were the recipients of two very kind acts from others.  Nic and his entire school received 'bedtime beanies' from the wonderfully kind knitters from around the country.  It was amazing to see everyone bouncing out of school in wonderful hand knitted hats. Each one came with a little note...ours said 'made with love in Tauranga'  No prizes for guessing what that felt like. 

 Then came home a gorgeous bag of goodies presented to all families at school full of cosmetics and other useful things for the whole family.  This was put together by the very generous Cosmetic Toiletry and Fragrance Association.  Wow!! Sooo kind. 'Something to brighten your day' said the little note.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for every kind earthquake thing.  Every nice comment, little treat and acknowledgement is very supportive and does bring a ray of sunshine to our lives.

Just finished reading #44

I have been reading but such is the state of my mind, I can't actually remember a few of them.  For the life of me I just can't but I do remember this little gem.

Dolci di Love - Sara-Kate Lynch

I have read all of SKL's books and really enjoy them.  I bought this one when it was my turn at bookgroup last month and it was just the perfect thing for when you just can't get into a book.  There is no pretense as to what the books are for and this one totally fulfilled its promise. 

 When childless Lily Turner finds out her perfect husband has a secret family in Tuscany she goes there to find him but gets tangled up with an underground league of Italian widows hell-bent on mending broken hearts - including hers.  It is full of interesting characters, foody themes and some interesting twists and turns.  There is also Lily the slightly annoying heroine.  A common feature of SKLs books.  Anyway, a good weekend or holiday read Thanks Sarah-Kate for taking me to Tuscany when I really needed not to be here.
BTW - the two other titles I bought for book group were 'The conductor' by Sara Quigley and 'The brief wondrous life of Oscar Wao' by Junot Diaz.  Cant WAIT to read them both.

Who'd a thought

Another freaking huge earthquake has punctuated the month since I last wrote.  I was feeling bad about not writing and now I just feel the need to do that.  There is so much to share but it is a bit hard to share as it is so hard for people who have not experienced a series of life altering earthquakes to understand the devastating effect it has on everyone's lives, dreams and futures.  You just can't get it.  However, people have really tried and the sympathy, love, treats and support is AMAZING!  No one should have to deal with this much heartache but many 1,000's of people all over the world live in fear and hardship everyday with no dreams or futures.   I feel lucky to live here in New Zealand with a democracy, caring government, caring and generous people and a positive attitude.  We are sooo lucky. 

Share an idea

This morning after a cup o coffee and a croissant at Blax, we joined Alex, Joseph and Oliver at the CCC Share an Idea event at the CBS Arena.  What an fantastic opportunity to share ideas about how to rebuild Christchurch.  They divided the ideas into four categories 'Market', 'move', 'place' and 'life'.  We could share our ideas using post it notes, online, and on Youtube.  It was a totally informal event that included lego to help people place their ideas on a giant CBD map.  I saw far too many people I knew to make this a really useful event for me to contribute but it was fantastic seeing so many ChCh people there sharing ideas.  You can still go on line and share thoughts so I will do that in the next few days.  Back to the people, people I haven't seen since before the earthquake, colleagues, friends and long past people I knew.    Our boys were very brave and did a Youtube piece each, talking about their idea.  So sweet.  And they have given me permission to share.  So, if I can work out how to do taht, here it is....

Nic's idea
Oliver's idea
Joseph's idea

It was really good to hear lots of different ideas from people around me as I get really close to these things as part of my work and hearing a wide variety of perspectives is vital.  Thanks for suggesting we go together Al.

Saturday /Autumn

Although the thing about autumn is the coolness in the air and changing of colours from summer green to golden tones, today is just like a summer's day and it feels great.  One thing I just love about autumn are the chrysanthemums.  I know they are not cool or hip flowers, but who couldn't just love these?

Nic and I are flying solo at the moment while Jonty visits his mother in England.  It has been a very busy three weeks but after tennis this morning, we treated ourselves to an autumn picnic on the long grass before I got the mower out.

On our (tiny) platter we had some very special treats.  Special because they were homemade but also some treats from  Mediterranean Foods which is open again after a long recovery from the earthquake.  Their building  which is the Monier brick and tile building, is in really good nick considering but the shop is very small until the floor slab can be fixed.  So, this is one of my 'adopt a business' places.  This wont be hard of course as the place is a haven of deliciousness.  Pass the word around ChCh people and get down there for your weekend cheese and Italian fare shopping.  It is a shame the cafe isn't open yet but it will be soon.  Keep you eyes peeled

The other joys of summer days is getting out your blow up play equipment and tents and making up stories and adventures deep in the garden.  Here is where I found Nic after a bit of searching. 

Piha

Although we have been back for over a week, I am only just now getting myself organised to share our awesome Auckland holiday with you all.  Our goal was to go to places we have never been in Auckland and do some new and interesting things that might feel like a little adventure.  So, famous Piha first.  We went super budget and stayed in a caravan with no running water or toilet, mmm just like home.  Oh well, it was fine and we met some nice people and had a blast discovering Piha. So gorgeous and obviously a much favoured and precious place for Aucklanders.  I liked that it was very non commercial and true to itself.  Shame about the weather but hey, the library had an awesome view.  The librarian was a bit grumpy though.  Bugger.

 The caravan

 Lion rock

 Looking North

 Awesome sand hill at North Piha beach

 One of the few Kauri trees left in the area.  It was a big logging area in the past.  Such an interesting history

 Sunset from the main house of our little accommodation space.  Sweet

 Gorgeous waterfall walk through the forest

 Up the Lion, loved it up there

Willowbank

There are often silver linings to be found when you live in an earthquake zone and you are often looking for them during the drudgery of getting about.  Yesterday I had one of those linings.  Being able to work flexibility meant that I got to go to Willowbank Wildlife Park with Nicholas.  At the age of eight, this was the first time we had done this together.  He has been several times but not with me.  Aside from that lovely mother son bonding moment I got to escape earthquake stuff for a couple of hours as well as see some very cool NZ natives. I almost shed a tear when I got a hand space away from a gorgeous little kiwi with not a pane of glass in site.  Loved it

 Come to think of it there were lots of introduced species there too which are a bit more approachable and cute

 Soft wallaby

 Scruffy and nosey Llamas

 Nat and Nic trying to get the kea to take the bait

Autumn

I composed this post in my head yesterday and it was going to go something like...'when did Autumn arrive?  Where did March disappear to?' and so on.  It came to me as I drove along the western boarder of Hagley Park (my new oasis in the broken city)  as glowing orange leaves fluttered down on the road, rugby children played off in the distant foggy sports grounds and I was heading for Hornby (yes Hornby) to buy some much needed clothing supplies.  It was a bit of a dreamy post about life going on and how the seasons still roll on and how lovely that all is. 

Well, two things shattered my reverie - the first being shopping at DressMart on a wet (it had started raining by the time I got there) grey day with a bunch of glum looking bored people, driving home in a traffic jam on a Saturday in the pouring rain and knowing I wasn't coming home to a cosy house.  The second was sitting in Hollywood Movie Theatre eating my delicious Kapiti ice cream at 5.54pm when the fucking 5.3 earthquake hit.  The look of terror in Alex's eyes and my cowering on the floor of the theatre was enough for us to get the hell out of there.   However, after some calls home and abit of shaking and some brave talk we re-entered the theatre to watch our movie (ice cream intact).

'Sarah's Key' has accolades and good press but in my dogged fashion, I don't read reviews before I go to films as I like my own path of discovery to be pure, so sitting in post quake terror watching the horrors of parents being ripped from their children, guilt, and other Holocaust bits and bobs added another layer of terror to my thumping heart.  I would have to say the film was awesome and I love Kristei Scott Thomas in everything so it really is worth seeing.  Here is someone elses review of the movie which I think is pretty right if you want to read it.

As Alex dropped me off in my bumpy, puddled street I glanced at the car clock - it was only 8.20pm.  It felt like 2 o'clock in the morning and I felt exhausted and bashed about.  However, I snuggled down on the sofa under the winter white fluffy blanket and drifted off into la la land in peace.  A bit of an up and down day I would have to say.

Still here

Hi there.'.yes I am still here.   I am finding getting the words to blog is pretty hard when you live in a natural disaster Civil Defence emergency zone.  It seems like you just have enough energy to get the basics done but anything else is just beyond our reach.  However, I am starting to get it together and today was another step along the path.  Biking to work, albeit a different place, was massive.  Finally I have a place to work from and a rare day where I didn't have to drive from place to place for meetings.  The weather was most stunning as was the river.  I had a cycle lane to help me stay out of everyone's way.  There was even a little bit of urban mountain biking to enjoy courtesy of massive liquefaction and extreme earthquake damage.  When I got home the garden looked a stylish autumn shabby and there was no sign of my boys.  So on top of a great ride and a productive day I had 15 minutes of peace.  This was shattered in the most exciting way by a phone call from Stacey at Placemakers to say Phil or Roger will be phoning us within a week to organise coming round to FIX OUR LOG BURNER!!  This means winter warmth.  That is all we have been hoping for.  Thanks EQC, I have always had faith and you have not let us down yet.  This is all very energizing.

Just finished reading #42 and #43

Unlike many of my friends I have managed to read since the earthquake.  It was as shaky start (excuse the pun) as it is very hard to concentrate after a major natural disaster but eventually I managed to pick up a book.  Having two good'ns has made my journey back into the world of words very easy. 

The Hut Builders - Laurence Fearnley

 
It is no secret that I love this woman's work.  She writes with perfection I think.  I am not a scholar so don't know if she is that great but her words, sense of place, characters and stories are enthralling.  I loved this book.  I suspect the title could really be anything really so don't be put off by the reference to the mountains.  It is set in the beautiful McKenzie country region and follows the life of Boden from the late 40's to the present day.  He is a very appealing character, self effacing, quiet and likable.  He does go up a mountain - ahh, I think I have just worked out the significance of that....  This is a book that requires commitment so stick with it, it is really worth it.  Beautiful writing and I own it.

The good daughters  Joyce Maynard

I read this one in one day and a bit.  I don't think it was the best book I have ever read but it was written in a style that made you want to turn the next page.  It was also one of those stories told by two characters taking a chapter each.  Those kind of books are often spellbinding.  Anyway this is how it goes...two girls are born on the same day to very different families in a small rural town.  their lives are entwined in many different ways and lots of good and bad things happen.  What I enjoyed was the subtlety and sophistication of the writing.  It could have been very bland and 'he said, she said' but it was delightful. Time passes and many things happen. This is such an enjoyable and interesting read.  No more information is forthcoming as I just can't bring myself to ruin a good story by telling you what happens.  For me the slow unraveling of a story is the delight of reading and the sign of a well developed story. 

People

Everyone has been saying it and I am not being particularly original in talking about it either.  We have been overwhelmed by the kindness of our friends, family as well as random strangers.  In the first week when we had no power or water and a broken road, floods and liquefaction we rocked up to our friends with defrosting food, towels and shampoo as well as a load of washing.  We were treated with physical warmth and the luxury of a shower and being looked after for a few hours.  Going home to a dark house was weird but became familiar and there were plenty of positives.  Here are some of the people I managed to photograph over the first week and a bit.  If you helped us and are not in the post, doesn't mean we don't love you and your help wasn't hugely appreciated.

Day three.  An amazing family from Lincoln who just rocked up and started digging with us and our neighbours.  This is us having a flash barbie at lunchtime as our food was starting to defrost.  Two people in this photo are Rose and Robin.  Robin works as a teacher at Lincoln primary school.  They left before I could say thank you.  Lovely kind people!!

 Bob cat guy and his lovely team of kind and willing workers.  We didn't need much bob catting but he helped our neighbours and we managed to clear Margaret's place while she was at work.  Recovering from a broken neck, Margaret had limited abilities.  It was very rewarding to dig for her and to see her face when she got home.

 The Mounsey family who fed us and let us charge our phones on day two after a big digging day.  It was the human warmth we loved the most

 Vaughan the truck driver who offered to let us drive in his truck to the landfill to see where our silt was going.  Random and lovely.  Thanks Vaughan!!

 The Healing-Dalzell's.  Great night, fantastic tuna flan and Nic just loved hanging with the boys.  Having a  sleep over was fantastic for Nic and a nice break for us.  Thank you

 The Morely-Halls in Amberly Beach.  A bbq on the deck, a shower and you can see the washing on the line in the background.  It was so refreshing to be out of shaky town for a day.  Soooo kind.

 Random digger and roading guys who let Nic play and work with them for days on end.  So sweet

..and the people who set up a sausage sizzle from ENZED and Divine Cakes....we were all a bit shell shocked and dazed that day...my parents who hosted Livvies birthday day party three days after the quake.  They looked exhausted when we left....lovely Rangiora guy who stopped his ute and offered us  bag of loo paper...Ohoka woman in the black 4WD  who had muffins, coffee and water....the random guy who turned up on a digging day with a bag of McDonald's cheeseburgers...wow....AND the lovely woman who ran into her house as I walked for hours to get Nic from school on quake day and got me a pair of her husbands shoes to replace the very high shoes I was wearing......and so it goes on and on.  And on top of all that there were the emails, texts and phonecalls from our loved ones all around the country and the world.  Thanks for thinking of us.

Now that we are up and running I have been able to help too and it feels soooo good.  I had a fantastic day doing Welfare Response yesterday, helping lonely and struggling people with a listening ear, information and some confidence.  Loved it.

silt!

Well, one of the big things that has impacted on us is the silt ...absolutely bucket loads of it.  Now it has turned into dust, clouds and hills worth of dust, layers and layers over the house, the garden, the cars and in our lungs.  Here are some pictures I have taken of silt.

Day one Tuesday afternoon..this is our driveway and back patio

 It doesn't look THAT bad until you have to dig it up and see it piled on the road. 

Looking west day 2

 Early morning looking east day 2

looking down our drive day two

 Nic and Jonty doing the hard yards...check out the traffic

 Silt to the left of the driveway.  that big flat nothing much looking slick was 40cm deep

 Georgie loves it.  Yesterday the wind blew a lot of this away but still there is plenty.