Friday feeling...

Friday and time for an Auckland villa door.... I think this appeals because what I'd really like to do for the next month is plant myself on that bench and watch the world walk past... or the rain thunder down. Auckland has been doing what it does best this week - pouring rain one minute and sunshine the next. Not the best weather to be without the car we sold yesterday.

I am feeling very mixed up this week. On one hand I am looking forward to the new chapter back in Australia, on the other I am dreading leaving the life we have here, my home, my community and my friends. That mixed up feeling deserves a post of its own when I have time to think and write.

My son finished school today with a lovely final assembly and some very kind words from his teacher and principal. I have had coffees and lunches with friends and am getting ready for a very casual get together with kids and mums and dads tomorrow. Oh yes and I have made lists and lists and ticked off lots of necessary but rather tedious things - that is why that bench beckons...  

Taking flight....

In between all the boring stuff we have been making the most of our last few weeks in Auckland. Now we only have a few days left and a list as long as my arm to get through... annoying, dull little jobs that I won't bore you with here. 

Instead, something pretty. Auckland on a shining winter's day, a backdrop to the Matariki Kite Festival. 

Matariki was the name given by ancient Maori to a small cluster of stars. They believed the appearance of Matariki signified the end of one year and the beginning of another. 

Kites have an ancient link to Matariki - Maori believed they connected heaven and earth. On a day like this I quite believed it too. 

Heaven for small boys and kite geeks alike and there were plenty of both...

Going, going, nearly gone...

Radio silence from here for way too long but this is why.

I have been tidying, cleaning, scrubbing and smiling (not) my way through a house sale. And it paid off. Sold with only a few tears from me. I have loved this house and our little villa life.

Oh yes,  mid marketing campaign this happened...

The three year old pulled a table down onto his big toe breaking it at a rather nasty fifty degree angle in the wrong direction. Apparently the table fell down "all by itself."

After a hospital visit to have the break reset he was plastered up to his thigh to keep him immobile and the toe still. That is working - we just have to lug him and another five kilos of plaster around. Kids though are incredible. He's perfectly happy and has adapted to crawling and bum-shuffling around on the floor and is very proud of his 'blaster'.

I think it's my fault... a few days earlier I had foolishly muttered something about the move going smoothly this time. How little I've learned.

Goodbye week... I won't miss you much...

Friday and time for another door, blue this time. Apparently blue is back - all because a girl called Kate wore a blue dress to match her sparkling new sapphire ring. She did wear it well and I think this front door does too. 

I'm becoming a blog bore... sorry.  There's been little time for much fun lately and a streaming cold taking up what little head space I have left. 

There's always next week. Tea and tissues anyone?

Day tripping...

This is not really a day trip, more like a quick trip to the park but heavens what a park. When I first walked up to the top of Mt Eden in Auckland my jaw dropped... that green, green grass and that incredible crater.  I finally took the boys (and my camera) back last week - a fabulous view... 

Mt Eden last erupted about 15,000 years ago. There are quite a few smaller craters dotter around the cone but this is the biggest at 50 metres deep. There are 49 volcanoes in Auckland's volcanic field and we might get another one apparently. There's a 5% chance of a new eruption in the next 50 years. I've done my research though and experts will give at least a few days warning and we'll all probably sit in traffic for three days trying to leave the city. Better that than what the poor sods in Christchurch are going through. 

All those volcanoes do make for fabulous green space in the city. Mt Eden is a great spot to run, walk or take the kids to play. Mine love to stand as close as they can to the edge of the crater.

We have to make the most of playing in long grass - I won't be so relaxed about that in Australia. Mud I don't mind so much.

A kitchen essential?

A crusty old microwave is not a thing of beauty.

I got so sick of looking at mine on my kitchen bench that I left if out on hard rubbish day a couple of months ago.  The people who'd owned our place didn't have a microwave and I'd never got round to installing ours in a cupboard.  At first I thought they were mad not to have one but I started to think I might not need one either.

Two months after throwing it out I'm convinced I don't.

I bought mine six and a half years ago when my first son was born. Contrary to all good advice I used it to heat his bottles. I know, bad mother.  I also used it to reheat all those frozen puree bits and pieces that were such a feature of his life in the early days.

In the last year or so I realised I was really only ever using it to melt butter or chocolate for brownies. Cooking vegetables in it could take much longer than simply steaming in a small pan with a dash of water.

So now it's just me and the stove top and we're getting on famously. My new best friends are my three small saucepans. You can reheat almost anything with a splash of water.  Forgetting to defrost the chicken or mince for dinner is not a disaster. A couple of ziplock bags and a sink of warm to hot water, some patience and you can fix it.

The only disaster is a rushed school morning and frozen bread you can't prise apart for sandwiches. I don't think a good soak in warm water works.

I got rid of the microwave on hard rubbish day. We live in a pretty nice area so it's the sort of event that draws a crowd.   The morning I left the microwave out  I put it down on the verge and then dashed back inside to grab my camera.

As I emerged from our gate a van with two very large men crammed in the front screeched to a stop. The passenger jumped out and looked a little sheepish when he saw me but who felt the bigger fool?

I had to ask him to wait while I took a photo. He's probably still wondering now what on earth I was up to.  Mad people, bloggers.

Busy, busy...

It's said a picture is worth thousand words so this will have to do today. This pretty much sums up the last week or so. We've had a painter in to touch up the house and it's looking tidy and terrific. So terrific I absolutely do not want to sell it. So tidy that I may keel over before the week ends. Blogging is taking a back seat along with exercise, a social life and my sanity. Ah well, who said moving was easy?