anyone for a quick drag around the lake?

Resolution #7... Step outside the comfort zone.

So when I was asked if I'd like to try waterskiing I squealed with delight and begged them to take me, (OK, that's an exaggeration but I didn't say no and feign an ankle injury which is my usual get out of jail card).

How hard can it be... the family we were staying with have six year old twins and they can do it...

Haaaah!

A complete nightmare, after numerous attempts and having still not even made it to a crouch I admitted defeat and, in as dignified a manner as is possible when the vast amount of lake you've swallowed is determined to exit through the nostrils at an horrific speed, left the water. Once Slap's hysteria had calmed he pointed out with great gusto that if my head had spun 360 degrees I'd have looked scarily similar to that poor girl in the Exorcist!

To add to the humiliation I was then beaten by both twins at backgammon, arm wrestling and count the press ups, although a late win in the 'who has the biggest bruise' competition restored a smidgeon of pride.

Child prodigies....hugely overrated!

P.S. The bruise was an astounding 9cm long and a beautiful shade of greeny blue...who needs to waterski when you can produce skin discolouration to that sort of standard.

diving miss daisy...

The nicest thing just happened; I overheard a conversation between my youngest and his cousin. Alf was telling Frank all about the recent diving lesson I gave him (we're talking ' how not to belly flop' as opposed to twisty cliff diving I hasten to add) and how helpful and fun he had found it....I KNOW!

I've had a chequered past when it comes to "just trying to help".

Apparently I'm the worst driving instructor in the world as I'm prone to sudden screaming and I insist on clutching at the dashboard and using the handbrake willy nilly...in my defense we had randomly pulled into a bus lane where a large No647 was hurtling towards us and then forgotten that red lights at an intersection were in fact a command to stop, not just a decorative hint!!

There was also a nasty incident with some papier mache, a homemade kite and a box of meccano...again in my defense I think it only fair that the person who thought of the idea in the first place/bought or supplied the necessaries/did most of the work on a craft project, should absolutely get the first and longest go... 5 year olds can be so irrational can't they?

So to hear that a lesson with me was almost enjoyable...well it gladdens the heart.

vegging out...

I'm awash with courgettes and radishes...bliss!

Pomona gave me some very helpful advice regarding the virtues of raised beds so the spade brigade got going and we are now the happy beneficaries of baskets full of fresh veg. We've always grown lemons, potatoes and salad and tomatoes in pots but this year we really went to town and are growing a little bit of everything. Slap took charge of the choosing and planting, hence the beautifully straight lines and specific plots for each vegetable. Next time we are having a bed each as I'm more of a shove it in with gay abandon and add a lavish sprinkling of flowers for good measure.

As Alfie chants whenever there's a heated debate at the dinner table,

"Who's gonna win, who's gonna win!!"

kiwiana crush...

When you move to a new country that is in so many ways very similar to your own, the differences are rather exciting. So when I found these alphabet cards, extolling the virtues of all things Kiwi, I thought the front room wall would be a far better display spot than the children's bedroom, especially as the childrens rooms in this house belong to teenagers with a fondness for poster books and blue tack.

So here they are in all there kiwi flavoured goodness..... enjoy!

P.S. Aroha means love, don't you think it's the perfect girl's name?

ride 'em cowboy!

It's a holiday roundup y'all!

There now follows a list of things I fell in love with this summer:

Fishing... off rocks, off a boat, off my head with the joy of catching stuff, getting someone else to kill it whilst I close my eyes and sing 'ging gang goolly' (my happy place song) then cooking it immediately in the open air before feasting like kings.

Camping... we managed to erect the tent on a scorching afternoon without a single cross word, we slept like babies, lived in the same funky smelling T-shirts for a week, played backgammon, drank beer, told some very tall tales and partied hard.

I've already booked the same pitch for next year....bliss!

Suntans and an Epilator... I've been sporting golden brown, stubble free legs that really do look longer than the hairy, white versions I was hiding within my woolly tights a few months ago. I realise, like the mayfly, they are only here for a few, heady days as the painful high maintenance needed for this look is frankly, a little beyond me. For now though, I'll continue to mince around the house with my short shorts on.

The Tua Tua Shuffle... a strange little dance reminiscent of the twist; it's carried out in waist deep water on a beach at low tide. You shuffle to the left, you shuffle to the right and when your toes hit the motherload you dive and grab these delicious little shell fish. Collect a bucketful, soak in fresh water overnight before marinating and steaming ...gobble, gobble, gobble.

My man... all over again. 2009 was our very own Annus horribilis and although there are still issues to be worked through we are marching in time, hand in hand, singing ging, gang, goolly at the top of our voices.

x.x.x

happy new year...

Resolution #1....keep up to date with blog posting.

BUGGER!!

We are still in holiday mode but I'll be back next week with a list as long as my arm, full of resolutions that have already been broken.

Resolution #2... stop making so may lists.

AAAAARRRRGGGHHGH!!!