I took part in a busking competition on Labour day. Despite this being billed as an acoustic event, there were a large number of 12 volt amps in evidence, powered by suitably large batteries and I was drowned out. I had to move several times because I couldn't hear myself. I also had to move on account of the belly dancer who parked herself opposite me, which was "distracting".
Imogen wanted a Rip Stick for her birthday, the skateboard being far too easy to handle. She struggled with the Stick initially, but after watching the accompanying DVD she was off. Thus far no new trips to the casualty department.
The gas on the BBQ has finally run out. It seems it lasts just over 12 months. Naturally it failed when we had a few friends round, and thus proceedings were adjourned to the kitchen.
The pool has been causing some concern of late. Now the weather is hotting up, the water is just the right temperature. Unfortunately, the paint is coming off, and a little, or indeed a lot of agitation turns the pool into something resembling milk of magnesia. We decided to grasp the bull by the horns and drained the thing, with the help of a pump from Pool Services. The idea was to take the Karcher power washer and blast the oxidising paint off and the refill it. However, although the Karcher blew a lot of rubbish off, there was a stubborn undercoat that continued to release a white residue when you rubbed your hand over it. We concluded that the best plan of attack was to brush this off with a number of wire brushes. This turned into a game that most of the family was roped into with varying degrees of cooperation. Some of the smaller members looked like Smurfettes by the time they had finished, being covered in blue paint. We also discovered that one of the steps cut into the concrete appeared to be rotting away. The more we scrubbed, the more concrete dropped out. Pool Services recommended we get some epoxy mortar and stuff it into the hole. This was a rather gooey job, but ultimately it was successful, although $65 for what seems like two tubs of Araldite seemed a little expensive. We refilled the pool, which took 46 hours, took 45 cubic metres of water and cost an estimated $70. A week later, the pool is still pretty clear (you can see the filter at the bottom) and the kids are in it most days after school. The floating duck thermometer has nudged 29C, which is most pleasant.The pool has also claimed its first victim. A hedgehog managed to get itself into the pool, but sadly didn't make it out again, prompting a hedgehog funeral. A second one did much the same thing, but as the pool was empty at the time, lived to tell the tale. It nearly didn't though - given how much s**t it left in it's wake.
We had our first visitor from the UK. Di's sister came to stay for a few days before disappearing off to Oz for a week and then returning to stay with us for another few days. Quite why she did it this way round remains a mystery. We're expecting a visit from another friend from the UK, who is one of these super fit iron men types. I just know that I'm going to get dragged out on an enormous long run and probably die in the process. Looking forward to it already.Business wise I have picked up a few new customers. Most of these are castoffs from a guy I've done some work for who has far too much on his plate. No major projects yet, but every little is useful.
Di's office decided it was going to shut down and move everybody to Tauranga. This wasn't really working, so Di jumped ship and is now working for another agency who were chasing her hard, as were quite a few others to get her on board.
One evening we went for a walk on the beach, just across from our house. While we were there, we spotted a couple of sharks in the surf. They were about 4-5 feet long and not more than 20 yards from the shore. Di wanted some photos, and ended up wading deeper and deeper into the surf to get the best shots with the camera phone. She managed a couple of decent-ish ones, and came out with the requisite number of limbs although some were a little damp. Apparently there have been rather a few sightings of late, which prompted the press to appeal for eye witness accounts. Di's photo ended up on the front of the BOP Times, and also the NZ Herald - so it made the national press.
A friend of ours had to go back to the UK recently, which meant that we ended up dog sitting Kylie, a rather bouncy stick obsessed labradoodle. The kids made a massive fuss of her and wore the poor animal out. Naturally she ended up in the pool a couple of times (did I really need to throw the stick in that direction ;) but was none the worse for wear. I tried to take her for a jog, but after she decided to do what dogs do after 200 yards and showed a general reluctance to keep up with my decidedly modest pace, I thought better of it. It turns out that every time that dog gets out of the house, it empties its bowels. Labradoodle? Poobrador more like. However, on the plus side, having had Kylie to stay for a few days, the novelty of owning a dog has faded. We have managed to acquire a pair of guinea pigs though. I am told they are both male.It's the end of the year, and all the kids have had the school reports. Phoebe is doing fantastically well and is now above the controversial national standards in everything except writing. Freya isn't doing quite so well, but is on target. Imogen is doing just fine, and we had to attend an awards ceremony at school, where she was presented with three awards. Rhiannon, however has just about blown the school apart. She managed to pick up *ELEVEN* awards, including first place in her year for Japanese and Music, second in science and social sciences, and the finishing touch being second overall aggregate in her year group. Fantastic.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
