Eat My Selwyn

In keeping with our recent move down to the Selwyn District, I am drawing an end to Eat My Horowhenua. I have set up a new blog called Eat My Selwyn. Hooray!

A Strange and Terrible Place

Brasilian footballer Emerson's wife once described northern industrial hellhole Middlesborough as a strange and terrible place. Quite aptly, I believe. Now that its time to leave Levin, I can't wait to get away from this unfriendly town where it does nothing but rain.

We are all ready to make the move down south. I have finished work. The house is sold. Everything was packed up yesterday and has been taken away. The crossing is booked. We are out of here tomorrow.

Today has been a bit stressful. Lily has been behaving like a typical two year old and refusing to do anything. We've been camping out in the house without much in the way of anything. Worst of all, the dogs ate my chocolate. One and a half giant 250g bars of it (a leaving present from work). I was so cross when I got home to find the empty wrappers scattered across the floor. Chocolate's really bad for dogs as well so I hope they aren't too ill for the 3 hour ferry crossing on choppy waters tomorrow. I would hate to have to fork out for the vet as well.

Scooter Lack of Progress

The new part has arived for my scooter. It was the wrong part again. Another one has been ordered from Italy and we will presumably hear in a months time whether they have got it right...

I am over it. I don't want to hear any more. I just want my cheque from the sale.

Little Miss Obstinate

Lily and I went to Paper Plus today to buy her a Mr Man book. They are cheap and quite amusing for us parents who have to read the same book dozens of times and are a bit fed up of Spot Bakes a Cake.

I made the mistake of letting her browse the books first. She didn't really want a Mr Man book, she wanted another one. One costing $16 instead of $4. I bought her Mr Greedy instead. "She didn't really want that book" she said on the way home.

I've read the Mr Greedy book and it is quite funny. Lily however, hasn't. "put it back in the bag" she says whenever it is brought out.

It's very disappointing. She has such a long memory it'll be weeks before we can try Mr Greedy again.

Sold! (hopefully)

We had an offer on our house last week and we are just waiting for the sale to go through, which should be next week.

In the meantime, we had our second open home today. No-one came, which would have been depressing if we hadn't sold it already. Jonathan, the estate agent said they had been very quiet this weekend and that no-one had come to any of his open homes today.

I have been thinking about Jonathan sitting forlornly in different houses all weekend, waiting for people to arrive who never do. It makes me feel sad.

Scooter Progress

Some ten weeks ago, my scooter broke down on the way home. It has been in the garage ever since. The bike shop has been waiting for a part to arrive from Italy. Last week, the part finally arrived in Wellington. It was the wrong part.

A new one has been ordered.

Open Home

In Kiwiland, when you sell a house, you have an open home. You go out for an hour, and leave the estate agent in the house to show round anyone who turns up. Ours was at three o clock today and needless to say we had to spend the whole of Saturday and half of Sunday doing the cleaning.

We were a bit pessemistic about how it would go. The housing market is very quiet at the moment and it was a horror-show of miserable weather this morning, the kind of heavy rain that sets up residence for several days round here. And next door's rottweiler started howling, which tends to put people off.

But it actually went very well. We had six people round, which is quite good going, as long as they aren't all nosy neighbours. So at the moment we are feeling good about our decision to move.

Faster Disaster

Following yesterday's disaster in slow motion, we had a faster disaster when the TV broke in an instant. We are not sure whether to get it fixed, or to buy a cheap new one, or an expensive new one that might last a bit longer. An urgent decision is required because we don't want to miss the first episode in the new series of Kiwi drama Outrageous Fortune tomorrow night.

A Disaster in Slow Motion

I took Lily and the dogs to Waikawa Beach today. On the way home we lost the beach ball. Lily fell over and dropped it. As I picked her up, the ball rolled slowly towards the river.

I chased it, but couldn't quite catch it in time. It floated slowly away. I took my shoes off, but the water was too deep. "Daddy get it," she howled. I couldn't, it was just out of reach. We watched it disappear towards the centre of the stream and float towards the sea to join the 10,000 square miles of plastic waste floating in the Pacific. Poor Lily was distraught.

There's a happy ending to this story. The ball floated all the way across the river to the other side and a man chased after us to tell us. Phew!

Cheese and Petrol

The price of cheese seems to be fairly stable with most supermarkets having a $10 budget option. But, like the cost of petrol, we live in fear of more increases. Who knows where it will all end?

Petrol has topped $2.00 a litre but I have finally managed to lift-share to work with a colleague who has moved to Waitarere, up the road. That's a great relief as getting the only train of the day from Levin at 6.55 was wearing pretty thin, as was scootering to work.

My bike is still in the garage as they are waiting for parts to arrive from godknowswhere.

House for Sale

We are getting ready to move and the house is now for sale. If interested, you can check it out here:

http://www.realestate.co.nz/821236?show_additional_properties=0

We Are Moving to Christchurch

The Hattams are on the move again.

We are moving to Christchurch. I have a job working for a council down there and we are being allowed the use of a council house. It all looks pretty good.

We Need Trees

I went on a tree planting morning at work yesterday. We planted 200 trees, which fills up a surprisingly small area. As we were finishing, a bloke from Iran turned up. He was cycling around the world planting trees as he went. He'd been doing it for 18 months. He was quite a cool dude really. Hs website is www.weneedtrees.com.

Working Sucks!

Some things are good about New Zealand but the conditions of employment suck! I am so fed up ofhaving to get to work at 8am every day and not leaving until 5. Honestly, it's enough to make you want to leave the country!

Cheesewatchers TM

In view of the high price of cheese, action is required to economise. Jo is restricting us (mainly me) to 700g per week. She is going to cut the block into ten and freeze the pieces, taking one out each day. It's the best way to deal with the situation...

A trip to Tauranga

Because we have had a visitor, we decided to take a trip to Tauranga, a place we have not previously been. This is what happened:

We were blown away by the scary metropolitan atmosphere, the three lane roads, large roundabouts and shopping centre. Mum remarked that it was nice there was a choice of shopping streets. It was a bit like Bromley.

We shared a room with Lily. She woke us up each morning with singing and laughing. "Ha ha ha!" she would say. "Lily's laughing at licking her hands! Ha ha ha!".

We visited a tourist theme park based entirely on the kiwi fruit (Kiwi 360). They have a giant 10m high kiwi fruit in the carpark. It was $20 to go round though, so we didn't - I can't believe you would get your money's worth.

Granny Goes Home

For the last couple of weeks, Mum has been staying with us, which has been nice for us and great for Lily who has loved the huge increase in attention. A couple of days ago, it was time to say goodbye.

We watched Granny board the plane at Palmerston North Airport. We waved to her as it taxied away into the night. And we watched the flashing tailights ascend into the darkness, explaining that Granny was going back where she came from. The light seemed to be going straight into the air and it looked like she was going back to heaven.

Lily was quiet for a bit in the car home. Then she said "We've left Granny behind."

It was the saddest thing I've heard in ages.

Lily Talking Latest

Last night at dinner time, the following conversation was held:

Lily: "Mummy say take your hand out of there"

Jo: "Why Lily, where's your hand?"

Lily: "It's in my bottom!"

Walkways

A couple of months ago, Kiwi PM Helen Clark came to Levin to open a section of the Te Araroa walkway. This is a tramping path that will one day go the whle length of the country. We have been quite excited about walking it and we set off to find it yesterday.

The lady from the tourist office was a useless as ever and said it would be by the outdoor centre, when it was nothing of the sort. Lily showed her disgust by weeing on the floor before we made a sharp exit.

We did find another path through the forest though, behind the town, along a logging road. This area is actually quite good for walking but its difficult to work out where you can go. That was a good result. And we did find the Te Araroa walkway in the end. It goes along by a river and looks nice, but there is a dog restriction due to sheep measles.

This weekend I am mostly doing housework

Today I have stacked the wood for the winter, hoovered the carpets, swept and mopped the floors, made flapjacks and mowed the lawn. Tomorrow I will be doing the recycling, going to the veggie shop and cooking for the week.

I am a domestic goddess.

Thatsgonnacostya!

My scooter gave up the ghost on the highway yesterday on top of a bridge. It just lost power and I glided to a stop. I got a tow home from the AA.

When the man from the garage tried to start it he sucked in his breath and said oh (which I believe means thatsgonnacostya!)

Cheap Cheese Becoming Scarce

You can still buy 1kg of cheese for $10, but it's getting scarce. You might find a dodgy brand, like "Home Brand" for $9.99, but Anchor is up at $13.

Camping Misery

A couple of weeks ago, we all went camping across the other side of the Tarauas at Kiriwhakapapa, a DOC campiong site on the edge of the mountains.

It should have been great. The weather here on the West Coast of the North Island was calm and still.

But at Kiriwhakapapa, the wind was howling through the trees, straight from Antarctica. It blew out tent half down and bent a pole. The next day and night it rained. And Molly was sick in the tent. It was awful.

Meanwhile, the sun beat down on the parched Horowhenua.

This is the News

The news here isn't quite the same as at home. Maybe it's sensationalism. Maybe it's because nothing happens in this country.

Today, the main items are the collapse of finance company Lombard and a bearded man who used to be a woman who is now six months pregnant. He looks pretty happy about it too, except he doesn't know what to wear.

I'm Sick of The Olympics Already

The Olympics. We all know they start in August. Why does TVNZ 1 feel the need to have a big Olympic sign in the corner of the screen at all times? I've had enough of them already!

The Power of Wee

There's a lemon tree in our garden, which I planted a year or so ago. A couple of months ago, it was looking a bit pale and sad. But Lily's potty training has turned it around. We sometimes pour the wee on its roots and it has now sprung back to life. The grass around it is twice as long as the rest of the grass. It's a miracle!

Kiddies Party

Last week Lily was two. We had a birthday party for her in the sleepout. We invited ten of Lily's friends and they all turned up. We have only just recovered.

Our Sensitive Daughter

Lily is a sensitive soul. She doesn't like it when frightening things happen. She gets upset.

She doesn't like reading Hairy McClary because of Scarface claw, the toughest tom in town. "No. Close it" she says, halfway through. She doesn't like the Winnie the Pooh video because that's too frightening. And she doesn't like the book I have just bought her because a goat dresses up as a ghost and frightens the farm animals. "Don't like goat book" she has been saying sporadically throughout today. And then sometimes bursting into tears.

That girl needs to toughen up.

The Dream that Died

I once had a dream that we would live in rural Australia, in a dusty town miles from anywhere. We would have six kangeroos in the garden. They would be called Hoppy, Skippy, Jumpy, Bouncy, Springy and Boingy.

Not long ago I saw a job advertised in such a place. It had its own general store and the nearest town (Mount Isa) was only 400km away down a (sealed) road. The place was 400km from nowhere. Funnily enough I wasn't tempted.

That dream's dead then.

Cheese Prices Trending Upwards in March

The price of 1kg of mild, colby or edam is now edging $10 in the Paraparaumu Pak N Save. The long dry summer may be putting pressure on milk supplies as dairy farmers dry off their herds early.

The Year of the Potato

I was out with Lily on the Palmerston North esplanade the other day. The sun was shining and we were enjoying the fantastic facilities provided for everyone to use free of charge. There's a great big paddling pool and a bush walk. There's a big aviary with a variety of fancy birds like peacocks and parakeets, as well as a duck pond. There's a playground and a miniature railway. It's great for kids.

Opposite the pool, there's a manicured garden, with flowers, shrubs and the like. The unusual centre-piece was a potato patch. It had a selection of different potato varieties, including an experimental blue type. What fun. But why is agriculture intruding into the cities parks?

Apparently its international year of the potato. This is a celebration of the potato, the most nutritious food per hectare of land. Hooray for the potato!

Eating Poo

Potty training is going well with Lily mostly doing wees and poos on the potty. Which is nice for us. We've got to be careful though. Today we left Lily to it in the sitting room. When we went back into the (smelly) room there was nothing in the potty. "Lily did poo in potty. Molly ate it!" was the explaination. Molly was licking her lips happily. How lovely.

Sheep Numbers Decline

Sheep numbers declined in 2007 to 38 million. That's down from over 70 million in 1980. It's still nine sheep for every person though.

Cheese Latest

Anchor Edam is now just $7.99 a kilogram in Woolworths in Paraparaumu. It's a bargain.

Heat Rage

It is said that the brighter the day, when views of Mount Taranaki are clearer, the happier the people of New Plymouth are. When the cloud closes in, the gloom spreads through the town.

That wasn't my experience. Yesterday, when it was perfect sunshine and so hot you could fry eggs on the pavement, the people in Pak N Save were distinctly tetchy. Cross words were being exchanged at the check out and there were mothers strangling their children in the dry goods aisle. Today, there's a chill in the air and people seem much calmer. So much for what people say.

Cheese Prices Ease in February

The price of cheese seems to have eased a little and a kilo of "mild" was just $8.96 at Pak N Save in New Plymouth. I bought 4. Maybe its seasonal.

New Plymouth

We have just come back from a few days in New Plymouth. Here's what happened:

We went for a walk to town with the dogs. Molly is so unfit she had to be carried home.

The man in the site next to us was sleeping in a Honda Civic. In the morning, he rolled straight into the driving seat and drove off without opening the door.

Lily dropped her smarty in the potty after doing a wee. Then she grabbed it and said happily: "Lily's got it. Yum tastes nice!".

Daddy's a Boozer!

Jo has been teaching Lily some new phrases. "Daddy's got wine. Aw Daddy!" is one. "Daddy's a boozer!" is another. She loves the second one. "Daddy's a boozer. Ha ha ha!" she says repeatedly throughout dinner.

Corrections

There is a cloud hanging over the library of Levin, with much annoyance being caused to the readers of the town. Someone has been defacing the library books.

They have been correcting the use of English, crossing out words like "gotten" and writing in words like "got". They must be quite prolific because there was one letter complaining about in the Horowhenua Mail last week and three this week. Quite right too.

Potates in buckets

It was the final of the spud in a bucket contest at work today. Top prize to Margaret with 909g with an amazing plant with fruit on it (?!). I weighed in with a disappointing 200g of potatoes and a half dead plant. Some people had nothing at all.

Floods

We had lots of flooding earlier this week. Apparently, 260mm fell on the Tararuas behind Levin in 24 hours. That sounds like a lot to me. The rivers were hugely swollen and there was water all over the fields and over the roads south of town.

We are watching a girly film at the moment, called Someone like you - Jo is loving it, I am reaching for the sick bag!

The Price of Cheese

Oil may be at $100 a barrel but the big talking point here is the price of milk. Cheese now costs $14 a kilo and butter a massive $5 per 500g. The dairy farmers are raking in the cash but it's not clear if the rest of us will see the benefits from all that Anchor butter being sent to China.

Puddles of wee all over the floor

We have been potty training Lily today. It has been very stressful and there are puddles of wee all over the house.

We made some progess though, now we have started to use incentives. We give her chocolate for each successful use of the potty; a yellow (white) one for a wee and a brown one for a poo.