Fruits of Summer

Summer continues for us, and we've been enjoying the slower pace and the long, warm days. School is still out for summer for Rocky, so we've also enjoyed having him around more in the daytime. He'll usually spend the morning working on writing or whatever, and then be home to play once The Squidd is waking up from his nap (around 2:30).

Summer here also means backyard barbeques, and it's been fun to visit friends' houses and to play in backyards, grass under bare feet and all. Our small concrete patio, though shaded and ringed with plants, seems monumentally less in comparison, and Rocky's gardening genes itch to resurface every time we return home from an evening's backyard entertainment.

An interesting thing to note: here in New Zealand, and I suspect here in The Garden City especially, gardening is an equal opportunity pastime. I guess what I mean to say is that dudes enjoy it, too, and it's considered a manly activity. And I don't mean the generic "yardwork" that American men discuss (that of mowing the lawn and raking leaves and maybe lopping branches in tall trees). I mean flowers and borders and pruning and veggie patches. Everyone 'round here seems to have a backyard vegetable garden, partly constructed of bought seedlings, but many also nurtured from seeds. It's remarkable and so cool to see. Broccoli, lettuce, chard, zucchini, tomatoes, green onions, broad beans . . . love it. Should we ever decide to move to a house with a yard, I have a project for Rocky and his little sidekick to start straight away.

So in the absence of our own produce-producing yard, we're venturing around Christchurch to pick the fruits of others. Peas a few weeks back, blueberries today. Hopefully apricots and other stonefruit next weekend.

Here are a few pix of the start to our new year. Welcome, 2012!

Digging for new potatoes

Cheers! Happy New Year!

Acceptable versus Not Acceptable

Acceptable:  I like tramping in Cashmere's bush. 

Not Acceptable:  Nice pants.

Translations

I like hiking in Cashmere's forest.

Nice thong.

A Merry Christmas

Our second year into the Christmas-during-summer thing, and we're learning to embrace it for the novelty it is (for now).

With temps in the mid-70's, we had a picnic brunch with friends on Christmas Eve, complete with strawberry shortcakes that Rocky made from scratch with freshly picked berries.

We had another brunch on Christmas day with a different group of friends (and introduced them to the glory that is Ro-Tel dip), featuring pancakes, crispy potatoes, and bacon cooked on the grill. And The Squidd tried his hand at cricket. In the evening, we went to the park and splashed around in the wading pools there. All in all, a nice weekend. Hope yours was, too.

Next up: New Year's!

The Squidd's favorite part about Christmas: Santa ate the cookies and only left crumbs!

Typical kiwi hiking wear

Rocky has been playing Risk and drinking scotch with the fellas once every few months. Now he can host at our place.

5.9

Lest we get too comfortable with stillness beneath our feet, we just had a 5.9 earthquake (around 2:pm) followed by a series of smaller ones. After nothing of note for months, this was a surprise.

We're fine, and The Squidd--our champion sleeper--slept through them again, as has been his way since the first quake September last year.

Public Service Announcements

Don't Drink and Drive

Mantrol

Don't Drink and Fry

I am attempting to find the Don't Eat Spoiled Food add as well as the Don't Have Too Much Fun at the Office Holiday Party add.  Folks, I wish I were kidding, but these ads are running continuously.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas . . .

Nelson

On Friday we returned from a week-long trip to Nelson, a sunny, artsy town at the very top of the South Island. Rocky was there for work, so The Squidd and I tagged along. I'd been wanting to visit Nelson for a long time now, and I wasn't disappointed: beautiful, calm, sandy beaches and turquoise water; sunny, mild days; wineries and fresh fruit stands; galleries and artist studios . . .

And to top it off, I had a run-in with The Hobbit film crew. Well, the stunt crew for The Hobbit, anyway. They were staying at the same hotel we were, and I chatted with one guy in the elevator one morning as The Squidd and I were headed down for breakfast. As an aside, career geologists have a very specific look. You can pick them out from anywhere (hint: look for a bolo tie and hiking shoes). So in a hotel filled with hundreds of rock geeks, the stunt guys (read: muscle men) stood out like blinking lights. Very exciting.