We are feeling a little bit sad

Today we said goodbye to Dave and Wendy, my in-laws and Lily's grandparents. They have been staying with us for the last six weeks.

It has been an action packed time. We have been away to Nelson and beyond, hours and hours of driving through hills away. We have been to the mountains, beaches and lakes around here. And we have bought a house!

We'd like a rest now really, except we have to move house (again). Our new place in Rolleston is very nice indeed though!

But mostly we are a bit sad. We've had a good time over the last few weeks. Lily has loved all the attention and got on well with her Grandma and Granddad. Molly and Jake worship Dave and much prefer him to us. And Jo and I both feel sad. It's quite nice to have the house to ourselves, but it does seem quite empty.

Checking out the Kindy

Lily went to Kindergarten today. She will probably start properly at the beginning of next term when she is 3 but Jo took her to have a look. She is excited about going to Kindy. Apparently she shot off with the other children and wasn't to be seen for two hours. Dave found her at one stage. "No Granddad, go away!" she said. She was having a good time and didn't want to be taken away.

The Kindy has the usual range of kiwi facilities. It has a giant sand-pit, paints and, of course, the workbench which features claw-hammers, 4 inch nails and a working vice. I am not sure the workbench is a good idea for three year olds but we don't say anything in case we are accused of namby pambyism or political correctness gone mad. Safety concerns are not quite such a priority in this country.

Interestingly, New Zealand has the highest rate of childhood accidents in the world.

Dora the Explorer: How much is too much?

Lily is obsessed with Dora the Explorer. She loves it. She impersonates the characters all the time. There's Dora, Diego and Boots the Monkey. When she does Diego she puts on a special Mexican accent and a deep voice because he's a boy.

The Price of Cauliflour

The price of cheese seems to have stabilised at arounf $10 per kilo, but the price of brassica has gone through the roof. Cauliflour are now a whopping $4.99 each and brocolli is $3. There is a shortage apparently, due to the shocking winter rain we have had.

Lets hope the brassica shortage doesn't last too long - I can remember living in Kent and paying £1 for 3 two years ago. In these unstable times we seem to lurch from one crisis to another.

Raising a Rocker Chick

Without doubt, one of the greatest pleasures in life for father is introducing his daughter to Iron Maiden. Some might think two-year olds wouldn't like heavy metal but they couldn't be more wrong.

When I come home in the evening Lily says "Daddy put your Iron Maiden tape on". Then she says "let's headbang!" Then we jump up and down on the spot for a while.

Jo just shuts the door and leaves us to it.

My Auction Fever

We're trying to buy a house! So we went to an auction yesterday. It was very exciting, like theatre with two auctioneers working the room. There were 27 houses for sale from all over the Christchurch area and two in Rolleston. We didn't buy anything but we put in a low bid, just for fun really. I made Jo do it.

You have to register beforehand and then the estate agent sits beside you and whispers in your ear. Ours is not too pushy which is good because and Jo and I weren't very interested unless it was very cheap indeed.

Which actually it was. Apparently the person who bought it has been sniffing around for months looking for a bargain and irritating all the estate agents by wasting their time. And his patience paid off. So good for him.

Building a Driveway One Stone at a Time

There's lots of mud in the country. The looping gravel driveway in front of the house is mostly lacking in gravel and formed of mud and potholes. It's not great when its been raining.

Jo says I should tell the council but I have a better idea. Every morning I walk the dogs and pick up a pocketful of stones which I put on the driveway. So far in two months I've covered an area the size of a table. By the end of the year I'll have done six tables. There's probably about twenty to do in all. I'm fixing the driveway a stone at a time. It's the best way.