Okay, I’ve accepted it, finally! Always takes me a while to get into the swing of the change of seasons. The toy box of board games has an open-lid once more. The books are steadily streaming off the shelves for the girls and I faster than I can put them back. The indoor retreats of the library, museum, rec centre, swimming pool and play spaces are my new home. When the sun shines and the wind takes a break we absolutely devour the moments at the playground, gardens and beach. It’s okay!
The garden is resting, the silver birch tree (my one, of few, deciduous signals in our garden) is gripping onto its last few leaves of autumn, ready to take a break till the new buds of spring.
A kind man is coming (SOON…) to fix our under-floor heating to make trips to the bathroom so much more pleasurable.
Thursday night’s are welcomed with late-night opening at Te Papa and a meet up with Dan after work. And my visit this evening reminded me of the upcoming ‘Matariki Festival‘ (Maori New Year). Come on, people of New Zealand, it’s time for a public holiday in mid-winter. We so need a reason to put up the fairy lights (in honour of the small cluster of stars also known as the Pleiades or the Seven Sisters, in the Taurus constellation), fly kites and acknowledge the winter solstice (check out the events at Stonehenge Aotearoa)! In only a month the shortest day will be upon us and the nights will (albeit, slowly!) start getting lighter again… before we know it spring will return with a blaze of tulip festival glory in the Botanical Gardens (can you tell I’ve been sipping Merlot, excessively, this evening?!).
I’m even feeling tempted to do some baking (promising Charli some ‘Moon crater’ cookies to take into school for her Monday calling of… “Here’s something I made!” – and it’s a ‘Space theme’ – perfectimenso!).
Charli had afternoon tea in the staff-room with the Principal this ‘avo (just LOVE her school and how the amazing Principal makes himself so incredibly approachable to the children and gives them his absolute heart and soul).
Sophie is thriving on play-dates in the morning and quiet time in the ‘avo to paint, build and bath her babies (whilst I do my chores – I’m getting so good at scrubbing!).
My highlight of the week, thus far, has been donning roller-blades (twice!) at the rec centre for a work-out – other parents look at me as though I’ve lost the plot – and they’d be right!
Yah! I’ve finally adjusted. I’m in the winter flow and I know this ‘down-time’ is so needed to allow for full appreciation of the non-stop spring through summer festivities that Welly puts on for its game citizens.
The southern right whales are beginning to make their way through our waters, from their summer feeding grounds in Antarctica, to warmer climates and all I can think of is those poor Emperor Penguin fathers trying to keep their baby eggs off the ice!
Won’t be long before we are game enough to brave a trip up to Ohakune for some snow action on the slopes of Mt Ruapehu. Plenty of fun events on for a weekend away – not forgetting the ‘Carrot Carnival‘ at the end of July and the Ohakune Mardigras on Saturday 27 June.
Bring it on! I’m going to laugh in the face of school drop-offs in howling southerlies and grin and bear it! xxxx
