Around Derwent Water...Plus a bit!

(Ellie - I'm really sorry if this makes you home/holidaysick...I'll try to not do too many more Derwent Water posts!)

On Tuesday, Husbink had a day off (they'd made a rota boooooob and he was on many, many days in a row) so we decided to go adventuring.

After some qualms over the weather, we ended up driving to Keswick and making our final decision on which walk once we arrived. It turned out to be a gorgeous day in Keswick (though when we were driving home in the evening we heard that just a few miles up the road from where we live there had been severe snow and hail storms, lots of road chaos and accidents! Mad!) so we felt we could risk a bit of "up" on the walk rather than just walking round Derwent Water.

The walk ended up rather longer than we'd intended (around ten miles) as we did the "up" and the "round".

We went up on the east side of Derwent Water (i.e. not the Cat Bells side for those that know it) but we took a wrong turn and didn't quite make it to the heights we'd intended, we were aiming for High Seat but suddenly realised that we were descending again. The walk up was very steep on a section of path that was made of big higgledy-piggledy stone steps. We were overtaken at the top by a couple at least thirty years older than us and their little dog. They were not even "glowing", we could barely breathe.

The steps passed up the side of a stream with lots of beautiful bits of waterfall. To our right was good sturdy English wood.

At the top we were above the trees, on open fell land with scrubby grasses and the beginnings of streams. We had an amazing view of Derwent Water and Bassenthwaite Lake - all the way to the wind farm in the distance (which my MiL hates...I'm pondering doing a series of photos of how beautiful wind farms can be...). As we stood admiring all this, a HUGE plane appeared beneath us - they often do fighter pilot training round the lakes but this appeared to be a supply plane or similar, it was quite incredible as it appeared out of no where.

The next section of the walk took us a little out of our way and further from the lake than we'd really intended though it did have its rewards - the woods we were walking through were gorgeous - mossy tree trunks, rocky outcrops - and we stumbled upon our second set of falls for the day, all the better for being a little more removed from the beaten track. We also met a mountain lion...well, a fluffy white cat that seemed utterly out of place but extremely friendly!

We eventually made it back to the edge of Derwent Water and decided that seeing as we were already at the southern tip, we might as well make it all the way. The last section was a little bit of a slog as we were getting just a little tired but well worth the sense of achievement to finish the walk.

We caught the ferry back to Keswick from Nichol End (you can't quite get round the top end without going a long way from the lake) and arrived back to the car utterly wiped out but very happy.

I'm not sure if I've said in a previous post, but our aim is to visit every lake in the district this summer. We've been umming and ahhing over what the rules are and what counts as a visit but we are now decided: 1) We have to "do" something substantial there - a driveby or a ten minute stroll does not count 2) we must touch the water - little fingers acceptable!

So Derwent is done. We thought Ullswater was done but having added the "must touch" rule, a return trip is required!

These are a few of my favourite things...

(Because, frankly, I've been in quite a big sulk the last few days. I'm sick to the back teeth of all this stupid unknown crap and ridiculous NHS-controling-our-lives thing. So I thought I'd do some active "happy thoughts"...)

1. My shiny (well, actually, very mat) new walking shoes. They aren't proper boots, just posh trainers. They were reduced from £70 to £20. Best of all? While they are respectable and sensible and navy blue and grey on the outside...on the inside, they're bright red!

2. Elderflower cordial/elderflower presse. Just yum. Makes up for missing lemon, lime & bitters, except it isn't quite as easily available.

3. Knitting. All the time. Husbink's sis is a big knitter now too and is encouraging me to more adventurous things!

4. Home & Away. It makes me happy. I love a bit of melodrama.

5. Baking. As has been the case for quite some time. I do love baking.

6. My new tops. I got home to discover that, on the whole, the clothes I left behind 18 months previously had been left behind for good reason. I don't exactly have cash to throw about the place at the moment but have managed a few new tops of late. They all make me happy.

7. My random voluntary job in the fair trade shop in town. I walked in...and didn't walk out! It keeps me occupied and hopefully if I find some paid employment, I can then do some interesting work for them as they have a resource centre thingy too.

8. My FiL's Micra. I am now insured on this as well as mine & Husbink's car. It is a banger. Literally. There are weird noises... But somehow, I'm really rather taken with it

9. Swingball. Husbink and I played swingball for an hour or so last Sunday. Things went from REALLY BAD to quite ok actually.

10. That Dr Who is back on Saturday night. Admittedly, having just seen the Christmas episode for the first time, I'm a little concerned...it was very silly...but I have faith!

Lanty's Tarn & Keldas

I've had a busy, busy week seeing lots of lovely people. Husbink has had a busy, busy week being at work! (Which is going well, he has joined the cricket team :) )

Today, we decided to start on our plan for the next few months and visit every lake in the Lake District. We haven't made any particular rules about this except that driving past in the car doesn't count, we have to do something...

We had been planning a proper big(ish) walk to try out various new bits and pieces but the weather forecast didn't look too promising so we didn't leap out of bed at the crack of dawn to get underway. Instead, we ambled out around 10.30 (when it was still not raining) and drove to Glenridding on the edge of Ullswater (tick number one!).

The walk itself was a good 'un, not too long or too hard but interesting enough and we certainly are feeling the effects of the fresh air (even if we did away all the good effects of the walk with the HUGE hot choc we had when we got down again, it had been raining...)

There were beautiful views of Ullswater and Helvellyn - still with snow above about 500m. We saw a red squirrel just as we were approaching Keldas and on Lanty's tarn there were three goosander (brilliant for the name if nothing else!) and a comedy heron (perching in a pine tree). (Aside: I went with Mrs SD to the RSPB place at Leighton Moss on Thursday (great day, the place but of course more seeing Mrs SD) and saw a spoonbill, lots of shovellers and a crested grebe. You'll all be very relieved to know I didn't have the camera then!)

There were two beautiful becks on the walk, clear bubbling water bouncing its way down to the lake. The deep greens of the mosses along the walk was glorious too, especially against the dull mist of the day.

We did get a little soggy on the second half of the walk as the clouds finally gave way and the weatherman got what he'd predicted but it wasn't so unpleasant as to be a problem - and justified the aforementioned hot choc!

I can't think of many things worse...

The best thing about being on a plane? Especially a long haul flight? All that time in which you can just be - watch films, read a book, listen to music, comedy, do puzzles...whatever! The time is yours and yours alone (okay, alone with lots of other people...but they can't steal the time!)
And now? Mobile phone use has been approved by for use on planes in Europe. Yeah, it is a still a long way off and it will take airlines a wee while to get sorted and blah blah blah blah blah and of course I can (and will) continue to switch my phone off on the plane but that isn't going to stop all the other eejits is it?
Why couldn't they just lie (like large sections of hospitals) and say it was all too dangerous and don't do it?!

(Note: It *may* be the case that actually something else really pissed me off before I read the article on this. It *may* be the case that venting over mobile phones on planes is easier than on what has actually bothered me.)

We Wish You A Merry Easter

Once again I find myself having written plenty of blogs in my head but none actually on the compooper. Ah well, I fear such is life.

It has been a lovely snowy Easter up here in the wild northern reaches of the UK (and I gather probably a lot more snowy in many other areas). We've woken to a beautifully icing-sugared lawn two out of the last three mornings and the hills (for no longer do any of the peaks in the lake district count as mountains - cue Hugh Grant film...) are lovely and white - some are WHITE others are patchy white, lovely and mottled.

My parents visited over the weekend which was good but tiring.

Today we went out with the ever delightful Snoo and Hub, sampling the delights of Cockermouth, a marvellous tea room (cake, cake, CAKE) and a very bank holiday Keswick. I'd never been to Cockermouth before (though it had always appealed). It is a very pretty little town, in quite a rural, working sort of way. We wandered the main street for a while (enjoying a very good toy shop...I always want lego...and playmobil...stunted childhood?!) before heading out of town to a tea room at a working farm. Fantastic. I was very giddy to be seeing Snoo and Hub and then to see so much cake too...I was a little silly...

We headed to Keswick to achieve a few things but also to go down to the lake and enjoy the snow-topped hills and the sparkling water. Sadly it turns out I wasn't getting on so well with the camera so the pictures really don't do it justice.

Tomorrow, Husbink starts work. Maybe I will hear from the agency too. How much do I not want to!? But doing something would be good...

Supreme Silliness

My dad alerted me to the joys of this particular site and its silliness...enjoy!





There's plenty more where that came from if you click here

Tidings of Comfort and Joy

Husbink has a job! No, not one of those big proper jobs with the training and everything that we came back to the UK for but a fourth month, see us through kind of job. A job that is perhaps rather further up the ladder than he'd expected (he applied for one job, got interviewed for a different one, all a bit crazy) so he's chuffed, scared and confused in probably equal measures.
It does not solve many of our current concerns in one sense but it is very good to feel like something is happening and we may not be trapped in the vortex forever.
I may also have a job. I've seen a recruitment agency, they were very positive, but because I don't want to start work until after Easter they currently don't have anything. They expect though that next week they will have something for me to start when I want. Which is all rather good. I think. Much as I may not want to work in an office ever, ever again, doing something will definitely be good for me. Oooh, and I had an hour and a half in an empty house today. It was so good!
So now we can enjoy our weekend in Leeds and our few days in Cambridge without needing to feel any great guilt at being so slack and all. Hurrah!
(Oh and the title? Well, a little unseasonal but so is my FIL's tendency to go around whistling Good King Wenceslas at the moment...)

It's all about me!

One of the things which was marvellous about our time in New Zealand (amongst a long list of things) was the amount of time I got to myself on a routine basis.

I am an introvert in the sense that my energy comes from time on my own. I like to be with people. I love meeting new people, sitting down with old friends for big chin wags, the occasional big party... I am very happy standing up in front of large numbers of people and speaking, leading, whatever... But if I don't get time on my own I break.

Husbink's work pattern in NZ meant that I had a lot of time to myself. I knitted. I baked. I read. I prayed. I cleaned. I thought. I wrote. I walked. I pottered. I cycled. I achieved.

I'm now at about the two month mark since we moved out of our house, started that last adventure and found ourselves back in the UK. In those two months, I've snatched an hour here, an hour there...but the cracks are more than beginning to show. Combine the lack of alone time with all the unknowns about the future and the like and I'm beginning to look like one hell of a crazy lady.

I don't like that this is the case. I don't mean I don't like that I'm going slightly mad, that should be obvious enough. What I mean is, I don't like that I have to be this "demanding". Husbink often makes jokes about me being high maintenance. The jokes relate to the whole preening aspect (my last hair cut was 9 months ago...I haven't bought shoes in about a year...my skincare routine is slapdash...) but in this respect, the alone time, the introversion, it is a very true statement. I really, really need it and if I don't get it, all kinds of hysterics ensue.

A few nights ago, we returned to Husbink's parent's after a few days in Scotland for Husbink's interview (we will not hear anything until March 26th at the earliest but it could be mid-end April). I thought the few days away would have boosted my coping ability a bit - I even had an hour and a half to myself while Husbink was at his interview. Instead it seems that that little taster of what I need was too much and I really shut down on return to a house with five people in it...the panic attack was barely below the surface and I really wasn't sure that my body could actually handle it. All I wanted to do, on a cold, wet, windy night, was sit in the garden by myself for hours and hours and hours. I've come out of it a little over the past few days and can hold conversations again. Just.

I feel desperately self-centred for being like this and it feels feeble to realise that one of the reasons I was so happy (and more to the point increasingly healthy (though clearly there were other things at play their too)) in NZ was all this time for me. How selfish can you get?!

I have managed to veer away from the impulse to run home to my mum (who I could then in no uncertain terms tell to leave me alone and only speak to me once a day) but it does feel like a very thin line I'm walking just now.

Keeping On With Whatever

I've tried to blog a few times in the last week. I have one half written post that I hope I'll finish one day but I know that now is really not the time so...here I am, attempting to fill you in, keep you amused, something like that.

Life is a big long waiting game at the moment and I am not good at doing nothing. However, once I start doing nothing the lethargy sets in very fast and I find it hard to do anything...

There have been some good times in the past week or so. Husbink's birthday was good (except that going out by ourselves did allow me to vent more than I can around here and so there was a half hour interlude of floods of tears in a pub...). We saw "Be Kind, Rewind" which was no where near as funny as all reviews had led us to believe but still a pleasant way to pass some time. We also ate a good meal in vaguely comedy circumstances - we moved table three times in the restaurant for one reason and another...

We have seen friends. Two friends from Leeds who are now in Carlisle allowed us to watch the rugby with them (despite them not liking rugby at all, bless them). They also took us to their church the next morning which was good - very interesting use of building (used to be a shop).

We have seen Husbink's best man (in the pub, where else would we see him?). It was very good to chatter with him and Husbink assures me I only cramped their style a little bit. Hopefully he is taking us climbing on Friday which will be very good. As long as we don't disappoint him with our badness. He does caving and the like all over Europe so is a bit good...

Yesterday we spent the day with le welsh and le tart in Manchester (we had to go to Manchester to visit the GMC...they wouldn't believe that Husbink was who he said he was without a visit...but at least it means he can work again). We had a very lovely day wandering and eating and mooching and drinking.

Today we are back to the waiting game. Husbink has an interview on Monday for all of Scotland. That is the only interview so all chance of a job rides on this. We swing from optimism to pessimism to who-gives-an-ism with regular abandon.

Ah well, what can you do?

Home is Where?

When I last returned from an overseas expedition in November 2003, I struggled for some months to establish where home was. Not that I pined for any of the countries specifically that I had spent time in as they had been such brief visits, but having no particular home (and Husbink at that time staying in hospital accom wherever he was based) left me feeling baseless. It was too long since I had lived at my parents for Cambridge to feel like home. Husbink was technically not yet Husbink (in that it was still 7 months until our wedding) so his parents home was definitely not yet a home. Leeds had friends in it but neither of us had an abode there.

After about two weeks, I had a brief time when I suddenly left at home - sitting on the sofa of Mr & Mrs Scouse Dangermouse drinking tea. The next few months were drifty but with an upcoming wedding and the like, it was pretty easy to put roots down and get settled back into the Leeds life.

Now...

My natural instinct is to refer to Hutt as home. Cambridge remains not home, Carlisle (where we currently are) remains not home. And there are no other homes. Again, a visit to the home of Mr & Mrs SD last week and a day with them on Saturday aided the feeling of homeliness, they're good like that. If home is where the heart is, then home is very fragmented indeed. If home is where the Husbink is then I'm doing ok. If home is having a roof over your head, then I know I am blessed to have this, provided by friends and family even if I cannot currently provide my own.

I think though that home is less tangible than any of these things (even being where the heart is, when the heart is so torn) and it will be some time before I find it a comfortable word to use.

Texting

It is strange what is hard when moving countries and the like...

While we were in NZ we had a cell phone. We used it to text our friends and to call people. There is nothing very unusual in this I realise. However, we didn't use it anywhere near as much as I, at least, used to use my mobile in the UK. In NZ, we'd go for days without using the phone and sometimes I'd forget where it was or leave it on silent for days on end an fail to notice messages. In the UK, that would not have happened. And so, in a very strange way, texting people with my new number has been one of the hardest things I've had to do since returning to the UK. Somehow that act of sending out my new number has been the thing that has made this move feel most final.
As neither of us have jobs or any certainty about the future, it is very easy to pretend that we are currently on holiday, seeing our family, catching up with friends, enjoying the novelty of very frosty mornings in the beautiful Lake District. There are few things that ground us in reality. Even buying a car, being something rather alien to us as we have previously done quite well at inheriting, has been rather unreal and certainly ungrounding. Yet the act of texting, of having a number, makes it somehow much more solid, much more like this is really what is happening.
So I've found myself picking up my phone and putting it down again numerous times before managing to text anyone. I've still only made it perhaps a third of the way through my phone book. If that. Weird, huh?
So, yeah, still in denial about leaving New Zealand. Ho hum.

Photo Journalism

At long last, here is the holiday post. My brain is still somewhere else (mostly through having a cold rather than jetlag now but...hmm....yuck...) so this will be a LOT of photos and a few words. Hope you enjoy. :)

Our first campsite was not too many hours from home but just far enough to know we were on holiday. And it came with a swing and a lake view. Good-o.

The journey the next day took us past Mt Ruapehu. Always good to see.

We made our way to Waitomo where we saw caves, gloworms and giant angora bunnies. Good times.

Raglan is a chilled out surfing town with artsy fartsy bits on the side. And beautiful sunsets.

We made our way to Northland and set up camp in Paihia for five nights. We had beautiful weather for a few days in which we swanned about and didn't manage much. Then just as we felt like really exploring, the weather turned against us. We made it out to Urupukapuka island for a day trip and walked pretty much the coastline of the island. sandy beaches one side, big cliffs t'other. Oyster catchers too. We also managed to visit Treaty House at Waitangi, the site of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi - the starting point for modern New Zealand and Maori/Pakeha relations. The butterfly kept me entertained while Husbink spent double the time in the museum as I did. This is normal.

We moved on from Paihia and went further north staying in Kaitaia for a few days so that we could do a tour of the far north, taking in Cape Reinga with its lighthouse, the meeting of the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean, sand dune tobogganing, and Ninety Mile Beach (really it is more like 90km but who is complaining? It's a beach that is also a state highway, what more do you want?)

We made our way down the west coast of Northland. It was beautiful. Hokianga Harbour and around was gorgeous. We also saw the giant Kauri trees. Not as tall as Californian redwoods but they go straight up, no tapering so they are just this huge, huge mass. You can just see me at the bottom of the picture to give perspective.

Heading down the country again, we stopped at Parachute festival for a day to meet up with lots of friends and see our friend Kez perform. He was great.

We made our way further south and visited the site of Hobbiton from the Lord of the Rings. We didn't do the tours, just stopped for a coffee and a few photos. Driving round the whole area looked so much like The Shire. Which led to a lot of "ssssssshhhhhiiiiiiire" and "bagginsssssssssssss" mutterings from both of us.

And that was that. Our final jaunt done and dusted. It was a good one. More relaxed than sometimes. As beautiful as ever.

Back

That's about as far as my brain can get at the moment. I have many things I'd like to post about (not least the holiday photos that haven't made it up yet) but they will have to wait one more day at least...
Journeys were all as good as they could be really and I did get some sleep on the last flight but having brought home a cold from Singapore to add to the jetlag I feel rather rotten. But ok too. It was rather a shock to arrive. With all that was going on leaving a country and getting everything home and all the rest of it I had rather failed to understand that we were actually going to arrive. I realise this makes little sense, not many of the things I have thought or felt over the last week or so have really made sense but I have reached the point of just accepting all that I feel and not attempting to analyse or process - at least not yet. I suspect (being me) that analysis will flow very readily once the time comes...
(A quick aside for those who might be tempted to make contact now we are back - both our mobiles are deceased having not been topped up for over a year. I'm sure we'll come up with a solution but it won't be for a while.)

Just a quick 'un

There is a huge amount to say, not least all the holidaying and subsequent photo parade but also all the emotions and thoughts and...
However, that will all have to wait as I have neither the time nor the brain to really do any of it justice right now. Once back in England, cold and unemployed, I should get a few more posts out there!
For now, it will have to suffice to say that we had a marvellous holiday (only slightly blighted by cyclone Funa) and it is good to be back in the Hutt. We've managed to get most jobs sorted now and will hopefully be able to enjoy our last few days.
I'm utterly exhausted at the moment and probably need about three weeks sleep but that isn't going to happen quite yet!
This afternoon we are embarking on a final Wellington adventure - going to the Rugby 7s. Very excited, or I would be if I were a little more awake, though not sure our costumes (morris dancers) are quite up to scratch...
Hope all is well with all of you. More soon ;)

Relaxing?

So, here we are, 48 hours (and a bit) since leaving our house and the Hutt for our final NZ adventure.
We haven't quite worked out being relaxed yet. Husbink has (until about twenty minutes ago) been having to sort out the whole applications nightmare. This involved several hours at church (using their printer, scanner, internet...) before leaving home, more phone calls to Husbink's parents in the last week than in the previous six months, various times of being on the internet when we should be enjoying the country and a general sense of not having quite managed to chill out yet.
Anyway. It is done now. Five applications. Five deaneries. Five possible jobs. We shall see. And now, we can start thinking about this holiday of ours.
We spent a chilly night in Wanganui (we picked a picturesque but stooopid place to pitch our tent - lovely lake views...wind tunnel!) on Thursday which got us a few hours from home. Friday we made our way to Waitomo which is where we are now. You are meant to do all kinds of crazy activities in Waitomo, based around the various caves and the like. You are meant to abseil and climb and cave and black water raft and and and. We have not and are not going to. Which is kind of a shame - Husbink couldn't do it because of the injured foot (not sure if I've mentioned that at all) but even if he had been able to, I'm not sure I had the oooooooomph for it.
Instead, we are taking the easy route. This morning we went to a cave and looked at stalactites and stalagmites and say oooh a lot, as you are meant to. We also did a wee bush walk that was also very "ooh".
This afternoon, we go to discover the glowworms in their cave and then, after that, we shall try to see some in the bush tonight once it has gotten dark enough. All good stuff.
Hopefully, we shall also find some calm in the next few hours. And start to realise that we are on holiday. And that life is indeed good.

And so it happens

We have entered the time of farewells, of final things, of frantic activity.

Yesterday afternoon we went to Husbink's work as they had organised a farewell tea for him. It was lovely to hear some of the things his colleagues had to say about him and to see how highly they valued him and how much they will miss him. He would never, ever, ever blow his own trumpet so I thought I should do a little bit for him.

In the evening, various friends came over for some "legal looting" and took away lots of our food and little bits and pieces. Which was fun. :) Husbink was a great auctioneer - considering that everything was going away free!

This morning, the Salvation Army came and took most of our furniture away. We are now waiting on the washing machine man. Tonight, some friends are coming and taking the last of our possessions. Tomorrow, we will leave a few boxes with friends and head off on our last kiwi adventure.

There have been tears already and I know there are heaps more to come. I'm looking forward to the adventure (of course) and know that it will help prepare me for the final departure in just under a month's time.

It is difficult to comprehend going home when we have no concrete plans to return to. Husbink has so far managed four applications for those big nasty jobs that don't start until August anyway... Our internet connection gets switched off this time tomorrow. The applications have to be in at the weekend so this is his last chance pretty much. Hopefully he'll get to six applications and then we simply have to wait and see. Wait and see.

Feeling Helpless - Again

I've been wanting to post this for a few days but the website in question was down and I didn't want to post until the link would work...

So, as you may recall, Husbink and I watched Hotel Rwanda a little while ago and were overwhelmed by the sense of helplessness and shame that it brought on. Most significantly, we both said "surely if this happened, and we knew, we'd do something..."

And so this week we found ourselves sitting down and saying "this is awfully close to happening again, what are we going to do?"

The story that grabbed our attention and made us think this and discuss this was of course Kenya. As the number of stories increased and the nature of those stories worsened from the initial "a few killed in protests" kind of stories to the "church burnt down as people took refuge, over half those dead were children" kind of stories, we felt we had to try to do something.

Following my fling with Burma (I try to keep up with developments - or the lack there of - but as predicted at the time, it is hard), I am on the mailing list for www.avaaz.org and they tend to be pretty good at telling me what I should be doing about any given conflict. I couldn't find anything on their website but the next day they sent out this link and offered advice on how to help.

At this point, that advice is to write to your foreign minister (the link makes this very easy for you, only a very few clicks of buttons) urging them to avoid recognising the newly "elected" government in Kenya until an independent review has been carried out. Premature recognition of the government would make it much harder for a new election to be held and the situation defused.

It doesn't feel like much at all but perhaps it is what is needed at this point?!

Keeping Going

Ugh.
I'm packing. I'm packing four different ways - what we are leaving behind/giving away; what we are shipping home; what we are taking on holiday; what we are taking home but not taking on holiday (basically read BIG JUMPERS there)...
We have six days left in the house (if you count today and the day we leave).
As well as the packing, sorting and cleaning required for leaving the house, Husbink has to apply for those pesky proper jobs that don't start until August within the next week. Hoo-bloody-rah.
I didn't sleep last night. This was mainly due to not being able to get comfy because of my tetanus injection the other day. Once I couldn't sleep though, of course my brain did not shut down. Not a jot of it. I wasn't particularly worried about anything or stressing, I simply couldn't stop thinking. Some of it was only about Harry Potter... The lack of sleep wasn't aided by the bit when I did get some decent sleep (between about 4am and 6am) being woken up by our crazy neighbours who do their washing at 4am and hang it out sometime between 5.30am and 6.30am. It was about 5.45am this morning. They are (it seems) both deaf and shout a lot. But that is ok. What is not ok is their clothes line. It is a whirlygig as I'd call it and it squeaks. A lot. And this morning they seemed to be playing some kind of game that involved spinning it. Oh what fun.
So anyway, by the time I got up, I was not in a great frame of mind. Husbink managed to soothe me for a while but then had to go to work at 10.30. The soothing lasted quite well but I now seem to have lost it again.
In some ways, the problem is that I can't quite finish anything - we still need most of our kitchen stuff, there are clothes still hanging on the line, we are still using our bed (and thus bedding)...So I have many half full boxes that I can't do anything with.
I'm stuck at home waiting for someone who has bought a heater off me on trademe to get in touch. I feel guilty that I'm not at our friends house helping them build a fence but kind of figure that I have enough jobs of my own on today. But have convinced myself they don't see it that way.
BLEUGH.
Going to eat muffins.

What a difference a year makes?

This year, I have been closer to actual resolutions than for a long time. For all of about ten minutes, there were a few well formed, snappy sentences in my head that could have been set down as resolutions rather than long-winded thoughts expressing a basic idea. They went (the well formed sentences) and don't seem to be interested in returning so, as you can already see, I'm back to my more usual evaluation of the year and vague ideas of things to change in the future.



I thought I'd read the post from a year ago before starting and frankly, with a few small changes, I could just re-post it. Before looking at it, I was even considering using what turned out to be the title of last year's post...



2007 was great. Up there as one of the best years of my life and certainly the best year of our life. There were some lower points (the stress of visas and the mad landlady and trying to find to this house and all that should not be swept aside as if everything was peachy all the time). It was not a perfect year (had it been, the only thing to do would be some kind of Thelma & Louise driving off "into the sunset" because if you've had the perfect year, where do you go next?). It was, however a very good year.



A few significant things of 2007...

• Holidays with parents and with the Scouse Dangermice. Both times were excellent breaks, more enjoyment of this beautiful country and great time with special people.


• The decision to stay on in NZ for this extra was a pretty big one, you might say! We ummed and ahhed and here we are. I would not change that decision for anything. I miss people of course but staying on has allowed a number of things to happen, not least the next point.


• The surgery. For me, this has actually become a highlight of the year. Yes, it was not fun. The prep beforehand was horrid, the pain after was unpleasant (but not dreadful) and I have some slightly peculiar scars now. Overall though, the positive is by far the winner. I am still reaping the benefits of the surgery (I can eat all kinds of things again, my periods are heading towards "normal", I have a lot more energy). On top of that, the enforced time out was very, very good for me. I'm not keen to have that surgery again of course but it was a good thing.


• Being able to spend some quality time with my brother both here and in Sydney - and we even have one more trip lined up to see him and his wife on the way home. Very good.


• Speaking at the Women's Retreat for church. It was a new experience to do a couple of connected talks rather than just a stand alone talk. It was also a great time with people of that I knew or didn't know so well.


• Finally for this bullet pointy section, the consolidation of our friendships here. We have gone from being a novelty (and thus invited to lots of things) through a slightly dry patch to being normal and having proper friendships. Some of our friends have been planning their OE (Overseas Experience as they call years out/travelling here) for a while now and it means we know that they will come to see us (wherever we are) in August or September.

So where does it all leave me for 2008? My aim for 2007 (as it also was for 2006, but in a slightly different way) was to "have more fun". As I said at the time, this did not mean being self-centred and uncaring but instead living in the moment, appreciating all the blessing that I have, being available for people, making the most of opportunities and above all, not worrying and stressing my life away.

I've made progress on this front. I have taken many experiences by the scruff of the neck and done the best with them that I can. I have become a calmer, less worried person. But there is still a lot of work to do! I went into meltdown on Saturday over the whole jobs when we get home thing. I need to reach a point where I don't do that. Yes, I can justify it, it is a pretty big thing on the horizon and all that but it is not the way to live. If I believe God has a plan for my (and our) life (lives), worrying and fretting and stressing is not the right way to behave. I do believe that, but I have to remind myself day in day out that it is out of my control but that is ok. I know when I have gone too far from being organised and getting things done and making it possible for God's plan to come into action to trying to control that plan and allow the stress in - I get sick. Within 24 hours, my body gives up a bit (in reasonably spectacular fashion sometimes) and I know the stress was the cause. It's a pretty clear (and not very fun) indicator of where my stress levels are. The fact that I can say when it has happened over the past while is a sign that it is not as rife as it was a year or two ago when it would have been far more frequent and harder to count. By this time next year, I'd like to not be able to remember when the last meltdown was.

There are other hopes that I have for the next year, hopes that I will remember everything I've learnt and worked out while I've been here. That I will hold firm to my faith. That good intentions started now will continue in changed circumstances.

It's been a good year; it could be an even better year.

Social Interactions

Over the past few days, I've had a couple of slightly random moments of social interaction.

First up, the owners of our house have been back in NZ over Christmas for the first time in a good few years and wanted to look round and do a bit of work on the house. They are very pleasant (especially when compared to our mental previous landlady) and having them about was no problem. On Thursday they came and did lots of work in the garden but didn't quite finish and so they came back on Friday. By which point the chap had done his back in and couldn't help. Which led to him coming in to sit down and us talking about all manner of things (my future career, churches, NZ/UK cultural differences, what we miss most about home, how much you can (can't) trust the media, the NHS vs NZ medical system...). It was very pleasant. We talked for a good few hours while "she" finished off the gardening. A great use of an afternoon when I was getting not very much at all done.

Then on Saturday morning I telephoned a gentleman who has kind of adopted one of my cousins and is a surrogate grandfather to him (the common grandparent we have left is Grannie and thus there is a grandfather shaped hole). This gentlemen splits his time between the UK and NZ and knows the bit of the country we are thinking of travelling on our three week camping extravaganza reasonably well. My dad spoke to my cousin, my cousin spoke to the gentleman and there I found myself ringing someone I don't know at all to chat about holidays... I don't like ringing people, I especially don't like ringing people I don't know or only know a little bit and don't know how to introduce myself (you know, that person that you know who they are but you've not really spoken but someone suggested you ring them cos they have this thing you need to borrow or whatever and how much detail do you need to put in? Is your first and last name enough? Do you need to give them a context? Or a so-and-so said to call?). In that respect, this was a relatively easy call to make because he wouldn't know who I was and there was obvious context to give. Anyway, point being, I was a little nervous about the call but ended up having a nice wee chin wag with the gentleman (definitely a gentleman) and agreeing that if we ended up in his neck of the woods, we'd pop by for a coffee. All good.

Last night, we had a very social evening though without any of the randomness of the first two! We went into Wellington for a gig by our friend's brother's band. We do know the brother too but he has been away down south at uni for the past year so we've not really seen him since we spent Christmas with the family last year. Anyway. His band were up for a few days for this gig and so on and a lot of our best friends here were at the gig. It was a fantastic evening of hanging out with people, chatting, dancing and really, really enjoying the band. I was very impressed. They are a crazy mix of country and alternative rock but it works very well. Their cowboy hats were ace. Here is their myspace page - check them out. :) A very fun evening. But highlighted how old we are...it was a long way past my bedtime when we got home at 1am...