Raining when it's blooming

I can't seem to shake whatever it is going on inside my head at the moment. I feel sad, yes. The loss of my friend a couple of weeks back has affected me more than I anticipated, if that makes any sense. As if one can put a meter on the level of sadness one is supposed to feel depending on...what? I don't know what. Silly, really. It just feels silly.

I drove down to Raetihi last Wednesday with a couple of ladies for the funeral. The service was beautiful; very intimate and warm despite the number of attendees. We threw flowers on her grave, and then went back to the lodge for a cuppa and a chat with the family before making the 4 and a 1/2 hour drive home. Since then I've felt exhausted. I've not been sleeping well, and my mind and body feels restless. I feel silly, and I keep wondering when I'm going to grow up, or at least grow out of the scattered restlessness that festers in my mind and makes me question everything. The theory of everything. I don't have the capacity for it.

Another Tuesday, another day off to spend time with my son, and of course Mothers' guilt sets in as I can't motivate myself to do anything. So he's on the iPad, and I'm willing myself to get off the couch to take him somewhere. Anywhere. Outside.

In between the part rain, part cloudy, part sunny, and the humidity, I take a glimpse at my garden. It's in full bloom. Everything is flowering. Plants you definitely don't want to be flowering are flowering. It makes for a beautiful display though, even the weeds on the lawn.















Here is our lone chrysalis, still waiting to transform on our very well eaten swan plant. All the other caterpillars marched off one by one, disappearing into the garden somewhere never to be seen again.



Strawberries are still coming on, much to Kien's delight. Looking at this picture I realised I should have set the aperture a little higher so the perfect little budding flower in the background was more in focus. But then again, I specifically wanted to show this flower, shedding its petals and revealing the fruit of its labour. And the imperfect surrounding leaves, well that's just life, isn't it.







So back to my little guy, who has also been restless in the middle of the night; flinging himself all over the bed, waking himself up and moaning and groaning in his dreams. I should take him somewhere, even for a quick walk up the road.



Or maybe the supermarket to get some treats for us both. Yes, I think that's a good plan.

An evening on the sand

I'm tired, and I've not got anything poignant or creative to say. But I have these photographs to share, taken on Saturday afternoon down at one of our local spots - Hamilton Rd Reserve beach. The tide was heading out when we arrived, which isn't ideal at these beaches, but it didn't matter. Kien was armed and ready with his buckets and spades (yes, plural!), intent on building his sand castle.

He did make a moat, fastidiously collecting sea water over multiple trips, but by then I'd lost interest. Instead, I was waiting for my dinner to finish cooking. Jef did a fine job with that.



There's a good rope swing at this beach too.





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On Friday I was working out at the airport all day. It was a really long and drawn out afternoon with long and drawn out meetings. Kien was spending the day with Rod and Grandma Gun at their new house, and I was so busy in the late afternoon that time seemed to slip by, and myself and another person on my project were the only ones left in the office. After jolting out of my chair when I saw the time I quickly packed up and headed for Wattle Downs with Google directing me there. I've heard much about Wattle Downs; Mum Gun has wanted to live there forever, and Rod has been taking the dogs to the reserve beach every day for forever too. So it's about time they moved there! But I've never been to this area before me and now I can see why they were raving on about it.

Before the sun went down I just had to take Kien to the beach to check it out. I took one of dogs with us. The reserve was a couple of streets over, so it didn't take long for us to walk there, and I must say that the beach is pretty terrific.









Kien loved it...didn't want to leave.



Next Friday, Kien. Michelle and the kids will be up and you'll get to see your cousins too!

T'is the seaon

Forget snowmen and reindeer, strawberry picking and sand castles - that's what I'm talking about. Oh summer, oh giant nuclear reaction that is the closest star to this blue beach ball like planet, why am I so scared of your radiance and yet so happy when you shine so brightly on me?

T'was my last day of the Christmas break yesterday. Today I'm back at my desk job, and Kien has gone to a school holiday programme for the first time. Being anxious about that is the understatement of the year thus far. I wish I could be on holiday forever, and he wishes he could be with me for almost as long. But alas, we need to make the most of the season while we still can, right?

This is at Garelja Bros Strawberry Gardens in Kumeu, and yesterday morning we were there to pick the most beautiful and succulent strawberries I have purchased for quite some time. These strawberry fields are beautifully maintained, and the plants are so healthy and laden with fruit.

This boy goes strawberry picking at a field where it is customary to consume as many as possible before going in and paying for the rest. You’d think, being the berry lover that he is, he’d eat the whole damn lot. But no, he wanted to wait and pay for them first, and then eat them. The girl at the shop even asked us when we were paying whether we had a good munch out there in the field. I had to say no! She looked at us like we were strange.

Back home for lunch and a rest at the height of noon, and then we were at one of favourite beaches - Sentinel in Herne Bay. At high tide this slice of the harbour is awesome. The sand is great for building castles, and the pohutukawa branches overhanging the beach makes a fabulous shady spot as well as a perfect placement of a swing.







Such a fabulous day and a salute to a really good Christmas/New Year break. One more work day and it's the weekend! At least I'm easing back into things.

Our park

When we were living up the road at in our apartment we would often frequent Western Park - so much so that Kien used to call it Our park. "What would you like to do, Kien?", I'd ask him. "Lets go to our park.", he'd say. He doesn't call it that anymore. It's now the park near our old house. He wanted to go there yesterday. It was a choice between the beach or the park, and he wanted to go to that park.

I found it ironic (and even iMessaged my friends in LA) that we are at a park/playground with 7 slides, a giant monkey bar, tunnels, seesaws, swings...and he climbs trees!





We did eventually chase each other around the playground, and then he wanted to go and explore the forest.



We found a makeshift swing in the trees, and of course he had to go on it. I made sure he kept his helmet on for this.





We were there for ages in the afternoon, and then it was home for a BBQ and a spa when Jef came back from work. How much do I love summer!?! About as much as I love having an extra couple of days off work!

Turning 6

Wow, hasn't it flown by fast...or not? Sometimes it feels quick, and then I think about how much I used to sleep six years prior! He's currently sitting in the lounge watching Mythbusters, and yesterday he was on the iPad with Donald Duck & Chip and Dale YouTube compilation on reruns and chuckling like a baby. Ah, yes, my baby boy - still a baby at times and moments of being an independent big kid. He can drive me insane with his incessant whining and complaining, but he can also be so charmingly adorable with his jokes and his made up stories and songs. His vocabulary is immense with phrases and words I didn't even know he had in him, and yet he still gets confused between a 'b' and a 'd', and the difference in sounds between an M and an N. On the beach at Motutapu he explored the rocks while Jef and I shaded under a pohutukawa tree. We knew where he was by the constant chattering as he gives a running commentary (to himself??).

We woke up on his birthday anchored at Motuihe. I made pancakes for a breakfast treat, and then we set sail to Motutapu. He opened his Kinder Surprise egg, and as always, saved the chocolate for later and played with the toy.

The wind pretty much blew us all the way to Station Bay on a single tack. Once anchored it was cake time. We had purchased a supermarket mud cake and had hidden it from him at the bottom of the fridge, so it was a surprise for him when we pulled it out.







I then decided it was time to go for a swim. The wind was still blowing quite heavily and it wasn't warm, but luckily we had the wetsuits all ready to go. Kien wanted to check out the beach so I towed him there on his boogie board.



Jef came after us on a kayak, bringing my much needed shoes so I didn't slice my poor feet on the very sharp rocks. Kien didn't want his shoes, but then again he's so light he can just run across the rocks like he was running on a cloud.









Kien loves to explore rock pools, looking for living organisms like crabs, shrimps, periwinkles and the like. Ever since he could crawl around he's been interested in what he could find (and back then stick in his mouth). Now he just runs around singing and chirping the entire time. When we can't hear him we'd call out and he'd call back. One time when he didn't respond we called louder and he came running down the hill/mountain. He really wanted to show me something, he said. It was at the top of the hill. So an unexpected excursion for me climbing to the top and all he wanted to show me was the view, and insisted I photograph him doing a martial arts stance of some description.



Then it was straight back down the hill again for some more exploration.



It was a fabulous day, and I reflected back to this day six years prior when I was lying in bed at Birthcare in Parnell staring at this little bundle in the cot beside me. He was wide eyed and very much awake for a really long time. I was exhausted and just wanted to sleep, but he was not having any of that.



Little did I know that six years later not much changes when it comes to this kid. He's given us a run for our money, that's for sure.