Holiday plans

I am listening to the news of a great earthquake and following tsunami in Samoa as I type. Some of the villages have been practicing,and there are a great many policeman on duty in Apia due to the transport change over. These have combined to ensure a prompt evacuation from coastal areas. There are also reports of heavy destruction, and a heartfelt plea from a kiwi for help; our hearts go out to all our Samoan brothers and sisters, here in New Zealand and also in Samoa.

Holidays

We are on holiday! We went to Dunedin on Monday to pick up Katarina, and a broken dishwasher from our old house. Hannah and Zach had a brief catch up with old friends, and we also went to Spotlight (home of all things crafty!)We stayed with mum and dad in Oamaru.

Poor Shadow had a terrible night, she didn't enjoy the accommodation provided (an old drum, which used to provide shelter for a goat...) and she whined nearly all night. Mind you, there were possums barking as well. Finally she slipped out of her harness, and I heard her whining outside my window at 5:30. I went to catch her, opened the boot of the van and she just about flew inside, settled down and went to sleep. Should have thought of that earlier!

Katarina is going to be studying, Janine will probably be reading, and Zach and Chris are going tramping on Thursday and Friday.

Exciting news for this week

Katarina was baby sitting two doors away from the fire at Craighead School on Saturday night; Katarina just happens to be a student there. She was baby sitting for her auntie who went out to celebrate her birthday. The fire destroyed an empty two storied historic building; it was already quite controversial as it was an earthquake risk, and the community was divided on whether to keep it or not. It was very exciting with people in the streets and lots of fire trucks; she rang me to ask what to do. I suggested she put the children to bed! Abby (5) and Jessie (2 1/2) were a little bemused by all the action; Abby much happier once she worked out that it was the empty house that was on fire. There is an arsonist keeping the local constabulary busy, which is not pleasant to think about.
Katarina, Janine and I are off to Dunedin this week for The Book Launch. Janine is making fudge and coconut ice for the event, and she is learning a lot about confectionery! Katarina is working hard on her art to make sure her folio is up to date before the holidays; she even went in on Saturday!
Zach had a sleepover on Friday; he had a sleep on Saturday (surprise, surprise) and thought it was Sunday when he woke up! He took ages to figure out what day it was and didn't really come right all day. Hannah had a friend over as well, plus a pool party on Saturday, so she was pretty tired too, although she seems to cope better than Zach.
The snow is melting off the mountains quickly now, but tonight is another cold snap and there is a cold forecast for the rest of the week. Brrr.

Later posts

My apologies dear readers, we've had a big vote here in Timaru. Sadly, Chalmers have voted only 61%, not reaching the required 66% majority to decide to dissolve. As the paper reported this morning, three into one, which is at least more Trinitarian! We are sad for our friends at Chalmers, as many there were looking forward to joining to be one in November, and our journey is made more complicated.
Monday was less of a day off that usual; there were some follow up things to do.
But our family continues well; Zach is enjoying his basketbal, and I managed to make the game tonight, albeit late from picking up Hannah. My mum has just finished walking the Queen Charlotte walkway, and had a wonderful time. Katarina has just finished exams, and the results are starting to come back, a curious mixture of brilliance and "needs to study more"! Janine is weary this week, I suspect reaction to injection at school last week, hope it's not growing pains, she does not need to be any taller!
Shadow is playing tag with the ducks in the park, swimming around and around the lake. She is still "it. "

Changes in season

Soccer has finished - basketball begins! Zach came home with the singlet last night and insisted on showing off, even to his very disinterested big sister. Katarina is distracted; she has exams this week and is wishing that she had followed her parent's advice on studying a littler earlier. We live and learn.

Hannah is busy with sleep overs and was star of the day; she brings home a diary to write up in which she writes that she wrote up the diary.

Chris and I had a picnic in the botanic gardens yesterday; not a patch on the Oamaru Garden's, but more open spaces.