Christchurch Pettys spring into springy September

Family events in September
The month started with a nasty 4.9 aftershock on the 2nd September. I spent the rest of the day in the Commerce Building cleaning out my stuff. Fortunately Mark was able to meet me with a trailer and we got out my sofa and another sofa, and a whole lot of stuff to take home. I took home a few boxes and put two in storage. However in the end I left the majority of it in the office to be sent to the recycling. The junk included boxes of notes from when I was at University in 1980. I hadn’t opened them in ten years, probably. It was quite a liberating feeling to walk away from the detritus of my past. I figured that I had survived without it for 5 months, so I wasn’t likely to need it again. also think the thought of having to clear it out had been hanging over us for some time, so having it done was a great relief.

I also helped a colleague to get here stuff out of the building. I knew it would be hard for her as she had so much stuff, and it was up high and quite demoralising. I enjoyed helping her. I also helped Ross get tables and stuff out for one of our colleagues who was on leave. The building was starting to get smelly. I think one of the milk bottles might have exploded (or someone foolishly opened it). The whole experience was like being in a post-apocalyptic movie. I quite enjoyed “scavenging”. Terri needed file boxes and I found a whole lot discarded in one of the other offices. It was strangely exciting.

A brief look into the Christchurch 'Red Zone'. 

One of many areas that are now empty that used to be full of buildings and people.

We invited some people around from church – the MacKays, who are here from Texas working on demolition for the next few years. But they forgot to come. It reminded us of the story of Ray and Rosemary who did that one time. Happily we had also invited Jessica and William and we had a very nice evening with them. The MacKays were apologetic the next day at church.

For Fathers’ Day I made “pulled pork”, something we had discovered in the U.S. It wasn’t as good as the best we’d had, but it was yummy. I will need to try some more recipes.

For much of September I was feeling as if I was treading water, waiting for something to happen. I had decided about a year ago that I wanted to leave the University, but I was waiting for redundancies. Then finally a month later the letter came, asking for voluntary redundancies. But that is in October, so you will have to wait to hear more about it.  The decision is between possible security and definite insecurity. There is word going around the Stake that boundary changes are in the wind. We are all just waiting for it to happen now. So this is another source of uncertainty in our lives.

We did some yard work before having people over for my birthday. I pruned the lemon tree and I think it is still trying to decide whether to live or die. We are now under a watering ban in the city as the pipes will not stand full summer demand, so we may need to water it with a bucket. I do hope it lives. I took off over 100 lemons and squeezed most of them and froze the juice. I don’t know why as I will probably end up throwing out the juice. I actually use the zest of the lemon more than the juice.

I have been working on the look for the stats app. I do enjoy the design work.
For our book group we read “The Painted Veil”, by Somerset Maugham. I totally recommend it. It was an interesting story, not too many characters, redemption tale, with not too convenient ending. It also had beautiful scenery. I’d like to watch the movie.

I did much more running and improved my fitness, so when we did the second Rogaine in the series I felt considerably better. I am “the weakest link” in the team, fitness-wise, so my being fitter increased enjoyment for both of us. It was the best day ever on the rogaine. We chose our route well, and managed to add in a couple of extra checkpoints. The terrain wasn’t too steep and there were no fences, nice weather, great views, good gear, no injuries. Wonderful! The only “thorn in the side” was that – matagouri. We both ended up with little red dots all over our legs from pushing through the thorn bushes. Other than that it was perfect. It was based near Lake Lyndon. Such beautiful mountain scenery! There were a few small scree slopes, which were pretty fun to slide down.

On the Rogaine near Lake Lyndon, the cars are parked in the valley bottom. All the grey stuff is Matagouri.

For my 50th birthday I arranged for 13 of my family and friends to go “Corianders”, a local Indian restaurant. The meal was great, as was the company. The day itself was great, with lots of people saying I don’t look 50. In the evening Jonathan dedicated a song to me “All of Me” with his band at at the Miller Bar. I felt really touched.

During the month we found out that NatColl have a course in digital film and animation starting at the end of October. Their premises were damaged and are in the commercial red-zone, so they are operating out of Lincoln University for now. So I guess they are starting as soon as the university stops needing the labs. William applied and got in, and has his loan approved by Study Link. He will start on the 31st October. At Foodstuffs they are sorry to see him go, and it looks as if he could have a job back there any time if he wants it. It is great he has been such a success there. We think he will also be a success in his course as he has real talent, and already quite a few skills.

Most of Nicola's 'Activity Days' group at Halswell Quarry Park.
LtoR: Tobias Fukofuka, Monika Dhakal, Emy & Sarina Esteves, Sarina's friend, Siaki Taleni, Trent Edmonds.

Daylight saving started, which left me tired for a week.

Jonathan and Mark and I met with Cam, who is the director for the CPIT Jazz School, and they seem pretty keen to have Jonathan there. He will go part-time next year to start with. He still has an audition, but they already know he’s good. He may skip ear-training as his ear is pretty trained already.

Mark is quite enjoying his two days a week at Sinclairs. It has its ups and downs, but the money is a big help. He likes being part of the working world, I think, though he’d be happy enough to stop again.

Jessica has a job as a home carer, which I’m sure she is great at. She also bought a bike, which makes that easier to get between clients.

The Rugby World Cup is being hosted in New Zealand. Thanks to the earthquake, we don’t have any matches in Christchurch. People are very excited about it though.


Happy month to all!