Half-way through the term

5 weeks of term left, it is certainly passing by in a hurry...

It was nice to have dad stay last weekend, although unfortunately I was struggling a bit with a cold. I ended up spending most of Sunday in bed... Monday and Tuesday was bit of a battle at school, but I started to feel better by the middle of the week. Maybe it was because I was under the weather, but I had a craving for 'lolly cake' so I made some last week. I never used to even like it before I left for the UK, but the girls at school love it, & buy a lot of it from the tuckshop, so seeing them with it made me want to give it another go... It is another very kiwi thing that Will has also taken a fancy to.
It is definitely getting lighter in the morning and evenings, and it feels like spring isn't too far away... Our tamarillo tree is heaving with fruit that is just about ripe. We've enjoyed a few windfalls which have been very tasty. It was Will's first taste of tamarillo as they don't really seem to exist in the UK...

The garden is also starting to 'spring' into life. The camilias and rhododendrons are starting to bloom, and the stellar magnolia looks like it is going to be stunning. The Cleopatra magnolia has quite a few swollen flower buds that probably aren't too far from coming out. The fruit trees have their first blossoms starting to appear as well. It is an exciting time of year, especially

as it is the first spring in our new house, so we don't really know what to expect. I also planted some tulip and anenome bulbs, but I planted them quite late & the tulips have broken through the soil, but no sign of the anenomes yet.The garden is also attracting loads of birds, especially since they have discovered the nut feeders that mum made for us. There are green finches, chaffinches, sparrows and wax-eyes swarming the feeders (of which there are 3) every hour of daylight. It is quite entertaining watching the ensuing bun-fights as they jostle for position on the feeder. There are a couple of blackbirds who have also learnt how to feed from them, although they look very ungainly doing so... My favourites are the cute little wax-eyes. The tui watch on, feeling a bit left out... We need to start putting some sugar water out for them. Friday night was the year 9 dance, and being a year 9 form teacher I had to help supervise. I was on the 8:45-10:15pm shift, and while it was bit of a drag having to go back into school on a Friday night, it actually went by really fast, and it was nice seeing the girls who had all gone to a lot of effort to dress-up. In fact it worked out perfectly because Will had been to a concert in town after work (something to do with machines making music??!) then had gone on to have dinner & a few drinks at a pub afterwards with some of his friends. He was ready to head home as I was leaving the dance, so I picked him up & we went home together.

Last night we had Brendon & Keryn around for dinner, so it was an enjoyable evening catching up with them. Because it was nearly midnight when they left, & the All-Blacks/Boks game kicked off at 3am, I decided I might as well stay up to watch it... I'm glad I did as it was a cracking game! The Boks were very fired up, playing in front of a crowd of nearly 95 000 at Soccer City in Soweto, plus there was the added emotion of John Smit's 100th game. There were huge hits going in all over the place, and with the AB's behind with a few minutes to play, it looked like the Boks had done enough. However two incredible late tries meant victory to the All-Blacks. Going to bed at 5am meant that today has been a rather lazy & low-key day... In fact I haven't actually left the house today! I might flag the weekly shop & do it after-school tomorrow...

Next weekend is Founders weekend, meaning we get the Monday off school. We are heading off to the mountain, along with 3 other couples. We've got a chalet in Ohakune booked, & will leave on Friday night when Will finishes work. I don't ski, but am looking forward to getting away for a bit and enjoying the scenery.

Post number 250!

So, a lot has happened in the 250 posts since I began writing this blog back in March 2006! Back then I would never have guessed that the 250th post would be written on an iPad, in NZ, with the most wonderful English husband sitting on the couch next to me... It's funny how life works out, especially since I never really intended to get married!

Three weeks have somehow managed to pass by since the last post. It has all been fairly mundane really... Last weekend I played my first 'proper' badminton tournament (the club handicaps a few weeks back didn't count!). It was the Wellington B grade open, and I did OK, winning the woman's doubles and coming runner-up in the mixed doubles. My partner and I lost the mixed final 19-21, 21-19, and then 18-21 in the decider. If I had known that the Wellington Association gave out prize-money I might have been even more motivated to win! I ended up with $50 and a couple of medals for my efforts, so not a bad day out... I had also entered the singles, but it was cancelled due to lack of interest. People down this way seem happy to play doubles, but don't seem at all interested in singles which is a shame... This weekend I trained with the Wellington Masters team which was great fun. They are keen for me to play for them as soon as I become eligible (which is in another year). In the meantime they have invited me to train with them each week in order to give them some match-play practice.

On Saturday night we hosted a poker night for Will's Evolutionary Computation research group. It was a good night with poker being played either side of the AB's rugby game against Oz. I made four huge pizzas which went down a treat. I was pretty happy about busting out in 4th place, out of 11. The eventual winner did get a hand of quad queens, so probably did deserve to win... The group is a mix of Will's colleagues, as well as some of his post-grad students. They all enjoyed the night and are keen to make it a monthly event!

That's about it from me. No pictures this time I'm afraid... Dad has a meeting in Welly on Friday, so will stay Friday and Saturday night with us which will be nice.