Water Babies

January came and went in a blur of Rain, Wind, Floods and destroyed gardens!

So it continues into February as we tentatively wait for Cyclone Gabrielle to hit our shores in the next day or two…the weather gods have been certainly throwing us a curveball this Summer (what summer most will ask?) It certainly isn’t boating weather with waves crashing our usually calm shores…

There has been a lot of working from home time, as floods closed our main highways and mudslides and fallen trees have blocked roads!

Last night as Trudi and I shared a quiet drink on the deck, it became eerily calm…

The trees behind my house standing still and quiet after several hours of wind gusts, waking this morning to the first heavy rain squall and wind rattling my gate! This time we are prepared – gas bottle filled for BBQ cooking, petrol tank full to run the generator if needed, bottled water in reserve, fridge stocked and fresh batteries for the transistor radio and torches! Overkill maybe…

On a brighter note – the Granbaby turned two last weekend and a window between storms saw a small road trip to Katikati for the long weekend..

A Birthday visit to “Bullswool” farm park

Water fun….

And Spider-Man antics all weekend! Welcome to the toddler madness…

A Monday of driving – back to our hood in readiness for a very long Tuesday (work day) and an anxious wait for the gran fur baby to be released from Dog hospital, having ingested a 3cm piece of glass (attached to chocolate pudding) over the weekend…Fast attention to the incident saved his life after a three hour operation to remove from stomach….

The cancelled Hot Rod festival is on (rescheduled) in Orewa today and a morning excursion (bus) for coffee may be in order. A slight reprieve, and house escape, before we are locked in by “Gabrielle”. Not looking like the usual colourful blue sky day for this event – but I am sure it will come with as many bells and whistles that the resilient Kiwis can muster!

On that note – let us just worry about our next meal ….. as these guys do…