Despite the fact that it's supposed to be summer in July, but instead it's raining pretty much daily, I am elated to have the most luxurious, handknit mohair scarf that I've ever seen. The scarf was made by a fellow American expat living in Hamilton, NZ (she has a really nice blog) who I've never met, but loves knitting and was taking requests for items. I am really getting into the lovely wool and natural fibers available here. I now have 2 new wool sweaters; one merino, one merino and angora, 3 scarves; one mohair and merino (the new one), one alpaca, one pure mohair, and 2 hats; one an angora blend and one mohair, and, a gift from my sister here, two fine spun merino wool undershirts. I've b
een thinking I should learn to knit, but it's one of those things I rejected as a girl as being too "girly". It was the 1970's and I had a t-shirt with the sparkly letters that said, "anything boys can do, girls can do better". I was in Girl Scouts and learned a lot of fun stuff, but knitting and embroidery were not liberating enough. Now, I realize how practical it is and the lovely texture and variety of yarns and knitting. Well it's never to late to learn something new, I say. The problem is finding the time or making the time. Typically this means sacrificing something. I don't mind doing this, in fact I quit the Thursday night poker games at the Lincoln Green pub to instead take a pilates class.July is shaping up to be busy, with one of my favorite bands, Dinosaur Jr. playing on July 9. We saw them on our first visit to NZ in March of 2006. I was turned on to them back in Fargo, ND, in the late 80's by my sister's ex-boyfriend "Dooba", who worked at the only record store worth going to, Compact Disc and Tape Masters. Dinosaur Jr. broke up years ago, and last year was the reunion tour. Now they've got a new CD, Beyond, which gets great reviews, and is comming in a package from my eldest sister in Minnesota any day now. I ordered it from Amazon.com and sent it to her, to send to me, because the cost of that CD new here in Auckland is about $35. I think I paid $10 USD to Amazon for it. Granted, I'm still waiting for it, so no instant satisfaction, but that's worth the cost. She is also sending the iPod Nano 4GB which we bought on eBay. Again, there is a huge markup on these here. To buy one new in NZ is about $300, vs new in the US about $140.
The new camera also came from the US, and due to the cost, we had to pay the NZ government sales tax. Still, we saved money, because it cost more to buy it here in NZ. It is a Cannon PowerShot SD1000, 7.1megapixels, fast on/off and shutter speed, large display, and lightweight. It has an underwater setting, and I also got the underwater housing and a larger memory card. WOOHOO! Happy birthday to me! (Thanks Darin!) The photos in this blog are taken with this new camera. Also new is my sister's 4x4, which we drove around the paddock this afternoon. (to hell with housework, I need to play!) Sadly, her husband Eric popped his achille's tendon on Friday evening playing netball (one of those Kiwi sports), and is stuck in a cast for 8 weeks. He had to watch us play from the house up on the hill.
The camera also does video, and I've made a video of the pets eating the raw possum. Unfortunately the camera doesn't come with video editing software. We have Adobe Premier Pro but it is profoundly un-friendly. Any suggestions?
The pictures of the lemons are from our yard, and there are 3 eggs in the bowl. We are getting 3-4/day.
During a break between rainstorms, Darin, Fargo, and I drove a few minutes up Scenic Drive to the Waitakere Dam. This walk is about an hour roundtrip, downhill to the dam, all uphill back to the carpark. We chose this trail because it is paved. As the Waitakere regional park is quite hilly, the trails get slippery in the rainy season. The photo of Darin and Fargo in front of the Kauri tree is from the trail. The first "bush" photo in the blog was taken in Barb's backyard. There is an underground stream, and the thick jungle there is where we quickly got lost back in March 2006 (a 3 hour tour!).
