Kupu, Word Festival, and Pōhatu, Stones

It's Polly's 30th birthday and the department gets on board. Photoshopped pics of Beyonce with Polly's face covering the walls. Weird to say the least. She's stoked, overwhelmed and on board with turning over the tens. 

In the evening I start my stint with Word Festival. A talk with two of the Black Panthers, they fought racism against Pacifika during the Dawn Raids of the 1970's. After I go to a memoriam for Keri Hulme, our first Booker prize winner for her novel, The Bone People. But I can't face too much more of Word due to the ridiculously early arrival times before events. I pull out. Hudson comes to fix the switch board. It's been wired up wrongly, Rene should have known better, and is not as safe as it should be. Thank goodness I got Hudson in to do some remedial work, this is a biggie. 

I find a source of Halswell Quarry stone. I have to take two trips, it's heavy. But I've got more than enough for the side path. Now I need to save up to get it finished. Job well done. It's another week of trying to interest Year 12 in their work, with little to no success, promoting Alan's piano composition, and a sprinkling of snow at the end.

Spring At Last

Big fun of the week, driving The Cobra. It's so smooth, quiet and I'm getting used to cruising past petrol stations. Love the independence from the petro-chemical companies; feel like sticking up the middle finger as I sail past. Not so much sun to charge during the day but daylight hours are lengthening, summer's coming up. 

House job of the week, getting the timer of the heating unit back to neutral. Tina tried to programme it but it's so complicated she gave up. Left it coming on and off at a couple of odd times during the week- 4:30am, 4:30pm and we can't turn it off. I've called Rue a couple of times and this time he commits to calling in. We stand in front of the controls and he has to figure it out. He goes in circles for a while before he gets through to the machine. He tells me I need to clean the grids and gives instructions which Bertie follows to the letter on the spot. The grids are dusty and Rue says the heating will be more efficient. Stands to reason. Maintenance....always a sound plan. Mentions the house at the corner of College and Brenchley, horrible. I can see that from the outside. 

Meanwhile, the container wars begin. Jorge has a container I recognise and question him on it. His response, it's his cos it has his name on the lid. Bertie and I go out to Sharyn's with dinner, she's broken her big toe which is in a cast. I ponder the container- I know it's mine. I bought five about 8 years ago when Freshchoice gave out coupons. They're glass bottoms, seal well and brilliant to use. Bertie googles them- made in Germany, not for sale here. By chance I looked through the cupboard yesterday for containers and sighted what I have. When we get home I check. The shape Jorge claims is a single I had. It was there yesterday but not anymore. 

I ask him when I see him the following afternoon. He tells me it's definitely his, bought at Pak'n'Save. I nod but the feeling comes back. Not his. I let it go in the meantime. I need to figure this out. Bertie and Greg come for dinner. I want to hang stuff but the birds need a mount. I'll have to wait. But I get Greg to raise the bathroom mirror, too far, he puts it down, I decide it looked better the first time, so he readjusts it. Big news, not, but in house finishing terms, another job done. 

Outside in the garden the spring flowers start showing their faces. The first of September, new life, renewed energy. I wish the kids at school would wake up. Any day now. I go to the first event of Word, If I Were A Story and You Were A Song- a collaboration between Tiny Ruins and David Mitchell. David's in Scotland, Tiny is on stage. Can't hear her words so well but this performance has been 2 years in the making. Delayed and delayed by Covid. I love the combo of north v south hemisphere, male v female, singer v story teller. Magic. 

Love the Ride- August 19-25th

Life got busy and I got tired so no pictures and I realise what an aide to memory they are, especially from the distance of 6 weeks, 5th October, which is when I am writing this. I do remember booking tickets for Lynette, Amana and I to go to the Illuminate Light Festival at Ferrymead and having to turn back in the EV because we weren't going to make it. And the rain came down so we decided not to go. Amana whinging like a stuck pig because we made her sit in the back and her knees hurt, and me trying not to stress out while we made the race home before the car conked out. 

And I remember going to a Convergence mini gathering out at Journey's End. I decided to take the EV myself, checking I could charge in Rangiora. The km's went down fast so I stopped at Pak'n'Save but couldn't plug the fast charge in, wouldn't fit. So I drove carefully and plugged in down at Leigh Lodge. A who's who of Christchurch Convergence there. Cold but I pitched my tent, but prepared with a hot water bottle. Looks like the festival will go ahead this summer after a gap of two years. A bit different as so much of our life is post-Covid. Amana and Volker managed to be in the same space without a spat and without too much discomfort. I was the only one drinking alcohol, it's a church camp so we're not supposed to, but people do anyway and I need a Saturday drink after a week at work.

We shared food and it was a quiet, relatively boring night but I got myself there and back in the Cobra. Achievement! And probably an unremarkable week except for the novelty of driving around in a car I love. No petrol, no $, no smell, and very little noise. Getting in and out of the garage is tricky as there's not much room with Tina's car on the apron and it's often dark, but so far so good. The garage shelves are now semi-urgent to create more space around the Cobra and prevent damage. The MG was damaged in the earthquakes and never got fixed, Mark's Toyota had drinking dings, but I want to keep this one looking new.

Fiona and I go to the Food Show on Sunday- I run out of tasting capacity but buy vegan chorizo on the way out. And a case of wine.

Story of the day on Radio New Zealand

There is some major controversy in one of the country's biggest elections.

Bird of the Year is back next week but in a contentious decision, the two-time champion kākāpō has been barred from the ballot. 

The organisers, Forest and Bird, say this year is all about the underbirds! 

The Cobra, EV Showtime, August 12th

It's EV show time and I'm excited. A little nervous for Kahu passing his driving test and for the second time I have to move heaven and earth to get him there. He's booked at Northwood, a drive away, yesterday during school time and today Judith volunteers to be the licensed driver for him to drive his car there. She's his surrogate aunt and loves doing things like this for him. When I get home he's upset because NZ Transport has fined him $150 for not being able to take his cancelled test yesterday. We're all righteously angry and I hope it doesn't put him off too much. 

Meanwhile I drive to EV City to pick up my new Nissan Leaf. When I drive up there's several with nearly the same licence plate, all obviously registered at the same time. I'm so excited that I don't really listen to riding instructions but I do get pics with the team. I drive like a granny home cos it feels so different and it's the best car I've ever owned and I want to treat it with care.

On Saturday Tina and I pile into The Cobra and set off for the Lyttleton market. I show off with my foot down to show how fast it can go then panic on the way home as the dashboard tells me I'm out of juice. Started with 38km's and Lyttleton is not that far. I've got fingers and toes crossed on the way home. We just make it. There's a lot to learn about how the range of the Leaf, how to drive and when to charge. It's a process and I'll take it slowly. Literally. I pick Sharyn up and take her to Hellzapoppin at the Art Gallery. It's a blast from the past with so many partiers I haven't seen for ages. A helluva good catch up. Not sure about the music but the atmosphere is cool. It's a party...delayed a year because of lockdown, but here we are. Out the other side of Covid. On the global scale, lucky. 

The rest of the week is a work blur. I try to plan for my Year 12's; they have literally stopped. The disruptions of the year mean they are just doing what they need to and they put English with its big reports and paltry credits on the back burner. As one students puts it, "Why would I do this report for 4 credits when I can get 6 in PE for walking round the block." That's a paraphrase but the sentiment is clear. Can't blame them. I have to give myself a stern talking to keep motivated in the face of such apathy. It's one of those years and I don't know if we will come back from it. Covid has changed a lot. 

Fifty Shades of Purple

There's been so much rain a pond has filled the cavity of the building site out by the school field and ducks are swimming on it. Friday nite and the first big party Anjie and Greig have had in years. We're breaking out of lock down mentality- it's Greig's birthday party from July and a catch up 40th party for Anjie's brother, Ryan. Eat My Shorts are playing and it goes off....there's ponchos, super hot chilli tequila and chilli beans. It goes off. 

Unfortunate coincidence of two big parties in one weekennd....I don't party too hard so I can get on the road at a respectable time. It's Deb's 60th down at Earnscleugh: Fifty Shades of Purple. Takes a while to get out of town as Bertie detours to pick up a spare tire. The sky is iron grey and there's water everywhere still, damage to the road through the Lindis. We drop our stuff at Lynette's, put on purple and head to Strode Rd, in the middle of orchards and vineyards set back from the Clutha. The start was 4pm and people are well lubricated and talking loudly by the time we get there. The party is in Deb's husbands work shed. Deer skulls hanging up high and loads of tools. We're out of the city. There's a vocalist, a very purple cake and we settle in. I meet up with a woman from my deep distant high school past. It takes a while for memories of the 1970's to resurface but M's face becomes increasingly familiar and the stories come flooding back. The fires burn brightly outside, the stars twinkle in the sky. 

It's a late morning. I shout lunch at the Dunstan in Clyde and as we sit by the open fire, snow flakes fall. It's early August, winter, road closures, Christchurch is a long way away. Monday and the roads are still closed so Bertie and I go round to Enterprise Street to do some maintenance. Trainspotter Bertie finds gaps in the fixings on the roof and sets about hammering them back in place. I clear the drains of tile grit again. Feels like there's a lot coming off and I'm wondering whether the tiles need replacing. They're 1973 originals. Yvonne next door tells me I should come down to live and relieve at the high school next door. Definitely not ready for that. 

It's a late start home. There's lots of snow and we encounter falling snow at Dansey's Pass till Kimball. There's been so little in the past few years, it's reassuring to feel it on my face again. Global warming may make this a rare occurance for our kids. 

Back to school- masks are compulsorily optional. We're supposed to wear them but few do. More staff than students but I don't see the point. Either we all do or not. I'm one of the only staff who don't to staff briefing. I feel exposed but want to be consistant. I don't like them anyway and the rates of Covid are falling. More important in my world is Kahu's driving test coming up on Thursday. Bertie gives him a lesson and I've got fingers and toes crossed. On Wednesday I get an e-mail from EV City to say my car is ready, come pick it up. I'm so excited but need Kahu to take the Toyota as there's no room for an extra car on College Ave because of parking restrictions to deter STAC student driver stayers. I don't want to hand the car over before he gets his licence cos he'll drive it illegally and have no insurance. Too risky from a mother's point of view. After a big build up, Kahu's Thursday test is put off till Friday.