The Build UP

Google pics has loaded my photos back to front once again. Computers are not as smart as they think they are. Cecile's birthday is looming and she brings party props, finding space I didn't know I had in the garage. She's excited and I'm leaving her to it. She doesn't want me to do anything so I can enjoy the do. Only a few queries. 

Meanwhile I continue monitoring wheel chair dings and applying more tape, and rubber seal vulnerable edges. I'm trying to cool but it's hard. Sharyn is trying but when she gets distracted or is in a hurry, she switches off her spatial dial. 

It's a social week with an exhibition opening at COCA- important cos the drinks and eats are quality. I bump into one of my earthquake kids, Kahu's erstwhile primary school friend, Jaspar. He was sleeping over on September 4th, 2010, the night of the first big quake. 4:35 am. I put him in my bed with Kahu and we chatted. Kahu was shaking like a leaf, I thought he was cold. And he didn't say much. Now I realise he was in shock. Jaspar and I chatted and I remember telling him I was looking forward to Monday off school. Turned out it was a week at home. Jaspar kept getting up to go to the loo and, even though it was just across the hall, he wanted me to get up and stand at the door. It's great to see him. We shared a lot of personal stuff, including his folks' break up and some lashing out at Kahu, over the years. He's hairdressing with his dad, lots of piercings and wearing a kilt. Jaspar always sought a different path.

Tom arrives on Saturday to drop off bark to finish the south garden. He's obviously set aside some time so helps me plant trees I've collected and hesitated to plant cos it means commitment to a particular spot. I'm relieved. I needed to get them in the ground and was paralysed in case I make a mistake. Sat night is a Burlesque show which turns out to be a competition where the contestants do doppelganger routines. We decide to leave for Deb's place which has a fully stocked liquor cabinet and high tech stereo. I return next morning to check out her curtains as I'm a bit stuck with them as well. Velvet in my room gets a veto. On Monday Anjie returns for another consult and I send the velvet back. 

The weather remains unusually balmy for mid March. The tortuously cold swims of yester year are easy in 2021. The water is warmer too. 

I keep unpacking. It's like climbing Everest. 

                                                              Debs and her curtains

Planting the wedding cake tree

                                                         Sophia of the serious face

                                                                 COCA patchwork

Dings and Dents

 With Sharyn on board driving her walking frame, I begin to notice scrapes on the kitchen island. This freezes me in my tracks as I don't know whether these can be repaired. It's a lacquered finish. I'm relieved when she gets in her wheel chair. The wheels are softer, but the dents keep coming. In the gib and on the door frames. I get out tape and talk to Sharyn. It's demoralising after all the work I've done and with shaky co-ordination and poor eyesight, she's not fully in control. I can see she's trying but more scrapes are inevitable. So I set about taping the kitchen island and visit the hardware store to pick up thicker, padded insulation seal. The choice is black except for thin, white foam. I buy some of each. Then I sit on the floor and start applying it. 

Visitors tell me, however, that the tape will take paint off. So I go back to Mitre 10 and buy thinner painter's tape. A few days later, Anjie tells me it's as bad. So I drop in on Bunnings on the way to the beach and pick up 60 day, yellow painter's tape. By this time, I've spent 100 bucks and my stress levels are high. I take off the second tape and put on a third. The white foam tape is a nightmare to get off and the whole process takes a couple of nights to accomplish. I'm tired. But the dings subside and Sharyn is aware of the damage she can do. I've banned her early on going out of the pvc doors in her wheel chair. The door sills would get munted. 

We're getting there by degrees. Ironically, it was me who said it would take a while to get settled in. I was referring to Sharyn's adjustment, but in reality it's me who's taken the bigger leap. And it hasn't been easy. I'm not a giver upperer. Cool ocean water helps stabilise my sanity, school might send me over the edge though. My junior classes require too much energy. I think about another job. But one of the naughty kids in referral tells me two of my most troublesome kids told him I'm their favourite teacher. This makes me feel better, sort of. I take it with a grain of salt.

Day to day stuff- 3 trips to the bike shop to sort one puncture, looking for light fixtures with no luck, dinner at Lis's in Lyttleton, I spot my first black piwakawaka in her garden, planting last of the summer lettuces, harvesting apples from my garden, the walk in wardrobe goes in and I unpack boxes of clothes- I'm able to walk round my bed again, the last two door handles arrive and one of the light switches breaks. That's enough for one week.

Photos in backward chronological order

 

                                               Lyttleton Harbour from Lis's balcony

                                                   Armana's dragon driftwood

Kahu Turns 19

Nearly out of teens, but not quite. Kahu's birthday is a get together celebration of the important people in his life, minus Alex and whanau. Three little girls is a stretch on a Tuesday night. But James and Cat come with 4 bottles of wine, Cat's job is selling wine and she gets rewards they don't drink. Then there's Kahu's godparents, Mert and Sue, Judith, honourary aunt, Great Auntie Ruth, Jordan, and others. But I'm so busy I don't get photos. Five hours solid....from food prep to final dishes. Done and dusted. What it is to be a mum.

Back the truck up....Friday is sports day and I shadow 11 Chl on a stool to rest my ankle. There's lots of kids away but the vibe is upbeat and we have fun. Though I start the day with a long complaint from a parent. Hmmm. The thing I hate about teaching. Parents who make it personal. I don't get paid enough. Saturday's mini Convergence gathering is at another place I've never been to before, Takamatua Bay, David's family's holiday house in a quiet bay round the corner from Akaroa. Like all long established bachs owned by well of families, the site is well chosen, the house is quaint and the whole effect, gorgeous. My late afternoon swim is a skinny dip. A calm, sequestered spot and warmish water. Volker causes a stir with Armana but, despite the drama, I sleep well on the front lawn. I've always been an outdoor kid. 

The week slides by. Sharyn moves in on Wednesday. Our first flatmate. I remind her and myself it will take time to integrate her and the wheelchair. We all start the adjustment. I bathe myself in ozone.