Sifty Sunday

House chores: Chris is still trimming the ivy at the back. Kahu goes out and gives him a height advantage. We head to the house to just be there. Feels like we've slowed down but that gives me a chance to get the next line of ducks in a row. Grant, the neighbour, lends a hand looking under the bonnet of the Suzuki which is emitting steam. The radiator cap is sitting on top and the fluorescent green coolant is leaking. Youch. I don't need a big car bill right now. We top up the water and Grant says he'll source coolant from a lock up he's got in Rangiora. Kahu bikes off to get his ears pierced. He's threatened to get his nose done too. Got my fingers crossed on that one. I look for down lights which have gone astray from the pile I picked up at Lighthouse. One of those mysteries. Cousin Kate arrives for a tour. "You won't know yourself," she declares. If I could have $10 from everyone who's said that, I could raise the extra I need to complete the build. I'm hoping I won't know myself. The old house was freezing in winter, draughty all year round, and peeling paint on the outside. Anything would be an improvement.

Errands

It's a day for running errands. Easier than after school. I put a deposit on William Morris wallpaper I've made several trips to look at. Bird and Pomegranate. Along the way I've made friends with the girls in Next Dore. One of them gives me a discount. Maybe I can afford more than one wall. 

I drop into Designastyle to put on another deposit. This time on tiles. It's an extravagant purchase I've thought long about. A white Spanish capping tile with a relief for the main bathroom. It will be permanent. I figure it's better regard the walls with no regrets. 

Kitchen Things is next and I purchase an ex-display Miele hob which Nicki had her eyes on but it's got a scratch. Expensive at half price but superior to anything else in my price range so far. I call into Lighthouse next door. Rene and I can't find four down lights. They're not in the box I picked up on Wednesday so it remains for me to turn the house upside down and retrace my steps till I locate them. Finally I cut spare keys for the laundry door. The padlock on the locked box holding the key is hard to open and I need glasses to read the numbers. All in all, a pain.

These are little things but they take time. During the week Kahu in the passenger seat has been patient, but there's less traffic on Saturday. Much of the time spent on purchases lies in decision-making. Inevitably several trips and a few conversations. I would hate to build a house in a hurry.

We have a pot luck dinner in the evening. Half the invitees cancel at the last minute. Life has a habit of turning corners. 

Action On Site

It's a misty Friday. Grey, low sky. No junior classes except for relief for an absent colleague. The boys are busy putting up architraves and doing other random odd jobs. Another element which makes it look more like a house. It's good to see them again. Feels like old mates. I have a chat to Kirk who is whacked after a busy day and, no doubt, a busy week. We chew the fat before I head off to pick up the deco door handles on appro. I need to see how they will work size wise on the old doors.

A quiet night in. 

Final Goodbyes

Lock down ended two days ago. New Zealand went to Level 1 at midnight on Monday night. Life has been so busy I forgot to mention it. No new cases of Covid now for 20 days and no active cases so we're officially out of the woods.

Today we farewell Marika Kermedelidis, Theo's grandmother and the founder of the Kermedelidis family in Christchurch. She arrived here in 1951 after several forced migrations around Central Europe.  Born on the Crimean Peninsula, her family were Greek and expelled from northern Turkey in the early 1900's. When she was 6, her father was taken as a political prisoner and sent to a labour camp in Siberia. He died within 6 months. Her mother raised the family of four girls during difficult times, including occupation of their village by Germans in the Second World War.
When all non-Russians were declared enemies of the state by the Russians after the war, they were given ten minutes to pack up and taken from the Crimea to Uzebekistan. After an arranged marriage Marika and her husband went to Greece, then came to New Zealand. The family is very close and Madika was much loved. I used to spend time listening to her stories and eating Greek dishes. Cooking was Marika's speciality and food a token of love. Marika's English was pigeon, but tales of her early days, the hardship, the uncertainty and ultimately, the survival, were a reminder of how lucky I am, and how difficult is the life of a refugee. 

Today, Kahu and I go to the Orthodox church and negotiate our way through the unfamiliar rituals of the Greek church. Standing for the best part of an hour while the burial ritual is chanted, my feet get tired but my brain slowly goes to sleep. The incense and chanting are hypnotic and I'm swaying on the spot by the time the service finishes. We chat in the cold outside the church then madly follow a fellow funeral goer through rush hour traffic to Linwood Cemetery for the burial. I can't lose the car cos the cemetery is a maze and I'd never find the grave. I throw dirt onto the coffin under a melancholy winter sky, a fitting day for burial and endings. Back at the church hall we tuck into spanokopita and baklava. Marika's food and food of the Greek community. She was a wonderful cook and I never said no. Hers was a life well lived. Hers a legacy of love.

Likewise it seems for George Floyd. His second grade teacher said he wanted to be a judge when he grew up so he could implement change. His death has lit a torch for change. So many wrongs, so little justice. Protests since his death are demanding change, and not just in America. Here in New Zealand, calls for armed police patrols in mainly Maori and Polynesian communities are being suspended. The proposed raptor squad, modeled on one in Australia, is being mothballed. Calls for our police to carry fewer arms, are being listened to. It's about time. The system is racist and needs to do better. We all need to do better. 

I go to Pioneer Stadium for the first post lock down volley ball game. It's weird after social distancing but so normal too. We lose. Que sera sera.

        

                      

Day 75- Lights and Handles

Back to back at school then I'm off in the Suzuki to do errands. I don't make it to the house today either. I pick up remaining fixtures at Lighthouse, they look interesting. Then head to Interior Effects to revisit door handles. In fact, the owner is an expert and it doesn't take long. I've been there before and, when I look at their range again, the decision is quick. Art Deco chrome. I get given an encyclopedia of products. Handle overkill. I'm gonna need help with kitchen handles.

A night of work and blog writing. Now that I've got Google photos the process of linking pics to the blog is quick. I've had a tortuous few months downloading, uploading, slow internet, losing photos...Enough to make me throw in the towel every now and then, but one thing about me is, I'm persistent. That's how come I'm building this house.

Day 74- Writing Reports and Kahu's year

It's slow start Monday in my head. But a 7:45 meeting. Rene calls about the lighting. We arrange to meet on Wednesday. The teaching day gallops by then I'm stuck behind a desk till after dark writing report comments. It's hard because we have completed only a little assessment work because of lock down, but I've  written enough sets of reports to make them sound reasonable. On the way home I stop at the supermarket. They're taking down Covid social distancing signs. Today we have 0 active cases in New Zealand and at midnight we move to Alert Level One. At home we celebrate with a beer. 

Some pics of Kahu's year as an AFS student in El Dorado

Day 73- Gardening with Kahu

We head to the house early afternoon. On the way we pick up Kahu's cell phone, repaired. This should be interesting. How much time will he not be using it? The plasterers are touching up the lounge ceiling skim. Bless them. Another last minute job done in time. Kahu and I dig but I get distracted by Greg on a bike ride, then Chris and his mum, on a construction update outing. While I'm talking Kahu is digging. The house is cool but dry. A noticeable difference from the old house. The sun is shining.