Hmmm....

I think finally little Jasper is properly litter box trained. It's been a less than fun process in getting there- little Allie was so easy compared to him!

We've finally had a few nice-ish days. I went out on Sunday to Tahuna beach in the afternoon for my first swim of the season. I managed to miss a patch on my back with sunscreen- so I have a funny shaped sunburn- oops. Guess the sunscreen works.

I take my car in for a service and warrant today. The warrant is the thing in NZ that all cars must display on the inside of their front windscreens. Older cars like mine have to get them done 2 X per year. They do all sorts of checks- I guess it's like a safety check. Servicing has been noticably expensive. I wonder if I'll make it through on under $300 today. Time will tell.

I can't believe how fast January has gone. It's almost time for another month end. We get next Monday off as "Nelson Anniversary". But then the holidays start to thin out again. We miss "Anzac Day" And "Waitangi Day" as both fall on weekends without compensating other days off. So we've still got easter to come up and Queens Birthday in June- and then I think it stretches out to late Oct for another one. Uggg. That's a long time without time off work. I didn't take much time off at Christmas and I'm starting to wish I would have... Lots of stuff going on at work in the next number of months- we should all be busy.

The Prince & My little prince

Prince William is currently visiting New Zealand. He's been in Auckland and Wellinton, for sure has had some hangi, tossed some rugby balls, and was here for the official opening of ... my memory escapes me in Wellington.

I got a supermarket chicken for dinner and left it on the counter to cool for a few minutes. I returned to the kitchen not much later to see my little 13 week old kitten Jasper on the counter eating it. What a naughty boy my little prince is. I don't always appreciate his strengthening jumping skills... Allie was sitting on the floor like the good cat she is while Jasper feasted away.

As a point of interest, petrol is currently 175.9 per L.

This and that.

Today I attended the Richmond Rodeo and watched events such as steer wrestling, bareback, saddle bronc, barrel racing, and bull riding. Some events had heaps of competitors (like the bull riding) where as some (like the bronc and bareback riding) had few. I'd never been to a NZ rodeo before. The competitors weren't quite of the Calgary stampede ilk or even Agribition rodeo ilk. There were lots of misses on things like team roping and steer wrestling. A few of the steer wrestlers chased them through the whole corral and never caught up, and some didn't even try once they didn't catch them shortly out of the chute. Nevertheless, very interesting. I was most impressed by the little sheep riders, and the bull riders. Oh- and of course the 2 rodeo clowns. There weren't a lot of local competitors- this is not really cowboy country- but lots were south islanders. All in all, interesting- I'm glad I went.

My 2 kittens are sleeping peacefully- Allie is on a grocery bag, and Jasper is on the door entrance carpet. They're getting along much better now. Jasper thinks he's "all that" and pushes much bigger Allie out of her food dish. He's surprisingly bossy and "tough", given he's only a portion of her size. I took her to the vet on Friday to get microchipped and to get her desexing stiches out. They were supposed to disolve but 2 months later, hadn't. She is a large 2.4 kgs already. She's not the only one growing- even little Jasper seems to be growing into his large head.

I went for a longer jog the other day. I headed out towards town via Rocks Road and when I got there, decided to continue home via Waimea road. I wasn't quite in shape for that long of a haul. I used a great website I recently discovered to determine it was about a 13 + km run. (which turned into a walk near the end) http://www.mapmyrun.com/ What a handy little website! It also tells me my normal morning jog is just under 5 km and has an elevation gain of I can't remember what - something like 77m.
I was debating entering the buller half marathon down the coast which is only a month away- but this trial helped me determine I'm not ready. I need to aim for one that's a bit further out- and intensify the training too!

The garden is really taking off! Lots and lots of little green tomatos, blossoms on the pumpkin plant and cucumber plant too. I hope to be able to harvest them- as I'm still on a new flat hunt. This is due to the lack of insulation in this property. It's hot on a warm day, and I can't imagine how cool it would be on a winters day. Brr. It's not easy to find a rental that allows pets and is okay on the pocketbook, so wish me luck. I have until approaching winter to find something before it gets urgent.

In Nelson news...

To give you a sense of the goings on in Nelson, some of the stories in today's Nelson Mail:

1) Sunshine crown home. Nelson is once again the sunniest place in NZ (for 2009 with 2570 hours ahead of Tauranga and Blenheim.) Nelson finished 2nd in 2008, 3rd in 2007, and 1st in 2006 and 2005. My comment: It's great to live in a sunny town

2) Handling the annual tourist avalanche- the Nelson i-Site visitor center had 1200 tourists a day through its doors this week. My comment: Wow- lots of tourists... This explains why my lunch time drive home to feed the kitties is taking a full 2 or 3 minutes longer than normal these days.

3) Wow factor gets artist into Avatar- a 24 year old Golden Bay local worked on this film for the past 3 years. She left school at 13 to concentrate on her passion, and won the Supreme Award in 2004 at 18- the youngest winner ever. Wow helped her be found by Weta Workshop- which does lots of film work. She's currently working on another film- details . My comment: Good for her!

So today I went to battle with the ants again as I noticed them once again on 2 sides of the house. I sprayed, and we'll see if I notice a difference. Today was also the kitties first day together unsupervised. They're starting to get along better, although Jasper is a bit of a bossy wee fellow. Allie is sleeping in high places because he decides to attack her periodically. She then fights back.

What a difference another makes

photos: Allie & Jasper

On 29th December my second kitten arrived via Air NZ from Auckland. He's a blue colourpoint, about 6-7 weeks younger than little Allie. I was NOT anticipating the major envy displayed by Allie. They can not be in the same room unsupervised. It's now been about a week and only in the last day or two has Allie stopped focusing on little Jasper every moment he is in the room. You couldn't turn your back for a minute as she'd be leaping at him. Now they've graduated into a play relationship- tiny little Jasper attacks Allie with gusto, even though he's much, much smaller than her. He can be seen pushing her out of the food dish, and also chasing her across the room. He thinks he's a big fellow... It also shows me how much she has grown in the time I've had her. I can't wait until they are better friends and can be left alone unsupervised. All the watching has been tiring.

I had a quiet NY eve, and was in bed before midnight. It's not so much the moment of the new year that matters to me as much as what the whole NY will represent. Several years ago I read a journalist saying that their resolution was to try something new. I used that as one of mine several years ago- and it was a good one. Each week- whether it be a new recipe or a new running route, I tried something new. It was good for staying out of the comfort zone and making exciting new litle discoveries. I can't say I've made a resolution this year, but I shall endeavour to be a little more active in pursuing things that make me me. I'm on the road to that, having finally become a kitten owner. I shall endeavour to pursue more of the same.

It doesn't feel like we've had much of a summer yet and already the days are shortening. I'd like to get out camping or something in the near future- but with the young and therefore higher maintenance kittens, that doesn't seem particuarly likely this year.