It's not a 'big' or a 'significant' birthday, but I believe in celebrating them anyway. Any excuse for a good meal and/or a get-together with friends should not be missed. Him Outdoors and I are both exhausted after a very busy couple of weeks and moving house. More than half of our belongings are still in boxes, and we might have spent the weekend sorting things out, but that didn't appeal, so...
Five Things I did for my Birthday Weekend:
- A blind gin-tasting. It turns out that my favourite gins are the most expensive ones. Who'd have guessed that?
- Breakfast at Rocksalt, Hawker - smashed avocado, whipped feta, and poached egg on rye toast, since you ask
- Celebrate the christening of the child of friends - it's on the same day as my birthday and sharing the love in the arms of tradition and community makes me happy
- A bike ride, sussing out our new location, past vineyards, rolling hills and the river gorge - and not a single magpie swoop
- Invited a bunch of friends round to our new house for home-made pizza and drinks on the patio: houses need cats, conversation, company and laughter to make them complete
Our stuff has arrived from New Zealand - hurrah! On the day it was delivered we were experiencing a weather bomb of pouring rain and gusting winds, so everything was soggy and the removal guys tramped mud all over the place. Fortunately the downstairs has a washable floor - they left everything there to prevent ruining the carpets - but it does mean that I've got to carry many boxes upstairs myself.
When you have movers and packers take your belongings from one country to another, you never know what's going to end up where. I have got the top of my computer desk, but the legs have been packed separately so I've got no idea where they are. I have found the stapler and a broken paperclip, wrapped individually with great care and attention, so that's good then.
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| Kiwi humour |
Even the grammatically amusing descriptions on the inventory ('bear bottles' and 'wetsuites' had me a trifle bemused) don't necessarily help. The box labelled 'reckords' held the document shredder (or half of it anyway) so perhaps the packers have the same appreciation for The Fall as I. Clearly, they have some sense of humour, indulging a litttle trans-Tasman rivalry in pictorial fashion on one of the heavier items.
So now I am surrounded by boxes wherever I go in the house - it's like one of those interminable puzzles where you have only one vacant square that you have to slide everything in and out of until you make up the picture. I never liked them, incidentally.
But Chester loves it. He is 'helping' by jumping into every empty or half-empty box (in this instance, the box being half-empty is a positive), chastising the wrapping paper and bubble wrap into hard-to-reach corners, entwining himself around my legs when I'm carrying particularly heavy or bulky items (especially when there are stairs to negotiate), playing King-of-the-Castle with wobbling stacks of cartons, and falling asleep in new places. He's having fun with this, anyway.
And it's good to have familiar possessions around me. It may be scientific due to objects in a vacuum or something (Dad would no doubt explain, if I let him), but the house just feels warmer. And cheerier. And, when I've solved the space puzzle, it will be a lot more convenient too.
5 Items I'm Very Pleased to See Again:
- The 3-piece-suite - it's so much more comfortable to watch the tele from a leather sofa than a hard-backed kitchen chair. Chester is happy to have 'his' $2,000 armchair back too.
- Our sleigh bed - it's such a great feeling to sleep in your own bed, isn't it? Of course, I have yet to find the box containing the duvet or the sheets (they weren't in the same box as the pillows, which were each in different boxes anyway), but I'm sure I will soon...
- Books and bookcases - Not only do they look fabulous, they hold memories and theories and unexplored delights. I can spend hours arranging and re-arranging my books on the shelves. Seriously.
- Cooking equipment - I now have the array of knives, graters, scales, dishes, bowls and baking trays necessary to make proper meals; there's only so much you can do with one saucepan.
- Washing machine - taking a whole day to catch to the bus to a suburb with a laundrette, spending an hour waiting for the clothes to wash and then returning to unload the industrial machines and reload the dryers (which remind me of those ones in horrible scenes in prison films where there's always a dead body stuffed inside) and then lugging everything home again hasn't exactly been my idea of fun.
I am snatching an hour in the local library to post on my blog. I couldn't become a member of the library until I had some bill or something addressed to me in ACT that I could use as proof of residence. I haven't got a landline or a mobile phone yet, nor are we connected to the internet at home, so I am unable to contact people in any way other than post. This feels quite isolated.
Anyway, I have now finally got a bank account and received mail from the bank, so am able to join the library and log on - for one hour per day. This is my first day and I have got so many things I need to look up (such as what day the rubbish collection is, and what are we allowed to put in our recycle bins, and where is there a laundrette in this town as we are running out of clean clothes!) but I thought I would just leap on here and post a message to all my lovely friends and family to let them know that we are well and everything is okay.
I also know that I have missed several birthdays in transit and want you all to know that I am thinking of you and will get round to sending the cards and birthday messages as soon as I get a little bit more sorted (all my stationery is packed in the container!). I shall leave you with this sage sentiment:
"Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that people who have the most live the longest!" - Larry Lorenzoni
As we work out the logistics of moving to Australia, Chester is a primary concern. He needs to be micro-chipped, have all his vaccinations up-to-date, and undergo a thorough medical check. He needs to clear customs and bio-security, pass through the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, and be exported as live cargo. This means his transport costs more than mine and Him Outdoors' put together.
It would have been cheaper (although illegal) to buy him a seat on the plane . He could have chosen his own movies (Puss in Boots) and selcted his own meal (not fish - he is the possibly the only cat in existence who doesn't like fish). And before you ask, no, it has not occured to either of us to leave him behind - he is part of our family. Besides, he entertains, amuses, and greatly benefits our general welfare (it is hard to be stressed when there is a streched out cat asleep and snoring gently beside you). He has also taught me a few lessons in life...
5 Things I've Learned from My Cat:
- There is no problem that doens't improve by sleeping - in fact, sleep is the great panacea
- It is important to keep your nails (claws) and nether regions scrupulously clean
- If you assume you are beautiful/ important, other people will too
- Seek out warmth in winter and shady spots in summer
- If something/ someone is unpleasant for any reason, just walk away
Last night the earth moved. No, really. There was an earthquake at around two o’clock in the morning which shook the house. Chester thinks we are targeting him specifically.
As we are moving house, we have been repositioning things, packing things and creating spaces where previously there was furniture. He doesn’t like this – it unnerves him.
We have locked him indoors so that he doesn’t run away or hide in the removal van. He scrabbles his paws against the cat flap which no longer wafts open at his touch, so we have blocked it with boxes. He walks around in circles, yowling. He has to use his litter tray rather than popping out for his morning ablutions – this is undignified and unacceptable. He suffers in less than silence.
Finally last night he curled up on our bed after pacing back and forth and chewing up cardboard for hours. Just after he had settled there was a rumbling, a bang, a crack and a shake. He leapt off the bed and recommenced the vocal complaint (as only Burmese can do).
He is affronted. He is disturbed. I keep telling him that there is no way on earth we would ever leave him behind but I can tell by his furry little face that he doesn’t understand. His little world is coming apart at its seams. I feel responsible, but not for the earthquake.
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