Well it's been a ridiculously long time since I last blogged and an awful lot has happened. I will recap the events of the last couple of years, as briefly as possible...although given I am an A grade waffler, you might want to get cup of tea and sedate the children so you have an uninterrupted hour or so...Right then.
1. Sold house in Auckland. This spawned a new term in our household "reno cramming". Reno Cramming is when you have to finish every single incomplete piece of reno work you have ever started over the last 16 years - all 427 of them - in three months. All whilst working full time and beating down the urge to smother your spouse in his sleep because, you know, he is helping with the 427 incomplete jobs.
2. Pack up said house once sold. "House" is evil and hides copious amounts of tat in small dark cupboards.
3. Pack up small country cottage on loan from family. Discover cottage is "House's" cousin, twice removed, and clearly has tardis in it's lineage.
4. Purchase decent sized house in rural northland thinking it will hold all of the contents of House and Tardis. Wrong. After 17th truck and trailer load is delivered and no end in sight, rock in the corner, chanting and swigging on a bottle of anything alcoholic. Lather, rinse, repeat for several weeks.
5.Settle in to life in the country. There is no alarm clock but there are two staffy puppies and five angry ducks if not let out at the appropriate hour.
6. Accept that we are crap at raising animals for food, sheep destined for Christmas dinner become pet lawn mowers and every living creature on this property will die of old age after having cost us a kings ransom in food bills over the course of it's life...and so we will indeed be eating a lot of peaches.
So that kind of sums up the last few years. There are no trendy cafes or shops, Israeli couscous is akin to ground unicorn penis in these parts and grocery shopping must be planned with military precision if you are to have enough on hand to eat well between visits to the supermarket, which really IS a cut lunch trip. I'd be lying if I said it was all beer and skittles from the first day - it wasn't. There was a slightly painful period (more rocking, chanting, alcohol, see item 4. above) of adjustment from busy corporate rat race contestant, to busy puppy trainer, duck wrangler, fencing, gardening, lawnmowing lifestyle blocker. I traded posh leather boots for redbands, any sort of hairstyle for a Himalayan yeti hat, and smart coats and jackets for AgFleece. I knew for certain I had settled into my new life the day I was heard asking the dogs where my "good crocs" had gone. But as a lifestyle change, I can thoroughly recommend it. Agfleece, Crocs and all.
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