So with 150 of 283 boxes unpacked we are pretty pooped but the house is sort of coming together. Both girls' rooms are decorated but due to vital bits of desks and beds still being in transit neither is completely finished. I've been out early on Saturday mornings at Garage sales around Cambridge picking up garden tools, a BBQ, jerry cans and odd bits and pieces for the house. It is quite a competitive sport over here with people arriving before 7am to make sure they bag the bargains. One guy (a Kiwi with a Black County accent) was telling some of his fellow garage sale regulars how he brought 15 Catherine Cookson novels for only $1 each rather the £5.99 on the cover. Now I'm not much of a reader but $1 each would strike me as being about 95 cents more than I'd pay for them.
Chris did one better by touring around the better residential areas on the annual 'bulky items rubbish collection day' and coming home with a wooden wheeled frame that fits the BBQ I bought perfectly.
We've been desk shopping for Lana (in a real shop this time) who has seen a really smart L shaped black desk with built in shelves – the only problem is that the shelves are on the wrong bit of the L. I could free stand them on the other bit but apparently they do need to be screwed down just in case she's working there and we get an earthquake…….
Kirsty's still on crutches but seems loads better and Lana is off on her Year 10 camp – there are 40+ of them camping on the Coromandel Peninsula and doing loads of outdoorsy type stuff. No doubt we'll know more when she returns.
Now – lawn mowers – well Husquavana 22 HP 46 inch side dishcharge / mulching ride on lawn tractors actually! I've had a second 'go' today at cutting the plot and managed to get it down from 90 minutes to 80.
Most importantly I've set the first timed lap for the 'Top Gear' style 'star on a reasonably priced lawn tractor challenge'. There is a big chunk of lawn out the front with a few large-ish trees but apart from that you are pretty much mowing easy grass. A couple of clockwise trips around the perimeter to keep the grass cuttings on the grass (it throws them out on the right) and then up and back I went. To make sure it was an 'offcial' time I started and ended on the drive way in a Le Mans style start up…… The figures were 21 mins 24.7 seconds with a 'lap' distance of 2.19km at an average speed of 5.8kilometers per hour and thanks to my trusty GPS I even got a record of the route I took (sad I know!). So every guest we have will have their turn on the tractor and be placed onto the leader board…
The tractor also came with a trailer – well it actually came with a huge Meccano set and I spent an evening putting it together .... Kirsty enjoyed her ride in it...
Now just in case there is any confusion about who can use the tractor it came with very explicit instructions on the key fob…..
NO Children to be nearby and more importantly…..
All mummys and children are only allowed to watch from inside as daddy drives by and waves…… having said that….
...it didn't stop Lana having a go…….
Meanwhile in the NZ Herald this week was a classic photo taken in Cambridge of a lawn-tractor being used in a more unorthodox manner – to trim the top of a hedge……..
Almost as exciting as the ride-on mower was the fact that we FINALLY got a broadband line on Friday so we are really in the 21st century now.
I promise that the'll be no more mention of lawn mowers for a few weeks.
It's not exactly summer here but warm enough to cycle and from work in a T-shirt now, the record is covering the 16.4km in 36 minutes - a lot faster now I've got my own bike. Having said that it's now had a new chain and most of the gears replaced!
I'll get Chris to write the next installment...
Richard
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