Thursday, April 29, 2010

Eels!

Just a quick note while I have internet access (still very rare for me). Typing really aggravates my neck, so that's another reason to keep this short.

We went to Willowbank Nature Park on the weekend, with our friends Etienne and Priscilla (and their boy Ludovic). They have long-finned eels there, in a pond, and they're very accustomed to being fed. You can just stand on the bank, and there's a dozen huge (meter long? Maybe longer?) eels in the water, trying to come out and sample what you've got on offer. VERY COOL. Aya and I loved them.

My neck is still injured.

Its very warm here today - very nice!

Shelley is learning R. She resents having to write computer code.

I applied on a job at Thompson Rivers University today. A faculty job in Ecology. Bit of a long shot, as hundreds of people will apply on it.

We are still enjoying living in Christchurch. A lot. I got to see a Weka, and a Kea.

More later!

Trent

ANZAC day....

We celebrated our first ANZAC day this Sunday. According to Wikipedia (font of all knowledge):

"Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, and is commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. It now more broadly commemorates all those who died and served in military operations for their countries. Anzac Day is also observed in the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tonga."

Thye have poppies, like we do on Remembrance day in Canada, but the poppies are a bit asymmetrical, and in my opinion look a bit like red ukeleles. The also observe it at dawn, rather than at 11:11.

Sunday we went to a nature park (aka zoo with smaller animals). Rowan and I saw the elusive kiwi (the bird, not the mammal) - but since they are nocturnal you can only see them in the dark. Rowan thought it was scary to walk through a dark forest with strange noises (but he was still very quiet, what a good boy!). I thought it looked like a dark kiwi-shaped blob with a beak.

Aya's favourite was the eels, of course. Who cares abour farm animals and monkeys when you can pet eels? She does like predators....(although she was dissapointed that there was no giraffe. She even brought a branch from home, just in case she saw one)

Trent cut Rowan's hair. He was very still (what a good boy!). He looks cute and taller.

Trent's back is getting slowly better, but he still sleeps on the couch, and still takes pain killers.

He also heard back from MacEwan - they hired someone else. Poor guy! (although I think he is a bit relieved too!)

Next we will both apply to TRU in Kamloops and Trent will apply to Vancouver Island University. There are also positions at Wilfred Laurier in Waterloo, and one in Sydney (Australia) that he might apply on but doesn't really want anyway. Ugh - they are so much work. Days just to get an application package together, and then not even a letter telling you you didn't get an interview.

More later....
love shelley

Friday, April 23, 2010

I have not been faithfully updating my blog lately. There is a perfectly good reason, though - and that is that I have injured my neck in a semi-serious manner. Let me explain.

I have a prolapsed disk in my cervical vertebrae (C5/6). To make a long story short, the disk of dense paste that acts as a cushion between my vertebrae has partially been squeezed out (like toothpaste, they tell me). If that weren't annoying enough, the bulging disk is pressing on the nerve that goes to my right arm. This causes tingling (if I'm lucky) or desperately painful aching in my shoulder and upper arm. So, I'm gobbling all kinds of painkillers. I'm seeing a physiotherapist, and it is slowly getting better. It'll take 3-6 months before it's properly healed. All this was caused by carrying a HEAVY grocery-laden shoulder bag, and then irritated further when I jumped down while climbing. I have to sleep on the couch in a semi-sitting position.

SO...

No climbing for a long time. No activities that involve impact (even running). I should be able to swim once I can turn my head properly. I cannot use a computer for very long, due to the necessary task of holding you head/neck in a static position. I can read now, as long as I don't do it too long.

Ugh.

Everything else is going well. Aya and Rowan are doing super-well - they're very funny! Shelley's work is progressing well, and she has her first data set in hand (an experiment describing how climate change affects flower growth and nectar production). The results seem conclusive, so that's good.

The weather here has been awesome - hot and sunny lately. The nights are cool, though. It seems to be autumn here, despite the temperature. We're not sure when 'Winter' will arrive, but its not here yet!

Aya and Rowan are in a new daycare / preschool. The preschool has a carpentry bench / shop - the kids (3-4 year olds) have free access to hammers, nails, saws, wood, etc. Not exactly the sanitized environment of north american preschools. The kids have access to lots of things (paint, trees, playgrounds, etc.). Lots of cool things!

Our peach tree is finished producing peaches. We have lots of frozen peaches, and made peach butter and peach chutney (which is delicious). Our lemon tree is still producing lemons, which is nice! I am still fascinated by the novelty of having fruit trees in my yard.

Last week we went for a drive around the Lyttleton Harbour. Such a beautiful area - the harbour is the crater of an old volcano, so its really dramatic. THere are not many trees on the Canterbury plains, so the views are always windswept and dramatic.

More Soon! Take Care!

in his convalescence

And JK, he is reading your novel in his convalescence. Or at least he hopes he is recovering! But seriously, he has lots of things to say about it ;)

Lady Killer!

Well, despite his very short stature, it would seem that our little Rowan is quite the lady killer. He has won them over with his sparkling blue eyes, huge smile, and keen intellect! He comes home on school days ad tells me all about his day with the girls - Viv and Margot (teachers), Fatya, "Eema" (not sure if this is Emma, or what, given the kiwi accent), Simmi, and Summer. You would think that there were no other boys there from what he says.

And no, I am not really a stinky-winky-donkey.

Trent is a little better today - hopefully the specialist physio will help him this afteroon.

And thanks to those who posted comments, it is nice to know that someone actually reads the blog!

Poor Trent!

Poor Trent seems to have seriously injured his back! He is in a lot of pain, and can't even lie down to sleep. The Dr. wasn't much help ("yes, your mobility seems to be limited, bt your shoulder seems fine"), but the physio helped a little. He thiks Trent has a bulging disc in one of his cervical vertebrae, bt can't make the muscles relax enough to be of much help. Trent has an appointment on Thursday (tomorrow) to see the specialist physio, who is apparently good at realgnments. Wish him good neck wishes...

Aya is conviinced that we need a giraffe to live in the yard, and has decided that she likes school again (just in time to switch to her new school, poor girl!).

Rowan says that I am a "stinky-winky donkey"

s.

Current time in Christchurch

This is the current time in Christchurch.

Easter / Birthdays

We had a very exciting and sugar filled long weekend!

First was Rowan's birthday. He liked opening his gifts (thanks to all who sent them!), and loved his chocolate icecream cake (especially the fire!!). In the afternoon we went to the beach at Sumner, and had "fush and chups" and fed the seagulls.

Next of course was Easter. We hunted for chocolate eggs in the house - the don't seem to dye eggs here??, and Aya and Rowan of course loved the chocolate. Friends from Canada were in town, so they came over for easter dinner, which made the whole day even more eventful! We were very glad to see them, and had a great time! Aya got sick in the evening, poor girl, and felt quite bad for 2 days. Chocolate and spagetti are an interesting combination when they come back out....

Luckily she felt better by her birthday, and we had fun making her shark cake! She liked all her gifts too, especially her scooter. Thanks especially to T3 for the great card!

Summer fun

We have been trying to take advantage of the remaining summer weather - the predicted low tonight is 2 degrees...
We go downtown to Hagley park to walk through the lovely gardens ad the beautiful downtown. Aya and Rowan like the river best of all. It is very shallow, don't worry...
We feed the ducks, and make fishing poles to poke the eels with.

We went on a "moa hunting" expidition (aka a hike) in the port hills. It was a fairly short hike, but we had a great time. We didn't get to catch and skin any moas (owing to their being extinct), but we did encounter a friendly fan-tail that follwed us for a while, even landing on Trent's outstretched walking stick!

And of course, water is always involved in playing outside...


So above are photos of summer fun:


"fishing" amd feedig the many ducks that live on the Avon river downtown
The view from our hike in the port hills (georgous!)
Rowan on our hike
And Aya in the sprinkler

PEACH PIE

This one is for the Hoovers in the crowd - we have a peach tree in our yard that had the most delicious crop of RED peaches! Our first attemps at using them was a pie, which turned out great despite the lack of pie plate...

It looks like Rhubarb it is so red, but tastes like peaches. Trent says it has a hint of strawberry, but he is alone in that assessment.

A friend came to visit - Flat Stanley in ChCh

Our dear niece Sabrina sent Flat Stanley to visit us. He had a great time seeing the sights in Christchurch, surfing, and spending time with us. He hopes to be mailed home soon...

Interesting things from the grocery store

Here are a couple things I saw that were unlikely to be found in a Canadian grocery store (along with meat flavoured potato chips, and 'tasty' cheese):