Monday, February 08, 2010

• Hot sun on my shoulderblades as I sit on the lawn during my lunchbreak.


• Getting stuck into a stack of editing. I like editing.


• When she gets home, Maggie insists on watering the herbs with her little blue watering can, coming into the kitchen every couple of minutes to demand a refill.

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Sunday, February 07, 2010

• Sound of diligent piano practice drifts across from next door; Bach, I think.


• Birthday yum char for Nana and Aunty C; Maggie stolidly consumes dumplings, then tries to peel a custard tart. Because all that annoying pastry is getting between her and custard.


• The latest roses to start to open are small-budded (but not miniature) deep gold with an orange stripe on the outside petal.

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Saturday, February 06, 2010

• Becca's new school friend lives next door. They wave to each other as we eat dinner outside. Then Becca goes to fetch Maggie, hauling her across the deck by her armpits and holding her up for inspection: This is my little sister. HELLO, LINDA!! bellows Maggie, cheerfully.


• Becca brings Jack breakfast in bed. After a little prompting, she goes back and gets some for me some too.


• Sunny backyard barbecue at friends' place; kids spend the entire afternoon in the paddling pool, trampoline and zoom slide. Fave sight: Maggie riding down the slide on her sister's back.

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Friday, February 05, 2010

• Realise this morning that we haven't used the car (or needed to) for two days.


• Industrial-strength coffee combines with cold-related spacedoutness to produce an endorphin-like buzz.


• A colleague stops at my desk to tell me how much she enjoyed our Greytown gig.


• Lambton Quay at lunch a giant shambling dress-ups party for the Sevens. Favourite outfits: the Always Blow On The Pie cops. Safer communities together!

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Thursday, February 04, 2010

• As it's a stayhome day, I pull on my Scruffy Mummy kit. 'You look nice,' says Jack.


• Maggie's ecstatic little face as I push her higher and higher on the swing.


• On the kitchen wall calendar, February is already covered with scribbles.

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Wednesday, February 03, 2010

• Waking from a nightmare, Maggie finds her way downstairs to us through the dark, still house. She climbs into our bed, and falls asleep in my arms.


• Becca's first day at her new primary school. We meet her new teacher, Miss T, whom I instantly warm to. At first Becca is shy but self-possessed, answering questions clearly and politely. When she sees a large stuffed shark on the classroom floor she lies down in its jaws, looking suitably delighted.


• At home for the day with Maggie, I decide to leave the computer alone, ignoring email, Twitter and anything else I usually sneak a look at during odd moments. And my day is calmer, steadier, more peaceful for it.


• Maggie has a nap! She's been refusing them for the past week and I was starting to wonder whether she was outgrowing them. But she happily toddles off to bed after lunch and sleeps for an hour and a half, giving me time to potter, drink coffee, and read my book in the sun. And ignore the computer, of course.

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Tuesday, February 02, 2010

• It's a hot day. The local pool's within walking distance. Becca and I wander down for a swim, followed by a picnic lunch in the park.


• I spend a happy hour in the garden, potting up tomatoes and kowhai and scorched-earthing the big round planter at the front. I free potbound herbs and give them a new home, and transplant the parsley so that its neighbour the mint, already showing signs of recovery, will have a chance to thrive.


• I make a jug of iced tea, adding some of the aforementioned mint.

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