Checkin' in

Some things that we've noticed:

Creatures: It's strange not to see squirrels racing around. There aren't any here. In fact, there aren't many of the creatures I take for granted. I was talking to my neighbour, Jeff (the weather guy, remember?), and he was telling me how cute some of the critters we have (and NZ doesn't have) are: squirrels, raccoons, porcupines, skunks. Of course, he's only seen pictures of them.

BBQs: We got our new BBQ delivered today. It turns out that if you buy a propane tank to go with it and don't specify that you want one filled with propane, guess what? Right, you get a very big paper weight.

Water sports: So, I had my first sailing lesson about 10 days ago and was not at all prepared clothing-wise.  I actually do have water shoes but they're in a ship somewhere at this point and not where I need them *now*. More importantly, my shirt and pants were not waterproof. By the end of the day, they were certainly well washed though. My next lessons are this Saturday and Sunday and I am now the proud owner of a wetsuit (full coverage) and booties. Yes, booties. I had only ever used that term referring to footwear for babies. It turns out that even cool surfer-dude-salemen selling a middle-aged woman water shoes call them booties. So hey, I have booties (see below) and will wear them with pride.

 

Hill climbing: I discovered last weekend that there is a trail just a few minutes out our back door that leads up one of the many hills around here. It's great for the dogs since they can run around in the tall grass and we don't have to worry about Tatum chasing cars. Climbing to the top of the hill gives such wonderful views of the ocean, city and mountains. I thought our house was pretty high up the hill but from the summit, our place looks like a toy building on the beach. On Sunday, we went for a good hike up there with Pauliina, Andrew, and their dogs, Woof and Phil. Apparently the hill is sometimes occupied by sheep and all four dogs made a wonderful sheep poop discovery (no need to say anything more). Sammy was also proud to have made his own find; as we're walking down the trail, Sammy is running around with a white bone structure in his mouth. According to Andrew, the skull wasn't human (phew). Needless to say, those bones did not come home with us.

That's it for now. Cheers all! 

Beth