It's exactly a month later and still the most exciting thing in my life is my garden. We eat out of it every day and it is looking gorgeous. The chooks are still laying, though they are a bit bored being cooped up. I feed them armloads of silverbeet each day, from the plants that I grew especially for them. Our own diet is simple and delicious.
Auntie had a wee turn that hastened her memory loss and made it impossible for us to continue caring for her at home. It was heartbreaking at the time but as the weeks have passed, we have seen her relax into full time resthome care, where her brother Bert also resides. She thinks she is on holiday at his place and is happy to sit back and let everyone do things for her. At home she was distressed by the fact she couldn't do everyday things for herself, having been a really hard working capable superwoman for her entire life. It has changed my outlook on aging and residential care considerably.

I gotta get a life!

Yes well, in October I made a gallant attempt at getting in touch, with the intention of riveting you all with my exciting and enviable lifestyle change from 17 acres of Northland paradise, to a 1/4 acre section in suburban BOP. You may notice a certain facetious quality about my post...

It appears I have stress to thank for our flourishing vege garden. I have kept sanity at bay (so far) by escaping into the garden at every opportunity, sometimes just for minutes but you can get alot done in a short time. Consequently we are eating lots of salady green stuff, plus beetroot, courgettes, broccoli, leeks and herbs from our garden. No wait! I haven't quite bored you enough. Just give me a minute to mention the tomatoes, beans, red onions, carrots, potatoes and artichokes that are growing away steadily. Oh and have I told you about the rhubarb, raspberries and watermelons?

I must be clear: looking after the olds is stressful but that's ok. But neither Chris nor I have ever been good at suburban life and we are suffering from a bit of culture shock. The motorway is really close - we have of course planted like maniacs to absorb the noise. The supermarket is just down the road instead of a half hour drive away so suddenly we need to go there 3 times a week (and spend money.) The dawn chorus is blackbirds and sparrows instead of moreporks, tui and kingfishers (did you know that moreporks give a last call at dawn immediately before the first morning bird?) On a good note, in addition to the 10 houses we can see from the back door, we also have the most adorable little potting shed that Chris made me from recycled windows and doors, a cute chookrun and a lovely little sitting area where we can watch the sunset from.

Having said all that, something magical has come from all this. Watch this space.

Priorities

It's a year since I last posted and I have had lots of emails from friends who want to know where we are. We have slipped off the planet apparently. Well yes actually. The planet tipped and we went flying into another space and time. The short version: three elderly relos in their 90s needed help all at the same time. We had just finished the 2 big gardening projects up north, so we sold the bus and bought the pictured ute and trailer, packed up the few op shop finds I couldn't bear to part with, loaded the trailer with all the plants Chris couldn't bear to part with and moved to Tauranga to look after the olds. I tell my children we are setting a good example of how to look after our old people and I hope they are taking note!

Four months later, we are sleeping on the lounge floor at my aunt's house, and I am dividing my time between the three of them. Chris has bought a little gardening business so we are both working just as hard as up north except now we are being paid for it. Yay.

First week here we put in our vege garden (also a priority) and we are now eating out of it every day. We brought our chooks with us. Everything else is still in storage from when we left Nelson on our traveling adventure.That's on hold for a bit.

Ok, that's the catchupy boring bit. From now on, the posts will be dynamic and interesting with fabulous photos and witty repartee that reflects my daily life. Heh.