Cousin Lizzie

This is Lizzie, six months old, with Diarmaid, her dad. Kate and Sean took this video when they were visiting Lizzie and her parents in Wellington recently. Apparently the water is quite cold, so the sounds emitted might be giant shivers :-).

A rainy Sunday afternoon in February

A rainy day provides a good opportunity for some computer catch-up, don't you think? Tomorrow, we leave for Queenstown on the west coast for three days. This will be Ciara's first trip and her mother is presently packing the clothing and equipment needed for the occasion.
I've been baking a little ... almost smoked us out of the house yesterday, though. That's because of the carrot cake I had made for Katie's birthday last Monday. There was leakage ... lots of leakage ... from the baking dish onto the oven floor and when I put the oven on yesterday to do a little baking, the smoke came billowing out with a speed and thickness that were hard to ignore or avoid! I've now cleaned the oven and used it today to make some tarts and banana bread ... the latter is the kids' favourite, I would say. No smoke in evidence today, I'm happy to report :-).
By the way, it's almost autumn here. I was told that it begins around the end of February. No big deal. As long as those days continue to be long, I don't care about the weather. I love the extra hours of daylight though.
Here's another short clip of Ciara. By the way, Ciara calls me 'Grandmere' and she calls Eithne 'Granny.'

Today

Kate, Ciara, and me ... enjoying a rhum and coke expertly prepared by Sean. Not just because of the rhum and coke, but because of her mother's good care and her father's doting, Ciara is thriving and continues to be a most agreeable baby. She eats (drinks), sleeps, and is beginning to look around and take longer breaks between sleeps. She is awfully cute!!!
Kate and Sean are both very well. Sean is off on three weeks of paternity leave - such a great idea! He's busy painting a bedroom at the moment, just on time for Jimmy Rhodes and his daugher Alice's impending visit. They're in New Zealand for three weeks, old friends from Kingston. They will be arriving in a few days.
I'm doing some gardening ... of all things!! The kids have a fairly large, terraced garden that is in need of care and attention. They've hired a gardener and I'm supernumerary. I can weed and mow the lawn. Also, last night I planted two trees: a lemon and a lime. Woohoo!
I hope you will enoy this video of Ciara (pronounced 'Keera', in case you've forgotten). It's from at bath time yesterday.

Dunedin Revisited

I'm just trying this out. Haven't visited this site in a year, since I was in New Zealand last year. Now, I'm motivated to dust this blog off as I have a few video clips of the new baby to publish ... if it works. Ciara (pronounced 'Keera') will be two weeks old tomorrow. She's a lovely little baby - very good-natured and quite beautiful (to our eyes, at least).
I arrived in Dunedin one month ago and have two months left before I set sail for Somerton once again. The time is going altogether too quickly, of course.
We are managing to fill our days with a mix of childcare, little toots into town or to visit friends and, for my friend Maureen and me, loads of trips to the little repertory cinema downtown.
Now, enjoy this little video clip of Ciara and I'll be back soon with more news of us and our escapades.