Random thoughts on Winter in Northland

As you can see, our bananas are coming along nicely. It is the citrus we need help with. Andrew has been making marmalade and grapefruit juice and taking buckets of mandarin oranges to the office. I have been making orange muffins, fruit salad, lemon filling with crepes and Buck's Fizz (OJ and champagne). If you come to our house, you leave with a lemon. The neighobors are not coping any better, their lawns are covered with dropped oranges and lemons.

Speaking of lawns, ours needs a mowing. That's one of the drawbacks to the winterless climate. The grass keeps on growing. (Try to control your tears, please.)

As someone from the Northern Hemisphere, I find it startling when my friends complain of the bitter Antarctic wind. Although we are feeling settled here, I still think of north as colder and and July as summer. That is, I'm still a bit confused.

The girls have made a few minor concessions to winter. They often carry a jacket to school in their backpacks, but they are still barefoot.

Although the climate is mild, the houses are not well insulated. Thus, we find we are colder here than we were in Canada. I tend to cook more meals that require baking in the oven or cooking on the hob so that I can also warm up the kitchen. The girls often ask for a hot breakfast and have asked me to buy thermos flasks so they can have hot lunches at school.

Outerwear is very important. When planning what to wear the other Saturday night when we attended a social at the Yacht Club, I chose an outfit based on which coat I would be wearing, as I anticipated leaving it on all evening.

Yet for all the chill and rain, most of the winter has been lovely. Most days of the week I can get a load of laundry dry on the outside line...if I put it out early enough. Pearl and I go for daily walks on the beach, where she has the important task of chasing the seagulls and oyster catchers off of the sand.

And spring is in the air already. Daffodils have already bloomed and pollen from the trees dusts our car every morning.

Today is the one year anniversary of Andrew's arrival here in New Zealand.