nishatalitha

Daylight savings ended last weekend, much to my relief. The extra three weeks either side that were tacked on were a bit much and the mornings have suddenly become a lot easier. Evenings are harder though - it's almost 10.00pm and it feels like I should be in bed (heading there soon, promise). It was dark when I got home today after my 5.30pm lecture.

We need to get firewood from somewhere before winter really hits: some split pine and split hardwood. There's a place in Petone (I think) that does the pine; the hardwood will probably hit us with heavy cartege fees as the closest place I've found is in Upper Hutt. If anyone has suggestions (beyond trademe), I'd appreciate them.

I'm looking forward to storm watching from our house, and having the contrast of being warm and comfortable inside. Additional heating tends to involve extra layers - for example I wear a merino singlet all winter - and blankets, rather than heaters.

That being said, we have a heat pump in the lounge, which may get some use and I had a call today from an insulation person who said our property manager wanted a quote from him on ceiling insulation. That would be fantastic if it actually happened.

Mostly, I'm looking forward to Easter. Two short weeks and four days off work will really help. Even though I'm making up less time at work this year, I'm having to think more about my lectures and I seem to be tired a lot more. Of course, the general malaise could have something to do with the time of day I'm posting. I am currently in my flannel pjyamas, dressing gown and slippers and they seem like good things to be wearing.

I've started walking to work in the mornings on a semi-regular basis. While this didn't particularly wake me up today, I'm finding it's a good way to start the day. Whether this continues into the middle of winter I have no idea...

Most of the time I have itunes on shuffle - I got most of my music from other people and their computers, so periodically stuff I don't know I have turns up. That being said, the Hannah Montana soundtrack was a bit of a shock.

I was somewhat surprised to see Disney's High School Musical dolls and Hannah Montana dolls in the Barbie isle at the Warehouse. I didn't know they existed. But they look better than the Bratz do.

I bought useful things today (a replacement alarm clock, a clock for the lounge, draft stopper tape to go in the windows, a breadboard), pretty thing (another cup from T-Leaf T) and a book. The book makes me happiest, because it's been out in the US for a month, month and a half or so, and I've been looking for it in Dymocks every time I go in.

House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones, a third book set in the Howl's Moving Castle universe. It starts off slowly and is increasingly awesome by the end. tamarillow has Mates and Lovers, a book about gay sex in New Zealand out of the uni library at the moment and I'm looking forward to reading that too.

And it's 8.30pm now, so we need to do dishes. Oh, joy.

EDIT: Dishes done. And farewell to my old alarm clock. It gave me a decade or so of relatively faithful service. I wonder if I'll miss it.

They arrived after midnight last night. I went down to show them where I lived so they didn't have to hunt for the house in the dark and found my sister sitting in the car while my brother-in-law peed over the edge. Some time later, after pumping up the airbed and vaguely awake conversation, we all retired for the night once more.

My brother-in-law is a rather nice chap, if rather blokey and not at all geeky. They brought down my last three boxes (I have pirate lego again!) here, as well as a bbq and gas bottle and he was surprised when we went and helped him to bring up the boxes. My sister, not feeling well, stayed in the house, reading M&B in a chair.

This was after he burned all the gorse. He wanted to burn it and reckoned that it would be easier and faster than taking it to the dump. He was wrong on the last count and probably wrong on the second, but he burned the entire bag of gorse we had left and so we have a patio again! He also managed to melt a hole in the tarp, but that's okay. The lounge is still cooling down.

maudlinrose made cupcakes that had geranium and orange peel icing and were so very nice that they're practically all gone.

I have lots of stuff again: my childhood tea-set, of which the teapot would do a nice cup for one now; the china doll my Gran made to look like me (red hair, blue/green eyes); cards, photos and random memorabilia; five years worth of high school ID photos and magazines; two wood money boxes and a gonk made in three years worth of woodwork classes; assorted figurines now discarded; pirate lego (all except the big ship, which was already down here); and, of course, lots of books. I will be discarding about half a dozen and the rest I have to find a home for. Considering that I already needed a new bookcase, I am now in dire straits and shall visit the Warehouse earlier than I had planned to get another one that will hold hardbacks, since that's what I desperately need room for, even more so than the paperbacks! Of course, I have to update my catalogue with all these.

We are planning to go down to see the free Fringe Festival thing called Gravity and other Myths, which apparently includes fire and circus acts, just what I always wanted to see. If my sister isn't feeling well enough, we'll come home, we can feed them (the more they resist our food the more I want to make them eat) and I'll go see it another night.