What's our Charlotte up to now?

She's been on a journey over the last couple of years.
She went to London in August 2008.
While based there, she managed to get about to Dublin and Amsterdam, amongst other places.
She came home in December 2009.
More recently, a friend she met in the UK, came to visit and stay with her, joining us for Christmas.

And now, Charlotte and Gareth have decided to get married!
The what, when and how is yet to be decided, but we'll keep you posted.

Remembering Christchurch

A memorial service was held in Christchurch recently, and featured a moving film of the devastation wrought by the February 22 earthquake.
It is in 3 parts, with Part 1 below:

Or, if you prefer,

Curious Creatures & Garden Gargoyles

Our garden, in addition to being something of a wilderness, is also the home of various creatures animate, and inanimate.
Some of the inanimate ones made their way here after Mother moved from her own home and then were joined by the last ones after Mother died. A few Mother gave us in earlier years.
However they got here, they all appear to be enjoying themselves, and show no inclination to leave.
See for yourself.

Art for Desiree's sake

You see, it's like this: Desiree is taking a school-group to Vietnam later this year. It has been in the planning stages for some time now, and those involved - the kids and their families - have been running fund-raising events to help offset at least some of the costs.
The latest was an Art Auction.
There was a good selection of work for sale - some donated, some on commission, some with reserve prices, some without.
We took (some of) the family along, and then bought a number of pieces ourselves.

The centre-piece is called Cathedral Cove by Aime McCarron.

The cats are everywhere

We've had some cold weather just recently, and the cats weren't well pleased. So, of course, they had to cuddle up closely on the bed.

But then today, the weather improved, so Goldie found a spot from which she could survey the backyard. And then a visitor buzzed in to say hello and enjoy the warmth with her:

Our city of ruins

Or, if you prefer,

The best or most authoritative source for 'technical' information:

Sarah Rose was able to see how Wellington reacted to the call for 2 minutes of silence to mark one week since the earth shook.

The 'shake' took a lot of people outside of Christchurch by surprise.

Images from New Zealand's
largest Newspaper organisation, which even has a "Before and After" selection of photos.

And TV One also has a
gallery of photos.