The Book of Ashes

Meal at the Lone Star 1:08AM

In all truth I forget exactly what I did on Sunday. I took a friends bike in to be serviced, I remember that much, but otherwise such memories escape me. Of course it was thus stated that we partook of The Lone Star, truely one of my favourtie places in this world. We were made to wait unreasonably long; almost to the tune of 2 hours before a table was, for us, found. But upon seating, amoungst the finest of company I might add, we were readily served and meals where upon us before we knew it. An antidote that was played amoung us went thus, that as we sat, Mr Henderson who being my good flatmate, was recognised instantly by the waiter as being from Queenstown. Henceforth all visits made by said waiter were noted to include a glance in Mr Henderson's direction and likewise our good mirth brought forth the notion that he was being flirted upon. Many a related joke on his good humour thus sufficed to the tune of Mr Henderson's embarrassed face. But in truth he held up well under the circumstances. Now in returning to our original wait we were rewarded, as all vigilant people are, by a bottle of the finest bubbly to subdue our irritation, which combined with the excellence of the meal, overall, it played its purpose nicely. So in good spirit and good cheer did we leave, content in all regards, to our slumber home. The night it seemed had taken a turn for the cold and it was a most welcome surprise to find that we had left the oil heater on in our flat in our absence. To that tune our night was a good one and we all slept well

The 1 year anniversary of the blobby lighthouse mission... 1:26AM

I awoke to a Monday of most excellent proportions. The sky was clear and the sun was sure to grace us with its glory. Today, altho at this stage I hadn't realised it yet, was the one year anniversary since the blobby light house mission. Check out my diary entries for last year to read about that one. I arose and prepared for today I was cycling the Rimutuka incline with Fiona. She arrived home soon from a weekend away and then we were off. Also of note is that Kirsty, Amy's friend had come to stay. Welcome back Kirsty!

Upon arrival at the incline, an old railway track turned into a walk/cycle track, we took to our bikes. It was a little windy than would have been necessary but otherwise fine weather. The cycle up was a pleasant one along a smoothly graded gravel road amongst the hills. All up it took an hour to reach the top, passing over a few bridges and through a few tunnels. At the top there is a long dark tunnel that is almost a kilometer long. We stopped just before this for a lay in the sun and lunch then went through the tunnel. It was then cold, as a breeze went through the tunnel and also so dark it was hard not to ride into the walls. In the center you could just see two small archways filled with light, far off in the distance and if you spun your head around quickly from one to the other you could imagine you were in some huge dark sphere with only two exit points far off in the distance. The otherside was a much steeper incline and in shade so we quickly became cold. We went down a fair way to the next tunnel then decided to turn around and save the whole trip for another day. The trip back was into a head wind but took only half an hour. All up it was a most enjoyable day.

Upon arrival home we decided to finish off the painting of the girls lounge. The walls did not take long but white paint was required to redo the skirting boards and the windows and door. This we only got a small way through. After painting it was a quick mission to the fish & chip shop then home to watch Shawshank redemption in our warm cosy flat. All the girls came over to watch with us as their lounge is still a mess as it is being painted. Then it was bed time.

Today I have a million things to do. I got a message from my brother Thomas saying he was coming up from Dunedin to look for work here. He was arriving at 9:40. He forgot to mention 9:40pm so I arose early in eager anticipation of catching up with him. Now I have done much house work in his absence. It also seems I have a new follower. One well versed in the arts of the written word and even with a knowledge of the forbidden lanuages, kept only for the coders of this world. Such things do well to entertain me and I am priveledged to know that my words are worthy to entertain you, even if but for a while. Enough said, the sun shines and I must fix up fallen wallpaper in the flats next door. Fun is for those with money. Those without must work..

Murphys law applied to my spoon... 3:11AM

Oh dear! I just finished a bowl of corn flakes and placed in on the sink bench. On moving my hand away I knocked the spoon off. It performed a perfect backflip and belly-flopped right in the center of a bucket of thick gooey paste that I had been preparing. Murphys law strikes again. I couldn't help but stand back and laugh for a while. It was just so perfectly executed and so unexpected. The paste was real gooey tho and took a bit to get off..