The Monday with drama at home

Hi,

Ok - I am going to try and capture the drama that ensued at our house yesterday so you can all imagine it in your minds.

At 11am yesterday I got a call from Toby.  He was yelling and it was hard to understand for a bit.  I managed to calm him down enough for me to determine that Smudge had caught a sparrow and proudly strutted in from the deck with it.

I had to wait until I got home to get the full details as the texting and phone calls were garbled.  But here's what did happen.

Toby was in his singlet and boxers, having just got up not long back.  And he was alternating between using his fierce voice to Smudge to say:  Drop it!  And shrieking when the bird got loose and fluttered around and the cats pounced once more on it.

The bird ended up not moving and under our heavy bookcase (which is low to the ground so not easy to see what is under there).  Toby got the cats out of the way and then tried a few things to fish it out.  But he was too squeamish.  Tessa was due soon, so he decided to leave the bird there and have a shower.

While he was in the shower, there was a knock at the door.  He must have briefly thought it was Tessa.  But no.  It was the police.  Two men, expecting a domestic dispute.  The neighbours had seen a "large man" on the deck in a dark top and heard angry shouting between two people.

Toby was quite embarrassed at this stage and explained the situation.  The police were relieved not to have a domestic to sort out and said they would get the bird.  They used the claw grabber to fish the bird out from under the bookcase, whereupon it took off out of the house through the sliding doors to freedom.

When I got home and Toby told me this story, I was absolutely trying hard not to lose the plot and roar with laughter.

But good on the neighbours for intervening.  And the police for being so nice.

Tuesday morning iced latte

Sip!

Mike tucking into his eggs

I need to do washing.  :-(  Our washing machine is still in limbo.  Apparently LG Australia are not playing nicely with the NZ side of the operations.  Mike is considering buying a second hand machine to get us through.

Or he tells me I should just buy new clothes every day.  If only I liked shopping.

I was upset to read about the Whakaari/White Island eruption with lives lost.  We visited it back in the 90s and it is such a special place.  There aren't many places where you can easily access an active volcano without a huge trek across lava plains or up massive mountains.  I hope for tales of survival, but it doesn't seem likely at this stage.  With visiting any volcano, you are entering a place that is so risky by its very nature.  Tragic.

Have a good day.  Enjoy your family and friends but don't give up on doing things that are exciting.  Even if right now, it feels a bit like that.

Love,
Angela