Housing the menagerie

Yesterday morning I unpacked another box of stuff and we collected our new outside table and chairs from Derek's place as well as bringing back his pots of herbs - he's away in the UK at the moment, and it's easier to care for them here than drive 25 minutes to water them. Also I get to use them. That means too that they won’t bolt to seed in the warmth if being constantly chopped at. Well, that is my rationale and it works for me.

As we already had it for transporting the table and chairs, we were going to use Derek’s car and trailer to go back to Bruce and Gary’s to collect all of David’s Weaving Memories equipment and accouterments plus the folding table Gary gave David. But as we discovered when almost back to Waikanae that I had left B&G’s keys in our car at Derek’s, that plan was scuppered. Ah well, the trusty Toyota Corolla would have to suffice, and it did but required two trips.

This morning we have had a summit meeting about the china chickens’ new home. At Cherswud they were confined to the upstairs bathroom in the main (after Kirsty told me a few years ago that any more would be classed as eccentric, I gave away some of them and removed most others from other rooms, although I confess that a couple of small ones found their way into the guest bedrooms, but only ones that fitted with the colour schemes, mind …) Here in Waikanae there is no floor space or windowsill space for the remaining chickens in the bathroom. A few could go either side of the toilet, but that seems a bit ignominious. My plan is to put them out in the garden as free range chickens to join their cousins given me by Gregor when he moved house. David tells me that he has been on to their union and they aren’t happy about that plan. The cow parade is going on the conservatory windowsill in the kitchen, and the chickens feel slighted that they are banished outside… Now tell me, which of us is eccentric? But wait, there’s more: over the weekend Kirsty and David decided that we should make a diorama for the cows (our friend Brian makes scenery for model train enthusiasts and for Weta Workshops’ remake of Thunderbirds are Go, so he was to be conscripted). Kirsty thought I could do puppet shows as long as I had some long black gloves. Now tell me, which of us is eccentric?

Today I am going to unpack the cups and saucers and the cows and chickens – I am a bit anxious about whether anything has broken in transit and have been avoiding these boxes accordingly. But I will be brave …

Five boxes still in dining room - I think there's prints in 4 of them and china in the big one ...

Paintings, prints and a mirror - still waiting their wall space

The chickens and cows are in these two, along with saucers for the cups I took out of the box yesterday but haven't unwrapped.

And then there's more glasses ...