Uncle Ted and Aunt Gretchen said when our shipment of household stuff came it would be like Christmas. They said you’d forget what you had packed and when you opened it up you’d have lots of pleasant surprises. At the time I thought “yeah, probably, if you’re old and forgetful and really into dishes.. I’m not.” But they were absolutely right. Maybe I am old and forgetful, and if not dishes, then I’m really into colorful throw rugs. We’ve been in New Zealand for 6 weeks now and it feels GREAT to eat at a dining room table and sit on a sofa. Our stuff took up 1/3 of this shipping container.

The carefully polite movers hauled everything inside, threaded the couch through the tiny living room door, and began assembling chairs, tables, and beds. All the hardware to put our bed together was missing, but at least Milo’s crib pieces came through alright. I offered the guys cookies for their break time and they didn’t know what I was talking about. Cookies are called ‘biscuits’ here, makes them sound a little healthier…or like a doggie treat.

Of all the nice little things that I unpacked today, my 10x hand lens tickled me the most. I completely forgot that I had packed it, and I had been wanting it too. It must have been an afterthought on the packing end, since it was tucked away in the kitchen box. Now I can see the fern sori (delicate little spore holders) close up! Oh my, I’m a hopeless nerd.

Bagels, a success! Milo thinks so too. Kiwis don’t seem to have fresh bakery bagels and Jeremiah likes them for breakfast, so I’ve been trying out recipes and techniques. These are the best so far. Dough sits in the fridge for a day, then bagels are formed, they rise, they’re boiled, then baked. Baked on parchment paper sprinkled with cornmeal, after the first batch I tried left all their bottoms on the pan. The mover didn’t know what bagels were.