When we were back in the States this past time we realized that our blog gives you folks a bit of a skewed view of New Zealand life. We only put the fun bits up, generally speaking, particularly trips, leaving some of our family wondering if we ever went to work.
We do work, believe it or not, but we assume most people aren’t that interested in the details. Particularly, as you’ll see, when those details aren’t overly photogenic.
So what we thought we’d do this time is give you some little photos of daily life, mid-week. Minus the kiddy melt-downs, which usually happen at least once a day.
Jeremiah is a structural engineer, which mostly means sitting at a desk in front of a computer crunching numbers. The numbers turn into fancy stuff like rebar reinforcing, as pictured here, which no one ever sees because they get covered with concrete. And if the job is done right, the bridge holds up during the next earthquake.
Super duper high-vis orange! Health and safety has made inroads into NZ industries because the country has a lousy track record littered with worker accidents. The government is trying to shift the “she’ll be ‘right” attitude by plastering the workforce in neon orange and yellow. Jeremiah’s the closest orange worker, in a rare visit outside the confines of the office.
Molly works at a plant factory, 3 days a week. The floor space at this site is 20,000 square meters (200,000 sq ft) and the site is planned to triple to bring their other local greenhouses under the same roof. I wear high-vis too, but my yellow vest is tarnished with peat stains. Part of my job is soilless mix formulation and testing. “Making mudpies,” as my colleagues say.
When I’m not making mud pies, I’m staring at diseases. This one made the poppy go all nasty. Actually, it’s amazing the number of high quality plants the growing team churns out, the pretties just don’t make it onto my desk or into my photo gallery.
When I’m working, Milo is at a little Montessori preschool, where he has a good time playing with his buddy Cody. Naomi goes to Justine’s house, where she waves me off in the morning with a “Bbbeye” and a smile.
When I’m home with the kids we read….
We clean….
We cook…
We teach kind behavior (!)….
We go to the park…(Naomi tried hard to ride Milo’s bike)
We nap…with our toy guns?!
We use the toilet…
We grow garden veggies….
And we play peekaboo!
And sometimes “we” (that’s We in the royal sense) operate a miniature brewery out of our kitchen. Dubbed “Craggy Peaks Brewery,” the actual brewery fills our humble home in the Canterbury plains with hoppy steam.
Craggy Peaks has its own label, albeit a hand made one. In the next version I think the tahr should be waggling its tongue at the beer-slurping hunter.
Give It A Burl 
And I will provide testament that you do DO all of things and so well! I’ve seen it all in action. Glad you’re back at home enjoying all your hard work and family life once again.
🙂
Love that re-bar, wilted leaves and dripping noses! That’s real life. Cheers Graham