Public Address | Cafe | Southerly: Things to be Grateful For: A Snowy Morning

David Haywood

Sun, 31 Jul 2011 11:55:13 +1200

HI David! All the best dads are “sled dogs!”… somewhere I have piks of us having a picnic by Lake Rotoiti with snow down to the shoreline from a couple of years ago. Quite magical. Unless it hangs around too long…

Ha! Now we’ve had three Dr Haywoods on this…

Allison Haywood

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 15:52:20 +1200

HI David! All the best dads are "sled dogs!" I remember a certain pink baby's bath tub we used to shoot down the back lawn in, although snow would have been cooler than grass...no pun intended..the igloo is fairly impressive too....I think the snowman's fate was probably already sealed?

No…

Just thinking

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 18:45:16 +1200

The bricks were about to come down at any time, so a new flue and dampers are in place now & picking up firestarters soon.
Keep warm.

Rik

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 18:23:16 +1200

Well that must be heartbreaking – until I saw your pictures it seemed more like a dollars and cents exercise, when you see the mature fruit trees, hedging, tree house, proximity to the river, character bungalow, etc you realise what a loss it is – you had found a lovely…

Islander

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 17:56:39 +1200

There is a certain kind of firelighters that work very well in logburners- to wit, Budget Fire Starters obtained from New World shops (well, I havent encountered them in other shops.)

The other thing is – how's your flue? And dampers?

All best for being warm- cheers!

Just thinking

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 17:37:09 +1200

I've got the new "clean air" approved burner.
I haven't been able to get it going today – so it's very clean tonight :p

Alice Ronald

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 15:12:41 +1200

Hey, I used to walk past that house every day to get to AGHS! I've been sneakily wondering if I'd recognise your place when I realised what part of town you were in.

I love how snow turns everything kind of wonderful – leafless trees get new adornment, a small…

Ian Dalziel

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 13:12:04 +1200

Chchch re-cindered...
Didn’t the ChCh City Council make those illegal under the clean air rules or somesuch?
I believe they kinda rescinded that for the duration, saying that people could use fireplaces and existing log burners with impunity to keep warm as needed, it seemed a bit of a hollow…

Steve Barnes

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 12:52:22 +1200

Log burners are the way to go.

Didn't the ChCh City Council make those illegal under the clean air rules or somesuch?
I noticed the other day on the "News" that some folks had their "Heat Pumps" cranked up to 11 crying "Oh Thermodynamics, why hast thou forsaken me?". Heat…

Joe Wylie

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 11:07:13 +1200

. . . use it as Green Credintials for the disaster recovery story?
Only if Gerry gets a makeover.

Sacha

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 10:46:11 +1200

is it feasible?

No. CERA will legally force the land to be vacated so they can sell it to private developers unencumbered.

Just thinking

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 10:24:34 +1200

Log burners are the way to go. An off grid form of heating is a must. More than that though, snow on the ground and a roaring fire in the lounge warms your very soul.

Here's a though for those in the Red Zone. Off Grid living, is it feasible?…

Islander

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 23:29:58 +1200

Glad to hear that, Just Thinking…a “log burner” (havent heard what it really is)
was installed in a family house last week. Orange zone, and teetering on the brink of red….
but – need for housing? That's paramount, surely. And relocating houses that ARE salvagable is also surely foremost. Why…

Just thinking

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 23:23:22 +1200

Surely the need for housing will influence this decision. Relocation has to be a quicker.
That said we did get a new CERA fire put in today.

Islander

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 22:25:19 +1200

If CERA aren’t interested in letting homeowners move their houses then dozens of 100-year-old houses like this (which are comparatively undamaged by the earthquake) will be bulldozed. It’ll be a huge chunk of NZ’s architectural heritage needlessly destroyed.

Which is, frankly, fucking criminal dereliction on the part of CERA.
It…

David Haywood

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 22:06:46 +1200

your gorgeous looking property is in the red zone and as such you will have to vacate at some point in the future? Or are you allowed to make repairs and stay on – no doubt without any insurer wanting to touch you?

That's about the size of it. Also,…

Ross Mason

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 20:23:24 +1200

A nice series of posters was put out for the IGY.

You will see numbers all over them. I got carried away and photoshopped the whole fracking (heh) lot of them a few years ago and got rid of the numbers.

If anyone wants a "clean set" let…

Rik

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:06:15 +1200

So help me understand...your gorgeous looking property is in the red zone and as such you will have to vacate at some point in the future? Or are you allowed to make repairs and stay on – no doubt without any insurer wanting to touch you?

Steve Barnes

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 10:38:33 +1200

International Geophysical Year
Love the Giant Penguin attacking the Japanese Whaler.
It's like "Let's get physical.. Geophysical"

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 10:05:26 +1200

'Tis pity she's a hoar...
Did this happen, or did I just get overly excited about a heavy frost?
Not sure, but seriously I think all the flakes fluttering
about Wellington are ACT MPs...

Ross Mason

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 09:41:17 +1200

Alas, poor Ian, me is older than thee. I wintered in 1982. I hope you got more trips than once in that 10 years. The REAL Skidoos arrived literally as we was leaving. I had one zap on them. The previous ones were goats. As slow as and no fun.…

Lucy Stewart

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 08:40:31 +1200

I can corroborate that in Highbury, there was snow for, oh, less than 5 minutes, on and off. It was kind of pathetic, but not something you see in Wellington every day.

I seem to remember a visible amount of snow sometime in the early '90s, maybe 92/93. Nothing that…

Islander

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 22:47:45 +1200

That is truly fascinating Ian!

I am so enticed by the recipe book (and all the other works of course but -that is – evocative...local ingredients, she asks hopefully?)

Ian Dalziel

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 22:03:49 +1200

Star sky and huts...
As an old Antarctic explorer...
Depending on when you went down, you may've had to put up with my really crap illustrations in the reversible Field Manual/First Aid Manual – Did you ever have to get a skidoo out of a crevasse?
I originally laid it…

Jackie Clark

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 16:42:58 +1200

Ironically, David, whilst in Fiji, Kath pxted me with a photo of her 17cm of snow in normally balmy Waimairi Beach. Lovely. And yes, think of how much your house has seen in the last 100 yrs. She is far too lovely to be laid waste to.

Islander

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 16:31:09 +1200

Is that Donne gagging out there in the sleet?
Shall I rush out and toll the fire bell?
Nah, it's too bloody cold...

but the puns & wordplay from you jokers are quite warming-

recordari

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 16:16:20 +1200

and yes, the snow has been both *coastal* and sealevel through much of the south.

Snowman is an Island-
er.

Still can't get over that Snow Dalek. That was just awesomeness personified.

Megan Wegan

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 14:39:21 +1200

I can confirm that more than one flake of snow was seen in Kelburn – it snowed at my place for oooohhh, 5 minutes at least!

I can corroborate that in Highbury, there was snow for, oh, less than 5 minutes, on and off. It was kind of pathetic, but…

Ross Mason

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 13:45:11 +1200

Horns of the di lemma? Horn, horns, horning around.

Lederhausen or as Wiki points out, these are more correctly Liederhosen, song-breeches.

Their socks are down!!!! A bit Ruff.

Heh. Try this armpit muso
or this guy

I bet both their names are Stan.

Joe Wylie

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 13:35:44 +1200

I downloaded that for a friend of the teutonic persuasion a while back, who blurted out "That's beautiful!" at about 5 seconds in, before remembering that they were supposed to laugh at it.

Marcus Turner

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 13:19:48 +1200

I apologise for the threadjack, but I keep forgetting to post this on a Friday. It's irrelevant, of course (to pretty much everything).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcRyjkYdDxM

webweaver

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 11:28:45 +1200

Meanwhile, MetService spokesman Bob McDavitt said he heard a report of a snow flake being seen in Lambton Quay. I’m off to build the world’s smallest snowman.

I can confirm that more than one flake of snow was seen in Kelburn – it snowed at my place for oooohhh, 5…

Ian Dalziel

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 09:34:46 +1200

Ice Station Zebra crossing
it's a crunchy morning in Chchch
all the snow is now iceblocks or sheets
cars sound like icebreakers outside...

...so watch out under trees & eaves today folks
Gravity is implacable and meltwater
a great lubricant, cycle helmets all round!

Amy Gale

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 06:35:25 +1200

Perhaps it’s because I’m in upstate New York at the moment, remembering the long grey winters here...

How're you liking the unbearable heat we have right now, then, eh? Gaaah. I would happily – happily – donate a good twenty or thirty degrees to the good people of Christchurch.

On…

Sacha

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 00:49:10 +1200

Suitable for people who like the colour white

non-hillside modernist decor

Hilary Stace

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 22:18:50 +1200

Lovely tree hut, beautiful ladder. I like engineers (my father had three engineering degrees but wasn't very good at the practical application), and just got that clip from another source and it seemed appropriate, although it was not about snow.

Ross Mason

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 22:00:45 +1200

Heh.

So...Hilary...are we off to the knackers now?

Pssst....call me. I'm good with gizmos.

Nice tree hut though...don't you think?

Islander

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 21:40:49 +1200

White, deep snow, miles from anywhere and you could even hear your blood flow. Breathing was too noisy.

My mother reports that the local hoons – who use her street as part of their circuit- and the truckies – who normally also use her street as part of their detour…

Hilary Stace

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 21:39:29 +1200

For engineers everywhere

Ross Mason

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 21:17:59 +1200

As an old Antarctic explorer, may I comment on your "igloo". We were taught how to make both igloo and hedgehog. Yours is technically a hedgehog. What is supposed to happen is the support you piled the snow over gets removed and the inside hole gets 'chiselled' out to fit…

Joe Wylie

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 21:12:22 +1200

Refrigeration included at no extra cost: $450 per week. No vegetarians.
Perfect spot to chill out & chew the fat.

David Haywood

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 21:02:39 +1200

Really envy Bob’s igloo, btw.

With the housing shortage in Christchurch we’re planning to rent it out. In fact, your envy has made us raise our original asking price.

SPECIFICATIONS: Suitable for a family of four. Refrigeration included at no extra cost: $450 per week. No vegetarians. Suitable for people…

Islander

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 20:47:00 +1200

Yo! Good one! – Bella is a nice little animal, and, like all her kind, she has a thick woolly coat. Unfortunately her pads – and tongue- dont-

Ian Dalziel

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 20:26:41 +1200

keeping our powder dry...
I wrote an early morning comment – but then my wireless connection faded as the snow flurries thickened – but I was impressed that the Press delivery got through, and less impressed that several large snow-laden branches fell on the car (no real damage luckily the…

Islander

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 19:54:33 +1200

Yep, common running bamboo – and so-called bamboo grass- are noxious weeds* as far south as Haast.
I asked my big nursery cousin for a variety of bamboo** that wouldnt engulf the entire neighbourhood and he gave me a plant, v.thin-stemmed, that – he garenteed- would be green forever and…

Joe Wylie

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 19:30:26 +1200

I was wondering if the rapid growth may be a precursor to such an event.
It's what I thought of when you mentioned it. I've only seen bamboo flowering twice, once in the late 70s in Wellington, and about 10 years later in the Auckland area. Typical grass flowers, turning…

Steve Barnes

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 18:56:08 +1200

When it happened just that particular variety for miles around would bolt to seed and die.

Aparently they do that
In fact, many bamboos only flower at intervals as long as 65 or 120 years. These taxa exhibit mass flowering (or gregarious flowering), with all plants in the…

Joe Wylie

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:42:17 +1200

Wow, that’s some pretty photography, Joe! As opposed to my holiday snap talents…
Mine too, actually. There are a few crash-hot local pictakers I know of, but only one dedicated enough to hit the snowy streets at 4 a.m.

Really envy Bob's igloo, btw.

Bart Janssen

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:17:49 +1200

My partner is now adamant we need to buy a plunger and an egg-whisk.

Emma! Must you bring your sex life into every thread?

Jeffrey Paparoa Holman

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:06:30 +1200

The other nice thing too is that this post is eliciting no controversies – just for once.

Jeffrey Paparoa Holman

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:05:35 +1200

Lovely stuff David – warms the cockles of my heart in the North. I was about to ask the "no footprints" question too.

David Haywood

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 16:56:06 +1200

UPDATE: I have just added photographs of our post-lunch activities…

Sarah de Croy wrote:

I hope you’re all finding some way to stay warm.

Despite major damage I’ve managed to keep the central heating limping along. It’s been working at full capacity all day in an effort to counteract the…

David Haywood

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 16:45:54 +1200

Chch, crack o’ dawn, no demolition happening

Wow, that’s some pretty photography, Joe! As opposed to my holiday snap talents…

Greville Whittle

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 16:21:21 +1200

Excellent pictures, loving the chilly bin sled. They're the first pictures from Christchurch that made me smile in a long time :)

In other good news: Bob seems to have outgrown his resemblance to a certain ex-Act Leader from Epsom.

Jolisa

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 15:48:51 +1200

Perhaps it's because I'm in upstate New York at the moment, remembering the long grey winters here, but I love how even the grimmest, greyest winter vista is magically lightened and enhanced by a coating of snow.

Not that yours are grim vistas – what gorgeous lines your house and…

Joe Wylie

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 15:26:40 +1200

No takers on the Bamboo question then?
Can't help as it's too cold in these parts to grow any really interesting bamboos, though I fondly recall the fun I had when I gardened in warmer climes – bambusa latiflora got as thick as Arnie's, um, wrist in Grey Lynn. Wonderful…

Hilary Stace

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 15:08:12 +1200

There's something warming about those photos. Thanks.

Steve Barnes

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 15:06:32 +1200

No takers on the Bamboo question then?

Just thinking

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 15:04:14 +1200

Snow is melting, high tide at 7pm. Good luck out east.

Geoff Lealand

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 15:04:13 +1200

Great use for a (very) chillybin. Next time you can borrow vour toboggan. Not much use for it in the Waikato.

nzlemming

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 15:03:09 +1200

I saw snowflakes here in Waikanae for about 2 minutes. None lasted long enough to land, and the rain was washing them away anyway.

Lilith __

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 14:20:22 +1200

My partner is now adamant we need to buy a plunger and an egg-whisk.

Yeah, I think you need to visit the local plunger-and-egg-whisk emporium! Wow, I remember those Leggs eggs.

Steve Barnes

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 14:18:15 +1200

Nice one! How did you make the balls so round?

I would have thought they would have dropped off in this weather.
It's Snow joke I tell you...

Emma Hart

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 14:10:41 +1200

Nice one! How did you make the balls so round?

We have an egg-shaped plastic container, like the ones Leggs pantihose used to come in. I can't remember where it came from, but it's perfect for daleks. My partner is now adamant we need to buy a plunger and an…

Steve Barnes

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 14:04:05 +1200

I think they might rather Endothermiate?

Well, I was thinking more of how cold weather, and indeed, snowbeings, would remove heat from a body, such as mine, so my getting cold would be an exothermic process and therefore constitute a threat from such being. QED
I did consider "Exthermiate" but…

Lilith __

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:52:52 +1200

Nice one! How did you make the balls so round?

Emma Hart

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:42:57 +1200

I like "sno-dalek" of course you need a toilet plunger and an egg-beater rather than a carrot

There was a rather testy discussion about my egg-beater. Snow Dalek.

Lilith __

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:38:46 +1200

Fnahh, “Exothermiate”

I think they might rather Endothermiate?

Bart Janssen

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:33:08 +1200

we’re going to go out and build a snow-dalek

Fnahh, “Exothermiate”

Jolisa G already contributed "Exsnowminaaaaate!"

Islander

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:30:43 +1200

Excellent photos David! And Joe-

Was talking to my mother in Oamaru a couple of hours ago. Her lawns are white, and more snow is predicted this afternoon. She had finished scraping off the snow from her front path, stopping to admire new buds on the rose bushes (yes!) and…

Paul Campbell

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:29:01 +1200

I like "sno-dalek" of course you need a toilet plunger and an egg-beater rather than a carrot

Lilith __

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:26:53 +1200

As a friend of mine just said on FB, the snow is the icing on the quake. :-)

Sarah de Croy

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:24:23 +1200

Looks like Bob is having a great time! Very beautiful pictures but I hope you're all finding some way to stay warm.

giovanni tiso

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:21:25 +1200

Allow me to pfft in a condescending way at your "snow chaos".

Once they closed the airport in Milan due to snow – possibly as much as 2cm – and a Finnair pilot is rumoured to have radioed in to the control tower "fuck off, I'm Finnish, let me land".

Joe Wylie

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:17:29 +1200

Chch, crack o' dawn, no demolition happening.

Just thinking

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:10:13 +1200

Even big kids get a snow day!

Rich of Observationz

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:08:53 +1200

You need a tow-car.

Martin Lindberg

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:05:23 +1200

Allow me to pfft in a condescending way at your "snow chaos".

Pfft!

Steve Barnes

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:03:52 +1200

we’re going to go out and build a snow-dalek

Fnahh, "Exothermiate"

Lilith __

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:52:22 +1200

snow-dalek

Hah! Brilliant. And easy to defeat. :-)

giovanni tiso

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:23:43 +1200

Meanwhile, MetService spokesman Bob McDavitt said he heard a report of a snow flake being seen in Lambton Quay. I'm off to build the world's smallest snowman.

Emma Hart

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:12:02 +1200

One of our kids is "trapped" at his friend Rowan's after gaming all night. The other is fast asleep. We have just decided, my partner and I, that we're going to go out and build a snow-dalek anyway. Though I would prefer it to actually stop snowing for a bit...

Paul Campbell

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:05:53 +1200

my daughter's been snowboarding on the street outside (we live on a bit of a hill) .... didn't last long apparently there are no lifts

Isabel Hitchings

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 11:58:39 +1200

We've just come inside for a hot chocolate break after having walked down to the park for a frolic and built half a snowperson in the front yard. The kids are so delighted by the snow and by their father not going to work that they are failing to be…

Lucy Stewart

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 11:04:15 +1200

Nothing like a bit of snow to make everything beautiful. As long as it goes away again...

Judi Lapsley Miller

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 11:02:00 +1200

Oh how gorgeous! Wish I was there to make snow angels with Bob.

Grant McDougall

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:54:53 +1200

There's been snow all over Dunedin (and, indeed, Otago at large) for the past 24 hours, too. My heat-pump's been earning its living the hard way, that's for sure.

I thought it may've eased off today, but it's still coming down steadily. As an aside, great to see Southland win…

Megan Wegan

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:46:54 +1200

Oy, that river looks cold. I hope Miss Polly is wrapped up warm inside there. :)

David Haywood

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:37:12 +1200

With snow still falling I'm wondering if you could bring your digger down here — and shift a bit for us...

Graeme Haywood

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:33:21 +1200

Nice to see your house in the white zone for a change.

David Haywood

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:31:04 +1200

Careful planning! (And lots of snow still falling to cover my tracks).

Brent Jackson

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:26:11 +1200

Great photos David. How did you manage to not leave any footprints for the photos looking back at the house ?

giovanni tiso

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:16:37 +1200

Anyway, got to go make a sled...

You do that, you magnificent man.

Lilith __

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:14:20 +1200

Sorry, David! Time to make a snowperson?

David Haywood

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:02:55 +1200

Bob is in seventh heaven about the snow. I was enjoying it until I read Lilith's comment and thought about another big earthquake + snow. That could be a bit of a crap combination.

Anyway, got to go make a sled...

Lilith __

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 09:55:20 +1200

Hope it’s not too cold.

It's below freezing, plus windchill. And still snowing! A rare day for Chch. And now thunder and lightning....

I think we're all enjoying the novelty. This is the sort of natural event we can cope with!

Gee

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 09:45:34 +1200

Great pics, David! I'm guessing Bob's having the time of his life in the stuff. Hope it's not too cold.

Danielle

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 09:43:42 +1200

Well, you may have a glorious winter wonderland, but we have... grey sleet and hail! So there!

Lilith __

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 09:26:44 +1200

Nice one, David! Everything looks OK under the snow....

Public Address

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 09:26:44 +1200

Discussion from blog post.