May was quite an eventful month. It started with a trip to Christchurch. We arrived on May the 4th and my sister wanted us to do a May the 4th be with you party (don't even get me started on the trip to the airport that Saturday - let's just say that midday Saturday is not a good time to drive through Wellington and that despite low speed limits in airport carparks, people can still manage to have massive car crashes!). So the May 4th plans led to my making a jedi costume, and considering that I was going to a moderate amount of effort, Nathan agreed to make it worth my while by wearing it for the entire day. So he wore it to the airport, in the plan, around Chch streets and then in the evening while we ate pizzas and watched a couple of Star Wars movies. The next day I got my sister a cat, as her graduation present. Meet Minnie, a 1 year old tortoiseshell girl. She's small and very cute. So if that sounds like enough excitement for one trip away, you'd be wrong. There's more. There was a birthday dinner (for my sister-in-law), and Rochelle's graduation dinner was also the first time that our parents all met each other. And then there was graduation itself. It was a very long four days! We had housesitters looking after everything in Wellington, and we were very glad to be home.
May here in Wellington has featured some nice weather, but cold. Cold enough that the cat has suddenly started joining us on the couch in the evenings - which Cher is not so impressed about. I have re-done my lily garden and redistributed all my bulbs. Unfortunately the weather didn't hold out long enough for us to really get everything sorted before winter - the grass is so long. We began building an extension for the chicken house. I never did think it was big enough and they all started sleeping in the nest box instead of on their roosts. Plus they are getting older and have stopped laying for the winter. So I want to get some more chooks, add to my flock (I currently have 5). If we have a few more they will need more space. So we have a frame, a floor and a roof. It just needs cladding! I've also been offered four 3-year-old Orpington hens. I wasn't intending on getting four more, but I am a sucker for animals needing a home so we'll see.
Also in May I went to Napier for work. It was nice to be away, it helped me to get less stressed about all the things on my work to-do list, and then I felt more ready for the next couple of weeks. I saw a friend I hadn't seen in ages, and another friend that I hadn't seen in a few months. Napier is not that far away, I really should have visited there before now. Anyway, I think I'll be going back sooner rather than later because they have this Art-Deco festival every year and I want to go. I have a few friends that are keen on dressing up so I reckon we'll make a road trip out of it for the next festival, or maybe the one after.
The other big thing that happened in May was the Tough Guy & Gal Challenge. Me and two friends were going to do it but one friend was sick so Nathan took her ticket. It is one of those run/obstacle course/wade through mud sort of things. It was held here in Wainuiomata. It was 6k but so, so much harder than a 6k run. I swear it nearly killed me. It was all well and good until I got to the hill. It was so steep, you couldn't just walk up it, you had to pull yourself up on ropes! I managed the course in 55 minutes, and then when I finished, I got myself an ice-cream. There was a cold wind though and I should have got myself some dry clothes! I have learnt for next year though - because we will probably do it again and hopefully manage to pull a team together, now that we can tell everyone how great it is (from first hand experience). After the race we found out that of all the events around the country (they have them in lots of different places) the Wellington one is the hardest, with the most obstacles and the only one with a big hill. The Rotorua one ends with a hot-pool - Rotorua is smelly but a hot-pool would have been nice...
