Election Eve

The big day tomorrow!
Although we cannot vote, we are still taking a keen interest, as we live here now and it is our country! We have had some interesting tea time conversations with the boys. Eric would vote National if he could "because he looks like a man I could trust", Stuart would vote Clark, but I cannot understand (or explain) his reasoning. Patrick is letting it pass over him, and why not, he is only 6 after all.

Meanwhile the politicians are fighting dirty and the smaller parties are trying to get themselves as much media exposure as possible. Winston Peters comes across as a media tart, he strung them out for a whole week over which side he would support in a coalition, to finally announce it would be neither, unless he changes his mind.
Amusement of the week has been the mudslinging he has tried on with his main constituency opponent, National's Clarkson. Peters has dragged up some incident from years ago when Clarkson allegedly harrassed one of his female employees. It all sounded a bit pathetic until Clarkson himself told a female interviewer this week that he would have to stand up "because my crotch is so sore".

Seriously though, I do fear for our futures here in Northland if National get in. They will increase racial tension between Pakeha and Maori for one thing. Plus they are going to bring back bulk funding to schools which will probably lead to job cuts and strike action.

Enough politics ... at least until tomorrow when the result comes in.

Family news: boys all ok, no sports on this weekend. Stuart played in a soccer day this week. The big event of the week has been the saga of the broken glasses. Namely Stuart's, broken beyond repair and with new ones costing over $200, we needed to know who did it. That has cast a shadow over the week and we have only just resolved the problem. I won't say how because the offender/ chief suspect has been granted name suppression to protect his character.

We are basically hanging in there until the end of term one week today.

Included are some pics of animals. Miss Clucky was insisting on laying an egg each afternoon under the stairs; only in this household could this sort of situation happen. I am alternately amused and not amused - though my amusement or lack of counts for little. Meanwhile, the ducks spend most of their day sat on the concrete right outside the back door, liberally spraying it and the window with their faeces. Luvverley! They are going to be taken down to the pond tomorrow, the basic idea being that they will eventually waddle up and down by themselves. Chucks are Ok. Wyandotte cock earned himself an extra week of life by refusing to go in the pen on Saturday night and then staying out on Sunday morning, even when the food arrived. Just how did he know I was after him? Was it my chicken killing gloves or could he tell by my body language? The hatchet was way out of sight. Other livestock are fine. Rams are back to head butting each other intermittently.