Jule's Hikoi: A bit chilly here

I'm that person who wakes up to snow and goes a little crazy, just a little more kid like than usual really. It snowed last week, it didn't last long on the ground but it was lovely while it did. Photos from every window of course, and a short video. I can love snow because I'm inside in the warm looking out. It's been chilly here lately, colder than the last winter I had here. I checked out the latitude, distance from the equator, compared to New Zealand and guess what, I'm living at the southern equivalent of just south of the south of the south island. South is cold in New Zealand, south of the south is more like artic. I shouldn't have checked really, it made me feel colder.

This hot house flower and her beau are heading south, not the cold south south more a tropical north south, in early January. I can't wait to get grandbaby cuddles, although there's only one left at that squishy cuddly stage. The others will just have to endure. It's essential to be able to chat to them and Facetime is great. I had an Aria chat today, a 'what I want for Christmas' chat with a bit of Lily thrown in. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone and getting some beach time. In NZ my family are laying my mum's ashes to rest in a place special her. She passed away in June after a long illness, hard to watch from a distance.

I'm between contracts at the moment and having time on my hands is a bit of a gift. I was given a folder with my dad's mum's family history and have been exploring what's there and what more I can find out. In the process I've discovered more about my dad's dad, my favourite person the world until he died in 1979. He went to war as men did back then and served in Egypt and other places. My great great grandad Thomas Galloway Aitkin also went to war, the first one, and I found out a bit about him as well. He was gassed and wasn't well when he returned. He was allocated farmland as a returned soldier, a story similar to the one written by Maurice Shadbolt in Strangers and Journeys. Looking at a photo of Thomas I can see who my eldest son looks like, an uncanny likeness.

There's more to explore including the places over here where they emigrated from. My people came from Scotland, on both sides of the family, lowland and highland Scots. My dad's family came to New Zealand early and ran whaling stations in the south, plying the waters for the riches whales and seals brought. A brutal cold existence in a harsh climate. They built the wharf at Lyttleton where the 'first' settlers landed; they fed them and laid out where they were going to live. Ironically, land already settled by local Māori who must have been puzzled by the surveyors pegs.

My mum's family, the highland Scots, landed in the south and brought their Scottish culture to Southland and Otago. Farming land and laying down cities and towns on Māori lands. Such is New Zealand's story. The trip north to Scotland will have to wait until summer and by then I'll have a trail of discovery mapped out. I can't wait, love a good road trip and my last one exploring there was in 2013. The one where I stood listening to the guide at Stirling Castle telling a story and realised it was the story of my family. It was emotional when the penny dropped.

This past week has been an indoors one mostly with one trip to London to explore the Natural History Museum. I love geology and the museum had some amazing displays of our earth and it's riches. I could see some pieces I have in the collections, some of the shells and stones I've collected over the years. It was cold, nothing my new long wool coat couldn't cope with.

The coat I bought recently for Remembrance Sunday at the cenotaph. I had a privileged position after being escorted through horse guards to Whitehall next to Downing Street. So good to see members of the royal family and other special folks laying wreaths; listening to the bands and watching them march past; and enjoy the parade of old soldiers, young servicemen and women; and the Blue Light contingent. We had lunch after at Westminster Hall. A day of commemoration done as only the Brits can do it.

That's about all for now. Here's a few pics of recent weeks.