Long time - no post. That's sort of what happens when I go on holiday... normal activities tend to fall by the wayside. We had a very quiet Christmas by our usual standards; Christmas lunch was a picnic in one of the local parks with some of our family from Christchurch. Mum and Dad were able to try out their brand new deck chairs at the park and they proved to be very popular. We need more! Two chairs don't go very far between 7-11 people! Here is my youngest brother practising with his Christmas present at the park.

A few days later, we all took off in different directions. My parents and three younger brothers travelled to the West Coast in order to do some maintenance work on our old house. I decided that didn't sound like much of a holiday, so instead I drove up to Nelson. The rest of the family joined me three days later and we had a wonderful time with family. While away, I tried my hand at sketching the side of a building (that sounds boring doesn't it?) from a photograph book that I borrowed from the library. I worked on it over most of the week and just managed to finish it before leaving for home.
Just as I'm posting this photo tonight, I've realised there is a bit of the drawing that isn't completed - how annoying.

The only real downside of the trip for me was that after spending most of an afternoon at Rabbit Island (popular local beach), I noticed that something had caused a red rash on my lower left leg. When I woke the next morning, there were two large swellings on my leg which made it difficult and painful for me to walk. They looked like bites of some sort, but I'm not entirely sure what they were - possibly an allergic reaction from some grass at the beach?
Anyway, as the day progressed the swelling seemed to get worse and every time I tried to stand up or shuffle along the floor, a painful tingling sensation would race through my leg. I ended up spending most of the day sitting on the couch with my red swollen leg resting on a chair and covered in wet flannels. With the aid of antihistamines, (which we eventually managed to track down even though it was a public holiday - long story) the swelling abated.
By the time we had to drive back home, two days later, the rash had reduced enough for me to travel comfortably, although it still itched something terrible. It's all back to normal now though. And no, I don't have any photos of my swollen leg - you will have to use your imagination!