I’ve just caught a sliver of the 6 o’clock news, and yes people, snow is falling heavily and consistently in London, causing people to stop going to work and all sorts of inconvenience. Worst snow in 20 years! No buses, no trains, no tube. Wah!

Meanwhile, across the Tasman, the population of Melbourne melted over the weekend when the temperature hit a grand 45.2C. Small puddles of Australians everywhere.

So how, exactly, is this global warming?

Answers on a saucy postcard, s’il vous plais.

How the bloody hell are you? Happy New Year and all that, and welcome back to Kiwifruit, my long-lost blog which I discovered that I just couldn’t do without. Like a pair of old shoes that get stuck at the back of the wardrobe that are really, really comfortable and you wear them all the time (in fact, you wear them for years), but you get sick of them, have a break and wear some new, shiny sparkly shoes, but then you decided you liked the old ones best after all.

They just fit you best.

So after that *stunningly* eloquent analogy, let me tell you what’s been happening with me. I’m still looking for a job, which sounds better than saying I’m unemployed. There’s jobs about, but I’m not in too much of a hurry as I’m also an aunty again, for the fourth (and apparently FINAL time) – Lil’ Sis gave birth to Nephew F yesterday after a marathon 24-hour push-a-thon. He’s a bonny wee chap, weighing in at a generous 4.1kgs (that’s 9 pounds, 2 ounces for you non-metric types) and I am sure he will be giving Nephew T (who turned 2 in December) a run for his money in the high-decibel stakes.

As for the houseguests, Bruvinlaw is a flippin’ legend and has almost, almost completed their barn-house, so it looks like the Kiwifruit Clan will finally be getting the homestead to themselves within the next few months, all crossable-body parts crossed.

The gardening is coming along great guns, and I have cleared two tonnes of kikuyu and have biceps of steel to show for it. I’ve read shed-loads of books (praise be for Whangarei Library) as well as making time for Facebook and Twitter, like I hoped, and I’ve also set up a new blog using Movable Type just for my photography called *drum-roll* Photografi. I’d be much obliged if you could check it out, just to let me know what you think.

I’m also back studying again and someday, somehow, somewhere, I will have a Bachelor of Arts (English) degree to show for all of it. Possibly not this decade though. This semester it’s “Self and Society in Victorian Society” – with Jane Eyre as the main novel. Let me know what you think, if you’ve read it, ok?

And hellelujah, Miss 8.3 and the nieces are back at school on Wednesday after five long weeks of Christmas holidays. It was a close-call, as all three were this *pinches thumb and forefinger together* close to being shipped off to the Upper Waikikamukau Institute for Absolutely Awful Children where there is certainly no Strawberry Nesquik and endless re-runs of Hannah Montana to be had for miles.

Anyho, thank you so much for coming back to Kiwifruit. I’m happy to be back!