"It's raining... great!" .. not the centre of the world.

Grand daughter Edith with her new brother Stanley.

We have been filling drinking water containers from this tap at a local picnic ground. 

These big, twisted, well spread old trees are everywhere. This one on our Sunday walk.

Beautiful Rain
We have been staying in our van at our son and daughter-in-law's place on Waiheke Island just off the Auckland coast in NZ. With a subtropical climate it is a nice place to be as autumn turns toward winter. But it has a problem. It does not get enough rain. Everybody has their own tank and if Waiheke goes through a dry spell, tanks can run dry. When we first moved here the tank here ran dry and they had to buy in water to exist.  We began showering every second day (whether we needed it or not) :-) at a cottage owned by Dominican Sisters around the road. (with permission) Its tanks were fairly full because it is used infrequently. Our van which has been our bedroom had to go to a garage to get a Warrant Of Fitness check (A NZ requirement) so we have now moved into the cottage. A check of my son's water tank over the weekend found the water level had dropped significantly. Last night I heard the rain start, very heavy rain and for once I was thankful. We often growl about rain, but we really do need it! We should be thankful for it more often. I had Aussie friends visiting once. They gushed about how green the landscape was. The next breath they grumped about the rain. My comment was, "To have the green landscapes, you need the rain." Today, even though I have been working in the rain, I am thankful for it. It will be adding to the house water supply.
A steep learning curve.
My two year old grand daughter is on a steep learning curve. She is very bright and active and has been a delight. But she has a new brother. Since his arrival there have been a few bad tempered little tantrums.  She has had the run of the house for two years, with two doting parents and heaps of attention. She is having to learn suddenly that she is not the centre of the universe. She is learning and the tantrums are becoming less. She is coping, which is pretty good really. Among some people I know there are a number who are decades older who have not yet learned that they are not the centre of the universe... and sometimes I must confess I am one of those.  We are interesting animals. 
Our project
My son and I have been working on a project. Building a workshop/spare room among the poles under their house.  We have generally got on well except when we have a difference of opinion about how things should go.... or when I make a mistake in measuring. (It is a pain getting old and unable to see as well without glasses.)  I am a bush carpenter... a bit rough. My son works at providing assistance doing installations at the Auckland art gallery and is very particular. We are using mostly old scrap timber which means the job takes a lot longer as we search out appropriate timber, clean it up and sometimes resize it. I am truly impressed with my son's abilities.  I have done a lot of building, but his skills leave me for dead. There are somethings I have learned from experience, but he has patience and is very good at problem solving.  I have been working alone today, he is back at work. He will inspect my work when he comes home. I hope it is acceptable!