New Zealand's Christmas Tree

My Dear Princes and Dear Fellows,

This is the puhutukawa. I'm sure I've blipped it before. The Kiwis will always tell you that it is New Zealand's Christmas Tree because when it starts to bloom red, you know Christmas is coming.

I try very hard to find it festive, but I have to honest, unless it has snow on it, it is not an effing Xmas tree.

Also, I forgot to mention that I met Lemon for lunch yesterday. I asked her how it was going at her new job and she said it was fine. 

It appears that she was given FIVE different projects to work on, right on the first day.

"But it's okay," she told me. "Three have them have been canned already."

I'm not sure if this is a good thing. At the current rate, she could be out of work this time next week.

I asked her if she had cracked open the bottle of Kraken rum that I bought her as a leaving present.

"Noooooo!" she said. "It's untouched in the middle of the living room table," she told me. She made it sound like a prized ornament. I asked her why.

"Because if I can SEE it, I KNOW it's untouched," she told me, waving a finger. "As soon as I put it away, they'll be at it."

Apparently her mother already has her eye on it. "OooOOOOoooohhh!" she said. Lemon told her to step away from the rum.

"You should see the way she pours it," said Lemon. She indicated that her mum basically pours three-quarters rum, to one-quarter Coke.

"I thought that was how your pour it," said Lemon. "The first time I went to a bar and I had a rum and coke I just about spat it out. Then I complained about the amount of coke in my rum."

"Oh you're from bloody Raro*," said the bartender. "All Raros pour their piss like that."

It was too short of a lunch and we had to dash back to our respective works. But I'm glad the rum has found a good home.

S.

* Raro = Rarotonga, it is the biggest of the Cook Islands where Lemon's mum is from, and also one of NZ's most popular holiday destinations.