Selwyn Times: October 30, 2019

10 Wednesday October 30 2019
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
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Return to the pool after a long absence
YOU KNOW how I said I missed
the whole co-sleeping thing?
Well on Tuesday I woke up
to Vittoria breaking the laws of
physics by putting her entire
body weight onto my face
through her face while lying
down. She was also singing in
my ear.
It was way too early to make
me miss waking up like that. No
amount of adorable singing is
enjoyable before sunrise.
Laura flat out denied inserting
a toddler between us, so I have
no idea how she got into that
position either. I’m not sure
if I was woken up earlier and
grabbed her into bed to settle
her, if she jumped up on her
own accord or if she has actually
mutated the ability to teleport.
Hell, can you imagine if it
was the last one? Absolute
nightmare.
Beyond face-based wrestling
moves, we finally started back to
swim classes last week.
It’d been three months since
Vittoria had last been in a pool,
so I was worried her water
confidence would have waned.
My ability to handle washing,
drying and dressing both myself
and a much less cooperative
toddler post-swim was also in
question (mostly in my head).
Fortunately Laura had the day
off so I had both change-time
support and a photographer on
call.
Concerns around (Vittoria’s)
confidence disappeared as soon
as the water hit her face and she
cracked a massive smile. It was
like she’d not missed a whole
term and she aced each activity.
She even remembered the actions
to the Aquagym class song better
than me.
The only thing I thought
had slipped was remembering to
kick her legs when she did
the activities designed to
introduce her to swimming
techniques, but she improved
during the class.
Unfortunately, time away
hadn’t dulled her dislike of
swimming on her back and it
still held the same risk of being
uppercut, hair pulled or getting
fingers up your nose.
Of course, her favourite thing
is to jump off the foam mat into
the pool, it remained top of the
list.
Hopefully this week the
VITTORIA
& Matt
smooth sailing continues in the
pool.
Especially as Laura will be
•Former Star Media
journalist Matt Salmons
has become a stay-athome
dad. We follow his
journey weekly
SMOOTH
SAILING:
Big smiles
being back
in the pool
together.
working and I’ll be having to
address my concerns for my
post-swim admin ability.
SELWYN TIMES
BACKYARD CRITTERS
Mike Bowie is
an ecologist
who specialises
in entomology
(insects and other
invertebrates).
Each week he
introduces a new species found
in his backyard at Lincoln. His
column aims to raise public
awareness of biodiversity, the
variety of living things around
us. Check out the full list of
invertebrates found at https://
www.inaturalist.org/projects/
backyard-biodiversity-bugs-inmy-lincoln-section
Don’t mistake
beetle for a moth
A HANDSOME insect
sometimes mistaken for a moth
is the red-winged lycid beetle
known by entomologists as
Porrostoma rufipenne.
THe adults of this Australian
beetle are 12mm long, red wings,
thick serrated antennae and a soft
body.
Adults are diurnal, fly on hot
days and feed on pollen and
nectar.
Larvae are prehistoric looking
grubs that are found under bark
of fallen trees.
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Community Recycling
Drop-Off Day
Garden waste | Scrap metal | Tyres | Child car seats | E-Waste
Bottles | Cardboard | Paper | Plastic containers | Cans
Saturday 2 November 2019, 10am–4pm
Cemetery Pit, Southbridge Leeston Road
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STS0166
Store Details here
LOVE YOUR LAND
LOVE YOUR LAND
Saturday 23 November 2019, 10am–4pm
Hawkins Pit, Darfield
Entry off Cullens Road, east of Bangor Road
*Charges apply for some materials. Cash only.
For more info check out
selwyn.govt.nz/recyclingday