When we moved to the Great Urban Ark early last year a long discussion ensued about a) the challenges of being on tank water and b) the state of the guttering on the Ark itself. 

The former was, we decided not that big a problem and the latter went on the To Do list – our reasoning being that they weren’t so bad as to require urgent attention. 

Despite being a family of five, we succeeded in getting through the entire year without having to buy a single tanker load of water. 

We were ever so proud of this feat. Actually – we were rather obnoxious about our ability to save water. And as is usually the case, it didn’t take long to catch up with us – we got so blasé about it that we stopped checking the water level in our tank. 

Until the day somebody turned a tap on and got a ghastly gurgle and two drops of brown dirty gunge. 

Of course this happened on the Sunday of a long weekend and we were stuck until Tuesday for water. I have never been as relieved as when I saw that tanker pull up that day. Except maybe when I saw him pull up again three weeks later. Or maybe the visit he paid the month after that. 

At this point we decided there was clearly something wrong with our guttering – where was the water going if it wasn’t going into the tank? 

A quick climb up a ladder discovered two things – we know where the Amazon can now be found and The Man of The House does not like being on the roof. 

The former is no doubt the result of the fantastic bird life we have around the Ark – Tuis, finches, doves, and on a couple of occasions a pair of stunning Wood Pigeons – but becomes a bit of a problem coupled with the latter. 

With a bit of help in the form of yours truly holding the ladder TMOTH did a fairly good job of removing as much of the offending herbage as possible – much to the delight of the Indian Runners and the Henny Penny Gang who waited  below to pounce on chunks of grass and bugs.   

However as much fun as it was – the guttering needs to be replaced.  Bringing us again to the size of the Ark and the funny colour the quote made TMOTH go! Still, we made up our minds it needed to be done.

So I was somewhat puzzled to find TMOTH standing on the deck with a bemused look on his face muttering things about “not having the heart really” the other day. 

He was watching a Tui have what amounted to a spa bath in the dining room guttering. The amount of water being splashed over the side was filling the dogs’ water bowl – much to the ducks’ delight (don’t ask, just don’t ask).  I swear we could have run the dishwasher and bathed the kids with the amount of water that bird was splashing around.  

That was enough for me – we are getting the guttering cleaned and repaired before we have the entire Tui population of Beachlands decide we are the best hydrotherapy spot in town.

TMOTH has decided we need a birdbath as well – though it beats me how we’re going to tell the Tuis to use the “downstairs” bath. You know  – the one down by the cats and the slobradogs....

Until next month, stay happy, stay well, stay safe.