Today was a good day. We didn't have anywhere to go (being the last Saturday of the school holidays), so we got up early to get a good start to the day.
I was a bit worried when I pulled back the curtains this morning as there was a red sky in the east, and I always thought a red sky in morning was a shepherd's warning, but the day turned out to be glorious and hot!
Robin says that I must be getting near my third trimester in my pregancy as I've started to get my washing obsession. I don't know why it is, but in the latter months of my pregnancies (once I'm over the morning sickness) I always want to wash everything in sight. I go through the house and grab anything I lay eyes on that can be washed. I'm only 26 weeks - 14 weeks of laundry obsession left!
The orchard trees are starting to look beautiful. Finally the apples are starting to flower, and the cherries as well. This first picture is of my heritage apple called Monty's Surprise. It was a recent discovery from an old tree found on the side of a road I believe, somewhere on a country road in the remote parts of New Zealand. It's my favourite apple tree, given to us by my sister and brother-in-law. I should get another one, because I'd be devastated if I lost it - I think it's my favourite because it is such a unique tree and a fairly new 'old' discovery, so there are not too many of them around yet.
And here is the cherry tree blossom.
And of course, Saturday is the day I clean out the chicken house and give the girls a new bed of straw. So they get to roam free range over the property. I put my 8 year old son, Hugh, on sentry duty - it was his job to keep the girls off my fledgling vege garden. It was not an easy job either - they would make straight for the silver beet! I'm saving up for a picket fence! I took Hugh out a large drink of juice and a large slice of banana cake to eat in the shade while his Dad and I took our afternoon cup of tea inside. See... there's one heading straight for the silver beet with its bottom in the parsley bed.
I do love watching them scrummage around in the dirt though - and it is nice to see them break into a little trot every now and then. They are being good girls mostly though - we are averaging 6 eggs a day!
Don't you just love a fluffy chicken's bottom!
And this is a photo of Poppy sulking. I had to tie her up for the first time in her life because she was getting rather rough with the hens and even though they were sticking up for themselves I could see that in the end they would come to no good. But Poppy sulked and she doesn't like me now.
It was so hot outside that the children wanted to stay inside, but I wanted them out where I could keep an eye on them, and doing something that would burn up some energy, so I said I'd put the sprinkler on for them if they got into their togs (bathing suits). We don't have a pool yet, and this is the next best thing, and the kids really love it. They had a great time and I could hear lots of laughter and screams as I gardened.
When the chickens were back in their run, we let the dogs off and Cricket (after his ritual dip in the water race outside the gate) smelled out 'something' hiding under a pile of wood scraps and iron behind the chicken house. It was probably a field mouse, as later on I did see something small and brown dash across the lawn towards the vacant field next door. It was rather funny to watch him though. Cricket spent a good part of the afternoon sniffing it out and trying to reach it. As always with Cricket's hunting sessions, Poppy was just content to look on and at times be a little helper, even though she mostly got showers of dirt sprayed all over her.
Here are some pictures of the vegetables that I do have out in the garden, but we're still getting the odd frost, so I'm holding off planting out my seedlings yet. Maybe another week and it should be warmer. I did manage to get a couple of rows of potatoes planted before my energy gave out.
This is the garlic with the chives on the edge.
And these are my artichokes that survived from last summer. I have two plants from about 8 that I grew from seed, but they struggled to grow and it didn't help that I put the hoe through two of them while weeding. I don't know much about artichokes, except that they're yummy, but I'm thinking that I probably won't get anything from these plants until next year.
And these are my peas. The first three rows have sprouted, bless their hearts. I was so pleased with these seeds, because I paid only .95 c for a large packet because this is the last summer before their expiry date and I was a little bit worried that they might not sprout, so it was thrilling to see that little shoot apear from under the dirt. I have three more rows planted two weeks after the first, and I have still more to do - you can never have too many peas, right?
And here is my strawberry bed. I have another smaller one around the other side of the house. The netting is temporary due to the chickens getting into there this afternoon, so Hugh and I quickly threw this over to keep them off the precious plants. A huge thank you to Vickie in Nova Scotia for this strawberry bed idea (I copied hers), but mine don't look as hearty as they should because the poor plants got drowned not once, but twice - in the floods we had during our late winter, but they're starting to come away nicely now and we've even got quite a few flowers blooming on them.
Those leftover blocks from our house-building sure came in handy!
And here is a final shot for the day. It has been a wonderful, happy, productive Saturday. I'm looking forward to the Christmas school holidays coming up in a couple of months when we will get lots of Saturdays like these once Saturday ballet and tennis are finished for the year, and we're right in the middle of the long stretch of lazy summer days.
Here's a little secret - well, probably not much of a secret actually, but I love Anne of Green Gables and Lucy Maud Montgomery's writing. And my dream holiday destination is Prince Edward Island, Canada. I prefer the books to the movies, and I have all the unabridged books on audio. I love to escape into that olde-world when the new one gets too wicked. I love LM Montgomery's characterization and I love the innocence of Anne of Green Gables. I'm 36 years old and unsophisticated enough to still love a children's story and naive enough to believe that such a world did once exist, and idealistic enough to believe it still could.
So how absolutely green with envy was I when my husband's younger brother told us he was going on a business trip to Prince Edward Island. And he was arriving on the very day that the centenary celebrations of Anne of Green Gables was beginning (although I had to tell him that). My brother in law Nic, has one daughter who has read the books, but in spite of that I don't think Anne of Green Gables and her island and her house and her shop was high on his priority list of places to visit. I tried not to bombard him with requests. He told me he'd go and take a photo outside the Anne of Green Gables house for me (I actually really wanted him to go into the shop). I sent him an email with all these lovely Anne of Green Gables things he could do - like the barn dance they were holding with dressed-up characters there such as Marilla, Matthew, Mrs. Lynde, Anne and Diana and Gilbert. Or there was the LM Montgomery lecture and display of previously undisclosed journals and scrapbooks (I drooled over this), or the garden party with sack races and home-made candy and buggy rides and of course, the musical Anne of Green Gables at the theatre. But strangely, Nic seemed impervious to all these temptations. Nic is a potato-growing expert and he was going to PEI to talk to the farmers about potatoes. Potatoes! Pffftttt!!!!
This weekend he and his family came over to visit and it's the first time we've seen them since Nic got back from my dream holiday destination, and actually being a nice, kind brother-in-law really, he did more than just take a photo of the Anne of Green Gables house. He got me something that I can enjoy all year round. A 2009 PEI calendar.
Drool, drool, drool, drool!
And some postcards (I collect postcards) of the Anne of Green Gables house.
And a thick book of special things to do, see, maps, places to stay, walks to take, restaurants to visit, shows to see of Anne of Green Gables and Prince Edward Island. I was in bliss-land last night reading through it.
He may be going again and next time I'll ask him to get me the Anne of Green Gables recipe book.
Last year I discovered the bug for gardening, and did quite well out of our garden, so this year I planned a much bigger garden, and we are hoping to use it to reduce our grocery bill considerably.
Here is my little nursery in the spare room - it's a nice sunny north-facing spot and the children don't go in there, so the little seedlings are safe.
I have various varieties of heritage beans, onions, tons of heritage tomatoes, lettuce, corn, pumpkin, zucchini, cucumbers and this year I'm trying Luffa, Stevia, eggplant (or aubergine), jalapeno's, watermelon, spring onions, butternut, squash. In the garden already, I have sown garlic, silverbeet, peas, and parsley and chives. The potatoes are ready to go in now too, and I need to get my beets and carrots in soon.
Some of these I haven't tried before and I don't know if they'll take or not. It could be too cold for the watermelon and the jalapeno's, but I'm trying them out just for fun. The children have each planted a giant pumpkin seed each. I love looking at the little zucchini and pumpkin seedlings and it always amazes me at how big they're actually going to get by the height of summer.
Most of these things are going to be ready for harvesting and preserving right around the time our baby will be about 6 weeks old, but I figure I'll be back on my feet by then with post-pregnancy energy! I hope!
Not long after Robin and I got married, my Nana made me a peg bag. It's of the old fashioned kind where you wrap it around your waist and tie behind you in an apron-style. I loved it. It revolutionised hanging up my washing. No more bending down for pegs.
My Nana passed away about 3 years ago, and much to my sadness her peg bag didn't last much longer either. With the daily use it had been getting for the last 10 years it had started to disintegrate and fall apart. I was sad about having to throw it out - it's just another one of her things that I can never have replaced by her now she is gone. This last year with all our moving, we've been using the dryer alot, but now that we're settled in our house and land, one of the items at the top of my list for my husband to make was my clothesline. It's one of life's little pleasures to walk out to the clothesline every day with the washing. I chose the spot for it behind the orchard. When the fruit trees are mature, I can just picture the laundry flapping in the sun behind the leafy branches of my apple trees. Plus, it's quite a little walk out to the clothesline which I wanted as well - I like my clothes-hanging to be leisurely so I can enjoy the outdoors and the sunshine and all the country sounds.
Robin made me my clothesline a couple of weeks ago and I'm thrilled with it. I'll post photos of it at a later date, because I want to paint it first. But today I made a replica of my Nana's peg bag, and I'm quite pleased with it. It works just fine.
The days are starting to warm up, and the trees are about to burst into life - it's so lovely to see. I was out bringing in my washing this afternoon and there was such a pretty light I took these pictures of the fruit trees with their new blossom.
I have been very slack with my blog lately. Mostly because it is Spring in this part of the world, and we are relishing the warmer weather and getting the garden going. Also, Robin starts a new job on Monday and we are trying to make the most of the last few days he has at home with us. A lot of women say they don't like having their husband's around during the day, but that has not been my experience. We have all loved it and are going to miss Robin when he goes back to full-time work. I think having him home for these last three years has actually made me a bit lazy. He's a server by nature and I am not!
Anyway, here is my memoir for this week. This is going to take some thinking out.
Bible-focused - sites mainly about God’s Word - we love David Wilkerson's preaching. We know that man is not perfect, but he has been around all my life, and we feel that we can rely on his Bible-based preaching, and ministry and spiritual advice.
Businesses, particularly homebased - I have to give my own a plug here of course. It's Littlebourne Books
I haven't included all of the choices as I realized that I don't actually spend that much time on the internet anymore - I just stick to my favourites for regular reading.
I have been reading with great interest all the entries on Sarah Palin. And I've decided to write about it from my perspective - here on the other side of the world.
Over the last few days our radio talkback shows have been full of Sarah Palin, because like it or not, whatever government America elects it will effect the other Western countries of the world. Also, I am interested in this election myself because I love America almost as much as I love my own country of New Zealand.
Whatever Sarah Palin's role as a wife and mother should be in the opinion of many here, I can tell you this much, that if I had the power to vote for her and John McCain, I would be the first one at the polling booth on election day, and I would be strongly urging every person I came in contact with to do the same. I might even be driven enough to help in the campaign.
I speak from 9 years of the experience of having a woman primeminister of my country who is the very antithesis of Sarah Palin. In fact, our woman primeminister makes Hilary Clinton look like a saint.
Our New Zealand primeminister is a woman - she is a career politician, conveniently married, no children (by choice), and is a feminist. She has done more to damage my country than all of the former primeministers put together. Her goal has been to change the moral fibre of what used to be one of the more conservative, most God-fearing countries in the world, and she is succeeding.
In spite of the fact that she has no experience whatsoever with babies and children, she has almost self-appointed herself to be what we New Zealanders say with tongue in cheek, our 'nanny.' Here are some of the laws that she has encouraged and has allowed to be voted in.
* Legal Prostitution
* Legalising Civil Unions
* Parental discipline is now illegal - even 'timeout' is dubious.
* She threatened to curb freedom of speech for the Press
* She has curbed freedom of speech for poitical parties during election year
* She persecuted a fundamental Bible believing (albeit slightly cultic) religious organization
* Sex education in primary schools
These are just a few of the many dangerous and anti-family laws that she has allowed.
We are facing an election this November too, and me and many other christians that we know are getting down on our knees and pleading with God to get this woman out of government before we lose all our freedoms.
I felt compelled to write this, because I was getting frustrated reading many of the blogs about Sarah Palin and whether or not it was right to vote for her and support her. When you are confused or under dilemma, think of the situation we have here in New Zealand. Be grateful to God, cry out and thank Him with all your heart that you have such a woman to vote for. As a caller to a talkback radio show said yesterday, "if only we had a Sarah Palin here in New Zealand."
Here is Poppy. She is a Jack Russell Terrier. But I think she thinks she's a sheep dog.... or I should say a chicken dog.
The other afternoon we were all out in the yard. Robin was fixing the door on the chicken run and we had let the hens out to run around the garden for awhile. The children and I were in fits of laughter as we watched Poppy interacting with the hens. She was quite intrigued with them for awhile, and would cautiously approach them, and if they moved, she'd jump back. She's all bark that girl, but scared of the hens if they get too close. One of the more bolder hens (I think it was Betsy Trotwood, but we are still sorting out who is who, but if it was Betsy Trotwood then she fits her name perfectly, for it was a very Betsy Trotwood thing to do), got close enough to peck Poppy on the nose!
We are still waiting for the hens to lay eggs for us. I am starting to wonder if it has something to do with the water bowl I temporarily have for them. I stole it from Cricket (our black Lab) until I can get down to the store to get a proper water bowl for the hens. I'm really not trying to put them off laying.
But Poppy thinks she is a chicken dog. She spent the entire time trying to round them up. My camera is not the best, but I did get a few shots of her pathetic attempts.
Apparently her mother likes to round up people! Poppy is supposed to be a pure bred, but I'm starting to wonder.....
Last night I was thinking of all those old western movies we used to watch when we were children, and how so much of the trouble was over water rights. It seems nothing ever changes - mankind still fights over water. We have a bit of a fight on our hands at the moment with our local council, the head of which is the Mayor.
I was awake in the night writing letters to the mayor or trying to think up a new way we neighbours could band together to take on the local government. It's also incredible to realize how gullible some people are in thinking that the local council will always be there to help them.
I don't think that a letter will make any difference, nor will any action taken on our part - so this is my little protest right here. In spite of our so-called democratic society, it really is in name only - we the people don't appear to have any power over the powers-that-be, whether it is local government or central government. They're all 'tarred with the same brush', as my grandfather used to say.
We have a water problem in our new neighbourhood. It's not a lack of water, but too much water. With all the rains lately a new Spring sprung in a back pasture, and overflowed through two properties (almost flooding my friend's house), and rushed down the road, covering the road with water in two places, and creating a flowing stream of water outside our driveways.
This is a new subdivision, and the original owner has copies of letters he wrote to the council when the subdivision was being planned to explain the risk of this Spring which pops up every now and then. His letters were ignored and the council have failed to do anything about it, creating this problem now and threatening our homes.
A meeting was held by the council in our street last night to discuss the matter - or I should say tell everyone what was going to happen. My husband went along. The council will not admit that they were at fault, they want to dig a great big trench right across the front of our properties and under our driveways to carry the water away. We want to know who is going to maintain that trench, and we want some accountability shown by the council.
Several of the neighbours raised the issue that the council are at fault, and the man had the temerity to suggest that if we wish to take the matter further we will need to contact our lawyers! This is fighting talk, if you ask me... and they jolly well know that they're at fault. I would like to know if the Mayor knows what his little nazi is suggesting. One thing I learned when I lived in the USA from the man I used to work for, is that it's always better to side-step these little powerhungry beurocrats and go straight to the top. I also now realize why my grandfather always used to swear (unusual for him) when local government or politics was mentioned, and why my father-in-law only lasted one term on a local council. It is not a place for men of integrity, it would seem.
My husband said that the little council man was trying to drive a wedge between us neighbours last night, but thankfully, due to our little bonfire and the fact that we have all met socially, we are all friends, and we're all on the same side of the fight. We will see today what is to be done about it - we are thinking of calling a meeting with the neighbours again to see how we can get the council to admit responsibility and show some real solutions for us. If nothing comes of it, we might just have to settle for a letter
Arggghh - it almost makes me mad enough to march down to the council buildings myself and demand an audience with the mayor. An outraged pregnant woman is not something he would deal with everyday, I think.
I bought some wool on Saturday to make a little baby hat for a friend having her first baby in the USA in a couple of months. I love it when I get to knit for friends in the Northern Hemisphere in a season where I normally would not be knitting. All the wool is on sale because we are coming to the end of our winter.
I also found some lovely glass bottles with stoppers at Freedom Furniture for $4 each. I plan on making Leanne's ginger beer this summer for the family. I only got three bottles this time, which will not go very far in this household, so maybe every week I can get a few more.
I started sewing Meredith's dress for my brother's wedding on Saturday afternoon while the children played outside, and Robin mowed the lawns - having to mow the lawns for the first time this winter is a sure sign that things are warming up! It was freezing cold with a bitter wind outside and I dug up the last of the potatoes for a roast dinner. The new potatoes will be going in soon.
Yesterday, we went into town for our church service and Meredith got stung by a bee while playing outside. It flew right down inside her dress and stung her on her chest. We didn't have any antihistamine at home, so we ran into the shopping mall where the pharmacy is and bought some. They were so nice in there - got her a little drink of water and cut the pill in half for her. She is not allergic to bee stings, but she comes up in big welts when she gets bit by any sort of bug - mosquito, sandfly, bees. It's still quite red and sore this morning, so we'll keep an eye on it.
In the afternoon, our lovely neighbours popped over to look at our hens. They got hens the same day as us and have been getting 3 eggs every day. Ours haven't laid yet, but we're expecting it any day. They've been ruffling up the straw in their nesting boxes.
My neighbour is a vegetarian - she used to be vegan before she met her husband (who is a meat lover), so she's relaxed it a little bit, but I was telling her that we are thinking of trying vegetarian meals this summer to save money on meat which incredibly (in this land flowing with milk and honey and meat), is skyrocketing. So she bought over 3 recipe books for me to look at, and there are some yummy-sounding salads and things in there. If we can feed ourselves this summer, and just put as much of my husband's income onto our mortgage, all the better. If that means going without meat, we'll do it. Of course, we will treat ourselves to a big fat turkey at Christmas. She was telling me that you have to take Brewers Yeast (I think that was what she said) to give Vit. B12 which will suit me fine. I remember as a child having to take a Brewer's Yeast drink to combat hayfever, and as I can't take hayfever medication while pregnant, this should help.
I have absolutely no idea really about how to cook with variety on a vegetarian menu - a bit like my gardening skills really - so I'm quite keen to learn a new way.
My neighbour also told me that she and her cousin (who lives a couple of roads away) are interested in doing a type of co-op vegetable planting and would I be interested? Would I ever!! This is something I would love to do and had thought of but didn't know how to go about getting other people into it. It would mean that each of us would mass plant something (say pumpkins), and when they were ready to harvest, share it with each other, and they would do the same with something else. I actually read about a community in the USA doing this in the old days in an old Country Woman magazine and have been running it over in my head since then about how I could get something like that started. So I hope it gets up and going.
It's a beautiful Spring morning here today, so I must get into our school work so we can go outside and enjoy the sunshine later on. I am feeling so much better these days. The nausea is only really intermittant and I have started taking a pregnancy vitamin again, and I'm wondering if that is helping keep my energy levels up.
Robin got the new job he applied for and starts in two weeks time. We are not looking forward to him going back to a 9-5 job, but it will be nice to have a regular income coming in for awhile until we can get our business up and running. So I have two weeks with him at home to get some odd jobs done before he's gone during the day. It will be a huge change for us all, especially Theodore who, at 3 years old, doesn't know anything different. Some women don't like having their husbands at home all day, but I have really enjoyed it and I'm not looking forward to the change of him being gone all day again. But, hopefully it is only for a season.
This is just a test, because my homeschool memoir that I just wrote didn't show up on the last 100 postings list on the main page. Not sure why - it has appeared on my page ok. So, lets see if this works.
Goodness, when I think about our homeschool plans, I have an ideal, perfect picture in my mind of getting up early every morning, getting into our lessons by 9am and having a full day of perfectly timed, perfectly run, good obedient robotic children who smile and say, "yes Mummy, of course Mummy, three bags full, Mummy" all day long until 3pm when I let them out.
I don't really desire this - well, not anymore that is. I have had a perfectionists mindset in the early days of my homeschooling, but I think I'm starting to get out of that now - more out of necessity than anything else. We've kind of been doing unschooling these past two terms while I got over the morning sickness, and now this term while I try and get my iron levels up to a range where I actually feel like turning the page of a book.
The New Zealand school year has 4 terms in a year. Each one broken into approximately 10 weeks, with 2 weeks of holiday in between. At Christmas time, we have around 6-8 weeks of holiday. This is the peak time of our summer. So our school year generally starts with the new year or shortly thereafter.
I have big plans for 2009. Our baby is due mid January, so we'll all be on holiday which is quite good timing really. I am going to drop most of the children's extra-curricular activities for term one while we settle in with the new baby. This will mean dropping French and Art, but we'll keep up my daughter's ballet lessons on Saturday and my son's tennis coaching - also on Saturday. We'll pick French and Art up again in Term 2.
Meredith (6) has ballet every week and Hugh (8) has tennis coaching. We'll keep these up next year probably.
Currently, Meredith is doing Abeka Math and Phonics. She is really thriving on this, and I find it easy to run - not too complicated to set this up. She started with 100 Easy Lessons and then graduated to Abeka. I will probably do this with all my other children as well. What I love about Abeka is that it is colourful and attractive, has lots of games, songs and interesting pictorial activities. It really appeals to my 6 year old daughter.
I tried the Sonlight phonics with Hugh at one stage, but I really don't like their books or method. A lot of the readers have American slang and Hugh found it hard to understand.
So Meredith does Abeka for math and reading, and we do Sonlight for Science (I love their Science programme), and history, geography and read-alouds.
Hugh (8), has had a mixed year with his curriculum. We're still finding our feet with him. I made a lot of mistakes with his curriculum in the first years (my first child to homeschool), so I feel as though I'm still catching up. We hope to have a fresh start next year. He does Saxon math. I had my doubts about how well he was doing on this and was considering changing to Abeka, but I had him assessed through an independant teacher, and we found that he is actually has a math level of a 9 or 10 year old, so we will stick with Saxon!
I have tried many different spelling/grammar programmes, but I am finding Easy Grammar the best one so far.
We love our Sonlight. We ordered it early this year, and I'm having to fight off the children from dragging the books off the shelf. They are keen to get into them. Their science programme is fantastic. My children love it and are learning so much. It's very hands on, lots of experiments for them. We even grew radish seeds this year. We're about to start on corn seeds.
Even though we're going into our fifth year, I still feel as though I'm finding my way with the homeschooling, but I am a lot more relaxed about it and more confident than I was when we first began. My goals for the next school year are to establish firm routines, have good structured learning time and really just put our heads down and have a good year. I know that life happens and unexpected things occur, but I hope we can have a more settled year next year.
I have a Great Aunt who is 92 years old. She's the last surviving member of my grandmother's family. The secret to her longevity is her love of life, love of Jesus and her curiosity about life and about everyone else. I wish I had a photo to share of her - she is still slim and blonde (I think with a little help), and attractive and looks 82, not 92.
Last night my mother rang up with a story to tell me. She'd just been talking to Aunty Grace on the phone. Aunty Grace lives by herself in the city of Auckland. She still drives and cooks for herself. I will repeat the conversation that my mother repeated to me. It was about 8pm at night and apparently, according to the weather report, torrential rain had been pouring down all day in Auckland.
AG: "Hello dear. I've just gotten home. I drove out to see a friend. And as I was coming home, I felt like eating one of those hamburgers. You know. So I stopped at that place where you get hamburgers. What's it called again? Oh, you know the place......."
Mum: "Do you mean McDonalds?"
AG: "Yes, that's it. Ohhh, and I did enjoy it. And I had one of their apple fritters as well. There weren't many people in there at that time of the night, but I did see a young Fijiian-looking lady sitting by herself, so I went and sat with her. She told me she was feeling lonely and missing her mother. I asked her if she had a boyfriend, and she said no she didn't - that her husband had left her for another woman, leaving her to raise a little child, and she was finding it very hard. I said to her, 'oh darlin' - you need Jesus! ... Now, on Sunday night, you go over there across the road - there's a very nice church there with lots of friendly people who love Jesus, lots of people from Fiji and India and other places go there, and they'll help you."
Knowing Aunty Grace, she probably said a lot more than this, but my mother and I were in fits of laughter, because this is Aunty Grace to a tee. We used to love going shopping with her when we were younger, because it was always an experience. She never paid full price, always told people about Jesus, and if you got to stop in a cafe or restaurant it was all the more entertaining. I remember one time where she was not satisfied with the cup of tea the waitress brought her, so she got up and went behind the counter and made a fresh one herself - not caring that she actually wasn't supposed to be there. She seems to have no fear of people or what people think of her - that is something to be envious of.
I just love the fact that on this night she was out driving her car, in the pouring rain, after dark, in a busy city, ordering McDonalds and dining with strangers.... at 92!
My children pray every night that God will send them a horse. I remember praying this every night when I was little too. I never did get that horse, but now that we are on 10 acres, and with the price of petrol rising every minute I can see that maybe one day we might have to!
But, until our 'ship comes in', I can't see us getting a horse in the immediate future. I've been hearing from my neighbour about the vet bills, the feed issues, not to mention the $200 dentist bill she had for her pony last week. So my children have to enjoy the neighbour's horses instead for now.
Theodore (3) has a group of girls in the street who think he is the cutest, funniest, sweetest little boy that ever lived, and the other day they stopped by to show him their horse, Rocky, and let Teddy have his first horse ride. My neighbour and friend, Kat, also had their pony, Aroha so Meredith could have a long anticipated ride as well.
Teddy was quite unsure at first when one of the girls put him up on the saddle. He was asking to get off, but his girlfriends just giggled at him and told him to hang on.
When the horse took a step, Teddy said, "ooohhh...oooohhhh", then laughed.
By the end of the short little walk on the horse, he was calling himself a 'cowboy.'
He then proceeded to make his girlfriends promise to bring the horses back, and even got them to promise to bring the horses over to his birthday party when he turns 4.... which is in December. Of course, his girlfriends agreed - even offering to give everyone a ride at the party if Theodore wants. As for me, his mother - I didn't know we were going to have a party then - hadn't decided yet - but I guess we will be now! Somehow it's very difficult to un-persuade Theodore! He now talks about phoning up 'my friends' everyday, and thanks God every night for letting him ride 'Wocky' (Rocky).
Our hens arrived three days ago. Today is the day that we should be letting them out, although we haven't got the fenced run up yet. We built this hen house all by ourselves - it was supposed to be a homeschooling project, and it started out that way, but when I got sick for 3 months (morning sickness), I had to get Robin to finish it off - and for someone who is not a natural handyman, he did a great job. Even Brad (our builder/math tutor) was impressed. We just have to put the ridge on the roof, and the perspex window in, and it's all done. Thankfully, Canterbury is not traditionally a rainy area!
Here is a picture of the nesting boxes inside.
The hens arrived in two cardboard boxes from the hatchery. Theodore was very brave and carried them over to the hen house - he didn't even squeel when one of the hens pecked his thumb.
Maybe I should have made it his job to care for the chickens. But Meredith (6) asked me (before they arrived) if it could be her job and I agreed, and now I have to teach her how not to be chicken about the chickens!
Here are our six hens just arrived in their new house. The one with the white feathery tail on the roost is named Dora. We haven't distinguished the others yet, but their names will be:
Betsy Trotwood - Peggotty - Agnes - Little Em'ly and Mrs. Macawber
I have asked two teachers - one old and one young which classic story those names are out of, and netiher could tell me.
And here is Poppy, enjoying the sunshine while we put the straw into the hen's house.
Last week I joined up with this, and the first theme is to tell all about me - a kind of introduction. I'm looking forward to being part of this and meeting other homeschool mums around the world. Here's my first entry....
This week, we want to hear about YOU. The author behind the words. The Momma behind all the homeschooling kiddos. Just write up something about you, your family, and your home. How long you’ve been homeschooling and why you decided to homeschool. It doesn’t have to be anything lengthy at all, but we’d love to hear it!
I am Rachel, married to Robin for nearly 11 years! We have three children and our fourth due in January. Hugh is 8, Meredith is 6 and Theodore (Teddy) is 3 years old. We live on 10 acres in North Canterbury in the South Island of beautiful New Zealand, in a small rural community about 30 minutes drive from a main city centre.
I was not homeschooled myself. Homeschooling is a relatively new thing in New Zealand. When I was growing up the only homeschoolers I knew lived way out in the wilderness and got their lessons by radio and mail. I never imagined then that I'd be doing it myself one day - and living close to town too! However, I did get to work for a homeschool organization before I married, and my parents decided to homeschool my younger siblings in their final highschool years, so I began to get a taste of it, and be influenced by some dear, wonderful, pioneer homeschool families who inspired me.
When I did get married in my late twenties, my husband and I had been fully "converted" to the homeschooling way of thinking, and always knew that we wanted to homeschool, so I spent the first five years of my firstborn's life researching all the curriculums available. I finally settled on one, and then ended up changing it the next year! At the moment, we're using a mix of Abeka and Sonlight. We love homeschooling and the potential it offers for our children.
A very brief run down of my life before I married includes joining YWAM when I left school and spending the next 10 years of my life as a missionary. I've travelled to remote jungle villages where white skin had never been seen before - learning how to take a bath in the river very discreetly while the entire village looked on, among other experiences, and in the latter part of the ten years I was secretary to a christian leader in the USA and worked for that organiziation for several years before marrying. I have no formal training except for a few semesters at university studying for a degree in communications. But I have learned I'm not a great one for study! ;o) I have worked in many different jobs while saving for money to go on more missions trips or for study. At one point I was a copywriter for a christian radio station. I have also managed a baby/nursery department in a department store. I have done a lot of secretarial work, written a New Zealand history curriculum for a homeschool organization, been a nurse aid, written a children's book, among other little jobs here and there.
Now, my little mission field is the (almost) four little souls in my charge, and I am keen on learning how to simplify my life, become more self-sufficient and learn how to grow my own food and keep livestock.
I love to read, write, knit, sew, cook, preserve, garden and I have gotten the travelling, restless itch out of my feet so that now my most favourite things to do are just to be at home doing home things and having as much fun as we can while we do it.
Boy, it has been a busy week for us, and it still is. I have some photos to post from the weekend, but I haven't had a spare minute to upload them - maybe tomorrow.
Hugh had a 24 hour tummy bug on Monday - actually the first tummy bug we've ever had in this house as far as I can remember. I had to call my (nurse) mother to find out how to treat it as I'd forgotten.
Yesterday I had my 19 week ultrasound, and the baby is looking good. It was the roughest ultrasound I've ever had. My abdomen is a bit tender today - the radiologist had a hard time getting a good picture, and she was rough!. She put the due date at January 10 and my date is January 16. I saw my dear obstetrician afterwards and she said she never takes it by the scan date (dear lady). That is exactly what I was hoping for. One of my girlfriends told me she was 'flexible' on due dates which is why I was happy to go with her. I have a midwife as well, but I have a history of not progressing past Stage 1 labour without extra help, and the obstetrician is the only one who can give me that by law here in NZ.
Today we get our 6 hens - in about 3 hours time (and I haven't had breakfast yet)! And our hen house isn't quite finished, so Robin is going to try and get it done before we go pick them up, and I have to pick up the feed and the hay as well. Thankfully, the hens have to stay in the coop for at least 3 days, so that will give us a chance to get their run finished.
On Friday Meredith has her first ballet exam - first thing in the morning, so it will be an early start for us. I'm looking forward to next week - I hope things will settle down a bit and be a bit quieter.
Poppy has come home, safe and sound. Late last night, after searching everywhere for her, Robin went out to close the garage doors before we went to bed, and as he stepped into the garage a little ball of black and white threw herself at his legs. She was very wet, but very cheerful and we were very glad to see her. I don't know where she'd been, as we'd searched all over calling for her, but it was so nice to go to bed knowing she was safe and warm in her basket.
We finally went ahead with our bonfire last night for the neighbours. It was a clear, cool night with no wind - so perfect for a bonfire. Robin started about 4pm to get the bonfire set up and even made a little seat in case someone needed to sit down. Here he is with the children cutting up the long strips of wood.
One of the neighbours dropped off his barbeque after towing it over here on a quad bike and his little son and Hugh had a drive around in it by themselves. I ran inside for the camera, but by the time I got out (after hearing Teddy wake from his nap), they'd finished their little joy ride after crashing into the water tank. The boys were ok, the water tank was ok (it's concrete), but I think the quad bike came off with a few more dents on it.
Here is a picture of Meredith making a 'necklace' out of nails, and Teddy by the bonfire now all ready for the first match.
Right on 6 o'clock the neighbours started to arrive. It was a bit of a mad dash to find hats and gloves and get the coats on, but we had such wonderful time. Just about everyone came and there was no alcohol and lots of children running around and having fun with the dogs and sticks and playing on the dirt heap. Sausages and bread and tomato sauce were flying everywhere and the bonfire burned down and down and down. I was so busy chatting that the bonfire had burned right down before I had time to pull out the camera and take a snap.
It was such a lovely, lovely time. We have some wonderful neighbours. They're all so different and so interesting. The kids got into the marshmellows pretty quickly - they certainly didn't last long. By the end of the night Teddy (3) had marshmellow smeared all over his face and his hands were black with dirt. He actually had about 3 little girls running around after him, cooking his marshmellows for him. He's a charmer, that boy! We heard one little girl say to her mother, "he's soooo cute Mum." He knows it too, I might add and uses it to his advantage.
I'm actually really surprised that a lot of these pictures turned out ok - my camera is not really that good at night shots.
Meredith put herself in charge of the little toddler girls. I found her and two girls inside at one stage - one of the neighbour girls likes dressing up in her fancy dresses. Please take note of the pink gumboots starting to get their first layer of dirt. The diamantes don't seem very sparkly anymore.
Here is one of Meredith's little girls.
One of the neighbourhood men started the fireworks. I actually thought he probably did them too close to everyone - I was a bit scared and so was one of my other neighbours so we backed off a little ways, but they were beautiful and spectacular in the clear, dark sky. I wish I'd tried to get a good picture of one - but I see this one has come out ok.
Boys - being boys - decided to make their own fire a little way off from ours. They made a teeny little circle of stones and put some paper and wood in it and carried flames on the ends of their sticks from our bonfire to theirs. They had fun and nobody got hurt. Here is a picture of Hugh by the boy's bonfire after everyone had gone home.
And our three children finishing off the remainder of the marshmellows after everyone had gone.
Everyone said they had a wonderful time, and how nice it was to meet all the neighbours. It's going to be such a lovely little community. If I do a rough guess I think there were about 44 people there including the children. There were only about two families who couldn't make it. We all said it would be nice to have something in the summer again - in daylight this time!
It is nearly 11pm at night and my dear husband is out searching for our 8 month old Jack Russel dog, Poppy.
We had our neighbourhood bonfire tonight, and she was having a lovely time going around and meeting everyone - the children just loved her. Then the fireworks began, so Robin shut Poppy and our other dog - the Labrador - Cricket up in the garage. All was going well until Cricket decided to go crazy jumping around, and somehow - I don't know how he managed to do it - jumped high enough up on the wall, right where the buttons are for opening the garage doors. And out they both came and Poppy must have bolted then.
Cricket ran straight up to the fireworks, so we were busy trying to get him back into the garage. Poppy is such a feisty little thing - she's not timid, so I'm hoping that she's just hiding under a hedge around here somewhere and will come back in the morning. The kids were praying some very sweet prayers tonight that she'll come back.
We are Royalists, my husband and I. We love the Queen of England and the Royal family. We might not like some of the things they do - in fact we might not like an awful lot of the things they do or condone alot of their behaivour, but we still love who they are and what they stand for and what they are to us historically.
We still have the Queen on our money here in New Zealand. We are still part of the Commonwealth and we still sing God Save the Queen. We love watching all the pomp and circumstance on the tv too. If there's one thing that the Brits know how to do properly, it is that they know how to put on a show with class and style, and with the grandeur that alot of these traditional ceremonies deserve.
I read this yesterday and heard this, and I say "Bravo Prince Charles". It's great that there is someone left in the world who is fighting to be the voice of reason among the armies of the insane and wicked multicorporations who are fast-tracking the world to food shortages and famine.
One day I would love to visit Prince Charle's garden at Highgrove. It's on my list of things to do before I'm too old to get out of my rocking chair. I also have his (very expensive) book about Highgrove on my birthday/Christmas gift wishlist. He's the organic, self-sustaining wannabe guru, and I want his garden. His money and his staff would also be a big help.
Welcome to my blog. I'm glad you dropped in. I'm a wife and mum to 3 children. We are blessed to live in the beautiful South Sea islands of New Zealand, and I love to write about our life and the things we do on our homestead of 10 acres, our adventures with animals and homeschooling, and the little things that touch my life and those around me. I hope you'll enjoy visiting.
