If you are an animal lover, and full of pregnancy hormones like me... then this short clip will make you cry.
It's an incredible, apparently true, tale of two men in London in 1969 who bought a lion cub from Harrods and raised it until it got too big to keep, so they relocated 'Christian the lion' to an African wild-life park.
After a year they travelled to Africa to be reunited with Christian, though they were warned that the lion may not recognize them.
I love to knit - it's a real wintery thing to do on the long, cold evenings while I sit in my chair by the fire.
This post is primarily for Heather and Vickie and for my sister Penny, who doesn't have a blog yet.
Penny and her husband Nick sent Meredith a beautiful dress from Canada last Christmas and it is perfect for dressing up occasions like church or parties. It is sleeveless though, so it was perfect for summer, but not perfect for winter wear, so I decided to hunt out a little cardigan that I could knit her so she could continue wearing it through our winter. I found this pattern:
It is from the Australian knitting books by Patons and this is the Zhivago for kids book. They have a website here.
The dress is mostly white with red and green flowers scattered over it and a red sash to tie in the back. Red and white are the dominant colours in the dress, so I found a lovely deep red 8 ply New Zealand Merino wool with a little bit of silk in it to knit this cardigan in. Meredith likes the big ribbon in the picture the best. Somehow this picture makes the wool look more pink than red - it is really a very deep blood red wool.
I am such a slow knitter though, I hope it will be finished this winter, and before she wears the dress out! Heather was telling me how her sister knits from top to bottom so there are virtually no seams to sew up at the end. This would be a dream - I hate sewing my knitting up at the end, but I don't think I have enough brains to figure out how to do it.
The only thing with this pattern is the intricate knitted lace edging - I had this on another cardigan I once did for Meredith and it is a nightmare to knit - but it looks so pretty I couldn't resist doing it again, even though I know I'm going to regret it! I just have one sleeve to finish and then start on the lace and I'm all done - apart from the sewing up of course!
I had a delightful time last week. I thoroughly recommend doing this if you want to get to know who you are living next to.
Our little neighbourhood is brand spanking new - it's an old sheep farm divided up into lots of 10 acre blocks with all new houses, new families and new gardens and new roads. Nobody has been here for longer than a year. We have been here for 6 months, and I want to get to know the neighbours I haven't met yet. I already have some good friends from our new neighbours....
* the family down the end of the street in the eco-efficient house who moved here from England. Our kids love to play together.
* The kiwi girl and her Irish husband in the beautiful two storied house who invites me to card parties and calls up to check I'm ok and if I need anything from town.
* The young married couple next door who I just love. She and I have each other's phone numbers on our speed dial in case we get scared at night when we're alone.
* The English family across the road who have baby boy twins and who are such hard workers they even are out there on their land planting trees and putting up fences in the rain.
* And the school teachers down the road who come and play Settlers of Catan with us, and who our kids adore and who we see at least once a week, and he is going to teach me how to shoot a gun.
One Corner of the Neighbourhood
But there are so many others that I haven't met yet and want to - so I dreamed up the idea of having a mid-winter bonfire at our place for all the neighbours to get together and meet each other. So last week, being school holidays here, I took the kids and a couple of their friends who happened to be playing at our house, and we walked around the entire neighbourhood to invite them to our bonfire on August 1. One of the other neighbours is going to bring his BBQ down so we can do sausages on bread, and everyone gets to bring marshmallows and fireworks (if they have them), and we're going to have a nice social time around around a bonfire.
I had a blast.
* I met the man in the big ugly house up the back. He was so friendly and has lots of fireworks to contribute. A blended family of 7 on their second-time-round.
* I met the teachers up in the corner block and their girls and their very friendly dog.
* In the gray house is a young married couple expecting their first baby the same time as our baby is due - and is having a terrible time with the morning sickness too, so we were able to commiserate with each other.
* The retired couple who breed beautiful race horses. I met the horse family. Incidentally, I love the smell of horses.
* Then I called in on another English immigrant family down the back and heard about their trials with chickens. He offered me a beer (ahem), and I told him I couldn't have it, patting my stomach as I did - and he said, "oh that doesn't matter - you can still have one" !!!!!!!!
I grew up in a teetotal home, and where it was considered unladylike for a woman to have a beer, especially when it is straight from the bottle. But I politely declined and settled for water, which he thought was hillarious! I tell you - people are interesting!
* And on the way back I met a gorgeous couple who have just moved here from Sweden and are renting the vacant house next door. I love their accent - and they told my horse-loving-prays-every-night-for-a-horse-daughter their horses love carrots and she can come up any time.
In between times I called in for a cup of tea and a chat at some old familiars.
I have two more houses to get to and hope to visit today after I go into town to see my obstetrician for a check up.
I just love my neighbourhood and I love the people in it. They are all different but all so interesting, and I'm so glad we're going to be getting together soon. Everyone is really enthusiastic about it and so glad that someone took the initiative to do something.
I watched this on a current events programme last night on tv and thought some of you ladies here might be interested in it. It's an old natural remedy book that a lady in England apparently swore by her entire life. I think it dates back to the late 1800's. Her great niece found it in an attic I think while cleaning out and is now offering it for sale as an ebook. I think it costs 8 Pound something to buy. From what I gather it is mostly herbal and has instructions on how to mix and apply the herbs and remedies. Here is the link for the short interview I watched last night which explains what the book is about and has excerpts from the book as well.
Today has been one of those lovely mid-winter days. It didn't warm up until after lunch when we all went outside to get some much needed sunshine and to plant the rest of our garlic. I have eight rows in now, and approximately 10 garlic cloves per row. It's the first time I've tried growing garlic.
Here is a picture of my parsley bed. I don't actually know why I planted so much parsley as it is my least-liked herb, and it has done really well, even though I have neglected it. But we had some visitors the other day who were admiring it and they said there is an old wives tale (or an old Maori tale - I forget which now), that says if you have abundant parsley beds, then you're going to have an abundant (large) family! We did have to laugh at that! We're onto our fourth - not exactly large to many, but large to some! When I'm in the throes of really bad morning sickness I will recite to myself over and over, 'donot plant anymore parsley!"
Here is a picture of my late-afternoon shadow. You can see I'm starting to get a baby bump.
My children have been enjoying the fine weather and have made the most of the mud and being outdoors. The result of many days cooped up indoors and watching Little House on the Prairie episodes has resulted in our own very little house on the prairie. Yesterday some neighbours came over to play and this was the outcome of an afternoon's work. I loaned the Little House DVD's to my neighbour who is from England and she had never seen them! She'd heard of the books, but never read them, and certainly never knew there was an entire tv series out. How deprived is that! I so love being the one to introduce people to lovely worlds like Little House.
When I went out to take a picture this afternoon I also found this out there....
It used to be a really useful kettle.
And I found this - which used to be a highly prized ornament for decorative candles that my husband and I bought on our honeymooon 10 years ago! Does anyone else find valuable household articles buried in the dirt where their children have been playing?
When we had the snow last week I had lost the cord to download my pictures from the camera onto the computer, so I am late getting these up, but here is one of my favourite pictures taken from my son's bedroom and looking west just as the snow started falling. I love the way it sticks to the window.
And here are some pictures from our larger dumping a few weeks previous, taken the day after. This first one looks west towards the southern alps over my neighbour's land.
And this last one is looking over the south end of my vegetable garden (buried way in there) towards the Port Hills in the distance. Between our land and those hills is the city of Christchurch and we are half an hour's drive out from the city limits, so those hills look a whole lot closer than they really are.
I love history! World history is fascinating and I love learning about the personalities that make up that history. I also find researching family history is great fun.
As I mentioned in one of my posts this week I can trace my ancestors back to a Maori family (native New Zealander). They hail from Codfish Island (such a romantic name LOL) which is a tiny island off Stewart Island (right down the bottom of NZ). Tahupare and Tahuna were the parents of Wharetutu - one of the first Maori women to marry a white man in the early 1800's, before the missionaries and the settlers arrived. She married George Newton, a whaler from Scotland and they had thirteen children. We have a marriage certificate of theirs which states that on a date around the mid 1800's, Bishop Selwyn (a missionary from England), married George Newton and Wharetutu and baptized their 10 children all on the same day! History is rich!
I am a descendant of these two through a female line on my maternal grandmother's side. Wharetutu's father was a Maori chief, and she was a Maori princess. We are part of the large South Island tribe called Ngai Tahu. Some years ago Ngai Tahu took a grievance claim to the government over land that was stolen from the Ngai Tahu tribe by the New Zealand representatives of Queen Victoria. The government gave Ngai Tahu a huge payout in compensation, and they have put this money to wise use. It is now the most successful Maori tribe in New Zealand, after having used the money to buy many business ventures which have succeeded. The trust has just about doubled what they were paid and are now able to use it to benefit the descendants of the Maori people within Ngai Tahu. The money can only be used for education, for buying a first home, or for retirement. It cannot be used for any other purpose. So long as you can trace your ancestry back accurately to a Maori descendent of Ngai Tahu, then you can be a member of the Ngai Tahu tribe and trust.
We recently discovered that Ngai Tahu give education grants every year, and we applied for our 8 year old son to receive some extra math tuition. Yesterday they called to tell us that our application had been approved and that next term we can receive 10 extra lessons (1 lesson a week) in our home, with our choice of tutor who has been approved by Ngai Tahu, and they will pay him to do it.
One of our tradesmen (an apprentice builder who works with Lance) is an ex-school teacher who specialises in a new program here in NZ called the Numeracy Project. He offered to come and take some lessons with Hugh. The numeracy project teaches the children that there is more than one way to get to the answer in math, and it uses the learning style of the child to teach the math.
We are thrilled that Brad can come and teach Hugh, who has an analytical mind but needs more than my limited math skills to help him guide that ability in the right direction. Brad is thrilled too, because it helps him keep his teacher's license and helps him keep 'his hand in' as he said to us.
Term 3 begins in a couple of weeks, and the lessons will start then too.
We felt the full force of winter this weekend. On Friday night Robin took Hugh and Meredith into town. Hugh had his tennis coaching and Meredith was going to play with her friend Suzy. Hugh's tennis lesson goes for an hour and it finishes at 4.30pm when it's starting to get dark here in wintertime. I think it's an odd time to have a lesson for little boys, but I don't have much say in that.
Ever since we moved out to the country Hugh has not had a problem with his asthma. When we lived in the city he used to get it very bad, especially last year when we were renting an older-type house and Christchurch city is not known for its clean air in winter. We are situated in a valley and sometimes in winter there is no wind or sea breezes and the smoke from fires just hangs over the city for days. Hugh got really bad with his asthma on Saturday and we think it is from having to go into town on Friday evening. Robin said the smoke was almost tangible and he could see it hanging over the city as he drove in. It's a good reminder for us not to take Hugh into tennis when the weather is like this. The poor boy has been bad over the weekend. I called the doctor's office and the nurse told me to give him 2 puffs with one minute spaces in between, three times. She said that is all they'd do if I took him in to the emergency rooms. It does work really well.
On Saturday it snowed most of the day, but it didn't settle on the ground, but it was very nice to sit by the fire with the children and the dogs and watch videos and knit. I ate something for dinner (I think it was the sausage) that didn't agree with me, and I've had a bit of a tummy ache all weekend. Nothing too bad, but I always worry about the baby.
We had some good friends call in yesterday afternoon with sugar buns and coffee and a chat. It was a bit warmer yesterday, but this weekend has been very wintery and bitter, bitter cold outside. I love winter though and I love storms. The children were a little bit scared on Friday night when the wind was howling around the house (think Wuthering Heights). I remember being scared of the wind when I was little too and lying in bed and trying not to think of the big glass window that might shatter all over me (I have always had a very active imagination), so I was sympathetic and told them how I love the wind and the sound it makes. It didn't take them long to fall off to sleep.
It is raining again this morning as I lie in bed hoping the morning sickness is going to improve so I can get up for a shower. I've pulled back the curtains and am watching the rain fall in my orchard and the clouds sweeping across the sky. It's lovely.
I am not an American, but want to say Happy 4th of July to all of you who are. As I read over your blog entries and see how proud you are to be Americans, you all have got me feeling patriotic today, but towards my own country of New Zealand. I live in a free land too - we are still part of Great Britain, but in name and heritage only these days.
I have spent two 4th of July's in America, and I love America. There was a time in my life when I wanted to become a citizen of the USA . I did not miss my country at all - I never got homesick. I learned the words to your national anthem. I recited the Pledge of Allegiance until I knew it by memory. I know all the States and most of the State capitals. I can tell by your accents which part of the USA you're from, and I'm following your elections closely with interest. In my heart I adopted America as my homeland. I love Americans and there is something about your culture that just suits me, but it all changed dramatically for me one June day in 1993, and I had to return back to New Zealand.
It was hard for me at first to accept that I was back in New Zealand, and may in fact never return to America (especially now as I hate to fly). But I have had a change of heart - I think New Zealand is the best place to be on earth! We are so blessed to live in these beautiful south sea islands. We're way out in the middle of nowhere - at the bottom of the earth, you might say, surrounded by the ocean. We're old-fashioned compared to the rest of the world, and slightly unsophisticated. If you turn your clocks back about 20 years, that's where you'd probably find us.
We're surrounded by the sea, no way out except by air or boat. We have four definite seasons, so we can be self-sufficient. We have mountains, lakes, rivers, valleys, volcanoes, golden beaches, no snakes, no poisonous spiders, no wild animals that will kill you and we only have about 4 million people, so we're not crowded. I love it here. As much as I love America still and miss some of things over there that make America unique, I am in love with my country - with my heritage - with my people. I am a true daughter of New Zealand. Some of my ancestors were Maori (native New Zealanders), and some were English and some were Scottish. Some people in the world don't even know where New Zealand is. We're not a super power, we're not influential, we're not famous for anything except our beautiful scenery and Sir Edmund Hilary. And in these days of uncertainty it's nice to be unknown.
We have a beautiful national anthem. Here is a youtube link to a more upbeat version of our anthem that was popular in the 1980's. It has wonderful pictures of some of our scenery.
1. The only country in the history of the world where christian missionaries preceeded the settlers.
2. The last great land mass discovered, therefore we are the youngest country on earth.
3. One of the few countries in the world where the indigenous people and the new immigrants have lived in relative harmony without racial wars. (We did have a war between England and the Maori in the 1800's, but it was over land, not race), and I think that's something to be proud of.
4. We were settled mainly by hardworking, God-fearing, honest English immigrants looking for a better life, and who have passed this heritage on.
5. We're even mentioned in the Bible! Yes we are! Did you know that New Zealand is the furtherest point on the globe from Israel, therefore we are officially 'the ends of the earth'.
I am proud to be a Kiwi - I am proud to call these islands my home, and I'm proud to bring my children up in this beautiful free land down under.
"....... God defend our free land.
From dissension, envy, hate,
And corruption guard our state,
Make our country good and great,
God defend New Zealand. ."
(From the second verse of our national anthem)
It is my earnest prayer that God will defend my free land and yours in the days to come.
Right now, I am counting off the days until the end of the week. That's when I'll be 12 weeks along into this 5th pregnancy of mine. (This will be our fourth child born as we lost our first baby to a 14 week miscarriage).
Somehow after so many pregnancies you get familiar with the medical lingo. Like UTI's and BM's, and the colour of your urine if you're on the brink of dehydration, and knowing what's a good bloodpressure rate and a good iron level is, and where your good veins are for drawing blood, and the comfort (for me) that I will not ever faint during a blood test (even though I've had nothing to eat or drink all day), and even though they seem to be drawing multiple tubes of blood - just don't look at it! I know not to wear long sleeve tops when I go for my checkup so the midwife can strap her blood pressure belt around my arm easily, and to wear a skirt so I don't have to hike up my dress to my waist to check the baby's heartbeat. All these funny little things that are almost instinctive after several pregnancies - and yet I cannot remember if I'm allowed to take Panadol for a headache in the first trimester. Why can't I remember that?
Last week I was hopeful that my morning sickness woes were getting better. I haven't thrown up in over a week - that's got to be a good sign, right? Then this weekend, just when I wanted to be feeling great, because we had old friends visit - I was terrible. I actually think the last few days have been my worst. I haven't been able to get out of bed much at all, and my back is aching. At first I thought it was because the acid building up in my stomach was making it hurt, but now I think it is because I am just not using the muscles there at all, and they are losing condition. I have mentioned it to my obstetrician and she told me to try Gaviscon, but I'm one of those that is paranoid about taking anything during the first trimester.
We had one of our favourite people come and stay with us during the weekend. A single guy who is just one of the loveliest Christian young men around. I tell you he will be a catch for some girl. We hardly ever see him, as he lives in another part of the country, and I only got to see him on Saturday afternoon. I was so bad the rest of the weekend that I couldn't even get out of bed to say goodbye when he left yesterday.
And then yesterday another lovely young man who we've known since he was little, and he played his violin at our wedding reception nearly 11 years ago, and who we haven't seen for years, called up and wanted to come and visit for the afternoon. We were so excited to see him. He's at Med School now (having been homeschooled all his life), and we wanted to see him again and catch up with him, and hear all his family news, and I had to cancel that as well, as I was too sick. I tell you I'm getting fed up with the morning sickness. I'm over it already!
We did have one answer to prayer last week however. I was due for my first visit with the obstetrician and I was only 10 and a half weeks along. I knew it was unlikely that she would be able to pick up the baby's heartbeat at that early, but I did pray that God would allow her to. We lost our first baby to miscarriage, and the first sign of that was at 11 weeks when the midwife couldn't get the heartbeat, so for me that is always the first hurdle to get over in my pregnancy.
Well, God answered my prayer and did even better than I expected. My obstetrician had a little mini scanner (no bigger than the size of a book) which I held while she put the doppler thingy on my abdomen, and up pops a picture of our precious baby - no bigger than about 2 inches with all its little feet, legs, arms and hands, and the heart beating away strongly. I know the danger period is still not over, but for me that is the first good sign that all is well. Thank the Lord for giving me that last week.
For the last few weeks we have had Jessie staying with us.
She willingly gave up a few weeks of her life to come and look after our children while I got over the worst of the morning sickness. She has been homeschooled herself and stepped right into our little classroom with confidence and skill. I've been looking at some of the work the children have done and she has actually taught my two oldest how to print properly and neatly! I was despairing of this ever happening before Jessie came.
She was an absolute pleasure to have in the house - and I'm missing her back rubs and relaxing in front of the fire at night watching the Waltons, which on some really bad morning sickness days would be the first time I saw her, and the kids are missing having someone young and fun and with a whole lot more energy than me around, and Meredith's hairstyles have suffered since Jessie went home. And I missed her yesterday when Theodore had a really stinky nappy and I had to tie a teatowel around my head before I changed him.
Her visit here was a real time of ministry to us, and I hope and pray that it is counted unto her (and her parents, for allowing her to come) for righteousness.
We have a tradition at our place that any visiting friend or family member who stays here gets to plant a fruit tree in our orchard. On her last day here, Jessie planted a fig tree in amongst our apples and cherries.
"Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit...." Matthew 7:17
This following opinion column appeared in our largest national newspaper this morning. As far as I know this man is not a christian, but from what he says there have been other columnists writing recentlyon the same thing.
I'm sure that this is not unique to New Zealand only, and I was pleased to read it. This article almost made me think I was reading the book of Revelation about the lawlessness that abides during the last days. Does anyone else see that parallel?
I'm not sure if I can post the article in it's entire length - I tried and all the photos came up as well, so just to err on the side of caution, I've extracted a few excerpts and if you want to read the entrie article, you can go here:
(If someone can please tell me how to link properly I would be ever so grateful).
Garth George: Love can save us from this moral vacuum
"Things must be getting really grim when two newspaper commentators - Wellington veteran Rosemary McLeod and former Listener editor Finlay Macdonald - on the same day opine that the increasingly parlous state of our society is the result of the collapse of traditional morality rather than social dysfunction.
McLeod, writing last Sunday, suggested we have lost our moral compass. Not quite right. What we have done is take a secular humanist hammer to it and, over the past 30 years or so, smashed it bit by bit into smithereens.
For centuries our morality, and to a large extent our law, was based firmly on the Ten Commandments. But since the 1960s the precepts of the commandments have been corrupted, altered and even nullified by the liberal propensities of the state, which has assumed the right to decide what is morally acceptable........"
.............." "You shall not covet."
But we live in a society in which covetousness is rampant. We want more money, bigger houses, flasher cars, label clothing, sumptuous food, overseas holidays ... Instead of loving people and using things, we love things and use people.
So we have finance company collapses, a huge increase in mortgagee sales, repossessions, billions spent on gambling, voracious profiteering and increasing poverty - and scores of thousands of Kiwis living empty lives of quiet desperation.............."
If I keep a book, it is usually becauseI have read it, and it has become a friend.
I'm not one for romances or scary thrillers. Mostly I like the classics and old children's books and a few modern books, like the #1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith.
I have to tell you about one of my favourite children's books, and it is from the series, "The Family From One End Street" written by Eve Garnett. My treasured first edition was published in 1937.
Last night I was wanting something to read in bed that was light and easily picked up and entertaining. I don't get much time to read in bed at night, so when I get a few moments it is a rare treat. So I went into our library and picked out my old friend, Holiday At The Dew Drop Inn by Eve Garnett. It is the third book in the Family From One End Street series.
I love books that are innocent. No bad language, no insinuations to a less seemly side of life, and a book that transports me back to a world which was cleaner, healthier, friendly and sensible, and these books do that for me. They are essentially children's books, but I discovered them as an adult and love them. It is an English book, but if you know Milly Molly Mandy or the Miss Read books or the Just William books, or the Swallows and Amazons books, then the One End Street books are of the same genre.
It is about an English working-class family. Their father, Mr. Ruggles is a dustman. Their mother, Mrs. Ruggles is a washer-woman who's richest middle-class client is Mrs. Beasley who hands down her neice's cast off clothing to the little Ruggles, of whom there are seven. They live in a small tennement flat at the end of a street which I would say resembles that of Coronation Street (not that I watch that programme). The parents are proud of their children "all-growing-up-fine-and-strong-one-behind-the-other-like-steps-in-a-ladder-and-able-to-wear-each-others-clothes-right-down-to-the-baby, so that really it was only two sets, girl and boy, summer and winter, Mrs. Ruggles had to buy, except Boots. A great deal was heard about boots in the Ruggles household..... Nearly every week one of the little Ruggles could be seen running with a boot in either hand to the shop, or returning with a bulky parcel badly wrapped in old brown paper." (excerpt from the first book). The books follow the adventures of the family in their struggle for survival and their collective love of life. Every character in these books is charming!
The children are:
Lily-Rose
Kate
James and John (the twins)
Peg
Jo (junior)
William (the baby)
Kate, the second daughter is found to be 'bright' and wins a scholorship to go to the grammar school. The second and third books are mostly about Kate when she goes to spend her holidays in the countryside at the Dew Drop Inn (a thatched cottage), with Mr. and Mrs. Wildgoose. Holiday at the Dew Drop Inn is my favourite of the three books.
Here is a charming excerpt I read out last night to my husband. Sometimes there are just some sentences I have to read out loud.
"They were hardly out of the taxi before Mr. Wildgoose, in his shirt-sleeves, green baize apron, and one of his gayest pullovers, appeared in the porch and came towards them throwing up his arms in greeting.
Kate, who had prepared to shake hands, was a little disconcerted - no hand being available to shake. She had never kissed Mr. Wildgoose. Was she expected to? She rather hoped not, though she could not have said why, for she liked him very much! But Mr. Wildgoose solved the problem himself by clapping both hands on her shoulders and lightly kissing the top of her hat!
"Well! Here we are again!' he exclaimed, "but no less welcome."
Here is another excerpt from when Kate goes up to her old little bedroom. Mrs. Wildgoose is giving her the choice of the big bedroom or the little bedroom she had before.
"both beds is made up so it won't make no difference which you choose.'
'Oh, Mrs. Wildgoose, the little one! I'd like the little one, please!' said Kate.
So the little one it was - the dear little white-walled room with its deep-set window framed in thick thatch and through which the sprays of roses and honeysuckle were now almost climbing into the room itself. And outside the row of orangy-coloured cottages, and behind them the fields, the little wood, and the bare faraway hills. Everything - just as she had remembered it!
Kate stood gazing out, entranced, and it was some time before she became aware that insistent voices were calling from below.
'Tea! Tea! Come along down!'
You can still buy these books, and I found new editions by Penguin on www.amazon.com. I found mine in second-hand bookshops years ago.
For a little taste of old English life and sweetness, I recommend them whole-heartedly. They'll become your friends too, I guarantee!
I tuned into You Tube and typed in Barry Smith. We grew up with the Smith's in Marlborough. They went to our church and we travelled with them on ministry trips. We had such fun times out at their house - big cook ups and bonfires and swims and games and lovely, lovely times. When I was in my late teens I took a small group of my friends for a visit and Uncle Barry gave us a great time. He told us we had to do some work first (clearing the 'old man's beard' which had taken over a tree, and baking some peanut brownies for Aunty May - which I burned, so I had to make a second batch), and then he took us out for the day on the boat for a picnic and doughnut rides with him and Aunty May and Debbie. Lots of good memories.
Anyway...... today I listened to his message The Role of the Wifeand Mother, from his series on the Christian Family. It's soooo good. I thought I'd post the link here in case you have some quiet time while doing the ironing or something. I'm sure most of the ladies here will enjoy it. It's very entertaining - he gives lots of stories and it's very practical. It has been posted in 10 parts. It starts off with a group of young men singing and then he starts his message. I think Part 2b is missing, but you won't find it interferes too much with the message.
He also has a really great one on the role of the christian husband.
His ministry impacted on my life incredibly, as he took my father under his wing and 'mentored' him, (though I hate to use that word.
Well, one thing he says during this message is advising the wife not to refer to her husband as 'the hubby.' He also talks about not calling each other 'the old man' or the 'old woman'.
I have had an aversion to this term all my life. I guess all those times I sat in on Uncle Barry's preaching on this topic rubbed off, and my own mother has never used this term either. It does sound disrespectful to me, and I prefer to use his name or 'my husband'. Sounds so much better than 'hubby.'
Uncle Barry was one of the most dearest, kindest, most genuine people you could ever have met, and he was lots of fun. He went home to be with the Lord in June, 2002 while preaching in England. He is mostly known for his preaching on end time topics, and I like to think that his death before so many of these events occured was similar to God allowing Moses to see the Promised Land, but not letting him into the Promised Land. I don't know if I'm right, but I like to think of it like that.
We're two days past the shortest day. We were supposed to have our dinner last night, but we forgot to take the chicken out of the freezer the night before, so we decided to have our celebration tonight.
Thank you Leanne for making me do this. It was soooooo worth it! We had heaps of fun.
It was a very much scaled down mid-winter Christmas celebration. Normally I like to have all the trimmings but that just wasn't going to be possible this year. We had roast chicken and vegetables (with our own potatoes). Jessie and the children made special place cards for the table:
Aren't they great!
We didn't quite manage to get out the silverware, but we did have the silver candelabra, the Christmas cloth and the nice glasses and grape juice, and I had a few napkins left over from last Christmas. We ate by candlelight while listening to Christmas caroles.
After dinner we gathered round the fire and roasted marshmellows and made smores while listening to the totally pagan song, Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer. We sang along in the chorus and had a good laugh. The kids loved every minute and have gone to bed with a lot of food and a lot of sugar in their tummies.
We'll definitely be doing this again - on a bigger scale I hope - next Winter Solstice.
Yesterday I managed to get two rows of my garlic planted before I ran out of steam.
I was having a good day yesterday morning-sickness-wise, and as it was the day after the shortest day we thought it prudent to try and get the garlic planted in the plot we had set aside. My little helper, Meredith, badly wanted to help, so I pretty much let her do the whole thing. I had to dig over the ground a bit as it had compacted quite hard, and then she came along and planted. She had to measure the distance between each planting, dig the holes, place the garlic and then cover it over. She did really well for a 6 year old. I think I've managed to pass on to her the gardening bug.
Here are some pictures:
I don't know why but I always plant things with a pessimistic view - like it will be a miracle if it grows, though I have not lost anything yet except parsnip seed (does anyone know the secret to getting parsnip seed to germinate), and some carrot seed which I planted too late.
It was a really good article and very well written although as some commented, he did generalise and lump all homeschoolers into one particular group, but the point is that we all know what he was referring to, and we all probably know families like that.
I was thinking about my history of homeschooling and how I related to this article, because I do relate to it in many ways. I was not homeschooled, although my brother and sister were partially homeschooled in their highschool years. Homeschooling has really only just taken off in New Zealand in the last 10 years. The only family I knew growing up who homeschooled was a family who lived way down the Marlborough Sounds and in those days it took a one and a half hour boat ride to get to their house. (I happened to be one of the daughter's good friends..... lucky me)! But I digress.
As my parents and family worked for a homeschool organisation for many years, when I married almost 11 years ago, it was just a natural thing that my husband and I would homeschool if we were blessed with children. And we have stuck with that decision and I am now into my 4th year of 'official' homeschooling, although I have not found homeschooling to be the easy choice. I daily have to die to my selfish desires. Some days I would love to send them off to school, and have the day to potter around home doing what I want, or go in to have coffee with some of my more trendier friends. As some of you know, I did missionary work before I married, and I have come to view my homsechooling journey as my little missionary field. If I see it like this, it is not so hard for me.
I have come to really enjoy homeschooling and I would not wish it to be any other way, but there are days when it has been a struggle, but in my heart I know it is the right thing to do and I am being obedient to God and the wishes of my husband, and that is what matters most.
In all these years I have always been very open with friends and family that we would homeschool, and I have only ever had one negative comment, and that was just recently from a chinese missionary woman and her New Zealand husband at our church, and we laughed about it, because they assumed we didn't send our kids to school because we couldn't find a school we liked. He gave us a list of good schools (well - I guess he was partially right).
I admit there have been raised eyebrows at times, but I have generally found people to be fascinated by homeschooling.
My husband and I laugh because as it turns out so many of our friends are teachers. We are always coming across school teachers, and our neighbourhood is full of them. It's a sure thing that if we move house the next door neighbour will be a teacher! I used to be a little intimidated by this, but I have actually found that teachers are the most supportive. We have some very dear friends living down the road from us. He is a primary school principal and she is a teacher, and they are just wonderful to our children and so helpful to us. A few nights when they have visited they have been happy to sit down with us and brainstorm on new, practical ideas for my son's writing curriculum or my daughter's math's exercises. We've even had him carry out science experiments involving the whole family that stretched from our dining room, across the living room and into the school room. And they willingly gave up an entire afternoon (at my request) to come and check their reading levels (they were above by the way, with a few things to work on though).
My non-christian, wealthy, worldly neighbours - who generally are two child families - also love to talk about the homeschooling with me. They even look out for educational material for me. As an example, one of my neighbours who recently told me she had never even thought about homeschooling as an option, found an animated map of our region that her little son just loves and is picking one up for me to put on our schoolroom wall.
My husband comes from a large family of high acheivers and all are very 'well-educated'. I have a nephew and neice in medical school and another in veterinary school, and all of them of age have or are attending university. They're very bright, very ambitious and very beautiful kids. Most of whom are strong christians. As for my brothers and sisters-in-laws, they are doctors, accountants, speech-therapists, psychologists, farmers, horticultural experts (very handy when you're a novice gardener like me), and they all have university degrees of some sort. I do not, but they excuse me because I'm 'arty', and have a book published!
Homeschooling for us is a conviction. We believe that Deuteronomy passage that it is our duty to teach and train our children at home. We believe in dressing modestly and not listening to rock music. We believe in all the fundamental things that most conservative homeschoolers do.
But, I think I have stumbled across the secret to living harmoniously with family, friends and neighbours of opposite beliefs, and it's this.
1. I don't tell them about our convictions - unless they ask.
2. If they bring up doubts or questions about homeschooling I do not get defensive, I put it back on them. For example I am always being asked by new people I meet, "why homeschooling?" And this is what I answer:
"Homeschooling is not the easy choice for education. (This puts it back on them. I stumbled across this answer once because it really isn't the easy choice for me so I was sincere, and suddenly I hear all these excuses as to why that person sends their child to school. It really works a treat everytime)!
"And we decided that there were things we wanted our children to learn that they can't learn at school, such as French and classic art, and I wanted to be absolutely sure that they were getting the best grounding in the basics that could possibly be given."
These are true, but they may not necessarily be the main reason why we homeschool. I choose who I give that information to. A non-christian would not understand 'conviction' or 'Biblical obligation'. In time, if they get to know us, they will learn this. But I do not inform them of that from the outset.
3. I ask questions. Particularly if they are in the education field. I love to ask teachers questions! For example, "what is your advice on ......?" People love to give advice, but you don't have to do what they suggest, and they'll never know if you don't. It's a great way of making friends out of teachers and you get free and helpful information.
The biggest question of course is SOCIALISATION. I honestly get so sick of that word. When people bring that up with me, I actually give a little chuckle, audibly - so they can hear. And this is what I say:
"socialisation is important to us, and we work hard to incorporate it into their education."
That is all I need to say, because by the time I know that person better, they will realize what a stupid question that is. Yesterday my daughter went to her best friend's 6th birthday party. Her best friend goes to school and she had her school friends (about 10 or 12 children) over for the party. My little homeschooled girl joined in all the games and teams and mixed better with the children that she didn't know, than some of those school children mixed with each other. She didn't sulk and she didn't shake her head with a pout when asked to join a team. She just jumped in and enjoyed herself.
Every week or other, a neighbour will call up, "can Hugh come and play with E this afternoon. He's driving me nuts." Or, "Can I come over and play at your house with Hugh today," or "would Meredith like to come down and brush the horse with T."
I love it. My kids are the most socialized in the neighbourhood.
On the dress issue, I do dress my children modestly, but I don't believe in making them too different from other children on this. I feel that homeschooling sets them apart already from others, and I don't want them as they grow up to resent the differences. I still remember what it was like to be young.
I like my daughter to wear skirts and dresses (and actually she's a very girly girl so it's easy), but I buy or make modern clothes for her. Pretty skirts and pretty dresses that are fashionable but modest. I do not at all like some of the modern clothes available for children - they are tartish and too grown up and some are even quite blatantly suggestive - but I avoid these and just get the nicer things. I always buy on sale (we are not wealthy), and I love to make her clothes. I am an experienced enough sewer now that I can adapt older patterns.
The other big question I get asked is about highschool, so I tell them,
"we are just taking our homeschooling one year at a time at the moment."
When my eldest reaches highschool age in about 5 years I will say,
"he is doing so well at the moment and his curriculum is just so fantastic that I think we'll carry on as is for awhile and see how we go."
When my friends or neighbours are talking among themselves about schools and where to send their children (which they frequently do), I join in. I say things like, "oh yes, I've heard that such and such a school is very good." Or, "I know one of the teachers there and they said....... "
I have found that once I adopted this more aggresive approach to 'defending' our homeschooling choice, that our lifestyle is looked upon as interesting, fascinating and convicting even, just as the writer of the article Kim posted says. People actually like the fact that they know someone who is 'different' from the masses. Their (little bit weird) friends, so to speak. It's amazing to me how many non-christians admire homeschoolers and how it makes them think about their own choices.
If you've managed to read through all this to the end, I applaud you! And I'd also like to say that I hope it doesn't come across as prideful, because I don't mean to, and I'm still learning, and I still get intimidated (I just try not to show it). I just wanted to share my thoughts on my homeschooling journey and how it has impacted my life and what I have found to work for me. I hope you enjoyed reading it.
After reading all my favourite blogs this morning, and posting on my own, I thought I would check out the New Zealand news headlines on www.nzherald.co.nz
One of the main headlines said:
Public React to the Idea of Parents Choosing Their Babies' Sex
I am truly shocked by this. It takes a lot to shock me too. I have seen enough of the world in my 36 years to know there are some pretty evil things out there, and I was raised in a conservative household where proper, polite behaivour meant that you did not show overt emotion or shock at things said or done around you.
And to think that the current government is considering making legislation on this! 4 more months until the election - what else are these socialist, liberal-minded, evil politicians going to do in that time to destroy my beautiful country?
I think it's still legal to speak my opinions on the government, though I'm not sure, but I'm beyond caring, actually.
She and my father are at present in Rome, Italy - halfway through their European tour. They have spent their lives in ministry and travelling the world to various places - a lot of the time staying in squalor or very basic accommodations. This is the first 'holiday' they've ever had abroad that hasn't involved official ministry work.
We are enjoying 'following' them on tour, and Mum is great at sending postcards. Today we got a nice big envelope from London with postcards and tourist brochures. I've spent a happy half hour reading every single word in the brochure she sent from their tour of Kensington Palace. I would so love to go to England. I just love English history and royal history and English literature, and I guess a part of this interest stems from the fact that some of my own history lies in England. Except for one marriage to a native New Zealander (Maori) in 1810, all of my ancestors are either from Scotland or England, arriving here in the mid 1800's.
Mum said in her postcard that Queen Victoria was raised in Kensington Palace and they saw the bed she was woken up in to tell her that she would be Queen. So many Kings and Queens lived and died there, I would thrill to see the walls and the ceilings and the halls and floors, and imagine those old days gone and the people who walked them, and lived in them and the impact they have had on our world, and the tragedy and the glory and the interesting little details in their lives. Why did Queen Anne fall out with the Duchess of Marlborough, and why was it a stormy end? That is what I am going to try and find out today. Thank you google!
They went to Windsor Castle to see Queen Mary's Dollshouse, and after Europe they're going to visit Beatrix Potter country, and also see James Herriot's territory. Mum sends us short texts from the places they're visiting, such as from Austria:
"had a horse and carriage ride to lunch today. Very charming."
or from Switzerland, "bought H a swiss army knife, and M a Heidi doll today."
or from Venice, Italy, "Having a lovely time shopping in Venice. Wish I were rich. Beautiful, magical place."
If I could get over my hatred and fear of flying, I would jump on a plane today and go over there. But I was thinking about that and realize that I am a true child of my generation. If I want something now, then I must get that something now. It is a very hard habit to break. I am trying to learn to live a new way - to save my money, to be content with what I have and where I am, to enjoy the simple things in life.
My parents have always wanted to go to England - always. And they have waited until they had the time, and the means to do it - waiting until their responsibilities to their family were largely over. I know, that unless the Lord makes a way in the next ten years or so, that I will have to wait until I am in my retirement years as well. My grandparents did this, my parents did this, and I will probably do this as well. But my human nature wants to do it now. What if I can't do it when I'm old? What if the world is a different place then and travel is difficult? What if...... the lists go on. I can't see into the future anymore than anyone else can, but I am learning to be content; to enjoy the travel through the eyes of others and to wait patiently for my turn, and to be content if it doesn't happen either. My paternal grandmother never left the South Island of New Zealand once throughout her life, except for when she was 79 years old, she got on a plane and flew one hour up to us in Auckland. I can learn from her - if she is content to stay in one place for that long, I can be content to stay home too if that is needed. I am blessed to have travelled much of the world already, and I am learning to find the thrill in the everyday familiar things of a little piece of rural land in north canterbury, surrounded by beautiful mountains and hills and glorious plains and a wide open sea, in my husband and my interesting children and the large blue sky that stretches above us.
I guess I can wait for the glories and majesties, and the thrills of England.
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.
especially when it is straight from the bottle. But I politely declined and settled for water, which he thought was hillarious! I tell you - people are interesting!
