Saturday 30th June

 

 

 

It was really really cold here today.

But I was on a mission so I didn’t have too much down time to feel too chilly.

I wanted to get in to the school room and clean out all the shelves.

 

Jesika called us up on Skype so we had a short and crazy chat with her, Even, Anson & Marah as they were about to leave the house.

Jesika is flying to Italy today and Anson & Marah are driving up to Armidale area to find some work.

It was great to talk with them.

They were all in fine fettle

 

I got the children onto some jobs first to help.

The girls peeled potatoes for dinner, fed the birds and did a few other things and then went out to find Olly.

Azzan did dishes and then started cleaning up his corner.

Nicola helped him so they made pretty good progress.

By the time i got down there this is what it looked like.

No1 Fitness had couriered me a new mother board for the treadmill so Tim did the replacement for me.

It took him quite a while to suss it all out.

All the print was so small and their were so many different cables and varying colour combinations to get reconnected just right.

They had sent instructions but he wrote down a lot more before he took out the old one just to make sure he got it all right.

I took photos of the old one so he would have them to refer to if necessary and then left him to it.

It all appears to be working now so I am hoping it is still going tomorrow.

The pattern has been that each time he fixes it it goes for a few minutes and then dies.

So praying for success this time!

 

Tinga was feeling a bit deserted today so Azzan took him out for a play.

He didn’t want to hop on Azzan’s arm so I had to get him out first and then he played somersaults around his shirt.

Nicola and I spent all day in the school room.

I sorted through everything and was very ruthless with my chucking out.

By dinner time we had Azzan’s corner looking like this.

He was delighted to have the piano in his own room and immediately sat down to play.

The school shelves have all been gone through and are much lighter than before, but I still have heaps of resources left to use.

I have now got more than 13 boxes of resources to sell and give away.

This is just one stack of them.

Second hand resource day is not till October so have to keep them stacked and tidy until then.

Unless of course someone wants to come see and buy in advance

Plus I have to go through them again in my own time and price each item.

But that can wait till nearer the time.

That is such a great feeling.

Easy dinner tonight.

Although cuz I was busy I managed to burn the brussel sprouts – that’s a first for me!!

And the roast spuds were very very crispy too.

But they all got eaten

The kids watched ‘Forrest Gump’ after dinner and now Tim is tucking them into bed.

I am about to fall into my bed too.

It’s been a satisfyingly busy day.

 

 

 

Friday 29th June

 

 

 

 

I was woken at 5am by my alarm.

I had forgotten to delete it

Tried going back to sleep.

That didn’t work so I sat up in bed and tried to keep warm while doing some computer catch up.

I all of a sudden remembered that I had forgotten to tell Anson to meet Jesika at Macca’s outside the terminal when they arrived in Melbourne and so I wrote her a hurried email apologizing for not passing on the message and hoping they had met up alright.

I had run out of internet time midweek so hadn’t been able to do a lot of anything and was way behind in blogging.

So the few extra hours of my day I hadn’t counted on were utilized well.

When I left the house before 9am the car windows were iced over.

Hadn’t realised it was actually that cold till then.

So had to run back inside and get some water to deice them.

Then I was off into town.

Got my frappaccino and then to my 9:15am therapy session.

From there my day got busier and busier.

 

I can now say why I have had so much extra office work to do lately.

When we got back from Australia Tim and another guy shook hands on a boat sale.

In their minds they had sealed the deal.

But…..

that left me dealing with the bank, accountant, lawyers, boat agent, insurance, etc etc

It has increased my stress levels considerably but I have handled it pretty well.

Only had one complete melt down in the past month so things are looking up

The sale was finalised and the money paid last night!!

So it is all now go.

Along with Anson & Cat we are the owners of a 13m mussel barge which goes by the auspicious name of ‘Tardis’.

We now have to get it to work – and work hard!!

 

Anyway, because it was all now signed sealed and delivered, I had to zip around and chase up printers etc to get the necessary stationary done, and done fast.

I had been talking to the printing house a week back and the guy knew it was urgent and yet I never received the quote until this morning.

Then when I went to see him he wasn’t working today.

I was not happy at all the delays so the ladies got someone else onto it and they had the proofs ready to view only a couple of hours later.

 

This all added somewhat considerably to the stress levels in my day, and as I had not gotten a lot of sleep for two nights in a row I was getting tireder and tireder as the day wore on.

I did manage to process everything and also still have time to stop and have lunch with my dear friend Sally.

After not seeing each other for absolutely ages we got to hang out twice in less than 24 hours.

We met up in Stoke at Crusoe’s Cafe & Bar.

They appear to have changed hands since I was last there and wow! do they put on a great fed.

I ordered fresh home smoked salmon and as they were still smoking it there was a small delay so I ordered some of their battered onion rings to nibble on as I was starving.

They were totally to die for – the batter was so light and crisp.

Just the absolute best ever!

Sally ordered the hamburger and was warned not too because the owner said she would never finish it.

She proved them wrong

My salmon salad was delicious and very filling.

I didn’t have to eat for the rest of the day.

They had free wi-fi there so I checked my mail and did some banking.

While we were eating i got a reply email from Jesika.

‘Yeah it was a pretty stressful night. I was waiting at Macca’s for hours and had been trying to call him on his 2 phones but both weren’t working so I had no idea what to do. Thankfully around midnight I got a call from the bro who had finally found a pay phone so we were able to meet up.

We eventually got home at about 1-2am and had dinner which was now stone cold. But oh well what can you do when your mother forgets small minor details like that!’

 I was so upset that I didn’t read it properly and sent off a quick apology

‘Oh dear – I am soooo sorry.
I wish you had text me again.
I had such a frantic day and I honestly never registered your text about maccas or I would have remembered I hadn’t told him.

Maybe in future Anson might learn to communicate directly with you instead of through me 

Hope my pressie softens the frustration xxxxxxx’

 

 

Sally & I finally had to say goodbye and head off to get on with our afternoon chores.

I was in Stoke when I received a text from Jesika.

‘Keep ya hair on Ma it’s all good. Just getting in a spot of fishing before I leave lol!

Anson called me from Chch cuz flight was delayed an hr so I told him then myself.
Got home just after 8pm.’

‘You are such a brat!!!’

‘I know! But you love me anyway haha!’

 

Don’t you just love kids?
They never fail to entertain and stress you right out!!

You wait Jesika – I will get you back when you are least expecting it

 

Got through the rest of my list and then headed into the city.

I had told Mahalia I would call her friend’s mother when I was finished so she would know when to bring her to meet us.

I was so incredibly embarrassed to find that the girls had rearranged things and Lily had been delivered at midday.

That meant she had taken the day off school and her mother had to take an hour off work to drive her there.

I was so not impressed

The girls got a serious talking to when I picked them up.

 

We picked up some dinner for them at the supermarket then drove out to Seb’s.

The girls zapped their frozen meals and ate them while I talked with Nathan, Phoebe & Seb.

The guys had been doing some mechanical boys stuff on Nathan’s new scooter and Phoebe was busy in the garden.

She had done heaps – it is going to look great once they get it all under control.

Nathan had to head in to work so made is way out the drive between vehicles and pile of weeds.

Nice to have a small maneuverable machine!!

 

It was getting dark and very cold so we left at 6pm.

Had a pretty zippy drive in.

Got home at 8:30pm.

Our new wwoofer, Nicola, had arrived and Azzan had been getting her helping him with cleaning up.

He had sorted out all the cutlery and utensil drawers and was so proud of how tidy they were.

He had also moved furniture around.

I was very glad to fall into a warm comfy bed.

Two rather long days and two very short nights = one very tired Me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday 28th June

 

 

 

We were all loaded in the Safari ready to go pick up Anson & Marah when they arrived.

So we were gone by 6am as I had planned.

We had a good trip out except for the two little girls who were sitting right in the very back and were not traveling too good.

They swapped places with Shanni and Anson’s pack and were fine after that.

We got to town at 8:30am.

Stopped in at Starbucks to get some sustenance.

I left Anson & Marah to go see the lawyer and bank manager, and dropped Sophie off home.

Then we did a couple of small jobs before picking up A&M again.

We went to Victory Square Cafe and had a lovely spot of whanau time over delicious scones and drinks.

Nathan, Seb & Phoebe joined us which was great.

Seb had finished work early so was able to get back in time to join the farewell team.

It was a pleasant interlude in the rather busy day.

We soon had to get back on track again though as the morning was disappearing.

Seb & Phoebe took Mahalia & Anson and went via Mega Centre so Anson could get some last minute stuff.

I took Marah back to sign papers at the lawyers, Shanni zipped up the street to get hot spuds for her and Halia’s lunch while I drove around the block and picked up Nathan.

He left his scooter near his 1pm appointment place and Seb took him back there later.

Once I had them all on board we drove over to Tahuna and met up with the possum fur buyer.

Shani was absolutely delighted at the cheque she received for her fur.

We met up with the others at the airport.

Anson & Marah had a wee bit of last minute packing to do.

And then they checked in.

Just a wee tad of excess luggage to pay for but that was expected.

Shearers gear does weigh heavy!

Can you tell someone is rather excited

We had about half an hour to wait so hung out in the cafe.

The guys had some files to transfer so they were engrossed in the computer.

Glen & Tik arrived to say their goodbyes too.

Glen joined the blokes table

And Tik hung out with the girls!

Their flight was called so there were last hugs all around several times over

And the travelers were on their way – off on their big adventure into the Land of Oz!!

We will miss them heaps but the 5 months will fly fast and especially seeing as they will be back briefly for the wedding in Sept!!

I had to move it as we had appointments to get to.

I dropped the girls off for Halia’s harp lesson and as Shanni’s appointment was nearby she walked down to it and then Halia walked there to wait for me after her lesson.

I shot into town and had my hair cut.

I was getting so woolblind it was quite a relief to have it done.

Then I picked up the girls, dropped them off at Winnington’s and zipped back into town for my next session at Nelson Beauty.

The massage and facial was divine and so needed by this time of the non-stop day.

After my lusciously relaxing session there I had to go back and drop of Shanni’s lunch – she had made it to take on the bus the next day.

Then I drove out to Speight’s Ale House to meet up with some other mothers.

It was out Home Ed Mum’s Night out.

Hadn’t had one in a while so it was really great to get together.

It was a small gathering but in some ways better cuz we all got to socialise more easily.

We were very comfy in the corner couches by the fire.

Lovely and cosy and the food was really good too.

I got back to Seb & Phoebe’s after 10pm.

It was rather a chilly night so I was very glad of a hottie when I climbed into my bed.

It was a jam packed day but it all flowed quite easily with hardly any stress.

 

 

 

 

Wednesday 27th June

 

 

 

We had a busy day ahead so I allocated jobs to everyone and forgot academics for the day.

Shanni finished cleaning and making beds in the wwoofers hut.

Mahalia & Sophie cleaned the pantry and refilled containers for me so we could see what groceries I needed to get.

Azzan was on folding washing – his favourite chore – not!

Actually the folding is okay but he hates to put it all away, so obviously needs practise

I prepared all the veges for dinner and sorted out the fridges etc.

Anson & Marah’s last day at home so they cleaned out their cupboards and fridge and brought around all the food.

I got the girls to finish packing their bags and when A&M came back in the arvo Anson got he Safari all packed up ready for an early get away.

I also had a lot of paper work and organising to do for town etc so that kept me occupied for the day.

 

Anson & Marah came and had dinner with us because their cupboards were now empty.

It was a lovely meal and enjoyable time together.

I know the 6 months will fly but we are really going to miss them both.

The children found some hats and decided they had to model them for some last at home photos.

Of course Anson acted up as per normal

Azzan in for a last smoochey Marah cuddle.

We had a 6am leaving deadline so we were not too late in cleaning up and heading off to bed.

My alarm was set for 5am.

I woke and saw the bathroom light on and door partially open.

I thought Shanni was up already so I got out of bed and turned on the light and started getting my bag and clothes sorted.

I finally went to the bathroom and found it was empty.

I zipped into the study to turn off my alarm and was most confused to see it was only 2:45am!

I crashed back into bed and was very glad two hours later that I had left the alarm on or I would’ve slept through.

Discovered in the morning that Sophie had gotten up and couldn’t find her way back to bed so left the light on

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 2012 – Creative writing excrcises

I have started doing some creative writing with the children.

It is fun and they are really getting into it.

The rules are…

Just write!

Don’t worry about spelling or grammar – and hide the erasers (or rubbers as we in NZ call them)!!

Here are a few of what the children have produced in the past week.

Remembering that they have not done this before and that they are all at different stages in development, verbosity and creativity.

For this one they were given these three words to build their sentences around.

To begin with I only asked them to write a sentence, but some could not stop writing!!

 

Day 1 exercise

bath     streetlight     Poland

There was an Irish king who lived in Poland. He loved to have baths and dancing in the streetlights. One day he met a boy who liked peaches. The Irsih king had never eaten peaches before so he took a bite and then fell dead because the boy was an evil boy who wanted to be king. (Shoshannah)

 

It’s so cold in Poland at winter time.The streetlights make the snow sparkle like Silver (my horse) in the sun. My bath is so warm and soothing. When I wake up the bath is completely frozen over like a giant ice cube. I need to get my horse in the barn! (Mahalia)

I’m in the bath watching football. My sister comes in. I shout saying, ‘Get out!’
‘I’m just going to the toilet.’ she says. ‘What’s the score?’
‘England 15 – Poland zero.’
‘Yah!!’ We both scream.
‘Whats all the racket?’ Mum says.
‘We’re winning.’ we say in unison.
‘I told you not to use my laptop in the bathroom. But that is awesome.’
I run out to my room, quickly get dressed. I go skateboarding. The streetlight is very bright but no-one’s there so I go to dinner.
(Azzan)

 

Day 2 exercise

blood     book     Switzerland     Penelope

Once upon a time there lived a king and a queen who ruled a peaceful and beautiful land called Paregarenga. The king and queen had a daughter (who was very ugly and vain) called Penelope. One day a very handsome duke from Russia came to Parengarenga, on the way he got attacked by some thieves who left him covered in bruises and blood. He was found by a poor old farmer from Switzerland who took him home to his farm. After a week or so he was all better. But he didn’t look so handsome and couldn’t bear to be seen by anyone, so he rode away to England and opened a book store. Penelope was having a hard time being so unattractive and all that so she decided to leave Parengarenga and went to England where she met the not so handsome duke. They fell in love, got married and went to live in Scotland. (Shoshannah)

 

I’m in my family’s rather large library. I’m reading about wolves. Suddenly a book came on top of me. The Simpsons Ultimate Comic Book (title).
Don’t need that.
Wonder how it got here?
There was a big storm in NZ.
Hope it wasn’t that.
More books started to fall.
Well…. speak of the devil, here it comes.
What’s that brick doing in the sky hhhhg…..youeh!
I see blood, lots of blood.
‘How is he doing?’ my sister says.
‘Well I thi–’
‘I’m awake.’ I interrupt.
‘Well it’s about time.’ my whole family say in unison.
‘Do you know how much it costs to get the whole family to Switzerland and then go to the most expensive doctors in town?’
‘No.’ I say. ‘Abo–’
‘Quite a lot of money.’ my dad interrupts my little brother.
Switzerland! Hospital! OMG!
I’m faint……  (Azzan)

I seem to have misplaced Mahalia’s story – will locate and add here soon.

 

 

Day 3 exercise

describe a door and then take one step inside and describe what you see

It’s so big.
It’s as tall as 20 of Seb.
Gold and shiny, 10 miles wide.
When you touch it your heart feels so warm.
There’s no fence but you can’t get in unless you answer 10 questions and then you have to go through a maze to find the dove that has the key.
I found the dove.
I’ve got the key.
But I don’t know what key hole to put it in.
Then I see it at the very top of the door.
The keyhole.
I almost jump with joy.
I open the door.
I almost faint, it’s……..
another door.
So I have to do everything again but this time my amazement is so overwhelmed. (Mahalia)

 

An old big black creepy door.
‘Is the house really haunted?’ I say to my friend Kayven.
‘Don’t know.’ he says, ‘but there’s one way to find out. Let’s go!
Camera? Check.
Salt? Check.
And finally torch and gun.
It smells musty.
It’s covered with rotting garlic one boy tasted once then died three weeks later.
‘Is it to keep a vampire in or out?’
‘Dunno.’
As we opened the door shivers ran down our spines.
I turn the torch on as we go in.
We hear evil chuckles in the master bedroom.
‘Let’s get!’
We don’t have to go more than a couple of steps but as we run the torch dies.
We’re surrounded by such a darkness that we can’t tell our left from right.
Kayven shouts ‘Help!’
But it echoes so much that I can’t tell where it’s coming from.
I find the door but it’s locked.
I’m trapped in here with a chuckling monster. (Azzan)

 

Tall, proud and elegant it stands, the opening to a future. A green wreath of flowers, all purples, yellows and pinks surround it on the deep, dark cedarwood surface. Reaching out a soft white hand she knocks the knocer. The door opens. Inside are colourful walls decorated with elaborate tapestries. paintings of little newborn fawns, of great wide grassy plains, heards of buffalo roaming. Smells of sweet, savoury, cinnamon rolls and roasting chicken….
(Shoshannah)

 

Azzan has really taken to this and asks me everyday to do some writing.

Here are a some of his stories he has written over the past couple of weeks.

 

Do Not Forget.

A colourful array – beautiful, fluffy, blue, yellow, red, green, smudgy papers drying above the fire. The beautiful fragrance of shaving foam embraces the house. The smell of deodorant surrounds me.

The fire is hot, too hot. I breath in the shower gel to over come the smell of rotting flesh. The war begins. I’ve been afraid of forgetting the amazing art that I have done through the years. The awful  smell of dying animals has spun through the air, knocking out my friend next to me. Or has he been hit? I cannot tell. It’s too late anyway. The animal wagon went down and the wall came down with it. The Germans have gotten to England. I nearly die from the dying bodies falling with the wall. I will never know how come the world can be so cruel.

The Darker World
Famine strikes the land killing many in its path. Causing many honest people to become murderers and stealers. The sea, red from the blood and skies black and heavy with smoke. Children running, hiding and screaming. Thunder is there waiting to scare you. Shouts of terror in the night. Wars in every country. Used weapons everywhere. Rotting arms and legs in pathways and streets. Friends and family torn limb from limb.  You feel cuts from behind but when you turn around there’s nothing but thin air.

Creatures such as the dinosaur extinct. Even the dog. Lucky to have just seconds of sunlight, a decade – but that’s only if you live longer than a decade. For the Chentan Kouie shall kill any younger than 13. Food and water not plentiful yet the vegetables have been rotting in unbelievable numbers. Lucky for me that my 18th birthday is today. But how lovely can a birthday be when seeing chariots ruining houses. And the rats are getting enough food, but not you.

Why, oh why is life so hard. Crying yourself to sleep every 365 days of each year. And ten years in each decade, and ten decades in each century………

Sailing with Jacques Cousteau

Hey there! I’ve just come back from an adventure I’ll never forget. Let me tell you.
Sailing in the boat that Jacques Cousteau sailed – the Calypso! I found that the name was a little bit funny for it’s actually a goddess from Greek mythology who lived on an island.  It’s also the name of a sea goddess from Pirates Of The Caribbean who falls in love with Davie Jones.
But the most amazing thing here is that I have just come from the captain’s seat that Jacques Cousteau had sat on for so many years. I’ve got all his dvds, cds & books so htis was my dream adventure of a lifetime.
Now, back to my adventure.
I won a competition. Out of all the thousands of people who entered, I won!
The prize was to sail on the Calypso II to Antarctica with the original Calypso crew, but not Jacques Cousteau as he had died a few years earlier.
I boarded the ship in Picton.
Before we started on our way to Antarctica we stocked on supplies – food, warm blankets, water, warm clothes and red hats to support Jacques.

I have frequently been on the docks in England but NZ was a strange country to me. Everything was a new and wonderful experience.
As we left Picton and sailed out into the Cook Strait suddenly there was a cry from above. Dolphins! Dolphins!  I rushed up onto the deck. It was most breathtaking. A large school of small dolphins!! But that was nothing compared to the wondrous display we saw later from the pod of orca we encountered as we sailed down the east coast.

There were orcas killing helpless seals. We stopped to fish for lunch. One of us caught a 15kg kingfish. As that was enough to feed us all for lunch and dinner we didn’t bother fishing any longer.  As we steam further south we saw a huge great white shark following behind. It was watching us keenly. But there was no need to fear as sharks don’t like eating humans. We just had to stay out of the water just in case it mistook us for seals or decides it wants our catch for a meal.

After eating all that kingfish I went for a rest along with half the crew. But I guess nothing lasts long, soon we heard shouts that there was black coral nearby. I hoped the shark was no longer following us as the divers and I prepared to put on our aqualungs and go explore the coral beds. We took cameras to record the beauty we saw. We all look cautiously for signs of blood. Suddenly we saw something red. The shark had attacked a large fish nearby. We all ascended to the surface very quickly and cautiously.

As we travelled through the Antarctic ice flows we met up with a very fierce wind. We were very glad we had brought all the extra warm clothing and food with us because the temperatures dropped considerably and we endured a horrendous snowstorm. Once it cleared it was safe to take the inflatable boat and land on one of the beaches. We visited colonies of Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins. We walked on further through the snow, over a ridge and came face to face with some Emporer Penguins. It was great. I had never seen penguins before in my life.

to be continued….

 

June school days

 

 

 

One of the things we did while studying about muscles was to experiment with our facial muscles.

I asked the children to consciously alter their facial muscles to show various emotions, sad, joy, anger, fright, contentment, etc.

Here is what I recorded.

Some of them Shanni had a spot of bother keeping from laughing so I had to start with the saner ones!!

See if you can figure out the emotions they are displaying

 

 

And finally back to the one who couldn’t keep a straight face to begin with

 

 

 

 

Tuesday 26th June

 

 

 

 

We spent the morning doing school work.

Muscles for some reason are a lot more to take in than bones!

Maybe because they are seemingly more complex it is harder to understand.

Or, maybe..

the children were just not in the zone to be concentrating for too long!

 

Talking about zones…

Azzan was engrossed on the computer and I had to call him several times before he responded.

Later on he said to me,

‘I’m sorry I didn’t hear you calling me. It’s just that when I am on the computer I am in a different zone to you and I don’t hear you.’

So that explains it – I must remember for another time to alter my zone when calling him

 

 I find interesting revealing photos on the children’s cameras and phones!

We have two cats.

They are not inside cats.

Well at least I know they are not inside cats.

No one else does!!
Especially Tim.

Jynx goes walkabout every few weeks.

Just disappears for days or weeks and then reappears without even an explanation.

Quite indifferent to the fact that he is causing consternation to Tim.

So when he reappears Tim is overjoyed to see him and allows him to rule the roost again!!!

And when Jynx is back he joins Mo in finding the most unusual places to sleep.

This time we found them in the laundry washtub!!

 

Mahalia & Sophie have spent every moment possible this past week with Olly.

They pack a picnic after lunch and then go riding.

First they have to find him as he follows his nose foraging and it depends on where his nose leads him as to where he might be each day.

Tim was very amused and came home telling me that Sophie has discovered a great way to get on board when they don’t have a saddle or step.

He is over 16 hands and they are not that tall yet to mount him easily!!

They feed him something and while he has his head down grazing she shimmies up his neck – ingenious young lady

 

I am now wondering how much of the packed lunch the girls actually eat and how much Olly gets fed

It is great for Halia to have a friend to visit – especially one who loves horse as much as she does.

 

I have been helping where I can to get Anson & Marah ready for Australia.

They were on countdown.

Marah has been a mixture of excitement and nerves.

She is looking forward to the adventure but it is all new to her so there is a certain amount of trepidation.

Anson has been there and done it so many times now he just takes it all in his stride.

They had a list and spent the last few days at home working through it.

 

I found a mystery bruise on my inner thigh.

Most bizarre as I cannot remember getting a knock there.

It is rather large and getting more impressive each day.

 

Tim and I went to bed and watched a movie called ‘Hanna‘.

Most intriguing, with a twist that wasn’t revealed till almost the end which made it rather thought provoking .

 

 

 

 

Monday 25th June

 

 

 

Monday was a reasonably normal sorta day.

When I got up to have a spa Azzan was already up and playing an educational game on the kids computer.

I am engrossed in my book at present so I wallowed in  the spa for ages – until I had to get out and round up the crew for school.

They all did some music practice and then some maths.

Azzan was busting to do some creative writing so we did that next.

He is loving it.

I am typing up their stories and will post them soon.

I am just loving the development and individuality of ideas I am getting from them.

We then played the Human Body game before setting into some more of our study on the muscular system.

That was interesting but around midday I lost them so decided to call it quits and let them go.

After lunch Mahalia & Sophie came and asked if they could take a picnic and take Olly out.

So they gathered up food and disappeared for the afternoon.

I was laughing the other day about something Mahalia said.

She told us that it was no problem to locate Olly when they go looking for him because he has a tracking device.

She just follows his piles of poo!!!

 

Shanni got busy in the kitchen cooking up a storm.

At 6:30pm Tim & I took some salad and dessert and went to have dinner with Anson & Marah.

Shanni made dinner for her and the children and they were happy to eat and watch a movie and put themselves to bed.

We had a lovely evening with A&M.

They made delicious beef & salad wraps for dinner and then we ate Shanni’s apple crumble with ice cream for dessert.

It was really nice just to sit back and chill and talk without interruptions.

Normally the guys are busy coming and going from work and the kids are noisy (actually, it is mainly when Anson walks in the door that the noise levels rise considerably cuz he teases & tickles them immercifully )and wanting to be part of the discussions.

We finally headed off home around 10ish and all was quiet on the home front.

 

 

 

Sunday 24th June

 

 

 

Tim & I had to take a drive to Okiwi Bay today.

We took Azzan with us.

It was a glorious day.

When Tim stopped to find my water bottle I took off down the road for a run.

Beautiful view looking east along the Tawhitinui Reach

We got to Okiwi Bay just after midday and met up with our lawyers who had arranged to meet us there.

It was a lovely outing for them and they were meeting us half way so Tim didn’t have to make another trip to town!!

We spent the next hour or so with them signing papers.

Man! I reckon we could save forests if the red tape piles disappeared from our lives!!

While we were busy doing that Azzan entertained Gaynor and Art.

Gaynor and he went for a walk down to the beach and visited some locals along the way.

When we had finished all the legal stuff we sat back and enjoyed our lunch while chatting with Art & Gaynor.

Nice for Tim as he had not visited them before, it is usually just me and the children.

Finally we had to rouse ourselves and make tracks as the day was disappearing.

We left at 3:45pm, the late arvo air was getting somewhat cool.

Tim wanted to go explore so we popped in and got an ice cream for Azzan & me.

He had been so patient and good while we had been busy.

Then we drove down the old wharf road as Tim had never been there.

He was mystified as to how the TNL truck & trailer unit that was parked there waiting for mussels to arrive had actually manged to turn around as the area is so small.

 

We then headed back homewards.

The sun was setting as we got to Okuri.

It was such a lovely evening.

As we got closer to home I could see these unusual but very beautiful clouds.

They were like piles of candy floss sitting on the hill top

And out in the Cook Strait as well, there was a bank of them with the centre looking as if it were hiding a mountain, but we know there is no mountain there!

Some local campers who were not terribly impressed with us disturbing their Sunday afternoon.

As we drove along Admiralty Bay the clouds were reflecting pretty colours which then reflected in the water.

It was dark when we got to the boundary gate.

Azzan opened it for me and then began to run down the hill.

We picked him up and then let him out again at Graham’s place.

He ran on down to Anson’s.

Anson & Marah had not been home long either.
Anson’s finger is still swollen and sore.

He had gone to the after hours Dr and then was referred to the hospital for an x-ray.

That took so long that they missed most of the engagement party they had gone out especially for.

A real bummer

But that is the stupid hospital system.

I always avoid it if possible.

At least he had an x-ray even if he didn’t wait around for the Drs report on it.

 

The girls had dinner ready for us when we got home.

They were watching the new Tin Tin movie so Azzan watched with them.

Jesika skyped us, she is on an exciting countdown.

Anson & Marah fly to Melbourne on Thursday and Jesika flies to Italy on Saturday.

So they will have 2 nights together before she leaves and they head off to find work.

 

 

 

Saturday 23rd June

 

 

 

Anson was due around at 8am so I waited for him t come and go and then I hopped in the spa with my book.

He returned later to pick up stuff for Seb before he and Marah drove out to town.

Tim was working on a list we had all given him – small jobs that needed to be done but hadn’t been priorities because he had a wwoofer to keep occupied.

I planned to do school work with the children today.

But 2 little ladies disappeared so I only had two students.

That worked fine actually as I was able to spend time with Azzan on his dreaded maths.

We just didn’t get any anatomy done unfortunately.

Azzan did well with his maths once he got over the initial ‘I don’t wanna do this’ act.

I threw a hissy fit and then we both got onto the same page!

 

We worked until midday.

The girls turned up.

Reckoned they didn’t know we were doing school – despite Tim knowing he had told them.

So they got straight onto their maths while they ate lunch.

Then they were on dishes and dinner vege prep.

After that they were allowed to head off back to ride Olly again.

They would spend all their days out with him if they could

 

Shanni & I watched ‘Puss in Boots’ this arvo.

It was very funny.

While we watched it I was completely spoilt by Azzan.

He wanted to give me a pedicure.

He filled the foot spa and then had me soak my feet.

He added handfuls of dried rose buds.

 

Then he massaged my feet with Vanilla bodycream – it smells delicious.

Both he and I fell in love with it when Sandra was selling it last year.

Then he painted my nails

He couldn’t decide which colour so used them all.

Now I have rainbow toes

He even applied lip gloss, and then nail polish to my fingers.

But by then he had had enough so I recoated them afterwards

 

We had dinner –  BBQ chicken wings and roast veges.

Most yummy.

Then Tim zipped around to watch the rugby at Anson’s.

All Blacks 60 – Ireland 0

I feel so sad for the Irish – they tried so hard, but the Blacks had the upper hand right from the start.

 

Shanni did the dishes and then watched ‘To a Manor Born’ while the rest of us watched ‘Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark‘

The storm has hit here and the wind and rain reached an intensity over dinner time but have died down somewhat so maybe the worst of the storm is over.