I was up very early.

Left the house at 5:30am with the 2 girls.

When we were about an hour from home the sun was streaming through the clouds - it was beautiful.

Shoshannah took some photos for me as she was on the right side of the car.

I like this one - the spiders had been busy, and it shows how strong the webs are that they were still clinging to the side of the Terrano!

 

We arrived in Nelson with time to quickly fly into Seb & Phoebe's and throw some blankets in the door for Nathan.

The unload our bags at the Reardon's, drop Shoshannah at the Dr's before heading over to Tahunanui to leave the Terrano there.

It was booked for a WoF and thermostat replacement.

I had a courtesy car to use so we zipped away in that and I left Mahalia at harp while I had my hour with my therapist.

Mahalia walked down to meet me and then we had to move it!

 was on a time schedule.

Left Mahalia at the dentist and met Shoshannah at Music Planet.

She had already picked out the guitar case and tuner she needed so I zoomed in and paid for it.

Then we were off out to her guitar lesson in Richmond.

I left her there and afterwards she walked up to visit Rachel and the children and they dropped her off at piano later in the arvo.

Mahalia had walked to the library so I went to my next 2 appointments and then picked her up before going to Spotlight.

Of course while I was looking for dress fabrics she found heaps of horse prints.

She narrowed them down to one and I let her get enough to make herself some pillow cases.

 

I called up the garage to see if the Terrano was finished and it was so we drove over the hill to get it.

As I was about to leave I noticed the WoF sticker had not been updated.

When I went in to ask he said that all he knew to do was change the thermostat!

We went and had a look in the bookings book and sure enough it was there - WoF!!

He was really busy and rather embarrassed so I arranged to return the next day - I was rather annoyed as I had already scheduled my days.

 

We then headed out to Richmond for piano lessons with Andrea.

Shoshannah had finished when we arrived.

Once Mahalia finished hers we arranged to meet up with David & Sasha at The Stables for dinner.

It was a lovely evening.

Great company and delicious food.

Just the right way to end a day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Noel arrived in around 8:30am to pick up Tim, Mahalia & Ellie.

They spent several hours putting out spat on to a line not too far from the house.

I was able to get a good long range shot of them at work.

It was a lovely day - bit breezy but much nicer than the previous day.

The yellow coats are the girls on the port side and the guys are working over on starboard.

These are some cards I made specifically for some friends birthdays.

 

It has been a busy week since and I am way behind in my blogging - can't remember too much that happened that day.

We would've been getting ready to go to town.

Some changes in our plans were made so instead of going out for a day I was heading out for three so had to pack a bag.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was up early this morning and spent an hour or two in my art corner while it was quiet.

This time I started making some cards.

 

Tim was expecting Noel to come in 'Tardis' around 8:30-ish so he and the girls were also up early for a Sunday morning.

He was bringing in a load of mussel spat and Ellie & Mahalia were going to work on the barge with Tim & Noel so they could get it in the water quickly.

 

However soon after 8am I got a call to say Noel was running late.

Bother!

Shoshannah made lunch for them because they would be out for quite a while.

The weather began packing it in.

The rain arrived, it poured down.

They all got their wet weather gear ready.

I decided that if they weren't going to go I may as well have my spa.

So I took my book out and wallowed for a while with the rain and wind buffeting around my head.

I'm reading 'Silent No More'.

A very compelling book which has stirred up a lot of unpleasant memories for me but I still couldn't put it down.

I then did some blogging to catch up on the past couple of days.

 

Tim decided to take the chance of a few spare moments to get the kitchen sink fixed.

Because it is an older style he was not sure he would have the right fittings for it.

But thankfully he found one and was able to fit it in.

He also managed to locate the potato peeler that Azzan had inadvertently let slip down the drain before hand.

I think that might have prompted Tim to actually get it done  because no matter how careful you are things slip down the drain when you are not looking!!

While Tim was working on that I got the three kids to do a 10 minute clean up in the living room area.

Mahalia got called away to help Tim hold a spanner so Shoshannah and Azzan did most of it.

I cannot stand it when the living room gets messy.

And with so many people living here it doesn't take long to get in a state!!

 

 

The morning pretty much disappeared and Noel never got here until around 1:30pm.

I was battling a headache so I hopped into bed for a sleep.

Had a bit of a doze and read some more of my book.

The boat went out and then came back.

Major problem with an oil leak in the auxiliary motor.

So Noel had to head back to Elaine Bay to get it fixed.

Double bother!!

 

The weather was really crazy today - wet, fine and windy, changing every hour.

Shoshannah went up to do Graham's housework and then cooked dinner for us.

She made a delicious chicken stirfry and rhubarb, plum & apple crumble.

 

Tim made phone calls to his 2 eldest sons after dinner.

I had a quick skype chat with Jesika.

Nice to keep up with the ones not at home.

Finished off some cards and made another one.

Am trying to get a few birthday cards done while I have some time.

Too tired now to scan them - will show them later.

 

I have been so tired today.

My eyes are really sore.

Need to head to bed now.

Thankfully dinner was early so I feel like I have had a bit of an evening before I hit the pillow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tim went out for the morning grubbing variegated thistles and other weeds in the Boundary Paddock.

He also fixed up some fences.

Ellie headed out to weed the more of the rock garden.

It was overcast so easier working.

 

I spent the day pottering away in my art corner.

This is how my day began.

A lovely pot of Cranberry & Carrot tea and my journals open and ready for work.

Please note how my workspace is relatively tidy - didn't stay that way for long

I'm working on two journals at the moment.

I have had a personal one on the go for some time but haven't done a lot apart from making notes.

I am now adding to it and really enjoying splashing colours around and expanding in it.

Then I watched the next step of the Art, Heart & Healing.

It was fun - Making Whimsies.

I actually did these in my first journal as a trial so will create some more later in the altered book.

I wanted to get a tad dimensional so added ribbons and ladybugs.

 

 

When Tim came home he ate his lunch in a hurry so he could get along the beach before the tide was too high.

He had some branches to cut off a pine tree that is overhanging the boat trailer.

Then once he got home he moved the old freezer.

It had been sitting outside the back door in a very precarious position so I was very glad to see it gone.

Azzan got my camera out and shot a heap of the process!

'Can you get any closer??'

Bye bye energy-sapper, nice to see you gone!

 

Despite the fact that it was rather cool Mahalia & Azzan really wanted to have a bonfire.

They had been asking for days so Tim said they could.

The kids rounded up some driftwood and then came up for dinner.

As soon as they had eaten they headed back down with marshmellows.

I sent Tim straight down when I saw the matches heading down the path in Azzan's hand!!

They really wanted me to go down and join them but it was so cold.

I put on my cuddly dressing gown and went to see.

Not a lot of beach left, but just enough

Marshmellows are just the best when they are chargrilled!

And clad only in shorts and bare feet, she wasn't cold!

I was shaking so much I could barely hold the camera still!

I was quite happy eating the marshmellows they were cooking for me but Azzan wanted me to cook my own.

Smoke gets in your eyes!!

What a lovely way to finish off the day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A lovely hot sunny Spring day.

Tim went over to Buka Point to grub out thistles for the morning.

Ellie and I processed all the green veges that had been harvested from the Waterfall Bay garden the previous day.

 

Then Ellie spent the rest of the day wedding the front rock garden.

The kids did a little school work.

I worked away on Week two of the Art, Heart & Healing course.

We are now altering a board book.

I covered it and did the first exercise.

It was called 'Honouring You'.

We were taught how to do a photo transfer - that was fun.

I botched the first one so did it a second time and it worked really well.

As it is quite personal I am not displaying it here.

Mahalia has a small desk set up near mine and she has been spending a lot of time creating a fashion book.

It is great to see her enjoying her artwork.

 

 

Azzan got loose with my camera.

He is into designing arty shots.

This time the subject was a beaded bracelet.

On the wrist of a 'don't mess with me sister'

Love this one on the railing of our decking

Contemplation

There were dozens of photos of the bracelet in various positions around the garden.

I won't bore you with them all

He tried throwing it in the air and catching it on screen.

After a few misses he got it mid screen!

The lawnmower lamb is wondering what on earth that crazy kid is doing??

 

 

The girls all lie about on the floor in the evening before dinner and do pilates to the dvd.

It is good to see them doing something like that instead of pestering to watch a movie.

 

At dinner time Azzan set the table.

He loves to make things look nice and precise.

He had fun presenting our new glasses with chopped mint and slices of lemon, all ready for the Sparkling Duet I allowed him to open. (We don't often have fizzy drinks so it was a treat to go with his lovely table setting)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today is our eldest sons' 27th birthday.

Anson - where have those 27 years gone?
You have occupied them with such industriousness that the time has just screamed past.

You are not home for us to celebrate with you but we send our love to you and wait impatiently for you to return so we can bake a cake and smother you with love and hugs xxxxx

 

 

I was called up by friends wishing us a 'Happy Birthday'.

But actually Anson's birth is one I choose to forget.

It was the most horrendous birth I endured.

I almost called it quits after that

I could say thankfully I was in hospital so had 2 weeks to recover, but actually in hindsight, after reading through all my medical notes, we established later that everything that went wrong was actually hospital induced

I can however say, that thankfully, once I recovered it didn't take me long to fall in love with our lovely wee boy.

He was adorable.

His three pretty sisters loved him.

His hair was amazing.

People would stop and run their hands across it cuz it stood straight up in the air.

And right from the start he was wanting to be out on the farm helping his Dad

And that is exactly where he is today - working towards being on the farm with his Dad.

Love you Anson

 

 

Back to the normality of life on the ranch...

 

The girls have been learning to fishtail plait.

This is Shoshannah's hair for the day - pretty eh?

       

Tim & Ellie went out on the boat straight after breakfast and spent the morning doing float work.

I cooked up a big pot of beans and made a large batch of Becky's Beans during the day.

It simmered all day on the woodstove so was just right by dinner time.

Azzan had is Skype session with his GO teacher.

The girls did a tad of maths and then escaped.

Mahalia went searching for Oly, but he was being elusive and she couldn't find him

Shoshannah did the fires and her birds and kept herself busy as she does.

When Azzan finished his skyping he then decided to make up some grapefruit lemonade.

I told him it should be called grapefruitade!

 

After lunch all the young ones walked around to Waterfall Bay to do some gardening.

Tim followed in the ute but first of all he had to check our phone line to see if he could fine a break.

Look for the errant horse - which he found!

Then he brined some salmon, made some wheat free bread, gathered up fuel drums and got the spraying gear ready to take over the hill.

Finally he was ready and headed over the hill to help the kids.

The expansive lawn ready to mow

Shoshannah all ready to mow!

Ellie & Mahalia hard at the weeding

 

I made the most of the peace and quiet and got stuck into some art journaling.

Had heaps of fun working between 2 of them making a big grungy mess.

I made a wheat free apple and jam roll for pudding and cleaned up the kitchen.

 

 

They didn't get back home until around 7pm!

Dinner went down well with the hungry mob.

Tim smoked up the salmon - it was delicious

 

I was busy in the study while the kids were getting ready for bed and then all of a sudden realised that the wheatbag that Azzan was heating in the microwave was burning.

The smell permeated the house - it was awful

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So for the past few days I have been working through Art Heart & Healing part 1

Tamara is great.

She walks through the processes with you in a very informative and non pressured way, and because I can stop and start the video whenever I need to I am not feeling any pressure.

First off she asks for us to write down on the left page all the negative thoughts you have about yourself.

Then you think of the positive things that are the reasons/outcomes of those.

And from there she asks us to think of a positive statement to use on your page later.

I must admit I found that bit really hard.

Why is it so easy to think negative thoughts about yourself and so hard to find positive ones

Then you gesso over them.

And from there the drawing instruction happens.

I was just following along doing what I could with the materials I had on hand.

I didn't think I was doing that well but did it anyway.

I didn't want to draw 'myself' with long hair flowing across the left page so I changed it which meant my pages were different.

But as it is mine, I did it my way

Then when I stood up to head off to bed I took a another look from a new perspective and was blown away by what I had done.

When I showed it to Tim I think he was too

 

After following Tamara's instructions with layering etc I finally produced this.

A lovely, messy, grungy, journal page that I am happy with

 

 

 

 

 

 

After receiving a horrendously huge power bill I have been on Tim's case to do something about our small house freezer as the lid is stuffed and has undoubtably been the culprit for a lot of the energy usage.

Finally today he had time to do some manouvering.

Ellie emptied the small freezer, fitting as much as she could into the large house freezer.

Then they emptied the small workshop freezer and transported it down in the back of the ute.

We did a bit of other manouvering as well while we were at it to make the washhouse area more workable.

Tim & Ellie carried it inside with help from Shoshannah.

I was calling to Mahalia to get Skip out of the way cuz he was running around and I could see trouble waiting to happen.

She got him but then Azzan scared him and he ran back around and I saw him run under the freezer.

Man did I yell big time then!

I could just envision him tangling up their legs and everything going splat

So here is the results - the fridge is now tucked in between the big freezer and the washing machine and the small freezer fits snuggley over on the opposite side where the fridge used to be.

Much better than when the other freezer was jutting out sideways.

 

We did some school work throughout the morning.

Grammar is really being enjoyed, we skipped Latin Root Words today.

I tried to get some story writing from them all but only the girls co-operated

Maths often brings out the worst in my children

Whereas swimming doesn't

I was not really in a good place to be dealing with stroppy kids and other stresses the day was bringing.

So as soon as I could I took my chair out side the back door and sat with my book for a while to calm my spirit!

 

Poor Tim was running all day between fixing things, answering and making business phone calls that only he could deal with, and trying to get his farm work done.

A major problem happened in kitchen sink.

The drain filter fell out a few days ago and something fell into it and blocked the sink completely.

So because of all the other things Tim was running around trying to get done, the kitchen looked like this for most of the afternoon!

He managed to fix it enough to allow us to use the taps before they finally left to head out mustering sometime after 4pm!

 

After lunch the children had to wait for several hours for Tim so Shoshannah read her book out in the sun and the others went swimming.

It was so lovely that I went for a wander with my iPhone camera and took a few photos around the garden.

Saying hullo to Tinga - the sunshine was setting off his colours brilliantly.

The cats were curled up sleeping under the wisteria.

Ellie & Mahalia following Skip up the path after their quick swim.

Azzan had beaten them into the spa  - don't think the water was terribly warm somehow

My rose bush is covered with buds - it will be glorious very soon.

Mahalia's petunias are looking beautiful.

A cute mini geranium poking it's pretty self out through the foliage by the steps.

And a beautiful aquilegia enjoying the shade at the back of the rock garden,

My masquerade rose - there was only one or two buds a few days ago and now it is covered in blooms in a variety of stages.

 

The crew finally left to go mustering sometime between 4 and 5pm.

They arrived back before dark so dinner wasn't till around 8pm.

We had stirfry veges and roast mutton chops.

I popped some potatoes in to bake while the oven was hot.

They were very tasty.

I sat and read my book some more for a while.

Then I carried on with my art course until they arrived home and quickly finished it after dinner

Tim was really weary so we were hurrying the children off to their beds so he could tuck them in before he went to bed.

Won't be long and we won't have children to tuck in so gotta make the most of it!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tim was up and gone early today.

He processed a pot of apples for breakfast before he left.

He had to be at Elaine Bay by 9:30am for a business meeting.

 

It was quite cool this morning - a southerly change has hit and the waves have been pounding on the beach most of the day.

The bay has white caps right across it.

 

I had a read in the spa and then got myself moving.

Had a bit of a dip in my emotional state after checking my emails.

Felt really upset for most of the morning after getting some very negative mail

 

Pulled the two youngest out of their beds and got them headed towards their breakfasts so we could begin school.

The pattern for today was maths for all three.

Shoshannah did her English books while the other two did the Grammar lesson.

Then we all worked on the Latin roots book.

And from there it was some more anatomy on muscles.

We found pictures on the net to add to their projects.

Azzan of course wanted all the real gory looking pictures of muscles whereas the girls were happy to have diagrams for the 3 different muscle types.

Mahalia had to have a picture of the muscle structure of a horse

We finished up bu reading another chapter from Mathematicians Are People Too.

It was about John Napier, an interesting man - we learned about logarithms and Napier's rods too.

 

Elli took the vacuum cleaner out to the washhouse and pursued more spiders webs.

When she finished that she pruned the wisteria vine a little.

Then after lunch she and Shoshannah  cleaned out the meatsafe.

It becomes a dumping ground for unwanted stuff!

 

I peeled a heap of potatoes and then made Cheesey Potato Bake.

Made a small one for Shoshannah to take up to Graham.

Azzan peeled a big pot of carrots for dinner.

I made a large plate full of corn fritters for dinner.

Mahalia collects carrot and apple peelings for Olly so she took him a big feed when she had finished her music practice.

 

Soup for lunch so nice and easy.

I sat and read in the sun for a while.

 

We introduced Ellie to Anne of Green Gables.

She had never heard of it - unbelievable!

Tim finally got home at dinner time so he cut up and cooked the fish I had taken out of the freezer when looking for something for dinner.

It was grouper heads and a body and I didn't know how to tackle it.

I had thought he would've been home much earlier but he wasn't so dinner was late once again.

 

I did some more of my art course before and after dinner.

Tonight I am feeling somewhat pleased with my efforts.

I didn't think I was making a terribly great job of it cuz I was using different materials to Tamara.

But when I stopped tonight and actually looked at where I had gotten to I realised it actually looks really good.

I am happy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tim went over the back to do some more work on the water tank.

Ellie got busy with the vacuum cleaner and sucked up all the spiders webs through the house.

Great job!!

I cracked the whip today and got the children onto some academic work.

They did their maths and then I introduced Mahalia & Azzan in a Grammar workbook.

They really loved it.

Sposed to do a lesson a week, but I am planning on doing a lesson a day while we have the time to settle into our academic studies.

Then I gathered all three children together and we began work on a Word Roots book, discovering the Latin roots of English words.

It is quite fun but Azzan was taxed by the end of it all.

 

We then did some of our Anatomy project.

Have a few days left of the lesson on muscles, and as it is a while since we did any we all needed to revise.

 

Mahalia brought me this beautiful fuschia flower.

I so love the colour.

 

After lunch Tim & Ellie went out to cut off floats from a line that had just been harvested.

I have been dreaming for a long time about doing an art course.

Earlier this year a friend began doing LifeBook 2012 online.

I looked at it and really, really wanted to do it, but felt I wasn't in the place to commit to it so hedged for a while.

Instead I downloaded one of her free courses and have had it sitting on the computer for months.

Yesterday I decided it was time to have a look at it.

It is called Art Heart & Healing.

As well as beginning that I have decided the time is right to commit to doing LifeBook 2013 so signed up to do it last night.

Big step!

I took my laptop into my art corner and began watching the first part of Art Hart & Healing and took the first step.

I'm taking baby steps right now.

Just love mixed media but because of the upheaval of my emotional/mental state over the past few years I haven't done much.

Am beginning to feel like I can brave myself back into it again.

The other thing about this course is that Tamara is caring, non-threatening and fun.

I really think I am going to enjoy this

 

After my first wee step I then began sporting out the mess Azzan had made on my computer several weeks ago.

I have had over 9500 files stuffed into 2 folders waiting for me to have time and energy to sort it all out.

I managed to get most of it done before I went to bed.

Whew!