A cloudy overcast sky this morning

While Tim waited for Sebastian to arrive he got ready for his town trip.

Then he and Azzan went down to the wharf to condition mussel ropes.

This is the last photo I have of my Timmy.

And he is doing what he loved.

Working with his kids.

After this he and Seb went out to do some mussel work for a few hours.

 

The girls processed 2 bins of tomatoes.

 

Then they spent the rest of their working day in the garden.

Anson was mustering most of the day.

 

Tim arrived back at lunch time and packed up the Safari and took Seb & Phoebe back home and then headed off to town around 2:30pm.

We had a date to meet in town at 2pm tomorrow.

 

I was really tired so had a wee rest before Anson & Marah popped in for a visit.

We had an early dinner and got cleaned up.

I was just about to start packing my stuff for town as we are leaving early tomorrow when I got a text from Anson saying he had just heard there had been an accident on our road.

I immediately started making phone calls and couldn't locate Tim anywhere he was supposed to have been.

After a very long call to the police and then finding out I was talking to Wellngton Police and they didn't have a clue where we were they finally put me on to a Blenheim sergent who knew exactly who I was and confirmed my worst nightmare.

He had been trying to locate a neighbour to come tell me but as our neighbours are about an hour away they hadnt arrived yet.

He didn't want to tell me over the phone

I was furious, angry, upset, hurt, hysterical......

It took 6 hours for me to find out and that was through the newspaper.

 

My Timmy is dead.

I can barely see the keys to type

I can't stop crying.

 

I don't know what I am going to do without him

I am so devastated.

 

Anson & Marah and Seb & Phoebe came straight round and started phoning the kids.

It is the worst news to have to tell your children.

Liz, Harry & Jude all arrived - it was really good to have their loving support.

The three young ones have been beside themselves all night.

They are now sleeping thankfully and the boys and partners have gone home.

 

I now have to rethink the morning and repack my bags as I will have to be in town for more than the two planned days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had quite a restless night.
Seb went out harvesting around 1am and we were woken by the barge coming to the wharf around 2:45am to unload ropes.
Then it returned just after 7am to unload more.
Tim whizzed down to see the guys before 'Tardis' headed to Elaine Bay to unload the crop.
Seb zipped home to get some very necessary sleep.

I had a spa and read the first chapter of what is looking to be a very interesting book.
'Women of the Outback' by Sue Williams.

I've been reading exerts to it to Tim and family throughout the day.

Tim discovered that one of the woman written about it here was the lady who came down last week to interview him for a book she is writing!!

Before I had a chance to get some breakfast Azzan made me a platter of cheese and tomato on crackers and in so doing managed to have a barney with Mahalia.
It is the first decent one they have had in a while so I gave them both a dressing down about it!

I wasn't that thrilled about having cheese and crackers for breakfast but graciously accepted them but also allowed/offered him some to eat as it was rather a large plateful!

Then we had fellowship.
The 3 girls joined us.
It was interesting hearing of their backgrounds.

Shoshannah is doing really well with her guitar playing.

It was nice to have Adina playing along with her.

We need to do it more often to give Shoshannah practice at keeping time with us all

After lunch was cleaned up Shoshannah, Azzan & the three girls went for a walk up the Clay Point Road with the dogs.
Then when they got back Mahalia & Azzan took the girls kayaking.

They went up to Waterfall so they could leave a kayak there for Phoebe to use.
They all arrived back just before dinner - I could hear the noise long before I saw them coming in to the beach!!

Tim had a nice long catch up call with Bri.
I had a read and doze on the sofa.
Then I did another art lesson.
This one was using white on black and shading.
It was okay - not one of my most favourite lessons.

I changed the new agey approach the tutor had to something that suited me better and was relatively happy with the results.

Tim roasted up some mutton chops and then made a fish & mussel dish with coconut cream.

Shoshannah baked courgette slices with sun dried tomatoes and cheese for dinner.
She also made a delicious quinnoa salad.
So tonight our dinner consisted of fresh butter beans, courgettes and silver beet - all from her garden and meat from our hills and fish from the bay.

Anson arrived back and he and Marah came for a visit and to deliver a heap of tomatoes and corn.
Guess we will be busy processing tomorrow!!

 

The weather has turned cooler today.

We watched a southerly bank of clouds roll across the eastern hills and turn the sky a pretty cold pink tonight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tim woke at 7am to the sound of Seb zooming up the bay in his dinghy.

He leapt out of bed and had a quick snack and then they headed out to do some mussel work.
I got breakfast ready for the girls and then zipped through the shower.
Life changes when there are woofers to organize.
No swanning around in my dressing gown for half the morning!

Mahalia moved Olly off the back lawn and then went pear picking with Adina.
I showed Tamara & Lisa around the garden and left them to start weeding.
Azzan decided to cook hotcakes for his breakfast.

He pronounced them to be very boring so doctored them up with frozen berries and ice cream!

The girls brought a large bin of pears in and then spent time processing a large pot full.

While they did that Azzan peeled potatoes for dinner.

The joviality and noise from the kitchen was quite overwhelming

Tim & Seb came back in around 9am.

Seb had a fishing party leaving and he needed to be back to help them load up but they decided to leave earlier than planned cuz they met him as they were heading out of the bay.

Our resident lawnmower!

 

Shoshannah is wanting to reorganize he chicken house and run because she has got so many chicks now.
So she and Tim had a long discussion as to what to do.

I made a large pot of mince and vege stew for dinner.
One of the girls is allergic to onions - that's a new one for me to deal with!
I normally use a lot of onions when cooking so will have to think twice for the next two weeks!
Mahalia & Adina finished cleaning the Cottage and tidied the garden.

After lunch Azzan went off to help Tamara & Lisa with some weeding.
Adina helped Mahalia with some sanding on her harp.

Then Adina hung out washing and brought the last of yesterdays in while Mahalia helped in the garden.
Then at 3pm they were all released to go swimming.

Nathan called me to say he was going on a scenic flight with his boss and some there workmates.
They were planning to come fly over here.
We never saw them so not too sure where they got to.
I went up to tell Tim.
He was in his workshop wearing his fixit hat glasses.

I worked on my art project most of the afternoon.
It is now finished - yahoo!

My blessings in the clouds and goals for 2013 in the dolphins fins

 

Phoebe came up in the dinghy with Seb which was a lovely surprise.
We had a lovely time together and Azzan made us some very tasty crackers with cheese & tomato for a pre dinner snack at 5pm cuz we were all feeling somewhat peckish.

Seb came up to to take her home after he and Tim finished their mussel work.
He has a harvest to do on Tardis at 1am so wanted to get home and have a sleep before going to work.

Tim brought mussels in for the girls.

Lisa & Tamara love them.

 

It is a gorgeous evening here.
Azzan has headed off to his bed.

Mahalia is talking on the phone to Sophie.
The girls have disappeared and Tim has gone to take Les & Christine some mussels.

Shoshannah is outside watering all her plants.

She found our lawnmower had returned.

Naughty Olly!!

 

The house is quiet.
Lovely

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Azzan has had a head cold for a few days.
He thinks he is dying.
I am giving him vitamin supplements and inhalations and tlc but he keeps coming out and asking, 'What does it mean if you cough up blood?'
I assured him he had probably just aggravated his throat but he wouldn't hear that.
So next time I told him it meant he was probably dying :-/
He didn't accept that either.
He said to me this morning, 'Nobody seems to care that I am sick!'
So I ended up being a bit tough and told him in no uncertain terms that all he has is a headcold and if he actually did all the things I have been telling him to then he might actually get better quicker!

After all, leaping off the wharf at 6pm is not really conducive to keeping himself warm and dry is it??

For many reasons there were heaps of loads of washing to do today.
But thankfully the weather was perfect for drying it.
Azzan hung out the first load and by the time I got the next load out his load was nearly ready to bring in.
Each time I hung out another load I was able to bring a lot of dry items inside.

Seb & Tim went out to do mussel work.
They got back around 11am.
After a cuppa, cake and chat Seb took Mahalia home with him so she could help Phoebe with the shop when the mailboat arrived.

I got Azzan to empty and clean the spa pool.
It hasn't been done for ages and seriously need a good clean.
He ended up inside it fully clothed as he bucketed out the water.
Then he changed into dry clothes and I got him to high pressure hose the filter and he got wet again.
He eventually got it finished and Tim connected up the water pipe and filled it.

Shoshannah spent all morning cooking after she had done all her birds and gardens
She made corn fritters for lunch and a large potato salad for dinner.
Mark & Helen arrived around midday.
Seb came back and he and Tim chatted with Mark over business matters.
I enjoyed talking with Helen - they come from WA not from from my brothers so we knew a lot of places in common.
Azzan found this stick insect.

It was such a large one!
After it walked all over him he took it out to the cabbage tree.
He was fascinated as he watched it turn into a stick and just sit swaying.

 

Lisa & Tamara from Austria and Adrina from Germany arrived on the mailboat this afternoon.
After they had settled in and had lunch they went swimming with Azzan & Shoshannah.
Then while they waited for Tim to go up the hill and check on the cow and calves they folded all the washing.

While I was talking to Cat this evening Shoshannah cleaned out the small cage where she has been keeping the hen and youngest chicken until it is big enough to go with the others.
She brought it to see me.
It is such a wee cutie.
I love the colour of it's head.

Cat has had yet another accident!
This time her elbow connected with some steel and her elbow came off second best so she now has her arm immobilized in a sling and is on painkillers etc as the nerve on the humerus has been damaged and it very painful.
She is having an MRI scan on her knee soon - we reckon she needs a full body scan!!

 

These petunias are looking so pretty in their pot on the deck.

Mahalia walked back from Waterfall and hung out with Marah.
Mahalia got back here in time for dinner.
Marah was a bit later as she was trying to fix the roof of Bubba's kennel.
She had come under the bribe of apple crumble for dessert

After dinner Azzan & Mahalia went swimming.
We could see them diving up and down like a couple of wee fish.
Then soon after they arrived up carrying this octopus.

That was what they had been trying to get!
It proved to be very fascinating for our wwoofers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I decided to take myself out for the day and go visit my neighbour Sandra.

It is her birthday next week but we will both be busy and away so today was a good day to go see her.

I wanted to make her a birthday cake so had a quick look in my Jo Seagar recipe books and found one that sounded delicious and looked fairly simple and I had all the ingredients - the three very important things to consider.

It was called Cappuccino Date Slice.

I doubled it and made one to take and one to keep.

I also made a Persian CousCous salad as we were going to be arriving at lunch time.

I left a list for Mahalia & Azzan to do and also assigned them dinner duties.

I left them pouring over recipe books.

Had time to take photos of the two wee vests I have just completed.

First proper knitting in absolute centuries so am rather proud of myself!!

Have now begun making a couple of wee hats with the leftover wool.

 

I picked Marah up on the way past.

She had never been over the hill so it was a nice introductory visit for her.

Plus she really needed a day out of the house and the bay!

 

We had a lovely time with Sandra.

Phil popped in and out and joined the party when he felt inclined.

Sandra loved her cake - it was very tasty actually.

That is one recipe I am definitely bookmarking.

 

We sat and chatted out on the deck.

Had our lunch and then that cruised into afternoon tea.

It was such a glorious day to be sitting in the fresh air and sunshine and enjoying the wonderful view.

 

 But all too soon the day was disappearing so we had to bid our farewells and head back over the hill.

This is the view looking over at home from the top of the hill between our bays - the sea over the low neck is the Cook Strait!

 

We popped down into Waterfall Bay to visit with Phoebe.

Seb was working on the boat with Tim.

We sat and chatted with Phoebe and then went for a wander around the garden.

I love what she and Seb have done to the deck.

The hanging plants make it look so much prettier and they've made a great herb garden along the back edge using some guttering.

Only problem is there is a possum who has taken a liking to their lettuce plants

This is the bird bath Phoebe made from concrete using some large bowls as moulds.

Doesn't it look fantastic??

We left sometime around 6pm and headed back over the hill to home.

I dropped Marah off and then came in to find Mahalia had cooked up only chicken nibbles for dinner which we had with the couscous I had made in the morning and a lettuce salad.

Azzan had gotten busy 'helping' Seb so no cooking from him.

He loves to hang out with his big bro.

So much for all the recipe hunting this morning!!

 

I gathered up some flours and stuff for Phoebe and whizzed it down to the beach to catch Seb before he left.

He was giving Azzan tips on how to jump successfully off the wharf.

View from underneath wharf - cool eh?

I had fun trying to suss out the hi speed burst thingee on my camera - took a few tries but Azzan was a very co-operative subject.

He was more than happy to leap over and over again while I figured it out

I got some really fun photos - here are a few of them.

 Tim taking a bit of time out with Mo.

 Tim & Seb having a last minute conversation at the end of the day across the beach!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was markedly cooler this morning.

Tim was kept busy with phone calls organising mussel harvests and stock movement this morning.

He was desperately trying to get his breakfast in between everything and had to quickly scoff it down around 10:30am before he tore out the door to meet the stock truck.

It was delivering a load of Anson's sheep.

Most exciting - his first major stock purchase for his own company.

Anson is still shearing away this week and called to say he would be back a few days later than planned as there were more lambs to shear.

 

Marah came around so she and Shoshannah took cameras to record Mahalia & Olly's swimming session.

Here are some of the photos off mine and Shoshannah's cameras - I have been instructed to say this!!

There were heaps and because they were all so cool I have posted quite a few here.

 

 

Stacks of mussel floats waiting to be used.

Crystal clear calm day - perfection in Paradise.

Shoshannah

Mahalia walking Olly along the beach

For some reason this is the spot where she can persuade him to enter the water.

She has to woo him into the water to begin with

He loves to put his nose right in and then flick it up and spray water everywhere

And then he is on his way!

But there is a point where it gets a bit deep and freaky for him and more cajoling takes place

But once he is in he's away nearly laughing!

One happy young lady

Well done Olly!!

It is so great to see him overcoming his dislike of the water.

Sky watched the whole proceedings with great interest

 

Shoshannah made sushi for lunch.

Marah was craving sushi so she was rapt when not only did she get some here for lunch, but she was sent home with some more for her dinner.

Seb came up mid arvo, got Anson's boat going and took Marah & Mahalia back to the hunting area where they lost Ria on Saturday to see if there was any sign of her.

They had been trying to go all week but work and weather and boat problems prevented that till now.

Disappointingly there was no sign of her.

 

I managed to make a start at a lesson of my art course in amongst everything else.

I'm having heaps of fun with this page.

Mahalia is wanting to do more art too so she is going to sit in on my lessons

 

Tim is working late most nights and is getting really tired.

He just has too much to fit into one day

Guess that is better than being a couch potato though eh?

 

Well, the kids and I are all off to bed early-ish tonight.

I have done heaps to my art page and am now going to leave it to dry and come back with fresh eyes tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tim & Seb worked on the boat most of the day.

They are pretty close to getting the major maintenance completed.

 

I made chocolate fudge scones for morning tea.

They were really good

 

Azzan worked on his GO project.

He is collating an A-Z list of 'lost' civilizations.

It was quite fun sussing them all out.

I helped him for the last few cuz the last letters like Z Y X etc were a bit tricky.

But I had inside information - ie I'm a tad older with a greater world knowledge

I knew that if we searched Chinese history we would likely find some and we did!

 

Shoshannah did some maths & music.

She is doing really well with her guitar playing.

It was a good move to let her drop clarinet for guitar.

Mahalia went out for a ride on Olly.

She came back very excited - she had been able to get him in the sea.

He has been very reticent in the past to go near the water but this time she got him right in!

 

Marah came around and we got the sewing machine out for her.

She had some Thai silk that had been stashed away for many years.

With some minor instruction...

I left her too it and she was away!

She soon had 5 cushions covered.

Tim & I were heading to Waterfall to have dinner with Seb & Phoebe so I dropped the cushions off for Marah on the way past.

 

Shoshannah made sweet & sour chicken with rice and veges.

Marah stayed and had dinner with the kids for an hour or so and then they went to bed and she wandered off home.

 

This lovely display of yellow greeted us as we arrived at Waterfall Bay.

 

Phoebe had made a delicious dish of fresh cod for dinner, we had it with rice and salad and then an apple & plum crumble with ice cream for dessert.

We had a very enjoyable evening.

It as great to see all the things they are doing over there to tidy the place up and make it their own.

Finally left sometime before 10pm.

When we got home the place was in darkness, kids were asleep.

We were soon in sleepville ourselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We woke to a much cooler morning.

As the day progressed it got colder, greyer with a slight cold breeze.

 

'Tardis' came and picked up Seb mid morning and they did a harvest on one of our lines.

Tim spent the morning working on '88 South'.

He is trying to change the way one of the hatches opens and it is taking all his effort to do this.

I did some office stuff, then had a spa, and then some more office stuff.

By the time I got back out to the kitchen for my breakfast it was midday.

I ratted around in the freezer and found some frozen bananas, pineapple & berries and made a delicious smoothie for us all.

 

Azzan is still a bit choked up with a cold.

He had a spa and then retreated to his bed.

I got him up and moving and he sat on the couch doing research for his GO lesson.

He is researching Lost Civilizations and is making an A-Z list.

So if you have any ideas for the more obscure letters please let me know!!

 

Mahalia got onto her maths, so this years school has officially begun!

 

Shoshannah did all her birds and found yet another broody chook had hatched a chicken.

It is a very cute one, unusual colour of brown.

 

Then she went back to bed to read for a while.

 

I think the holidays are now officially over and my children are exhausted.

Later this arvo the kids watched 'Mrs Doubtfire'.

Mahalia went up the hill with Tim to see the calf and then she went around to stay the night with Marah.

I was going to watch the movie with them but ended up on the phone for most of it.

 

Cooked up some chicken nibbles and rice with carrots and broccoli for dinner.

Nice and easy, even if I did overcook the chicken.

I sat and knitted tonight and nearly finished my second baby vest.

Very proud of myself

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maria had to pack up today.

She was leaving with Anson as sadly after 3 weeks here she has to head home.

We will miss her smiling face

 

I spent quite a lot of time getting photos sorted and updating the photos in the wwoofers book.

I hate getting behind in that and in my blog.

Takes so long to catch up.

 

Of course before she left there was time to go swimming and do some baking.

She made ginger crunch and showed Mahalia how to make sponge.

Shoshannah picked peas, beans & courgettes from her garden.

Marah, Seb & Phoebe came around.

It was good to see them all.

It was all a bit of a whirl wind though as Anson was leaving.

Anson & Maria left for Nelson.

He took her to Annemieke's for the night and then she is on the bus home tomorrow.

Anson will be away for several days of shearing.

 

Olly was grazing around the workshop and as soon as he saw me open the gate he was heading to go through in a flash!
Little monkey has learned where there is some good feed!

 

I left Mahalia to get dinner cooked while the three kids watched a movie.

I went with Tim for a drive.

We went to visit Christine & Les.

We sat pout on the deck and had a cuppa tea and chatted for an hour or so.

It was a very pleasant evening.

When we left Tim was taking too long talking to Les so I started walking along the track through the bush.

I ran some of the way and nearly got to the first gate before he caught up with me!

 

 

We came home and enjoyed a delicious dinner and Tim watched a movie while I updated my blog.

I was a whole week behind plus I had quite a few photos of Shoshannah's to add in and my memory cells were not behaving terribly well so I had to recruit the girls to help.

Not that they were able to remember much either.

But between the three of us we managed to get something together!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anson & Sebastian went hunting early in the boat.

They lost the dogs and spent all day trying to locate them.

They eventually arrived back home around 6pm, still with one dog missing.

Hard thing is it was Ria, Marah's wee staffy bitch.

So she is pretty cut up about it.

Hopefully she will turn up soon.

Anson has phoned some of the nearby folk and asked them to keep their eyes open for her.

 

We appear to have a new lawnmower!

Olly has discovered he can get into the house section if the gate gets left unlatched.

He's not so happy about being removed though.

Mahalia has been teaching him to bow.

She was so excited when he did it without too much prompting.

Of course I was always too late with the camera to actually catch the precise moment!

 

I found Tim doing some metal work.

He is working away on a few things on the '88 South' while he has time and the weather is good.

 

There was more swimming today.

It starts earlyish in the day and reoccurs often as the mood takes.

There was some movie watching - with such a lot of busyness happening the kids need some chill out time.

One thing I have really appreciated while Maria has been here is the real feeling of togetherness.

Even though she was here as Shoshannah's friend Mahalia has been hanging out with them and at times Azzan has too, and there has bee no silliness or segregation.

 

The children wanted to do some ate filming of their dance on beach after the sun had gone.

They spent ages doing their makeup.

Then they all went swimming and had to redo it later.

Their costumes were carefully and thoughtfully co-ordinated.

Each of them had a peacock feather painted on their faces.

Azzan was the camera man so he had that painted on plus a roll of film.

However he washed it off before I could get a photo - it did look really good though!

I did a photo shoot with the girls after their dance.

They really hammed it for the camera