Anson called up early to say he was on the beach and the tide was coming in and could the wwoofers please come and help load the sheep manure onto the truck.

They were just getting their breakfasts but dropped everything and zipped down to help him.

Didn't take long and they were soon back up to eat.

They had spent the previous day digging the manure out from under the woolshed.

Now it can be spread around the gardens to mulch down over winter.

The woofers have also been doing firewood and helped with a big clean up around the woolshed.

 

This morning after breakfast Shoshannah & Aylin gave the pantry a really good clean out.

Shoshannah had seen a mouse in there - must be Autumn, that's when they start coming in.

They did a really good job, it is looking great - really tidy - for now

She made a shopping list while they were on the job so now I know what we need for next time.

 

I stayed out of the way and in my bed for quite a while.

Most of the day actually.

I was up and down doing things as needed.

Got washing through the dryer and the two youngest sorted and folded it.

They also packed for camp.

They have done camps enough times now that I don't think I really need to oversee or check their bags.

Azzan was 'upset' because he doesn't have a nice new suitcase like his sisters!

But eventually found one that will do so he is happy and packed now.

I was really tired today.

Was dozing off and on in between blogging (which took me all day this time),  talking to the boys when they popped in to report on the farm happenings, watching Midsomer Murders and sorting out the kids.

Joy called and we talked for ages - nice to catch up xxx

Shoshannah got the meals pretty much sorted.

 

Etienne from France arrived on the mailboat.

So we have a contingent of 3 Germans and 2 French woofers here right now.

They are all nice young folk and Seb & Anson are enjoying the company & their help.

Seb & Janis have been working on the '88 South' and doing mussel work.

They came round today to start sorting out the piles of ropes that are sitting on various corners up the road.

Anson had his team building storage areas under the trees so they can tidy up piles of timber etc.

The wind was forecasted to become gale force so the boys have been trying to plan work around it.

Nothing too severe has happened here yet.

It is so good to see the boys enthusiastic and happy.

It has really lifted their spirits having the extra helpers here.

It has spread the load and they can see things getting done that they would've taken ages to do alone.

It is great to see

 

There were 10 around the table at lunch time so I stayed well clear.

Too busy for me to cope with at the moment.

After they had lunch and Seb, Janis & Etienne headed back out to work on the mussel rope clean up.

Anson took the other three out hunting.

They had been out before and got nothing but this time they very happily came home with a large boar and 2 smaller pigs.

Nils was a very happy chappy to finally get blooded.

I didn't get to see the pigs as they were home after dark and they had them hanging on the hooks by the time I came out for dinner.

So here is Anson's photo of his 106lb boar.

You are right Anson,  a catch Dad would've been proud of

 

 

I made couscous and had that for my lunch around 3pm.

Made enough for the others to have tomorrow.

Shoshannah sewed Azzans camp costume in exchange for him preparing some veges.

He made his famous potato chips and mashed carrots with parsley.

Shanni picked & steamed some silverbeet and cooked up beans so there were a healthy lot of greens on their plates

Anson had put a roast in the oven and both fires were blazing merrily all day.

It was so incredibly hot in the living room that we needed to keep the hall door open.

When they returned from hunting it was all go in the kitchen.

Anson carved up the meat and they devoured dinner in next to no time.

He headed off home to shower and while Nils showered here the others cleaned up the kitchen.

Then they all walked around to Anson & Marah's to watch the rugby.

 

I got the children off to bed and then finished watching a 'Miss Marples' dvd and crashed out.

I was really tired but thoughts of Tim kept swirling in my head.

I find it okay to watch the Country Calendar dvd but sitting with his photos, especially the recent ones really makes me cry.

He would be so proud to see his big boys carrying on his work as they are right now.

But his heart would be breaking to see his children's hearts so broken.

And I know that all he would want to do if he could see me now would be to hug me tight and hold me till the pain went away.

I so miss his arms around me.

I just feel so forlorn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had to have Mahalia in at the orthodontist at 8:40am so I had pre-warned the kids that they had to be up and packed and breakfasted and ready to leave by 8am.

I have been caught in the morning commuter traffic enough times to know that I have to allow extra time at that time of day.

I was up and packed, had the bed remade, car packed up and the kids were still very much in morning grumpiness mode - obviously suffering from late night-itess

I gave them a kick start and got them into the car and we were away just on 8am.

We must have hit it right because we had a good run into the city with no holdups.

In fact we got there way too early!

I tossed up whether to leave Mahalia to wait while I went to do a job or two but she wasn't keen on that option so I ended up just waiting with her.

We were there a while, but she got a good report and her braces tightened.

So when we left she was feeling a bit sore & tender, hungry, but unable to eat for a while.

I dropped the kids off at the $2 shops so they could suss out stuff to add to their holiday camp costumes.

I whizzed crossing things off my list.

Burnsco at the port to pick up stuff for Seb, TV repair pace to pick up my new dvd player that they unlocked so I can now watch my 'other' zoned dvds, fueled up the Terrano, then parked up and walked for the rest of the morning.

Picked up some things at Postie as I walked through to go meet the kids.

Then discovered they were in Postie looking for me.
Right! How on earth did we miss each other?
I went straight down Bridge Street from Postie towards the $2 shop, whereas they detoured along Trafalgar, through the arcade and into the carpark and into Postie's back entrance!

No accounting for kids senses of direction at times

I had to go to Vodafone so they met up with me there.

Frances came swooping out of the shop and gave me a big hug and then Libby walked along to meet her.

She had a dog with her so sat outside and waited.
When the kids arrived I sent them out to sit with Libby.

'Who's Libby??'
Only Frances & John's daughter whom you have never met but should've by now - so go talk and make up for lost time.

 

I got Marah's new phone all sorted and then had time to chat with the ladies for a few minutes.

Then we wandered back to the $2 shop and made a few more purchases.

Had an 11am appointment with Roni at Harvey World Travel and were way early so we sat in the shop front and chilled while she finished with her client before us.

It is always such a pleasure to go do business there with Roni - she's a great friend and takes all the stress out of traveling.

I picked up Seb & Phoebe's tickets and holiday agenda.

Roni walked through it all with me so I can impart the information to them.

Looks great - I think I want to go now

 

Mahalia's teeth were still sore but she was getting hungry.

We said our goodbyes and headed straight to Hanger 58 for an early lunch.

It was nice to track Nathan down and find out that he was actually somewhere other than work during his non-work hours.

He tends to almost live there!

We found food Mahalia could eat, enjoyed our lunch and then headed to the supermarket.

Azzan hung out at the library while we got some groceries.

Then we picked up Etienne from France who was waiting at the YHA for us.

Unbelievably we were out of town before 1pm!

 

It was raining all the way home.

Not massively heavy but frustratingly enough to have to keep turning the window wipers on and off.

I was taking it pretty carefully because I knew the road would be greasy.

We stopped for a few minutes at Tim's cairn.

It was drizzling quite heavily but Mahalia & I had bought some flowers and wanted to leave them there so we braved the weather.

She chose them.

She discounted the bunches of chrysanthemums because 'they are too boring, everyone gets those' and instead chose these beautiful large orange lilies cuz they were special.

It was lovely to see someone had put some roses in Tim's gumboots - I am suspecting it was Sandra xxxx

 

We traveled safely until I was half way down our own road.

The guys had been using the road and it was churned up a bit and very slippery.

I slid a couple of times towards the gutter and then nothing I could do stopped me sliding and I ended up in the ditch and decided to stay put.

I had just enough battery power in my phone to call Anson for help and then it died.

He and Graham came up, I hopped in with Anson and Graham drove the Terrano down to the house for me.

It was so greasy I could barely walk and stay upright.

I was in my high heeled town boots so they needed a good wash when we got back!

 

Seb & Janis had called in so there were lots of hands to unpack the Terrano.

Then all the wwoofers donned jackets and headed out fishing with Seb.

Shoshannah had dinner ready when they returned empty handed.

Marah & Anson ate here too.

Gave Marah her new phone - she was pretty excited

After dinner the wwoofers wanted to watch the Country Calendar dvd, Azzan had been watching it before dinner.

So Anson sat with them and watched it - again.

It is like we cannot get enough of it.

Such a gift to have, a memory to treasure.

 

While they watched that I talked to Marah about Tim.

We were looking back at photos that people have given me and just talking about how much I had noticed that he was aging in the recent years.

The kids just kept seeing their very strong capable Dad, but I was seeing him getting older, slowing down and getting frail in a sense.

He wasn't capable of carrying 6 fence posts anymore, he was only carrying two or three.

Which is way more than most people do normally so others weren't noticing it.

I see a tiredness in his eyes in the photo.

I also see his beautifully rugged craggy handsome face.

And I miss him so much.

I hadn't cried in several days and I was scared I was moving on - but the tears are very definitely still there.

This photo more than any other right now makes me cry.

This was exactly as he was the day he left home, the day he said goodbye and drove away.

 

 

This came up on FaceBook last night and I just had to share it here.

It was so true for Tim and us.

He didn't need pubs and parties

Where-ever he went he always had a box of matches in his pocket.

He would light a fire for any reason.

A fire was always a good time to burn rubbish, burn off weeds, toast marshmellows or fry fish or sausages.

Before we invested in our fancy BBQ he always just made a fire on the lawn with a few bricks and a steel plate and that was our bbq for years.

 

The last decent sized fire he enjoyed was on 8th December when Cat lit up a fire on the beach.

It was huge - far too hot for the kids to toast their marshmellows so they had to light a smaller fire down the beach further.

Tim's method of lighting their fire was to transfer the flames with blazing paper.

Here laying low to get under the heat and then he is rolling away

and running down to light the small fire.

And sitting watching it burn with Cat & Leeann.

There is something mesmerizing about a fire.

 

Everyone finally headed off to their respective quarters and I tucked the kids into bed.

M&A were both very tired and we had a few tears.

Eventually all was quiet and I headed off to bed.

Called up Estelle and we had a good natter.

Decided that we both really did want to go to the Joan Baez concert in August so why shouldn't we just 'do it'!

So I pushed the buttons and bought the tickets.

Great stuff!
We are off to Wellington on August 31st to spend an Evening with Joan Baez.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I woke to rain pounding down outside.

But thankfully it eased considerably before we had to leave.

I got the Terrano warmed up and ran in to get the kids soon after 8:15am.

They were ready but I discovered as they walked out the door that they hadn't eaten  breakfast - duh!

I know I should've done the tough love thing and let them go hungry, but I didn't.

I drove down Queen St and stopped for them to run into a bakery.

Then it was down the street further to find Gough's who had so inconsiderately moved premises since I had last picked up stuff from them, and I didn't know exactly where they were.

After one false turn I had success.

It is a huge place now!

It took a while for the guy I wanted to be found and then it took a while for him to get the stuff I had ordered.

But finally we were out the door and heading back to One Day School.

Dropped Azzan off on the streetside to run in, and then took Mahalia up the street a tad further to leave her with her new friend Melanie and family for the day.

It was a very wet drive in to Nelson.

I thought seeing as it was just on 9am that I would get a good run into the city, but I met traffic banked up soon after the large Wakatu roundabout.

Typical when I was on a mission to get to an appointment!

Then when I got to the carpark the free bank clients parks were all full so I had to use a metered one.

Didn't have time to zip through to Starbucks so made do with a coffee machine budget hot chocolate at the bank.

Had a good session with Sarah - but unfortunately it was very rushed at the end as I had to fly off to my 10:15am counseling session.

I had a list of things to work through after that.

I hurried through them all and managed to get to Hangar 58 to meet up with Libby and Nathan around 1:45pm.

It was the first time I had stopped to eat all day.

I ate a quick lunch while catching up with Libby, Nathan shared my wedges.

Nice to see him albeit very briefly.

I had to leave to do a couple more jobs before heading out to pick up Azzan.

I was working to get there for him at 2:45pm but took longer than I thought and didn't get there till just on 3pm.

He wasn't too impressed with me but his teacher was fine as she is usually there until 3:15.

We headed across Richmond to pick up Mahalia and Melanie.

They had had a great day together and were still bouncing.

Came back to the house so the kids could have piano lessons and we all could stop and relax for an hour or so.

The clouds were beginning to lift from the mountains and the late arvo sun was trying to shine though.

It was really pretty in a greyish sorta way looking over Richmond towards the western ranges.

 

While Azzan had his lesson the two girls watched a movie.

 

Then Melanie hung out with Azzan while Mahalia had her lesson.

At 5:30pm we loaded into the vehicles and headed to Smugglers for dinner.

Ross & Andrea picked up Sasha & David.

The kids spotted the large concrete table in the centre of the restaurant was empty so opted to sit there.

Much more exciting than being relegated to the small wooden side tables.

 

Mahalia moved across to catch up with David

Azzan having fun with Melanie on the other side of the table.

The meals were pretty darned good.

We all ordered something different which must be a first!

Ross got his teeth into the Swashbuckler steak, Andrea choose the Tinkers Vegetarian Filo and David had Black Pearl Steak & Scallops.

Azzan wrapped his laughing gear around a very large Highwayman's Hamburger, and the girls opted for breads and dips aka 'Inn Keepers Bread' and 'Wenches Nibbles'.

Sasha had a Ship Mate's Mussels and I had Poachers Salmon - it was very delicious!

 

There was a lot of antics between courses!

 

And when dessert came my whipped cream was redundant as I cant stand the stuff but I had to ward off the crazy one while I waited to see if Mahalia wanted it

The saner ones of the party

 

Mahalia got a Knickerbocker Glory - which was way bigger than she expected

And while she tried her best to eat it Sasha was not helping!!

Cream all over - naughty Slushy!

Unimpressed Halia!

 

Finally we were all ready to roll ourselves out to the cars and head homeward.

We dropped Melanie off and went in for a couple of minutes to say goodbye as we don't know if we will see the family again.
They are heading back to Paraguay sometime soonish.

But the couple of minutes turned into a lot later as the kids were having a ball.

I had a lovely time getting to know Joanne.

If we didn't have such an early start in the morning I wouldn't have been watching the clock so closely.

Got this photo in between the craziness.

Mahalia, Melanie, Azzan, Nicky and Benji.

It was a very fortuitous meeting on Friday last week - new friendships formed and cemented.

Finally dragged them apart around 10pm and whisked my two back to the house and into bed.

I had a pretty busy day so am rather tired.

The kids had enjoyed their days activities so all was good

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As usual, awake early.

But this time I woke feeling really awful.

I had a headache and was feeling sick.

Like really sick, like vomiting sick.

My right shoulder was also really sore, it has been causing me some discomfort again recently.

I have been trying to get back to see my massage therapist for ages but he is always booked out

 

I started drinking water to try and flush away the ill feeling.

Azzan was up and through the shower soon after I woke.

Seb called up and said he was coming over early with the new wwoofer.

I zipped out to the kitchen and got the porridge on for Nils & Aylin and made some bread.

Then into the shower.

I was feeling a weeny bit better.

While showering memories started flooding back and the tears joined the water splashing down my face.

The thing I find the hardest are the really personal memories.

I can't share those, they were mine & Tim's memories, but by not sharing they feel in danger of getting lost, because they get hidden in the deep recesses of my mind

 

Seb arrived with Janis from Germany.

Put his Safari tyre in the Terrano - I was to take it out to get fixed so Anson could bring it home.

The kids loaded our gear around it.

Then quick chat with Seb as to what was happening workwise with the wwoofers for the day, and just after 9am we were off.

I was very glad to leave early than planned because I had a lot of added activities on my list.

We drove straight passed the accident site without stopping.

The kids know that even no stopping doesn't mean no thoughts or tears.

They put out a hand and rub my arm or my back.

No words are needed between us.

We just share the pain.

 

The road has recently been graded but it is a mess of holes and weird large ruts left by the grader.

Not at all impressed with the job done.

Michael was working with the HEB crew so I stopped and chatted and let him know what I thought of it and and he was going to pass on the complaint.
The HEB guy was also unimpressed so glad I wasn't alone in my thoughts.

 

We arrived in Nelson around 11:30am, went straight to Beaurepairs to drop off the tyre.

Shane was happy to do it immediately which was great.

Had arranged to meet Anson, Marah & Shoshannah at Hanger 58 for lunch as we were all starving hungry.

Nathan was there, but not officially working so he joined us.

We all ordered our food but the others never arrived until we had practically finished so it was a bit of a rushed catch up.

I had to whisk Shoshannah away for her 1pm appointment.

Anson dropped M&A at the library.

We spent a very interesting 1.5 hours with Helen Loveday.

I am hoping that her treatment will really help Shanni, she has been trying for a long time to get on top of a lot of symptoms herself through changing her diet etc but never quite gets there.

The results from Helen's initial testing and treatment were fascinating and she nailed some major problems.

I then dropped Shoshannah off at Nelson Beauty and then went to meet Anson to try and sort out his phone.

After being run over it was rather dead - and they were saying all his data was lost.

But I am sure there must be someone who can help retrieve it!!
It is a Nokia Lumiere so if anyone reading this has any ideas then please message me privately.

It took a wee while to sort a new phone and then transfer information from his loan phone on to the new one and get it set up.

I left him to it and zipped down the street to Starbucks to meet Shoshannah - who I had dropped off half an hour too early for her appointment so she wanted to go shopping!

Got a drink, then Anson & I met Shanni at Farmers to get her some jeggings.

Then she whizzed back over to her appointment and Anson went to pick up Marah.

Mahalia & Azzan walked up and met me and we did some more shopping for jeggings.
The trouble with having such a trendy mother is that when I buy something the girls both then want them too

Azzan decided he also needed some new pants so found some gorgeous bright blue ones with a warm zip up hoodie that matched.

We then walked around the block, bought a funky red dotty suitcase for Shoshannah, posted the mail, and then back to the car.

I ran over to get Shoshannah and when I got back to the car both kids had changed into their new gear!

She was delighted with her suitcase.
With all the traveling she does now, back and forth to camp etc, she really needs something large enough to carry everything safely.
I wanted her to have something easily identifiable so we were both happy with her choice.

 

The rain was really setting in and the day was darkening.

We headed over to New World to meet up with Anson & Marah.

I raced through with Azzan and got his lunch sorted for One Day school.
Left Shoshannah to head off home with Anson & Marah.

I zipped back into Hardy Street and popped up to see Leeanne with several pieces of material that I had found in my sewing room.
I had bought them years ago but never got around to using them.
Now is the time!

We discussed possibilities and then while Mahalia was at her 5pm harp lesson I shot down to Spotlight to suss out some pattern ideas.

The kids have been talking about what costumes they want to make for their holiday camp.

As usual, I had been suggesting they get on with them ages ago, but now there are only a few days left they are all of a sudden inspired!!

Azzan now knows exactly what he wants to be so he came in and I set him to look for some suitable fabric while I looked through the pattern books.

He got all stressed with the responsibility but with the help of a shop lady he found what he wanted at a price I was happy with.

I left him to choose colours and went back to the patterns.

Shop was shutting at 5:30pm so we didn't have a lot of time.

I thought he was taking a while to come to me but didn't worry unduly.

I knew where I was

When he finally appeared he was all hot and bothered cuz he couldn't find me!

I told him to line up in the queue because the loud speaker was announcing for customers to get their purchases completed as the shop was closing in 10 minutes.

I was only a few paces away but he was not happy and was totally stressing because I wasn't standing right beside him.

He freaked out and came over to me and lost his place in the queue

I put him back in line and this time he stayed.
Gave me a few more minutes to check out some more pattern books.

Once I had told the lady how much he needed, I left them to it and he calmed down and was happy to stand and talk until it was payment time and then he was all anxious again.

He just couldn't get it that I was right there and had one eye and ear on him and the other on the pattern books.

After all isn't that what mothers do best - multi-task?

I am realising though he is incredibly over confident, until you put him in a situation outside his comfort zone.
In this case he has always had me or the girls to take charge and I need to give him more responsibility with making these decisions so that he will be more confident and comfortable when thrown in the deepend.

We sailed out of the shop just a few minutes after closing time with a bag of fabric and a phone full of photos for sewing ideas.

Both of us were happy

Picked up Mahalia and headed out to Richmond.

It was dark and raining and only 5:45pm.

Not too sure if I am ready for winter this year - it all seems a bit too gloomy to soon.

 

The kids quickly unpacked the Terrano.

Andrea had dinner all ready.

A couple of other guests joined us and we had a most enjoyable evening.

M&A were quite happy to play on my laptop, Azzan loves listening podcasts & TED talks so everytime we are in town we have to download more.

They were tucked up in bed watching a movie when I tucked them down at 9pm.

I toddled off downstairs and was not long in going to sleep either.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the scene that greeted me when I woke.

Absolutely gorgeous morning but ominous.

The message written in God's sky is clear.

There are weather warnings flashing all over the news and the metservice pages.

I will have to be driving very carefully to town and am taking several umbrellas and some sturdy footwear!

My knee and foot are both still in recovery from my fall during the last rain

 

Shoshannah got breakfast on for Nils & Aylin.

Then Anson came around and got them sussed for the day.

They had a large pile of firewood to move and stack in preparation for splitting more.

 

I had another pj day.

Spent the day doing heaps of administration, so alternated between my bed and the study, depending on whether I needed to hook up to my printer/scanner or not.

Azzan was so proud of himself.

He came to tell me he had hung out some washing and folded some without having to be told too.

I asked him if he had hung the washing out very carefully because my new and very delicate blouse was amongst it.

He looked a bit confused as to how you could hang something carefully or not??

When I went out later and saw the washing on the line I cracked up.

He certainly has a unique way of pegging out the clothes.

Not too sure if you would call it careful or not though!

But the main thing was - he hung them out without being asked - major achievement

 

Shoshannah was all packed up and ready to head off to town with Anson & Marah.

10:30am was the designated leaving time.

Anson was flat out getting things organised before he left.

He came in not too long before he was due to leave with a very sad looking cell phone.

He had run over it and it was dead.

He was getting very stressed anxious about all he had to do in such a short time.

I immediately got on the phone to the insurance company to find out what to do.

Then calmed slowed him down a tad and found out exactly what was left on his list to do.

Ok!

So we can help.

I left Azzan washing the dished and cleaning up the kitchen.

The girls and I piled into the Terrano and headed around to The Croft.

I must say I felt like one of those errant townie Mum's driving their kids to school in their pjs and hoping the car doesn't break down!!

I have never gone out in my pyjamas before - such a disgrace

While they got Bubba and her pups into the back of the vehicle with all the blankets I went in to talk with Marah.

Shoshannah helped Anson get the truck loaded up and then he zoomed in to shower and we left them to leave in peace.

Mahalia took all the blankets up to the dog kennel and crawled in very gingerly to get it all ready for Bubba and the pups.

She got it all ready and filled up the water etc.

Then she carefully convinced Bubba that we were not going to harm her babies.

Gently transferred the puppies into the box.

This is the wee runt - such a cutie.

I carried the box and Mahalia helped Bubba.

She has a very sore leg so needs to be assisted with jumping in and out.

Halia got them all sorted and I went back to the house to see how Azzan was.

He had everything under control.

I love how, when given responsibility the kids really rise to the occasion.

 

The rest of the day just carried on.

Mahalia organised lunch for the wwwoofers.

They went back up to do more wood.

I went back to bed and watched the dvd the Country Calendar folk had sent with the raw uncut interviews they did with Tim.

I kept on being interrupted by phone calls.

It is crazy - I get no calls all day and then everyone decides to phone all at the same time.

I was quite tired so kept dozing in between.

 

Azzan got veges prepared to roast up for dinner.

Mahalia cleaned out the woodstove as we just couldn't get it going well enough to roast the meat.

I ended up putting it into the electric oven to get it cooked in time.

Closer to dinner time I discovered that there wasn't really enough veges cooking so Mahalia and I added some parsnip to the roasties and I made an eggplant and tomato dish.

I juggled between the ovens and by 7pm we were eating a yummy dinner.

I was waiting for Seb & Phoebe to arrive with another wwoofer but they decided to take him straight home with them for the night.

Just had a momentary hiccup when I was serving.

We got the roast out of the oven and then realised we had no-one to carve it.

That was always Tim's job and this was the first one I had cooked since he died

So, it sorta got hacked up.

Personally I thought it wasn't cooked well enough.

Tim always cooked it long and slow and it would be so tender and easy to eat.

But everyone else was happy and the wwoofers went back for more so must have been okay.

 

When we first got married I remember Tim being quite upset shocked surprised because I massacred the roast.

He couldn't understand why I couldn't cook it because 'Your mother can cook'.

I put him right on that score!!

Yes, Mum did cook a good basic meal and us kids helped and did baking etc.

But, unlike him who had been baching on a farm cooking bloke food with his brother and they had plenty of access to meat, I went flatting for three years in a city and we couldn't afford to buy much meat so only cooked very basic stuff like sausages and mince.

I never cooked a roast!

 

Azzan was in very fine form and provided plenty of live entertainment during dinner

If he doesn't end up on the stage I will be very surprised!

 

The children got themselves off to bed and I sat and painted my nails and talked to the wwoofers while they did the dishes.

Getting ready for another town trip.

Am going to be so glad to get back on Thursday and actually stay put for a week or so.

I read Azzan a story and then headed off to my bed.

I watched our Country Calendar again.

Then read till my book hit the floor....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A lovely day for birthdays today.

 

Happy Birthday to my son-in-law Nick, who has just returned from a month working in the UK to the welcoming arms of his dearly beloved Bri, who in his absence used the time to gather up some birthday surprises for him.

Nicks folks and myself were happy to be a part of one of the surprises.
So now when you visit them at The Bunker in The Hood you will be treated to expertly filtered, frothed, fluffied, dripped, brewed expressoed made (I don't drink the stuff so I never know the correct terminology ) coffee from his flash new machine.

 

Birthday greetings also to my Aunty Janet who has attained the inspiring age of 81 today and to Eare who opted to head out fishing on her special day.

 

 

I was woken by a random text at 6:30am.

So when I heard the footsteps of the fairy elephant and the hairy mammoth up above I headed upstairs in my pjs to party with them before they headed off to church.

 

Just had time to shower and pack before Azzan & Chrissy came knocking on my door.

Russell & Chrissy dropped Azzan off on their way to church.

He had enjoyed spending time with Asher but was keen to get back to his Mum

 

Chrissy was telling me that on Friday night, around 10pm when she was totally brain dead and Asher was asleep already, Azzan asked her a question.

'What would Asher be if he was on fire?'

You can imagine the thoughts that must have assailed poor Chrissy's brain at that point!

His answer was...

'Change the r to an s.'

To a certain pink haired 10 year old young man that might seem a perfectly rational answer, but to those of you who do not live on the same planet as him then....

'Asher becomes Ashes'!

 

 

I locked up the house and we headed off out to Brightwater to pick up Mahalia.

She had spent a lovely weekend with Kashana.

It was great to see Sally and meet Steven even if it was only for a few moments.

Managed to prise the girls apart and we headed towards the city.

 

Filled up with diesel in Richmond before the tank ran dry and then ran into Bunnings to get Graham a hot poker tool.

My own fuel tank was right on empty - Crusoe's was conveniently just around the corner.

Rami was only too happy to fill us up with his wonderful cooking.

I ordered an Eggs Benedict with salmon and spinach.

The kids had eaten breakfast but Azzan was insistent that he needed a small plate of fish and chips.

All Mahalia wanted was two Alfajores.

She got the last two in the cafe and let them sit in the sun to warm and get all gooey and soft.

 

Before any of the ordered food came out Rami presented us with this amazing brownie.

It is gluten free and deliciously divinely delectable.

Dessert before mains - not really kosher but who cares

Mahalia was the first to get stuck into it - very cautiously though as it was a bit hot.

The three of us made short work of it.

Anat & Rami sat and talked for a while in between customers.

We missed seeing Ellie but Mahalia bought 3 of her lolly sticks - I managed to convince her that 2 of them really should be for gifts as neither she nor Azzan needed that extra sugar content.

Nuana came and joined us just before we finished.

It was lovely sitting in the warm autumn Nelson sunshine.

 

I was on a mission to leave by 1pm so we had to move it.

Detoured off to Tahunanui Holiday Park to try and locate a wwoofer who is coming soon but it was too nice a day for him to be in his tent, he was over on the beach somewhere.
Caught up with him later on the phone so all is good.

Quickly zipped over the hills, dropped stuff off at Winnington's before dropping it to see Nathan at work for a few minutes.

Then a last frappacinno for Halia and me and then we were outa there.

It was not quite 1:30pm so we weren't too far behind schedule!!

 

We found Aylin and Nils from Germany waiting in Rai Valley for us.

They had come through on the bus and only had a half hour to wait for me.

Stacked all their bags in the back - was glad I hadn't had to do any shopping cuz they certainly were not traveling light.

Mahalia & Azzan entertained them all the way home.

I stopped in Okiwi Bay and let them out to play in playground and walk on the beach while I popped up to visit Gaynor & Art.

I hadn't caught up with them since Tim's funeral so it was good to sit and talk over a cold drink.

Didn't stop long as I wanted to get home before dark.

Found my passengers down at the beach.
It was really pretty there today.

 

 

I stopped a couple of times for the tourists to take photos.

The children taught them how to play 'I Spy' so that entertained them for most of the trip.

I stopped off to talk to Graham and let my passengers out to walk down the hill to visit the puppies at Anson's.

By the time I got down there they had walked on home.

Anson & Marah were in the truck heading back to the Croft so Anson and I parked up and talked through the windows for a while.

Marah eventually gave up on us and walked up to the house - sorry Marz xxx

We talked some more, but it was beginning to get dark so I carried on home.

Shoshannah had prepared dinner and had everyone fed by the time I backed down to the door.

They quickly unloaded and Azzan showed Aylin & Nils where they were sleeping.

We were all in bed soon after 8pm.

 

I have managed to successfully lose this blog entry twice now so it has taken me way longer to write tonight.

It is way past my bedtime so I am going to save it now before I lose it again!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A busy day ahead so I was up and gone from the house just after 8:30am.

Ross and Andrea beat me out the door!

My first port of call was to see Hitomi.

I was booked in for a wash and blowwave, but she soon had her trusty scissors in action and reshaped my cut.

Had fun getting a three level photo - not that great of me but a lovely shot of beautiful Hitomi - and that is way more important

Then it was over to see Julie at Nelson Beauty.

I thought she was just going to do my make up but ended up with a lovely relaxing hour having a facial as well.

Just love these ladies.

I know it is their job to look after their customers, but these two go beyond the call of duty and really make you feel cared for and much loved.

Had time to zip across the carpark for a frappaccino.

Nathan and a work mate were zipping around the city giving away vouchers so I had a 30sec chat as I left the carpark.

Then it was out to the wedding venue in Hope.

The weather to the south was looking very dark and threatening.

I was praying it would hold off until the bridal party arrived.

I was half an hour early so had time to change shoes and titivate - as you do

I sat & talked with Jillian & Colin while we waited.

The church filled up and we waited, and waited.

Finally on queue  - about half an hour late, the bride made her entrance.

At this point I am unable to load photos because, as with all celebrity weddings the guests have a restraining order on the photos, until the official ones are released to the public

The celebrant actually listed off Facebook, Twitter, and a couple of other social medias (not xanga so I guess i could be a bit naughty here, but I won't cuz I'm good )

He then went on to say that if you thought he was talking Martian then not to worry!!

So once the sanction is lifted I will pop a few photos of the gorgeous couple in here.

 

OKAY!!

So the official photographer has posted photos so I am assuming that it is okay for me to pop a few of mine in here now.

Lydia led the bridesmaids in, all clad in gorgeous black dresses with sequined high waist bands and colour added by the very bright yellow flowers, shoes and toenails!

The men were similarly clad in black with yellow ties and handkerchiefs.

Pat came bouncing up the aisle with his beautiful daughter and huge smiles.

Jessica read a wee poem by Robert Fulghum

“We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness—and call it love—true love.”

Fist pumping kiss

The whole wedding was a very happy joyous occasion.

Introducing Mr & Mrs Murch

Cutting the lovely cake Phillipa made for them.

Sisters

Proud parents

And the cars - in the rain!

 

It was a lovely service and Johanna & Ryan made a gorgeous couple.

Afterwards we all enjoyed a deliciously delectable afternoon tea.

Phillipa had outdone herself with the amount supplied - I am sure she will not have to cook for a month!!

Azzan's new friends Melanie & Nicky were also at the wedding so he had a load of fun hanging out with them.

 

I had fun hanging out with my friends too

Chrissy, Me and Phillipa

 

By the time the ceremony was over the rain had set in and it was pouring down.

I was very glad I had popped my brolly in my handbag.

I headed off into town to pick up Nathan.

We stopped briefly at Starbucks and I ran in and got drinks to fortify us on our drive back to the venue.

I zipped into pick up a parcel from Winnington's and then we headed onto the motorway.

As we came through Richmond we called up Pat & Phillipa to suss out whether to meet them back at the church or go straight to the venue as it was only 5pm.

Discovered that Jessica & Nick needed picking up so we did a u-turn and zoomed back to Annesbrook church and collected them.

The rain had eased somewhat when we arrived at Seifrieds but I still took my brolly in as I didn't want to get caught later.

Weather is so fickle at present.

Doesn't Nathan suit my lovely pink umbrella?

Me and my boy - without flash but nicer photo

with flash and being cheesey!

 

The venue for the wedding celebrations was the Petite Fleur restaurant.

We were plenty early and helped Phillipa and Pat with some last minute organisation.

Well, I am not too sure if we were of much help but we were there!

Jessica and I were off to a good start.
She was my date for the night so we were all set to party.

We worked it for the camera - loads of joshin' around.

Was heaps of fun.

 

The meal was amazing.

The company was great.

I had the pleasure to sit at the table with Jessica and her siblings and spouses.

It was a good night.

We partied on till the late hours.

Nathan got a ride into town with David and Ellie so I just had to drive myself back to Ross & Andrea's.

They were still out socialising and my cell phone had just gone flat so I had no torch or light.

I carefully negotiated myself down to my cave and holed up for the night.

Just as well I was still awake when R&A did come home.

Ross with his broken leg sounded more like a mammoth pounding around upstairs than the usual baby elephants

Didn't take long to cruise off to sleep after that though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't set the alarm and thankfully woke up in time to get us ready and out the door before 7am without any panic.

The children helped me load the Terrano.

I was stacking it all in and then turned back to get some more stuff from Azzan and belted my head really hard on the back door.

Man! Did it hurt.

I saw stars and yelled for a few moments.

I now have a rather sore lump on my head

Good start to the day - not!

 

It was only me and two youngest heading to town.

Mahalia wanted to watch a dvd so she hopped in the backseat and Azzan announced that he wanted to sit up front and keep me company rather than watch the movie.

That was really nice cuz I needed him.

I am not too sure what tipped me off but as I drove up the road tears were streaming down my face.

I guess it was not having Tim there to see us off and make sure the Terrano was all in going order.

Dunno.

Just felt really sad.

For the first time I stopped at the accident site for a few moments.

I stood and cried.

As I got back in the Terrano Mahalia hopped out and had a few moments too.

Azzan was very caring.

We had a good drive out, I was body weary but not sleepy tired.

A lot of time to think and ponder and remember as I drove.

My shoulder has been sore lately and I was thinking that it would be really good to have a massage.

I really need to go back and see Scott but I just haven't had time to schedule it in.

Got to Nelson and went straight to Starbucks to get breakfast.

Jo saw me as she drove past so pulled in to say hullo.

Nice to see her engagement ring and hear her good news

I dropped the kids off at the dentist with instructions to walk to the library afterwards.

I went to Nelson Beauty and met up with Sasha.

Gave her back her phone and had some good hugs.

Then Amanda was ready for me.

I had no idea what I was there for.

I just make appointments for when I can fit them in and they do what I want or need on the day - great arrangement

I was very happy to hear I was booked in for a full body massage.

I so needed one and it was a real answer to the earlier prayer.

Afterwards I zipped over to pay the dentist and then went to see Nathan.

Had a change of lunch plans so called up the kids and they walked back and met me at Hanger 58.

Nathan was sporting an interesting piece of headgear so I had to get a shot of the three of my darlings with their pink heads before we ordered some food.

Azzan's bright pink hair has subdued somewhat and is now a lightish pink.

 

We had time for a quick lunch and then headed over to the Museum to join the home ed group at the Roman Machines - Julius Caesar - Military Genius and Mighty Machines exhibition.

It was really interesting.

The kids were all given an intro talk.

The lady who takes the education sessions seems to really love the home ed kids.

She was great with them.

This is just a few of the exhibits.

Some were interactive and others just look-see ones.

They are all scale models.

This is a Water Clock.

 

The Assault Tower.

The largest of which was 50 feet 2quare at the base and over 100 feet tall!

 

I caught Ryah and her friend playing with the the colourful shield formation.

 

The Odometer was fascinating.

Gorgeous costumes

Finally found Azzan, holding court and entertaining the kids.

When I heard their bantering, totally-not-on-topic, conversations I joined in with 'Hope you guys realise there will be a test in 30mins'.

Of course that was received with as much solemnity as they could muster - not!

They replied - 'A test on Justin Beiber - cool'

 

Building Arches - an amazing feat.

 

The Vitruvian Crane

 

And the Calcatorian Crane which in real stood over 10metres high and could lift up to 21tons.

Mahalia met a friend Melanie so I grabbed a quick pic with this handsome creature!

Melanie and her family are heading back to Paraguay soon so they were keen for penpals

 

The tour ended at 2:30pm and I had to move.

I took the Terrano around to meet up with Chrissy.

Unloaded the two kids and their bags into her car and then headed back into city centre to grab a quick frappaccino.

Discovered Gabrielle still standing on the street corner  so called her up, put extra money in the meter and we had a lovely 15mins chatting over our drinks.

Then I raced off to my counseling appointment.

 

That was good.

I have been mulling, pondering, processing a lot lately.

Lots of things being shared from many folk which help and touch my spirit.

Helps me to process my thoughts and feelings....

Someone wrote me the other day,

'I thought of a quote that has helped me get through. Mary Beth Chapman, wife of singer Steve Curtis Chapman wrote a book about her story. You may have heard about it, it's called Choosing to SEE. Their adopted daughter Maria, was about 6 I think, when she bounded out to meet her big brother as he drove in the driveway. Unfortunately the brother didn't see her and he hit and killed her. As part of her healing Mary Beth found that people were saying to her 'You'll get over this eventually' and then after a couple of years people were implying 'Aren't you over it yet?'

Her response was that she would never get OVER it, but she would get THROUGH it!'

this really gelled with my spirit..
I will get through this.

But I will never ever get over losing my heartmate.

 

Then my counselor shared something which really really made sense to me.

She told me a picture.

When you experience grief it is all consuming. It is the same size as you.

So picture Yourself and Grief is covering you, it is the same size as you.

Then as time goes on you gradually grow bigger, stronger, find a new size of normal.

Your Grief is still the same size, it never diminishes.

But you grow bigger than it.

 

I zipped into the library to get a couple of books.

Popped into Farmers to look for a black top/petticoat thingee.

Bumped into Chrissy and my two kids.

She suggested I try Glassons so I shot over there and quickly got what I wanted.

Then back to Farmers to see them and say goodbye and goodnight to my darlings.

Chrissy was dropping Mahalia off at Sally's on her way home, so she could hang out with Kashana for two nights.

 

Then I went to Hanger 58.

Still trying to track down Sandy.

We were sposed to be having dinner together.

But she disappeared.

Nathan made me a frozen fruit smoothie so I sat and waited for a while.

Finally got hold of Antonia and discovered my date for the night had split and gone to Christchurch.

You wait Sandy - you owe me woman

 

I was hungry so ordered some dinner.

It was really good.

Fillet steak with veges and a potato gratin.

I downed that in no time and then decided to head to the hospital and visit Ella.

She was having some 'R&R' in there for a couple of days.

It was nice to sit in the quiet of her cubicle and chat.

Often hard to get one on one time out together when we both have kids

 

I then toodled out to Crusoe's around 8pm and found Anat, Rami & Ellie saying goodbye to their last dinner guests for the evening.

The fed me Apple Strudel and Ice cream with hot chocolate and we sat and relaxed and talked.

It was nice to be able to spend time with them when they were able to just sit.

I finally raised myself from the chair and got some Alfajores to take back for supper.

On the way I decided to give Siri a try.

Nathan had been showing me how she works for him on his iPhone.

I was asking her to text Ross and tell him to 'put on the jug I am bringing supper.'

It could not decipher what I was saying and sent a really random text.

When I realised what it said I just cracked up and laughed and laughed the whole way back.

I tried to get her to say 'put on the kettle'.

That was worse.

So I finally told it to say 'boil the water'

It finally got it!!

 

I totally disrupted Ross & Andrea's night.

They were watching 'Les Miserables'.

I brought out the Alfajores and Andrea made tea.

I commented that I thought the movie was the most depressing one ever so Ross eventually gave up watching that.

Sorry Ross

 

Interesting day.

Began in tears, ended in laughter.

Guess that's life in the fast lane

 

 

 

 

 

I managed to get up and showered by 8am today.

Well done me!

Trouble is I really didn't know what to do with myself.

Graham came around and we checked out the wetback of the woodstove.

He measured and I photographed.

We have to get a new one made up as the repairs he and Tim did are not holding.

Then he fixed the leak in the kitchen sink pipes.

But the bathroom one is a mystery so will monitor that one.

 

Anson & Marah came to visit.

I had a bit of a melt down.

I didn't intend to, it just happened.

Then Seb & Oliver arrived.

The boys seemed quite happy just to sit and chat for a while.

So I bought out the boxes I had been saving to give them

I let them decide which one they each wanted.

Seb got 'The Wall Immersion Box Set Limited Edition'

and

Anson got the 'Dark Side of the Moon: Immersion Box'

They were both very happy chappies.

I got the feeling that they both were quite keen on Pink Floyd.

Anson found the scarf and of course had to model it while he checked out all the goodies inside the box.

So while the guys sussed out their new toys, the girls were having a pedicure party.

Mahalia painted mine first.

Then she did my fingernails, before painting Marah's toes.

Shoshannah doesn't like her fingers painted so she just paints her toenails.

Anson was doing some online window shopping

while Marah painted her fingers.

 

Seb & Oliver went back home to do some work on the boat and fuel it up.

 

I have a feeling Mahalia might have gotten hold of my phone because I found the next few photos on it and I never took them!!

Noel arrived in after he had floated up a sinking line.

He and Anson chatted for a while.

And Marah tried to fit into my old downie - fitted well except for over the baby bump.

I spent the rest of the day trying to get packed for town.

Mahalia and Azzan were packed in no time.

After dinner I finally got to check some clothes at it and call it a holiday.

I was intending on cooking dinner but Shoshannah got to the kitchen before me.

She made a delicious rice salad and roasted up some veges.

I made a salad.

We finally had the salmon I bought on Monday but it got lost over at Seb & Phoebe's.

It was a delicious dinner.

Watched 'The Mentalist' and then headed off to bed.

Jesika called to say goodnight and then I threw some clothes in my bag.

Hope I have right stuff this time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really did intend on getting showered and dressed today.

But it turned into yet another pj day.

I was up and doing stuff, but just never quite made it into day clothes.

I was sposed to be seeing our skipper but he text to say he wasn't coming, so less incentive.

I had no one to see and no place to go, so whatever!

It was good to have a chat with Sally.

We hadn't caught up in a wee while.

Then Jan called to talk too.

So I wallowed on my pillows and enjoyed catching up with them.

Mahalia brought me in this wee present.

Sweet girl

 

Shoshannah spent most of her day with her head buried in her book.

That was when she wasn't out doing her birds and watering the glasshouse.

She also cooked up pies for lunch and made dinner, and lit the woodstove.

Mahalia & Azzan just did what they had to.

It was quite cool in the afternoon so I got Mahalia to light the living room fire.

Azzan brought in the wood.

I managed to get both of them to do some music practise.

It is really hard to motivate myself let alone them, so I do understand, but I do need to try and keep them going.

 

I spent most of the day trying to sort paperwork.

Loads of long emails from lawyers needing information, but reading them is doing my head in.

Phone calls with accountants etc.

I just keep thinking that one day soon they will finally get it all sorted.

Also can't help wondering actually how much it is all going to cost to get everything finalised??
You think you have things under control and then realise how much isn't when something like this happens.

Then amongst it all I find out that there are permits/licenses that are about to expire, so I then have to sort them and get the applications underway - more damned paperwork and phone calls.

Also, had to bring myself to start sorting out what to do about the Safari.

There is registration and RUC's owing to us because it was written off, so more phone calls to find out what to do and what forms to fill out,  and who to pay what money to, to apply for our money back, and how to get the plates changed to my new vehicle and how to get them renewed etc etc etc 

It just never ends

 

In amongst the boring stuff I received some lovely texts, phone calls and emails from dear friends who 'just call to say I love you and I am thinking of you' - I really appreciate each and every one of you who bothers to take the time to do that.

It is heartwarming to know I have friends who don't think I have to get over this in a hurry, who encourage me to take time to grieve, and who are walking with me and the kids for the long term.

It means so much.

Thank you xxxx

 

I have also been blown away by the response to the Country Calendar programme.

I have been receiving emails and messages from all over the world.

From strangers, from distant relatives, etc.

It is amazing how that short programme has touched people so much that they take the time to find out how to reach out to us.

 

 

I decided that I needed to get something practical done around the place.

So after lunch I asked the kids if they would help me.

We started sorting my room.

I had a pile of Tim's clothes left to go through.

Mahalia really wanted something to hang on to.

She smelled her way through everything trying to smell her Daddy.

But nothing does and nothing will do ever again.

She tearfully took a couple of his shirts

Shoshannah helped me decide what to keep and what not too.

We bagged up stuff to pass on and then she hung up my clothes for me.

 

We shifted Tim's set of drawers out into the living room.

When I came to Port Ligar I found two sets of drawers being used in the workshop.

They were covered in grotty paint and oils etc.

I got them stripped down and renovated back to their original glory.

Tim and I have used them ever since.

They are lovely old solid pieces of furniture, unlike the new cruddy lightweight stuff you get today that falls to bits in 5 minutes.

I have loaned Tim's drawers to Marah for her baby clothes cuz I know she will look after them

This is Tim's set.

I love the handles and key hole decorations.

And this is mine - still in use!

 

Graham popped in for a cuppa after work.

It was good to talk.

I have been feeling rather overwhelmed with things so he has offered to come help do some fix-it jobs for me in the morning.

So I will have good cause to get up and get dressed and deal with my day!!

 

Then we snuggled down on the sofas to watch 'The Mentalist' while eating our dinner.

The girls had some long phone conversations with their girlfriends while I was putting Azzan to bed.

I finally found the strength to actually read him a story.

That was always Tim's 'job' and up until tonight I have only just managed to hug and tuck in the kids.

It sounds stupid to have to gather strength to just read a story, but it really has been like that.

And he was ready for me to read to him too, so it was all good.

I prised the girls off the phones and out of the bathrooms and had our goodnight hugs.

It is getting to the stage where I just cannot wait up for them to be in bed so I crash into my bed and they come say goodnight to me

 

I have momentary conversations in my head with Tim as I am getting ready for bed.

Mostly - 'Why Timmy? Why? Why? Why?

I can't do this alone.

It is just not fair.

This is just way too hard.'

 

I was too tired to blog or watch a movie, so I read a few pages of my book and then turned off the light.

Problem is that my brain doesn't switch off with the light.