Lots of Helpers

Our family's life in New Zealand

You are here: Home / Archives for 2024

Archives for 2024

Mountain Climb

by 1 Comment

Once a month, Simon has a three-day weekend off from work. On his weekend in November, he and some friends came up with the idea of climbing a mountain early in the morning to see the sun rise. They left here at 3:30 on the Saturday morning and drove about 20 minutes to a track that goes up into the Paparoa Mountains, a low range between us and the Tasman Sea. They were at the top in time for sunrise, but clouds came up with the sun and they didn’t see much of that. They had great fun, though, and the scenery they did get to enjoy was amazing! This is the town just below the mountain.

One of the boys found this bottle in a tree.

Elijah took this picture for Grandma, for obvious reasons.

Simon in silhouette.

The track goes to this group of cell towers, which are visible from our house if you know where to look.

They found some sort of vine that they could swing on. I enjoyed these video clips, so thought I’d share them.

November 2024 Photos

by 1 Comment

One afternoon, Esther and Elijah walked around the block and took their little sisters, who rode their bicycles.

Esther watched this starling building a nest in the garage roof. She was amused by the size of its load! Apparently, it didn’t get much of that load to its destination.

Esther also took this picture of a sunset. We got some smoke from Australian bushfires, so that’s probably part of why the colors were so vivid.

Miss Joy is learning to read! That’s slightly bittersweet, because it means my baby is no longer a baby. I love watching her learn, though. I took this video sometime in November, when she had just started to read stories. She was delighted with her new skill and wanted Grandma to hear her.

I found the girls having a picnic in the garden one day.

Miss Joy wanted me to take a picture of her with foxgloves on her fingers and her crinkle-cutter in her hand!

The Garden in December

by 2 Comments

We finally finished planting the garden–although, to be honest, that is a job that never really finishes, since I keep planting little bits throughout the year. The most of it is done, though, and to celebrate, and as a way of keeping a record, I took a video as I walked through. So, if you want to see what we’re doing right now, have a look!

October 2024 Photos

by Leave a Comment

Here are the rest of my pictures from October! I took this first picture one rainy day near the beginning of the month when we were in Greymouth. The annual Bookarama opened that day, and we were waiting in line when the doors opened. An hour and a half later we walked out with around 80 books between six of us, and went out to the breakwall to eat our lunch. The waves were quite impressive as they rolled in in front of us!

A picture of Miss Joy taking a picture!

This was our third lot of chicks for the year. For this hatch, I bought two dozen Barred Rock eggs, and then filled the incubator with about a dozen Black Orpington eggs from our pair of those chickens and a couple of dozen of our mongrels. During the night about three days before hatching, Gayle found the incubator unplugged! He quickly plugged it in again and within minutes it was back up to only about 5*C below what it should have been. We wondered if we would get any babies. The next day, we left for the weekend, and arrived home that Sunday afternoon to find no chicks yet, on the day they were due to hatch. We wondered…. and an hour or so later the first chick emerged! We ended up with 32 babies out of 39 or 40 that had candled fertile, and only lost 1 or 2 that died just before hatching–one of our best hatches yet! (Only one of the 13 Black Orpington eggs was fertile.)

I came into the kitchen one morning to find my monthly meal plan in tatters. It looked like a mouse had gotten it, but no mouse could have clung to the glass backsplash to nibble on that! Then, I saw a bit of snail poo behind it. A few days later, I found an enormous snail in the vicinity. The chickens enjoyed eating our culprit!

We spent several evenings in October observing the sky. We tried to find the comet that should have been visible, but couldn’t find it. There is a mountain range only a few miles to the west of us, behind which the sun sets early but the sky stays light for a long time. I took this picture of the moon one of those nights. We did get to see the International Space Station go over one night!

We did a couple of interesting demonstrations for science in October. One day, we made a scale model of the distances between the planets by marking them out on a roll of toilet paper. To see the whole distance, we took it outside so we could see the whole length at once.

Another day, we made a model of the relative sizes of the planets. Elijah was home that week, unable to work because he had bursitis in his knee, so I assigned him to help the girls make the clay balls and blow up the balloons to the proper sizes.

Sunday afternoon naps! Simon asleep on one couch, Elijah reading something…

…and James asleep on the couch on the other side of the room! This boy has two speeds: either full-steam ahead, or crashed.

New in the Library! November 2024

by 2 Comments

Would you believe we have added over 500 books to our library since New Year’s Day? I could hardly believe it when I had a look at our LibraryThing account and saw that. We currently have over 3,600 books available for borrowing, plus a few hundred double-ups or others that we chose not to make available for one reason or another. I thought it would be nice to do a post once a month to show our new arrivals. So, here is the first edition!

We have acquired all the other books in the Hidden Heroes series when Sonlight offered them on their clearance sales, but they don’t use Witness Men in their curriculum. Esther and I decided we needed this one on the shelf to complete the collection! I’m looking forward to reading it aloud some day. The others have been great stories about little-known missionaries and places. See our reviews of some of them here.

For a little while after I started this post with that first title, I wondered if this would be the month we didn’t accumulate more books–what irony! I shouldn’t have wondered about that, though. The middle of the month, I took the little girls to town. We didn’t manage to accomplish our primary goal for the trip, but we went to a couple of op shops and came home with several books.

Little Miss was delighted to find this collection of Beatrix Potter’s little Peter Rabbit books. The cover is rather rough, but inside is beautiful.

I always snatch up Jungle Doctor books when I find them. These fun stories are based on the author’s experiences as a missionary doctor in Africa. We now have eight of these books.

I found these two fun easy readers–just the kind of stories Miss Joy loves right now! We have a large collection of easy readers, because I spent so many years trying to teach my older boys to read and hoped that they would help. I don’t add to that shelf very often, but when I saw these…

Little Miss loves to peruse children’s cookbooks, so when I saw this one, I picked it up for her. It has step-by-step line drawings with the instructions in each recipe.

When I found this book illustrating several of Shakespeare’s plays, I snatched it up. It looks like a great way to introduce the Bard. I need to go through it myself, though, before I put it out for the children to read.

Rich Dad Poor Dad is one I’ve heard of a number of times, so when I found it for less than a dollar I decided to get it and add it to my pile to read *someday*.

And then, there are the usual few that looked like they might be good but I need to read them myself before adding them to the shelves. City Night and The Wild Boy in the Bush are set in New Zealand. Jenny’s Cat and Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine just look like fun ones. We’ve found that a lot of the older Scholastic books are fairly good. I got Little Foxes because I’ve heard a lot of times that Michael Morpugo is good but haven’t read any of his books yet.

Elijah didn’t know what to give me for my birthday last month, so he told me to think of a book I wanted. I didn’t have anything in mind then, but a few weeks ago I read a newsletter from Living Books Press in Australia. They had just published The New Zealand Bird Book, similar to The Burgess Bird Book, which was one of my favorite books as a child. I thought, “That looks like a book to get one of these days,” and immediately forgot about it. The next morning, a local friend emailed me a link to the advertisement–she was going to buy one of the books. So, I asked her to get me one, too, to save postage, and asked Elijah if he would pay for it for my birthday present. When the book arrived, Miss Joy was immediately intrigued, and wanted me to read it to her. It is beautiful inside! So nice to have a book with our local birds in it!

Book Review–‘Tis the Time, ‘Tis the Season

by 3 Comments

About the Book:

Book: ’Tis the Time, ‘Tis the Season (Next Act Series: Book Three)

Author: Chris Posti

Genre: Women’s Fiction with Elements of Faith & Later-in-Life Romance

Release date: October, 2024

Welcome to tiny Port Mariette, Pennsylvania, where three women in their late fifties reunite at Christmastime, facing tangled relationships with one another and the men in their lives.

Marla rushes from Manhattan to her daughter’s side in a quiet Port Mariette hospital,  determined to strengthen their relationship by backing her daughter’s dream project, no matter the cost. She wins support from the town’s general contractor, but fierce local opposition arises, spearheaded by her longtime friend Rachel.

Meanwhile, newlywed Suzanne, scarred by fears and heartbreaks, returns to Port Mariette from California, where the earth subsiding beneath her home threatens both her retirement savings and her marriage. Seeking refuge in the familiar embrace of friends, Suzanne finds herself boxed into a financial corner while navigating the delicate dynamics of friendship and rivalry.

Amidst the holiday cheer and twinkling lights, Rachel stands as a pillar of the community, deeply rooted in the small town she’s never left. Yet her steadfastness falters as she grapples with her own insecurities and desires. Unwittingly, she stirs a pot of conflict that strains her relationships with everyone who matters to her.

In this small town tale of love, friendship, faith, and forgiveness, these women will discover growth can emerge from the ashes of the past and that change is possible at any age.

My Thoughts:

I was aghast when I read the section below with more thoughts from the author and realized that this book is the third in a trilogy. I don’t read books in a series without reading the one(s) before! I was able to find them on Kindle Unlimited, though, which we happen to have a free trial of this month, so I read them. Looking back, though, it was not necessary to do that. Each book can be read as a stand-alone, although the experience is a bit richer if all three are read.

I enjoyed reading this book, but I’m really not interested in reading more books by this author. I enjoyed reading about women near my own age rather than younger women, but I don’t agree with remarriage after divorce, which happened a couple of times in this series. I did really enjoy seeing how the town worked together and how the women made up their differences when they had misunderstandings. I loved watching each of the women, especially Marla and Rachel, becoming better people and learning how to love others better.

There are a few things in this story that might be triggers for some: An ectopic pregnancy, mention of a past abortion, and someone getting in a minor accident because of driving drunk. There is also lying, and many words used such as h**k and d**n. Also, one of the characters is a devout Catholic, who prays the rosary and goes to confession. On the other hand, one person finds salvation in the course of this book. 

While there are a number of things I didn’t appreciate or agree with, there are many parts of the story that I liked. This is a good book for people who like to read about mature women finding love and becoming closer to the people God wants them to be.

I received a review copy of this book from the author, and these are my honest thoughts about it. Links may be affiliate links, which will benefit Esther’s website if purchases are made through them.

About the Author:

Chris Posti writes award-winning fiction about real-life women experiencing the joys and challenges of friendships, families, careers, and later-in-life romances. Before pivoting to novels, she was a self-employed career & executive coach, newspaper columnist, and nonfiction author.

More from Chris:

I wrote “’Tis the Time, ‘Tis the Season” (third book in the “Next Act” series) for women in the second half of their lives – age 50 to 100 – who want characters they can relate to, women who are facing challenges and overcoming them – along with a mix of faith, fun, and later-in-life romance.

When the Lord gave me the idea for the first book in this series, I had no idea it would morph into a trilogy. That’s the way it is with our Lord. He lights our path, we keep walking. Now, He has directed me to write a pilot for a TV series, and that’s what I’m working on right now. I pray one day you will see these characters come to life on your television screen. If you have a moment, would you offer up a prayer right now for that to happen? Thank you so much.

To purchase your copy, click here.

To visit more of the blog stops on this tour, click here.

To enter a fun giveaway, click here.

Flood!

by Leave a Comment

The last Saturday in October, we had four inches of rain in 24 hours–and there was a lot more upstream in the hills and mountains. That afternoon, I had to go down to the paddock where our cows live to work with them, and we discovered that the creek had flooded! We had to lead a cow through about eight inches of fast-flowing, muddy water; I discovered that I quickly get dizzy and disoriented with those conditions. I was thankful for a son who steadied me as we went through!

Water was backing up the small creek from the large one that is going through the center of this photo.

James is walking toward the water we had to lead the cow through. It was overflowing the banks of the small creek and going into the drainage ditch that runs through the length of the paddock.

This is the drainage ditch. It normally has a little trickle in the bottom!

This is a close-up of the flooding. The boys picked up the fence at this point, so it wouldn’t wash away.

This was the big creek, just upstream from our paddock, where it goes under the highway. There was a large log caught under the bridge, which is partly why we had a problem; you can see water being diverted to the right, where it went into the small creek and under the highway into our paddock.

I decided to walk down to the river at that point to see what it looked like. Quite impressive! By the next morning, though, the floodwaters had gone down.

Book Review–Pure Joy

by 2 Comments

About the Book:

Book: Pure Joy: 90 Devotions on the Book of James

Author: Anita Higman

Genre: Christian Devotional Book

Release date: February 27, 2024

Pure Joy is a profound 90-day devotional that delves into finding joy through suffering amidst life’s challenges. In the Book of James, we’re challenged to embrace our trials with “pure joy,” understanding that they lead us to a point of lacking nothing. But how can we truly embody this spirit of joy in the midst of adversity? This daily devotional takes you on a transformative journey through James’ enigmatic teachings, encouraging you to discover the profound change that occurs when we accept Christ’s power in our anguish, confusion, discontent, and hardship.

My Thoughts:

Review from my mom because I haven’t seen the book yet (though I’m looking forward to it!):

I love it! Each devotional consists of two pages. The author presents one or several verses from James for each selection depending on the thought expressed in the verse(s), so that we get the complete thought. These are not dated nor numbered, which works for me. Then there are devotions from Proverbs every so often with the same format.

            The author uses one of 9 Bible versions for each selection; I wonder if she chose the version that best expressed the thought for each one and sometimes I look at another version to see how it compares. If someone has a problem with the use of the Amplified version, the Living Bible, the Message, or The Voice, not using this book is, of course, one option, but looking up the verse in the preferred version is another option. At the end of each selection is a brief prayer, and I found that many of those are prayers that I want to remember and use!

            I appreciated the author’s observations about each passage and her thoughts on applications! For instance, the introductory sentence for Verses 1:2-4, titled A Quest for Real Joy, reads: “Everybody’s definition of joy is different. Some folks might light up in ecstasy as they take a zip line across a deep canyon. Others might instead throw up…” She goes on to discuss Jesus’ offer of peace in John 16:33; the fact that life on earth will include troubles; and the inspiration that we can receive from those who have gone through trials and come out on top through Jesus. If we consider what work the Lord can accomplish in us through trials, we can have joy through them! What a paradox—but then, our God uses lots of paradoxes.

            In my opinion, this is a 5-star read.

I received a review copy of this book from the author, and these are my honest thoughts about it. Links may be affiliate links, which will benefit Esther’s website if purchases are made through them.

About the Author:

Anita Higman—an award-winning and bestselling author from Texas—has authored or coauthored fifty-plus books, and she has a BA in the combined fields of speech communication, psychology, and art. A few of Anita’s favorite things are fairytale castles, antiquing, exotic teas, gardening, and laughing with her family and friends! Her latest book, Pure Joy, is a collection of devotions inspired from the Book of James in the Bible.

More from Anita:

Life is broken. We keep trying and trying—and trying—to make something worthwhile out of life, but no matter what we do on our own, it’s still a hopelessly shattered mess. When we allow Christ to love His way into our lives, we discover this miraculous thing called grace. He can take what is fractured by sin and refashion it into a magnificent work of art. And He gives us a new lightness of heart and a livelier step. Best of all, paradise has been regained! Yes, that is us—when we journey humbly with Him.

It has been said that some of James’ inspired writings have similarities to the Book of Proverbs. So, I am hopeful you will also enjoy—Pausing for Proverbs—the little inset devotions, which are enfolded into this work.

May these ninety devotions and your journey with James flood your life with hope, ripen your faith, and transform you into a woman who knows how to dance in God’s light and His wonderful ways of joy…

To purchase your copy, click here.

To visit more of the blog stops on this tour, click here.

To enter a fun giveaway, click here.

Repiling the House

by Leave a Comment

Elijah got started renovating the boys’ bedroom this winter. The project is moving slowly because he works five days a week, but he’s making progress. About the time he started putting the new closet together in a corner of the room, James decided that the piles under that side of the house should be replaced before Elijah went any farther, so that the house would be level! So, the boys devoted a Saturday to replacing nine or ten of them.

The first order of business was to put a jack beside each original pile, and then adjust it until the house was level with whatever point was highest. James borrowed his boss’s jacks and laser level for this part of the job (sure is handy that his boss lives right across the street and is happy to let James use the tools!). Then, they cut off the old piles some of which were supported by the house instead of the other way around, and jiggled them loose. When they had the old piles out of the ground, they dug the holes out a little bit. You can see here how much headspace there was. Rather challenging! I did not go under the house.

To get the dirt out, they used a square 5-gallon oil jug cut in half, with a rope tied to each end. One person stayed outside, pulled the full tubs out, and dumped them, and then they were pulled back under.

When all the holes were dug, they put the new piles in the holes and fastened them to the underside of the house. Then, they borrowed James’s boss’s cement mixer and poured concrete around the new piles. They got the concrete under the house the same way they got the dirt out, with those little tubs. The grass beside the house got torn up pretty badly, especially since it started raining halfway through the afternoon, but that side of the house is now level!

Book Review–The Wanderer Scorned

by 5 Comments

About the Book:

Book: The Wanderer Scorned

Author: Natasha Woodcraft

Genre: Biblical Fiction

Release date: March, 2024

“It all started with the banishment. As soon as the truth was known about their disobedience, my parents were driven from the Garden planted for them by the LORD God, Yahweh Elohim. A garden pleasing to the eye and filled with every kind of food. Yet for them, it had not been enough.”

Kayin lives in the shadow of his parent’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden and its lingering cloud of shame. He believes in the Creator but struggles for affirmation. When suffering comes and sibling rivalry threatens, Kayin wrestles with God, grasping at shards of faith. But his cries drown in the noise of his own doubts and fears, until his youthful faith lies shattered, replaced by a twisted dance of pride and jealousy.

As Kayin spirals further, misunderstandings within the family dynamic dominate, and whispers of temptation slither through the cracks. Then a chance at redemption presents itself. With flames of forbidden love still raging hot, Kayin and his brother bring sacrifices to Yahweh.

No one foresees the resulting tragedy.

The Wanderer Scorned is the first installment in The Wanderer Biblical fiction series, immersing readers in the world of Genesis 4. This exploration of the first murder brings the Bible to life in a fresh way, delving into the character of the Creator God and His earliest interactions with humankind.

My Thoughts:

As I have stated before, I am cautious about Biblical fiction. I have read some that I really enjoyed, and some that included bits that were not accurate with the Bible. I am willing to try out new authors to see what their books are like, so when I was offered The Wanderer Scorned I decided to give it a go.

The Wanderer Scorned really made me think. I don’t know if I agree with altogether everything the author has written about the pre-Flood world and the life of Adam, Eve and their children, but it does sound plausible. I did really like the way she showed the way a person can get to the point of murdering a loved one. It doesn’t start with the physical action—it starts in the heart. The condition of a person’s heart and what flows out of that is the main focus of this story; it shows clearly how a person’s heart condition affects what that person does. 

I also appreciated a discussion about why bad things happen. That is such a hard question! I am always thankful for an author who tackles it. Then there were the voices in Kayin’s head, telling him that everyone was against him. How clearly this illustrated the battle most of us have to face, to sort out truth from the lies being fed to us by the enemy. On the other hand, there was one thing I didn’t like so well: at one point, two people needed to cross a deep river, and saw trees growing together to form a bridge for them—as they watched. I know God can do anything, but I’m just not sure about this one!

Overall, I am quite impressed with Natasha Woodcraft’s research and storytelling ability, and I’ll be watching for opportunities to read further books in this series.

WARNING: Prologue: Men grabbing at a woman. Chapter 20: Man imagines touching a woman’s body. Chapter 26: A murder.

About the Author:

Natasha Woodcraft lives in a slightly crumbling farmhouse in the UK with her family of boys and menagerie of animals. She holds an honours degree in Theology and believes stories have power to communicate deep truth and transform lives. Also a songwriter, Natasha peppers her emotional prose with poetry and song.

I received a review copy of this book from the author, and these are my honest thoughts about it. Links may be affiliate links, which will benefit Esther’s website if purchases are made through them.

More from Natasha:

Q & A with Natasha Woodcraft

  • You’re an Author from the UK. Tell me more about that.

That’s right. I’m a Brit, which is great but has its challenges, like negotiating single quotation marks! There’s a massive lack of Christian fiction here. It’s not stocked in secular bookstores, there are few Christian bookstores left, and there aren’t many big conventions or publishers. I’m part of a team passionate about changing the landscape. We offer support services to authors and publishing services. Please pray for us and our country, and support British writers if you can.

  • Who do you share your home with?

My husband, Ben, and four sons ranging from 15 to 7. Plus a dog, 2 cats, 3 goats, 9 chickens and 16 quail (though they don’t all live in the house.) It can get a little crazy…

  • Sounds like it. How do you find time to write?

Good question. My mornings are usually taken up with feeding/cleaning kids and animals. My afternoons with working for the family business or publishing house. Before tea, I’ll be out picking vegetables and pulling weeds – we try to grow as much as we can ourselves. Writing gets squeezed into late nights, early mornings and quieter days. It’s my downtime and my favorite time spent with Jesus.

  • You write Bible-based fiction. What specifically?

The Wanderer Series is based on the story of Cain & Abel in Genesis 4. It came about because I woke up one morning wondering what prompted the first murder (no kidding; my brain is weird.) I’d been pondering Jesus’ words about murder and anger in the Sermon on the Mount and praying about what I should write for a while. Suddenly, I knew it had to be a reimagining of Cain’s story – from his perspective.

  • Hang on. From Cain’s perspective?

Yeah. Though there’s certainly a place for them, I personally dislike stories that are too simplistic. Where bad guys are really bad and good guys are really good – that kind of thing. The Bible teaches us that we all need grace (especially me), and as regards Cain – I don’t think he was much different to any of us. Writing from his perspective gave me opportunity to spend a lot of time in the Word of God, exploring Cain’s slide into sin in a way that challenged me to examine my own heart.

  • That’s some heavy stuff. Did you have any background that helped you tackle this story?

Sure. I have a degree in Theology, and I’ve also studied English Literature and Creative writing. Mostly though, it was a case of leaning heavily into what God wanted to teach me through this book and hoping some of that resonated with my readers. The reviews so far say it has!

  • What would you say to those questioning whether Bible-based fiction is right for them?

I totally understand the fear surrounding this genre. I felt it myself when I started writing and that was something I had to take to God and trust Him with. “Is it even ok to write these stories?” I asked.

Essentially though, it isn’t much different to a sermon. It’s exegesis and expansion of the scripture, just presented differently: in fiction rather than non-fiction. I’ve researched, covered my writing in prayer, and had pastors check my work. I’m super careful about handling scripture faithfully but state where the story comes from my imagination. It isn’t intended to replace the Bible. Quite the opposite – I hope it will inspire people to pick the Bible up. I even include an appendix that explains decisions I made, and study questions, at the back.

My hope and prayer is that Jesus will be glorified as lives are touched by this ancient story reimagined. If you’re still not sure, why not give The Wanderer Scorned a go? You don’t know until you try…

To purchase your copy, click here.

To visit more of the blog stops on this tour, click here.

To enter a fun giveaway, click here.