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Sorting

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The boys needed something to do tonight, besides playing with legos and looking at lego creations online, so I assigned them to sort the container cupboard.  It had gotten to the point where it was frustrating to try to match a lid with a container, and I knew there were lid-less containers and vice versa.  They started out grumbling about having to do the job, but when I told them they could have the mismatched containers they were suddenly enthusiastic and the job got finished quickly!  Now the cupboard has lots of room and is tidy (for a short time, anyway).

Baby was entertained for awhile, listening and watching.

Apple Picking

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Yesterday afternoon we went to pick apples to feed to the cow.  Well, it was a great excuse to take a drive around an area we don’t otherwise have an excuse to go to!  We did get apples to feed to her, to help keep up milk production, and had a great afternoon together enjoying gorgeous scenery.

We drove through the hills to the west of us.  Lots more rugged than right here where we live!

The first tree we found that had apples on it was at the top of a steep cliff!  This cliff went nearly straight up–no problem for my fellows!  The rest, however, found a slightly easier route a little to the left of this picture.

I did not go up.  The two youngest stayed down with me.  After the rest had all gone up, the 2 1/2-year-old decided he wanted to, also.  As he was standing at the base of the cliff, facing it, he proclaimed, “I am going to climb up the hill!”  After a pause, “Where is the hill?”  I told him he was looking at it.  The place he was standing at was an eroded, rocky spot that went up at about a 45° angle.  He gave it a try, but soon gave up and told me, “This is a broken hill.  This is interesting!”

The next tree we stopped at was beside this wool shed/yards.  We only stopped there because we remembered the tree from last year.  It bears small, delicious orange apples.  There were two left.  We went several weeks later this year than last.

The birds had gotten most of the apples from this tree, but we got some that weren’t too rotten .

After picking up apples from that last tree, we allowed the boys to run on ahead and see how far they could get before we caught up with them.  We drove slowly to give them time, and I believe they got most of a kilometer!  The one in the lead kept going till he had gone probably twice as far as the others before they gave up.  They had fun doing that!

This hillside dotted with Angus cows was beautiful–and we got to see it from both sides.  The road continues on, then doubles back just beside those pine trees at the top of the photo.

Willowbank

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We were able to get tickets to Willowbank Wildlife Reserve for half-price recently, thanks to a tip from a friend.  The tickets were good till the end of June, so we were planning to go sometime before then, but weren’t sure when it would work out.  Gayle didn’t want to take time off work for that, but neither did we want to go on a Saturday because there would likely be a lot of people there.  Then, we ended up needing to go to Christchurch to meet the Vice-Consul from the American Embassy in Auckland when he made a visit to Christchurch, to get the baby’s American paperwork done and apply for his passport.  The appointment was in the early afternoon on a Thursday, and both of us had to be there, so that was our perfect opportunity to take the family to Willowbank!

There were tame eels in a pond at the beginning of the tour, and a woman was spoon-feeding them with a little container of food she bought in the office.  They would crawl partway out of the water onto the step!

Black swan.

Pukeko.

Fallow deer

The woman who had been feeding eels had some bread along, and let our children, as well as her daughter, feed it to the wallabies and ducks.

Monkey Island was fun!

Macaws

This bird would say, “G’day, mate!” when the boys said it to him!

Lemur

Kune-kune pigs

My horse-lover was happy!

Boys looking at antique tractors….

This was supposed to look like a Maori village.  It struck us that it must not be full-sized!  Those houses seemed pretty tiny.

We weren’t allowed to take pictures of the live kiwis, but we did see a couple of them.

Morepork owl–tiny little thing!

Working When Baby is Fussy

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Cooking a meal can be quite a challenge when baby wants to be held–and according to him, Mom is the only one qualified to hold him!  He tends to be fussy in the evening, of course.  Tonight, I cooked supper this way:

Isn’t he sweet?  I love having him snuggled up to me that way, although it does get a little tiring after awhile.

This is like a Moby Wrap.  After my last baby was born, a friend showed me the one she had made.  It’s very simple.  I just bought a 3-yard length of 60″ wide knit fabric from Joanne Fabrics, and cut it in half lengthwise along the fold.  Then, I took one end of each of these strips and sewed them together securely with several rows of stitching:

That’s all!  Then, to use, I wrap the cloth around the back of my waist and cross it over my front, then over my back, bring the ends around front and tie at one side of my waist.  Put the baby in with a leg on each side of the X on your front and spread out the cloth to support and cover him.  Then, jiggle and sing till baby goes to sleep!

Leftovers

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I read a few blog posts about using leftovers this morning and thought I’d share how I deal with them.

I love leftovers–they make quick meals so easy.  Leftovers have been a life-saver to me more school days when it comes to lunchtime than I can count.  So often, it gets to be 12:30 or even 1:00 and I realize we need something to eat–quickly, sort through the fridge and see what’s there.  We do occasionally have to throw things out (maybe my husband would say more than occasionally), but it gets recycled into eggs.

Some days, depending on what I find, I’ll put the leftovers in a casserole dish and heat in the oven at about 300°F.  If there were several casserole leftovers, they can all go in the same dish and won’t run together too much; or I’ll use a couple of smaller dishes.  Usually, 20 minutes is long enough to heat.  Then, everyone gets to choose from the offerings.

Other days, again depending on what I find, I’ll put it all together into soup.  Most of the time, it turns out delicious!  Adding cheese on top in each bowl always helps, too.

Today was a clean-out-the-refrigerator day.  Since I was thinking about this, I kept track of what went in the pot.  We had approximately 1/2 cup of goat stew, 1/4 cup of pork headcheese (brawn), 1 cup peas, 2 cups hash browns, 1 cup cooked rice, 1 or 2 cups stuffing and about 1/2 cup cooked hamburger (I had baked them together in a casserole last night).  I added a small can of pork and beans (a secret ingredient in a lot of my soups/stews) and some water and heated it on low.  It wasn’t one of my more successful leftover stews, but fairly good.  Cheese would have made it really good, but Daddy was home and he can’t have cow cheese so we didn’t have it.

Sometimes I’ll add tomatoes or tomato juice, or broth, to make it easier to heat without scorching and add flavor.  I just try to have some meat and some vegetables, as well as something starchy (rice or potatoes).

One thing the children really like is leftover mashed potatoes, put in a casserole dish and topped with bits of sausage, then served with cheese and ketchup.  Baked potatoes, diced, work really well in a quick soup.

I’m thankful that my crew doesn’t mind eating leftovers!  Oh, I should also say–my husband likes leftovers every day for his lunch; I try to plan meals so we have extra.  I put them in a microwavable plastic dish that fits nicely in his lunch box and he heats it at lunchtime.  Much easier than coming up with sandwiches!

Holiday Trip Days 6 and 7

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Friday morning we loaded up again in Collingwood after enjoying a gorgeous sunrise over Golden Bay at high tide.

The boys tried fishing, but the reel broke.

We stopped at Pupu Springs on our way back to Takaka Hill–the largest spring in Australasia, which produces 14,000 liters of water per second and has the second clearest water on earth–second only to that under the Ross Ice Shelf.

The colors under the water were amazing!

The river that flowed away from the springs was clear as could be!

Takaka Hill–see the road we were on?

I enjoyed the rock outcroppings on top of Takaka Hill.

We stopped to buy fruit at the bottom of Takaka Hill, and got a close-up view of some of the vines we had been seeing–kiwis!  We had never seen them growing before.

We spent Friday night camped in the backyard of some friends, and in the morning they helped load up and tie down for the last time.

Our route home took us through an area where there had obviously been a forest fire a few years ago.  What desolation!

Fall colors along Leader Road as we neared home….

Baby was happy to be home again the next morning!

Holiday Trip Day 5

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Wednesday evening we made it as far as Collingwood, on Golden Bay.  We decided to stay two nights in that campground, as there were a number of things we wanted to do close by and it was as far north as we were able to go.  How nice not to have to take down tents and load and tie down the trailer Thursday morning!

The boys were up at the crack of dawn again, down at the beach to see what they could find.  This was the prize find–same boy who found the weta the day before–a dead shark! One person told us it was a dog fish; another said a carpet shark.  Either way, it was fascinating.

Sunrise over Golden Bay. This is high tide.

Grandma found a good place for her devotions just above the high tide line.

The morning’s beachcombing finds.

We drove up along the coast to Farewell Spit that morning.  These are some of the mud flats we passed in an estuary along the way–high tide.

The base of Farewell Spit. It is an enormous sandbar stretching 26 km (16 miles) into the Tasman Sea.  Four people walked a few kilometers out on it; I stayed back with the youngest five boys.  This is the inside of the spit.  I happened to overhear a tourguide telling the group he was with that there are 2 million hectares of land in the nature preserve here at high tide; 11 million at low tide!

They found several jellyfish stranded by the receding tide.

Mud flats and the spit.

After eating our picnic lunch, we drove to Cape Farewell, named because it was the last sight Captain Cook had of New Zealand.

The boys ran up the hill above the overlook.  Rather nerve-wracking for Mom and Grandma, envisioning boys getting too close to the sheer cliff dropping down to the sea!

The mudflats in the estuary at low tide, on our way back to Collingwood.

This is the beach at our campground when we arrived back in the afternoon, at low tide!  What a difference.  The tides rise 5 meters here (16 feet).

It was cold, but the boys played in the water anyway.  The older boys were able to wade through the chest-deep water to the sand bar, and decided to build a raft so they could ferry the little boys across.

Before the raft could be built, the tide turned and the water was rising too fast.

They built sand castles instead.

This is the same place a few hours later, with the tide about halfway in.

Holiday Trip Day 4

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Wednesday morning the boys were up and exploring the campground before breakfast.  One of them found this weta.

After leaving Nelson and passing through Motueka, we went up Takaka Hill.  This is looking back down, in the direction of Motueka.

We stopped near the top of Takaka Hill at an overlook.  These gray rocks were all along the trail out to the lookout.  We learned at our next stop that they are marble.  Marble was quarried from this hill to build the government buildings in Wellington many years ago.

A view from the lookout.  At the far left is the Tasman Sea, beyond the orchards and vineyards near Motueka.  Nelson is on the far side of that bay.

Our next stop was only a short distance from the overlook, at Ngarua Caves.  We thoroughly enjoyed touring this beautiful cave.

At some time in the distant past, moas (the smallest variety, not the giant ones) fell into the cave and died; their bones have been found there.

This area of the cave had a “new” growth of stalactites forming.

The way out–this is the hole through which the cave was originally discovered by a survey party in 1876.

The landscape around the cave.  If I understood right, some of the filming of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit was done here.

There are a lot of sink holes on this hill.  At our previous stop, at the overlook, we saw signs warning about them.  One of our boys was fascinated and badly wanted to see one; finally here he got his wish!

Going down the other side of Takaka Hill, towards Golden Bay.  The road winds back and forth down the side of this hill–an incredible drive!

Holiday Trip Day 3

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Tuesday morning in Picton, while the trailer was being tied down those of us who were not involved with that process explored the rushing creek beside the campground.  Our tents had been pitched just beyond the bushes on the left side of this picture, so we got to listen to the water all night.

A bridge went across the creek here, and a trail went along it on both banks.  Grandma and several of us went exploring.

We found this beautiful waterfall downstream just a short ways.

Here comes the train!  The track ran along the hillside maybe 200 feet from our campsite! Three trains roared through during the night!  We were glad that most of the boys slept through the noise.

After we left the campground, we started up Queen Charlotte Drive again.  This time, we made it past the lookout over the harbor without stopping (no ferries in dock or coming in, this time!), but just a short way past, there was another overlook!  We pulled in, thinking maybe we’d just take a quick look from the van.  No way–there was an enormous logyard down there, and we ended up spending half an hour or more watching the activity down below.  There were log trucks coming in constantly to be unloaded, with huge clam loaders that took an entire load in one trip, and then sorted the logs by size.  There was one clam loader being worked on, as well.  There was a barge tied up to the dock, but nothing loaded on it.  This is a deep-water harbor where ships come in from the ocean to load with logs which are taken to Japan, processed into lumber, and then the lumber is shipped back here!

On we went again!  The scenery was so amazing that Gayle stopped at most of the tiny pull-offs on the way up the hill, so he could admire the view, too.  We were glad he stopped, rather than trying to look as he drove; that would have been downright dangerous.  The Marlbourough Sounds are spectacular!

Some of the geologic formations along the road were really something to see, too–look at these rock layers!

Almost to Havelock!  We stopped at another overlook and Gayle and the children went down the trail to these mudflats that are exposed at low tide.

Made it to the bottom!  Now they have to climb back up the hill.

We ate lunch at a small picnic area at the edge of Havelock, and watched the tide starting to come in to cover these mud flats as we ate.

On we went again, this time as far as the Pelorus Bridge, over the Pelorus River.  This bridge is one lane, with a walkway along one side.  We walked over the bridge, then down a trail to the rocks along the side of the river.

Simon has learned how to skip stones, and Esther somehow caught a picture of his best skip–seven jumps!

Gayle and the children walked down another trail while Grandma and I went back to the van.  They got to cross this swinging bridge.We made it as far as Nelson that night, and found a campground there.

Holiday Trip Day 2

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Monday morning we were all up at the crack of dawn.

We pitched our tents between this road and some bushes; right on the other side of the bushes was the sea!

There were gorgeous flowers along the shore.

There was also a lot of Silverbeet (Swiss Chard) growing wild.  We harvested some for our supper the first night (it tasted quite salty!), and also for lunch and supper the second night.

While we were eating breakfast around the trailer, we got to watch sheep walking along the very edge of the cliff above us!

Baby doesn’t mind his surroundings too much, so long as he has his mama!

This was the view to the east of our campsite.  While the trailer was being tarped, some of us walked down the road to the fence in the distance.

After we left our campsite, we drove around the Lake Grasmere Saltworks.  Those are huge piles of sea salt, produced by evaporation from huge ponds.

The salt evaporation ponds.

See the salt along the edge?

Vineyards near Blenheim.

This is the kind of route we were driving a lot of the day.

We stopped just north of Blenheim to cook hamburgers for lunch at a rest area beside the highway.  The boys enjoyed playing in the bushes.

Our first family picture with the baby!

We stopped in Picton in the late afternoon.  After spending an hour or two in an aquarium, we went to the marina for awhile.  The boys and their dad walked around looking at the boats, while the rest of us waited at the van.  We got to see this car ferry coming in!

The ship had to turn around and back into the dock.

Late in the afternoon, we left Picton and headed up the hill on the Queen Charlotte Drive, intending to go halfway to Havelock to a campground for the night.  As we climbed the hill over the town, we saw an overlook–and of course, had to stop.  There was the other car ferry coming in, the Interislander.

We stayed to watch the Interislander back into her slip (quite a feat, in my opinion!) and unload.  See both ferries, side by side?

Cars and trucks were coming off the top deck of the Interislander, and trains were being unloaded from the lower deck.  That is a locomotive pushing two flat cars in; they hooked up to a string of eight freight cars and pulled them out, then went back in for more.