I don’t know about you, but I have never had enough bookshelves in my life. The ones I have had have always been overflowing, with books laid on top of other books. We bought this set of shelves the day after we arrived in New Zealand, and it’s been overstuffed the whole time we’ve had it! I like the ends my hubby and boys just made for the top a week or two ago–it gives us an entire shelf there! We had stacks of books at either end to hold other books up, but that always looked messy. So much better now!
We bought this set from one of our friends when they moved back to the States; the young man built it himself. It’s probably the prettiest piece of furniture we have.
The rest of our books were stored in the linen closet in the hallway and lined up along both sides of a short hallway we don’t use much–it just leads outside and is one of seven doors to outside so not really needed. You can imagine how I felt when I found another large, sturdy set of bookshelves at a thrift shop last week for $5! The only problem–it was 40 miles from home and there was no way to haul it with our van. It wasn’t worth taking the truck there to pick up. I called a friend to ask if they would, by any chance, be going that way with their truck–no. I went to the counter to pay for my other purchases, and on a whim asked the clerk if she happened to know of anyone who would be going to Cheviot and could deliver the shelves. I was astounded when she said, “Go talk to that man over there.” I went over and talked to him, and he was able to deliver the shelves to Cheviot several days later when they picked up the recyclable rubbish, for $5! So, for $10, we have a lovely, sturdy set of shelves–and, as you can see, extra shelf space!
I love having the school books out of the closet and visible now, and being able to organize everything the way I want it. Thank you, Lord!
Henry, Part 2
Little Henry is thriving in the house. He loves attention; if he feels neglected he starts fussing till someone picks him up. The last couple of days, he’s been able to jump out of his box occasionally; this may mean banishment from the house. I don’t relish the idea of a duck on the loose in the house, not even a cute little one. He still makes messes. He would get stepped on, too. He loves to sit on shoulders and nibble on clothing, cheeks, necks, and ears.
He’s Growing Up!
My baby is growing up fast (good thing we’ll soon have a littler one!). He spent 1 1/2-2 hours this evening playing by himself with these toys. Esther and I were working in the kitchen, and could hear him making up stories and carrying on conversations as he played. So special!
First Haircut
Joe got his first haircut today, at 28 months. He has been begging for that for a long time.
Before…
…and after.
Pancakes!
This is Saturday morning. We usually have pancakes on Saturday morning, because it’s the most relaxed morning of the week. Three weeks out of four, Gayle is able to be at home for breakfast. All week, he has to leave for work at 5:15 or earlier, so obviously we don’t eat breakfast together, and one Saturday a month he has to work a few hours in the morning. We all like pancakes, but I don’t have time for them most of the time.
The jar of sourdough starter. When I use some, I fill the jar with warm water, stir it, pour it off till only about an inch is left, then add a cup or so of flour and let it sit out 12 hours.
I started the pancake batter last night, by mixing sourdough starter, water, and flour, then letting it set till morning. This morning, I beat in a few eggs and some salt and soda, and fried the pancakes.
Fluffy, bubbly pancake batter.
I love cooking with cast iron!
We had a variety of toppings–some people like applesauce, some like jam, and some like honey. Most of the time, we don’t have jam on them, but I felt generous this morning. For some reason, the pancakes turned out light and fluffy this time–I have no idea what is different. They were good!
These two enjoyed jam on their pancakes.
He ate three pancakes! I only had four.
And now, the rest of the morning is underway–house cleaning, bread raising, and I’m hoping to go to the garden for awhile. The plants are growing beautifully–but so are the weeds!
Henry
We have a new baby in our house. He showed up Monday evening, in the hands of the girlfriend of a young man Gayle works with. They had been out walking, and found a tiny duckling running along the street, alone. They knew it wouldn’t live without help, and thought of our boys. We named the little fellow Henry, after a duckling in a picture book we have (Henrietta if he turns out to be female). Henry is the tiniest duckling I’ve ever seen; we’re wondering what kind of duck he is. We’ll have to wait awhile to find out! For now, Henry resides in a box in the corner of the kitchen, under a lightbulb, with a jar lid full of water and another with feed. He gets lots of holding, and I have a feeling that by and by he’ll forget he’s a duck! The first morning he was here, I was reading my Bible in the easy chair next to his box, and he was very quiet–until our flock of of ducks went by the house, quacking. He immediately started calling them!
Bits and Pieces of the Day
It’s been awhile since I’ve gotten anything on here. Daily life is busy! Here are a few glimpses of yesterday (I planned to post this yesterday, but….) I had Esther grab her camera and take pictures of what all her brothers were doing.
Two little boys were busy coloring pictures in the morning–look at that concentration!
This boy was reading a book on our new Kindle.
This boy was making tent pegs to give to some friends.
Oldest boy was mowing–one of his favorite jobs.
Lunchtime–think they like salad?!!
I had a bit of time in the evening to zigzag around the squares of flannel from an old nightgown that I was making into wipes for the new baby, and Joe handed them to me.
Finding a Bull
What a day we had yesterday! It started out peacefully enough. I got up a little after 6:30 (Gayle had the day off, as the day after Christmas is also a national holiday), and had my quiet time. Seth showed up in the living room at 7:15, so he went out with me to milk. Our first hint of trouble was when I saw that the gate to where the cows were was–OPEN! Oops. Last night I moved their fence, then came to the house a different way, and forgot to latch the gate shut. They obviously shoved it open and went off exploring. They were nowhere in sight; they had all night to wander whereever they wanted to go. We quickly checked, and no, they were not near the calves. Uh-oh, now what? I got my keys, told Gayle what was going on, and we got in the van. Which way to go? No tracks anywhere to be seen. I had a hunch that they might go north; we’ve pastured them in a neighbor’s paddock in that direction and they know the cow there. We went that way, checking for tracks in the driveways we passed. No clues till we got beside the paddock they wintered in. Finally, we found tracks in the dust on the road, going the way we were going. Thank God, we were on the right track! We went on; at the end of our road is a paved road and I knew we wouldn’t be seeing tracks there! Well, Lord, which way do we go now? Right towards Cheviot, left on Munro Road towards the railroad track, left and then right to Sinclair Road, another gravel road, or right and then left onto Factory Road? I decided to check out Sinclair, turned that way–and we saw them! They had found a herd of beef cattle and were visiting with them over the fence! Thank you, God! We drove around them, and Seth got them moving–but they went the wrong way on Munro Road! He stayed at the end of Sinclair while I went around them and got them going the right way again. They fairly willingly turned onto Homeview Road and headed for home, but while we were following them home, I saw something I was not happy about. We were thinking that both cows were pregnant, but on the way home Chessie was very definitely showing signs of being in heat. We thought she was six weeks pregnant, but by the time we were home it was pretty obvious that she was not.
After we got the cows home and Chessie milked, I started making phone calls. First I called the man who AI’d the cows, and as I thought, he no longer had the gear to do it; mating season is over here. So, I called the other man in Cheviot who does it; he’ll have the gear again in 3-4 days–otherwise no one is closer than Culverden. Neither one had any suggestions of a bull to use. We called a number of other people, and the boys and I went to the neighbors who had the Belted Galloway cows and bull, but she sold the bull. We did get to meet her husband, and that was quite interesting. He is a deep-sea fisherman, working near Heard Island, halfway between Australia and Africa and way south. He goes out for six months at a time, catching Patagonian Toothfish–in South America they are called Black Cod. The ship takes all supplies needed for six months, and freezes the catch onboard; they are not resupplied the whole time. Next time he goes out he’s going with a different company, on a ship that only carries enough fuel for three months, so that’s how long he’ll be out then. These islands are volcanic, but totally covered with ice except for a little spit that has a tiny bit of vegetation. The only time they were inhabited was about a hundred years ago when some sealers lived in holes in the ground for five years, catching elephant seals and putting the blubber in barrels. Very interesting–I was glad the boys got to learn about it. They couldn’t help us with a bull, but gave us a phone number of someone else to try.
I made more calls, and finally about 1:00 the man whose number the neighbor gave us called back and said he did have a bull we could use, a Belted Galloway, out at Manuka Bay. Manuka is two bays south of Gore Bay, a few miles. It’s probably 10 or 15 miles from here. Too far to walk the cow! We needed to find a horse float, now. Well, the neighbor who lets us use her paddocks has a horse float, right? Gayle was in Cheviot, so I called on his cell phone and asked him to stop by and talk to them, since their number is not in the phone book. Just before he got home, a friend and her daughter stopped by for milk, and I asked if they would happen to have a horse float–no. Gayle got home with the report that the neighbors sold theirs, but had a truck–but were using it today. Our friend called about that time to say that they had a trailer that might possibly work. Gayle talked to her about it, and she talked to her husband. She called back to say that their trailer would not work, but she had talked to someone else and they had a horse float we could use! Finally, everything was lined up: bull located, and horse float organized.
Gayle picked up the horse float after finishing the project he was working on. Finally, at 4:30 we were ready to go. We had decided to take both vehicles so we could all take the cow to the bull, thinking that we could spend some time in the water while we were there. We found the paddock the bull was supposed to be in with no trouble, but no bull in sight! We followed Chessie up the hill, and gates opened into two paddocks, one sort of open; the other thick bush. A couple of boys went into the bush to search for the bull, and Gayle and some other children went up the other way. I stayed near Chessie and followed her as she wandered up the hill, grazing. It took an hour and a half of searching through a maze of paddocks and cow trails over hills, through thistles and springs and deep bush, to locate the bull! In the paddock Chessie spent most of her time in, there were tall hummocks everywhere, and they were quite soft. We figured out that it was many year’s accumulation of dead grass–each year the grass dies and falls down, and then more grass grows up through–as well as thistles! There are thistles everywhere in that paddock, too–and springs of water flowing across and down the hill. The view from that hill was absolutely gorgeous; quite a view of the ocean, and we could even hear the waves breaking. Lovely place to spend a summer afternoon! Finally they got him down to the first paddock, which was wide open, however, and we directed Chessie down there as well, then all sat back and watched to see what would happen. It took about half an hour, but the job got done. Then, we got to separate Chessie and her new boyfriend to take her home! Even a Belted Galloway bull is massive, and that was a bit nerve-wracking. He quickly realized we were trying to get her to the gate, and kept himself between her and the gate! It took 10 minutes or so, but we finally got them separated enough to get her through the gate and lock him in. Sure hope this works! We’re praying for a Galloway/Jersey calf about the first of October. Quite the adventure–but as I told Esther, our life here has seemed like a long series of adventures.
There were several definite blessings yesterday. #1: This is THE week I really wanted Chessie bred, as if she takes from this time, which we’re praying for, she’ll go dry the week Chrissie calves and we won’t be without milk. #2: Gayle was home yesterday; he rarely has a day off, and I could not have done the job myself. #3: The calf should be a good dual-purpose calf, good for meat if a bull and milk if a heifer. Wonder what a black-and-white Belted Galloway/brown Jersey cross calf will look like?
Looking south from Cathedrals Road, on the way to Manuka Bay, towards the Hurunui River.
Looking north or west from Cathedrals Road. The views from this road are spectacular!
The gorgeous fellow we went to such trouble to locate!
Moving Hay and Flopped Bread
Gayle has been hauling our year’s supply of hay today. Some dear friends of ours here got their hay baled today, and Gayle brought home ten big bales–each one is about a ton! He brought them one at a time on our little truck, then stacked them in a small shed here. Hopefully this will be enough for all the animals for the year!
I made bread today–but forgot all about it. By the time I found it this afternoon, it had overraised and there wasn’t enough time left to raise it and bake it today, anyway. So, I rolled it out and made pita bread–of sorts. Some pieces are more like crackers. Yummy!
Today’s Snacks
I don’t very often fix a snack for the children, but today I was inspired to make not one but two! For an afternoon snack, I took a cup and a half or so of ricotta cheese that was in the fridge, and mixed in a bit of salt and some oregano and basil, then spread it on crackers. That was quite popular!
Busy making sure he got his fair share–and then some, maybe!
After supper and clean-up, I made some quick milkshakes. I filled the food processor about half full of sliced frozen bananas, then covered them with milk and added a bit of vanilla and a pinch of salt, and ran the processor until it was smooth and thick. I spooned it into tea cups and everyone enjoyed the treat!
Boys discussing their plans for tomorrow as they enjoyed their treat.