NZ Filbruns

Miss Joy—October 2020

November 3, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Here are pictures of our favorite toddler in her 14th month!

We had crepes with whipped cream, sweetened yogurt, bananas and chocolate sauce for breakfast one morning. She loved that breakfast!

She loves to climb into things. We use this crate to take our Bibles to church. As soon as it was unloaded, she sat in it.

She found my teacup on the couch one morning when I forgot to take it to the kitchen. She loves that cup!

Gayle brought firewood home from the mill one day, and she helped unload it. She was handing pieces to him. Little Miss helped, too.

Gotta put the earmuffs on! The big people do!

She found her favorite big brother on the couch and had to climb on him.

One afternoon she was playing with her brothers in the empty section next to our house. As you can see, she found some mud!

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Field Trip! Echo Coal Mine

October 26, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

We rarely take a field trip, but a local woman who recently began homeschooling her son organized a trip to the Echo Coal Mine, just north of Reefton, this month. The mine manager (her brother) gave us a fascinating peek into the running of an open-cast coal mine. We all very much enjoyed it, and learned a lot!

Because there were so many in our group, we were divided into two tours. Our family waited in Reefton with some friends while the first tour happened. We spent some time in the museum part of the local I-site (information center), and then walked out of town a little way to the swing bridge over the Inangahua River before eating our lunch. You can see from these photos that we had a beautiful, sunny day.

After we ate lunch, we drove up to the road that goes into the mine. We found this shed, and parked beside it to wait for the first tour to return. A truck went past, hauling coal down from the mine to the railroad, and someone who was near the shed heard the driver inform the manager, via radio, that there were people at the red shed. He replied that he knew about it; they were waiting for a tour.

Soon, the first group came back down, and it was our turn. We reorganized a bit so we didn’t have to take so many vehicles up; two of our boys rode with the manager in his ute, and we followed him up the road into the mine.

We noticed these signs along the way, along with several others:

Soon, we reached the top of the road and saw evidence of mining.

When we came to a stop in front of the office, we looked out over the processing area. The coal is brought in here. After it is dumped out of the trucks, it goes through the sorter. The large pieces are used for heating buildings, mainly, or processing milk powder. The dust, which, if I remember right, comprises about 80% of the end product, mainly goes to Japan, where it is made into such items as silicon chips for cell phones and computers, or turned into carbon fibre for bicycles and dialysis machines, among many other uses. He rattled off so many things I couldn’t remember them all!

We went into the office next, for a slideshow of the history of the mine, and photos of scenes from the past 12 years or so. The rock layers they have uncovered are amazing! So is the view from his office…rough life, to have to work in a place with a view like this, isn’t it!

Our next stop was to see what the mine is doing to rehabilitate the area after mining it. All the tailings are dumped in mountains, and reshaped similarly to the natural mountains. Then, the mine has a local helicopter company seed the slopes with lotus grass (actually a legume) that grows in the rocks and fixes nitrogen in what little soil there is. A year later, they plant native trees among the grass. Our guide also pointed out the smoke from a mine that caught fire in the 1960s and has been burning ever since. DOC (the Department of Conservation) now owns it, but won’t do anything about putting out the fire. It burns 20-30,000 tons of coal a year, if we understood correctly.

The area just below Mr. Imagination was seeded this year; the very green area next back was seeded a year ago, and we saw people, just around the hill from there, planting trees.

If you look very closely at this next photo, just below the left of the center, you can make out an orange digger and a yellow bulldozer. We visited those several minutes later, as you’ll see below.

Finally, we got to see the mine itself! These photos don’t come anywhere near showing the magnitude of this pit. It is huge! Can you pick out the digger and dump truck just left of center? The red dot over the middle of the pond at the bottom is a ute (pickup truck), and down a little from that, right of it, is a smaller, blue digger sitting on a coal seam. And look at those layers! We discussed later how they must have formed during the Flood, as sediment washed in on tidal waves, covering mats of trees and other plant material, followed by more layers… and then, while it was still soft and wet, seismic activity folded the layers. So amazing!

Our guide told us why the water in the pond has such a beautiful color. It has a pH of about 3.2. Iron sulfites leach into the water from the mine, creating sulferic acid. They have to neutralize that before letting the water go back into the environment. At first, they treated it with lime, but then discovered that mussel shells work even better, for much less cost! In fact, when Esther took the video below, she caught part of that discussion!We went from the mine to the dumping spot, to watch a load of dirt and rocks be dumped. Little Miss found this quartz rock and wanted me to take a picture of it. In the video you can see the truck being loaded, and then the same truck dumping. The bulldozer is there all day, smoothing off the area, building the “wall” around the edge to keep trucks from going over, and being there in case a truck would back up too far, to pull it out. It didn’t sound like that has happened much, if at all, though.

Here are a few of the big machines we saw around the mine area:

This machine is used for drilling holes to place explosives.

Our last stop was down at the bottom of the area they are rehabilitating right now. This is a close-up of some of the lotus grass. This area has been growing for a number of years, and there are several inches of rich-looking soil there now on top of what used to be bare rocks.

The run-off from the mine is piped into this pond, through a filter of mussel shells. That cleans it so it can go down the river.

A view from the bottom of some of the areas they have replanted.

The middle level in the left part of the picture is where we saw the load of dirt being dumped.

Here, the children got to climb on a digger and a bulldozer. They enjoyed that opportunity! This is a 75-ton dozer; we didn’t catch the size of the digger. It’s enormous, though!After we followed our guide out of the mine, we asked about these fords we noticed beside the bridges. They are for the heaviest machinery to go through—anything over 40 tons or so.

Book Review—Sand & Mistletoe

October 22, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 1 Comment

About the Book

Book: Sand & Mistletoe
Author: Chautona Havig
Genre: Contemporary Christian Romance (Holiday)
Release Date: November 24, 2018

What’s Christmas without family drama, an accident, and mistletoe?

If you ask Portia Spears, it’s a horror movie—especially since she’s never the one caught under that mistletoe. And who thought it was a good idea to spend the last Christmas as a family unit away from their family home?

Her bossy older sisters, that’s who.

Christmas at his parents’ house with his son—just the way Reese Whitaker likes it. But a chance encounter on the beach might just change everything. How often do you meet someone who loves kids and knows American Sign Language?

Not often. Trust him.

However, with just two weeks to get to know each other and two families that couldn’t be more different vying for their time, will they even have a chance to test out that mistletoe they found?

Find out today in Sand & Mistletoe.

My Thoughts:

I read this book when it was first published, and was not overly impressed with it. I read it again now, for this tour, and enjoyed it much more! There is still a bit too heavy an emphasis on romance for my taste, but there’s so much more, too. The book started out with Portia struggling majorly to appreciate her sisters, and just wanting out of the family drama. I liked the way that ended, though, and I enjoyed reading a book that has so much about a deaf boy and sign language. I haven’t seen many books that featured that! I liked the way Duncan was included in the times his father and Portia spent together. This isn’t a deep, heavy book, but it’s fun and worth reading when you are just wanting a light Christmas read.

I received a free copy of this book from the author, and these are my honest thoughts about it.

About the Author:

Chautona Havig lives in an oxymoron, escapes into imaginary worlds that look startlingly similar to ours and writes the stories that emerge. An irrepressible optimist, Chautona sees everything through a kaleidoscope of It’s a Wonderful Life sprinkled with fairy tales. Find her at chautona.com and say howdy—if you can remember how to spell her name.

More From Chautona:

What Happens When an Author Rewrites History

To be fair, almost none of us wanted to be there.

And really, that wasn’t fair. Two of our daughters planned as a “destination Christmas” bash for the whole family—just a nice getaway in San Diego for the “last” Christmas we’d probably all be in the same place on the same days. The kids were getting older, getting married, and even moving out of state. It was a beautiful thing for them to try to do for us.

But Havigs are homebodies who like their traditions, and most of us left in Ridgecrest weren’t too thrilled being “dragged” four hours south to celebrate Christmas in a beautiful house on a cliff overlooking the San Diego countryside. It had everything, game room, lots of space, yards, hiking trails, an infinity pool, a hot tub…

Yeah. That hot tub kicked off the weekend with a splash all right. With no lighting around it, and no railing either, my husband stepped out of it and right off the ledge—down a hill (at least fifteen feet), bouncing off boulders and thankfully, stopped by a fence. Otherwise, he’d have rolled for a LONG way.

Get this. He broke nothing. Don’t even ask me how (because we all know Who took care of that, right?).

Still, I spent my Christmas Eve sitting in an ER waiting for someone to tell us the damage (superficial scrapes and deep bruising). The whole time I thought, “This has got to be a book.”

Two years later, it was.

I say this at the end of the book, but I need to say it again.

People who know our family will recognize some of my kids (I left four of them out of the story). They will also say, “Wait, she’s not like that!”

And that’s the point. I put just enough of real people in it to really capture the feel of the personalities, meshed some quirks (including the ones that got left out), and then set them in a stressful situation and really way over-exaggerated actual responses. I want to say this here again. None of us acted just like I portrayed us in Sand & Mistletoe (although, frankly, I wouldn’t have blamed a couple of them if they’d wanted to). Unlike A Bird Died, I didn’t even try to stick to facts.

Instead of San Diego hill country, I put us at my favorite beach—Ventura. I stuck our rented beach house where the Pierpont Inn is/used to be (don’t even know if it exists anymore). Reese’s parents live in the house I lived in when I was nine—right there on Pierpont just a block from the beach. And where they went to get mistletoe… one of my favorite places in the world.

So, here’s my version of the tale—the one I wrote instead of told. Just like Francie Nolan learned from her teacher in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. When I tell the story, I tell it exactly how it happened. However… I wrote what should (not) have happened! (this is much more interesting than the real story).

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.

Babies!

October 19, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 1 Comment

We have a lot of baby animals around here right now. As I mentioned last week, our heifer had her calf the beginning of September. About three weeks ago, near the end of September, we bought a beef calf to raise for the freezer, and were given two goat kids and several lambs. Sadly, all but one of the lambs died; the tiniest one survived! Now, two days ago, our cow had her calf. Lots of cute babies to enjoy!

It took about a week for this little lamb to really get on his feet, but he is thriving now. Sometimes we let him loose while we’re outside, and he follows us very closely—he even wants to get in the house!

He loves his bottle! We’re still feeding him small amounts every 4-5 hours, and about two hours before the next feed he starts crying for it, even though he’s very fat.The evening that the boys took the three big cows down to the other paddock, the babies excitedly ran to the fence to see them go past.

This is Poppy, our older cow, a week before having her calf, and Pepperoni, the yearling steer. Pansy, the heifer I’ve been milking, was not cooperating, so I didn‘t get her in the picture.

Twice a day all four babies get a bottle! Everyone prefers to feed the goats.

This stump in the middle of the paddock provides the perfect playground for two young goats!

The long-awaited baby! Both calves born to our cows this year were heifers, which is exciting. Isn’t she gorgeous?

September 2020 Photos

October 11, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

September was a fairly busy month. At least, we took a lot of pictures!

Mr. Imagination found this hedgehog walking around in broad daylight one day. He wanted it for a pet, so tried to fix it a house and feed it. Unfortunately, it died the next day. They are normally nocturnal, so I’m guessing something was wrong with it.

Our heifer had a heifer calf of her own the second of September. This cute little calf has a mind of her own! She’s a challenge to handle. There will be a post coming soon with lots of photos of cute baby animals…don’t miss it! We’re waiting for one more calf to arrive and then I’ll publish that post.

These plover eggs hatched a few days after the calf was born. We never got a photo of the chicks, though. They are good at hiding! After the first day, we couldn’t even see them, and then the parents moved them out of our paddock to a park where they would be safer.

One evening the river was roaring very loudly. The children piled into Esther’s car and went down to take a look at the flooding. We normally walk through this space to get to “our” picnic spot.

This is the area we have our picnics!

We went to Canterbury for a weekend. The mountains were spectacular!

02-IMG_6700 Miss Joy loves to sit in things!

We saw this tui on the neighbor’s tree one day. The photo doesn’t do it justice; in the sun, its feathers were glowing iridescently. So beautiful!

We bought a high chair for Miss Joy at an op shop. She loves feeling like a big person! She has to have a pillow behind her so she can sit right up to the tray. (We now have it in a plastic bag!)

What is Princess doing?

We had a cookout down by the river for Mr. Sweetie’s birthday. Some friends were with us, and it was a lovely afternoon, even though it was cloudy and threatening to rain.

Simon roasted an apple over the fire after having his fill of sausages!

This giant spider was found in the garden when Esther was replanting rhubarb. It was at least 1 1/2 inches long!

Greenhouse

October 5, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Today’s helpful tip: If you buy plastic for a greenhouse, make sure it is high quality. We bought greenhouse plastic twice, a few years apart. The first cover was used in Cheviot for a couple of years, and then we bought another cover for another greenhouse. It was never used over there, but we brought it here, and when we set up the greenhouse last year, we used both pieces to cover it. The newer piece shredded after just a year, and when we had a couple of storms in the last few weeks, with high winds, it blew off—in pieces! The older one is still in good shape. So, we bought a new piece of plastic to cover the entire house, so it won’t have to be pieced together. When I got on the website of a greenhouse supply company in the North Island, I found the end of a roll of plastic that was bigger than we needed, for less money than ordering the exact amount cut to size! That gives us enough to recover the miniature greenhouse I use for starting plants. On Saturday, the boys got the old cover off, and they and their dad put the new one on. At one point in the afternoon, I was urgently called outside—all hands were needed. They had unfolded the new cover and put it over the greenhouse—the wrong direction! I got out there to see this:

After I took that picture, Simon said, “Wait! Let me pose!” So, he struck this pose of wondering what to do about the mess they were in.

A few hours later I went out to see how the project was progressing, and they were finishing fastening the plastic to the roll-ups on the sides. They had the plastic securely fastened down to the side of the house, but the bottom foot and a half or so on each side rolls up on pipes.

This is what I have growing inside. Lots of salad stuff! I was out there today, and the lettuce to the left has about doubled in size in the last two days!

Book Review–Jack

October 1, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 5 Comments

About the Book

Book: Jack
Author: Chautona Havig
Genre: Historical Western Romance
Release Date: January 26, 2016

Women are trouble—lying, cheating, untrustworthy bundles of trouble.

Jack Clausen doesn’t need anyone but his horse and a boss who won’t interfere in his personal life—or lack of one.

Sure, he’s a lonely cowboy, but better lonely than brokenhearted.

If only he hadn’t met a girl who made him hope that honest and true women do exist. Maybe he wouldn’t be riding off into a snowstorm with a fresh determination to avoid women—indefinitely.

When Hazel Meissner sees a cowboy risk life, limb, and horse to save a child, she knows he’s someone special. When he finally gives her his heart, she considers herself the most blessed woman alive.

However, when he rides off without a word, she wonders if her heart will survive the loss.

One broken man. One trusting woman. One orchestrated misunderstanding that tears them apart. What’ll it take to bring Jack home again?

It’s Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing mashed up with the old ballad, “Cowboy Jack.” Don’t miss a cast of characters inspired by the Bard himself—especially Dirk and Deborah (Benedick & Beatrice).

Jack: a lot of hullaballoo on the prairie.

My Thoughts:

I first read Jack several years ago when it was published. I enjoyed it then, but it wasn’t one of my favorite of her books—probably partly because I am not into cowboys. I read it again last week, and enjoyed it more. I would still say it’s not my favorite, but I do like it! I laughed at Deborah and Dirk, and the way they gave each other such a hard time. The conniving of the other cowboys, and Hazel, was fun. I think I actually liked Deborah about as much as Hazel, although Hazel was the main character in the story.

Hazel is a dear, sweet girl. I enjoyed watching her with Jack. He, on the other hand, had a lot to learn about trust. Childhood experiences can shape so much of a person’s character—would he ever be able to trust women, after what he experienced with his mother? As in so many of this author’s books, there are a lot of things to think about in this story. Try it—you’ll enjoy it!

I received a free copy of this book from the author, and these are my honest thoughts about it.

About the Author:

More From Chautona:

The Inspiration I Hate to Love

The plaintive notes of a ballad filled the living room. People sat on couches and chairs or stood in the doorway, listening. Three steps up the staircase, out of view of most of the room, a little girl sat, chin in her hands, listening.

If you looked close, you’d see freckles dotting her nose and crooked teeth that never were too large for her mouth like most children’s were. Just a bit closer, and you’d see wide, hazel eyes riveted to the man with the guitar seated on the hearth. To his right, a cup of coffee and sometimes a shot of whiskey.

With a voice like Jim Reeves (the non-twangy Reeves, mind you), the songs told stories, like all ballads do—a little blind girl praying for her father’s future happiness, a girl of thirteen who barely escaped a massacre in 19th century Wyoming. “Hazel eyes,” the man called her. California Joe—he was a real man, although not as good of one as the song made out.

Sometimes the man sang happier songs, but most of them were slow, western ballads that could keep Nicolas Sparks writing for decades.

And the little girl loved them all—especially California Joe and one about a cowboy who left his sweetheart alone on the prairie after a quarrel. One called “Cowboy Jack.”

As you’ve probably surmised, I was the little girl, and that man who sang and stirred the hearts of our family at nearly every gathering was my father.

How I miss those days.

For years, I wanted to give Jack a happier ending. See, the song goes like this. A lonely cowboy (with a heart so brave and true) meets and falls in love with a maiden (with eyes of heaven’s own blue). Alas, as with all good romances, the couple quarrel and Jack rides away. He finds a new band of cowboys and would have been just fine, but someone asks him to sing a song to “drive all cares away.” Alas, the song he devises is one about a “lonely maiden who waited for her Jack.”

Of course, he rides off to ask forgiveness. It’s all his fault. He arrives too late. She died of a broken heart on the “lonely prairie where skies are always blue.”

After I began writing, the idea came to me to turn those songs Dad sang—old ones that had been passed on and down through many different versions—into novels. I’d write all the subtext the songs left out.

I’d give them happy endings.

Of course, that’s easier said than done. One by one, I figured out how to do it, but Jack… well, I didn’t want to change the stories. I just wanted to leave on hope instead of despair

Shakespeare to the rescue!

I was watching Kenneth Branagh’s Much Ado about Nothing adaptation, and the answer came to me so clearly. It had the solution I needed. So, I smooshed the song and the play together. Inside, you’ll find the characters Shakespeare created (including Dirk and Deborah and their biting repartee—they steal the show!) in the setting and with the elements of the ballad, too.

Dad’s older now. His hands are gnarled with age, swollen with arthritis. His mind is slipping away. Today, you’ll find his guitar at my house. My son now owns it, but he doesn’t know the songs I heard played on the old Goya. Still, when I take it out of the case, tune it up, and pluck the strings, everything shifts. Suddenly, I’m nine years old again, sitting on my uncle’s stairs, just out of sight, watching. Listening. Heart breaking.

See, I’ll never hear my father play again, and I can’t play either. So, the songs will have to live on with stories of Mary, Jethro, Maggie… and of course, Jack.

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.

Punakaiki Caverns

September 30, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

When we took our visitors to Pancake Rocks a week ago, we also went to Punakaiki Caverns. This is a cave just down the hill from Pancake Rocks. Gayle and all the children have been there many times, but I had never been inside. It was delightful to be able to go into a cave without a guide and just look around!

Esther is headed into the entrance to the cave, at the base of this cliff.

Going in!

There are several levels to the cave. The boys went up to the upper levels. I did not.

This is another opening, but to use it as an exit requires climbing up this cliff, then clambering down one equally steep, on the outside!

I went around this corner, to a lower level. There were a few stalactites here and there, but mostly just damp sandstone.

Here are some of the best stalactites.

Miss Joy thought it was pretty fun to touch the walls and ceiling!

Three of our boys headed much deeper into the cave than anyone else. I got pictures from Mr. Diligence’s memory card.

See Simon’s coat? By the time the three boys emerged, he was completely covered, from head to toe, with that cave-smelling sand. I should have gotten a photo of them when they came out, but I didn’t think of it till after they had scrubbed off in the sea.

While we were at Punakaiki, we stopped at a gift shop, and this giant croc was there. Miss Joy fit into it!

Pancake Rocks

September 21, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 2 Comments

We had visitors over the weekend, and since we noticed last week that there was to be a king tide this weekend, we thought it would be a good time to go to Pancake Rocks again! The extra-high tide, we figured, should make for a decent show at the blowholes. We were not disappointed! It wasn’t as good as a couple of other times we’ve been there, but lots better than several times. I apologize in advance if this is too many photos for you. It was a beautiful day… and three of us were taking pictures… and I only saved the best from each of the three memory cards… but there ended up being so many beautiful photos I couldn’t decide which ones to leave out!

The waves were fairly high. I love watching them roll in past the rocks!

The first blowhole we reach is the Chimney Pot. It is spectacular—just like I would imagine a geyser looks! This time, there was a rainbow formed in the mist, when you stood at the right place.

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Esther carried Miss Joy for a good part of the way.

This is the largest blowhole. We stood here for a long time, watching the water spurting up into a fantastic fountain!

I love watching the water in the Surge Pool, too! It’s so wild.

The waves hitting these rocks are spectacular, too!

See the seagulls nesting on top of the rocks?

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Notice the people on the bridge in the background, just in front of the Chimney Pot blowhole? That might help you get a feel for the scale of this place.

By the time we reached this viewing platform, Miss Joy wanted to get down and walk around by herself.

Simon took her, but she wanted to pick things up.

A bunch of the boys broke off flax stalks and had a mock sword fight with them.

They gave one stick to Miss Joy.

She was delighted with, and ran around brandishing it, until…

…she suddenly spotted some flowers! She recognized them; I often pick a few in our yard and give them to her. The stick was instantly discarded, and she got down to pick them.

Simon picked her up again, and held the stick behind her back. She reached around and got it, then started whacking him on the head with it.

This was a wonderful day to be outside! It’s the rainy time of year here, and in the week before this day, we had had 1 1/2 sunny days. It was great to be outside, enjoying such a beautiful part of God’s creation.

Here is a five minute video I put together from a lot of shorter clips, to give you a little bit of our experience. One clip, which starts at about 3:22, doesn’t have much action, but I loved the happy baby noises that can be heard.

More of Miss Joy

September 16, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 2 Comments

Most of the photos I find on my memory card are of Miss Joy! She’s quite photogenic, in our opinion, right now.

I don’t know who took this photo—I suspect possibly Mr. Imagination.

She loves apples—and she loves boxes and climbing!

One warm, sunny afternoon, she took off on an exploratory trip. She absolutely loves going outside, and can’t understand when we won’t let her go out (because it’s cold and wet!).

07-IMG_6669 When she turned around, I got this video clip:

I was quite amused one day to see her sitting in these tubs that were laying on their side!

This is a very common sight. If she’s at all tired or hungry, she finds her blankie and brings it to me, saying, “Eye-guy-guy.”While I was reading aloud yesterday, Mr. Intellectual was laying on the couch. Miss Joy climbed on top of him and sat herself down to read a book.

When her daddy came home from work and squatted down to clean his work shoes, she grabbed one of my crocs that was handy, got herself a towel, and cleaned my shoe! She quite diligently worked at it for several minutes, as long as Gayle was cleaning his shoes.

One afternoon when she and I were the only ones at home, I was enjoying watching her play. I decided to get a quick video, just because times like that are so fleeting.

NZ Filbruns

About the Book

What Happens When an Author Rewrites History

About the Book

The Inspiration I Hate to Love

How I miss those days.

I’d give them happy endings.

Thank you!