Activities at Home

Miss Joy

April 18, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Miss Joy is growing fast! At nearly 8 months, she crawls anywhere she wants to go. She stands up against anything that will support her—or not; she’s always experimenting to see what is solid and what is not. Nearly everything goes in her mouth; you have to find out if it’s edible or not! She has learned to leave the cat alone. That tail is so tempting—but the cat has made sure that Miss Joy knows she is off limits! No scratches, but there were definitely some warning slaps and growls. We’re also treated to a fast-growing repertoire of sounds, as she practices with various syllables. She has the funniest growling cackle that makes us laugh every time she does it. She was sick the last two days with a mysterious fever, which made her quite lethargic. We enjoyed the extra cuddling time, but we’re all thankful today that she’s well again, after a solid night’s sleep. I think I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: We thoroughly enjoy this baby!

I think this first picture was from early March. She was thrilled to find a window she could see out of! She likes being outside better than in the house.

The dishwasher is such fun to explore! I have to take the cutlery basket out and put it out of reach when dishes are drying, or spoons and forks end up strewn all over the floor.

She was tickled one day to find the pea vines in the bathtub planter. Peas are so yummy!She crawled into Esther and Little Miss’s bedroom one day and gave Esther this beautiful grin. See those two little teeth?

Tomatoes are so delicious.

Little Miss asked Esther, “Is it all right if we share germs?”

Mr. Imagination got out the box of games and puzzles one day. It was such fun to climb over and through, and then sit up in!

She found an apple under the table. Mr. Imagination took this first picture. I love it even though it’s blurry. Esther got two more, which are clearer, but I don’t think they’re quite so cute. The poor baby ends up stuck under the table sometimes because she can’t crawl under the benches.

Here are a few video clips we made of her laughing. I love how she laughs so hard sometimes that she loses her balance!

Lockdown

April 12, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 1 Comment

Here are a few of the things we have done during lockdown. Gayle has spent a lot more time than normal playing with the children! He has never been at home without having a lot on his mind, and had energy to do things with them. His health is better than in past times when he had time like this. He has helped Little Miss with her preschool work a number of times.

He did an art lesson with Mr. Imagination and Little Miss one day.

Miss Joy loves having him around! She can steal treats from him sometimes. This was apple crumble with coconut cream on top.

Mr. Diligence hauled home grass clippings and other stuff for mulch from across the road one day. Little Miss helped him, so he gave her a ride home.

Gayle made soap for us. I had intended to do this job in January, and got the tallow out of the freezer for it then. In early March I got the supplies out to make the soap—and discovered we didn’t have enough caustic soda (lye). I ordered more, and it arrived just before lockdown started—was I ever glad I ordered when I did, as we couldn’t get it now. I still hadn’t gotten the job done, so Gayle did it for me, with my supervision, one morning while I taught school, and then he cut it into bars a few days later. Now we have enough soap for a year or two.

He also pumped a ham full of brine. We’ll eat the ham next week, after Mr. Intellectual smokes it for us.

Today (Sunday) there are two board games going on at the kitchen table. Esther and Mr. Intellectual are playing a variation of Settlers of Catan, and Gayle is playing Monopoly with Simon and Mr. Diligence.

Since Simon is home, he’s been working on his van. He also took time to wirebrush the rust off a little wheelbarrow that was given to Little Miss, weld it together, and paint it. She is very happy with her “new” wheelbarrow!

As we walked home from our picnic down by the river today (we beat the rain!) we saw something unfamiliar beside the highway across the river. Esther zoomed in with her camera, and this is what we were seeing! Someone got creative.

Picnics During Lockdown

April 5, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

We decided, to make Sundays a bit more special while we’re on lockdown, to have a picnic by the creek down the hill from our town. We built a small fire and roasted sausages and marshmallows, and then played in the creek with Simon’s kayak and a couple of boats the boys built. When everyone had their fill of the water, we went across the creek and did target practice with Simon’s air rifle, aiming toward a sand dune. We really enjoy having this safe, private place to be outside! It’s within walking distance of our house, and the water is shallow enough there is no danger even if a boat flips.

Miss Joy loves boat rides! I apologize for so many pictures, but I couldn’t decide which of these to leave out.

Mr. Sweetie and Mr. Imagination wading in the creek. That’s the Paparoa Mountains in the background.

Esther wanted the water drained out of the kayak before she got in. It took too long—she gave up waiting!

This is the boat Mr. Intellectual built. It’s nearly unsinkable, at least on this kind of water.

The willow trees near the creek were covered with these big aphids!

The trees were also swarming with bumblebees and wasps. I found out how hard it is to get a picture of an insect. Esther did better, though.

I tried out the kayak—fun!

These boys rocked the boat…

…and these two rode the waves from it!

When we went across to shoot the air rifle, Miss Joy discovered something new—sand! She was thrilled to have something new to investigate.

Simon really wanted me to try shooting. It turns out that I’m a pretty good aim when I can lean on something like this…but not when I have to hold the air rifle up myself!

Simon likes to give everyone a turn shooting.

The previous pictures were all from last week, when it was cloudy and cool. This week, it was sunny and warm. This was the view up the river as we walked down to the creek.

We pass this row of trees on our way up. It was such a beautiful day today!

Here are a few video clips I put together from our afternoon at the creek.

March 2020, Before Lockdown

March 28, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

As of three days ago, our entire nation is in lockdown for a month, to try to eliminate COVID-19. We’re still trying to adjust mentally to not being able to leave home without a very good reason, and not being able to order anything non-essential online. We can still buy groceries and animal feed and fuel for vehicles, and medicines, but that’s all. Gayle is off work for at least four weeks, although Simon, as a mechanic, has an essential job and is allowed to continue working. For the most part, our life hasn’t changed, other than Gayle being at home, since the children are at home every day, anyway.

Here are pictures of some of the things we did earlier in the month, before things suddenly shut down. Simon got to help cut down this huge pine tree that was on the hill above the garage in which he works. The fear was that someday it would fall on the building, so a neighbor from the top of the hill helped cut it down. Esther took the younger children over to watch it fall.

The garage from above. This is where Simon spends his days!

One day, Mr. Imagination cut up a cardboard box to make himself a zoo.

The figure on the left is a horse with a carrot in its mouth; the one on the right is a donkey. The box is the feed trough, with vegetables in it.

This is a scarecrow, a cat and a mouse, with a fence in front of the cat.

These three boys took a tramp two weeks ago with three friends. They spent two nights in remote huts up in the mountains, and climbed to the top of a mountain on the day in between. Esther took these photos as they were leaving. They had the time of their lives! They came back very tired and needing showers, but they want to do it again!

Little Miss got to vacuum the living room. She wanted ear protection—and wore a crown!

This Land Rover pulled in at the neighbor’s one afternoon. We took a picture to show Simon. He said, “I’ve worked on that Land Rover!” He says he spent 4-5 days working on it.

This Week

March 21, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

We took quite a few pictures this week! Miss Joy has been quite busy, and she is so cute we can’t resist taking pictures of her. She learned to climb up on things, and one evening she was delighted to get up on a box and find another box within reach, with delicious peaches in it! Then, she sampled the zucchinis that were next to her.

We were given a lot of black boy peaches last week, and spent several days canning them. Isn’t canned fruit beautiful!

I came home from my trip to town this week and found these “zumpkins”. Now I know who picked them! We left the self-seeded pumpkin plants in the garden; obviously some of them were a cross between spaghetti squash and zucchini. They are good with meatloaf baked in them.

After we got home from town, I carried Miss Joy into the house in her carseat. The next day she was playing in the living room, and climbed into it. Somehow she tipped it over on top of herself. She wasn’t worried; she just crawled away, with the seat going with her! Someone called her a turtle.

Mr. Sweetie was washing the kitchen floor, so I told him to turn a bench over to keep Miss Joy out of the kitchen. She immediately crawled over to it, stood up, and put her leg over it. So much for that idea!

Storytime!

And game time!

While I was making lunch today, I went out to the garden to harvest veges for our stir-fry. I brought in this kale, silverbeet (Swiss Chard), basil, spring onions, and a rock melon. I told Gayle I had been to the shop. He said I’m the kind of woman who goes to the market every day. I replied that it’s sometimes several times a day! Sure enough, by the end of the day I had been out there three times, even though it was raining. This is my favorite kind of shop!

This is the stir-fry I made. Except for the chicken breast, it was all fresh from the garden. We’re eating well right now.

February 2020 Photos

March 15, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Here are the last several photos we took in February. Enjoy!

Mr. Intellectual has continued his boat-building hobby. His latest creation is this flatboat, made of plywood. By now, he has finished painting it on the outside, but they haven’t tried it out in the water yet.

The outside of the strip canoe is finished. The yellow is kevlar, which is intended to protect from rocks, of which there are plenty in our shallow West Coast rivers!

For the first time, we can see the inside of the canoe!

Mr. Intellectual made this crossbow.

One afternoon when Mr. Sweetie and Mr. Imagination both had a little schoolwork to finish, they set this up. They both worked diligently!

Esther had to stop in at the garage where Simon works, one afternoon, so I asked her to take some pictures of Simon at work. He’s been there for 2 1/2 years and I still didn’t have a picture of him doing what he does best!

Miss Joy enjoying and being enjoyed by her big brothers, Simon and Mr. Intellectual.

Miss Joy

I bought some new clothespins in town one day, and when we came home the little ones put them in the bucket for me. Then, Miss Joy discovered the joys of dumping them!

My girls!

Miss Joy

March 1, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Miss Joy turned six months old a week or two ago. She learned to crawl about that time, and she is moving very fast now. She pulls herself up to anything that doesn’t move under her, and gets very frustrated when we block her from such wonderful playgrounds as the basket of newspapers we keep in the living room for fire starter! She loves to play outside in the grass, and in our bedroom, much better than in the living room—although the kitchen is almost as good as outside. She’s so tiny she can easily sit up underneath a chair.

She loves my teacup with the picture of our family on it.

She still sleeps well—although for a week or so before she got her first tooth this week she wasn’t sleeping as well. She’s a thumb sucker—the first we’ve had.

She loves ice cream! Before she was really crawling, Esther got her to move all the way across the living room by holding spoonfuls of it in front of her.

One afternoon when Miss Joy was a bit grumpy I put her in a tub with water in the kitchen. She played in the water for awhile, and then stood up and found the cabbage I had nearby! She was delighted that she could reach across and taste the cabbage!

January 2020 Photos

February 22, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Little Miss, right around her 5th birthday

Mr. Intellectual made oars for their boat. Here are Simon, Mr. Intellectual, and Mr. Diligence, rowing their boat on Orwell Creek.

Miss Joy has discovered a mirror!

She also enjoyed being in a box!

A flower was fascinating, too—for a little while! She quickly becomes bored with almost anything.

We had more brilliant sunsets while the Australian bush fires were sending a lot of smoke this way.

Little Miss loved getting presents for her birthday!

We had a cookout down in the paddock our cows live in when a family from Timaru was in the area. We roasted sausages over a bonfire of gorse branches.

Mr. Sweetie put Miss Joy inside the closet one day.

What fun! A bowlful of greens to play with!

I thought it was pretty cute to see her sitting beside Simon, talking to Mr. Intellectual.

At the end of January, we made another trip to Canterbury. The boys reassembled the trampoline for our friends. They had disassembled it when we were there in November, because it needed fixing.

The younger children played in the sandbox.

Little Miss with one of her dearest friends.

After the trampoline was fixed, they went for a swim.

Apparently, Simon helped Miss Joy wash dishes!

Five months old, and moving around!

Fishing and Milking

February 15, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

One Saturday afternoon in January, a friend invited us to go out to the sea with him while he put his longline out to see what fish he could catch. Gayle and Mr. Sweetie were already in town (Greymouth is along the coast), so our friend took the other boys with him. Esther and I and the little girls went later, when we learned that everyone else in our church was there, too! They caught 11 elephant fish, a kind of shark. Someone put one of them in the coals of the fire that was going, and we ate it while we were there. Someone else took several of the fish home with them, and we brought eight of them home. The boys and Gayle filleted them the next day (they were in a chilly bin on ice overnight). Yum! This is Mr. Intellectual with one of the fish right after taking off the longline.

Simon starting to fillet one of the fish.

Those are big fish. One of them is more than enough for a meal for our family.

One morning I finally remembered to take a camera along when I went to milk. Mr. Intellectual had to go out and bring the cows up to the shed. The cow, Poppy, is in the lead; the heifer, Pansy is following.

Poppy goes into the stall with no hesitation; she knows there will always be treats waiting for her.

Pansy wants the treats, too; most of the time, she comes and tries to get them.

They actually spend a lot of time hanging around the shed, chewing their cuds, it seems like. Most of the time lately, they’ve been waiting for me there when I go down to milk.

See the roses climbing high in the tree?

The neighbor’s rose hedge was amazing when it was in full bloom! By now, it’s done blooming, and last week, she pruned the whole thing back to not much. This kind of roses grow very fast, though; soon it’ll be beautiful again. I walk past it every morning and evening when I go to milk.

The Garden This Week

February 8, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 4 Comments

The garden is at its peak as far as beauty this week. It is so lush and green! We’ll probably get more of a harvest in another couple of weeks than we are now, but by then it won’t be as beautiful, so I took some pictures this week of what I get to enjoy.

This was my harvest on Wednesday afternoon: zucchini, cucumbers, spring onions, beetroot, radishes, lettuce, green and purple beans, basil, a cabbage, and a kohlrabi.

As you walk into the garden between the garage and the container, this is the first garden patch you come to. There are climbing sugar snap peas and runner beans along the side of the container, and beyond that is a tomato patch. The sunflower/cosmos “house” is just past them, and there are pansies planted in the top of the stump. Next is a bed of cabbage and broccoli, with some calendula in it. I also have a few tomatillos and ground cherries in that bed, but you can’t see them in this photo. The next bed has a few cucumbers at this end, then cauliflower, kohlrabi, silverbeet, and then kale. The second photo shows that bed better; past the kale is the old lettuce bed, which needs cleaned out, and then cabbage. On the other side of the path is a patch of cucumbers and corn, and there are self-seeded pumpkins here and there. The turkey run is on the other side of the fence, past the corn.

Turn around, and past the red currants, you’ll see this patch of tomatoes and green beans, with cucumbers at the far end. The greenhouse is beside them. The pink/lavender building is the back side of our garage; the building in the back middle of the picture is the neighbor’s workshop, where they maintain their fleet of tractors and other agricultural equipment. Our three youngest have been putting water in the yellow bathtub and playing in it.

Go into the greenhouse through the south door and this is what you see. To the left is a large, self-seeded South Australian Dwarf tomato plant, then a few okras, and then my peppers and chilis.

To the right are the cucumbers, which I’m training up on strings.

Just past the cucumbers is a small patch of rockmelons, and then some tomatoes and basil.

Next, there are a few beetroots, and then more tomatoes and basil.

On the left, past the peppers, are eggplants. I’m not sure what the tall plant is. It masqueraded as an eggplant when it was tiny, but now it looks like a nightshade. I’m waiting to see what the fruits look like when ripe before deciding on its fate.

Past the eggplants, there are a few cabbages, then this silverbeet left from last winter, and then a tomatillo, tomatoes, and basil. On the right are a few carrots, more tomatoes and basil, and then a patch I planted in carrots (although they aren’t coming up) and two or three borage plants that grew when I gave up on them germinating and dumped the pots!

Come out of the north door of the greenhouse, turn left, and this is what you see. The first bed is beetroot, then spring onions and leeks at the far end, with a cosmos or two and some dill. Next is a small patch of potatoes and the onion patch, with dill in it, too. Close at hand, on the far right, is a Daikon radish that went to seed. The bees love it!

There is a small patch of lettuce at the corner of the potato patch.

The next bed over is mostly potatoes, and then we have a patch of broccoli and lettuce, with a few corn plants separating them from more potatoes. The last bed in this part of the garden is the corn.

Looking back toward the greenhouse and the garage. The white building on the other side of the dill is the chook coop (or turkey coop, right now). The plants with white flowers, sprinkled through the potatoes and onions, are coriander (cilantro) that self-seeded and is now going to seed again. I’m going to try to save the seeds.

These green beans and lettuce are at the end of the third patch of potatoes.

This is the far corner of the garden; these are the pumpkin plants.

On the other side of the path, behind the magnolia tree, is the zucchini patch, and the rest of the tomatoes. The turkey run is that fence past the tomatoes.

Here are the turkeys! The white one is the tom; the others are hens. We also have a white hen. She’s sitting on eggs at the moment, at the other end of the run. There are two more nests, too; I was informed yesterday that another hen is setting now.

We’ve had a dozen turkeys hatch this year; five have survived the weather. They’re getting pretty big already.

I also have a couple of small garden spots by the house, just outside our bedroom. It’s sunny and sheltered here, and handy to the kitchen, so I have my herbs here. This one has celery, parsley, basil and rosemary, and some flowers. There’s also a tomato that snuck in with a basil!

On the other side is this patch, with more basil, some silverbeet, calendula, nasturtiums in the bathtub, and still more tomatoes! Little Miss is loving picking edible flowers for our salads. We’ve been using calendula, nasturtiums, pansies, and borage. So fun to dress up a salad that way! The boys are disgusted, though. They like plain lettuce.

I am thoroughly enjoying the garden right now. We were able to get so many grass clippings this spring that weeds have been minimal, and the boys weeded the rest of it. We’ve also had a nice amount of rain (since the monsoon came to an end in early December and allowed things to start growing!), and with all the mushroom compost we bought, everything is doing well. What a blessing!