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Activities at Home

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: 3-IMG_6843

 

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.

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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. 4-IMG_6846

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! 1-IMG_6847

Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: Garden, Greenhouse

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.

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She loves apples—and she loves boxes and climbing!2-IMG_6658

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_6669When she turned around, I got this video clip:

05-IMG_6673I was quite amused one day to see her sitting in these tubs that were laying on their side!

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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.”13-IMG_6691While 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.

06-IMG_670414-IMG_6709When 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.

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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.

Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: Miss Joy, Videos

August 2020 Photos

September 5, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Here are the last of the photos from August!

Little Miss helped me harvest some purple broccoli one day with the basket a neighbor gave her, and then she took it to her bedroom to show Esther.

19-unnamed20-unnamed (1)21-unnamed (2)We did an art project one evening as part of our study of New Zealand for geography. The three children each cut out shapes and made them into a picture of sheep, then glued on cotton balls and eyes after painting part of the picture. They love projects like this!

09-IMG_6609When I cut open the first of the three giant cheeses I made in June, Mr. Imagination thought the moment needed to be documented. The cheeses are delicious! We’re nearly through the second one.

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Simon has been fixing a car for Esther. It needed a new heater core, which he had to order from the States. When it came, he had to change the hoses to make it work. We took a couple of pictures to document this for his apprenticeship.16-IMG_661917-IMG_6620This picture is for the apprenticeship, as well. He had to take the head off the engine and replace all the valves; they got bent when the timing belt broke. That meant he was able to buy the car for very little, and hopefully Esther will have reliable transportation again! (Her car broke down in June and wasn’t worth fixing, so she’s been borrowing since then.) He just finished fixing up the car today; hopefully, it will get the new Warrant of Fitness sticker Monday, and Esther can start using it!

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The power went out one evening just as I finished cooking tea. We ate by candlelight—something that delighted the children! It turned out that our neighbor had been driving a tractor back here, which he does practically every day, since they are agricultural contractors, and a car that was passing him hit the rear wheel. The tractor turned over a couple of times and landed against an electric pole. The tractor ended up supporting the pole. The power was turned back on after about 45 minutes, but it took several hours to get the pole replaced. Thankfully, our neighbor wasn’t hurt too badly. He had a large bandage on his head, was limping, and had a lot of bruises, but he wasn’t thrown out of the cab, which we’re thankful for. The car turned over, too, but apparently the driver wasn’t hurt. The tractor had all its lights on, which means it would have been extremely visible—obviously the driver of the car made a big mistake. 02-IMG_6635

Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: Random Photos

July 2020 Photos

August 30, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Here are the last of the photos from July!

We bought a set of books from Creation Ministries, five books whose titles all begin with Untold Mysteries. They have been very popular—especially the Monumental Monsters one, about giant animals from the past. That book has been thoroughly studied!

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Mr. Imagination loves to make cardboard and paper creatures.39-IMG_6554

We get a lot of cream when the cow is in milk! She’s dry at the moment, but I was finding myself with up to three gallons of cream a week to make into butter. Through the winter, it was taking long enough to make butter in the food processor that I started brainstorming with the boys about how to build a butter churn that would do it all at once. Simon got started building a mechanical one, but in the meantime we tried this system. We strapped the bucket full of cream into the barrel section and rocked it back and forth. Unfortunately, we wore out long before butter was made. After 2-3 hours of rocking it, all we had was whipped cream. Oh, well. Not all our inventions work!

16-IMG_655530-IMG_6558One of the many pieces of heavy machinery that go past our house.

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Mr. Diligence is raising chicks again this year. He hasn’t had as good success as last year, when he only lost 1 out of the 100; this year, he has lost 9. They’re growing well, though! This picture was taken when they were a week or two old; now they’re about six weeks old.20-IMG_6562I heard a call of distress one evening and found this. She had gotten onto the couch, then climbed onto a wooden crate behind my chair and lost her balance as she knocked the lamp over. She was desperately holding on to the swivel chair and the sliding pile of books, wanting rescue.

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Doesn’t that look delicious? It’s a leg of lamb that a friend here gave us. 09-IMG_6601

We have a beautiful crop of purple broccoli and green cauliflower. I’m not sure which this is, but it almost looks like a cross between the two! I loved the colors on this head.12-IMG_6607

Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: Random Photos

Miss Joy Turns One

August 26, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Miss Joy had her birthday last week. We have a one-year-old again! We finally celebrated tonight; first, Esther was away, and then everyone came down with a tummy bug. Tonight, finally, enough people were feeling better that I made a pumpkin custard and we whipped some cream—two of her favorite foods. We gave her a bowlful of it and she was delighted!

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She continues to be a very busy little girl. We sure enjoy having her in our family! She loves books.

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She loves water and was thrilled to figure out that she could reach things at the sink one morning.13-IMG_661415-IMG_6616

Little Miss gave her some food—and she gave it to the cat!11-IMG_662512-IMG_6631

Escaping outside is so much fun—especially when there’s mud!18-IMG_6633She has fallen in love with dolls, especially this one, although she also lugs around the ones that are nearly her own size, too.

10-IMG_6638She loves to play the piano, too.

05-IMG_6639She got hold of a small New Testament today. I was in another room sewing, and was showed this picture by a happy big brother.

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Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: Miss Joy

Miss Joy in July

August 17, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 1 Comment

I just looked over my photos from July, and most of them were of Miss Joy! Do you think we’re enjoying her?

This was just before she started walking; she figured out that she could push the crate around.

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We roasted a turkey one evening, and she was delighted to be given some of the bones.

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I made a carob cake with a fudgy frosting, and when she climbed up to the table she was delighted to find something yummy!

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One of her brothers got these pictures before he left for work one morning.

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She loves to climb into the window and look out.

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She has been eating—and loving—ice cream for months already, but this was the first time she was handed a cone of her own. She loved it!

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All worn out!

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Simon with his little sisters.26-IMG_6539

Mr. Intellectual with his little sisters.38-IMG_6548

Checking out the cat’s tail! Princess has trained her by now to leave her alone

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Yes, we took her down from here as soon as the photo was snapped! She’s rather daring.

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Toes are so fun!08-IMG_658119-IMG_6582

She loves my cup.31-IMG_6590

She discovered the piano recently.

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She likes lettuce—especially the dressing on it!35-IMG_6606

Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: Baby, Miss Joy

June 2020 Photos, Part 2

August 8, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

I forgot to post this last weekend! Sorry, if anyone noticed. I’m still trying to catch up from being away from home six days in a row, including two days on the other side of the island visiting Esther for her birthday. I’m feeling a bit more caught up now. Esther came home for three days this week, and it was great to have her home for a little while. We’re hoping she’ll be home for a longer time soon; she’s helping a family from the homeschool group we used to be part of.

This is a very busy little girl. She must have found the paints that day!

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We enjoyed watching these ponies graze in front of our house for two years. Now, this section has sold, so the ponies graze somewhere else. Nothing has been done here yet, so we’re enjoying having open space in front of us still.16-IMG_6489

Mr. Imagination, my artistic son, made this creation.

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Little Miss Busy worked and worked to get into this box of jars. Her feet are several inches off the floor here. Once she had figured out what was inside the box, she gave me the grin in the next photo.

10-IMG_649019-IMG_6492We were given a lot of milk the last couple of weeks of June. One Saturday, I made three cheeses. See the three presses? The two on the table hold the cheese from 2 gallons (8 liters) and 5 gallons (20 liters). The one on the floor, with the buckets stacked on top for weight, holds the cheese from 60 liters (15 gallons). I made that cheese in 6 pots. I heated two pots, added the starter and moved them off the stove, heated the next two…. I did the same for the stirring and cooking step. It took a lot of concentration, but was fun. We’re eating that cheese now, and it turned out deliciously creamy. These are all Colby cheeses, and the smallest one, which we haven’t cut into yet, has chili peppers in it.

06-IMG_6493Here are the three cheeses after we took them out of the press the next day. That’s 15 kilos (maybe 35 pounds?) of cheese right there.

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She was delighted, one day, to be able to chew on her toes!

03-IMG_6484Gayle turned 50 the end of June. Esther was coming home from helping a family for six weeks, that day, so Gayle went to the top of one of the mountain passes to meet her and bring her home. That got him away from home for three hours, and the boys got busy cutting down trees as soon as he left. There were several trees around our yard that we didn’t want anymore, including this ornamental plum, the tall one behind the sleepout in the second picture, and the camelia in the third picture. I took off for town and bought two apple trees and a cherry tree, and the boys got them planted before Gayle got home, as a birthday surprise.

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There were several loads of brush to take to the dump down the hill, as well as some firewood. Mr. Intellectual is using the plum wood for smoking hams.1-IMG_6502

These wood pigeons were apparently living in the plum tree. They were quite upset by the loss of their home. We saw five at once! They soon adjusted to the new look, though.5-IMG_6504

Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: Random Photos

June 2020 Photos—Part 1

July 26, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

I have a lot of random photos from June that I don’t know how to group together well, so I’ll just post them this way.

Mr. Imagination badly wanted to make a braided loaf, so one day when we made bread we allowed him to. This is the result.

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We were given a whole sheep when we went to visit some friends—what a gift! The boys and Gayle got it cut up as soon as we arrived home, and we’ve been enjoying ribs, chops and roasts. Yum!

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Mr. Sweetie took this picture so that he could paint a picture of the tree and the treehut for Grandma.

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We spent one Friday morning making cards for Grandma’s birthday. They loved doing it!

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Miss Joy was thrilled the day she figured out how to climb on the stool and stand up! She’s pretty daring.

24-IMG_6459She was also thrilled to be able to play in the toybox.

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Daddy and his two little girls.

34-IMG_646148-IMG_6462A new bridge is being built beside our village. We can see the cranes from our house; it’s only half a mile or less from us. One day, we saw a pilot vehicle stopping traffic on the highway in front of our house. Nothing came past, and when the pilot vehicle moved away, we looked out the window to the next street over, and saw this. It was an enormous pipe for the bridge. These are being pounded deep into the riverbed to fill with concrete to form the piles for the new bridge. It was as long as a long semi trailer.

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A couple of days later, we saw this load: the reinforcing mesh to go inside the pipes! It’s always interesting to see what has changed when we go past the bridge site. The old bridge is a one-lane wooden bridge, built in the 1930s. There is asphalt over the wood, but it requires a lot of upkeep. The new bridge will be two lanes. It will likely feel safer—but I think I’ll miss the old one!

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Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: Random Photos

Videos for Grandma

July 18, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Back in May, Mr. Imagination and Little Miss decided they wanted to put on a show for us. They practiced and prepared all day, holed up behind a box or two at the end of the hallway, and I wasn’t supposed to look. They presented the show to us in the evening, while their older brothers were all outside working on some project. I was instructed to take a video of the whole thing for them. My camera doesn’t work the best anymore, and drained a couple of sets of batteries during this show, but you can enjoy at least part of what they did! If the singing doesn’t sound quite on tune, just remember that this is the boy who never even attempted to sing until he was about five years old. He didn’t quite inherit his father’s talent with music, like all the other children did, but he’s making a joyful noise! As far as the skit, they had watched a video of someone reading Stone Soup aloud.

Also back in May, Miss Joy discovered the picture window. We set her up on the window seat one morning, and she was delighted to be able to look outside–and then she discovered that the glass squeaked when she rubbed her head on it! We were in stitches as she squeaked her head over and over again! She had also just learned how to wave. The other two clips are from last week, when she learned to climb up into the windowsill. She was thrilled to figure out how to open the window.

Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: Miss Joy, Video

May 2020 Photos

July 12, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 2 Comments

Here are the rest of our photos from May! Miss Joy is a favorite subject.

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My oldest and youngest!08-IMG_6249

Miss Joy went into Esther’s room one evening and found her crocheting bag. She spent half an hour making a mess of this ball of yarn. Then, Esther got to straighten it out! Miss Joy had fun.19-IMG_389620-IMG_3897

We cleaned up a strip of land beside our garden, which was covered in large rhododendron bushes. Esther got a picture of the end of the process. We’re now planting fruit trees in that strip.22-IMG_3909

The boys also finished cleaning out the last of the corn stalks that day.23-IMG_3912

This little girl does not like coats!

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While she was away, Esther recorded herself reading a book she had started to read to the younger ones before she left. Here they are listening to another chapter. Can you tell that Simon loves stories, too?18-IMG_635619-IMG_6361

I was pleased with the green beans I harvested from the greenhouse in mid-May!20-IMG_6368

The younger ones did art for school for a few days—just art! They loved it.25-IMG_6372

Sleeping beauty. I love holding her when she’s asleep. She doesn’t last very long that way, though; she sleeps a lot longer if I put her in her bed.27-IMG_635428-IMG_6363

She loves sourkraut!29-IMG_637531-IMG_6378

While Esther was away, Mr. Intellectual got to make the bread for the family. He was quite pleased with how this first batch turned out.33-IMG_6365

Miss Joy is in love with this blanket!38-IMG_6369

Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: Miss Joy, Random Photos

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The Family:


Dad and Mom (Gayle and Emma)

Esther, my right hand

Boy #1, Seth (Mr. Handyman)

Boy #2, Simon (Mr. Inventor)

Boy #3, Mr. Intellectual

Boy #4, Mr. Diligence

Boy #5, Mr. Sweetie

Boy #6, Mr. Imagination

Little Miss

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