Canterbury

Building Project

January 17, 2018 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Mr. Diligence decided about a month ago that he wanted to build a chicken coop for our new place. We didn’t know yet where we were going to move, or if we would need a coop, but I encouraged him to do it anyway. We figured that if we got a place that already had a coop, he could sell it. We had a lot of boards that Esther’s employer gave us when they remodeled their house, so this project didn’t cost anything except a few nails.

He decided to build in a curtain for times when we have tiny chicks that need protection from drafts. It is normally kept rolled up.

The builders, pleased with the results of their labor.

Simon’s boss wanted to help us move, but can’t the weekend we plan to move, because of family circumstances, so he came over to get a couple of loads during the two weeks Simon had off over Christmas/New Year’s. He used his large car transporter to haul buildings for us. The chicken coop was the first to go. It was a challenge to figure out how to get it on the trailer!

November 2017 Pictures

December 21, 2017 by NZ Filbruns 3 Comments

Here are the rest of November’s pictures.

The kittens were born about the middle of November, and we have really been enjoying them. I allowed Mr. Imagination to choose one to keep, since he so badly wants a pet of his own. He chose this one, and was thrilled when her eyes opened and he could hold her.

For Mr. Diligence’s birthday, some friends came, and the boys went on a 31 kilometer bike ride around the area.

School time!

Esther helped Mr. Imagination make peanut butter balls one day. Little Miss enjoyed helping, too—and they both loved eating them!

The roses are a bit past their peak now, but a few weeks ago Mr. Imagination picked a bunch and made this arrangement!

Mr. Intellectual’s science experiment to show how the diaphragm and lungs work.

He has also been trying to work out how to make a small hot air balloon. So far, none of his designs has been light enough to get off the ground, and now that we’re back into a bad drought, he has to halt his experiments so he won’t cause a fire.

They attached a fishing line to the balloon, in case it would rise.

The geese and 3-week-old goslings.

The kittens at a day old.

Everyone was rather distracted one morning when a trucker came to take away a truck trailer that had been here for years. Mr. Intellectual helped him load some other stuff on his truck as well, to take to the owners of this place. My little people really enjoyed watching the crane in action! Mr. Sweetie took his schoolbook outside so he could work while he watched. He actually got a little done!

Port Robinson

December 13, 2017 by NZ Filbruns 1 Comment

One Monday afternoon a few weeks ago, we needed to be out of the house for awhile because our landlady was showing a potential buyer through the house. We decided to go out to Port Robinson; a few weeks before that date, Gayle had taken Mr. Diligence out for a picnic and fun time together, and they discovered the trail leading down to the old harbor. The rest of us wanted to see it, too, so we went there on that beautiful, sunny afternoon.

The path down to the beach parallels the old slipway for awhile. It’s pretty overgrown.

Gore Bay from the trail.

Port Robinson

This is what’s left of the bottom of the slipway. Approximately 120 years ago, the way I understand, this was about the only way to get goods in and out of Cheviot. They had a surfboat which they lowered down the slipway from the top of the cliff and out into the bay to where ships would anchor, to ship wool out. Supplies were brought back up in the surfboat with a winch.

Mr. Intellectual and Mr. Sweetie

That red blob is a sea anemone.

I was intrigued by the swirls in some of the rocks.

When we saw this flock of seagulls feeding just offshore, we wished we had brought our fishing poles! There would have been big fish there, too, feeding on a school of small ones.

There are two paua, known in California as abalone, in this picture. Can you find them?

We enjoyed finding these two large starfish!

Mr. Diligence was fascinated by the way the starfish held on to him.

Mr. Sweetie

Mr. Intellectual and Mr. Sweetie, with Mr. Imagination in the foreground.

We even got to see a jellyfish!

Another starfish!

When it was flipped over, we discovered that it was feeding! A couple of the children were able to see its stomach being sucked back inside after it let go of the snail.

This was a very fun afternoon—don’t tell the children it was a field trip! We ended our time with a stop at Gore Bay to play in the water for 15 minutes. I’m so glad I didn’t twist my ankle until after this trip and the one to Hurunui Mouth several days later.

Fishing Expeditions

December 2, 2017 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Gayle took the boys fishing one Sunday evening about a month ago. They were very excited to come home with 14 large kowai! Mr. Diligence had a birthday the next day, so we had fish for supper.

Today, we tried again. We all went out this time, hoping for a repeat—but not even one fish was caught this time. Oh, well. You never know when a school of fish will be coming in the river. It was a beautiful day out there anyway! This is what the Hurunui Mouth looked like today; quite different from the last time I was out there. We walked all the way around the lagoon to get to the mouth this time.

These gulls were flying around making quite a fuss. We found out why when someone discovered a nest!

I saw these ducks swimming in the lagoon.

A lupine bush. What a wonderful smell!

It was interesting to notice the variety in terrain just on that short walk along the lagoon. Here was a rock cliff; soon there was a patch of white limestone; and a lot of the time the hillside was covered with grass and bushes!

I wish I could share more of the experience with you. All I can do is give you a little glimpse of the scenery. There is so much more to it than that, however. There are the sounds—gulls screaming, waves crashing on the shore, and ripples lapping on the rocks and shores around the lagoon. There are the smells—the sea smell and the wonderful aroma of the lupines. There are the sensations—the hot sun, the cool sea breeze, the hot rocks and sand under foot. There is even taste—salt on your lips from the spray blown off the tops of the waves! And of course, the scenery is so much bigger and more beautiful than my camera can capture.

Back Route From Culverden

November 29, 2017 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

One recent Sunday, when we went to church at Waikari, we joined our friends for a picnic lunch in Culverden in honor of a 40th birthday. Although it was a cloudy, windy day, we enjoyed our time with them. When we left, we decided to take the back way from Culverden back to Cheviot. We had seen that route on the map years ago, and always wanted to know what it was like. In fact, our children had been talking for quite awhile about riding across it on bikes. This is what the road was like for about the first 30-40 minutes we were on it: a farm track! We kept going because there had been a sign at the beginning, indicating that it connected to a road.

Looking back toward Culverden. The views were incredible!

Finally, the track turned into a real road again, and we got back home, only spending an extra 45 minutes or so traveling. We may never do that again, but it was fun for once!

Climb Up Hurunui Bluffs

November 25, 2017 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

A few weeks ago, when we went to Waikari for church, we had a picnic lunch with a family we’ve grown to love, and then climbed a track to the top of the bluffs over the Hurunui River. The day was clear and beautiful, with the bluest sky you ever saw! The wind was blowing fiercely, but most of the time we were walking, the track was sheltered somewhat. The views were incredible all the way up, and especially at the top.

We started out by walking up the road a short ways, and then climbed over a stile beside the gate in the second picture. Then, the track went up, and up and up! For a long ways, a trickle of water ran through a rut at the side of the track. As we came to a place where the track leveled out and it looked like we were going downhill, I checked that trickle and, to my surprise, the water was still running the same direction! Apparently, the leveling out and downhill was an illusion.

Looking back toward the Hurunui River. The gap in the hills in the distance, if I understood right, is the Hurunui Gorge. If you’ve ever read the excellent book The Runaway Settlers, that is where they drove cattle through to sell them to gold miners on the West Coast.

Our goal was that hut at the top of the hill. It was a fire spotter’s hut at one time.

Mr. Sweetie

October 2017 Pictures

November 4, 2017 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Here are the rest of the pictures from October!

It’s hard to see in this picture, but one thing they’ve done to stabilize this cliff face is to put black netting over the loose rocks. You can see it on the left side of the top.

These are five-ton blocks of concrete—and a slip pushed them over!

Mr. Intellectual is doing a course called “Thinking Like an Engineer.” He’s loving it, especially the experiments. In this one, he had to pile books an inch above the floor, using one sheet of printer paper. You’ll have to wait till I write the review of the course to see how tall a stack he achieved!

Mr. Sweetie built this stack of animals, and then took 16 pictures of it!

This was the latest dump find. Mr. Intellectual is loving his “new” roll-top desk!

We got out the microscope one day to look at some algae. It was still out several days later when I was cutting up meat, so we looked at that, too.

The first picture is skeletal muscle; the second is cardiac muscle. Mr. Intellectual had just been studying about these muscles a few days before, so this was a timely opportunity.

Mr. Imagination and Little Miss spend most of the morning playing together while the bigger boys do school. They got out the rocking horse one day and had great fun on it for a long time.

Little Miss can spend hours playing with these tiny animals. She loves sorting them.

One day, Little Miss wanted to paint, so I gave her a brush and a bucket of water and told her to paint the house.

Mr. Imagination was delivering quite a fiery sermon to his brother and sister! I enjoyed listening, while I picked lettuce nearby and pretended not to pay attention.

New Babies

October 29, 2017 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

It’s spring! That means there are lots of new babies around.

We were given a lamb the last week of September. See the cat eyeing it? The other cat took one look and hid for the rest of the day!

The cows and ducks were pretty curious, too. This lamb is named Daisy. By now, she’s free in the paddock, but she spends a lot of the day crying at the gate for more food, or attention.

We were given two more lambs when Daisy was a few weeks old. They are named Dusty and Debbie. We have the beginning of a flock of sheep—three little ewe lambs!

We came home from a trip to the West Coast to find eight new goslings! I didn’t want to get close to them to take a picture, so this is really zoomed in and not the best. These particular geese have never attacked anyone, but I don’t trust geese too far.

The little boys are loving taking care of the lambs!

September 2017 photos

October 25, 2017 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Here are the last few photos from September, that didn’t fit into any other posts.

When everyone else works on cleaning the house on Saturdays, Little Miss wants to do her cleaning, too. She has decided that spraying the walls and scrubbing them is her job. She sure loves to spray water!

Licking the beaters is the best part of making pavlova!

The boys brought in four goose eggs one day. They decided to blow out the insides and paint the shells.

Mr. Imagination did this one.

Esther made herself a new dress, and used the leftover fabric to sew an apron for her little sister.

Princess doing what she does best.

On our way to the Dead Boring concert a few weeks ago, we got to see the Weka Pass train—it’s just a short excursion train from Waipara to Waikari. Fun to see a steam engine!

Gore Bay

October 18, 2017 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Simon came home for a few days a couple of weeks ago. We loved seeing him again, and spending time with the family he lives with, as well. We took them out to Gore Bay, since the weather was so lovely. I don’t think I had been out there since January! Everything was so clear and gorgeous.

One of the must-sees in Cheviot is Cathedral Lookout, above the south end of Gore Bay. I never tire of seeing this place. I couldn’t decide which perspective I liked better, so decided to use both pictures.

Gore Bay was so beautiful that day, too! This is the south end, looking toward Port Robinson. It was high tide, so we didn’t go down to the rocks at the point.

Mr. Intellectual kept busy a long time building this tower.

Does it look like Simon is happy to be with his family again?

We went to the playground, too. I felt dizzy just watching the merry-go-round!