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You are here: Home / Archives for Canterbury

Canterbury

Beach and Playground

August 18, 2012 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Yesterday the sun shone!  We’ve had several weeks of mostly rainy days, so when it was nice yesterday I challenged the children to finish their schoolwork by 11:00.  Everyone was done by 11:30, so we went to the beach for a little while.  We wanted to be home by 1:00 to be around when our landlord’s son came over to work with a wild cow that was here, but the beach is less than 15-minute’s drive away so we can go for just a short time.

A cold wind was blowing off the Pacific, so we didn’t stay out there very long.  I told the boys to see who could find the most interesting item washed up along the high-tide line, and they came up with some good ones.  There was part of a horse mussel shell with barnacles on it, a sponge attached to a shell, and a clump of several different seaweeds with various shells through it.  The 2-year-old collected a lot of sponges.  (When his Daddy came home from work, he wanted to show him his “seahorses”!)

The trail that goes up and over a small bluff to the beach.

Off on the search for treasure!

The clump of seaweed and shells.I carried baby, in his wrap, and the sponges that 2-year-old collected.

After spending awhile on the beach, we went to the playground on the other side of the bluff.  There is just enough of a rise of land to break the wind, and it was lovely and warm there.  Some of the boys just climbed around, but most of them spent time one time or another figuring out how to balance the seesaw with their various weights.  A seesaw, by the way, is a great way to learn how a balance scale works, and how you can use your weight on a lever in different ways!

Balanced! Baby woke up and enjoyed the bright day, too! On our way home, we drove through the Cheviot Domain–an area of public land–to admire the daffodils.

Filed Under: Away From Home Tagged With: Canterbury, Children, gore bay, Ocean

This Past Week

July 1, 2012 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

It’s not real easy to write when most computer time involves multi-tasking (which being interpreted means feeding the baby!).  I’ll just put in a few pictures from this past week.

Baby thinks life is rough!  He even frowns in his sleep!

For Dead Boring last week, we met in a gym and the children played while the moms talked.  The group is so large now that we’ve had to split in two, but still want to all see each other occasionally.  Four times a year we plan to meet this way, and just have a social day without sharing writings like we normally do.  The children played hockey.

These are two of my boys, James and Simon.

The child farthest left and the one third from right are mine.

Baby studies things–mostly to figure out how they’ll taste!

Haircuts last night!  This was the pile after I cut six heads of hair!

Bedtime story!  We’re reading Horse of a Different Color, by Ralph Moody, right now.  Baby was asleep with his mouth clamped tightly shut.

On our way home from church today, we stopped for half an hour at the beach, where the Kowhai River empties into the sea just south of Kaikoura.  The waves were very high today.  I love those cliffs in the distance, just south of Oaro.

Brotherly love–the bank at the edge of the parking area, going down to the river’s edge, was steep, with these large rocks.  I like this one so well I put it on my desktop screen!

This is the boy who reads the best, enjoying Naya Nuki by Ken Thomasma for the fourth time.

Big sis was playing with her new tripod, and caught this picture.  Glad that leg was up to hide everything else!

Filed Under: Activities at Home, Away From Home Tagged With: Baby, Canterbury, Children, Homeschooling, Kaikoura, Ocean, Random Photos

Fossil Hunting

June 13, 2012 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Yesterday at our homeschool writing group meeting, a man showed us a powerpoint presentation about fossils.  He has been collecting fossils for several years and has an impressive collection from the local area.  My boys badly wanted to go to Gore Bay and search for fossils along the cliffs there, so, since it was sunny and warm today, we went right after lunch.  When we arrived, the tide was high, with waves hitting the cliffs, so we sat on top and read some of our books for school before we went down.  The tide was still so high that we couldn’t get to the best places, but the boys climbed up some of the less-vertical cliffs anyway.  We never found anything that we were sure was a fossil today, but had fun exploring anyway.  One unusual thing we saw was an oystercatcher (bird) with a missing foot!  I could tell something was strange about it, and when I was able to see its tracks, it had one normal footprint and one that was just a round peg.  Poor thing.

The tide when we arrived.

Reading stories.

This one quickly got bored with the stories and found something more interesting! Climbing the cliff to hunt for fossils

After they gave up on fossils, they cut a few branches of lupine bushes.

Driftwood makes a great boat.

The tide when we left–quite a ways farther out, and notice the shadows. Short days right now.

And these two pictures are just because they’re cute!  The first one was this morning when 2-year-old needed something to do during school and I assigned him to “read” to baby.

This one was after we got home this afternoon.  I set baby on the couch while I went to do something else, and when I came back he was staring, fascinated, at his booties!  They kept wiggling!

Filed Under: Activities at Home, Away From Home Tagged With: Baby, Canterbury, gore bay, Nathan, Ocean, Science

Apple Picking

May 20, 2012 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Yesterday afternoon we went to pick apples to feed to the cow.  Well, it was a great excuse to take a drive around an area we don’t otherwise have an excuse to go to!  We did get apples to feed to her, to help keep up milk production, and had a great afternoon together enjoying gorgeous scenery.

We drove through the hills to the west of us.  Lots more rugged than right here where we live!

The first tree we found that had apples on it was at the top of a steep cliff!  This cliff went nearly straight up–no problem for my fellows!  The rest, however, found a slightly easier route a little to the left of this picture.

I did not go up.  The two youngest stayed down with me.  After the rest had all gone up, the 2 1/2-year-old decided he wanted to, also.  As he was standing at the base of the cliff, facing it, he proclaimed, “I am going to climb up the hill!”  After a pause, “Where is the hill?”  I told him he was looking at it.  The place he was standing at was an eroded, rocky spot that went up at about a 45° angle.  He gave it a try, but soon gave up and told me, “This is a broken hill.  This is interesting!”

The next tree we stopped at was beside this wool shed/yards.  We only stopped there because we remembered the tree from last year.  It bears small, delicious orange apples.  There were two left.  We went several weeks later this year than last.

The birds had gotten most of the apples from this tree, but we got some that weren’t too rotten .

After picking up apples from that last tree, we allowed the boys to run on ahead and see how far they could get before we caught up with them.  We drove slowly to give them time, and I believe they got most of a kilometer!  The one in the lead kept going till he had gone probably twice as far as the others before they gave up.  They had fun doing that!

This hillside dotted with Angus cows was beautiful–and we got to see it from both sides.  The road continues on, then doubles back just beside those pine trees at the top of the photo.

Filed Under: Away From Home Tagged With: Canterbury, Family Time

Baby’s First Outing

April 7, 2012 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Today was Baby’s first time to leave home.  We took a picnic lunch to Gore Bay, and the older children played in the sand for a couple of hours.  Esther and Grandma enjoyed taking pictures!

Baby slept happily on the way to Gore Bay and for an hour or more while we were there.

Lots of waves and lots of foam today!

When the waves went out, there was still enough water in the sand to make reflections. Daddy, Grandma, and the boys.

Baby was not happy about being in his seat when we left, and cried until he fell asleep (in a couple of minutes!) with this aggrieved expression on his face.

 

Filed Under: Away From Home Tagged With: Canterbury, Children, gore bay, Nathan, New Baby, Ocean

End of Wheat Harvest

March 13, 2012 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

After the wheat was harvested, the straw was baled–they got 251 BIG bales off the three paddocks (50 acres) here.


Then, they lined the bales up along the road and at the edge of one of the paddocks,mowed down the stubble for about 10 feet around the inside of each paddock, and raked that stubble into the standing stubble.  The next step was to plow a firebreak all around where they had mowed stubble,and then burn off the paddocks.  To burn them, they used a drag to pull a pile of stubble together, lit it, and drove around the paddock through the raked stubble.  As they drove, the stubble caught on fire and soon the entire paddock was ablaze. 
Within a very short time, it was all over and all that was left was black.

Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: Canterbury, Farming

Hedge Trimming

March 13, 2012 by NZ Filbruns 1 Comment

I know this is common-place to natives of Canterbury, but it was something totally new for us.  There are hedges around many paddocks and houses, to break the wind and give privacy, and every couple of years they are trimmed.  The one in front of our house was trimmed two years ago, right after we moved into this house, and now it’s been done again.  This time, we were home to see it done!

 

Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: Canterbury

Today’s Family Fun!

February 24, 2012 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Our family fun activity today was electric- and halter-breaking our two calves!  It was quite the rodeo, with one calf collapsing and rolling over into the mud, then deciding he would never willingly stand up again.  The other was scared nearly out of his skin.  We did accomplish our purpose (we hope), at least as far as electric-breaking, and got both calves out in the big paddock with the cows.

Charley decides he will not be moving anywhere, ever.

Meatball doesn’t want to move, either.

Daddy’s home! Reinforcements for our side. Poor Charley had no options left.

Meanwhile, the little boys were playing by themselves.

Calves are stuck in tiny enclosures of electric wire to learn what to respect.

Mom is excitedly waiting for her son to arrive!

Investigating each other!

Now they have lots of room to roam.

Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: Animals, Canterbury, Cheviot, Cow, Farming

Finding a Bull

December 28, 2011 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

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!

Filed Under: Away From Home Tagged With: Canterbury, Cow, Farming, Ocean

Picnic at the Ocean

November 19, 2011 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

We had a spur-of-the-moment picnic at the ocean tonight.  I threw together a quick casserole by baking sausages and cutting them into little pieces, then mixing in a couple of cans of baked beans and topping it with leftover mashed potatoes, while Elijah made Ants on a Log (celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins) and Esther cut up fruit.  Then, while the casserole baked, we milked quickly and then left.  The children had great fun digging in the sand, while Gayle and I got to be by ourselves and walk down the beach to the rocky cliffs at the other end.  What a lovely end to the day!

Looking south along Gore BayIs he really having fun?

One of my sweet boys picked this bouquet for me on the way back up the cliff!

Filed Under: Away From Home Tagged With: Canterbury, Children, gore bay, Ocean

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The Family:


Dad and Mom (Gayle and Emma)

Girl #1, 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

Girl #2, Little Miss

Girl #3, Miss Joy

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