Canterbury

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

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 Bay Is he really having fun?

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

This Has Been an Interesting Week!

November 19, 2011 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

This week has been very full, and I haven’t had any great inspirations for a good post, so here’s a quick look through some pictures Esther took throughout the week.

Sunday morning was a beautiful morning to drive to church–but apparently eggs are not a good choice for Sunday morning breakfast. I’ve been watching what we eat and how the children react in terms of carsickness (quite an issue when you go through the Hundalees and along the coast!), and the two weeks lately that we’ve had eggs we’ve had a lot of complaints about upset tummies. The week in between, when we had granola, no one complained. Anyway, this time the youngest got sick, for the first time, and got you-know-what all over his shirt, pants, and car seat. We pulled off immediately and cleaned up while the children enjoyed the ocean. What we didn’t get a picture of was Daddy down at the water, rinsing out the shirt and pants when an extra-large wave drenched him!

Sunday evening after we got home, one boy asked to look up how to make a slingshot, on YouTube. A magpie has been terrorizing the boys, and drew blood on one the day before–he came in with his hand pressed against his head, and blood streaming down his forehead. It seems to be a juvenile magpie, just having fun. (The juvenile delinquent of the bird world?) So, my boys are out to protect their family from this terrorist and a slingshot seemed to be a halfway decent idea. This was what he came up with, and we had the materials on hand (milk bottle top and balloon; he added duct tape to secure the balloon later):

Monday was a gorgeous day, and my photographer got some beautiful shots of the animals and the views from around the house. This is our landlord’s paddock of wheat and corners of some of our raised beds.

The cow–happy because she can be near one of the calves, even though he isn’t hers.

The hills west of us in the evening; wheat in the foreground.

Tuesday we went to Christchurch for Dead Boring (homeschool writing group). The younger children were playing at making a garden in the afternoon. All five of my boys are in this group–can you pick them out?

The family who hosted DB this time live across the street from the Avon River–still beautiful in most places even if sewage gets in it now! The water level seems a lot higher than before the February earthquake; if I understand right, the bed of the river was pushed up.

The house next door to our friends is unoccupied; the people moved out after the September quake over a year ago. This crack goes through their yard.

We drove through a section of town that I hadn’t been in since a week before the February quake. Although a lot has been cleaned up, the destruction is still incredible. It seems like all the older, beautiful buildings are gone or going, and only the newer, less pretty ones are left. So sad.

This picture doesn’t show it very well, but the whole house was sort of “wracked”–almost twisted. This entire area is going to be demolished and not rebuilt.

The Grand Chancellor Hotel–tallest building in Christchurch. It’s been leaning since February 22, and now it’s being demolished.Churches, built out of brick or stone, suffered the most.

…And we were glad to get back home again to our peaceful spot in the country, far away from the quakes and the city!

The roses are blooming! With 40 bushes around the house, and most of them different varieties, we enjoy quite the array of colors.

While I was in town on Tuesday, I bought 30 kilograms of carrots. I wanted to bottle 20 kg of them for quick additions to soups, so Wednesday I had the boys peel and chop while I read to them. They did about half that day. The next day, they got started on the remaining carrots before I even suggested it, and before I knew what was happening they were finished–with no story to listen to! They were racing to see who could peel and chop five the quickest. My boys are growing up.

Friday we went back to Christchurch because Gayle had a series of appointments with medical professionals to get a paper saying that he does not have tuberculosis. Hopefully now our permanent residency visa will go through.

So there you have it–the partial story of our week! I am very thankful that I don’t have to go to town very often, let alone twice in a week! Glad to have it over with, but I’m also glad we were able to go and attend Dead Boring, get the medical work done, and we even got to have a date while we were there (a dear friend kept the children for a few hours!). It was also good to be able to stock up on groceries and get fresh produce that we can’t afford up here (I spent nearly $200 on produce this week–but hadn’t bought much of any for six weeks.)

Dead Boring Bike Hike 2011

August 31, 2011 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

I know it’s been awhile since I’ve put anything on here. Our keyboard has been acting up for the past two weeks, and it takes twice as long as usual to type anything. Today was special, though, so I decided to share it anyway.

We are part of a homeschool writing group called Dead Boring. Every two weeks during school terms we meet at someone’s home and the children each read a story they’ve written. We eat lunch together, and then the children play with their friends while the moms fellowship. This group has been an incredible blessing in our lives here. We also do a few fun things through the year, and today was one of those.

We met at Waikari, about 50 minute’s drive south of us, and the children and some adults biked to Scargill, approximately 20 km. My four oldest all did the entire route, but I drove James partway and then let him out to ride. I followed along behind him, and enjoyed the beautiful day. It was a perfect time to get some good pictures of our gorgeous scenery! The children all absolutely loved the day, although they are very tired tonight. James actually rode 13.5 km–I couldn’t believe he went that far on that little bike!

The scenery between the highway and Waikari was incredibly beautiful!