We spent last weekend visiting friends back in Canterbury. Saturday was a beautiful, sunny day. The boys wanted to go hunting and set lines for eels at the creek down the hill from the house. The girls tagged along behind them, and Gayle and I followed the girls. We spent a couple of hours going up and down the rugged hills, and over the creek several times. It was so nice to be outside in that beautiful, peaceful setting, in the sunshine!
Simon’s bow and arrows were popular!
The boys lost a couple of arrows. Here they are looking for one, unsuccessfully.
The only thing they caught when hunting was some geese who live near the woolshed. They caught four altogether, and I was glad when they decided to let them go unharmed.
After a few crossings, the boys started chopping down branches to make bridges for us. At one crossing before that, however, Gayle offered to carry me across so I wouldn’t get wet, since I can’t find my gumboots (they got lost when we moved). I apprehensively said he could, so he picked me up, stepped into the creek—and suddenly sat down on the bank! His foot had slipped. My foot got wet, so I just walked across without worrying anymore about cold, wet feet. It was pretty funny, but I was just as glad no children were within sight at the moment!
We climbed the top of this ridge to get above the ravine where the creek was.
The farmer whose family we were visiting came in sight as we started walking along the hill, driving a small herd of cows with his dogs.
One last bridge.
The boys stood in the water to form a human hand rail for us older folks.
