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Snow in the Grey Valley!

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We rarely ever see snow on the ground. When we lived in Cheviot, I believe we saw it four times in eight years. Here, we live in a river valley, at a very low elevation. We sometimes see snow on the mountains around us, but it’s been 10-15 years since our village had it on the ground. So, we were quite surprised, Sunday at lunchtime, to see this out the window:

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The children were thrilled!04-IMG_2123

The huge flakes came faster and faster!05-IMG_213506-IMG_2144

When we got home, there was snow on everything. 07-IMG_215308-IMG_592009-IMG_5921

The boys immediately started building snowmen.10-IMG_592211-IMG_592512-IMG_592613-IMG_5929

This will be one of my favorite pictures from this year! Left to right are Mr. Diligence, Simon, Mr. Imagination, Mr. Intellectual, and Mr. Sweetie.14-IMG_5938

The next morning, there was still a lot of snow around. Simon and Esther went to work, and Simon took this picture from the car.15-IMG_2172

I took these pictures from our living room window. 16-IMG_594217-IMG_5943

By Monday evening, the snow was gone, except for the snowmen, who stayed a little longer. Now they are just memories!

Photos En Route…and More From Michigan

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When I looked at my childrens’ memory cards, I found some interesting pictures taken on the way to and and the way home from America. I also found a few more taken in Michigan that I wanted to share! So, here you are.

This was on our first flight, from Christchurch to Auckland, when everyone was fresh and excited!

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I could see Farewell Spit from my window as we flew north. I’ve seen pictures of it at low tide, but it was apparently high tide this time—quite different!

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This was one of the interesting planes we saw on the tarmac in Auckland. I don’t know what airline it is, but the artwork on it was spectacular!

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Our first glimpse of snow on this trip came as we approached Chicago.

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My boys were fascinated with all the big planes parked at the International Terminal in Chicago.

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They also liked the diversion, during our four-hour layover in Chicago, which turned into five hours when the flight crew got held up in traffic, of watching luggage being loaded into the belly of our plane.13-IMG_5449

As we traveled home in our van across the mountains from Christchurch to the West Coast, we had to stop on the way down from Arthur’s Pass, because there are a couple of one-lane spots still from a major storm in November. We were amused by the tourists in front of us—two people jumped out of their cars to take a picture of this waterfall—so one of the boys took a picture of them taking a picture!IMG_3114

On the Sunday we were in Michigan, we drove to Ludington after church to see the ice at the breakwater. I’ve never seen the lake so high against that breakwall! We decided not to attempt walking out on it.

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There was a lunar eclipse that night. Some of us were still awake to watch it reach totality. We tried to wake some of the others up, and they groaned and rolled over. One of those, who shall remain nameless, came into my room a few hours later, still in the wee hours, and asked me when the eclipse was happening—he was quite unhappy to have missed it, and said we should have shaken him. We had.

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And, to wrap this up, here are a few more shots of snow-deprived little people enjoying a rare treat!

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We’re Home!—Photos From Michigan

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Six of us arrived home late last week after a three-week visit to Michigan and Ohio, visiting family (the other three stayed home to take care of things here). It was a wonderful trip…and an awful trip…and we enjoyed it immensely…and we’re very glad to be home! The time spent with family was wonderful. The stomach bug that laid all of us low for our last week and a half, and which came home with us to infect a couple of the ones who did such a wonderful job taking care of things here, was awful. I don’t have a lot of pictures I can share, because most of the ones we took are of other people, but there are enough to make a couple of posts. I’m always amused at some of the pictures my sons take!

 

Either the first or second day in Michigan, my mom and I both wanted a nap, so I sent the three boys outside to explore the farm I grew up on. I gave them guidelines so they wouldn’t get lost, and they had fun finding the creek and the woods. Mom’s cat followed them the whole way! There was no snow, but it was very cold; they had fun sliding on the ice. 

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The wedding was beautiful; I really appreciated the simplicity of everything, and it was so good to see my sister making her vows to a good man.  

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The little ones enjoyed playing with Grandma’s toys.

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It started snowing in earnest, and got very cold, after the wedding. My boys loved playing in the snow! We enjoyed watching the birds come to the feeder.

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When I stripped my bed to put on fresh sheets, I recognized the mattress protector! It was one of two Hudson Bay Company blankets that were in the house when my parents bought it in 1972. I had to call the children in to see this bit of history. It’s not in the best shape anymore, but still works as a warm underlay!

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Our trip to Ohio started out very snowy, with slick roads. After seeing 9 accidents, we were thankful to get south far enough to have drier roads!

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Daffodils—and a Winter Storm!

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Last Sunday afternoon on our way home from church we took a few minutes to drive through the Domain, the public land, to see the daffodils. They were sure gorgeous!2-IMG_04593-IMG_04624-IMG_0463

Then, Wednesday, a storm arrived from the south. As the weather forecast I saw put it, the wind was coming “straight off the Antarctic ice shelf”. It sure felt like it! All day Thursday, we had alternating rain, hail, and sunshine. I took these pictures less than a minute after one squall started—the hail turned the ground white that fast!6-IMG_0468

After dark, when another hail storm went through, Mr. Diligence went out and scraped ice off Mr. Inventor’s trailer. He brought it in the house and built this sculpture. Mr. Sweetie called it the Tower of Babel.7-IMG_04708-IMG_04719-IMG_0472

I wanted to clarify something from the post about hitting water in the well. Mr. Inventor did not find the design he used for a “drill” anywhere; he thought it up himself. He did watch YouTube and got several other ideas, but hasn’t tried any of them yet.

Snow!

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We got a little bit of snow this August. It wasn’t much; here at our house we had a tiny skiff one morning. Can you see the snow falling in this picture?01-IMG_0347

The little boys scraped up the snow that slid down the greenhouse and made a little snowman on a sled, but I don’t know if anyone got a picture of it. They were excited about the snow, even if there wasn’t much. The next morning when we went to church, the hills and mountains were gorgeous! We left early in case the road was slick, and kept four-wheel drive on till we got through the dangerous hills. 05-IMG_036406-IMG_036707-IMG_0371

Because we left for church early, and didn’t have any trouble, we had an extra 15 minutes before time for church to start, so we went out the the Peninsula. We hadn’t been out there in a long time, and it was fun to see the rocks, seals, and waves again.08-IMG_037509-IMG_037610-IMG_037811-IMG_0380

We certainly live in a beautiful place!

Winter Harvest, and random pictures

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One thing I really enjoy about our climate here is being able to grow things year-round.  Right now, it is the equivalent of early December in the Northern Hemisphere.  I harvested our salad and some vegetables for soup today, and spent some time weeding.  After spending six hours teaching the children, weeding is a great way to relax and reset.

Today's harvest--lettuce, radishes, green onions, parsley, and celery.
Today’s harvest–lettuce, radishes, green onions, parsley, and celery.
He was waiting for me to fill containers with weeds, so he could dump them into a larger container for me.
He was waiting for me to fill containers with weeds, so he could dump them into a larger container for me.

There was snow on the hills around us early last week.  We went to Dead Boring that day, and enjoyed the beautiful snowfall on the way there.

The Hurunui River, looking towards the sea.
The Hurunui River, looking towards the sea.
Farmed deer near Greta Valley.
Farmed deer near Greta Valley.
Coming over the Omihi Saddle into the Waipara Valley. You can see the Southern Alps in the distance.
Coming over the Omihi Saddle into the Waipara Valley. You can see the Southern Alps in the distance.
A hill to the west of us.
A hill to the west of us.

And, some pictures of the children.

Boy #3 was doing school, and baby wanted to do the same.
Boy #3 was doing school, and baby wanted to do the same.
Jealousy--I was holding boy #5, and baby had to get in between!
Jealousy–I was holding boy #5, and baby had to get in between!
Tired baby--he fell asleep being pushed in a stroller outside, and couldn't wake up for supper.
Tired baby–he fell asleep being pushed in a stroller outside, and couldn’t wake up for supper.
One of baby's many funny poses!
One of baby’s many funny poses!
Baby thinking about the hat someone put on him!
Baby thinking about the hat someone put on him!
Boy #4 dumping a container of weeds.
Boy #4 dumping a container of weeds.