Spring

We brought a few jump ropes home from America, ones that were made from strips of t-shirts braided together. The girls loved them–the boys decided they were too small and light for them.

I had never seen a rainbow as low to the horizon as this one! It was incredibly bright.

Mr. Imagination still has the right name! We were given a boxful of citrus fruits, and he carefully crafted these teeth from a rind, to wear over his own teeth.

Tui like kowhai blossoms!

Miss Joy and her cats! Sometimes when she’s bored I hand her my phone and tell her to photograph the cats. This time, she obviously decided to feed them so they would all be in the same picture.

And, another picture of a cat!

The fad for a few days was building houses of cards.

This is Mr Imagination, tossing a piece of food in the air and trying to catch it in his mouth. He and Simon, who also stayed home from Bible Study one evening, did this as long as the pineapple pieces held out!

I think one of the girls took this picture–not sure which one. The flowers are in one of their playhouses.

Little Miss got to raise two calves this year. Our cow Maple had the brown one the end of July. We were delighted to have an A2A2 heifer calf from her! We needed a companion for Maggie when we brought her home from where the two were boarding while we were in America, so we asked some dairy farmer friends for a beef cross, and they gave us the white one, a Charolais-cross that we named Misty. We’re quite happy that both calves are quiet and calm.

For several days, the fad was taking pictures of Reepicheep sitting on a phone.

James dislocated and fractured his shoulder the day we traveled home from America, so he was off work for six weeks. Because he can’t stand to do nothing, he found all sorts of projects that could be done one-handed. One of those jobs was collecting all the buckets around the place and water blasting them. Here they are, stacked up to dry. I could hardly believe the size of the stack.

This was another job–a tool rack for the front of the chicken coop, which is in the middle of the garden. He got one of his two-handed brothers to pound the pipes in to make the holders for the tools. We are delighted to have this rack; because it is handy, and easy to use, we actually put our tools away instead of leaving them around the garden. Now, the spot where the tool rack was has hooks for raincoats, and boots can sit on the floor of the carport under them. Perfect!

Spring flowers!

School time!

The base-10 blocks are much more fun for building with than for counting with!