Video

Devil’s Punchbowl

January 10, 2021 by NZ Filbruns 4 Comments

We arrived home a few days ago from a family road trip. Warning: There will be many posts over the next few weeks with pictures from our trip! I took over 400 pictures on my camera, and am borrowing pictures from three or four other cameras! I just spent a couple of hours sorting and organizing pictures, and have only finished the first day. This may take awhile.

Anyway, on with the story! We left here around 3:00 in the afternoon on Monday, the 28th of December. We had decided to only drive an hour and a half the first day, to allow time to pack and get everything wrapped up here. It’s a massive undertaking to get ten people ready for a 12-day trip, and organize care for all the animals, as well. Everyone worked together well, though, and we were ready earlier than I had originally hoped. We traveled in two vans, ours and Simon’s. Elijah had spent a few days taking the back seats out of both vans and building beds in them. That left four seats in our gray van, and six in Simon’s red van. We packed our luggage and food under the beds, and figured out how to fit the entire family into the two vehicles to sleep at night.

Off we go toward the mountains!

The pohutukawa was in bloom in the mountains. This tree is often called the New Zealand Christmas tree. It is beautiful!

The road up the Otira Gorge to Arthur’s Pass is always stunning.

I don’t necessarily like driving up the 16% grade, but the Otira Viaduct is an incredible feat of engineering.

The old road is up there. Can you see why they built the viaduct?

Since we had extra time, we decided to walk up to the Devil’s Punchbowl. We’ve been wanting to do that for several years. Mom, we thought of you when we went up this track!This is the view from the carpark. See the train? It was the TranzAlpine passenger train, just coming out of the tunnel that goes under the pass. The tunnel is 8.5 kilometers long, with a steep grade.

We soon set off on our tramp. Most of the children ended up way ahead of us. Here they were regrouping in a meadow.

This is the view downriver from the bridge.The waterfall comes through the “V” between the mountains.

Here are some of the 401 steps that make the track a little easier!I had not done very much physically for a month, because of a health problem, and the climb up those 401 steps was quite challenging!

The children went past the viewing platform on a track that took them to the base of the falls. I didn’t go there!

Mr. Diligence got this view looking downstream from the base of the falls.

Esther took a video of the falls. It can’t compare to actually being there, but maybe it will help give an idea of what we saw.

I like this one! Elijah is to the left, and Simon is holding Miss Joy. She was not happy up there—she didn’t like the cold, wet spray, and was calling for “Mama, Mama!”

Miss Joy was quite happy to be reunited with her daddy and I.

She wanted to walk down the steps by herself. They let her walk a little, but a 16-month-old is rather slow! Little Miss enjoyed jumping down several steps at once for a short ways.

See Arthur’s Pass Village at the base of the mountain?

Everyone stopped in the little meadow again when they reached it, and waited for us slow ones to arrive. We all rested in the warm sunshine for awhile, and just enjoyed being together.

Little Miss wanted her picture taken as we were walking back to the vans.

We parked for the night in the driveway of some friends who live in the village. They weren’t home, but had kindly allowed us to use their driveway and the needed facilities in the house. This is the view we saw from the van, across their yard, as the sun was getting low.

We cooked hamburgers on a campstove in the driveway. It was getting rather chilly!

After supper, and getting set up for sleeping for the night, some of us played a game of Ricochet Robots on the bed in the gray van.That was a fun, novel experience!

Gayle and Little Miss walked to a small waterfall behind the house. Mom, this is the one we walked to from the visitor’s center several years ago.Then, as it got dark, we settled in to sleep for the night. One or two people slept under the queen bed on the platform in each van, Miss Joy slept on her cot mattress on the floor in ours, and Mr. Sweetie and Mr. Imagination slept on a mattress on a plywood platform set over the front bench seat in the red van. Everyone was comfortable, and everyone slept well that night.

Miss Joy in December

January 3, 2021 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

This little girl keeps herself busy, and keeps us entertained! She doesn’t like hats, but kept this old fireman’s hat on long enough for someone to grab a photo.

She was engrossed in the movie everyone else was watching! Can you see what she chose as a seat? It’s a 10-liter paint bucket on its side. She was actually sitting on it, though it’s hard to tell from this picture.Her daddy helped her walk in this empty potato bag.

We found her one evening diligently scrubbing her foot with a cloth. I couldn’t quite capture her scrubbing on her foot, because she moves too fast, but she worked at it for about five minutes.Does she like pudding?

Tired baby!

She loves brushing her teeth. Any time she sees the toothbrushes, or someone brushing their teeth, she wants to do hers, too. That’s Mr. Imagination brushing his with Daddy and Miss Joy.

This is a “canoe” that Mr. Imagination built for her.

Miss Joy spent a long time carefully putting her blankie into this bucket, and then climbed in on top of it.

One evening we went to the park across the road from us. Several of us played a game, and Daddy took the younger ones to the swings. Miss Joy loved the gravel under the swings!

She loves to feed the cats. Then, she helps herself, too. Esther caught her eating with them one day—putting her mouth down to pick pieces up just like the cats do. She’s such a mimic—but this is one thing I’d rather she not do!

She went into the milking shed one day and found the jar of salve we use on the cows’ teats. She had it spread liberally all over her face, arms and legs. She had pulled her pants up so she could get it all the way up to her knees. What a mess!

Here’s a short video clip Esther got of her one evening when Mr. Diligence was playing with her. I laugh every time I watch it!

Videos–Cattle and Tractor

November 16, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 1 Comment

Last Friday evening, the boys moved our heifer Pansy, her calf Iris, and our other heifer calf Bluebell, down to the bottom paddock. I had been milking Pansy, but her teats are so small my hands were not holding up to the job, so we put the calves on her for now. We tried to get her to feed our steer, too, but she hates him with a passion and if he’s around she won’t let the others near, either. It’s always amusing to watch calves being led on a rope for the first time–it’s a good thing Simon is so strong! He had quite a fight with Iris.

Simon moved his tractor and his vintage car to his house last weekend. In preparation, he moved them around the evening before, and Esther got a video clip of him driving the tractor. It runs well, but he was having trouble getting it stuck in 1st gear, and not going into reverse, when he was using it to move undriveable vehicles around at his place (he also acquired a Land Cruiser, which he’s storing in his old chicken coop at his house).

Pancake Rocks

September 21, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 2 Comments

We had visitors over the weekend, and since we noticed last week that there was to be a king tide this weekend, we thought it would be a good time to go to Pancake Rocks again! The extra-high tide, we figured, should make for a decent show at the blowholes. We were not disappointed! It wasn’t as good as a couple of other times we’ve been there, but lots better than several times. I apologize in advance if this is too many photos for you. It was a beautiful day… and three of us were taking pictures… and I only saved the best from each of the three memory cards… but there ended up being so many beautiful photos I couldn’t decide which ones to leave out!

The waves were fairly high. I love watching them roll in past the rocks!

The first blowhole we reach is the Chimney Pot. It is spectacular—just like I would imagine a geyser looks! This time, there was a rainbow formed in the mist, when you stood at the right place.

Esther carried Miss Joy for a good part of the way.

This is the largest blowhole. We stood here for a long time, watching the water spurting up into a fantastic fountain!

I love watching the water in the Surge Pool, too! It’s so wild.

The waves hitting these rocks are spectacular, too!

See the seagulls nesting on top of the rocks?

Notice the people on the bridge in the background, just in front of the Chimney Pot blowhole? That might help you get a feel for the scale of this place.

By the time we reached this viewing platform, Miss Joy wanted to get down and walk around by herself.

Simon took her, but she wanted to pick things up.

A bunch of the boys broke off flax stalks and had a mock sword fight with them.

They gave one stick to Miss Joy.

She was delighted with, and ran around brandishing it, until…

…she suddenly spotted some flowers! She recognized them; I often pick a few in our yard and give them to her. The stick was instantly discarded, and she got down to pick them.

Simon picked her up again, and held the stick behind her back. She reached around and got it, then started whacking him on the head with it.

This was a wonderful day to be outside! It’s the rainy time of year here, and in the week before this day, we had had 1 1/2 sunny days. It was great to be outside, enjoying such a beautiful part of God’s creation.

Here is a five minute video I put together from a lot of shorter clips, to give you a little bit of our experience. One clip, which starts at about 3:22, doesn’t have much action, but I loved the happy baby noises that can be heard.

More of Miss Joy

September 16, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 2 Comments

Most of the photos I find on my memory card are of Miss Joy! She’s quite photogenic, in our opinion, right now.

I don’t know who took this photo—I suspect possibly Mr. Imagination.

She loves apples—and she loves boxes and climbing!

One warm, sunny afternoon, she took off on an exploratory trip. She absolutely loves going outside, and can’t understand when we won’t let her go out (because it’s cold and wet!).

When she turned around, I got this video clip:

I was quite amused one day to see her sitting in these tubs that were laying on their side!

This is a very common sight. If she’s at all tired or hungry, she finds her blankie and brings it to me, saying, “Eye-guy-guy.”While I was reading aloud yesterday, Mr. Intellectual was laying on the couch. Miss Joy climbed on top of him and sat herself down to read a book.

When her daddy came home from work and squatted down to clean his work shoes, she grabbed one of my crocs that was handy, got herself a towel, and cleaned my shoe! She quite diligently worked at it for several minutes, as long as Gayle was cleaning his shoes.

One afternoon when she and I were the only ones at home, I was enjoying watching her play. I decided to get a quick video, just because times like that are so fleeting.

Videos for Grandma

July 18, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Back in May, Mr. Imagination and Little Miss decided they wanted to put on a show for us. They practiced and prepared all day, holed up behind a box or two at the end of the hallway, and I wasn’t supposed to look. They presented the show to us in the evening, while their older brothers were all outside working on some project. I was instructed to take a video of the whole thing for them. My camera doesn’t work the best anymore, and drained a couple of sets of batteries during this show, but you can enjoy at least part of what they did! If the singing doesn’t sound quite on tune, just remember that this is the boy who never even attempted to sing until he was about five years old. He didn’t quite inherit his father’s talent with music, like all the other children did, but he’s making a joyful noise! As far as the skit, they had watched a video of someone reading Stone Soup aloud.

Also back in May, Miss Joy discovered the picture window. We set her up on the window seat one morning, and she was delighted to be able to look outside–and then she discovered that the glass squeaked when she rubbed her head on it! We were in stitches as she squeaked her head over and over again! She had also just learned how to wave. The other two clips are from last week, when she learned to climb up into the windowsill. She was thrilled to figure out how to open the window.

Five Thousand Sheep! (includes video)

June 21, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

A week ago, we went to visit some friends in North Canterbury. It was a beautiful day for traveling, with clear skies all the way over the mountains. This was about half an hour from home. The mist rising from the river, in front of the mountain, was stunningly beautiful!

The tops of the mountains, around the pass, were covered with snow.

We reached the other side of the divide, and as we left the highway and traveled up to our friends’ farm, we saw more snow-capped mountains in the distance.

Then, we arrived on their road, and saw this mob of sheep coming toward us! They move their 5,000+ sheep from the hills to their flat farm every winter for grazing, and this was the day of the big move. We’ve heard about this move for years, but I never expected to get to see it. What a nice surprise that it happened the day we went to visit! Our three oldest boys joined the ones who were walking behind the sheep, and helped them get the rest of the way to their destination.

The scenery continued to be stunning as we drove on up the road into the hills to their house. What a beautiful country!

I took a video of the mob of sheep as we drove through. Enjoy a tiny bit of our experience!

Miss Joy

April 18, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Miss Joy is growing fast! At nearly 8 months, she crawls anywhere she wants to go. She stands up against anything that will support her—or not; she’s always experimenting to see what is solid and what is not. Nearly everything goes in her mouth; you have to find out if it’s edible or not! She has learned to leave the cat alone. That tail is so tempting—but the cat has made sure that Miss Joy knows she is off limits! No scratches, but there were definitely some warning slaps and growls. We’re also treated to a fast-growing repertoire of sounds, as she practices with various syllables. She has the funniest growling cackle that makes us laugh every time she does it. She was sick the last two days with a mysterious fever, which made her quite lethargic. We enjoyed the extra cuddling time, but we’re all thankful today that she’s well again, after a solid night’s sleep. I think I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: We thoroughly enjoy this baby!

I think this first picture was from early March. She was thrilled to find a window she could see out of! She likes being outside better than in the house.

The dishwasher is such fun to explore! I have to take the cutlery basket out and put it out of reach when dishes are drying, or spoons and forks end up strewn all over the floor.

She was tickled one day to find the pea vines in the bathtub planter. Peas are so yummy!She crawled into Esther and Little Miss’s bedroom one day and gave Esther this beautiful grin. See those two little teeth?

Tomatoes are so delicious.

Little Miss asked Esther, “Is it all right if we share germs?”

Mr. Imagination got out the box of games and puzzles one day. It was such fun to climb over and through, and then sit up in!

She found an apple under the table. Mr. Imagination took this first picture. I love it even though it’s blurry. Esther got two more, which are clearer, but I don’t think they’re quite so cute. The poor baby ends up stuck under the table sometimes because she can’t crawl under the benches.

Here are a few video clips we made of her laughing. I love how she laughs so hard sometimes that she loses her balance!

Picnics During Lockdown

April 5, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

We decided, to make Sundays a bit more special while we’re on lockdown, to have a picnic by the creek down the hill from our town. We built a small fire and roasted sausages and marshmallows, and then played in the creek with Simon’s kayak and a couple of boats the boys built. When everyone had their fill of the water, we went across the creek and did target practice with Simon’s air rifle, aiming toward a sand dune. We really enjoy having this safe, private place to be outside! It’s within walking distance of our house, and the water is shallow enough there is no danger even if a boat flips.

Miss Joy loves boat rides! I apologize for so many pictures, but I couldn’t decide which of these to leave out.

Mr. Sweetie and Mr. Imagination wading in the creek. That’s the Paparoa Mountains in the background.

Esther wanted the water drained out of the kayak before she got in. It took too long—she gave up waiting!

This is the boat Mr. Intellectual built. It’s nearly unsinkable, at least on this kind of water.

The willow trees near the creek were covered with these big aphids!

The trees were also swarming with bumblebees and wasps. I found out how hard it is to get a picture of an insect. Esther did better, though.

I tried out the kayak—fun!

These boys rocked the boat…

…and these two rode the waves from it!

When we went across to shoot the air rifle, Miss Joy discovered something new—sand! She was thrilled to have something new to investigate.

Simon really wanted me to try shooting. It turns out that I’m a pretty good aim when I can lean on something like this…but not when I have to hold the air rifle up myself!

Simon likes to give everyone a turn shooting.

The previous pictures were all from last week, when it was cloudy and cool. This week, it was sunny and warm. This was the view up the river as we walked down to the creek.

We pass this row of trees on our way up. It was such a beautiful day today!

Here are a few video clips I put together from our afternoon at the creek.

Videos of the Children

January 22, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

The boys were using their forge one day, and Esther took some video clips to send to a little boy who had just broken his leg. She put the best ones together here so Grandma can get an idea of what they are doing.

These are just a few cute video clips of what Miss Joy was doing in the latter part of December. We’re enjoying her so much!

She had just found her feet when I took this video, and while I was taking it she got her toes into her mouth for the first time! That was three weeks ago; now, every time she’s on her back her hands go to her toes–until she decides to roll over and get moving.

Video

Thank you!