My spare hour

While having a quiet day yesterday to get over some of the stresses in the past week I decided to have a weed/harvest of the oldest third of my vege garden. I harvested, strawberries, the last of the raspberries, the first boysenberry, the only carrots I have ever grown (carrots hate me), a couple of lettuces, a couple of broccoli, the first of the red and brown onions,a cabbage, some sweetpea flowers and the first of the desiree potatoes.

Not bad for a strip alongside the driveway. Then of course I had to do something with them. I decided to give some to our front neighbours and say Merry Christmas.I really enjoy the fruits of my labour and one day hope to have a garden that feeds us, our neighbours, friends and family.

Latte gets his stitches out today and my Mum has her operation and gets hers put in. Busy day.

Trying times

Sometimes swe focus on the wrong person and forget what is really important.

I am worried about my Mum's cancer and her operation is on Friday so she is a bit freaked out and needs plenty of support.

Of course the kids are really busy with end of year activities. Liam had a beach trip on Monday and school camp Wednesday and Thursday this week.

I of course volunteered to go along - I just like having fun. And agreed to sew more costumes in a hurry for a lady.

What about Kathryn? Don't take your eyes off her. Sadly on Sunday morning while staying at a friends house her friend woke to find her having a seizure. An ambulance was rung, then us and it all got crazy from there.

Kathryn is now fine, probably the seizure was brought about by low blood sugars. I feel wiped out, no costumes, one very upset little boy about his mother not coming on camp as she promised, one sad and still sore bored puppy and a big gardening mess.

We have been told that Kathryn needs an insulin pump. They cost $9000 and are not funded. I imagine that I will spend the first six months of next year fundraising. It seems like such a huge target but if that is what it takes then that is what I'll do.

A homemade Christmas

Latte the hyper pup has been a bit sore after his operation but is now recovering well, helped by his bone which he drags everywhere.


This year I decided that all the gifts I give (but not the Santa ones in our house) I would make. So I have been busy sewing, icing small christmas cakes, making hot chocolate and baking. It has been heaps of fun and I look forward to giving them out over the next couple of weeks.

The garden has been growing well and I had extra cauliflower so I decided to give Piccalilli a go. Easy to make but turned out a bit salty. I have noted on the recipe to use less next time.

I have also started the culture for ginger beer. I've never made this before so am looking forward to bottling it up and drinking it.

Not going to be daddy

Latte the hyper pup is six months old. Starvingly hungry and off to the vets this morning to have the daddy parts of his anatomy removed.

Poor pup.

Catch Up

Life has been so busy since I last posted, complete with ups and downs. Summer has come and with it the better weather and longer days. I'll enjoy them before it gets too hot.
My garden continues to grow and look good. We have been eating raspberries and strawberries by the dozen. Every morning on her way to school Kathryn picks what she can see - I get the leftovers later in the day when I am watering. We have been eating peas, radishes, cauliflower, broccoli, silverbeet and potatoes. I am continuing to expand the garden and plant more but it has reached the size where I am having trouble keeping up so I probably won't expand to much more.
We have had some bad news with my Mum's skin cancer coming back 27 years later. The started off saying it wasn't treatable but by the end after all the tests they should be able to remove it all - we are just waiting for a date. SO KEEP SUNSAFE EVERYONE - IT KILLS.
Kathryn hasn't had a great year with her diabetes but we have recently changed medication and she is doing heaps better. She has won four first placings and a third in two swimming meets and qualified for the Bay Champs in three events. She passed her ballet exams, got honors in her national character dance and a trophy for passion in ballet. She has several parts in the show Cinderella next April and will be practicing hard for those in the new year.

Liam really, really can't wait until Santa comes and has a huge long list. He is loving swimming starting again, both club, school and home pools are well used.
I'll try to keep posting so you can stay upto date.

Camping Prequal

Last week the kids and I decided to try out a different type of camping and booked into the camping ground at Little Waihi. Little Waihi has a camping ground and about 30 baches lining an estary with access out to the sea and an ocean beach.
The camping ground is pretty basic with about 20 cabins that hold two beds each. I decided that being early spring the tent might be a bit cold and so booked into a cabin. Very one star - actually half a star might better describe it - but you can take your dog and we loved it.
Nothing to do except have the fun you make yourself. We walked for miles, played on the rocks, played on the beach, the kids and Latte swam, dug for pipis (and returned them), played with the little mud crabs and snails, waded to distant sand bars at low tide, flew kites, played games, had fun.
We'll be going back again as the weather warms up.

Camping

I enjoy camping and so do my children. I don't enjoy the cold as much as they do but I let myself be convinced to take the kids and a couple of their friends to our favourite camping spot for two nights.
We camp at Brann's farm. It is a working farm and forestry block out the back of Paenagroa. They have several camp sites and three huts. Running water and composting toilets. Fire pits and picnic tables. And not a lot else.
It is heaps of fun not having anything to do. There is a small river that runs through native bush. They have developed a swimming hole and provided innertubes to float down the river in. The river is freezing cold even in the middle of summer but the kids brave it anyway - I wait until the middle of summer until I dip my little toe. It is also the only way to get clean so the smell of bodies in the car on the way home gets a little eye watering.
There are plenty of walks through the bush and around the farm. We walk for an hour through the farm and bush to get to a ropes confidence course. The kids love trying out their bravery and impressing their friends.
The kids (but not me) grab the sacks and go grass sliding down the hills. Then I get to deal with the dirt, brusies, scrapes and grass rashes but they go back for more.
We look at the glow worms at night, cook on a camp fire, play games and lie awake for hours in the night listening to the Moreporks.
Great fun, very back to basics, but we have been going back for six years and will continue to do so.
Thank you Jill and Jeff Brann for opening your farm to us and many others.