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  • 2025
    • March
      • Summer (yes, it's been a while)
        03/08/25
        It's quiet after Christmas here. It's a good time to get things done. It's also a good time to get a car park in Auckland. But take care, a lot of the plumbers, firemen and doctors are off too.

        Festival One didn't go quite as planned. On the Friday before, Sarah got me

  • 2024
    • December
      • Christmas!
        12/25/24
        Happy Christmas to all!

        In the last week, I've done 8 hours playing carols. Bronwyn did two carol services this morning, and I got to play for the second one. But finally we have some peace. The family dinner is planned for tomorrow.

        As usual, unlike many in New Zealand, w

      • December
        12/01/24
        I can tell. Whenever Rachael spends ages cleaning her car, and then having a shower. Oh yes.

        No. He's not Sean. He's Taumata. Or Taku. Or generally just T. And Rachael spends quite a while in the city with him. As well as cleaning her car. Thoroughly. She's added decals on

    • August
      • August already
        08/18/24
        Every morning, we have issues regarding who fed the cat. He can lie very effectively when you emerge from the bedroom. Bronwyn wrote "CAT HAS BEEN FED" on a random bit of cardboard. Trouble is, we now also have the dog, plus the chickens and two lambs. I want one of those sliding signs so

    • May
      • Winter colours
        05/19/24
        We saw the aurora! Bronwyn said that some guy on Facebook had seen a pink glow, so we went outside to have a look. It was indeed pink. As we fiddled for our cameras, it changed to green. Then vertical lines appeared, and it grew to cover a large chunk of the sky. We watched for about 20 minutes unti

    • March
      • Plenty of exercise
        03/17/24
        Duchess must have some greyhound in her. She's got too much energy. We've taken to driving up the hill and back in order to give her enough exercise. She can do 40kph uphill. Downhill is tricky, because she runs on the passenger side and we have to let her run ahead so we can see. She'

    • January
      • Christmas!
        01/06/24
        I do enjoy the quiet season, when everyone is off work and probably fighting the traffic to get out of Auckland. It's so peaceful, and you can get lots done, just so long as you don't need hospital treatment for it. They're on holiday too.

        It's been rather wet, and sti

  • 2023
    • October
      • DIY
        10/22/23
        The window is fixed. Still needs painting, but we no longer need the sheet of plastic. I shall miss the sound of blackbirds first thing in the morning, but otherwise it's nice to have a window.

        We looked in the local recycle centre for old windows. Several shower doors and aluminium

    • September
      • Duchess
        09/17/23
        Duchess the golden labrador has already worked out how to escape from the pen in Sarah's room, and has chewed through a couple of cables. Beyond that, she's reasonably well behaved. We've introduced her to the lambs and the chickens. And the cat. The cat has made it plain who's b

    • August
      • Covid, the lambs, and a puppy.
        08/13/23
        It started with a sore throat. That was followed by sneezing and a runny nose, and I won't discuss the toilet. It also coincided with them rewiring the road and cutting off the electricity all day. And with my colleague wanting to work the day with me. So we went down to the cafe and plugged in

      • The South Island
        08/13/23
        or at least one corner of it. We had a week touring from Christchurch to Kaikoura to Blenheim and Picton, and then back down via Hanmer Springs. In Christchurch we stayed the night with a really nice lady who has a collection of objects from her travels. Several collections. Jade by the front door,

    • June
      • Winter.. Sorry about the lack of posts!
        06/11/23
        Winter. A touch of frost on the paddock and mist on the dam. Blankets all round. It's been cold and sunny all week, and finally the mud is beginning to dry out. So far we haven't had a proper frost, but I've started making the chicken mash with warm water for their breakfast.
    • April
      • Happy Easter!
        04/09/23
        It's autumn. Normally we'd be eagerly expecting the rain after a long baking hot summer. This year, we're clinging onto the last of the brief warmth we've had since the last major rains. The old girl (La Nina) has been in control for three years, but has finally begun to wane. (O

    • March
      • Can we call it summer now?
        03/11/23
        I normally leave my weather comments to the end, but this year it's been headline news for quite a while. After the record rains at the end of January, we had a cyclone come to say Hi. The rain wasn't half as much, and we only lost one old tree that didn't appear to have any roots. Bu

    • February
      • It's still raining
        02/05/23
        We've had the wettest day ever, here in Auckland. There was about 11 inches, and several inches more in the days afterwards. The farm is OK - we're several metres above the normal flood plain, and we just had a bit of erosion in the ditches. I suspect that the river is a bit blocked downst

    • January
      • Happy New Year!
        01/01/23
        Peace at last. We've had a week to catch up and recover. As well as a number of odd jobs that have been waiting for a quiet moment.

        Christmas involved four carolling gigs and a concert, and about three Christmas dinners. One for Tim's work, one for Bronwyn and the street people,

  • 2022
    • November
      • A busy November
        11/27/22
        It all happened rather fast. One moment, I felt my foot slip. Then I remember rolling onto my back, with blood on both hands and one leg. I got up and hobbled out of the rain, then began to faint. Fortunately that didn't last long, and fortunately I was surrounded by two very capable first aide

    • October
      • Larry's been working hard
        10/22/22
        Five months ago, Larry the Ram got in with last year's lambs. We didn't think he'd been in there long. Obviously it was long enough We've got 15 extra lambs this year that we hadn't planned on, and they all appeared this week. There can be a risk with early pregnancies, but

    • September
      • Spring
        09/25/22
        Harry the disabled sheep is now completely normal. We've kept him in the back garden because he keeps the onion weed down and provides some company for Tabby and Toby, who are growing fast and may soon break down the gate at feeding time. They also know how to climb through the fence and spend

    • August
      • Chaos all round
        08/07/22
        Not sure how many lambs we have now. Over 50 were born in a week, in some rather cold, wet and very windy weather. We've been out three times a day checking around the paddock, and it's not easy with the rain stinging your face. But it's been a good season. Only lost three lambs, and

    • July
      • Lambs, and soggy weather.
        07/24/22
        I'm guessing the chickens have been enjoying the concrete dust on our driveway. The eggs have been arriving unusually rough since! We've had an awful lot of rain lately, so the farm has bought a huge heap more of it to spread out around the farm. We've had to put that on hold for a bi

      • Mercury rising
        07/02/22
        I saw Mercury! I've been trying to find it all year, and finally we had some clear (and rather cold) days, and it was clearly visible. I've never identified it before, and you have to be in the right conditions to see it. So I got up early and had a look. I believe I also spotted Matariki

    • June
      • Birthdays, work and fermentation.
        06/05/22
        The wine yeast hasn't arrived yet. Perhaps that's a good thing; it's a bit cold for fermentation at the moment. Although my half empty jar of feijoa chutney started bubbling, so I made another lot, mixed it with the contents of the remaining jars, and made sure I boiled it well. Taste

    • March
      • More rain at last
        03/28/22
        It had just rained when I wrote the last one. It's just rained again. Good thing too; we were down to about 30% on the water tank. Last week it was overflowing. Onto the grass. I'm guessing the cow I mentioned last time had pushed the pipe out. Managed to bend it enough so that I could get

    • February
      • A long hot summer
        02/13/22
        Cyclone Dovi just went past. Rather high winds and lots of heat and humidity, but not a lot of rain. We've lost an old peach tree and the old telephone cable fell off the pole at the road. But all is calm again. And it's a lot cooler!

        We didn't have any rain from mid Decemb

    • January
      • A rather late Christmas newsletter!
        01/04/22
        A belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all. It’s been another year of frantic activity and long lockdowns. Apart from a short lockdown in February and a brief scare in June, all was going well. Until the Delta outbreak in August of course, and we’re still feeling the after effects

  • 2021
    • November
      • The longest lockdown
        11/21/21
        Level 3 step 2. Now we can have 25 in a gathering outside. Next week we might move to level 3 step 3. Then either Red or Orange. It's all a bit confusing!

        The cases have grown in Auckland, and are spilling over into other parts of the North Island. But still very low by world standar

    • October
      • A few more weeks in.
        10/07/21
        Still in lockdown, but now in Level 3 Step 1. There's a three step loosening of the restrictions, so now we can meet outside in groups of 10. (Outside. No popping in for the loo.) The cases are not particularly under control, and are spreading outside Auckland. But the focus now is on getting a

    • September
      • Lambs, lockdown and floods.
        09/05/21
        Lulu wasn't looking well. Head down, rocking and shaking. And a swollen belly. Bronwyn had given her some baking soda, but it hadn't made much difference. It was clearly a case of bloat. She'd drunk too much milk, and it had gone straight to the second stomach and had been fermenting.

    • August
      • Postscript
        08/01/21
        Apparently the container ship we saw in Bluff was stuck there in quarantine, with a number of the crew having Covid. Fortunately it was several kilometres away, on the other side of the harbour, on the end of a very long pier!

        My laptop died after Wellington. Had to share Bronwyn's l

    • July
      • Dun Roaming
        07/31/21
        We're back home after a week touring the far south, and that should be the last of our trips for a while. Nothing else planned, anyway.

        Had an action packed three days in Wellington with the youth work conference, which very nearly didn't happen. The week before, someone came to

    • June
      • Things that go boom in the night.
        06/18/21
        It was about 12:30am. There was a loud boom, followed by a clatter. Bronwyn and Rach went all through the house but couldn't see anything. Or outside either. Then Rach noticed that the cupboard smelled of ginger beer.

        After making the feijoa wine, I had half the yeast left over. So I

    • May
      • The birthday zone
        05/24/21
        Sarah is now 16, and Rachael is 21 today! So far we've had a couple of family get-togethers (and far too much cake). I've switched the photo frame to show Rachael's pictures instead. Celebrations will continue. And Sarah has passed her theory test and has a learner's license! Now

    • April
      • The season
        04/03/21
        ...when every feijoa tree in New Zealand decides to drop bucketfuls of the things. I went over and filled a bucket last week. You wouldn't have noticed - there must be another 10 large bucketfuls turning to compost everywhere. Last year I made some guava jelly. Guavas are the same family as fei

    • March
      • Another week, another lockdown
        03/07/21
        The days are getting shorter, the rains have returned, the grass is greener and the lockdowns are back. We were about to go into full steam with two at college and Sarah at school. Bronwyn had the timetable all worked out. But we had another week to get into the swing of things. And get up late!
    • January
      • January
        01/31/21
        A quiet month. I still haven't got used to it. Everything goes quiet. That's because everyone goes on holiday after Christmas. Or even during Christmas. We wait for Auckland to come home again, and then we set off. It's much quieter, and no traffic!

        This year we were back a

      • Kirsty, I have your duck.
        01/01/21
        Happy New Year!

        Two ducks waddled across the farm up to our house. They can't fly, and must have walked a kilometre across the paddocks. I managed to capture one duck with the help of the owner, but the other one escaped. Several times. I had some thick netting in a circle, but the d

  • 2020
    • December
      • Another day, another duck.
        12/06/20
        A couple of months ago, we noticed a duck in our back garden. It was quite large, and we identified it as a Muscovy. It had previously been hanging out with the mallards (and the red eared slider turtle, also wild) on Bronwyn's parents' dam. Obviously it decided that our dam was much bette

    • November
      • The election
        11/07/20
        Or both of them. It might be the first time that the New Zealand election got so much publicity overseas. We even appeared on Spitting Image. And here in the Super Kiwi Socialistic Empire of Jacinda it was already a foregone conclusion. She had successfully handled three major crises. She showed emp

    • September
      • Spring has sprung
        09/27/20
        Police car, lights flashing in the outside lane. Then another, and a fire engine. Then two men in fluoro jackets staring down a hole.

        Apparently a duck had attempted to get her family across the motorway. This was going to be impossible to start with, because there's a metre high con

    • August
      • Lockdown again
        08/23/20
        Apparently Trump has picked us out as an example of a country that's had a major outbreak. Ms Ardern was not impressed. But it does mean that we're back on lockdown, or at least just the Auckland region, and at level 3 so we still get a bit of freedom. One new case today, plus another two

    • July
      • Covid? What covid?
        07/26/20
        Our internet was getting really bad, so I had the idea of borrowing the church's and seeing how well it worked from our house. It's all based on mobile phone signals so you can just pick up the modem and move it. There's apparently a cellphone tower on the top of the hill near us. The

    • June
      • Are we allowed to shake hands now?
        06/07/20
        There is one person left. A woman, in her 50's, in the Auckland city area. She's had it for several weeks now, and must be getting tired of it. Perhaps we can all send a Get Well Soon card to the Last Person Coughing.

        But no other cases for 15 days. We'll probably be back t

    • May
      • A new normal
        05/16/20
        We're now down to Level Two. The road has been busier. Sarah will be on the bus first thing Monday morning. Bronwyn has been out and about. Rachael won't be going back to university just yet though. I'm told there was a sudden rush of people setting out just after midnight on Thursday

    • April
      • Home, home on the range
        04/16/20
        ...where the chickens and lambs roam. Bones has recovered, and is back in the paddock with his friend Runty. We briefly had another lamb in that had been attacked by a dog, but it escaped through the fence and bounded off to join the others. Bronwyn checked on it; it seems to have escaped serious in

    • March
      • Lockdown
        03/27/20
        From midnight Wednesday we have been on level 4. All non-essential travel is banned. The police are running checkpoints - not sure where - I haven't been to the end of the driveway yet.

        The TV stopped working at 8pm Wednesday. Last night we rigged up a monitor to watch Doctor Who fro

    • February
      • The big dry
        02/10/20
        Haven't had more than a brief sprinkle since, um, mid December. There's a five week wait for our local water supplier, and many of them have stopped taking bookings. Several towns have stopped allowing tankers to fill up from their supply, so it's getting harder to find water, let alo

  • 2019
    • December
      • Christmas
        12/25/19
        Happy New Year! As usual, we missed the Christmas posting date, but it means we’ve got a chance to review all the photos and remember what happened last year.

        The previous year involved a tour of New Zealand and Kenya. Last year saw us make it to Sydney and slightly beyond, but otherwi

      • An emu in the paddock
        12/08/19
        Bronwyn phones me up. There's an ostrich in 15C! I've got a photo! She's near the house, so I take a look at the photo. Looks more like an emu. In a paddock. Our paddock.

        We drive up (Bronwyn knows how to cross a rutted hillside in a little shopping car) and take a look. Yu

    • November
      • Summer, this week at least.
        11/17/19
        Warm and humid. There's a haze in the air, and a vague smell. Probably came from Queensland.

        The Light Party was absolutely cranking. Bronwyn made up 265 bags of sweets to give out to the children. We gave out the lot. Last year we estimated we had 200 children. This year at least 26

    • October
      • Guns and Thistles
        10/13/19
        It's been rather busy at work; it seems like everything has gone full speed ahead. So I've been working six days a week trying to make progress. But today is Sunday...

        Ross has let Sarah have a go at a .22 rifle. Turns out she's a pretty good shot. We put some cardboard at

    • September
      • Chocolate Fish
        09/03/19
        Every Sunday, we hand out chocolate marshmallow fish. It started as a thing for the children on their birthday. It kind of mutated into adult birthdays about 10 years ago, and then took in wedding anniversaries, graduations, driving licenses, anything remotely worth celebrating. This year, Pastor Sa

    • August
      • Wet
        08/17/19
        Lots of rain, high winds, tornados in places. Paddocks are covered in mud. Time for the sheep to give birth! Bronwyn has been out around the paddock several times a day, and delivered several lambs. We've lost a lot this year; the vet thinks it's toxoplasmosis; we've had a stray cat a

    • July
      • OsStraya
        07/14/19
        Google maps has issues working out where I am. I don't have GPS on the laptop, and I generally leave it switched off on the phone unless I need it. Hence it tends to follow other people's phones at random. Apparently last summer I spent a week in the wilds of Northland, and I'm often

    • June
      • April. And May as well.
        06/03/19
        I've sold my old car!

        A couple of weeks ago, Bronwyn was driving and came across an accident. A young man was inside, looking rather shaken. The car was rather mangled. So she leaps out and sees if there's anything she can do (she'd make a great paramedic if she could contr

    • March
      • Another day, another byte
        03/30/19
        I've managed to dig out the old bicycle from the tangle of jasmine and got it working again. It was part of an office competition. There was a campaign to get people riding bicycles, and since we already had two keen cyclists, we decided the team might be in with a chance. Got second place in o

      • A small country
        03/18/19
        Two events showed the true nature of New Zealand recently. The first was when a certain group of tourists decided to do everything in their power not to fit in. Now, round here, you can get away with dumping rubbish. You can also get away with being a bit obnoxious. And petty thefts, well it happens

    • February
      • Been a while...
        02/24/19
        After a very wet Christmas, it stopped raining. We got hardly any rain for six weeks. Most of the grass is dead. Except for the Kikuyu. Apparently that came from Kenya and was brought in because it can cope with extreme dry. (It also does very nicely in extreme wet, and grows underground... everywhe

  • 2018
    • December
      • Christmas
        12/24/18
        At last! Carolling is over; no more parades. No more Jingle Bells and Rudolf for another year! Now we can sit back and enjoy the actual Christmas. Although I do pity those who are out camping, and probably booked their spot a year ago. It's raining. It was raining yesterday, and it'll rain

    • November
      • Cars, Christmas, Casey...
        11/11/18
        Still haven't fixed the rust on my car. But it's running a lot better now.
        The engine light came on. I took it in, and did the service and warrant at the same time. The engine control unit was complaining about the RPM sensor. This came as a surprise, since I wasn't aware there

      • A busy week
        11/03/18
        Casey the escapologist is in a paddock that she can't get out of. Unless of course she works right round the back, but she hasn't twigged on that one. So she's been spending the last week standing forlornly in the corner. The nearest corner. But the roses in our garden have recovered

    • October
      • Lengthy chases
        10/20/18
        Never got caught in a police chase before...

        Rachael's had exams this week. She wanted to be taken home at lunchtime, and it was my turn yesterday. On the way back, there's an old narrow bridge. There was a policeman. He looked agitated. Very agitated. He was flagging cars throu

    • September
      • Who let that lamb in?
        09/07/18
        Beginning to warm up a bit. The chicken run is a quagmire, so I've been forking it over to try and drain it. We're still feeding two lambs in the back garden, who have now reached the wooly monster stage. Did attempt to put them out in the paddock, but they can jump through the fence quite

    • August
      • Been a while
        08/13/18
        I unblocked a drainage pipe on the farm. I was most proud.

        We'd had a lot of rain and the hurricane had brought down a lot of leaves and debris. There's a drain running under the drive from one paddock to the other. It was blocked. And about four feet deep. And we didn't kn

    • June
      • I'm fine
        06/17/18
        I'm fine. Sarah's fine. Rachael's got a cold and Bronwyn's got a migraine. Bronwyn's sister is recovering from an operation which left her in a fair bit of pain, and Bronwyn's dad is about to go radioactive.

        They removed his thyroid, but also had to remove so

    • March
      • Is that the sun?
        03/18/18
        Looks like we're getting Summer back again at last. We've had four cyclones, and lots of miscellaneous rain. Normally we get a high pressure stuck over the country for weeks, with the occasional front sneaking through. Since the start of the year, it's been the other way round! But it

    • February
      • Rain
        02/11/18
        Summer has gone damp. My father in law remembers a time when it barely rained for four months, and all the grass died. We had a summer like that about 10 years ago. I remember looking out the window, and something triggered in my brain. Botswana (and the Kalahari). Same colour.

        At new ye

      • Quiet once more
        02/03/18
        Noticed a bit of a wobble in the car after Christmas. Seemed to be like an egg in the tyre. Went away at certain speeds. So I took it in and had it checked. Just as well I did. One side of the tyre was over a centimetre higher than the other. Would have made quite a noise if it finally blew!
    • January
      • A quick tour
        01/20/18
        Just back from a whistlestop tour of the South Island (including the train). Or at least part of it. It's a big place, and we didn't get to see Nelson, Picton, Dunedin, Fiordland, Invercargill and everywhere in between. Took raincoats, waterproof trousers, shorts, umbrella, cardigan, walki

  • 2017
    • December
      • Christmas!
        12/24/17
        Golly. Last post was in October. Never mind.

        After a rather wet November, it's now sunny and dry. Half of Auckland is already heading up North. Rain forecast for Boxing Day. The farm pump has been playing up. The motor has a thermal cutout, which keeps cutting out. The belt keeps sli

    • October
      • All downhill from here
        10/29/17
        We're on the slope to Christmas. It kind of starts with the Taupaki fireworks, which for many years have been held in Kumeu. It started as a fundraiser for Taupaki school, and grew into one of the biggest displays in Auckland. It's also right next to the brass band hall. Hence we've t

      • Keeping busy
        10/15/17
        Imagine, if you will, an open plan office with a board table and seven large leather chairs. The CEO walks in wearing lime green shorts and a T shirt. Sitting next to him is a guy named Nuts. I think it's short for Nathaniel. He's got a shaven head around the sides with a pony tail sprouti

    • September
      • Time for a cut
        09/24/17
        Yesterday, I had my first haircut since the shave in January. Rachael finally told me I needed it. So now my hair is pretty much back to normal; just a little fluffy on top!

        The lambs have left the back garden. At least we don't need to mow the grass for a while.

        About 25

    • August
      • Perfect lambing weather
        08/20/17
        Losing count of the animals we've had in the back garden. We lost three (or was it five?), gave away four, and we've currently got two, plus a sheep. The sheep is determined to keep her one remaining triplet, but doesn't seem able to feed it (but does a very good job at cleaning its b

    • July
      • Cold (and flu)
        07/16/17
        My hair is back. Since it's new hair, it's quite fine at the ends. I'm liking the soft furry look, but I know if I try to keep it like this, the next cut will look like a hedgehog. At least it's grown in time for winter.

        I've spent a while down at the church sorti

    • June
      • Getting hairy
        06/04/17
        I'm now on "active observation". Basically, the treatment worked, but I'm on three monthly checkups and monthly blood tests. My hair is growing back, but it's only the fine wispy stuff at the moment. I have quite a bit of fur on top. I've had a couple of colds, but othe

    • May
      • Hair today. More tomorrow
        05/07/17
        I survived! I'm now past the worst from the sixth and last chemo, and already my hair seems to be making a comeback. It's not supposed to start growing for another 5 weeks, but it's already getting a bit dark on top.

        As I mentioned last time, I'm doing a reverse Shave

    • April
      • An update!
        04/02/17
        I've given up Trump news articles for Lent. It's been hard. As far as I can tell, nobody's shot him yet, because the articles keep coming thick and fast...

        Been quite a while since the last post. Basically, I haven't had a lot of spare energy, so I've been focussi

    • February
      • Last of the holidays
        02/19/17
        Hot and sticky. I'm supposed to measure my temperature daily to make sure I don't get a fever. It's tricky to tell in this weather. We had at least 10cm of rain last week, and it's currently holding us in a muggy sauna while they battle bush fires down south.

        The kayak

    • January
      • Gone bald
        01/29/17
        I regretfully announce that my hair and I have parted company. Well, some of it. Some bits dug in and clung on. Other bits fell out everywhere. The result was a bit of a mess, so I'm down to a Number One at the barbers. Sarah's OK with it. Rachael insists I wear a hat!

        Currently

      • January
        01/15/17
        After two hours on the chemo drip the nurse looked at the lump on my neck and casually said "Yes, it seems to be reducing". Crumbs. That was quick! Within a day or two it was down to just a fleshy patch with no noticeable lump at all.

        Had a week and a half of not feeling too goo

  • 2016
    • December
      • The diagnosis
        12/20/16
        Mentioned last time that I'd got swollen glands. Well, I've had various tests, and they've found something - lymphoma. (Forgot the precise species, sorry.) It's treatable, but I'm going to need chemo and possibly radiotherapy. I've had needles stuck in delicate places,

      • Tis the season...
        12/05/16
        Still got swollen glands, but the rest of me feels a lot better. Went for a CT scan on Friday. Interesting experience. They put a dye in your blood to make the veins show up on the scan, and then feed you into the machine. There's this rotating ring that spins around you. It's quite impres

    • November
      • The life of a teenage hermit
        11/20/16
        Rachael survived her science exam, but lost it during maths and left after an hour. We've already got paperwork in place to get a derived grade instead. She's now got enough credits to pass the year, and negotiated her way out of the history exam. Japanese in a week or two - her favourite

    • October
      • It's that time of year...
        10/23/16
        Rachael survived her maths resit! This was a team effort. She had to do this one in order to get a derived grade, because she missed a couple of papers last term. The teacher had managed to rearrange it, and gave plenty of encouragement. I sat with Rachael over the holidays and went over the workboo

      • Spring at last. New growth. Pools of vomit.
        10/09/16
        Spring at last. The lambs are growing fast, and feeding time is chaos. Potatoes growing well. Sarah's pumpkin seeds have sprouted and have been planted out, although the birds seem to like eating them. The supermarket is giving away mini pots with seeds, so I now have a small vegetable garden i

    • September
      • Lambs. Maths. And some potatoes.
        09/25/16
        Down to three lambs. Alas, Kirby died on Thursday night. He'd looked a little bloated the day before, but seemed otherwise fine. It often seems to happen like that, and it's often the ones that had a difficult start. You have to get used to losing a few each year. Fortunately both girls ha

    • August
      • Balls.
        08/28/16
        Four lambs. Harley and her friend Davidson are growing fast, and cause chaos at feeding time. Kirby was born with weak legs, and got injured when all four splayed out on the kitchen lino. But he's slowly getting stronger. Takes a while to feed though. Little Peter / Puck is not as little now, a

      • Lambing season
        08/07/16
        We had a tiny lamb last week, who we named Thumbelina. Unfortunately she only lasted 24 hours. But the next day, we took in another rather small lamb who was one of triplets. Generally when a sheep has triplets, they reject one. Rachael suggested various names, and Harley Quinn was the least inappro

    • July
      • Napier part 2
        07/24/16
        We won! Having taken three heavy trophies back to Napier, we've brought them home again. That's two years in a row, which means we'll probably be in the C grade next year. That makes it somewhat harder since we'll have to do a street march, and not many of us can walk and play si

      • Napier or bust
        07/16/16
        The national brass band contest is in Napier, which is about as far east as you can go before getting wet. Unless you head for East Cape of course, but there's not a lot there. Or Kiribati, who wiggled the date line so they could be even further east. But we're not going there today.

      • Technology
        07/02/16
        Sarah usually puts on Disney channel. Often we don’t bother changing it, and sit there watching Girl Meets World until 10pm. Last night, there was some movie about dancing. Dangerous stuff. Sarah tried copying the moves, and was going fine for quite a while, until she tried an ambitious pirouette

    • June
      • Winter
        06/04/16
        The decorations are still up, but slowly coming unstuck. Finally managed to eat the last bit of cake this week. Rachael's outing last week went really well, with ice skating (in costume) and a movie. She wanted to see a second movie, but it's probably a good thing that Bronwyn said no - sh

    • May
      • Birthdays
        05/22/16
        We're in The Birthday Zone again. Sarah is 11, and Rachael's going to be 16. Sarah had a party last week. She wanted lots of balloons, so while she was out at the swimming lesson, me and Rach blew up three bags of them. Added some streamers, set up the chocolate fountain and prepared some

      • No time to be bored...
        05/09/16
        Bronwyn's old car is still with us. Seems to be an issue with the coolant - it keeps emptying and flashing warnings. I suspect it's some form of invertebrate life enjoying a cosy retreat inside the radiator valve.

        Down to two chickens. One of them died suddenly. Her friend is no

    • April
      • Pain
        04/24/16
        Rachael survived her trip up the volcano. There's the Tongariro Crossing, which is a seven hour walk. And there's the Northern Circuit, which takes about 15 hours. That's the one Rachael took. Fantastic views. High above the clouds. But very rough volcanic terrain. At one point Rachae

      • Water
        04/10/16
        Bronwyn complained that the water smelt funny. So this afternoon I got the ladder out and had a look in the tank. There, floating in the gloom was a full sized possum. A rather dead possum. OK, I'll stop there. I managed to fish it out with a shepherd's crook, plus a fishing net for the, u

    • March
      • Easter
        03/27/16
        Sarah's out in the tent with her friend. Rachael's chilling out playing minecraft. She's just about recovered from the hike two weeks ago. Meanwhile, the house is full of chocolate, including one enormous egg currently sitting on the piano. We've had quite an action packed Easter

      • Lambs. In cars.
        03/14/16
        Rachael's off on another hike. She did the Duke of Edinburgh's Bronze last year, so now she's on the silver. I presume they make it harder this time. The weather certainly is. It's going to be raining on Saturday!

        Bronwyn and Sarah took Leia the lamb to the Kumeu Show

    • February
      • An incident on the road.
        02/21/16
        The lights flickered, and went out. Looked like a power line down somewhere. Bronwyn and Rach jumped in the car and drove around looking for clues. I went in search of some torches. Then we saw flashing lights over by the river bridge. Sarah wanted to go and see, but Bronwyn had told her to stay the

      • Zombie pig men
        02/14/16
        It feels weird. Like I lost my memory in mid December, and came round at the end of January. But somehow I had this bizarre dream about driving all over England for five or six weeks.

        But we've had some busy Saturdays. We promised that we'd keep in touch with a few people, and

    • January
      • Water, water, in the wrong place
        01/31/16
        Still rather hot, but it's supposed to get a little cooler next week. Hope it rains, too. Our tank is a little on the empty side. Thought it should be nearly full, since there was a lot of rain over Christmas. But it was below half full, and seemed to be dropping rather rapidly. Today, I found

      • The land of mouse
        01/25/16
        Back home at last! Seven suitcases, three or four bags, and we had about 9 parcels waiting for us that we'd posted back. Now that they're all back in the house, I don't have to count them every step of the way!

        Managed to fit in a number of jobs for my mother in the time av

      • Wales. And Coventry again
        01/14/16
        Currently back at my mother's house, sorting through suitcases and planning the journey to Paris. Or at least to Euston. The rest is a lot easier.

        A lot has happened! We spent a few days in Wales, in a cottage near Dolgarrog, somewhere south of Conwy. The lounge window looks out to a

      • Coventry
        01/07/16
        Pleasance Farm is down a driveway off a lane in a corner of Kenilworth that you wouldn't notice unless you were desperately trying to find it in order to stay the night there. The farm is 460 acres, and looks like quite a sizeable operation. It used to be part of the ancient Kenilworth Castle e

      • Chelmsford (and London)
        01/03/16
        One of my lasting memories of the pantomime was when Aladdin rubbed the magic ring. A woman appears on the other side wearing baggy trousers and a sparkly gold bikini top, turns to the audience and shouts "Well HELLO Chelmsford!" The other memory was of the genie, a big black guy with an e

  • 2015
    • December
      • Christmas
        12/27/15
        Managed to confuse at least two people at church, with both of us twins playing trombones. But most people could tell the difference. Carol duet for plastic trombones. Nick has a collection. He also has a large amount of LEDs and Arduino kit which he's used to illuminate them and create decorat

      • Oxfordshire
        12/25/15
        The cars look shiny. The buildings look historic, but on closer inspection appear to be quite recently built. I think they must hire someone to put lichen and moss on all the new buildings to make them fit in with the scenery. Or perhaps it just rains a lot here.

        All going smoothly so far

      • Singapore
        12/21/15
        We're now in the Premier Inn, Heathrow. There's three Premier Inns here. We're not in the one we originally booked with. The taxi driver took us to the wrong one. But they've transferred the booking and we're all set up here instead.

        Singapore was cloudy and not t

      • D-Day
        12/17/15
        Managed to get here in one piece. So many things to do at the last moment. But one suitcase got left behind. As far as we can remember, it just contained some travel towels and Bronwyn's Singapore clothes. So last night we were scouring the shops looking for some cool clothes. Fortunately, it l

      • T minus 2
        12/14/15
        Nearly there. Our cleaner arrived, and spent six hours with us cleaning and clearing. The kitchen looks almost perfect. Now we need to keep it there for 36 hours without the resulting vacuum sucking it all back in again. I gave her the best potatoes from the kitchen (another couple of kg), since nob

      • T minus 3
        12/13/15
        Bronwyn is finished. All her learning stories typed up and printed. Nearly lost one this afternoon - the file was on the USB drive and got corrupted. She wasn't happy. But fortunately it was in the old Word format, which meant I could open the thing in Notepad and found all the text at the top.

      • T minus 4
        12/13/15
        OK, so it's already T minus 3, but I didn't get a chance yesterday!

        Fortunately, it was an ideal day for washing. Got four loads done, throwing in some clothes to take on holiday. Spent an hour weeding the veggie garden, and then dug up more of the potatoes. This year we've

      • T minus 5
        12/11/15
        Haven't started packing yet. Well OK, I've been putting a few things in the suitcase in case I forget. But nothing significant yet. Need to do a final washing load, tidy and vacuum the house and sort out the garden. For once, we've got lots of lettuce and sweetcorn growing well. And a

      • T minus 8
        12/08/15
        First of many Christmas dinners yesterday. This one was for the youth trust. Tomorrow is the men's group. Sunday is the brass band. There's another next Friday but I won't be around of course!

        Had to drive into town yesterday because Rachael forgot to bring her Duke of Edin

      • T minus 10
        12/06/15
        Think we might have a rat problem. There's signs of activity under the chicken coops again. Found a dead one on the kitchen floor. Bronwyn went for the tub of rat bait. It had a hole nibbled in the side, and only two bits left. Might need some more...

        Our first carol gig at the elder

      • T minus 11
        12/05/15
        We still have a pile of stuff that the film crew left behind. At least they can collect them if they actually want them. We did get a chance to drop in on the film crew during the filing, in order to pick up some clothes for the night. People everywhere. Bright lights in the lounge. And a woman dres

      • T minus 14
        12/02/15
        Just back from the dentist. Sarah's had one filling, and there's another minor one which will have to wait until we're back. She would have had the work done at school, but forgot to hand the form back in time and Bronwyn had to beg for an appointment at the clinic, and told them that

    • November
      • T minus 17
        11/29/15
        Our night in the Penthouse Suite was very comfortable. And we did get reimbursed for the breakfast and dinner. Although as far as I can tell, the Penthouse Suite looks just like all the other rooms except... bigger. It had numerous empty cupboards. I went through checking them all. I found three sau

      • Far too much happening
        11/15/15
        Incredibly, Angus got first prize for walking up the plank at Group Day. This in spite of the fact that Cooper has hardly given him any training. An almost perfect performance, apparently. Claire was beaming. Sarah was somewhat upset. But Claire has given Bronwyn a voucher to thank us for all the tr

    • October
      • Ag day
        10/26/15
        Sarah came home with two trophies (plus a third which she's sharing with another girl). She won the lamb competition! This is despite Leia refusing to put more than three feet on the plank and refusing to walk up it. Another boy took his lamb up without a lead. Then he did a funny whistle, and

      • The funny farm
        10/18/15
        Angus had indeed broken his leg. Ross felt it (with me holding still his other three limbs) and it was definitely moving where it shouldn't. It wasn't like that at first, so it's likely Angus broke it properly later. So Ross made a splint with some bark (makes a nice curved surface)

      • Never a dull moment
        10/11/15
        Angus is limping. Looks like he's sprained one front ankle. Bronwyn felt the leg carefully, and couldn't detect anything out of place, and the vet agrees with her diagnosis. So he's been rather subdued for a few days. For once. He probably did it trying to leap onto the picnic table.

    • September
      • My family and other animals
        09/27/15
        I think we're raising a goat. Angus has been prevented from leaping over towards the kitchen, but we've now had to strengthen the fence round the other side. He still gets over sometimes. He's also made a hole in the old lawnmower - obviously he decided to jump on the plastic engine h

      • Calves, lambs, and other children
        09/13/15
        Sam (or Cao Sha, also known as Shazza or Kitten Girl) from Taiwan has been here for a week and a half. She's a big kid. She's actually been married for quite a while. Her husband worries that if they have two children, then he will have three to look after. She's been feeding the lamb

    • August
      • Chicken Flu
        08/30/15
        For those of you in the northern hemisphere, we'll be bringing you some things around Christmas time. Flu will be one of them. It's been quite bad this year; two people that I know have been in hospital. Bronwyn had bronchitis and all of us have had coughs and sore throats, including the B

      • Animal farm
        08/23/15
        Most of the lambs were born within a week or two of the first one. This is unusual. We put in one ram early, as a 'teaser', to um, warm the ewes up a bit. We put in Pip this year, one of the the lambs from two years ago. Obviously he was working hard, because he must have done most of them

    • July
      • Old technology
        07/26/15
        Rachael has been practising with her bow and arrows. It's a compound bow; quite a fearsome looking thing with a pulley system that lets you put a lot of force into the arrow with little effort. We've got a large round bale set up in the paddock with a target painted on it. It's a wrap

      • Music in the cold
        07/14/15
        Can be tiring playing trombone. I have seen plenty of old boys marching with cornets and horns, but not trombones. It uses up quite a bit of oxygen.

        Last week we had a pre-contest concert with three other bands. Sounded pretty good, apart from one spot where we appeared to be in sync with

    • June
      • Cold, wet, chickens and a tavern
        06/28/15
        It's our 18th anniversary. so we had a really nice meal off at the Riverhead Tavern, where we've never been to before. It's right next to the river. Apparently you can arrive by boat, so one day we might try a trip along the river. OK, tidal creek. It used to be a major transport hub

      • Lots...
        06/14/15
        Rachael is doing a Duke of Edinburgh Hillary award. Bronze level. It involved a hike through the forest last week, involving crossing the same river three times and climbing the same hill twice. She then went off sick for four days with a sore throat and no voice. It was quiet. She'll be walkin

    • May
      • Birthdays
        05/24/15
        Sarah is now 10. Rachael is 15 TODAY! Meanwhile Rachel is... not telling. Rachel is Bronwyn's brother Neil's wife.

        Sarah's party went well last week. Our neighbour came over with some candle making kit so the girls had fun with glitter and fancy glass candle pots, as well

      • Feeding out, and a poorly chicken
        05/10/15
        Bronwyn's parents have been off on holiday for the week, so Bronwyn has been feeding out to the cows each day. Some days, she's been working as well. The tractor is ancient, and the handbrake is useless, so to stop it you have to face it uphill and lower the tray at the back onto the groun

    • April
      • ANZAC
        04/27/15
        100 years since Gallipoli. Maybe it's time I bought a new poppy. Fortunately, Bronwyn came across some Australian ones, and bought a couple, so I had one Australian, and one rather ancient NZ one. I was expecting something different this year, but it was all pretty much the same as last year. P

      • A day on the farm
        04/11/15
        Bronwyn came back this morning after checking on the chickens. One of them had died in the night. It was Goldie, one of the original two. She hadn't been laying for a long time, and hadn't been all that keen to eat. So I was out first thing digging a grave before Sarah woke up.

      • Catching up
        04/09/15
        Bronwyn has been busy looking up accommodation and care hire for the trip to England. Much has been planned. Bronwyn has made a big calendar with all the dates and events on it. Rachael has decorated it, and turned it into a snakes and ladders board. I just hope it all goes to plan. But looking forw

    • March
      • A busy week on a quiet street
        03/23/15
        Quite a lot to report on this week. Let's see if I can piece it all together.

        Earlier in the week, Bronwyn and Ross came along the road and saw that the eight inch gate post had been broken, plus all of the planks that had been attached to it. While they were there, our neighbour fr

      • Might get some rain tonight
        03/15/15
        Cyclone Pam is coming to visit this evening. I tidied up a bit in the garden. I didn't bother tidying inside the house; she can stay outside. But it looks as though the worst of the wind is over, and it's just going to be moderate rain tonight. Further east they're predicting a lot mo

      • Mad Dogs
        03/01/15
        Still quite warm here, and barely any rain. The oak trees have begun to lose their leaves, and they've got deep roots. We've been watering the grass as well. Still a bit of green left.

        This afternoon after church we all went out for a picnic. Blazing hot day, full sun, and the y

    • February
      • Busy week
        02/15/15
        Bronwyn's father Ross believes in angels. He's got one who guards gates. Several times he's accidentally left the wrong gate open and the cows didn't notice. And yesterday, while Allan had taken a large and expensive bit of machinery to do haymaking, a tree branch fell in the gap

      • Yuwen
        02/08/15
        Yuwen went back to China after her grandmother died suddenly. She was really upset - she meant a lot to her and had looked after her as she grew up and her parents were busy working. But Yuwen came back to visit us before going on a tour of the south island. We took her out for a meal and invited Er

    • January
      • Taupo
        01/31/15
        Had an eventful holiday down in Taupo. The day before, Sarah was riding her bike down the drive and fell off. Scratches on her cheek and legs, blood on her lip and a rather painful thumb. We spent a few hours in hospital getting her thumbnail seen to. She nearly lost it completely.

        So we

      • Christmas madness
        01/10/15
        Funny how everyone asks you if you had a good holiday at this time of year. We don't go on holiday straight after Christmas, largely because everybody else does! Many of the main highways are slowed to a crawl and the police are out in force with a zero speed tolerance, if you can actually get

  • 2014
    • December
      • Oswald the Mostly White Rabbit. And other Christmas tales.
        12/21/14
        We decided that Oswald needed a bit more space. The rather expensive hutch from Animates turned out to be more in keeping with a large guinea pig. So we rigged up some chicken wire and trellis, and gave him a patch by the water tank.

        However, Oswald is quite good at escaping, and made it

      • Escapology and miracles
        12/08/14
        It's been a pretty full on couple of weeks. Three Christmas parades and a concert, plus quite a few other events in the run up to Christmas. Plenty more to follow...

        Last week was the parade in central Auckland. I borrowed Bronwyn's GPS and set it to go to the one car park that

    • November
      • Exploding car and smoking table.
        11/23/14
        The car got us all the way home from Tutukaka. Then Bronwyn took Rachael in to school. While driving through Swanson, the car suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Bronwyn and Rachael leap out and run away. Five blokes leap out of the truck behind with fire extinguishers. Bronwyn phones the fire

      • Dave and Sarah's wedding
        11/16/14
        Dave is my old boss, now a business partner, joint shareholder, fellow self employed, something like that. Anyway, yesterday, he got married to Sarah, who started off as a lodger several years ago and obviously had some effect on him!

        Saturday morning went like clockwork. Google told us i

      • A packed programme
        11/09/14
        It's been a busy weekend. On Friday Sarah had her group agricultural day, then Rachael had a swimming lesson up in Silverdale at 5pm, Sarah had a dress rehearsal at 5:45pm in Auckland Girls, and I had brass band in Kumeu at 7:30. We ditched the rehearsal. On Saturday, Sarah had swimming at 10am

      • Melissa. And a rabbit.
        11/02/14
        Oswald the little black rabbit ended up staying in Paihia. Meanwhile, Bronwyn had already bought a brand new hutch and all the accessories. So after a few posts on Facebook, we're now the proud owners of Oswald the Mostly White rabbit. He seems rather scared of humans though, since he runs and

    • October
      • Proud moments
        10/26/14
        Sarah came home with flying colours after Ag Day. Four of them. She got ribbons for Tom the lamb, two for second place and one for first. Plus a big one for coming second overall (for lambs) in the school! (Apparently the girl who came first has entered a lamb eight years running.) Tom did really we

      • Chickens, geese and the theatre.
        10/19/14
        Went out to see The Sound Of Music in Auckland on Wednesday evening, followed by a chat in Starbucks, which meant I didn't get to bed until 11:30. Yanick left us on Thursday morning, to go up to Kaitaia, and then on around New Zealand. He was catching the 8:20am coach. From Orewa. And we had to

      • Yanick
        10/12/14
        Yanick arrived from Germany, and he's had a quiet couple of weeks adjusting, feeding lambs, looking after Sarah and getting ready for his 8 month tour of New Zealand. He's got a driving licence and wants to buy a car. However, I don't think he's done much driving on rural roads,

    • September
      • Out and about
        09/28/14
        Rachael survived Tongariro, and looks like she enjoyed it, despite getting rather wet out camping. Took us a while to dry out all her clothing.

        Next week, Bronwyn's working three days (she's now working permanent Mondays) then off to a teaching conference in Rotorua for the week

      • Scotland: Playing Mum against Dad.
        09/16/14
        Had a phone call late last week from another power company. She went through all the questions and announced that I could get $12 off my monthly power bill. Plus some fuel discounts. So I accepted.

        Had another call yesterday from a nervous bloke in the original company. He told me they co

      • Full of beans
        09/14/14
        Rachael's off at an Outdoor Pursuits Centre. Not sure what she'll be doing, but it involves a large rucksack and plenty of warm clothing. The rucksack was incredible. I've never seen so many straps.

        Our concert with the brass band went well last night, although there weren&

    • August
      • Beans, peas and a three legged calf.
        08/31/14
        We're now hand raising a calf. Literally. Poor thing was born premature, and one of her front legs hasn't come right yet, so we've put a splint on it to keep the ankle straight, and for the first week we had to lift her up to get her standing. Consequently, Bronwyn did her back in, so

      • Chickens, dolphins and politicians
        08/15/14
        It's not easy running a farm in your back yard. I have to do it in strict sequence. There was an incident a couple of weeks ago. I let out the chickens. Four eggs, good going. I came out with the milk for the lambs. I fed Jerry first because he's a total nutcase and needs both hands to con

      • Tom and Jerry
        08/02/14
        Tomorrow is going to be busy. Bronwyn has her aspbergers support group, I've got the brass band AGM, and Sarah's going to a birthday party. All simultaneously. Meanwhile, Rachael will be busy playing Minecraft.

        Rachael's now back to normal. She had three days off this week,

    • July
      • Taking care
        07/26/14
        Rachael was off school on Friday because her throat hurt. Then late last night she had a fever, and ended up in hospital. She was only there for a couple of hours, but I had to drive out at midnight and pick up her and Bronwyn. She's been quiet today. Very quiet. And rather tired.

        Me

      • Cold and damp
        07/20/14
        Got the lawnmower started.

        Tried it, battery flat. Tried jump starting it on the car, then borrowed a charger overnight. Next morning, still no good. Ah. Put petrol in. Started first time.

        Had quite a bit of rain since then. But at least the grass is cut.

        We've

      • A bit windy
        07/12/14
        We've had major storms this week. Probably the strongest north easter we've ever had. On Tuesday night I set off to go to a brass band committee meeting. As I left, there was a bright blue flash in the distance. I thought it might be lightening, but lightening isn't usually blue. But

      • A visit from the mob
        07/06/14
        Had a fantastic, but very tiring time up in Waitangi. Two maori welcomes, a boat trip across the bay, several seminars, a lot of history and a visit from the Mongrel Mob.

        There are two maraes at Waitangi. One is where the Maori gathered to debate the treaty, and we were taken to the exact

    • June
      • Edible mud
        06/22/14
        Bronwyn's dad is turning 70, so we had everybody round for a birthday party. Claire made a cake. She's definitely getting better. This one had two round tiers decorated as paddocks, with the hay barn on the top. She'd made sheep, a cow, several birds, the dam with water lillies, fence

      • Peas, eggs and carrots
        06/08/14
        OK, so we had a couple of frosts just after the time I posted here. We have a flame tree in the driveway. No idea what species, because there are a dozen trees with that name, and it never flowers. It grows, and then it gets killed by the frost. Then new shoots come up from the stump. I managed to p

    • May
      • Another party
        05/25/14
        Rachael turned 14 yesterday! Well, technically today, because she was born in British Summer Time. It was a long day...

        We held a surprise birthday party for her. We had 11 altogether. While Bronwyn had taken Rachael and Sarah to their swimming lesson, the early arrivals hung up the decor

      • The birthday zone
        05/12/14
        Four screaming girls. Plus Rachael, who spent most of the night screaming At the girls. But I'm glad to say everyone survived. Sarah had a glow-in-the-dark party sleepover, so we dug out the UV lamp and the fluorescent face paint and far too many glow sticks. I used a hula hoop and made a netwo

      • Easter
        05/04/14
        Rachael and her friend Emily had a fantastic time at e-Camp (the junior version of the Baptist Easter Camp). She came back with a DVD full of all sorts of videos and photos. One of the favourite activities was bubble football, where everyone has to wear an enormous inflatable thing around their uppe

    • April
      • Big decisions
        04/20/14
        It's quiet. Rachael's off at e-camp with her friend Emily. This is the junior version of Easter Camp, but with more mudslides and a trendier name. Hope the weather has been OK for them; we've had rain at last. The tank is full. The tents at Easter Camp got trashed in the storm on Thur

      • Need a rest
        04/05/14
        Golly, it's been a while since the last one...

        My left eye is finally coming right. No, I meant getting better. I ended up at the eye clinic in town (I love the way the signs for Eye Clinic are huge...) and they gave me antiviral as well as more antibiotic. Seems to have done the tri

    • March
      • Unusually busy for March
        03/09/14
        Bronwyn held the inaugural meeting of the Norwest Auckland Aspergers support group last Sunday. Apparently it went really well, they're holding another get together next month, AND they left me some biscuits! There was quite a bit of interest; sounds like there's nothing much at all out th

      • Rotorua
        03/01/14
        Our final fling. Four days in Rotorua. Did the gondola and luge as usual, but this time a tourist gave us a couple of leftover rides, so Brenda went instead. She'd been really nervous, and worried that she wouldn't be able to steer the thing. So I went down with her. I think it's the

    • February
      • Queenstown
        02/19/14
        Spent an action packed four days in Queenstown. We did the luge and gondola, Glenorchy, Wanaka and the Puzzling World, the gold fields (found two tiny specks), three restaurant meals and the steamship Earnslaw.

        Rachael did a bungy! She'd been harping on about it all weekend, and on t

      • Ruakaka. "Place of the windy campsite".
        02/02/14
        Had a good holiday at Ruakaka, even if it was rather windy. We had a cyclone come down from Vanuatu, so we had winds from just about every direction. one of the poles on Brenda's tent began to split, so I bound it up with duck tape and a branch of willow. It survived, but then another pole brok

    • January
      • A busy holiday
        01/16/14
        Bronwyn worked really hard cleaning and tidying the house. We've thrown out about 5 sackfuls of assorted junk. We're slowly working through the house clearing things out. It'll take a while.

        Everyone goes on holiday after Christmas. We delay it a bit. I've been working

      • The Arrival
        01/05/14
        My mum arrives next weekend. It's her first time outside Europe. And we've been attempting to tidy the house. We've filled three sacks full of assorted junk. Bronwyn spent ages tidying Sarah's room and sorting out her clothes and toys. I've vacuumed places that haven't

  • 2013
    • December
      • Owens family Christmas newsletter 2013
        12/25/13
        We've already sent this to a few people, but here it is in case you missed it...

        Dear all. Welcome to the news of 2013! As the end of year is fast approaching, it�s time for me to sit back and look over the past twelve months and everything that has been going on. Again it has been a

      • The year of secrets
        12/15/13
        I think I must officially describe this as The Year Of Secrets. I can't believe how many times I've heard the words:
        "This is just between you and me"
        "This doesn't leave the room"
        "This doesn't leave the table".
        It started with T

      • RIP Princess
        12/02/13
        Buried our dog today. She had cataract and glaucoma, and arthritis. The medicine had eased it a bit, but she wasn't her old self. There comes a time when all that's stopping you from letting go is your own selfishness. Today we let her go.

        We tried to give her the best weekend w

    • November
      • More on chickens
        11/17/13
        Funny things, chickens. Never realised how inquisitive they can be. They can spot you digging the garden from a mile off, and come in hoping for a fresh worm. Then they start the vocalisations. There's a range. There's the familiar "b'krr buk buk buk" which means "I

      • Fireworks, drama and fish.
        11/10/13
        I didn't memtion the fireworks last time. There's a small rural school down the road that does a fundraiser every year. It's grown into one of the biggest fireworks events in Auckland, if not New Zealand. We came prepared with tarpaulin, picnic blankets, food and drink and claimed our

      • Chickens. And a tank.
        11/03/13
        Kristyna Tlhzvbkp and Michael Rt%qp{dzfg stayed with us a week and now they're off in Auckland looking for jobs to pay for the rest of their trip. Great people, and very practical. Cleaned all our windows and did some heavy weeding. Having had half the planet send us emails within a week, our S

    • October
      • The world on your doorstep
        10/20/13
        Bronwyn decided that our profile on the HelpX website was a bit out of date, so she updated it. Unfortunately that puts you to the top of the list, so in one week we've had emails from Singapore, France, Belgium, Japan and a phone call from a Czech couple. The Czechs are staying with us now, th

      • Busy holidays
        10/08/13
        Erica and Jerry returned from touring the south island. They came out to the farm for an afternoon, and got a quick tour and a hands on demonstration of sheep shearing. Plus lamb ringing. This involves putting a heavy rubber band round the tail, which is the most painless way of docking the tails. T

    • September
      • Spring
        09/30/13
        Bronwyn and Rachael didn't get to see the snow. Well, not nearby, anyway. A warm southerly brought a welcome touch of spring to Auckland. Unfortunately it brought rain and gales to the mountains. They had to turn back; it was getting too dangerous. So they went to Rotorua instead, and eased the

      • Tired
        09/15/13
        We're all pretty tired, and we've got quite a lot on next week. Last night's concert went really well. We had the local choir, a barbershop quartet and the Rangitoto College stage band as well as Kumeu Brass. And we had to put out more chairs. Possibly the largest audience we've

      • Tragedy
        09/08/13
        I don't know how much or how little to say about last week. If you want to know, do a search for Johnny Mowatt. He'd been in our church for years, and still popped in every so often. He was also fairly regular at the men's prayer group that I go to. We'd spent many evenings chatt

    • August
      • Leaving.
        08/25/13
        Sarah's chicks are doing fine, and Bronwyn has revived the nursery box and added an extra layer of chicken wire. One layer for the chicks, the other one for the cat. Unfortunately one of Cooper's chicks died on Sunday. She was rather small, and hadn't started eating, and accidentally

      • Babies!
        08/17/13
        Sarah has brought home another pair of chicks from school. She hasn't named them yet, but they're doing well so far and learning to peck for food. Claire's son Cooper has also got some chicks, and they're off skiing this weekend, so we're looking after them too. Bronwyn'

      • Can't complain...
        08/10/13
        Let's see... the car is still dying, I've had a stomach bug, Rachael's had a cold all week and Erica didn't make her grade in the exam. Oh, and it looks like we've lost another file store at work. Meanwhile, Bronwyn's on the hard stuff after the operation this week. She

      • Prince George
        08/04/13
        We've had some wild weather this week. And about ten new born lambs. Tell me, which other species chooses to bring its offspring into the world in these conditions? Plus one calf. He was born on the same day as a certain other baby, so we've named him Prince George.

        Erica did he

    • July
      • Holidays?
        07/21/13
        We've had one week of the school holidays so far. Claire's five year old son Cooper (or is that Mini Cooper?) has been round for the day so Claire can go to work. He doesn't ever do things by halves. So far, he's broken the toilet seat and lost a few bits off one of my puzzles. W

      • I'm not as young as I used to be
        07/08/13
        I survived an action packed three days in Christchurch for the youth worker conference (I'm not a youth worker, but I've done a lot of work on the committee with fundraising). They had told me to bring walking shoes, formal suit for dinner and swimming togs. Plus a sleeping bag, towel and

    • June
      • English, as she is spoke.
        06/30/13
        Erica's spending 50% of her time at the English School or doing essays. That leaves 30% for sleep, 12% on the bus, and the remaining 8% for eating, washing up, herding sheep and chatting to her long suffering parents and boyfriend back in China. But it's going to be Worth It. She's ge

      • Busy...
        06/16/13
        Erica's been told she need to complete two essays every night. So she works hard at school all day, then does another hour or two back at home. She's started to take a pillow along with her for the bus journey.

        Rachael's been out all day on a shopping trip organised by Aunt

      • Fun on the farm
        06/09/13
        This week was my first doing half time on the old job and half on the new. Made some good progress on the new job, thrashing out ideas and setting up a basic demo to keep the customer happy. Fixed a number of issues on the old job too, although with the reduced hours, it's getting harder to do

      • Not an easy day.
        06/02/13
        We lost a lamb today. Bronwyn found it lying down in a swamp a week ago, and brought it in. It looked like it wouldn't make it, but after a couple of days under the heat lamp it was up and about. Yesterday it spent quite a long time eating out in the garden. But today it couldn't stand up,

    • May
      • OMG a teenager in the house...
        05/26/13
        Rachael's party was last night. We had a UV bulb, about 150 glowsticks, fluorescent face paint and a variety of other decorations and streamers. I brought out some magic fairy dust from the laundry to sprinkle on the floor. It glows well in UV. And more fun than washing clothes with it. The gir

      • Meanwhile
        05/19/13
        Bronwyn's parents are off touring Great Britain, and Allan, Stephen and Bronwyn have been looking after the farm. Allan is married to a diesel engine, and has been tending the paddocks with smelly fish fertiliser and trying to get the grass growing again. Stephen has been keeping an eye on the

      • What are the chances?
        05/05/13
        Spent the week touring the north. One night in Dargaville (I was amazed. People do live there. Rough looking bikers. Aging women in miniskirts with tatoos up their legs. And one or two others.) Two nights in Kaitaia, and two nights in Paihia.

        Saw the Big Tree at Pahi, and the Big Tree in

    • April
      • Always in threes
        04/24/13
        I now have three company gmail accounts. I don't know the password to the old one, but fortunately, Firefox does. Unfortunately it doesn't like having multiple accounts open, so I have the other two in Google Chrome while I juggle all the emails and documents.

        Cait (or was it An

      • Golly.
        04/14/13
        I've resigned. And signed a new short term contract with the Australians. And my old boss has gone solo and wants me to work with him instead. I've had a lot of thinking and praying to do. I've only ever had two full time jobs in my life, so this is a big step.

        Last week wa

      • Garlic
        04/07/13
        I've been daily raiding the garden for fruit and vegetables to turn into juice. My ultimate this week was kale, spinach, silverbeet, carrots, figs, plum, and for an extra bit of spice, a spoonful of crushed garlic (it's healthy, apparently). It reminded me of the spicy cacao brew that Mont

      • Chocolate
        04/01/13
        Sarah had her friends round for an easter egg hunt earlier this afternoon. Meanwhile, Rachael's just come back from camp and wants her share of the chocolate. Always the way...

        Looks like Rachael had a great time at camp. She's brought back a video of the highlights, the main on

    • March
      • Nope.
        03/24/13
        Haven't been too well for the last couple of weeks. Not sure which is worse, the illness or the antibiotics. I've stopped the antibiotics a few days ago. Now let's see what the illness was like...

        We had a hacking incident last week. One of the Australian schools had their

      • The luck of the Irish
        03/17/13
        It's St Patrick's day. And it's raining. At last. The whole North Island and large chunks of the South Island has been declared a drought zone. Bronwyn says she's come across paddocks with large areas completely bare, and dams run right dry. Fortunately, our dam is huge, and is o

      • A screwdriver in the dark
        03/03/13
        Bronwyn's been struggling with asthma this weekend. Fortunately, she's finished all her deliveries, so it's all set for The Big Day on Tuesday. So long as the forms actually got delivered. Apparently some postman has been collecting the blank forms back out of the mailboxes, and posti

    • February
      • Working too hard
        02/25/13
        Had a very busy couple of weeks at work. All the schools are back, and as usual, they've left things until about a week after the last moment, and we're now getting frantic calls because the parents want to log in, nobody's checked the school database and they assumed it would be done

      • The secret tunnel, and the bucket of A4.
        02/10/13
        I've been borrowing a Samsung tablet from work. It's got a GPS function, so I took it up into the bush and I've been trying to map out some of the areas we've never been in. Today, after thrashing through a hundred metres of dense undergrowth, losing my pencil and bumping into th

      • Aftermath
        02/03/13
        We've had a quiet week, so I might mention a bit more of the fun last week. I'm just about recovered. Mummy says I'm too old to be doing rock concerts on the night shift. Went to a few of the later bands as well. The arena was pretty well packed to the back, but round the far side it

    • January
      • Camping
        01/30/13
        I've been to Hamilton and back via Tauranga. We took both cars down to the campsite at Omokoroa, near Tauranga. It's got a mineral hot pool (and it's actually quite warm). Bronwyn took the girls out to visit a friend, as well as a huge (and very deep) open cast gold mine at Waihi, the

      • Summer fun
        01/14/13
        Still no rain. Might get a sustained drizzle tomorrow. Allan has his sprinklers on a timer switch, but the pump keeps cutting out and needs resetting. So we have to remember to check the pump every evening. Which kind of defeats the object of having a timer switch.

        Last weekend we went to

      • Very quiet
        01/06/13
        Apparently I have swimmer's ear. It's a yeast infection (Sarah told me I had bread in my ear) and I've got some really viscous drops to put in. Which makes it very difficult to hear anything. Hopefully it'll clear up soon, but it's hard to tell...

        Got quite a bit

  • 2012
    • December
      • Christmas came early
        12/23/12
        The cyclone was due today, but it looks like it did the same as our English friends did last month - it decided Paihia was a much nicer place to hang out, and stayed there. But there's a sizeable trough coming from Australia, which looks like it'll tell the cyclone to toughen up and head s

      • Another week...
        12/16/12
        Carol service tonight, then carolling outside the supermarket just about every day until Christmas. Then it's time to put Jingle Bells and Rudolph back in the box for another year.

        Allan's sweetcorn is growing reasonably well, and he's planted another bagful. He's boug

      • Fun on the farm
        12/09/12
        Sarah's been really ill this week. Leaking at both ends. We're hoping to send her to school tomorrow - she missed three days last week. She threw up one night. Bronwyn had carefully arranged some towels on the bed to catch anything that she might care to expel. Sarah moved the towels, and

      • Number 100. Jingle Bells, isn't it?
        12/03/12
        Isabel leaves tomorrow! She's planning to head for Rotorua after a short stop in Auckland. She's done the bush tour, the farm tour, the sheep shed, the quick trombone lesson, two Christmas parades and a couple of trips into town. Tonight... fudge. It's been at least, um, two months si

    • November
      • The silly season
        11/18/12
        It has begun. Well, not quite. We were supposed to play carols at a Christmas parade, but we only found out when we got there that it had been cancelled due to the lack of roads. Building sites everwhere. So it'll be next week for the first parade instead.

        Two guides turned up to th

      • Trees. And another houseful
        11/11/12
        The Girl Guides (and probably the Scouts) are coming round next week to plant some trees. I've spenty half the seekend going through them and potting them up. Run out of compost, and running low on pots as well. But I've got enough to plant next week.

        The whole master plan was

      • Just another week on the farm
        11/04/12
        We were planning to have Rachael's friend and her family over for the night, but they couldn't make it. We were supposed to have three more come to stay today, but apparently Paihia is just too nice and they're going to stay a bit longer. So looks like we've got another quiet wee

    • October
      • Summer!
        10/28/12
        A long week in the sun. It's gone half nine and I'm still in shorts. Summer at last! Well, for this week, anyway.

        Sowed carrots, onions, broccoli, spring onions, lettuce, kale, silverbeet, spinach, a few beans left over from last year, and watermelons. Nothing growing as yet. It

      • A week in the country
        10/21/12
        It was the agricultural day at Sarah's school, so Bronwyn sorted out the usual flowers, sand, shells, pebbles, seaweed and various other bits for the flower arrangement competition (everybody does at least two every year!). This year we also had the chickens, so Bronwyn repaired and furnished t

      • Queenstown
        10/14/12
        Queenstown was action packed, although we didn't spot the Queen anywhere. Wandered round the gardens, went up the gondola, visited the minus five ice bar, spent all day on the trip to Milford Sound, drove up to Wanaka and the Puzzling World (we all got seasick in the tilted house), did some gol

      • It'll be cold
        10/06/12
        We're heading to Queenstown next week for a few days. Weather forcast is a little cold and damp. But there will probably be plenty of snow, which none of us have seen for quite a long time.

        Last Saturday I felt fine. Sunday was the band contest, and we came a close second. I felt a b

    • September
      • Sick. All of us.
        09/25/12
        Really felt bad on Friday. Got home, had dinner, went to bed and stayed there almost continually until Sunday afternoon. I'm a lot better now, but I've spent Monday and Tuesday doing as little as possible because I'm getting sick of being sick! Meanwhile, Sarah, Rachael and Bronwyn ha

      • More lambs...
        09/16/12
        They took the remaining lambs in for docking today. We've got 100 lambs born this year (not including the ones that didn't make it). We're slowly increasing the flock each year. They used to have thousands on the farm, back in the old days when wool was worth something! Meanwhile, our

      • Characters
        09/10/12
        It's going to be quiet after Wednesday. Celia and Nana will be leaving. Someone else will have to feed the lambs and do the washing up. Celia's influence is definitely showing on Nana, who was quiet and mature when she first arrived. Not any more. I'm learning quite a bit about China,

      • The world's fastest chicken shed
        09/01/12
        We docked all the lambs last week. It involves putting a small rubber ring round their tails (and testicles) which causes their bits to drop off after a week or so. Removing the tail keeps their bums clean. Removing the goolies keeps the peace and allows selective breeding. 81 all together. Quite a

    • August
      • A quiet week
        08/26/12
        Three lambs. Stephen took White Face and Scruffy, and then returned with another two. One was very ill, and died after a day, but the other one is doing well. We've lost 9 lambs so far, but we've had so many twins and triplets that overall we've gor a bumper crop this year.

      • Lambs everywhere...
        08/19/12
        Weiming is off on her travels, and plans to head south for the summer. We've got a week or so free, and then her friend Celia arrives with her friend Nana. Weiming has been looking after us while we've all been sick. I wish we'd been able to do more for her while she was here, but she

      • Volcanos, chicks, streptococcus, staphylococcus etc...
        08/12/12
        Rachael's been barking like a dog this week, and had two days off sick. I've also been really ill, and had to take three days off. However, I actually bothered to read the bottle of pills, and it says Take TWO twice daily. Obviously one wasn't enough! So I've raised the dose, and

      • Four lambs and a funeral
        08/05/12
        Weiming was washing up one day last week. I opened the dishwasher, and rearranged a few dishes. She commented that she never seemed to put thing in correctly in there. I said that quite a few people had difficulty working out how to use a dishwasher. "Oh. Is that a dishwasher?" she replied

    • July
      • 所有的变化
        07/29/12
        Erica didn't want to leave. She did really well at the airport, but told me not to say too much, in case it made her cry. She was so overwhelmed. Apparently, her parents think we're angels, and they want us to come and visit them in China!

        I took a couple of days holiday to make

      • I'm learning mandarin
        07/18/12
        Golly, it's been a while since the last update. Robin (Chinese girl number 2) came back and stayed another week. She's off in Auckland Uni now, doing postgrad statistics. Next week, Erica (Chinese girl number 1) is back after her amazing tour of New Zealand to stay for another six days. Af

    • June
      • Robin flew back
        06/24/12
        Bronwyn's sounding a lot better, and I've managed to clear most of the slime from my throat. Rachael's managed to get a nasty cramp in her neck after trying the 'who can do the hula hoop longest round the neck' competition at youth group. Sarah's fine. Nothing seems to

      • Coughs, colds, and a queue outside the door
        06/17/12
        I've been off sick with a cold this week. Sarah's had a bit of a cough, and Rachael's been rather tired. It's been quite cold this week too. Last night, Bronwyn had trouble with asthma, and rang up the doctors, who told her to call for an ambulance, and they took her into hospita

      • Erica, sideburns and Colonel Bogie
        06/10/12
        Had a really good week with Erica from Taizhou near Shanghai in China. She settled in really well, and although she was only with us for six days, we all became quite close friends. Tidied up the house, cleaned the kitchen, did the washing up and made us dinner once as well! She's working her w

      • Girls
        06/03/12
        Rachael's book party went really well; we had quite a houseful. She also did a presentation at her old school which she was really nervous about, but it all went well. She's had a delayed birthday sleepover and trip to the ice skating today, with a couple of friends. Sarah came along too a

    • May
      • Too much cake...
        05/26/12
        Car has a new shock absorber and brake hoses. Washing machine has a new drum brake solenoid (which the chinese manufacturers labelled as a drain pump motor, even though it's none of those three) and doesn't make a racket during the spin cycle. Had to drive to south Auckland to buy that thi

      • Books, birthdays, work, mice...
        05/19/12
        Rachael has had a book published! Well, professionally produced and bound, anyway. She wrote it at achool last year, and Bronwyn typed it all out. We've ordered thirty copies, and she's going to do a presentation to her old school. Might even sell a few copies too! We're going to have

      • Tired, but busy...
        05/06/12
        Rachael and Esther have been communicating via letters and Facebook video. Meanwhile, Nick has been attempting to grow some manuka from seed, and so far failing. I've been collecting some seed to post over in case he fails.

        Rachael's been down with tonsilitis, Bronwyn's had

    • April
      • The aftermath
        04/22/12
        Rachael and Esther are really missing each other. They've both written a letter. Just waiting for the long distance post to cross over.

        Coralie left again yesterday (she's been back for a few days), early in the morning. She was really sad to go too. She's off in Australia,

      • Double trouble
        04/18/12
        Nick and Esther went home today. It's been quite a packed couple of weeks. Nick's been updating Facebook every night, so I'll just share some of his postings! We've been to Rotorua, Taupo, Ngatea, Pahi, Whangarei, Waipu caves, Auckland (numerous times), Orewa and Muriwai. A fair

      • Gross
        04/01/12
        Rachael is doing a science badge. She's been keeping an ant farm for seversal weeks now. Not a lot of activity - I suggested we capture a queen so she can start a family. The ant farm is designed for US ants, and the UK sized ones we get here are able to crawl out of the ventilation holes. But

    • March
      • Working hard
        03/25/12
        Bronwyn was in hospital for three days. She claims she's a lot better, but still goes into fits of coughing if I make her laugh. So I'm trying to remain as serious as possible...

        We've been making a desperate attempt to get the house in shape for when Nick and Esther arrive

      • Not feeling too good.
        03/14/12
        Coralie was a bit unwell when she left us. Then Sarah had it, and then Rachael.

        Bronwyn had a bit of a cough last Tuesday. It still wasn't right on Saturday, after two trips to the doctor, so I took her into hospital for a checkup. She had to stay there for three days until they let

      • Projects
        03/04/12
        Rachael had her first clarinet lesson this week. She's missed three weeks. The first because of some special meeting for the new entrants, the second because she forgot, and the third because they had a special mass right on top of her lesson slot. But at least she can put the thing together. S

    • February
      • Never quite know what's going to happen next...
        02/26/12
        Coralie left us on Wednesday heading to Christchurch. Wednesday happened to be the first anniversary of the earthquake, so there were all sorts of commemorations going on. She's stayed an extra couple of days in Christchurch because her friend booked the wrong date, and didn't arrive until

      • The world at my doorstep
        02/19/12
        Coralie leaves us on Wednesday to go round the south island for a month with a random friend she met on the internet. She had wanted to see the Coromandel, but never got the chance, so yesterday I took her to the Waitakere Ranges with Rachael. We did at least 2 hours walking through the forest, plus

      • Bit strapped at the moment
        02/10/12
        Going to be a tight month. Still haven't paid school fees and my new radiator. Both cars look like they might need new windshields. One speeding ticket (Bronwyn's, not me!) Plus the squashed laptop. Think that's the current total. No, there's the glasses too...

        I lost

      • A packed couple of weeks
        02/01/12
        Rachael survived the jamboree, and came back with a new t-shirt and several other things. They'd given her a tour of the geysers in Rotorua, which normally costs over $50 to get through the door. Plus she did the jet boat ride and all the usual activities! Bronwyn and Sarah went down to collect

    • January
      • All change
        01/15/12
        Summer at last! I was beginning to think my patent tank measuing device was stuck. It's been showing 98% full for two weeks. But it's just all the rain we've been having. Some years we'd already be in the full swing of haymayking. They're only just starting now.

        T

      • Wet wet wet...
        01/08/12
        The tank has been full for 9 days now. I've dragged out two paddling pools and patched them up. The better one is now full of clear sparkling drinkable water. And the tank's still full. More rain to follow.

        Got a number of things done over Christmas. Decided to dig the vegetable

  • 2011
    • December
      • Summing up
        12/31/11
        Christmas was a day early; we had a big party at Claire's house "The Arkell Events Centre" with plenty to eat, followed by some leftovers on Christmas day. On Christmas Eve I took home the takings for the last days carolling. About 6kg of coins. Fortunately the bank has a rather nifty

      • Happy Christmas...
        12/19/11
        Treble booked as usual. I had the normal carols at Swanson with the band, the works party (that was supposed to be Saturday but somebody else couldn't make it) and a spit roast round at Bronwyn's parents. I missed the works do last year to go to Swanson, so this year I did the works do ins

      • Weekend in Waiheke
        12/13/11
        We had a voucher for the ferry to Waiheke, so we spent a couple of days there. It's a large island near Auckland, with lots of volcanic rock and some interesting countryside. There's also some tunnels left over from the second world war to service the guns on the east of the island. We spe

    • November
      • Happy Christmas
        11/23/11
        Christmas started last week. Santa has already been busy in quite a few parades. He's also phoned Sarah to ask what presents she wants. Another two parades this weekend, then more the next weekend. The last posting date for England has already passed...

        We're a bit low on water.

      • TLC
        11/15/11
        Bronwyn's been back home for a week. She's still on strong painkillers, but can float about the house with ease, given sufficient morphine. She can't lift anything or bend down. Not that she doesn't try!

        Went to see Rachael's new school at the induction last week.

      • Good progress
        11/06/11
        Bronwyn's still in hospital, but she's now able to walk short distances so we're hoping she'll be home very soon. There were a couple of complications after the operation, but she's recovering well. I've been over there every day this week. I know the route very well. P

    • October
      • Expect the unexpected
        10/30/11
        That All Black try was quite incredible. I had to watch the replay about three times until I worked out what had happened. I suppose it's partly because we've got an old format TV and we lose the sides of the shot. The ball went to the end of the lineout. The French dash for the end of the

      • This could be it
        10/23/11
        Martin and Bina arrived last week. Bina has found a short term job, and meanwhile Martin has done a lot of work tidying the house. Indeed, I actually got as far as cleaning the windows yesterday. It's amazing how much dirt came off the front window. I do apologise to the family of spiders that

      • Owl, zebra and a Smurf
        10/16/11
        Bronwyn took the girls to a photo shoot this morning. A costume company wanted some children to model the costumes, and the photographer knows us well, so he called us. Rachael dressed up as a hippy, a couple of medaevil women, an owl and a smurf. Sarah did a zebra and Tinkerbell. Plus both did fair

      • Bookshelves...
        10/08/11
        I've come down with another bacterial infection. Currently pumped up on steroids and antibiotics. Managed to get back to work on Thursday, but didn't do a lot. I'm now on the Watchdog contract, and they pay monthly in arrears, which means I had three weeks with no pay. Fortunately I h

    • September
      • Don't feel well...
        09/26/11
        Don't know where all that fudge went. We've got about six lumps left out of 250.

        Sarah's room is tidy. Took a while. I'm tired, and I don't feel well. Not sure if they're related. Bronwyn's been really quite ill with a cough, asthma and now a headache an

      • Rugby mad.
        09/18/11
        At work on Monday, we had a draw to work out which team we would each support. They'd already put me down for England, but I protested that I wanted to support Romania, since my Romanian colleague Daniel wasn't interested in rugby. So they put me in the draw anyway, and I got New Zealand.

      • The world is black and white. Mostly black.
        09/11/11
        It's always the way. After spending the morning clearing the lounge, you come across them. A marble, two empty chip packets, a single shoe off a barbie doll, and a miscellaneous piece of plastic that looks like it might be important somewhere but you haven't got any energy left to find out

      • Cat in exile
        09/04/11
        Got a lot done this week. I think I need another weekend. At least the cat hasn't done anything this week. Hasn't been able to. He's been sleeping outside all week! Tidied the office yesterday (and vacuumed up all the cat food). Bronwyn made a good effort on the lounge. If we can brin

    • August
      • Too much for one week
        08/28/11
        Nice weather this week. I've had to water the garden, and it's still winter!

        Bronwyn cancelled work on Monday since Rachael had kept her up all night. She got asked to work on Tuesday by the agency (the one she's been enrolled in since February but the haven't given he

      • Normality returning - take 2
        08/21/11
        We've had an old clock sitting on the mantelpiece for a few years. However, late last year it stopped, and wouldn't go again. So a couple of months ago we finally took it in for repair. It's now back, and ticking quietly. It also has three different chimes, but we don't use them.

    • July
      • Normality returning
        07/31/11
        Bronwyn's got an interview next week for relieving work at a kindy. She's been on the list for an agency, but they haven't given her a single job yet so she's making more enquiries. Agency teachers cost more than independent teachers, so the centers tend to prefer to keep their o

      • Not quite to plan
        07/24/11
        Allan came round with a digger to do our driveway. He's scraped all the topsoil off that has built up over the years. I didn't realise we had such a wide driveway - we've had a paddock on top of it for all the time I've been here. He's also been digging out all the drains. S

      • A long expected party.
        07/10/11
        Sigrid and Venla went to the school ball on Friday night. I haven't seen them since - Sigrid's been staying at Venla's house for a couple of nights. But I understand they're still alive, so that's something. Sigrid had ordered a dress from China. She's also designed her

      • Earthquakes, volcanoes, floods and a dead bull.
        07/03/11
        It's been about three weeks since my last post! Plenty going on. I've been in Rangiora this week, which is about 20 minutes north of Christchurch. This was for the national conference of the youth work organisation that I'm involved in. It was a really full on week.

        We set

    • June
      • Tired
        06/12/11
        Sigrid has been on her mid-stay camp, and is looking very tired. I've been in rehearsals with the brass band most of the weekend. I've had a very full week at work too.

        It's not really half way for Sigrid yet. But it already feels like she's been here a very long time.

      • Clogged up
        06/02/11
        Almost all of us have had colds this week. I'm just about recovering, Rachael's been off school for a couple of days, and Sigrid has been too. We're running short on tissues and cough medicine. The temperatures have dropped quite a bit. My work was planning to give me a flu jab. Not s

    • May
      • Dangerous activities
        05/22/11
        My bum hurts. I fell over while ice skating, attempting to push Sarah on her skating frame with one hand. It worked a lot better if I held the frame either side of Sarah, but then I had to skate very wide in order to avoid her wildly kicking feet. I tried to encourage her to skate alone, but she did

      • The birthday zone
        05/15/11
        Sarah's sixth birthday yesterday. She had 4 friends round to the party, and Bronwyn made everything pink. By the evening the P word was deemed to be inappropriate. But they had a great time, quite a feast, and Claire turned up with some helium balloons. Pink, of course.

        Next week it

      • Going in circles
        05/08/11
        The doughnut machine got returned, but because Bronwyn had left the lawnmower in its usual spot, they put the doughnut machine in Bronwyn's spot. We were off on holiday. So now Bronwyn's car doesn't fit in the garage. I moved the lawnmower back to it's proper spot. Yesterday, Bro

      • Smelly
        05/01/11
        Rotorua sits right on top of a hotspot, and the town smells continually of hydrogen sulphide. In addition, it was really wet on the first day, and my shoes and socks got wet, and started to smell. So did Rachael's feet. Then I managed to splash petrol on my trousers. So it was quite a smelly we

    • April
      • All quiet on the western front
        04/24/11
        I spent the day down at Mystery Creek setting up for the youth group camp. We had seven tents, five marquees, ten benches, two sofas, the doughnut machine, the coffee machine, the football table, the pool table, three banners, a camoflage net and an army jeep. Plus a five foot cross which I'm s

      • Day At The Museum
        04/11/11
        Our friends returned from touring the North Island on Friday, and they're going home tomorrow, so we were planning to take the boat trip to the Rangitoto volcano, then we decided to go to the beach instead. Then we decided on the museum. So we spent a few hours admiring the exhibits, the live i

      • Need more sleep
        04/04/11
        Didn't get a chance to write anything last week. I spent all of Saturday selling books for the church gala. I thought we'd just have about 5 boxfulls, but when I turned up, there must have been closer to twenty. Fortunately some people had sorted out most of the books apparently they were

    • March
      • Lights, camera, action...
        03/20/11
        Someone stole Bronwyn's camera yesterday. Rachael and Bronwyn were at the zoo, and Rachael had put it down to help some other people. When she went back, it had gone. She's been really upset and didn't sleep last night. But they met some people from Christchurch, and had a good time o

      • Drugs
        03/17/11
        Had a full weekend. We went to the Pasifika festival on Saturday. It's supposed to be the largest cultural festival in the southern hemisphere. Not sure how much culture there is in the southern hemisphere, but it certainly was quite big. There were about ten "villages", for each coun

      • Camp
        03/06/11
        Rachael's off at Girl Guide camp. Sigrid's off at a delayed induction camp. Sarah spent Friday night at Nanna's. So Bronwyn decided to take me out to a restaurant for the evening. Nice pizza. Quite cheap, and friendly service, although the waitress was dressed a little odd. Top half -

    • February
      • Differentiation.
        02/27/11
        The news has had little else apart from the Christchurch earthquake. It looks like it could end up worse than the Hastings-Napier quake where 256 people died. Bronwyn's brother might end up going down to help. We've had to get a Girl Guide uniform for Rachael second hand, since most of the

      • Action packed
        02/20/11
        Sigrid is settling in really well. Sarah loves her, and falls asleep on her in the car. Rachael is really pleased to have a big sister with her on the school bus. She's getting on OK at school, and I've been teaching her music and (briefly) calculus. She's also been to the youth group

      • A weekend parachuting
        02/06/11
        My boss says I've gone down in his estimation. He thought I was some sort of dare devil, who climbed rocks and jumped out of aeroplanes for a hobby. When I told him that Parachute was a very much earth bound festival (apart from the vertical bungy) and I was only doing the coffee, he said he wa

    • January
      • The carpet
        01/27/11
        We had an old carpet in the spare room. Bronwyn hated it, so she put it underneath as an underlay. I got it out and gave it a good clean and shampoo. She's right. It's hideous. She put it up for auction, along with some old baby stuff.

        The carpet is now at $85. I gather that 19

      • Gone camping
        01/16/11
        About 0.1 mm of rain all week. Apparently there's going to be a downpour next week. The camp site was not too full and not too empty. Plenty of new friends around, and we had about three different neighbours on one side. The first had been there for several weeks, and came back every year. They

      • Going camping
        01/08/11
        I've hardly stopped today. Took down most of the Christmas decorations, did three loads of washing, shifted all the plants round the back to stop them drying out and sorted out stuff for camping. It's mostly done. Just need to pack the chilly bin tomorrow.

        It's going to be

      • Sunny days
        01/02/11
        Rachael is recovering from a nasty sunburn from before Christmas. She's stopped peeling now, and is currently out in the pool again. I made sure she had some sun block on!

        Finally took the tent down. I'm amazed there's still some green grass underneath. We're going cam

  • 2010
    • December
      • Christmas
        12/25/10
        I wanted a second helping of Christmas pudding, but had nowhere to put it! We're just back from Bronwyn's mum and dad's for Christmas dinner. Bronwyn's mum is English, and still prefers the traditional roast turkey. At this time of year, most people go for a barbecue.

      • Rain
        12/16/10
        It's been raining almost continually for about 36 hours. Just as the government declared several areas as drought stricken. Just as several of my friends phoned up for the water truck to refill their tank. Everything's now soggy. The tent threatened to collapse, and someone left the window

      • Drugs
        12/05/10
        I spent another week feeling tired, uncomfortable and slightly feverish. I feel better today, but I'm still drugged up on prednisone and flucloxacillin. I don't think I'll try anything too strenuous just yet.

        Bronwyn took us to her old friend for a birthday party - he'

    • November
      • Don't feel well
        11/28/10
        I've been ill for the past week, and rather out of it. Possibly the change of weather - it's quite warm and humid now. Not a lot of rain at all.

        Rachael has had two friends to stay overnight in the tent. I've no idea how much sleep they got, but Bronwyn had to shout at the

      • A great weekend
        11/14/10
        It was the church camp this weekend, and also Bronwyn's parents' 40th anniversary. (November and December have a habit of getting double booked! Both went off really well.

        The camp was on the topic of Community, and we had some excellent talks from our speaker Merrilyn, who, amo

      • Books and chainsaws
        11/07/10
        The brass band asked the Lions club for funds, The Lions club asked us to help our at their Book Fair, in return for a cut of the profits. So yesterday I spent all morning shifting books around and keeping the hordes happy. They rushed in at the start with boxes and huge bags, grabbing anything they

    • October
      • Lawnmowers. I think grass is easier.
        10/31/10
        Our phone line was down for four days. We think it was a digger doing a trench for another cable. Knocked out about 50 houses!

        Worked out what was wrong with the lawnmower. Part of the cutter deck is broken and pulling away, hence one pulley wheel was out of line and the belt fell off. Ne

      • Sheep herding in a Caldina, and a return to the Dark Ages
        10/19/10
        Our phone line went dead on Friday. We reported it on Saturday, and discovered that quite a few other people were out too. Bronwyn passed a couple of guys working on the lines, and one of them mumbled something about a 50 pair bundle being at fault. It was supposed to be back Saturday night, but now

      • Paint
        10/10/10
        The spare room is 90% finished. Bronwyn wants to do the corridor too. We've been spending every spare moment doing bits this week. Bronwyn still doesn't trust her foot, so I've had to do the bits up the top.

        She pointed out that there's only one power socket in the roo

      • Lawnmower broken, bank account empty...
        10/03/10
        ...but at least it's sunny.

        I think I stretched the belt on the lawnmower, when it hit some sticks in the long grass. It falls off again after a couple of seconds. Perhaps I'll have a nature garden this year. Or a hay paddock.

        We've made a start on painting the

    • September
      • Back to normal
        09/26/10
        Cleared the spare room, bagged up loads of old clothes, put quite a bit in the loft. Now we can look at decorating, but it's nice to have one room in the house that looks tidy. Meanwhile Rachael's friend Lissa stayed overnight on Friday. They decided to set up camp in the old water tank. W

      • Peace at last
        09/19/10
        It went from panic mode to bleary eyed insanity last week. But the conference was a success. Our stuff worked almost perfectly. But the wireless network was overloaded with nearly two hundred teachers on laptops, plus quite a few students who spotted the free internet access around the school. They

      • Det er kaos som vanlig
        09/12/10
        Rachael tidied her room yesterday. I ought to take a picture to record the historic event. All I did was ask her to put her clothes back in the drawer. Now, if only we can get Sarah to put things away...

        Both girls had the flu last week. Sarah missed her special performance at school, but

      • Quite a week
        09/05/10
        Before you ask, our house is still standing. Christchurch is near the other end of the country. We spent a night there when we were travelling, so I've seen some of the places that got damaged in the earthquake. I've felt a few earthquakes since we moved here, but all of them were in the c

    • August
      • Are we nearly there yet?
        08/29/10
        Rachael's not well. She's got a sore throat and is feeling generally dreadful. She's also a lot quieter than normal, which is highly unusual. Sounds like she's got the flu. Possibly the same one as last year because Bronwyn and me are fine. Sarah wasn't too well a week ago,

      • Bit of a scare. And a celebration.
        08/21/10
        Bronwyn got stung by a wasp on Wednesday. She was just dropping off the girls to school. She had an allergic reaction and collapsed, and someone called an ambulance. By the time it arrived, she was coherent again, so they took her to the doctors. She was there for two hours, barely aware of what was

      • Midnight oil
        08/15/10
        Time ceased to have meaning this week. I spent most of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in the office; we were trying to finish the latest software ready for next week. We had a chart on the wall of all the bugs, and coloured stars so we could mark which ones we'd done. Got to bed at 12:40am on We

      • Cars, or lack of them
        08/08/10
        My car is currently having a new engine fitted. It also needs a warrant, so I might as well leave it at the mechanics for a bit longer. Bronwyn's car is at the panelbeaters. We currently have a courtesy car, which is nearly as old as mine is. Bronwyn's car still needs a new seatbelt, cam b

    • July
      • Down on the farm
        07/25/10
        Bronwyn is off to Singapore for the week. My car is currently at the mechanics with a bad case of non-starting. I'm not feeling too good either.

        I've hardly been able to start the car all week, and on Thursday I persuaded my father in law to tow it up over the hill to the mechan

      • Cars
        07/18/10
        Bronwyn's car has a sticky steering wheel. Our mechanic thinks it's a sticky valve in the power steering. But he's found this stuff that is supposed to soften the valve, and thus make it work better. Another of his "make it last a bit longer" recipes. It's one thing I n

      • Waitangi, and the rest
        07/11/10
        Bronwyn suprised me on our anniversary. She emailed the band and said I wouldn't be coming, then booked a meal in the city. It was well worth it. Thanks Bronny!

        Bronwyn is going to Singapore at the end of the month to say goodbye to her friend who died recently. She'll have a ch

    • June
      • Church?
        06/27/10
        The dinner on Saturday night went down really well, and the dog appreciated all the leftovers. I didn't finish tidying Rachael's room yesterday, but at least most of the floor is clear, and it doesn't stink of cat pee *quite* as much. Bronwyn's parents are coming round tonight to

      • Cleaning
        06/20/10
        Next weekend, Bronwyn is organising a dinner for her parents' church home group. Yesterday she attacked the lounge, and cleared all the clothes off the bedroom floor. This morning she sanitised the toilet. I've done about 4 loads of washing so far, and sorted through all the clothes litter

      • The usual, but with added extras
        06/13/10
        Washing machine broke down. It was happy up until the point where it was supposed to drain the tub and refill it. I knew this because it was flashing 'rinse' but appeared to be full of soapy water. After more detective work, I detected a definite click followed by a hum. Very reassuring, t

      • Nose blocked
        06/01/10
        I'm over the jet lag. Now I've just got a cold!

        People have been asking me if I've had a good holiday. I'm not sure I can describe it as that. I certainly didn't sit on the beach with a bucket and spade! Neither was it all plain sailing. It was hard to turn up at

    • May
      • Jet lag
        05/28/10
        Took a while to recover this week. I didn't get a lot of sleep on the planes, and did quite a lot in Singapore. It's now Friday, and I'm still tired.

        I haven't begun to think through all that's happened in the last month. Many thanks to all those of you who gave m

      • Staphylococci
        05/19/10
        Wasn't well last week. Had a long discussion at the doctors as to whether I had to pay full rates for the prescription due to being a non-resident, but eventually they decided I was a nice British chap and let me off with the normal rates.

        Spent Saturday in Chesterfield and Sunday in

      • Worn out
        05/12/10
        Feeling a bit run down after a busy week and weekend. At least I now have a quiet week to recover.

        There is a well known Maori belief that when a fantail visits you it is a warning of death, or a messenger come to say goodbye. Six days after Peggy died, a fantail flew into the house, flew

      • Tragedy
        05/06/10
        I got woken up yesterday morning with some awful news - one of our friends has just died very suddenly and very tragically. Bronwyn is really upset, and so is Rachael. I've been in touch with them whenever I can, but it feels such a distance right now.

        I went to a funeral up in Coven

    • April
      • Singapore
        04/26/10
        Here I sit, dining on noodles and tuna sandwiches, trying to work out what time of day it is, which way the airport is and how on earth I'm going to get there. Many thanks to Priscilla and Eng Guan for accomodating me and taking me out for dinner and a long conversation last night. I'm now

      • Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible
        04/18/10
        Iceland is getting their own back for being diddled out of the IceSave loan. Now they're spreading noxious fumes and powdered glass all over Europe. Not sure whether I'll make it to Heathrow next week or not. At least I have the offer of a couch in Singapore. I've upgraded from a hedg

      • Two weeks
        04/11/10
        Only two weeks until I flee the country! Please get in touch if you want me to visit at some point; currently the only fixed date is 30th April to 3rd May with my brother in Maldon. I'll stop in Singapore on the 25th April overnight (I'm still looking for a nice warm hedge to sleep under,

      • Easter
        04/04/10
        We got through 86 hot cross buns on Friday. This is amazing, because Bronwyn's mum only made 84. I think someone was exaggerating!

        I found a few blackberries. None of them were worth eating, except one rather shrivelled one. I think I found more wasp nests than blackberries. But the

    • March
      • Brambles, pain and suffering
        03/28/10
        Spent a lot of time pulling out brambles to make room for trees later in the year. I now have a huge heap ready to burn once the fire ban is lifted. Except my father-in-law doesn't want them there and wants me to bury them instead. So I'll shift them into the rubbish hole, once I've s

      • Ouch
        03/20/10
        Bronwyn is off in Dunedin (in the far south of the south island) seeing old friends. She nearly didn't make it. On Thursday afternoon she was out feeding apples to the cows. One of the cows pushed in for another apple, and knocked another cow, who stood on Bronwyn's foot. The doctor was su

      • Long weekend
        03/14/10
        Had what might be described as a few short patches of drizzle, which when put together might add up to a bit of a drip. The forecast keeps changing, but at least it's been cool and damp enough to stop everything wilting completely.

        Rachael's ear is a lot better, although they wa

      • Bit of a sprinkle
        03/07/10
        Yet another low pressure wimped out when the big anti-cyclone muscled in from Oz. We had about 2mm of rain. Another cold front due on Thursday, but I doubt it'll do much either. However, at least it's getting cooler, so the ground isn't drying out as much. Not that there's much t

    • February
      • Quite a week
        02/28/10
        Rachael enjoyed the school camp. They did a lot of activities including climbing, abseiling and an assault course. She got an award for the abseiling, but panicked up the climbing wall and had to come down. I don't blame her. I had difficulty climbing at that age too!

        Bronwyn had Tue

      • Dry as
        02/23/10
        It's dry as, Bro, as they say round here. Haven't had any rain for ages. Don't know if the lawnmower will ever move again; it's probably seized up out of boredom.

        The band played out in the park in West Auckland, and I should have brought another 2 litres of water, be

      • We have normality. I repeat, we have normality...
        02/13/10
        I declared war on the lounge this morning, and threw everything into a big heap on the floor. I spent all morning sorting it out and putting it away, and now I'm left with a boxful of miscellaneous junk which I'll attack when I get some energy. This morning Sarah spilt orangeade on the car

      • A early start
        02/07/10
        Bronwyn starts work at 7:30, which means she has to leave at 7am, which means she has to wake up at 6:30am. Waking up has never been easy for Bronwyn, so I wake her up. I like to have breakfast in advance, so I get up at 5:50am. It's been tough. But we got through it somehow. Except for Tuesday

    • January
      • Not as planned.
        01/31/10
        It's raining, sort of. Must have had about 0.2 mm so far. We'll need several months of this to catch up. It's also hot and humid.

        Some things just don't work out as planned. I didn't make it to Parachute (in Hamilton). Bronwyn has been really unwell and wound up i

      • Back to work
        01/24/10
        Had a reasonable week at work, but didn't get a lot of planned work done. Spent most of the time sorting out the new hardware that Dave, our product manager / ageing surf dude had bought, plus fixing a number of issues from all the teachers that have recently emerged from hibernation (or is tha

      • Camp
        01/17/10
        I'm on my fourth load of washing, and there's still more in the bag. I just decided to wash the lot! We had a great time up near Whangarei last week. It was a small campsite but just the right mix of people, and everyone got on really well, especially the children. Bronwyn kept them all en

      • And a happy new year to you too
        01/03/10
        Quiet. Too quiet. I guess I did so much last weekend that I'm running low on things to do this weekend. I'm sure I'll find something. The spare room is now tidy, the loft is now full, the lounge is in a mess again (but that's normal) and I'm beginning to work on the garden f

  • 2009
    • December
      • Christmas!
        12/27/09
        Bronwyn bought a mini water slide. It has a tube with holes along one side, so you get sprayed as you slide along. Rachael, Sarah and Bronwyn all tried it. I hung up the grass and mud stained swimming togs to dry...

        Several people were away for Christmas day, so we had a big dinner round

      • Slime
        12/20/09
        Yesterday, I gathered up five towels and hung them back up in the bathroom. When I got home in the afternoon, two towels were in Rachael's room, one was in the lounge and slightly damp, and two more were rolled up and arranged in a ring on the front deck. The ring was lined with a plastic sheet

      • Not long now
        12/13/09
        No more parades, one carol concert, two sessions playing carols outside the supermarket. Nearly there. Bronwyn made herself sort out all the parcels and cards, and spent quite a bit at the post office. I'm going to need to work more overtime!

        Rachael read her poem in the Christmas pr

      • It's still Christmas
        12/05/09
        Another parade this morning. Carol service tomorrow night. And another parade on Monday night. Then I've got a few nights off, and it's the final parade on Friday. The long one. It's over a kilometer, and we usually lose count of how many times we play the music. And lose a few music

      • Rather tired
        12/01/09
        A rather full-on week.

        The Henderson Santa parade and the Auckland parade went well, as did the church on Sunday, but I'm rather exhausted. At times I wasn't sure if I was still standing up. We were a bit rough on our first play through of the march on Saturday, but warmed up a

    • November
      • Chaos as usual
        11/22/09
        Missed the brass band rehearsal to got to the youth trust committee meeting. Next Tuesday I'm missing the church meeting to go to the brass band committee. Sounds fair. This Tuesday I'll be off at a training session for the trust. Wednesday is our church home group, Monday is the brass ban

      • Unplanned off-roading
        11/15/09
        Right hand bend. Bit of gravel. Steer into it. Easy. Oops. Bit too much. Steer right. Good. No, left. Left. LEFT!

        The car ignored me, and I ended up parked neatly on a grassy bank. Fortunately the wheels were pointing left, otherwise I would have ended up on the downhill cross country. T

      • A nine year old girl
        11/08/09
        We're a bit short for people to run the projector at church, so this week Rachael did it. I gave her a quick lesson on Thursday night, and got her set up this morning. She did really well. I made the announcement that with up to 100 adults there, the show was being run from the back by a nine y

      • Endings and beginnings
        11/01/09
        Bronwyn got dismissed for walking out. They were quite adamant about it, and ignored the reasons for it. We had a neighbour support us, for which we're very grateful. I probably best not say too much at this stage. Bronwyn's work has now lost 5 people in 2 months, and perhaps it's all

    • October
      • MOTAT, bamboo, bananas and curry paste
        10/26/09
        Rachael's friend Stephanie had a sleepover in the tent last night, and today we all went to the museum of transport and technology (MOTAT). It's quite a big place, and we didn't get to see all of it. Steam engines, the tram, the aeroplanes, the science play areas, the model railway, a

      • The wanderers return
        10/20/09
        The plane was early, but obviously midnight is rush hour at Auckland Airport. It was about 1am by the time we finally got home.

        Sarah adjusted fairly quickly. Rachael still has issues getting up in the morning, but that's pretty normal. Bronwyn got a delayed reaction. She got jetlag

      • Terror of the lamb
        10/11/09
        After Bronwyn and the girls left, Princess spent a couple of days at Claire's house. Now lambs have a bunting reflex; they head butt their mothers in the groin to stimulate the milk flow. Larry the Lamb gave Princess quite a pounding apparently, and she's spent the rest of the time over he

      • It's quiet
        10/04/09
        Bronwyn and the girls landed safely, and have been enjoying the swimming pool, the Chinese dinner, the zoo and the ballet. They managed to meet up with everyone and went out for a meal with them. So far, Bronwyn has survived quite well, despite Rachael and Sarah. The girls have a separate bedroom, w

    • September
      • Wet wet wet
        09/27/09
        Dropped in on the Prime Minister today. Well, not quite. Dropped in on his office. One of them. And spoke to his office manager who happens to live just down the road. The brass band wanted me to ask for advice and support about the new building. As it happens, we've already found a building. S

      • Chaos
        09/20/09
        The conference went well; we only had the usual glitches, apart from when someone copied a huge amount of stuff up as her conference notes, did it three times, and then six people tried to download it. I'll have to sort that one out tomorrow. I now have a bag full of sausage rolls and various c

      • Busy...
        09/13/09
        The trampoline has risen again. Bronwyn's brother Neil finally got round to welding and unbending a couple of joints, and it's now up in the back garden with a guy rope strategically attached to protect it from the wind. It's been raining quite a bit this weekend, but that hasn't

      • The good, the bad and the ugly
        09/06/09
        Pulled up a large quantity of onion weed from the garden. Apparently it's edible, but it smells very strongly and grows everywhere. Also began digging up some flax plants to transplant into the paddock. This is New Zealand flax, which has six foot leaves and ten foot flowers. It was quite a jun

    • August
      • Progress...
        08/30/09
        The secret tunnel has been filled in. Still no sign of the lawnmower. I started pulling up weeds by hand yesterday. Going to take a while.

        The tickets are purchased, and a large hole has appeared in the credit card. Bronwyn and the girls will go to see her friends in Singapore in October

      • The CD, the bomb and the secret passageway
        08/23/09
        The girls have suddenly discovered ABBA. Apparently one of the staff at kindy was playing some music, and Sarah took to singing Mumma Mia continually. Rachael joined in too, altering the words to "Diarrhoea" etc as any self respecting nine year old would. Bronwyn managed to find an ABBA CD

      • Poetic justice
        08/16/09
        Warm and wet today. Guess I'll stay indoors.

        Went to collect the lawnmower, but it was missing a vital metal thingy that held the cutting head off the ground. Apparently Claire had tried to use it, but had run out of petrol. She had a tiny dribble in a can, which she used to get the

      • Fun and games
        08/08/09
        It's getting warmer. Still cold, but not quite frosty. But we had some thick fog last week. Yesterday, I tried to start my car. I tried the usual trick of rolling it down the hill. Unfortunately I'd left it facing the wrong way, and had to do a bump start, in reverse, in thick fog, with a

      • A busy weekend
        08/02/09
        It's been wet and windy today. I had a haircut in the morning. The hairdresser said she was planning to go fishing this afternoon. Not sure how she got on, but she was going to the east coast, and the thought that would be fine because it was a north wester. I'm just glad I stayed indoors.

    • July
      • Tidying
        07/26/09
        Obviously my tidy up of the art cupboard was not without its drawbacks. Sarah found a new uncharted domain, and started painting the carpet in her room. Unfortunately she chose glass paint, which is like coloured glue. I tried varnish remover, which got most of the sticky stuff off, but merged the c

      • Back home
        07/19/09
        Bronwyn's parents have returned from their grand tour of England, and managed to meet up with quite a few people on the way. Claire is organising an afternoon tea, in the longstanding Kerr-Taylor tradition, to welcome everyone back.

        The church youth group has also returned from a mis

      • Wet and windy
        07/12/09
        Quite a storm last night. There are still large puddles on the drive, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to start the car tomorrow.

        The car still moves, but the engine is wearing out, and the outer CV joints rattle whenever you turn a corner. I've been watching the fuel consu

      • Back to normal
        07/05/09
        There seem to be three different reactions when I mention swine flu. All are quite distinct, quite polarised and largely wrong.

        Some people panic. They've heard stories of someone on the other side of the planet who had similar situations, and run a mile every time you cough. Others

    • June
      • Influenza
        06/28/09
        We've all had it this week. Sarah had swollen tonsils on Monday, Rachael's had a nasty cough, I was off sick for three days, and Bronwyn's had a temperature up to 40. She's still very tired and full of aches. So we've spent the weekend in. Well, technically I shouldn't

      • Chilly
        06/21/09
        Cold this week. Bronwyn's cut up some more firewood, and we've got enough to last for a while. It's heavy old stuff, however, and takes a while to burn. But we still have a little of the light dry wood to start the fire with. I haven't had to drive across the paddock to get more

      • Archaeology
        06/14/09
        Did more excavation on the drive yesterday. The youth group's doughnut machine is now occupying the little shed, and my car is next to Bronwyn's in the big shed. I excavated the driveway for the little shed last year, but the right hand side of the big shed just had grass in front of it. D

      • The Waitakeres
        06/07/09
        Bronwyn recovered quickly from her food poisoning, and fortunately none of the rest of us managed to catch it. It's been cold this week. It was minus 3 on Thursday night. By English standards that's pretty tame, but here it's probably the coldest we're likely to have all year, an

    • May
      • I fed the hippos
        05/31/09
        It's nice to visit the zoo, and be able to go round the back. Often the animals like to hide out of sight, and it's only possible to see them if you're one of the keepers. Or you bribe the maintenance staff. I'm told chocolate cake works wonders.

        Managed to get everybo

      • Parties
        05/24/09
        Rachael's friends have been here overnight. The lounge is full of mattresses and sleeping bags, and assorted pillows and toys. Bronwyn made a big butterfly cake with three different shades of purple icing. Currently they're all watching a Barbie movie. Not sure how much sleep they had last

      • Birthdays
        05/16/09
        Sarah was 4 on Thursday. Bronwyn made a cake with a big rainbow, and sorted out some sugar drops into different colours to match. Today there's a party. Next week there will be another party for Rachael, who will be 9, and a sleepover. If Rachael can tidy her room, that is.

        We'v

      • Wet and windy
        05/10/09
        We've got a large low pressure tight over New Zealand, and it's doing its best to stay put. Went over to Claire's for Neil's birthday party this afternoon. The girls went out to use the little heated pool. It all went well until they had to come back inside again and get dry. Hav

      • Back to school
        05/03/09
        Rachael went back to school this week. This has made it quieter in the house, at least until quarter past three. She was supposed to go to the After School Club on Thursday, but came home on the bus. Just as well that I'd decided to go home early!

        Bronwyn is working four days a week

    • April
      • A quiet week
        04/26/09
        No brass band rehearsal this week or next. For once I find myself wondering what to do. But the lounge hasn't been tidied in a while, so the peace is probably an illusion.

        ANZAC day went off smoothly despite the rather threatening clouds. However, we started early by accident. The n

      • Napier
        04/19/09
        It took us seven hours to get to Napier, but because I've never been that way (and neither has Bronwyn) it was really quite interesting. East of Taupo is very empty, with a huge pine forest and lots of hills. It's only once you cross the last mountain ridge that you get to the populated ar

      • Confirmation
        04/12/09
        Bronwyn's dad was inducted into the church this morning, and the children were also doing an Easter play. Another girl was getting baptised. So it was quite a lengthy service by Huapai standards, but it all went smoothly. Rachael said her piece perfectly, and Sarah survived without exploding. B

      • Potatos
        04/05/09
        A week or two ago, the church gave us some groceries since we were struggling financially. With Bronwyn now working things are getting easier. Bronwyn's friend Jackie was the next target; she's just moved out of a rather awkward situation and wants to start afresh. So the church got her so

    • March
      • OK so far
        03/28/09
        Bronwyn has survived three days at work this week, and has been thoroughly enjoying it. It's quite long hours, which means I have to be at home for when Rachael comes home, I need to collect Sarah, and I need to do dinner. Not every day though. However this week it took until Wednesday to fix t

      • Hard times
        03/21/09
        For the last three months we haven't had Bronwyn earning anything. We've also had major dental bills, the motel, new glasses for Bronwyn after the handle broke off and several other things. Bronwyn has been doing really well as far as spending goes. We've got a second account that we&

      • A weekend away
        03/11/09
        One of my old friends passed away this week. It all happened very quickly - she had been unwell for a while, then was unable to do anything one day, and went into hospital. She died a couple of days later of cancer. Everyone is in shock. She touched a lot of people through the sunday school, and kep

      • A brief respite
        03/01/09
        It's going to be a busy two months. Two contests, two concerts, three times running the computer at church and twice playing trombone. But next week we're off to a wedding; one of Bronwyn's old friends from Way Back. So we'll be away for the next weekend. May is going to be so qu

    • February
      • Even wetter
        02/22/09
        We had about 5cm of rain this week. The tank is full, the dam has reached the overflow pipe and the fields are green. The trees are doing well, along with the others in various stages from seeds upwards.

        Had a full weekend in Katikati. It's off to the south east, about 100 miles away

      • Wet
        02/15/09
        We've had rain at last. About 4cm, and more is on the way. I've been watching the MetService website with great interest. We had a series of high pressures standing guard over the country for several weeks. Then one of them let its guard down, and a herd of low pressures piled in from the

      • Hot
        02/08/09
        It's really hot here. We missed out on the storm last week; it passed about 400 miles away. There's another lot heading for us. I've been monitoring the Met Office website, and willing the rain to come out way. The paddocks are really dry. I did my back in last week watering the trees

    • January
      • Parachute and Peggy
        01/30/09
        My car failed the warrant of fitness test on a rear light and one brake. I replaced the bulb and got our local mechanic to fix the brake. However, one CV joint makes a bit of a grinding noise when you turn a corner. Apparently this isn't part of the WOF test. And the mechanic seemed to think it

      • Haymaking
        01/19/09
        Was out for several hours on Saturday evening helping with the haymaking. They were wrapping bales in plastic sheet, which makes them ferment and soften. Apparently the horses love it. Bronwyn's dad has this attachment on the back of the tractor which spins round and wraps the bales. The bale s

      • Camping
        01/13/09
        It was a quiet, but interesting week off camping. We couldn't have picked a better week for the weather - it was the first week for months that had no rain at all. It also rained just before and after, thus I didn't need to worry about the garden or the trees. Haven't checked them all

      • Quiet
        01/01/09
        I was at work for three days this week, and all was quiet. We did a lot of planning and discussing. Meanwhile, Bronwyn got paid rather late. We suspect it's because the YMCA is in financial difficulties. Bronwyn was making quite a few phone calls yesterday!

        Spent about 4 hours changi

  • 2008
    • December
      • At least it's Christmas
        12/25/08
        Had a shock last Sunday. Our dog had grabbed one of the kittens and was swinging it around. Bronwyn separated them, but it didn't survive long. The vet gave us a box for her, and we buried her in the garden. I made a little cross with a proper cross lap joint, and Rachael wrote 'Saphire�

      • Pukekos
        12/18/08
        I'm pretty certain it's pukekos that are pulling up the trees. I found a rabbit hole, and saw a rabbit, but after stopping up the hole, there was no attempt to open it. I also put a trap out for the cat, but all I got was a hedgehog. Earlier this year we had a black cat that ran away, and

      • Christmas chaos
        12/07/08
        I've had another busy weekend, hence the lack of entries last week. I took the Friday off and managed to plant most of the trees. On Saturday I went up to visit the youth camp, and stayed until midnight.

        The morning was easy enough; everyone was messing about on the sea or up the hi

    • November
      • Trees and kittens
        11/24/08
        My grandmother died this week, at 97. She had a minor stroke last week, but it sounds as if she had another, which was more serious. She had been in a lot of pain, and found it hard to do anything, so in a way it was a relief. My oldest memories of my grandparents were from when they had already ret

      • Tired
        11/16/08
        Spent all of yesterday (from 7am to 11:45pm) out with the brass band. Went in early to set up the display boards with all the photos. I also had some of the old uniforms on display, and quite a few photo frames, certificates and other bits and pieces. Got some of it done, then set off for the first

      • More trees
        11/09/08
        A local nursery had a special offer for November - $1.50 per tree. So I've got another 30. Planted 10 so far. These are going into a larger block which was set aside when Bronwyn's dad sold land to her sister Claire. It's a sort of Brownie Point system - normally you can't subdiv

      • A quiet week
        11/02/08
        Moved the bunk bed into Rachael's room, Rachael's old bed into Sarah's room, Sarah's old bed into the spare room. Still have the bottom bunk to paint, but the shop has run out of purple.

        Transplanted about 34 tree seedlings, which are now growing on my windowsill along

    • October
      • The Big Meeting
        10/26/08
        A few weeks ago, Bronwyn had been at work, and was putting the children to bed. But another woman was off on a break, and so Bronwyn had to collect and prepare the children as well. It's a little difficult to get children to settle - if one starts playing, the others do too. Our daughter Sarah

      • Down by the riverside
        10/19/08
        Just came back from the regional brass band contest - as usual, I don't know the results yet, but it went down really well. We finished with the Radetsky march. The announcer described the piece, and then dramatically introduced us. The conductor started, but nothing happened. He tried again, b

      • A busy day
        10/12/08
        The world's financial markets are in meltdown, Iceland has gone "down the googler" (as they say here), and the real estate market is looking, um, a little unreal. But life goes on in the farm.

        I spent yesterday morning up in the bush working hard. Some signposts had been pr

      • An eventful week
        10/05/08
        I passed a policeman's hat. It was shortly after I passed a police car. I stopped. So did another car. We both walked towards it cautiously and stared at it. Then the other man announced himself as a retired police officer, so I let him pick it up. He was about to chase after the police car whe

    • September
      • The Salvation Army
        09/28/08
        Spent about 7 hours at a joint concert in the central Salvation Army headquarters in Auckland. It was a joint concert between the brass band and the Salvation Army band. We had a rehearsal in the afternoon and a concert in the evening.

        It was a really good concert. They had a very loud ba

      • Planks
        09/21/08
        With a pile of old floorboards from the old front deck, I made a new floor for the treehouse. Plus another one for the top level, and a few well placed planks to strengthen the old timber. It might not meet New Zealand building standards, but it's certainly going to last a few years yet. Might

      • Indescribable
        09/14/08
        The youth group held an open meeting this week - the church was packed with about 150 teenagers (plus a row of token fossils). This was a follow on from a similar meeting last year, where we saw a video of a talk given in America. It was all about the greatness of God, and looking at the earth on co

      • More trees
        09/07/08
        I'm slowly becoming myself again, and learning how to cope when things get me down. Planted another ten trees yesterday. Dug 11 holes, and was somewhat confused after I had carefully filled it with compost and went looking for the tree. So I had to carefully dig the compost back out again. It&#

    • August
      • Working hard on holiday
        08/31/08
        I ended up taking only two days off altogether, although I left my emails set to tell everyone I was going to be out until September. Meanwhile, I ignored everything and just worked on a little project that I had wanted to do for a long time. It helped me to recover quite a bit. Bronwyn seems to be

      • Need a break
        08/24/08
        Both of us needed a break this week. Bronwyn wanted to go off for a weekend's respite care this weekend, but couldn't get through to her normal place. Meanwhile, I've been suffering from depression too this week. But as a result, I've got next week off. So I'm feeling better

      • Turning around
        08/17/08
        We've had quite a lot happen lately, and I didn't get to add an entry last week. Bronwyn has been really struggling, and we've had her case workers over several times to look after her. But we've had a lot of help from the church. A friend is trying to organise another home group

      • More stormy weather
        08/03/08
        It's been a very wet and windy week. We've now had three storms pass across the north island in 7 days. A number of roads were flooded, although I haven't seen too many trees down. The trampoline hasn't moved since I anchored it to buried logs, but the legs are now pointing in a

    • July
      • Stormy weather
        07/27/08
        We had a major storm sweep over the North Island this week, and apparently there's another one on its way later in the week. The river is rather full, and all the low lying paddocks are flooded. I was tempted to take a canoe down, but I don't think it would fit in the car. There were some

      • A busy weekend
        07/18/08
        Had quite a busy weekend last week, and didn't get to add and entry here. Spent most of Saturday tidying Sarah's room, and sorting out all the baby stuff. Now I just need a few more boxes to store all the bags of old clothes. I promised I'd help Rachael tidy her room this weekend. Tha

      • Colour has returned
        07/08/08
        I had carefully searched all the second hand televisions available throughout Auckland. I was on the verge of buying one, when Bronwyn walked home lugging a new one. Apparently it was on special. So now we have colour back in our lives again. It has one issue; the TV starts in normal mode from the a

    • June
      • Meanwhile
        06/29/08
        Apologies for not writing last week; I had quite a pile to get through. But we're off for a weekend break with Sarah now, so I've got a chance to catch up. I prepared a complex itinerary for Rachael back at home - she's being shuttled between about 4 different houses!

        Gave

      • Still no cat...
        06/15/08
        The cat food is disappearing. The trap is set. Somehow Smokey utilises a zero-gravity field which prevents the trap going off. Maybe he's lost weight. But his one big weakness is food, so I shall keep persevering. We have a collar ready for him, and we'll book him in for the vet, and then

      • Cat food
        06/01/08
        The brass band is gearing up for the Auckland contest next week. I've got a couple of bits I need to practice, and I've been driving everybody mad with them. But they're nearly there. The contest is at the far end of Auckland, and we're supposed to be there for 10am. This means

    • May
      • More birthdays
        05/25/08
        It was Rachael's birthday yesterday. Bronwyn bought a small chocolate cake, and we lit some candles, but we've already had the big party so she won't get a lot more. Bronwyn's parents are coming round tonight for yet another family meal (we seem to be getting a lot of birthdays w

      • Night Of The Washing Machine
        05/18/08
        On Sunday night, both girls threw up twice, at evenly spaced intervals. Sarah first, and then Rachael. After the fourth event, there was enough washing for two loads, so Bronwyn put a load in at 3 am.

        Since neither child was allowed anywhere on Monday, and since both parents were also suf

      • Great balls of fire
        05/10/08
        The bonfire went well. I hardly needed to use any of the dry wood - it caught fire very quickly and helped to guide everyone up to the paddock. It was also sunny for two days, so it was cold and clear. Ideal bonfire weather. A bit muddy through the gate, however, and some fun for certain people who

      • Moving on
        05/04/08
        The funeral for baby Faith was quite moving, and the place was packed. There had been at least 400 photos taken of her in one short week, and many of them were shown at the funeral. Afterwards, as the car left with the tiny casket, we all let off helium balloons.

        Bronwyn's parent

    • April
      • Saying goodbye
        04/27/08
        Baby Faith passed away on Tuesday afternoon. She lasted a week longer than expected, long enough for us to take a plaster cast of her foot which Bronwyn plans to paint and mount on a board. She went downhill quite rapidly over less than a day. The funeral is on Monday. There was a fishing contest on

      • A beginning and an end
        04/16/08
        Two babies were born this week, almost within a day of each other. Bronwyn's sister Claire had a boy named Cooper. Her husband Nigel is mad on cars, which probably influenced the name. Claire has spine problems, and was booked in for a caesarean, but the contractions started a month early. All

      • The advert
        04/06/08
        The advert has appeared on TV...
        http://www.shaveforacure.co.nz/home/index.html or for a close up

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQyl_DR6

        Note (in order, and in quick succession)

        Our dining room, table and chairs.
        My favourite coffee mug. I�m tempted to a

    • March
      • Free pine cones...
        03/22/08
        On Wednesday, Rachael came home, and nobody was at home. This wouldn't have been so bad, if the cows hadn't finally broken down the fence, headed up the drive and mowed the garden. Somehow she managed to chase them out of the garden, shut the gate and then walked over the hill to Bronwyn&#

      • The movie makers
        03/16/08
        I forgot to mention. Princess got a hair cut last week. Bronwyn's parents got a dog-hairdresser in to do their dog, and offered to share costs with us. I didn't recognise her when she came back. She looked half the size, and if it wasn't for her obsessive compulsive desire to fetch st

      • Hot and smokey
        03/09/08
        Didn't do any sewing this week, but used the material to cover a couple of chairs. Bronwyn bought some material to cover the sofa cushions, so that's the next job.

        We now have a black cat called Smokey. This is getting confusing, because we've also had Scruffy and Stormy. H

      • Sewn up
        03/05/08
        I am now the proud owner of a sewing machine. It's brand new, but was used as a demonstration model, and I got it quite cheaply. I sewed the cushions for the bay window seat. I wouldn't call it a perfect job, but provided you don't turn the cushions over, nobody would know.

    • February
      • Rain...
        02/24/08
        It rained for about 36 hours solid this week. We had at least two inches. I know that because the dog bowl filled up with water. Any more and it would have overflowed. So now the ground is well and truly damp.

        The calves are now out in a nearby paddock. This was largely because they were

      • Rain at last
        02/18/08
        We've had a bit more rain this week, but it's still rather brown out there. A lot cooler though. More like an English summer!

        The three calves are growing fast, although Michael has an infection in the knee, and is on antibiotics. They're beginning to nibble at the grass, s

      • Stormy and Gabriel
        02/10/08
        Took the cat back again. His cat flu was really getting quite bad, and he was also terrified of going outside. We had asked for an outdoors cat to catch mice. The vet told Bronwyn to "make a bit of a scene" and claim back all the vet bills, which she did, but we're yet to hear back fr

      • The mouse trap
        02/02/08
        Still no rain. We have four blobs of high pressure around New Zealand, and they're guarding their patch very well!

        We have a new cat. His name is Stormy, and he's a really nice black and grey mottled tabby. He was supposedly a stray, but I suspect he was abandoned, because he ha

    • January
      • Dust and coffee
        01/30/08
        We have a different calf. Angel is back with a foster cow. Our current one is named Michael. If we have another bull calf we might call it Gabriel.

        It's hot and dry. Further south the grass is completely yellow; it was like driving through Botswana. Fortunately we had a lot of rain w

      • Changes
        01/21/08
        Angel the calf stayed with us for a week, and then we managed to attach her to a cow that had had a stillborn. However, there have been two more calves with useless mothers, so we might end up with two in the garden. It's all the fault of our bull, who got in with the young cows last year. Youn

      • Camping
        01/13/08
        Well, we had a quiet Christmas and New Year, and I was well enough to go on holiday. Apart from a couple of days of continual rain, we had quite reasonable weather. The ground got completely waterlogged though, and we eventually had to switch to the second tent entrance because the main door had a b

  • 2007
    • December
      • Glad it's quiet
        12/30/07
        I've gone down with a bacterial infection again, and Bronwyn's got laryngitis. Just as well it's quiet, and there's very little to do! Rachael is over her chicken pox, but is a bit quiet and tired. This is not entirely a bad thing...

        Thanks to everyone for your present

      • A quiet Christmas
        12/23/07
        Hopefully...

        Rachael went down with chicken pox this week, and was howling and screaming for a couple of days, especially when someone was nearby to listen. Fortunately she seems to have recovered quickly. and is now bouncing around as if nothing ever happened. But we've planned a qu

      • Recovering
        12/16/07
        Sarah is over the chicken pox, but a couple of spots got infected, and she's now on antibiotics. She's tired and irritable, but otherwise OK. Rachael has been spared it, as has Bronwyn.

        Did our last parade on Friday night. It's the longest one; about 800 metres. This is qu

      • Lost & found
        12/11/07
        No sign of the cat, or the mobile, which has also been missing for a couple of weeks. We now have a new mobile, same number.

        Went to the dentist. I don't have a fear of dentists, just the bill at the end. Fortunately I didn't detect any BMWs outside, and they didn't attempt

      • Into the swing
        12/02/07
        Two parades yesterday. Glad I'm feeling better now. Except that there's a rough spot on an old filling, and I think I need to see the dentist. Ah well. I still have some sick leave left, and with Bronwyn's job, we're not doing too badly financially. Just as well; we put Bronwyn&#

    • November
      • Back again
        11/24/07
        I was ill for two full weeks, and had to go back for more shots on Monday and Tuesday. But I'm feeling better than I have been for at least three weeks, so hopefully it's past. I've still got 2 weeks of antibiotics to go!

        Claire's house is appearing fast; they now have

      • Not well
        11/13/07
        Managed to put all the panelling back together on the bay window seat, but didn't get much else done. I was feeling a bit peculiar all week, and on Friday I went home early. By Saturday my eyes were bulgy, and I went to the doctor. He said it was just as well, because otherwise I'd have be

      • DIY
        11/04/07
        Construction has started on Bronwyn's sister Claire's house. They've begun to put in the main studs (it's a wooden house, so there's not much of a foundation). Haven't been over there recently, but a frame is now visible from the road. It's Claire's birthday s

    • October
      • Falling to bits
        10/21/07
        Our mailbox has finally fallen to bits. It has sat on top of a fencepost at the bottom of our drive for many years, and survived more than one assault from a teenager with a baseball bat. But it wasn't that which got it in the end. The door simply fell off - the hinges had rusted right through.

      • Happy Birthday Mum!
        10/14/07
        Bronwyn survived three days in a row working at the leisure centre childcare centre. She also survived a day taking Sarah in for an operation on Monday. And she survived one of Rachael's friends coming round for a sleepover. She was tired, but seemed pleased with her achievement, and appears to

      • Wet wet wet
        10/07/07
        Planted four more trees. Plus the other two. Eventually you won't see out of the house any more. Bronwyn's parents have a growing hedge around the house, and a veritable orchard round the back. Oranges, lemons, bananas, apples and pears, and ugli fruit, at least until a cow got in and knoc

    • September
      • Trees...
        09/30/07
        Bronwyn bought a couple of camelias and a lemon tree, so I spent some time yesterday mowing part of the lawn and planting the trees. Was going to mow the rest today, but it's rained all day. Now we have two more trees after Bronwyn's sister gave them to her as a birthday present. They'

      • The earth opened up and swallowed me
        09/25/07
        Bronwyn had a trial day working at a child care centre, and it seems to have gone really well; she says it was quite relaxed and easy going. She starts properly this Friday, and will be just a couple of days per week to start with. This is probably just as well, because we'll need to work out h

      • Spring at last?
        09/16/07
        It's getting warmer at last. Quite sunny yesterday. Rachael had more friends over to jump on the trampoline and watch The Digger.

        They're digging out a foundation for a new house for Bronwyn's sister Claire and husband Nigel. Well, actually it's just for the garage. Bu

      • Potatoes and computers
        09/09/07
        Got a second hand computer last week. Our old computer really isn't up to the sort of software that's out these days. When someone sends us a nudge on MSN, the window is supposed to wobble. On our old computer it jumps randomly every few seconds.

        Unfortunately the new computer h

      • Still tired
        09/05/07
        I'm not sure how long it took to get over the jet lag. I almost immediately caught a cold, and was weak and feverish for about a week. I'm still not quite right. Last Sunday I suddenly realised I was supposed to be manning the computer at church. I rushed in just as it was starting, but so

    • August
      • Paint and Packaging
        08/20/07
        Did a bit more painting this week, and it's beginning to look like it was meant to be there, rather than rather thin and patchy. Mum has left a section of pebbledash for her brother to paint.

        My brother and his family were up in Warwick for the Baptist convention, and bought me a day

      • The curse of the pebble dash
        08/12/07
        Plenty of painting this week. The builders covered a small section with pebble dash, but it's taken us three full days to paint it, and there are still large sections that need doing. The rest of the house is a 'Tyrolean finish', which is less bumpy, and easier to paint. Still plenty

      • Here, there and everywhere
        08/07/07
        Spent a quiet week catching up on work, and a Saturday helping renovate the house. Nearly sandpapered my thumb raw, and then spent another hour or two filling up holes with cement. My hands are nice and pink.

        Went up to Coventry on Sunday morning, and spent a day and a bit driving all ove

      • Devastation
        08/01/07
        Spent last week in the Isle of Wight, visiting an old friend. Just days before, her husband had walked out, and announced that he wasn't coming back. So she was devastated. We spent most of the week in the house, talking, crying and praying together. She didn't want me to leave, but knew t

    • July
      • Paint and Water
        07/22/07
        It's quite something to see the land you've lived in for five years suddenly spread out before you, and looking so small, with the rising sun shining way out into the endless Pacific. Anyway, I had an uneventful journey, and all the buses connected at the far end. Not sure how I'll ma

      • There and back again
        07/15/07
        Had a nice time in Rotorua, despite the cold, the wet and the wind, as well as the sore throat of Peggy's. Went to a hot pools, and had a nice long soak. It was fine until you had to get back out of the water. Fortunately there was a really hot pool where you could store up sufficient thermal e

      • Smells, wind and brass
        07/07/07
        Bronwyn's friend Peggy arrived from Singapore last Sunday, and almost immediately we all went ill. I thought she might have brought it, but now she's got it herself! But they managed to do quite a bit this week, seeing quite a few places around Auckland, and a few trips around the farm. We

    • June
      • Updates...
        06/30/07
        Sorry, it's been nearly a month since the last update. Hadn't realised it had been so long. There's been quite a bit happening!

        My brother Nick read out my comments at the funeral, and I understand it all went well. He met my uncle for the first time (I met him last time I

      • Sad farewells
        06/05/07
        Two people were made redundant. One was quite upset, but is getting used to it now, and is looking forward to being a mum again.

        My father died at the weekend. It all happened very quickly, and he never sufferend any pain. He went into hospital after being unable to eat anything, and the

    • May
      • Marching orders
        05/27/07
        Spent three hours practicing marching with the band. We've got to do 500 metres of marching for the national contest, and there are several drills that need to be included. We've got a left turn and a right turn, involving each rank and file turning at one second intervals and somehow lini

      • Boing boing boing
        05/20/07
        Assembled the trampoline today, but didn't manage to complete it before Rachael arrived. It's huge - 14 foot across, with a high safety net. Rachael loves it. Sarah's a little unsure, but she loves bouncing on the bed, so I think she'll grow to like it. We put it round the back,

      • More chaos
        05/16/07
        Let's see, where are we?

        Only three more chairs needed. Two to pick up (for a dollar each) and I might wait a bit before I acquire more. Got over 3 metres of material left, so I should be OK.

        The boys got our server up and running, and then concentrated on moving one of t

      • Night of the living dead
        05/06/07
        We've had some very tired looking faces at work this week. All our school websites went dead. It turned out that the main switchbox had died, and thus cut off all the other servers from the outside. It took until midnight to reconfigure a spare one. There was supposed to be a special system tha

    • April
      • Computers...
        04/29/07
        Spent most of yesterday attempting to fix Bronwyn's parent's computer. Ended up phoning Telstra Clear (the phone and internet company). Janet (Bronwyn's mum) stood there on hold for an hour while I tried various things. It's wierd; certain websites load very quickly, but others t

      • More chairs
        04/25/07
        Up to 10 chairs so far. I went to the shop to get some extra fabric just in case. I've now got enough to do another 16, which should hopefully by sufficient for the band. One of the checkout girls said she loved the fabric, and stroked it surreptitiously. Think she enjoys working there.
      • Here, there and everywhere
        04/15/07
        We had a barbecue for all the houses in this section of the valley last night. It had originally been a "mystery" barbecue, because Bronwyn had forgotton to put the time and phone number on the invites. But after a second trip round delivering invites, we had quite a few turn up. Bronwyn h

      • Pastry
        04/09/07
        A nice warm Easter Monday, so we'll get the slide going again this afternoon for another last time. This morning Sarah went out the back door and made a bee-line for the sand pile. By the time I picked her up she was covered in it!

        Fun at work. One of our main servers has been crashi

      • My tank runneth over
        04/01/07
        Still recovering from the bruises.

        Had plenty of rain this week, so at last everything is green again. Not sure how much of summer is left, so I've left the water slide set up for the time being, but shifted some sand under cover for next year. Bronwyn's dad fenced off around th

    • March
      • Bruised
        03/25/07
        Got the slide going again yesterday. Think I should have smoothed out the sand a bit because there were quite a few bumps in it. But it went down well.

        Also got bruised at Rachael's school this week. We had a parent-teacher-pupil interview. Just beforehand, Rachael took me on a quic

      • Rain at last
        03/17/07
        No idea why that branch broke last week. It had been calm and sunny for weeks. That evening, we had nearly an inch of rain, and over the next two days some very strong winds. It blew the plastic sheet off the water slide, but fortunately it didn't blow a lot of sand off, and I fixed it up reaso

      • Quite a week
        03/11/07
        Still no rain! We're down to half a tank, but it's taken us weeks to get that low, so I'm not too concerned. Everyone else seems to run out of water completely every three weeks. We seem to use hardly any, yet it's not as if we're being careful...

        Bronwyn went int

      • Endless summer
        03/04/07
        Still no real rain. It has been a long hot summer, and most of the grass is now dead. The hills are straw yellow, and the European trees are dropping their leaves. The New Zealand species are all doing fine, thank you. Got the water slide going again this afternoon after another 14 barrow loads of s

    • February
      • A much needed break
        02/25/07
        Bronwyn's been feeling really low lately, and they booked her into respite care for a couple of days this week at short notice. It was in a place up north, on the top of a hill, overlooking the sea. It was really nice, apart from the long drive cross country on rather old roads. But it was well

      • A hard working weekend
        02/18/07
        Spent a lot of Saturday piling more sand on the water slide, and then pinned down the plastic sheet, along with a second strip to cover the outside of the bend. The wind blew part of the sheet away, so I pinned it down again with a load of bricks. It's holding for now.

        On Sunday morn

      • High summer
        02/11/07
        I hear they had 4 inches of snow in Coventry. And it's been 4F at one of Bronwyn's friends in the USA. Here, it's 33C, and we're in need of a bit of rain. Thunder yesterday, but the downpour didn't happen.

        Got the water slide going on Tuesday. Bronwyn's dad

      • Peace once more
        02/04/07
        Had a quiet week. Not much going on at work at the moment; we've been doing a variety of internal jobs. Could get interesting next week - all the schools start up. All our school websites sit on one server, and it's been close to the limit for a while. So we've rushed in a second serv

    • January
      • Quite a weekend
        01/31/07
        Bronwyn's movie night finished at midnight, with about 50 minutes of the video still to go. Not sure why they picked such a long movie! Then the next day, she was out helping to move the cows. About 7 needed eye drops, but they weren't being very cooperative. So she was a bit tired on Frid

      • Off to Pahi. Not Piha, not Pahia. Pahi.
        01/21/07
        A very nice week away, with plenty of time to sit and do nothing, but plenty to do too. The camp site was on a reserve near the end of a small peninsula in the north Kaipara harbour. It has a shallow shelly beach with a maximum swell of about two inches, so it was good for swimmimg, provided you did

      • 99% humidity
        01/13/07
        A slightly less quiet week. Some people are back from holiday, but not in the work mood yet!

        We're off on holiday tomorrow for the week. We'll be camping by a sheltered beach, and hopefully we can keep Rachael occupied. She's going to miss her ice lollies, but she'll l

      • Time for a barby.
        01/07/07
        A quiet week, but I suspect a few customers will return on Monday and we'll have a blast of phone calls. Or maybe the next Monday. But we'll be on holiday then. We'll be off for the week camping in a spot about 30 miles north of here. With no laptop.

        It's been too quie

      • 31st December
        01/01/07
        Had a quiet Christmas with the family. Don't think much is planned for New Years, so we'll probably sleep through it. The girls are both worn out (and hence even more active than usual).

        Potted up some more trees. Bronwyn's parents' garden seems to attract seedlings fr