The Challenge...

At times I feel like my mind is turning to mush. I have been debating about returning to University and taking a course or two in mathematics. I need to do something a bit more intellectually stimulating. Arnold knew of my need to clear out the cobwebs that have accumulated over the last SIX or so years-no time like the present for a little spring cleaning, hey-so he has challenged me to learn a programming language, Ruby.

I purchased a book the other day and have made my way through the first two chapters with very little difficulty. I could remember some of the information that I had previously learned back when I was studying at De Paul. There, I took courses in C and C++, among other things.

I know that Arnold has ulterior motives in setting this challenge for me but I don't mind. Anything to get the mind back in order, at this point, is greatly appreciated.

Whirlwind Weekend

The last part of this past week was so busy. We had painters coming to repair the paintwork in our living room because it had been damaged by leaking water during the big storm of a month or so ago.

On Friday, I set out early with the children in tow and we were determined to spend the entire day away from home. We started by stopping by Arnold's office and dropping off some cards the girls had made for him. Then we were off to Borders Books in Riccarton to look for a book. After that, we headed to Willowbank to start the really fun part of our day.

The children just love Willowbank and it's easy to see why. This is a great family and child destination and being able to feed the animals doesn't hurt either. All of the kids wanted to be able to feed the eels and the farm animals so we were prepared with enough food to feed an animal army. The kids love to use the spoons to place the food into the mouths of the eels. The eels seemed somewhat sedate when we arrived but the kids were able to coax them to the surface and some of them even lifted out of the water. Melody was BRAVE enough to touch one and said that it was very smooth.

Next, we were off to see the ostrich. The girls attempted to feed it but became scared when it came close to their hands. After demonstrating how gentle the ostrich was-yes, I did feed it myself- the girls thought they would save their food for the farm animals instead. We enjoyed seeing the new enclosure for the capuchin monkeys called Monkey Island. We also enjoyed seeing the otters.Next were the farm animals. Here you can see one of the Kunekune pigs getting ready for a feed.The sheep are always a big hit too.
These miniature horses are on a special diet so they were left with a few nice pats.
After finishing off with the farm animals, we headed over to the Maori Village. The kids had a peek into the houses and other buildings.
The display of the Kea, New Zealand's alpine parrot, is always interesting. The animals a flying freely in an enclosure that visitors enter and walk through. We were lucky enough to have several Keas fly overhead and heard them calling to each other. This picture doesn't give a great perspective of the bird's size (it measures 48 cm in length) but you are able to see some of its colorful plumage.
After looking for but not seeing any tuatara or kiwis, we left Willowbank and headed off for some lunch and shopping. After making these quick stops, we went on to the Christchurch Botanic Gardens.

The Gardens is a lovely place to visit and we do so very regularly. The children love playing in the playground and running in the large, open spaces. We stopped to take a look at some of the spring colors that were on show as we walked the length of the gardens.

The kids also liked climbing the stone paths in the rock garden and finding their way to their favorite climbing tree. Near the Canterbury Museum entrance, there was a tree with the remnants of its fall leaves underneath. Ivy , Melody and Cruz enjoyed having an old fashioned leaf fight. Seeing them playing in the leaves reminded me of my earlier days in Chicago when we would rake up the leaves into big piles and have a real go at it!

After meeting up with Arnold after work and heading out to dinner, all of the kids collapsed in the car. They were snoozing up a storm by the time we reached home.

I was so tired, I could barely get myself off of the sofa for the rest of the evening. While we had a great time being out for the day, I hope that this isn't an experience that I will be reliving anytime soon!

A Beautiful Day

Today was the best day, weather wise, that we have had for a long time. Maybe my memory is just clouded by all of the rain and cloud we have had as of late. I decided that we would all get out and try to make the most of this as we never REALLY know how long it will last. So, after Ivy completed her phonics work this morning (she is just starting Explode the Code Book 4) we ran a few errands and headed off to Mount Thomas for a hike.

Mount Thomas is what we see each day when we look out of the living room windows onto our patio. It is THE feature in our view. All of the kids were really excited to head out for a hike and Ivy asked if we might have a picnic while we were there.

Here you can see the view that we enjoyed from the spot where Melody chose to set out our picnic blanket. After a lunch of delicious sandwiches that I had picked up from Rangiora Bakery, we set off on our hike choosing to follow the Kereru (NZ pigeon) Track.

Here is part of the track as we headed up the mountain.

We love to try to spot different birds at Mount Thomas. If we are unfamiliar with one, we will look it up in an attempt to identify it when we get home. The first bird that we saw on our hike was the NZ Tomtit. It is a beautiful little bird that we do not see near our home. I was hoping to see a kereru, as I have seen them on this track in the past, but we were unable to sight one today.

We did see some lovely native plants which the kids enjoyed immensely. The forms these plants take captivate me and I love learning more about them.

Many of the beech trees that are near the walking track are covered with a type of sooty mold which is black in appearance. Here you can see several tree trunks partially covered with the mold.
From what I understand, this mold grows on surplus nectar that is exuding from an insect that is living on the trees and this nectar/modified sap is what is involved in the production of honeydew honeys.

As we continued to walk uphill, we crossed more waterfalls and little streams than I could keep track of and the children loved hopping across.

Many parts of the track on the way down were terribly muddy. Ivy's shoes were sucked down into one muddy spot where she had some difficulty freeing herself. Cruz was wearing a brand new pair of gym shoes so I was stuck carrying him over all of the muddy patches- no matter how steep or slippery. Melody was the only one of us that had the proper shoes for this expedition. She couldn't find her gym shoes before leaving the house so she decided to wear her gumboots. Smart girl!

We continued to make our way down the track and ended up at a lovely stream where the children were able to cross a bridge and climb down a bank to dip their tired toes into the water. The water was cold but refreshing and I think they all thought that that was the best part of our hike. It was hard to get everyone back in the car as no one wanted to leave but after a 1.5 hour hike, I was ready to have a relax myself.

Our hike turned out to be the perfect way to spend a truly glorious spring day.

Father's Day, Knitting and Seedlings

Playing catch up once again...

Last Sunday was Father's Day here in New Zealand. The kids and I like to make this a special day for Arnold and we did our best this year. The day started with a special breakfast of bacon and eggs with American-style buttermilk biscuits. The kids enjoyed helping to form the biscuits and putting them on the baking sheet. Arnold seemed to enjoy the fuss and also likedd the gift that the children had picked out, a very smart looking R.M. Williams shirt from a local Men's Shop.

After a bit of a relax and tidy up, we headed into Christchurch to see the Da Vinci Machines exhibit at the Canterbury Museum. The exhibit contained mock-ups, some working and some not, of many of Da Vinci's designs. The exhibit spanned the spectrum of his "genius" including designs from warships to optics to flying machines.

Here you can see mock-ups of two of his inventions. As with many inventors, only a fraction of the things they develop actually work as intended.

After the exhibit, we headed over to the Arts Centre and enjoyed some Madrid-style churros and chocolate sauce. Yum! The children were still starving after that so we headed into the CBD (for my American viewers the Central Business District) and stopped for lunch at one of our favourite restaurants, Mum's 24 Korean and Japanese Restaurant. The food here is great! The kids love both the vegetarian and meat wontons and mixed tempura, while I tend to the Bulgogi and Arnold usually has the Bento box. This place is very family friendly and the food is consistently delicious, hot and served quickly!

After such a busy day I was ready to collapse at home and so were the kids.

On to knitting...

I am continuing to work on my Circular Shrug. This project is zapping all of my energy. I am making very slow progress through the 274 stitches of each row and I am not sure that I will ever again make a garment that requires 7-9 inches (American pattern) or 2X2 ribbing-yuck. After the 2X2 ribbing is complete I'll be on to endless rows/inches of mock ribbing- oh yea :(

Here you can see the amount of progress I am making.

I am also considering taking on a side project, something fun and zippy to help me relax after my intensive rib knitting. I am considering the child's Hug Me Shrug by Sara Galley as I have some lovely Sublime- Cashmere/Merino/Silk DK that would work. The only issue is that while both of my girls are very tiny- Ivy especially- their shoulder measurements exceed that of the pattern so a little Math will have to be done. No problem, I'll just knock those numbers out in no time.

I thought the shrug was a nice project as when I was at the mall yesterday, getting Cruz a haircut, I noticed that many of the fashions for women for the upcoming spring and summer include mini cardis and front closing shrugs. Ah ha, my knitting projects are fashionable.

This week has been a bit of a wash in the garden. The weather continues to be drizzly, cold and very windy out our way. Inside the greenhouse the temperatures have been mild but not warm enough to get my tomatoes going. My peas, beans, bok choi, beets, lettuce, caulis and broccolis are all sprouting. Also, the lovely Moulin Rouge sunflower seeds given to me by Shirley are sprouting like mad. The little shoots are a deep, deep red and I can't wait to see what they look like when all is said and done. My other flower seeds that have germinated are hollyhocks and calendula. Everything else seems to be holding off for warmer temps.

Starting Seed

This time of year is always full of excitement. After receiving the Kings Seed catalogue, picking all of the varieties we want to grow and then ordering the seed, the big day arrived. With the kids' help, I was able to fill approximately 150 pots with soil and get things going. Here you can see the results of the first round of seed sowing.

I selected many different tomatoes as I am trialling various heirloom varieties to see which will grow and ripen in our area. We are able to grow massive amounts of pear shaped and cherry tomates but our cool conditions seem to play havoc with some of the larger types of tomatoes. I'll be scrutinizing these plants very carefully. I am also planting more beans and peas this year as they always seem to do well here.

Here is the greenhouse that Arnold constructed from a free plan we found on the internet. This is a great place to escape the Norwester, which was blowing a gale today, and get all of the potting done.

I am also in the process of rehabilitating my gardenia. I have just repotted it and am trying to bring it back from the terrible shock it received this winter. I just remember how wonderfully fragrant the flowers were when I grew gardenia in Virginia and long for that same variety- which I have not been able to find here (Billie Holiday).

We are nearly ready to get some planting done in our garden beds. I'll take a picture tomorrow of all of the work our garden helper, Mike, has done to get our beds in order. We have two varieties of potatoes to plant, Jersey Benne and Agria, garlic and Martha Washington Asparagus crowns to get in place.

Arnold has also been able to finish boxing in the garden beds before another dowsing of rain came a few days ago. This was a follow-up to the storm that we had had as a result of the tropical storm a few weeks ago.

Prior to the storm, the chickens appeared to be back on the lay. Cruz had been visiting them every day and was getting between three and four eggs a day. Here is the stash he gathered after just a few days. Take note of the tiny egg there. It is from one of the pet bantams. The girls claim it is Dotty's egg.

I hope to take more pictures tomorrow. Please check back for further garden updates and news of our latest science project.