I survived Mayan Armageddon and xmas

Where is my T shirt, with "I survived xmas"?

Xmas day was awesome, it all went of extremely well and all the friends piched in to help with the food so I didnt have to exhaust myself running around.
The Girls had a lot of friends to play with and the adults played very well as well, especially those bullies who threw me into the river, don't you worry Mal and Speedi, I have taken names.

Xmas lunch went well and as usual we had to much food, in the afternoon we ended up with over 30 people here on the farm, we spent most of the afternoon down on the river.
We didnt get to see Bear on Xmas day after all, as Linda's father was rushed to hospital early Xmas morning so he stayed up there to keep her company, but we caught up on Boxing Day and had another xmas lunch.

There were so many wonderful presents and I dont intend to list them all but I do want to thank Speedi and Mal for giving us all a radio set each so we can now keep in contact, they brought Jason and I a base radio station as well as portable thingys, it is wonderful and we spent most of Boxing day talking to people all over the world as well as Paula down the road.
They even brought Sandy a radio set so we can keep track off her in emergancies, Bear got one too, but I am picking he will never turn it on because he hates people  keeping tabs on him; phooey.
Thank you everyone, without a doubt this was the best xmas ever, in the history of the world; well ok my in world anyway.

We are off for a few days down at Lake Tekapo and then to Queenstown, we will be home in a week as we do sadly have to work, in fact I had to moan and growl just to get Jason away for a weeks break. Of course I can still talk to my buddies on the radios, as we have portables as well as a Base station, so Paula keep your ears on Big Buddy!
Wow with laptops Ipads and radios, its like we will never be out of touch with anyone.
Bear we will catch up with you some more when we get home, love from the girls who were growly because you didnt sleep over.

Love to you all
Have a happy and safe new year.

Xmas Eve

Well we have had a most beautiful evening here with Paula and Speedi, Mal and his new friend Carrie,  Bear with his two women Linda and Sandy (though I hear Sandy has a new Gardner friend, its ok sandy I wont say a word). We sat around the BBQ and fire (yes it cooled down later and is now drizzling) and sang Xmas carols and told absolutely terrible jokes.

The food is all prepared for tomorrow, just need to be up early and start the cooking, its not a big chore for tomorrow because I started preparing early so most of the food is ready for cooking. It helps to have lots of freezer and fridge space.

We talked about the year tonight the high points and the low points, and I cannot let Xmas eve go without sending my love and prayers to Pop, this is our first Xmas without you and we all miss you so terribly much.
This year has been massive for me, I have got married, miscarried a baby and lost my Pop, but the negative aside I feel that I have grown so much this year and I have so much to be grateful for.
I have a most loving and generous husband (well he had better be generous tomorrow). I love Jason with all my heart, he has shown me what it is to be loved and he has been the best husband a woman could pray for. He has been the best father to the two imps and we both hope we can have some more babies of our own. My two girls have grown into young ladies, perhaps with a cowgirl roughness but they are so happy here. The girls cried a little tonight when they talked about grandpop, but that was to be expected as we all miss him hugely. They make me so proud, its been a traumatic year for them, but with the resilience of youth they have ridden over the rocky waves, yet their mother seemed to plough through them.

I have the most wonderful friends, a very preggy Paula who is and always will be my bestest friend, her partner Speedi, by name and nature he is such a handful. Mal is well, he is my own sweetie, I love him so much for being the big gentle giant.
Sandy you are incredible woman, a heap of health issues but they never knock you down and you really do care for everyone. I am really looking forward to meeting your new friend tomorrow, I hope to see you before lunch.
Bear is my rock, there is nothing I cant talk to him about. I hope Bear I haven't placed to much of Pops energy on you but both the girls and I love you for the man you are, but also the grand Pop that we need.
I know you had a terrible year and splitting up from your partner and children really threw you, I didn't help and for that I am so sorry.
There has been much that happened between bear and I this year that I could not write about, but through each bad blow that happened Bear has stood beside me and my family, I am so grateful for a true friend. I am glad you seem to be shaking off the bad health issues and I know Linda cares you very much, but Bear you need to be more attentive to her, do you hear me !!!!!
If I have one criticism of Bear he is too hard on the women who care for him.
Bear I know you have considered this year as a year of change for you, and in that you sure have been right.
Next year will be better I am sure.

Well everyone has gone for now, we will catch up with them all tomorrow at various times, I have a dozen coming for breakfast and have 17 for dinner, sadly Bear wont be here for lunch as he is going to Linda's family to be with them, we will catch up with him for a xmas dinner.

Thank you all my friends for being the wonderful collection of nuts you are, and also thank you  to the readers of the blog for sticking with me.

A very merry xmas to you all.

It aint Half Hot

Boy has it been hot out here this week, on Monday it was 35 deg C and apart from Tuesday we have averaged the  high 20's. Some days it has been so hot we have had to stop work out on the pastures for fear of setting of grass fires by machinery hitting a stone and sparking.

Fortunately having a river along side the farm has meant going for a dip is an easy task. We have been talking about putting in a swimming pool this year, its nice having the river nearby but I dont like the girls going down to the river without an adult, so we are looking at what is required to get a pool put in.

The Xmas party at Sandy's neighbours place was a huge success, in fact all Saturday was a ball. All of us from the Oxford area descended on Christchurch early Saturday. It was as well we went early because we found out the Xmas party was also a surprise birthday party for Sandy's neighbours daughter, so we had to rush down to the local mall and do a spot of Birthday pressie buying.
We spent the afternoon down on the beach and then went back to the Sandy's to get ready for the party.
Mal made the most awesome father Xmas  the kids loved it but the biggest problem was getting the women of his knee, well some woman; I really didn't think I was on there that long. He is just such a neat guy, some of the kids were a little intimidated by having a huge giant of a man wander up the drive way in a Santa suit, but when he opened the bag with presents it was a ball for all of us.
Everyone brought a boy/girl present so the kids each had armfuls of gifts. It was after 11pm  by the time we left and then we stopped off at a few places so we  look at Xmas lights, the girls and I used to do that every year it was really nice to do it with Jas as well.
We have decided that this week we will go into Christchurch and Rangiora one night and do the Xmas light tour, there are some really beautiful displays around.

Well I best get going, we are off to a farm auction down south today, so lots to do.
Love to you all and please take care of yourselves.

Life is hard at the Moment

Oh my giddy aunt I am exhausted.

We have spent the last 4 days cutting and stacking hay, thousands of blimmin bales and still counting. Tomorrow we are drafting a couple of hundred sheep so its been a very busy week here. I have been feeding between 10-15 hard working guys and gals that have been either out in the fields or helping with shearing and cleaning sheep.

I have to say we had some fun while working, but it has occurred to me today that I am not fit, I thought I was, really I did; but I caved today.
As for my hands, well let me say I wont be going to have my nails done again, ever.

On the weekend Jas, the girls and I along with Mal and his henchmen spent two nights up at the lodge, I have to say it was blury nice but I am not sure I would live there, though Bear loves it. he even has his own log cabin up there now. The rest of us sleep in container houses, shipping containers that have been converted into sleeping quarters. I think the thing that really struck me was the peace and quiet, it was almost deafening. The other thing we did that was different the boys have set up a large radio base thingy there and we were talking too people from all over the world, even guys in Iraq.

The other thing that struck me was the futility of keeping a garden there with so many rabbits about, so the boys are going to organise a week of spotlight shooting.

Bear is doing better, he had another scan and what they told him was gall stones is not, in fact they don't know and he has another scan organised after xmas, I believe this is not the first time that they have seen something in a scan or xray and then gone back only to find its gone. The old codger has the most odd system. He is much improved in himself I think, he is smiling and laughing again. We lost him yesterday as he was off to fight a war with some buddies, so I wont see him till the weekend I expect.

The girls have subconsciously adopted Bear as granddad and we noticed on the weekend they were calling him Pops, which is nice and I think he might be chuffed as well.

Well this Saturday we are all invading town, Sandra and her neighbour are putting on a Xmas party for the kids, so we have a bunch of people and their families heading in to join in.  Mal is going to be father Xmas  as he says "Well of course Daddy Xmas was black, we all knew that didn't we"; ummmm yeah right daddy O."
The funniest thing was trying to find a suit to fit him, but fortunately Paula being a wizz on the sewing machine has made one and its awesome, though the black army boots are a give away, please get a pair of gummies.

Well thats all from the mad house, I best go start getting food ready for dinner.

Love to you all.

Just a quick follow up on Bear

Bear has severe Gallstone problems and will need an op which will require him losing his Gallbladder. He is staying here at the moment for a day or so and is in severe pain. He has to wait until the hospital notify him, which from what I have seen so far the waiting is not pleasant.


Other news is Mal, Speedi and the two terrible SEAL twins arrived back from down south where they went diving, which they say was "profitable" the fishing was awesome and they even brought me a deer carase for the freezer. So I have Freezers full of food for xmas, we have just killed some pigs and sheep, most of the food from these will be given away to relatives and friends.

The girls are doing fine which is great and I am very much enjoying life now, its nice to have everyone back and under my little thumb, especially that old rascally grumpy Bear.

Bear is not well

This is just a note to let Bears friends know our old Bear is not too good. He was taken to hospital in an ambulance and has spent the last few days there. Blood tests indicate his white blood cell count is hugely out of whack so I am not sure what this means, minimum would be an infection of some sort or worse well we wont go there.
Sandy says he came around to her place on Friday night to prepare the tables for a wargame, apparently he has been vomiting for 3 days and on Friday night collapsed in the wargames room. I will keep you informed of progress.

Love to you all

Musings

I have been like a little girl in a candy store this week, we have had 2 of Mal's exsoldier friends staying over, they are the cutest and sweetest guys you could hope to meet. I asked Mal why would someone call soldiers seals, he said its because they have a tendency to get in a flap when the action gets hot, Im not so sure about that.

Anyway they have gone down to Fiordland today with Mal and Speedi, they are spending 3 or 4 days diving   around the fiords and then a week in Queenstown.

During Xmas Steve and Mike (the two seals :-)) are staying in at the lodge when Speedi, Paula and my family head down to Queenstown for a week or so. Bear was coming but I think things have changed there, he has moved out of Linda's so I dare not ask where. I do know Linda was really upset about that, I think Bear has some issues to address. He cant bounce around from one woman's place to another and expect a relationship to work.

We have had an easier week this week, its been almost being on holiday already, well not quite, as we still had lots of work to do on the farm but not as bad as last week.
At least I don't have that huge Generator sitting outside my kitchen window any more  it was taken up to the lodge by truck and tractor. Speedi has finished work on bears new/old land rover, it looks a real treat now and as Mike says for a pommie machine it "suuure puuurrs".

Not a lot of news from over in the gardens, they having to go to court to get permission for the septic tanks etc, its costing the group a bundle in legal fees and Im really worried who is forking out the money, I am hoping its not Kurt who has taken over everything since Bear pulled out a few months ago.


Well I must move on, love to you all.

Its time to sit and write

Last night the girls and I went of to the Xmas in the park in Christchurch, it was an awesome night and we had a ball, though I still am not sure whether the girls behaved entirely like young ladies, as we had some issues with noisy boys who were after and finally got my girls attention. Let me say I am about to have a stern talk to the girls about their language, but equally it was just bad luck that we were seated near some boys who had a overdose of testosterone.

But the night was fun once we moved and escaped the attention of said idiots. Following that we went off and made piggies of ourselves at Kentucky fried chicken, let me say its years since we have indulged and it was nice but oh it could be just too nice so we wont rush back there.
We stayed the night with Sandy and came out here this morning.

Jas and Kyle are up at the lodge with Speedi and Mal, they are spending the weekend up there installing some large fuel tanks, next week they will have a large Generator lifted in, its a monster of a thing on a type of sledge and is currently sitting on our front lawn right outside my kitchen window of all places. I mean we have the whole farm for machinery to sit in and they place that monstrosity right where it blocks the view and I get to look at it all day. grrrrrr

Paula's house christening party was a ball last Saturday night, we kept it going on Sunday with BBQ.

The week has been a hard one as we have been working on stock from early morning to late at night, I have to say trying to haul large ewes around all day for several days can be very hard and tiring but as I was often reminded it all comes as part and parcel of being able to have parties,BBQ's and nice things, ahh welll sigghh message taken.

I had a really frightening experience during the week when I was coming home from Rangiora, it was late at night and a large truck had just passed me going the other way when the ute was hit by something really hard. I almost lost control of the car and when I finally stopped and had a look I had a gash right through the door panel.
As Jason said it looks like a bullet hole, but we showed it to the local police and they said it was probably something that fell of the truck and bounced up and hit the car. Unfortunately because it was dark and I had trouble controlling the car the truck was gone before I could see who it belonged too. But it was a close shave, another 8 inches higher and it would have gone clear through my drivers window.
Lesson be wary of trucks.
Well today is clean up and also having a girl talk with the princesses, I think country schools and country life is nice, but it does not do a lot for the language I heard last night; so it is growl time again.

Anyway I best go and do some work, take care and love to you all.

Yet another week goes by

It has been a very social for me and mine this week.

We have been to the local farm (A&P showday) day show in Christchurch, in fact we went twice. I took the girls on school day when all the children from the local schools had chance to run around the farm animals and see the exhibits.
I could not but marvel at the difference in my two this year. Previously we went with Pop who would explain every piece of farm equipment in laborious detail, he would seek out every type of farm animal and my girls would just soak it up. Pop used to explain it away as being typical townie girls, "Anne you need to get them out more" was the usual  show day response.
Well this year, my girls now being experienced farmies knew everything, really annoying that is too, but kinda cute. The animals still had a fascination but where in the past they would usually walk past with an oohh or aaahhh and "how cute", this year it was "what type of nuts do you feed them?" "Are they drenched and what type do you use." Occasionally I overheard "Have you tried ........" It sounds like I have lost my city girls who loved barbies, now I have two farmies who want puppies, calves, horses, and Horse riding gear etc etc.

I went back to the show yesterday with Jas  a totally different experience, we spent most of our time talking tractors, equipment, farm plans etc. Jas being so typical spent an hour with 1 man talking about a new tractor and by the end of the day he had brought a second hand one from a farming chap who was looking to buy a new one.
I escaped to get away and "do my thing" so it was nice not having to keep eyes in the back of my head in case the girls wandered off or if Jas needed some moral support, it was an awesome day and its the first time I have been allowed in the farm client tents, another first for the new farming lady. The men still talked tractors and farms in there, as you would expect, we ladies talked horses, spinning wool and other ladies as you would expect.

We picked our rascals from Sandy's place, they had a day of entertaining" Finn" sandy's little dog, they also spent the day completing the jigsaw puzzle she had been working on for the last month, not nice to do that girls...

Haven't seen much of Bear except on Tuesday when we all went to the races, he won a trifecta and got horribly plastered but he made an absolute bundle of money, being my Bear he went out next day  and brought a new laptop and a Tablet. Linda says he sits up all hours of the night writing, both a book he is working on and his blog, so no wonder we don't see a lot of him. Speedi is growling he hasn't been up at the lodge much this week, no wonder he has new toys to play with.

Tonight we are going to Speedi and Paula's house warming party so I am really looking forward to that.
We have Mal here at the moment, apparently he made a momentous decision mid week to go and see Bears ex, after plucking the courage he found she wasn't home. Dont ask me why he went at all,  all I know is they had a "thing" at some time. One thing I have learnt about that lady, is dont ask because it gets confusing and wierd.
Mal is out helping Jas with his "new" second hand tractor, they are adapting something and no I dont have a clue what.

Well its late but I best go make some lunch, I have been really busy all morning; I have been doing my painting.

Anyway lovies, will write again later

Love you all.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

My weekly report

It has been a busy week, and a very sociable one.

Last Monday we had Bear and Mal out here and they took Jas and Kyle down to the river  for some shooting practice, the place sounded like a war zone at times.

During the week we had some of of the Girl's friends sleep over and yesterday we had our belated fireworks and BBQ.
A lot of friends and neighbours came out and Mal and Speedi let of some of their homemade fireworks which sounded more like flares and grenades, but we sure had a heap of fun. The farm was covered in Kids playing and chasing while the patio was covered in drunken men telling whoppa tales, I swear the men around here are worse than fishermen.

We haven't seen Bear all week as he has been in hospital for a few days, he has severe arthritis in his legs and arm and he has had his ankle looked at. He has kept in touch with the girls and I as he has been using my laptop so its been rather neat being able to chat with him. As he said at least it gave him time to do some blogging, Linda says he has been a very quiet little chap, hmmmm makes a change from grumpy.
I heard from him this morning and he is staying over at sandy's tonight as he has bunch of war buddies ??? coming around tonight.

Speedi's house is finally finished, it has been structurally finished for a few months but they have finally finished the decorating, so next week its up the hill to a house wetting. Nice to be going to a party rather than running one, I am really looking forward to it.
Paula is looking great, makes me feel a little envious seeing her with a lovely preggie tummy, but I just have to learn to bite the bullet or as Jas says in his own caring way, "suck the dummy". Sometimes I just wanna smack that man.

I havent seen much of the garden crowd, in fact I am not even sure there's been anyone over there this week, I must check up and see how Karl is doing.

The one really good thing I have done this week, is I have managed to get back into my painting, oh wow how I have missed that. Well speaking of painting I am going to take the chance of a peaceful afternoon and go and do some more.

Now take care, you all hear now.

Love you

Catching Up

Well its been a fun week had by all here.

On Sunday our friend Emmett flew up from down south, he brought his new Fiancée Alesia and she is drop dead gorgeous. He then flew Alesia and I up to the lodge, man that has to be a way better way to get there than 2 hours bumping and boucing along dirt tracks and crossing rivers.

The boys have done a huge job up there and the rooms are very comfortable looking and as Speedi says, they are functional (man talk for needs furniture and a ladies touch). The whole place has an army type look about it, the containers are painted drab browns and greens, there are heaps of camouflage type nets over things. In fact from the air you cant see anything until you are quite close and then all you notice is a small clearing for a helicopter to land in. Speedi they have done that so they don’t get rat bags wrecking the place when no one is there.

We spent about 2 hours up there, had a ball.

On Tuesday evening Emm and Alesia flew up in the company plane, it’s a Cessna I think. He took the girls and Jas for a flight over ChCh, he buzzed Sandy’s place, flew over the city and along the beach. The Girls think uncle Emmett is kind neat.

Let me say Sandy was not amused, I knew where they were because Sandy rang and asked me was the idiot up in the plane, I actually thought she was talking about Bear (ooops sorry Bear), but no she thought it was Emmett or someone that wanted to land on her house.

The farm is doing really well, we have been doing some long overdue maintenance and Jas has built a new concrete patio for the girls and I to play ladies of leisure, I think that’s his way of saying we are a pack of lazy ladies. Well why not when he encourages it by building patios for us to be lazy on.

Last night was the first night in years we didn’t do trick or treat nor were tricked or treated, it’s a bit far to let the kids wander, but we are going to make up for it with guy fawkes, we are going into town to buy up a swag banger thingys and Speedi says he will make some for us (OMG don’t ask). We are planning a BBQ night and have neighbours and friends coming Bear is bringing Linda and sandy out, Mal and Catherine will be there as will Speedi and Paula. The Garden crowd are bringing extended family and the neighbours all are keen. So we will have around 30 people here for the big bang.

Bear and speedi are rebuilding an old land rover, Bear brought it and it was a mess, so they have stripped it down and are rebuilding it so they can use it to run up to the lodge, when I first saw it I thought Bear had found it in a river or something, but no he actually paid good money for it, however now with all the parts painted and spread around Speedi garage things look a lot better.

Bear has finally got his gun licence so its nice his armoury is now legal, up to now all the guns he owned (again don’t ask) were stored at speedis who has gun licence, in fact he seems to have several different types for some odd reason.

This weekend Speedi , Mal and Emmet are flying south (weather permitting) they are going fishing somewhere, I think on the West Coast.

My little family are having a quiet weekend home, I have a lot of office work to catch up on and jas always has farm work, the girls will be out riding I expect.

Anyway that’s the news for this week, you all take care now

Lots of Love to you all

Life on the Farm

We have had a very busy few days out here, cleaning up sheep and drenching the stock. The girls have been busy mothering lambs and baby alpacas, they certainly have taken to being country girls.

I watched them just the other day wandering back from feeding some orphan lambs, buckets and bottles in hand, scruffy jeans and pink gumboots, I just cant help but wonder where my city girls went. They are growing up so quickly it is almost scary.

We had Michele and her new boyfriend over for tea last night, Neil is a really neat guy and is the son of a neighbour so it keeps it all nice and cozy. Neil has been helping Michele make some changes to Michele's place (Bears old farm) and he has made an awesome job of extending an all round veranda.

The Gardens next door have taken a slight step backwards as the officialdom is creating havoc with the timetable, its really frustrating and annoying for the guys and girls over there. The Gardens themselves are beautiful and will look even better around Xmas - new year time. It is such a shame that rules and regulations are holding back such a wonderful project.

Speaking of Xmas we are putting on a large Xmas dinner and party for family and friends, then we are taking a break away down in Queenstown, we will be meeting up with Bear down there who is taking a few days off with Mal to explore the Queenstown region.

Ohh curses I forgot to mention, Mal is back to live, currently he is staying with Speedi and stays at the lodge a lot, he seems to spend all his time working up there. I haven't been up to the lodge for sometime but I am told progress up there is going well.

Well apart from the work on the farm the girls and I have been avid gardeners, and yes we are even eating out of said garden, but of course it also helps that across the fence some very nice friends have planted acres of vegetables.

Well I must away, Jas is coming in for a cuppa.

Love to you all.

Its a long weekend already

Its really hard to believe just how fast the year goes around, I can still remember my last Labour weekend like it was yesterday.

Well I know its been an age since I last wrote, not a lot has happened so their seemed little value in my waffle. Things between Jas and I have improved, we went to counselling and that has helped a lot and now we are talking so much I wish would just shudup.... no not really its actually great.
The girls are so much happier now as well.

We have made some changes to the farm, mainly in extending some pastures and making a couple smaller. We have the opportunity to buy 10 acres from next door so we are going through the negotiation process at the moment.

The gardens next door look a picture, Kurt had hoped to have them opened by this weekend but the plan didn't work out as they are still having issues with the council.

The really good news is Paula is pregnant, silly girl didn't want to tell me for fear it would upset me, but good god I'm so happy for her and Speedi. Their house looks wonderful and I envy them the view, but I don't envy them the wind which hits the house with great gusto. They have planned tree shelter belts which will no doubt help.

We have Sandy staying for the weekend, its awesome because the girls tease her and have so much fun, its odd how they seem to bring her out of herself.

Bear is going into hospital in November to have his leg looked at, he is quite crippled at the moment. I haven't seem much of him though Speedi tells me he has been up at the lodge a lot. Bear and Speedi have been installing solar panels up there. Apparently he often stays up there and does some writing. Speedi says Bear got caught up in the lodge in the snow last week, I bet he loved that. I see his blog is going well so obviously he is getting PC time.

Not much other news here, today we are off to town for some R & R.

Oh the other good news is the hospital said I could have another baby, but not just yet; Jas and I have talked about it but we are not sure now we want to risk losing another and going through all that hurt. Time will tell.

Well we are about to leave for town, so I will say toodles for now.

Yet another day goes by.

Hi all

Its been a difficult day here today, Jas and I seem to be on a bumpy road at the moment, much of it is I guess my fault because I have been depressed, but also it is not helped by the fact Jason wont talk to me about losing our baby.
He simply says "its happened, lets just move on", its much like he lost a favourite calf and nothing more. So as a consequence we have had a day of quarrels, nothing too serious but the energy is building and I am worried.

Bear is here for the night and he and Jas have gone for a walk, they have been gone over 2 hours and now its dark, so it must be some walk; but I am hoping bear can talk to Jason. Its not all Jason's fault, I know I have been depressed but I really think I am working through that, its just that I am the sort of person that needs to talk things through; and if I cant do this with my husband who can I do it with.

I have talked with Jason's Gran about somethings and she has been lovely, but I have to be careful there because she is Jason's Gran and I don't want anything to spoil the great relationship they have. Michele and Paula have been awesome and its through those two ladies I am making my way through this really dark cloud I seemed to have dragged around with me, but I really want Jas and I to sit down and talk our feelings through.

Bear says Jason is not a touchy feely person, that because of his past he has had to put a lid on a lot of emotions, but that doesn't really work when you are in a relationship and have lost a baby.

On a new tangent the girls have told me I need a new baby, boy that went down well over dinner, they want all the baby stuff back and that will make me and them happier.

Kurt came over this afternoon bleeding like a stuck pig, he had a chain saw accident when a piece of wood splintered and dug into his leg. We  cleaned him up and he has gone home. I do like Kurt a lot, he is a lovely man and very approachable.  His daughters family over in Darfield are great, in fact their children are coming to stay with us this weekend, my lot love having other children stay over; lucky old me.

I finally found bears wargame blog, I never truly knew what war-gaming was, I have seen and painted some of his little lead men once but that was the extent of my knowledge; but this afternoon I stumbled on to his and other war-gaming blogs and its quite weird :-).
I always remember my Pop having a model train set, and I mean it was huge it took up our double garage, he loved it and spent hours out there on summer nights and on weekends, but when mum died he just sold it all off. I think I thought of war-gaming like that, men playing with toy soldiers, but Bear assures me its not. The odd thing was it seemed alright for a grown man to "play" with trains yet I shake my head in confusion when I think of bear bent over a table with toy soldiers or whatever.


Well I can hear voices, so I best go.

Love to you all.

Trying to get back in the Groove

Good Morning to you all

Its been a very low start to the week but I am finally doing things constructively rather than dragging my bottom around the house.

On Sunday we took the girls away for a few hours and dear Kurt and Michele came over and packed up the baby things and moved them out for us. I had got to the point I could not even go into the baby room without breaking down into a mess, so as much as I have not wanted the things taken away I realised it had to be done.

We have had a quiet weekend as I mentioned we went for a drive, spent a few hours with Gran and then visited Speedi and Paula. Their place is doing very well and looks lovely now.

Yesterday I went over to the gardens and spent a few hours in and out of the rain helping out there that made feel really good. The place looks a picture now, but Kurt is still having council issues so not much being done other than gardening.

Bear hasn’t been around a lot, in fact I have only seen him once since we came back from our honeymoon and that was when I was in hospital. He has changed a lot from what I hear., he was certainly odd when he came and saw me.  He sold his farm but by the time he paid mortgages etc he didn’t come out with much and what he has went into a part share in the lodge. Speedi says he has spent a lot of time there working on the Cabins.

Sandy says he is in and out of her place, uses it as a gaming place with his mates but she says he doesn’t stay over much anymore. Which means he is probably staying up at the lodge if Speedi is correct?

Mal wrote to say he is coming back to live here in about 2 weeks, he is moving in with Speedi and Paula for a while until he gets things organised. He has sent a huge container of survival stuff to Speedi, I don’t know what Survival stuff amounts too but there must be a lot of it going by the size of the container. I think the idea is to keep some and sell the rest.

From what Speedi tells me the Lodge is doing very well, they have 4 containers locked together as a building; it can sleep 4 people with its own kitchen, showers and store room. They have built 2 log Cabins and are working on another two, Bear has been up there with a chain saw felling trees for the logs, Kurt has helped there for a day he says its great but not for him. I gather he isn’t much of a survivalist and I think I am there with him, perhaps I like my comforts too much and tend to live for the now and not the “what if”. The “what ifs” scare me too much, especially when I think about my little girls, yes I know it is what bear calls the Ostrich syndrome, but then he has only himself to think off.

I think the biggest issue is it takes so long to get there and it is very rough going, I found when I was pregnant I had to stop going because the constant rocking, rolling and bumping was just too much.

The farm is back in shape, the lambing went well as did the calves, it is so nice to see the place starting to get that spring/summery look.

I guess now we have to start thinking about Xmas and what we are going to do, obviously it is going to be a lot different than we thought but we will be having a lot of fun.

I am back - sort of

I wish to thank those of you who emailed me as well as my firends who sent cards and I hope I have replied to you all, if I did not it was I couldnt find a return address, so please one and all I thnak you for your kind thoughts.

This last month started as one of the happiest in my life with our marriage and ended one of the saddest with the "passing away" of our unborn Son Aaron.

Aaron miscarried at 5 months, and he has left a hole in our lives I doubt we will ever fill. I have been told it is unlikely I will ever have another baby. While this has devastated me, I know it has crushed Jas because he had so much wanted his own baby son.
We are both trying to deal with the consequences of all this while also trying to run a farm and try and keep things on an even keel for our two girls. It has been hard and we could not have managed it if we did not have the friends who have come and been there for us.

I especially want to thank Gran, Michele, Sandy, Kurt, Speedi and Paula; you have all been great and I love you all dearly.

I will write more when I am able too, but even thinking and writing just turns me into a mess, so I will be writing again, but no more today.

Our Baby died.

Hello

I am Jason Anne's husband I am writing to let all our friends know Anne and I lost our baby son who miscarried at 5 months. Please understand if Anne doesnt blog for a while, obviously we are all trying to come to terms with the loss.

Jason

We are back Home

Hello all

Well its been a great week away but it is great to be home amongst all our friends. We went to Australia on our honeymoon and had an absolute ball.

Jas is so much the husband and father to be that I felt like her royal highness the whole time, the low point of being away was in Melbourne where our motel was broken into and we lost our cameras and pressies we had just brought the girls. The big blow about the theft was one of the camera’s had our own wedding photos on it so we lost those, but I am going to appeal to my friends to send me the ones they took and at least we still have the official wedding photos once they come back from the photographer.

The girls had a great time with Bear looking after them, it seems he must have given them great latitude about being up at night  and playing up, he even managed to arrange a mid week sleep over with the girls and their friends. Though it seems Michele stayed over to help manage that.

The farm is looking a picture and Jas was up at 5:am and out there planning and scheming, I haven’t gone too far yet as the whole week activities just seemed to land on me today and I have crashed, however I have to go in for some bubby scan today. It seems the baby has a very big head and shoulders and boy I know that’s going to hurt when he arrives but the message I had on the phone last night was they wanted to take another look as it seems he isn’t sitting right and that is a concern.

Bear is still doing the odd day consultancy but the work has dropped off as the insurance companies are starting to come to the party over repairs and rebuilds etc. It seems he has even booked himself in a writers course and he has joined a writers group, absolutely amazing things that guy gets into.

Speedi says the lodge is going well, they now have 4 containers all joined up and are fitting them out, so its been only a week but it seems by the things done it was an age.

Oh and that stupid crazy scheme where they placed my drunken husband on an island on the stag night was all Bears idea, well he is going to get his.

Getting Married

This is my last post for a few days as the wedding arrangements are keeping me really busy.
We are getting married on Saturday at 2:30 here  on the farm, it is a reasonably casual wedding with fun being the theme for the day.
We have a huge marquee up and the shearing sheds have been cleaned and decorated in case of bad weather and for further night entertainment if the evening is too cold. We have bouncy castle for the little ones (around 12 of them will be here), we have music all day with 2 bands playing, one in the afternoon and and 1 in the evening. A big screen for the kiddies to watch movies at night. We have a caterer doing the wedding meals as well as Michele and Karl running the hungi on Sunday.

My wedding dress is a light pale blue and our girls have matching dresses, they will be my bridesmaids, they look so cute all dressed up. Kyle is best man and Bear is giving me away (for free he claims). I am so stoked that Mal is coming, its a long way for him (from the States) to come just for a wedding an I am so appreciative of that, luv you big guy.

We have around 150 people coming and I am so happy that the day is fast approaching. Jason has been brilliant, the nerves of last week have gone and he really has entered the spirit, I think the stag party on Tuesday night may have helped settle him down. I don't think getting him drunk and leaving him abandoned on an island in the middle of the river was a startling idea, I got into a real panic when he didn't come home and the bloody drunken men wouldn't tell me where he was, fortunately he didn't try to swim, actually he was still asleep when some boatie came by in the morning and picked him up. But boy will I be having a serious word with those guys, yes you know who you are Speedi. What I cant figure out and nobody will tell me is how on earth they got him out there, no one we know has a boat.

Sandy and Gran are coming out to stay for a few nights to help me organise the final details as well as help with final food stuff.

We are only having a few days away for a honeymoon in a secret destination well away from troublemaking Mr Speedi. I know he has been sniffing around trying to find out where we are going. We have decided we will have another holiday later in the summer, but there is too much to do on the farm to be away for any longer.

Bear will be coming out to look after the place and the girls while we are away.

Monday thing again

Well the wedding plans are in full force and all seems to be going well so far, touch wood with crossed fingers etc.

Good news is we have just heard Mal is coming back for the wedding, he is bringing his sister I think, but  while she will stay on with Speedi and Paula Mal will be going back to the States next week.

I am more than a little nervous, not so much about getting married, more about everything coming together.
There is a lot happening and so much of it depends on good weather, though we have made provision for bad weather by cleaning out and decorationg part of the shearing shed as well as having a large Marquee beside it.

Things on the farm are settling down a bit now, the lambing rush seems to over with just a few to go now.

Yesterday I spent a lot of time over at the gardens with Karl and Michele, Karl is such a wizz bang with things gardening and Michele has a huge knowledge on things Maori, she has created a huge Maori Medicinal garden with all manner of plants. Many of them quite rare, Karl is hopeful they will establish themselves so they can on sell them if they take off. Some of the plants I remember Michele naming (hope spelling is correct) Makomako (wineberry tree I think), Koromiko, of course Kumera, tutu and so many others, I think she says they now have 25 plants (from grasses to totara trees) in their Maori medicinal garden which will eventually cover about a quarter acre. Of course some of the larger trees and plants will take many years to become establish but they will be here for future generations. The herb garden is a wonder and Bears lavenders will look absolutely great when they flower.

The log Cabin is almost finished and the next project will be a mud brick cottage, eventually they hope to have a Straw bale house over there as well. These are more display homes and will be used as patterns for workshops where they will teach how to build each of these.

Speedi and Kyle spent most of  Sunday up at the lodge, apparently Speedi already has cut out the window area in the new container houses as well as a door, though the door itself is not in place yet. They have another two containers arriving next week to complete the project. Karl is going up there this week to advise on the garden area and what to plant. As the Lodge area has a lot of trees on it they are planning on felling and milling the trees for timber for their own use, the objective is to have 10 cabins up there with the containers being a communal kitchen, shower and meeting area.

I spoke to Bear on the phone today, he sounded a little down, he had a bad work day and he says sometimes battling officialdom gets very frustrating and tiring, especially when you are working for people who themselves are desperate and beaten down.
He is also having more problems with his ankle and he may have to go and have surgery done on it, something he has avoided for so long, knowing him probably too long.

Well thats all the news, Im off for a fitting for my wedding dress tonight, really exciting now.

All my love to you all

Saturday once more

Yesterday was an odd day here, it seemed to drag on for ever, the good thing was that I managed to get so much done and still have some time to myself.

I have finished my  weeks online work, I have caught up on all the housework, tidied the garden and admired Jason's hunky body as he worked on the new calfs.

I wandered over to the community gardens and had a chat to Michele and Karl and a few other volunteers they have roped in, they have done so well there. Sadly it seems they have now been caught up on officialdom, especially in regard to effluent and public toilets. It will be a problem that they will need to deal with, as we ceetainly dont want people dodging over the fence into our place to relieve themselves, and they certainly cant run it through pipes and into the river. Joining onto the sewerage system will be an issue and very expensive.
Bear has cancelled his trip to the States so he can get the permits sorted as well as this latest issue over sewerage. I gather the boys are having problems with the "Lodge" as we now must call it, they need special permits there as well. So Bear is not happy and it means Mal will have to deal with the US stuff.

The gardens are doing really well, I was dumbfounded by the huge mounds Bear built several onths ago, they have hundreds of potato plants all over, the idea being to sell some to recover costs, but most will be going to the foodbank in Christchurch as will other surplus vegetables.
Karl has managed to find some swings and slides for the park area, they came from Christchurch council I think, but not sure, they need repairing and painting so Jas has them in our workshop and they are being worked on as I write by Karl.

Bear has a day in Christchurch helping Sandy unpack, Linda is helping out as well, Sandy tells me that Bear and Linda are doing quite nicely thanks. Sandy is coming out here tomorrow and she is going to stay for a few days, that is if they get the unpacking done.

I gather Bear is a Bear with a sore head over having to cancel the US trip and stay to deal with local red tape, but in the end someone has to do it and it was the task he chose.

We are getting the marque out this week to erect for our wedding next Saturday, we have lots of food already in the freezers and Sandy is coming out to help out with baking.
The garden people are doing a hungi and BBQs as well we will entertainment for the littlies by way of bouncy castle, swings slides etc. For the adults we have music all day and night.

Jas is extremely nervous, in fact it surprised me just how up tight he is over it, especially since getting married was his idea, Gran has had to take him aside several times and tell him to chill out, but he will be ok I am sure. I think its less about getting married and more about his shyness that is the issue, all the people watching him makes him nervous.

Thursday here already

Yesterday Jas, Speedi, Paula and I went up to the new area Speedi has gone partners in with Mal and Bear.
Mal and Speedi are financing it though Bear isnt putting money in but he is putting farm stock and work into it.

I really didnt know what to expect as the boys have been very secretive about it, but its in a lovely area of the hills behind Oxford, it is very secluded and very hard to find. They have purchased 10 acres in there and so far they have accumulated a lot of "stuff" including 2 huge shipping containers which will be built partly into the hill side as accomadation, they intend to have another 4 containers there by November, Speedi is doing all the alterations to them and they will include bunks, toilets ands showers. Mal is providing the major part of the finance and Bear is doing the legal work such as permits etc.
Bear has moved all his farm stock up there, obviously less the Alpacas, so they have around 40 sheep, 4 cows and 2 horses. I am not sure why the farm animals are up there, but I guess if Bear is to sell his farm they need to go somewhere.
Speedi showed me around and indeed they have quite a lot of plans for the place, they even have solar panels up there, obviously not in yet. I gather the idea this is a retreat for such a time as they need to "bug out" in an emergency, but its also a great hunting area so it is quite recreational for the boys as well. I would love to live there but it is so isolated, but I guess thats the idea. It looks more like a army camp with camoflage netting up everywhere, Speedi says thats just to keep it hidden from nosey hikers etc.

I have been to the hospital for my check up and baby and everything is doing well, not long to go now and Jas is very excited now. We need to get the Wedding over then we get excited abot the baby. Jas's Gran arrived yesterday with another heap of newly knitted baby wear, I am so lucky. We are off to her place for dinner tonight so I am really looking forward to it.

We lost 3 lambs overnight but they rest are doing fine, we have let them all out into what the girls call the "baby wing", a small paddock close to the shearing sheds where they can be moved in case of bad weather.

I wandered over to the gardens just before, Karl sure has that place humming, it is quite beautiful and a credit to those guys, a lot of hard work and money has gone into it, I just cant wait for the opening.

Well I best go, I am meant to be working but somewhat distracted.

Love to you all

oh no the snow

Thank God for Soup!

We have been up since very early morning collecting new born lambs and putting them under shelter, we have 300 lambs and lost 6 overnight due to the snow but mostly to the blizzard type cold wind.

Paula is worried about Speedi who went up the valley with Bear yesterday morning, they were having two large shipping containers arrive by truck, but we havent seen them since they left. They were coming out yesterday. They are out of cell phone reach so we will just have to wait until we hear from them. Jas says its most likely they are snowed in but the snow wont last for long so we should hear from them soon.
I wondered why they were having shipping containers in the valley but apparently Speedi and Mal brought them to use as some sort of building or shelter.

Jas has just wondered in looking like one of the saturated lambs, so it strip of time (yummm) and have a new set of clothes and soup. The girls are home today mothering their children (orphan lambs). They certainly have changed in a year, I am so proud of them in handling the changes so well. When Pop and Cynthia passed away they were my little stalwarts, I am so proud of them.
Of course they miss Pop, but they have Bear to look to as a Grand Poppy and naturally he is relishing the role, when we see him which these days is a rarity.
His job seems to be doing well, he only works on a case by case arrangement so he does seem to have a lot of time off, but then he is away at the drop of a hat if a client rings.

Wedding plans are going so well, we are getting married here on the farm, we just have to hope for fine weather (oh pleeeease do the sunny thing). Bear is giving me away, but word is Bear said he isnt beyond accepting a perserverence payment for putting up with me if they are stupid enough, yeah well he will keep.

Oh God the rain clouds have just opened up again, its sleeting like mad.

Thank god for more hot soup.

More news since I started writing, Bear and Speedi arrived at Paulas place, they were trapped in the car overnight but got a lift out with a farmer, I see a 4 wheel drive on the shopping list I suspect.

Finally a chance to Post.

Well it has been an age since I last wrote and for that I am very sorry. A lot has happened that has kept me busy. It seems to have been a month of funerals, first my Pop passed away and then my friend Cynthia also left us, the two combined laid me a bit low for a few weeks. On top of that Bear was in hospital for "corrective" surgery to fix a few problems an early surgery had left him with.

Sandy has had issues with the earthquake repairs on her house but she is now finally back in there and very happy.

My girls went on a school trip to Stewart Island for a week, I sure as heck missed them, but they are home and very happy. Jas and I have had days of the most detailed descriptions of every minute they spent away and the things they have done. They now tell us we have to go back there with them.
The farm is doing very well, we have got through the lambing quite well and I am now an old hand at lambing. The girls each have a orphan lamb so they are over the moon. We also have some baby Alpacas here for the moment so again the girls are having a ball playing mother, though I suspect their Alpaca mothers maybe getting somewhat annoyed at the constant attention.

The gardens over the back are doing very well, lots of progress going on there, they have another 3 new tunnel houses up as well as a log cabin being built.  Bear hasnt been too involved though he was out there this weekend, he has too much on at work and as he says the gardens are best left to those on the spot and who know whats to be done.
Michele is still renting Bears house, I think she is trying to get a mortgage to buy it, Bear wants to move on to newer pastures I think.

Mal was here two weeks ago and he along with Bear and Speedi have some scheme in mind up in the hills behind Oxford, I think (not sure as they wont talk about it with me) but I think they have brought some land in the Lees valley area.  Mal has gone back to the States and Bear is going there in the next few weeks, they will both be back around November.
Paula tells me Mal, Bear and Speedi are importing a lot of survival gear, they have had some issues getting it through customs but it has just last week been cleared.

Now the real news is Jas and I are to be married next week, yaaaaaaaaaa.
He has finally decided to make an honest woman off me, bless him.

Good grief we have had a month of issues.

I have only just found out this morning that bear has been in hospital for 4 days, he has just come out today, grrrr he never rang or told anyone. I don't know why he was there as it must be s state secret.

Meanwhile back on the farm all is well, the girls are really doing well and have recovered from pop passing away. I still find myself wanting to ring him, which might be a bit hard now.
Sandy is still with us and will be for another month, so it has been great to have another woman to chat too. She is marvelous around the house, and really I dont want her to go.

Jas is busy with lambing, and farm work, he has been putting in some horrendous hours and is getting a little tired. We have had a few speed bumps in our relationship this week, but I think its the post funeral and farm work that has been the source of our grouchiness

Well Im off to town with Sandy to go and growl at Bear, will write more later.

love to you all.

Monday thing

Wow what a lovely day we had yesterday. I bit sad in the morning as we went into town and started packing up Pops stuff, a lot of memories there. In the afternoon we went down to the river with the family, the garden crowd and Speedi and Paula. We had a  BBQ dinner, even BBQ the fish the boys caught, it was a lovely end to what has been a horrible week.

I have decided to give up the work training for this year, I will wait and see what happens after the baby is born, so for now its back to my usual job, being Mom, farmers wife (to be) and online accountant.
This week I have the hospital visit re the baby, Jason isnt looking to happy about coming, but he will.

Rumour has it Paula may be pregnant as well, way to go girl.

The gardens next door are a real delight, a huge amount off work has gone into them with a mountain more to do. Karl is in his element and he has united that team around him magnificiently. They are looking at New Year to open them and will have a fair and market day out here, so I am really looking forward to that.

It seems bear is going flatting with sandy, he is converting her spare room intoi an office and the sleepout into a gaming room.
His business venture with Mal is a mystery at this stage, all I can gather is he is waiting for permits, licenses etc. Bear says Mal will be back in new zealand to live around Novemeber.

Well thats me for now lovlies

love you all.

Its Saturday, yet again

Yesterday was a horrible day, I hardly seemed to be not crying. The hole that Pops passing will leave is huge, he was much more than just my father, he was my best friend and for a long time he was the one person in this world I knew I could count on for sure.
Through all the chaos of my separation, through the earthquakes Pop was always there at an instant, as bear said in the Eulogy, "What a man".

Now the funeral has passed I feel empty, almost numb. The girls are being very brave, but I don't think I am helping by being an emotional wreck, it is something I am dealing with, though I know it takes time.
Jason has been there for the girls and I at anytime of the day or night, I am so grateful that I met him; he is a strong man but one who is not afraid to drop his guard, whats more he doesn't mind an emotional fiancee.

Jason and I have tried to talk Sandy into moving in here with us, it makes so much sense, for her financially and company, for us she looks after the house and the girls extremely well. In fact since pop passed away on Tuesday Sandy seems to have lived in the kitchen making endless cups of tea and coffee along with meals and baking, an awesome person when the cards are down.
However she is adamant she wants to return to her house in Christchurch, all I can say is she will be sorely missed by all of us, but I am  determined we will keep in touch and we will try to drag her out here as often as she allows.

Bear has been a mountain of strength for me, I am worried I have already passed my tendency for leaning on Pop to that of leaning on Bear, but he doesn't mind, well he says he doesn't.  He has had everything organised in regards to funerals and lawyers, but more importantly last night he showed more of his spiritual abilities by allowing me to talk to my deceased mother, who says Pop passed over very quietly and is there safe and sound. He is unable to talk just yet as it is too soon since his passing over and his soul energies need to adjust to new environment. Why on earth Bear doesn't allow other people to see and share in his abilities I have no idea, he does not regard himself as a psychic, in fact he says he hates that terminology. He says its more of a case of seeing doors to other energies and knowing how to bring spiritual energies through.
Last night was my first time that I have seen or experienced anything like that, the information was detailed and 100% accurate and there is no way bear could fabricate or guess some of the experiences mum and I talked about, it was awesome.

I know I am going to miss Bear hugely when he goes overseas, the only good news is he says he wont be away too long as he needs to be here for the end of the year, so that is good news. But loosing Pop and then having Bear go away will leave a big hole in my wee world.

The gardens next door are progressing very well, the gang have been very supportive this week in helping me organise the outside events, I am very grateful to them, but I sure wish they would get their website up and going.

Well that's enough waffle, thank you to all the emails, I very much do appreciate them and I will reply to them all, starting today.

Pop passed away

I am so sorry that I havent blogged for a week, but my Opop passed away on Tuesday and I have been a bit of a mess, as have my little girls and Sandy, Pops companion.
The funeral is tomorrow and I am not looking forward to it.

His passing away came as a bit of a shock as Sandy and I had just been visxiting him and were on our way home when we got the phone call to come back quickly. It was all a bit chaotic as i had to ring Jas to pick up the girls from school, but sadly they didnt arrive in time to see him before he passed away.

Jas and I have asked Sandy to stay on here as she is so good with the girls, but she wants to return to ChCh and her flat. Bear has supposedly been staying there in the sleepout while the house is being repaired following earthquake damage.

Anyway more news once I get tomorrow out of the way

love to you all

A very bad week

I came back from my work training in Wellington last Thursday, Pop had a very severe heartattack and was very close to passing away, he is still in hospital and is now in a stable condition, On Friday Sandy had a severe diabetic/heart issue which threw all of us in a panic, it was no doubt caused by the stress of finding Pop after his heart attack. She has now recovered but is still very weak and very pale.

The girls, thank god, are fine. Jas has been busy on the farm with lambing.

There have been major changes over on the gardens, Bear has pulled out due to his work load, he didnt think it was fair that he should be managing it and not contributing, so Karl and Jason are now official managers and leaseholders over the gardens.

There will be no more issues of bears blogs, he says he is far to busy and now his focus has changed. I can vouch for that, he certainly ha changed a lot. He has been involved as a mediator between various clients/insurance companies and CERA, and now he has been offered a new business opportunity which means he could well be leaving Christchurch in the next few months, that will depend on whether they renew his work contract and indeed if he even wants to continue which is more to the point.
Apparently he has spent a very boozy weekend in Wellington with a bunch of wargamers????

Mal has sold his farm to Speedi and Paula and they are already building on it, which is awesome. Mal is still in the States and I think it was through him Baz has this new business opportunity, though its all hush hush and I dont know for certs.

The weather has been good but today has turned nasty again, despite that the lambs keep coming, day and night. I nevr imagined a year ago I would be Mrs farmer, but here I am.
I dont know how my having to leave the work training will effect my work position, my boss was very understanding and it may mean I will have to restart it sometime next year after I have the baby.

The gardens look awesome, a lot of work has been done and it may be ready for opening this summer, Karl is certainly a mover and shaker.

The other good news is Jason and I are getting Married next month, yaaaaa

Well I best go for now. love to you all.

Im Home for the weekend yaaaa

Its great to be home for the weekend. I have missed everyone so much. The work I am doing is expanding at a huge rate, to the point its time to upgrade my PC and software.

Everyone here is fine and though they say they missed me it looks as if they have done fine without me. Sandy and Pop have been in town today, they picked me up from the airport. Sandy caught up with Bear who has been horrendously busy with his new new job.

The gardens are looking a wonder, the people have been working some long hours there it seems.
The farm is doing well and Jason is over the car accident, with no long term worries. This weekend we are drafting sheep, a lot of fun no doubt.

Well thats all for now, more later I hope.

Thursday 9th

I miss my family waaaa

I am in Wellington and will be for several weeks of work training. I have heard from the family down south and they seem to be managing without me, another waaaa for that.

Jas says the farm is doing well and Pop and sandy are being awesome with the helping out. No one has heard from bear, not even those at the gardens. I guess work is busy for him as well.

I am not enjoying it up here, I guess I have become a homebody, besides I miss that hunk of a man of mine, and more than anything I miss the girls.

Well as I should be working I best get back to it.

Love you all.

Sunday 5th August.

This coming week is going to be a big one for me, some weeks ago I was asked to go to a training seminar for my work, I discussed it with Jas and as it was a promotion of sorts and offered more money we thought I should go. Then last week after the accident I cancelled but all week Jas has nagged me to go especially since Pop and Sandy were here to help with looking after the girls. So it was decided on Tuesday I am away for up to 3 weeks.

I am looking towards the challenge but am hating being away from everyone I love, and probably away from my Blog.

We had a big day out here yesterday, we all worked on  my Gardens and tidied up around the farm, even Sandy who cant do a lot because of ill health did a huge amount of scrubbing and cleaning.

Last night we had everyone from the Gardens next door over for a BBQ, that went down very well. Of course Bear wasn’t there he had a morning with his work and a afternoon with his friends. Sandy was talking to Linda this morning and apparently Bear had dinner there last night, she said he left early !!!!

Well today we are going over to the gardens to help out there, so god knows what we can do but it should be fun.

Well I best go and do the breakfast thing, I hope to blog tonight, if not I will catch up when I can.

Saturday 4th and its raining

We had a very busy day here yesterday, there seemed to be people in and out all day long, even into the night visitors were calling in. It sure is nice to have such a social life in comparison to what my life was like a few months ago.

Sad news about Bears Alpaca she aborted her babies yesterday and died last night, the good news is the other 3 Alpacas are fine.  We saw Bear briefly yesterday, but he was just in too much of a hurry, but I have to say he looks TOTALLY different in a business suit.

The Gardens are going well, Karl is running things over there and he has everyone firmly in hand. Though the place looks like what it is – a construction site, it is starting to take shape and it will be a credit to all of them when it’s finished.

I had intended to get into my garden yesterday but that went by the way with all the visitors, however I have all the best of intentions of getting there today, once the rain stops – waaaa.

Carla and Talia are off today to spend the day and tonight at a friend’s place, talk about maximum excitement. It seemed they just couldn’t wait to get away from Jas and I, a bit sad that.

Kyle wanted to go hunting again today, but without Bear here and Jason still not up to pounding the hills he has had to curb his enthusiasm, so instead he will go rabbit shooting up the riverbed.

I have the first real signs of a preggy tummy, my clothes are just starting to get a little tight, quite nice to feel though.

Its Friday yaaaaa

Well it was an interesting day yesterday. Pop and sandy have moved in for 6 weeks and the girls didn’t know they were coming so when they came home to find granddad and Sandy already moved in it was great excitement. Poor ole Sandy got dragged everywhere around the farm and over to the gardens.

I went for a wander over there myself with them and I have to say the team are doing extremely well, I have to say I was surprised because their blog has been very quiet lately; but they all say they are just too tired to sit down and write at night, and of course Bear is in Christchurch without a PC so he won’t be blogging anytime soon.

I heard from him last night and he has his first clients but he said their initial meeting was only an hour so he had the day to himself. He brought Pop and Sandy out early in the afternoon but didn’t stay. I asked him would he be out here for the weekend and he said no, he would stay in town as he had some games arranged with his mates and I bet that includes a boozy Saturday night watching Rugby finals.

We haven’t done a lot out here, the farm is ticking along without any great input from us, I can’t do my gardens very well, and one hand gardening just isn’t fun.

Jason is doing well, the bruise on his head is slowly going down and the headaches have stopped, his head is just tender. He is busting to get out on the farm but I have to sit on him (not an entirely unpleasant experience) to make sure he doesn’t sneak out and do things on the farm.

Just had a call from Michele, panic … she thinks one of Bears’ Alpacas are about to give birth. What should she do???????

Good ole Jas has rushed off to the rescue and the girls don’t want to go to school they want to see the babies…that’s not happening.

Sandy has a full day of catching up with old friends today, so Pop is going to have an easier one, he says he may work on my gardens for me. Interesting Pop should say its easier to do gardening than spend time with Sandy’s friends. Pop and sandy seem to be hitting it off rather well, its an odd relationship more of one of need and friendship than love I suspect, but boy she sure fusses around him and he loves it. Often he would give me a smile and a wink when she was making him coffee or supper, he certainly has changed.

Well I suppose I best go do some work and wait to hear about the Alpaca babies, I have rung Bear to tell him the news and he is on his way out already; Michele had rung in a panic. He said he doesnt think it is birthing, but there could be problems so he has rung the vet as well.

Thursday, 2nd of August - morning report.

Pop and Sandy are moving in with us this week, its going to be awesome to have all of us together. Bear is taking Sandy shopping this morning and then they pick up Pop and come out here. Bear spent his first night in Sandy’s sleepout and “froze his butt off” so a heater is in order then Mr Bear.

Jas is feeling a little better today, the girls want to paint the easter egg on his head, the bruise has come out to a whopping size so its just as well he is off to the doctors today for a checkup. Michele called in on her way down to the gardens and she is ecstatic to have Bears place to herself, she says she may not let him back in, yeah good one Michele, wish you luck with that.

Bear starts his new job today, this morning he is meeting his first client and he sounds a little nervous, but I know he will be great at it, he has knack of bulldozing through  red tape.

Well not much to report this morning, hopefully more news tonight.

Wednesday, August 1st

Good God its August already, where is the year going, I wish it would slow down I am getting old to quick - waaaaa.

Well I am being spoilt, I have had Michele staying here helping us out and she has been a gem. Bear and Karl have been helping out working around the farm, but since the weather has been so bad there isn’t a lot to be done apart from feeding out.

Either today or tomorrow Pop and Sandy are coming out to stay with me and Michele will go back to staying at Bear’s place. Pop and Sandy have to move out of their place as repairs are being done there, but Bear in his great genius has decided he will go and stay in the sleepout at the back of their  place while they work on the house. He says he needs to be in town for about 4-6 weeks for his job which is a “on call” situation. Normally he would have simply stayed with Pop and Sandy but as the Gremlins rule the very month he needs to be there EQC finally get their act together.

Sandy and Pop are very happy with it because they were worried about the stuff they have stored in the garage, so with Bear living out the back they feel better about security.

I am especially happy as it will be great to have them here, it also means Sandy can catch up with old friends she hasn’t seen for years.

Michele and her daughter get to stay at Bears farm on their own, so they will have lots of peace and quiet. Having Michele here has been a huge blessing, she has done so much for us and nothing has been a problem. Sadly she heard from her partner who has been working in Australia and he has decided not to return, he has meet someone else. She was very stoic about it and I think having a month on her own will be good for her so she can sort out what she wants to do. She is adamant she wants to stay in the area so she can be part of the gardens. I have suggested she talk to Bear and see if she could stay there, but I don’t know if she will or not.

Well we are all home now after that disastrous weekend. My arm still hurts and having the plaster bandage on is really annoying, but it is more just the encumbrance of it that gets me down. Jason is home after his stint in hospital, the poor hon has massive bruises on the side of his head and he has a neck brace on. They were concerned about a hairline fracture on his skull but have since decided that it was an old injury, funny thing is Jason can’t recall when he got it, go figure.

I have kept the girls home for the last two days but they are ready to go back to school now, so its good to see them get over the whole bad incident. We have heard from the police and the man who went through the Give way sign goes to court very soon, what really annoys me is he got away without a scratch, jeez if I could get my hands on him I would give him a scratch or two.

Well I best go now, this one finger typing is annoying and I have a huge backlog of work to catch up on.

Monday 30th July and I am sore.

I spent most of yesterday afternoon in Hospital. Jason, the girls and I went into Rangiora for a afternoon off the farm, on the way we were hit by a car that didn’t stop at a Give way sign. It smashed into Jason’s side of the ute and I would think our car is written off. I have a broken arm and Jason is still in hospital with severe concussion, thank god apart from being absolutely shocked the girls are fine. All I can say is thank god for seat belts, though we all have bruises coming out where they restrained us.

They kept Jason in for observation and I expect he will be home today. Bear, Kyle, Emmett and Speedi went hunting all day, so they were out of touch until last night; Poor old Pop had to run around after us, he was frantic with worry. Thank god we leave Bears old car in town as Pop had to use it to come to the hospital and then run the girls and I home. The girls are still in shock and are very nervous.

Bear is going into town to pick up Jason, there is no way I am putting the girls in a car for a few days, they are just terrified; but we are working on it.

As a side note the boys came home with a deer and 3 rabbits, thank god I had a broken arm and could claim with good conscience I would be unable to gut the animals, fortunately Speedi took care of it all for us.

I have just rung the hospital and my darling man will be out later today, he also has whiplash so has his neck in a brace, so that means the farm work will be out for a while, I have rung Bear and he says he will organise some help on the farm for us. Of course Bear starts his new job sometime this week, so we won’t see or hear much from him either.

I hate one finger typing as well.

Baaaa Waaaaa what a weekend.

Saturday July 28th

Beautiful day here and I am heading outside to clean up the gardens, lawns etc. Jason is drenching sheep today, I offered to help but I think it’s a case of “the little lady getting in the way”. So Bear is coming to give him a hand for a while.

Well it’s a hive of activity on the gardens, it seems they have a full turn out and they are working on the old shop that Bear used as a potting shed, but is now to be a communal room for the workers, with a “NEW” second hand toilet bowl and hot running water.

Bear has been offered a job for 2 months working for a group of lawyers who have clients that need someone to “troubleshoot” their earthquake claims through the multi layers of officialdom and inefficiencies “Bears words” not mine. He is happy to get it because there is not a lot to be done on the gardens for 6 weeks now, so its good timing and the pay will no doubt go on the gardens anyway. Sadly it means we won’t hear much from him as he is going to stay with Paul and Sandy during the week and come out here on weekends. I know the girls will miss him hugely as indeed I will. However I think this break away from the gardens and his farm is just what he needs and the way he feels about CERA (Earthquake recovery) and Insurance companies I could almost feel sorry for them; almost.

Well I cannot escape my own duties, so I best move on.

Thursday 26th July and Im happy.

I have an awesome day today, most of it was in town. As I mentioned yesterday bear and I went into town, Bear to take Sandy to her doctors while I took Pop to the hospital. We got them home around 11:30am and then took off for some lunch at Northlands. After lunch Bear took me baby shopping and I have a real nice collection of clothes, blankets and a mixture of baby bottles, toys. I have to say bear is easier to go baby shopping with than Jas, at least he doesn’t play with the toys in the shop, but of course bear isn’t the daddy so that may make the difference.

We picked up the girls from school, I went in and had a chat with their teachers just to see how they are settling down; the teachers were very impressed how settled they are, especially Carla. I am so proud of them.

Jas helped a neighbour with his sheep this afternoon and didn’t get home until a few minutes ago. Poor babe is having a soak in the bath, he was sent there post haste owing to the sheepish aroma.

I have been sitting on the bed going over our collection of clothes, I must confess to be rather excited about the whole experience.

I went to see if anyone  has written on Bears blog but I couldn’t get in, a phone call has rectified that as they are in the process of changing the name. The new addy is now

http://camelotfarmyardandmemorialgardens.devhub.com/

Well I best go get the dinner on the table, tomorrow is another work day, I have a lot of work sitting on my PC.

Wednesday 25th.

Its been cool today but that’s ok because I stayed in most of the day and finished my work, now ready for next batch from head office. Jas was in and out working on the farm in between showers.

My two little girls came home very happy today, nice to see and long may it last, but because it was so cold and wet they resorted to city- itis, that is come home from school and watch TV. I had a bit of a job getting them to tidy their rooms, but we got there eventually.

Karl, one of the gardeners from next door came over and gave me some advise on doing my own gardens, he is a fountain of knowledge and Bear has a real gem in him. Apparently Bear hasn’t been there a lot this week, he has been out drumming up some possible customers for their goods, it seems very promising with some of the road side vege stalls only to happy to buy from them and depending on the quality of the veges and herbs, all good news.

Tomorrow I am going into town with Bear, I will be taking Pop to hospital and Bear is taking Sandy shopping and her doctors, it was one of those fluke times where Pop and Sandy had identical appointment times. Then Bear and I are having a lunch together, yes illicit passionate affairs over a salad none the less.

Bear is very different these days, he is very happy but a bit tired looking, we are all worried about his ankle as he now has a permanent limp, and is obviously in some pain; but he just wont take it easy. I really am glad his co-op people are using his blog Bears Work Blog

to introduce themselves. Its nice to get to know them and understand their motivations. Hamish interests me, not because he is gorgeous, but not nearly as gorgeous as my Jason (but he is a close second hon), he has the most hypnotic eyes.

I have been warned of match making him which is a shame because he would be a easy one to match.

Well that’s my news for the day, not a lot but its been an inside day to day so news is hard to come by.

Monday Night and childless

I have had a lovely day in the garden, I have extended the vegetable garden so that it is now 20 metres x 10metres, not big by many standards but ample for us. Much of the ground was diabolical to dig up but I managed to get it done.

Bear is kindly giving me when I am ready for them lettuces, carrots, cauliflowers, onions and a whole host of seeds or young plants. I also have blackberry and blueberry bushes, what I don’t have to plant nor worry about are potatoes because Bear has several hundred seed potatoes fort his organic mounds, he says there will be enough potatoes to feed a small town.

Jason has been busy with the stock as well as getting the ground along the river flats ready for planting trees to help with subsidence in the river banks. He had approached the district council for help in placing large boulders in the worse affected areas but with no luck. However Bear and Jason are going to make large concrete blocks and place them down there, so see we don’t need to pay exorbitant rates for councils that do nothing, pfffft.

The Girls had a lovely day at school, tonight they are staying with bear, just because they can it seems; he does spoil them rotten though. It seems so quiet here without the girls but it has been nice just to have Jason to myself. We had a lovely candlelight dinner, sat on the terrace until we froze and then had a hot bath until we cooked.

The Gardeners over the fence have been busy all day; some go home tonight and will come out on weekends. As I forecast Michele has moved the house bus down to Bears farm at least until they can get decent toilets and hot water down there. The Gardens do have a toilet in the old shop/potting shed area, but it really is beyond being used so Bear is getting a new one this week.

Well that’s all the news, so it’s time for bed. Night all.

Monday here again

It’s a lovely day out here again, and it’s going to be a gardening day today I think.

Yesterday after the house cleanup we went into Rangiora to see Gran and do some shopping. The girls are quite at home with Gran and she makes a real fuss of them. One scrap of good news is the Kyle has been talked out of going into the armed forces by Speedi, instead he is thinking of degree in agriculture which is where both Gran and Jas were hoping he would go. Kelly wants to be New Zealand’s first girl astronaut, I think all that flying with Emmett (he is so cool, seems like Kyle is old news).

Speedi and Paula have found a house in Rangiora to rent, they are looking for a place to buy somewhere between Rangiora and Oxford, so it will be brilliant when they finally settle down. We are still concerned that there is no news of Mal.

Bear’s Gardens were a hive of activity yesterday, a young woman Michele and her daughter (approx 3) are living in a house Bus there for a few days until she finds a place to rent in the area.  I would not be surprised to hear that she has moved the Bus over to bears farm before long, or worse she moves in to his house; he is such a softy when it comes to a sad story.

The people have started laying out the beds, and I have to say its starting to look brilliant. Whilst a I was not keen on the idea of a community garden, I have to say I was wrong as they have done in one day what would have taken Bear a week.

The good news (at least from my perspective) is that the people over there are trying to talk Bear into keeping his blog going as its a good way of encouraging informing people and obviously there must be a number who read it if he has 5 members after only a week of suggesting he opens the gardens to be a community garden.

As for my own gardens very small by my neighbours examples I have a large vegetable area already dug over, I have a small herb garden which will have the culinary herbs and around the house I am going to put in a flower garden.

Sunday again

Its been a coolish day here today, a bit overcast.

We have had mostly a day of tidying up after yesterdays little shindig, despite all the work put into it we had a ball and were so grateful for all our friends that turned up.

We had intended having a sleep in but the garden gang arrived next door in some obscene early hour this morning, even before Bear got there.

I see Bear has decided to close his blog, that is a huge shame and I have tried to talk him out of it, but as usual with no success. He is quite happy to let one of the others “do all that C#$P”.

I wandered over there this afternoon and it is quite a hive of activity, there is even a house bus on site, next we will have the gypsy’s moving in. Bear looked better today which is a very good thing. I am very pleased to see they are very respectful of what he wants done, it would seem at this stage at least they are all on the same page, I do hope they continue to stay there.

Well tomorrow its back to school time for my little ladies, they will have quite a tale to tell about their weekend, especially the flight “uncle” Emmett took them on over Christchurch and then over the alps to the West Coast. We even managed to get Cynthia and Gran on a flight, it was awesome.

I have a lot of work to do tomorrow, it all arrived on Friday but because this was a “family” weekend I decided I will let it lie until Monday, so sadly I will have to face up to it.

Well I best be going as not much news to report.

Saturday Night

I have a most wonderful day and evening. A lot of friends called in and shared the day with us and a lot of fun was had by all. Emmett was really good and took quite a few up for flights over Canterbury and Christchurch, so a very big thank you hon, your generosity certainly made the day.

Brenda my very best cousin came over from the coast and she brought her baby over, so being very clucky of late I stole her for much of the day. Naturally a lot of beer was drunk by the boys and they seemed to have a good time, they played touch rugby but I’m not sure who won and in fact I don’t think they know either.

Linda came out and Pamela came as well but of course without Bear here they were left to their own devices.

Bear came for a few minutes but for most of the day he has been busy over at the gardens with his new friends.

Jason was great and he made an absolutely beautiful speech at dinner tonight, it was lovely and he really surprised me because he would tell you himself he is not really a man of words.

I took a pic of me (holding Denise Brenda’s daughter), Cynthia, Jas’s Gran, and Helene one of Grans great granddaughters. (Apologies for the poor shot, the flash packed up then after this photo the camera died).

We started the day around 1:00pm with a BBQ and buffet lunch, originally I assumed it would just go for a few hours in the afternoon but people kept arriving many of whom I didn’t know as they were Jas’s friends; at one stage I counted 17 cars. We had an early dinner again BBQ and Buffet and it all wound up around 9:00pm.

I have a kitchen from hell at the moment, but it can wait until the morning, I just can’t be bothered and as it has gone midnight I’m taking my man to bed.

Love you all.