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.