What about me ...

It's Hazel's turn to have a voice - now she is 9 months old !!



I can clap my hands. My more recent trick !

I am happy to sit and entertain myself as long as I am near people.

I like being with people and visiting new places - I've been to quite a few schools with mum.



I want the things I can't have. (Especially mum's laptop chord.)

I can eat well cooked stuff and lots of lovely sweet fruit !

I will let you know if I am unhappy.

I practice my new skills - today it is learning to climb the steps in the living area !!



I can lean a long long way forward and then sit up again.
I can move backwards and sideways on a shiney floor on my tummy.
Breaking news ... I am now crawling on my knees and hands - look out !!

I like to investigate everything and tasting it is a very important part of my research.



I reward favoured people with grunts, babble, a screwed up face smile and profuse spit spreading bubble blowing.

I giggle when bounced on a bed or tickled under my arms. I laugh at peek a boo.

I enjoy singing loudly and my cry at being put to bed is especially loud.



I sleep long hours most nights.

I am not so keen on being put in and out of my carseat - in and out - in and out - at least 3 days a week when we go to Masterton.





I have an excellent fend ... used on my mum as soon as I have finished feeding so I can see what everyone else is doing. Also used on my sister when she hugs me tooooooo much and a little hard !!

I can say mum mum and something like dad dad.

I love my mum and dad and big sister Anika ... most of the time !

I did it ... but which part did you enjoy the most ....

I completed my Try athalon on the 23rd of November in 1 hour 7 minutes and 40 seconds.

So which part did you enjoy the most ???



Being part of the atmosphere and being the one taking part was really cool.



Not this part - don't be fooled by the smile.



Not this part - yes a welcome relief to have a change of focus after the run.



Not this part - coming in way after all of the road bikes had cruised seemingly leisurely past me.



Obviously not this part before the swim, hobbling over to the pool.











But this part ..... sorry no photo because my support team were behind the camera - waving and cheering me on. Go Mummy Go !!!!

Dressing Up

Our theme for this month is Dressing Up, that is for Correspondence Kindy. Anika just loves it. An age and stage thing or maybe a life pattern being set in place.


She has been to outer space with a wee basket on her head tied on with a scarf - we have been waitresses and customers in a cafe with a scarf tied in different ways to show different customers - she has been a netball player, a chef baking lolly cake and chocolate chippie biscuits, a cat with a scarve tucked in for a tail, and of course a ballerina.

I have been dressing up too and boy has it taken a lot of working out. I am training for a wee triathlon. I need a goal to start getting my body back after my years bearing and nurturing babies. (I know it's not that many !!) Training is scarce and casual but as the day nears it's working how to 'dress up'. Togs under bike pants rolled down - firm bra (not a maternity bra ...yay) ... another crop top (hold in the floppy boobs !!) a singlet top - to excentuate the rolls ... yuk ... cap for the run, bike helmet for the bike, goggles for the swim ... my cross trainers ... maybe 10yrs old now and socks
.
I can see why people don't 'race' into doing these sorts of things - so glad to have my mate Shari to talk it over with - have a practice run with - borrowed a bike from her - she looked after my babe while I trained once - it takes a lot of confidence to even think of attacking something like this .... or stupdity .... or maybe a love of dressing up.

Exhibition openings ... what the ...

Veiled
(On display)


Today I am the very proud wife - Andrew's photography is now on display at Aratoi - our local art centre - gallery in Masterton. He has put himself out there - asked for the space - and a year later he is exhibiting his fine collection of landscapes - Outlook - Observations from within a 50m circle of our house.

The Hunt
(On display)

The work looks awesome - finally printed off the computer - large - matted and framed and on a wall ! It has been fun - stimulating - challenging to talk about his photographs over time - and to be part of the process of having an exhibition.

Being very ignorant about how these things work - we have taken a few stabs in the predawn light ??!! and are hoping it will have put us on the pathway to developing a career and a business opportunity.

Obscured by Clouds
(On display)

Andrew has worked incredibly hard at developing his art over the last year and a half, (and for a long while before that pre digital). He now has a huge collection which can be seen on his pbase web page. www.pbase.com/tikouka This is an overwhelming amount of photography but we hope we will in the near future put together a web page where a more select range can be viewed and ....... enjoyed and .... added to your own collections !


Epiphany
(On the web)


The opening itself was another totally new experience having never been to any others. Who do we invite ? How long do they go for ? What happens at them ? And with two small children in tow I had no idea what was in store.


However it was a lovely time - too short for me entirely - to talk to all of our fabulous friends who made the effort to come out - to talk proudly about Andrew's work - to take photos of the event - and to keep a track of our kiddliwinks.


Far from the Maddening Crowd
(On the web)

Big thanks to Shari, Ali, Hannah and Esther who did end up jiggling and entertaining the kids so I could have some good adults conversations.

Anika then headed away with 'best friend' Olivia for the night - she was in heaven. The rest of us headed down to the great atmosphere of the Carterton Lounge Bar for tapas, relaxation and quality chat. We managed to score the couches so Hazel was able to spend some of the evening sound asleep on a comfy couch next to her mum.

Anika
(on the web)

So yes .... we had a night out - and lovely food and a glass of wine and live music in the background and real adult conversations - we didn't get home til midnight ... oh my gosh ... it must be a first in many years.


Dandelion
(On the web)

Family holiday - visiting with friends and relies Pt 2

The day after the wedding - no sleep in - no mucking around we were off to Hi-5 !! For those uninitiated - this is a group of 5 Aussies who sing and dance - appearing on TV to educate our 3-7 year olds. Their music is very palateable for the older listener. Even Andrew came along with us .... him very much a discerning listener of music ... Pink Floyd etc. Very cool to go in Invercargill - 20 minute trip - no parking hassles - easy entry - staged at the mighty Stadium Southland home of the belated but very successful Southern Sting.



We had great seats and Anika was happy to sit and take in the atmosphere - she could have been up the front dancing her wee heart out - but our girl is an observer then a doer. We did get up and dance in the second half.



We got to see our Hazel developing into a wee being - loving the atmosphere and being nosy - watching the audience and their enthusiasm.



We missed seeing Charlie, Tim and Kathleen who now have all moved on from the original crew. It was an excellent show and well worth the outing. Anika, was oblivious to all of the merchandising but I have a feeling this will be the last time. She is turning into quite a wee consumer. Being on holiday and out and about lately - asking to go to cafes and have fluffies has become part of her every day vocab. What has happened to my rural child.



After Andrew had gone home, Dad, Mum, the girls and I drove up to Cromwell - stopping in Roxburgh for a playground visit and some Jimmy's pies - and their other great bakery food. It's a Southern tradition thing. The girls and I stayed with my mate Julie and her lovely poppets - Michael and Aimee. Anika and Michael play really well together.



We had a dinner out with all the family from the wedding - Pete and Lisa and his in laws and my lovely cousin Ben, whom I haven't seen for a few years. He has finally got a wee bit of hill country to farm - a goal of his of many years - fantastic - and we met his lovely girlfriend. Good work Ben !! Anika took this shot. Note Hazel bonding with Uncle Peter in the background.



Anika and Hazel were stars - they coped brilliantly with their big night out - but the evening was made really special with the birth of my first great grandnephew ... on my goodness - I have a 6 month old daughter and I'm a great Auntie !! My bro is a grandad - now that is wierd. Chase is the wee babes name - I think Kierran will make a great dad. I wish him all the best !




On the way back from Cromwell we stopped in at the bungy jumping. Anika really loved it and said she'd like a go one day. So I think she will be saving her pennies.



We managed to get to Riverton for a picnic - which is a bit of a tradition in the making - having a lunch around the rocks - paddling in the water - collecting rocks off the back beach for our doorstep - there are the most beautiful stones.

We also visited Raylene and Robert Guyton. It was inspiring to see their gardens - a real permaculture garden - fruit forest with herbs growing everywhere - Robert and his son are really in demand now for their skills and experience. Has sent me back home very keen to grow as many of our own vege as possible.

Classic digital camera failure - my batteries went and mum forgot to put her card back in - it sent us reverting back to dad's SLR. It meant I had to make sure that the shots I took were fab - no room for mistakes !! Nice to get the print today. But nothing to put on the blog !!

Great to be home for a while ..
Great to spend time with mum and dad ....
Great to see a few of my relies ....
Great to experience that Southern hospitality..... ( which I used to take for granted)
Great to be in the South Island.....

But good to be home in my lovely house .. in the Wairarapa ... and for us as a family all to be hanging out together again.

On holiday - of the family kind in more ways than one. Pt 1

It's been two months in the waiting - counting down - somewhat erratically with Anika - its a long time for a 3 and a half and for a 40 something mummy. But it finally happened - a trip down to the South to go to her cousins wedding and have a stay with Gran and Da for heaps of nights. Also it was Hazel's first flight.

A very bumpy ride into Dunners - they closed the airport after our flight or maybe the next one after us .... mmmmm. Anyway we went via Dunners to see Cousie Anna and meet her new son Toby - a lovely time hanging out for a few short hours. The big sisters Anika and Olivia with their new siblings - Hazel and Toby.

Then it was all go on my family front down in Winton - hanging out with relies and Anika loving all of the attention ! This is Anika doing her yay celebration dance.

Sonya - my niece from Melbourne - looked absolutely gorgeous on the day and it was a calm - well orchestrated occasion. Great to meet her Andrew. Very proud of her.

Finally the other star of the family - Hazel - enjoyed the wedding and fell asleep appropriately in the middle and enjoyed all the older relies making faces and jiggling her. Up late and then fast asleep for the night. All right.

PS Sally - pictured above, another awesome cousin, is not one of the afore mentioned older relies.

Activities and additions ....

Just watching the closing ceremony - maybe life will return to normal again and I will get more sleep. The marathon runners are receiving their medals. Andrew worked out that they were running at a speed of 100m in 19 sec - try running that at all let alone for 42 km !!



Anika's latest project - bit of a Thomas fan which is great. Nice to balance out the "My little ponies" girly stuff !! She spent her pocket money yesterday on a new one. She is writing alphabet letters now really well. She loves it.



Welcome to our world - Villi - she lost her mum. She is way down in the cow shed so Andrew is the chief provider. Anika had just come home from spending two nights away at two different friends ... hate to think what she will be like as a teenager !!



Hazel too, has been busy - this is her first ride on her skateboard - grabbed onto it like a pro. It's all about making tummy time more interesting - she is not that keen on tummy time but certainly enjoyed her ride on the skateboard. She now enjoys peek a boo - a real giggler. She is showing determination - you can see her trying to sit up all the time. She is doing tummy crunches for me too !!



Finally I have been a domestic goddess today and have baked, cooked and made my first batch of marmalade - for those lucky enough of you who will get a jar - beware the drip - I am not sure I boiled it for long enough.

Now a stunning finish like the olympics .... I think not, my eyelids are dropping.

Life at number 200A ... or is that .... ???

We are still waiting for our new fire number. The rest of the Wairarapa has theirs. I am excited as we will get our own number - we had nowhere to go sitting between 200 and 202. But now we will get a distance one from Masterton. They have also changed our road name to Longbush Rd .... not too happy about that ..... bit of snobbery around that in the past ... but will be better than Masterton-Martinborough Rd. Will send you all of the details once we have the new number !!



Even though it seems like it has been raining for ever we have had a few cracker frosts up here on the hill - not the usual. We tend to miss out. Well they have got the renegade potatoes - good job and they have actually frozen our pipes !! Now that we no longer use a pump to get water into the house we have a gravity feed system that we pump up to every week. Which means we have exposed pipe on top of the grass - running along fence lines. So just when I go yay I can have a shower whenever I want as it is not sucking down excessive amounts of power ... being on an alternative system ... the blimmin pipes freeze for 2 mornings and I can't have a shower until they thaw !!!



Anika and I love looking and playing in the frost.



And Anika wins the gold medal !!! Yay ..... for everything ... as Anika must have the gold otherwise .... tears ... even if Daddy wins it for the biggest nose !! Anika has enjoyed the Olympics too. It has been a good opportunity to talk more about countries etc. She says that 3 1/2 is a bit young to go to the Olympics yet. She has been practicing constantly on her bunk bed - swinging on the bar - ready to compete !!



Yay - two sunny days in a row and I think we did have up to 4 dry ones !! That meant Andrew got all enthusiastic and has attacked our front paddock / lawn area. We had a stack of straw left over from the house building which we are using for mulch on the edge of our hill to mark out the lawn. It has got soooo sodden that the only way to move it has been to use a tractor. Yay a bit more progress. Keep watching this spot !! One day we will have lawn !!

It Snowed ....

It really did ... thick fluttery white flakes ... which almost settled ... Anika's first snow, first snow at the house. The peacefulness of it .. I love it .... even though there were a few birds still twittering. Floyd was dashing about - not sure what it was. Anika arrived inside 5 minutes later - crying her little eyes out - face all blotchy - yes she had experienced her first snow ... no gloves .... and her hands were freezing.


Anika will have to change the book she wrote about winter now. "The snow is not at our place." is no longer correct !



Hazel still oblivious to it all - happily sucked on her toys. She is now able to grab stuff - catch a ball and hold her toes. She is definitely growing, becoming more dexterous and learning through sucking.



Hazel and I had an awesome day at Te Papa yesterday. I was helping out at our Enviroschools Regional Event and Hazel was being loved by all ... even Woody Weed - our local pest Super Hero.



It was great to see the students sharing their knowledge with the experts from the Plant Conservation Conference and then asking them questions. We also had a really interesting session on native plants and their medicinal properties. We managed to get over the Rimutakas before the snow arrived and closed it.

Fish and chips - doing the math ?

Fish and chips yeah
Fish and chips yeah
Make me want to lick my lips (lip smack)
Eat them for breakfast lunch and tea
Fish and chips are for me.

A chorus of a very cool kids song. We had fish and chips for tea last night .... running late home from town. But instead of buying them from the F and C shop or making my own version - I bought the frozen - good quality crumbed fish and chips and cooked them up when we got home. Still very easy to do and it would have easily been half the price.

Fish and chip night was always Friday night when I was a kid and it was nowhere near every Friday night. It was a real treat though. And it always tasted fabulous.

Now I am sitting here at 5am in the morning waiting for these fish and chips to digest. They are weighing very heavy on my tum tum. Anika thinks their fabulous - she was a little disappointed though we didn't go to the Fish and Chip shop. She has just recently come into an awareness that we don't always do what 'everyone else' does.



She still doesn't know about the the big M and when we go around that particular round about she goes - look there's the doctors. Sadly .. yes those trips she does remember. But better than the ....other. However with the TV advertising she sees of McDonalds I think the connection will be made with lightning speed once .... if we ever.... do go there.



I do really hate the whole kids walking, (and singing an incredibly catchy and annoying song) and we give them a pedometer and we're doing something for kids health. Also ... we are using Fair Trade coffee beans ... which is really cool ... but it's all so constructed to draw you into the branding. I must say though, after a very cool South American flavoured advert about their coffee beans - groovy guitar music - lovely soft tones of green, brown and khaki, to see the red background with the yellow M it almost seems oxymoronic - (if that be a word !)