Winter 2022

Here we are in June and it has been the longest time since my last post! May seemed to go by in a flash! Luca is well into the second term, only 5 weeks now until the school holidays again!

It is Queens Birthday weekend here, tomorrow a holiday, we are all happy about this! Rich celebrated his 62nd birthday on the 6th of May, his 4th birthday in NZ, hard to believe! Kinda awkward to get us all in one selfie photo , but sort of made it 🙂

In NZ the 1st of June is the official start of winter, which, as Rich will point out, does not make sense given the rest of the world follows the astronomical calendar but that is Kiwis for you 🙂

The garden has slowed down but still producing..

The broad beans are poking their heads through…

He is now working on the trellis, BBQ area and pergola that will complete the sitting area on the deck (photos to come…)

The chooks have slowed their egg production to ZERO currently, this makes me realize I need to boost numbers again as my old reliable hens deserve a gentle retirement. They seek out the sunny spots during this time of year and hold deep discussions 🙂

My micro green hydroponic experiment was a success, and I now have 3 on the go

While Rich was building the deck, Luca and I tidied up the flower garden for winter

Luca and Pica were easily distracted with all the loose sticks around 🙂

We now have an official plan for our extension, turning this one room and bathroom house into a 3 bedroom one. It is exciting, but with supplies of building material becoming ever scarcer by the day, we are not holding our breath that it is going to happen anytime soon, it will eventually, we just have to be patient as our builder sources where he can. Rich is going to do a lot but we need help with the structural work to meet council codes.

We are resigned to the wait as there is no controlling what is going on in the world, and just feel grateful we have a comfortable, warm roof over our head when so many don’t.

I have been driving up to my clinic in Oamaru more lately, it takes me about 1 1/2 hours and the drive up along the coast is spectacular. I leave very early, there is little traffic around, it is such a wonderful way to greet the new day seeing the sun rise up over the ocean as a drive. When I first agreed to do this clinic, I wondered how I would find the drive up there once or twice a fortnight, now I find it is the highlight of my week.

Oamaru itself, some of you may recall from our trip around NZ, is a town full of charm and heritage.

Speaking of heritage, more old photos found of where we live. These would have been taken in the early 1900’s . You can see the train running along the top of the photo behind the church, with the graveyard at the back. If you follow the track around the base of the hill to the left there is a small building (circled in white). The arrow sits on our boundary line.

This is the small building that is circled, it is the Port Chalmers passenger train station. Where that power pole stands, opposite there, is a track Rich has made leading up to our property. It is such a shame the station is now gone, it was so sweet.

For Rich’s birthday, a much coveted and waited for new Star Wars game he was given, he and Luca have been battling it out since!

They have a lot of fun doing this or watching YouTube videos, which I don’t understand much of, but they find hilarious.

Luca has a ton of homework this year on top of his busy days, high school is a big step up and and its a challenge to negotiate the workload with the social side of things. Rich and I both remember clearly how it was for us and empathize .

I take these photos because I want to remember our every day at this stage of Luca’s life. It is simple and routine but there is a lovely contentment to it. I came home the other night up the little track just on dark and looked in the kitchen window, the fire was on, Rich and Luca were working on homework while Rich made supper, they were chatting away happily, I want to cement these moments in my mind as the days are passing way too fast.

Most of Lucas work is done on laptop, all his essays ,(of which he has many), are done online and submitted there. There are pros and cons to this we think, he is certainly doing a lot more in depth research than we ever did.

We still get on our regular walk in, the weather has been particularly lovely of late so it is very enjoyable.

Last weekend we got to the beach. It is seal season, so lovely to see the young ones enjoying the sun, they are so carefree and happy to pose for photos :).

Speaking of posing and contentment, these two epitomize both 🙂

Happy June! xx