Holidays….

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School holidays are here! Lots of things planned 🙂

Yesterday parents were invited to the school to see what the kids had produced for “art week”. It was really wonderful to see what they all had been doing, kids so excited to show off their skills 🙂

Here is Luca’s contribution to the exhibition…

Last weekend we took the bikes out, Luca has really gotten keen on biking. Having said that we ran into a Lime Scooter, he took it for a spin and finally mastered it! The Lime Scooter craze has settled down here, but they are still dotted around everywhere and easy to find.

There is always fun to be had on the trail, sometimes when the tide is in you cannot get to this but on this day is was fully functional!

Luca has taken to biking to school now which is great, the hills are a challenge but don’t seem to put him off and with the trail network being expanded from Port into Dunedin we can see him even being able to bike into high school which he will start after 1 more year at Port. Although there is a regular public bus to take which may as a teenager be more appealing 🙂

I had 2 breeders interested in the Roo’s and decided to sell them. It was a tough decision but I think best from the flocks perspective, as soon as one of my hens go clucky I will put some unrelated eggs under her. Luca was upset and there were tears, but he took it better than expected and got a cut of the profits which helped and has set a precedent for the future 🙂 Both new owners are serous breeders and have been in touch since, the boys are settling in well. Photos were sent, this really helped Luca feel better about things. One of the breeders is into poultry showing and has entered Feathers into a poultry show in the summer, she is going to let me know if he places! The eggs I sent to Auckland are due to hatch next week, fingers crossed that goes well too!

It is a good time to be in poultry it seems. Since COVID hit many people are looking at getting chooks and having a vege garden to be more “self sufficient”. Talking to other poultry breeders, Roo’s a few years ago you could not find homes for, are now getting good prices, and that certainly is my experience so far! I am glad both these boys have gone to great homes where they free range and each have their own flock.

The weather is getting nicer and nicer, Pica and Vida certainly making the most of the sunshine!

Rich hurt has neck doing the fire pit and tree house area. He is having regular physio and things are improving, but progress is slow. I really don’t want him doing anything more physically outside until completely healed. It is frustrating for him but we are not in a hurry. In the meantime there are lots of other things to do. With shutdowns and levels going up and down we had put extension plans on hold, but now cautiously optimistic that we can go ahead, so have begun the process. It is a long process so not expecting things to happen fast, but have staked it out, 2 bedrooms and a den/TV area coming out through what is now the glass sliding door . The window on the right side of the house will become the front door, (currently under the grey cover propped up against the house), which will lead into a small mudroom and though to the rest of the house and the bathroom will stay where it currently is, so to the right of the mudroom. The sliding door will go on the other side of the house leading out to a deck which is now where the washing tent is. A wash house will go adjacent to the bathroom, we are just deciding if we attach it to the house or make it separate building…

Rich staking things, after this we moved some chairs etc into the areas to see how the spaces would realistically work. It will be 2/3 bigger than it is currently. Luca very happy with his bedroom space 🙂

We have drawn plans and rearranged things many times but this seems to be the most economical and practical use of the space. Realistically this will all take at least a couple of years. Our current space works well for us, we are all used to being in one room and will find it strange I think when walls and more space does eventually happen 🙂

Rich and I came home this week to Luca and one of his mates here, flopped out on the couch, eating anything they could lay their hands on and watching TV, it was a happy scene and made me think of this that came up on my feed recently….

This is my aim in life to have a home that is forever like this for Luca and whoever he brings with him. We all need an sanctuary where we can relax and truly let go, for my family may it be our home, whatever age we are 🙂

This month is an important month for women in NZ. On 19 September 1893 the governor, Lord Glasgow, signed a new Electoral Act into law. As a result of this landmark legislation, New Zealand became the first self-governing country in the world in which women had the right to vote in parliamentary elections.

As we head into the NZ elections I am mindful how much this generation of women struggled for what nowadays we take for granted, and how even today there are places in the world where women do not have this right. Even though they won the right to vote, it was not until 1919 that a women could stand for parliament in NZ, and today two women lead the major political parties. NZ along with much of the world is at a pivotal point in history and the path we chose will dictate the future for our children. It is coming up 2 years now since we moved to NZ, having immersed myself in “the system”, it is obvious great change is needed to become a more equal society for everyone . The gap between the “haves” and “have nots” has widened dramatically, healthcare is in disarray and our educators are struggling, great courage is needed politically, voting is a start and gives hope for a change of direction. There are days it is easy to be overwhelmed and sad by what is happening here and around the world, but then I look to our past, where they struggled and suffered for change and it happened, we can do it again, it is our time to step up….