A few days away ...

We headed back to Waitarere Beach for a few days last week and, of course, as soon as we arrived we head to head straight to the beach, which we had all to ourselves. Anyone lost some Dora the Explorer slippers on the beach?

The sea and surf now hold no fear for the girls. When we first arrived Cassia was fine, in fact I wished she would some a little more restraint, but Maia was very scared of the water and in fact if there were any waves at all she didn't even want to be within 300m of the water's edge. I enrolled her on a week's swimming course in the holidays and we headed to the pool in Levin every for that week. The progress she made was really quite unbelievable to see. On Monday she didn't like getting water on her face or in her ears. On Tuesday her teacher asked them to put their ears in the water - and she did! By Friday she was so confident in the pool, jumping off the side on her own and happily sticking her head under water of her own accord. It was worth every cent!

A fort on the beach - the hard work had already been done by someone else!

This 'sculpture' was already on the beach. It says NZ & Beyond and has two arrows pointing in opposite directions. The photo doesn't really do it justice.

In the garden I was in for a few surprises. When I walked behind the garage I was greeted by this:

I think it's a yucca in flower - if anyone know any different please let me know. The leaves are really pointy and very sharp and I had been thinking of cutting it back because I kept getting cut but then you see this display and think again.

When we arrived we made a very impromptu vege patch with some driftwood and some bought in top soil. Lots of things were against us: the wind, the salt in the wind, the soil, the rabbits! However, we planted out a few things and they have miraculously grown. Here's the corn:

Certainly not as tall as it's cousins in the fields nearby but then again he's not being sprayed with anything (he's not being fed or watered for that matter and he's surviving just fine!).

I had never seen the silks on sweetcorn until I lived in NZ so here's a shot:

Maia chose a yellow cherry tomato plant to grow and it has flourished, it's just that the fruit's not really yellow! As you can see from the picture none of the fruit has actually made it further than the vege patch - they were delicious and Maia and I ate every one that was ripe there and then!

The promise of more to come:

Shortly after we arrived a lady at yoga bought along all her unwanted seedlings and generously distributed them between us. The tomato plants have grown to produce this beautiful and sweet fruit.

It's quite funny how things do seem to grow of their own accord. Like I said it was a very slapdash kind of affair, with only 20cm of top soil per bed but things have grown. I can't wait until we get some set up at the new house and we can plan some more sowing and planting and picking and, of course, eating!

And something for the girls:

We already had the pots and I found some very cheap succulents at a garage sale so I set the girls up with pots, plants and compost and sat back. It was lovely to see them actually do everything, with no encouragment (aka interference) from me. They then decorated the pots with pumice, shells and glass beads (now all mysteriously absent!) and have watched them grow at the front door. It's great to see what they can do on their own when given the chance.

Good job we did everything that first afternoon because then the rain came!

And just because they're cute, some impromptu sisterly love!