It surely must be magical ...

but we couldn't decide exactly what it was!

Maia was convinced it was a fairy house.

Is that a door just behind the leaf?

Cassia thought it could be a fairy tramp (I see her point!) or it could be a fairy dining table

Maybe a fairy rain shelter?

What do you think? x

Bush and beach

Otaki Gorge

We went on an outdoor survival course on Sunday.  It was run by the local home educators group and it was WONDERFUL!!!!  The location, the people, the weather .....  what more can I say it was awesome.

It was intended for 5-10 year olds but families, of course, were welcome.  Cassia became an honorary 5 year old for the day and did a great job of keeping up with the older children.

Otaki Gorge

The day's activities included finding shelter (whilst being a wolf!  Yes they really did go around on all fours with the guy taking the day!!), hide and seek, bush trails, drinking water from the river (as the aforementioned wolves!), drinking water from the river in bamboo cups which the children had finished off, lunch, hunting for hazelnuts and cracking them open on rocks taken from the rover earlier, making a fire and lighting it and then baking damper bread on sticks over the fire.  Sound tiring?  It was, but so great.  The children revelled in the freedom and responsibility they were given and did a lot of things for the first time (me too actually - first time I've drank roof water and first time I've baked and eaten damper bread.  We also were able to go inside the yurt that the people have just installed and are living in.  What a wonderful space it was.)  If you had asked me whether a 3 year old could make and light a fire I would have answered no.  BUT given the right circumstances they can - and the look on her face was wondrous!  

I took lots of photos but because there were lots of children around I didn't like to use them on this blog.

The Monday morning was spent lazily getting up and heading down the beach.  The surf was great, the sun was shining and there was no-one else on the beach - life doesn't get any better!

A rather large post sticking in the dunes that Cassia thought she could knock down

A little smiley crab face!

This is the first time that I've found one intact and I just love them!

A much needed family outing

Sunday morning dawned cold but sunny (and I do mean cold - thick frost on the ground) so we took ourselves off to the nearest beach which we had yet to explore.

A little walk to the beach

My family on the beach - enjoying the fresh air and sun!

Important treasure in little hands

Found while beachcombing

A series of photos of the same shell:

Good job we went too because Craig and Maia now have the flu that's been circulting our house and the rain has come!

Numbers

Yesterday's post got me thinking about the number of curtains I have actually made, so whilst in the shower this morning I totted them up. Which set me thinking on the number of times we've moved and the houses we've lived in. Here's the answers!

No of curtains made: 44 pairs

No of houses I've lived in: 29 (plus a 1963 split screen VW Kombi - now that was cool!)

No of times I've moved: 40 (I've moved out of and into some houses several times - but that's another story!)

No of times we've bought and sold houses: 12

No of times we've moved since children: 13 (Maia is 4y 9m and Cassia is 2y 8m!) so I felt some empathy towards Gabes when she posted this

No of boxes I've packed: too numerous to count

No of items broken whilst moving: 5 - that must be something of a miracle

No of hours spent packing/unpacking/setting up house/contacting utility companies etc: ENDLESS

So you would kind of think that we'd be over the whole house/moving thing. Well long haul travel has unsettled me somewhat and I saw an awesome building in the local paper this week. It was in Dannevirke and seeing as we've never been to Dannevirke I thought it was worth the drive, and as we were driving there I thought it was worth having a look at!

You can see it here if you like - isn't it fabulous!!!

I then spent last night trawling the internet for other buildings like it - and there's one almost exactly the same in Stratford, click here, the pretty cool Waitomo Times building in Te Kuiti and this awesome building from a bygone era in Temuka. The bad thing is that Craig's as bad as I am so neither of us reins the other in - in fact we kind of egg each other on!!!

On more normal matters I've a couple of thank yous. First to Little Miss Flossy for pointing me to this page, recipes for feijoas (and don't you just love the name of the blog Thinking About Food - I find I'm doing that all the time at the moment!). We were going to bake the cake yesterday and then I realised that I didn't have the sour cream but my family certainly enjoyed the apple and feijoa crumble I made for them on Friday night. Also thanks to Kylie, who I came across last night by following the Sew Mama Sew giveaway(which I found out about from reading Craftykin - this blog reading/following/seeing where you end sure is addictive!), who pointed me here to see just what you can do with selvedges. Awesome but I think the dress may be a step too far for me!

An unexpected walk

We set out yesterday to drive through the Manawatu Gorge and explore the other side. We got as far as Ashhurst and the car started making funny noises. Things didn't seem as though they were going to turn out very well when we opened the bonnet and there was some smoke/steam - not a great sign. Needless to say it doesn't put you in a very good mood and a few choice words were aimed at all and sundry!

Fortunately for us we had pulled into the parking area just by Ashhurst Domain so I thought we could all do with getting out for a walk and cooling off. I'm very glad we did. There was a track lined with eucalyptus trees. I love the scent from the leaves and Maia was amazed that you could just bend the leaf in half and such a beautiful smell would come out. I also love the way their bark strips off revealing the pure trunk behind it. Now if only I could think of something to do with all the bark strippings that were on the floor!

There was quite a chilly wind blowing but in the sun was glorious. These little fellas thought so too!

We don't get cicadas in England so I'm entranced by them. I only recently saw one as close as this and the colours on them are amazing. I can't believe how much noise just one of these creatures can make. The girls, of course, find them fascinating but want to prod and poke them - what is it about little ones little fingers?!!!!

Then we came across this lookout. The wetland area was awash with pukekos, which I think are amazing. I remember when I first saw one I thought they were so cute and the name is great. They have blue feathers with a white dash underneath their tail and bright red beak and legs. I guess you could say they are a bigger, different colour version of a moorhen! - although I don't think they are the same family. The mountains on the left are the Ruahines and on the right are the Tararuas - the Manawatu Gorge runs through them. On both sides there are wind farms. If you look really closely you can see the windmills on the left! My girls are fascinated by them and so am I. I think there is some majestic beauty in them standing tall on the mountain ridges. The fact they can provide electricity from a renewable, 'free' source is just awesome. Apparently you can get close to them up another road so will have to explore further.

And you can't go on a walk like that without bringing something home. 4 beautiful big pine cones still attached to the branch!

Aren't the colours wonderful?

And the car? When we got bak we were able to check everything in the engine and it looked as though the coolant levels and power steering fluid levels were low. We hadn't checked them recently but it had just had a service so you don't think you have to! Lesson learnt there. Luckily there was a garage in Ashhurst with someone who knows about cards working. Topped everything up and made it home. Fingers crossed we've figured out the problem! x