Another term ends

Friday 29th May: A milder day today with a hint of sunshine in the afternoon. First thing all the boys had a piano lesson and Ruth was really pleased with their progress and they enjoyed her praise. We fitted an hour's schooling in late morning to finish off this very short term's work. After lunch we went to the library and got more books out for our holiday, then walked home. The boys chose to "spend" their reward time watching Pink Panther cartoons for half an hour while I made a salmon quiche and banana and chocolate teabread.
After tea I went to do the shopping and popped in to visit the new doctor at Steve's surgery who lives 2 doors down from us.
Tomorrow we are going away for just over a week, but snow is forecast down to sea level, all over the South Island, so we're not sure how much of our planned trip we'll get to make before the mountain passes are closed.
The photo is the view from our back garden when I went to feed the chickens at 7.30 this morning,

Off to Oamaru

Thursday 28th May: It was foggy and bitterly cold overnight and still foggy this morning. We went to Playcentre and the boys enjoyed playing with the toys and the young children there. At 11 o'clock we left to drive to Oamaru for the first homeschool swimming session of the term. The pool has been shut for redevelopment for the past few weeks. The boys ate lunch in the car on the way because the lesson is at 12.30pm. It was sunny in Oamaru when we went into the pool but the fog had arrived by the time we came out.
We got back to Waimate at 3pm and managed to get 90 minutes of schooling done. My TKD class was cancelled this evening but Steve was off at another medical course in Timaru so I spent the evening doing some cross-stitch.
The photo is of Jonathan ready for bed.

Easy to spot in the fog

Wednesday 27th May: A cold grey foggy day. We schooled in the morning and a friend dropped some more old feed sacks off so we could pack up more pine cones for sale. After lunch we walked to town to get some errands done, then on to the High School to help set up the gym for the Kindy Gym class.
For tea we had pasta carbonara and Steve read an abridged version of 'The Wizard of Oz' to the boys as their bedtime story.
A problem with our email meant we got no messages and couldn't send any, but after Steve got stroppy with them on the phone we hope it will be sorted out soon.
There is a new shop opening in town after the weekend, a farming supply shop. They have taken over a unit in the middle of the main street and gone for a distinctive decoration of an old building. Even on a foggy day you could certainly find them - as the photo shows!

Heat pumps, ceiling and toilets needed fixing

Tuesday 26th May: At last the sun came out! It might only have been 8 degrees but the washing still got dry.
In the morning the boys enjoyed more computer learning. The heat pump people called by to adjust the thermostat in the new heat pump - the house has been too warm (!) on the lowest setting. Then the parents of our landlord called in to look at the bulge that has been appearing in our bedroom ceiling since the recent heavy rain.
After lunch the boys played in the garden, and then discovered that our waste pipe has been overflowing because of a blockage in the soil pipe. A nice man from the Council came out 30 minutes later and fixed it (for free!). I made meatballs for tea while the boys played with their toppling dominoes.
Steve was out again this evening - this time trying out more climbing at the wall we went to at the weekend.
The photo is of the boys and their dominoes.

A new term begins

Monday 25th May: Another cool grey day. Today was the start of our new term at the Fish Academy for Gifted Boys. Although this term is only one week long because we're off on holiday next week! So this week we are doing some computer-based learning. We spent the morning exploring some maths and English activities on the BBC schools website.
After lunch Steve played Battleships with the boys while I nipped off with the car to get the shopping.
At 3pm it was time to walk to gymnastics, then home for tea and then walked Edward to Cubs. Steve was going to a lecture in Timaru so I was home for the evening, and friends dropped Edward home because Cubs is finishing later and later and it's dark now by 5.30pm.
The photos are of the boys in one of the High School playgrounds before gym.

More house-hunting

Sunday 24th May: A cool grey day but no rain! Steve and Peter went up to a shop in Timaru in the morning while I cooked a roast dinner and Edward and Jonathan did some colouring and piano playing.
Lunch was roast chicken and coconut caramel slice for pudding. Yum again!
After lunch we walked to an open day at a house. Interestingly this one was next door to the one we visited last weekend but was a completely different kettle of fish. This one was beautifully decorated and in fabulous condition and had a spa bath in the back garden. It had a smaller garden than the falling-down wreck next door but amazingly they are about the same price. Anyway, the photo shows the front of it, and it's a real possibility. If you want to have a look around it then go to www.southernwiderealestate.co.nz/search.php and put in SWW727.
For tea we had pumpkin soup and fresh bread, and fruit cake for after.
Then it was all excitement when all three boys had their hair strimmed (it had got that long!) and into the bath and out smelling much sweeter!

Sports Day

Saturday 23rd May: It rained, then it poured, then it chucked it down some more. It just didn't stop all day. First thing in the morning I made up packed lunches and the boys got into their respective uniforms for a Cub and Kea sports day out. They had hired a local school bus and its usual bus driver, who also happens to be the District Commissioner! There were 30 of us, leaders, children plus Steve and I, and our trip was to Timaru. The kids spent the morning on the polytechnic's Climbing Wall. Jonathan's arms and legs just weren't long enough to do much, but he found a novel way of getting higher, as the picture shows. We all had our packed lunches and then took the bus to the swimming pool for the district's swimming sports competition. The Keas went first with 4 races for each age group. Peter and Jonathan were in the under 7s and both did very well. There was a freestyle race, egg and spoon (as Peter's picture shows), kickboard (a swim float) and tube race (inside a car inner tube). The Waimate Keas came second overall. Then the Cubs had their races, in under 9s, under 10s and over 10s. They also had freestyle, kickboard and tube race, plus novelty race (wearing oversized life jackets), backstroke and relay. Edward tried hard, and the picture shows him in the life jacket.
We came home in the bus and got in at 5pm. Home for a quick tea and then three little exhausted chaps were ready for bed.

Library excitement

Friday 22nd May: Another unseasonally cold day with plenty more snow in NZ's high ground.
In the morning we played some board games and the boys did some painting tumblers. I made a fruit cake and pumpkin soup for lunch. The library rang to say Edward had won a competition so after lunch we walked there to collect his prize. Last Friday was Families Day in NZ and they had a competition where you had to guess the number of books in the library with 'family' and 'families' in the title. For Edward's Book Reader badge he had to find out about how books are arranged in the library and so he went straight to the computer, searched for the two words, added the two totals together and filled the entry form, then came to tell me about it! He won the prize for the "closest guess" with a 'guess' of 163 when there are in fact 163! His prize was a bottle of lemonade, a big bag of popcorn, a comic book story about Spitfires, chocolate, a book for Steve or I to read, plus two vouchers for the town's video/DVD rental store. He was very pleased with himself, and had his photo taken for the local paper.
At 4pm the boys and I were at the High School to coach the gymnasts again, then walked home in more drizzle for tea. The good news about this bad weather is that our sales of pine cones are going very well and the boys are happily depositing regular sums in the bank.
The photo is of the boys in the children's corner of the library.

Snow on Studholme

Thursday 21st May: Another very chilly day, and the overnight rain fell as snow on the Hunter Hills and Mount Studholme that we look out on to. The photo shows the new snow as seen from our front doorstep at breakfast time.
In the morning we walked to Playcentre and the boys kept busy with playdough and making models out of cardboard boxes.
After lunch we went to the library and then went to the cafe for a drink and cake, running home in the drizzle.
After sausages for tea Jeanette came in to babysit and I went off to TKD training.

Chilly chilly but no snow

Wednesday 20th May: A very cold day with snow in areas south of us but none here. In the morning we drove to Timaru (30 miles) and collected my sewing machine which has been having a long overdue service, and bought some more thermal underwear for the boys for when we go skiing. Then we went to Chipmunks which is a soft play area. The next one is Christchurch, 3 hours away.
We were home in time for toasties for lunch and then read some books. At 3pm we headed to the High School to help out the new coach set up for a Kindy Gym class, then on to Keas. In a break between the showers they managed to run around trailing kites behind them.
At 7 o'clock I was back at the High School helping choreograph floor routines for some other gymnasts and then back home with the heating on.
The photo is of a view I have seen several times on the way to Timaru and always wanted to photograph. Unfortunately when I went past today with the camera the grey clouds wasn't as good as the clear blue sky I wanted, but I took the shot anyway.

Playing in the gutters

Tuesday 19th May: Overnight there was heavy rain and the back garden was soggy in places and underwater in others. In Kurow and Omarama there had been heavy flooding with land- and roadslips, and other places nearer Christchurch had flooded homes and the railway line.
By the time breakfast was over the skies had cleared but it was bitterly cold outside. We rang another homeschool family who are also having this week off and arranged to go for a local history walk up one end of town.
We walked to the Maori cemetery where Chief Huruhuru is buried. This site is where the Maoris lived when a white surveyor arrived in 1844 and when the first European arrived to settle here in 1854. Waimate was a seasonal camp for the Maoris, who hunted birds and captured eels while here. Chief Huruhuru welcomed Michael Studholme (from Cumberland) in peace after he had taken 6 weeks to walk here from Christchurch, and signed over land to him. Michael farmed it with his two brothers and maintained a good relationship with the Maoris here. From there we walked through Victoria Park and the WW2 Memorial Gate. This walk took just over an hour.

After lunch we popped down to town but the heavy rains suddenly returned and we ran to the library for cover. They gave the boys some balloons from an event they ran yesterday. When we got home the boys wanted to float their balloons in the gutters. The roads here are very wide and the gutters are deep and wide and continue for ages, not disappearing down grates like they do in England. Each driveway has a little bridge over the gutter to get to the road. As it is autumn here many of the channels under the numerous little bridges are blocked with leaves. This means the water in the channels runs fast in places and backs up and floods in others. A family we know spotted us playing on their way home from school and came in to play.
Tea was the second half of the topside of beef. I was out at a Gym Club meeting in the evening. The weather became stormy with more rain and gusty winds, with snow due overnight.
The photos are of the boys playing in the gutters!

Playdough

Monday 18th May: The recent snow has melted and there has been plenty of rain in the High Country so the rivers are high and the dam spillways have had to be opened. We decided we'd drive to have a look at some of them, but shortly after breakfast it started raining heavily so all plans were cancelled. Instead we got out all the playdough and tools and the boys spent a couple of hours creating all sorts of wonders.
Steve's friend Guy called round and stayed for lunch. After lunch Steve and Peter popped out to the shops and Edward and Jonathan played a card game.
We walked to gymnastics and then home for tea. Tonight was the sausages I made over the weekend - very tasty too! Steve and Edward went off to Cubs as it was our evening to be parent helpers. Peter and Jonathan and I read some stories.
Edward came home with his next Cub badge - Photographer. He had chosen and mounted 12 pictures from our February trip to Orana Wildlife Park. Steve went out to help Guy make an aeroplane from a length of square guttering pipe (apparently) and I got my latest dose of Desperate Housewives and Spooks.
The photo is of the boys and their playdough fun.

There was a crooked house...

Sunday 17th May: Another sunny day, a high of 16 degrees or so. We spent the morning doing bits and bobs of nothing in particular. After lunch we walked to view a house having an open day. Steve met us there after seeing a patient he's been called to. The house was built in 1874 as the Anglican vicarage and is one of the oldest residences in Waimate. It was more English in design than most of the homes we see here, with separate living rooms rather than open plan living. Attached to it is a 1970s extension complete with heating! However the main house was rather rickety and several of the horizontals didn't line up. The estate agent said that some of the piles it is built on top of have collapd just needed to be fixed up and the walls would straighten up again. The gardens were beautiful and the boys loved rushing around and playing hide-and-seek. One unexpected point was the tap outside a bedroom at the top of the stairs. Peter thought it was hilarious and promised if we bought the house he's sneak ou at night and turn it on!
For tea we had a gorgeous topside of beef we had been given a few days ago, along with 7 litres of milk straight from the udders. I cooked it in the slow cooker all day and we had Yorkshire pudding and the usual roast dnner accompaniments.
The photos are of "the tap" and Jonathan running round the vicarage back garden.

The town's theatre

Saturday 16th May: What a change in the weather. Today was sunny and 18 degrees in the shade in our back garden. All the bedding got washed and dried today, which was a surprise as we had rain forecast!
In the morning we drove to the outskirts of town to view a piece of land that has just gone on the market. The estate agent took us over the plot which is currently farmland but the Council has given initial permission for it to be built on. The plot is 6 acres in size.
After lunch we walked to the Regent Theatre to watch the film "Monsters v Aliens". The theatre has live shows and singing and dancing competitions as well as a pantomime at Christmas. In addition there are about 6 or 8 movie viewings each month, and local groups use them as fundraising opportunities where a proportion of the ticket price goes to the group or club. Today's movie was for funds for Kindy. The theatre was built in 1956, the year after the one I showed you the other day burned down. Recently it was bought up and is run by the same community group that is going to redevelop Quinns Arcade/Arcadia Theatre.

End of term celebrations

Friday 15th May: A sunny day, high of about 14 degrees. We started our day with piano lessons for the boys and then finished off our week's school work. In fact today also marked the end of our term. Okay, our terms are only 4 weeks long, but we do work hard.
After lunch we went into town on a quest for some information. On our week off next week we are going to do a local history project which will go towards some Cub and Kea badges. We went to the library and Visitor Information Centre and collected some resources. We also popped into the butcher and collected some meat for more sausages.
The boys decided to swap their usual Friday afternoon computer time for a treat at the cafe, so we had some coke and a cake while we were out. On the way home we called into the museum for some more resources and explored their old rural schoolroom which arrived on site recently.
For tea we made our own pizzas.
The photo is of the boys and their snack in the Rainbow Cafe.

Kelcey's Bush

Thursday 14th May: A warm(ish) sunny day. It was about 14 degrees today as a nor'wester headed past, and the washing got nicely dry. But still a far cry from 2 weeks ago when we were schooling in the front garden because it was so hot.
In the morning we went on a Playcentre outing to Kelcey's Bush Animal Park. This is right on the edge of town set at the bottom of the Hunter Hills. It's a refuge/rescue centre for animals, which is ironic as it's set next door to a game ranch where you can go shooting deer, ducks, wild pigs and wallabies.
We spent a couple of hours wandering round with the owner as he fed the deer, ducks, wild pigs and wallabies (!) and donkey, sheep, chickens and so on. It was a pleasant and peaceful nature walk around the grounds.
In the afternoon we schooled and the boys got in some extra piano practice before their lessons tomorrow.
After tea Steve came home and I went off to TKD training. When I got home he had been called out and our neighbour Jeanette was babysitting.
The photos are of an alpaca and a turtle we saw at the animal park, and the view from there across to the sea.

History in Waimate

Wednesday 13th May: Another cold day with more showers. We schooled in the morning and then popped into town to the library in the afternoon. At 4pm Peter and Jonathan went to Keas and Edward and I sat in the back room and worked on his Cub badges.
Tea was some homemade sausages which were yummy.
The photo is of a building just off the main street called Quinns Arcade. It was built in 1906 using 300,000 bricks from a local place called Makikihi and was the first indoor shopping centre in NZ. It spans between two roads and has a glass dome roof. However it wasn't successful and was converted to a picture theatre in 1918. It had 175 seats in the dress circle and 550 in the stalls. Unfortunately it was badly affected by a fire in 1955 and since then has been used as a storage building. However, a community group has just bought it up and is going to restore it to its former glory. The black and white picture shows it in its previous glory.

Smashing fun at the supermarket

Tuesday 12th May: Cold and heavy showers of rain all day and evening. In the morning we schooled and found out about light refraction and how lenses work. We also watched some fun maths programmes recorded from UK television.
After lunch we walked into town and went to the post shop, supermarket and library. The front door of the supermarket was boarded up after someone had driven their truck through the front door and stolen all the tools (but left all the beer behind which isn't very kiwi!). We got home just before a heavy downpour of rain.
In the evening I had a nice skype chat with my parents and my brother Kevin, and had a call from the builder who has just done a survey of the house we have been looking around recently. Other than a new roof, new windows, borer treatment, new plumbing and some decent heating, it seems just what we want!!
The photo is of the boys in front of their pine cone sales department.

The White Horse

Monday 11th May: Bitterly cold day but a little sun early afternoon. In the morning we schooled and Steve popped out and got the groceries.
After lunch Steve and Peter went to the 'White Horse' on the hill overlooking Waimate to range-test his aeroplane. We had heard of the White Horse before we arrived and had images of something similar to the one in England. This one turns out to be smallish and made of lumps of concrete and can just be identified from down in town. But when you drive up to the White Horse, the view down is stunning, across the flat plains to the sea. The two photos are views from the top, of Waimate (amazing how compact the town is) and the ocean beyond, and of the snow-covered mountains the other way.
The boys and I went off to gymnastics and then home for a quick tea. I took Edward to Cubs and he got his Hobbies badge this evening for his electronics projects he loves to do. I went to TKD, then home for Monday evening's Desperate Housewives and Spooks.

Mother's Day

Sunday 10th May: It was Mother's Day here, and Happy Mother's Day to you too Sue, in US. Last evening's rain continued all night and all day today. It was bitterly cold and snow down to 200m. The Hunter Hills in front of our house had snow on them. The ski fields are doing well too, although the ski season doesn't start until early July.
At 8.20am I went to Timaru for my TKD grading. There were 25 students grading from two schools, many of them white belts doing their first grading. We were busy showing our skills, power and spirit for more than 2 hours and I was exhausted from all the running, kicking, press-ups and sit-ups, as well as the techniques and movement patterns we had to show. Great news - I passed and so I am now a Blue Belt!
I got home for lunch and we had a quiet afternoon while the rain and sleet continued to fall. For tea Steve grilled the dogfish he and the boys had caught the other day, and flapjack and custard for pudding.
The photos are of the view from our front doorstep showing the snow on the hillside, Jonathan enjoying a bubbly bath, and the Waimate TKD students after the grading.

Elephant on the side of the road

Saturday 9th May: Cold but dry. Today we spent all day in Timaru. First we went to a pre-season ski sale to get Edward new boots and helmets for Steve and I. Then we did some shopping for winter trousers for the boys and a coat for Edward and enjoyed lunch at Subway.
At 2pm we went to the circus (www.loritzcircus.com) in Timaru. The show was nearly 2 hours long and was a mix of Kenyan tumbling and fire-eating, Chinese acrobats, clowns, ponies and Americus the 6 year old hula hoop girl (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjZPKEpELaI&feature=related). Unfortunately the cold weather and wet field meant the elephant could not come into the big top, but we did get to see her "parked" outside in the field. We thought it was funny that she was on the side of the road where cars are driving along. We have only seen elephants in animal parks or zoos (okay, on safari in Kenya as well!) but never on the side of a main road munching grass!
Tea was toad in the hole and Anzac biscuits for pudding.
Later in the evening it began raining....
The photo is of the elephant in Timaru. She is 36 years old and has been in NZ for 31 years. She lives in a trailer with occasional access to an outside area. There are protests about this, and some towns have refused her within their boundaries, but attempts to find someone appropriate for her to retire have failed. She costs $200 per day in food, and enjoys 30 cabbages a day and 45 gallons of water!

Pumpkins but no Hallowe'en

Friday 8th May: A chilly day with a short spell of sunshine in the afternoon. High of only 8 degrees.
We started the day with a skype chat with my parents. The boys enjoyed reading and playing the piano to them - isn't technology amazing! Then we got on with our schooling until lunchtime. After lunch the boys did some more learning, this time computer-based. Then they got to play some computer games as a reward for their good effort during the week.
The photo is of the pumpkins we grew in our garden this year. Of course the harvest time is the opposite end of the year from Hallowe'en so they actually eat pumpkins here! When I get a spare moment (!) I'll make pumpkin and bacon soup, and pumpkin and ginger cake.

More Health and Safety - what's that??!!

Thursday 7th May: Once the bread was baked we walked to the Playcentre and had a great morning with the other parents and their little children. Health and Safety is a little more relaxed in NZ than we have been used to. However it still came as a shock to find a 3 year old using a hot glue gun unsupervised, just a "Mind not to burn yourself" comment as it was handed it to him. And outside is a workbench for carpentry, with full size hammers, hand drills and saws. The Playcentre is for under school age children!
We walked home in the sunshine for lunch then schooled in the afternoon. For tea we had yesterday's sausages. Unfortunately although they had been awful to make, they turned out to be the tastiest so far! Coconut cookies for pudding, still warm from the oven. Yum.
I went to TKD in the evening and then came home to the news that my last surviving grandparent, Nanna Jess, had died. May she rest in peace.
The photos are from Playcentre. One shows the boys at the workbench, busy making holes in lumps of wood. The other is of another part of the outdoor area, with one of the primary schools immediately behind and the beautiful backdrop of the Hunter Hills.

Rain then sun

Wednesday 6th May: It continued raining all morning but cleared up to a sunny afternoon with a high temperature of only 8 degrees.
We schooled in the morning and then walked to the butcher's after lunch to get some meat for more sausages. We also popped in to the library on the way home. Time for a quick drink and then we went to Victoria Park for Peter and Jonathan's Keas meeting. Edward and I worked on some Cub badges in the back room.
Home for tea - pasta bolognese and gingernut cookies. After tea I made some more sausages but they were a disaster to make. We'll find out at tea-time tomorrow what they taste like!
The photo is of the main street of Waimate from about midway along it.

On an elephant hunt!

Tuesday 5th May: Ooh, what a chilly day. No sun to warm us today and then heavy rain at bedtime and all night.
We schooled for an hour and then walked to the boys' piano lessons, which went well. We all sit in one room for the hour and a bit we are there, and those not playing were doing their maths. From there we walked into town on an elephant hunt! We found Jumbo in her trailer but she was chained and couldn't come out, but did wave her trunk out at us one time. We walked home for lunch and then finished off our schooling in the afternoon.
Tea was duck from the neighbours. Duck shooting season started on 1st May and is very popular over here. Our neighbours had already been given 9 by Monday, so they handed 4 on to us. Last year I had roasted them but the meat was very dry. Today I cooked them in the slow cooker and they were better after 4 hours in there, but I think I might try all day when I do the others and see if that is any better. Pudding was a yummy toffee tart.
After tea we had movie night - we watched "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory", the 1971 version with Gene Wilder.
The photo is Jumbo hiding in her trailer. A bad shot but I didn't get to take any other photos today.

The circus has come to town

Monday 4th May: A sharp frost overnight but another sunny dry day today.
Steve has Mondays off and went off to do some shopping all morning. The boys and I schooled in the morning. This week we are looking at eyes and sight and today we also learnt about adverbs.
After lunch Edward made some scones and did some other tasks towards some Cub badges. Just after 3pm we walked to gym, and on the way through town came across a big top being put up. The Loritz circus has come to town. The website says it has an elephant, some acrobats and a 6-year old hula hooper. We haven't decided if we're gong yet or not, but might catch it in Timaru at the weekend for a daytime show.
After gym we were home for tea and had the sausages Edward and I made on Saturday. Then Edward and I rushed off to get him to Cubs - he was awarded his Book Reader badge this evening. I then went off to TKD training.
Home for our usual Monday evening viewing of Desperate Housewives and Spooks.

Out to the park

Sunday 3rd May: Sunny again, cool in the shade but nice in the sun.
In the morning Steve went out to fly his plane and played for 2 hours with a lump of playdough while I made a roast lamb dinner.
After lunch Steve took Edward out on his bike to learn some road skills, then we all cycled to Victoria Park. We did some running and throwing and ball games, then the boys played in the playground. Back home Steve and the boys played a computer game of pool while I did some sewing, then tea and off to bed for the boys.
We're currently watching the film "Bloodsport" which has some amazing martial art fight scenes with Jean Claude Van Damme.
The photos are of fun in the park and some incredible autumn leaves on a pergola in the park.

Three little fish

Saturday 2nd May: The house was much more pleasant this morning, especially as there was a frost overnight. For once, only outdoors! Today was sunny but cool again.
In the morning Steve and Peter popped out into town to look for something to do with aeroplanes and videos (not quite sure of the details) while Edward and Jonathan and I put together some work towards some of Edward's Cub badges.
After lunch Steve took Peter and Jonathan sea fishing from the beach at Waihao Box. They caught red cod but threw them back, but brought home 2 dogfish (one in the photo). Edward and I walked into town and bought a joint for tomorrow's dinner plus some pork and beef mince. We then spent an hour making some more sausages, different recipes this time.
Tea was a curry and fruit cake, then the boys bathed and had their hair washed (and the bathroom carpet got a little rinse as usual!). We're now watching some film called 'The Perfect Storm' and the washing is drying in front of the vents of the new heat pump!

More heating! Hooray!

Friday 1st May: A crisp start and a cool day but glimpses of sunshine around lunchtime. We started the day with some schooling but headed off to the library when the workmen were fitting the new heatpump in the hall, right next to the kitchen where we school. Just in time because today's high was only 9 degrees.
After lunch the boys played and then we made caramel shortbread for pudding later.
Have just had a nice long chat with Shirley and now off to bed. Hopefully the new heat pump will keep our bedrooms warmer tonight and the "like rustling leaves" noise won't wake us.
The photo is of the new heat pump.