There's smoke coming from over the hills!

Wednesday 26th August: Hot and blowy today. Great for bedding to get dry, and the hens got their feathers well and truly ruffled.
We schooled in the morning. This week we are looking at muscles and how they work. We also baked fresh bread rolls for lunch.
After an early lunch we drove out to the other house and I stripped even more wallpaper - a piece we hadn't noticed before.
As we left the house we noticed a plume of dark smoke filling a large area of the sky. We were headed for the Waimate Airport and it was in that direction. We finally came across the source of the smoke 15 minutes later!! A farmer was burning the stubble alongside the SH1 near Morven. The field was black but we could also see the line of orange flames so the boys asked me to photograph both. We went to the airport and waited for the rest of the Keas to arrive but they didn't so we headed back to Waimate to the Cub den and found they had cancelled the trip because it was too windy but I hadn't been home to pick up their message.
Instead Peter and Jonathan enjoyed making small planes and throwing them outdoors with the other Keas. Edward played in the adjacent playground and I popped into town to get some more shopping.
After Keas it was still lovely and warm so Peter and Jonathan carried on playing with their new planes in our back garden while I cooked tea. We had a rather 'warm' chilli and the rest of the banana cake for tea, then we finished off the 'Indian in the Cupboard' book.
Steve and I watched a film by Michael Moore about the state of the health service in the US that a patient of his had recorded and wanted him to watch. Then I had a rather juvenile skype chat with my dad while I tried to write this blog so it took ages!