I want mummy milky

Saturday 31st October: Bright and sunny with a high of about 18 degrees. Steve has gone away for a week as doctor to the Tour of Southland bike race, so the boys and I are running the place!
Today I sawed up bits of wood for the fire and fixed a new roof on the henhouse, cooked a roast dinner, moved the electric fences, sorted out lightbulbs, but also spent a lot of time trying to feed Shirley and Felicity. It seems that the two of them have not fed from a bottle before, and were probably feeding from their mum until yesterday. Shirley finally learnt to suck after lunch and had two small feeds of milk, but nowhere near the litre a day she should be having, but hopefully now she has got the hang of it she'll be more interested tomorrow. Felicity has proved to be more tricky. In the end my friends Gael and Jeff walked round to help out and decided she was just being sulky! She made a couple of attempts to suck but then refused so really didn't have any milk today. Hopefully she'll feel hungry enough tomorrow to make some effort. In the meantime the two of them are skipping around their pen looking for a way out, and giving me plenty of exercise trying to catch them for milk. How come everyone else's lambs come up to the fence for their bottles and empty them in under a minute? I must have spent 3 hours altogether today with a warm rug on my lap and milk dribbling down my arm.

Two new arrivals

Friday 30th October: Mild and sunny, clouding over and cooling down around teatime. Last night I saw some pet lambs for sale on trade me, so I rang first thing this morning and arranged to collect two 4-week old ewes later.
We drove into town for the boys' piano lessons and then went into town to buy bottles and milk powder for the lambs. We returned home and the boys did some schooling while I made a snack lunch.
At noon we drove north to Hinds (just south of Ashburton), a trip of about 90 minutes. When we arrived at the sheep station the guy selling the lambs was busy elsewhere and so he gave us instructions on where to find our lambs. We had to drive to the sheep yards, then walk through them to the woolshed, up on to the shearing stage and find 3 lambs in a pen then choose two from them. There was no-one else around but finally we found the little lambs, hiding in a corner being as quiet as they could. A short chase began and then two lambs were caught and we put them in boxes in the back of the truck. The smaller one, Felicity, laid down in her box and rested all the way home. The slightly bigger one, Shirley, proved to be a little more troublesome and spent most of the journey trying to clamber out of the box.
We got home about 4pm and prepared and secured the area for the lambs, outside our living room door, just beyond the deck. As soon as we let them out of their boxes they ran to the far corner and hid in the long grass. We tried to give them their bottles of milk but they weren't interested. However, the goat, ewe and older lamb had spotted the new lambs and were all stood looking up the paddocks trying to work out what was going on (photo).
I cooked tea and Steve returned home and came to meet the new arrivals. I went out to the supermarket to stock up the cupboards while Steve put the boys off to bed. When I got back we caught the lambs and cuddled them as we tried to give them their milk, but they didn't have much. They spent a lot of time scooting round trying to escape over the surrounding fences though!
Once it was dark we could hear Shirley and Felicity "maahing" , calling to the pet lamb next door. Hopefully in the morning they'll still be there and will be hungry enough to have milk.

Now it's cosy

Thursday 29th October: Grey and cold all day. There was a fresh sprinkling of snow overnight on the hills we look out on to. So, it was the perfect day to have our heat pumps fitted! The two men worked (slowly) all day to fit a wall-mounted heat pump above our every-day table and a floor-mounted one in the back hall to warm the bathroom and boys' bedrooms.
We did our schooling around them. Today's bible story was Noah so there were plenty of activities we could do around this story, and they also enjoyed some computer time in the afternoon.
Everywhere (except our bedroom which remains chilly) was much cosier this evening. We still had the logburner alight because the wood is free and it heats the water, but the boys' rooms were greatly improved by having their own source of heat.

Birthday girl

Wednesday 28th October: Happy birthday Helen and Happy birthday me!
Today dawned cool and grey, was warm and sunny by lunchtime, drizzly by tea, then hail, and finally high winds and cold by late evening.
First thing Steve gave me my presents - two 9v batteries. Apparently they are for the smoke alarms and "could save my life". I felt like suggesting he got out of bed quickly to save his own!
After Steve went to work our neighbours from town, Jeanette and Allan, called round with some flowers from their garden and a bench for the garden that Allan had made.
The boys played in the garden (we don't school on birthdays, although I did tell the boys that as my birthday treat I had decided I would teach them all day so they ran into the garden and kept out of my way hoping I'd forget them!) on their bikes.
I then went to do some work on the henhouse. Steve told me this was my treat for my birthday, that I couldn't just do this on any day of the year! Lucky me! He had removed some of the metal roof of henhouse and put chicken wire on, to let in more light. however, while it is chicken-wire and stops chickens jumping out of it, it is clearly not sparrow-wire. I watch sparrows dive-bomb from nearby trees, tucking in their wings at the last moment to slip into the henhouse. Yesterday I put 4 days of chicken food in their feeder, and the sparrows had emptied it in a couple of hours. I found some smaller gauge wire and cut it to size, but could not find the staples I needed to attach it, so decided to do something more fun instead.
The boys and I hopped into the car and drove 15 minutes to the nearest coast, Hook Beach. This is a shingle beach with plenty of driftwood, dead birds, seaweed, etc. We haven't visited in months. We enjoyed about 45 minutes there, walking along and talking about what we saw. We collected some driftwood to bring back for our fire. As you can see from the photo, it wasn't exactly packed!
Home for lunch, and a friend dropped round for a coffee, so it was a rushed lunch with the boys. We drove into town for my tea party at Cafe on Queen at 2pm. I had invited some friends for tea and cake and we had a lovely hour. There were 9 mummies plus 7 children. The children sat on the floor and played with Lego, and the mummies sat and enjoyed a relaxed chat. It was a lovely treat for me, and I had some lovely gifts.
After 3pm we delivered our recycling and picked up some shopping from the supermarket. We finished just in time to go to Keas. Tonight was my first night as a Kea Leader. My Kea name is Fantail. One of the little girls misheard when I was introduced and called me Fanta for the rest of the session! Tonight the Keas planted some sunflower seeds in a bed prepared for us in Victoria Park, next to the aviary.
Back home again and cooked tea for the boys. At 6pm Jeanette came out to the house for birthday cake (Edward took the photo) and had offered to babysit for the evening so we could go out for dinner. We had booked a table at an Indian restaurant in Timaru (30 miles away) but then the other doctor was off sick today so Steve was going to need to cover his overnight on-call so we couldn't leave town. There really is no good option for eating out in town so thought we would have to postpone our plans. In the end a compromise was reached that we would have dinner in Timaru and then Steve would be on-call once we got home.
We enjoyed a tasty Indian meal and were blown all the way home. As I write this the wind is gsuting down the chimney flue and the fire is raging in the logburner....

Go slow and maiden flights

Tuesday 27th October: Happy birthday Sue. Today was mild and sunny. Clear blue skies after yesterday's rain.
We schooled in the morning, but the boys seemed to be on a go-slow after the long weekend and so they didn't finish until 4pm. I'm sure they'll be inclined to work faster in the future after they lost their afternoon playtime today.
Fizzy the hen made a maiden flight on to the top of one of the gates in the yard today, but then it was clear it had no idea how to get down, and it scuttled along the top, thinking about how it would work best, then launched itself and kind of plummeted to the ground!
In the evening Steve took Edward to the climbing wall in Timaru as his birthday treat

Labour Day

Monday 26th October: Labour Day (not sure what this is but it is a public holiday in NZ so shouldn't it be called No-Labour Day?). Dry in the morning, rain later, then strong winds and heavy rain in the evening.
I had a quiet start to the day doing some more unpacking, then got on with jobs in the garden while it was still dry. Steve played football with the boys, which rather spooked the animals so they watched from further afield.
We have found several little trees growing around the garden so I cleared an area to move them to as a temporary home, and then cleared the small trees from the vegetable garden area. Steve was busy clearing weeds from some areas outside the front of the house, and picked some flowers as he went (see photo).
In the afternoon I got out the rotavator and got to work in the vegetable garden. The ground is uneven with large holes and lumps, thick twitch grass and hard soil. This meant it was hard work to get through the soil. I worked for 2 and a half hours but by then my hands were numb and it was raining too heavily to continue. In the middle of it all (in location and time) Steve decided to light a bonfire. Then at his first attempt at showing any interest in sharing the teaching of our children, he taught Peter to make a petrol bombs. Now how can I follow that?
No trouble from the hens today, and the goat and sheep were busy munching the grass for us, but we don't have enough of them for the land we have.

Missing tooth

Sunday 25th October: Warm and sunny. First thing this morning Jonathan came in with his first tooth fallen out, which he found on his pillow when he woke up. He is very prooud of this, and also of the funny faces he can now pull!
This morning Steve put up two more curtain tracks while I took the boys to Sunday School.
Back at the house Steve had been busy cutting the grass and I got to work rotavating the next part of the vegetable area. However, in the middle of this, and everything else I tried to do today, Peter had a series of heavy nosebleeds. Later in the afternoon our friend Sharon and her 3 children came to play but I was busy with the next nosebleed so it wasn't quite the play-date we had hoped for.
The hens enjoyed their time loose again today, this time digging in the soft soil under the boat. For dinner we had roast lamb with roasted vegetables followed by a chocolate surprise pudding with cream.
Edward has been busy today making some amazing origami figures, the lengthy instructions for which he follows meticulously. Sunshine the canary has been out on the deck, singing his little heart out all day.
The tooth has been put in Jonathan's tooth pot and the fairy is awaited with great excitement...

Out on our bikes

Saturday 24th October: Cool but bright and sunny. The start of a long weekend for New Zealand. In the morning I drove into town and bought some vegetable and herb plants, and by chance found a second-hand pair of curtains that will be good for the bathroom. When I returned, Steve had put up some curtain tracks in our bedroom and the spare bedroom. He then headed off with his aeroplanes in the motorhome to a fly-in at Timaru.
The boys and I stayed home. I ironed and put up some of the curtains and unpacked some more boxes. I needed to move a large wardrobe from one end of the house to the other. First I thought about using the Stonehenge-inspired method Steve had used for the cabinet a few days ago but decided the posts would make a mess on the carpet. So I brought the rolling-along idea up to date and used Peter's skateboard under the wardrobe instead!
In the afternoon we let the hens out of their house and allowed the goat and sheep up to the top paddock, where the grass was getting long. The hens and the ram lamb met for the first time. The ram put down his head, stamped his front foot and charged at each of them in turn. The hens scooted off back to their henhouse and hid!
The boys and I went for a cycle ride. We rode along Whitneys Road, left along Fitzmaurice Road, left down Court Road and left again into Whitneys Road. The road is single track and undulating. Other than the last 50m the whole journey was on gravel and I found it very slippy and skiddy.
The fruit bed I planted a couple of months ago is going well. The lemons are ready to pick, the nectarines are forming and the strawberries are all looking healthy.
Steve popped home in time for homemade sausages and then went back to Timaru for an evening of indoor flying.
In the evening I had a surprise visit from another homeschool family (Jennie) who was on the way home from a foul dinner out in Timaru. Jennie and Ian and I chatted while Renelle and Thomas played feedthehead.net, which kept them occupied and in giggles.
Later on I had a long chat catching up with Shirley and Felicity back in Frampton Cotterell.
The photos are along Whitneys Road, the War Memorial at the junction of Whitneys and Fitzmaurice, and our house from one of our nearest neighbours on Fitzmaurice Road.

Escaping hen!

Friday 23rd October: We started the day heading into town for piano lessons for all three boys. Their teacher Ruth is planning a concert in December so the boys started learning the pieces they need to do for that as well as Edward practising for his upcoming exam. From there we dropped some eggs in to a friend and popped into the supermarket.
When we got back to the house we found the hens had laid their eggs so I let them out. This time they came out at speed and rushed over to where they had enjoyed digging and scratching yesterday.
We finished off our schooling and in the afternoon the boys did some new computer learning games while I made some sausages. At one point I saw Fizzy the hen running past the front door on her way to the gate and the road, excited she had escaped. Jonathan and I rushed out and managed to distract her and get her back into the farmyard. Later on Peter took an apple core out to tempt the hens back into their house (photo).
The other photo is of a large block of wood burning in our logburner.

We're free!

Thursday 22nd October: Dry and sunny early on then heavy showers in the afternoon. We schooled in the morning - this week are looking at recycling and talked about what we took to the recycling station yesterday and then moved on to recycling water - something I am very keen on and hope to set up at our house.
After lunch we decided to give the hens their freedom. One of them has been free in the past - briefly when they escaped through the door while being fed, but otherwise they have always been behind wire. In the hinged door of their new henhouse is a sliding, chicken-sized door. We slid this open and waited to see what would happen. A little head poked out (Fizzy, it's always her!) and then a body dashed out while it had the chance, followed rapidly by the other two. They stayd quite close to the hehouse to start with, but when I went to walk off to leave them, they followed me. Whenever I stpped, so did they, whenever I walked they scurried along behind me. I went through the farm gate and closed it but they scurried under it. I don't want them coming up to the house and garden end, so I picked them up, one by one, and threw them over the gate. They suddenly experienced gravity and attempted to flap their wings but kind of plummeted to the ground. Then they rushed straight back under the gate to me again and promptly found themselves airborne again! This was meant to frighten them, not prove to be great fun! In the end I had to block up the gap under the gate to stop them following, and left them to peck and scratch around the top paddock.
A couple of hours later it was clear it was going to rain heavily so we went to round them up. We hear that hens are so stupid they don't think to find shelter from the rain, then die of the cold. They happily followed me back to their house and after a little persuasion from the toe end of my wellie they hopped back inside. I have to repeat this excitement every day with them!
After the heavy downpour of rain we popped into town to post some letters, and were amazed by the flooding of the gutters down the side of the road. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera with me because it was quite spectacular. Whilst in town we collected Sunshine the canary from the childcare centre who is coming for a weekend holiday with us.

Keep the home fires burning

Wednesday 21st October: Happy birthday Kevin and good luck in your international hockey tournament in Hong Kong. Happy birthday Pam.
Today we did much better keeping the fire alight because Peter was in charge of it and was happy to jump down from his schoolwork very frequently to check the state of the fire!!
Schooling went very well and in the afternoon we popped into town to the recycling centre and the library and supermarket.
Today we got our internet connected, after 10 days waiting. There were 147 emails waiting and a lot of this blog to catch up on!
The photo is of the boys at the school table, with the kitchen area to the right.

The start of our new life for real

Tuesday 20th October: When I woke up and looked out of the window (still no curtains) I thought we had had snow overnight - the heavy rain had knocked the blossom off the tree on to the front drive.
This was our first "real" day at the new house, with Steve going off to work and us schooling. Plus I had to try to keep the fire in the logburner alight (our only heating at the moment plus it heats the water for free) which proved a bit tricky and there were several needs to relight it! Perhaps I'll put the boys in charge of fire watch from now on!
In the afternoon we did some extra schooling to make up for missing out yesterday, then the boys played in the garden, digging and riding their bikes.
We had roast beef and Yorkshire puddings for dinner and a sticky chocolate pudding with chocolate sauce, which proved too sweet for everyone (except me!)

Back home

Monday 19th October: Happy birthday Jamie. Today dawned bright and sunny. We packed up and left the campsite by 9am and spent the morning visiting more tile and lighting shops in Christchurch but still didn't manage to find what we wanted.
We stopped in Ashburton for lunch on the way home and the boys played in a small playground in the domain while I made lunch in the motorhome. As we passed through Timaru we stopped and visited some more shops and arrived home at 4pm.
After unpacking the motorhome it was time for tea and then I took Edward into town for Cubs. Tonight they needed to take their bikes to do some cycling in the adjacent velodrome for their cyclist badge. However, as we arrived it started chucking down with rain and kept going all evening and most of the night. Back at the house, Steve was fitting a sensor light to the outside of his workshop when it started raining. Giddy the Goat sheltered under the overhang of the workshop but was across the door and Steve couldn't get the door open to get out!! Finally after much laughing (mine!) Giddy was encouraged to move so Steve could escape, and then we found Giddy sheltering under the boat. She really hates the rain!
The photos are of the view from the motorhome stopped for lunch in Ashburton; the boys running back to the motorhome when I called them for lunch; and Giddy sheltering under the boat.

Kea Day

Sunday 18th October: Sun and showers, and cool enough to need winter coats. We had a quiet morning in and around the motorhome. The boys enjoyed playing in the different play areas at the campsite. At 11am we left and drove about 10 minutes to Willowbank Reserve. This is an animal park plus traditional Maori areas and was the location for a Canterbury Keas day out to celebrate 30 years of Kea Scouts. About 400 6- and 7-year old boys and girls and their leaders and some family members spent the afternoon in the park with all sorts of activities to do. It was raining when we arrived but soon brightened up and stayed dry for the rest of the time there. Every Kea was given a cup cake and a badge and we were all kept busy. Once the Kea Day had finished we stayed on in the park and wandered round the rest of the animals - everyone else had gone home so we had the park to ourselves. We enjoyed the lemurs (Edward loves ring-tailed lemurs) and the otters were very entertaining and we all thought it was very picturesque.
We drove back to the campsite and Steve took the boys to the site's swimming pool. They enjoyed an hour splashing round in the water and rushing down the water slide into the water. Unfortunately Peter then lost his footing at the top of the steps up to the slide and fell on to his back on the hard floor. He was very brave but obviously bruised and bumped on his back and the back of his head.
I cooked tea in the motorhome and Steve put them off to bed while I went to the campsite's movie room for the evening film. However, "Jumper" did not catch my attention - no knitting needles or wool anywhere!

Perfect for ducks

Saturday 17th October: The weather was perfect for ducks! Peter has proudly been making his breakfast recently, but this morning managed to set his Weetbix and cornflake mix on fire in the microwave by forgetting to add the milk! The kitchen stank even with all the windows and doors open!
We packed up the motorhome and left mid-morning. We drove north to Christchurch, stopping in Rolleston to have lunch on the way. Once in Christchurch we visited some lighting and tile shops to get some lights and kitchen wall tiles for the house, but didn't see exactly what we wanted.
We headed to the north of the city to the Top 10 campsite we have stayed at in the past, arriving there at 5pm. I walked up to the Pizza Hut 10 minutes away and returned with our dinner and joined Steve and the boys watching the movie "Bedtime Stories" in the campsite's movie room. After the boys went to bed Steve returned to the movie room to watch the later movie.
The photo is of the ducks that always hang around the campsite.

Lurking clouds

Friday 16th October: This morning the cloud rolled halfway down the hills and lurked there all day. At tea-time it rolled the rest of the way and drizzled on us.
We were busy all day around the house. It was nice to spend the whole day at the house with nowhere else to be.
I planted some tree seeds to see what will happen - conkers, acorns, pine cone seeds and walnuts. I also used the rotorvator to dig over an area for the boys to use as a digging area. Steve wanted to move a large wooden unit that had housed the old wall oven and has been stored in one of the garages since. However it proved rather heavy to move round to his new workshop (the old tackroom and stable) so he used an old technique to solve the problem. He took a leaf out of the book of those that built Stonehenge (perhaps) by using a series of wooden posts to roll the cabinet over. Edward and Peter were happy to help moving the posts from one end to the other.
Peter and Jonathan also enjoyed a new game where Peter takes Jonathan for rides around the garden in the trolley we found in the garden when we bought the house. Jonathan clings on and squeals with delight as Peter bumps and tips him as he runs around!

The hens move house

Thursday 15th October: A beautiful sunny day until later in the afternoon when the wind swung round, the clouds rolled in and the temperature dropped.
Steve and the boys spent most of the day upgrading the large henhouse left in the garden by the previous owners. I drove into town (without children - what a novelty!) and paid bills, visited the bank, got some shopping and called back to Harris Street to read the electricity meters.
When I returned it was obvious that he henhouse renovations were more extensive than I had imagined. By the end of the afternoon the hens were ready to move into their deluxe apartment with ensuite facilities and round-the-clock food. They trotted around inside for some time, exploring. They enjoyed stretching their wings and hopping on and off perches and rails. They were most excited to find an automatic pellet feeder so they can eat whenever they want, not just at 8am and 4pm as it has been. So they then stuffed themselves with as many pellets as possible in case the special offer ended soon!
The photos are of the ark the hens have been in for the past year, and their new super-deluxe home.

Rubbish and recycling galore

Wednesday 14th October: Bright and sunny. Steve is off work all this week. We spent the morning sorting and unpacking. Steve put up the curtain tracks in the boys' rooms and I ironed curtains and put them up. They make such a difference to the look and acoustics of the rooms. We also noticed the lamb was limping, and it turns out it escaped by jumping over a 4 foot rail when Steve cornered it yesterday!
Steve borrowed a trailer and packed up the roughcast from the garage he knocked down a few weeks ago. The Resource Recovery Park is only open for a couple of hours each afternoon so he couldn't dump it until later in the day. The boys and I packed up the recyclable items and took them to the RRP too. We met up at Harris Street and cleaned the kitchen, carpets and vinyl, while Steve swept out the garage.
I popped to the High School to help set up the Kindy Gym equipment, then took Peter and Jonathan on to Keas. It was a beautiful afternoon and the Keas went on a walk around Victoria Park and were excited to tell me they had seen a Joey in its wallaby-mum's pouch.
We called back to Harris Street to collect our cleaning utensils and lock up, then back to our new home for a late tea. I'd had beef casserole cooking in the slow cooker and had made triple chocolate muffins earlier in the day.
The photos are the view from the kitchen window.

Bike jumps

Tuesday 13th October: Warm and sunny - a beautiful day. First thing this morning we sat in the living room and watched starlings flying into our block-shed with their mouths full of straw, busy building a nest inside.
We headed off early in the motorhome to Oamaru. I had a dental check-up while Steve took the boys to the skateboard park with their bikes. They had a fabulous time up and down the ramps in the sunshine. Then I sat and watched the boys while Steve went shopping in the DIY store across the road for curtain tracks. We got some junk food (hot dogs, crisps, biscuits and fizzy) for lunch and drove to the playground in the Public Gardens. The boys played while I put lunch together and we sat in the sunny park to eat.
After lunch we popped into a tile shop to look for wall tiles for the kitchen then returned to Waimate. We called into the rented house and did some cleaning then headed to the new house.
Steve did some sheep herding on his bike (not quite sure why, but he and the sheep were both amused, in different ways!). I cooked tea then unpacked two suitcases of clothes and some more bags of kitchen equipment. In the evening I went out to a Gym Club meeting and Steve and His friend Guy discussed turning our ram lamb into a wether but decided he'd be better as a roast at some later (but not-too-distant) date.
The photos are of the boys enjoying the bike ramps and jumps.

Lots to do...

Monday 12th October: Cool but sunny and bright. First thing, I took Edward for his piano lesson. He has his first piano exam at the end of November and is busy practising for that. We drove on to the rental house and met Steve and the other two boys there. There was still plenty of sorting to do there so we were busy until lunchtime.
Back out at the new house we had lunch and spent time emptying some more boxes while Steve went out to fly his aeroplane. He returned home just in time for me to take Jonathan to gymnastics, which he greatly enjoyed. By the time we got home Edward was eating his tea ready to go to Cubs. I took him to Cubs and rushed off to clear more from the rented house and get some shopping, getting back in time to collect him.
The photo is the view from one of the windows of the bedroom that Peter and Jonathan share - it shows next door's cows reaching through to munch on the grass our side of the fence.

Edward's party day

Sunday 11th October: Warm and sunny, a high of about 17 degrees. We were woken by birdsong in a light room because we didn't have curtains up in our room and the sun comes up on that side of the house. The boys slept in for a while after their later bedtime last night.
We spent a quiet morning pottering around. The hens were a little out of sorts after their journey in the removal van yesterday but we did get 2 eggs out of 3. The boys played on ther bikes and I did some unpacking while Steve started attacking the garden with the strimmer.
After lunch we got ready for Edward's birthday party. We had hired the same hall as for Peter's party last month. There were 11 children plus our 3. We played some games and then had some craft activities for the children to try - origami, Hama beads, tumbler painting, pipe cleaner creatures and egg cup pin cushions. Of course there was also a large chocolate mud cake to share. The children were all fabulous - friendly, co-operative and invlved in the activities. Three of the mums were kind enough to stay and help out, too, which made the activities much easier.
After the party we packed up some more bits and bobs from the rented house and drove out to the new house. Steve went flying his aeroplane and took Peter with him. Edward, Jonathan and I put Jonathan's bed together.
After tea the boys played and I did the washing-up and some more unpacking. Still no curtains up so another later bedtime for the boys, but no objection from them!
Steve and I sat and relaxed with the tv on in the evening and unpacked and sorted some more bags.
The photo is of the children at Edward's party - poor lighting, I know, but it was the best I could do in the circumstances.

Moving house! (at last!)

Saturday 10th October: Cool but bright and sunny. There was plenty of snow on the Hunter Hills from yesterday's wintry weather, set against a clear blue sky.

First thing in the morning we got organised to move out of our house. It is 11 weeks since we bought the house and it is completely transformed, but we haven't even started on the and yet, which is growing quickly now that spring is with us.

We hired a removal van for the day and Steve's boss Barney, friend Gordon and neighbour Allan gave up their morning to load the furniture and white goods. At the new house end our friends Gael and Jeff, and Jennie came to help out, while their children played with ours. By lunchtime everything big had been moved and the house had become cardboard- and bag-city!

We did a couple of hours of sorting and unpacking and then drove back into town. The boys and I packed up some boxes of small bits and bobs. We walked to the Waimate Stadium to watch part of the annual Waimate Shears. This is a sheep-shearing competition and people come from all over the country to compete. We went along last year and were lucky to sit with one of the spare judges who answered all our questions so we got a real feel for the skill and strength needed to shear. Today we watched the two semi-final heats for the Men's Machine Shears and the final of the Junior Machine category. The adults have to shear a number of sheep (the number increases as they progress through the competition, to 16 in the final) and they get scored for the time taken and penalties for cuts and having to go over the same place twice, etc. They can usually manage a sheep every 90 seconds! That includes unlocking the gate, grabbing the next sheep, dragging out on to the stage and positioning it! Outside the building there are two large lorries with ramps to the back of the stage area - one lorry emptying big woolly sheep and one filling up with thinner sheep feeling a little chilly! Once the fleece is removed it is laid out and folded on a table in front of the shearers, then goes into a baling machine to be squashed and wrapped (see photo).

We returned to our new house and made toasted sandwiches for tea and some muffins Jeanette had baked for us. Edward helped me put his bed up and we let the boys play in the garden until late because we had no curtains up and needed to wait until it was dark at 8.30pm before we got the boys off to bed.

Steve and I spent the evening .... unpacking more boxes!

When we went to bed we realised just how dark it gets out here in the countryside. We are about 3km away from the nearest streetlights in Waimate and there are no lights in any other direction. As we looked out into the sky more and more starts appeared as the seconds ticked by until what had looked like an empty black space was in fact speckled grey.

The photos are of the boys at the tea table, then the view in two directions from the table - one out of the window and the other of the living room with plenty for us still to do!