The Rats of de Boer

February 4th, 2009
Well, Spotty died cuddled in Bianca's hands. We knew she was going to go for a while. She was my favourite of the two, as she was so quiet, and wasn't so keen to explore. Spotty was unconcious for an hour or two before she passed on; that being quite a sad time for the children. Actually, we didn't know how long it would take and decided for Bianca's sake to take Spotty to the vet and have her put to sleep, but she died on the way. Diana was with us, and she was most put out. She asked why we were turning the van around and when I told her that Spotty had died and we didn't need to go to the vets anymore, she said "That's not fair!"
Later, after we had buried her, Diana asked why Spotty had turned into a "berry." (bury)
The next day, Freckles - Spotty's sister, and last remaining rat - got a lovely treat; eating pancake on Bianca's shoulder at dinner time!
And, in April, here she is on another outing, this time on Pete's shoulder while he is working on the computer. She was still quite adventurous at this stage and we had to watch her - she liked to run around on the computer desk and once we had to replace the mouse as she had bitten through the cord. (We learn the hard way!)

Geoff Kidd comes to visit

January 24th 2009

Geoff came to join us for lunch this Saturday of the communion season at church. He is married to my cousin, Marion, and they live in Australia. One of their six children is married also, and they have two grandchildren. Marion also cares for her very aged mother.

Well, Geoff likes to run, and he had lots to tell us about the importance of the right shoe fit, and a monitor he used which I can't remember now was for - distance travelled or heart rate... or maybe it did both. We hold Geoff in high esteem and really enjoyed his visit. (He went for a run with Jonathon Van Kraligen after he left our place.)

This is Garry hoding Bryce, Geoff, and Pete, with Monique, Jarrod and Bianca.

Our summer garden

15th January 2009

Well, this is how our hard work in the garden paid off. Monique had missed this zuchinni in her garden for a few days, and it grew very quickly to this marrow size. We checked the plants every day, because the fruit grew so quickly. We had four good producing plants in that small space. The zuchinni plants became very heavy against the plastic trellis we had put up to keep the chickens out, and I learnt also that it doesn't stop them from eating what is on the other side as their heads fit very nicely through it. We stuck some extra chicken wire up around the bottom of the trellis around Jarrod's garden to stop them getting the lettuces. Most of the cabbages ended up in the chook cage anyway as they didn't grow nicely at all. Danielle's peas gave us one harvest, but because I didn't water them regularly, they got powdery mildew. However, when we had pulled them out, the carrots and parsnips we had sown between the rows of peas were still growing well. Diana had tomatoes in her garden, which regardless of which packet of seeds we bought, were mostly all cherry tomatoes of varying sizes. The basil didn't come up at all - so much for having a wonderful harvest and trying to dry my own! Oh, yes, we also had pumpkins which we didn't sow, and I assume came from the compost, both in Jarrod's garden - we got two from that one - and another plant in the strawberry planter next to the garage, which didn't yield us any fruit. One or two of the sunflowers grew well, but they must have been hybrid seeds, because the seeds they produced didn't develop into anything - very annoying, especially with the large flower heads. Hopefully we choose better this year. We did get a basil growing in one of the planter's with the tomatoes, and some lovely strawberries, too. It did get harder as the season wore on to keep the containers watered enough. Our hanging baskets looked lovely at the beginning as well, and then suffered from lack of water. Sometimes the soil was just too dry to absorb what I put in and it all just came pouring out the sides. Never mind, the prettyness was worth the effort while it lasted.

New Years Day trip to the beach

January 1st, 2009

We spent some hours at Maraetai Beach; it was a beautiful day. There was a bit of seaweed washed up on the beach, and Monique had fun pretending it was a necklace. Bryce wasn't too keen on the water, but was very happy sitting on the sand and playing with it - tasting it too! He is one porky little chap in this photo - and there was no way he was keeping his hat on! so his face is showing some of the effects of sunshine. Garry took the other children in the water, they don't usually go in very far. Monique is on the body board, Garry holding Danielle's hand, Diana sitting in the water and Jarrod looks like he is trying to catch something. Bianca was still in Wellington - we had driven home without her, and there was certainly no room in the van for her with all our stuff and the extra presents. Garry's brother had offered to pay her airfare back if she was allowed to stay there longer - with Nana - and help him in his shop. She did some of the baking, and helped to stock the shelves, and thoroughly enjoyed herself. No doubt, shopping for clothes with Nana and Aunty Melissa was another highlight!

We don't often get to the beach, so the children always enjoy themselves when we do go. I find that taking the small blowup boat along is about the only way to tempt me in past my ankles. Too cold - must be getting old! Lots of containers to play with in the sand is a good idea, and we often have other children joining in with ours, making the sand castles and transporting water for the 'moat.' And, if you lose the odd ice cream or honey container, it doesn't matter - as long as they aren't washed away by the water.

Looking forward to getting to the beach again this coming summer.

Happy New Year 2009

January 1st, 2009
Happy New Year! Jakey the cockatiel welcomes it by sharing Danielle's breakfast on the first day of the year. He does love our food, so we generally keep him in his cage when we are eating. Jakey is Jarrod's bird, and Jarrod especially made the cage for a cockatiel, with very little help, and all his own design - the cage that Snowbell the cat is currently exiting! It is a little hard to see in this photo, but the cage is curved over the top, so we cut the wood to fit the wire.

Jakey's cage is sitting on top of the rat cage which belongs to the

de Boer's - we were rat-sitting while they were away on their lovely long trip. Both the rats passed away before they arrived back in New Zealand, which was not unexpected, as they were advancing in years, but still a sad loss for our friends and for Bianca who was holding one as it breathed it's last. She would love to have a rat or rats of her own, but can't until some of her current pets pass on.

The cats do like to check out Jakey's cage when it is open, and the top of the other cage is a good place from which to stalk the budgies!

Athletics Open Day

December 13, 2008
We had an Open Day at our Athletics Club this day, where children from other clubs come and compete with our club. Many of the parents volunteer to help in order for the activities to run smoothly, and here is Garry wearing the official orange vest helping at the long jump. He gets to rake the sand after each jump. Jarrod is next to him holding the spike that the tape measure is used with. He preferred to help rather than to compete. Bianca, Monique and Danielle all competed; Mum looks after the little ones, feeds everyone and cheers them all on. Garry gets to eat the 'officials' lunch - very yummy it is, too.
This year's season starts in two weeks and the children are all looking forward to it - especially Diana, who is four, and this will be her first time joining in instead of watching (and waiting!)

Weetbix Tryathlon 2008

December 10th, 2008

The great day had finally arrived. We had trained and prepared as much as we could in the short time we had been given since the notification of this going ahead.

Bianca had a friend - Suzanne Sonneveld - do the swimming laps for her, then Bianca did the cycling and running parts. The children were allowed to do the whole thing themselves, or go partners with one or two others.
Here she is on the cycling circuit - it was four laps of this circuit, then straight into the run. They were all winners - as you can see they are all wearing gold medals. We had downloaded the circuit off the website and had trained on it - practising the swap-over from the swimming to the cycling, and
again to the running. But on the day, they changed the circuit, though it was still very well marked and there were helpers everywhere. Bianca said the cycle route was far longer than it was previously, and the run was shortened extremely.

Jarrod is lined up in his age group ready to do his swimming laps. He also did the cycling laps, and Monique did the (very short) run. She enjoys much longer runs. And, this is Monique just after finishing the run and receiving her medal.

Our homeschool group had arrived a little earlier than most in order to set up our gazebos together and there was quite a group of us. All of the children very much enjoyed the free breakfast before the start of the triathlon, and because there were far fewer participants than they had expected (it was held on a Wednesday and most children were in school), there was a lot of food left over, so they had more breakfast later. On offer were Weetbix, Crunchy Honey Weetbix, and all the different Weetbix Bites cereals, with milk; pottles of yoghurt; fruit and small bottles of juice. Here you see them enjoying more breakfast after the tryathlon - with their medals. Then came spot prizes, with our children hoping to win the new bike. There was also a fun blow-up shute for the children to race each other through, and some of the children disappeared for a while inside this.

At the end of the day, we packed up and left (left behind one shoe), feeling very contented, and enthusiastic about doing it all again the next year.

(So far, there has been no details on their website....)