The Highs & Lows of Being One Kid Down

Posted in family by paulainauckland

So Auckland has been on the outskirts of a tropical cyclone. This is so typical and highlights the week that Z will be away on his school camp. It always rains cats & dogs when he goes to a camp. However in the hills around Rotorua he’s more likely to be comfortable than he was for that week on Motutapu (an island in the Hauraki Gulf). The one night he’s scheduled to be out in a tent is forecast to be okay, but I sent him away with a decent sleeping bag.

TUI RIDGE PARK Tui Ridge Park is located on Oturoa Road, 17 kilometres north of Rotorua. It is set in a 170 hectares of bush and native forest on the Mamaku Plateau. The school sends 12 Year 8 classes to this camp (six classes at a time).

Accommodation Accommodation is in separate dormitory buildings for boys and girls. The dormitories have bunk beds, are carpeted and have heat pumps. Mattresses are supplied, students need to bring their own pillow and sleeping bags. There are shower and toilet facilities with each dormitory. Heat pumps on a school camp?

Food Tui Ridge camp is a fully catered camp. The food is mostly vegetarian, tasty and plentiful. A typical lunch would be pizza, salad and potato wedges. A typical dinner would be nachos or macaroni cheese and dessert. This is going to punish Z – he HATES cheese with a passion. I did write that down on the notes tho. I guess he can pick it off or eat a lot of fruit.

Programme The programme taken by trained instructors is designed to enhance the skills learnt and practised in Year 7. Activities include high ropes, abseiling, rock climbing, mountain biking, orienteering and archery. There is also a fitness trail and confidence course on site.

But here comes the real reflection.

Plus Column: I don’t have to think about who is on dishes (it’s you all week, B). I don’t have to wake him up for four mornings. My washing load will half, until Friday anyways. I gain back at least thirty minutes tonight, as there is no late swim lesson (they’ve just cancelled all the lessons today – so I gained 2 hours. Early dinner + bed is now planned!). The fights will be few & far between (Z & M have been at each other for weeks now).

Minus column. I don’t have the morning cuddles. I don’t have the evening cuddles. There are no impassioned book discussions. There will be noise from B about the dishes (altho he won’t consider cooking for one little moment). The house won’t be vacuumed except by me (Z loves that chore). There will be a gap for five days that I can’t fill.

19Feb2015

WIP (ahem!) Thursday & Grateful

Posted in family, grateful, Mirabilia, stitching patterns by paulainauckland

Let’s start off on the high note – today is Simon’s birthday. He won’t thank me if I was to tell you how old he is but he withstood the birthday boy bounce from M! The boys gave him a card and gift before Z & I headed out the door. It’s a Zoku Ice-Cream maker – perfect for the man who has everything. I got it thru one of work’s stores:

http://www.livingandgiving.co.nz/kitchen-and-food/preparation/tools-and-utensils/zoku-ice-cream-maker-purple-5035057

Today my Grateful pic just has to be Simon. Not because it’s his birthday but because he has given me so many things to be grateful for. Three of them also on the bed!

This could be the “before” pic too – I have brought an old (1920’s) solid timber door that I plan to scuff up and use for the headboard. The room looks bare without a headboard! Plus I’ve selected a few paint pots to try.

Low note. I am not at all happy with the Spirit piece. I don’t know if it’s the colours (the book might be different from the chart pack) but the fan background is purple for me, and mid/pale blue for others in the group. I’m talking Eeyore purple, the same skein that I used last stitching a piece that currently hangs in M’s room. The chart is also harder to read, as it is colour blocks and not symbols. I know why, it’s to help stop copyright thieves, but it means a few hours with a working copy & a marker and right now, I just don’t have that emotional investment in it. So it went away on Monday & I pulled out Stargazer with the intent to finish her before the end of March.

Stargazer makes me happy.

10Feb2015

Splinters in my fingers & sawdust down my bra

Posted in DIY home, family, house - gardens by paulainauckland

I didn’t do any stitching this weekend. None. Which is a concern given that one WIP is for a birthday this weekend.

But as the post title says, we were busy.

I now have two raised garden beds and a screen around two sides of the water tanks. And it looks good, if I do say so myself. Si has made it so sturdy and practical. I love it.

But I’m not totally enamored with the drop saw. Yes it’s fast but oh so messy! Next time I should borrow a burka or wrap up completely before I start. Or leave it up to the Screaming Teen. Now there’s a plan.

23Jan2015

Brandon at fifteen

Posted in family, grateful by paulainauckland

My first son. He’s fifteen today which seems to have crept up on us over night.
He’s amazing.
He’s annoying (concussion sucks, as I’ve said before).
He’s sporty.
He’s a slug.
He’s so clever (top academic stream for English, science, geography; second stream for math).
He can be so stupid (ah, brotherly “love”).
He is still likes having a long fringe. Must be because he can flick it in the girlies direction.
He has learnt to tidy his room.
He is still affectionate.
He is loyal.
He’s still mine.

18Jan2015

Sunday, Gorgeous Sunday

Posted in family, Mirabilia, OLW by paulainauckland

It’s beautiful here in Auckland today. Well, the West is! Yesterday the cricket was on at Eden Park, so of course it rained. Great for my fruit trees, they could have done with the soak (stupid hose doesn’t reach to this side of the house, so I bucket around). Not great for the cricket – it was rained off. I think the next Eden Park game is v Australia in the ICC World Cup – I want to go to that one.

Si is sick so yesterday was super quiet. M & Z went to Grandma’s quite late in the afternoon, then around nine I got a phone call to say that they were going to stay the night. AWESOME! B got a lesson in consequences; he’s on kitchen this week and has been mostly on strike. So after multiple warnings, I followed thru (& felt like the worst parent in the world) – no dinner was served. Mind you, he’d had two ham croissants not an hour earlier but Ah Ma Gord the circus erupted. Newsflash – the world is not fair to the Screaming Teen. But we’re adamant that he must learn consequences – better now at home than in the workforce. This is safer.

I stitched. And stitched. So excited when I look at the height growing in my thread jar, and the growing yellow on my working copy (I don’t often colour but I find it easier to pick up a stored WIP if I do) then I look at her skirts & groan. Seems like I’m getting nowhere fast! There is so much still to do – and I still need more beads.

But the upside of having God throw patience lessons at me all day yesterday is this: I know what I want to invite into my One Little Word life. And that’s patience. It’s OK to not respond immediately. It’s OK to count to ten. It’s OK to have consequences for my actions or inactions. It’s OK to walk away. It’s OK to say “I am not involved in your story”.

And that feels good.

14Jan2015

Travel Recap + WIP Wednesday

Posted in books, family, Mirabilia, stitching patterns, travel by paulainauckland

Just for Chiara! Here’s a small sampling of our photos from the long weekend.

This is a boutique hotel in Cambridge. I’m thinking it could be the perfect spot for a stitching retreat – altho it would be a pricy one!

This is B – if you’re on my FB, sorry, as you would have seen this already. From our stop in Taupo. Plus the sundial that is in the Rose Garden next to the play park, on State Highway one as you drive through town.

Junk shops – we probably stopped at about 50% of those we saw, so Z can look for vintage Commando comics. One of my bosses collects old gramophones – this was in an ugly shop in Havelock North.

Also in Havelock – Duart House. As soon as I saw it I recognized the resemblance to the family home in Scotland. http://duarthouse.org.nz/ sadly it was shut when we discovered it, so it’s on the diary for the next time we visit Hawkes Bay.

Day two was in Wellington. We went to Te Papa, the museum where Z started his Lord of the Rings/Hobbit costume search. This is the Elven Lieutenant – love the detail.

M as a pilot! He’s got his “oh grow up Dad!” face on.

B designed a plan in the AirNZ exhibit.

We had drinks then walked around with one of my brothers. We don’t spend much time together and I’m so sorry R – B & M combined can make anyone’s ears bleed! R helped Z find more costumes. Here’s Gloin – one of the dwarves. His costume was sumptuous yet sturdy. Those boots! Huge.

Day 3 was more Wellington then the drive to New Plymouth. This is one of the houses along the Wellington ocean coast. I have a thing for lighthouses!

Hawera – the water tower. Again, closed – but had we been 30 minutes earlier we could have climbed to the top. Apparently only takes 10 minutes! Yeah, right. Chiara, I’m sitting on the ground about 300m away from the base to take this. Any further away and I would have been on the road! The oaks surrounding it are planted to commemorate Armistice Day in 1918 by the local dignitaries and a VC winner.

And the War Memorial in Hawera.

We didn’t take many photos from New Plymouth to home. Unfortunately we’d done too much in too few hours and everyone was grumpy and ready for their own beds. It was fantastic to get home.

I did get quite a bit of Stargazer done, given that most of this was in the car on the long straights (don’t try to stich thru the Manawatu Gorge. It’s too windy and too beautiful to miss). All that dark yellow was the trip & I’ve pretty much made up my mind to rip the face/hands and re-do it with 2 over 1 tent, to give more detail. One more week of work then I’ll rotate to a small plus some finishing.

Reading – Monica Ferris’ Needlecraft Mysteries. Gentle (Betsy’s no Miss Marple) & I like the stitching references. I also like the way the author is experimenting with the genre. Luckily there’s a few books so far in the series! Next will be a re-read of Unbroken before I see the movie (it’s been a few years since I read an advanced copy).

12Jan2015

We’re home!

Posted in family, Mirabilia, travel by paulainauckland

And the unpacking begins. I have a load in the washing machine already, the dead fish has been farewelled (not the baby sitters fault I must add) and my treasures are being stashed.

I picked up a Mirabilia for a song as someone lost the photo (fairie treasures) & a New Zealand Centennial jug. The Jug has a couple of chips so again it wasn’t much; but it’s only 15 years to our bi-centenary and for something that probably got a lot of use it’s looking good.

Z has about ten more Commando comics to file away; B has some Marvels and my little M didn’t want much. He’s so sweet right now. I bet he becomes a little rotter when school goes back!

11Jan2015

Windy as in Wellington

Posted in family, travel by paulainauckland

Actually, it’s not. I only had to use one hand to hold everything down!

We went to the AirNZ exhibition at Te Papa; funny how many of the little bits and pieces we have at home! I’ll have to add photos when we get home as the mobile app isn’t uploading photos.

Also we caught up with my brother, who helped Z find a few more of the costumes he was missing. I didn’t realize Orlando Bloom was so short, he can’t be much taller than me!
Today is more exploring Wellington; I think we’re heading out to Miramar and hoping Weta is open, then a bit more in town, then up to New Plymouth via Wanganui. Bye!

24Dec2014

Wednesday WIP

Posted in family, food, Nora Corbett, stitching patterns by paulainauckland

Oh my. I’m all wrapped up! L has given me a hand with the Santa presents and we’ve had a good laugh while doing so. The ham is cooling, half the potatoes are done (I cheated and threw them in the honey glaze) and other stuff is all ready to go.

WIP wise has been slow; I had to frog about three hours work. Don’t stitch and snooze! But I’m happy with how he looks. Still planning how the others will fit on the fabric but that may well wait until the new year.

Merry Christmas to you and your family and friends. Hope you create some wonderful memories and have an amazing joyous holiday season.

Achoo!

sewscrapmuse

irregular updates on family life, books & cross stitch. Lots & lots of cross stitch.

Category Archives: family