Propaganda at it's best

"Fresh air with every breath". I can't believe it. Makes you wonder what drivel we get these days that we take for granted that is complete nonsense.....like the food that is advertised with "added goodness".

DIY'ers continue to wreak havoc

I would like to show you some photos of our achievements so far, but having some technical issues with the camera. Like... its crap!
Just a thought..... how bout using the webcam?


Brilliant, it worked.
So here are two overexposed pics of our herbs that we planted, then I drowned, then we re-grew.
Exciting to think soon we will be able to have our own coriander/cilantro in our meals. Lame, but very exciting!!
Working on filling our 2 half wine barrels and getting some broccoli growing today. I can hardly hold myself back...
Mild sarcasm aside. we are doing well in this wintry nation, as of late. Lots of rain and cold serious wind. But school only has one more week till another break and Bryce is finally recovering from the international flu he got while in Canada earlier this month. All is good!

As if......

I love volleyball. Imagine though, if you could combine volleyball with trampolining. I have done this before with the students who jump off minitramps to spike the ball and then launch onto a big crash mat.
But imagine if there were trampolines built RIGHT INTO the court....and then add the idea in that you can play with your feet as well..... Bossa ball, you rock my world.

DIY'ers to the rescue...

This may be one of the first DIY (do it yourself) projects we have done in this house, and I am pretty darn proud of it. We have put insulation in the roof, and repaired a fence, and when we're lucky I bake cookies. But this is our first actual building project! And I am so excited when I look at it now, even though it looks like a pen for very small animals. In "actuality", it is our new compost bin. We haven't started composting anything yet....but we've heard it's not something to get impatient about. Composting is for older people who "have time". We just wanted to stop throwing out food scraps and so on. So I will keep you posted on our progress. Don't get too excited waiting though.....even though I might. : )

Who says you can't celebrate summer in the winter?

A pic of Michelle and Nathan roasting marshmallows in our fireplace on BBQ skewers. We then put them (the marshmallows, not Michelle and Nathan) on chocolate cookies and made a sandwich. Winter Smores. Soooo good with Pinot Noir.

Another neat story: We went to a Nepalese restaurant the other night, where Bryce has been to before and had raved about. I must say the food was very good and I finally got to try "mo-mo". A delicacy that Bryce and Carl have been talking about since their Everest trip years ago. Mo-mo is kind of like soft wontons, with tomato-ey sauce. So, I finish my curry-ish dinner, but don't actually eat it all since I was full from munchies before. The cool waiter (from Nepal, who owns the place, is very friendly and "chillaxed") comes back over and says to me, "You don't like it?". I say, "No, it was very good, I am just full". He sticks MY fork into MY food and picks up a piece of carrot and points it upwards, "Well, I eat it?". But surely, he didn't say that? Or did he? So I repeat, "No, it was really great". Well, he actually DID say what I thought he said, cause he then used MY fork and put MY food into HIS mouth. WHAAAA??? Never had that happen before. Needless to say, I was definitely finished after that. Funny experience though. Especially when the waiter/cook/maitre'D gives us both a high 5 after we paid him for the food.
Get me on that next flight to Kathmandu.....

Mulch-o-mania

I do not profess to be an avid gardener yet, or even a person who has a green thumb. When Bryce goes away, nothing in my instinct kicks in to remember to water the plants. Anyway, mulching is easy and with the confidence coming from more time spent in the garden, we are beginning an endeavour to start a herb and veggie garden. Watch this space.....more likely for oddball stories than vegetable success though!
Check out these pics showing what the garden looked like pre-mulch and post-mulch.

May Update

So, what a month. Recovered from marathon, Dad turned 60, had a student trying to sell Ritalin pills at school and dealt with a crazy cold. Its been a whirlwind month.
We have spent 3 weekends at home in a row. I know. Nuts. It has been nice, since we have been on the go, basically "boarding" in Rotorua for much of this year with different events going on, so we have loved being at home each weekend and getting tasks done.
Last weekend we put heaps of mulch on the garden to give it some nutrients and stuff out the weeds. Some long work, but pretty easy. I had some issues getting into the middle garden, because that is wear the "wild things are". However, my special gardening outfit with pants tucked into socks, shirt tucked into gloves and hoodie tied up around my face, I was "insect-proof".
As you can see, Frilly the Cow and Eddie are both helping do their part with the garden work. It seems to be one of the only ways to get Eddie moving around outside. You should see the look on her face when Frilly the cow comes to the fence. Frilly also seems to really love the plants on our side of the fence. Yesterday, we repaired the fence because Frilly had been so greedy she mostly flattened the fence to get to the "yummy" plants. We'll see whose laughing later...she seems to be just about the right weight to be heading off to....."Cow Island".