I'm baaaaack:)

The holiday was great if a trifle hot! We walked by the river, went up the gondola, swam in the lake and caught up with the odd relative or so and generally had a good time.

Poppy, my mil's dog, will miss William who walked her at least twice a day. I suppose we ought to consider a dog but it is really too small round here and I don't think the finances will stretch to it anyhow.

The boys swam in the river and in Lake Hayes but it was very cold so they didn't stay in long and took ages to actually take the plunge and go in. They also swam in the indoor (heated!) pool for an entire afternoon and successfully turned themselves into prunes :)

I did lots of drawing because it really is a spectacular place. The new pencil is really nice and gives a softer effect than the old one although it isn't as delicate.

The bus trip was long but bearable and we did walk quite a lot when we were there although the car got used too mostly because everything is so far from everything else. Lots of photos to follow along with a few here from the day we went up the gondola.

viv in nz

Holiday

We are off on holiday for a week starting this Friday. I have a friend to look after our place so my triffid of a tomato will be ok along with Skilly and the hens.

We will be spending Christmas at home though so that should be good too.

I spent most of today working at the kindy which was fun. I only do the odd relief stint there and hadn't had anything for several months so it was nice to catch up with the children who have grown out of all recognition since my last work. It was fun and we all made Christmas bells along with the other stuff. I am getting a handle on what these age groups are capable of and hope to have a little input too so that when they get to my senior classes, they will have the skills I am presently having to teach, already in place. Which, in turn, means that we can really tackle some great projects without worrying about who can or can't use scissors properly. (There seem to be more left handers than normal in my upper group and they really need different scissors to get good results.) Correct use of tools should start very young as it is annoying to learn when older and far more difficult to master.

The top photo is my baby cherry blossom tree doing its thing beautifully and the other is the side pocket of my strawberry tower which I colonised with these tiny pink things which had been living in a broken pot for some years.

viv in nz

Holidays and garden bits

The boys only have a few days of school left now and we have already planned a holiday at Grandmas new house in Arrowtown. This will be the longest time we've been away for over three years and I am hunting round for someone to water the triffid (tomato) inside and feed the animals etc. I am hoping a friends daughter will live in for the week.

Matt has dug the garden free of gravel (it was supposed to be part of a driveway but proved a bit steep for general use.) and planted two rows of potatoes. It is a bit late for general planting but we will try a few things as you never know. James, at 14 is into computer games etc but has also claimed a plot to plant things in and has done a really good job of laying it out, weeding and planting. He has yams and sweet corn in his plot and they are all sprouting merrily. William has merely shoved a couple of extra strawberry plants in his plot so far.

The lettuces are still producing madly - poor James! He really doesn't like lettuce much! There are also peas and garlic although not in large amounts yet, along with a large contingent of parsley plants from the ones that went to seed last year. We all like parsley chopped through our mashed potato so no doubt it will run out as usual :)

We are down another elderly hen so there are only three left now. I think its time we sourced some more but not until we get back. Skilly has decided that the big chest in the front hall is a good spot to view everyone so I gave her an old rug to keep her off the rather elaborate carving and she now thinks it just purrrrrfect :)

The photos are one of the more interesting cars to go up the street and almost the last photo of Chainsaw with Skilly lying in front of him.

viv in nz