SNAIL MAIL

 

 

 

 

Those of you who know me will know I LOVE sending (and receiving!) snail mail. I write letters to pen pals, send postcards via PostCrossing and generally help keep NZ Post  in business!  

 

 

 

Every February I try to participate in LetterMo and this year I was very successful and as able to send a piece of mail every day-yay! Some years I have not been quite so successful but I figure that any mail sent is still winning.  :)

 

 

 

This year I have discovered a new challenge - Write On. The challenge is to write 30 letters in 30 days during the month of April which, apparently, is National Letter Writing Month!

 

 

 

 

I actually discovered this last year but circumstances meant that I didn't even get started on this challenge. This year, however, I am ready! I have quite a few pen pals that I need to reply to but I really need a few more people to write to  ensure I get 30 letters sent.

 

So if you would like a piece of 'real' mail instead of an email leave  me a comment and I will get in touch and get your address.  (Please don't post your address in the comments-I would hate to be responsible for you getting unsolicited mail!!) I will write about life in NZ (if you are international) or you can suggest a topic that I may be able to write about.

 

I wouldn't expect a reply (honestly, I REALLY do enjoy sending mail!!) but if you wanted to send a letter too, I would be happy to hear from you  :)

 

So, leave a comment below and I will be in touch or perhaps you may even like to join Write On too? Click on the link above and accept the challenge!

 

 

 





We have bees!

Yep, Jeff and I are now the proud owners of a working beehive, after discussing it for years and never actually getting around to doing anything about it! It all seemed quite daunting starting from scratch and with no knowledge of what to do. Then we learned of a woman who would not only provide and set up all the equipment we would need but would also provide on-going support and training while we got to grips with it all. Bingo…we were sold! So in November our bees arrived…so exciting. We set up the hive halfway down our back paddocks, underneath a plum tree. The hive didn’t start off as big as it is in the 2^nd photo-that was after about 6 weeks. You can see some of my busy workers at the base of the hive in picture 3.

 

Every fortnight we check the hive and this involves about 2-21/2 hrs of time. Bear in mind it is summer here in NZ and we are decked out in head-to-toe suits for protection and although they are ventilated, it does NOT feel like it! But the time flies and I am always amazed to return to the house and discover how much time has passed.

At first I was afraid of how I would handle the bees buzzing around me, especially as I was in their territory, but I was pleasantly surprised to find how quickly I got used to them buzzing about me. It was almost 4 months before I got my first bee sting! (Which didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would and is now one less thing I have to worry about-it was always on my mind when I would get my first sting!)

It is fascinating to learn how the bees work and operate-they really are busy little bees! J They breed so quickly-our hive grew a level (called a ‘super’) every fortnight. Watching a bee hatching from its cell is always wonderful to see-they are so furry! Spotting the queen is always a mission-it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack but once you see her it is fairly obvious which one she is-just so hard to spot her amongst all the bees crawling all over the frames.

Each visit saw more and more frames being put into the hive-each of these from the second super up would eventually be filled with honey – hopefully for us to collect! We have to check each frame in the bottom super to ensure the queen is there (we place a special mat down called a ‘queen excluder’ to ensure she doesn’t go up through the other supers laying her eggs where the honey is. We need to check she is laying eggs, larvae are growing and hatching and that the hive shows no sign of disease. There are 10 frames in a super so it all takes a bit of time, especially for a

beginner! It’s a tight fit to get the frames in and out of the super and I am always afraid of squashing bees with my clumsy fumblings. Unfortunately, a few casualties are inevitable L I feel like I am killing a family pet LOL.

 

Finally, we could harvest our first batch of honey-so exciting!! We only had 4 frames that were full enough but decided to start on that small number so we could practice and save the other frames for next time. This turned out to be a great decision…we did NOT anticipate the amount of honey each frame holds!

 

 

So here is our setup the setup for collecting the honey; the ‘nuc’ box holding the frames inside it, the double strainer over a food-grade bucket, the scraper and finally the sample jar as we have to test our honey for tutin levels.

 

 

 

 
 

Finally, it was time to start honey collection…second photo shows a frame full of honey; a beautiful sight J

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They are actually rather heavy especially when you are trying to hold it AND scrape the sticky honey and wax off it! But so exciting to see all that gorgeous honey!

 

 

 

 

This photo shows all the wax and honey from ONE frame! It took about an hour for the honey to separate from the wax and drip into the bucket.

 

 

 

 

 

 We then put the wax into another bucket and after all four frames had been collected and drained initially, we put all the wax back into the double-strainer and left it to drain for 24 hours. (photo 3)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Of course, as seen in photo 2, if there is even a remote hint of food to be had (yes, even sticky, non-dog-friendly honey!) then Ace and Ollie are there too. J We had a lot of fun collecting our first batch of honey and ended up with a clear result from the lab so can now get on with eating it all. We will be giving a lot away as we ended up with approx. 10 jars of about 500ml each and that is only from 4 frames-another 20 or so to harvest!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks, my hard-working, amazing bees!

 

 

 

 

For the second year in a row, we have hosted an AFS exchange student. This year Alicia joined our family for eight weeks, arriving at the end of July. Unfortunately she immediately started a new school term which meant we did not get the chance to get to know her as quickly as we did our French student last year, who joined us in the school holidays and had a week with us before starting school. However, school is a big part of their experience while here so she just got on with it.
The weather was HIDEOUS for the first two weeks of her stay; it rained nearly non-stop and Alicia was even asking "does it ever stop?"!! It severly hampered our efforts to get out and about to show her some of the countryside.

Eventually though, we got a fine weekend and we managed to get to Mount Maunganui and Wairere Falls for a couple of good walks!

Other trips included a day out in Taupo with fish 'n' chips in Turangi before driving right around Lake Taupo to home.

Alicia had expressed a keen desire to visit Hobbiton so one afternoon I took her and Caitlin, along with another exchange student, to Matamata and she got to see Hobbiton. I'm guessing from the smile on her face when she got back it was a successful tour!


AFS arranged a "Kiwi movie night" one weekend so Alicia took advantage of that, spending a night in Hamilton watching films like "Boy", "Whale Rider", The Piano" and others. Although it sounds like not much movie watching was done as exchange students from all over the Waikato region met up and swapped stories and experiences all night long-one very tired girl returned to us on Sunday evening!

Another weekend we spent in Hamilton visiting the Gardens, walking along the Waikato River a bit and, of course, shopping at The Base! (A typical NZ teenager experience, of course!!) Then after a meal at Olivia's hostel and a movie (how scary was "The Shallows" huh?) we stayed overnight at Sonninghill Hostel to head out to Raglan the next day. We spent a lovely couple of hours wandering around Raglan enjoying the beautiful sunshine. Then we headed to the Bridal Veil Falls just out of Raglan...OMG, they are just stunning! It was my first visit too but I will certainly go back. I just loved the falls!


We decided to head off down a gravel road and our adventure brought us to Kawhia where we just had time for an ice cream and a look around before heading back to drop Olivia off at hostel then back to Tokoroa. A busy weekend.

AFS then organised another weekend trip, heading to Rotorua and Taupo, experiencing things like Zorb, Agroventures, Kuirau Park, Mitai Village and Redwoods. A visit to Wai-o-tapu was also planned and Taupo offered a bungy jump for anyone brave enough (not Alicia!) But she certainly gave everything else a go; getting involved in Kapa Haka and other school activities. There were two other exchange students here at the same time so there were combined trips and visits which I think made it more fun for Alicia.

 

We certainly enjoyed having her join our family for 8 weeks and hope we can keep in touch...I always wonder what they are up to and what they thought of their time in NZ. We provided a glimpse into a "Kiwi" family life - I hope Alicia enjoyed the experience!

Gosh, it has been a while since I have posted on here! It seems there are never enough hours in a day and sitting at the computer is the equivalent of talking on the phone-kids immediately demand you time and attention! But I want to record what we have been doing so hopefully I will get a few posts written over the next week or so.

(This did not happen as it is now Jan 2017 and I have only JUST found the photos taken at this event! However, as I keep this blog as a diary of our life, I shall post it anyway :)
 
Briar recently entered the local "Wearable Arts" competition held in early August. Weeks of planning and designing, preparation and construction and quite a few TENSE moments finally culminated in an entry to be proud of!


The Primary/Intermediate section Briar was entered into had the following themes to work within: Mad Hatter, Nursery Rhymes or Candyland. Briar chose Candyland as her theme and after a few ideas, finally settled on Willy Wonka as her inspiration.

Entries are always of a very high standard and Briar immediately set about working on her entry to give it the time and effort it required. I am so proud of how hard she worked on it and particularly that it was all her own work (apart from some help from Nana gluing glitter on the shoes!)

After weeks of work the entry started to take shape


The day of judging required the entrants to be at the local Events Centre all day. You can only imagine the noise level as approx. 20+ entries and helpers congregated in a room together. The nervous excitement grew as each girl was spoken to by judges to discuss their entry and photos were taken for judging also.  Finally it was time for a practice run down the catwalk in preparation for the night event which was open to the public.

It was a long day and Briar and her friends did well to stay focussed and enthusiastic throughout. My energy levels were certainly starting to flag by the afternoon! But after heading home for an early dinner it was time to get back and get ready!



Final makeup done, costume touched up and nerves at an all-time high, it was time to strut the catwalk and show off the creations. Briar did herself proud as she confidently showed her entry.  While she did not win a prize I think she was satisfied with her effort and would happily repeat the experience. Thank goodness it is another year before it rolls around again!!

Well done, Briar!

As most people who know me will already know...I LOVE SNAIL MAIL!!!
I had two penpals when I was younger (OK, a LOT younger-in my early teens) but, sadly, lost contact with them in my late teens. One was a girl from Japan and the other a girl from Finland. I still remember Eva-Marja's name and that she sent me the most gorgeous ceramic decorative plate from her country! I wonder where she is now?

A few years ago I discovered a couple of websites dedicated to sending/receiving mail. One is www.swap-bot.com and the other is www.postcrossing.com. I won't go into details as many of you will already know of them. If not, do check them out. And lately I have discovered a new site  www.25stamps.club And, of course, www.leagueofextraordinairypenpals.com.

I collected stamps as a child and then stopped for many years. I passed my collection on to my daughter who has done what I did-showed an interest for a year or so then stopped! So, meantime, I have taken my album back (don't want it to get lost in the debris of her bedroom!!!) and have since rediscovered my love of stamps. This is how I found the 25stamps club-you send 25 stamps to another member then your name comes up and someone else sends you 25 stamps. Perfect for moving duplicate stamps along and obtaining stamps from many other countries!

So, with all those websites (and I am sure there are PLENTY more) I have always got something of interest in my letterbox. Oh yes, almost forgot...every February is LetterMo www.lettermo.com which I have mentioned here on my blog in the past. Anyway, from time to time I like to post pictures of my mail and I just have to show you what I received yesterday. Imagine my surprise, and delight, to open my letterbox and see....not a bill in sight!!

 

 

 

Upon opening all these wonderful envelopes I found the following delights...

 

 

stamps, an RAK from a lovely lady on Swapbot and another from LEP, postcards and a penpal letter. What a fantastic mail day -it certainly brought a smile to my face! Who doesn't like to receive mail?

 

But, of course, as I tell my girls-to GET mail you must SEND mail!!! So, if you would like to have a "happy mail" day check out some of the above websites and ...send some mail! Or you can always write to me...I will certainly send a reply!!  :)

Easter 2016

Once again, Easter weekend has been and gone. As usual, we headed off on our annual family get together...this time it was my turn to choose the location.

Pukawa is nestled at the southern end of Lake Taupo and is a beautiful little bay. It is predominately a holiday spot but there are a few permanent residents in the area too. In fact, Jeff's parents had a section there for many years and he remembers staying in a caravan for many a weekend until they built their holiday bach. So our visit at Easter was a trip down memory lane for him!

Luckily, not much has changed and it has retained its laid back, relaxed feel with children still able to wander around the streets without supervision and people smiling and waving hello as they walked past on their way to the lakefront or along the bush tracks. You can see on this map the many tracks and streets available to wander around.

 

Here is where we stayed; it was a great spot and a lovely set up. It was basically two houses joined in the middle by a (lockable) door so you could just book out one of the units if you wished. But for our large group of 11 we needed both units! With a toddler in our midst now and lots of hungry teenagers it was very handy to have TWO kitchens to prepare food in. And showers and toilets times two...yep, perfect!
 

 

We were blessed with great weather over the weekend with a wee bit of rain not putting too  much of a dampener on things. Check out the gorgeous views we got to enjoy whilst out and about. The kids enjoyed quite a bit of 'water' time, braving the cool temperatures of Lake Taupo which none of the adults seemed to keen to do!

 
 

 

We spent time exploring the many tracks around the area and you can see some of them on this map.  There is a local group dedicated to restoring the native bush and attracting native birds back to the area and they are doing a fabulous job as we could hear lots of birdsong on our walks. I even saw a beautiful kereru (wood pigeon) flying just above my head as I exited a track-just gorgeous to see! Can you see him in the tree?


Nearby Tokaanu  has lovely thermal pools just perfect for soaking in and this is a great evening activity as the cooler air temperature makes the warm water feel fantastic! Nearly everyone enjoyed a soak in these pools. We drove over to the next bay, Omori,  one day and found the following new business to the area.

 

 

 Floating Rock Winery offered great views and food and was a pleasant way to spend a relaxing hour in the sunshine. And the wine tasted great, too! Here is the family with me behind the camera once again!

So that is Easter 2016-done and dusted! I wonder where we will be next Easter? It is Vaughan and Lacreice's turn to select the location so we will wait with great anticipation to hear.

Canada!

I have just returned from the best trip ever!!! Three whole weeks in Canada on holiday :) No work, no routines, no kids to run around after, no husband to organise :) and no worries for THREE WHOLE WEEKS!!!! Oh yeah...and the scenery was pretty amazing too!

On February 22 I flew from Auckland Airport to Toronto via Sydney and San Francisco-what a marathon journey. But after 26 or so hours I arrived in Toronto at 7pm to (thankfully) find my brother, Arthur, waiting for me. It was SO good to see him again :)

We immediately drove down to Niagara to see the falls lit up at night. Soft coloured lights are directed at the falls and it does look pretty but I much preferred them I daylight.  We stayed the night there so I could have a good look around in the morning. What an IMPRESSIVE sight those falls are! I was lucky enough to see them in winter when they are partially iced up and with snow all around-so picturesque!!

And I even learnt something! I thought Niagara Falls was just ONE waterfall-the curved one. But no, there are TWO waterfalls that make up the "Niagara Falls" - the 'American Falls which are just downstream of the 'Horseshoe Falls' (the curved one). Americans will tell you 'their' falls are taller but we all know which one is the most impressive :) Yeah...go Canada!! So I came away from Niagara more educated than when I arrived-travelling sure does broaden the mind.  :)
 

             

I spent a night in Quebec City and thoroughly enjoyed exploring this beautiful city. I just loved seeing the St Laurence River all iced up! As for the Notre Dame Basilica-I just stood inside it, speechless! The photos just don't do it justice-it was stunning.
 I enjoyed wandering around all the 'French' streets both in Quebec City and Montreal-the French influence certainly is noticeable!

  

Here I am geocaching...in the snow! And enjoying a snow shower in downtown Arnprior. I LOVED the snow-it is SO soft and fluffy. I was always jumping in it or touching it or 'drawing ' in a fresh, clean snowdrift :)

I managed to talk some random guy into taking me for a snowmobile ride on a frozen lake. Let me tell you-it is quite a mind game to step out (or in this case, ride out!) onto a lake knowing that there is only alayer of ice separating you and FREEZING cold water! Every time I did it, I would get freaked out for quite a few moments while my brain tried to convince me it was not natural to be walking on water! :)

This was the most gorgeous lookout-so worth the beautiful hike in the snow to reach it. It was situated on Mt Calabogie and is called "Eagle's Nest Lookout". I've since seen stunning photos of the same view in autumn colours-I will have to return to see it for myself! It certainly was magnificent in winter - quite an awe inspiring place!

I certainly didn't let the snow keep me inside! I was outside whenever I could; luckily my brother is just as keen on being outside as I am :) We spent a great morning cross-country skiing. It was such fun! It would certainly be my sport of choice in winter if I lived in Canada! It is VERY cardiovascular exercise!!!! I was going to try my hand at ice fishing but the guy we arranged to see was not 'home' when we called out to his ice hut :( Oh well, we had a good look through the window and could see the hole in the ice and his fishing pole nearby., complete with sofa to ensure a comfortable time while sitting there for hours.




On the edge of Arnprior is a beautiful nature reserve-McNamara Reserve. Arthur & I spent a morning walking through it and were lucky enough to run into a lovely lady who was very familiar with the birdlife and wildlife in it. She told us the mess we saw around the bottom of a tree came from a porcupine, who actually climbed the tree! Did not know they could do that!! She also gave me peanuts and I HANDFED A SQUIRELL!!!!! It was SO cute!!! (Can you tell I am STILL excited about that experience??!!) He was SO quick, darting from tree to tree almost like he was flying. And he even had tunnels in the snow and would fly down a tree, disappear into a tunnel and then pop out a few seconds late and race up another tree! Adorable to watch :) The lady also told us about all the birds we could see and hear and thanks to her, we even got to see bluejays! Apparently they can be a bit shy so we were lucky she told us what to do to see them. I thoroughly enjoyed that morning spent in such a beautiful spot.




We spent a couple of days in Quebec City...a beautiful city! We ate in a very 'French' style bistro and enjoyed a lovely meal after walking around the city at night. It certainly looked beautiful all snowy and lit up. 
 

 

Just as it looked gorgeous the next day in daylight! Such gorgeous OLD architecture-just stunning to see. And, again, that French influence everywhere-I loved it!

 

 

Well, this is PART ONE of my holiday...stay tuned for PART TWO when I have organised more photos! :) Hey...be thankful I haven't posted ALL the hundreds I actually took!! :)