Painting & bugs & random things!

Once again time has sped past. A fair amount has been happening. 

Some good, some not so good.

Locket came home after having a great holiday. I'm happy for my children to be off having fun but I'm also glad when they are home safe.

Work has continued on Ma & Pa's old house.

The front door is fully varnished.

It is Kauri and came up beautifully.

A close up of the handles and letter slot

The lounge was being worked on and to make it easier to plaster and paint Boar took the
mantle piece off the fire surround.

This is the marble fireplace that Pa had made.
I guess you could say it was a built-to-order marble fireplace surround.

Brains spent time scraping paint off the window frames to prepare them for painting.

 

 
A-M Prof had given the hallway ceiling an undercoat and I gave it
 a coat of ceiling white.
After a second coat I did the walls.
Locket helped with rolling the paint on after I'd done the cutting in.

Th colour on the walls is a white - called Coopers Beach Half
It has a slight greenish tinge when it dries.

Ceiling and walls finished. At first glance it is hard to see the colour difference.
But it is there!

Since these photos were taken I've got the lounge painted, apart from window frames,
architraves and skirting boards.
Also Ma & Pa's old room is almost done.
Hopefully will only need one more coat on the walls.
May need two to cover the pattern though.

I spent some time looking after Little Sunshine as well.
Here are a few pictures.

Getting taller. . .had to shift some glasses up a level after this :)

Investigating the utensils drawer.

Showing great concentration as she spoons yoghurt from the pottle to the bowl.
Most of it had been eaten, I fed it to her as it's not the easiest thing for wee ones to manage!

Couldn't resist taking this photo of her wee hand and gorgeous bracelets.
She was sound asleep here.

One of the days I was driving home from Linden, Tawa to Johnsonville.
I could see the approaching storm.
Black clouds rolling in from the south.

Another view as I went down through this cutting.

About two minutes after this I went up the motorway on ramp and. . .
the rain hit. Pretty hard and fast too it was!


One of the not so great happenings was that A-M Prof was walking with my laptop.
My less than a month old (to me) laptop.
And somehow it flew out of his hands.
Heard an almighty crash.
"What was that?! Don't tell me..."
Couldn't say a word. One look at his face I could tell he was absolutely gutted!

The damage and. . .

The repair job! Computer still works thankfully. . .I'm typing on it now :)
I've also put a butterfly sticker on the glued bit.

Another not great thing was that quite a few of us over a couple of weeks came down with a nasty bug.
Chuckles first. Vomitting and diarrhoea.
She ended up having to have an IV inserted at hospital.
Her midwife sent her there as she, Chuckles that is, couldn't keep anything down.
Not good when you're around 24 weeks pregnant.
Several days later Butcher and Halfpint came down with it.
Luckily Butcher only had it a few hours and was well enough to go to work the next day.
The first day of work for him for the year.

We hadn't been in contact with them for around 5 days.
Maybe the bug has a long incubation.
Or Brains picked it up from someone in the group he spent time with on the Saturday.
However it happened, he was next.
Up all night, semi-collapsed on the floor at one point.
Poor guy vomitted on the floor as he wasn't able to get up.
Once he stopped the next day he slept, for hours.

Locket was next a couple of days later.
I started 10 minutes after her, then Boar around half an hour later!
Lucky for Boar he only had diarrhoea.
Locket and I were up all night.
By Friday I was capable of lying on my bed with my eyes closed.
Hardly able to talk even.
Hit me hard maybe because my iron is so low.
Brains was well enough by then to bring us drinks.
Boar was eating halfway through Friday.
I stuck to watered down flat Lemon & Paeroa :)
Saturday I was a bit better but stayed in bed.
Sunday I had to get up for a few hours as some items were being picked up that had sold on Trade Me.
Had to go to Pa's place for that.
But I went straight back to bed when I got home!
By the Tuesday I was pretty much back to normal.

Wednesday I got a call from A-M Prof.
Moneypenny wasn't well.
I knew she'd had a bit of diarrhoea.
So after taking Pa to his appointment with the Oral Surgeon
I went to pick up Sunshine.
Moneypenny asked if they could all come.
One look told me she definitely needed to!

Moneypenny collapsed into bed here, I saw to Sunshine and Poppet.
Not fun when you are sick and have a nearly two yr old and a 10 wk old who is fully breastfed!
That evening A-M Prof turned up, he was vomitting, plus the diarrhoea started too!
He had to take 2 days off work.
They went home on the Friday.
Not fully 100% but a lot better.

Now my eyes are beginning to close so I'll finish this off and post it!

Renovating continues

The days continue to be busy.

Boar is spending a lot of time at Pa's old house.

Plastering takes up most of the time.

Two coats plus a top coat.

Hallway, kitchen and lounge are all being done.

One completed wall in the kitchen looks so good that Moneypenny thought it had been painted already.

Before that there was still lots happening.

On the Sunday Absent-Minded Prof and Moneypenny went to the house.

8wk old Poppet went with them.

Little O stayed with me.

A-M Prof steamed the paper off the lounge walls.

Not as easy as the kitchen as there were two layers.

Moneypenny did some cleaning and picked up all the paper that got tossed down.

I took Little O to church with me. She was dressed in a lovely wee dress and cardigan.

Little O loves music but I wasn't sure how she would react to the worship team.

Sometimes they can be pretty loud!

As it was she was fine.

I swayed to the music as I aways do when I have a babe in my arms.

By the third song I noticed her wee head was drooping.

By the end of the next song she was sound asleep.

Slept through the sermon.

Woke just before the end worship songs.

When we got home she lined her pretzels up on the table.

Then they all ended up on the floor!

I love her wee dress below

And the cardigan which Moneypenny picked up from Savemart in Porirua

Brand new!

On the Monday Boar and I went over to the house.

Boar sanded the front door.

He gave it a first coat of varnish to protect it from the rain.

He had found a lock up in the shed.

Pa didn't remember where it came from.

It was in a style that fit the door.

We took the pieces home and I started to polish them up.

The old letter slot, still works.

Boar has replaced the spring on the back so now it will stay shut in the wind!

This is what we used to polish the bits of the lock.

Boar finished the polishing. The knob on the right is as we found it.

The one on the left has been polished!

Once done the whole set looked great.

The rest of the week passed.

I had a few texts from Locket while she was away.

I tend to wait for my children to contact me when they are away.

I figure they are coping fine if I don't hear anything :)

Lately I've been feeling tired.

Well, more tired than usual.

I'd been wondering if my iron had dropped again.

Today I finally went to the Dr to see if it could be checked.

Saw a lovely lady doctor who I will transfer to when my current one retires.

Not sure when that will be but thought I'd mention it to her anyway.

Dr gave me a form for blood tests.

A whole raft of them to check out: Thyroid, cholesterol, full blood count., etc.

Had a call tonight.

Later found I'd missed two calls on my mobile from the doctor herself.

Oops. . .must have not heard it.

My iron had bottomed out.

Haemaglobin 80 (Normal 115 - 160)

Ferritin 2.5 (Normal 15 - 150)

Not good.

2009 my Ferritin dropped to 1.8

Dr R who I saw at Outpatients in 2009 said he didn't think he'd seen one that low in his entire career!

And he was in his 60s or 70s I"m picking. Chief Medical Officer he was when I saw him.

 This doctor said she'd never met anyone with one that low.

I'd already picked up the script for iron and taken one.

Was told that it was vital I take it.

Yup, I'd figured that out.

Very low reserves is not a good situation to be in.

Still, it is easily treatable and there are a lot worse things!

Explains just why I've been feeling tired, forgetful, and a bit fuzzy-headed though.

I said to Boar tonight that with all I do with low iron imagine what I'll get done when I feel great!

I'll try taking a tablet a day. . .sometimes they upset my gut.

But with iron as low as mine I'd rather get it sorted.

I seem to tolerate the one below better.

I have a box of 100 though - not 60.

It will be nice, eventually, to go for a decent walk.

I can't at the moment as I get too breathless.

5-10min on flat ground is about all I can manage.

I really want to be able to go on rambles.

A proper tramp is my aim.

No way I can at present.

I'll just have to have patience and work up to it slowly.

It's not fun when you're on a ramble and the 80+ yr olds are doing way better than you!

Off on Holiday

On Saturday Locket left for a holiday.

She went away with her best friend Estelle, and Estelle's dad.

Locket has always been a shy girl.

So this is a big step for her.

Part of my parenting has been to let the children have choice and do things in their own time.

I believe when they are ready they will take the steps they need to.

Sometimes a gentle push is needed :)

 Locket had a few questions and queries about the holiday.

In the main she was excited though.

 All packed and ready to go.

They were supposed to go on the Friday.

However Estelle's dad was unwell so leaving was delayed for a day.

A wise decision.

Better than trying to drive when you are ill.

Just about to head off. 

They were going camping near Napier

Eskdale Holiday Park is where they are staying.

I've heard from Locket a few times.

Not for a couple of days.

Then tonight she text to say she had hurt her leg and arm today.

Can't be too bad as I've heard nothing from Trev, Estelle's dad.

I do know she has used her new camera underwater.

I am looking forward to seeing the shots.

Meanwhile back at the ranch.....

Well, no ranch in sight. At the house.

We have been getting on with the re-decoration.

The end of the hallway, Pinex replaced with GIB.

 First coat of plaster applied.

I know other things happened that day too.

No idea what though!

On the Saturday we were back again.

This time Absent-Minded Prof & Moneypenny came too.

They had hired a steamer for two days to get wallpaper off.

  

Brains, kneeling, and A-M Prof working away in the kitchen.

The steamer took a while to heat up the water but when it had it worked well.

They hired it from Hirepool

Meanwhile Boar was giving the hallway a 2nd coat of plaster.

The ceiling is going to need scraping, sanding and painting. 

The paint is cracked and bubbled with age.

Moneypenny did some cleaning of walls in between seeing to 8wk old Poppet's needs.

I spent time sorting some things. . .still a fair bit to do.

Little Sunshine pottered around as 22 month olds do.

Here she is negotiating the steps - all 4 of them!

Easy for her as the place they are in now has a staircase.

Note the two different colours of lino on the kitchen floor.

That is in line to be replaced too.

In a little while though.

For a while we sat in the backyard.

It was lovely and sunny.

Around 2pm we stopped for the day.

I needed to take Mr P to see Mrs P.

I also brought Moneypenny and the two girls back to our place.

A gentle reminder that Poppet was only 8wks old,

not so very long since she was born.

Driving home Moneypenny commented that she was quite tired -

now she had stopped!

We enjoyed a cuppa while waiting for the men to return.

They'd stayed to continue steaming and plastering.

Hammers, saws, drills, screwdrivers

This is the home I grew up in.

It is a beautiful old villa. 

Around a hundred years old.

At the moment it is a bit tired and run down.

Mr P has been recuperating with us.

Soon the home is to be rented.

We are all very pleased that it is to be rented within the family.

Absent-Minded Prof and Moneypenny will move in soon with Little Sunshine and Poppet.

Before then there is some re-decorating to be done.

One thing I like about home education is the flexiblity of it.

The opportunities that the children get to do things they may not otherwise.

Boar has always included the children, all through the years, in whatever projects are happening.

This time is no different.

I think the skills they learn are as important as "The Three R's"

Which actually aren't as only one of them begins with R!

However, I digress.

Locket and Brains got stuck in helping.

 

Locket

Brains

Pulling Pinex off the walls. Note the timber behind. It is Sarking

The reason the Pinex needed to come off?

 Locket pointing to the tunnels and holes made by borer

 Tiny but they do a lot of damage!

 Locket pulling out nails after the Pinex was removed.

 Mr P may be 87 but that doesn't stop him from doing what he can.

Here, he is sweeping up wallpaper bits.

Last year he climbed into the roof space to replace a battery for the alarm!

This involved climbing a ladder, stepping onto the top of the door as the house has a high stud.

The hatch to the roof space is about 3 metres above the floor.

Once he had a foot on the top of the door he pulled himself up into the roof space!

 This is one of the beautiful rimu doors in the house.

Mr P was telling us that it took him a year to strip and varnish the doors.

Previously they were painted.

A labour of love as they have the grooves in the moulding.

Wouldn't have been easy to get all the paint out of there.

Locket pulling wallpaper of the kitchen walls.

Brains had stripped most of it by then. 

It was vinyl paper so wouldn't have been good to paint over.

 The hallway, apart form the end, is back to the sarking. 

The GIB board has been carried in and sits waiting to be attached.

A busy day. Although we were only there a couple of hours.

Later in the day Locket and I went out to Porirua

She was going away in a few days and needed some things.

As we were having Halfpint and Mr Magoo to stay it would be easier to shop with no wee ones :)

One of the things we got was a camera.

 Pretty good bargain at around $30. A good beginners camera.

Although it can go underwater.

Locket likes taking photos and has quite an artistic eye.

Good for her to have her own to practise with.

This and That

In the morning I have a cup of coffee - Jarrah Vienna Velvet usually.

I'm not a "wake-up-and-bounce-out-of-bed" type.

More like "just-let-me-wake-in-my-own-time-and-please-don't-bother-me-till-then" type.

As little noise as possible.

Boar likes the radio on.

He'll leave for work, leave the raido on.

I turn it off :)

Once I've woken a bit more I think about food.

For quite a while now this has been my breakfast. 

A bowl of porridge with milk and brown sugar. Yum!

Seems to fill me up better than anything else.

Just have to remember to not have the heat too high when it is cooking. . .

or I have to deal with a pot that's harder to clean!

Once breakfast is over I think about the day.

Actually I'm usually thinking about it as I wake :)

But not too hard.

There is always something to do.

Generally a certain amount of housework.

Even though there are only two children living here now there is still a fair bit to do.

I don't mind housework, but I don't love it.

When the children were younger and more were at home it would often seem as though there had been a stuff explosion! A huge one. Or several of them.

The place was clean enough but it wasn't so easy to keep it tidy.

Stuff, clutter, mess seemed to follow me.
Creations. . "No, Mummy, I need to keep it!"

For a long time I thought it was all me. . .some defect

or lack of a "cleaning gene" perhaps.

Then one day a few images appeared in my head.

Of my room growing up. . .tidy.

Of my room when I was living at the nurses home'. . .tidy.

A lot of the girl's rooms weren't I discovered.

Of our house when we were first married. . .tidy.

Even when we had only a couple of children. . .still tidy.

There are photo's to prove it :)

It dawned on me. . .it wasn't actually ME! 

There were 7 other people in the house.

And none of them were that tidy!
The one who showed the most in-built tidiness was the youngest - Locket.

Which wasn't a great help when she was little.

But is now :)

One day when I was out shopping I was perusing some fridge magnets in a book shop.

One took my eye and so I bought it.

It's been there for a few years now.

This Christmas I got a cheeky surprise.

Smurfette's gift was an interesting shape.

When I opened it I cracked up laughing.

Cheeky girl had found me a sign.

 

The house is sure tidier than it was. . .but a serious de-junk is in order.

Especially after helping to sort out Mr & Mrs P's house.

57 years worth of stuff.

Yesterday I boxed up a whole pile of video tapes.

Mr P thought they might be useful to someone.

Or sell on Trade Me.

I had a look. No-one selling old video's taped off the TV.

I didn't think so but had a look anyway.

So they are heading to the tip.

I boxed them up when Mr P was busy elsewhere.

Boar will move them to the van.

Mr P will discover they are gone.

But because they were Mrs P's he seemed to be a bit sad,

or upset about the idea of no-one wanting them.

It is not an easy thing to have such a huge change late in life.

Deciding what to keep and what should go.

Memories, papers, letters, keepsakes.

Family have been able to choose items they want to keep.

The rest has to go.

As much as possible will go to bless others.

I took a load of things to St Vincent de Paul yesterday.

The proceeds will go to help others.

Better than it all going to the tip.

A few things will go on Trade Me.

Can try to sell them on Mr P's behalf.

The whole process has given me much food for thought.

Among the things to go was this.

I had to chuckle when Moneypenny didn't know what it was.

Can you guess?

A potty! 

Splash guard at the front, handle at the back. 

Has been in the bathroom cupboard for a very long time :)

Time for it to be retired now.

Actually I just now had a thought.

I could turn it into a planter pot!

It woud make a pretty unique one.

Can't be too many of them left around.

I shall retrieve it from the rubbish bag and give it a new lease of life :)

Changes

Tuesday 7 January

It's been a busy few days. . .only 5 but in some ways it feels longer.

I can remember some of the things that have happened, but not all.

Which would only bore someone reading this to tears, so just as well I can't :)

I have taken some photos though so will pop some on.

During the day things sometimes come to mind and I click the camera.

The two wee boys Mr Magoo and Halfpint kept me busy.

New Years Eve I lit a candle.

Partly because I wanted to.

Partly in memory of family and friends, as the year turns over.

I set it on the fireplace and took a couple of shots.

 

It is the candle and holder that Brains & Locket gave me for Christmas.

 The next photo I used the night setting to show the pretty holder off better.

I managed to get a whole heap of sheets out one sunny day.

Our washing line is close to the house. Being spring the grass had. . .sprung!

Grown heaps and Absent-Minded Prof had the weedeater.

Then we got it back and it woouldn't go.

So the very long grass isn't great when sheets are out, because when the breeze blows. . .

 

. . .the sheets and grass meet!

I asked to borrow Jester's weedeater so thankfully the grass around the line is short again :)

Brains' friend T stayed one night. He'd had something else arranged.

However the person was sick so he came here instead.

He came with these lollies.

 I'd not seen them packaged like this before.

A few days later Locket got a packet from the local supermarket.

These I have seen before and they're quite yummy!

Also states on the packet they are Gluten Free.

Always important in this household.

 

One night recently I found it difficult to sleep.

Often I just don't worry about it too much.

However being conscious that I was having two wee ones to stay I decided to use some lavender oil.

It has a relaxing effect, and can help with insomnia.

I dab a spot of Lavender oil on the bony bit behind each ear.

It generally helps.

It worked this time :)

 I got this bottle from the local Healthy10-20 shop in Johnsonville.

I found some interesting info here. I'm sure there is a lot more out there.

Got to support the NZ market though!

Jester & Frosty's dogs are living here.

Milo likes to bark at ANYTHING!

Lucy does bark, but best of all she loves "throw the stick"

Except in her case the stick can be a log!

 

Here she is with one that Boar throws for her. Hopefully it will last a while!

It's a fairly solid bit of wood.

Soft wood just gets chewed up like this!

Guess who gets to sweep up? Yup, me!