Orion fire

Little by little we are getting things done. Just before Nana died she gave me some money that buy a fireplace. I think she was rolling her eyes wondering why I'd want something she probably had as a kid but it's just awesome.

I found this on trade me and my wonderful uncle fixed it for me. I can't wait to get it running. It's going to be in a very small space but we'll figure it out.

Science Day

Thanks to our amazing friends who decided to kick off their homeschooling life with SCIENCE!

Only way to go

My kids love science so this full day of fun with an amazing teacher and lots of experiments to do was just the best ever!!!

We had two cats

For a little while there we had two cats
Miss Grey was beautiful and even our cat thought that too as he shared his food and his bed and his children with her.
It took a little while for her to convince us she needed love as she didn't seem to need anything but she became more desperate over the days and shooing her away didn't work.
But once we started to get serious about moving soon I became worried we couldn't take some ones pet away so we traped her and took her to the vet and Yahoo she had a chip in her neck...so back home she went.

Little house getting built

Its a big task trying to keep up with the family, build, work, educate, feed and please. It was a damp weekend when we tried having a working bee.

Food always seems to be at the top of the list...kids are soooo hungry all the time

Miss 11 and Master 8 love having fires and cooking over it. Their friends are pretty savvy too.

My dear Nana

Its been a long time coming and its been heart breaking. Each year little by little my Nana has slowly slipped away from us. Each winter she would get sicker and older and slower.

My Nana was an amazing woman...and she lived through such amazing times and lived so quietly. She lived for her family...she lived for the kids.

Once she busted up her car (as our next door neighbor said laughing it was not Nana's fault some how that farm gate just got in the way) and she no longer drove up to our place everyday and the loss of her very fat cat...she became quieter and more withdrawn. 

As a child I could not wait to go to Nana's place...a place of unconditional love, peace, food, rest and support.

When they lived in Thames we would walk everywhere together. Some days she would say "when I'm in my wheelchair you wont let go of me on the drive will you?" my grandparents had a REALLY steep long driveway.

Nana never made it into a wheelchair...so she should be pleased with that...though her little green walking frame got carted everywhere.

I have been struggling with Nana's passing as there has not really been much time for me to be alone and just be allowed to grieve....it's not really a kiwi thing - emotions.

I know that life goes on and my memories of her are strong....our tickle fests were epic!

Moving birds

Dr Gabor Mate and our culture

I've been interested in Dr Gabor Mate - Self Love for a long time and have read his book Hold on to your kids which he wrote with Gordon Newfeild was an early read for me once I got past the baby book stage. We also watched Gordon's videos on how to connect with children which was really cool too.
I have recently started watching Youtube videos and find myself nodding my head even more as Dr Gabor talks about addiction and lack of self love. This works in well with a lot of Louise Hay's books and other peoples who work with her.

This morning I was smiling while watching this one too The psychology of conformity and can see myself as a non-conformist LOL.

I think our culture has a lot to answer for with our current rates of ill health be it the way we treat people, what we eat and how our medical culture believes that you can just medicate it away or chop it out....also the way we treat our planet too.