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Crafty cows and wascally wabbits
Jan 6, 2010
Happy New Year! Ours was its usual quiet affair, with everyone staying up as long as they could on New Year's Eve but still managing to fall fast asleep by 11.30pm regardless. Noel added up his final tally of homegrown fruit and veges for the year and the grand total came to a whopping 222.5kg! Mind you, there would have undoubtedly been a few more kilos to add to the total, were we not currently experiencing an invasion of sneaky garden thieves. A baby rabbit has made himself a home in the corner of the shed right next to Noel and Ali's garden. While he's delightfully cute and it's lovely to have him around, he is starting to take advantage of our hospitality by helping himself to Noel's broccoli seedlings!
It's the pesky birds who are causing the most havoc though. First to be hit were the strawberries. Next was Ali's first ever crop of tomatoes, just turning ripe and ready for picking. They pinched the whole lot! Most annoying of all however was when Noel had just given his garden an overhaul. He had spent ages tidying everything up, making little pathways for easy access and applying a liberal amount of horse manure. It looked great! Unfortunately, all the horse poo attracted an awful lot of insects, which in turn attracted the birds. They had a field day scratching around in the garden catching all the bugs and by the time Noel discovered them the next day, they had pulled out every one of his sweetcorn, watermelon, pumpkin and yet more broccoli seedlings. Talk about soul destroying after all that effort!
Even my mum is having problems with vege thieves. Noel built her an awesome raised vege garden for her birthday. It's a huge construction with the main growing areas at the top, then several smaller compartments underneath for growing seedlings. It looks brilliant and everyone always comments on it. Noel filled the beds with a mixture of soil and mushroom compost and Mum's veges have been taking off like rockets, much to her delight. Unfortunately the neighbouring cows have also been stopping by to admire it and despite Noel's best efforts to animal-proof it, those crafty bovines have found a way to snaffle Mum's seedlings. Poor Mum is powerless as she watches them all line up along the fence, politely taking it in turns to pull out her beetroot!
We have almost completed our first week of No Screens Month and it's not going too badly at all! The first day took a little getting used to but I have to admit I relished not so much as turning my computer on all weekend. Ali doesn't seem to give a hoot about not being able to watch TV or play video games. As far as he's concerned it's a good excuse for him to spend even more time outside! When he's not practising his cricket, he's pottering around on Liam's motorbike, making little circuits for himself.
Liam on the other hand has been acting as though he's lost an arm. Funnily enough it's not the lack of video games or computer that he has been finding hard; he hasn't really worried about that at all. It's not being able to watch TV that he has been really struggling with. So we have amended the No Screens rule so that he can watch the cricket on TV, but that's all. It's something we like to watch as a family and as keen cricketers the boys learn a lot from watching their heroes, but all other programmes are prohibited. Still, Liam seems more than happy with the deal so it just goes to show how little all the other rubbish on TV really means to him!
On the whole I think everyone is really enjoying No Screens Month. We seem to achieve so much more in a day, are more organised and are enjoying finding new ways to pass the time. I can't remember the last time I read so much! I've tried reading 'Animal, Vegetable, Miracle' by Barbara Kingsolver three or four times now but have always given up as I've found it too hard going. This time however I'm determined to finish it! Surely it will get easier... I hope.
The boys really look forward to our nightly family board games after dinner. We've had some hilarious games of Scrabble but it seems we are going to have to invest in a dictionary as things are getting a little too competitive! The boys are getting fed up with their dad and me coming up with such obscure and random words in our efforts to beat one another and are threatening to boycott Scrabble in favour of Monopoly. Still, no matter who wins, it's a great way for them to boost their vocabulary!
Today is an absolutely beautiful day, far too nice to be stuck inside so the BBQ table has become my 'desk' and I'm working outside in the sunshine. Minnie thinks it's great as she can fit on the seat next to me! Noel and Liam are having a father and son day of good, honest backyard labour, chopping down trees, mowing lawns and other blokey stuff. When they've finished their toil for the day, the pair of them are planning to cycle into town for a well-earned swim. Mind you, by the time they cycle 10km home again in the heat, they'll probably be ready for another one!
As for Ali – well, goodness knows what he's doing right now. Yesterday he was cleaning up lemur poo! He's doing a three-day zookeeper course at the local zoo. It's meant for older children up to 17 years old but thanks to his maturity and previous zoo experience he was allowed to participate. Yesterday we was studying primates and herd animals and today is carnivores and birds. Who knows what tomorrow will bring! It's a full-on day from 9.00 – 4.30 and he's exhausted at the end of the day but he's absolutely loving it. Best of all, he's been accepted as a zoo volunteer so once he's completed the course, he can go and help out as often as he likes!
Just wanted to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has emailed me over the last month or so. I'm really sorry that I haven't been able to reply, I've been having dreadful computer and Internet problems for some time now and we are waiting to get the darn thing replaced. Please be aware I haven't forgotten you! I love hearing from everyone and will reply just as soon as I can!
No Screens Paradise
Jan 25, 2010
Oops, sorry it's been a while, I've been AWOL! Well, Whangamata actually, for a week of surf, sand and relaxation. It was brilliant! Best of all, we got there to find that the TV didn't work, which couldn't have been better for our No Screens Month! I was expecting plenty of whinging and moaning about having no TV but the kids didn't complain once throughout the whole week. We didn't miss it at all, we were too busy having fun! Noel and Ali went fishing and Liam and I spent every moment we could in the sea. It's great now the boys are that little bit older to take to the beach. You don't need quite so many eyes in the back of your head. I honestly believe boogie boarding is the absolute BEST fun thing you can do with your kids! It's so invigorating, not to mention hilarious!
Evenings were simple but so enjoyable. Noel and Ali caught dinner most days and we brought plenty of homegrown veges with us so meals were delightfully tasty and simple. Our treat was to go for a drink at the Ocean Sports Club, where you can just sit outside in the evening sun and watch the boats come in and families fishing off the wharf. Later on the four of us would blob out in the lounge on bean bags and chat about anything and everything. The kids brought board games but we never took them out of the box all week, we were always too busy talking and singing along with the radio. The boys always cringe when we go to Whangamata as the radio stations are somewhat old fashioned. They would protest loudly whenever we inflicted Kool FM on them and I confess Noel and I were a bit the same to start with but in the end we found it so relaxing listening to all the old tunes. The boys got a wonderful education in music from Led Zeppelin to Elvis and Tom Jones!
The weather was glorious except for one day where it rained ALL day. 'Oh great – what are we supposed to do today?' moaned Liam. 'Read a book!' I said, tongue in cheek. 'No way!' came the reply. It's a well known fact that Liam detests reading, which is a real shame, not to mention rather surprising seeing as he has two bookworms for parents. 'Tell you what', I said. 'We'll go to the book shop and you can choose a cool looking book. I'll even buy it for you, then if you don't like it you haven't lost anything. There are heaps of great books out there if you look – and what else are you going to do today?'
Begrudgingly he agreed so off we went and not long after he returned with a copy of 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' by Jeff Kinney. He read the whole book in one afternoon and the next day returned to the shop to buy the sequel with his own money. By the time we had finished our holiday he had read Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone from cover to cover and had purchased Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban from a second hand book shop to take home with him. He's kept up his reading ever since and can often be found now with his nose in a book, much to Ali's amazement, who in turn has followed suit. As soon as we arrived home from the beach the boys rushed upstairs. 'Great', I thought to myself, 'we're not home five minutes and they're on the Playstation already'. Wrong! They were happily holed up in their bedrooms, one engrossed in a book and the other battling with his action figures. Hooray for No Screens Month!
My best bargain of the week had to be my handmade shell necklace I bought from the roadside for 50c. We had just arrived at the beach for a swim and were unloading the car when a chorus of little voices said 'Shells for sale!' We looked across the street to find four little girls seated at a picnic table with a sign that said 'SHELLS 20c EACH'. 'Oh dear, I don't think I've got any money on me!' I told them apologetically. However I was so impressed with their money making enterprise and overall cuteness that I ended up dredging the car for coins and found 50c down the back of one of the seats. 'Ooh, that'll do!' they said excitedly. So I went over to choose a suitable shell and found they had done a wonderful job of painstakingly decorating each one. 'This one's a necklace', one of the girls said proudly, holding up a painted pink shell threaded with a matching ribbon. So I chose that one and wore it all day at the beach. I've got it hanging up above my desk now and it always makes me smile!
The biggest expense of the week was definitely the boarding kennels. Unbelieveably it costs more for the dogs to go on holiday than us! On the positive side we came home to a huge feast of vegetables, picking 2kg of beans, radishes, courgettes, cabbage and - at last! - tomatoes. We also picked up 16kg of smoked tuna caught by Noel and his mates while we were away. If you think 1kg of that is roughly equal to six of the usual 180g tins, that's the equivalent of 96 tins!
All in all, we had a wonderful week for very little cost. No Screens Month has shown us that on the whole we communicate pretty well as a family but it has certainly helped broaden our horizons and find new things to do and we have had more fun as a result. We came home, looked at the TV programme listings and said 'Hmph – we sure didn't miss anything!' To be honest, after a whole week without TV I wish we didn't have one at all. I'd get rid of the blasted thing tomorrow if I could but Noel and the boys insist we have to keep it so they can watch the sport. Honestly - men!