A fantastic opportunity has arisen for us to head to Bangladesh. For more info and to follow this new journey go to https://theartofcontinuing.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, October 8, 2019
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
A nice little spot
Daya has a viewing of a documentary she featured in for the Northcote Baptist op shop tonight. It's in the city so we ventured in before rush hour and plan to walk her up there tonight. W wille leave the other girls looking after the boys and maybe David and I will grab a wee bite to eat while we are out.
Check out where we have parked up in the city, it's down near the via duct. What an amazing city we live in.
There's some interesting characters parked up down here. Most are retired fellows that have been living in their buses for years. We felt like complete rookies talking to them. Real Kiwi blokes with blokey stories that make you laugh out loud. Then there's the mad woman living in her van that thinks everyone is trying to sabotage her vehicle and has all sorts of stories and accusations against everyone not to mention lifting up her top to reveal her chest to the poor guy in the bus next to us. I think she may need some mental health care. I have not actually seen her yet, she must be out for the day.
Check out where we have parked up in the city, it's down near the via duct. What an amazing city we live in.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Cuppa tea
The sun came out so I took a minute for myself to breathe in the sea air and sip a cuppa tea. I took the first photo bellow and then I thought how cool it would be to be able to see the view as I see it through my sun glasses. The sun rays were flaring and it looked amazing. So, I decided to try take a picture through my glasses (it must have looked odd to bypasses) and I must admit it was a bit tricky holding the glasses, the phone and pushing the button. It's not quite the desired effect but it was worth a crack :)
Monday, June 17, 2013
Is it time?
The last few weeks have been pretty wet and I must say that when David goes to work and I have 7 kids in Mother Trucker and it's raining the whole joy of Camper van life fades away. I found myself on the Internet looking at houses and wondering if the time of the nomad may be coming to an end.
I'm not sure how I feel about this possible change. There are pros and cons to both life styles and I am sure that once in a house I will be yearning to get back on the road. I'm not sure what time frame we are looking at until a house may become a reality but it's definitely on my mind now.
The funny thing is that if we do get a house we will be starting from scratch. We have no furniture or kitchen ware. I kind of like that. I only want to get what we need and keep it minimalistic. Less clutter = less stress. I have become less and less materialistic after living in India and then in our mobile homes. The mobile homes are compact and have everything we need to live. The only thing I really want from a house is a bit more space to have some private time.
I have a picture of us finding a house (rent or buy? I'm not yet sure what we can do) and then we can park our campers and keep living in them while we slowly get beds etc.
Like I say, I'm not sure when this will happen but it's in my thoughts.
I'm not sure how I feel about this possible change. There are pros and cons to both life styles and I am sure that once in a house I will be yearning to get back on the road. I'm not sure what time frame we are looking at until a house may become a reality but it's definitely on my mind now.
The funny thing is that if we do get a house we will be starting from scratch. We have no furniture or kitchen ware. I kind of like that. I only want to get what we need and keep it minimalistic. Less clutter = less stress. I have become less and less materialistic after living in India and then in our mobile homes. The mobile homes are compact and have everything we need to live. The only thing I really want from a house is a bit more space to have some private time.
I have a picture of us finding a house (rent or buy? I'm not yet sure what we can do) and then we can park our campers and keep living in them while we slowly get beds etc.
Like I say, I'm not sure when this will happen but it's in my thoughts.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
The Manaiakalani Programme
Something exciting that David is involved in is the Manaiakalani programme. I wont do it justice to try and explain it so here's a wee blurb from their site and a link to their web site if you want to find out more. http://www.manaiakalani.org/home
David is involved in a voluntary role and meets every second Tuesday night where they discuss issues. From this he has become involved in another community project linked with one of the schools. They are planning using the kitchen facilities of the school to teach kids how to run a business, cook and cater, wait table etc and for IT support to be offered at the same time by the kids of the school to the community. There is also a possibility the kids will be able to earn credits towards their NCEA. The other thing the children will learn to do is apply for a job and put together a C.V. These are all very valuable things to know.
I'm really happy David has found something he is passionate about and can be involved in helping our local community using his skills. They are a great bunch of guys who are all working together and who all bring different skills to contribute. It's great to be around big thinkers with big dreams that are becoming grounded into reality. (Mmmmm, I could do with being involved in something like this myself)
The Manaiakalani Programme
Living Local, Learning Global
Manaiakalani is an education programme that is achieving significant improvement in student achievement outcomes for nine decile 1A schools in the Auckland suburbs of Glen Innes, Pt England and Panmure. This is Auckland’s oldest State Housing community, and 95 per cent of students are Maori and Pasifika. By offering students full digital citizenship, the Manaiakalani Programme is not only achieving improved educational results, but also realising the potential for greatly enhanced employment and life outcomes for these students.
David is involved in a voluntary role and meets every second Tuesday night where they discuss issues. From this he has become involved in another community project linked with one of the schools. They are planning using the kitchen facilities of the school to teach kids how to run a business, cook and cater, wait table etc and for IT support to be offered at the same time by the kids of the school to the community. There is also a possibility the kids will be able to earn credits towards their NCEA. The other thing the children will learn to do is apply for a job and put together a C.V. These are all very valuable things to know.
I'm really happy David has found something he is passionate about and can be involved in helping our local community using his skills. They are a great bunch of guys who are all working together and who all bring different skills to contribute. It's great to be around big thinkers with big dreams that are becoming grounded into reality. (Mmmmm, I could do with being involved in something like this myself)
Friday, May 31, 2013
Beanies
Yesterday we had a lovely funeral for my nan. It really was a tribute to a truly amazing lady. A slide show of photos was played to a song I had recorded for my Nan when she turned 80.
My boys all wore beanies my Nan made them only a matter of a couple of months ago. It would have been one of the last things she knitted I think. So as a tribute to her they wore their beanies in church. She probably would have told them to take them off because boys shouldn't wear hats in church but this time, maybe she would have smiled. Here's Levi and Jaxon in theirs.
My boys all wore beanies my Nan made them only a matter of a couple of months ago. It would have been one of the last things she knitted I think. So as a tribute to her they wore their beanies in church. She probably would have told them to take them off because boys shouldn't wear hats in church but this time, maybe she would have smiled. Here's Levi and Jaxon in theirs.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
The weekend
My idea of covering a diary of my week kind of went a bit wayward but never mind.
We spent the weekend at my parents place where we spent time with extended family organising my Nan's funeral. It was good to all get to together and reminisce. My Nan was a big part of our lives and although she never made a big deal about her faith she regularly attended church. It wasn't until we found her bible and little notes she had written in her own hand writing that I found she had more than just a Sunday faith. I knew she had very strong moral standards and always tried to live a kind and generous life but it's nice to know it was a bit deeper than just that.
My Nan was a great example of a wife and one of her gems of wisdom she told me once was to give your husband space to do his own thing and he'll treat you like a queen. My Grandad loved to play golf and although she probably would have loved him home some days instead of playing golf she always encouraged him to go. My Grandad adored her and she really was his queen.
Our weekend also involved taking Jaxon (4) to the A&E. He had stood on something a few days earlier but I couldn't see anything in there. He complained in the evening that his legs were sore and by the morning he had a fever and a swollen foot. They lanced it two days in a row but found nothing. He's on antibiotics now and is jumping around as per usual. It certainly has not stopped his constant chatter and sound effects. One amusing thing that happened while there was he told me the nurses kept swearing. He said "listen" I listened hard and then heard a machine beep. He said "See, they have to keep beeping it out". Priceless :)
Daya (16) has a job in the weekends. She minds her cousin who happens to be Down syndrome. She is hired through the proper channels of IHC (Ideas) and she looks after him 4 hours each Saturday and Sunday. We take him horse riding on a Saturday and because Daya can't drive yet we have to take her up there. Usually we cook up bacon and eggs with garlic mushrooms (Mmmm mouth watering) while we wait but this week David had to go alone while I went with my Mum to my Nan's place. I'm so proud of Daya because she got a job to pay for her trampolining. It's an expensive sport and we just could not afford to pay for it all as well as the other kids activities. We pay for her drama and other sports but she has taken responsibility for trampolining. Like I said, I'm very proud of her.
We also had a lovely dinner at my brothers place on Saturday night. My sister in law is Indian and she treated us to some of her amazing cooking. It was a lovely time and my Mum and Dad joined us there.
On Sunday night David and I went to see a movie in a small cosy theatre. I just felt like getting away from everything for a couple of hours and to think about something completely different. It was nice to spend time with my man that I love very much.
We spent the weekend at my parents place where we spent time with extended family organising my Nan's funeral. It was good to all get to together and reminisce. My Nan was a big part of our lives and although she never made a big deal about her faith she regularly attended church. It wasn't until we found her bible and little notes she had written in her own hand writing that I found she had more than just a Sunday faith. I knew she had very strong moral standards and always tried to live a kind and generous life but it's nice to know it was a bit deeper than just that.
My Nan was a great example of a wife and one of her gems of wisdom she told me once was to give your husband space to do his own thing and he'll treat you like a queen. My Grandad loved to play golf and although she probably would have loved him home some days instead of playing golf she always encouraged him to go. My Grandad adored her and she really was his queen.
Our weekend also involved taking Jaxon (4) to the A&E. He had stood on something a few days earlier but I couldn't see anything in there. He complained in the evening that his legs were sore and by the morning he had a fever and a swollen foot. They lanced it two days in a row but found nothing. He's on antibiotics now and is jumping around as per usual. It certainly has not stopped his constant chatter and sound effects. One amusing thing that happened while there was he told me the nurses kept swearing. He said "listen" I listened hard and then heard a machine beep. He said "See, they have to keep beeping it out". Priceless :)
Daya (16) has a job in the weekends. She minds her cousin who happens to be Down syndrome. She is hired through the proper channels of IHC (Ideas) and she looks after him 4 hours each Saturday and Sunday. We take him horse riding on a Saturday and because Daya can't drive yet we have to take her up there. Usually we cook up bacon and eggs with garlic mushrooms (Mmmm mouth watering) while we wait but this week David had to go alone while I went with my Mum to my Nan's place. I'm so proud of Daya because she got a job to pay for her trampolining. It's an expensive sport and we just could not afford to pay for it all as well as the other kids activities. We pay for her drama and other sports but she has taken responsibility for trampolining. Like I said, I'm very proud of her.
We also had a lovely dinner at my brothers place on Saturday night. My sister in law is Indian and she treated us to some of her amazing cooking. It was a lovely time and my Mum and Dad joined us there.
On Sunday night David and I went to see a movie in a small cosy theatre. I just felt like getting away from everything for a couple of hours and to think about something completely different. It was nice to spend time with my man that I love very much.
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