Houseguests!

At last...25th March today which meant "Bucklands to Timaru" on the calendar was happening! The boys have been counting down for ages and couldn't wait - we were very much looking forward to their visit. Spent the morning cleaning the house and getting things sorted (I discovered that you can't spring clean an entire house in one morning but I sure tried hard); went to work slightly puffed and dishevelled. Brendon and Belinda and their girls Rachel, Ruth and Hannah arrived mid-afternoon and then the weekend was full-on!! After picking the boys up from school we headed over to Caroline Bay for a walk around the general area and a visit to the beach. Tea was fridaynightpizza with added chips - Nick and Brendon admitted that they were wrong and "the wife" was right when they had to brave their way through three HUGE scoops of chips instead of the two we had suggested - will they ever live this down? We let the three older kids stay up a little later while the two youngest bedded down in the boys room. Caleb and Aaron were sooo excited about tenting for the whole weekend!

Swinging!

The Year 5s, along with several other classes, had a sports event happening today in lieu of school. While Aaron was slogging away with Mr Phillips, Caleb was at Morrison Park (which we didn't know existed until today) playing T-Ball for most of the day. I've never seen this game played but it's quite clever - much like baseball but instead of being pitched a ball, it's already waiting upon a stick in the ground to be whacked. Fielders field while batters run the diamond. TCS won all but one of their games against the various other local schools; Nick and I watched for the last 20 minutes before collecting Caleb and it was great to see him in action, really giving his all on the field. He's not mastered the game but his enthusiasm and effort did us proud.

Harmoniously done

Here's what's been happening in the last few days:
Sunday was not the best of days for me - you know when you put up a front of being cheerful but really there's nothing at all behind the facade? That was me. Sunny and full of poppy seeds on the outside, but hollow like the sound a baked-to-perfection kitke bread makes when tapped. Just one of those days. We did enjoy taking a meal around to Andreas and Danielle and combining it with whatever they found around the house - it was a fine spread of chicken casserole (had been slow-cooking all day), rice, peas, pineapple and biltong.
On Monday Nick wanted to clean the garage - I found a half hour slot to help him between coming home from work and going to the school for the boys. Er...this is the 'after' shot. Yes, really...it looked much worse than this 'before'!! The boys are thrilled to have the tent up again and will be sleeping in the garage this weekend when we have the Bucklands visiting. We consolidated and resorted a few of our 'oh-dear-what-do-we-do-with-this-thing-let's-put-it-in-the-garage' boxes and Nick resurrected his hands-free harmonica arrangement. He was standing in the kitchen playing it with his hands in his pockets...you NEVER stand around with your hands idle in my kitchen unless you're a house guest or an invalid!! I tasked him up. The boys thought the harmonica arrangement intriguing.
Tea was something different, which ran late because I was baking at the same time...not such a good idea but I suddenly felt a kitchen urge at 4.20 or thereabouts which found an outlet in a batch of cheese straws and spice and nut biscuits, along with ham steaks topped with pear and mustard sauce. The sauce sounded amazing in theory, but the boys and I were sweating and gagging on the spicy mustard...Nick loved it! I'll try it again but with a quarter of the recipe's suggested 30ml. If successful at the second sitting I'll post it to the blog.
Today, Tuesday, I was back to usual Lynnyness despite the weather which has turned south (that is to say, a southerly has blown in along with clouds, and it's been cold and windy today). I baked chocolate-chocolate cookies and currant and sesame oaty cookies before heading off to work which was, as always, just wonderful. Every day there is just a little more progress made toward the bigger picture stuff which is very satisfying, and also something new to learn or discover or enjoy. I also played about with polymer clay, having received via courier a pasta machine which will be used exclusively for clay - super handy for rolling out flat sheets from which shapes can be punched or cut. Nick has been hard at work with more wood chopping; he's had some chunks drying out on the garage roof which the boys helped him get down this evening.
And lastly, violin wars! Caleb is progressing quickly through his book - it's really helped that he's been taking piano, so dots on lines are not an unfamiliar concept. I've been getting a bit ahead of him which gets his goat in a big way, so tonight he did a bit of catching up. I was playing when he wanted to practice...I had to relinquish the instrument to its rightful player! Looks like we might each need one...

Just quickly

Aaron and Caleb, my two preciouses:

Jesus the Sinner's Friend

It's been one of these days today:Yup, rainy and grey and indoors, with a fire going after lunch. Seemed like a good time for Nick to finish recording a recent song, "Jesus the Sinner's Friend", using Charles Wesley's lyrics. He had already laid down the vocal and most of the music tracks, but just wanted the mandolin. This was a first for me - I thought I would simply be able to strum along but actually it took at least 15 attempts in bits and pieces before Nick was happy - each chord and note has to be spot on regarding timing and emphasis - it took a lot of concentration! Was fun though and a great experience...and I'm honoured to have been invited as a guest musician ;) You can click on the link above to hear it on YouTube!
Jesus, the sinner's Friend, to Thee,
Lost and undone, for aid I flee,
Weary of earth, myself, and sin:
Open Thine arms, and take me in.

Pity and heal my sin sick soul;
'Tis Thou alone canst make me whole;
Dark, till in me Thine image shine,
And lost, I am, till Thou art mine.

At last I own it cannot be
That I should fit myself for Thee:
Here, then, to Thee I all resign;
Thine is the work, and only Thine.

What shall I say Thy grace to move?
Lord, I am sin, but Thou art love;
I give up every plea beside -
Lord, I am lost, but Thou hast died.

Follow your nose

I had an appointment at the hospital this morning to see about the growthonmynose - I've been on the waiting list for three and a half months following a GP consult last year. For this event I rearranged my working hours, got myself all nervous and psyched for surgery, and pretty much wrote off the whole day in honour of the anticipated recovery. It turned into a major non-event though in a dramatically anti-climactic way as the consult was five minutes long! The doctor glanced at the growthonmynose and said quite casually that it would have to be done in theatre, so more waiting. Apparently it's not just a simple cut-and-heal job because of the location, and will need a skin flap or even a graft which would involve cutting a chunk of skin from elsewhere on me and pasting it in the hole. And then I'll be left with a deformed nose crease and lumpy blobule which is all in all rather disappointing and somewhat depressing. I'm tempted to say 'if only'...if only the doctors on St Helena had dealt with it a year and a half ago when it started as a tiny blistery thing, then I would have been able to avoid major scars now. But I know that the Lord's timing is impeccable and I don't believe in 'if only's'! Nick had kindly come with me for some hand-holding, so finding ourselves with no bandages or blood we went out for lunch. I made lasagne for tea (there were more greens than anything else in it - yay for good disguises for silver beet!) and pear tart for pudding, after which the sky had been clothed in a most photogenic way - time for a Dashing Rocks excursion again.

Not really gardening shoes

I don't normally post pics of acquisitions, but these cute shoes begged for a photo! I phoned Nick beforehand to ask if I could buy them...he gave his blessing, so these are guilt-free shoes :) I have most certainly borrowed inspiration (can you borrow it - do you return it? rather, taken inspiration) from Rachel's beautiful work in the composition of this shot - being surrounded by her mind-blowing photos rubs off in a very good way! After tea Nick and the boys headed off into the weed-patch where we also have potatoes and tomatoes growing and corn about to die off. It was time for harvesting. I couldn't believe the crop of potatoes that came out!! The biggest was around the 15cm mark but the rest are just a good usable size, and there are many. We've left them covered in dirt so they should last for ages!

All things yellow and pretty

Just to be sure I retain the honour of 'employee of the week', I bribe the Boss Lady with gifts...Ha, not really. But I am challenged and inspired to new creative heights and a strong desire to make all things pretty. This was an attempt at lemon coconut ice, but unfortunately with not enough generosity on the essence side of things, lemon only referred to the colour.

"My Place" with a little HDR

7.20 PM: Welcome to my craft room - I DO love how the sun streams in through the windows at this time of day! Makes for a very inviting place to be in the late afternoon and early evening. We've been in this house nearly a year now; this is how my room looked a couple of days after moving in:

Meet the newbies

Yippee, Monday - that means back to work! I took a few Rosemary & Lemon cookies in honour of our first staff meeting where all the staff gather together informally in the gallery (i.e. the two of us sprawl on the floor with markers and huge paper!) Left the studio with about ten minutes to spare before getting to TCS for a 'new parents' tea'...Nick and I are new to the school since the last event, so we made the list despite being quite old to the school by now! Really enjoyed hanging out with some other parents though - there was a large contingent of South African moms :)
Janet looking very comfy there in a sunny corner of the staffroom!
And finally, Caleb wanted me to take this pic of The Wounded Finger and patiently rested his hand on a windowsill outside so I could make the most of the fading evening light. It is a fairly deep and wide cut but is healing well already.

In which Caleb finds out how sharp kitchen knives are

A gorgeous day today - it's always a relief when the sun comes out again after a day or two of rain and greyblah. We're treasuring these warm days as winter approaches! Between services Nick and the boys played a bit of backyard frisbee and cricket and then right before the afternoon service Caleb sliced his left index finger open on a wonderfully sharp carving knife, trying to cut up an apple for Aaron. Aaron freaked out at the pool of blood dripping into the sink (fortunately Caleb had the presence of mind to stay in one place); I don't do blood very well so let Nick deal with it...and there was a lot of it! Poor Caleb went very pale, but kept up a brave face as Nick bandaged him up. At church the pair of boys proudly showed the red-stained cotton-woolled plaster off to EVERYONE...very pleased with themselves at having such a dynamic story of real-life drama to share. We decided that it probably didn't need stitches as the bleeding had stopped, so let them watch a DVD when we returned home (customary for any blood-type wounds).

Peopleless pics and poetry

Getting into those dark-morning-Saturday-sleep-in weekends again...it's so yucky to get up at 6 am on weekdays when there's not even a glimmer of light in the sky, so Saturdays are a total luxury. Consequently, a very late and lazy morning was had indeed! Added to which it was grey and just a tiny bit chilly. I mucked around with some macro photography - these are a dandelion head. Same composition, different focus. Nick had to pick up the lawnmower from the Camerons so we all piled in for a drive - this gorgeous canine is Gemma, an ex-farm dog who has the prettiest eyes! Andreas and Danielle shared an informal meal with us on Saturday night - clearly too busy enjoying the evening to take photos! (This doesn't mean that I don't enjoy other times with other people when there are pics - but sometimes the opportunity doesn't present itself!)
AND THEN...Nick had written a new song for me - so amazingly wonderful and deep and poetic. I am a blessed woman!

Lynn the Callander Girl (hee hee)

So here they are! This is what makes Rachel Callander so amazingly incredible: her ability both during the shoot and afterwards to make normal, non-modelly, crinkled, gap-teeth, freckly awkward people into radiant and appealing works of art that you really do want to show off! Thank you sooooooooo so much Rachel...you are absolutely the best!! And I really do mean that...no really, you simply ARE the best photographer ever ever! Okay, no more gush...well just a little more maybe...yay, whooohooooooo! So I'll be expecting lots of phone calls from people all over NZ on Monday morning lining up to schedule a shoot :)(PS: Genevieve, doesn't your reef bracelet look superb!)

Twisters and tsunamis

Today I found myself on the 'wrong' side of the camera as I became the subject of some Callander Girl magic...a rather major employment benefit, I'd say! It was absolutely the most fun ever and Rachel is amazing at getting her 'client' (me) to relax and pose. So cool to see a pro at work. Photos to follow...sooooo much more to say about them but just wait and see!!
Fortnightly youth group happened this evening as well and although the group was small, it was good. We had a short time of worship, then the Mark Driscoll DVD, followed by games and hilarity...a bit of twister, some chocolate game, and even an impromptu guitar lesson were all part of the proceedings.Meanwhile, the world is falling apart with earthquakes in Japan and China and huge tsunamis in the Pacific ring - NZ was issued a warning but fortunately all was well. Our prayers are with those who have suffered loss through this next set of disasters, but more importantly, our prayers are that individuals and nations would turn and repent as this is only a token of the final judgment to come (Luke 13:1-5).