Joy in Auckland: friends

I'm going to write about the Auckland weekend in two parts instead of purely chronologically: really because other than a break to sleep, the 10 ladies that my cousin Joy had gathered together to celebrate the occasion of her 50th birthday flowed from one eating event to the next with non-stop chatter to keep things going; to break the flow in two posts would be wrong! So, come with me to His House in Warkworth...a rural retreat designed to revive the spirit and the appetite, to provide a place for people to gather in fellowship, or just to think and pray. I was surprised and privileged to be invited, and more so to be absorbed into this delicious group of Christian ladies - also incidentally all SAcan! Chatter swirled around constantly, sometimes light and bubbly as it skimmed over easy topics and other times quiet and earnest, the deep waters reflecting the honest struggles of sinners in a fallen world. It's a magnificent thing to behold the bond that springs up so quickly when Christ is the focus! Saturday lunch was the first item on the agenda; we stayed at the diningroom table nearly until afternoon tea was ready! Joy opened pressies and there was a bit of ice-breaker and party-game silliness planned for us. A walk had been on the cards for the afternoon but time got away and before we knew it there was an amazing roast set before us for tea, followed by pavlova and rhubarb tart with ice-cream. The evening's DVD also got canned as time was against us and we wanted to sleep in...on this side of midnight! We all drifted to bed, slept, then drifted back into the main lounge on Sunday morning for a breakfast of fruit and yoghurt and cereal. We had all said 'no thanks' to a cooked breakfast, being terribly conscientious, but all it took was one honest gal to ask for bacon and eggs before we all (bar one or two) got on board and so there we were around the table for a VERY long time again, barefoot and with no need of woolly thermals. By about 11 am we were all packed and ready to head off in three directions according to the cars we were in...many more photos were taken, lots of hugs all round and promises made of Facebook connections, and we were off. Happy unbirthday dear Joy, and thank you for the enormous blessing! We do it again in 50 years, yes?!

Large doses of Vitamin D

Sunshine...and a wide blue sky, all day long!! What bliss. And not just sun...but a warm nor'wester on top of it. I had a load of washing hanging up before I went to my first job! Had an interesting morning with my pupil as he had been enrolled on an agricultural course for the day, so I audited. We learned about livestock and animal handling - crutching, drenching, injecting, the Animal Welfare Act, rotten hooves and blowfly, catching a sheep, not catching a bull...it was all very interesting. Next Thursday we have a practical session and I will take along my camera. Had fun at work #2 too of a completely different sort - it's amazing how the Lord has given me two such vastly different jobs, but I love it! Keeps life interesting. Got home around 3ish; Nick went off to fetch the boys and teach guitar lessons. I made a pot of soup and sorted out my grocery list so that as soon as Nick got home I could go out. Did the shopping, came home and unpacked and got the rest of tea ready. Made a batch of pesto puff pinwheels so they could bake while we ate. Cleaned the kitchen, folded the washing...and now I am tired! Tonight though I must pack for my super exciting weekend coming up - I'll be flying to Auckland tomorrow morning to spend the weekend with my cousin Joy to celebrate her 50th birthday! Whoop whoop!(5.30 pm - a few minutes before sunset...Nick out back collecting pinecones to start the potbelly fire).

The fun-gi and the toadstools

Timaru has been a grey place of late...not much rain, but just no sunshine for days and days, and temperatures hovering around the 12 mark. Pretty gloomy. Mushrooms and toadstools have been happy though...Nick found and photographed these fungi on one of his daily walks to/from the church. It takes one to know one :)I had my stitches out this afternoon (after self-unpicking four stitches on Monday and finding that the wound had opened up the next morning...thought I'd better let the others heal a bit more). I had in mind to take a painkiller beforehand but things ended up being so rushed that I forgot...and nearly cried again! The neck ones weren't too bad but the nose! Oh dear me. If you've ever plucked nose hairs you'll understand that it's a sensitive area. The stitches had started growing into the wound and needed some strong tugging - that's how it felt, anyhow. But there's great news...although the thing I had removed was indeed a cancer, the doc managed to remove all the offending cells and the margins were clear. So I'm cancer-free once more! Praise the Lord!!

The cherry on top

Today was the first day of my new working hours...it's a full day now with dropping the boys off at school, doing 2 1/2 hours of teacher aiding, another 2 1/2 hours at the studio, and then going back for the boys. I'm not home very much now, but there's time enough for a little bit of baking or something before starting tea. The upside of these rearranged hours is that I have Fridays entirely off!

Ever the happy mother

The boys are always incredibly good at getting up early on important occasions...birthdays and Christmas and Mothers' Days...they didn't need any invitation to slip into our room as soon as they were awake to present me with their cards and gifts. Slippers are becoming a tradition...the ones from last year were finished and desperately wanting replacing. And the cards were just lovely!! They took me out to lunch (KFC - always perfectly acceptable and finger licking good) and then we had a little time at home before the afternoon service just to chill in the warm diningroom. Nick and the boys made every effort to ensure my happiness, bless them...Caleb even washed the dishes :)

Twas brillig when the rain came down

A VERY laid back day for me yesterday...tried to do as little as possible but with washing piling up, the little was still quite significant. Petru dropped by in the afternoon and we had a most pleasant chat and catch-up. So far no one has fallen over in utter horror at seeing me. We had youth last night but with only two girls arriving and both being new, Nick felt best to send them home and cancel the evening. He arrived home in time to watch most of "The Blind Side" with me and the boys - an inspirational movie based on a true story which was well worth watching. Despite the youth turnout being disappointing, it was most gratifying to have the impromptu family evening! We've had still more family time today...Nick treated us to a Warehouse outing and then lunch at Burger King. It started raining in the afternoon - in fact this week we've only had about an hour or two of sunshine, and that was on Thursday morning when the clouds parted briefly. Made for a good afternoon of watching the 1998 Alice in Wonderland together, which was absurd and not worth watching apart from some randomly amusing one-liners and a better understanding of 'brillig' (around four pm and the time when one starts broiling things for dinner, according to Humpty Dumpty).

In stitches

There's not much of interest to blog about for the last two days - the boys went to school, Nick did prep, and I've been in recovery. I was back at work yesterday, and then rested in the afternoon, but overdid things by cooking a huge macaroni cheese for tea and trying to tidy the house. Had to give up on keeping the house clean but it does get on my nerves. Today I felt ghastly, with chills and a fever along with the mulberry nose woes. Struggled through 2 hours of teacher aiding then another hour in the studio but couldn't wait to get home. Spent the afternoon very comfortably sandwiched in bed with painkillers. When the boys got home from school Nick organized them into a work party - the house was vacuumed, general mess sorted - such a blessing for me. We've also been spoiled by our dear church folk with soup and desserts and tasty treats and flowers. The boys came and chatted with me on the bed for a while, then I suggested that Caleb get tea ready - he singlehandedly heated up and dished last night's leftovers. Nick and the boys started laughing at me because I'm being quite restrained in facial movements, particularly in laughing - trying to avoid wrinkling my nose which hurts (and I'm sure the stitches end up poking my now swollen face differently). So instead of 'ha haha haha' laughter, I'm down to 'ho ho ho'...if you can picture that :)

Warning: Not for sensitive viewers!

An early hospital start again this morning, getting there at 7.30 to settle in for The Waiting...with still no guarantee that my nose procedure and two mole removals would happen! Glad to say though that at 10 am I was ushered into the inner sanctums where I had to don the frequently -laundered backless gown a million sizes too big, over which went a stylish blue and white dressing gown, accessorized by paper booties and a turquoise paper hat. Serious stuff! Walking through several sets of double doors I had the distinct impression of being in a butcher's back room as three large men with white hats and coats and boots were hovering in doorways, their big hairy arms crossed over their chests as they waited for the next victim...er, patient. Finally got to the theatre...I guess I hadn't expected such a formal procedure as my last mole removal on St Helena happened in the emergency room seated in a chair with a couple of nurses hovering around the doctor. This was way different - the huge room with the single bed was filled with beeping machines and bright lights and serious looking staff all decked out in their sterile gowns. And all this with no pre-meds. Out came the permanent markers to circle the two moles needing removal, lots of swabbing with luminous pink antiseptic stuff...and then the first injection into my nose. I cried - not very spartan but it really hurt!! The long and short of it is that I had a basal cell melanoma cut out of my nose, and a piece of skin from my collarbone region grafted into the hole. It looks entirely awful especially as it's utterly naked, but it's a lot better than the doctor initially let me believe it would look. I still have two nostrils in the correct places and am not a Michael Jackson lookalike. Thank the Lord for that mercy! After about an hour of torture I was transported to the recovery room in a wheelchair...my first w/chair ride and it was a humbling experience. Had a cup of tea and a few sandwiches, got dressed, and then Nick arrived to take me home. I hadn't seen what I looked like and assumed they'd cleaned me up okay, so confidently walked out the hospital with my beloved, nodding to other people as one does and smiling as best I could with only a bottom lip being mobile. How embarrassing to look in a mirror and see the bright pink stains all over my neck and the mess around my nose. Got into bed with painkillers and pretty much stayed put the rest of the day. But it's over - in God's timing!

And May's beginning

So far it's been nothing but cloudy and cold the whole of May!!! Good thing we're only two days into it. It's been seriously cold...sitting around 10 degrees yesterday and today. But enough about the weather and on to more important topics: the doctrine of Monergistic Regeneration! Nick's sermon yesterday was just so good - this is not a boast about my husband's preparatory and oratory skills as much as a boast about God's grace and wisdom. I'm loving theology! We had a fellowship lunch after the morning service and a lot of people stayed, and stayed long...it was great to have so many people keen to talk and mingle.

And today's big news is that I've launched into a teacher's aide position again - also part-time, fitting in very well with my current hours at Callander Girl Photography. I'm assisting a special-needs homeschooled fellow and although I had made his acquaintance already, it was good to start getting to know him a bit better. We thought today might be a write-off in terms of actual productivity what with me not knowing the daily routines and what happens next and who does what and what goes where, but we actually settled into some pretty serious work quite fast. And after 2 1/2 hours we had a game of wii tennis...this frittering away of time is actually smiled upon as a bonding means...bring it on!!! Went straight to the studio after this most excellent morning and although Rachel is away, I still had plenty to do. Wrapped things up just in time to be a few minutes early in getting to school to fetch the boys. They enjoyed their first day back and have set personal goals...Caleb's is to be better at speeling (crossed out and replaced with spelling), and Aaron's has to do with swimming improvement. There wasn't much outdoor time for them - I think the heavy greyness drives even the most hardcore people indoors - so they played target practice with their nerf guns in the passage. Nick wanted to play too after tea, so he and Caleb had a right old shooting match, in and out of doorways, laughing and panting and trying to avoid stumbling over dear old photographer Mom squatted in an apparently safe corner of the passage. I only got shot in the head once or twice.

April's end

The boys have been on holiday still this week; on Tuesday they spent the day with Caleb and Josh and then we had the Camerons around to tea, after which Caleb and Aaron went back to their place for an outdoor tenting sleepover! Apparently winter sleep-outs are no issue if you have a 1 degree tent and -2 degree sleeping bags...I don't think anyone would convince me that it could possibly be warm enough, but when I collected the boys on Wednesday morning after a double dentist appointment (two more fillings done, one to go) they were in high spirits and looking quite well albeit a little tired. They spent the day quietly at home. I made beanbags this week from a pattern I found here...on Tuesday I only got as far as ruling out inches on brown paper and drawing the pattern pieces onto it. On Wednesday I cut out the pieces after work (six side pieces required for each bag, plus inners, meant 24 sides cut plus four top circles and 8 bottom pieces...we all rejoiced when it was done!) and then started sewing up the sides before bible study. On Thursday Nick took the car in for some fixing up and the WOF (it had failed on Tuesday), and was gone a couple of hours while I stayed home with the boys. Due to some further complicated arrangements with Nick having a lunch meeting and the boys having afternoon plans and some shoots happening at work, I ended up not going to the studio at all so spent the entire day finishing off the beanbags. Getting the velcro fastening inserted and sewing the rounds onto the bags took longer than I had thought. By late afternoon they were done and ready for stuffing; I had bought two 200-litre bags of polystyrene balls which I thought would be twice as much as we needed. After much engineering and a little frustration and a lot of giggling we got one bag stuffed using nearly all the filling. It's a LOT bigger than I thought; somewhat of a monstrosity but it seats both boys comfortably. Friday I was back at work and the boys were home with Nick; in the evening we got our Royal Wedding vibes on and gathered at the Camerons place to watch. Nick and Matt went off to Mac club and then Burger King afterwards (anything to avoid our TV company!) and the boys watched a movie while Rachel and I provided our own running commentary on who was arriving and what they were wearing and the expressions on their faces and the moose antlers one dear royal seemed to be sporting. We thought Kate looked lovely although the bust on her dress was offputtingly Maddona-esque - and why did bride and groom both look so bored and sleepy? There was much biblical input although the clearest part was the reading of the Word - the short message was wafty with a moralistic emphasis and no gospel, full of high prose and theatrics. By 11.30 we'd seen enough (couldn't wait another hour for that balcony kiss) - it was great watching the wedding though; I remember watching Charles and Diana's wedding in 1981! Today has been a jobs-day - part of my job was to get lightbulbs and weather strips from the Warehouse where I bumped into Danielle, which led to coffee at Mitre 10's Sopheze insert for a great chat. Nick and the boys got under the house to sort out some insulation with a staple gun and carpet offcuts; after lunch I revved up Matt's hedge trimmer and took down heaps of foliage outside the diningroom window and along the driveway. Nick switched over to lawn mowing later and I zooted off to the church for my rostered cleaning. We had an amazingly hot and sunny day - just when we think winter has set in (with the highest temperature of 10 deg on Wednesday), we have these remarkable days tucked between (today's high was 22 and it felt hot). Short sleeves would have been sufficient but for melanoma-me it was long sleeves and jeans and a hat for all outdoor stuff :)

Autumn Reds

Anzac Day today, which I recently discovered stands for the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps. There was to be a parade in town but with the weather having turned cold and rainy there was no chance I was even going to try persuade the fam to go watch. Instead, we set up a meeting with Lyndsay and Nyree to discuss the youth camp which we're planning for a weekend in July. Nyree gave my hair a trim (part I of the plan), and then we stayed on for a remarkable lunch of hamburgers with bacon and patties, porkies, cheese, salad filling, and potato wedges and fries. Yum-a-lummo!! Left just before 1, around the time the Warehouse was opening, to get hold of some hair dye - part II of the plan. I now have very red hair which I rather like, as does Nick. Our evenings are now being spent more and more together in the lounge around the fire...there's music to be played, books to be read, conversation to be had - it's a happy time to gather in the warm room!

Girly fun on Easter Sunday

There were no chocolate bunnies or eggs to be found in our house this morning...rather, we greeted one another with the traditional "He is risen;" "He is risen indeed" Easter salutation. What a glorious unveiling of God's redemption plan! After the morning church service at which we had a guest speaker by way of Alfie Orr, we took a Dominoes lunch to the Botanical Gardens. We're feeling the need to soak up as much autumn sun as possible while it's available...and it was a magnificent day. The boys fed our left-over crusts to the ducks although it was the ubiquitous sea-gulls that snatched them up with gusto and delight. We extended an open home invitation to Andreas and Danielle's place (say what??) and were glad that Rene, Bron, Grant and Petru took us up on it. Andreas and Danielle graciously played along, providing cookies and coffee and apple tart (we quietly ate the tart while the kids were watching a DVD in the other room, heh heh). The four of us ladies got on to a discussion of what to do with Lynn's hair as it was getting seriously blah but I didn't quite know how to fix it. Had an idea of going reddish so we looked at styles and colours on the web, then started bringing out styling products and having fun...Bronwyn is quite the expert at the back-combing thing and after mucking about with my fine hair she demonstrated on her own mane just how effective it can be for adding volume and height. We were nearly rolling on the carpet in hysterics...thanks Danielle for the set of photos!

Music to my ears

Nick and I both out of bed at 7 am...why, we couldn't be sure as it was still dark. I think just a case of being wide awake and ready to start the day. Still had a rather late start to actually getting out of the house on an expedition to the Warehouse, what with producing duty rosters and bulletins for tomorrow and mucking about with music. We've been buying some tunes from Indelible Grace's hymn collection - they've taken the solid old theologically-rich hymns with unsingable music and rewritten the music, giving them a deliciously contemporary twist while keeping the beautiful truths - if you want to know more, go here and select the Indelible Grace version of O Help my Unbelief - one of our favourites - and here for the free sheet music and guitar chords for many revised hymns. Onto the Warehouse then where half of Timaru had gathered for some Easter shopping - the parking lot was so full we had to park across the road in Repco's parking! Caleb pooled his birthday monies and bought a nerf gun for Aaron and a big Lego collection for himself, which we all had fun building around the diningroom table. At 3 pm they biked up to the Phillipsies to play with Jayden and Dinnay. At 5 pm Nick and I took the left-overs of yesterday's soup (which was most of the pot still - I had made a BIG batch) for a cazh (that's teenage-speak for casual, I believe) tea of soup and home-made bread (Grant tried to get holes in the dough for some reason and was excited to find a little one). Erinmarie and Dannica have gone off to a youth camp on the North Island so it was just the eight of us...perfect number to all jump in the van and get ice-creams from Burger King. Lots of laughter and brain freezes all round...back to their place for several cups of tea and some serious and not so serious conversation. Home shortly after 9 pm, at which time we engaged in a Skype conversation with some SA family who were visiting my parents. Much hilarity ensued with both sides pulling faces and being utterly silly...managed to get some actual catching up done thanks to Heidi's sane two-minute summary!

A very Good Friday

Good Friday - a day to reflect on the suffering and death of Jesus. Nick presented such an awesome message on 'why Jesus had to die' - it wasn't merely so that He could identify with us in our sufferings, or for God to demonstrate His great love for us although these form part of the whole. The essential reason was for the payment of our sins - justice meets mercy at the cross. Our sins were never meant to be only forgiven and forgotten, but actually fully paid for in the currency of Jesus' own blood. With the penalty paid and the sentence served, there is forgiveness and reconciliation. What a beautiful plan started to unfold on this day! Attending the service were Sheila and Des, two South African ladies, one of whom has been friends with my mom since they were little girls at Sunday School together! After the church gathering we came home and I made carrot soup while Nick continued with some prep and the boys mucked about doing something or other. The weather was marvellous and so we took the opportunity to walk to Caroline Bay (Nick and I walked and the boys took their bikes). There was quite a buzz and vibe with heaps of people milling around the park area and vendors peddling their wares...we treated ourselves to ice-creams (I had brought a whopping $6, just in case) and then walked back. We had youth in the evening along the informal lines of watching the third Narnia DVD which Caleb was given for his birthday.