"is it a prehistoric bird bone?"
"is it a dinosaur bone?"
"is it a whale bone?"
"is it a dolphin tail bone?"
"is it a cow bone?"
"is it a human bone?"
"are we made of this?"
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
bone questions
"is it a prehistoric bird bone?"
"is it a dinosaur bone?"
"is it a whale bone?"
"is it a dolphin tail bone?"
"is it a cow bone?"
"is it a human bone?"
"are we made of this?"
pics from last week
Here's a link to some pictures from Caoimhe's birthday last week, beach times including our hut we made there, the trapeze, some pics of work done about the place like the whole lot of stones laid around the entrance which makes a very good difference especially when raining - no more puddles to walk through, the ground seems dry. The pics are takes by Ales one of our wwoofers.
http://aloisx.rajce.idnes.cz/Wwoofing_Martins_creek/
Frank left this message for us the day he left:
http://aloisx.rajce.idnes.cz/Wwoofing_Martins_creek/
Frank left this message for us the day he left:
Friday, May 13, 2011
The crossbow
Crafting a crossbow. Timo got the inspiration after visiting friends near Murchison and they had a play one - have to remind Timo that it is actually a play one, he has it in his mind that he could actually hunt something with it and keeps trying to sharpen the arrows.
Genes - both grandfathers and a great grandmother are/were hunters.
Ales and Timo sanding:
Target practice:
The craftsman Frantisek (Ales too) who comes from Czech Republic and a village with ancient heritage and whakapapa, with Timo.
Genes - both grandfathers and a great grandmother are/were hunters.
Ales and Timo sanding:
Target practice:
The craftsman Frantisek (Ales too) who comes from Czech Republic and a village with ancient heritage and whakapapa, with Timo.
Harvesting seeds
Busy at work collecting seed from one of the romanesco zucchinis. Not a lot of seed from such a humongous vegetable, we have plenty more. Will be able to add up the seed when dried, as long as we keep them separate from the pumpkin seeds, they are very similar.
Collecting wood form the beach
Doing wood with the wwoofers. Got heaps done in a few hours. Lennox always tries to chop the wood with an axe. Had a lovely time...
loading up
storing the wood
and going back for more.
Happiness!
Monday, May 9, 2011
from the day
Hard at work car washing - I left them to it whilst I did other jobs.
Fun with our lovely Czech wwoofers, Ales and Frantisek, that's Caoimhe in there:
Timo's first catch, a baby rat:
Fun with our lovely Czech wwoofers, Ales and Frantisek, that's Caoimhe in there:
Timo's first catch, a baby rat:
Friday, May 6, 2011
inspired art
Had the most lovely time today. it started with quiet watching out the window and naturally followed into drawing what we saw.
Caoimhe created her impression of the hay mulching, she's written 'Ha Bals' to mean Hay Bales. She really loves to add text to things and has started writing her name Cweva as she has obviously realised her written name doesn't look as it sounds.
Timo's drawing which is quite something for us because this is about his first picture he has drawn with careful observation and intention and purpose as opposed to the scribbling he has done which is more like an expression of his internal fuzz:
Caoimhe created her impression of the hay mulching, she's written 'Ha Bals' to mean Hay Bales. She really loves to add text to things and has started writing her name Cweva as she has obviously realised her written name doesn't look as it sounds.
Timo's drawing which is quite something for us because this is about his first picture he has drawn with careful observation and intention and purpose as opposed to the scribbling he has done which is more like an expression of his internal fuzz:
Great Grandfather's clocks
These guys were quite involved with their clocks today, comparing the numbers and realising theirs were different - some learning in roman numerals, family history - particularly interested in the ages of their great grandparents - mechanism of clocks - they found it all very interesting and then some time during the process, Timo lights up and comes out with "this is no ordinary clock". His eyes especially lit up when he realised he could change the time to "make the day last longer" which would mean he could "stay up later" in his mind. Caoimhe was more interested in turning the dial to change the big and small hands.
Visiting Seddonville
Visited friends who have a bit of land at Seddonville. We ate the most loveliest apples hand picked by Timo fresh off the tree. Also had fun with their alpacas that are like yin and yang. Lennox who has never seen such an animal before was completely fearless and when I put him on the ground, he ran straight for them! which of course set off something raucous in the paddock, the alpacas were very frightened of the little child coming straight for them.
And there were fluffy bantams that Timo could not resist picking up and cuddling:
There was a bit of rope perfect for Caoimhe to try out her acrobatic antics. She has loved swinging ever since she was tiny and would stay on a swing for hours if she could. Has evolved into some pretty impressive tricks these days.
And there were fluffy bantams that Timo could not resist picking up and cuddling:
There was a bit of rope perfect for Caoimhe to try out her acrobatic antics. She has loved swinging ever since she was tiny and would stay on a swing for hours if she could. Has evolved into some pretty impressive tricks these days.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Timo's trapping
Inspired by a day out at the blue penguin workshop that involved a *trapping workshop* with Reuben our local hard core hunter friend, Timo has discovered a new passion = trapping. Which coincides nicely with the rat blitz.
After working out how the trap Jeremy bought from the red barn with Reuben's help, he was off first thing this morning to set it. It's right here:
Under strategically placed leaves. Timo had the idea to camouflage the trap to make it burrow or nest like, he thinks he's going to catch a stoat or weasel, probably a rat. Next issue will be how to kill the creature as the trap is a trap that traps and that's it. He has already thought that drowning it in the cage may be the best option. hmmm... this is probably where my involvement with it stops and Jeremy takes over.
The day out at the workshop was really great. The first lecture was from a very passionate ornithologist, and we find it's mostly always interesting listening to someone talk about something they're passionate about. Timo happily sat through 2+ hours of this. A lot of learning about local birds and the endemic to the West Coast black petrel/taiko, other birds in general like the fascinating Sooty Shearwater (muttonbird) that can dive 60-90 metres and migrates from NZ to lattitudes of Alaska via South America! Also inspired further ornithological study of local sea birds, our immediate natives, maybe some future involvement with the Blue Penguin Trust as we have a local beach with a patch that is habitat for the little blue penguins (we saw their tracks one day) and they need help from time to time recording sightings etc; predators, outings with Reuben. Timo also has the idea to make his own coat out of rat skins, or skins of whatever he can catch using his trap. He was quite taken with Reuben's possum coast with seal teeth as toggles, Timo thinks he will use rat teeth. Will be keen to see if he still has the motivation once he realises it will take two hundred rat skins. He's been watching a bit of Bear Grylls lately, it is no wonder he's keen to utilise the wild and work in it, wouldn't surprise me if he tried to eat whatever he catches either...
After working out how the trap Jeremy bought from the red barn with Reuben's help, he was off first thing this morning to set it. It's right here:
Under strategically placed leaves. Timo had the idea to camouflage the trap to make it burrow or nest like, he thinks he's going to catch a stoat or weasel, probably a rat. Next issue will be how to kill the creature as the trap is a trap that traps and that's it. He has already thought that drowning it in the cage may be the best option. hmmm... this is probably where my involvement with it stops and Jeremy takes over.
The day out at the workshop was really great. The first lecture was from a very passionate ornithologist, and we find it's mostly always interesting listening to someone talk about something they're passionate about. Timo happily sat through 2+ hours of this. A lot of learning about local birds and the endemic to the West Coast black petrel/taiko, other birds in general like the fascinating Sooty Shearwater (muttonbird) that can dive 60-90 metres and migrates from NZ to lattitudes of Alaska via South America! Also inspired further ornithological study of local sea birds, our immediate natives, maybe some future involvement with the Blue Penguin Trust as we have a local beach with a patch that is habitat for the little blue penguins (we saw their tracks one day) and they need help from time to time recording sightings etc; predators, outings with Reuben. Timo also has the idea to make his own coat out of rat skins, or skins of whatever he can catch using his trap. He was quite taken with Reuben's possum coast with seal teeth as toggles, Timo thinks he will use rat teeth. Will be keen to see if he still has the motivation once he realises it will take two hundred rat skins. He's been watching a bit of Bear Grylls lately, it is no wonder he's keen to utilise the wild and work in it, wouldn't surprise me if he tried to eat whatever he catches either...
Monday, May 2, 2011
magic at martins creek
I call it magic. The mysterious force of life that is expressed in the natural world we are surrounded by. I notice it primarily with my children as they are the ones I am mostly engaged and fascinated with here as growing and blooming beings, and secondly with all that goes on in the natural world and the biodiversity and various ecosystems here, hence magic at martins creek. Here is some of it in the way they learn and create challenges for themselves to grow and evolve all the time. Life's never still, and when it appears to be, there is something simmering away on the inside to be expressed at random the next day, week or month as brilliant poetry, something drawn, conversation, or understanding to build upon and create something else. Learning all the time.
When they are given the space, they really do create and learn for themselves, they play and make mistakes and work it out, which I do believe is the prime example of life's longing for itself. We all do it one way or another (or sadly not), and children are experts at it. Lennox has been physically mastering going up and down obstacles. He chooses to go up and down steps, rather than the flat grass verge; up to the tree house and down again is a daily routine and here he could have chosen the easy path down the ramp, but instead he creates a challenge for himself:
It happens cognitively too.
I hurried Timo out of the shower the other day and it was met with a frustrated "awww, you disturbed my counting", (sorry Timo and quietly backed off) he was counting the 100+ mosaic tiles on shower floor with his very own created counting system, it used to be in twos, not sure exactly what he does at the moment.
I will note the last thing of the day for Caoimhe and her building of knowledge of human gestation. She's fascinated with it and brings specific books and asks for specific information. They all do this when they want to know more. If I don't bombard them with info, they almost come begging to be read to or shown how to do something. When we were talking about the baby coming down the birth canal part she (surprisingly) reflected on her recent-ish experience to say that she "really didn't like doing that" ~ hee, what a memory!
I think this is a bit of magic at work too. It's as if our sweet cat Tommi reads my mind and knows the great distress the chickens cause when they are out and muck up the freshly planted garden with baby seedlings or fresh mulch. They used to try and escape all the time and would find ways of getting out that we couldn't, but they haven't for many weeks even though there is a bit of a gaping hole in their door, and we are pretty sure this is why:
She torments the poor chickens to scared and frazzled balls of chicken fluff that are way too scared to venture out of their relatively small and sometimes barren enclosure to the lush pastures of yonder anymore!
(we do actually let the chickens out but haven't wanted to these past few weeks because of the new garden right next to where their dome is currently)
When they are given the space, they really do create and learn for themselves, they play and make mistakes and work it out, which I do believe is the prime example of life's longing for itself. We all do it one way or another (or sadly not), and children are experts at it. Lennox has been physically mastering going up and down obstacles. He chooses to go up and down steps, rather than the flat grass verge; up to the tree house and down again is a daily routine and here he could have chosen the easy path down the ramp, but instead he creates a challenge for himself:
It happens cognitively too.
I hurried Timo out of the shower the other day and it was met with a frustrated "awww, you disturbed my counting", (sorry Timo and quietly backed off) he was counting the 100+ mosaic tiles on shower floor with his very own created counting system, it used to be in twos, not sure exactly what he does at the moment.
I will note the last thing of the day for Caoimhe and her building of knowledge of human gestation. She's fascinated with it and brings specific books and asks for specific information. They all do this when they want to know more. If I don't bombard them with info, they almost come begging to be read to or shown how to do something. When we were talking about the baby coming down the birth canal part she (surprisingly) reflected on her recent-ish experience to say that she "really didn't like doing that" ~ hee, what a memory!
I think this is a bit of magic at work too. It's as if our sweet cat Tommi reads my mind and knows the great distress the chickens cause when they are out and muck up the freshly planted garden with baby seedlings or fresh mulch. They used to try and escape all the time and would find ways of getting out that we couldn't, but they haven't for many weeks even though there is a bit of a gaping hole in their door, and we are pretty sure this is why:
She torments the poor chickens to scared and frazzled balls of chicken fluff that are way too scared to venture out of their relatively small and sometimes barren enclosure to the lush pastures of yonder anymore!
(we do actually let the chickens out but haven't wanted to these past few weeks because of the new garden right next to where their dome is currently)
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