Last update of 2016

Well here we are  .... the last date in 2016, sitting in our housebus and enjoying the great outdoors.  It has been a busy and stressful December to say the least!!! We made it though.  We de-cluttered everything so we could pack up the house in Toroa Road, gave away loads, stored the precious (not needed things) and then only put in the necessities into our house-bus ' Toroa'.

Snuggles with the chooks before they went to a friend's house to be cared for.

We are currently parked up at my Mum's place after spending Christmas with her.  It has been great to catch up with friends and family so far and there are many more that we still need to catch up with.  Luckily (looking on the bright side here) we are parked up for the next few weeks as we await some work on the bus.  So we will have time to go visiting and sight-seeing with themselves.

Christmas lunch at Mum's

Life on the bus is actually going really well.  We estimated what we wanted on here fairy accurately so we have a home for the majority of our things without lots of squeezing and stuffing and there is nothing (in the nearly 2 weeks we have been living on here) that we have wanted and not had at hand.  There are still a couple of musical instruments lurking in the front seat that need a space and our lap-tops are also hanging with them however that is it for the homeless possession list.  I can still sit in the front seat though (I am writing from there now) so at least when we do head from here with our bumble-bee on the dolly trailer behind I'll have a seat :)

Catching (and releasing) dogfish down at Wakanui Beach, near Ashburtion

Himself with his catch and release.

I think the hardest thing is the changing of routine, aside from himself getting used to being with us all, all the time :).  Gone are all our past routines and with that comes a sense of freedom which we haven't really had before.  Life (and children) though kind of needs a routine ... even if it is a relaxed one.  We have definitely been in holiday mode with sleep ins and late bed times ... slowly but surely though we are beginning to come to a natural rhythm.  The animals on board have created it more than anything.  Walking the dog in the am, feeding  and snuggling the mouse too before we head out on adventures.  There is also our journalling which we are all maintaining.  We are no longer bound by timetables or time just jobs to be done at some stage in the day.

Exploring Christchurch's Gap Fillers

I'm sure the next few weeks and months will bring lots of learning, fun and new experiences so until then.

Arohanui

Y

November Update

It is all cranking up now!! Only a couple of weeks left in our home and then we are off on our housebus adventure.  November has been very busy with us getting everything ready to go - Packing, painting, sorting, cleaning, clearing, fixing, replacing and advertising both things to sell and our place to rent out.

Most of our time has been spent de-cluttering or keeping the place tidy so I'll just do a quick photo update. :)

Himself at JOTA (Jamboree on the airwaves)

The manager of the 'Tree House Cafe'  taking (and giving) orders

The 'Tree House Cafe'  kitchen and chef

Themselves investigating our old computer. Part of the de-clutter and they loved getting to pull it apart!

Moody Moonlight, Jasmine's one-eyed mouse, turns 2!! She is determined to come travelling with us obviously.

Themselves checking out the flooding after the big earthquake in Kaikoura.

Herself at riding.

Until next month and an update from the bus.
Arohanui

Y

October 2016 - The month we got our bus!

Well yes ... the big news for this past month is the fact that we finally have our bus!!  After years of thinking, looking and planning followed by a few months of searching and viewing we found our little 9m, 1956 Bedford bus - New Zealand new no less! :)  Our wish list was completely ignored it has to be said when we went to view Popi (said Popeye) and Liam fell in love.

The kids and I love it too and even more so after we took it for a Picnic tea down to Waikanae Estaury the night we got it back here.  It was even better than I imagined.  Now the work begins to sort everything in the house and the bus to be ready to head down to Canterbury for Christmas.   We are going to rent out our home here in Kapiti, keeping the downstairs flat as a holiday let and base for us when needed, and hit the road this December.

It currently has 2 single beds so Liam is going to rig up a double bed and bunks for us all and the only other major thing is that there is not hot water system ...... back to basics and boiling the jug for dishes and the pot for the shower for us in the first few months I think. The old couple who owned it for 26 years before us have a set up of a pot on a shelf in the bathroom and then a pump out of that which works the shower!  That is Kiwi ingenuity for you. :)

So here are are few 'raw' photos with the previous owners stuff and before we get stuck into it :)

Introducing Popi

View from the front door down to the back of the bus

View from the kitchen to the drivers seat.  Table in the middle folds down and packs away.

Same view further back with some of the kitchen in sight.

Bedroom.  The top 'floating'  bed will be made into a double for us.

The kid's bunks will begin in the space himself is going into and come out to meet the double bed.

Our new kitchen!

The rest of the kitchen.

Herself making a start on the dishes :) 

Till next month
Arohanui Y

The September that was .....

Oh Man ... late again.  I have been thinking about doing this for the past 2 weeks, honestly!  We have been super busy the last two weeks bus hunting, doing house bits and I have begun to teach Infant Massage. :)  So ... in order to actually get this update done I will now do a quick photo collection on some of the highlights of September 2016.

Bike rides in the sunshine with the dog.

Playing down the Waikanae River

A flooded playground!!  The middle of our street was also flooded and closed off

Making up birthday Lego.  Big 8 year old in the house!

Mmmmm .... birthday cake before fishing in Island Bay

Catching plastic bags.

At work during the Kapiti Women's Expo

Sorry very brief ... just trying to ease my feelings of guilt at not doing anything :)  Hope this finds you all happy, healthy and loving life.

Arohanui
Y

August

Already this post is late I know and then when I went to look at what photos I had to share I discovered that there weren't any!  It seems that August has passed us by without much notice or fanfare.  This month it will be just words sorry .... note to self  'take more photos' :)

We began the month in warmth and sunshine over in Australia only to return to the wind and the rain and the shock of what winter temperatures are meant to be like.  While the temperature was a bit of a shock, and I ended up unwell for a week, themselves were very pleased to get back to their beloved pets.  The chickens had a wonderful time holidaying on a friend's farm, hopefully the dog enjoyed his break and Moonlight (our one eyed mouse) survived the break with a resident cat, toddler and baby :)

Jasmine has been taking horse riding lessons for the last couple of months so she was particularly eager to get back with her friends and onto the ponies again.  I have to say that she looks pretty good up there and is picking up the skills very quickly.  Still need to work on her skills of getting the ponies ready however as she delegates jobs to others.  Although in saying that it was nice the other day to groom and saddle up the pony for her - old habits die hard :)  She has also given Guides a try as she is preparing to move up from Brownies.  She has worked incredibly hard to get all her badges completed before transitioning up and while she will surely miss her friends, she is more than ready to make the leap.

Daniel wasn't tempted by the horse riding and took a while to decide what he would like to do.  This month however he decided that he would like to learn ukulele after getting one (actually my old one when I was a kid) as a present a few years back.  He is really loving it and even without much - read that as none - practise as home he seems a natural at picking up what the teacher is showing  and sings and plays along with no bother!  It is nice to see him have his own 'thing' and he is really loving it.  The other main activity for Daniel is his Keas group and he too is getting ready to move up to Cubs.  Like herself he has been working hard to complete all his badge work and even more so when he realised he had a chance to get his 'gold' badge before his big sister!!  He has been for one Cub visit and really loved it so fingers crossed the transition goes smoothly.

While aside from me turning a year older, Liam working around here and the odd trip out and about I think that is about it from us this month.  Still got my mental note to take more photos so fingers crossed September will have a bit more visual appeal. Hope this finds you all warm, healthy and happy.

Arohanui
Y

Our July in and out of NZ

Well it has been a busy month of July!  Liam has been busy working on the house, as usual, and we are now very close to having a functioning front entrance.  We have also been on a family holiday for 2 weeks in Australia which was a much needed break from all of himself's hard work.  It was amazing weather over there with average temperatures of 23-26 C everyday!!

It was great catching up with family and friends over the two weeks, some that we hadn't seen for 20 years. We enjoyed the markets, beach, wildlife, national parks, restaurants, time together and generally relaxing.  Liam enjoyed a swim in the sea everyday, I relished running in daylight on the local tracks in the warmth, Jasmine revelled in not having to where thermals and jumpers everyday and Daniel loved exploring the wildlife where ever we went.

It was a bit of a shock coming home to rain and freezing winds to say the least however we are back into the swing of lighting fires and rugging up warm to go places and hopefully our own warm weather isn't too far away.  Here is a collection of holiday photos though somehow we didn't get any of the people we caught up with!! ..... obviously just enjoying their company too much to think about photos :).

At the airport ready to leave

The crazy surfers

Yay!! We found a koala on our Burleigh Heads walk

Feeding Kangaroo at Currumbin

Playing shop at Toowoomba muesum

Dressing up at Toowoomba

Bellbird walk, Lamington National Park

View back towards the coast from Lamington National Park

Exploring ancient Aboringal caves at Lamington.

Hope this finds you warm, well and happy

Arohnaui

Y

A Jolly June update

Well here we are in the 1st day of July and another update to be written.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words so after a very busy and eventful month I'll let the photos do the talking  ..... and yes that is my way out of having to think what to write :)

In no particular order ...

Jasmine helped out with some local planting at the beach . This helped her get a brownie badge and closer to her gold badge.

We tried some leaf stitching at the library for Matariki.  So much fun to do!!

After many cancellations due to rain Daniel had his National Kea Hike day and earned another badge towards his gold badge 

We created our family tree with Lego people. The kids dressed up the Lego people to be like the person in the family :)

Liam had a sunny birthday and day off work.  Here they are burning off some energy after some lunch out.

The finished retaining walls!!  Thanks Liam for such an awesome job

Finally some french doors in keeping with the age of he house.  Only one aluminium window left upstairs now.

Hope this finds you all happy, healthy and enjoying life.

Arohanui
Y

The merry month of May - with photos this time!!

Sorry ... accidentally hit publish instead of save so let's try that again with photos!

Yes ..... believe it or not I am here writing this before the next month arrives!!  I figure that while the fire is going, the kids are happily creating Lego world (the 2nd) and I'm busy procrastinating over doing assignments I should at least do something productive :)

Fishing with Dad down at Paekakariki Beach

I began our month of May by being away on reflexology assessments so themselves had to find a bit of fun here - well the kids probably had more fun that Liam who has been busy (yes, it is an ongoing mission) organising our porch and stairs for the front door :).  I have been doing a bit of an 'upgrade/sidegrade' to get my NZ reflexology qualifications as the Reflexology professional body here doesn't accept what I have completed through the UK.  Thankfully I have an awesome tutor who has cross credited loads so I'm not forking out that much money just a lot of time to complete assessments, case studies (to get up to the number of hours they require here) and study.  I am really enjoying it though, despite the rush, as I'm love learning and I'm loving reflexology.  To think I actively avoided it for so long!!

The new porch for our new front door which is actually at the front of the house!

The following weekend Liam had a weekend 'off'.  Well it was a weekend off from this place at least as he headed up with his brother to do some work on a place they have at Raetihi.  It is a great wee place though so Liam enjoyed it albeit working :0. The kids and I on the other hand had a fabulous time checking out 2 house-buses, visiting Nanny Beth (Liam's mum), going out for tea on Sat followed by sleep-ins and Devonshire teas on Sunday (Mother's day).  The kids were awesome the whole weekend I have to say (well who won't be when you are venturing around, visiting and eating out) and very sweet in using their own money to shout me the Devonshire tea on Mother's day down at our local boat club :) Didn't think I'd be having that treat for a while yet!

Themselves at Fisherman's Table

We did have a bit of medical excitement after that when Daniel fell and smashed his leg into his father's over-engineered shoe rack........ you can guess who came off second best :).  No breaks thankfully just a lot of pain and tenderness for the week or so which meant we had a rather 'quite' middle of the month.  We did manage to see our monarch butterfly emerge though (remember our cocoon from a couple of months ago) and also to get down to the beach one afternoon for themselves to have a go at surf casting and catching some seaweed and sticks :)

Yay.... our butterfly hatched before the storms set in.

Then in this last week the weather has definitely changed and in the midst of storms the kids have been busy making movies.  It has been a while since we did these (last winter I think) so the first ones were a bit of a re-learning curve.  They have come a long way though as they now plan, create and photograph everything themselves.  I find it so interesting to see how they work out what changes to make and how to get what they have in their head out into the world.  Very grateful to be able to the opportunity to be a home so they can follow their interests and very grateful to amazing software (both free online and purchased) that allows us to create their movies in  the comfort of home :)  We are still in production however if you want to check them out and other movies themselves have made then they are on You Tube here

Jasmine's clay dinosaurs for her movie .... still in production.

Well that is it from us lot for now. See you again next month

Arohanui
Y

The Merry Month of May

Yes ..... believe it or not I am here writing this before the next month arrives!!  I figure that while the fire is going, the kids are happily creating Lego world (the 2nd) and I'm busy procrastinating over doing assignments I should at least do something productive :)

I began our month of May by being away on reflexology assessments so themselves had to find a bit of fun here - well the kids probably had more fun that Liam who has been busy (yes, it is an ongoing mission) organising our porch and stairs for the front door :).  I have been doing a bit of an 'upgrade/sidegrade' to get my NZ reflexology qualifications as the Reflexology professional body here doesn't accept what I have completed through the UK.  Thankfully I have an awesome tutor who has cross credited loads so I'm not forking out that much money just a lot of time to complete assessments, case studies (to get up to the number of hours they require here) and study.  I am really enjoying it though, despite the rush, as I'm love learning and I'm loving reflexology.  To think I actively avoided it for so long!!



The following weekend Liam had a weekend 'off'.  Well it was a weekend off from this place at least as he headed up with his brother to do some work on a place they have at Raetihi.  It is a great wee place though so Liam enjoyed it albeit working :0. The kids and I on the other hand had a fabulous time checking out 2 house-buses, visiting Nanny Beth (Liam's mum), going out for tea on Sat followed by sleep-ins and Devonshire teas on Sunday (Mother's day).  The kids were awesome the whole weekend I have to say (well who won't be when you are venturing around, visiting and eating out) and very sweet in using their own money to shout me the Devonshire tea down at our local boat club :) Didn't think I'd be having that treat for a while yet!

We did have a bit of medical excitement after that when Daniel fell and smashed his leg into his father's over-engineered shoe rack........ you can guess who came off second best :).  No breaks thankfully just a lot of pain and tenderness for the week or so which meant we had a rather 'quite' middle of the month.  We did manage to see our monarch butterfly emerge though (remember our cocoon from a couple of months ago) and also to get down to the beach one afternoon for themselves to have a go at surf casting and catching some seaweed and sticks :)

Then in this last week the weather has definitely changed and in the midst of storms the kids have been busy making movies.  It has been a while since we did these (last winter I think) so the first ones were a bit of a re-learning curve.  They have come a long way though as they now plan, create and photograph everything themselves.  I find it so interesting to see how they work out what changes to make and how to get what they have in their head out into the world.  Very grateful to be able to the opportunity to be a home so they can follow their interests and very grateful to amazing software (both free online and purchased) that allows us to create their movies in  the comfort of home :)

Well that is it from us lot for now. See you again next month

Arohanui
Y

April Update from the Fays

Well aiming to get this to you at in the first week of May at least :)  Seems time keeps on slipping away from me lately what with our renovations, work, outings and study.  So while I procrastinate over doing an assignment I will actually get in and do this!  Decided to work backwards this month as our biggest excitement was actually at the end........

We finally got new carpet!!  We inherited three different carpets in this place with the oldest being in our room probably from 1953 when the place was built, then a some laid in 1990 (could date that thanks to newspaper underlay, as you do) and then the newest in Daniel's room from sometime this century.  So I think it was high time that we had one matching floor covering through out don't you?  It has made such a difference to the warmth and feel of the place however it does show up the paintwork that needs doing?! :)  Ah well all in good time..... Liam?

Yay! New carpet

Taken from my treatment room

The weekend before the new carpet was the long weekend of Anzac Day and we were treated to an awesome dawn service at Petone followed by a ride on the Passchendaele Express Steam train into Wellington.  We were up with the dawn and it was well worth it.  Jasmine then exceeded her call to duty by attending a second service with her Brownie group in Waikanae.

Heading to the dawn service

Jasmine with her Brownie group

Earlier in the month we had a chance to test out Liam's bus park down the side of our house when a family we met came to park up for a night. They are a family of five working with the Motor-home Association to show how it is possible to live sustainably in a house-bus for a year.  Took a bit of manoeuvring but their 11 m bus made it!  Now to actually get ourselves one :)

The Loop Crew Bus and their electric car 'Little Miss Sunshine'

Liam has also been busy on the house every weekend getting things a bit more sorted. It feels like it is really starting to come together now!! We have new opening windows in the downstairs flat, a porch and stairs leading up to it now.

Half way through the porch creation.... we done have it with the other window in.

And finally.... our month started with creating of a different kind as we ventured up to Levin  a few times to make the most of their Lego 'display'.  It was 120,000 pieces of white Lego for people to create, recreate, construction and de-construct with!  Such an amazing thing and the kids loved it.... we ended up staying 2.5hrs the first time we were there and then 2hrs  the second time.  Some of the structures built (by adults and children alike) were amazing.  If it ever comes near you I would recommend it whole heartedly!

First visit

Final touches to their newly created pieces... Daniel's cafe and Jasmine's pyramids behind.

Hope this finds you all happy, healthy and enjoying life.

Arohanui
Y