Happy Christmas 2012

Annabelle and Rachel are singing Christmas Carols.
The Kowhai Corner residents would like to thank the followers for their interest in this blog and say to them and other readers, HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND ENJOY THE HOLIDAY SEASON.

The Hitty Girls Babysit the Sunshine Children 2012

The Hitty girls decided at the November Hitty Helping Hands meeting to babysit the Sunshine children of Steve and Stephie, Harold and Brenda and John and Daisy from 9 am to 3 pm next Saturday.  The Hitty girls are going to take the children to Sculpture Park in the morning for a play on the equipment and come back to the hall for lunch.

Next Saturday Yasmin, Thelma and Serene arrive early to set up the hall.

Stephie arrives first with her daughter, Sharon and Daisy’s baby, William. Thelma takes William while Stephie goes back to the car to get Sweets. Daisy has parked the car behind Kowhai Corner Hall.

 

Brenda arrives next with her five children and she is ready to go Christmas shopping with Daisy and Stephie.

 

Stephie has returned with Sweets crying in the push chair and  Joey helps to comfort  her.  Joey and Tom are foster children who live with Daisy. They didn’t want to come today to be with the Hitty girls but Daisy said they can watch and help the younger children when they are playing  at Sculpture Park.

Daisy, Stephie and Brenda get into the car and travel towards the city to do some Christmas shopping and have a coffee at a Café.  They are hoping Selena and Ruby will meet them at the Cafe.

 

The Hitty girls assemble the children into a line to walk to Sculpture Park. Yasmin and Alana stay at the hall to prepare sandwiches and drinks for everyone when they come back for lunch.

 

 They arrive at Sculpture Park and the girls want a turn on the swings.  The boys run off to the climbing equipment. Sharon is interested in the buttercups that are growing on the lawn.

The Hitty girls take the children to the Maypole and do a dance for them.  They get a girl each and show the girls how to do a maypole dance which the little girls enjoy. Two of the babies have started crying so they must be hungry. Pat calls the boys to come back and they all walk back to the hall for some lunch.
 

 

Yasmin and Alana have made the sandwiches and have orange juice or milk for the children to drink.

 

Meanwhile in the city, Brenda, Daisy and Stephie have finished their Christmas shopping and have put the presents in the car. They walk to the Café and see Selena and Ruby there having a coffee and a whole chocolate cake is on their table! Brenda quickly sits on the empty chair and Daisy and Stephie get a chair from another table and sit down. They order their drinks and start finding out what everyone has been doing during the year... and that is another story!

At the hall the children have finished their lunch.Tricia and Edna have gone to wash the dishes. Yasmin reads the children The Christmas Story off the poster on the wall. Alana and has given out a cardboard stand up picture of the Angels, Joseph and Mary, baby Jesus and a shepherd to the children. When Yasmin says the name of the picture they are holding the child goes and puts it on the front table.

Yasmin has finished the story and are having a discussion when they hear a car pull up alongside the hall. Stephie, Brenda and Daisy have arrived to collect their children. They thank the Hitty girls for babysitting today.

 

 

Annabelle's New Knitted Dress

Annabelle and Rachel are feeding the last birds at Ruby’s Bird Rescue where they do voluntary work at the weekends. They are in the kiwi enclosure with the injured kiwis that will be set free once they have recovered.

 

Ruby comes over to them and tells them that she wants to go and visit Selena Sunshine at Kowhai Tree Farm. Ruby offers to take them home on the back of her motor scooter if they would like to visit Selena with her first.

 Of course they both accept because they love having a ride on the back of the motor scooter.

Selena is in her bedroom knitting when Ruby, Annabelle and Rachel arrive.  Selena is delighted Ruby has brought Annabelle and Rachel with her because she has recently finished knitting two dresses with her new Hitty girls pattern.  

 

Selena opens the wardrobe door to show them the new knitted dresses.  Annabelle likes the long purple one.  Rachel doesn’t like the short orange knitted dress.

Selena asks Annabelle to try the purple knitted dress on.  Annabelle loves it and says she would like it.  Rachel says she would like one the same.  Selena gives the dress to Annabelle and says to Rachel she will knit her one the same. Annabelle and Rachel go home to Kowhai Corner Hall and tell the other Hitty girls about the new dresses. Abigail says she will visit Selena tomorrow because she would like to see the orange dress.

Meanwhile Selena and Ruby have a good chat about their boyfriends and other things they have been doing since they were last together.

 

The next morning Abigail visits Selena and tries on the orange dress. Abigail loves the dress and wants to buy it. When Abigail arrives back at Kowhai Corner Hall wearing er new dress and the other Hitty girls admire it and  go to Selena's to order a knitted dress for themselves.  Selena is so pleased.

The Polish Heritage Trust Museum

The Polish Heritage Trust Museum in Howick, New  Zealand has items related to Poland and the Polish people in New Zealand.

Gretchen and Alana have come to the museum to look at the photographs, documents, ceramics, paintings, books, magazines, toys, traditional garments, Polish objects, embroideries, hand crafts and souvenirs.

 

Gretchen and Alana are offered tea or coffee and could help themselves to a variety of biscuits on the other table and while they look around the lower gallery. Gretchen looks at the Wycinanki pictures on the wall and tells Alana she wants to go to a class to learn Wycinanki, which is a beautiful Polish paper art.

 

 

 

Gretel and Jeanette, Gretchen's sisters, are also  visiting the museum today, (they had previously arranged with Gretchen to meet her there).  They all sit together to watch the film about some of the Polish refugees talking about their experiences before they arrived in New Zealand and their life in New Zealand now.
On the 30^th October 1944, 733 refugee Polish children and 102 adult caregivers arrived in Wellington, New Zealand by ship and then caught the train to Pahiatua where they stayed at a camp known as a “little Poland” where they lived for about five years.
 

 

They climb the stairs to the upper gallery to look at the items on display and are just awed at the beautiful traditional clothing which is so colourful and has beautiful embroidery on them.  There are beautiful porcelain dolls dressed in traditional clothing from the different regions on display as well as a variety of wooden dolls that have been made in Poland. Gretel, Gretchen and Jeanette were made in Poland.  

Poland is a land with a rich and diverse folklore and the white eagle on a red background is an emblem from a folk story.There are many regions in the country with their own traditions, dances, songs and costumes.


 

 

 

Hereford Fine China Bulls

 

Joey is standing by the Limited Edition bull of 100.  This one is number 82.  Rick Lewis founded Hereford Fine China in England and then relocated to Hamilton, New Zealand in 1981.  Nicola, his daughter is also an artist.

 Harold,Steve and Joey are admiring the Charolais Bull made by Hereford China, model 2.

 

Steve is admiring the bronze statue of Sir Tristram, the famous race horse who has sold for $2,950.00 New Zealand currency.

Harold, Steve and Joey admire the bronze yearling.

These items were for sale at Designers Barn, Cambridge, New Zealand.

 

 

 

 

 

Te Totara Pa

The model of Te Totara Pa was made by Doug Pick in the 1970’s.  Te Totara Pa at Thames stood on a bluff which was terraced on two sides and was visited by Captain Cook in 1769. Alana and Annabelle are at the Te Totara Pa as guests and the Maori way of life in the 1800’s is being acted out for them to see. 

 

The taumaihi is a watch tower which can be climbed to the top to see if any enemies are coming. A warning can be given to the tribe to get ready for battle. 

The hongi, which is pressing noses together, is a form of greeting which is been given by the couple on the left.

 

 One of the Maori's is showing the girls how  to start a fire.  Fire making was done with a grooved block called kaunoti and a pointed fire stick called a hika.Pataka is the store house where the food was stored. The kites are flax baskets used to carry the pipis from the beach to the maere.

War games using weapons along with wrestling, running and swimming were favourite pastimes amongst the men.Women played stick games, sang and danced as pastimes.

Alana and Annabelle are invited into the maere where they talk to the Chief and the women with babies. Alana and Annabelle thank the chief for allowing them to learn how they lived so long ago.

My grateful thanks go to Eris for allowing me to take these photos at the Cambridge Museum.

The Barn

 

Ethel and Jill are visiting the American style 1930/40 period barn.
 

 

 

Ethel has just used the outside toilet!

 

 

Ethel is pretending to drive the tractor.

Jill is talking to the girl who is feeding her horse.

 

 

 

Ken Harris is the model maker of this barn setting in 18^th scale.  This is on display at the Cambridge Museum and permission was given for me to take the above photos from Eris.

 

 

 

Hitty Meeting - August 2012

Holly has shown Yasmin her project about New Zealand sea lions that she has done. Yasmin has asked her to be the speaker at today’s meeting.   Holly’s mother made Holly a Kimono dress which Holly has brought with her to Kowhai Corner when she came here to live.  Yasmin has asked her to wear her Kimono to the morning meeting for a Japanese themed meeting. The Hitty girls will sit on cushions and have sushi for lunch.

 

Holly reads her notes about the New Zealand sea lion (Phocarctos hookeri) or whakahao who lives only in New Zealand. The New Zealand sea lion is sadly listed as nationally critical. The success of this ‘at risk’ species is dependent on helping hands for support to thrive.

 

The New Zealand sea lion breeds mainly in New Zealand’s Sub-Antarctic islands, however a slow return to the mainland is now occurring.   A small number now breed on the Otago coast, where 45 pups were born between 1994 and 2010.  This intelligent mammal can also be found at Stewart Island.

 

Holly shows the girls her picture of a mother sea lion sniffing her pup for recognition before taking her for feeding. Females give birth to single pups every one or two years in December and January each year.   As the pups grow older, they travel up to 175 kilometres from the coast to feed, and dive to depths of up to 600 metres. Male sea lions are typically brown/black in colour and grow to 350-500 kilograms.  New Zealand sea lions are known for their blunt noses and short whiskers.  

 

Holly went for a holiday in January of this year with the Price family to Otago. They stopped along the coast for a picnic and watched the sea lions playing.  One was a baby, says Holly as she shows the girls the photo.

 

After her holiday Holly found information about the New Zealand sea lions and wrote her project.  The New Zealand Children’s Health stamps feature the New Zealand sea lions this year.  A New Zealand sea lion pup in the Sub-Antarctic Islands is the focus of a 70c stamp and the other 70c stamp shows the head of an inquisitive sea lion pup.  The $1.40 stamp features a sub-adult male on Stewart Island.  The three stamps were issued in August of this year.

A Zoo Visit - 2012

Pat and Alana are visiting the Zoo.  Alana wants to look at the animals she missed seeing on her last visit to the Zoo.

They are very impressed by the big black rhinoceros from Africa which has come close to the fence.

The Impalas are an antelope found in Southern and Eastern African.  They have lyre-shaped horns and are able to move with enormous leaps.

The Alana and Pat get close to the Canadian black bear, which is a plantigrade (walking with the entire sole of the foot touching the ground as in man and bear) mammal typically having a large head, a long shaggy coat and strong claws.

Alana and Pat sit down and watch the giraffe eating the leaves of the tree. The giraffe is a large ruminant mammal inhabiting savannahs of tropical Africa. It is the tallest mammal with very long legs and neck.

The girls think the fox cubs are so cute.

The baboon has an elongated muzzle, large teeth and a fairly long tail. 

The Pandas are enjoying the sun.  Pandas live in the forests of China and eat bamboo.

The girls sit down and watch the meerkats. A zoo keeper is in enclosure counting the baby meerkats.

Alana and Pat can hear a scratching noise.  Alana looks down at the rubbish bin and tells Pat that she thinks the noise is coming from the rubbish bin.  Alana opens the rubbish bin lid and inside is a hedgehog.   Alana tips the rubbish bin onto the seat and the hedgehog is able to walk out.   They didn’t expect to see a hedgehog at the zoo!