A Surprise for Pat

Pat has just received a message to meet John Sunshine at the old barn at 4 pm today.  Pat is very excited and is wondering why he wants to met her outside the old barn.

 

At 4 pm Pat is outside the barn waiting for John who she can see walking across the field. John arrives and he unlocks the barn door and they both walk in.

 

In the centre of the barn Pat sees something covered with a sheet.  “Guess what this is?” says John.  “Um, a piano.” replies Pat.

“No,” says John “You can remove the sheet and have a look.”

 

“Oh!” exclaims Pat, “It’s a Hitty bench.”

“Yes, and the seat lid opens and you can store things in the base. Would you like me to deliver it to Kowhai Corner Hall tonight or would you like to paint it first?” John asks Pat.

“I will paint it before the other Hitty girls see it,” replies Pat. John shows her where the paint brushes and tins of paint are. She can choose any colour of paint to use.

That night while Pat is in bed she thinks about what colour she will paint the Hitty bench.

Pat is back at the barn the next morning to paint the undercoat on the Hitty bench.

 

The following morning she is back at the barn to paint the bench her chosen colour.  Pat finishes the painting and goes to find John to ask him to deliver the Hitty bench to Kowhai Corner Hall tomorrow morning at 10.00 am.  Pat also tells the Hitty girls to be at the Hall at 10 o’clock tomorrow for a special delivery.

John delivers the Hitty bench on time the following morning and the Hitty girls are at the hall waiting for the surprise to arrive.

John has the bench covered and he carries it into the hall with the cover on.The Hitty girls go outside and pat Grey legs before she leaves and thank John for delivering the surprise.

The Hitty girls go back inside the hall where Pat asks them all to have a guess at what it is before she takes the cover off. No one can guess what it is.

Pat takes the cover off and the Hitty girls all want a turn to sit on the bench… which they do. They love the seat lid which opens to reveal a storage area.Pat says the leader of the Helping Hands Group can sit on the bench at the meetings and they can put paper, pen and other things that are needed at the meetings in the storage seat.

 

Pat smiles to herself knowing that they have this Hitty bench because she inquired about it.  

 

A Walk Around the Lake

The Hitty girls had a Helping Hands meeting in February and Yasmin announced that she was resigning as the leader of the Hitty Helping Hands Group.  She suggested Alana would make a good leader for this year.  Alana was shocked that Yasmin would suggest her in front of all the other girls and declined saying she is too shy to be a leader.  After a lot of discussion no one else volunteered to be the leader so the meeting ended without a leader chosen.  Yasmin  set the date for the next meeting in March and has said someone needs to come forward then to be the new leader.

 

The Hitty girls are at the March meeting and Yasmin has been alongside Alana and encouraged her to take on the leadership before the March meeting so Alana has now agreed. Yasmin passes the helping hand sign over to her to confirm her leadership for this year and hopes Alana will enjoy her leadership role.Alana announces that they will go for a walk around the lake next weekend and she hopes they will all come and bring their lunch with them.

 The following weekend…The Hitty girls are at the lake and are looking at the frogs.  

 

They walk around a bit further and they see the pukekos scratching around looking for food.

 
Further round the lake they can see the goldfish swimming near the surface, who are hoping they will get something to eat from the people visiting the lake.

 

Alana suggests they stop for lunch when she sees the bench seat and promptly sits down on the bench. Well, she is carrying the biggest bag! The others gather around and sit down to eat their lunch. The ducks are getting bolder and are coming closer looking for some bread.Some of the Hitty girls don’t like the ducks coming so close. Alana suggests they eat first and then feed the ducks with the extra bread they have brought for that purpose.

 

 Suddenly Edna stands up and points to the swans on the lake that have come into view. They are so beautiful she exclaims.

They have finished eating their lunch and they share out the stale bread slices they have brought with them to feed the ducks.  They each break up their slices of bread and throw it on the ground and in the lake.  Annabelle notices that there are not many ducks here today and she doesn’t see any Whio or Pateke ducks.

They enjoy the rest of the time at the lake looking at the shrubs and trees before they leave to go home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pat Is Thinking about 2006

Pat is sitting in the autumn sun thinking about the time she arrived at Kowhai Corner she is sitting on a bench seat that was made for the Hitty girls to use when they arrived at Kowhai Corner.  It was made especially for them when a friend heard that Hitty girls were coming to live at Kowhai Corner.  Pat was the third Hitty girl to arrive and she brought her teddy and book with her.

 

Thelma and Selena were the first Hitty girls to arrive at Kowhai Corner.  They arrived undressed but enclosed with them was a pattern to make their underwear.  There was a dress each ready made for them  that they could wear when they arrived.   The outside chairs were brought especially for them to use.  Thelma and Selena were given a very warm welcome by the Maori  ladies and the Maori children who sang and did Maori action songs together.

Edna and Yasmin arrived next within a few days of each other. Edna arrived undressed.  Yasmin arrived fully dressed and brought her toy kangaroo, her passport and some money with her. The plastic canvas chair and footstool with two cushions and cloth doll arrived shortly after for the Hitty girls to use.

 

Alana, Annabelle and Abigail were expected to be the first Hitty girls to arrive but they were delayed and arrived five months later! They arrived undressed with a pattern each for a dress and a piece of material to make the dress. Steve Sunshine repainted a wooden couch blue and gave it to the girls to have in Kowhai Corner Hall where the Hitty girls live in the attic. Pat remembers hearing (in 2006) that the Hitty girls were going to get a Hitty bench . Pat wonders when that will be.

Steve Sunshine also delivered an unpainted rocking horse and told the Hitty girls if they would like it painted they can do it themselves! The Hitty girls never did decide who would paint it and it has been in the attic since but it does get well used by all the girls.

 

Pat’s thoughts are interrupted by the chooks making a noise and she turns and sees John Sunshine walking towards her with his spade on the way to do some gardening. John greets Pat and Pat asks him if he knows anything about the Hitty bench that was supposed to be coming for the Hitty girls to use.  John tells Pat that it was on his list to make but during the following years more chairs have arrived at the hall and he thought that the Hitty girls had enough chairs in the hall to use.  Pat replies the Hitty girls would still love to have a bench especially made for them.  John answers,” Well, I will look at the plan I have for the Hitty bench and see what I can do about it this year.”  “Oh! Pat exclaims with excitement, “Let me be the first to know when you make it!”

 

 

 

 

Holiday Activities 2013

Pat, Jill and Ethel are looking after some pet rabbits while the owner is away having a holiday for two weeks. Ethel should be holding the rabbit before it jumps off her lap.  Jill is going to pick up the lop eared rabbit so she can clean the rabbit hutch. Pat is watching the three rabbits in the run. 

Annabelle and Rachel have been squeezing oranges and selling orange juice near the car park of the National Park all this week to raise money for the Whio, a New Zealand endangered duck,to help protect the Whio’s breeding grounds so that the duck will have a better future.

 

Thelma and Serene have spent time together playing with their new Lego Friends sets.  Thelma has the set 41019 which is a turtle with its own play area.  Serene’s set is No 41018 and is of a cat with its own play area.

 

Serene has been re potting plants during the holidays.

 

Joey is playing with his Fun Ho toys which were made in NZ. He has a yellow bulldozer/grader, an aqua trailer, a red tractor and a white trailer.