Happy Christmas 2013

 

‘…Wise men… came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?”’ Matthew 2:1-2

May all who read this blog know God's love this Christmas season.

Hitty Girls Babysit for the Sunshine Mothers 2013

Today the Hitty girls are going to babysit the children of Sunshine Families. This will give the mothers a chance to do their Christmas shopping.  Brenda, Daisy and Stephie are so pleased to have this time to shop without the children. Alana and Pat have arrived early to get the hall ready. They will look after the children from 9 am to 3 pm. They will go to Sculpture Park for a picnic lunch and spend the afternoon there so the children can run around and play on the equipment.

 Brenda has arrived first with her five children.

Stephie arrives next with baby Sweets and Sharon.

 Daisy arrives with baby William, Tom and Joey. The elder boys didn’t want to come but Daisy said they could help with the younger ones. Tom and Joey do like playing at Sculpture Park.

 

Brenda, Stephie and Daisy leave together to go to the city to do their shopping.They shop seperately and meet at the same Café as last year for lunch.

Surprise! Ruby and Selena are at the café when Brenda, Daisy and Stephie arrive, (It was pre-arranged).  They order lunch and Brenda starts talking about her life before she married Harold Sunshine.

 

Brenda was a ballerina and performed in ballets as a teenager.  She also was a teacher at a ballet school and taught the first and second year ballet pupils.  She met Harold when she was still at High School and they married when she was eighteen years old.  She misses been involved in the ballet school and would like to start teaching again.  She also confesses that having five children to look after has made her tired and restless… she wants a break from the children. Hmm… Stephie will suggest to Harold to take Brenda on a holiday without the children.

Meanwhile back at Kowhai Corner Hall the children are happily playing together when Alana announces it is time to go to Sculpture Park. 

 

They walk to Sculpture Park and have a picnic lunch before the children run to play on the equipment.

 

 Sharon and Jackie run to the swing. Sharon gets there first and has a swing Tricia and Pat give Hope and William a turn on the see saw.

They go to the slide next where all the little ones have a turn.

 

 

 Tom and Joey encourage Darren to stay on the climbing frame. Then they run off to another part of the park to practise kicking the rugby ball.

 

The time has gone quickly and it is time to walk back to the hall so the mothers can collect their children on time.It has been a very happy day for all.

 

 

 

The Moa Dig

This is part two of A Visit from Gretel and Jeanette

The next morning Gretel and Jeanette go to visit  Ruby’s Bird Sanctuary .  Ruby hears her dogs barking so knows they have arrived. Ruby invites Gretel and Jeanette to come inside to have  lunch.

 

While they are eating lunch Gretel tells Ruby about their visit to Kowhai Corner to visit their sister, Gretchen. She also adds that they had a meeting t with the Sunshine brothers last night and asked if they could do a moa dig at the back of the farm near the river. The Sunshine brothers turned down their request.  Gretel and Jeanette are very disappointed about being turned down because they have done research and they have discovered that moa bones were found in that area in 1874.

Ruby tells them that Selena Sunshine is their sister and she is her best friend. Ruby offers to ring Selena and see if Selena can get her brothers to change their minds. Gretel and Jeanette exclaim that would be wonderful if she would do that. Ruby rings Selena and explains the situation to her.

Selena replies that she is going to Kowhai Tree Farm this weekend and will speak to her brothers then. Selena works as a typists in the city and rents a flat in the city. She comes home to the family farm most weekends. At the weekend Ruby gets a phone call from Harold Sunshine giving Gretel and Jeanette permission for a dig. Gretel and Jeanette will be allowed to camp at the back of Kowhai Tree Farm for seven days only and they are not to go to an area Harold specifies (where K. C. Bunnyborough is established).

They leave Ruby’s house the next morning and go to Kowhai Tree Farm. They put their tent up in the area where they want to dig.

                                        

The next morning they get up early to study their map before they start digging. They dig for three hours before they stop for something to eat and drink.

They continue digging all day. After they have dug in an area they put the dirt back and dig in another area.

                                  

It is now the late afternoon of the fourth day of digging when Jeanette calls out to Gretel that she has hit something hard and it looks like a bone! Gretel comes over and very carefully they dig a bit more and it does look like a bone and it is a big one too! What excitement they both feel. It is now getting dark and it hard to see so they decide to stop and they will continue in the morning.




                                       

They are back at the site early the next morning both keen to continue digging. They had been digging for about four hours when the length of the exposed bone could be seen. It is the length of them!

“How are we going to move the bone?” asks Jeanette.

“I will go back to Harold’s house and ask him if we can use the pony, Greylegs and a cart,” replies Gretel.

Gretel comes back with  with a cart attached to Greylegs. Harold and John have also come to help them put the bone in the cart. They have all agreed to take the bone to Ruby’s house. Harold has asked them not to tell anyone that they dug the bone up from Kowhai Tree Farm. Gretel will send a sample of the bone to the laboratory to get it tested to see if it is a moa bone.

 Ruby can’t believe it when they arrive at her house with the big bone.

 

They carefully take the bone off the cart and put it on the ground and cover it with a cloth to protect it until they know if it is a moa bone.

 

The sample test result is positive!!! It is a moa leg bone. Reporters start ringing Ruby’s house wanting more information and want to take photos. Articles appear in newspapers and magazines.  People can  visit and pay to see the moa leg bone.  The money that will be received will be used to help maintain Ruby’s Bird Rescue Sanctuary.

 Two days later… Ruby, Gretel and Jeanette have changed their mind. They have decided to donate the moa leg bone to a museum because Ruby’s phone is ringing all day and night and people are outside her property each day waiting to get in to have a look at the moa bone.

John has built a bone shape  table top in memory of the moa bone find and gives it to Ruby's Bird Rescue Sanctuary. Gretel and Jeanette have left Kowhai Tree Farm with a very happy memory.

Open Day at Kowhai Tree Farm

 

The Hitty girls have had their meeting at Kowhai Corner Hall and at 1 pm Alana has arranged for the Hitty girls to be the hosts at the open day at Kowhai Tree Farm. Annabelle and Rachel will be in the maroon barn with the hens and will answer any questions visitors might have. Pat will be at the paddock where the cows will be.   Anchor, the cow with her adult calf and Charlotte and her adult calf will be popular so Pat will have some apples to give them so they will stay near the fence. Serene and Thelma will see if they can find the ducks that are often at the farm. Abigail and Tricia will be with some pet sheep that will be able to be patted by the visitors. Edna will be with the two goats. Yasmin has offered to stay at the hall to put up the posters of Anchor that she got in 2008.  She will also give  all the visitors a free drink of milk when they come to the hall.  Alana is going to be walking around the farm to see that is going well.   Alana asks the Hitty girls to be back at the hall at 3 pm because Harold and John will be arriving with a special surprise.

Annabelle and Rachel have been helping to care for the hens since they arrived at Kowhai Corner  so they are just the right two to be with the hens today. They are delighted to have chickens to show the visitors today. 

Pat is patting Anchor and is hoping the cows will stay together because it will be easier for the visitors to see them.

 

Serene and Thelma have found a white duck with ducklings. This is an unexpected surprise for the visitors to see.

 

Abigail and Tricia have put two sheep with lambs in a small enclosure for the visitors to  pat if they want to.

Edna is with the two goats that came to Kowhai Tree Farm last year. Jill and Ethel are with her to help and keep her company.

Yasmin has put the posters up and has served milk to everyone who came to the hall.Alana is pleased how the day has gone and notices it is after 3 pm and hopes Harold and John won’t be late because she can see the Hitty girls walking back to the hall.

Beep, Beep, the truck has arrived.Harold and John go to the back of the truck and unload two Alpacas.

 This is the first time the Hitty girls have seen Alpacas. These animals will be an interesting addition to Kowhai Tree Farm.

 

 

 

Prince George Alexander Louis

 

The Hitty girls have met to celebrate the arrival of the new Prince. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Kate had a son on 22 July 2013.  They have named him George Alexander Louis. 

 

Edna has brought her wooden pull-along toy. Yasmin has brought along her toy kangaroo which has a Joey in its pouch. Annabelle has brought her old milk glass egg cup. Pat has brought her teddy bear which her mother made.

 

Thelma has brought her Hitty book and Serene has brought her cloth doll. Ethel has brought her Milly Molly Mandy book and Jill has brought her Crown Lynn swan which is china and it use to be on her chest of drawers in her bed room when she was a baby. She never played with it but used to look at it when she was in bed before she went to sleep.

 

Alana announces she has brought a buzzy bee toy to send to Prince George on behalf of all the Hitty girls at Kowhai Corner. Alana remembers has his father, Prince William loved his when he visited New Zealand as a baby. The afternoon ends with afternoon tea of rice crackers and blue vein cheese, Queen Cakes and Brighton Gingerbread.

 

The next afternoon Alana has wrapped the buzzy bee toy ready to post to Prince George she has put a beautiful blue ribbon on the top… she has put his address on the bottom of the parcel!

 

 

 

 

 

Aunt Susan Leaves Kowhai Corner

Aunt Susan came to Kowhai Corner with her baby son in 2009.  She was invited to help manage the Hitty girls and settle and record any new arrivals that come to live at Kowhai Corner. She accepted the job because she thought the country fresh air would help her son and his allergies.  Her son could only tolerate milk from a wood breed of cow so Aunt Susan brought the her cow, Sweetheart, with her to Kowhai Corner. Aunt Susan had only planned to stay for two years!

 

Aunt Susan goes and says goodbye to Sweetheart.  Steve has given permission for Sweetheart to remain at Kowhai Tree Farm because Aunt Susan can't take it with her to her home in Utah.

 

The Hitty girls give a farewell afternoon tea for Aunt Susan and thank her for her help at Kowhai Corner.  Alana presents her with a gift which the Hitty girls all gave some money towards.

 

The Hitty girls ask Aunt Susan to open the present.  Aunt Susan opens the present and inside the box is a pull-a-long Buzzy Bee.  Her son will love playing with that.

 

John will take Aunt Susan to the bus stop where she will catch a bus to the airport.

 

Aunt Susan is a Johanna Chavre doll, no 144, made in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A. She is 21cm tall and is made with wire and clay.

ANZAC 25.4.13

Jill and Ethel have arrived at the Anzac service that is going to be held this morning.  They are given a programme and go and sit down one two of the many white plastic seats that have been set up for this service.

This year, after the service the children present were given a metal pin of a pukeko wearing an army lemon squeezer hat with the words; REMEMBER THEM HAMILTON NZ 1914- 1918.

Jill pins the metal pin of the pukeko onto the front of her dress.  Back at Kowhai Corner Jill shows Serene and Thelma her new pukeko Anzac pin.