I returned from the UK a month ago (feels much longer though!) to find my Beautiful Bernie and a definite bump! Two days later we went for the 12 week scan (which I cant upload onto this for some reason) which was awesome - he/she moved around heaps and looks to be developing fine. Bernie is doing really well now at 16.5 weeks - ocassional boughts of tiredness but other than that I still get 8 hours of labouring out of her... joking - it is damn hard to get her to sit / lay down for a while! We go for the 19 week scan in just over 2 weeks and have the tricky decision whether or not to find out the sex... I'm tempted for us to find out, but not tell anybody else... we'll see!
Meeting up with so many friends and family in the UK was awesome and I wish B could have been there. Socialising helped ween me off the training schedule and back into serious drinking and not-so-serious conversation making - something I'd cut back drastically on before!
Bernie and I had an awesome trip to the Marlborough Sounds (see old pics - I cant be bothered to upload too many pictures tonight!) and had a bath outside each night after eating mussels and fish caught out in the bay. Bobby had a wild weekend with a dog called Earl - they ran around the land for 3 days straight - we fished with Earl's owners out at sea and watched a very white and a very black dog chase each other, play tug-of-war with sticks and chase each other again - they definitely had the better time, although we were a very close second!
School is winding up to final exams and B and I are both busy. Fortunately the seniors leave next week and after a few awards ceremonies, things quieten down. I'm looking for a new job as we have a falling intake and I was the last recruit... a few irons in the fire... we'll see.
Since B is still cooking and reading for a change (Go The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo!) it would be quite rude of me to bugger off training 20 hours a week so I have not got back into the 5:30am starts and lycra obsession, but have focussed my OCD towards making our garden churn out enough food to feed a small Pacific nation! We had previously made the front lawn a native bush area, but I returned from the UK to find more grass than native ever-greens! The 4 chooks are still doing great and churn out 2-4 eggs a day - depending on their mood:
The bottom of the garden used to have flowering cheery and plum trees, but the flowers / fruit were not up to much, so I borrowed a pruning saw and used it and my trusty axe, to anihilate anything over ancle height, before beginning our modest orchard, which now boasts a fig, orange, (a proper) cherry, orange, clementine, lemon and olive tree. I also have 3 plums trees propagating at the horticulture yard at school yet to go in. Our orchard is very modest - but trees grow like America's national debt and I'm sure we'll have fruit this summer... hopefully!
Friends of ours have handed on their trusty bantams which were bought to be cute and have names. I intend to buy fertile eggs and use them as an eating-chicken production line and for the record, I think they look stupid! There is a third, but it flew out of the chicken coop straight away, despite the fact we had clipped its wings... she might pass away a little sooner than God intended!
Here's Bobby - waiting to be thrown soemthing as usual! You can also see my veggie garden - 95% of which was a lawn when we moved in. We currently have spinach, silver beet, broccoli, cabbages, cauliflower, beetroot, peas, potatoes, celeriac, cucumber, courgette, melon, parsley, carrots, pak choi, rhubarb, tomatoes, basil, celery, peppers and artichokes growing in there... much more sensible than plain old grass... not sure where our nipper/s will ride their bikes though... there is a park 50m away fortunately!
In the foreground is the far end of the veggie garden (with respect to the previous picture) with the bizzarely located washing line... a thieving sun interceptor! In the middle of the picture is a gravel bed on which my bee hive will be located in about 2 hours time! First I have to carry the hive down 40+ stairs, but I'm very excited to become a proper Apiarist! In the background is the Bay Tree screen which I pray will stop the bees from annoying our neighbours!
This is the view from our verandah - the orchard (yes, I know its very small!) is behind the light green bushes - which are Feijoa trees produce heaps of bizarre fruit which have become very addictive - ever tried a Feijoa?!
We also have a passion fruit and two different grape vines as well as guava and a variety of pip fruit vines... our bees shouldn't have to travel too far to get a good feed! A new Beekeeping club has just begun in Nelson so I have been hanging out with lots of senior men who want to go to great lengths to explain their favoured methods and set-ups. Fortunately I have an ex-teacher friend here who is flogging me one of her 9 hives (she wants to down-size) and is happy to mentor me which is of great comfort as she doesn't mince ehr words. I have been reading up on bees, but am itching to get stuck in and learn the ropes on the job.
Bernie is in the kitchen making an apple tart as she simultaneously prepares our steak dinner. She sends her best wishes to all family and friends who might be reading this. We have been buying bits and bobs for the baby - I need to focuss on painting and DIY-ing soon... not as relaxing as gardening, but having a baby on its way will motivate my ass into gear!
I'm going to clock out now. Love and best wishes to all of you from sunny Nelson... I forgot to write about my recent school trip when I got to swim with dolphins... twice... I'm sure I dont need to elabourate much further than that!
Love from Bernie, Bump and Chris! x x x
