Great Camps and Great problems

Fearsome artificial wounds created for first aid training

Camp classroom

11 May 2018

Sorry everyone, my computer crashed, and communications have been difficult this month.  I ordered a new computer through JB hifi but it never arrived and when we phoned up we found that they had lost our order.  They did give us our money back and mean while we had activated a plan B.  We took the old computer into a crowd in town who put in a new hard drive.  Finding which files were rescued and getting office back has taken us several weeks but most system are go now.

Our time to sort things out has been limited by the fact that we still had school camps staying.  On the weeks the camps were here we were busy all hours. We have now completed the 4 autumn camps, so it is time to sort out the rest of our life.  It was great having the kids here, and strangely I miss them as soon as they leave.  Much good work was done, and the weather stayed mostly dry and warm.  We were actually getting worried about the lack of rainfall and neighbours had already started buying water but last night we had a very heavy fall and the lowest water fall pond that we repaired is filling fast.

Last Sunday my mother passed away.   I was able to talk to her almost to the end and for the last few days my sister sat with her.    She was distressed and in pain but was given medication so to make her as comfortable as possible.   She has not enjoyed this last stage of her life after a stroke that made it impossible for her to live independently.  She lasted 97 years and outlived most of her generation.    Her passing marks the end of an era for our family.  We will now search for a memorial stone and plan our finishing up ceremony.

Luckily the news from Pip and Al is rather more cheerful. Baby P continues to put on weight and assert himself and Pip is slowly beginning to recover.  She is not able to travel or stand for long yet, but really, we are all so lucky she survived.  Next weekend we have mothering Sunday, which will mark a special first for her.

On the farm the goats have finally started to come into season and are getting mated.  Most of the summer vegetables are over but we are still ripening tomatoes.  The camps refreshed the garden beds and planted out successions of winter crops.  The beetroots are swelling, and we have not eaten all last years’, yet!

The grass is slowly going green again and it now gets dark by 6pm.  Winter fires are on the agenda again and I am hoping for some free time to work at crafts. Last night we had Montessori staff from Australia and USA here to look at how the children operated. They are planning an international conference for the end of the year.   I hope they felt we stood up to scrutiny. Our next commitment is for a local permaculture course, so work continues.