20 July 2012

It will soon be 12 months since I became a stay at home dad/student. I remember when I finished up at work that I wondered what I would so to fill in all my time. I have to admit that some has been used wisely and some no so productively. Mariah and I talked about how it might be a good opportunity to expand the family and try for another baby. I wasn't so sure, I mean I would be at school a lot, be under a lot of pressure to do well in my final year, as well as all the other responsibilities that come our way, Me in the Young Men's Presidency, and Mariah the Primary Presidency. So we decided that if it happened we would be over the moon, and if it didn't we would remain happy for the two beautiful girls that we have.

The year went on, things were great, we were happy, Mariah was developing great relationships with Kym and Leona through her morning exercise group. I was happy to be at home with the girls, getting cuddles, and helping out where and when I could. Then school started, and I was home a little less.

School was great this year. I did well in my exams, I even topped the class with one of my final assignments with an almost perfect mark. The weather was warming up and it was beginning to look a lot like camping season. We love camping. But, before camping season could begin, I had 4 exams to sit, two take home and two at school. My take home exams were both due in the first week of exams, so Mairah and the girls packed up and headed to Hobart to stay with Mairah's family so that I could have quiet while I studded.

During the time away Mariah called on numerous occasions, on this particular call she mentioned that she had to go to the shops to buy some "that time of the month stuff." It is always a little disheartening when it comes around. This time though her period was late, quite late and we thought that this might have been it.

When the girls returned home, Mariah mentioned that it wasn't just a normal period, but a miscarriage. She had found an embryo, and later, what looked to be a placenta. Mariah of course was devastated and upset. I was, in my own way saddened. Mariah received a blessing from bishop and that helped her cope. Now Mariah is not one for sharing intimate details about her life, I may be asked to pull down the post, but I believe that there are others that can relate to this and share experiences, as it is more common than people are aware. Some research suggests that up to 50% or more end in miscarriage. So for Mariah, 2 successful pregnancies out of 3 is better than what the research suggests is common. .

On the 20th of July 2012 Mariah will better those odds again when she gives birth to our third child. That is right, we are expecting another. We had our 12 week scan just this week and they say that things are fine.

Mariah has been told to rest up with this one, and do as little as possible. Her mum has been up this week helping out and getting things in order, just as the kids pull them out of order again.

All we know at this stage is that the baby is 13 weeks old, and has all the appendages that it should.

We are excited, the girls are not too sure yet what to think. We went camping with Dan and Rachelle, who are due to have a baby in a matter of weeks, so I am wondering if Hanisi is wondering why Mummy's tummy is not big like Rachelle's... it will be Hanisi, when the baby grows.

Petal Point (Cape Portland) Camp

I had been texting a mate during the week leading up to Christmas about going camping soon. He called on Friday to see if we would be ready to leave in a couple of hours. I was in the city at the time waiting for one of our cars to come back from the mechanic. It was a race, but we made it, minus a few food items.

Petal Point (Cape Portland)  Was our destination. I went there with Mick Reid the year before, this time I was with Dan Reid, Micks older brother. I have know the Reid boys for years, and appreciate their friendship. They are good people and would do anything for any one. Dan and his fiance Rachelle gave us a little extra time up our sleeves to pack because Dan had stopped to help an elderly couple with a flat tyre on his was in to town. That's the kind of people they are.

This is our camp site and the view.

The camp site to the left and the boat ramp/beach access to the right.

This small photo does not do it justice. It is a nice spot. Not over crowded, a few families, no bogans (other than us) and a million miles from no where. We arrived about 7pm Friday night, set up camp had some supper, put the kids to bed and then went to bed ourselves.

On Saturday, Dan suggested that we take a drive and see the sights of the area. I have been to this area of the state many a time. My father grew up in this area. Some of his family still call it home. There is a lot of history here for our family. I am told that in the hills to the right are the ruins of an old homestead where a John Vincent Terry lived, and I assume died. I have not been to the site, however, other family members have. For those of you that don't know my middle name in Vincent, after John Vincent Terry... So this place kind of has a bit of meaning to it for me...

Although I had been here many times, there were places that I had not been to, and neither had Rachelle or Mariah. So Dan and I, who love to explore, took our families to a few places that we thought might be of interest.


Stop number one was Deep Creek, at Eddystone Point. Here we stopped for a swim and a look around the rocks and to build some sand castles.

Dan spotted a Blue Tongue Lizard, so I stopped to pick it up to show the girls. They all had a feel and a play and then we moved him off the road where he was safe.

 
 Milly didn't like having to too close. 

From there we drove around to the Eddystone Lighthouse, which is still in operation and can be seen for miles down the coast. While we camped at Swimcart beach recently we could see the lighthouse at night.

On a TV show that the kids watch there is a character called GRAMPY RABBIT, who works in a lighthouse. So they were calling this Grampy Rabbit's lighthouse and singing the songs that he sings.

In the end it all got a bit much for the kids and they were getting a little hot and hungry ...  Can you tell?

This is the view south from the lighthouse. (looking towards St Hellens way) I believe that these beaches are the Bay of fires.

 

 From there we went and had a look at Anson's Bay. We didn't stay too long as it was full of shacks and a dark gloomy bay. From there we went to Gladstone, the home of my Dad. We had to go here because I had forgotten to bring something for breakfast, and also to have an ice cream and a play at the park.

Just as we were leaving, Dan Spotted an EMU.

We enticed him over with an icecream.... and I almost lost it... He was quick.

We headed back to camp, with just one more stop before we made it back. This time we went to Little Muscleroe bay. The water here was great and we went for a little swim and played with the sand. After a while another family turned up with a million kids. Most were a little older than Hanisi. They had fun burying Hanisi in the sand. They were from Western Australia and were driving around the state. They were going to drive to Strahan from Muscleroe bay.. .WOWZERS.. we explained that that would be about a 6 hr drive from where they were. We left Muscleroe bay about 6pm.

Back at camp it was time to put our feet up .....

Have some dinner.....

Light the fire......

And relax and enjoy our last night of camping. We had fun.. We came home tired, sandy, salty... and ready for our next adventure. We almost decided to head south as soon as we got home... I think we will have a couple of days rest before we head off on our next adventure.

Big Thanks to Dan and Rachelle for the great experiences. Look forward to camping with 'Peanut'

Ahhh what a great time of the year... The weather warms up, things in the garden just explode... and the best thing of all is that I have finished uni for the year and get to be at home to enjoy all the things I love. Yes I love my garden, I spend a lot of time in it. I also love being at home with the kids.. watching ABC4 Kids in bed till Mariah gets home from her morning. There is no rush to be anywhere, we have all that we need right here at home.

Mariah took the girls to an 'Active Launceston' event this morning where they play and have a ball. The girls came home last week with a whole bunch of new games to play. It is great that Mariah takes them to these things. It was planned that I go with them, but a neighbor needed some help for a couple of hours this morning.

While they were out I got stuck in to some gardening. I planted our sunflower seeds, put up some wire for a new climber that we have. I don't recall the name, but it has the most beautiful scented flowers.. I'll add a pic when it flowers.

I also had to transplant some pumpkin seeds, and look what I found in the strawberry patch.

The first piece of fruit for the year... if you don't count rhubarb as a fruit. We washed it off and then all four of us took a bite. MMMMmmmmm I'm not a big fan of strawberries, but when you grow them yourself they are always better.

We also picked some of the first peas for the year, enough for a pod each.

We had some people here for tea on Saturday and Sunday. We had a Lovo (Fijian) Hungi (New Zealand) or an Umu (Tongan) for earth oven. It was great.. and I believe there is a blog somewhere that is on the way for that. Anyway on one of those days some one said (I think) that they don't like having to shell all the peas in preparation for a meal. I don't believe that any of our peas make it that far... I know we did shell some last year.. but  I think we just ate them all before they got cooked... that is the best way to eat peas.

For tea tonight we will have a stir fry I believe.. and too that we will add..

 

Bok Choi

So there it is ... that is what I did today. Mariah said that there were thousands of people rushing around in town shopping.... I know where I would rather be.

:)

Blog for a chook lovers

I promised this information to Alana, who followed the birth of our first chick.

As I often do, I have a go at things myself rather than pay for something. This time I was having a go at an incubator for some fertile chicken eggs that we had. Our chooks would not go broody so I had to find an alternative.

This is our incubator. It is a styrofoam box that we picked up at Youngs Vegi Shed. They are free, normally behind the counter there somewhere.

The first thing we did was fix a light, through a small hole in the top of the box. The light that we used was given to us from someone who purchased then at a garage sale.

**Ignore the seed raising mix at the back. Trying another experiment. 
We use a blue light with a wattage of 25Watts. You can use the traditional light (incandescent) or the fluro type globe. The wattage is the same. 25 or 24 watts. Any stronger and it will get too hot and kill the embryo (found out the hard way). You will find that this stays about 35-45 degrees, depending on the outside temperature. During the day it warms up, and cools as the day ends. I had a dimmer switch to put on, but must have wired it wrong and it blew up. So if you have a sparky at hand, see if they will wire it up for you.. I know a couple but was too stupid to ask for help.

I still have the switch, as I like to change the globe to candle the eggs.

The way that I control the temperature is this little door at the front.

It has two purposes. Control the temp and also as a viewing area. This allows me to monitor the eggs and open the door/lid to control the temp.
I made this out of an old takeaway container.
I cut the bottom off it and slid it into the hole that I cut in the box. I then used silicone to fill the gap around the sides, just to ensure that it is sealed properly.

In the cooler months I have not had to use the door, but as it had warmed up the past couple of days I have found that I just remove the door completely and it stays around 35-37 degrees. There will be some that say that it is too cool for the eggs, but it is much better than being at 45-50 degrees. The chicks will survive a drop in temp, but not an increase. This is where a dimmer switch would come in handy. You will get to know when to take the lid off and when to leave it on.

If you have a room somewhere that stays a constant temp (very hard to find) then this will save you the hassle of checking the temp all the time there is a fluctuation in the outside temp. We kept ours in the garage.

So inside you will the the eggs sitting on a wire tray that has been folded into a wave pattern. This just helps when rotating the eggs 2-3 times a day.. it just keeps them stable and keeps the temp even around the egg. I have a thermometer close to the eggs so that I can keep an eye on it. What you can't see is a water dish. It is important to have some humidity during the growing process. This prevents too much moisture drawing from the egg. I have read that you should increase that the humidity should be increased close to the hatch day.. 90% aprox. To do this you need to increase the surface area of the water. I just used a wider dish or Tupperware container. 

In about 21 days you should see a little crack in the egg, and in 24 hrs you will have a chick.

We have lost a lot due to high temperatures, If you can get a dimmer switch, and a room that has a constant temp, more so than a garage then you should have come success. 

This is what you should end up with. 

A Chick that is happy to sleep on your hand.

Birthdays and Bike rides.

September is birthday month for Hanisi and I. For those that don't know, Hanisi and I share the same birth date. and until this year, if our birthday fell on a Saturday we shared it with the AFL Grand Final.

It was a great day, we had a picnic down at Punchbowl.

The day of out birthday was a nice day and as I was waiting for my ride to church, we sat out the front and soaked up the sun.

The kids stayed home as they have been a little sick and we didn't want to share the bugs.

The birthday and the bike ride were two separate events, but to save time I have included a couple of picks.

Can you see the excitement on our faces? I don't know why we were looking like this, as we were happy to go for a ride. Must have been a bit bright that day.

Hanisi is getting really good at riding her bike. She can make it up the hill outside our place and loves the ride down the hill.

The kids love to see the train. We hear it everyday, however only get to see it on occasions. So it was a treat to see it while riding our bike.

Rounding the final bend to head home. This time next year Hanisi will be needing a bigger bike. Good on ya Hanisi for loving the out doors.

First Baby Chick

After school on Friday I had to go the Youngs Veggie Shed to get some apples and while I was there, I thought, "I'd better get another styrofoam box in case this chick decides to hatch over the weekend." So I did. I also stopped in and got some chick crumbs for food.

I had my doubts, as previously mentioned the others were unsuccessful due to bacteria, and the incubator had reached some high temperatures at times. I woke at 4:30am to the crow of our rooster that didn't get locked up in his box overnight, so I checked the eggs and nothing.

We visited Mum for her birthday, and the Dr to fix my finger, and a quick visit to see Aunty Alice and Uncle Josh and their puppies. I realised that when we were out that I had forgotten to open the vent on the incubator. We do that around 10 or 11 to keep the temperature down. So naturally as soon as I got home I checked the eggs to see if the temperature was ok, and I saw to my great surprise...


Insert first Pic.

The day finally arrived, right on 21 days (gestation period for chooks).

I was so excited. I called for Mariah to come and take a look. Then she called the kids to come and have a look. It wasn't much to see for them, but we explained that there was a little chicken inside and it was trying to get out of the egg. Hanisi took it in, but Milly just wanted to pick up the eggs.

We had to go out for the rest of the afternoon, and then to Grandmas surprise birthday party. The party was great. It was good to be with the family and see how it has grown. I got to cuddle some babies that I had not cuddled yet, and see those that I had not seen in a while. But at the back of my mind was the egg.

We got home just after 8 and the first thing I did was... Check the egg.

this is what 6 hrs of work looks like. Doesn't look like much, look closer and you will see. Think of how hard we must hit an egg on a hard service to get it to crack, then you will realise that this is a lot of work for a little 21 day old thing.

As I was playing with the camera to see if there was any difference in the crack, I thought I heard something. I stopped beeping my camera  and I heard........

Coming from inside the egg. A good sign, I hope. It is hard not to help the little fella, but if I do it will cause more harm than good.

So we wait. 9:00 and I and back in. I dunno if I will stay up or just wait till morning. Sunday Mornings are always a rush, so I fear that I won't be able to enjoy it as much as I could if I were awake when it decides to pop out.

2:00am. I woke in anticipation that it might be out. No such luck. It had cracked a little bit. Didn't take a photo.

6:30am, The chick has been working through the early hours of the morning.

While I was watching another small piece of the egg came off,

When we came home from church we were expecting to see our new baby chick... Not so. But it had been working hard. 

The next few pics are what occurred over the next 2 hours.

Doing a back flip for a fancy entrance in to the world.

*that is its belly button not it's bum. *

Taking a well earned rest. 

I can't believe that we did it. Turning the egg three times a day, watching the temperature like a hawk. Loosing a few, but gaining experience the more we went on. We have him in a separate incubator now while we wait for the others to hatch in a few weeks time.

The kids were excited to see it hatch. No "Where did it come from" or "but why" questions. 

This is what Milly thought of the whole situation.  

ACTIVE MARIAH

"Active Launceston  is a community driven project aimed to improve the health and wellbeing of the people of Launceston through increased participation in physical activity.

UTAS is leading the project. Funding has been provided by UTAS, the Federal Government Department of Health and Ageing, Sport and Recreation Tasmania (through the Community Recreation Grants program) and Launceston City Council."

Mariah has been involved with Active Launceston, I think, since the earl days. When we were living in the city she would go every opportunity that she could. Since we have moved out to Perth, her trips in to town have been limited, however there is a couple of, what I call, "strange people" (those that wake before the sun to workout) out here that Mariah loves to work out with. Although the Perth "strange people" group is great, Mariah often keeps and eye on what is happening with Active Launceston.

One day Mariah excitedly told me that Active Launceston is holding an expo and that is it aimed at families and that we should go.

So we did as we were told, as you do when your wife dons the boxing gloves, here is a reminder,

 It was a good display of what is available for those that are after a gym, health insurance, want to join a sporting club, or just try sumo wrestling. Yeah that is right, Sumo wrestling. No I didn't have a go.... there was no one I could pair up with.

Everyone else was busy.

Hanisi and Milly had found the Playgroup Tasmania display and were utilising the toys that they had on display.

  Luck for me Mariah had found someone to take her frustration out on for the day.

Notice the smile on Mariah's face! She loves inflicting pain.

This poor Judo demonstrator, who looked like she had taken the day off school to showcase her sport, underestimated what she was up against when Mariah stepped on the mat. 

Her instructor, the guy in the blue suit on the right, who was a black belt stepped in to save his student. The photo says it all. She dropped him to the floor. He then pointed to her and said to me, GET HER OUT OF HERE!

It was a great day. Hanisi and I tried lawn bowls, Mariah showed Hanisi how to do a hula hoop and Milly played golf.

Active Launceston start up again soon, and I am sure that Mariah will be attending some of their free fitness sessions.

What better way to end the blog than to include a pic of Milly falling asleep while eating an ice cream on the way home from the expo.