A Hair Cutting Ceremony

Last weekend, my nephew had his first haircut

 

He's six years old

 

Let me explain, in Cook Islands tradition little boys don't get their hair cut

 

When they do, they have a ceremony and a party

 

I made the invitations ages ago, here's what I put on them

 

"In Cook Islands tradition, the haircutting ceremony is a rite of passage for young boys. At these large gatherings the boy sits on a chair draped with tīvaevae (quilts). As his hair is cut, members of the community plaster the boy with money or other gifts. The custom serves to maintain reciprocal ties within the extended family and community.

A little bit about what happens at a Pakotianga Rauru or “Hair Cutting” ceremony:

A male representative for each family is called upon to approach the child and his mother will hand you the scissors to snip a strand of hair tied by a white ribbon.

Family members are then encouraged to keep the hair to remind them of the occasion.

Custom states that everyone making a cut contributes something; as one should never come empty-handed. Though it is entirely up to the individual, kin close to ego usually give both an envelope and a gift. The expectation is that their monetary contribution will help him in the future. Gift items are usually of the sort that the boy can use in his daily life or that others can use on his behalf, such as bed-quilts, sets of cups or glasses, appliances and clothing.

The gifts are signified by the family record book, which is usually bound by a ribbon after the event, and set aside for a     future time. When the boy approaches adulthood, he enters the stage of his life where he begins to act as an individual with respect to invitations and  events. For these, he will need reference to the record of those who previously accorded him assistance, so he can judge what obligations he needs to reciprocate.

Please note that this information is purely educational, we do not expect anyone to bring a gift.

After the hair is cut, there will be a few speeches and then dinner"

 

So that's what happened!

 

We turned up and straight away I grabbed my little namesake off someone for some photos

 

Isn't she adorable?

 

 

 

Then found my nephew all braided up and super excited to get a haircut!

 

He sat like this for at least an hour, waiting so patiently!!

 

 

In case your wondering, yes we removed the hood to cut his hair, but those photos turned out too blurry

 

One his hair was attacked by the many visitors, the hairdresser arrived to save the day!

 

Turning this:

 

 

and this:

 

 

Into this:

 

 

 

Isn't he handsome?

 

Of course big sister had to have a photo in her pretty dress too

 

 

and for the first time EVER, I managed to get a photo of my brother and his girlfriend

Hurray!

 

 

I'm so pleased to be able to take part in this once-in-a-lifetime event!

 

 

Springtime

You know what I learned last year?

 

How to work out Daylight Savings

 

Every year its always the same "do the clocks go forward or backwards an hour?"

 

I was told this little piece of common sense (not my usual forte) and now I always remember

"Spring Forward in Springtime"

 

So we move the clocks forward

 

That means when we are heading into Winter, we are going back an hour

 

Genius

 

I know

 

Since its Springtime, I have added a photo of one of my peach trees

 

This one is called 'Christina' and has amazingly deep red leaves one the blossoms disappear

 

 

In case your wondering, no I did not name all my trees... well, maybe some

 

No I'm kidding!

 

Some of the tree's had names on their tags so I try to just go by those

 

Yes, in case you were wondering, my husband does think I'm crazy...

 

The plum tree tag said 'Luisa' and another said 'Bert's Early' so its name Bert or was that Dan...?

 

One of the orange trees said 'Richard's Special'. My brother's name is Richard so its easy to remember

 

Don't get me started on Orion... its a super duper early peach tree and is already covered in teeny tiny fruit

 

Following up on my Orchard post two years ago, yes I have made a list of all my trees and even done a 'floor plan' of them so that I know who is who

I don't really need it except to check the finer details, like which of the four plum trees has the round plums that will be ready at Christmas

Mmmm plums...

 

Now speaking of Christmas and the approaching summer season, I'm getting my fitness on!

 

I know I'm a shocker and this is attempt #896825351 at getting fit

 

So I joined the gym

 

 Since I have to pay for it, it makes sense to actually go right?

 

So I've been going twice a week

So far I've only attended the the ab class and the weights class a few times each. I really enjoy going along to them and the instructors make it fun

(insert husband saying ' "fun and enjoy" are not appropriate words to describe that punishment')

 

Next week we start up playing Hockey again. We all know how last season turned out...

 

The goal: I should be able to at least lift my own scuba gear this summer!

 

Aaaannnddd since you know me only too well, here's a pic of my latest knitted creation

 

 

 

Its called the Voluminosa Cowl and I was super excited to be apart of the Knit-Along and a chance to win some amazing yarn I might not otherwise get to ever use

 

I was going to write that I have all my fingers and toes cross that I'll win the final prize in a few days time, but if I do I probably won't win so just note to yourself that I haven't 'actually' said that!

 

Next up, I'm testing another hat and some mittens

 

I spoiled myself and spent more than I usally would on yarn. I found this at my LYS hiding down on one of the bottom shelves 

 

 

Once I untangle it, I'm going to use it for the mitten test!

 

Hint to family: buy Becky a skein winder for Christmas....

 

Lots of love

 

xBecky

 

 

 

 

 

Daffodil Beauty

Daffodils are my absolute favourite flower

 

I don't know why, I think the yellow beauties just pull me in

 

When I was 10-15 years old we lived in the country with a cranky old lady living across the road. Every spring, my brothers and I would wait until we knew she had

a) gone out

b) gone out

c) walked down the road/gone out

and we would race across the road and pick her daffodils

 

I know, mean right? Well no it wasn't!

She had hundreds of them. It was like a dumping ground for daffodils by her letter box almost on the road, and after we went in with a bucket and left, there were still heaps of them there

We like to think she didn't know they were gone. Because she didn't!

 

I have expressed to everyone that I will be planting daffodils everywhere on my property

 

Originally, I wanted to get married in September just so we could have daffodils as the flowers

 

Note: Remember, I'm in the Southern Hemisphere!

 

Winter is almost gone and now the flowers are starting to spring up out of the ground

 

My lovely Mother-In-Law is always buying me random out-of-the-blue presents and imagine my delight when I was at her house and she said she had planted some daffodils for me

In a plant pot

TO TAKE HOME!!!!

 

So far one is fully opened. It's one with a orange trumpet. I've always found those ones amusing

 

 

Isn't it amazing???

 

The second is almost opened all the way and its a full yellow one - my favourite!

 

There are three others and I'm very excited to see how they turn out

 

 

My Crochet Date

This weekend has been pretty good

Yesterday, Saturday, my bestie and I arranged for her to come over for a day of tea, biscuits and crochet

It started with me forgetting the milk and the biscuits in the groceries..... whoops!

Anyway, it started with each of us showing off our projects done so far

Here's Karen with her blanket

and here's me with.... wait, I haven't completed anything yet

Haha!

So there we sat, tea, choccie bikes and crochet hooks in hand we worked on not much at all and showed each other our techniques and how we made basic things like granny squares 

My husband was out spear-fishing that morning then got home and took this pic of us when we weren't looking

Then the conversation turned to pets 

I mentioned to husband that one of Karen's cats is called Beef 

( cause apparently she was a chubby kitten )

Then bestie started telling husband all the pets she has.

Horses, miniature ponies, cats, guinea pigs, goldfish

Sadly, one of her fish died this week

So the conversation turned to this:

Husband 'Becky can't keep goldfish alive'

Karen 'have you had fish before?'

Husband 'she did, she killed them'

Me 'they swam too close to the filter!'

Husband and Karen 'Lol'

Karen 'so did you have a them in a tank and everything?' 

( or something along those lines )

Husband 'Yip there's one in the cupboard'

Karen 'you should get some out of the pond and set it up!!!'

So, husband being bored grabbed a giant bucket and headed down to the pond 

 

ooh, look there's some!

yip, I think I got them

so inside came the smaller bucket and we scooped them out

 and put them in the tank

There's four in there

One white, one spotty and two orange

This morning they were still alive!

Then I forgot to feed them.....

Husband gently reminded me and I now have to feed Holly and the fish

Any name ideas?

***All thanks go to Karen and Husband for setting up the tank and catching the fish

I just followed with the camera

On another note, we have about 50 fish in the pond so if they die, replacements are free!

Wide Awake

Hello Again!!

Guess what? I'm not sick anymore!

Well, actually, ahem... thats not 100% true...

Ask anyone who's been around me or spoken to me this past week.

I still sound awful

Last week I started getting sick again

It wasn't as bad as last time

But I managed to go to work at least and only have half a sick day instead of consecutive 7 sick days. 

So in my books, thats a major improvement

What I didn't mention last time, was the stress. I wasn't just sick. I was stressed too. Stressed out mostly because I was sick

My husband was in Christchurch, and I always worry when he's down there. I mean, come on, its shakey-town. When I went down there last I felt an aftershock and while it was very small to the locals, it was  quite scary for me

Secondly, I applied for a new job. That gets my nerves going at the best of time. I had a job interview on the Tuesday that I went home sick in September

I felt really bad applying for a new job.  

Leaving the familiarity of my current job to do something totally different?!? Thats pretty scary stuff

Same company, different role

The week after, found out I got the job

What I forgot was that I'd have to leave five years worth of work & customer relationships that I worked hard to maintain. 

Then, after I took two weeks to get over that, I realized I'd have to actually tell those people I was leaving them.

I cried for days

I told my work colleagues - the ones not in my office, but based in another city, last week. 

I did start to cry after reading their 'good luck' replies to my email, they were so nice to me

I still haven't told my customers... I'm too scared

I'm buzzing with the chance of a change and excited to be starting my new role ( about 3 meters away from where I sit in the office currently ) on December 1st

My first task is to buy Christmas presents for the 50+ children coming to the 'Kids Christmas Party' - Eeek!

So thats just my work story

Next is my home story

I've been super busy at home with Jeremy

I've built a fence, built a mini retaining wall, cleaned out the garage, built some shelves, planted trees, mowed the lawns ( it takes 2 hours - on the ride-on lawn mower )

and numerous other things

My weekends are pretty full on and now my biggest job is to oil-stain the fence

Then Jeremy's sister got married, sorry I don't have any good pics but here's one of Jeremy and I

Here's some slippers I made by stitching granny squares together

This pair is for my nephew

and this pair is for my Mummy

and while I was sick I made this cute little beanie for a toddler

I don't know any little girls so I gave it to someone at work who is going to give it to her granddaughter

yay!

and of course I've been busy watching the rugby for the World Cup, it finished at the end of October, but because I was too busy I didn't post

Here are my Mum's decorations. We went to her place each week to watch the games

and thats all for now

I will try to post more often but with summer coming I'll be outside a whole lot more and getting time in front of the computer will be a challenge!

Becky

Orchard

I can now say husband and I have finished planting our orchard & installing an irrigation system 
( hurray! ) 
because no way am I walking around with a bucket watering them like last summer! 

We only had 13 trees in then but even so, it was a mission!!!

We now have 46 trees/vines/bushes etc.... whatever they are called

I know you're curious wondering just what there is so here goes:

5x Apple 

3x Apricot

2x Avocado

1x Blueberry

1x Boysenberry

4x Feijoa

3x Grape

1x Grapefruit

1x Guava

2x Lemon 

1x Lemonade

1x Lime

5x Mandrin

2x Nectarine

2x Orange

4x Peaches

2x Pear

4x Plum

1x Quince

Notice I'm missing one? Thats because there was a citrus tree already here when we bought the property

It hasn't attempted to grow any new fruit so until it does, its the mystery tree!

When we moved in, there were already 2x apples, 1x lemon, 1x mystery citrus and 1x quince

And it cracks me up every time that one of my trees is called Orion  ( my mums cats name ) and another called Richard ( my brothers name )

I think to know which tree is which for my yearly diary of what the trees do, I'm going to have to remember all their names. Some poor trees didn't come with any so I'll have to make them up based on their character that comes out 

We're trying to get them to establish their roots but they are intent on producing fruit

So far I've had to pick off teeny tiny lemons, mandarins, nectarines and tomorrow, peaches

I feel like I'm taking their babies away.... 

In preparation for the upcoming ( years away ) 46 trees worth of fruit, I've been practicing using other peoples fruit 

( and my quinces ) 

...so last week I made some grapefruit marmalade

I had it on my toast this morning for breakfast, it was yummy!

and to think, we still don't have a vegetable garden going yet!!!

Busy - Or Not?

You know how you get one of those weeks where you feel like all you've done is sit around and do nothing?

I feel like that, but instead of doing nothing, I've been super busy!!

I've almost achieved everything on my "Things I Really Should Do While Jeremy Is Away But Probably Won't Do" list. It used to be called the "Things To Do" list but I needed to be honest with myself

I made more quince jam....

I'm going to dress up my jam looking all old fashioned etc 

I'm really excited about my plans for my jam 

I'm going to be making a TON of it so I figured, why not make it look all pretty??

I've got sooooo many jars in the cupboard, anyone want some?

Here it is, the long awaited crochet pic:

Slippers with flowers on!

I made these, I'm so impressed with myself for following a pattern and everything!!!

( okay so they are slightly different sizes by a few stitches but not bad for a first attempt )

You can find the pattern here

Dealing with Holly the menace 

She likes my ball of wool, every now and then a paw will start working its way towards the piece dangling in front of her before the crochet hook snaps it up

I'm so pleased she knows what "No" means!!

I'm so pleased I learnt to keep my distance from her when I get my wool out after the time I accidentally dropped it on her and had to prise it out of her mouth!!

Today my niece Miss 5 came over for the day

We made cupcakes

 she couldn't resist a little ( *ahem* 'lot' of mixture off the spoon while I wasn't looking )

...no I'm just kidding, she was an angel

but did lick the beaters

And, believe it or not, the only thing I did was cut and soften the butter, turn on the mixer and handle the hot finished product

I then made the icing and piped it onto the cupcakes

She did everything else! 

( I must admit I was worried when she cracked open those eggs... )

Ta-da!! 

The finished product 

 Yip, she even did the sprinkles and designed the colour scheme

The Week That Was

I love to blog, its so much fun, its like keeping a diary with pictures, but everyone gets to read it and comment too!

So here's what I've been up to this week:

Husband and I finished our entranceway!!

This is what it looked like when we bought the house just under a year ago

This is what it looks like today

I made quince jam

 ...not that quinces are in season or anything, they come out around March/April 

I had cooked and frozen some all ready to go :o)

We've had a frost every single day this week and weekend

I took this on Wednesday 

We had hail too, Miss Holly had great fun getting out and chasing all the little balls bouncing around on the deck

I worked on my crochet, no I'm not putting up a pic - yet

I've made something awesome and thats a whole separate blog coming up this week!

Who's excited???

I AM!!!!