bluffska

Lighthouse picnic

2011-07-30T22:39:00.000-07:00

Holidays are over, back to school for Huds tomorrow and back out on the hill for me, GPSing some new lines around the back. The weather has been fantastic the last few days, after a week of heavy rain, sleet and snow we have a settled high over us and gorgeous calm clear days. We had the most memorable day yesterday, some friends took us a few km off the coast to an island with a lighthouse on it that we look at everyday and though we've tried, we've never had the chance to get there. After we landed, which was a wee adventure in itself, we sat on the rocky eastern shore and had some scones, it was lovely!

The island had heaps of fur seals, birds and not much else but weeds but we all love a good scrounge around for rubbish and treasure, we found this huge rope and a bouy that will end up on Huds bed.

There was a beach made from very fine stones facing south, we spent a few hours just soaking it up, i know at some stage places like these will be harder for Huds to get to so we make the most of it whist we can get him to remote places.

Huds absolutely loved the whole trip, he yahooed all the way there, laughed and squealed to be this closer to the lighthouse he sees from Bluff and fizzed all the way home.

That's Motupohue in the background, Bluff hill, great to see it from a different angle with just the beautiful forest showing rather than the felled pine trees that are a horrid eyesore! This must have been a flagstaff that someone has chainsawed down, the pole is lying on the ground there, long way to send signals!! I think Huds will remember this trip forever, and these snaps join the other lighthouse ones he has, he's getting his own lighthouse collection!

Winter Wonderland

2011-07-27T20:26:00.000-07:00

Have just been looking at our cyberfriends Ayla's blog and her skiing escapades, fantastic to see! Huds has made a few trips up this season but has only made it out on the snow once thanks to blizzards and high winds, it has been an adventure just trying!

Huds skis at The Remarkables, it's 3hours from our door to the slopes and instrustor Ross has been fantastic, Huds get sooo excited about going that I'm gonna have to medicate him next time cause he's amping until midnight and awake a few hours later ready to go!

Our mate Amy was on the slopes that day too so she helped Ross, loading Huds on the chair lift and being a target for Huds to practice his steering, he was squealing with delight :-) On the first run I got on a seat ahead and took a few snaps, Huds was laughing most of the way up!

At the top of Alta run Ross sorts out the tethers so if he slips Huds doesn't high tail it down the mountain, though he's looking like he thinks that'd be fun! Ross encourages Huds to steer by saying 'left' and 'right' and they do 's's down the mountain, aiming for Amy most of the time and laughing

After an Alta run Ross then took Huds up Sugar, it's sweet ;-) You can see how jam packed it was on the day, hardly had to cue at all and not many people up there, was such a great start to the season, have tried to get up there twice since with no success, gotto keep trying though!

Anyone want to join us next time?

Timing's perfect!

2011-02-20T01:02:00.000-08:00

On Friday at the Otatara Community Nursery I asked if there was any issues about planting natives on the verge, not an issue apparently, which is lucky because I am currently transforming a 6x20m verge of sloping grass into a bountiful if small forest ;-) Bit by bit the grass is being covered by the carpet ripped up from the house before the floors were polished and as the grass dies I plant it out in natives and move the carpet along, good things take time!
In Saturdays paper there's an article about a similar endeavour in Otatara and local legend Lloyd: http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/4678327/Roadside-trees-risk-chop
Hmmm, doesn't make it exactly clear what the issues are besides obscuring drivers vision but surely 6m off the road and plans to hedge it isn't creating an issue for the council, sanity often doesn't prevail though!

Up and running again hopefully ;-)

2011-02-20T00:53:00.000-08:00

We've had a huge weekend, going up to Dunedin to see Nitro-circus, a complete blast and stayed at the Flett Whare, had a great catch-up and talked endlessly about disability issues, equipment, communication and the like, went for another spin on the Hase tandem with Huds! If you have the means I highly recommend picking one up (Thanks Ferris)

Gayle Hall

2010-04-17T06:20:00.000-07:00

Some days it seems like bad news is everywhere, http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10638616, terrible news really.

Paralympic inspiration

2010-03-25T07:11:00.000-07:00

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/03/2010_winter_paralympics.html
Just flicking through these pics from the parlympics made me think of how aware I am of these competitors and how I have no idea about past competitors and no memories of watching the paralympics in my childhood. My fave would be Adam Hall (NZ bias perhaps) and his Mum and the exchange of love and respect between them.
Hudson has really enjoyed watching the highlights each night and I was captivated. The whole movement is so embracing maybe one day our whole society will get up to speed with it!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paralympic_Games
I wonder where Hudson could find a place amongst it though, boccia for sure, but since it doesn't include anything that makes him fizz- speed, height or pulling "G's" I'm not sure boccia will make his wheels spin!

Feedback gets you everywhere!

2010-03-17T05:01:00.000-07:00

http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2010/03/16/cp-mlb-theshow/7339/
Reminds me to give feedback where-ever possible!
Today I've tried to buy a blender-kitchen appliance that I think costs a couple of thousand dollars and I'm finding it hard to understand why but I can't just go and buy one! Even though I've explained to the company that I just want to buy one today (we're not at home and I don't have access to our usual vitamix that makes tube feeding whole meals simple), I can't!
I have to set up an appointment with the company salesperson, have them come into my home (which of course I'm not in, I'm staying with an aunt in Aussie) and watch them demonstrate the appliance so I fully understand how wonderful it is. Am I difficult? All I wanted today was to buy one! But I can't, not allowed, crazy! No matter- I'll just go buy something a tenth of the price that I'll burn out in a couple of months! Any recommendations?

Roving Reporters

2010-02-27T01:03:00.000-08:00

How cool, just seen this on the net:
http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Camera+equipped+wheelchair+enables+Burnaby+filmmaker/2615172/story.html
Just love how peoples ideas come together and change someone elses life, love to think that Hudson may one day be a roving reporter, though living in Bluff there isn't perhaps alot of things to report on, tractor runs, boats sinking, hmm, there must be a market in that!
We've spent most of the day out and about, Sub has re-jigged the buggy beast and we've cycled down oreti beach and gone for a long walk around Bluff this evening, such a beautiful day and loads of people out and about so it took a while! To think what we'd be doing without that buggy, life would be different, Huds loves it, to think if we didn't live here we'd never have met these people who make such a huge difference in our lives!

Sleep skills

2010-01-15T11:37:00.000-08:00

What is it about kids that they only sleep in when you have to be up early! Hudson isn't known for his sleeping abilities, he takes ages to go to sleep, often wakes in the night, sometimes for hours and rarely actually sleeps in- except for this morning!
Today we are-were- planning on going along on a DoC (Dept of Conservation) bird leg banding session, stating at 7am rounding up ducks and whatever else on a private lagoon that I've been wanting to go to for ages, then spending the rest of the morning putting bands on their legs to individually identify them, a skill that will come in handy if/when we gat around to banding the birds on the Bluff hill here

But of course for the first time these whole holidays Hudz is sleeping in, it's 0840hrs and he's still snoozing, despite the radio being on, the dog being manic, the sun shining on his face through his curtainless window, ships coming and going on the harbour, the howling easterly that is blowing gale force, and the dulcet tones of Meri Leask on Bluff Fishermans radio updating the weather at sparrows fart cause I forgot to turn the VHF off last night!

I'm waiting anxiously for those teenage boy years when you can't wake them up in the morning and they sleep solidly for 12-14 hours, hopefully this is the start!

We had a camping trip the other day, failed miserably though! Huds and I have swags and we tootled up the catlins coast, watching yellow eyed penguins waddle up Jacks Bay beach and settling in for the night at the pounawea camp ground cause we couldn't find anywhere we could free camp, anyway it as a gorgeous night, starry sky, tui's and kereru's in the trees above us, we read a book until 9pm then said goodnight! At 2300hrs I started giving Huds the hard word, by midnight he was asleep- finally, just too exciting! Then at 0200hrs- boing! Awake and raring to go, he got the hard word again, and again, and by 0300 I said if he didn't go back to sleep we''d have to go home, so at 0330hrs we upped and home by 0600, very non- refreshing way to start the day! Learnt a lesson in making threats that I don't really want to follow through on!

Hmm, still sleeping soundly!

Shoulder vest

2010-01-10T13:13:00.000-08:00

I'm surprisingly organised again this morning so have taken some snaps of the shoulder machine exercises that I've finally managed to get happenning thanks to Michelle! I start with the t-shirt I made with the pockets sewn onto it, this means the foam stays in place no matter how long Hudson practices his overarm or golf swing

So the boy wears the t-shirt, pockets empty but you see they're sewn on to stay in place, then in goes the foams and bladders

The vest is made from polar fleece, is a tiny size, about the same amount of stretch as the wraps, and once it's on it's very snug!

Pop in a towel to keep the foams apart and in place, same on the front, zip her up!

Machine Triumph

2010-01-10T01:54:00.000-08:00

Must be late, I tried three ways of spelling success and none of them look right, so triumph it is, if a little over-rated! Michelle has lent her idea and vest to Huds to try and get the machine ticking away on his shoulders, works a treat- underneath he has four S2 bladders, foam and towel padding between and the vest is tight and acts as a wrap- he had it on for 8 hours and it was safe and snug! Next time I put it on I'll take snaps as I go now that I know it works!

See? It's all packed in there! No cords to tangle in, no matter if he practices his butterfly stroke, now all he has to do is grow into those ears!

Onion the grater

2010-01-10T01:26:00.000-08:00

Huds new puppy Onion is proving to be hazardous to any ABR foams- she loves all types, snatching a melon or candy before it even touches the ground and running at high speed to her secret hoarding place, chewing ripping the flat foams making more loose foam than I really need, and her current favourite is shredding the backing foam, some have bites, some ripped, but only if I catch her- otherwise they end up in foamy heaven! Where all good foam ends up!