Friday, September 14, 2012

Weather, feta and photo

Isn't it funny how those three words are all spelt so differently but the first two sound the same at the end and the 2nd two sound the same at the beginning. At least for a South African living in NZ and the way that I pronounce them. :-) They are a good summary of the week in photos though (although "photo" should probably be "scan").
On Monday we had rain come and go - resulting in a beautiful rainbow. The girls were thrilled to see both rainbows and be able to spot all the colours. It's great that you can continue to enjoy rainbows no matter how old you get or how many you have seen. Thank you Lord for your beautiful creation.
I forgot about this photo - it does not fit in with the title - but on Monday we also got an updated preliminary floor plan for our new room. I love how she has used the extra bit of space for the toilet and built in cupboard. (Thank you Lord for the wonderful creativity you have given people.)
That diagonal line you see - "boundary set-back" is the 1m from the boundary line of our one property. We own the next property (which is our huge garden) but want to keep the house on the one property as it will make it easier with consents ect. The builder even managed to give us a rough estimate on this floor plan and I spoke to the assessor who did the assessment for the bank in December and he feels the value we need to increase the property too with the addition is very fair. So it looks like it should all work out. Hopefully we can avoid spending the money on an official assessment - but the banks may want that. At least we are one step closer. Up till now we were not sure if we would even be able to go ahead with the plans at this stage - so perhaps this would fit into "whether" in my title to this post. :-) It's great that it is all looking much more positive this week. Thank you Lord.
And back to real weather - we had snow on Tuesday night. We could still see the light dusting on the mountains. It's always so beautiful.
And a little bit left on the deck - so it snowed a little at the house too.
More noticeable on the bridge though. And no - it was too cold out there to walk over and get a better photo. I quickly took a photo from the deck and headed back indoors. Thank you Lord for our wonderfully warm home.
On Thursday I started my first ever batch of Feta cheese (I am so thankful for the fresh milk we can buy). Even though there is quite a bit involved in making cheese - it was fun to give it a go. It's always great when the curds set nicely and are ready to cut. Unfortunately the cutting was not as neat as I had hoped. I still have to work out the perfect containers to use. I think next time I will make a bigger batch anyway.
This time I used 3 leters of milk - resulting in 2 leters of whey (which we use in our bread making) and 400g of cheese. It stayed in "hoops" overnight and then I put it in brine this morning. Now it needs to sit in the fridge in the brine for at LEAST a WEEK!!!! The girls were so disappointed. We all look forward to a wonderful salad next week.
Brendon had booked today off and at 9 we headed into town. I had a 20 week scan booked and it was lovely to see our little baby.
Baby moved around nicely - moving hands up and down, opening and closing mouth, swallowing and turning over. So that was really fun for the girls to see. The main reason for the scan was to check where the placenta was. I always feel more relaxed knowing it is not too low - and already it is well "out of the way".
Thankfully the placenta is posterior. My midwife had suspected it may be on the front again - like with Hezekiah. I know movements can be a lot less with that - so I was pleased it's at the back this time.
We got some lovely photos of baby. Look how clearly we can see those leg bones.
And just look at those little hands. A lovely biology lesson for the girls too. Rachel immediately thought of her muscles and bones study that she did and I am sure her lapbook will come out when we get home.









And then the different probe for 4D (3D pictures and 4D video - I think that's how it works). Just absolutely amazing. Thank you Lord for Your wonderful creating work that You have allowed me to be a part of.
Here is a quick "normal" video of baby. Just look at the legs. This was probably the only time baby did not have legs crossed and blocking view - and we missed seeing anything else. A lovely strong kick though.
Here is a 4D video of baby - focusing on the face. Having a little scratch of baby's head too. Just incredible how much detail you can already see. And you can notice the two knees - nicely tucked up in front of baby (so that I can't start saying he or she).
And another 4D - this time trying to see if baby might just move legs again. The face is a bit out of focus because of this - but lovely to see baby moving his / her arm. So much detail. The cord so clear too - coming up on baby's tummy and then past the face. Just wonderful. But NOT giving us any chance to have a good look down there. ;-) So no knowing if it's pink or blue this time.

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