a trip to the past

I don't like sitting around at home.  I'm not one to watch hours and hours of television.  I can only read for so long and I get restless.  I can't clean for hours on end as I really don't want to become an OCD housewife.  Plus when I start cleaning I tend to bark orders at all my family members to clean as well, and frankly, no one likes that, me included!  lol. 

Since moving to Auckland my job has been in a school, thus the extended holidays.  And now that I plan to teach, whether it be relieving or teaching full-time, I still get summer off.  Since my children are no longer children who need to be taken to playgrounds and beaches; entertained with playdough and sleepovers; driven to camp, swimming lessons or playdates, I have a lot of time on my hands!  And so I look for things to do!  I listen to what others have discovered, I look online for local events, I keep my eyes and ears open for places and events of interest.  Then I figure out who to take along on my adventures!  If I happen to come up with something really exciting, I usually can coerce a child or two to come along, or even my hubby!  lol... Sometimes I am blessed to have a friend who is available for a little outing, and sometimes I just go alone.

Today I invited my friend, Ginny, to come along with my to Highwic, a colonial home from the mid 1800's, situated in the centre of Newmarket, a busy shopping district.  Little did we know that down an insignificant driveway marked by only a small green sign, we would find a lovely country gothic home located in a magnificent garden.  Meanwhile two of my daughters and one of their friends thought that this sounded like an adventure they'd be interested in joining, so along they came!  After exploring the nooks and crannies, servants' quarters, courtyards, dining hall, and parlor, they settled themselves in the centre of the ball room to play a game of Monopoly cards - as you do, you know!  lol.  Since we were pretty much the only people on site, it didn't exactly inconvenience anyone and was actually quite humorous. 

In the gardens was a building that housed the fern gardens.  On a fern was this spider web that bore these spectacular drops of water.

One of the 14 daughters (they had 21 kids!!!) etched her name into a window pane on the door in the girls' bedroom.  They think she used her mother's diamond ring to do so.  That's one old signature!