Francesca before... 
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| Billy Baxter (UK) reached a speed of 265.33 km/h (164.87 mph) while riding a 1,200cc Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle blindfolded at RAF Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, UK, on August 2, 2003. Incredible! I haven't been that fast in a motorbike with my eyes open, let alone blindfolded. Now that's impressive | |||||||||||
Ever thought the Loch Ness Monster was just a hoax? Check out this pic of a rotting "sea serpent" carcass captured by the Japanese fishing boat, the Zuiyo-Maru just off the coast of New Zealand.
Loving it!
The mysteries of the creations of God never cease to amaze me.
Oh by the way Symon, here's an interesting thing you should research... Chupacabra. Puts bigfoot to shame I reckon
I'm not much of a cat person, although they seem to love me!
I must admit they're great when you're curled up on the couch watching a movie, but apart from that I really don't have much time for them.
Here's some reasons why...
Cats are incredibly selfish
They bring you unwanted gifts (Ie, decapitated rabbits, mice, rats, cute little birds, endangered moreporks; the list goes on...)
I'm sure it's impossible to train them
They jump onto tables and steal food
They won't go for walks with you
They demand attention and retaliate if they don't get it immediately
Dogs on the other hand are the complete opposite. 
Reminds me of our Christian walk. There are days when it's easy to be loyal & obedient to God. When we want to walk closely beside Him. When we can't wait to help people, tell them about Jesus and so effectively save them from dangerous situations. But then human nature kicks in and our selfishness shows through. We get tired, demanding and claw at people. We don't want to obey but go off and do our own thing. We bring what we think is a great offering before the Lord, but in His eyes it looks like a decapitated rabbit! Maybe this Christmas, we'll remember the real reason for season and show a little of his love and compassion to others. Thanks for the reminder God!
Why would they name this town Why? Why is the ocean blue? Why is the Earth round?
So many questions…
… so little time.
This town was named for a Y-shaped intersection of state Highways 85 and 86.
The spelling was changed from “Y” to “Why” after the residents had petitioned for a post office. The state required that the name be spelled differently.
Here are some of the other ones...
Symon asked me why I hadn't blogged in awhile, and I mentioned it was because A, I'm super busy at the moment, and B, I don't have anything exciting to talk about. So I decided it was time to do go on google and find something! Here goes...
When I was tidying up my Onerahi house a few weeks ago so I could get some tenants in, I discovered some bamboo in the front garden that I thought I'd got rid of 6 months ago. Now I know bamboo is a pain in the neck and it takes a lot to get rid of but here's some really cool boring facts I found out:
There are some 2,000 species of bamboo which can be virtually indistinguishable from each other, but which do grow in a wide range of climates. Depending on your location, there are species that will grow in temperatures that drop as low as -20F. If you start out with the right type of bamboo for your temperatures, soil composition and moisture, you can soon be enjoying a lush, "exotic" greenery that will grow and spread faster than you could ever have imagined. Bamboo plants grow on rhizomes, a network of roots that run along under the ground, and put up new shoots to start other clumps of culms, or stalks. The clump will grow to its maximum height, usually within the first season, and then will sprout additional branches. That first season can be quite a surprise though, when you see an eight inch diameter stalk reaching 60 ft. In scientifically controlled conditions, stalks have been known to grow as much as 47 inches in one day. However in the average garden or the wild, 12 inches a day would be closer to the norm.
12 inches a day! Crikey! No wonder it's a menace in the garden. While on my google travels I also found this site here that is actually dedicated to promoting and growing bamboo. Why anyone in their right mind would actually want to promote it I don't know but each to their own I guess.
So to conclude this riveting post, here are some top tips from the Yates website to keeping your bamboo under control or getting rid of it altogether. Wish I'd read this before I did my garden! Enjoy.
- To stop bamboo spreading uncontrollably, plant bamboo pieces for your screen or hedge in a trench lined on either side with sheet metal or hardboard. The barrier need not go deeper than about 45cm as bamboos are shallow rooted but may spread naturally by underground stems or rhizomes.
- To eradicate bamboo that has got out of hand, cut the canes down to ground level, and spray them with a strong solution of glyphosate herbicide, such as Roundup or Zero. Any suckers which emerge later should be similarly treated, but be careful not to let the spray drift onto other plants.
I came across these two old clips on You Tube the other day and thought I'd share some of my favourite childhood music with Renewal Youth. Good times! Enjoy...
Buddy Green
Helen Baylor
I decided that Renewal Youth was looking decidedly boring lately so I'm hoping this will spark things up again! They did say you could become a mo-gal too so here's my attempt at the competition.
Sorry forgot to shave on October 31st though....
So I park my car as usual in the Hatea Drive carpark at about 8:30am, come back at about quarter to 5 to pick it up and lo and behold what do I find? Eddie the electrician has been up to his tricks again. Just kidding......
So now I say goodbye to my baby which has served me very nicely for the last 3 years and hello Mr. Noob....
I was thinking the other day how it would seem that I've turned soft. Girly movies, sleepovers, the colour pink, CRIKEY CROWBARS, I'm losing my staunch reputation big time! But not to worry, this post will redeem myself I think.
I love movies and books that are about war and action. I don't like horrors at all but good solid thrillers that get the adrenaline pumping. My favourite books as a teenager had to be anything by Alistair Maclean (Guns of Navarone/Where Eagles Dare/When Eight Bells Toll/HMS Ulysses/The Golden Rendezvous) and Tom Clancy (Rainbow Six/Patriot Games/Hunt for Red October/Sum of all Fears/Without Remorse/Clear & Present Danger), although I don't read Tom's stuff anymore due to the amount of swearing in it! And as a kid I enjoyed all the Hardy boys books plus of course the legendary Secret Seven & Famous Five books! My favourite movie series of all time would have to be the Bourne series. Heaps of action, car chases, fight scenes, etc. All the good stuff that makes up a classic action/thriller movie.
I was a bit of a geek in high school. I studied Electronics and Physics and actually got chosen out of about 5 males to do a Small Goods appliance apprenticeship. I turned it down to go into a retail job as I figured I would better off there. So yeah I was really into pulling things apart and putting them back together again. I get it from my dad I guess.
Lake Explosion
Explosion in space
Atomic Bomb
Really cool explosion
Gas Explosion
Explosion in Art
Wow God!
I love things that are beautiful. Flowers, trees, nature, artwork, animals, interesting people, etc. I see evidence of God everywhere I look. Anyway, I spent the afternoon a while back helping a bunch of people paint mum and dad's new house. As my dad would say, it's such a good feeling taking a plain boring wall and making it into a masterpiece. Or at least making it look better than what it was!
As you probably already know, most people will say that I'm not a very "normal" person (whatever that means). I grew up with two brothers, was a bit of a tom-boy, lived in Maunu/Maungatapere (which was considered the whop whops back then), our family didn't have very much money & the Gartons and the Randersons (Mum's family) were (and still are) a little bit, or probably even a whole heap crazy (according to some). I don't think my dad will ever grow up no matter how old he gets!
We got almost all of our clothes from the Sallys (this explains my love of op-shopping), my cousins or even the dump on some occasions. Those were the days: when you didn't have to pay for the dump and you could take whatever you wanted! We found tyres, old bikes, and all sorts of goodies there.
I noticed Kristy's latest post and couldn't resist.... This goes out to Fifi who has secretly harboured a desire to be black.
Now you too can bring out the Israel in you:
And just for kicks...
The best year ever! (1984)
(2000)
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Some people quote the Sound of Music as being their ultimate movie, others are into Pollyanna, and still others frequent the channels of Discovery & read Geographic Magazines as their favourite past-times... So I thought, that it was time I let the geek in me come out and share my love of Jane Austen films with the world of Renewal Youth. A few of us girls have started this movie club of sorts where we pick out a different movie each week to watch while the men go off and do their thing; although secretly we know they are dying to watch it with us.
So far on our list we've seen:
- Pride and Prejudice (Old school BBC version)
- P & P (Modern version with Keira Knightly)
- Bride and Prejudice (Bollywood version)
- Emma (Modern version with Gwyneth Paltrow)
Still to come we've got planned:
- Emma (old version)
- Clueless (based on modern day Emma)
- Sense and Sensibility (BBC version)
- S & S (Modern version with Hugh Grant)
Jane lived a really bizarre life...
She was born in Steventon, Hampshire, where her father was a reverend at the local parish and was the second daughter and seventh child in a family of eight. The Austens did not lose a single one of their children, which was very unusual in those days. Cassandra Leigh, Jane's mother, sent them all to a wet nurse in a nearby village a few months after birth to be looked after for another year or longer.
Her mother was a hypochondriac (or had a 'health phobia'): basically a person who tends to exaggerate their symptoms no matter how insignificant or excessively worries that they have a serious illness . Many people suffering from this disorder focus on a particular symptom as the catalyst of their worrying, such as gastro-intestinal problems, palpitations, or muscle fatigue, rapid heart beat, sweating, muscle tension, stomach discomfort, and numbness or tingling in certain parts of the body (hands, forehead, etc.). This explains why in Pride and Prejudice, Mrs. Bennett is always complaining about her 'poor nerves' and her 'palpitations & flutterings'. Jane obviously based this particular character on her own mother.
She published her works anonymously and only really became famous after she was dead.
She first started to write for family amusement as a child and was very shy about her writing; she wrote on small pieces of paper that she slipped under the desk plotter if anyone came into the room.
The theme that prevails in most of her works is that the young heroines must marry in order to secure social standing and economic security; yet Austen herself never married and was considered by society to be an old maid at the young age of 25!
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." (from Pride and Prejudice, 1813)As she grew into adulthood, she still lived with her parents (I told you she live a bizarre life) carrying out those activities normal for women of her age and social standing: she practiced the pianoforte, assisted her sister and mother with supervising servants, and attended female relatives during childbirth and older relatives on their deathbeds. Austen was particularly proud of her accomplishments as a seamstress. She also attended church regularly, socialized frequently with friends and neighbours, and read novels - often of her own composition - aloud with her family in the evenings. Socializing with the neighbours often meant dancing, either impromptu in someone's home after supper or at the balls held regularly at the assembly rooms in the town hall. Her brother Henry later said that "Jane was fond of dancing, and excelled in it".
So we got this indoor bowling set for Christmas 07 (don't ask why, just accept it ok) and hadn't really used it. Mum had told us she wanted to do something super exciting for her birthday and thought it would be great to go out bowling. That didn't happen however, so we ended up setting up the indoor bowling set in Jeni's lounge and having a game with the five of us.
Now having not played the game that much & not really paying that much attention either, I'm not too familiar with the scoring, but decided to just make it up as I went along. Well, after 10 frames, I ended up with a grand score of 105! For those who know me, would know I don't generally get that type of score when bowling :) usually no more than 80 haha. So yup I think the scoring was a bit out. But we had fun anyway and I'm keen to do it again sometime! Check out the shibby pics below for inspiration on having a good time...
You know, this past year for our family has been one of the hardest years in the whole of all of our Christian walks. We've been through so many changes and hard times, it's just been nuts! But anyway, at family night last night, we were talking about the whole depression thing and how it's sweeping, not just over our family, but over the whole church. Pretty much everyone I know has been battling with the spirit of oppression, heaviness or something similar. And that's just what it is. A spirit. We have so much, yet we still get down. And not just a little bit like happens to most people, but it becomes really dark and heavy. It's a sure sign that we're living in the last days. God is teaching his church to be strong now so that we can have the strength to fight in the hard times that are to come. He is calling us to be warriors; to fight the good fight of faith and learn how to war against the principalities and powers that rule the earth. We must put on the garment of praise for heaviness. The oil of joy for mourning. Learn how to rebuke the evil one off our lives and the people we love. So we had this upbeat song playing in the background while we were all sitting there feeling a bit gloomy. Anyway, I made dad get up and dance for me (now you can understand why I'm a little bit mad - it's in my genes). The following is a little taste of the Garton dance routine...
Hope it makes your day! Sure made mine...
6 o'clock. He was late. I had waited for Stephen for about 45 minutes, to finish packing for his snowboarding trip which should have happened the night before, so we could leave to set up mum's surprise birthday dinner. Needless to say, I left without him and Jeni & I proceeded to set stuff up by ourselves. We arranged the barn perfectly with everything that was needed for a bbq at the beach. It was a great night for it: Wet, dark & on a farm with no waves! But Jeni came up with an absolute brainwave - she simply painted a mural of some sand and water & hung it on the back of the barn! Added to this a few hay bales, bucket and spade, jandals, sunblock and you're all set.
So when the others finally arrive and we get to eat (it's now about 7:30) I find surprisingly, it actually tasted ok. It wasn't burnt, under-cooked or too well-done! So thanks Stephen, for allowing me to have this experience of a lifetime, just please don't do it again anytime soon!
