Many different options of throwing food waster scrap, is to throw directly in the old tired vegetable garden plot. Leave there to rot and start turning over by making a long or long trench and covering up with old soil from time to time. I won’t worry about birds, rats, mice or rabbits come along and pick it for meals. You may see lupin plants in the old garden, and they are an excellent fertiliser, even mustard seed/flowers too. The Lupin and Mustard Seeds are high for Green Crop Nitrogen Fixing. Somewhere there were comfrey leaves as well. I grow comfrey plants for flowering and making fertiliser.

In the third photo, the other food waste scraps came out directly from the white drum as in the previous blog into the section for making compost throughout the year. I covered this one with large tarp sheet, before this work I laid down cardboard on the ground first, then food scrape on top and finally covered with tarp sheet. Check regularly and turn over, see the layer of compost colours and break down mulching in the fourth photo.

Then shift freshly compost to the garden plot, dig in and turn over for a few days.

It is ready for new vegetable seedlings to plant in.

Another tip for making fertiliser, use broken clean eggshells and put straight into the soil and turn over. Why eggshells?? These eggshells provide calcium deficiency. While this deficiency rarely caused by improper watering, there’s no harm in making sure your plants have a steady source of calcium.

Leaves, grass and weeds are also high for quick composting if you can pile up into moulds and leave there until it is ready to put back in the garden after several weeks.

From https://www.gardeningchannel.com/six-smart-ways-to-recycle-food-waste/

People keep throwing food out of the kitchen daily and wasting money…

If you ever thought about recycling food waste into the garden. It can be used as compost or soil back in the ground again.

Another way of saving money on buying vegetables, even fruits from the supermarket. Did you know that any vegetable seed produces more vegetable in the garden even fruit seeds?

Is it easy or hard to do this by putting food waste back in the garden?

No, it is not hard, and you can try to learn from a novice deaf gardener.

First of all, I learnt how to do gardening even I hated weeding, doing the garden when I was a little deaf girl. My mother said to me when I am older enough, and I will have to do gardening. My reply was yes, I am going to achieve this and show our garden when anyone can visit us here. My mother was dismayed when she came over to our new home in Eureka nearly five years ago. The garden has changed a lot and grow bigger since my sister and mother visited here less than a couple years ago. Rarely our friends visited here from time to time and wonder how much more I will be doing the garden project. It will be one and a half years to go until I am satisfied with the garden project and the outcome results in all seasons throughout the years to come.  

Well, first of all, STOP THROWING FOOD WASTES in the rubbish bins!!

Put any food scraps that you do not want to keep longer or make into soup. Throw into an old ice cream container with the lid and store under the sink, on the bench or in the pantry.

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Put some food scraps from the ice cream container into the bucket, and the rest of foodscapes can be made into vegetable soups for long cold winter nights. Keep the large bucket with the lid on in a warm and shady place. You may notice that I have two buckets – one with holes on the bottom and the second bucket without holes.

Once the large bucket is full and empty this large bucket to outside where there is a large drum with holes in the garden. This large white drum was left in the vast middle garden by the previous owners before 2014.

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The holes surround the drum was for the air circulation, and of course, we know about having rats or mice creeping inside the drum, and it never happened due I checked regularly. Because we have got two dogs hanging around the gardens and fields by chasing rabbits, birds even possums.

Perhaps if you want to know what I have been doing recycling, other ways of making food scraps into the garden and updating my garden project… Follow my gardening blog…

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Autumn was here
Glorious leaves – brown, yellow, red
warm sun shining through trees out in the fields. Leaves everywhere – there, over there, here or further away!
How perfect Autumn was here before the gloomy wild, wet winter to come!

Dogs have gone walkabout, sniffing out the scents – wild rabbits, pheasants, feral cats or birds out there. Running from one place to another place in the basking sunshine of Autumn season. How beautiful sight to see them running around!

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Winter has arrived already!

Jack the Frost – ouch and shivering on a freezing, frosty morning. Whiten over green grasses on the ground while sunshine peeping through tree branches in the field.

Oh, what a wonder of having a fireplace in the lounge – hooray! What a better way to give us warmth to our bodies and dogs’ bodies inside the house!

Let us do roasting marshmallows over the fire. Fire flames dancing through displaying red and yellow sparks inside the fireplace.

We can not wait for the beautiful Spring to come! So much work to be done in the garden – planting tulip and freesia bulbs, herb plants, iris rhizomes to be flowering soon while yellow dwarf native kowhais are flowering already. Too soon for Spring – Kowhai!!

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Waking up – smelling the heavenly perfumes in the rooms

White and yellow flowers dancing in the air

How sweet smelling floating through the windows and side door!

Morning dews sight appearing in the winter garden

Clumps of Narcissus Papyraceus – what an awful long Latin name for any Deaf people to say or to finger spell!!

Our young dog sniffing perfume and wondering how strong does the smell?

To brighten up the gloomy day

Oh what a sight on a dreadful day!

      two sides of lives in the city

Watching the tv series – Les Misérables, I read the book by Victor Hugo and saw the performance through Opera Theatre. The story by Victor Hugo many years back in 1862, he wrote many stories on what he saw through his life by the nature of the law, justice, politic, religion, architecture and urban design of Paris and many other views. Hugo was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. There was a movie called ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ around 1956, which I recalled watching this movie. Hugo wrote this story around 1829 and finally completed in1831. Of course, several earliest films were dating back to 1905 – Esmeralda.

Today many people are facing poorer than richer in societies around the world. It was partially blamed to wars, financial crash, drug wars, climate global changing such as unable to grow fruits and vegetable due to storms, flooding or drought, job cuts and many other issues. On the other hand, a small number of people became more prosperous by achieving more financial such as winning lotto, inheritance from the family, business growths or as a drug lord.

In the past, we have: –

• French Revolutions,
• Industrial Revolution and Strike
• The Great Fires – Rome 64 A.D, London 1212, 1666,  San Fransico 1906, Chicago 1871, and Boston 1872,
• Poverty such as inadequate access to clean water and nutritious food, little or no access to livelihoods or jobs, conflict, inequality, poor education, climate change, lack of infrastructure, limited capacity of the Government and lack of reserves.
•  Famine from the 15th Century to present including the Great Famine 1845 in Ireland, The Netherland, England and to other countries.
• The Black Death – in Eurasia and spread to Europe from 1347 to 1351, then in Asia, North India and Uganda. Again repeat in Kyrgyzstan, China, European and the Middle East.
• Cholera, bubonic plague, smallpox, and influenza
• Sharemarket Crash, financial loss during the Depression Years
• winning the lottery to gain wealth or business growth

What about people/children with disabilities’ lives in the world? Many of them are more likely to be economically disadvantaged, making them more vulnerable to crimes. People/children with disabilities have less access to health systems such as health care services, finding difficult in education without helps/support person.

The main barriers are: –

• accessibility to anywhere such as public buildings without the ramp
• the need for fair housing such as  flashing fire alarm lights for D/deaf, Hard of Hearing people,
• Public Transportation such as lower ramp buses, seating area for the wheelchair
• High unemployment
• Disability Awareness
• Communication – sign language for D/deaf and Hard of Hearing people/children, interpreters

• social barriers – Differences (inequalities), in gender, ethnicity, race, religion, health or socioeconomic status, between individuals or groups that prevent them from achieving or accomplishing their goals, or deny their opportunity to access resources and to advance their interests.

Not everyone who has a disability is rich or wealthy while the other half of the people with disabilities are worst off or less worst off BUT they have a good heart and happy with their lives.

Take Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Stevie Wonder, Stephen Hawking, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt or Ralph Braun. They have living experience with disabilities. These people sent out many messages to the communities and to the Disabled Organisations in order to help other people/children with disabilities.

 

 

 

This morning I was teaching the students in NZSL class, then just about to wrap up the closing of the lesson. I received an emergency text call from a social worker – Bob (the name is fictional)  in regarding one of the stubborn elderly disabled ladies in her own home. Bob could not get inside the disabled client’s house, and he asked the neighbour, but the neighbours were away. There was no instruction of where the key is, who is holding the emergency key as a backup person such as a family member etc. No luck of finding the key and realising the family member of this elderly disabled lady Poppy (the name is fictional) living in South Island. One last hope was letting me know if I know the key are or how to get inside the house etc.

I replied to Bob that I may have some idea on how to get inside the house. I arrived at the property and managed to get inside the house but not breaking the window. We found the house was so cold and we walked around the house – two level story house. Bob found Poppy lying on the floor in the bathroom, and she was not wearing warm clothes. I texted the emergency through my Deaf Text 111 and text for ambulance and police assistances.

Perhaps you are wondering where is the St John Medical Alarm if she is wearing. Why her house was so cold and why she was lying on the floor plus not wearing warm clothes??

I met Poppy six years ago until this afternoon. Bob tried to visit her from time to time, but he was turned away, which I was not aware of these problems. I gave up and gave the job to another person because there was nothing I can do for Poppy.

The results were: – slipped on the icy floor in the middle of the previous night

–  the portable phone was downstairs.

– The heat pump was off instead of low heating 24/7 days a week. She tried to save money on heating bills.

– clothing and we leave to her to explain to the family member and social worker later on.

– Refused to pay and to use St John’s Medical Alert Alarm. She fears for her financial problem and thinks that she can look after herself without help.

If you are wondering if she is okay or not. She is okay BUT suffered broken ribs, bruised arms, face, broke one of the pelvis and hypothermia. She is staying in a hospital and will be transferring to a rest home. There will be no guarantee if she will stay there or demand to move back to her home against her family’s request because it was Poppy’s choice. Bob and Poppy’s family members thanked for my work.

When I got home and have a good rest from this afternoon. The weather was wild – heavy rain, wind and thunderstorm day. I prepared the fire for our heating the home. I looked back to my past job and recalled the work I went through as a Disability Healthcare/assistant for nine years. I completed the Certificate in Human Service – Disability Support Worker and Nursing Assistant, including lifting and transferring (note it is not a fully qualified Nursing course).

Two of my ex-patients were the most stubborn – one was diabetes, and the second person was dementia with a severe heart condition. Both of them refused to live in a rest home/hospital since their health took tolls, refused to have someone as a home help such as cleaning the house, personal showering, preparing meals. Their families were unable to take care of these people. It was too much hard work and trying to make their fragile family members understand that they need help even to lighten the burden of health issues.

Two of my ex-patients were refused to live in rest homes, and their family gave up. I continue to visit them because I was instructed to continue to work by the manager of the Healthcare Providers and the GPs. I respected these two patients and their choices over many years. But these two patients enjoyed having me and talked for an hour about gardening, weather etc. Several years after I left this old job as a Healthcare/assistant for my University papers and a trip overseas, these patients passed away in their home alone and left undisturbed. No one notices any strange patterns like mail or junk mails still in the letterboxes, cold house, the light was still on during the day time, or the grass had not mowed several weeks.

There are several organisations out in the community such as Age Concern, Healthcare Providers, Disability Support Link and the list go on. The most severe cases are Mental Health/illness and Well Being Issues. It is the high rate where people, including children, suffer mental illness in the community, and they need help urgently.

Tonight, sadly I learnt the Budget 2019 from our Government, will invest $1.9 billion “Wellbeing Budget” and is that enough? There are thousands, thousands of people with mental illness, elderly people living alone and want to be left alone, child poverty, young people going through suicides etc.

the major initiatives in mental health, the Government has promised to set up a new universal frontline mental health service, expected to help 325,000 people with mild to moderate mental health needs by 2024. That will see trained mental health providers placed into doctors’ clinics, iwi health providers and other health services.

But it came with the caveat from the Government to address a chronic skills shortage – it recognised the need “to train more qualified mental health workers and build new facilities”.

A further $200m will be pumped into existing mental health facilities, and $40m over four years will go into suicide prevention services. Wellbeing Budget NZ 2019

How can we encourage those fragile, insecure or resentful people to accept or to understand that they need help?

We must find a way of any solutions to solve this problem and to increase more staff training in mental illness, preventing child poverty and healthcare providers. Also to provide more ‘education’ training such disabilities awareness, elderly people with disabilities and their financial needs, preventing from suicides or addiction.

A couple of years ago, I thought myself – why not grow garlic again in our new rural home?

My partner – Peter said to me, ‘why not? you can do it even you grew many vegetables, herbs and plants successfully at our old home in Hamilton City in the past!’ So I went ahead planting garlic bulbs in the new garden section of our new home on the shortest day in June. It was a beautiful day that I recalled several years back when I planted the garlic bulbs. From the day, the garlic bulbs grew and grew, and the weather was good for there was no rust disease. Finally came the longest day in December, it was ready to harvest many garlic bulbs. I was pleased with the result, and I dried the fresh garlic bulbs then tied and plaited several garlic bulbs just like the Italian and French do.  I attached the photos.

The second year I grew medium-size garlic bulbs and one elephant garlic bulb which the kitchen tutor from my workplace gave me to produce it. It cost me nothing because I gave them feijoa fruits since 2014. I never grew an elephant garlic bulb before, and I went ahead to grow along with other garlic bulbs on the shortest day in June. Then I pulled all the garlic out on the longest day just before Christmas Day. It was the same routine I do every year since we moved to our new home here.

Every garlic bulbs in plaited and tied up, I gave to the kitchen lady for the cookery classes and every Monday lunch meals except over Christmas season and New Years. A few garlic bulbs I gave to two people that I am supporting and assisting.

Last year, I had a lucky escape because the other people grew garlic bulbs, but their plot suffered rust diseases due to the bad weather. This year it is almost time to grow garlic bulbs, and I received a couple of packets of elephant garlic bulbs from the kitchen lady.

Of course, again, it cost me nothing, and it is a gift of thank you for growing garlic each year. Here comes Queens’ Birthday, I will be busy reaping the new fresh section in the new herb garden in time for the garlic planting next month.

 

 

 

From November 2014 in Eureka, Waikato, the extensive property of our garden including the fields, was a bonus for me with some bits of help from my partner – Peter. We bought off on a reasonable price from an elderly couple who were moving into a lovely rest home in Hamilton City because of their health failing. The previous owners prayed for the right couple to buy their home and garden, and their prayer answered.

My project on gardens in the large property was to transform into five senses for anyone, including people/children with disabilities to visit here. The five senses are smell, touch, taste, feel and hear/see. These senses are fundamental for everyone to learn about gardening such as growing vegetables, herbs, fruits, evergreen/bare trees and flowering shrubs. The primary keys to increasing any plants through four seasons – Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. My original plan on this project was 4-5 years from 2014, BUT from my right side of the body – neck, shoulder, arm to fingers started to have nerve and muscle pain in 2015. The current plan of this project is about to complete by late 2020 to early 2021. I am taking easy when I am doing the work in the gardens from time to time where there is no work to do around Waikato, including the city of Hamilton.

We have got two dogs at the moment, and the last four years we used to have three dogs. Our dogs love to walk around the garden with me, often spies on wild rabbits and chase them around the vast fields. One sunny and chilly morning, I was inspecting the young camellia hedges along the fences and our dogs walking under the most abundant tree, which is a Liquidambar styraciflua.  Beautifully leaves falling on the ground and dogs love to make noises on the fallen leaves. I can not hear the crushing sounds they ran on the leaves BUT when I walked on the leaves, and I felt the crushing underneath my gumboots. The sunshine warmth us by contacting the warm heat on my face.

 

 

There are several roses around here and there in our homes. Sweet smelling perfume by bringing the scents of many rose perfume floating in the air when we walk. Plenty of climber roses along the fence and several shapes of rose shrubs in the rose garden. I planted many different types of lavenders, and from each year, I used lavender cuttings to save the cost of buying more lavenders.

 

 

We grew many different types of vegetables and fruits from 2014 to present – pumpkins, strawberries, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuces, garlic, capsicums, radishes, watermelons, several free self-seed grapevines that were there before us,  rhubarbs, cabbages and the list go on. With the fruit trees, we have are feijoas – the most abundant tree, apricot, plum, nashi, blueberry, crabapple, persimmon, figs, lime kaffir, lemons, loquats and mandarin. When we get too many fruits and unable to make more chutneys, jams so I gave some fruits away to a couple of people with disabilities who I am supporting and several schools and my workplace where there is a cookery class for low-income families/young adult. I often donated to one of the Food Banks in Hamilton, where they served many people who are low income or homeliness people come for a meal.

In the other field, there is plenty of rooms for anyone to play cricket, rugby, makeshift tennis, or to camp here overnight. Sadly not everyone able to do this except our friends used a tractor and had a picnic/having cuppa with homemade biscuits and cakes several times during the long hot summer seasons.

Overall, we enjoy living here than in the city of Hamilton. I plan to have a special open day for people/children with disabilities such as blind people, learning disabilities people or Deaf even elderly people to come here and go exploring around here within two years away.  Our dogs are a great company to anyone when our dogs know if anyone who has a disability or not.

 

A day out to Mangakino over the weekend in the early hours of the morning.

My partner thought of taking me out on a day trip plus to help him out with his work. I do not mind this by helping him out since we were busy with our own jobs from Monday to Friday. He worked last Saturday while I did the garden tidying up at our home. It was a tranquillity day for us and my partner’s old mate outside Mangakino. Over the weekend there were no texts or emails from our family at all. The early hours of the morning were so bliss, calm and the wonderful sights were dew foggy and the sunrise over the farmlands.

Are people with disabilities including Deaf people beginning isolated from family and close friends?

My partner’s old mate’s wife works for the people with disabilities at one of the organisations I know. We chatted about the topic – people with disabilities having been isolated from their family or friends. I asked the old mate’s wife – Jill (fiction name) why she bought up this topic because she found many people with disabilities including Deaf have been isolated for a long time and never keep in touch with their family and close friends. I asked her if she has thought about elderly people and the people living in the rural area. Jill replied that she did not realise this one.

quote: Having a physical, sensory, mental or learning impairment gives rise to many challenges with regard to feeling lonely…

For example in the Deaf community – Deaf people can often feel isolated or lonely. This is because they can have difficulty interacting with people on a day-to-day basis, so they feel disconnected from friends, family, their community and the world around them. They can also feel frustrated because there can be so much they want to do, but just cannot. They want to express themselves, be independent, do all the things that others may take for granted.

It is not just about teenagers, young adult, or older person even elderly feeling lonely or isolated from the city, family or friends. Everyone including people with disabilities has the same problem but in different ways of their lives such as a Deaf person who has the first language which is sign language, a person in a wheelchair etc.

Jill asked me what I am doing as a Deaf community support worker/advocator of the people with disabilities. Since moving out to the rural area, I start to explore what is the possibility of the rural people facing the problem away from the city. I learnt that there are many people who are living on low income and no jobs, having stressful lives by living on a farm and working long hours, the lack of contacts with many Health Providers and the lack of transports. Of course, to my dismay there were several young people with disabilities living in a rest home, in flatting on their own with no helps, families with children with disabilities who have no help or support helps.

Over many years, I have been advocating the MOH (Ministry of Health), MSD (Ministry of Social Development), MOE (Ministry of Education) and other Government agencies to listen to people with Disabilities including rural people and they were slow to support and receive minimum awareness of their urgent needs such as support worker in the home, equipments like hearing aid, flashing fire alarm lights and the list go on. However, the gaps between the city and rural have not been in touch with each other. We need more works by closing the gaps and raise more awareness urgently.

 

 

Back in 1979 when our late grandma – Hilda (Biddy) passed away after my exam and the last grandchild – Ella who she welcomes to the world several weeks before Biddy passed away. One day I came down with the flu, and I decided to look through books among other items in the boxes. I came across one of Biddy’s old school exercise book with many names of people around New Zealand, Australia and the UK. I remember most of the names of people I met during my early years until Biddy passed away. I asked my mother and Shorty (Poppa/Allan) by saying who these people are? Shorty replied these people were related to our family over many years. Biddy always take me everywhere we go BUT she never mentions how we related to cousins etc. I did not realise that Bibby was so of a genealogist in her days.

 

One day my mother asked me to write a letter to cousins of the Watkinson back in the UK and informed that Bibby passed away etc. I don’t recall if I wrote or my mother wrote a letter. The names of our cousins back in Nottingham were John and Nellie Ellis. My mother recalled something about the advertisement ‘Looking for the Watkinson family of Papakura, NZ’ in the newspaper before or after the war times. Biddy replied to these people – John and Nellie, and that was how we became connected to our family. I visited Ernest and Beryl Watkinson, and we talked about their days because Beryl came out to New Zealand from Nottingham. Ernest met John and Nellie and their children – Barrie and Patricia (Pat). He stayed with John and Nellie several times. I became a genealogist until today.

 

After 1981, I decided to travel to the UK and to meet up new cousins, meet Deaf people and the Deaf Society Inc and catch up with an old friend of ours. I visited Nottingham city where many famous legends about Robin Hood, King Arthur and many other knights. I visited and stayed with Barrie and his wife Kate Ellis and every trip I returned back to the UK, Ireland, Europe, USA etc. and I always visited Barrie, Kate, Pat and Michael (Pat’s husband) many years. Barrie and I did many exploring our genealogy around Nottingham, Warwick, Sheffield and other areas. I met many other cousins, and we always have long talks over genealogy.  One of my favourite visit to a cousin was Mollie Leverton – Barrie’s aunty.

Barrie and Kate always said they will come to visit us in New Zealand one day. Finally, they came to visit us after 1995, and I arranged the Watkinson clan afternoon tea to meet Barrie and Kate. This meeting place was taken at my late granduncle Len’s place. The four brothers of the Watkinson finally met again especially Ernest met earlier, and his renew catch up.

 

Now I am going to share the rumoured scandal, but honestly, it was not appalling or embarrasses in the family. With my frequent visits to Mollie Leverton, out of the blue, she gave me the photos of her husband – Ronald, a young girl – Mollie and other images. Mollie told me about William Horace and his family then Barrie and John Keith – a nephew to Barrie and Mollie, cleared up the confusing jigsaw puzzles from time to time. John K. keep in touch with me when any of us trace any records through genealogy websites, archives, government archives such as war records.

 

 

The Leverton family….

There were 6 children born to William Leverton and Mary Jane (Jennie) Gunn back in 1899. William’s parents were rather a mystery to us because of the birth father was unknown. His mother was Mary Leverton (b. 1842) who worked in a pub in Nottingham as a young servant. William was an illegitimate child and born in 1866 because Mary was an unmarried woman.  Mary’s parents William Leverton, senior (b. 1808/d.1892) and Catherine Oldham (burial. 1872) arranged a ‘cash payment’ for Mary to wed William Seagrave in 1874. Mary (1842) was only 9 years old according to the census record in 1851, BUT in the census record 1861, Mary was 19 years old. In Census record 1871, Mary was 28 as an ironer and William was 4 listed as a grandson.

Then we have a male child – William Horace (b. 1887) to William Leverton (b. 1866/d.1951) and Mary Jane Gunn.

William H. was deserted from the army (King’s Own Rifle) in Jersey, the Channel Islands during the World War One and changed his name to William L. Hamilton to relisted the army in World Wars Two. He married three times and had three children – one son was killed in RAF WW2 and second son killed in a motorcycle accident. William H. died in 1962.

Note William senior was a cottager and the land he held was 12 acres land from 1851. William, junior (b.1866)’s mystery father was the possibility of any Baron/prosperous father. William Seagrave was a coal miner.

The puzzle must resolve and clear up the confusion.

Photos copyrights: Jean’s genealogy research files.

William Horace Leverton/Hamilton Obtains from Archives UK Miltary -World War One belongs to Keith J. Leverton