Moa Gardens

26/10/2026

Grandma Moa will not be messed with!

Milly getting in character today to lighten the mood.

And no, she has no idea how to crochet 😆

Something fun is being prepared behind the scenes.

25/10/2026

I want to apologize for not replying to messages.

I have absolutely no idea where they are going?

I can see them ding up on my phone but if I don't click on them straight away, they seem to disappear?!?

Has anyone else had this happen?

The mystery of the missing letters. This sounds like something Poppy Moa would go off to investigate!!

Pic is of Barnaby's driftwood creature for caterpillars to chrysalise onto.

Jen 🐝

23/10/2026

And...

We are not open.

Sometimes I wonder if we ever will be.

Sometimes I wonder if our dreams are too big yet our sense of reality not quite big enough.

Sometimes I wonder if grit and determination is enough to dream big and teach the same.

Sometimes I'm glad we got a dog and moved to the beach. And maybe that's enough.

Maybe tomorrow I will post some photos and you can help me decide what to do.

For now, I hope everyone enjoys their long weekend.

X

19/10/2026

Will our dahlias grow?

Did they survive being lifted early?

What's wrong with this soil?

Will our seedlings handle our friendly rabbit population?

Will the dog behave himself when we open to the public?

Will the girls 'learn' rather than just 'work'?

Is everybody happy?

Will our new community support us?

When will Lexi stop climbing trees?

Will all my worrying actually achieve anything useful or just give me a headache?

Some sunny afternoon ramblings from a homeschool mum.

Jen 🐝

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19/10/2026

Today I allowed my children to waste an entire afternoon. 😂

Well, that's probably what it looked like anyway.

This morning the girls spent three hours planting dahlias, and Gracie also took the dog for a 5km walk.

After lunch, everyone seemed to just stop for the day.

Gracie picked up a book she's already read about five times, Milly decided to do a colouring competition for Mitre 10 probably aimed more at little kids, and the animals made themselves comfortable.

Not exactly a productive afternoon.

Or was it?

While Milly was colouring, we were chatting about her Letters to Grandma Moa project and how to deal with the cost of postage.

Gracie, meanwhile, was quietly encouraging the dog and cat to get a little more comfortable with each other.

And it made me think about how much goes on when it looks like children aren't really doing anything.

(Actually, this is a big thing at the moment with me too as I sit here on social media looking like I'm scrolling but actually I am 'working' on this page! More on this later.)

I think sometimes we're so busy trying to make sure they're learning, achieving or doing something worthwhile that we forget they need time to just potter about and do their own thing.

Time to think. To imagine. To get bored. To come up with their own ideas.

And sometimes to do absolutely nothing, without us feeling the need to justify it as educational!

These girls know how to work hard. But they're also pretty good at knowing when they've had enough and need a break. Key is to trust that.

Perhaps we don't always need to be finding things for our children to do. Perhaps we need to give them more time to work that out for themselves.

Do you think we've become a bit too obsessed with keeping children busy?

Anyway, Gracie seems to be making progress with the dog and cat. I'm hoping she'll have them cuddling by Christmas. 😂❤️

18/10/2026

Let me WOW you with these three slug facts!

We have always had pure hatred for slugs as, I'm sure most of you will already know, little tasty Dahlia seedlings are irresistible to slimey slugs.

How about you?

Does knowing more about how amazing slug anatomy is make them less evil and more...cute???

Gracie 🌸

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17/10/2026

I hate rules!

Let's see if they are important or not.

Instead of re-potting these dahlia seedlings, hardening them off outside, today we are going to plant them straight into the garden!

Welcome to our Experiment Day!

What do you think will happen?

Death by cold?
Death by a rather abrupt change of environment?
Death by...rabbits!!!

And don't worry, we have lots of replacements happily growing stronger in the greenhouse if this doesn't work...but just imagine all the work saved if it does!

Lexi 🎨

15/10/2026

I'm happy happy happy ☺️

When I came in from the garden for Morning Tea today, there was a letter with my name on it waiting for me to open.

A wonderful card with dahlias on the front and...

can you believe it....

🥰STORIES 🥰

I spent so much time writing Letters to Grandma Moa. Thinking up the characters, their lives and personalities. Designing what they would look like, acted like, and dreamed like.

I'm so happy happy happy that someone received my mail, and chose to respond with their own stories.

It is EXACTLY what I hoped would happen.

Of course you can write (or talk) to anyone. It doesn't have to be me. But I do get rather excited to receive mail...and hear interesting stories.

The next installment of Letters to Grandma Moa is going out on the November 1st. Head to our MoaGardens website to find it and join in the story.

Milly 🦋

15/10/2026

Gracie & Bumblebee 🐶

I've wanted a dog for as long as I can remember, but growing up on a 200-acre native bush block, we never had the opportunity.

Moving to Oamaru changed that, and along came Bumblebee!

Almost a year later, I can't believe how fast his puppyhood has flown by. You don't realise how much they grow until you look back at photos (we definitely didn't take enough!).

He's learnt so much, still has plenty to learn, and has become such a special part of our family.

From wishing for a dog to not imagining life without him.

Gracie 🌸

EXTRA BONUS!

If your dog (or cat!) could talk, what do you think they'd say behind your back?

Bumblebee would say:

"They mean well, but honestly, they were rather hard to train. Their ball throwing still needs work. Sometimes I wonder if they can even SEE the ball!

And how exactly am I supposed to survive with ONLY six people to give me belly rubs and tell me how amazing I am?!

It's exhausting being this good a boy."

13/10/2026

What do you think?

Does it need a big bumblebee at the top?

Help me decide in the comment!

The sign is in your hands!!!

Milly 🦋

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