So what happened in 2014?

This is a good question! Already four months have passed by and we're into the fifth with not a word on the blog! If I had a penny for every time I sat down with good intentions, I'd be a rich woman!
The truth of the matter is that Amaiterai is what's happened - now he's up and about, and I mean REALLY up and about.

I can't take my eyes off him for more than a few seconds, before he's halfway down the garden on the way to the beach, or running up to the horses!

But at long last here's a quick summary of life here in Rurutu:

January saw us welcoming in the Chinese New Year at the salon du tourisme in Tahiti. It is now the year of the horse - very apt given the activities of our horse-riding association. Since our first meeting we've had two food sales, a horse-back TERE and a 'horse day' event, lots of fun and hard work. Now we're working up to the horse-race in july and setting our sights on some further goals to reach - a fenced paddock for use by members, a training course for equestrian guides and maybe even a trip to see how they do it in Rapa Nui (in the next couple of years).

In february Amaiterai (aka le chef) celebrated his 1st birthday....

 ....he couldn't quite make out what all the fuss was about....

 ...but the cake wasn't bad....

March saw us busy, busy, busy with more guests than we knew what do do with - a remarkable situation at this time of year, not that I'm complaining, far from it I'm counting my blessings. A much needed injection of funds,  with the run up to our much anticipated family holiday in the US and UK. Among our guests a beekeeping instructor so now.......

We've got bees......yes, I'm so excited, it's been a vague dream of mine for a while to keep bees, tying in with my permaculture notions and particularly because we can no longer buy imported honey here, meaning there's no more honey for our tea! The course was a very rapid introduction to the rudiments of bee-keeping and wild nest collecting, but here we are now with two little hives out back on the marae..... I'm feeling particularly smug because we already have a new queen in one of the hives (OK not my doing, but I'm still feeling pretty pleased about it!). Time will tell if we manage to get a crop of honey anytime soon.....

April brought in my birthday, and still a steady stream of guests. For the first time, I had a couple of beautiful birthday drawings, a birthday story written by Matotea (the tragic story about a mother who gave birth to a beautiful baby girl called Matotea, who was tragically displaced from the center of attention when her mother had another little girl and boy! I wonder does life imitate art here?) a half-eaten birthday eclair and a belated bunch of tropical flowers, from you know who!