WWOOFing work

There's nothing like having a WWOOFer here to get motivated for work ! over the last couple of days we've mulched half the trees ,transplanted daffodills into the lane ,made a batch of beer ,bottled a batch of beer ,pinched and cleared a bit of the neighbours farm [to plant trees on the corner ] all of this in crazy weather ,yesterday it actually snowed ,not much but enough to see it on the ground .Day off tomorrow ,will go visiting to Poolburn and perhaps Naseby.The bluebells are not yet half out ,but the spring is still gorgeous.

Fabulous Labour week end, Cam and Rupert came home on Friday night with a couple of friends [see photos] so on Sat we got stuck in and "pinched" a corner of Jack Enrights farm ,then went down to Lauderdale to collect a lounge suite courtesy of David and Karen [see next photo].Sunday morning was good enough weather to have our pancakes outside ,and the visitors left about 1. There was a quiz night in the school that night and most of the village attended ,it was a lot of fun as usual . Our team was successful in winning 3pkts of whitebait and a bottle of wine and I won a marvelous hamper of picnic food ,all in raffles ,so it was very gratifying as we had whitebait fritters together the next night ,might be another 5yrs before I have them again !Then another perfectly fine day again today to transplant daffodils into the lane .Snow forcast again for tomorrow ! cheers

The green man !

Cam and Rupert and friends in tonight for a couple of days ,hope the sun shines .

Is work in spring REALLY work ??

The sun was up at 7.30 this morning ,not a cloud in the sky ,a faint trace of frost but not enough to even cool the bare feet.The early morning sun is so dramatic ,not quite as much as the evening light, but still makes one go for the camera . I spent the day at Lauderdale sowing grass seed so that David will have some MORE lawn to mow ,that place is pure magic ,if anyone out there gets the chance to visit it don't hesitate ,just say that you have come with a view to buying the place [if you win Lotto !!] What is so nice about the spring is that it goes on for so long ,unlike the autumn that can be gone with one big puff of wind .
Labour w/e tomorrow Cam and Rupert are coming home for some of it and hopefully lots of visitors will pass by to look at the bluebells ,lets hope the sun shines on all of us . Travel safely ...especially Halina and Bruce .........cheers

Social W/E

If this w/e was any indication of how busy next w/e [labour day] is going to be, then I'm going to be pretty busy !! I love it when there are people here and I love it when there aren't !!! how's that for a win-win situation ,when I say busy of course it's only relative ,5 cars up the road instead of 2 ! but the bluebells are starting to come out now and somebody must be spreading the word .
A couple of photos today of the late evening sun ,even when it's cloudy the last 10 minutes of the sun sneaks through a gap in the mountains and highlights the new growth and the hills ,it's really beautiful ,but you have to have the camera ready ,and then the skill to USE it properly.I just get so much enjoyment from the diverse texture and colours of the new growth .....enjoy

White bells ringing .

Perfect day today ,20 odd degrees ,loads of sunshine ,golden flowering currant perfuming the lane .The WWOOFER and I put a pipe access into the "Merry-go-Round"
Pulled out a HUGE strainer post ,and cranked up my new / old motor mower ,man that's going to exercise me over the summer ,photo tomorrow.So many jobs ,but all of them satisfying,does it get any better .
Now just a gentle reminder ,the first of many , buy a box of fireworks when they come up for sale ,but then put them away for next winter solstice , spread the word !!!!!

Welshmans Gully on a sunny morn .

Had a pleasant stroll around the village this morning with some visitors from Sydney ,these are some of HIS views of the village .
Glad that the little girl was found in Auckland ,sad that it was in those circumstances, but much better than years of not knowing and blaming others .

" Evening all"....anybody out there want to employ Cam over the holidays ,reliability guaranteed,
My neighbours arrived this afternoon in this amazing car .

Sculpture in the woods

It takes me most of the morning to get moving and get outside ,but once I get there I can't stop ,and what with daylight saving I don't get back in till about 7,but I'm not complaining .Only spoke to myself today ,luckilly I talk enough for both of us !!
The changeover from daffodils to bluebells is slowly taking place ,the snow slowed things down ,but the red tulips are a picture ,I only have red ones to balance out the greens and blues .
The last two photos are taken from the same spot,one looking Nth ,the other Sth ,so you can see that the pine forest on top of the hill is taking shape ,there are a lot of larch trees amongst the evergreen pines and now I will add some deciduous,this area serves as a giant windbreak for the young trees further down .

The sting in the tail of winter !

Woke up to a snow free vista ,I was very relieved ,it wasn't very far away ,50m higher ,but all my flowers were standing tall like old bearded hippies !
Crap conditions so I shot off to Alex to renew my gun licence,talk about bureaucratic,
well after much haggling and passing over $150, plus two photos as well ,they'll think about it ! all just to shoot the odd possum and /or ferrett . Life"s tough in the" slow lane"
Shot these photos from on top of the Becks hill on the way home ,more snow about than in the winter ,it looks beautiful,but it means hard frosts . cheers

In the bottom photo Cambrian is tucked in under the mountains a quarter across from the right ,just under the snowline.

Spring-winter-summer -autumn

It was so dry here this morning ,as it has been for the last month ,that I went out to water some of my little trees ,when I came in for lunch it began to rain ...typical...so I got into some domestic chores and by 4pm it was snowing !! not too heavy but heavy enough to be forming on the ground.Now I love the snow ,it creates a fantasy world ,but NOT when it lands on my tulips and nearly to flower bluebells .I have to wait till the morning now to see what it has done .
Too wet for photos today so I will just post a couple from the "files"

Task for the day was to get my two "ram pumps" going ,ready for the summer ,one needed a new rubber gasket,and the other some more bike tubing to stem the leaks ,but now they are functioning beautifully .The main one from the wheatfield to the top of the hill was pumping out more than a gallon a minute this evening ,over twentyfour hours that's one hell of a lot of water ,particularly if it's a warm day and you can bathe in it !!!

First serious outing for the lawnmower today ,and I'm feeling it now ! I'm a bit worried about how the area of lawn increases each year ,but I'm justifying it by saying that it is a great form of exercise ,just as I'm saying that the plant broom is my friend, it provides shelter ,nitrogen and firewood ,both could be a case of putting a good spin on something that could be a fag .Hows this for a cloud formation ?

The first bluebells

Today we got our first bluebells ,so expect to get bashed with bluebell photos over the next fortnight !! I planted clumps of red tulips in amongst them for contrast and they have just come out also ,the w/e after next would be the time to come .A shot also of the apple tree at the front gate ,it is always a great display .I cannot describe the feeling of going outside on a day like today ,it's a bit like living in a florists shop,but warm ,I feel for all those motorists on the Taupo ,Napier highway ,it must be hell living in the Nth Is.