Last for year

Evening All, I've got a feeling that this will be my last chance to blog for the year ,I enjoy it ,I just hope that some of you do also ! Cambrian changes just so much ,every day it is a different picture and every season it is a whole new world ,I would love to have you all visit to see this magic ,but that cannot be so photos will have to do .My New years resolution already is to put more effort into it ,here's hoping.
Christmas was good lots of visitors and merriment ,Manu and Cam were both home for a few days and that always makes it special .LLewe and Amy are here now for a few days and will take my French WWOOFers on the rail-trail tomorrow,may the sun shine .
It has been a good year for the "Common Forest", I can finally see some progress being made ,it takes the young trees a lot of time to get established ,but I'm sure that if you hadn't been here for a couple of years then you would notice the difference ,I hope so .! the sequoias in the Merry-go-round are now a good 5m tall,and the golden elm in the centre is going to be a beauty.The rain that flushed the whole country out these last few days has been an incredible bonus ,I can SEE them growing when the sun comes out !!
Thank you to all those who sent me a xmas card ,I do love getting them but am not very good at sending them .I think of you all often ,I love my photo albums and if one day a warm fuzzy glow comes over you for no reason at all ,you will know that I am thinking of you !!! lots and lots of love from Cambrian ,go and hug somebody for me !
yours ....Bob ....xxxx

Pot of gold

"Evening all", we had a much appreciated fall of rain today ,not heavy but good enough for the lawns and hopefully fatten up the raspberries ,which might be ripe by xmas.I had a surplus of lemons today so treated myself to a batch of lemon-honey for xmas,as I was stirring it I could see it as a "pot of gold" and Voila there outside was this magnificent rainbow .........ain't life grand ....The other photo is a tiger-lily,I only have one of them ,but it always flowers beautifully . Now don't get too stressed this week !

Long hot days

I woke up to sunbathing weather this morning ,must have been 20 degrees ,and it stayed hot all day .I'm spending lots of my time running around after water and little trees ,but it's all good fun .The village is looking spectacular.Three more weeks and the festive season will be over !!! in the meantime enjoy it as much as you can ,or IF you can .For those of you who are worried about the "sleakness" of my dog I just bought him an $80 sack of premium dog food today ,so he better put on weight or I;ll sell him as a grey hound !!! or give him to Pippa ,she likes skinny dogs .Here's a photo of what I wake up to ,if you get tired of photos of Cambrian then you should read my profile again !! cheers

Spring rains

Beautiful conditions here at the moment ,hot last week ,and a little moisture at the moment ,great growing conditions ,alas for the broom as well.Very busy on the WWOOFing front, and a pleasant visit by the Marler family from Dunedin .Building up to a WWOOFing xmas now !Photo one is Scottish Colin and his English friend Ben packing to go camping ,No.2 is a "moody " shot and 3 is the Marler family having pancakes on Sunday !! cheers

The night of the porina beetles !!!

"Evening all "...it's so warm tonight that all the porina beetles are flying ,the air is literally buzzing ,and tomorrow half the foliage will be gone !,it's lucky that I took the photos of these flowers today ,I'm not a flower gardener ,but against all odds some of these beautiful specimens appear out of the" jungle" ,isn't colour in nature magic .

Great days in Cambrian at the moment ,lots of moisture, lots of sunshine and lots of visitors ,not to mention the great home-brew !Here are a couple of shots from today .

Spring trees

Sunday night ,it's been raining off and on for two days ,which it hasn't done for two months !! so everything is nice and wet and hopefully well watered .It is a treat to walk around the place in between showers ,the freshness and the colours are just so strong .
Pauls off tomorrow and some new WWOOFers are coming on Tuesday ,it's a busy time .
Here are a few shots taken this morning just to keep you up with the growth [and the whitening of my whiskers !!!] cheers

Master WWOOFer

Evening all, I have my friend Paul staying at the moment ,as a WWOOFer ,and we [well he] is making great strides in the engineering dept. I have a new chimney pot to stop all the smoke coming into the kitchen ,and it works a treat ! I can now start my old motor mower . The kitchen has a new radio ,coutesy of Winton ,the chainsaw is sharp ! and we still have a couple of days left .
The spring is lovely ,but we had a frost the day before yesterday that burnt a lot of my smaller oaks ,always very sad ,but they should bounce back ,apart from that the tree growth is fantastic ,maybe some photos tomorrow !

Spring has sprung

Hi All ,sorry that I haven't been on for a while ,with spring comes a lot more work ,but that is no excuse .I had a fabulous w/e in Dunedin last w/e ,Manu has a new studio and Cam has finished his exams ,another year coming to a close ,and jolly old santa is out conning people already !
The bluebells have nearly finished ,but most of the trees have got there new leaves ,the hawthorns are spectacular,they are whiter than in the middle of a snowstorm ,and the catkins on the sycamores are just beautiful.Danish Karen is back in for a few days and Pasta Paul is due on Sat. ,it's all go in Cambrian .Here is the last bluebell photo .cheers

Near perfect conditions

Now PERFECT is not a word that is used much in Cambrian ,but today the weather was just about that ,we had breakfast outside at 8.30,and my young American visitors left about 9.30 to go back to Dunedin .All day I heard the quail calling ,chaffinch's,ducks of all sorts ,grey warblers ,[the other day I saw a shining cuckoo !]and the smells are just amazing, particularly the lilacs ,the bluebells are just about at their best and most of the trees have come into their spring clothes .Today I cycled around the road to feed my neighbours 11 little wild ducklings ,what a great time of year it is !!!

Limits on blogging

Hi All , Sunday night of Labour w/e ,I hope that you are all having a good time .The village is fair thriving ,at least another 37 people in residence ! makes for very slow progress as one cycles down the road .The spring is such a joy ,just seing all the plants come back to life ,I can certainly send you photos but sadly I can't send the aromas with them ,and some of the smells are just mind blowing ,I could ride up the road blindfolded and tell you exactly where I was by the smells ,well maybe not today as we had about 50 Vauxhall enthusiasts drive up the road this afternoon ,it was rather like being caught in a time-warp . The dafodills are nearly over and the bluebells are in ascendency ,all good stuff.

Heaven on earth

If those Chilean miners had surfaced in Cambrian today and not Chilethey would have thought that they had arrived in paradise.Going outside today was like sliding into a spa pool ,except you didn't get wet !!! not like the poor folk in Gisborne, what a strange country this is !!
I just remembered this afternoon how to take better photos [by focusing on a bright area and transferring back to the subject ,makes a hell of a difference] anyway a few more shots of the woods ,it's about at its best for variety ,just today the bluebells started so anyone within striking distance come for a coffee and a look-see. Cheers

Photos