Busy Bees

Thought it was time for an update so you can see what we have been working on around the place. But first a wrap on the weather. While kiwis are expecting a humid week with not much sun, we have recently had the most glorious autumn weather. So unusually warm right up to Saturday that people were talking about it when you met them in the street. But good things come to an end and yesterday was not too bad even if a little cold. Today it's just cold and the dark clouds are now rolling in from the mountains. There will be snow underneath - you can feel the ice in the air. Luckily I cleaned out the fireplace last week and we lit our first fire last night. Nice to see the glow of the flames again but with it comes the dust, ash-clearing and bringing in the wood.... I had almost forgotten how much work it is to have a fire!

First update is the ramp for our guests with a wheelchair or walker. Wouter has made the gradient very low for ease of use.

before the ramp

It was good to get rid of the old building materials from out of the house when we converted the bedroom to new bathroom and loo. All the old brickwork has been used as fill and the side stones were collected from around the property. The concrete on top was left over from doing the inside renovations, we only had to buy the dye to match the current tiles.

finished ramp

Next is the path just inside the front gate where our visitors on foot arrive. Before we did anything it was bare earth and because it is hidden behind a tree and gate, no sun was getting there to dry it out, meaning muddy or dirty feet when you came through the gate. Also you had to step down into the dirt and then back up onto the driveway.

stones sorted, edges done, ready to go

Another problem was that once through the gate it wasn't really clear where you had to go to reach our front door. So we made a small semi-circle of stones to level things out, keep feet out of mud and make it clear you must go onto the driveway to reach the house. When I say "we" I mean that I sorted the stones and Wouter did the rest.

artist at work

The best thing of all was that we didn't have to buy any materials for the job - we collected the stones from our garden over the last year while we've been working, the cement, sand and builders mix was from another job. We're pretty pleased with the result.

finished path

The next thing on the list is the front entrance. When we arrived, looking from the road, the left hand side was not done at all - completely bare concrete blocks. The right hand side was partly finished and partly bare. There was a crack underneath the letterbox, the letterbox was rather grotty. Nothing matched - the grey blocks, the half done side and the pillars - all different materials and different colours. There was also a Wellingtonia growing on the lhs which we removed some months ago as we both didn't like the tree and we want to put something else in there instead.

before

Wouter decided to use a mixture of good old whitewash but a bit thicker and slightly coloured with chaux. The result is a rough texture and uneven colour, but we think it's great, very practical and also very cheap to do!

nearly there...

painting over the apricot coloured posts to match the new walls

Continuing work in the hangar is also important if we want to have workshops this coming spring and summer. Before work could begin in there Wouter had to remove a large 1000 litre oil container. Wouter offered it for free to someone who was going to come with a tractor and take it down as it was resting on a wooden mezzanine. However, they didn't show so it was down to the good old rope and tackle. After it was on the ground we used the car to pull it along on beams of wood to save it digging into the concrete and then the driveway.

artichoke

Meanwhile I have been trying my hand at making decorations from things out of the garden. Inspired by one can of gold paint I first tried an artichoke I picked a few weeks ago - the ones I picked recently are no good for spraying as they have gone slightly moldy from being out in the little rain we've had. But the good news is that I have plenty of seeds to plant more for next year.
The next decoration is made from sticks we pruned off the trees last year, tied together with some old string and sitting on a board Wouter kindly made for me, cones placed around the bottom - then sprayed with gold paint.

Lastly a wreath for the front door. This is made from strands of Virginia creeper which were growing through the stones on the ground, wound around each other to form the wreath shape, sprayed gold. Next I attached some suitable greenery from the Bay and other evergreens, and finished off with some gold-sprayed cones.

Last week we were given 4 kilos of olives. The owners didn't want them so I went down on my bike and picked heaps from quite a small tree and came back with a backpack full of them! Why not try my hand at brining them? It will take some time, patience and lots of water to get them to the edible stage, but it's a good opportunity to used something which was unwanted.

Cassy is blissfully unaware of all the work going on around him most of the time. This is one of his evening poses, curled up on his duvet, complete with squeaky cellphone at the top of his head and squeaky baguette under his nose....