2010: looking back

My humble apologies for the lack of recent activity at Fantails and Fibrolite. I have been distracted by a new hobby - idling. After spending much of the last year in intense activity, I have now ground to a halt and have taken up the art of doing nothing.

If you want to have a go at this commendable past-time, click here for inspiration. Alternatively, you could waste a few minutes at least on this page, contemplating what we have achieved and experienced in the last twelve months.

• January - our new crop after last year's grapefruit - chillis
• February - Jasper and Jemima join the household after being rescued by the SPCA
• March - our first ever A&P show - it would be nice to think we could enter something next year but I don't think we're quite ready for that...
• April - more new arrivals - six chicks - a bit noiser than J&J but more productive too
  
• May - huge numbers of mushrooms and toadstools appeared during the first rains of the autumn - we stayed away from the red and white ones but some of the "oyster" mushrooms were fried up, against my better judgement
• June - more signs of autumn
• July - I did it myself! Fed up of clattering the pan lids around the cupboard, I applied some kiwi ingenuity to fix the problem
• August - unfortunately we didn't get any pigs but next door's escapees did amuse us for one evening
• September - great excitement - our first egg!
• October - the truck went down to the woods this month and we learnt a bit about off-road driving - useful for taking old pallets down the hill to the chicken coop to build a run
• November - peacocks prowled around our deck, preening themselves, on a regular basis this year
• December - apart from our visitors, the highlight this month had to be our new arrivals - three little chicks

So goodbye to 2010 and Happy New Year!

Succulents and See

Blooming Bromeliads

I'm always fascinated to see what other people have created on their lifestyle blocks so was thrilled to stay at a B&B which doubles as a bromeliad nursery. Aloe Aloe Gardens, just outside Kaitaia, has a five acre hillside garden dedicated to exotic plants and dotted with huge volcanic rocks and chunks of glass from the old Pilkington factory.



Better still though, Kevin is a keen diver and cooked some amazing food for us - fried paua, tuatua fritters, butterfish...

Stone Store

Cottage Garden at Treaty House

Farmyard Fun

Lots of livestock ideas at Sheepworld... I'd really love a donkey even if they're not much use for anything.

Playing Possum

Sheepworld is one of the few places where you can get close and personal with a possum. We've only seen them in the dark on our land, high up in a tree, scampering away from the torchlight.

It's better that way as I feel less guilty about putting the poison out. I just have to keep telling myself that they're nasty little creatures who eat the baby birds.

Shearing at Sheepworld

I watched the shearing carefully at Sheepworld for about the third time but I think we'll need to call in the professionals once we have our own flock...

Sheepworld!

My trip up north with my parents started at the same place as our first NZ road trip - Sheepworld!

Fortunately this time our campervan didn't break down and we weren't stranded there for three days waiting for a replacement. Instead, we enjoyed the sheep show and then headed up to Whangarei. I left longing for a dog and a flock of sheep all of my own though.

Splat!

James found this owl-print on the bedroom window recently. We looked down but couldn't see anything so can only assume the morepork flew off again. Glad the window wasn't open!

Hot Chick

New Life

One of our hens went broody about three weeks ago and we weren't really sure whether she was going to have any success. We candled the eggs with a torch though and could clearly see something in one of the eggs. So we left her to it.

And then one morning James went down to let the chickens out and found a lovely little chick in the nest box. The next night we could hear chirping from a second egg and saw a little hole opening up. And in no time at all, we had a third chick, looking a bit tired and scruffy but just fine.

The last chick has fluffed up now and we've installed mother hen and her brood in a coop in the garage to keep them safe from the roosters. Let's just hope these three grow up to be girls!