Paddock 2

Paddock 1

Red and gold

Deadwood

Stand-off

We arrived  home the other day to find a stand-off between one neighbour's peacocks and another neighbour's geese. I suppose we must be neutral territory where they feel comfortable settling their disputes.

Midwinter Christmas 3

I've been busy making more mini-wreaths for our Christmas tree. I had intended to make a full-size wreath for the front door with all these shells but they were too heavy for the wire and pulled it out of shape so I changed tack.

Next I'm pondering using a wicker wreath, some smaller shells and a glue gun to create a wreath for the front door. Watch this space!

Flax 2

Flax 1

Ferns

Fungus

Feather

Bark

When the sun came out last weekend, I took a prowl around the property and snapped a few shots of everything looking lush and green. Even the tree trunks are thriving!

Bees Please!

We had a visit from our neighbour's beekeeper the other day and he thinks we have a suitably sunny spot for some of his hives.

He's going to return in the spring with half a dozen hives to install in this spot on the edge of the lawn. It'll be a short flight to a stand of manuka trees, the row of rosemary down our drive and (most importantly) our fledgling orchard.

It'll be lovely to have them buzzing around and to get a few jars of honey but it's the pollination that I'm most looking forward to. Members of our gardening club have reported real improvements in their gardens after getting bees.

(Not) cooking on gas

This was our first attempt at cooking on the stove - a pan of spaghetti. It bubbled and boiled away nicely and cooked the pasta to perfection. Success!