Winter work

The fruit and herb bed before weeding. 

The rabbits after I'd weeded. 

Our rhubarb is flowering! 

The new compost bay. 

A few useful bits and pieces. 

New Year, Old Projects

The time off over Christmas has given me the odd opportunity to catch up on some things that I'd left undone. 

Staking this kowhai was a top priority. It had quite a lean and has started to yellow. It's a special tree as I planted it over one of my two placentas. I also love kowhai and the tui that they attract so I was keen to save it. Fingers crossed it works. 

Fixing the flapping and fraying wind barrier on the raised beds became more pressing once I planted my first crown of rhubarb and a cape gooseberry. 

I used my father's idea of threading through a bamboo cane and hooking on a bungee cord. Some of the original hooks had rusted through so I hammered in a baling hook saved from a cube of sawdust. The bungee won't last in the sun though so I'll need a more sustainable option for the long term. 

Inside the house, I conquered my fear of meringue and made a pavlova base. Sadly our hens have stopped laying (in the coop at any rate) so I had to buy eggs. I was able to buy them from a local producer who once took some of our chicks so they're almost our own eggs. 

I also squeezed in an hour of sewing to put together a shopkeeper's apron and a tool belt for the children. They need the straps adding in but they're much closer than before. Progress at last. 

Te Whare o Te Weta

Over the holidays, I built a bug hotel at Playcentre from recycled material gathered from kindly neighbours. 

I've named it Te Whare o Te Weta - the house of the weta, in Te Reo Maori.

After that, I felt the need to construct something at home so I started this pile of logs and pine cones under some ferns. Once I've built up my collection of pallets again, I'll start on something more substantial but this should provide some temporary lodgings.

Complications in the compost heap

I've been diligently contributing to my compost heap for the last 4.5 years but not taking any of the compost out. And now that I have a vegetable garden ready and waiting for compost, I've found that it's not really fit for purpose. The heap is being invaded by kikuyu grass and convolvulus and I've never turned it as it's been too tricky to take it to pieces and get stuck in. Worse still, the wood is rotting after being eaten - devoured - by wood lice. 

So I've dismantled one of  the heaps and salvaged a few of the planks to make a temporary three-sided heap which I'll be able to turn more easily. So far the chickens haven't scattered the waste too far. 

I've been looking around for ideas for a more permanent construction and think that something like this might work - five pallets upcycled to create two bays. The front panel is made from a board which can be easily removed for turning the compost and then using it. 

And I'll be borrowing the pest-proofing technique from this design... 

Off the back of a truck

We found this beauty at the side of the road during what was probably the last ever inorganic collection. It's in the shed for now but we have plans to use it as an entertainment centre once the rumpus room is fully fitted out...

Byproducts 1

This is the bountiful haul from the dead pine that was felled a few weeks back - sacks of pine cones, a mountain of logs and a large mound of mulch. Should keep us going for a few years...

A stitch in time

Apparently I have a problem with plastic bags but I wouldn't need to hoard them if someone stopped bringing them home. 

Anyway, all those plastic bags now have a better home rather than being let loose in the back of the cupboard after I made these bags for bags. I made them from the bodies of two old shirts with a little bit of ribbon to perk them up. It only took me about two hours. Two hours over the course of two years, that is. 

Weed Control

Hurray! Great news! One of my raised beds is ready! Or at least ready in the sense that construction is complete. It needs a bit more work before I can grow anything. 

The first task is to kill off the evil kikuyu grass which currently occupies the bed (see bottom right photo). Having read on the internet that smothering can be quite successful, my weapon of choice is old underlay saved from our renovations. I laid it out and pegged it down with tent pegs, narrowly avoiding the white tail that was clinging to the underlay. 

Now we just have to wait and work out where we're going to get 12 cubic metres of good, weed free soil from.

Remember this?

Does this play kitchen look familiar to you at all? 

Yep - that's right! It's the old vanity unit from the original bathroom suite that's found a new lease of life after being ripped out during our renovations. It makes a pretty fine kitchen, doesn't it? 

Tealights at teatime

I'll be looking out for sieves and steamers in op shops from now on with a view to recreating this amazing chandelier that I saw at NZ Sculpture on Shore...

Midwinter Christmas 2

Here are the mini bead wreaths that I mentioned in yesterday's post.

I'm a dreadful hoarder. Actually, I'm a really good hoarder. Great at storing things up and admiring them from time to time. I'm just useless at using the things that I hoard. So I took out some of my favourite beads and some old earrings which I no longer wear but couldn't bear to part with and turned them into these crafty Christmas decorations.

I've no idea how they'll look on the Christmas tree but I'm hoping for a homemade, found-objects kind of look. More of a faded pioneer Christmas than a modern, glossy Christmas. I think I just need one more collection of baubles to balance the look - probably some pine cones or seashells if I have any left over from the larger wreath that I'm planning...

Midwinter Christmas 1

As winter approaches, I'm feeling festive. I don't think we'll bother to hold a mid-winter Christmas celebration as some kiwis do. Instead I have been busy making Christmas decorations.

Our local community has recently set up a swap system whereby things that would otherwise be thrown away are offered up to neighbours who might find a new use for someone's unwanted goods. When someone mentioned that they had a box of textile swatches, I thought this was a good way to start a fabric stash. A bag of pinecones for firelighting was deemed to be a good trade and so I picked up the box of scraps and started sorting.

I've found lots of pieces suitable for making rag rugs and some lovely bits which will make baby clothes. I wanted instant gratification though and set about making some mini rag wreaths for our Christmas tree.

Bold red, gold and green or icy silver colour schemes seem strange for a summertime Christmas so I'm planning a a more natural, sun-bleached Christmas display.

I've been busy making bead wreaths in co-ordinating colours too - check back tomorrow for a sneak preview of those - and I'm planning on a seashell wreath for the front door and some bunting for the deck. Watch this space!

A Little Library

Over the last few weeks, I've been busy unpacking all our books after they've been in storage for the last three years. It's been great fun discovering old favourites and forgotten volumes. And the only mouse-nibbled book was a dictionary, oddly enough.

The sci-fi/fantasy collection has now been housed on the bookshelves on the stairs but my modern classics need a home. We have some flat-packed shelves to put together and then I'll be able to alphabetise them all and get them in place. I really hope we'll have room for them all. I don't want to have brought them all this way just to have to give them away!



Even though I'm concerned about space, I couldn't resist snapping up a few bargains at a school fair and a garage sale over Easter weekend. I picked up some classics that I remembered fondly from childhood - The cow who fell in the canal (now out of print), Milly Molly Mandy (or Milicent Margaret Amanda to her angry mother), What Katy Did (in honour of my sister) and Myths and Legends of Many Lands (including my favourites the boy and the dike and King Canute).



I was tempted by this crafting book too. Dyeing and printing sounded rather intimidating, even though I'm the daughter of a printer, but when I realised that the patterns were all made with household objects like string and punched card, I couldn't resist. I'll look forward to attempting some of these projects soon.

Good enough to eat

I had a disappointing thrifting experience last week. I visited one of the new-style Hospice Shops in a smart-ish mall. The shop was clean and fresh but that only made the merchandise look shabby and overpriced by comparison. So this week I visited an older, more rundown Hospice Shop and re-discovered the thrill of the hunt for thrifted treasure.

And I found some treasure. An apple sauce pot that looks like an apple. To add to our growing collection of fruit- and vegetable-themed pottery. Here it is with some of the apples off our tree. Can you tell which one it is?

Desk Job

I had the enjoyable task of setting up my corner of the rumpus room last week. The cornerpiece of the arrangement is an old desk that I found in a junk shop a few years ago. I was tempted by the large surface area which will be ideal for sewing and crafts and by its solidity.

It's a bit shabby round the edges but I love all the clues to its former life - the labels on the drawers ("insurance notifications") and the stamps and scribbles inside the drawers. Intriguingly the drawers only go halfway into the desk and there are secret, locked cabinets at the back. The builders put the desk in place before I had chance to explore the secret compartments but one day I'll take a hairpin to the locks and find the treasures inside.

A rare treat

My other birthday treat was a trout. I used to eat trout reasonably regularly back home in the UK. The sandwich shop near college did a particularly delicious smoked trout sandwich. And then there was another sandwich shop close to work which did a quite miraculous smoked trout and emmental panini. In fact, I would say that I took trout for granted. But no longer.

Trout is a restricted product in New Zealand. There are controls on importing foreign trout and on selling both local and imported trout. You just can't get it for love nor money. Except for love of fishing, that is. I don't love fishing, though it's on my list of things to do. Luckily, a friend's freezer was overflowing with fish caught by her husband and his father so I was the happy recipient of this little beast.



I baked it first, using the leftover liquid from this recipe for braised leeks and then added some more leeks and celery.

We only managed to eat one side of the beast for my birthday dinner and so I flaked off the other side and made potted trout from this recipe book, a thrifty purchase that I knew would come in handy...

Turning the Tables

I've been hunting down bargains on TradeMe again. This time I've secured a cupboard for the laundry and four handmade rimu stools - two are now functioning as coffee tables in the living room whilst the other two have become bedside tables in the granny flat. And for less than $100 for the five pieces - two great bargains!





So far, I've succeeded in securing all additional furniture that we've needed for the house from the secondhand market. We've saved money, given good pieces a good home and kept close to our 1960s theme. I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself as a result! I'm no nearer to finding a good sideboard at a reasonable price though. Watch this space.

Pottering About

When I took the truck in for repairs recently, I found the Salvation Army opshop next door to the garage. On browsing through their stock, I was delighted to find a vinegar jug - just what we need for the nights when we have fish and chips.



I didn't really need the other jugs but think they'll come in handy.

And I've definitely felt the lack of a platter.



I need to decide on a theme for our house though before I get tempted with too many other things. As you can see, I'm quite partial to earthy colours and designs. But I've picked up a few bright pieces as well. Decision time...

Past Plantings

The Complete Vegetable Grower: this book is my latest garage sale purchase for 50 cents. As the title suggests, it's a pretty comprehensive volume. But when I started leafing through it, I found a little something extra inside.

One side is an invitation to the 13th Annual Dinner of the Ten Year Club (surely a contradiction in terms!) at the Tramore Grand Hotel in 1973.

But the other side is a planting schedule - which seeds were going in which row, when, and at what distance. I can just imagine Mr Flynn working his way through the book, determining the requirements for each crop then carefully noting them down on his quick-reference guide.

It's a fascinating glimpse into someone's gardening history. Maybe I should try to replicate his garden... I might skip on the sprouts though.

The Eternal Optimist

I am a dreadful gardener. Far too sentimental. Good gardeners are ruthless. They thin out seedlings and cull plants on death's door. I'm neglectful too, easily distracted by other tasks and projects - not a good combination.

The kindest thing to do would have been to put my houseplants out of their misery by laying them to rest on the compost heap. They'd been savaged by snails on the front doorstep, starved of sun and infrequently watered.

But I couldn't give up on them and so I planted them out in a border, hoping the Auckland spring will perk them up.

(Have you spotted the Christmas poinsettia there? Still limping on...)

And then a few days after my mercy mission, I found cause for optimism. I had picked up this ginkgo tree at the school fair at the end of last season. It lost all its leaves over winter until it was nothing but a stick, stuck in some soil, and I left it at the house, on the building site, forgotten under the scaffolding and shrinkwrap.

But, all of a sudden, glimpses of green had appeared. There was life in the old stick yet! So I popped it in the back of the truck and brought it to our temporary abode for some tender loving care. I've dutifully watered it daily and it's rewarded me with sprouting leaves at intervals along its twiggy trunk. The top leaves have unfurled and seem to be thriving. Now I just have to keep it up!



My adopted vegetable garden seems to be coming along nicely, though there are a few bitemarks from the snails. With a bit of luck, the seedlings will tough it out...



Let's hope the cherry tomato seeds sprout too - under their makeshift greenhouse.