Solar Power

Last week we made some progress on our renovations after many months of waiting for something to happen. We finalised the plans for resource consent and have decided we can't decide just yet on our cladding of choice.

At the weekend, we took a trip to the What Power Crisis? open day in Ramarama to find out a bit more about solar hot water heating and wetbacks.

We came back with a slightly clearer idea about how the various systems work but with a lot more decisions to make - three panels or four? one element or two? direct or indirect wetback connection? radiant or convection woodburner? oven or cook-top?

And that's before we even get on to what colour tiles to have!

Whatever we end up with, it'll be great to harness some of that free energy from the sun and the fallen branches around our place so that I can continue to indulge in my long hot showers.

Rooster Auto Inspections

Must check the plates to make sure the vehicle licence is up-to-date...



And how is the tread looking on these tyres?



I think this mud guard could do with replacing - must add that to the bill...

Natural pest control

When gardeners talk about natural pest control, I'm not sure this is exactly what they have in mind. However, I'm pleased to say that the ants have been doing an excellent job of eliminating the aphids on my pelargonium cuttings. Just a shame they're all in the kitchen.

A flurry of snowdrops

Daffadowndilly

Grapefruit Harvest

We had a meagre grapefruit crop this year. I'm not sure whether the tree's just a bit too old or if it was hit by the drought. Or maybe the silvereyes were even hungrier than I realised.


I picked the fruit that was left though and squeezed every last drop of juice out of them to make our next vintage of grapefruit wine. It's now glugging away under the stairs and making the coat cupboard smell like a brewery.

Crown Lynn crockery

After a large number of our plates were smashed on their round the world trip last year, I was forced to spend some time on TradeMe picking out some replacements.

I decided to start a small Crown Lynn collection and bid on some lovely brown pieces and a whole gorgeous turquoise dinner service.



Here's the dinner service in use for afternoon tea. Check out the milk jug and the 1960s table runner too.



And here's my lovely afternoon tea cupboard...

Kitchen perfection

I had grown tired of rummaging around in the cupboard for pan lids and so I set about making a lid-stand using a few lengths of wood and a good number of screws.



Along the way, I learnt a lot including (1) always make sure that your drill bit is straight, (2) never touch the drill bit if you can smell burning and (3) don't buy a cheap screwdriver.

Here's the finished article which has improved my life immeasurably:

In Memoriam

This was my beautiful echevaria - now no longer flourishing in my border due to the chickens' taste for succulents.

Rhodendron

Moa - a very rare beer

Ever since we visited the Moa Brewery in Renwick at the end of our tour of Marlborough wineries, James has been hunting down this rare brew.

The moa was a giant bird, hunted to its extinction by the Maori, long before the Pakeha settlers could do any damage. Its memory lives on though in these bright green bottles.

Magnolia III

Magnolia II

Magnolia I

There are definite signs of spring around here - snowdrops (in a city that may never have seen snow), daffodils and our magnolia tree in full bloom. Someone just needs to tell the weather that it's time to move on from the clouds and rain.

The Singing Detective II

Not only did we find earwigs under the doormat, we also found this black field cricket nestling under the step. He went quiet before we uncovered him but we're fairly certain that he was the culprit.


The New Zealand encylcopaedia tells me that he's a pest but he wasn't damaging much in our front porch. No doubt his friends have occupied the deep cracks that appeared in our clay soil over the hot, dry summer and have munched more than their fair share of grass. We probably have enough to share though.

The Singing Detective I

Earlier this winter, we returned home each evening to be serenaded as we reached the front door.

We swept away the leaves, checked inside our boots and looked around the porch roof but couldn't find anything that might be making such delightful music.

When we pulled away the doormat though we found a whole city of earwigs.


Check back tomorrow to find out what else we discovered...

Pig Hunt

We had the joy of finding three pigs the other day, rooting around our land when we went down to put the chickens to bed. Luckily our neighbour had called to warn us otherwise we would have been very alarmed by the heavy breathing in the dark.

There wasn't much chance of us being able to herd them home in the dark so we left them to go to sleep and they were tempted back the next day by some hot milk.

Our neighbour also told us that the bare block between our two blocks has been sold and so we look forward to meeting the new owners and watching what kind of house they're going to put up...