Bumps in the Road

We found this fantastic knitted road sign at the Corban Estate Arts Centre.

Tractor Trail

We're still on the trail of the optimal tractor - not too battered, not too perfect - for J's restoration project.

We weren't too sure about this one as it was dropping bits of rusty metal where it stood - probably too much of a challenge.

Phenology

I learnt a new word this week: phenology. It's the study of periodic plant and animal life cycles and was started by Robert Marsham in Norfolk in the 1700s.

There's also an extensive tradition of season-watching in Japanese and Chinese culture - as illustrated by the Tale of Genji in which the Emperor had a palace, a magnificent complex of four interconnected mansions, one for each of the four seasons.


We saw phenology in action too when our magnolia flowered a year after it last did. Perfect timing.

You looking at me?

Game of Thrones

Our new loo...with a nice square cistern, to match the squareness of our house.

Aliens in the Attic

The rainfall in Auckland is actually higher than that in the North West of England. So most houses in New Zealand are damp, dripping, crying windows and black mould accumulating on the ceilings. But not our house any more - now that we have aliens in the attic.

It's a wrap!

Now that the house has been reduced to nothing more than a skeleton, the slow, slow work of putting it all back together again has started.



The first job is to make the house weathertight. The house is now wrapped and the builder has started to put the weatherboard on.







The weatherboarding should take about a month and then the interior walls will be packed with insulation before the gib board is put back and the house takes shape again.