It has been essentially a rubbish summer throughout New Zealand. Oh yes, I KNOW Central Otago was lovely, but that was only because we chose not to camp there. Had we turned up with tent and over-stocked people-mover in tow, then I'm certain that it would have rained and been miserable there also.
My veges have been slow due to the cold weather (and a little negligence) but we are now seeing a decent harvest. Some excavating has increased the number of raised beds I have at my disposal and I'm loving it... when bending down doesn't send me into throes of vomiting or give me heartburn. Gotta love this pregnancy lark.
Bean teepee and the last of the peas.
Some of our many capsicums - no mean feat growing these in Canterbury with no glassshouse!
Apples! And they're good. Very impressed with our $15 Warehouse fruit trees.
Courgette rut!
They are all funny little globe-like ones this year. Just how 'Mixed' was that packet of 'Mixed Variety Courgettes'?
You know you can write off summer when your trees start turning in February.
New chooks!
We are currently in the process of culling our ancient old Brown Shavers with Plymouth Barred Rocks. They are enormous, beautiful creatures (hopefully less inclined to get out of their lovely wee run!) and we now have two purebred hens and 3 week old chicks of unknown sex. Hoping NOT to end up with a 3:2 rooster to hen ratio.
Remember this scrawny specimen?
Well Minty is now nearly a two-tooth and currently (accidentally!) expecting her first lamb sometime this eeehhhhhrrrrmmm... winter. Ooops. Hoping we're wrong! Spring we can do - even July we could manage. But not so keen on June lambs.
Doesn't she look awful shorn?
And because it feels like we might be finally making some dents into the landscaping of this place, here are some pics of our labours:
Spot where the irrigation lines end!
Just waiting on a fencer to come and break his equipment on our rocks so we don't have to! Steve is very much looking forward to having someone ELSE do a job for a change. Especially since it involves digging holes!
