Ahhh we are home :)

This room is definitely the favorite of all. Rich and I find it way, way too comfortable! We get all snuggled in and it is difficult to move on the evenings. There is always a negotiation between us and the kids who gets it. Luckily for the kids we are old fogeys and need sleep, so they only have to wait a couple of hours before we are falling asleep and have to go to bed :).

We move Pica’s bed between the den and outside, she LOVES summer so much 🙂

As does Vida …

Luca has had his first day back at school,Year 12, it is hard to get my head around that!.

Summer down here generally does not come into full swing until February and sure enough as soon as the kids go back to school, the weather here improves.

The garden is blooming! The veges are coming in fast providing us with delicious meals. Putting wild flowers about has really aided pollination as hoped, especially with my pumpkins.

The Rata tree is flowering furiously this year. I think because the pigs have cleared well around the base and it has aired it out and allowed it to thrive.

Speaking of the boys. We have expanded their area and working on expanding even more up to the front gate area. Rich has cleared that area, so much work!!!! He has done it all by hand which has been quite the mission. Looks fabulous and given us so much more usable land! . Wilbur and Kevin are super happy about this, and we even got a little skip out of Wilbur with the new surrounds. They get all the berries on their side but not on this side, sharing is important 🙂

The chickens are outdoing themselves with their production…

I have been experimenting with different feed and feeding methods and one of my chicken pages (yes I am a very much a chicken nerd 🙂 ), suggested old guttering, which we just happen to have. I had used the Grandpa feeder for a while, my girls never warmed to it, sparrows got trapped in it and putting on the ground was OK, if ground dry, not so much when wet. Plus I had changed feed ,(mainly for financial reasons) which meant a change from pellets to mash which meant more was wasted when ground wet. So I erected this….

It is working so well! Easily cleaned with a dustpan brush and the girls all love it! Highly recommend!

The onions when we arrived home had flowered profusely so I dug them up and dried. Could not bring myself to throw the flowers to the pigs, so used plonked them in a jug, so pretty and lasting so long!

.As for these two trouble makers!

Rich and I had been out on the property working all day and I came back into the house late to find Sophie had made herself right at home inside. She had obviously been checking out the bedrooms (little hoof prints all over) and I found her looking at me from the hallway. Pica was most unhappy, she is all about boundaries and this was a boundary crossed . Sophie took it all in her stride and moved on when I suggested that this was not appropriate 🙂

They are however, despite their cheekiness, earning their keep by taking care of the grass situation. Rich has had to mow every week over spring and summer the last few years, this year he has used it once! Mowing this place takes most of the day so with the girls taking care of it it gives Rich a lot more time for other things.

For the most part they leave the plants and trees alone. There are a couple they like to use as a scratching post and one tree, Sophie in particular likes a munch of, but mostly our garden areas unaffected.

For Xmas Rich, knowing the way to my heart, brought me this, wonderful husband that he is! I cannot tell you how amazing it is, cut likes butter! I had been cutting back some trees with our old saws and getting very frustrated with their bluntness. This has been life changing!!!!

Marika and Daniel who took AMAZING care of this place and all our animals while we were away, finished up another house sitting job and came back to see us on their way south. So wonderful to spend some time with them. Pica and Vida were overjoyed at seeing them.

For those of you needing a house sitter I highly recommend this doing this. It is a win win for both sides. Saves a lot of money for everyone, keeps all your animal at home and if you get lucky you make friends from all over the world (Marika and Daniel are from Sweden)!

Here is NZ we use : https://www.kiwihousesitters.co.nz

This is a worldwide thing though, so can be done all over.

Today is the 1st of February. We feel so lucky to have had such an amazing start to 2025!!! February brings the with it, the routine of work and school which will be a bit of an adjustment, but we feel well rested and ready to take it on 🙂