Work or play?

Its a crazy thing, as each weekend we come here, we work like crazy. How come? For me, its mostly as my work is ethereal, and this is a chance to see the differences I am producing. And this diary will give us a chance to see over time what we have been doing. Our intention was to come and read and paint, however we work on the property as well. Saturday David put in the pantry, Gerry had made the shelves and they were mm too long. We needed a plane. I've been keen we dont replicate all the tools we have from the apartment, however David needed a plane so off to Mitre 10 ( our fav weekend spot - destination shopping), and low and behold, an electric plane was less expensive that a handheld, so we now have a fab electric plane, and a pantry. At last we can see our supplies, what we have and anything we need. I am delighted and no longer have to move many bowls and supplies to find a saucepan. Sunday we placed thick polythene plastic over 3square metres around the well and taped it in place with silver tape (cos we had it). David shovelled earth from one of the piles from the well excavation, and I shovelled earth from another, into our yellow bins, on the trailer and farm biked it over the the well, learning to back with occassional success. Back and forth, til most of the area is covered. Phew, loads more to do. We plonked the large stones onto the back of the landi and trucked them up to the front fence, we now have a stone fence about .5m high, of loose stones about a quarter the width of the front of the property. Hmm, yes that stone fence. I am staying 5 days, including ANZAC day, so am discovering what it will be like to have a holiday here!
Being slightly nervous of being on my own in the country, I phoned Marguerite, and let her know, saying if I was freaked out I'd phone. Around 4am the house woke and began creaking. A cup of tea later and back to sleep. Phew, made it. Up early with a coffee and the stunning view in the morning sun, dew, and the mist making a hasty exit. First thing was to paint the wooden stays in the pantry. This required me to lie on my side on the floor, and paint, 3 coats. Doing this on my right side was easier than on my left! The thought, I am too old for this, crossed my mind. Then off out to the well and painted some irises on the well cover. If you have to have these things then they need to look half way decent! Jane had coffee ready so across Paul's property to Jane's and morning tea outside in sun overlooking the river and the autumn hills. Gorgeous. Then shopping! Most weekends see us in Farmlands, Mitre 10 or the Warehouse, so this time, browsing. Two winter tops and a pair of jeans later, then home to mow around the house. Jane, William and I went up and over Chester's Lockliddy sections and sat on top of the hill in the setting sun, looking out over the valley and river, quiet, calm and the green, golds and reds of autumn, then picking mushrooms on the way home for dinner. A chance to paint with Linda and Jane in the evening, and Jane teaches me how to apply the paint to the canvas. Linda completes a stunning pencil drawing of William capturing his warmth and quizzical look and Jane adds more depth to her glacial painting for an exhibition next week. I like this holiday a lot!

Dreams come true

David continues to be the irrigation detective, coming across mysterious joins and underground pipes and draws together the overall likely picture. We tried prompting Paul W's memory (he set up the initial system), however so much has happened in the ensuring years, what made sense then, isnt making so much sense right now. Each repair David makes, the pressure increases, so much so we had a 6 metre spurt from one of the breaks in the grove. We are now envisioning water features. This weekend, we drew draft pics of the proposed bathroom and kitchen for the shearers quarters, I DASed the weeds in the pathways, David had chopped the grass around the water tank and new hedges, we looked at all the drippers in the vineyard, adjusting the blocked ones and learning how to take them apart and put them together, we measure the water flow from a dripper (2L per hour as indicated) and I made a fresh brew of pear conserve with pears from Lorraine's orchard in Kibblewhite Drive. The recipe is being refined. As we began looking at weekend properties, I kept having visions of sparkling pear conserve on the shelves and growing things in the garden. Dreams do come true. Will you look at this! Great on toast for breakie or with blue cheese and a glass of wine. Raspberries, lettuces, and green beans all from the garden, we are creating quite a domestic scene where we are. Can't wait for the pantry to go in now so we have shelves for these gorgeous preserves. Gerry says the shelves will be ready this weekend!

Finding the wet spots

We'd planned a restful weekend, with a bit of mowing, and seeing if we could connect the new well water supply with the existing irrigation to the olive trees in front of the house, called the olivery. Peter stayed with us on Thursday night and he went back to Auckland on friday so we headed up to the farm around 10.30am arriving in time for lunch. Being lovely and warm we lay in the sun and read. Hireworld saw us at 10am on Saturday, bringing back a tow and mow for the vines, and for me to do the olives and around the cottage, a self powered rotary mower. (yes I am too old for this). With the farm bike David had mowed the 21 rows of vines in 2 hours. I had done around the house, the shearers quarters and the barn. Sore everything! We then decided to make this crucial link between the new well water supply and the existing irrigation system in the olives. David turned it on. I could see a spout in the distance. Fantastic, we can get water to the trees after the three years of nothing. The next few hours we discoverd and fixed many leaks and breaks in the hoses from our shabby weedeating and previous mowing. Yes we had been told! We replaced as many drippers as we could. David spend most of Sunday digging to the main feeds (40mm pipes) , about a metre down through stones trying to find the mains which feed the different areas of the property. Hard yakka. Meanwhile I worked with bike and tow and mow and mowed the side olives, around 3 acres taking an hour and a half. Coming back from hireworld (they know us well), I spotted a wet patch over by the shearers quarters. We went and had alook, water was bubbling up! David dug again. Another pipe, this one chomped through by Telecom when they put in the phone lines! We needed a stopper, and as no one was open, we made a temporary stopper with a metal end Paul S had, and rammed stones up beside it to hold it in place, This didnt last long. Each repair we made, the pressure increased and then fell off again as a new leak became apparent. At the end of the day, David noticed two wet patches in the driveway. This means the contractors building the cottage had chopped through the main (50mm!!) several times. We'll probably have to replace that one.

We completed Sunday by picking up the large stones at the base of each olive tree and tossing them into one of the rows, and on Monday afternoon, loaded these onto the truck and took them to the front fence. One day we plan a stone walled entrance way to the property. We have plenty to choose from. Two loads in the landi, probably 200 stones altogether. Heavy stuff. I planted lavendar, rosemary and poppies around the water tank and getting it ready for the climbing icebergs to be planted in June.
Hopefully by summer the view from the bathroom window will be gorgeous. And I put some daffodils around the mound ready for spring. Marguerite invited us for Easter breakfast and to a sumputous gathering of friends, family and neighbours. Beginning with an easter egg hunt, this breakfast was served amongst many stories and laughs of our lives in the country. I had painted some fresh eggs with acrylics which the kids enjoyed, boiled for 4 minutes. Miraculously, the paint stayed on. Marguerite's piece de la resistance was baked french toast served with orange, cinamon and red wine pears. Divine. Saturday night David and I headed off to Java, a local cafe, and the food was lovely - I had teraki with lime, chilli and corriander sauce, and David had the beef. Only one local wine to choose from and then a 2006, disappointing especially as they had the 2003 on the wine list. And Sunday might with Paul and Jane. Jane had made delicious lasange and then apple pie with her own apples, the best I have ever had. No wonder we dont loose weight even with all our work.