December already - and the cattle are lowing

Christmas is nearly upon us, and our seasonal reminder is right in front of us again as the cattle are back in the front paddock, just like last year. Hope the deer return as well, as they really made life interesting and Christmassy last year! The cats preen, wash and yawn within metres of the cattle, undisturbed, but the cattle are intensely curious about the cats and would clearly like more interaction ... Hhmmmm.

New potatoes nearly ready, lots of spring growth, and we're all ready for summer.

It's bonfire night but we're leaving the big bang theory to others

Finally, lovely spring weather ... fence is being taken out slowly so we can plant heaps of bulbs and other bits and pieces and meanwhile, the vegetable garden is prolific. Silverbeet and spinach anyone? Fortunately we like heaps of both. Still waiting for the protect oil to be applied to the exterior board and batten - maybe by Christmas - but we've learned to live with the somewhat motley appearance and when the house gets its final freshen up, no doubt it'll look really smart all over again.

South Canterbury Tours is up and ready to roll - find us on www.southcanterburytours.co.nz and see what's been keeping me so busy for the past 6 months or so. Will keep you posted ... seriously!

October 2009 - coming up to our first anniversary

Hard to believe we've been here for a whole year - Labour Weekend is the date and it's coming up fast. House is great to live, work and entertain in, and the garden/section is coming along nicely. Lawn could do with a tune-up as it veers between lushness (thanks to the grey water feeder system irrigating the section) and patchy dryness - a mix of weather and grass vagaries. But always looks good after it's been mown, so will get there in the end, no doubt.

Trees and vegetables are thriving, as are the sheep next door - the old ewe had her annual triplets bang on time last night, so we're continuing the delights of watching the new lambs stumble around next door as they find their feet, literally. The cats are stunned all over again at these new, mewling animals (a year ago, when they first encountered lambs, is a long time in cat memory so they are curious but cautious).

More next time as we will celebrate the moving in date with some sort of event - a party? BBQ? General noisy good time? A lot depends on the weather!

Trying to link - missing link in the chain, more like

http://www.englishplusaoraki.co.nz

Trying to customise my blog is a little tricky - hence two short posts. One day I'll figure out how to get a permanent link to the business!

Playing with technology

With any luck, from now on, you can click on the main picture to take you straight to the business website.

New business, new table, new Facebook friends

Late July and life is ticking over nicely. Keith's making great progress on our dining table, and I'm busy with ongoing research and marketing for my new home-based business. EnglishPlus Aoraki (that's me) went 'live' a week ago - ie the website is up and we're open for business. There's still plenty to do in getting the word out, and it would be very handy to have a couple of links to inbound tourist operators who could package me in a bigger NZ tour experience. Any ideas? Just spreading the word to absolutely any and every one you can think of is as good a way of getting known as any - every little helps. So it's onward and upward for us both.

And ... I'm on Facebook, as EnglishPlus Aoraki. The very best thing about this is being in regular touch with old mates, especially those in Australia.

Jane gets busy with her business plan, and Keith makes a table

This is the first update since January, and we've been working, socialising, building, growing things and making ourselves totally at home. Lots of guests and visitors, too, which is really lovely. The climate here is beautiful, especially after Christchurch winters - cold nights, clear days, hardly any wind, and a pleasure to wake up to. I've been concentrating - finally - on my home-based business idea (more on that later) and feel rather like the old story about the dog who continually chased cars ... what would he do if he actually caught one? And that's me and the business - what will I do if it actually succeeds?? Exhilarating, and the process at least is certainly absorbing.

Keith spends every spare minute out in his workshop and is currently making our long-awaited dining table, refectory style, out of local macrocarpa. Can't wait, it already looks lovely. Will get back to pictures and blog updates more regularly than the past few months, but this is it for now. PS board and batten paint/oil protection on exterior still not finished but won't be long now. We've grown accustomed to her face anyway.

And so the long hot summer wears on

Mid-January, or nearly, and it's been blisteringly hot. Wonderful weather for swimming and lazing about, but getting pretty dry in local gardens and farms. However, everything and everyone continues to thrive at The Old Forgery and in spite of the heat, we now have the beginnings of sleeper steps and general entrance area at the front door, and a beautiful brick herb garden outside the kitchen windows, thanks to Keith's diligence and know-how.

And while we're continuing to think and plan, and changing our minds every couple of days about what to put where, when and how, we're mostly taking a slowly slowly attitude to things and just enjoying the place, riding our bikes, ducking out for a swim now and then, and getting really grounded in our new life. It's been nearly three months since the big move, but our old Christchurch life seems far, far away, much further back than October. We're enjoying our new front paddock neighbours, too, as the pictures testify. Although we miss the December deer, these new beasts are quite curious about us, and the cats, and come for a look-see every evening, snacking on the boundary trees as they eye us up. Hope they stay around for a while.

PS: We're now eating our own courgettes, lettuces and herbs, with tomatoes coming along fast, and sometimes actually picking our own roses. Yay!

Happy New Year - it's 2009 at last!

So here we are, on Sunday January 4 of the new year, and it's almost a year since work started on The Old Forgery. (In fact, the builders started in the third week of January 2008.) The place suits our needs perfectly, the house only needs a few finishing touches to make it complete, and everything in the garden is growing like crazy. No official holiday for us, as we're happy pottering around here finishing things around house, garden, garage and workshop, and the weather is lovely. Whenever we feel like a break, we schmooze into Geraldine for a bit of a shop and a stroll, with lots of holiday-makers, I might add, or hive off to the river for a swim and a laze.

Christmas Day went with a swing, with 24 for lunch and afters, and the house coped well with those numbers - plenty of room, and a quiet village road for street cricket in the evening. New Year was also fun, with a barbeque and bubbles (and an endless parade of dogs) in the local domain, followed by a party just up the road. A beautiful evening, both weather- and people-wise.

And now ... here we are, really enjoying life and with lots on the go for 2009. Very best wishes to everyone for a happy, healthy year ahead.