What To Do With Two Old Side Tables

I acquired a couple of side tables and let them sit in our lounge for a couple of months before being inspired to give them a little love.  Although they were a beautiful mahogany, I wasn't quite feeling them.

Again, white was the colour of choice and after a couple hours, they were finished and I love them!!!

Have a great day people!!

Uninspiring Winter

Winter is always such an uninspiring time around the Ponderosa.  The sun doesn't shine as long, the rain and fog starts to take over, outdoor living is non existent and the gardens get little to no love what so ever.  Its dark when I leave for work, and it's dark when I arrive home after the day is finished.  This makes it challenging trying to feed the animals under moonlight every night, but between us, we manage.  Actually - my wonderful husband pretty much does this after his 12 hour working day, so full credit has to go to him during the winter months.

A bonus during the winter months is being able to sit in front of one or two of our three open fires whilst watching a good movie, a great game of rugby or browsing the internet for some great inspiration for when the warmer months arrive.

We have had some spectacular morning frosts, sunrises and fogs this season which always makes me reflect on just how fortunate we are to live in such a beautiful country such as this.

Winter over the Ponderosa

This winter season hasn't been too bad, with August being recorded as the warmest it's been in over 50 years.  Pity when you live in a 100 year old villa, it's colder inside than it is outside :-(  It has raised some questions around better heating over the winter months though but still being sustainable for us.  Lets see what happens over the coming winter seasons to see what comes out of it.

Happy living people!!!

Meet The Cluckers

The gals have been serving us well over the past year, but since they arrived way back in April 2012 blog of Our New Chooks, we've lost three and as they age, the egg production has reduced.  So ... over the past few months we've been keeping an eye out for the best chook producers so that we can add to the chook collection and we've found a good supplier ... only 20 minutes from the Ponderosa.

We were looking to have at least 5 additions to the gals, but settled for 10 and we can't be more happy. They were originally very scared with their new free range environment, but once the ole gals got used to their new young sisters, they were scratching around in now time.

It will be about 3 more weeks before they start laying, but when they do, we'll be collecting eggs like crazy.  

So what did we do with the 3 that died?  The first suffered a mysterious death and we found what remained of her in the paddock.  The other two died of old age.  We didn't have the heart to cook them up ... at that stage, but can confirm some friends were delighted with how they tasted when we gave them away ..  

Oh yes, the feathers went to my mother who is an avid teacher of korowai :-)

Happy living people!!

What Can You Do With A Cable Reel

One afternoon I picked up my husband for lunch and saw an old cable reel lying in a "dump site" at the factory.  I casually asked him if he could bring it home.  In my head, I wanted to create different living spaces around the ponderosa.  A few days later, it arrived home, which I was delighted with!!!

But it didn't end there.  A few days later, another arrived, then another until I finally had five in total, all different sizes.

Hmmm, 5?  All in different sizes?  Wow!!!  I got to planning the first living space under a wonderful oak tree which forms part of the "hammock" garden.  Of course I had to move three of the reels in and out of the area to see which one suits.  I decided on the second largest and used two old outdoor chairs that I've had with me for a long time.

I did think of painting the chairs and/or the reel, but decided to leave them in the raw form.  The reel itself can house four chairs nicely and numerous times over the long hot summer, we have sat under the tree and enjoyed a cool beverage.

One day I stumbled over a use for the smallest of the cable reels which occurred when my husband was in the hammock reading his book and he wanted something to place his glass on.  Enter the small reel.

My husband in the hammock with our lovely little foxy Bruno enjoying the shade

 I decided to jazz the reel up with some potted colour to add a different dimension for the garden itself.

I do envisage some outdoor lighting above the reel table to add another dimension, but now it's autumn I'm thinking I'll wait until spring to revisit this garden/living space again.

As for the other two reels?  One is being temporarily used by my husband to house his building tools during our big shed project, and the other is casually sitting in the back paddock by the fire bin.  This one provides a lovely sitting space while we burn our rubbish on the weekend and look out at the chooks and the sheilas eating in the paddocks.  I'm not quite sold on the resting place of this sitting area, but when I am, I'll post another blog.

Have a great night people!!

Bruno - The New Addition

Remember my blog Our Best Friends and How Time Flies.  Well how time flies indeed with so many changes on our dog front!!!

Firstly PAL, who was old and sick ... and I had to make the hard decision to put him to rest.  Also JOSEPH ... our funny little foxy who never ceased to amazed us.  He wondered onto the road and tore all is ligaments and cartilage in his legs when he was hit by a car .. again I had to make the hard decision to put him to rest.

It was a challenging few weeks after JO left us but it didn't take long for us to decide it was time to get us another companion on the farm.  Not just to keep us entertained, but to keep the local rabbits and rodents at bay.

Enter BRUNO ...our young fox terrior, who is still trying to find his way on the Ponderosa.  He was born in October, and how it was a mission to get him to us from Marokopa.  He is just starting to understand the different smells, and hasn't quite figured out the rabbits yet but it won't be long before his foxy instincts kick in and he'll be away.

The chickens aren't happy he's around, and as for our beloved sheilas? ... they are starting to get used to him.

Have a great day people.

Cakes, Cakes, Cakes - Again

Its been a pretty busy couple of weeks with me making cakes so I thought I'd post some more photos for people to view.

I'm really enjoying experimenting with different styles of cakes and encourage anyone to give it a go!!!

Happy living people

Childhood Memories Onboard

So ...one of my husbands lovely toys is a boat.  He had always wanted one, but we never had the space to be able to store it, so when we arrived at the Ponderosa it became a reality for him - 9 acres is big enough I think.

I have wonderful childhood memories of holidays, weekends and even daily outings on our boat - particularly to water ski.  Mum would pack the chilly bins with lots of different snacks and off we would go to Lake Karapiro, or to Horotiu or Ngaruawahia.  Having a river at your finger tips is another bonus of why I love who I am.

My sister and brother were always the first to jump in the water and ski for kilometers at a time.  As the younger sibling I would sit and watch them as they crossed from one side of the wake to the other, try different tricks and most importantly try to out do each other.  If we were bored on the boat, my dad would simply drop us off at the nearest ski ramp.  We would bomb and dive all day long, with dad and the boat returning every now and then to collect us for our turn to ski, or to have something to eat at the nearest vacant shore line.

During the xmas break, my childhood memories on the boat turn to daily trips out in the glassy waters of the Bay of Islands, where we would travel to Rawhiti and spend our entire break camping with some of my Snowden whanau.  Fishing, diving or just travelling to Russell every so often to visit and/or collect some essential supplies.

Later in life, my fishing and diving experiences on the boat turned to Raglan when my grandparents moved there, and then to the Coromandel where we travel more often now.

I'm extremely grateful for all the hard work my parents put into ensuring they provided the best they could for myself and my siblings and in doing so have created some loving, positive memories and lessons in return. Lessons and values we can take and pass on to our own children.

We have our own boat now, and although it's only been a year, I know my daughters are enjoying it.  I know I am!! This wonderful weather we are experiencing sure is helping us make some easy choices of spending quality time together with my whanau and friends on the boat.

Have a great day people!!

Just Add Potted Colour

This summer is extremely dry. Given there isn't rain and I'm saving the water in our tank for the necessities, my gardens are looking dull and life-less. Time to add some drama and colour to the mix.  Potted colour.  

When my cousin moved back to Australia, I inherited quite a few of her pots, so I decided to grab some potted annuals and a few test pots from the local mitre 10 (which were on sale) and start painting.

The results, I think look awesome!!

This is not bad for a lazy days work, and the results around the ponderosa is fabulous!!

Happy living peeps!!

An Old Bench Gets a Revamp

I can't believe February is nearly over and I'm thoroughly enjoying this beautiful weather we are having.

My husband is busy trying to build a new shed on the ponderosa, so I thought I'd get to revamping an old bench seat that I acquired on trademe over a year ago for less than $100.

The benchseat was looking a little worn, and it should because it has a few years on it.  I thought about sanding it right back and exposing the wood, but decided to go with a vintage green.  It's only paint and my motto is when or if I get sick of the look, then I can simply change it.

Before the make over

Revamped and Revived

With the new bench seat now in place there are a few changes to the porch that are needed until I'm happy with it, so will post the finished result soon.

Happy living people!!

Importance of Water

This weather is absolutely wonderful.  High 20's, sunshine all day long means an opportunity to swim, outdoor living, inviting friends over for drinks and BBQ's .. the list goes on.  It really is lovely, however the down side is more sun means less water and living on the ponderosa has provided a new prespective on how important water is to us.

This is the first house where I've had to considerably watch our water consumption because once our water tank is empty, we have to buy a truck load of water for anything from $200 to $300.

In the past, I've thought in some respect that our water consumption has always been pretty good, however in reality I could always turn on the tap and know that water was going to come out of it.  Washing the car to watering the grass were things I considered pretty important to me when I lived the lifestyle of suburbia.  Now reflecting, I've realised those things are not as important as I thought.  What is, is just having enough for the necessities such as drinking.

Having two teenage girls is a challenge when it comes to water, but we are all learning as we go.  The grass is VERY dry, and in some cases, there isn't any grass at all.  The gardens are looking dry and next summer I need to consider more mulch in the winter/spring time to keep the moisture in the ground.

Yes, this year has been a very good learning curve for me and my whanau in regard to our water consumption and we definitely need to look at better ways of preserving water and not wasting it.

Have a great day peeps!!