Sunday, March 13, 2011
Saturday, March 13, 2010
The Autumn Blog... (but mostly about summer)
So......
Where were we?
Last time we spoke it was autumn. Funny, it's autumn now...i mean again. Autumn.
Ah well, what are you going to do?
It's been a summer of building, bbq's and plenty of living in the outdoors, both here in Titiraingholm and around the islands. North and South that is.
Christmas was another great family gathering from all sides descending on the deck to share a feast of food and laughter. (for photos of xmas see http://whanaumoore.blogspot.com/2010/02/christmas-2009-part-two.html)
The building started with The Ballustrade, an addition to the deck on the front door side of the house to stop wayward nieces and nephews diving off the edge into the abyss.
Construction photo:
(photo may resemble those posted on other blogs)
We tested the robustness of construction at New Years eve by cranking the bbq up again for an xmas re-run, with perhaps too much bad singing thrown in... ah well, a good time was had by all I'm sure.
Following these continuous festivals of eating we decided it was high time to get away from the tropical climate that is NZ north of Taupo and head to more "invigorating" pastures for some long days wandering the hills of Queen Charlotte Track. Lets just say it was lucky we took our rain coats. But any tramp where you can end an 8 hour day with complementary wine tasting at The Portage is OK by me.
Back in the land of Waitakere we added to the growing list of species we share our patch of Auckland with the addition of one escaped pet rabbit, Rabo, and her two baby rabbits named Woger and Bugs. Now, the babies, despite severe cute appeal, are unfortunately not the kind of livestock we really want to sponser in the Roost, so off to the SPCA they went. But they were cute whilst they lasted:
Last (for this blog) but not least is the story of The Path, the newest addition to the growing landscaping capers of The Roost. Over three weekends and 1000 years the a path now exists along the northern side of the house. Last winter this patch of ground resembled a treacherous and somewhat unnerving slip-and-slide on route between house and chicken coop. But not now with a stone an cobble combination Tony Murrell would be proud of.
A bientot, Andy et Cha
Where were we?
Last time we spoke it was autumn. Funny, it's autumn now...i mean again. Autumn.
Ah well, what are you going to do?
It's been a summer of building, bbq's and plenty of living in the outdoors, both here in Titiraingholm and around the islands. North and South that is.
Christmas was another great family gathering from all sides descending on the deck to share a feast of food and laughter. (for photos of xmas see http://whanaumoore.blogspot.com/2010/02/christmas-2009-part-two.html)
The building started with The Ballustrade, an addition to the deck on the front door side of the house to stop wayward nieces and nephews diving off the edge into the abyss.
Construction photo:
(photo may resemble those posted on other blogs)We tested the robustness of construction at New Years eve by cranking the bbq up again for an xmas re-run, with perhaps too much bad singing thrown in... ah well, a good time was had by all I'm sure.
Following these continuous festivals of eating we decided it was high time to get away from the tropical climate that is NZ north of Taupo and head to more "invigorating" pastures for some long days wandering the hills of Queen Charlotte Track. Lets just say it was lucky we took our rain coats. But any tramp where you can end an 8 hour day with complementary wine tasting at The Portage is OK by me.
Back in the land of Waitakere we added to the growing list of species we share our patch of Auckland with the addition of one escaped pet rabbit, Rabo, and her two baby rabbits named Woger and Bugs. Now, the babies, despite severe cute appeal, are unfortunately not the kind of livestock we really want to sponser in the Roost, so off to the SPCA they went. But they were cute whilst they lasted:
Last (for this blog) but not least is the story of The Path, the newest addition to the growing landscaping capers of The Roost. Over three weekends and 1000 years the a path now exists along the northern side of the house. Last winter this patch of ground resembled a treacherous and somewhat unnerving slip-and-slide on route between house and chicken coop. But not now with a stone an cobble combination Tony Murrell would be proud of.
A bientot, Andy et Cha
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Well, it's almost the end of May, and that means almost the end of of Autumn. Orion's Belt is moving further and further north in the night sky, the Southern Cross much higher off the southern horizon and much easier to see from the valley floor. The winter solstice is less one month away and the sun has been scooting across the northern sky with only a few hours on the house in the morning and a few in the afternoon. And that's when it hasn't been raining. The Waitakeres have been living up their name (falling water) and the ground around the section has been pretty satch for the last month. Temperatures are dropping too - we had our first ice on the car windscreen day last week. The fireplace has been getting a good workout courtesy of our supplier of kiln dried untreated off cuts. And it's not yet even winter proper!
It's been a season of visitors, and not just of the human kind. April was the month of the duck, with hundreds of mallards flying in to spend the day on our front lawn and driveway. As the acorns in the house oak tree ripened we were visited nightly by a possum feeding on them, dropping branches and acorns on the roof throughout the April nights. On the avian front we were also visited by wood pigeons (also feeding on the acorns), pukekos, eastern roslleas, moreporks, tuis, piwakawaka, waxeyes and chaffinch.
The chickens continue to do well, albeit down in numbers after one unexplained death in the coup. The remaining eight are in full feather as they head into the cold months, following some dramatic moulting late in the summer season (feathered one day, partially bald the next).
One benefit of the rain has been softer ground, and the beginnings of the path down the northern side of the house has been started and the ground next to the chicken coop is ready for the construction of a long needed shed to house the growing number of garden implements being acquired.
Next Blog Post - Winter at The Roost.
a bientot
The chickens continue to do well, albeit down in numbers after one unexplained death in the coup. The remaining eight are in full feather as they head into the cold months, following some dramatic moulting late in the summer season (feathered one day, partially bald the next).
One benefit of the rain has been softer ground, and the beginnings of the path down the northern side of the house has been started and the ground next to the chicken coop is ready for the construction of a long needed shed to house the growing number of garden implements being acquired.
Next Blog Post - Winter at The Roost.
a bientot
Monday, December 29, 2008
Xmas at the roost
Both extended families descended upon The Roost on xmas afternoon to feast on the copious amounts of food provided by all. As always the chickens had a fiesta picking up the scraps around the grass and have started to become quite partial to strawberries.
Some photos of the evening...
Some photos of the evening...
