Cottage in the country, the garden

The Spring weather has been unsettled the last few days, on Monday night there was a hail storm and we had a power cut for most of the night.

Sadly for a lot of apple growers the damage was more then just a power cut and hail on the decking,some growers lost their apple crops and when the grower is not insured there won't be any income for the year.

The following day I heard the hail canons blasting away, this device sends shock waves into the atmosphere to disrupt the formation of hail stones.

The hail stones on the decking.

Luckily the sun was shining again and I got busy in the garden. The neighbours sheep love the grass on the other side of the fence much better, that's my garden, so as soon as I open the gate to the paddock, they come running and blaring to be with me, no not really, rather to eat everything in their sight!

I leave the sheep mostly for about ten minutes, but when they start nibbling on the blueberry scrubs I escort them arm waving back behind the gate.

The neighbours sheep in the orchard 

Also the lawn tastes nice!

In the afternoon our friends son, Shiloh came to help me with cleaning the pond.

The pond was not a pond, just an area filled with mud and weeds to the top, I think the pond had not been cleaned for ten years or so.

It took Shiloh and me two hours to empty the pond with buckets and the mud is spread over the garden were it can dry up in the sun.

Now the pond is ready for clean water, waterlilies and gold fish!

Shiloh is helping to clean out the pond

The job is nearly done!

I can't wait to sit in my lounger, read a book and so now and then glance at the waterlilies and fish swimming away, yah!!

Living in the country, a day at the country fair

 This time of the year, October till December there are a lot of school fairs and country markets.

On Saturday Henk and I went to the Ngatimoti school fair not far from were we live.

The Ngatimoti school organizes this fair every year as a fund raising event and it is really successful.

On the way to the fair scarecrows were pointing us in the right direction, so we could't get lost.

I love country fairs, it is such a  part of the New Zealand culture and everyone is relaxed and families enjoy themselves.

One of the scare crows on the fair.

Of course there are always animals to admire and especially for the children.

But I must say, I love them too!

This little piglet was still bottle fed and so adorable!

So cute!

A pony with a pony tail!

Old fashioned toffee apples

Walking past all the stalls is enjoyable and to find the old fashioned toffee apples, very sweet, but a country treat and home baked cakes in different flavours and sizes.

Hard work!

The wood chopping and sheep shearing are always part of a country fair and we admired the wood chopper, not that young anymore, but coming second chopping through the log.

Very Kiwi!

I  loved the wool shed, very unique! We watched the sheep shearing and the fleece  of the Perindale sheep is a heavy fleece, but fine wool.

shearing in action

The Morris dancers were entertaining to watch. Morris dancing is an English folk dancing using sticks and wearing bell pads on the dancers shins. One of the dancers explained that during the Reformation in England this dancing was forbidden and if dancers were caught they could be hanged.
Mmmm, not a nice ending after a dance party!

Morris dancers

We had a nice morning at the Country fair and in the afternoon back to painting walls in the cottage.
No rest for the wicked!

Cottage in the country

Only one week ago we moved into our cottage in the country.

We have more then half an acre of garden with big trees and lots of scrubs, a small orchard, a garden pond and a paddock sloping down the hill.

The cottage and garden need a lot of T.LC (tender,love,care),but first the inside of the cottage.

This week the old carpet glued to the floor got removed by my loving husband with lots of sweat and afterwards sore hands and the carpet layer came and put new carpet down in the bedrooms.

I painted the inside of the wardrobes white and now the walls of the living areas will get a fresh coat of paint before the furniture is placed.

Spring blossom in the orchard

The grass of the lawns is very long so I opened the gate to the paddock and the sheep came to visit and checked the place out. Sadly after only two days they had enough and didn't return, so the lawnmower has to finish the job.

The neighbour sheep mulching away

The trees in the orchard will need a desperate prune in winter, because most trees have tangled branches and dead wood. I am very curious coming autumn how much fruit there will be. I spotted apple, almond, plum,fig,hazelnut,olive trees. Also red currant and blue berries and my favourite feijoa trees.

This one wasn't happy meeting me.

Today I weeded part of the vegetable plot, nicely covered by bird netting and planted tomatoes,lettuces and spinach seedlings.
Under the verandah I found different bottles of fertilizer,so I used the fish liquid fertilizer for my vegetable plants and pot plants on the decking.

Beautiful view from our deck over the hop fields.

After all the hard work nothing is better then sit in my swing seat with a coffee and carrot cake enjoying the view over the hop fields!
I am feeling blessed!