Burn Baby Burn!

This afternoon Geoff and l (armed with matches and dead bits of bracken) went up to the top paddock and lit some serious fires! A warm day,a fair breeze and lots of dead dry grass and blackberries caused a lot of flame and smoke! Good fun!

As you can see by the size of Geoff (in comparison to the height of the grass and the blackberries) that this is still a fairly wild and inaccessible area of our land! A good burn will not only get rid of the inedible dead grass but reduce the fire hazard for next Summer. A good dose of rain will wash away the burnt grass and send fresh new green shoots out (for the wallabies!!!!!!!)

 The two dogs found a safe non burnable patch of grass to sit on!

 It got pretty hot at times!

Huge heaps of burnt blackberries revealed enormous piles of rocks covered in white ash resembling either snow or some mass nuclear fallout!

And its "Goodbye Winter" tomorrow and "Hellooooooo Spring" Can't wait!

Mud and Gravel

We created a lot of mud with our big garden shift around. It was getting rather slippery and gooey! Rather then wait till Summer for everything to set rock hard l decided to bite the bullet and do something about it.

 So Friday morning along came my friend.....6 tonnes of gravel...

 Using the car as my steam roller as the daylight faded it looks  a bit better and the mud has gone!

Then a quick lick of paint behind the wood heater to make everything seem just that little bit more cosy!

 These two seem unimpressed though!!!

Daffodil Time!

The dafs are certainly pretty impressive at the moment. Our lawn is covered in big healthy clumps of them. Just beautiful on a rare day of Winter sun and blue sky!

Between raindrops l managed  to get a coat of paint on the door and half the little shed facade we built. It's starting to look quite smart!

 Complete with a horseshoe on the door for luck!

l bought a wonderful pair of candlesticks the other day (we could do with a few around here) with the idea in mind of spraying them matt black and putting them on either side of our front gates on each post! l thought these would fit the bill perfectly but when l got them home l decided they looked too nice to be screwed and nailed onto a fence post so they have stayed inside on the dining room table!

So the hunt resumed for the perfect candlesticks for our grand entrance to Candlestick Farm. It didn't take long and two days later l found these two! Perfect! A  couple of sawn off pieces of Cherry Wood as Candles and they are set to go!

A $4 entry statement to greet you as you drive in! What could be more fitting?

Busy busy!

A great couple of days! The fencing project continued! We still have gates to go and were about 30 pickets short to finish the fence!

 All we need is some good weather to paint it now!

 l did manage to get a base coat on the inside of the new garage though. Looking fab!!!!.

We also created a flower bed either side of the new fence and filled it with Lavender, a climber for the shed and some good old Hebes that even l won't be able to kill!

And some self indulgent potted colour...just because they looked so pretty!

We also found time to plant 5 enormous Silver Birches and a Claret Ash. We will have a forest of Autumn colour next year!

And at the end of the day we headed down to the River where Geoff wielded his trusty little chainsaw and cut down the old dead broken Willow that was hanging over the path.

A beautiful spot.

But only two days of  my holiday left...Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Day Three!!!!

What was meant to be a day job has escalated now into a four day one! The weather today was terrible and had us running for cover from freezing cold rain and wind every 15 minutes or so.It ended up no fun screwing on rails in the pouring rain amid deep clay and mud! But we did hang the farm gate............and we did set all the rails for the last bit of picket fence...(tomorrow!)

And the place IS getting a bit of logic and form..........

and we did get the car in the garage!!!

 Bu what a miserable wet day indeed!

Still going!

Well, it's taking longer then we thought!!! We thought we would have got it all done today but as usual the best laid plans..............We have done well though and got most of the picket fence up although we didn't get to hang the gate or do the corner pickets (or paint them!!!)

But our funny little shed facade is taking shape! It just needs painting, (especially the door!) some plants in the planter box , trim around the door and window and it will be the cutest little garage around!

It's been two long hard days but it will be well worth it!

Progress!

Today was wet and miserable! Well, not really l suppose. Showers ,rainbows, sunshine..........showers ,rainbows, sunshine and so it went on like that all day! It just kept us on our toes! We worked the entire day on "Our Next Big Thing". By the evening the place is still a mess,nothing looks finished, no one except us has ANY idea whats going on....but that's OK!!!!
A mess!!!!!

40 x 1.2m pickets and 30 x 900mm pickets lined up in the garage waiting to be painted!

Posts cemented in for the new gateway!

 The altered line of the picket fence

And as the sun went down after a long hard but fun, rewarding day...........up go the start of the weatherboards on the garage!

Can't wait till tomorrow! Oh and Happy Birthday to Blog.Two years old today!!!

A Winter catch up!

An evening at home alone with Geoff away watching a Rugby Union game with his Dad! l have a warm fire and a quiet house. What a perfect time to do a quick catch up on what's been happening here at Candlestick Farm!
Well Geoff and l are currently working on our "Next Big Thing! We have just started a week long holiday and hope to get it all done in that time. It's a bit hard to explain really so here is the start of it and the next day or so should show the result! It all involves making the yard bigger and the garden smaller and turning the silly little shelter under the Walnut Tree into a garage! Sound confusing??? It IS!!!! Stay tuned on this one!!

But its goodbye to this part of my picket fence as a heads up!!

What else?? Ahhh yes..........this!.................... (this is fairly humorous!!) What do you get when you cross a white feral pony and a repressed Indian?????

This!!!!!!! Also note the feathers plaited into his mane!

  Hang on there Max.......he's coming back at you again!!!!!!!

 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And then a final little spot on his nose.....................

Impressed????? l think the eyes say no!!!

The big fella thought it all fairly amusing to watch.........l just don't think he realises how close he got to having Zebra Stripes painted on him!!!!!!!!!

Perfect!

Then off to the paddock for the day. Geoff and his little mate.... 

l think he secretly loves it!!!

He would just never ever admit it!

And lastly we have been spending a bit of time clearing up down by the River.WITH goats of course!

 Toggles as usual displays her total lack of fear of fire

 And always wishes to eat what is actually ON fire!!! She terrifies me!

 Thank goodness there is always a bottle of wine on hand to steady the nerves!