HAPPY CHRISTMAS 2008

MERRY CHRISTMAS

AND

A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

To each and every wwoofer, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your special contribution to building our house and establishing our property and we wish you all the best for Christmas and for the coming year.

For Christmas this year we have given Childfund a donation of $92 ($1 for every wwoofer we have ever had) to go towards their African appeal. At Christmas as we enjoy our lives of privilege we remember with charity those less fortunate. In the coming year I hope we can remember the people whose lives will be impacted by climate change by our actions and our words and our political will to make a difference.

FLORIAN

Florian probably has an identity crisis now because I kept calling him Fabian or Damian... Florian had a relaxing (boring?) couple of days minding the house, while we went up to Wellington. It poured with rain and he couldn't do anything except sit inside. Florian and Ken came to "Christmas in the square". We took a picnic of curry and rice and enjoyed the entertainment. Florian starred as a king in the play, and Ken as an angel. They had some lucky prizes and Florian won a nice shirt for being one of those coming from the furtherest away. Florian helped with fencing and "killing weeds" as well. He got on really well with the girls and got on Shannah's bad side by stealing her chocolate cake mix from the bowl! At night he challenged Wal to Chinese checkers...and he won tonight, on his last night!!!!

Narumi and Kyooko

Narumi and Kyooko walked the girls to school one morning as Wal drove over to Wanaka to get a 2nd hand fridge. It is a GRAM model and is the most energy effcient model on the market (I think). It is highly insulated and is probably the model of choice for people off the grid. They did a bit of housecleaning and taped down the sides of the fusuma paper on the doors as it was peeling on the edges. Narumi and Kyooko got the cold weather following the heat wave...nevertheless, they got a phone call from a friend about cherry picking and they were off despite the cold.

Claire and Sophie

We had a heat wave while Claire and Sophie were here so they spent most of their time in the shade weeding under the trees. Ami brought home a book on gingerbread houses and the great gingerbread project was begun. This engaged Claire, Sophie, Shannah and Ami for several days and the picture speaks a thousand words...fantastic!

Sho

Sho was a bright and cheerful Japanese with engaging conversation. He weeded, dug out the trench at the back of the house, generally helped tidy up, collected various things like carpet, sawdust and drums, and helped sieve last years compost and make a new compost heap.

(Sho at the bench)

Megumi

Megumi's stay is a blank...?? (she forgot to write in the book) but she weeded the drive garden for me and weeded and covered the gardens at the road end of the drive with bright, orange carpet (since covered with sawdust). Megumi did some calligraphy and we get a lot of people asking what it means. We have hung one on the wall, which is "smiling face".

Steve Carraso

Steve stayed for 3 and a bit weeks and helped with some major jobs-he probably never wants to see a wire bed again because he helped to sieve a lot of soil. Steve helped to move the glasshouse. Wal made a bricked base for it and brick raised gardens inside and after renovating a lot of the glass Wal and Steve sieved dirt to fill the gardens and planted tomatoes, cucumber and a capsicum. Steve built two door frames for the toolshed and helped to brick the patio. This was a job that intervened as the contractors turned up to do the drive and kindly dug the patio space as well....so then it needed filling. Steve also played lots of games with Ami and Shannah including digging for fairies!

Monika & Galyas

Monika and Galyas wrote in the book that they did "only a few things" which is an understatement...they would get up early and go and find their own jobs to do! They tidied the garage, stacking all the odds and ends of wood. Monika oiled the outside poles with linseed oil. This darkened the poles and made them stand out nicely against the clay. Monika also prepared and papered 3 doors with the special "fusuma" paper we brought home from Japan. Galyas worked with Wal on various woodworking projects including rebuilding a double bed we got from our neighbours, finishing Damian's shelf and blocking off the top of the battery room with battens. Galyas was a real chatterbox and we enjoyed our conversations with him.

Kristen

Kristen arrived at a timely moment shortly before we moved in so she got to help move lots of stuff. We tried to sort as we went-consequently we have half a house full of "stuff" we really don't need. We will have a big garage sale soon. Kristen also waterproofed some of the adobe walls and did some bits and pieces of painting.

Charles and Domitille

Charles and Domitille helped tidy the house by putting mud on the outside-this gave the walls a much more uniform look. A major job requiring neighbour's assistance was to get their van out of the mud on the lawn!!! They sanded the kitchen floor and repainted Ami's room in a lilac colour to make it brighter.

THANK YOU BIG TIME

Thank you to all our wwoofers, we have fond memories of many of you and we really appreciate the HUGE contribution you have made to the building of our house, and friendships and the memorable quality of our life.

But at this time, I must say a special thankyou to Jeehun, Haji, Damian and Melanie, whose time frames all overlapped and added up to nearly 5 months of wwoofer time...so a BIG TIME thankyou for your contribution to bringing the house near to completion.

Melanie

Melanie's time coincided with Jeehun and Damian. Melanie could turn her hand to anything and is singlehandedly responsible for changing the house from looking like a building site to actually looking like a house. She masked and painted the kitchen, the office, the bathroom ceiling, Shannah's room and a number of doors. Melanie went to Christchurch for a few days to see a show then came back and worked at a local strawberry farm while staying on at our place. It was all just a plot to get her "R" I think.

Either that or she just got too fond of her hottie.

David

David came while Rusty was in Japan so it was great for Wal to have his company. They made significant progress on the last room, which is Wal and Rusty's bedroom. Up till now it has been the storeroom but it was cleaned out and David helped Wal plaster the walls again. Wal has since tiled the floor and put in a doorframe and it now really looks like a room.

Gemma and Andrew

Wwoofers number 73 & 74 were Gemma and Andrew, and wwoofers number 75 & 76 were Gemma and Andrew. They took a little break inbetween visits- so they got code "R" in the logbook for "Returnees"!!

Gemma helped me finish the mosaic in the lounge floor and Andrew helped Wal adjust the solar panels. They also did some painting, weeding and treeplanting and had lots of fun with the girls.

Damian

Damian came for three days as he was stranded and bored at Christchurch airport ...and ended up staying for over a month! He was here with Jeehun and Damian and we all had a fun time. Damian was skilled at carpentry so he made a huge contribution with some made to measure furniture including a wardrobe each for the girls, and some bookshelves for Shannah's birthday desk, a spice rack for Rusty and a kitchen shelf and he spent a lot of time watching paint dry...and playing with Jess...

Jeehun

Jeehun did so much in the two months he was here. The thing we will treasure the longest is the "MADE IN KOREA" toast slicer he crafted for us out of plywood. It is made to fit the bread from our breadmaker and it really helps to cut nice slices when the bread hasn't had time to cool.

Jeehun kept us entertained with a variety of magic tricks, some of the m fluent enough to leave the kids gobsmacked- especially the one where he puts the coin into his arm.

The installation of the solar hot water heater was a highlight while Jeehun was here, but he also contributed so much doing everything from lawnmowing to mudding, gardening and painting ETC, ETC, ETC

HAJI

Haji stayed nearly 2 weeks, but it seemed longer as Jeehun was here the whole of that time and then Melanie came too!

Haji helped out with a variety of jobs including cutting timber, painting, plastering, making compost and digging...I can't quite remember what?

We enjoyed Haji's quiet humour and had him on about his appetite, as you can see from the photo.

Haji also enjoyed a belated birthday party (only cos he didn't tell us on the day) and so got code "B" for "Birthday" in the logbook. It is mandatory to declare if you are having a birthday so we can make a cake and have a party!

REACH FOR THE SKY

Jessica shows off some trampolining skills.

BLOBBING OUT

"Now just how far round the world are we??????????"

LOOK LIKE THIS

Come to our place and you get to look like this...........

or this.............

Melanie volunteered to help out at the school fair face painting, but she had never done it before. So we got out the facepaints and she had a go at Shannah and Ami and then Ami turned Melanie into a witch!!!!!!

GUARD DOG

LOOK OUT! SHE BITES! (TRUE!)

MUDDING

This is the fun term for getting dirty, making cob, slinging mud, building brick walls, stomping in a bath of adobe....and WOW! it is fun

KIWI CAKES

I got a Le Creuset frypan recently-they hold a great even temperature so we have come up with a new twist on Saturday morning pancakes:- made to order. Jason got a Kiwi, Debolina a tuatara and the girls a silver fern and an octopus. So come and place your order....

RECYCLING ON SITE

We sort all waste on site and recycle paper, cardboard, plastic bags & film, rigid plastic, scrap metal, electrical wire, hoses etc ( not much glass generated on site-we don't drink much beer down there!)

Mainly the only thing we can't recycle is treated wood and and sweepings which may contain treated wood sawdust. And a few messy miscellaneous items.

Debolina and Jason

Debolina and Jason were our last summer wwoofers. They enjoyed the Waimate Buskers Festival as well as a trip to Timaru to view the Redruth Eco-center. I do tours through the recycling and composting facility as part of my job. Mainly they helped us to mud a wall in Shannah's room and tidy up the walls in the lounge by painting with mud. They got on really well with the kids (both teachers) and it was a wonderful way to finish the holidays with yet another lovely couple of wwoofers.

Debolina helped me make this jam. It is fun when someone is here to help, but oh boy!! am I ever sick of making jam!!!!! Still this year we have made plum jam, plum sauce ( a hot one and a mild one), apple chutney, preserved pears, bottled apples and stewed apples for the freezer....yet to come is black boy peach jam, green tomato chutney and more apple something!

The Waimate Buskers Festival

The Waimate Buskers Festival follows on from the Christchurch International Buskers Festival. The weather was wonderful on the day and the crowds enjoyed some great entertainment. The photo is Jason's picture of a guy takng a marshmellow off a set mousetrap!!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

Belated Christmas wishes. We had planned to have Kenji, Akira and Kayo stay for Christmas this year along with my parents. Unfortunately, Akira and Kayo had to go suddenly to meet up with friends. But they got to take their Christmas gifts with them. Among other things we gave our Chrustmas wwoofers a present on behalf of all wwoofers we have ever had. Just prior to Christmas we had had 52 wwoofers stay. Through Childfund, our child sponsor organisation, we purchased $52 worth of "gifts that grow"- $1 per wwoofer. Firstly, this is to recognise that each and every one of you has made a contribution to our house, and we do remember you even if we don't have time to keep in regular touch. And secondly, to give a gift that shares, that makes a contribution to a more equitable world. The gifts were mainly chosen on the basis of adding up to 52 so it turned out to be some fruit trees in one country and some books for a school somewhere else.
So thank you all and I hope you had a happy Christmas.

JESS WITH JESS

Recently we got a Border Collie pup just 5 weeks old. I chose her with similar markings to the dog we had previously, also called Jess. Funnily enough, we got her while Jess and Pat were here. How's that for coincidence!

Poor Pat!

This is what happens if you don't work hard enough!

Are you an ICE CREAM freak?

Jess and Pat were! They took advantage of the cheapest icecream prices in the country and had one just about every single day. Only 5 minutes walk to the dairy from our house.
For $1 you get 1 scoop and a half in a single cone ( this is kiddies size)
For $1.50 you get 2 generous scoops in a single cone.
For $2.50 you get 3 scoops in a double cone and hope it is not too hot a day!
For 50 c extra you can get the icecream chocolate coated.

Tip Top (New Zealand made) is THE best icecream in the world!

The local dairy has 12 flavours to choose from including top of the range only-in-New-Zealand-icecream flavour ...

HOKEY POKEY!!!!!!!

PUZZLED

We have a good collection of puzzles and since we started a 1000 piece puzzle on Christmas Day we are onto our 5th puzzle. It is great fun but, unfortunately, extremely compulsive!!! Matt's table is just the thing. It is big enough to do a puzzle on at one end and have a meal at the other end.

CROSS OVERS

We have had a lot of stays cross over each other with some coming and others going. Accommodation was stretched at Christmas but having Ami's room finished means wwoofers have been able to sleep down at the new house. Once Han left Jess went down there and enjoyed the space. The atmosphere of the house is apparently (!) lovely for sleeping. We are so-o-o-o-o-!!!! jealous as we haven't slept down in a bedroom yet.

Pat and Jess stayed 2 weeks and left fatter than they came! It is lovely to have people so appreciative of the meals and hospitality. Pat and Jess really helped out with the girls, I forgot to mention it has been the summer holidays here since some time during Kenji's stay. Pat and Jess got to get muddy and we made real progress on the completing the internal mud walls. They helped to lay out the grey water system and completed the planting (100 trees) so that project is as good as finished.

We only have the actual building details and the solar system to go and the house is done!

"Han"

"Han" was a honey. By the end of 2 weeks we could hardly stop her talking. The girls loved to chat and play with her as well. Han painted the area around the outside laundry and then helped me do a big mosaic around the mirror in the bathroom. I drove Han up to Christchurch and we caught the bus to Kaikoura together. I met the girls there returning from Wellington and Han travelled onto Nelson. Han was another puzzle addict and on our last night we stayed up till all hours before the puzzle got the better of us...we couldn't finish it.

Sachiyo

Sachiyo could stay just 5 days after a delay in Christchurch. Sachiyo looked after the girls a bit and did some gardening. Sachiyo and Han enjoyed their time in the evenings chatting together in the wwoofers room. Sachiyo is the first wwoofer to go from our place to our friends place just down the road.

Eaten by mosquitos

Well, we never heard back from Akira and Kayo, a newly married couple, who went off to tramp the Milford track so we are assuming they got eaten by the biggest mosquitos in the world. No kidding ...all the guidebooks will tell you about them. Anyway, Akira and Kayo stayed several days and helped to plaster the wall in Ami's room. But their main project was to cut and move the last of the kerfs (offcuts from the timber milled on the property 3 years ago) so we could establish our grey water system. Funnily enough, their name was "Mizuguchi" (water outlet=referring to the gap at the edge of the paddyfield where water is let out for the rice to dry out). I thought this was a very appropriate name as the grey water system consists of 2 long tubes with lots of little feeder pipes (water outlets). Akira and Kayo planted the first tree in the grey water garden.

Kenji's s-tile

Kenji proved to have great style while at our place. He had done a little tiling as part of his university study for architecture and so he was enthusiastic about having a go at tiling. Consequently, apart from plastering and sanding back most of the gib-board in the house he tiled the kitchen area and completed most of the tiling in the bathroom. Over 6 weeks it was a massive contribution.

It is great having long term woofers. Kenji became part of the family and got the opportunity to do so many things, especially as Christmas and New Year is a time of year with so much happening...Toastmasters and the club end of year BBQ, the local A & P show, our huge local festival-Strawberry Fair, Christmas in the park, Christmas Eve service, Christmas with the family, the Waimate rodeo, picnics here and picnics there, etc, etc... 6 weeks was also time enough to make friends with a couple from Toastmasters and Kenji went up to the lakes with Wim.

He enjoyed playing with the girls although we had to draw the line when they tried to get him to play Barbies!

Happy New Year

Lizzie got into the spirit of things at New Year and joined in our special New Year's treasure hunt. Her and the girls, and Kenji too got all dressed up put of the dress-up suitcase and we all trooped downtown for the girls' annual shout. They get given some New Years gift money ( a Japanese tradition) and so they have to buy the family an icecream. Lizzie helped me organise the treasue hunt at Knottingley Park and we spent an awesome 2 hours following a trail of clues. We spent a bit of time in the garden tidying things up and we painted and tiled Ami's room. This is now the first room to be entirely finished!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!