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!