Struan Farm

Progress: More Heavy Equipment

It was all on this past week at the new house at Struan Farm: builders, painters, electricians, plumbers, fencers, and last but not least the digger. We're taking soil from beside the new workshop to even out this side of the orchard area, which is quite steep, making it easier to mow. The soil is being redeployed to help fill in behind the new retaining wall at the front.

 

The second part of the digger project was at the front entrance, where soil has been removed near the redwood grove to help driver visibility when pulling out of the driveway. Now I can crack into landscaping here, planting some camellias, a rhodo or two and hellebores under the redwoods, and come up with some ideas for the front bit (may involve a limestone boulder or two).

And in addition to the new retaining wall, the fencers have almost finished fencing around the perimeter. Hedging, here I come!

Signs of Change

I've had this project on my "To Do" list for quite some time: making signs to help guests find their way around Struan Farm. While we don't think it's that complicated, and pretty obvious really, we've found that visitors aren't always so confident to go off exploring around the farm on their own. Signs would seem to be helpful.

And so I'm on the job, DIY as you might expect.

I found a great website that makes custom plastic stencils, "Just Stencils," and ordered stencils for signs for "The Cottage," "The Homestead," "River Track," and "Main House/Reception."

Stay tuned!

A Thing for Jelly Beans

I think I'm directly responsible for this particular family tradition at Struan Farm. I started it by stashing a supply of jelly beans in a felted gingerbread house in the dining room of the Homestead, offering up two-three jelly beans to those children who had finished their dinners. At this point it's become a game, they come and check to make sure the stash is still there, and then patiently (or not so patiently, Livy?!) wait to get to the end of dinner.

And so when it came to making a table for the tree hut, I was thrilled to come across vinyl printed with none other than: JELLY BEANS!

We scored a wooden reel from our electrician, the sort of thing used for electrical wire or cable. As soon as I saw it I knew this could be recycled/repurposed into a cute little table for our tree hut at the farm. Of course it's been painted bright blue:

And here's the finished product--pretty cute, eh?

 

Infrastructure: the Next Installment

Very exciting to have the fencers on site at Struan Farm this past week to build the retaining wall and fencing in front of and surrounding our new house!

 

Topsoil will then be filled in and the area grassed to create our front lawn. Once the fencing is finished, which keeps the sheep out, I can then plant the hedge plants up the driveway and start planning the other gardens. We're thinking about putting stone along the top edge of the wall, but that's "down the road."

String Games

The last time Ella and Livy visited Struan Farm I captivated everyone one night with a simple piece of kitchen string, trying to remember how to do Cat's Cradle and Jacob's Ladder. These were games I used to play for hours when I was young, and while I was able to make the first part of Cat's Cradle I couldn't remember the subsequent moves.

So I pledged to research this further, figuring my friend Laura in Pasadena would know for sure. On my recent trip I spontaneously remembered how to make Witch's Broom, but neither she nor I could remember all the moves for Cat's Cradle or how to make Jacob's Ladder. Here's Witch's Broom:

The good news was that Laura recommended this great book, which has easy instructions for all of the various games (along with a loop of string):

So I'm ready for you, Ella and Livy! 

Weekend Arrangement

It's that rare time of year at Struan Farm when nothing is blooming in the gardens except for the random camellia. So the best choice for our table arrangements is greenery by default. In this case fern, variegated euonymus, and some sort of holly (I'm guessing on this one!). 

 

Remembrances of Chickens Past

This past week we finished the demolition of the old hen house at Struan Farm. On a parallel track, we're starting to plan an area for chickens near the new house. Yes, "chook world" is starting to take shape! They will have their own dedicated paddock, to be shared with the peach trees. I'm doing my research on the layout of their yard, reading both "Free-Range Chicken Gardens" and NZ Lifestyle Block magazine's poultry guides.

In a recent stint of cleaning out the tractor shed John came across two old pans that were used for feeding the chooks when he was little:

He recalls one was used for wheat and one for mash, I need to take a survey of family members to determine which was which.  I rather like the tricorn pan, just wish it hadn't been cut for some specific subsequent task since that sharp edge isn't terribly user friendly!

(You can also see why I spend quite a bit of time cleaning out, still? We continue to find artifacts where and when we least expect them...)

 

More Than Half Full

I've adopted this old Robertson family wine glass for my glass of wine before dinner. It turns out it has quite a bit of history, like most things Robertson. It is from the Hotel Cecil in Alexandria, Egypt, was brought back from WW2 by my father-in-law Maurie. Apparently there were two originally. John's brother Carrick remembers the story being told each Christmas, when the kids had to search out as many wine glasses as possible for the holiday celebration.

The hotel, now a Sofitel, has a considerable history. It was built in 1929 by the Metzger family and is considered a British colonial gem. Somerset Maughan, Winston Churchill, and Al Capone stayed here (along with my father-in-law). It is mentioned in Lawrence Durrell's book "The Alexandria Quartet."

This is quite a bit of history to digest along with my nibbles and pinot noir, but perhaps why I've been drawn to this particular glass!

Bye Bye Chook House

At long last, the final installment in the demolition of the old hen house at Struan Farm. You may recall that we called in a specialist contractor to remove the asbestos walls, after which the remaining frame, roof and floor were left for us to take apart. This skeleton (and eyesore from my vantage point), aka "The Leaning Tower of Piopio," eventually toppled over. John announced that this had been his cunning plan all along, at which point he tackled the rest of the clean up.

Last but not least: the floor, bye bye!

It must be said that my father-in-law Maurie built things to last....

 

 

A Bird Goes to College

Fun to see this outline of the Piopio, our extinct native thrush, appear on the grounds of Piopio College in town. It's visible from SH3, and was a project of a group of Year 10 students with support from several sponsors, McDonald's Lime and Cody Haulage. 

Great job!

Raging River

The Mangaotaki River that borders Struan Farm was a torrent last week after several days of heavy rains. Clifford and I walked down between rain storms to make sure the river track was dealing with the water, I'm meant to clear out drains if required so the track doesn't get washed away.

The river had risen considerably from all the rain, it was raging up over the banks and rushing along with a thundering roar. I kept Clifford away, since the silly boy would have jumped right in for his usual swim and been swept away to Mokau.

A day later John and I drove down in 4WD after the rains had stopped, with camera along this time:

The waters had receded somewhat with the better weather, but the sandy beach and the corrugated limestone rocks at the rapids are well and truly flooded, at least for now!

Piopio in the News!

Very exciting to see articles on Piopio's Hairy Feet Waitomo  Hobbit film location and the King Country as a destination in this past Weekend Herald, read them here.

And I quote: "Piopio is a sweetly tidy town where all the streets are named after native birds and everyone waves at you on country lanes as you drive past."  

Piopio: we're friendly and we're on the way!

Disaster #2 at the Front Gate

Forgot to tell you, this all happened at Struan Farm the night before I left for my recent holiday:

Yep, wee bit of a mess thanks to high winds and rain. It's the same tree that trashed this fence the last time. The fence was broken, fortunately only pickets were knocked off the green gate, nothing was broken.

And so John and I were out with the chainsaw and trailer cleaning this up before I headed off for some (much deserved?) R&R. Everything's now been repaired, but we know it won't be the last time with this particular tree!

Next in Line

I've started Livy's needlepoint Christmas stocking, she's next in line. This is by the same designer as the one I've made for sister Ella, and a bit of a companion piece, so they should look good hanging together on the mantle. Not sure it's going to get done in time for Christmas this year, in fact have told her that I hope to have it finished before she's seven, leaving myself several years of leeway.

I tend to needlepoint in spurts, sometimes boredom sets in and I need to tackle a knitting project to clear my head. Two more to make after this one (Charlie and Freya), so I really need to keep at it and pace myself. 

New House Teaser

As you may know, we're not in the new house at Struan Farm as yet. Almost. Maybe a month? These things start to take on a life of their own.

But our belongings are there so we shuttle back and forth. I've been starting to decorate. At the side of the kitchen there are beautiful wood shelves, and since this room is open to the dining and living rooms I've decided to put a collection of white/cream art pottery here. Yes, recycling an old but good Martha Stewart idea. 

 

I had a few NZ and English pieces to start (Crown Lynn from NZ), which gave me the idea, but have added to the collection over the past few months as I've found interesting, complimentary pieces. Have a few more to go to finish the top shelf.

Most recently I picked up the Crown Lynn canoe with waves below, while the beautiful dancing girl travelled back from Pasadena with me (she is also perforated at her base, a flower "frog"):

Will show you more of the house in due course.

 

Wascally Wabbits

Sigh. Where is Elmer Fudd when I need him? Seems the wild rabbits at Struan Farm discovered my parsley hedge while I was away, the one I recently planted in the rose garden under the Perfect Pergola.

 

While they've only nibbled some of the plants, they are clearly now on their radar. They've decimated the cavalo nero (kale) I planted under the roses for winter. I'd read that Australian cook Maggie Beer does this and thought: great idea!

 

Maybe not such a great idea until we can get those "wascally wabbits" under control...

Back in Action

I'm just back from a short holiday, but it was good to see that someone at Struan Farm managed to stay busy working while I was away. Ringo and Tico, two of our resident gnomes, cut some firewood:

Of course Stuffy kept his hands in his pocket!

p.s. apologies but blog posts will be light this week since I'm just back and making the rounds on the farm. Next week I should be back to my normal schedule.