Struan Farm

Tonight's Cloud's Illusions

To quote Joni once again. Tonight's clouds off the front deck at Struan Farm were too amazing not to share, enjoy!

 

Gnarly Dudes: Trees Within Trees

The surfer dude word is technically spelled "narly" not "gnarly," but these are "gnarly" indeed.  A few days ago we noticed that several of the old, gnarled trees behind the Cottage at Struan Farm are in fact trees within trees.

The trees have grown together and fused, creating these lovely braided, sculptural trunks. Aren't they amazing?




 

The Pet Palace Takes Shape

It should be well-established by now that we recycle/reuse/repurpose things here at Struan Farm. This isn't a trend du jour with us, it's how we live.

The sculptures that arrived on the scene last week were packed in a solid wooden base. As soon as I saw it I knew it could be used to build this year's protective shelter for the pet lamb pen in the backyard. The little darlings need something to huddle into, under their protective tarp, between feeds. They are due to start dropping August/September, at which point my life and routines change appreciably for several months.

John is on the case. He's decided that the finishing touches can be done by the grandchildren when they are here for the next round of school holidays. They love being part of the whole pet lamb experience.  I have christened it "The Pet Palace." 

Clifford tested it out to make sure a lamb or two would fit. Knowing Ella it will be painted, and knowing Livvy it will be tidy!

Sculptures on the Scene

A truck arrived here at Struan Farm a few days ago to deliver the "Grounded Art NZ" sculptures John purchased during our recent trip to Nelson. 

There are three steel "wind wand" pieces that I've installed in the pergola area for now. While this location was meant to be an initial test, it's not bad, is it? They don't block the view and are visually interesting.

 

We're having considerable discussion on the larger sculpture, with two, possibly three, locations under consideration. One is just outside our garden area at the new(ish) house where we've opened up the view out to the hills, one is on a hill behind and near the Cottage near a triangle of trees, the third is in a paddock near a cluster of interesting limestone rocks down from the bowl outside our house. John is keen to develop this latter area into a landscaped garden with some interesting deciduous trees and conifers.

Right now the sculpture is resting beside the workshop pending an executive decision. While it's silver metal it will develop a rusty patina now that it's out in the elements. We also need to come up an interesting base, will be playing around with our stash of corrugated limestone rocks.

 

Stay tuned!

 

Creatures of Habit

John, Clifford and I are all creatures of habit in our respective ways. Once I find a cafe or restaurant I like I pretty much keep going back, that's me. I buy the same brands when I shop, that's me. John gives me cheek, but then he has his regular breakfast spot up in Papakura. He goes there often enough that they know his order, and he greets "his mates," the other regular customers, every morning he's up there.

I looked out a few days ago and saw Clifford sitting in a little corner garden near John's workshop here at Struan Farm. It's where his house used to be, before it was moved up the hill into the orchard. 

It's a comfortable, familiar spot from which he could watch John working outside the workshop.

Our similarities make me smile.

Weekend Baking

I took a bit of a break from the dairy free experiments this weekend at Struan Farm to test out two more conventional recipes. I usually bake cookies or some sort of treat for arriving farmstay guests, so decided to kill two birds with one stone. 

Peanut butter cookies, from David Lebovitz' "Ready for Dessert." I'm a huge fan of his ice cream book, and have been testing out recipes from his blog, most recently "Pain d'amande," or "Crispy Almond Biscuits" as Ella and Livvy have christened them.

These are a traditional American thing, the type of cookie I grew up on, even down to the cross-hatches made on top with a fork. Very easy to make and "moreish." John and I had to restrain ourselves by hiding them in the pantry. Interestingly, Lebovitz advises not to use a gourmet or natural peanut butter, which cause the cookie to be too crumbly. Just use basic, smooth, off-the-shelf stuff.

I look forward to working my way through this book!

Next I tested out "Lazy Lady's Loaf," which I'd read about in a recent issue of "Nourish" (the Australian one, not the NZ magazine with the same name). This is a very simple crusty ciabatta loaf, made with unbleached white flour, salt and yeast. It proofs in the fridge overnight before being brought back to room temperature, shaped into a loaf on a baking tray, and baked.  We couldn't stop eating it warm out of the oven, so much for that healthy chicken salad I'd made for lunch! I managed to find the recipe here.

Arise, Sir Wholemeal

Our farmstay business here at Struan Farm slows down appreciably during winter, it's the time of the year that we do maintenance work like paint and get the vintage bath tubs resurfaced. There's discussion about building an outdoor shower at the Cottage, after we decided not to replace our vintage clawfoot tub with a more modern shower and have it resurfaced instead. I'm happy to have a break from the associated laundry and cleaning to get into major gardening and other projects around the farm too.

Sometimes we do get the random booking, like this past weekend. A couple from Lake Taupo travelling south to New Plymouth who wanted to break up the drive.

It was pretty damp and cold! We lit the fire in the Cottage early in the morning so the place would be cozy when they arrived, also turned the electric blanket on the bed on low late in the afternoon (nothing worse than cold sheets, brr!).

I found that my homemade wholemeal bread wasn't proofing/rising as quickly as it usually does given the colder air. John suggested putting it near our wood burner to speed things. My hero!

 

Both Sides Now

I came inside a few days ago after a cold, damp but sunny day in the gardens here at Struan Farm. The time before sunset is probably our collective favourite time of the day. Often John and I will go outside and walk around, hands in pockets, talking and dreaming about the next project(s). The new(ish) house looks out over trees, across hills, and off into the sunsets.  It's a time for reflection and recovery from the day's effort.

This particular day the clouds and light were amazing. On one side of the sky a silver sliver of crescent moon was on the rise, while on the opposite side a plane was streaking across and leaving a contrail. I grabbed my camera and got carried away. Normally clouds don't cooperate but for some reason these did.

I've looked at clouds from both sides now

From up and down and still somehow

It's clouds illusions I recall

I really don't know clouds at all. 

                                --Joni Mitchell