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Tag: Building

A photomontage of 4 different wasp traps made from coke bottle hung up

Wasp and Hornet traps

We typically put a waap trap up around the house in summer to keep the number of wasps at bay. This year, they discovered a queen yellow legged hornet in the early stages of building a nest in Glenfield on the North Shore in October, while two males were spotted earlier in the year in Grafton and Albany. It is the first time a Queen has been found in Aotearoa.
Cows steaming in the cold air against the sunlight

Winter done and dusted

There was nothing extraordinary to write about this winter, really. It’s not been too wet and not too dry, neither too cold or too warm. We had a few frosty nights and a few pretty rainy days but all in all it was reasonably warm and okay from a mud perspective.
Child cradling a baby goat in her lap

New critters have arrived

Our 2 little baby goats are called Muddy Valley Twi and Muddy Valley La. They love bouncing around in their paddock and up onto the things in their playground.
Person holding a rather fluffy alpaca head

Alpaca maintenance day

Saturday was the day of the bi-annual alpaca maintenance
Pink clouds over a valley covered in fog with trees sticking out of the fog

A foggy morning Hyperlapse

Crisp winter mornings are fun to watch with the fog and the clouds moving, building up and disappearing again.

Autumn has its beauties too

Another summer has gone by and autumn came, dry and cold.

Day 15 of COVID-19 lockdown

Did a stroll down to the alpacas with Jolan, our daughter. The halter we brought did not fit any of the boys or girls so we just fed them and progressed towards building a little bivy out of old branches and tree bark.
Picture of the excavator with Janus in it before the sunset in the background, sun shining through the cabin.

Digging for winter :-)

Not that we lost winter in a hole, but the valley got so soggy over the years that we used the still good autumn weather to dig drainage in preparation for the wet winter time.
Our two horses in the new shelter

Horses ready for the next storm

Another storm has been announced last night, so early this morning we finished the horse shelter area and moved the two boys over so they are going to have a more comfortable place during the day when the weather closes in.
Foundations in, framing up

New Building Projects

The last winter has been so terribly wet and turned all paddocks into mud that we decided to have the horses in a shelter and feed them rather than having them wading through mud and effectively thrashing the paddocks.
Our new Pukeatua letterbox... made from the same macrocarpa cladding that we've used to build the Farmstay

Letterbox to match the building

After a long time of thinking, designing and making I’ve finally finished and installed our new Pukeatua letterbox… made from the same macrocarpa cladding that we’ve used to build the Farmstay
Vanity in the making

Getting closer

Yay, we are getting closer. Yesterday the electrician finished his work and it’s great to have lights everywhere to work even longer to get all finished.