Wrapping up 2012

Wow! what a year.

We had a cracking Christmas day with our little niece Ivy and our sister Caroline. Magic breakfast of Brookies yummy pancakes with lemon, sugar, yogurt and banana..yum, yum, yum.
 
The morning was quite a sight as the dogs unwrapped their pressies. Kodak and Murphy were a little indifferent this year, but Finn was in heaven as she ripped the paper off hers and the others pressies in record speed. She then proceeded to gather all 'her' new toys together and declare total ownership...it was fun times.

 

My family (well my Mum) is such a treasure, she always sends us our wee parcels which always look and feel similar to the other one. Its always with anticipation we unwrap the Scottish bundle. A pair of tartan slippers each and a hoodie, along with some wee Christmas tree decorations and T towels...what a gem she is. They are all awesome. The slippers are perfect for the house. We did a wee jig when we first put them on, seemed apt.

 

Kitchen demo and reno DIY job final pics.

Well, we got there. The hard work, the bashing, trashing, painting, sawing and hammering finally paid off. We are really happy with the outcomes of our DIY kitchen reno/demo. The green splash back came from Mitre 10, straight off the shelf. We glued it up and crossed our fingers it would still be there in the morning. It was. The nice dresser, as I said before, came from trade me for $42, all it needed was some TLC and hey presto! enjoy.

 

 

 

Prepared and ready for the next stage

Here's Brooke preparing her onions for the dark, shady resting place to let them dry out. There are so many onions and garlic, I can't wait to start cooking with them.

And this is the hanging garlic in the kitchen, what a sight and what a smell, it's awesome. It's a real tangible measure of the hard work she has put into that glorious garden.

Speaking O' gardens...

check out the awesomeness of the sweetcorn, lettuce, coriander, parsley and courgette. Brooke has staggered the planting times of the sweetcorn in order to provide us with a sustainable resource throughout summer. The courgettes have really taken off, so much so that I had to download some recipes: recipes for bloomin boomin courgettes. I made the chutney the other night Easy peezy Chutney. The only issue I had was in the apple cider vinegar quantity. It is quite a powerful flavour, so I just put 50mls and topped it up to 350. It is awesome. I made enough to fill 4 jars (the size of pasta sauce jars). You gotta store for 4 weeks to really appreciate the 'chutneyness'. good luck if you try it.

Bee arrival:

Yes, we got bees. Brooke has been talking about getting a hive for a wee while, and recently got in touch with an apiarist (bee keeper) just round from work, and on Saturday we went round and picked up our very own hive. The chap was awesome and really knew his stuff. He secured the base of the hive with some wood and advised we take it easy going home as there are hundreds of Bees in the chamber in 'our back seat!'
Well, we got home in one piece, quickly unloaded the hive and established it at our top paddock near the manuka trees. We then left them to settle. It's been 5 days and all seems good in the hive o hive o.

As I mentioned earlier, we had our adorable niece and our sister Caroline here for the week. Here is a couple of snaps of Ivy Knight and her 'new' best friend Finn.
Pretty much everywhere Ivy went, the dog was sure to go....

And finally -

There's no show without Chicken news!

First picture of Khalesi and her babies..all 14 of them. She is a fantastic Mum and has managed to retain all 14. There are 5 yellows and 9 blackies. Still not sure which and boys and which are girls..it'll be a wee while yet.

Well friend, I've really enjoyed sharing the first chapter of our 'new life' with you all. Reading through the many posts I've written, it really brings home the joy, happiness and progress we have made in only 10 short months. I do hope you too have enjoyed the journey. I'm new to blogging, but I can absolutely appreciate it's sincere value. There is no pressure to be a fantastic writer or photographer. It's a life we live and a life we share with you.

Thank you and sincere best wishes for 2013..

And as JK says.......... See you there!