28 August 2014

Hiding from the World

Haha... love that title... !!!

Well, we are back home now and out of hiding.

It was a lovely break despite having no internet, no phone, no mains electricity, the gas oven packed up and only one hob ring and the grill working so at least I could make a cuppa tea to go with the bacon & eggs (and who needs anything more than that?).

The solar panels were working a treat, so we had tv, movies & music and lights, and Tony got the inverter connected up so that I could work on my laptop (offline). Have I mentioned how much I love my 'gadget freak' man, and he even labelled EVERYTHING to make it easier for me to use (even the remotes. He knows all about my love/hate relationship with remotes).

We took the bench picnic table down with us in the trailer. Here it is in its new place under the walnut tree and with the Mountain Ranges as a backdrop.


And looking back the other way towards the caravan, just before the rain came.



The following seven photos are views of the snowy topped (or sometimes cloud topped) Ruahine Ranges. All viewed from our paddocks on different days.









Snowdrops...... right beside the caravan.



And here are two views from our caravan door.







We had heard from friends in the village that one of our plum trees had not survived a storm a month or so ago, but on our arrival we discovered that a more recent storm had created even more havoc to some of our trees.
The plum trees around the shed will all have to be removed due to wind damage.



Good job Tony took his chain saws.



And the shed needed a new roof and side panels.






That was all in paddock number two.

Looking back across to paddock number one now, there are more plums and vines that didn't do too well in the storm and need to be removed as they are a safety hazard now (the shorter brown ones to the left of centre in the photo).


Luckily nothing had fallen on the water tank.
Plenty of free firewood for our friends and neighbours.
(that's my future 'house-site' btw)







Tony had planned to erect a fence along our 'paper road' boundary, but that idea had to be scrapped when we saw that three large blue gum trees had hit-the-deck right where the fence is meant to be. You can see, in the following photo, that there are still two tall gum trees standing on the very left (or should I say 'leaning precariously').
Villagers are collecting the precious windfall firewood of the blue gums that fell.



Standing in paddock number five, looking across to the river beyond the poplar trees.
There might not be much to these trees, but the sound of the wind rushing through them on 'fierce' days is incredible, and on quieter days, like today, you can listen to water babbling over the rocks.
I love those peaceful, tranquil, dreamy days.


I've walked down the road a little bit for the next shot.
The tree area on the left are in paddock one, the caravan and shed are in paddock two, the telegraph pole is in paddock three. Paddocks four and five are out of shot.


Tony got lots of wood chopped, and fixed the shed, and the bore water tank system (which had sprung a leak and wouldn't fill up). The fence will have to wait until our next visit.

I got loads (and I really mean LOADS) of work done on lots of my current projects (writing and fiber works).
It was a very productive two weeks.















06 August 2014

Building Blocks Quilt Update

Just a few more 'building blocks' put together. More blues but lighter than the last ones.
Love those paisley fabrics.



And here is a sneak preview for you.
This is a photo montage of the crochet project I am working on at the moment. 
I won't show you the whole thing until it is finished, but thought you might like to see the colours I am working with this week. 
No surprise there!



We (Tony & I) are off to our mountain view retreat again in a day or two, and we shall be gone for about 2 weeks. 
I won't be able to post any updates here again until we get back home because there is very poor (mostly none) cell phone reception, and no internet available there, unless I get to spend some time at the library in the closest town about half an hour away. But with all the visits we have made to the retreat so far I have still not found the time (or the inclination) to sit in the library for communication purposes.
I really enjoy being 'off-grid' and in my own little world there. Such peace can be found when you only have yourself and your thoughts to deal with.
I am, of course, taking lots of sewing and crochet projects, and will be working on some writing projects as well (hoping for some 'quiet time' for that one).
I also have to help erect a fence, remove a fallen tree that came down in the last storm, re-roof the concrete shed, and set up a system to collect fresh water from the elevated water holding tank.
Great that Tony repaired and renovated the pump for the bore-water last time we were there and erected the pump shed, so we can now get water direct from the underground reservoir instead of having to fill up our tanks every time we went out to town. 
I wonder if I will actually have time to chill out and enjoy the scenery.

Anyway, I will update you with all my new creations in a couple of weeks.

Take care, be good, and keep stitching.

Cy