Exploring the Land of the Long White Cloud

It's one of the many things we wanted to do immediately after moving in but haven't gotten to yet due to capacity and priority. But over the weekend we rebuilt our patio fence and gate! It was built to match the fence in the front yard and is definitely an upgrade on what it was: We slowly started dismantling it as we needed the trellis for other random things, like a buffer in the fire bath or a couple pieces to fix the perch in place in the chicken coop. Since we knew we were replacing it, we just started using it for other stuff. But now, this is our back patio fence and gate: One more project crossed off the list. We also went to see Rhys Darby perform last night, but each time we see him we're a little less thrilled. We still had a lot of laughs but just not quite as much as the first or second time we saw him. Here's a little bit of what was in the show (but of course, not actually footage of last night's show - we were lucky to have the

We had a colourful visitor on our back porch recently. Then it went up the big Norfolk pine in the backyard so I had a chance to grab the camera! It's bigger than it looks here. Also, the chickens are doing well. They've been so happy to roam around the yard more often since we've both been off from the 18-27 of April (thank you back to back long weekends meaning we just needed to take 3 days of annual leave to make ten days off!). Usually we let them out after work but while we're home they get let out in the morning for as long as we're around the house! So they wander and scratch and peck and sometimes eat stuff in the garden because I haven't been disciplined enough to keep them out so well. One thing we tried lately was making hot sauce. Because otherwise I'd run out of ideas for what to do with all these chilies! It's going to be a Frank's Red Hot copy cat but all those seeds and bits on the left will probably be mad

No we aren't playing Wheel of Fourtune today, it's the before and after photos of the master bedroom makeover. We still need to get the hang of taking proper befores and afters, we usually don't think of it until we've begun and it's already too different. So the befores may often end up being random photos rather than trying to make them the same angle and such as the after. Here we go... BEFORE:  DURING: AFTER: And this was even before we got new bedding! So there will be another "after" yet but we had just put clean sheets on so Dustin didn't want to change them right away haha. What do you think of it?

From the neighbours' yard at the hip hop harvest festival. (Yeah, sure makes it sound like more than 6 of us + 4 kids were there, doesn't it!) The hop vine had wriggled its way into the neighbouring yard and apparently the vine was much more plentiful on that side. Could it have been the compost in close vicinity? Possibly not because it got jumped on. This is Maple Fern Brewing. (Plus Katherine who cooks a lot of the meals and does a lot of the talking.)

There are only a few foods that we don't come by simply and easily in New Plymouth. One of them is perogies. Yep they are sold frozen, by hundreds of kilograms in the super markets in the Lower Mainland but they are not common here... So, occasionally, I have to do something about that. Mostly, this foray into Central/Eastern European cuisine was inspired by a brewing day last month. We have a "Canadian Club" where the boys of Maple Fern Brewing and I eat a typically Canadian meal while they are brewing up some beer. Past lunches have included poutine (with freshly made cheese curds no less) and of course Kraft Dinner. When it was my turn to set the menu, I knew it was time to take on perogies. The dough isn't difficult. Neither is the filling really. But it makes for many steps and many bowls and pots dirtied. I have to point out the orange colour because cheese here isn't orange. It's white (like the milk it's made fro

As part of our master bedroom reno we've also redone a few pieces of furniture in the room. I don't have a proper before and after of the bed but I refinished that in a darker wood stain and then of course the bedside tables didn't match too well so there was a domino effect... (check the old bed colour here ) This was the before bedside table: And this is the after (with my DIY recovered lampshades and refinished lamp! Sorry, no before on the lamps!)  Then I had this weird wicker drawer thing and was shedding too much of the wicker and starting to go. I did a little experiment to see if I could extend the life and if not, well it was maybe going to be good laundry-room storage. But I liked the result enough to keep it in the room. Yay! Our big house update last week was getting heating installed! Now I know you North Americans may not understand that sentence. Yes, houses are built here with no heating solutions whatsoever. Nothing. S