Christmas Day

It’s Christmas Day and it’s warm (21°C) and sunny. It doesn’t feel possible that it can actually be Christmas – it’s too much like summer to be December!

This morning we walked the dogs at the SPCA. There were quite a few other people there so it didn’t take long.

Somebody had given a ham so the dogs are having their own Christmas dinner today!

We spent most of the day yesterday plucking leaves on the vines to expose the grapes to the sun. We may do a bit more weeding in the vines today.

The grapes are starting to look a bit more like grapes now.

We went to a BBQ last night and we’re having a BBQ later this afternoon. It seems to be the done thing around here on Christmas day. Nobody wants to be stuck indoors over a hot oven in weather like this.

Flowers in the Garden

Milly and Ned enjoying the sun - Ned's paddling pool in the background!

Bike ride to Skudders Beach

Today we went on a bike ride to a nearby beach. On the way we found a black labrador who decided to follow us. When it seemed obvious she wasn't going to stop following us, we guessed she must be lost, so we visited a couple of local houses to try to find her owners. One of the people we visited spotted a mobile phone number on her collar and called her owner to come and collect her and they were soon reunited. Apparently, she does it quite regularly and is known at the local pound! She certainly seemed a happy girl and was soaking wet, so had obviously been for a swim somewhere...

Anyway, it provided a welcome break during our 14 mile ride...

Silvereye

Another regular visitor to the shrubs just outside our back door(s) are these tiny green birds with a distinctive silver ring around their eyes. They are Tauhou (Maori for "Stranger") or more self-evidentially "Silvereyes":

Growing Vines and First Grapes

Some of the Chardonnay vines have reached the top of their protective sleeves now - so we must have planted them OK. The weather has been pretty good for new vines of late, with nice sunshine during the day and some rain overnight.

The Syrah vines are growing really well and there are even the first signs of what we're guessing will be bunches of grapes!

Go The All Blacks!

By the roundabout on the State Highway at the entrance to Kerikeri, someone has built a tribute to the All Blacks, first for the Rugby World Cup Semi-Final match and now for the Final against France.

It's quite a masterpiece, consisting of seven stuffed possums and one stuffed rabbit, but as the opposition is France, there's a frog in a blender and one of the possums is eating a frog burger! Three of the "AB fans" are drinking Steinlager - a New Zealand lager, from special edition "classic" white cans, last seen around 25 years ago when the ABs last won the cup!

Finally, one of the possums has been spray-painted black, save for a number 7 proudly on his chest - Richie McCaw's number - the All Black captain!

Classy stuff!

Spring planting

As we didn’t kill the vines we decided to try growing other things. We went to a local nursery and bought some trees. Apparently most things grow up here but hybrid trees do particularly well. So we bought a plumcot (plum x apricot), a peachcot (peach x apricot), a nectarine, a mandarin and a walnut tree.

We wanted to plant some trees to camouflage the garage a bit and we decided to plant one in each corner of the fenced garden where Ned and Milly have worn away all the grass while rabbit and quail watching!

Nectarine

Peachcot

Plumcot

Mandarin

We also bought some tomato plants, cucumbers and strawberries. Something’s already eaten one of the cucumbers and nibbled at the other. I bought a new one today and have put them in a tall pot to try to keep them from whatever’s eating them.

Strawberries

Tomatoes

Cucumbers

Tumbling tomatoes

The vines are doing really well. The new Chardonnay vines are beginning to bud and the existing Syrah are growing bigger every day.

A full vineyard again

We've had a very busy weekend! Having taken delivery of 250+ Chardonnay Vines during the week, it was time to dig all the holes, position the plants, tie in the canes and slip over the protective "socks" to keep the rabbits from destroying the lot! One plant might only take three or four minutes, but multiplied by 250 and you can see that it took the whole weekend and understand that our backs, arms, wrists and hands are a little sore this morning!

Still, the end result looks good. The rows are pretty straight and all we have to do now is hope for a little rain (not too much, though) and wait to see whether they grow! With any luck, 2013/14 might be a good year for Mad Dog Chardonnay!

Garage - Pretty much done

After some slightly odd experiences with concrete pourers and friendly home-invasions from electricians, the garage is up, wired, plumbed and ready to be used, give or take the need for a neater driveway. It will be great to have somewhere to store our bikes, golf clubs, boxes of CDs and the general clutter we seem to amass along with all the equipment, tools, nets, chemicals and fertilisers for the vineyard.

Referring to this building as a shed is probably a little more accurate a description of its usage, certainly as far as we're concerned, but we've equipped it with things like a remote door opener for future owners as much as for my laziness of not wanting to get off the ride-on to open the door!

Below: a timeline of pictures from re-bar to finished building:

Milly's Torment

Our garden is home to all sorts of wildlife from rabbits and parrots to kingfishers, tui's and... California quail. These pretty little birds run around the garden in a flock of up to around a dozen-or-so birds and, because they only really fly when startled, Milly and (to a lesser extent, Ned) get rather excited whenever they go by!

California Quail

RWC2011 England vs Scotland

Far more exciting than vineyards and garages - I went to the Rugby World Cup match between England and Scotland on Saturday. While England's performance maybe didn't grow confidence in their chances of taking home the trophy, if they keep grinding out the wins, a final against the All Blacks could be on the cards! My loyalties will still be with England, but given how passionate this whole country is about the sport, there's a part of me that can't help but hope the All Blacks win!

Ready for the National Anthems

This is a video I took at half-time of a packed (just under 60,000) Eden Park. At this point there were a few more smiles on Scottish faces and a few more scowls on the faces of the English! Worked out well enough in the end, though...

First signs of life

An exciting and somewhat relieving sight this morning: the buds on some of the Syrah vines are starting to burst (so I didn't kill them when I pruned them!). The whole vineyard was sprayed last week and early next week we're off to collect the first load of fertiliser as part of our programme to improve the overall soil quality of the vineyard.

Quite often while working (or just walking) in the vineyard, we'll be accompanied by one (or sometimes a handful) of New Zealand Fantail birds. They're constantly flitting about, in and around the vines and are not the least intimidated by people, often sitting, chirping or hovering just a few feet away and following our every move.

Ned's New Favourite Place

I don't think we're going to have much luck with flowers this year:

Garage - Work Begins

The work on our new garage has begun in the last few days, now that the council has agreed to let us build it (only 5m from our boundary, not 10m as the stated minimum). So, the driveway is being reshaped a little and the ground flattened and made ready for the concrete pad.

If you are of a nervous disposition or your doctor has advised against you witnessing the sight of unfinished building works or exposed rebar, look away now:

From the house

Down the driveway

The garage site

Lap of Luxury

Who knows whether we'll ever actually have paying guests, but for those of you who pay us a visit, we think you'll be comfortable:

...and by the time you arrive there might even be bedside lamps and pictures on the walls, too!

Ready to plant

The vineyard is finally clear of the Syrah plants we've taken out and ready for the Chardonnay to arrive in the next few weeks. It's very satisfying to see it looking neat and tidy and with the weather so nice, it makes the labour a little more enjoyable!

The only downside to clearing out the vineyard is the better view down the garden it provides for the ever vigilant, rabbit-spotting dogs!

A critical floor

This week we've had the carpet in the living room replaced with wood. It makes the room much brighter, but more importantly, it's easier to mop up muddy paw prints! We're hoping to use the old carpet to make some doormats and runners that will lessen the muddiness even further.

Before

After

At first the dogs weren't too keen and the noise of their claws on the wood means we can hear them coming. They're getting used to it now and as long as they've got a bed to lay on, they're not too fussed.