Country Living, Days 3 & 4: Sunday, October 14, 2007

Ahhhh, days 3 & 4 have been much more cozy and welcoming than days 1 & 2.

We arrived in Wainui Friday afternoon after close to a two-hour journey with a van full of stuff. I was cranky and feeling a bit overwhelmed as I’d spent most of my week shopping for things for the house – blankets, bedding, towels, kitchen gear, garden tools, and other random items and I was tired. On top of that, the weather had been ‘custard’ as they say with rain pouring down the past two days and only just starting to clear.

But the sun was peeking through when we arrived. The house felt more welcoming now that we’d unpacked a few things from the previous trip; the birds were in song. We unloaded the van and Bruce quickly started up the fireplace, a real change from the hour long ordeal of last week. And then we each went out to explore.

 There are so many colorful flowers in bloom in the immediate surrounds of the house. Daffodils, camellias, rhododendrons, miniature roses, lavender, calendula, proteas, leucadendrons, and others whose names I don’t know — I picked a bunch and made this beautiful bouquet. A pair of large rabbits scampered across the lawn several times. The two large wood pigeons that seem to inhabit the property fluttered from tree to tree. The stream was running heavy after the rains and could be heard babbling from long distances away.

It felt good. I started to relax.

Bruce went off with his dousing rods to explore the far paddocks – mainly where the Blackwood forestry is planted. We supposedly have over 500 Blackwoods growing which will net us some cash in another 10 to 15 years; exactly how much it’s worth is something to further research. Bruce is looking for a place to create his edible forest garden and has been reading books on such topics.  He cheerfully reported that he’d found the perfect spot!

We had a nice relaxing evening working on projects — Bruce fashioning together frames for the bee supers (so we can start producing harvestable honey) and me playing around on the rigid heddle loom (I just started an 8-week loom weaving course last week).

We enjoyed a peaceful slumber with our new sheets and heavy covers and awoke this morning to sunshine. I opened the french doors, jumped back into bed, and reveled in the indoor/outdoor flow!

Alistair and Rosie (the former owners) swung by late morning to pick up their ride-upon mower and give us a demo of it. This is one of many new power tools we will need to source in the near future in addition to a chain saw, mulcher/chipper, weed whipper, and lord knows what else.

Rosie was kind enough to show me how to use the Shacklock stove and claimed that it only took an hour or two for it to heat up the water cylinder. She got the fire roaring in a matter of minutes and sure enough, within a few hours, we had hot water coming out of the taps and Bruce was able to take a hot shower! Modern technology – imagine that!

Bruce spent a good portion of the afternoon on walkabout and I worked on the veggie garden beds which had been neglected and grown over with weeds. We chilled out, napped, took some photos, made some food. The fireplace is roaring; jazz music is playing.

Domestic bliss. I think I’m going to like this country living!