6.12.15

Greetings & apologies it's a long time since I have been on line.
I hope this finds all well & making plenty of time to nurture yourselves in the rat race.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas & a Happy Healthy 2016.

It's been a busy year since I was last here. We've had trips down to Christchurch and surrounds several times re discovering places with Claire & Lauren & have really enjoyed having them in the same Island.
 Changes have happened again as their contracts finished in Christchurch & they are both now living in Auckland. Coming to terms with Auckland traffic woes, driving up there & exploring the whole place.

Mark is keeping the wheels rolling on the truck which is good. Anne & Kody have just finished picking peonies for the season, long hours to maximize returns on a short season but they both enjoy doing it each year. Anne is about to move onto to cherry harvest which will go to Christmas & maybe beyond. Bryn has moved out & is now flatting with a group of friends.

Les & me are holding our own! The garden is starting to take off & with good growth showing promise. We discovered a few shrubs & plants during the winter that couldn't survive -5 frosts
followed by another 17 frosts in a row!
Marlborough is very dry, we've just had the driest November since records began which follows on from very low rainfall since last year.
In July we went up to Wellington to catch up with an old friend & on the way to the airport we visited Peter Jackson's The Great War exhibition on at the old Museum buildings, it was amazing & we could have done with more time there. There is another  Gallipoli on at Te Papa which we have yet to see, again with much help from Weta workshops
In November we joined one of the Garden Marlborough all day tours around 5 well known gardens between Blenheim & Kekerengu. A great day out, we'll do some more next year but maybe some half day ones.
All the best
Lis &Les

                                         Australian War memorial at Pukeahu National War Memorial Wellington

                                          Hawthorn grove at Barewood Gardens Awatere

                                           Potager at Barewood Gardens

                                          Old cart wheels at London Hill gardens

                                         Rampant rambling rose at London Hill

                                          Still propped up nearly 5 years later Christchurch!

                                          Wall art on sites waiting for progress in Christchurch

                                                   The clock that stopped in February 2011

                                          Les at Winterhome garden Kekerengu near Kaikoura

                                        Steel & rope sculptures Winterhome garden November

                                          Winterhome looking to the sea SH1 runs between the homestead & the sea.

                                                   One of the old wooden buildings that survived earthquakes.

Happy Christmas

Finally I have got to the laptop to do this overdue post.

We have finally got 98% of the place under weed mat & bark mulch & are looking forward to sitting back wine in hand & watching the garden grow!

We are having our first Christmas in our new home which will be great but with all the garden work going on it's sort of snuck up on us, so tomorrow could be a long day cleaning up for visitors.

Since my last post we have been down to Coleridge Power Station in Canterbury for the centenary of its opening. My dad worked there from about 1928 to 1930-31.

We had been up there before but now it's run by remote control from Tauranga & there is no access.

We arrived in Methven on the Friday night after a trip down from Blenheim taking the long way to Methven via Geraldine so Lis could go the Barker's & stock up. Les  just came for the ride!

Saturday morning we had a look around Methven, a very different place to my memories as a 5 year old starting school there.
Registration was at midday & once we had our grab bags & instructions we climbed onto buses for a trip up to the head of Lake Coleridge & past the surge chambers etc. We had an excellent commentary from some one who had been a run holder in the valley so lots of interesting information. The road to the village is now sealed but still quite narrow by most standards & our trip was highlighted when we caught up with one of the steam traction engines heading in for the parade on Sunday, luckily we got past & later came upon some of the many vintage cars also making their way to the village.

After our trip trip to the lake head we came back to the power station which was open with  great information panels to explain what we were looking at. Then we had afternoon tea provided by some energetic ladies from the district. This was proper 1920/30's style. Everyone was sitting down at tables & all had a beautiful cup, saucer & plate. Our tea was brought to us & the middle of the table adorned with a tiered cake stand with an amazing array of delicious edibles for us to partake .

Back to Methven to get changed & head off for the dinner, lots of people with memories to share & the enjoyment of meeting & hearing of many experiences living in the village for many years in the time the power station was run by staff living on site.

The highlight of the weekend was at the open day on Sunday with a parade of steam traction engines vintage cares, tractors, motorbikes. When Coleridge was built there was no real road in more a track & everything had to be railed to Coalgate where it was loaded off the train & onto trailers that were pulled by steam traction engine to the station, a journey of 3 days.
Once at the station it was unloaded to be assembled & put in place.
Coleridge is a lovely place to visit probably better in summer, it can be very cold in winter.
There are some good walks in the area & an arboretum which is amazing with trees planted by the early staff to see which trees grew best in the climate.

That's enough about that, time to attach pictures of tiny shrubs & some of these amazing machines still running today.

                                              October some shrubs showing up

   four traction engines by the power station one of these was used during construction and was back
   to join in the centenary.

                                                      Harley Davidson in the parade

                                              Model T

                                                the oldest car in the parade

                                        Our new sunshade so now we can enjoy the deck

                     Summer? Not. More snow on the hills 2.12.14 than we'd had all winter!

                                                 One of the 20  or so traction engines

                  Another of these work horses. One had driven up from Invercargill to be there
                  and was driving home the week following!
All the Best to All for 2015

at last some news!

Apologies for the loooooong delay you can blame my laptop for that!

Anyway, all's well & we've been busy trying to get as many plants as possible in & settled before the really hot weather gets here.
So far we've only lost one shrub which is pretty good considering how little rain we've had for the last three months, already there is talk of a drought so we probably should be sharing our shower with a bucket to save some water for the plants.

     mini flax                                       

50 Adams Lane 23.10.14 look hard to see the shrubs 

 Azaleas by the front door 

 blackcurrant with fruit if we can beat the birds to them!

 Our new seat for the second patio area (yet to be done)

 Very clever when needed it can turn into a table for six

 Anne & Kody are picking peonies so we got some to enjoy

The unpaid gardener working flat out.

So what else is news.

Well Mark now owns his own truck which is keeping him busy & earning it's keep.

Anne & the boys are all well, Anne & Kody working picking peonies grown locally for export & that'll keep them busy for a few weeks yet & then it'll be cherries. Bryn is waiting to hear if he's been accepted for the Air Force & meantime working in a local supermarket.

Claire & Lauren went to UK & hoped to get work but the balls for work & flats didn't fall fortuitously so they're back in NZ & heading to Christchurch where they have a house to live in &

Lauren has a job to start asap.

We are enjoying ourselves, we had a trip to Wellington recently & caught up with many of our friends which was great fun. Now it's get next patio area sorted & the whole section covered in weed mat with newspaper on top & then bark mulch to give the shrubs a chance of survival.

Next we need patience while we wait for them all to grow.

We have also changed cars & now have a Ford Fiesta tucked up in the garage.

To my horror while in town yesterday I saw a notice outside one of the shops warning me we only had 7 Fridays till Christmas, holy smoke where did the year go?

That's about all from us

Take care

L & L

                                          Well some of its in place!

                                        Great to see the staff on the job

                                       Sorted? I don't think so 2 days after delivery.

Hope this finds all fit & well as we are.
Well we've made it & now we're just over a week in the house & loving it.
The sun pours in from sun up to sun set & the  house is so warm. Les is having fun watching the info display on the solar hot water system that has been working well.
We love the LED lights & how warm the house is & we haven't got curtains yet. We have some temporary ones in the bedrooms but none in lounge dining area.
The garage is looking a bit clearer after we had dozens of boxes & packing picked up & the car can now get inside.
The sorting continues & there are lots of pictures yet to hang on walls. Bookshelves are full to overflowing!!!
Claire & Lauren will be down here next week & want to have  bed to sleep in so plenty more to sort.
When we get to the garden we'll send some progress pics.

Hi to All

This is the last minute rush to finish the house taken today 15^th May. Our furniture arrives Monday 19^th to keep us busy getting settled & get the garden planted.

Our new address is:

50 Adams Lane

Springlands

Blenheim 7201

Marlborough NZ

Ph 03 579 3167

Lis & Les

                                          That worked well missed getting back fence in shot!

                                            Our broken trellis fencing which we'll plant around
                                         for privacy & shelter

                                         In behind here we will add a nice area for sitting out
                                          & enjoying the quiet life

                                                   The happy front door to welcome visitors.
24.4.14

Hi Everyone
We're getting closer. The painters have been & gone, next week the kitchen goes in. Yeah!
The paths & drive are all boxed but after all the wet weather there is a backlog of jobs,
so hopefully before long they'll get completed.
We are hoping to be able to move in by mid May, fingers crossed.

We're over the moon to welcome back great Blenheim weather with lovely sunny warm days
in evidence again.
We've been planning where & what to plant in the garden. We have plants we brought with us & have bought some more since. Once paths etc are done & top soil goes on we can start to get some planted.
It won't be next week as I'm in Wellington. Les is staying put to supervise!
Take care
L & L

Hi Everyone
It's about time I uploaded this blog.
We had a great weekend in Wellington. We managed to catch up with some friends as well as Claire & Lauren & generally had a great time & the weather was superb until Monday when it got a bit silly.

We could have done with more time but we'll organise a bit better next time.

We came back Monday evening & when we went to check on Adams Lane Tuesday found we had holes drilled ready for fencing & when we walked around the corner found a garage door being fitted which was a lovely surprise.

The rain has been down here since we got home & doesn't know its outstayed it's welcome.

We called in again today to find posts sitting in holes full of water & a hive of industry indoors.

There was scotia going up, skirting boards going on, doors are being fitted & architraves.
Sitting inside also were the bath for the 2nd bathroom & the vanities for both bathrooms.
Wow it was busy!

I think the painters are due next week but not 100% sure about that.

It's fabulous to see it looking more like a home each time we visit.

From now on it gets harder to get pics & once the painters mask things it'll be even harder.

We are both amazed at the amount of rain we've had & how long its hung around. It's causing all sorts of hassles for the harvesting.

Hopefully it goes away over the weekend, amazingly it held off for the royal visit & walk around yesterday morning.
Take care all