Spring is in the air!

It's nearly spring so it's quickly becoming a very busy time on the new Viner Farm. The boys and I have started preparing our veggie garden. Last week we strung it off and sprayed the grass and today started turning the soil. I was trying to show Will and Graham how to use the shovel to turn and chop the soil. I figured even if they just wound up just digging holes, at least it would still be working the soil. But every time I looked over at Will he was bent over picking at something in the soil. Finally I realized he was picking up the worms and moving them over so he didn't chop them up! I told him not to worry about them but he just couldn't bring himself to chop them up. He even started calling me a murderer for the lethal blows I was dishing out. (Sound familiar, Mom? Lol!) I picked up my friend's two kids from school when I got Nani so then I had five kids trying frantically to rescue every worm as I turned the soil! Though one brought home his "worm farm" to feed his pet lizard.
We will receive a load of organic compost in the morning so work will resume again after lunch. We hope to have cranberry bushes in this weekend around the edges and potato seeds are sprouting in a box in the garage. I'll keep you updated and post photos. Thought it would be weird with you all going into fall and then winter while we plant for spring and summer!
Viner Academy is getting back to a regular schedule. We are looking forward to having our designated homeschool area in the new part of the house. The garden is our science curriculum for the rest of the year and in history last week we read about the Byzantine Empire and how they made mosaics.  I colored dried rice with different colored food coloring, let it dry then gave it to the kids with a block of wood to glue it on. Their creations were lovely but we also learned that these mosaics are a delicacy to our local fowl friends. By the next day, the mosaics that were left outside for the glue to dry were picked clean by the birds!
I have also had a daily battle going on between me and the Pukekos that are pulling up my olive trees that I planted on Saturday. Everyday I'm having to replant 1 or 2 that they have plucked out of the soil!
The house is soooo close to finished it's maddening! Painting should start on Monday and the following week the floor coverings should go in. Then we can move in!!! It is so amazing! We just love the house and the farm and just being out here on wide open spaces again. The views are stunning! Takes my breath away on a regular bases. Sunrises, snow-capped mountain, rainbows, ocean views, sunsets, wild birds unique to New Zealand... Even in the rain it's just beautiful! I think I'm gonna like it here...

Two Weeks Today

I can't believe we've been here for 2 whole weeks now. We LOVE it! The two bedroom thing is not ideal but it could be worse. The lounge is very cluttered with Mikaylie's things and homeschooling material as it is serving multiple purposes for now.
The building is progressing very nicely. Everything is framed, wired and plumbed. Stairs and windows will arrive in the next couple of days. I've managed to post a couple of pics from the first week of work and will shoot some more this afternoon for another update.
Billy and I wake every morning in awe of the views. I can't imagine ever tiring of it. It is so incredibly beautiful! Even on the rainy or windy days, it's just lovely.
Can't wait to post finished house pics!!! Stay tuned...

We're here!!!

We’re finally here!!! In our new house!!! On our new farm!!!!!! And we LOVE it! In our 2-bedroom house! LOL!!! Construction started the day after we moved in. Now after a week, Will’s room is framed, Mikaylie’s room is framed, boys’ bath is framed and laundry room is framed. The two carports have garage doors and are now closed garages and the enormous boat garage door is gone. Eighty percent of belongings are in the garages. Thankfully the kitchen and lounge were already satisfactory so it’s not too bad. And the laundry hookups can stay where they are in the boat garage until the laundry room is plumbed, which is already nearly done.

Joe is here and has a new temporary paddock mate in the form of a cute, little mini named Dream on load from a friend. Dream will stay until we find a nice, quiet family horse to keep Joe company.

The dogs seem to like the new place but keeping them from chasing the horses has proven a challenge.  There’s an electric fence surrounding the yard that is keeping Charlie in now that he’s been zapped. He started to go under it and when it shocked him, he bolted into the house and charged up the stairs to our room. I expected to find him hiding under our bed where he would often go in our old house when he wanted to hide but he wasn’t’ there. I checked the closet but he wasn’t there either. I went to check our bathroom where I found him in the shower! For the following 3 days we had to drag him out the door to go pee!

Pete, on the other hand, has darted under the fence 5 times without getting zapped, managing to go between pulses every time. I’ve had to put him out on a long lead to keep him from driving the horses mad. Today, on the lead, he darted under on the lead to get at the horses. I kept hoping he’d get zapped but he just wouldn’t! He darted back under but on the other side of the post so that the lead was wrapped around the post. He started to go back under but this time, FINALLY, he got it! ZAP!!! I’m praying that’s done it for him. Unlikely, but praying. As I sit here typing, Charlie is out and evidently he’d forgotten about the fence because we just heard him get a refresher. Ouch!

One of the neat things about New Zealand is that everyone takes a tea break midmorning. EVERYONE! At schools, at work, everything stops and everyone has a snack, tea or coffee. So on any given workday of our construction project we have anywhere from 2-6 people working on the house. And around 10am, the drills and saws and hammers go silent and all the guys sit down and have tea. I love it! Ten-15 minutes later, work’s back in full swing.

I really want to post all about our new project, all the building progress and pictures but we have no Internet here yet and we’re just using a stick for necessities. So I’ll post when I can…

Just tried uploading some pics but won't work. Hopefully I can get them up in the next few days.