April showers

The colours look unreal, but this is just what it looked like yesterday with another rain flurry darkening the sky, hiding the far shore of the lake.

I took this photo standing at the door of my lounge. That's blossom from the quince tree scattered across the drive, and yellow blosson from the kowhai on the lawn of the house in front of mine. 

Snow, in Rotorua

I can remember it happening before, once when I was a kid. But it is rare to get snow in Rotorua. So here is the photo that had to be taken, I'm standing at the door onto the patio, looking out towards the lake which is completely whited out.

The good thing is, we are now into September, and we have some lovely mild days recently. I have to guard the potted plants from the chooks, but I have a few planters that are looking lovely.

wordless Wednesday

Rosehip Tea

Somewhere I read about some research that showed drinking rosehip tea was beneficial for rheumatoid arthritis. So I collected some lovely hips that hang over the fence from next door, waiting until after the first frost, as recommended. Bev even delayed her pruning for me to get a good crop. The tea I made was totally tasteless, so I'm trying out the serious teapot. Cushioned in it's nest, the pot is stewing. Waiting for a miracle cure when I start sipping. 

The coop arrives at Cooper Ave

So, hello possums! Here is the chicken house, future home of Edna and Madge. And here too is Little Coop, alias Eva, riding her bike along to the playgound by the lake.

I bought the netting and the wheels and the rest of the coop is from bits that Tom had lying around. Right, Tom made it. I have to say my workshop (the garage) is not up to jobs like this - not to mention my skills.

Now I'm on the look out for a couple of laying hens, and I guess a few tools for the job, like bales of straw, gumboots and a shovel. And a basket for collecting the eggs of course - talk about jumping ahead, eh.

Kitchen before-and-after pics

This is about as creative as I have been over the last week - painting the kitchen in my new house. One day I will replace this kitchen completely. There is a hot water tank right where the frig needs to be, so that will have to go. In the meantime, I decided to paint the timber. I'm really pleased with the result. It is still a small space, but seems much bigger now.

Cooper Ave

I will post some pictures of my new house at Hannahs Bay soon, but in the meantime here are a couple of shots from just in front of the house.

My patio and the lounge room have lake views. There is one house between me and the lake and it is currently empty, so I can walk through to the lakefront reserve. On Sunday I got a surprise to look up just as the float plane cruised by. Cool eh?

Then tonight there was the most stunning sunset. The lake was very still and the reflections were spectacular.