The Perfect Winter's Day

More Ground Clearing!

I left John for half an hour on Saturday afternoon, foolishly with his chainsaw in hand, only to come back to half of the tree at the front laying on the ground. Another bit of light pruning!


So Sunday we set to work tidying up, burning and clearing more of the front area. Our view of the lake is getting better and better.

I continued today (Monday) working around the back by the laundry area and it's now looking very clear and ready to plant some nice shrubs rather than all the weeds that were there before.



Dare I say it, the garden really feels like it's getting under control.

Weekend Escape

To escape the terrible wind and rain that they had in Rotorua, we headed to Auckland for the weekend, staying on Trinity Wharf in a studio apartment.


Saturday was so warm and sunny as we walked around the waters edge and watched the world go by. John was very excited as we found an Irish pub that sold Boddingtons.

In the evening we went to Wild Fire restaurant, also on the Wharf, where you pay a set price and they just keep bringing food to your table until you've had enough. Loads of side dishes and every different meat you can think off on giant skewers that they slice up for you at the table. Great fun and needless to say both of us were completely stuffed by the end of the evening, luckily not far to walk back to the apartment!









On Sunday, before travelling home we had a couples massage at the East Day Spa in Skycity, which was fabulous, an hour of total pampering in a wonderful setting.


The weekend was a wonderful tonic for us both, just what we needed.

Finished Bathroom

After over a year of our upstairs bathroom being stripped down to it's shell, John has done an amazing job, rebuilding it all and this weekend finished it off.




There have been a lot of long weekends work and no end of problems along the way but last night I had my first bath upstairs and it was bliss.

More Ground Clearing

It's been another busy weekend in the Backhouse residence. With the sun shining we got out on Sunday and cleared a bit more of the ground at the front of the house overlooking the lake. With me strimming and John with his machete, it's starting to look much clearer, starting to discover a whole new area to the garden.

Crayfish Dinner

John's boss went diving at a local beach this weekend and caught us a beautiful fresh crayfish. I'm going to make a Malay Crayfish curry for dinner tonight, Yum!

Garden Produce

We are rapidly heading into winter, and I managed to get out in the garden yesterday, with a break in the rain, to collect some of the last produce from the veggie garden.









I was also feeling a little creative and thought I would make a decoration of the chillies as they dry.