Another View

John has created us another view from the garden. At the weekend he took down a very large pittosporum tree next to our veggie patch and has now openned up a beautiful view towards the lake, stunning.

A Kiwi Wedding

John and I headed up to Pauanui in the Coromandel last weekend to attend our first Kiwi Wedding. My cousin Stefan was marrying his long time girlfriend, Sabina (who is from Germany) at the Puka Park Lodge in Pauanui.


It was a beautiful and sunny day as we all sat out on the balcony watching the bi-lingual ceremony, followed by a reception and dinner with speeches.

It was a very special time for me as most of my extended Kiwi family, the Darke's were there, so gave me chance to catch up with them all again.


It was a very beautiful day and meant alot to us to be a part of the celebrations.

Wonderful News!

John and I are more than overjoyed to announce that we are expecting a baby in August.

We had our 12 week scan today and as you can see from the photo, little one is just perfect, it was stretching out it's legs and waving it's arms around.

We were delighted that my mum could also come and see the scan, sharing this very special moment with us.

New Year and New Chicks

I'm pleased to announce the arrival of 3 beautiful chicks this January. As they are now a couple of weeks old they are out and about and starting to explore the area, getting to know the other chickens.

Another One Bites the Dust!

On one of the few days when it was dry over the Christmas period, John got out with his chainsaw and took down another pine tree, hopefully giving Mum a bit more light in her cottage and also clearing the paddock to allow more grass to grow.

Now comes the job of chopping it all up ready for firewood this winter.

Only another 16 to go until we've cleared the paddock!

Merry Christmas

John, myself and the puppies send all our love for a very Merry Christmas. Although we are miles away, our thoughts are with all our family and friends over this holiday season. Miss you all. xx

A Good Day's Hunting

John went hunting yesterday on a friend's 500 acre block of land and came home with 2 goats. He's spent this morning skinning and boning the meat ready for them to go down to the butcher to be made into garlic and chilli salami, yum!