A Quickee before we head to Melbourne for the next week...

Quite a few hours of rotary hoeing, raking and dragging a level around behind him... the lawn was finally hydroseeded Thursday week ago, and one week later the green faded and the grass came through :)  Small sprinkle of rain today and you can just about hear it grow!

Saturday evening celebration tea for Mark & Jodie at Labour weekend.  French Lamb Cutlets and salsa for entree, Orange Duck with peas and duck fat baked potatoes for mains, and white chocolate creme brulee and berry compote for desert.  There used to be just 6 of us, now there's 11!!

 3D Framed :)  

Two happy fair wee grandsons!

 Mark, Jodie & Buddy on their way back to christchurch again

 Mark and his 'friend'... leave Stuart to tell that story. Jodie won't let him forget it.

One day to clean, launder and get back into shape, then a visit from Aunty Ev for a few days.

Loads of lovely peony roses to enjoy around the place, and Ev managed to make use of a skirt I was discarding :)

 The cream peonies are an export only variety and were really beautiful!

Ev got some for herself and enjoyed them in the sleep out until the day she left - quickly eating a salad lunch before the airport.  Dad Flowerday had these dark red peonies in his room the few days prior to dying, and on the day he went the petals started to fall.  There were bucket loads of petals when all these started :)

 Just a few inches taken in each side....!!  and a good preps skirt - perfect for a teacher.

Graeme our retired builder is back again to get a few more jobs done.  Poured a 20mm plaster over our front concrete so the natural stone pavers can be glued on top.  Originally poured for 40mm paving, but then found we couldn't get what the landscaper specified!

Had to find something different for the back deck, and looks like we'll settle for this tile - flecks of dark and light grey, and very grippy for the ramp.. and us old folk. May have a lighter grey edging, yet to decide when I see it in the flesh.  The dark edging is what we had previous.

That's us till next time.  au revoir till after our huge 6-day aussie trip!

And one more month ticks by ...

This blog is all about Ike!!  He motorbiked a few miles up and down the drive and up and down the back ramp. Helping Grandad and Nan and getting lots of books out for story time.  Dave & Stacey went to Queenstown and Christchurch for a long weekend.

  

Didn't take too long to go to sleep after a busy day, milo, biscuit and story

 Making the most of the outdoor suite reading A Summery Saturday Morning on a summery saturday morning!

 And the sweet magnolia has bloomed again

 Dad and Dave packed up to travel to Christchurch for a couple days fitting Marks new kitchen.

Blondes came home for a long weekend, mostly for work but was good to catch up.  Had lunch around the waterfront on saturday after a really useless morning shopping without finding anything to shop for!!.  It was a lovely day.

 Isaac enjoyed flying high and jumping over and on mountains

Then to try and un-hype Ike before bedtime

Goodbye as Blondie is ready for the airport again

Some young kiwi support for Team New Zealand!

Not too much happening on the landscaping front - had a wet couple of weekends since... and looking like it will be again this one!

The End of Winter...

Just before the month runs out, not that there's too much to show and tell about.
Isaac and his mum & dad came for a visit one sunday lunch, and he wanted to be covered up and hide under the lounge pillows before emerging with a roar just to do it all over again..

The gates are all in place, just need to get the power connected up to them. 

 And the wall unit the joiner measured back in January has been installed.  Its great not to look at a piece of ply on the wall covering where the fridge protruded into the living area!  Waiting on the electrician to connect up the 4 wee lights along the top of it.  And, have to hang the artwork and get another one framed for that area.

 Saturday we started getting all the roses in with a row of buxus along the front edge around the lawn area.  Two rows of Old English roses here in front of the house.  Waiting for the standard roses to come in the next couple of months.  Chain in the background as the down pipe for front entrance.  Meant to have some circles of glass around them.. haven't got that far yet.

Finishing off the pavers up to the chimney deck.  Next step will be tidy up the asphalting.  Have a few roses to replace in this front garden behind these pavers.  Large standard weeping rose died on us after being temporary in the shrubbery for the past season.  Sad after so many years in the middle of the roundabout.

We're working out what tile or stone to put on the front concrete entrance.  Have samples of natural stone pipi colour.

Grandad Did-Dell brought Isaac in to see us at work last Friday and he gave me a painting he'd done while at his day care.

That's us till springtime (which arrives next week!).

Last month of winter !

And we've managed to get a bit more done outside while there's been some nice spring like days..  The digger was brought in to level out the front lawn area and remove the old buxus and get gardens ready for some roses I've ordered.  Rotary hoe brought in to go over the front lawn area.

Goodbye buxus ..

In comes the supersoil... and of course Health & Safety is a very large part of all we do!!

Roy loading his brother Warren with sand for the carparking area before pavers

 And this is what it looked like before 27 neighbours cats had a shindig during the night!

 Graeme boxed up and poured a nib around the back deck ready for a wee herb and annuals garden

And today it was planted with primulas, lupin, pansies and herbs

 Graeme got the neighbors fence removed so we can get posts back on the boundary line.  Two posts were snapped by a visitor.

 Huge holes were dug for the bases for the wrought iron gate posts

 And they're all concreted in ready now for the posts and gates

The paved area tonight, ready for parking on in the morning.  Have to do the concrete haunch sometime next week to hold the pavers in place. .  then some asphalt repairs to do.

Found another mat for the back door with blues and cream.

And that's me till next time ;)