Autumn is a busy time on the farm. It's the last of the decent, dry(ish) weather before winter's cold bites in, so we're spending every free second tidying up, cutting back, sorting out jobs that need doing, mending fences, and generally doing everything that needs doing.
Swimming pool removal and new landscaping
On top of all the regular jobs, we've been busy taking out the swimming pool and preparing for a complete re-landscaping of the pool area next Spring.
We'll be installing a large, adult-sized trampoline (big enough for the whole family!), a slide, and an outdoors blackboard for my daughter, who is a budding artist (the talent skipped me, I'm afraid - I'm a stick figure girl).
Chicken tractors and Dunedin Locavores
As well as that, I've been drawing up plans for chicken tractors - portable chicken coops for families around Dunedin who are involved with the Dunedin Locavores group (find us on Facebook!).
We'll be building several of them, using the sheet metal from the old swimming pool for roofing, and then I'll be supplying baby chicks for everyone.
Internal renovations - entire top storey!
Then there's the internal renovations. We're doing the entire upper storey inside, apart from the stairwell. We've just re-curtained the upstairs guest room, and repainted and refitted the upstairs bathroom - both sorely needed doing.
The next job will be beginning this weekend - repainting our master bedroom. It's a huge room - Cathedral ceilings and big enough for three beds, plus three windows to contend with. And we're doing two coats.
It has taken eleven paint sample colours on the wall to find what I want, but finally think we're there, and I'll be buying the paint and starting on the work tomorrow. It'll probably take three weekends to do the job, then I'll be fitting new curtain rails and light fittings as well. I'll be glad when it's done!
So that's just some of what I've been up to! I promise full before-and-after photos once the jobs are complete, so you'll be able to see my proud handiwork - assuming it all goes well.
Then I'm going to have a break from painting until Spring, when we tackle the exterior upstairs, and the stairwell, which will involve stripping wallpaper - not a job I'm looking forward to!
Hazelnuts
Finally, in the garden the hazelnuts have just started to fall, and it looks like we're in for a bumper crop from our 70-or-so trees. Can't wait to eat a few! Yum! There's nothing so good as fresh hazelnuts, straight from our trees!
So - what have you been doing? If you live locally and you're not busy, why not stop by and pick up a paintbrush? We could use a hand!
Have a lovely day!
