Well, we are 16 months into our little project here in the wilds of the south island (little project being shorthand for building a house and setting up a mini-farm...a lifestyle block if you're a kiwi...).

Its all going pretty well. Not exactly to plan, but then my ideal plan would have been a 3 day one;
Day 1 - Build the house;
Day 2 - Landscaping and fencing etc;
Day 3 - Tidy up and arrange the scatter cushions.

So going by that plan, we haven't got TOO far ahead of ourselves, but hey, we've started! The house is going pretty slowly, due to a number of reasons, chief among them having a baby. The weather has also been horrendous since September and the bank hasn't been as friendly as we hoped they'd be (cos you know, they're normally SUPER friendly...) Things are progressing, just a bit slower than expected. The foundations are almost finished (I think?) and the wood for the structure is arriving next month. We need to clear a space in the barn for all our straw bales too.

Today I walked around and took a few shots of us all. Did I say we got some ducks for Christmas from our lovely neighbours? Ducklings are SO cute!
 




We also had a new batch of chicken chicks, although yesterday we heard the international chicken distress call, went out to see what the problem was and saw a giant hawk flying out of their enclosure!! A big nasty hawk! After a chick count we noticed we were one chick down, always a shame, but numbers are still quite good so we're happy.

Ducks and chickens aren't the best of friends by the way. The introduction of the ducks has given Hussein something to look disdainful about, but looking disdainful is his favourite hobby so I think he's secretly content. He's not in the photograph below, since he's probably off sulking or wooing Mavis.




Pond below, that Steven created for the ducks. It needs regular cleaning since the ducks get in there to clean themselves, and to poo.