Earthwood

WW161 & 162 Sarah and Tom

2010-06-12T16:07:00.000-07:00

Sarah and Tom stayed two weeks and there were more pears and apples to pick and bottle and they helped us with a lot painting of a little cottage we just bought in Timaru a 5 minute walk from Rusty's work. This is a long term anti-commute plan for when the girls have left school! Having Tom and Sarah help with the painting made the work go along so much quicker, which was just as well as the weather was getting more autumnal. They also helped with a compost project and laying out some paper in gardens as a weed deterrant.

Sarah got a new hairdo. I tried to make her look like a photo she had on the laptop (not bad results) and Tom played Chinese Checkers with Wal.

Sarah learnt to make soap and yoghurt and loved the nail gun...sounds dangerous!

WW159 & 160 Susan & Julia

2010-06-12T16:01:00.000-07:00

Susan and Julia are now prepared to become "proper housewives" after a full course in making jam and bottling pears and cooking from the garden. The also learned from Shannah how essential tomato sauce is to the fkavour of a well tasting dinner!

Susan and Julia stayed nearly 3 weeks so they felt like part of the family and of course Jess enjoyed their company too- more ball throwingpower around the place!

Susan and Julia wrote out a sudoku for Wal for homework-( PS it is finished.)
and for the girls and I we got a recipe for "Schweineohnchen" which we have yet to try.

WW157 & 158 Alan (R) and Sarah

2010-06-12T15:55:00.000-07:00

Alan has emigrated to NZ after his time wwoofing with Sarah and we had kept in touch-it was great to have Alan come back and visit (see post for Alan in May 2007)Alan helped us make some doors etc and the house was still very much a building project. Here's what Alan has to say....

"What a pleasure to come back and see the house all finished and everyone moved in. Can't believe the progress after 3 years-it still doesn't feel like I'v been gone very long. Can't believe how beautiful and colourful the house is, and the garden is amazing already and I am very envious and hope to come back again soon."

And we would love to see Alan and Sarah and, indeed, any past wwoofer. It is a real joy to have people come back. It's almost like family turning up. You're always welcome.

WW156 + 2 Sophia, Melvin & Catherine

2010-06-12T15:48:00.000-07:00

Sofia brought her two children from Taiwan to stay with us for 10 days during their winter holiday. The children had a great time playing on the trampoline and went camping in our new tent on the front lawn. Sofia made newspaper logs, made some fences with Melvin's help, palnted a small garden with their own plants, made some jam (actually 100 JARS OF JAM), went out for BBQs and Melvin enjoyed playing with Thomas, one of Ami's friend's brothers.

Sofia and the children fitted in wonderfully and it was great to share the last of the summer holidays with them.

WW154 & 155 Silvio and Lorenzo Christmas 2009

2010-01-23T19:38:00.000-08:00

Silvio and Lorenzo are our first Italian wwoofers and we loved having them. They stayed 11 days through the Christmas period and then returned for 4 days after New Year. They were great at helping out in the kitchen, pavlova of course was on the Christmas menu so we needed the boys' muscles to whip the meringue. Rusty and Silvio had several international matches at table tennis. We have just started to use Matt's table for games. Skinny but a good length. I won't announce the scores becasue it was embarrassing for Italy! Come and try again, Silvio!

(Lorenzo-I need a photo of you!)

WW152 & 153 Jennie and Andy

2010-01-23T19:34:00.000-08:00

Jennie and Andy arrived late on Christmas Day and stayed for dinner. In the morning they helped out with a couple of small projects. We finished the Oamaru stone fence and used the leftovers to make a border for the front of Shannah's garden as well as suppressing the weeds using flattened cardboard boxes.

Jennie and Andy are friends with Matt and Carrie and though it was brief we enjoyed the opportunity to connect with friends of friends. Thanks for coming.

Merry Christmas to all wwoofers

2010-01-23T19:30:00.000-08:00

Thank you to you all where-ever you are for Christmas. As a token of appreciation we donated gifts to charities overseas. We hope that all our wwoofers and recipients of the gifts also will be blessed at Chritsmas and in the coming year. If you are able please drop us a line (send a short email) we do like to know what you are doing!

WW150 & 151 Harmony & Nicolas

2010-01-23T19:26:00.000-08:00

Harmony and Nicolas helped Wal build a rabbit hutch as the girls were to get rabbits for Christsmas. Unfortunately they felt pressured by circumstances beyond our control and needed to move on and find work. A word of warning-it is a huge risk to buy a car which has not been vetted (checked) Join the NZ Automobile Association and get your vehicle checked by a certified mechanic before you buy. Especially if you are spending more than $2,000.

WW148, 149 and 2 halves

2010-01-23T19:22:00.000-08:00

Adar and Anna from Israel came with their two children Aya and Ellie. Aya and Shannah got on really well and Ellie enchanted us with her bright smile. We enjoyed lots of family time together including attending the Christmas pageant at church and a picnic at the park. Adar put in a few poles so I could make some ornamental fences to set off the gardens down the drive. Anna and I started an Oamaru stone garden and weeded Nao's garden.

WW145-147 Khang, Teh and Joey

2010-01-23T19:18:00.000-08:00

Khang, Teh and Joey are our first wwoofers from Malaysia. We enjoyed learning a bit about Malaysia and they learnt from Shannah that Malaysia has the sun bears. Wal and the three made a new garden which is now flourishing with broccoli and courgettes.

WW144 Maria 2009 14 November

2010-01-23T19:13:00.000-08:00

Maria was a well seasoned traveller from Canada. We enjoyed listening to her stories of various trips. Maria is a more "experienced" traveller than most we host so did fairly light duties like cleaning. She cooked us a wonderful Chinese meal one night enjoyed by all. The weather must havebeen cold again because Maria enjoyed the cosy comfort of the wood stove in the evening and the delicious smells of the baking.

WW141-143 Hendrik, Cathleen, Andreas

2010-01-23T19:09:00.000-08:00

Hendrik, Cathleen and Andreas helped out quite a bit with the garden during the week they were with us and one of the boys cut up a bit of firewood. Just as well, the summer has been so sappalling we are still lighting the fire regularly. Ami learnt how to make a pavlova at school so we had one one night- we all take turns using the handbeater to get it whipped stiff enough.

WW140 Sarah 24 Oct 2009

2010-01-23T19:02:00.000-08:00

Sarah worked for a few days and learnt how to make a "Taranaki gate". She then helped us out by staying and looking after the house while we went away. She writes of this time in the scrapbook " it caught fire twice, I broke the cable for the phone and the internet and Jess unfortunately ran away cause I didn't feed her and left the gate open.......just joking"

She also wrote a funny German poem in the book

Dark was it, the moon was shining bright,
whena flash-fast car was driving around the corner,
when a rabbit, shot dead, was iceskating on a sandbank,
And a curly haired blonde boy with deep black hair was sitting on a blue chest, which was painted in red.

WW139 Nao

2010-01-23T18:59:00.000-08:00

Nao came back to visit us AGAIN (third time) and it was wonderful-now we are waiting for the 4th time????????? Nao might have weeded the garden she made the time before. Now it has a fence and windbreak around the rabbits aren't getting in. The grasses have really come away this spring. In autumn I will split them and double the number.

WW138 Shani 2009 20 Sep-9 October

2010-01-23T18:56:00.000-08:00

Shani stayed for 10 lovely days and helped out with a variety of jobs-probably including weeding ( we have lost our wwoofer log so things are a bit hazy-and we lost our camera so hlease send us a photo.)

WW137 Eve 21 September 2009

2009-09-27T19:20:00.000-07:00

Eve (wwoofer number 137) is our second wwoofer for our 5th wwoofer hosting year and shared some of her time with Shani. And surprise, she is from New Zealand. I mistakenly assumed she was from the States, until I found out after three days she was from NZ. Our 5th only wwoofer from New Zealand. Eve fitted in just like a big sister- we just had so much fun- can't really remember what Eve did but we had a good time. Eve drew the first entry in our new scrapbook and made a great job of it drawing the family, 1sheep, 2 goats and Jess the dog all in silhouette. ( and Eve-if you read this please send us a photo- we had lost our camera while you were here.)

WWOOFING 2008/09

2009-09-27T19:15:00.000-07:00

Our 4th woofing year started with wwoofer number 80, Kristen on the 5 September 2008.

Pauline was our last wwoofer (WW136) for the 2008/2009 summer season concluding on 28 August 2009.

We had wwoofers this season from the U.S., Hungary, Japan, U.K., Germany, Canada, France, Malaysia, Israel and Mexico.

All in all we had 56 wwoofers stay in 2008/2009. We are grateful for everybody's assistance and certainly enjoy the multinational multilingual exposure to a variety of people. Thanks for coming to see us.

Jordan & Joya 12-21/8/2009

2009-09-27T19:10:00.000-07:00

We loved having Jordan and JOya, two sisters from California. At nights they played Chinese checkers & solitaire, read magic pony books to the girls AND finished a 1000 piece puzzle we had started which was really challenging.

They helped dig a trech for the fence to fence off the greywater system and then we covered all that ground under the pear tree with carpet. Wal took them to help out with some volunteer work at Bushtown and they completed the shade house. They dug the turnip bed, helped Rusty lay some edging down the drive and put up an electric fence in the paddock.

Nicolas & Pauline 24-28/8/2009

2009-09-27T19:07:00.000-07:00

Nicolas and Pauline did some more firewood, weeding, helped Wal construct the pumpkin patch, planted seeds, transplanted a couple of trees, tidied up the garage and made French crepes.

Nicole & Christopher 5-7/8/2009

2009-09-27T19:04:00.000-07:00

Nicole and Christopher helped to put a collar on the goats- catching them probably took awhile. They also helped to cut some wood. We have had some free firewood lately so we are nearly a couple of years ahead, which means our wood will be nice and dry and burn cleanly.

Natsumi 20/7-5/8/2009

2009-09-27T19:03:00.000-07:00

Natsumi helped with a variety of jobs from weeding, shoveling, planting onion seeds, carrying firewood and housework.

Dave & Nieves 26-30/6/2009

2009-09-27T19:00:00.000-07:00

Dave and Nieves have both been all over the place so we enjoyed the stories of their travels. Of course, they helped with the vegetable plot, fencing, cleaning the old house and pushing the car in the muddy paddock.

Liz & Emily 24/5-3/6/2009

2009-09-27T18:56:00.000-07:00

Liz and Emily were here for part of the time Shauna was and helped to do the Earthwood mosaic filling in a gap in the floor between the hall and the kitchen. Wal and Shannah had been stubbing their toes for the best part of a year so it was a great project to finish. On the arty craft side of things they helped make Rusty's pukeko costume for the Waimate Wearable Arts and Liz ended up being the model as Rusty was really sick. The costume won a special prize for the amount of work which had gone into it.

Liz and Emily dug fenceposts, turned the compost and helped with the kitchen cupboards. Not exactly sure what Emily did with the knife??????

Shauna 19/5-3/6 & 1-22/7/2009

2009-09-27T18:45:00.000-07:00

We really enjoyed Shauna's time with us and invited her back to look after the house and the dog and the sheep and the goats etc..

During Shauna's first visit she helped with concreting and digging and construction of garden beds and did the Earthwood mosaic with Liz and Emily. She helped sow some seeds, weeding and put the kitchen doors back up in the old house.

On her second visit while we were away it was too wet and too cold to do anything much at all except keep the house warm, but Shauna cut a huge stack of kindling wood, which has made the firelighting easier for a few months!

Shauna was here for Ami's birthday and a potluck tea, and taught us how to knit flowers.

Katrin 3-5/5/2009

2009-09-27T18:44:00.000-07:00

Katrin helped out at the old house with some sanding and painting of cupboard doors.

Katie 28 April-2 May 2009

2009-09-27T18:43:00.000-07:00

A very short visit by Katie as she found herself a job and had to start immediately.

Lauritz

2009-09-27T18:42:00.000-07:00

Lauritz helped out with some weeding, cutting firewood, and enjoyed the atmosphere of the house. He also ran around entertaining the dog, Jess!

Family time April 2009

2009-09-27T18:35:00.000-07:00

We had the delight to host our second family, this time a family of 5 from Israel. Elad and Anat with children Oria, Maayan and Michael.

Oria was very close to Shannah's age and they got on quite well. Although the children didn't speak a lot English they could understand a bit and Rusty learnt a bit of Hebrew.

Elad and Anat helped plant some trees, more concrete around the raised beds-to-be, laying out some carpet and lots of picking up gorse as we just had about 100 metres of gorse ripped out with a digger. They put a new mud layer on the pizza oven-adding a door, and added some soil and planted the back garden.

Naoko 10 March-5 April & 23 June-4 July 2009

2009-09-27T18:27:00.000-07:00

Naoko wrote "Painting the kitchen wall (nice!), making peach jam (bloody awesome!!) and gardening (great!). Naoko worked on the new garden on the east side of the house to fill in a corner between the house and the drive. We have put grasses around the edge and a low spreading plant in the middle. Unfortunately, the rabbits have found that one a bit tasty.

Good to see Naoko picked up a bit of Kiwi lingo! We really enjoyed having Naoko here and, in fact, we got tho enjoy her company for a second visit. Naoko scored an "R" for being a
"R"-eturnee wwoofer.

On Nao's second visit she did some planting, finished the garden, which is called Nao's corner, vacuumed the carpet and did some cleaning in the old house.

Markus WW116 26-31/3/2009

2009-09-27T18:26:00.000-07:00

Markus helped to lay some bricks and do some concreting- the edges around the grave plots!! Wal had macrocarpa sleepers cut to sit on the concrete berms to make the raised gardens.

Zach & Melissa WW114/115 24-27/3/2009

2009-09-27T18:21:00.000-07:00

Zach and Melissa are friends with Matt and Carrie, (woofers 9 & 10)-it was great they could squeeze in a visit to us. They helped us make a start on our vegetable garden. The first step was to dig some rectangular patches out of the turf. It looked like we were going to start a cemetary!

Melissa was heading straight back to Matt and Carrie's wedding when she left so we prevailed on her to take the wedding present...Thanks Melissa.

Steffen WW113 12-21/3/09

2009-08-19T20:03:00.000-07:00

Steffen's visit overlapped with Rebecca's so he picked apples and peaches for jam, helped to paint the old kitchen and make new cupboards and the kitchen bench.

Steffan and Nao came with the girls and I to the Waihao Box for a picnic. It was bitterly cold so it was a short one!

Rebecca WW112 5-14/2/09

2009-08-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

Rebecca was here for most of the same time as Jocelyn and Annie, so she did lots of peelig, chopping, boiling and bottling of pears as well as making tomato chutney. We needed to redo the kitchen in the old house so Rebecca helped Wal gut the old kitchen, washed the windows and fixed some of the willow baskets.

Jocelyn & Annie WW109/110 3-8/2/09

2009-08-19T19:57:00.000-07:00

Jocelyn and Annie helped out with the preserving. Our beautiful 6 metre pear tree was loaded so they picked, peeled and preserved pears. They also cleaned down the old house, took the tomatoes out of the garden, turned the compost and put down Astro-Turf for weed control.

Derren WW108 22-28/2/09

2009-08-19T19:56:00.000-07:00

We had a bit of rain come in the roof with the wind blowing from an unusual direction. Derren helped to fix the roof, did some concreting work, bottled apples and cleaned the wwoofer accommodation.

Soo WW107 8-16/2/09

2009-08-19T19:55:00.001-07:00

Soo was our first wwoofer from Malaysia. He helped with weeding and fencing and picked plums to make jam. Soo is pictured making the calendar envelopes with Stefanie and Jessica.

Stefanie & Jessica WW105/106 4-11/2/09

2009-08-19T19:52:00.000-07:00

Stephanie and Jessica kindly housesat for us looking after Jess, the dog, etc while we went away for Waitangi weekend. They did some weeding and housework to help out, too.

We enjoyed making some envelopes out of calendars with Ami and Shannah and got a couple of crazy puzzles done.

Alyssa & Stephen WW103/104 2-5/ 1/09

2009-08-19T19:48:00.000-07:00

Alyssa and Stephen helped do some fencing and built a cabinet. This cabinat is extra space for preserves and jams.

Simon & Viktor & Niels WW100/101/102 30/1-2/2/09

2009-08-19T19:45:00.000-07:00

Simon ,Viktor and Niels were here for the same period as Mike.

Simon and Viktor helped Wal fence the front paddock and to the west of the house. They tidied the last of the wood in the back paddock from when the house was built, cutting and stacking it and putting the last pieces into a bonfire stack.

Niels helped Rusty clear some brush away from the neighbour's fence, tidied the tyres, grubbed out some dock from the paddocks and helped Rusty make a carpool hut at the road end of the drive. Mind you, I don't get to use it very often as I am always running late and the car is usually there already!

Mike WW99 30/1-2/2/09

2009-08-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

We need to protect the prchard trees from the sheep so Mike helped to build some protectors for around the trees and moved the watering trough.

Martina WW98 27-28/1/09

2009-08-19T19:37:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, Martina could only stay a day, but she helped pick apricots and apples and cleared a space for the worm farm. Wal has made a dedicated worm farm to receive the compost from the toilet.

Jessica WW97 23-26/1/09

2009-08-19T19:35:00.000-07:00

In the notebook Jessica didn't list what she did but wrote 'Thank you for sharing your knowledge and fresh bread"...so I guess she ate lots of bread while she was here!

David WW96 6-9/1/09

2009-08-19T19:33:00.000-07:00

David came to join up with his friends David and Stefan. He was cycling so he came a bit later than them. He left in such a hurry he left a nice New Zealand cap behind, which Haldor inherited gratefully.

Haldor and Catherine WW93/94 5-15/1/09

2009-08-19T19:29:00.000-07:00

Haldor and Catherine stayed 10 days and quickly became part of the family. Both had a lovely sense of humour and we enjpyed their stay. Haldor was instrumental in helping to set up the solar power as he was an electrician and he helped wire in the battery bank. Solar power at last! Since then we have added two more batteries for a little extra storage capacity.

Catherine did lots of painting, painting, painting....gardenig and weeding. She also played lots with Ami and Shannah and fell in love with the sheep! Catherine is pictured with her 2008 edition of the essential Kiwi souvenir, an Edmonds cookbook, and Rusty has her 1951 version
!
This was their first WWOOF in New Zealand, but they had wwoofed in South America which was really interesting to hear about.

David and Stefan WW92/93 2-9/1/09

2009-08-19T19:26:00.000-07:00

David and Stefan helped clean the windows, did some digging, fencing and concreting. The most fun was building a hut for Shannah under the pear tree and making a tree hut for Ami.

They borrowed Wal's fishing rod and went down to the river mouth with a bit of luck on one night. The next night they got rather tangled in the bushes.

Ken for Christmas WW91 21-29/1/09

2009-08-19T19:21:00.000-07:00

Ken stayed for a week over Christmas 2008. We had a quiet time with my parents also visiting for a couple of days. Ken wrote he learned about how to be more patient and about commitment to family. Ken helped us screen lots of soil for the garden and did a bit of weeding around trees to help them grow. We were really impressed with Ken's effort to cycle around New Zealand ! On Boxing Day we went to the Waimate Rodeo and enjoyed the show.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS 2008

2008-12-22T00:03:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS

AND

A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

To each and every wwoofer, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your special contribution to building our house and establishing our property and we wish you all the best for Christmas and for the coming year.

For Christmas this year we have given Childfund a donation of $92 ($1 for every wwoofer we have ever had) to go towards their African appeal. At Christmas as we enjoy our lives of privilege we remember with charity those less fortunate. In the coming year I hope we can remember the people whose lives will be impacted by climate change by our actions and our words and our political will to make a difference.

FLORIAN

2008-12-21T23:55:00.000-08:00

Florian probably has an identity crisis now because I kept calling him Fabian or Damian... Florian had a relaxing (boring?) couple of days minding the house, while we went up to Wellington. It poured with rain and he couldn't do anything except sit inside. Florian and Ken came to "Christmas in the square". We took a picnic of curry and rice and enjoyed the entertainment. Florian starred as a king in the play, and Ken as an angel. They had some lucky prizes and Florian won a nice shirt for being one of those coming from the furtherest away. Florian helped with fencing and "killing weeds" as well. He got on really well with the girls and got on Shannah's bad side by stealing her chocolate cake mix from the bowl! At night he challenged Wal to Chinese checkers...and he won tonight, on his last night!!!!

Narumi and Kyooko

2008-12-21T23:51:00.000-08:00

Narumi and Kyooko walked the girls to school one morning as Wal drove over to Wanaka to get a 2nd hand fridge. It is a GRAM model and is the most energy effcient model on the market (I think). It is highly insulated and is probably the model of choice for people off the grid. They did a bit of housecleaning and taped down the sides of the fusuma paper on the doors as it was peeling on the edges. Narumi and Kyooko got the cold weather following the heat wave...nevertheless, they got a phone call from a friend about cherry picking and they were off despite the cold.

Claire and Sophie

2008-12-21T23:48:00.000-08:00

We had a heat wave while Claire and Sophie were here so they spent most of their time in the shade weeding under the trees. Ami brought home a book on gingerbread houses and the great gingerbread project was begun. This engaged Claire, Sophie, Shannah and Ami for several days and the picture speaks a thousand words...fantastic!

Sho

2008-12-21T23:46:00.000-08:00

Sho was a bright and cheerful Japanese with engaging conversation. He weeded, dug out the trench at the back of the house, generally helped tidy up, collected various things like carpet, sawdust and drums, and helped sieve last years compost and make a new compost heap.

(Sho at the bench)

Megumi

2008-12-21T23:41:00.000-08:00

Megumi's stay is a blank...?? (she forgot to write in the book) but she weeded the drive garden for me and weeded and covered the gardens at the road end of the drive with bright, orange carpet (since covered with sawdust). Megumi did some calligraphy and we get a lot of people asking what it means. We have hung one on the wall, which is "smiling face".

Steve Carraso

2008-12-21T23:33:00.000-08:00

Steve stayed for 3 and a bit weeks and helped with some major jobs-he probably never wants to see a wire bed again because he helped to sieve a lot of soil. Steve helped to move the glasshouse. Wal made a bricked base for it and brick raised gardens inside and after renovating a lot of the glass Wal and Steve sieved dirt to fill the gardens and planted tomatoes, cucumber and a capsicum. Steve built two door frames for the toolshed and helped to brick the patio. This was a job that intervened as the contractors turned up to do the drive and kindly dug the patio space as well....so then it needed filling. Steve also played lots of games with Ami and Shannah including digging for fairies!

Monika & Galyas

2008-12-12T10:57:00.000-08:00

Monika and Galyas wrote in the book that they did "only a few things" which is an understatement...they would get up early and go and find their own jobs to do! They tidied the garage, stacking all the odds and ends of wood. Monika oiled the outside poles with linseed oil. This darkened the poles and made them stand out nicely against the clay. Monika also prepared and papered 3 doors with the special "fusuma" paper we brought home from Japan. Galyas worked with Wal on various woodworking projects including rebuilding a double bed we got from our neighbours, finishing Damian's shelf and blocking off the top of the battery room with battens. Galyas was a real chatterbox and we enjoyed our conversations with him.

Kristen

2008-12-12T10:54:00.000-08:00

Kristen arrived at a timely moment shortly before we moved in so she got to help move lots of stuff. We tried to sort as we went-consequently we have half a house full of "stuff" we really don't need. We will have a big garage sale soon. Kristen also waterproofed some of the adobe walls and did some bits and pieces of painting.

Charles and Domitille

2008-12-12T10:51:00.000-08:00

Charles and Domitille helped tidy the house by putting mud on the outside-this gave the walls a much more uniform look. A major job requiring neighbour's assistance was to get their van out of the mud on the lawn!!! They sanded the kitchen floor and repainted Ami's room in a lilac colour to make it brighter.

THANK YOU BIG TIME

2008-07-22T02:57:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all our wwoofers, we have fond memories of many of you and we really appreciate the HUGE contribution you have made to the building of our house, and friendships and the memorable quality of our life.

But at this time, I must say a special thankyou to Jeehun, Haji, Damian and Melanie, whose time frames all overlapped and added up to nearly 5 months of wwoofer time...so a BIG TIME thankyou for your contribution to bringing the house near to completion.

Melanie

2008-07-22T02:50:00.000-07:00

Melanie's time coincided with Jeehun and Damian. Melanie could turn her hand to anything and is singlehandedly responsible for changing the house from looking like a building site to actually looking like a house. She masked and painted the kitchen, the office, the bathroom ceiling, Shannah's room and a number of doors. Melanie went to Christchurch for a few days to see a show then came back and worked at a local strawberry farm while staying on at our place. It was all just a plot to get her "R" I think.

Either that or she just got too fond of her hottie.

David

2008-07-22T02:41:00.000-07:00

David came while Rusty was in Japan so it was great for Wal to have his company. They made significant progress on the last room, which is Wal and Rusty's bedroom. Up till now it has been the storeroom but it was cleaned out and David helped Wal plaster the walls again. Wal has since tiled the floor and put in a doorframe and it now really looks like a room.

Gemma and Andrew

2008-07-22T02:37:00.000-07:00

Wwoofers number 73 & 74 were Gemma and Andrew, and wwoofers number 75 & 76 were Gemma and Andrew. They took a little break inbetween visits- so they got code "R" in the logbook for "Returnees"!!

Gemma helped me finish the mosaic in the lounge floor and Andrew helped Wal adjust the solar panels. They also did some painting, weeding and treeplanting and had lots of fun with the girls.

Damian

2008-07-22T02:32:00.000-07:00

Damian came for three days as he was stranded and bored at Christchurch airport ...and ended up staying for over a month! He was here with Jeehun and Damian and we all had a fun time. Damian was skilled at carpentry so he made a huge contribution with some made to measure furniture including a wardrobe each for the girls, and some bookshelves for Shannah's birthday desk, a spice rack for Rusty and a kitchen shelf and he spent a lot of time watching paint dry...and playing with Jess...

Jeehun

2008-07-22T02:25:00.000-07:00

Jeehun did so much in the two months he was here. The thing we will treasure the longest is the "MADE IN KOREA" toast slicer he crafted for us out of plywood. It is made to fit the bread from our breadmaker and it really helps to cut nice slices when the bread hasn't had time to cool.

Jeehun kept us entertained with a variety of magic tricks, some of the m fluent enough to leave the kids gobsmacked- especially the one where he puts the coin into his arm.

The installation of the solar hot water heater was a highlight while Jeehun was here, but he also contributed so much doing everything from lawnmowing to mudding, gardening and painting ETC, ETC, ETC

HAJI

2008-07-22T02:20:00.000-07:00

Haji stayed nearly 2 weeks, but it seemed longer as Jeehun was here the whole of that time and then Melanie came too!

Haji helped out with a variety of jobs including cutting timber, painting, plastering, making compost and digging...I can't quite remember what?

We enjoyed Haji's quiet humour and had him on about his appetite, as you can see from the photo.

Haji also enjoyed a belated birthday party (only cos he didn't tell us on the day) and so got code "B" for "Birthday" in the logbook. It is mandatory to declare if you are having a birthday so we can make a cake and have a party!

REACH FOR THE SKY

2008-04-06T02:32:00.000-07:00

Jessica shows off some trampolining skills.

BLOBBING OUT

2008-04-06T02:29:00.001-07:00

"Now just how far round the world are we??????????"

LOOK LIKE THIS

2008-04-06T02:18:00.000-07:00

Come to our place and you get to look like this...........

or this.............

Melanie volunteered to help out at the school fair face painting, but she had never done it before. So we got out the facepaints and she had a go at Shannah and Ami and then Ami turned Melanie into a witch!!!!!!

GUARD DOG

2008-02-25T01:16:00.000-08:00

LOOK OUT! SHE BITES! (TRUE!)

MUDDING

2008-02-25T01:10:00.000-08:00

This is the fun term for getting dirty, making cob, slinging mud, building brick walls, stomping in a bath of adobe....and WOW! it is fun

KIWI CAKES

2008-02-25T01:08:00.000-08:00

I got a Le Creuset frypan recently-they hold a great even temperature so we have come up with a new twist on Saturday morning pancakes:- made to order. Jason got a Kiwi, Debolina a tuatara and the girls a silver fern and an octopus. So come and place your order....

RECYCLING ON SITE

2008-02-16T11:12:00.000-08:00

We sort all waste on site and recycle paper, cardboard, plastic bags & film, rigid plastic, scrap metal, electrical wire, hoses etc ( not much glass generated on site-we don't drink much beer down there!)

Mainly the only thing we can't recycle is treated wood and and sweepings which may contain treated wood sawdust. And a few messy miscellaneous items.

Debolina and Jason

2008-02-16T11:07:00.000-08:00

Debolina and Jason were our last summer wwoofers. They enjoyed the Waimate Buskers Festival as well as a trip to Timaru to view the Redruth Eco-center. I do tours through the recycling and composting facility as part of my job. Mainly they helped us to mud a wall in Shannah's room and tidy up the walls in the lounge by painting with mud. They got on really well with the kids (both teachers) and it was a wonderful way to finish the holidays with yet another lovely couple of wwoofers.

Debolina helped me make this jam. It is fun when someone is here to help, but oh boy!! am I ever sick of making jam!!!!! Still this year we have made plum jam, plum sauce ( a hot one and a mild one), apple chutney, preserved pears, bottled apples and stewed apples for the freezer....yet to come is black boy peach jam, green tomato chutney and more apple something!

The Waimate Buskers Festival

2008-02-16T11:03:00.000-08:00

The Waimate Buskers Festival follows on from the Christchurch International Buskers Festival. The weather was wonderful on the day and the crowds enjoyed some great entertainment. The photo is Jason's picture of a guy takng a marshmellow off a set mousetrap!!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

2008-02-16T10:55:00.000-08:00

Belated Christmas wishes. We had planned to have Kenji, Akira and Kayo stay for Christmas this year along with my parents. Unfortunately, Akira and Kayo had to go suddenly to meet up with friends. But they got to take their Christmas gifts with them. Among other things we gave our Chrustmas wwoofers a present on behalf of all wwoofers we have ever had. Just prior to Christmas we had had 52 wwoofers stay. Through Childfund, our child sponsor organisation, we purchased $52 worth of "gifts that grow"- $1 per wwoofer. Firstly, this is to recognise that each and every one of you has made a contribution to our house, and we do remember you even if we don't have time to keep in regular touch. And secondly, to give a gift that shares, that makes a contribution to a more equitable world. The gifts were mainly chosen on the basis of adding up to 52 so it turned out to be some fruit trees in one country and some books for a school somewhere else.
So thank you all and I hope you had a happy Christmas.

JESS WITH JESS

2008-02-16T10:51:00.001-08:00

Recently we got a Border Collie pup just 5 weeks old. I chose her with similar markings to the dog we had previously, also called Jess. Funnily enough, we got her while Jess and Pat were here. How's that for coincidence!

Poor Pat!

2008-01-29T01:01:00.000-08:00

This is what happens if you don't work hard enough!

Are you an ICE CREAM freak?

2008-01-28T01:25:00.000-08:00

Jess and Pat were! They took advantage of the cheapest icecream prices in the country and had one just about every single day. Only 5 minutes walk to the dairy from our house.
For $1 you get 1 scoop and a half in a single cone ( this is kiddies size)
For $1.50 you get 2 generous scoops in a single cone.
For $2.50 you get 3 scoops in a double cone and hope it is not too hot a day!
For 50 c extra you can get the icecream chocolate coated.

Tip Top (New Zealand made) is THE best icecream in the world!

The local dairy has 12 flavours to choose from including top of the range only-in-New-Zealand-icecream flavour ...

HOKEY POKEY!!!!!!!

PUZZLED

2008-01-28T01:23:00.000-08:00

We have a good collection of puzzles and since we started a 1000 piece puzzle on Christmas Day we are onto our 5th puzzle. It is great fun but, unfortunately, extremely compulsive!!! Matt's table is just the thing. It is big enough to do a puzzle on at one end and have a meal at the other end.

CROSS OVERS

2008-01-28T01:15:00.000-08:00

We have had a lot of stays cross over each other with some coming and others going. Accommodation was stretched at Christmas but having Ami's room finished means wwoofers have been able to sleep down at the new house. Once Han left Jess went down there and enjoyed the space. The atmosphere of the house is apparently (!) lovely for sleeping. We are so-o-o-o-o-!!!! jealous as we haven't slept down in a bedroom yet.

Pat and Jess stayed 2 weeks and left fatter than they came! It is lovely to have people so appreciative of the meals and hospitality. Pat and Jess really helped out with the girls, I forgot to mention it has been the summer holidays here since some time during Kenji's stay. Pat and Jess got to get muddy and we made real progress on the completing the internal mud walls. They helped to lay out the grey water system and completed the planting (100 trees) so that project is as good as finished.

We only have the actual building details and the solar system to go and the house is done!

"Han"

2008-01-28T01:09:00.000-08:00

"Han" was a honey. By the end of 2 weeks we could hardly stop her talking. The girls loved to chat and play with her as well. Han painted the area around the outside laundry and then helped me do a big mosaic around the mirror in the bathroom. I drove Han up to Christchurch and we caught the bus to Kaikoura together. I met the girls there returning from Wellington and Han travelled onto Nelson. Han was another puzzle addict and on our last night we stayed up till all hours before the puzzle got the better of us...we couldn't finish it.

Sachiyo

2008-01-28T01:02:00.000-08:00

Sachiyo could stay just 5 days after a delay in Christchurch. Sachiyo looked after the girls a bit and did some gardening. Sachiyo and Han enjoyed their time in the evenings chatting together in the wwoofers room. Sachiyo is the first wwoofer to go from our place to our friends place just down the road.

Eaten by mosquitos

2008-01-28T00:54:00.000-08:00

Well, we never heard back from Akira and Kayo, a newly married couple, who went off to tramp the Milford track so we are assuming they got eaten by the biggest mosquitos in the world. No kidding ...all the guidebooks will tell you about them. Anyway, Akira and Kayo stayed several days and helped to plaster the wall in Ami's room. But their main project was to cut and move the last of the kerfs (offcuts from the timber milled on the property 3 years ago) so we could establish our grey water system. Funnily enough, their name was "Mizuguchi" (water outlet=referring to the gap at the edge of the paddyfield where water is let out for the rice to dry out). I thought this was a very appropriate name as the grey water system consists of 2 long tubes with lots of little feeder pipes (water outlets). Akira and Kayo planted the first tree in the grey water garden.

Kenji's s-tile

2008-01-28T00:39:00.000-08:00

Kenji proved to have great style while at our place. He had done a little tiling as part of his university study for architecture and so he was enthusiastic about having a go at tiling. Consequently, apart from plastering and sanding back most of the gib-board in the house he tiled the kitchen area and completed most of the tiling in the bathroom. Over 6 weeks it was a massive contribution.

It is great having long term woofers. Kenji became part of the family and got the opportunity to do so many things, especially as Christmas and New Year is a time of year with so much happening...Toastmasters and the club end of year BBQ, the local A & P show, our huge local festival-Strawberry Fair, Christmas in the park, Christmas Eve service, Christmas with the family, the Waimate rodeo, picnics here and picnics there, etc, etc... 6 weeks was also time enough to make friends with a couple from Toastmasters and Kenji went up to the lakes with Wim.

He enjoyed playing with the girls although we had to draw the line when they tried to get him to play Barbies!

Happy New Year

2008-01-28T00:29:00.000-08:00

Lizzie got into the spirit of things at New Year and joined in our special New Year's treasure hunt. Her and the girls, and Kenji too got all dressed up put of the dress-up suitcase and we all trooped downtown for the girls' annual shout. They get given some New Years gift money ( a Japanese tradition) and so they have to buy the family an icecream. Lizzie helped me organise the treasue hunt at Knottingley Park and we spent an awesome 2 hours following a trail of clues. We spent a bit of time in the garden tidying things up and we painted and tiled Ami's room. This is now the first room to be entirely finished!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

COB ART

2007-10-30T02:05:00.000-07:00

The light was falling

on the cob sculptures and they looked absolutely awesome

so here are two pictures, the kiwi and the fantail. Thanks a million Carrie!

WWOOFER 50

2007-10-25T01:33:00.000-07:00

Mauve was 49 and Gary was Wwoofer number 50! A nice, round number to start off the 2007/2008 summer season.

Gary had a lot of tree planting and agricultural experience and kindly offered to tidy up around the trees. Wal hired a big scrub cutter for 2 days and Gary swished grass and weeds clearing out around small trees to give them light. We took advantage of the short grass and spent the following long weekend laying out trailerloads of carpet to keep the weeds down.

Mauve cleaned up some woodwork which was splattered with clay, did a heap of weeding helping me clear out the winter greens from the vege patch, and sanded a huge slab of macrocarpa for our bathroom benchtop.

Gary helped Ami bake and Mauve hit it off with Shannah and we really enjoyed the pleasant company of our first wwoofers for the season.

Thanks to Gary and Mauve for startingoff the Trees for Travellers season as well with planting 4 trees taking the number up to 59.

and the weekend finsihed with pizza dough made and baked in the pizza oven by a professional baker (Gary!) ...so yummy we couldn't move when we were finished.

ORCHARD

2007-10-25T01:31:00.001-07:00

We were offered two lambs so Wal spent 2 weeks finishing off a lot of fencing around the place and we got the orchard planted and protected, and put the lambs in to keep the grass down. We have 15 trees in the orchard including walnut, lemon, plum, apricot,apple, pear and hazelnuts.

KITCHEN CABINET

2007-10-25T01:28:00.000-07:00

I scored a cabinet at a garage sale for $20. It was a hideous thing painted with a brown paint to look like stain...but... we discovered underneath it was heart rimu. Wal scraped back one end and the grain is absolutely beautiful. he took off the hardboard on the back and replaced it with tongue and groove. It looks a million dollars now and saved a lot of cabinet work as it fitted exactly into the wall we had intended to be a shelved wall in the kitchen.

GIB

2007-10-25T01:23:00.000-07:00

Most of the wall gib is done, except for spots where the plumber is required. The ceiling gib is likewise and now the scotia (edging between ceiling and wall) is done in most room's except our bedroom.

Not a very exciting photo BUT it does show something is finished. Gib and scotia.

Next steps will be gibstopping/plastering then painting!

SHOP! SHOP! SHOP!

2007-10-25T01:19:00.000-07:00

This was a speech I gave last week at Toastmasters.

Shop till you drop! Retail therapy! A night on the town! Buy now pay later! 15 months interest free! SALE on now! Two for the price of 1!

Consumer society, we've got it made…....but wait, more shopping = more goods = more packaging = More landfill….shopping till you drop is not good for the environment…......but wait.....

Tonight I am going to sell you some ideas for shopping with a difference. In fact, I am going to tell you to shop… shop with your head, shop with your heart and shop with your wallet and you can make a difference…. That is to say YOU and YOU and YOU can make a difference….For the environment and for the world.

A recent survey stated that most Kiwis want to shop, recycle and plant their way through the climate change problem. So here are some tips on different approaches to shopping for the planet.

Buy New Zealand made, especially food which makes up a large portion of our weekly expenditure. Instead of this pasta, made in Italy, buy this flour milled in Ashburton available by internet order and make your own pasta. It tastes great and reduces the carbon miles generated by products having to be transported from the other side of the world. It also supports our local economy, providing jobs which flows on to stronger local communities.

Buy organic.Areas of opportunity for organic farming include improved consumer health and producer health, sustainability, organic food branding, regional employment, recognition of consumer demand and economic benefits. Support the growth of the domestic organic sector by being one of those consumers demanding organic products.

Shop at Trade Aid and support an income generating venture in a developing country or take out a Child Sponsorship and welcome another child into your home. Buy a family in Africa a goat or a well! Support a charity. Change to Fair Trade tea or coffee and support local organic ventures where the farmer receives a fair price for their labour instead of being exploited by a multi-national company.

If the world were a village and there were a 100 people in the village only 1 would own their own home. In New Zealand we are among the world’s richest people. So let’s shop with our hearts and share our wealth with those less fortunate.

Shop to reduce carbon emissions by choosing energy efficient appliances such as ecobulbs or a 5 star fridge or dishwasher. An ecobulb, though more cosly initially, will save you money on energy usage over the term of their life.

In a recent Eco-bulb campaign at Shell service stations over 800,000 eco-bulbs were sold. This equates to over $100 million of energy savings and could reduce the carbon dioxide equivalent of taking more than 65,000 cars off the road.

Buy services instead of products. For example, instead of buying a toilet bag for someone give them a voucher for a professional massage. Goods often come from overseas and have a high carbon footprint, whereas a service is provided by a person locally which incurs a lower carbon footprint and provides employment in the local economy.

Buy it back. Instead of this (hold up white notepaper) buy this ( hold up recycled paper) Buying recycled goods help close the loop. Resources flow from virgin materials to goods to recycling to recycled goods and back into the market. This uses resources efficiently and keeps stuff out of the landfill.

Find a bargain. Check out the 2nd hand shops or auction center. Scrounge around at the Silver Shed or the Crow’s Nest. Go garage saling. Shop at Save Mart. ..and don't miss the church fair. It really is lots of fun finding that bargain.

So, you can shop to your hearts content….or shop with your heart..shop with your head and let your money do the talking… for the good of the environment and for community wellbeing, both local and international. I believe in putting my money where my mouth is….shop green and save the world...oh, and remember.....take your shopping bag with you.

ZERO WASTE ADVISOR

2007-10-11T01:17:00.000-07:00

That's me! Rusty. In May I got a fulltime job at Timaru District Council. Unfortunately, it is a 35 minute drive (45 km) from Waimate but I have got a car pool each way, so philosphically I can cope (just!) with the mileage..........anyway, the job is my dream job....it was made for me! My job is varied , interesting, exciting, and gives me a real buzz- especially when I set up a waste exchange. That is finding something 1 business is throwing out which another business can use-thereby saving it from the landfill. I also get to teach in kindies and schools about Zero Waste and recycling, take groups on tour around on fantastic Materials Recycling Facility and work with businesses on waste management and coming up-other sustainability issues. I have a great co-worker on the same wavelength as me and the day at work just flies............When I put the kids to bed I count down....10,9,8,7,6,5,4, "3-2-1-Zero Waste"-and turn the light out!

SPRING IS SPRUNG

2007-10-11T01:11:00.001-07:00

Spring is sprung, the grass is riz.

I wonder where the birdies iz...

totally unoriginal, my mother used to say it.

Our magnificent magnolia ( or mongolia tree as I once called it when I was losing my English in Japan) has blossomed. Thank you Beth and Mac for this special treat.

and we are wondering what travellers and friends-to-be are going to pop out of the woodwork this year.

Mark 21 today

2007-10-11T00:57:00.000-07:00

We seem to be gathering 21sts. When Mark arrived and we found out it was his 21st in a week he had to stay. Mark came to Toastmasters and a friend there had a birthday on the same day. She made a cake and brought it in for morning tea to celebrate. The girls enjoyed art lessons with mark each day after school and we enjoyed his lovely company. Particularly memorable was a family picnic at KNottingly Park and playing in the autumn leaves.

ALAN

2007-10-11T00:40:00.000-07:00

Alan stayed at our place killing time until the snows arrived and he could go skiing. As he was a great help and fitted in with the family so well we were secretly praying for a warm winter and delayed start to the ski season. Notwithstanding, after 4 weeks here he went skiing and then off to the States. Alan helped Wal instal the two back doors, put up most of the Terra Lana natural woolen insulation and helped line out the house with gib board. Absolutely heaps in other words...not to mention falling voctim to the Chinese Checker mania!

THE REGENT THEATER

2007-06-07T02:58:00.000-07:00

Many WWOOFers enjoy a night out at the Regent Theater. It is an old style theater with intermission- time for an icecream or popcorn- and as it is run by a Trust the prices are pretty reasonable too. This is a nostalgic experience for many who come from cities where the only movie theaters now are multiplexes.

Jo and Nick

2007-06-07T02:55:00.000-07:00

Jo and Nick could only stay a couple of days, but they helped dig out some more squares for the orchard weeding carefully and replacing the dirt in barriers made by Wal out of corrugated iron. The concept behind this labour intensive job is to plant the orchard squares with a herbal ley and to keep the twitch at bay.

Penny and Charlie Brown

2007-06-07T02:45:00.000-07:00

Penny and Charlie were a chatty couple and we enjoyed family time with them. They helped dig out some squares to plant the orchard in the spring and planted comfrey root all around the edge of the orchard. They put down lots of carpet squares and tires around the trees planted by Carrie. And they insulated the south wall with batts. This is the only wall using batts- the rest of the house is insulated with TerraLana natural wool insulation.

Returning friends

2007-06-05T03:08:00.000-07:00

We were delighted to have Matt and Carrie come back to visit. Matt and Carrie planted the first trees in the Trees for Travellers programme and in 6 months the total was up to 32. They added to that with some belated Christmas shopping for family bringing the count to 45! The garden Matt and Carrie helped to plant to border the new section at the front had grown unbelievably well. Compare the previous post of them to this new picture. Carrie's sunflowers had all sprouted, grown 6 feet tall and died off before she came back again.

Carrie planted 2 hedges, one for a windbreak to screen the future orchard, and one on the boundary between the current house and the new section. Matt and Carrie helped build the first adobe wall of the WWOOFers room. When they returned the walls were all laid up. Some finishing was required so Carrie and I threw cob at all the gaps in the walls and down the sides of the pillars and our pinnacle of artistic achievement was the sculpturing in cob on the two pillars inside at the sides of the French doors. Adrienne also helped with this. Rusty did the leaves and vines and Carrie did the AMAZING piwakawaka (fantails)!

Matt's major contribution was the handmaking of our kitchen table. He inserted rimu butterflies to stop the splitting, planed, sanded and oiled the table with help from Wal. To celebrate the completion of the masterpiece we transported it down to the new house and had a party. Last weekend on Queen's Birthday Wal entered the table into a woodworking expo where it was much admired.

Matt also made the cupboard for the outside basin for the laundry along with shelving on the outside wall.

We are indebted to Matt and Carrie for their huge contribution and will always cherish their friendship.

OUR FRENCH FAMILY

2007-06-05T03:02:00.000-07:00

Apparently, we say in the WWOOFer book we don't take families BUT Monika and Geoff and family arrived nonetheless and we had a ball. After a couple of days the children were playing together, Rusty was cuddling the baby and chaos reigned........ha!ha! Monika made jam and paper pulp ( not at the same time!) and the kids picked up fallen fruit from around the trees to help tidy up.

Geoff was very experienced in brick laying so he made the concrete block manhole on top of the grey water tank and helped Wal put deer fencing wire around the pizza garden.

We particularly enjoyed a picnic at the Black Hole, a local swimming spot, with several friends.

Beth & Mac

2007-06-05T02:58:00.000-07:00

Mud!!!Hmmmm.........this was a challenge for Mac- a professional plasterer by trade. He spent several days instructing Wal in the finer arts of plastering, which was a great help. We wish he could have stayed longer...

Beth helped Rusty with some jam making and odds and ends.

Funnily enough, Beth (from England) also visited parents of a penfriend in Waimate. The penfriend now lives in London!!

Kathy & John

2007-06-05T02:54:00.000-07:00

Kathy & John arrived in their own accommodation- a camper- and parked down the back. When it cam to weeding Kathy turned out to be superwoman and we made great progress in tidying up the gardens. John helped Wal out with some fencing at the front of the new drive.

Kathy and John live in a 3 bay shed converted into a strawbale dwelling, so it was interesting to have some exchange with people of a very similar ilk.