Tales from the Homestead

Tales from the Homestead Being in Tourism, Covid has left our diary pretty clear. So we've taken the leap and decided to move to our very own lifestyle property.

Follow us on our new journey to try and be as self sufficient as possible right here in sunny Hawke's Bay, New Zealand

Meet Belle 😍Little Belle the goat, the poor little thing was spotted on the side of the road late May and we presume had...
19/08/2026

Meet Belle 😍
Little Belle the goat, the poor little thing was spotted on the side of the road late May and we presume had been abandoned as we have no local wild goats. She was picked up start of July by a lovely young lady who lived down the road but couldn't give her a home so we offered to take her in.
She was a bit scabby and tiny so we got her checked over by a vet and made her a crate in front of the fire to sleep in.
Which means, we've spent the last few weeks with a goat jumping round the house in nappies during this cold snap and causing chaos. It's what I imagine Spiderman would of been like as a toddler!
She decided after a few weeks of spending all day outside and then in her crate in front of the fire at night, that she was ready to spend the whole night outside and she's been outside living with the sheep and goats since. She seems to spend her days with the goats and rams and then heads back to tuck up with the sheep at night.
She's even taken over the old pig shed for when it rains, she's got it sussed! 😁

Phil made a whoopsie! 😂 Post 2 of 2! From the previous post you'll see I asked for a plug to be put behind the sofa...
18/08/2026

Phil made a whoopsie! 😂 Post 2 of 2!
From the previous post you'll see I asked for a plug to be put behind the sofa for my heated blanket and well....
Phil needed to go up into the loft to do the prep work for our electrician and yep, put his foot straight through the ceiling 😱 so of course I am being blamed 100%. 🤣
On the plus side I was never quite happy with the gib finish on the ceiling so it might have put plans back a few weeks but the lounge and ceiling are looking even better after an erm... re-fit? 😆😊 That and Davyd, Liam (our electrician and son) and I had a right laugh at Phil's expense. So worth it on all counts! 😂🤣😂
Excuse me while I head back to my warm heated blanket on the sofa with no danger of tripping over a bloody lead for once 😆😁😛

Plug placement is essential folks! Post 1 of 2! As many of you know I have endometriosis with complications and that doe...
18/08/2026

Plug placement is essential folks! Post 1 of 2!
As many of you know I have endometriosis with complications and that does mean my best friend is my heated blanket, fantastic invention that has saved all us endo ladies from the blotchy skin you get from repeated hot water bottles.
The down side of this is for almost 2 years now my extension lead has gone across the room, right in front of the door, ready and waiting to trip anybody or anything up and it has on so many occasions 😆 But it's also one of those things that gets easily forgotten with so much else on. Finally a new socket means my heated blanket can live on the sofa and the lead can be hidden away neatly.
I'd like to say never has a plug caused so much hassle but then again I do remember Phil having to dig under the house to be able to get under the kitchen island just to be able to put in some plugs for me because our electrician wasn't going to dig the hole and go under the house himself 😆so erm .......😊

Family Area - Reno project The renovation project has been keeping us busy with the family room now looking much better....
18/08/2026

Family Area - Reno project
The renovation project has been keeping us busy with the family room now looking much better. 😁
Phil has spent hours, 16 hours (so I'm told) on the ceiling, resulting in a very nice tic-tac-toe board effect 😆
The colour theme of 'grey chateau' has continued on from the lounge and will tie the kitchen and family room together beautifully. To match the rest of the house we did the trims and headers over the doors and windows.
The floors were done last year by Phil while I went of on hols and we had the heat pump installed a couple of years ago now. It's finally looking pretty good now that it's back together. 😊

13/08/2026

Hey Folks,
It's been pointed out that it's been a while since I posted an update, I checked and it was way back in April, where does the time go?
So I guess it's time for a catch up 😁
Autumn and Winter so far have been pretty warm and dry but we have just had a recent cold snap and even about 20 minutes of actual snow!
We are finally getting some rain which is much needed and it's perfect timing as it is, of course, lambing season again. One set of twins so far and awaiting the rest to pop any day now.
The renovation project is almost finished, Phil has been working hard to complete the 100 year old house by joining the seperate laundry to the house with the perfect mud room.
Goats, sheep, ducks, chickens and cats are all doing okay, more updates soon but for now, here's some snow! 😁

Stump RemovalOn the Homestead we prefer to do jobs ourselves and not spend money but stump removal is way too hard and I...
17/04/2026

Stump Removal
On the Homestead we prefer to do jobs ourselves and not spend money but stump removal is way too hard and I'd been working on Phil to let me get the stump guys in to take out at least the three stumps in the front garden.
So as soon as I wore him down, it was a quick call to our local stump grinder chap and I arranged for him to come and do the three stumps in the front garden.
Not wanting to lose good firewood Phil decides last minute (like an hour before he's due) that he is going to get the rest of the firewood he could off the main stump! 😆 Shame really, would of been really impressive to see it go to town on this one too.
We weren't going to do the larger stump round the back (as it wasn't aesthetically as issue according to Phil, so I conceded) but I think he was in such awe of the beast, that next minute from the kitchen I see the stump grinder heading round the back and wow, I'm glad I caught it. Well worth the money just to see that beast in action, and we got rid of the stumps too! 😆
Check out the video in the previous post for the real action. 😁
Pics: The stump grinder action and the mulch left behind...............

17/04/2026

Stump Grinder in Action
Wow, the way it just munches through this one is impressive enough but the 2nd giant stump is fricking awesome!!! Love the way Phil leaves my amazement and then evil chuckle in the video ☺️
Fab job! 😁

Food on the Homestead 😋We do love our food here on the Homestead and going into Autumn always feels like saying goodbye ...
16/04/2026

Food on the Homestead 😋
We do love our food here on the Homestead and going into Autumn always feels like saying goodbye to summer salads as we start wanting warmer food and winter crops start coming in.
We eat very seasonally and grow, rear and trade for most of our goodies.
Going to miss those warm summer days where you just crave a good hearty salad, coleslaw, sweetcorn, tomatoes, cucumber, raddish, peppers, fresh beetroot, globe artichokes, just to name a few. Nom, nom, nom!
What we don't pickle or preserve then we do without till next season, although year round micro greens are a must 😁
Notice I didn't say Zucchini/Courgette, trust me, no-one is unhappy to see the end of courgette season! Love them but it does feel like we get a massive glut every year, we give away loads, trade loads and still the freezer is full of courgette soup. 😆


GeoffreyAs many of you know Geoffrey came with the house and was all alone, so we got him Tui for company and most of th...
16/04/2026

Geoffrey
As many of you know Geoffrey came with the house and was all alone, so we got him Tui for company and most of the time they quite happily keep to themselves in the ravine.
Tui though, she can be a bit much, so some days Geoffrey clearly needs a break and the little escape artist thinks it's really funny to just appear in the garden and munch whatever he can find! Usually he picks days that Phil is off working of course! He especially seems to like hanging out on the deck. 😬
He might be adorable but he knows how to push my buttons that's for sure! 🙄



16/04/2026

Log Splitting Homestead Style
Sure makes getting through that tree a lot easier! 😁

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Hamilton
RD9

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