We fell in love with outdoor showers during our past few trips to Fire Island. There is just something quite simple, but quite relaxing about being able to look up at the stars. We are starting to hit the events season this year, and we thought having outdoor facilities would be a great addition (beats […]
We have 2 garden festivals going on this week – the Powerco Taranaki Garden Spectacular, and the Fringe Festival. Together, there are almost 100 gardens open to the public. It’s a gorgeous time of year, everything is flowering, and the weather is sunny and calm. I visited the first garden of the Festival over the […]
Read More… from Taranaki Garden Spectacular – Armstrong Garden
These are the first roses from the garden this spring. I am so proud of them, as this is the first garden I’ve ever had that has rose bushes. I knew nothing about caring for them, and have slowly learned their cycles. It’s wonderful to see the beautiful product of all of those steps….feeding, spraying, […]
If someone would have stopped me when I was in my twenties and explained how much joy I would get, later in my life, from the simple pleasure of walking in my garden, that earlier version of me would have howled with laughter. But it’s true. The garden is just waking up into spring and […]
We have this lovely tall but slim bush by our kitchen door that creates these dainty white flowers in winter. I popped into a local florist that I love, Petal & Prickle last week, and saw them. I had no idea I could use them in an arrangement. I am constantly learning new things about […]
I have tried to grow strawberries for the past 3 years. Each time we get small little berries from the dozens of plants we put in…I dream of making strawberry jam (my favorite) and having an abundant crop, but each year I lose that battle. I am trying a few new techniques this year and […]
I am getting excited about a Christmas project & event we are working on in the House. […]
This is the view from our breakfast table in the lounge. Guests really love the perspective, and I love that you can see the entire garden. It’s wonderful to see people take the time to read the paper, linger over a second cup of tea or coffee and just enjoy the quiet and view. Travel […]
Rod has taken over the potato planting – and we’ve had our first harvest this year! It is so fun to serve these to the guests as they really do have a fresh flavor and we are so prideful that they are grown onsite. It still amazes me that we can grow crops during the […]
For me, one of the biggest keys that winter is here is when I plant our garlic. I’ve only lived in the Southern hemisphere for three years, and if I spend my life here, I don’t think I’ll ever get over winter beginning in June. I have stopped really paying attention to what month it […]