It definitely rained every day in July, I saw it, and I’m sure it has rained 90% of August as well.  We, and many others throughout New Zealand, are totally over the rain and mud.  We can’t complain when we look at what has happened to houses and properties in Marlborough and West Coast though.

However, we can get excited about Spring.  As I write this, the sun has finally arrived, the daffodils are up and the tulips are not far away. Plum trees have blossomed and the other fruit trees are well on their way to bursting into loveliness. 

We had a tough July with sickness at home, busy with lambing (which is not ideal when you’re unwell), all the rain and mud.  We struggled to find the positives for July, although when the wee lambies were born, they surely brightened up the days and bought a smile to my face.

We’re feeding three lambs currently due to mothers being unable to feed them for a range of reasons.  It’s such a time consuming job and my life feels like all it is, is mixing lamb powder, warming milk, trips out to the paddocks to feed the lambs three times a day, exhausting if you’re not 100%, so I’m looking forward to when they are eating grass only.

We will have later lambs this year as the ram broke the gate and visited five other sheep that we were not going to lamb.  Well the good thing is, it will be nice to have little lambs in November and December when we have people visiting the lavender field.

August started with a little bang and a big crash – the beginning was quiet and wet!! Then a couple of weeks ago Lily, our dog, got very sick.  She spent two days in intensive care under the good hands of the local vet and nurses. She had to go under anaesthetic for an x-ray but during the procedure her heart stopped, the vet was luckily able to bring her back into the world.  She had fluid in her chest cavity and it had to be drained. She has now been on antibiotics for a couple of weeks and is slowly coming right. We don’t really know her full health status, whether there is a cancer there, so we are monitoring her health and visiting the vet for check-ups.  So far she is on the improve. The local vet and nurses were amazing and we’re so grateful to them for saving her once again. She also had a life threatening episode is April 2021, which they also did an amazing job for her.  So July and August is over, thankfully.  Onto nicer times and positive things to look forward to.

The NZ Lavender Growers Assn Supreme Oil Awards 2022 was held in early August and the results will be out at the beginning of September. Cross fingies for good news there!! Hopefully I have some good news to tell you all then.

The shop is coming along well and we have an opening date – 8 October 10am–3pm.  Hours for the shop from then on will be Thu – Sun 10am-3pm. It’s looking great and a lot of work has been done to get it just right. It is everything I imagined and we hope you love it too.  To be able to make my dream come true is very special and I am so grateful to have such a supportive husband that believes in my dreams, no matter how wacky they can be sometimes.  We both look forward to you visiting us, either on opening day or thereafter. 

More to follow in late September, early October.

Stu and I wish you a lovely Spring September. Until then, enjoy the sun and give a big cuddle to the ones you love, especially your bundles of fur as they are never with us long enough.

Jan & Stu x

July on the farm is the start of lambing, babies are due today, however at this stage only five ewes look on time. The others are a couple of weeks away, the ram has obviously been a bit lazy this season.

The winter in Carterton has been calm and mild to date. Big frosty mornings and magnificent sunny still days, a pleasure to enjoy these special days before the wind and rain arrive.

We decided not to attend the mid-year Christmas markets in Greytown this chilly winter, so we are enjoying our nights by the fire instead of freezing our tootsies at the markets. Good choice I say. I visited the festival on opening night and it was a delight to see the fireworks and the shops covered in fairy lights, gorgeous window displays and the buildings all lit up with moving interactions.

MY LAVENDER OBESSSION CONTINUES WITH THE ADDITION OF AN EXCITING NEW LAVENDER SHOP

Due to the nice weather, Stu has been able to get stuck into erecting the new fence around the new lavender shop. The other fence was removed to put the new shop in its place, so we needed to move the sheep fence down the paddock a way.

Our lovely neighbour Alex (butt pictured at front of tractor) let us borrow (with supervision) his tractor to flatten out the shop site. They spent a while mucking around and playing with the boys toys this day.

Below is where the fence was removed. This is Stu measuring the new shop building space and doing the boxing for the concrete footings. Lily is giving instructions.

Once the footings were dug, measured, levelled, reinforced and dry from the rain, the cement truck arrived to fill them up with five tonne in each footing. We had to leave it for a few weeks to set but we could paint them once they were dry.

It was my job to paint them, what do you think of the colour? I didn’t want a dark purple as the sun would probably make it look black. I wanted a light airy colour and I think that’s what was achieved. We thought about green to blend in with the environment but then it wouldn’t be a ‘lavender shop’ then, would it?

The old pump shed needed replacing because it won’t blend in with the new shop.

Once the area was flattish, Stu and I lay weed mat down to stop the weeds and grass growing. We deserved a well-earned rest after this job.

Commencement of the customer parking area. We had to remove four conifer trees to make room for parking but a couple of them were going up to the power lines so needed to come out at some stage anyway.

So progress is happening on the shop front and it’s all coming along well. A few things still to sort out and get right before we have visitors, but we’re so looking forward to having you visit the shop.

Next month, you’ll see before and after pictures of the shop do-up and details of our OPENING DAY.

Stu and I wish you a warm, cosy, happy July and we’ll see you in August with an update on ‘what’s happening on the farm’.

Till then, keep warm and snuggle up to your loved ones.

Jan & Stu x