Bear with me as this may be a bit long – but I have been gone a long time and much has changed in my life. The good news is with a switch in my meds, I am once again a happy, chirpy, loving life gal. Work is the same – still being creative and running the print shop. At some point it would be nice to live near my new house which I’ll tell you about in a minute, but for now things are great. So let me catch you up!
So first off – I have moved. I needed to get out of the concrete jungle and back to the country – so I headed North to Mangawhai. I live in a nice little old country cottage which used to double as a schoolhouse. It needs a bit of work but it is worth it. 
Why Mangawhai?
Mainly because it is a nice, quiet, friendly country place not far from a very good friend. I can see the stars, listen to the moorporks, stretch my legs, develop this place into whatever I want and it is only $100/wk.
Downside: Work is 1.5hr drive in the morning and 1hr at night. Didn’t seem like much in the beginning but now it is starting to wear on me.
But the best part, the part that makes all the driving and insane sandflies worth it is – I can have my animals again. I have been living a long time with no animals, not even a fish – and now the menagerie has started. I will introduce you to the stars of CCW Animal Farm shortly.
So let me give you the tour starting with the view from my deck.
Now onto the house itself. It is a 2.5 bdrm house, with a spacious although ill equipped kitchen, and an extension housing the bathroom, shower and laundry. It had these lovely hospital green walls when I moved in which I am in the process of repainting a nice Dulux Tea colour. I quite like it – not too light or dark. There will be cream trim and door frames and a warm chocolate accent border where the old green meets the cream top half of the wall. Here is a before photo.
One of the nicest things is I can get to work on putting in some gardens. Last month we put the finishing touches on my first ever veggie garden. I learned so much in this process – like WEAR INSECT REPELLENT – sandflies are vicious! Also veggies need more room than I anticipated. Some things like mini cauliflower and dwarf broccoli need up to 60cm between plants – well the garden was only 3m long – so they had to be squished a bit – and I still didn’t have room. And I have now learned why you should plant them that far apart…
It may look like this in the beginning but soon it is HUGE – and plants are squished in like this. They don’t just tell you to space them out for no reason. LOL But I’m learning!
Then there is the animals – my favourite part of living out here is the chance to have pets again. So here are the current residents of the menagerie.
ECHO – Poodle x Bichon puppy … 19wks old
He is awesome. Cute, funny, acrobatic, sweet natured and a real softy. He is exactly what I wanted in a new companion and we can look forward to many great training results from him. He is already picking up Zen, Sit, Down, Come, Twist, Turn, & Circus Dog. You can follow his progress on my new dog training blog here on WordPress: DESPERADO DOGS
KITTENS: Then there are the new kittens. One of my friends cats has a litter but started to fret and move them around too much. She did the same last time and lost the whole litter so I went down and picked them up from Hamilton last weekend and Little Scott and I have been doing hand rearing them. They aren’t as big as they should be for their age – and the little black alien baby one (my darling) had to have surgery at 9 days old for a congenital birth defect – but they are thriving now and are happy, active kittens.
AVAIRY: But wait – there’s more. I also purchased an aviary and 12 budgies from a guy who has been breeding for many years and is looking to get out of the bird business. I have always wanted an aviary – so this was great for me.
And last but not least – I am babysitting two very nice rats for a while over the holidays.
Well that should about catch you up. If there is a delay in hearing from meit is because I am at work or travelling from 7am-7pm and by the time I get home, check the birds, feed the kittens, play with the dog, cook and clean up after dinner, and finally sit down, I am too exhausted to do anything but go to bed. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything!
