Wild Hope Homestead

While some parts of the world have been encased in a polar vortex, which sounds like the next big action movie, we have been in a heatwave. Thanks, Australia, for sharing your things with us. Temperatures have been hovering around 28-32degC. Hamilton, our nearest city, cracked its all time temperature record at 32.9degC. When The Husband checked the weather page early evening that day it stated a ‘feels like’ temperature of 37degC. Humidity was over 75% so it was just icky. It has gone back to ‘normal’ summer hotness now. We’re hanging out for rain again.

It has been hard to get anything done in the intense heat. Early mornings are really the only cool time. Some of the crops are loving the heat, particularly the corn. The pumpkins are going like bonkers and I had to trim some of them back. The chillies have started to ripen already and the tomatoes are finally providing for us, when they’re not getting pilfered by the small child. We have also been hacking away at more weeds.

The pumpkin swathe by the apple tree had to be cut back just a little.

Pumpkins everywhere.

A butternut squash.

I have been busting a move on decluttering and organising things. I sold the bed in the spare room and am in the process of selling or giving away other things we don’t need. I am on the lookout for a craft desk and a storage cabinet for my craft and market things. The first market of the year was on Saturday and it was great to get back into it and remind myself that I need to invest more time into growing plants for sale. I have started tidying up my potting shed as well.

I cleared out some stuff from the linen cupboard and that paved the way for some exciting work to begin on another goal: the lights. The Husband, who works with cables and networking things, said he could install the household lights if we get a registered electrician to check them. I jumped on this opportunity and after purchasing some of the necessary lightbulbs, The Husband installed three of the light fixtures that have been sitting in their boxes in the cupboard for about three years… Oops! Here’s hoping he will get more of them done soon.

The dining room lights are hanging industrial style lights. There is another one of these to go in the kitchen. The underside of them is a bit too stark white so I will probably spray paint them a cream colour at some point.

The hall lights are dome lights with an antique bronze coloured base. There’s only one so far, but it looks way better than just a naked bulb like the one at the far end of the hall.

Chicken politics are keeping things interesting. Darrington the rooster has been kept busy with managerial duties as he’s got multiple age groups and factions to preside over. This is good, because it distracted him from the fact that he only had two ladies for a little while: Frodo and Betty. So what have the other hens been up to? Everything.