Keri and Phillip's Farm

We arrived at Keri and Phillip's farm on Dec 21st, I think. Days seem to fly by. Keri makes our lunch, and we make dinner. This is a photo of our first dinner at the farm. I figured my cuisine professional friends, like Brett, would appreciate the presentation style. This is our humble abode for this week. One caravan called "The Crusader" and one small shed with a make-shift kitchen. It's awesome! The work we've been doing has mostly been mulching around trees. Phillip got some old hay delivered to use as the mulch, and we quickly discovered that the rotten stuff was a bit on the really stinky side. It's too bad we spread the smelly stuff all over the garden in front of our caravan, especially since the prevailing wind was causing the stench to come right into our bedroom. Closing the windows to the caravan was not only to stop the smell from evading our space, but also prevented the mosquitos from coming in to prick our arteries. During lunch time, we've been chillin' out with the three awesome kids. Here's Beth double-fisting it with Arla in one arm and pushing Elli with the other. Arla is the cutest baby I've seen in a long time. She's just learned to crawl today! What a trooper! Man, she's so cute, you just want to hold her to see her smile. After our work yesterday, we went to a beach town called Pauia (I think that's how you spell it). I did yoga for a while and Beth and Lena walked the few kilometers along the beach. This is a picture of the bay and the beach is over the hills and out to open ocean. Upon returning to The Crusader, the sun was about to set, so we walked up the hill to get a better look and I took some great photos of the fields and the setting sun. The three chocolateers. We all love chocolate. It's quite dangerous, really. I've made a solemn swear not to eat unnecessary sweets for the next week. Hmmm... what am I classifying as an unecessary sweet? That I'll leave up to last minute decision upon being offered random treats. One last thing... The stars out here in the country are so beautiful and clear. I can't help but stand in amazement and wonder when I stay up late enough to see the night sky. And the only thing I recognize is Orien's belt, and part of the milky way. The rest of the constellations are new and delightful, and I must really try to stay up past 9:00 PM to be in the presence of such wonder more often.