The renovation of a large country homestead built in 1912 while improving the surrounding farmland. Starting with the cleaning of the house as it has been abandoned for a couple of years and was left in an extremely poor and filthy condition.
Welcome
Welcome to the Fairlie Funky Farm blog where Nick and Lisa will be describing their adventures renovating Nga Punawai, an old home in Fairlie, South Canterbury, New Zealand.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Chicken in a box...
We have been keeping an eye on Harriet and I was getting a little nervous everytime she left the nest. I guess I should be trusting her animal instincts for hatching eggs but I would rush to the eggs and feel to see if they were still warm. I didn't think they were warm enough and thought she was being neglectful, but still hoped that all was well. She was sitting in a different way the other day and a little higher than usual. Next day when we checked there were two wee chickens chirping away....yes...she did it! They are now rushing every where with Mum, always seem to be busy and in a hurry.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Welcome home, we're back
It's been a while but we are back in Fairlie and the chooks are still alive. Counted them as we came up the driveway and all were present. Harriet and Henrietta the hens, Trevor the very large, proud and hansome rooster and Brian, the white scrawney rooster that no one seems to like, so of course he is my favourite. A couple of days after arriving Harriet went missing and I was a little worried that something had taken her, or she had died of old age somewhere. I had no cause for alarm as she was sitting on eggs in the chook house that we had cleaned the last time we were here, all cosy with 17 eggs underneath her. It takes a bit to get used to the idea that there are no predators in New Zealand and these chooks can roam free day and night.
We stole 12 of the eggs so we could have breakfast, but I'm afraid that every egg I cracked had been fertilized and wasn't edible, so we just suceeded in prematurely hatching nearly all our potential new chickens. Harriet has the royal treatment now, with breakfast in bed every day, while we patiently wait.
We stole 12 of the eggs so we could have breakfast, but I'm afraid that every egg I cracked had been fertilized and wasn't edible, so we just suceeded in prematurely hatching nearly all our potential new chickens. Harriet has the royal treatment now, with breakfast in bed every day, while we patiently wait.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
There's a mouse in the house.....maybe more than one
It wasn't long after we moved in that we began to notice signs of other inhabitants, little furry ones and some not so little by the sounds in the ceiling space. We bought some mouse traps, the old fashioned wooden kind and Nick set a couple in the kitchen.
I am absolutely hopeless when it comes to mice, I'm still traumatised by the time I caught a mouse in a trap and it hadn't died so I took it out of the trap and tried to get Naughty Dog to chew it up, but she just started playing with it. I yelled at her to kill it but she got scared with me raising my voice so she left it squeaking, flopping and twitching on the kitchen floor.
Anyway, we tried to catch this blessed mouse for a few weeks using tasty cheese, salami and some very fancy, delicious smoked havarti but it always managed to escape with the loot. I came in one day to find the mouse dead on the floor, not any where near a trap, so I screamed a couple of times, just to make sure it was dead and then bravely went out the long way to get Nick to remove it. We think that it died from high cholesterol or from eating all the really rich food that we had been feeding it. It’s a unique, almost kind sort of way to kill the little pests.
I am absolutely hopeless when it comes to mice, I'm still traumatised by the time I caught a mouse in a trap and it hadn't died so I took it out of the trap and tried to get Naughty Dog to chew it up, but she just started playing with it. I yelled at her to kill it but she got scared with me raising my voice so she left it squeaking, flopping and twitching on the kitchen floor.
Anyway, we tried to catch this blessed mouse for a few weeks using tasty cheese, salami and some very fancy, delicious smoked havarti but it always managed to escape with the loot. I came in one day to find the mouse dead on the floor, not any where near a trap, so I screamed a couple of times, just to make sure it was dead and then bravely went out the long way to get Nick to remove it. We think that it died from high cholesterol or from eating all the really rich food that we had been feeding it. It’s a unique, almost kind sort of way to kill the little pests.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
It's snowing low down in the hills but that doesn't mean that we can stay inside and try to keep warm (damn it!). We have to go out and pick up rubbish that has been strewn across the property. Lost count of all the shoes that we have collected and we are seriously thinking they should be turned into a monument of some sort to show the waste of our consumer society. But who would see it? We have a couple of wool bales full and I don't think we have found a pair that match yet. Our neighbour thinks we should package them all up and send them up to the last owner.
The local metal recyclers from Timaru came out to collect all the old cars and scrap metal that has been lying all over the farm. It was a great day despite finding the dead cow in the creek that had washed down from the property above. Did we mention that we had a lot of rain?
Nick just managed to hook up all the pumping system with filter and UV treatment lamp and fill the tank before the water race blew out from all the rain.
The local metal recyclers from Timaru came out to collect all the old cars and scrap metal that has been lying all over the farm. It was a great day despite finding the dead cow in the creek that had washed down from the property above. Did we mention that we had a lot of rain?
Nick just managed to hook up all the pumping system with filter and UV treatment lamp and fill the tank before the water race blew out from all the rain.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Very funny day moving the water tank from the top paddock to nearer the house. Seems like a pretty simple job, hire a fork lift and with a couple of strops we will have it done in no time. The first attempt broke the timber runners but undeterred we continued until the strops broke. This was only a minor delay and once re-spliced we carried on with great enthusiasm. We reconnected the strops to watch them slide around the tank and fall off. As the day was now getting late our friendly neighbour brought his tractor on to the job. Carrying the tank balanced between the forks of two tractors like a push me pull you sort of process, required good skills from Justin and Nick, but proved a nerve wracking experience for Lisa who was running between them directing operations. When it fell off the forks we decided to drag the bloody thing across the hay paddock for twenty metres and after three hours felt we were making good progress. As the sun was setting and the tank was still not quite in place it seemed that all it needed was a decent shove and with some relief we saw the tank resting nicely on the prepared site.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
There are still plenty of cluster flies around but we are slowly making a difference. Apparently the flies lay their eggs in grass and the hatched larvae feed on earth worms. Once the flies emerge they move in to Nga Punawai (Fairlie Funky farm house) or dark, dry sheltered areas to hibernate for the winter. They release a pheromone to attract other flies, so that makes it even harder to control, as they must have covered this whole house in cluster fly pheromones. Not too happy about them killing the earth worms though, so we are on a mission to destroy them. Someone must have sent a box containing some cluster flies to the Minister of Agriculture in Wellington yesterday, which shut Parliament House down with a bomb scare, possibly got confused with the old 'cluster bomb' in the mail trick.
It is lovely when you open the windows to sweep away the flies and the little fan tails come in for a feed. They aren't shy and hover quite close following you around room to room. If they get stuck they let you know by bobbing up and down impatiently until you open a nearby window. I wanted to take a photo of one but they are never around when I have my camera in hand, only when I have the scrubbing brush!
It is lovely when you open the windows to sweep away the flies and the little fan tails come in for a feed. They aren't shy and hover quite close following you around room to room. If they get stuck they let you know by bobbing up and down impatiently until you open a nearby window. I wanted to take a photo of one but they are never around when I have my camera in hand, only when I have the scrubbing brush!
Monday, May 10, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
There are no tennis courts anymore but we have found where they used to be, a large oak tree is lying across them and would be wonderful to slab up for some furniture. There is not much of an orchard or garden left, but the bare bones are there and I have gathered up some hazelnuts, chestnuts and walnuts to crack open and taste and/or roast. The chooks seem to hang out under the walnut tree, two black, two white and a very proud and hansome rooster. They are wild and even though we have started feeding them, it will be a while until they get used to being fed. There is a chook house but it is full of rubbish and a dead calf....another project to write up on the 'to do' list, so the chooks will be left to roost in the shed roofs until another day.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Extract from Canterbury Country Houses - Third Edition, Rodney Wells and Vicky Heward
Nga Punawai
Its Maori name means “ever flowing water”, it was designed by a New Zealand architect influenced by American design and it is made of Australian hardwood. Nga Punawai Homestead is certainly a place where many cultures meet.
The original owner, Henry Le Cren, advertised in the Lyttelton Times for tenders to build a “gentleman’s residence”. In 1912 he commissioned architect Samuel Hurst Seagar to design the house. Mr Seagar had recently returned from America where he had been impressed with the new all white house interiors. Nga Punawai was his first house to feature a low nine foot stud and not to use dark stained panelling, although the original kitchen and maid’s quarters did have dark green walls.
The ever flowing water from which the house gained its name, is a stream that flows through the property and many natural springs found on the land. It is said that Henry would walk from the house to one of these springs to top up his glass of whisky. The grounds had three gardeners to maintain them and a chauffeur was also employed to drive for the Le Cren family. The garage was open-ended with a sweeping drive up to the front door to make the transition from house to car as easy as possible.
The house itself comprised of five bedrooms, all with dressing rooms, an ironing room, a library, living quarters for three maids and in keeping with a “gentleman’s residence”, servant bells in the kitchen. Henry also had a second staircase installed so the maids could go about their work unnoticed. A gas light was also installed at the time the house was built.
Art and culture were important to the Le Cren family. The library featured a collection of French books and Mrs e Cren often placed herself at the top of the stairs to play the violin. The family loved to entertain and Lucy Willis fromSnowden was one of their regular guests.
When Henry died, his widow continued to live at Nga Punawai and was there during the depressions years. Their daughter Ellen then stayed on with the assistance of one maid and parts of the large house were closed down to make the task more manageable. The estate was run by Pyne, Gould and Guinness until 1941.
In 1941 Rupert Josephius Murphy purchased Nga Punawai. He handed it on to his son Jack and his wife. During their time there, the couple had a diesel pump installed (1952) and electricity was connected to the property in 1956.
The Murphys sold Nga Punawai in 1998, leaving behind 346 acres of land and the grand house with its seven acres of grounds. Within the grounds are two tennis courts, a lake for punting and an impressive array of trees and plants including Oregon and hazelnut trees, orchards and rhododendrons.
Its Maori name means “ever flowing water”, it was designed by a New Zealand architect influenced by American design and it is made of Australian hardwood. Nga Punawai Homestead is certainly a place where many cultures meet.
The original owner, Henry Le Cren, advertised in the Lyttelton Times for tenders to build a “gentleman’s residence”. In 1912 he commissioned architect Samuel Hurst Seagar to design the house. Mr Seagar had recently returned from America where he had been impressed with the new all white house interiors. Nga Punawai was his first house to feature a low nine foot stud and not to use dark stained panelling, although the original kitchen and maid’s quarters did have dark green walls.
The ever flowing water from which the house gained its name, is a stream that flows through the property and many natural springs found on the land. It is said that Henry would walk from the house to one of these springs to top up his glass of whisky. The grounds had three gardeners to maintain them and a chauffeur was also employed to drive for the Le Cren family. The garage was open-ended with a sweeping drive up to the front door to make the transition from house to car as easy as possible.
The house itself comprised of five bedrooms, all with dressing rooms, an ironing room, a library, living quarters for three maids and in keeping with a “gentleman’s residence”, servant bells in the kitchen. Henry also had a second staircase installed so the maids could go about their work unnoticed. A gas light was also installed at the time the house was built.
Art and culture were important to the Le Cren family. The library featured a collection of French books and Mrs e Cren often placed herself at the top of the stairs to play the violin. The family loved to entertain and Lucy Willis fromSnowden was one of their regular guests.
When Henry died, his widow continued to live at Nga Punawai and was there during the depressions years. Their daughter Ellen then stayed on with the assistance of one maid and parts of the large house were closed down to make the task more manageable. The estate was run by Pyne, Gould and Guinness until 1941.
In 1941 Rupert Josephius Murphy purchased Nga Punawai. He handed it on to his son Jack and his wife. During their time there, the couple had a diesel pump installed (1952) and electricity was connected to the property in 1956.
The Murphys sold Nga Punawai in 1998, leaving behind 346 acres of land and the grand house with its seven acres of grounds. Within the grounds are two tennis courts, a lake for punting and an impressive array of trees and plants including Oregon and hazelnut trees, orchards and rhododendrons.
Friday, April 30, 2010
We decided to purchase Nga Punawai and after much deliberation and negotiation we took over on March 30th, 2010. We want to retro-fit the old house with sustainable technology such as geothermal heating, double glazing, wool or natural fibre insulation, natural paints and recycled/antique furniture and appliances where possible. First though we have to clean the place thoroughly as it has been abandoned and left to the few wild cats and mice to inhabit. Pictures tell a better story of what it is actually like, as words fail me (apart from the odd swear word when I discover nasty things hanging on the walls and inbedded into the floor boards).
Friday, April 16, 2010
Early in 2009 whilst surfing the net, I saw an old house advertised on “TradeMe”, New Zealand’s equivalent of “E-bay”. I looked up where Fairlie was and sent a link to Nick saying that this house looked interesting. By the time Nick got the email it had been de-listed and I couldn’t find it again.
In December 2009 on the way back from a trip to Otago we stopped in at Fairlie and visited the local real estate agent, Annette. After describing the house to Annette she thought she knew which property I was talking about and went out the back to get an old file from 1998. The picture on the file was the same property that I had been searching for, only looked in much better condition in the old photograph than what I had seen on TradeMe. She contacted the owner, then told us where it was and Nick and I drove out to have a look. We couldn’t see the house from the road and the big “bugger-off” gate at the front only made us more intrigued. We walked up the driveway, well at least I think we did, I was so nervous I may have been skipping, jumping and running a little bit, holding onto Nicks hand in absolute excitement.
Oh, the delight when we finally caught sight of the house, the nervous tension, the apprehension, the anticipation, I had to creep around the house and look through the windows. It was not a pretty sight, with clothes scattered, run down furniture, general dirt and filth, but both Nick and I saw the potential and loved it straight away. We didn’t hang around too long as I was a little highly strung and torn between wanting to stay and wanting to go. Walking back to the car we were so full of “imagines”, reaching the gate to climb over the fence I had to let go of Nick’s hand and that is when I realised how hard I had been holding his hand. He didn’t complain at how hard I was pressing, think he was quietly having a chuckle at me, but I finally felt how tense I was in my shoulders, arms and hands when I let go.
In December 2009 on the way back from a trip to Otago we stopped in at Fairlie and visited the local real estate agent, Annette. After describing the house to Annette she thought she knew which property I was talking about and went out the back to get an old file from 1998. The picture on the file was the same property that I had been searching for, only looked in much better condition in the old photograph than what I had seen on TradeMe. She contacted the owner, then told us where it was and Nick and I drove out to have a look. We couldn’t see the house from the road and the big “bugger-off” gate at the front only made us more intrigued. We walked up the driveway, well at least I think we did, I was so nervous I may have been skipping, jumping and running a little bit, holding onto Nicks hand in absolute excitement.
Oh, the delight when we finally caught sight of the house, the nervous tension, the apprehension, the anticipation, I had to creep around the house and look through the windows. It was not a pretty sight, with clothes scattered, run down furniture, general dirt and filth, but both Nick and I saw the potential and loved it straight away. We didn’t hang around too long as I was a little highly strung and torn between wanting to stay and wanting to go. Walking back to the car we were so full of “imagines”, reaching the gate to climb over the fence I had to let go of Nick’s hand and that is when I realised how hard I had been holding his hand. He didn’t complain at how hard I was pressing, think he was quietly having a chuckle at me, but I finally felt how tense I was in my shoulders, arms and hands when I let go.
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