The roof on The Coupe, the most beautiful little apartment being built for The Matriarchs retirement that will be a guest house until she gets old, (which is not yet) has finally been finished, every gutter, every cap, every little bit of every little everything is finally on. Rooves are like jigsaws every piece must fit perfectly. And as per usual every time they started to finish, it was discovered that another little piece was missing. 
So it was time to hang the final touch. The Kiwi Weather Vane that Senior Son Sam gave me for my birthday last year.
Isn’t that just perfect. Better than a flag don’t you think?
The painter has a few days to go yet, and then he will hand over to the interior trim and woodwork men. Though this will take a while yet. Everything is being made by a local wood artist. He does not think of himself as an artist, but he is. At the moment we are working on the screen doors and the trim. But this kind of work cannot be hurried.
Hand made is old fashioned and the work proceeds at a gentle organic pace. Also he is fitting us in and around his other work. Soon I will finish the design for the floor to ceiling stand alone shelves and the kitchenette and over the course of the next few months my cabinet maker will make and fit these.
While I was busy with the builders yesterday one of the little piggies escaped. But all he did was hang out close to Mum, just on the wrong side of the fence. They are getting quite friendly now so he was not hard to pop back in. Charlotte is much more relaxed about squealing piggies now.
Talking of naughty, now that Tui has been relieved of her eggs she is back to her cat food stealing antics. Each morning she is on the table on the verandah.
And we received a surprise yesterday. A friend had found a stray cat in her yard and one of her dogs kills cats on sight, so she rescued it, I collected it and we will see if he wants to settle into our barn. I am feeding him right up in the mezzanine of the barn in the dark. Where he will get used to the smells and sounds of his new environment as he works out how to get down.
So we will have to wait until he comes out into the light before we get a good shot. That is if Scrapper does not cause a scene. He is a lovely Ginger Tom. We will see how he goes before naming him but I have a feeling he might need some kind of super-natural name, his eyes are quite extraordinary don’t you think? It is not unusual to find quite friendly abandoned cats during the summer vacation period. This one looks to be about 6 or 7 months old. A classic Christmas kitten.
Sheila is never alone. I had to separate her from the sheep as she has taken to growling at Hairy MacLairy the ram and head butting with him. So TonTon has taken over as her companion. When I lose Ton he is usually hanging out with Sheila. He just lies next to her and watches.
Good morning. Because yesterday got so busy with roofers, builders, painters, 100F (38C) with 96% humidity, (we are already at 94% and it is 5.30 am) panting cows, and stressed pigs (lots of water and fans) and then driving out to collect the rescue cat I did not get to the bees. So they have gone to the top of the list for today.
Have a lovely day. Stay cool or warm as the case may be.
your friend, celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
43 responses to “The Kiwi has Landed and so has a new Moggie”
The roof looks beautiful and I love the weather vane! I had a ginger tom and he was a real fighter, he was called Sid (Vicious)!
John would like that, he is a Fan! Did you have a Jonny Rotton as well? c
If you don’t want him to live up to his name, don’t call him Sid Vicious! How about “The Smile on the Face of the Tiger” – Smiler for short.
No…should have done though!
Wow! — Love that weathervane — showing my ignorance here, but what bird is that? So nice that Ton is keeping Sheila company and the new cat’s eye’s are extraordinary. The piglets are getting so big. Love the progress on the coupe. Take care and stay hydrated today. Good luck with the bees!
Oh my — brain freeze this morning — Kiwi! — I’ll blame the last 3 days in Chicago working at one of our divisions
Hi Vesta! I just checked to find out more about Kiwis (the birds), and fortunately it looks as though Kiwis (the people) are making sure that they are protected. Thank goodness! Here is the info I found! 🙂
Kiwi are flightless birds endemic to New Zealand, in the genus Apteryx and family Apterygidae. At around the size of a domestic chicken, kiwi are by far the smallest living ratites and lay the largest egg in relation to their body size of any species of bird in the world.[3] There are five recognised species, two of which are currently vulnerable, one of which is endangered, and one of which is critically endangered. All species have been adversely affected by historic deforestation but currently large areas of their forest habitat are well protected in reserves and national parks. At present, the greatest threat to their survival is predation by invasive mammalian predators.
The kiwi is a national symbol of New Zealand, and the association is so strong that the term Kiwi is used all over the world as the colloquial demonym for New Zealanders
Naughty Sheila trieing to bully Hairy MacLairy! The weather vane is perfect and the new little Kitty very striking. We are freezing today, temperature has finally dropped to 18C/63F for our high, with a nasty icy wind, but the sun is shining. We are more than half way through our winter and haven’t had any frost yet!. Laura
the weathervane is just perfect! isn’t this heat awful? the humidity is doing me in. i was watering in the dark at 4:00 am!
I love the weather vane! And the new kitten. Sad how many Christmas animals are abandoned by summer.
Perfect! Lovely little place. We have a a ginger guy (don’t tell him he’s not a tom). He’s aptly named Van Gogh. A friend juxtaposed his headshot with the artist, it is uncanny the resemblance. Love your fellas eyes! Truly entering the Dog Days, aren’t we? My children always want to know why they seem to come early to KS and other places get them in August like they should. No good answer for them. I got too much sun yesterday working garden. It’s hard to wear much covering, or even put on sunscreen when it feels so slimy…
Have a great day!
Hmmm…can you call a cat Spooky if it isn’t black? Those eyes are something!
Stay cool today, c – we’re in for another scorcher, too. I *do* wish someone would turn the sea breeze back on!
Your Coupe team are doing you proud. It looks wonderful. I wish I had a Tonton!
38 is a bit much – specially if you have to do physical work. It’s about 33 here, and I spent all morning clearing out,the linen room, sorting, giving and throwing away and finding clothes I’d forgotten about. We used to have a 6-person Gite (self-catering cottage) plus 3 bedrooms for bed and breakfast, so I had an awful lot of linen. Jock has taken down the shelves (which the new people don’t want) and it looks awfully bare inside and horribly cluttered on the landing, with all the bags and boxes.
Yes, the eyes of that kitten are unlike any I’ve ever seen.
And the Coupe looks fabulous and I can’t wait to see the great reveal and the party you throw when the job is totally complete.
I don’t know why but those eyes take me to Egypt. He is a stunning cat!
Goofy pig playing head-butt with Hairy!
Great weather vane!
Try to stay cool.
I was thinking the same thing about Egypt! Looks like the eyes of a Sphinx or Cleopatra (shame the cat isn’t female, but then it wouldn’t be a ginger tom . Also majority of Ginger cats are Toms did you know).
That Kiwi is cool . . . hope you enjoy a bit of a cool breeze today.
I love the weather vane too. And the cat’s pose — relaxed but still alert.
Having a wonderful time catching up on your posts from the last couple of weeks while we (and you) have been traveling. That moggie’s eyes are liquid gold, and your photo showed them, lovely.
The cottage is really beginning to look good…
Celi, do your piglets roll over when you pet them and want you to scratch their bellies??? Ours do that and would love their bellies scratched for hours on end. It’s too funny!