Now, we are not officially ‘Meeting’ chickpea yet, he is still following his mother through the pig pen with all that hustle and bustle, under the hooves of cows as she finds water and through the long grass of the fields.
So the little fella has not truly come into focus yet. Pania gets very agitated when anyone gets close and I saw her attack a nosy piglet yesterday. So far so good though. After I took his photo she whisked him away and I did not see them again for the rest day. But as long as she is not roosting up the top of the barn at night with the others, I know that she is still minding her baby.
Look up into the top right of this shot, there is Egoli laying along a gate enjoying the fan with the pigs. And the really good news is that he was seen resting quietly in close proximity to LuLu (below)) who is quietly pleased to have another Ginge around.
We have officially shifted dinnertime to the covered North verandah. It is glorious in there. Even in these humid summer days it stays cool and calm (and fly-free). The big doors stand open all day. The internet does not reach there (my internet is rubbish, I need something to boost the signal down the corridors) so it really is an old fashioned space. Nanny arrived yesterday evening with dinner in a crock pot and a cushion for her rocking chair, the kids arrived to swim (the screened in verandah over-looks the pool) and we all settled into our new space and just sighed.
Nanny has said that she will not be moving in permanentlyfor a few years yet, so if I want to rent it for farm stays/bed and breakfast/mini summer breaks, I may. What do you think?
All is well. Have a lovely day.
your friend, celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
76 responses to “What a peachick looks like”
That veranda looks lovely 🙂
book me in…I’m ready to go! Love the verandah it really looks absolutely super-duper. I did not know that you could get female ginger cats..Lulu is female I assume. Egoli will be right at home as he seems to be settling in with great speed…and who can blame him!!! Chickpea is so sweet
Yes lulu is/was female.. I always thought you couldn’t get them either, but i know of at least three just lately!.. c
Celi, make that 4! I have inherited one from the Octogenarian. I didn’t realize they were so rare. Now I feel special to own one. 😉
That chickpea is just so darn cute.
(I was just doing a little daydreaming before I go to bed here is Aust. and thinking how nice it would be to visit all the people on all the blogs I follow and do a farm stay/country stay, photograph them all in their surroundings, and do a series of posts on them all. Could be a fun project. Now all I have to do is win Lotto and get a new healthy body to carry it out).
Sounds like that earthquake in Wellington didn’t leave any injuries or serious damage. Will have to check out the news tomorrow morning.
Just knowing that there is a haven like that would be great, even if I couldn’t visit! I hope you figure out how to make it work. I couldn’t imagine staying in someone’s place without helping out. Love the photo of chickpea!
Farm stays seem to be all the rage here.. with people from the cities enjoying the farm life for a few days… even getting up to learn about the farm life, milking etc… and it is such a lovely placed.. that’s what I would do…
Do you know about woofing? Its pretty much a formal arrangement of what Joss was describing. Woofers come and work for you for 4 to 6 hours a day in exchange for a room and meals. The bonus is that Woofers are covered by WOOF insurance whilst they are at your place. The arrangement is usually short term say a few days to two weeks. Here in Australia it is very popular with travellers who want a bit of a break from travelling but want to keep the expenses down. http://www.wwoofusa.org/
Now that is genius! I think that would be the best route, especially with the insurance, and a fair certainty that it will attract able-bodied and seriously interested clients. Knowing a bit about writers’ retreats, I fear one might only get some eccentric, self-involved types who just want to sit around and talk while being waited on. I know one such person who expected her bed linens and towels to be changed every morning and complained that she couldn’t write a single word because there was no air-conditioning and the farm animals made too much noise!
As we know, The Coupe was built with The Matriarch’s own money so the extra hands would be even more valuable than the money, with all the tax and insurance issues that involves.
Besides, I love the name of the organization 🙂
yes we do have woofers in NZ too, do they do that out here in the US? I must investigate! c
Yes, they do have WOOFERS in the US. All you have to do is post a description of your farm and acccomodations and your expectations on their website. We are thinking of putting our farm on there for next summer’s help. Chickpea is a tiny little miracle. Loving your new space. Also loving the writers retreat idea. A word of mouth, friends of friends B&B would be pretty cool too. Hubby and I have always loved staying in places with a personal touch. I am really looking forward to a formal tour of the whole new space once the decorator has completed her work!
I was worried about your daughter in Wellington when my Sally told me about the quakes at about 5am our time today. Fingers crossed there are no more.
Lovely chickpea: stay safe little one and grow a lovely tail like your Dad.
B&B is jolly hard work. We used to do Chambres d’Hôtes, mostly one nighters, and had a gîte (self catering cottage) as well. I can see that it might be worthwhile for you if you get some work out of the guests, but there’s not much money in it. What we loved, which made up for the work, was meeting people from all over Europe.
Love,
ViV x
The kids are enthralled with Chickpea (and the name). I think a farm B&B is a beautiful idea. We actually just booked a stay at a farmhouse for our last summer getaway. I’m telling you Miss A was bit by the farm bug. 🙂 Checkout farmstayus.com it’s genius especially for those of us that want to getaway from the city but not go too far.
C. that lil Chickpea is just too adorably cute and thank-you so much for the mention of me naming him, although now I wished I would of thought of Garbanzo, like someone else did! 🙂 Your verandah is enchanting…I want to come and sit out there with you and a bottle (or two) of wine! 🙂
Wouldn’t that be lovely, which reminds me, when I design the we kitchen area, i must make sure to put in a wine fridge!! c
i don’t think i would except to a friend like to keep a low profile 🙂 farmy is looking fantastic did you set any pea eggs under chickens? that always works for us when setting guineas eggs . Be a blessing to all mike
I put about ten eggs under chickens and none hatched, not fertile and the other peahen sat on her eight and hatched none, so this one is a great surprise! c
I have been following the earthquakes in Wellington…I so hope your family has been able to come through okay!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
They are all fine, big shake they said but nothing fell.. so far no problems.. in our experience the first one is the nastiest, after that there are the aftershocks.. often quite a few of them.. c
Oh, good! I follow one of your family (I think) Ordinary Good, and Valerie Davis so I am always thinking
Magic thoughts for my friends way down under!
Linda
Ordinary Good sounds lovely though i have never met her, and i should drop in on her more often!! Love Valerie, The kids said lots of shaking nothing fell or broke, and my fourth son said very typically even the paintings are still straight on the walls, our family has a problem NOT straightening other peoples art!! We even walk about banks adjusting things just SO! c
I think a Farm Inn would be wonderful. My wife and I would love to visit your Farmy. I would spend most of my time with Charlotte and Sheila, along with the little ones!!! How much fun would that be????!!!!!! The Animals alone would be worth the stay! I would go “HOG” wild over a mini vacation on the Farmy. Wow!!! My forever Wife would spend her time with the Cow and the Birds! She grew up on a large dairy farm, and loves cows!!!!
There you are then.. sorted! c
Pardon my going a bit off topic, but … c …. why aren’t you worried about those cats gobbling up Chickpea?
My thought exactly!
The cats in my neighbourhood would eat him right up!
Peahens are huge and terrifying! No cat is that brave! If there were a number of them it might be easy for a cat to pick a few stragglers off, though weirdly i have never had a cat from the farm eat a chick, I even raise them in the basement under lights without lids, easy pickins you would think, but the cats just don’t. Though i had a friend whose cats ate her chickens. It was dreadful.. c
I just find their dis-interest in the chicks amazing. You’re obviously doing something very, very right, c.
If you need cats and dogs to learn to leave chicks alone just get a few banty hens with chicks or some of the older more protective breeds of chickens. My sister’s dog would pull tail feathers off of the roosters but would come to a screeching halt and walk a 30 foot circle (we measured it) around one of our hens with chicks.
I had no idea that chickens packed such a memorable punch! Well done chocks!
excellent.. c
I love OFF topic! c
Great ideas from your Fellowship! Insurance being critical. And a screening process too. (The selfish writer was funny but only from a great great distance.)
That little Chickpea is just darling. It is so amazing that she is so tiny compared to what she will become. Like pandas too.
the last thing we need is another selfish writer.. and insurance, hmm, maybe you can all come and stay as my guests and just help out when you can! that sounds much better! c
My little house is on Airbnb.com. I do it to help with the mortgage, and it’s worked quite well for me. I have had guests from all over the world and one stayed for six months and she was a tremendous friend by the time she left. One thing I like about Airbnb.com is that I can block off the calendar, so my place isn’t available when I don’t want it to be. It’s a thought.
And we do have WWOOFs here, so that is another thing to check out!
I think many people would be interested in a weekend stay (or any stay of a few days) where they would have the privilege of helping out on the farmy. I bet after 2 or 3 days, folks would be tired and ready to return to their non-farming lives! But I know that there are farmers in Amish country in Pennsylvania who have offered that type of thing. http://www.padutchcountry.com/lodging/lancaster-farm-stay.asp
It is a great though, though as you know i would not llike people to get the impression that we are pretty, or cutesy, or large or clean and tidy and idyllic. We are very ordinary. So airbnb does the bookings for you? I shall check them out. what an idea.. c
Yes, those places are rather “sanitized for your protection.” You’re a niche in between all the other options, but I know for some you’d be just right. Thrilling idea to bat around.