For the third weekend in a row, I've packed up stumps on Friday afternoon, and not managed to spend more than a few minutes in our city house at all until late on a Sunday afternoon. The rest of the time is on the farm, or doing things for the farm. It's fun, but boy is it tiring. Mondays are now the hardest day of our week. We're so tired from filling our weekend, that once Monday rolls around we really need a day of rest.
This weekend though, we had major success with sourcing bibs and bobs for the old tin shed. Ebay is my friend. If only ebay also came with its own group of installers. We now own a LPG instantaneous water heater (yet to be installed), a massive enamel bath (yet to be installed), a tonne of good firewood (yet to be moved) and 4 chickens with 20 more on the way (chicken coop yet to be built!).
The bath was the best buy. We have a little spot in the shed where it can be positioned, and there are little wooden shelves all ready, waiting for the candles on the nights we indulge. It's quite a simple matter getting the bath into position. It's a bigger matter getting the water and the heater working so we don't end up sitting in the cold. A plumber will turn up I'm sure, and hopefully SOON! The current house we rent has a placebo bath. The sort of bath you have when you don't need to have a bath. Even though it sports many spa jet holes, it's size means it's only good to give the dogs a decent wash, and perhaps our feet. It lulled us into thinking we would have many a pleasurable soak, and now is the brunt of many jokes. When you are wet, cold dirty and dusty from farmlife, a bath becomes that one true pleasure you know will make the world right once again. Stay tuned for photos once we get it up and running.

The van too was moved during the week, so now I don't have to stress about whether I can stand up in the pond if for some reason we toppled in. The photo above is a rough shot of what you see when standing at the van's door. Rows upon rows of veg, a turkey shed in the distance, and a pile of turkey manure in the foreground. The outdoor kitchen is set up around this area, which means if I'm working, I don't need to go too far to eat. This next photo is of the top of Happy's makeshift tongan oven. Lord does it produce a great meal!

He lights a fire in amongst the rocks inside and lets it cook away until the rocks are fiery hot. Then packages and roasts are dumped on top. The lid goes back on, a few layers of insulating blankets are positioned over the top, followed by some bricks to keep it all tight. After that it's just an hour or so until we eat. I've never tasted such a delicious smokiness ever, even when cooking over charcoal. Yesterday we entertained my aunt and uncle, and my dear aunt, who finds it hard to eat these days, wolfed in and even managed seconds. The power of the hangi!
Apart from the usual Tongan fare, we devised a little bean dish that turned up trumps in the umu.
A good cupful of shredded coconut was rubbed together with a tablespoon of curry powder, a couple of chopped chillis and tossed in the bottom of some foil Beans were then topped and tailed, a capsicum sliced and a slick of coconut milk added for moisture. Wrap up well and steam. It truly was delicious.
To finish off, here is a shocking shot of the other three quarters of our little lunchtime party. There's always so much to do, that the camera comes a poor second these days. BE thankful for any pics at all.
