Char has finally come Back to the Land for good! It’s been a bit of a journey getting to this point, where she can be here with me full-time, as keen followers of our blog can attest.

For six years now, since we moved to the farm, she’s commuted to-and-from Auckland (a five hour round trip), staying there for a few nights, then working on the farm with me over the weekends. There have been ups and downs for both of us, with me here by myself during the week, and her working in excess of twelve hour days at her stressful managerial role in the big smoke.

I wanted to commemorate the occasion by building her a rustic outdoor bench seat for our orchard – her favourite place on the farm – to celebrate her sacrifices and hard work over the years, and the fruition of our vision finally coming to bear.

I even tried my hand at creating a commemorative brass plaque, which turned out better than expected! Check out this video of the process: