Third chronicle of blessed fun from real life

Queenstown author Da'Vella Gore has published her third book, This Blessed Journey.

Gore is an established artist, teacher, writer, marriage celebrant, avid gardener and would-be DIY expert.

She lives at Lake Hayes in a house she built herself out of materials recycled from two West Coast Roman Catholic churches.

Her garden and gallery are open to the public from October to April.

She wrote her first book, This Blessed House, 12 years ago.

It was an account of moving the churches from Hokitika and Greymouth to Lake Hayes to build her home, Stone Ridge.

Gore describes the story as a funny account of "how not to build a house".

It is now in its fifth edition.

Gore demolished five churches, including the Howe St Methodist Church in Dunedin, to build Stone Ridge and its chapel.

The property hosts weddings with Gore as marriage celebrant.

Her second book, This Blessed Life, is about the changes in her life as a result of a car crash, including "how not to run a farm".

Her latest book, This Blessed Journey, details how Gore and her son, Wayne, planted a vineyard at Stone Ridge.

It is "how not to plant a vineyard".

It describes how she entered into the unknown world of viticulture and overcame almost insurmountable obstacles.

"All my books are funny, with a sense of the ridiculous. People like to have a good laugh at your expense," she said.

The book will be launched at Gore's gallery, at 4pm tomorrow.