Flying into 2011

Another Christmas has come and gone and we're racing toward the New Year. Marty and I have been very slack at organising our party this year so may end up having a total of 3 people here for the midnight countdown. Oops. It will be a cosy, lazy New Year which will actually be quite nice.

Christmas was lovely. Very relaxed and we've had spectacular weather. It's 30 degrees here at the moment and it's about 6.30pm. Crazy. But it seems we should make the most of it with severe weather warnings forecast for the next few days. Doesn't make me happy that Marty, Franck (a French wwoofer staying here at the mo) and Mark, a friend of Marty's, are all up in the ranges hunting deer tonight.

Anyway, on Christmas eve we gorged ourselves on Renata's beautiful fish with potato salad, a Czech tradition with a kiwi Pavlova for dessert and indulged in a few Aphrodite cocktails....

Mum, Brian and I all went for a walk through a dandelion soaked paddock and unexpectedly found quite a few mushrooms. The weather has been so humid here it's not really surprising, I guess....

And our ducklings are doing well, although their first unsupervised swim didn't go very well because they couldn't get out of the trough and unfortunately we lost one of them and had to administer Rescue Remedy and give them a good go with the hair dryer in order to save the other 3. But here's they are before the fateful day....

I can't believe how fast they are growing. They seem to double in size each night. BUt they are eating a lot. They're so gorgeous. As was the sky on Christmas Eve...

We finished off the night with a game of poker which I won! First time! I kept getting amazing hands. Flushes all over the place and even a 4 of a kind. I was pretty happy with myself :)

Christmas morning was a little bit rushed as we tried to get the canapes done before 11am but we managed. The tree looked beautiful, the pomegranate syrup with champagne went down well and the food, divine.

After the present opening we all stumbled outside to enjoy the sunshine....

Mono went and dug up a little treat that he had been storing away for a special occasion....

And then continued the talk of food.... And then the eating....

After all the food we decided the only thing to do was to go for a walk (after a bit of a ride and some jumps for me... Dino, once again, was an angel).... Can you spot Mum?...

And then there was dinner which was a little bit later than the feast on Christmas Eve but was still yum nonetheless. But huge. And then Christmas pudding and a game of Charades. We all had a laugh about Franck's depiction of Moulin Rouge and Marty's French-English Dictionary. It was mighty fun.

Boxing day was meant to just be us (even though Mum announced that she had bought 39 bagels for the 7 of us) but we ended up with a few visitors. Julia and Peter from Waipukurau came over as did Louise, Jared, Maryja and her friend Taylor (?) and we had bagels with cream cheese and salmon in the sun. But we kept having to move the table to avoid/follow the sun...

Today Mum and I went for a walk into unchartered parts of the river. I rode Dino and she walked with Mono. We found a beautiful little swimming hole which we will have to go back to for a picnic. And Dino was awesome. He loves the water. He splashed around and almost had a lie down in it.

So all in all it has been a wonderful few days. And nice to finally have a joint Christmas with Marty, Renata and Brian.

I think now I need to go and digest/sleep and really try to just blob.

Merry Christmas to everyone and Happy New Year!

K :)

Proud!

Dino was amazing! So well behaved and he learned so much over the weekend. We floated him for the first time (so far he's only been on trucks) and he walked straight up the ramp every time. He had his first experience on an obstacle bridge and he had his first experience of being around so many other horses. We came away with 8 placings (which is not that amazing as there weren't many people in the classes but we got mainly 3rd and 4th with one 5th place so really can't complain! He is madly in love with Alison's horse, Lance, and had a few tantrums if they weren't right next to each other (in fact that was the reason we came 4th in one of the classes - if Lance hadn't been behind us he would have stood still like he was supposed to and we would have done better!). But over all he was amazing and I am so proud of him. We will definitely be going to more little ribbon days! Anyway, here are some photos....

Reining, my favourite. We got 3rd :)

Hi first attempt at the obstacle bridge was not so good

But he got more confident

And then he couldn't have cared less. He is so cool :)

His pretty plait that got lots of comments

There was a dog show on at the same time so there were ridiculously pouffed dogs everywhere

Horsemanship class - we got 3rd :)

Warming up/calming down for a class

Ok, so happy. We are both buggered today though. Time for a good rest. Dog is harrassing me so better go.

Ciao

K :)

Birds, birds, birds and bread.

It's all about the birds at the moment. Last night, as we were literally walking out the door to go to Joy and Robin's Christmas dinner and drinks, we found that Macky mother duck had hatched 4 of her eggs and the little ducklings (who look suspiciously un-peking) following her around cheeping frantically.

So, since her last effort at raising ducklings was so dismal, we had to catch her and the young uns and put them into the wood basket until we came home and could set up an enclosure in the aviary so she can't drag her babies all over the farm. She had another 9 eggs in the nest and we yoinked them out and now Doris is happily taking care of them in the chicken coop. It is a bit ridiculous though because the eggs are enormous for such a little chicken to be sitting on.

Also there are lots of baby birds up in the trees. They are starting their flying lessons at the moment. A while ago there was a nest in the horse cabinet up in the sheds....

They have since feathered up and spread their wings. They're still there but not for long, I think.

Rex, the pheasant, has taken a particular liking to Blanche, the grey chicken. He may think that she is a pheasant as well and keeps trying to woo her. She is unimpressed by his advances....

But since then Rex has somehow lost all his tail feathers (they look very pretty above our blackboard) so is even less impressive!

Marty has taken Mike's bread making to heart and has been baking sourdough regularly....

We haven't yet made anymore for the market because our weekends have been pretty jam-packed recently. We went to the Sanctuary Sounds Music Festival last weekend and tended the bar for a few hours at the end. It was a good night with a lot of people there and good bands from all over the place. But by Sunday morning we were in no mood to be in the kitchen making bread seeing as we hadn't had much sleep and decided to go to Hastings to the Warehouse to buy clothes at 8.30am before heading to the market.

This weekend I have been preparing for my first horse show in 12 years. Dino has been amazingly well behaved in the last few weeks so I'm hoping for it to continue until at least tomorrow. It's a really low key Western Have-A-Go day up in Flaxmere but I'm nervous nonetheless. It's mainly games and obstacle courses etc in a big arena. Hopefully I'll get some photos of us up there. We went on a big ride today with Alison and Sally up in Waipawa. We went along the river through the trees and came back through the river for a cool down and a splash (Dino loves the water... sometimes too much so and I think he's going to sit down in it!). I had been telling Alison about what a nightmare he can be sometimes and she doesn't believe me now seeing as he was so good. I am so proud of him! But we'll see how it goes tomorrow!

Anyway, almost dinner time but will post pics of tomorrow.

Ciao!

K :)

Pre Christmas catch up

"The time has come", the walrus said, "to clear some photos off the hard drive." So before that bloody walrus comes along and deletes everything I better put some photos up of the last few months.

So... what has been happening?? I have no idea. This year has raced away and now it's only a month until Christmas and I am amazingly unprepared... yet again. I have only just recovered from last Christmas and now we have to go through it all again. Is there a way to buy time? How much does it cost? Because I would seriously consider paying for some extra.

I chucked a saddle on Tigger a while ago and again today and she just stood there as though nothing was happening. I did the girth up today and she didn't bat an eyelid. She was much more interested in Mike and Marty carrying rakes around the garden. I didn't get a photos but she's very pretty now she has her summer coat....

I also put a saddle on Brother and lunged him and (for the first time while lunging) he actually had a spaz and threw his stupid pig jumping tantrum that has dislodged so many riders. But this time nothing came off his back so he got over it himself. It's strange but I think that's a good thing. So now at least he knows that whatever it is he is trying to remove doesn't always come off. And after that he was fine. We went for a wander around the paddock and he was pretty good. We haven't done anything with him for so long that I expected worse.

We're going to put an ad up for Brother. He's just sitting in a paddock here and no one wants to try and ride him so we'll give him away as a paddock mate. He's a pretty cool dude to have around so long as you're not on his back...

I went to Wellington a while ago and saw Dad and the earless Isos. He's doing pretty well considering he had to have his ears partially removed. He's an old lad but still the most awesome cat ever....

I went to see Alison do a X-country training day and it has made me even more determined to get back into eventing....

So I am looking for a new horse for myself. Not sure yet if I will sell Dino straight away but it may help financially. But I still need someone to babysit the youngsters. I'll have a think about it. It's not urgent that I sell him anyway and I would be much more worried about him finding a nice home. SO we'll see how that goes. I', also not rushing into buying another horse. I'm going to find a super good one but for a reasonable price so I may be more wise to wait until the end of the show season. But I'll be looking anyway.

We also had our inaugural bar party for a few people in the area. It was great! We lit a fire outside and had a BBQ and later on got into the cocktails... Falling Water was the signature drink for the night. It was a fantastic night....

Just a random photo of Sexy Rexy....

Mike has been staying here for the past 3 weeks and has been very helpful chopping wood (not at all aided by a mechanical heavy duty wood splitter.... pfft)....

But he has also been cooking delicious 5 star meals with as many wild ingredients as possible. And he's been teaching us how to make spectacular bread. His sourdough starter, lovingly named 'Mum', has been living in our kitchen and being fed regularly to make sourdough for the market on Sunday....

But we also had a 3 course meal the other day. Wild hare on a kumara mash as an entree....

and fish on a bed of beluga lentils and onion puree as a main with a homegrown cherry and chocolate souffle for dessert (unfortunately not photographed).

The next Sunday only Marty and I went to the market and we got stuck in a huge dust storm on our way down Snee Rd...

It's been great having Mike here though. There have been a lot of laughs....

But I think it is time for me to go now. My eye has been twitching for a few weeks now so I really need to sleep for 24 hours straight and then I'll be fine. Unfortunately I can't see that happening in the next wee while... probably not before Christmas. 2011 will be a restful year. That's my New Year's resolution. Rest and no stress. Calm and centred.

Ok, au revoir!

K :)

Ducklings, cheese and trotting

Ok, been a while since I've posted. I was doing so well with regular posts! Oh well, I will get back on track now :)

Mrs Duck had been sitting on 14 eggs for about 5 weeks (a week too long according to the internet) and finally they hatched....

She had 5 little ones on the first day and once they were sufficiently strong she took them all on the long walk to the pond for the day. Unfortunately she didn't think about the other 9 eggs that hatched while she was away. We went to see them thinking she would go back but when Marty got home that afternoon she hadn't been back and there was one little one struggling for life, one who hadn't managed to get more than his beak out of the egg, one had suffocated and 6 more eggs were stone cold and didn't survive. We took the little struggling one into our care not thinking that he would survive. During his time alone in the nest, the flies had come to visit and left a little present - fly maggot babies in his eye :( He was not a very happy camper and very weak but Marty wisely gave him a bit of Rescue Remedy and we washed his eyes out with salt water to encourage the maggots out. After the salt water wash he wouldn't open his left eye and therefore couldn't turn left for a few days hence his new name , Zoolander.

I didn't think he would survive the first night but he did and he is a super strong and super cute little duckling now...

He lives inside and follows us around everywhere and never shuts up. Cheep, cheep, cheep. cheep, cheep, cheep, cheep.... non stop. So cute though. The dog isn't quite sure about him...

His 5 brothers and sisters who Mum had with her happily went about their day swimming on the pond and eating grubs...

until yesterday when Mother Duck appeared with only 3 ducklings in tow. Yesterday afternoon the weather turned a bit sour and we went out to see them after she came to the deck with no babies. Unfortunately, when we got to the pond, we found 2 dead ducklings (for no apparent reason) and still can't find the other one. So Zoolander is the sole surviver of the 14 eggs. Poor little guy. He wants a friend but the dog is too big to be much help.

Zoolander has met his mum and dad but because he didn't see them when he first hatched he's not particularly interested in them and prefers to follow us around instead. Mother Duck is interested in him though but she has proved herself to be a useless mother so Zoolander is staying with us.

In other news, Tigger's training has been progressing well. We put a little bridle on her last week...

She wasn't so happy about the bit but had a good time playing with the little jingle jangles on her tongue...

And we had her leading better (even trotting in hand!) which is good....

And the baby gouda that we made at the cheese making course turned out awesome! It is so tasty...

It's meant to snow tonight. Not sure whether it will settle but you never know. Late again this year.

Anyway, food time for me and I need to keep an eye on the dog and duck. Make sure they are playing nicely.

Will post soon.

K :)

Free to good home - Bengali

Pleased to say that Bengali has found a lovely new home. Thanks for everyone's help :)

I have a chestnut colt, rising 3y/o that urgently needs a new home. He is free but the new owner will need to organise transport. He's a nice young man but hasn't had a lot of work done. We started some basic leading yesterday and he took it all very well. He can be gelded beforehand if you would prefer. He's about 14.2hh now but he's a solid Gisbourne bred type with a bit of Exmoor or something similar.

The reason this is urgent is that his original owner has left the country and the lease on the land is changing hands very soon. Anyone is more than welcome to come and have a look at him. He is based in Takapau at present.

If you need more info I am more than happy to answer any questions if I can.

You can contact me on (06) 855 8967 (evenings) or (021) 2525315 (before 5pm) or email me kerry_lockerlampson@yahoo.co.nz

Melbourne!

Our holiday has come and gone and now I can't do anything but think of when the next will be. Somewhere warm hopefully. Somewhere like this....

we set off at an ungodly hour of the morning. Our flight left at 6am which meant we had to be at the airport at 4.30am! We made it on time (a miracle for me!) and Marty sat down to his "Red-eye Special" breakfast. I consoled myself with coffee and a slightly manic demeanor.

Melbourne was amazing though! Our apartment welcomed us with a fresh pool of vomit on the doorstep. Conveniently the outside of the building looked like a face so it all worked well...

Throughout the week the vomit dehydrated and rehydrated depending on rainfall so there was a steady commentary on the Welcome Vom by short-term residents and visitors alike.

We were 200m from Smith St in Collingwood so everything was easily accessible. Marty and I arrived a few days before Jen and Emma so we got ourselves accustomed to our new surroundings and also ventured into town. We checked out the Victoria Markets which had a jaw-dropping deli section with cheeses, breads, meats and an amazing array of other items...

We munched down some Boreks and Turkish bread and sat happily gazing over the Hello Wigs - Take the Beauty shop across the road...

That same afternoon we headed to the museum/Imax to watch Hubble 3D which was spectacular. Some of the images were so beautiful I wanted to cry! Before it started we wandered around the dinosaur/insect section of the museum. The spiders freaked me out. I wish I didn't have this awful phobia of big spiders because I find them fascinating but it honestly makes me feel physically ill.

We didn't have much time there before Hubble 3D started but we went back a few days later with Jen and Emma to finish it off. I still managed to miss quite a bit of it :(

Anyway, the next day Marty and I wandered along Smith St and over to Brunswick St which I remembered from my first trip to Melbourne about 5 years ago. We found a little chocolate shop and were so amazed by the chocolates that we sat down with a basil creme thing and a wild berry thing as well. And then we were told off for taking photos so here is an illegal photograph of the chocolates...

We met up with Nik near his uni and walked into town to have a beer. Nik showed us a cool rooftop bar (The Rooftop Bar... haha) in the middle of Melbourne so we sat there and watched the sun set over the city...

Leslie turned up a bit later and once we were sufficiently beered we went to Chinatown and gorged on dumplings and some awful vegetarian duck that was stone cold. The dumplings were awesome though....

The next day Jen and Emma arrived and we put the Duty Free to good use...

Emma's friend, Mima, came to visit and we headed off to Brunswick St to meet Rosie and Max who had recently returned from New York. We discussed their travels and some interesting comments that they had overheard from their window and then headed to the Napier Hotel (where Marty and I had stopped for a beer a few days earlier) for dinner. The Roo had been highly recommended by several people so Marty couldn't resist. It was a great night though, if not slightly cold...

The next day was the day we went back to the museum. We had some subtle posing along the way...

And some not so subtle...

And then we saw the spiders.... bllleeeeuuuughhhh...

Which I have no problem with if they are stuffed...

And we had our first morphed mirror experience of the holiday...

We saw some wildlife which was not wild...

After another taste of Chinatown's finest, Marty went bouldering (rock climbing minus the ropes) and Jen, Emma and I went to the Tim Burton exhibition. There were grass cubes...

And a scary snake....

And a Luna Park-esque entrance way into the exhibition....

No photography allowed inside so you'll just have to trust me when I say that it was amazing! His sketches and little stories/poems are incredible. I highly recommend it.

That night we had arranged to have drinks at the Grace Darling Hotel just up the road from the apartment. There was an AFL match on that night so the place was packed with screaming fans. A Magpies fan came in dressed as a teddy bear. I'm not sure why. It all got a bit expensive and chaotic so we headed back to the apartment to carry on with the Duty Free. Some specatcular cocktails were created...

The next morning we woke and headed for Brunswick St to get a tram to the Ceres Market. The buildings and graffiti along the way is pretty cool...

Dogs are everywhere in Melbourne, it's so nice to see. But within the central Ceres Market they are not allowed...

Ceres is an organic market positioned directly underneath HUGE power lines...

It was quite funny. I managed to get some lip balm though and a free sample of deodorant that was like sand and in the shape of a starfish. I threw it out.

We all walked back to Rosie and Max's apartment along the river bank and through a soccer field...

We all finally got to meet Tess who is super cute and does the silly run that Mono does but she is so much smaller. Cute!

We had lunch at the cafe under ZRosie and Max's place which was really yummy. They forgot my sandwich but were so apologetic that I actually felt bad. But it was well worth the wait! Nom nom.

The only logical thing to do after lunch was to go shopping. Rosie, Emma, Jen and I wandered all over the place. Rosie is a great tour guide. We would have got completely lost I think and also missed out a whole lot of good places. We all purchased a few things and ventured back to Smith St to indulge in some Vietnamese at the Coconut Palm. More food.

We were almost dead by the time we got home. Food comas all round. But it was gooood.

On our last day we went to St Kilda and went to Luna Park...

And had another morphed mirror encounter...

Last time Jen and I were in Melbourne we went there but didn't go on any of the rides. This time we did this one...

See Jen and Emma in the front screaming?? Fun times...

And we also went on the wooden rollercoaster. Marty politely declined this ride and instead went on the spinny one in the background here...

We had all agreed to put on an unimpressed face when we got to the part of the rollercoaster where they took a photo of everyone. I almost couldn't hold it but Emma's face is absolutely classic...

You should see the one of the back carriage. All the passengers are laughing and smiling and Emma is right in the front of the shot with that face on. It is hilarious. We were all in tears from laughing so much when we saw it. It is legendary.

Once our ride tickets ran out we headed back into town to pick up a dress that I had put on hold. Marty and I had a $6 hot chocolate at Koko Black which was awesome. We met up with Nik again at the Rooftop Bar and again watched the sun go down over the city....

And then we raced back to Smith St to get to Trippy Tacos in time to have the best quesadilla in the world! The last time we'd been there I was so full that I couldn't finish mine. I was really disappointed in myself so we had to go back and get more. God damn they are good!

Unfortunately we had to leave early the next morning. Jen and Emma were staying on for an extra day. We got to the airport and made it home (atrocious flight into Wellington though!) and had to drive straight back to the farm. When we arrived we found a foot of water covering the back lawn and the aviary and an insanely fat dog. We think he must have got into the pig food (after the pigs had torn the bag to shreds and eaten half of it themselves). He was very unwell for a few days and he hasn't learned anything from it.

Anyway, dinner time for me so ta ta!

K :)