Spring!

Well, almost! It certainly feels like it is just around the corner - little lambo rambos are bounding through paddocks, the daffodils have popped their heads out to greet the sun and our garden is slowly coming back to life after a long period of hibernation. The early rhodos and camellias are out and I've just noticed the big magnolia has put its first 2 flowers on show. Sson we'll have our own little lambies and the birds will start breeding (hint, hint, pheasants!).

Speaking of pheasants, Marty almost ran over our old Ringnecks that ran away. They have made a new home down by the marae. Rex I is looking beautiful and even has Asterix wing things on his head. It's good to know they are still alive, athough apparently their road sense is not so good so they may not be alive for long...

Anyway, we went to the beach a while ago which was fun. The dog got over excited and started frothing around his nose from sniffing too many things...

Marty went for a surf while I took photos of rocks and pieces of wood....

We are thinking of going back to collect that piece of wood to use as some sort of sculpture on the farm. It was pretty spectacular but it is huge and probably water-logged making it impossible to move. We'll see.

I also spent a weekend in Wellington while Rosie was over. I did get some photos but they are on my old film SLR and I haven't got around to scanning them so diddums. You'll just have to wait. The ones of that weekend aren't actually that good because it was too dark but there was a nice one of Dogman and also some old ones of Berni and Graeme in Rotorua and on the Desert Road. They must have been from years ago. It's so exciting getting films back!

While I was away Marty went on a music bus from Waipuk to Napier to play music at the Cabana Bar. He met some old musos and had a great time. I was sad to have missed it but it was good to see Rosie. And I was able to give Jen a hand moving into her new flat.

And a while ago we were invited to Sherwood School's play, Amazon Antics, which had Joe and Rata performing in it. It was pretty cute and they even had a sloth in it! Joe was a philodendron and Rata, a ladybird. Both did a great job but I think they were a bit stunned by it all... Rata was surprisingly quiet afterwards...

I have a busy few weeks ahead of me and will be in Wellington most of the time. It seems all the interpreters down there have taken off overseas at the same time. Oh well. Good for the money.

I have made some progress with Tigger recently and yesterday I finally got a halter on her and led her a few steps. Then this morning we moved her and Heidi in the the paddock behind the sheds (leading her all the way) and the runway so we can give the golf course a bit of a rest. And we're going to shift Dice and Flicker around soon so we can get some paddocks in good shape for spring. Very pleased to have finally got a a halter on her. Most of the time we need food though to get her to do anything. But we're trying to break that habit. Slowly, slowly catchy monkey.

Ok, I'm tired now. Think I will go and give the boys a bit of a groom seeing as it is a nice day and they have thier covers off.

Right, ciao!

K :)

The week in photos

It's been a blustery couple of weeks as you can see from that video. The chickens don't stand much chance in wind like that! Thankfully we haven't lost many trees - nothing like last year's 13 that came down within a couple of days - and the greenhouse has remained intact (well, as intact as it has been for the past year!).

Over the past few days things have been looking up. 2 days of sunshine have dried some of the lakes that have been forming in the paddocks and has meant that the horses have had some cover-free time. They were so content today they had a lie down.

Nicki and Jordan came to visit just before the wind started so they got to play with the animals and get their hands dirty in the garden!

Poor McMunkles was highly peturbed when the sofas were dismantled for re-covering. They temporarily became a pile of cushions and he wasn't sure what to do...

He did find that Marty made for quite a comfortable seat though....

One night Marty decide all of a sudden to make creme brulee for dessert and ended up with a few egg whites left over so we made the cutest little treats ever - meringue ghosts! Oh so cute...

Anyway, Marty's terrible movie, Iron Man, has finally finished so I am going to go but I will leave you with some of Dino's many facial expressions. Well, actually, he's just yawning :)

K :)

Sorry, sorry.... I'm back

Uh oh... 4 months since my last post! That is terrible. I am deeply apologetic. So much has happened so I might just have to put up a few choice photos with captions as a summary. It's a pity that I can only upload 5 photos at a time as this will take forever.

Anyway, we went to the Horse of the Year and loaded up on some horsey goodies (well, rider goodies mainly!) and fenced judged at the top x-country event. We were way out of our league but there were no disasters on our fences so no dire consequences. The jumps were ENORMOUS though at both the x-country and the showjumping. Unbelievable!

We also went to Awaroa for Easter which was fantastic. I haven't been down there for so long... 5 years or so... but nothing has changed. It's still as beautiful as ever - and just as chaotic! But the bloody marys were great and a lot of fun was had

Our little Monito is not so -ito anymore. He has grown into a lovely big, leggy black dog with a super shiny coat due to a healthy diet of Eukanuba biscuits and various dead things. He's a very happy dog and is still getting himself into some odd positions.

Marley and Spencer are big and woolly again and still as demanding as ever. I think Marley has a bit of an identity crisis this time thinking she is a goat. She has started having head-butting wars with the Eidel and Fungus and even taking on Jed and Sid who are now the same size as their mums.

Winter has certainly arrived and we've had a couple of days of snow. But in the beginning it was just a bit frosty. Heidi and Flicker, 2 horses that are grazing with us, have definitely got their full winter coats. Here's Heidi in her frosty paddock....

And a frosty thistle :)

The boys have been keeping themselves warm by stuffing hay into their mouths. Brother is expanding his tastes and has recently tried cider and coffee both of which he quite enjoyed!

We went to a french party a while ago and dressed up in berets and lots of stripes. Mono became Monet for the day and donned a stripy bandana... he did look the part.

Brother has started to accept being ridden again so that's a huge breakthrough! Note the protective clothing though. I haven't been able to ride him in the past few weeks due to uni and work commitments but soon... hopefully. I took Dino for his first ride in ages yesterday as well and he played up a bit due to the lack of attention.

Mono has had his first experience with snow. He didn't really know what to make of it... trying to bite the snowflakes out of the air. It was quite funny!

And, some hugely exciting things that have happened are that we rescued some battery hens that were set to be slaughtered and I dropped a whole lot off to other people as well. I ended up with 20 chickens in banana boxes shoved in the back of the familia and drove for an hour only to wander round in high heels in a paddock in the pitch black unloading them at the other end. But they are all happy (minus one of Tish's who was overly enthusiastic about a bowl of water... poor thing).

AND.... we have a new foal named Tigger. She is so gorgeous! 6 months old and becoming friendlier by the day. She hadn't been handled at all until she came here so she's a blank slate. So cute!

Anyway, I have to go. Nicki and Jordan are coming to visit and our sofas have been competely dismantled in order to carry on with the re-covering that was started a year ago.

Just a few extra photos to end the post :)

I will try and keep on top of this blog more... can't promise anything though!

K :)

Return of the Slack

So tired... this will just be a quick post.

Thought seeing as it has been over a month since I posted that I should at least put up some photos. I can't even remember what has happened since I last wrote. I know that I have been travelling a lot (for work and social arrangements). Hamilton, Wellington twice, Auckland, Napier a lot and I think Wellington a few more times. A lot of it has been overland which makes it all the longer. Whine, whine.

This week is Horse of the Year up in Hastings which I was hoping to get to (will go this weekend but I wanted to see more of it) but seeing as my study has been neglected quite severely in the past few weeks I have had to tie myself to a chair and knuckle down. I think I am getting my head around it slowly but monosaccharides, stereoisomerisms and the electronegitivity of molecules is really not my forte. I will struggle onwards.

Ok, photos have uploaded and it's time for me to go to bed. More study, a ride and a trip to Waipuk are on the to do list tomorrow.

Marty did a gig at the open mic night at the Paper Mulberry and it went down really well. There were people asking for an encore. Unfortunately his guitar strap broke in the last line of the first song so he had to wing it a bit but he pulled it off well :)

Graeme has, and still is gracing us with his presence before he gallavants back off to South America at the end of the month. Here he is depicted with a giant mushroom that he and Marty found at the top of Maire Hill.

The pheasants (Rex in picture) have now been released and even ate out of Marty's hand today. It is nice that they have stayed around and are becoming friendlier. They were in the aviary fro quite a while where they consumed all our chillis and most of the cabbages. Now they can just eat grass and Pro-Lay pellets.

Dog has become a complete contortionist and is found regularly in positions such as the one above. He also enjoys lying across your shoulders on the sofa and sleeping inside our Pollock table. He is quite amusing.

Ok, bed is calling

Night :)

Bring back the Takaka Singing Dog Comp!

Monito has discovered his musical side and is going to be 'the next big thing'. Marty's band will employ him as their front man and the music execs will go mad!

Check him out!

2009 aka Busy

This year is going to be monumental! Not only have I decided to start eventing again but I have also enrolled to start a diploma in vet nursing (and then on to a bachelor of vet science, all things going to plan). And still work as an interpreter and keep the farm going as well. I will have to take a page out of my mother's book and learn to love never-ending activity.

Last weekend we headed to the capital for a bit of fun in the sun (and wind). The moment we arrived we stocked up with supplies and spent a lovely afternoon in the gardens and then back to Upland Rd. There was much dancing, poker and general fun had to the detriment of my liver possibly.

On Saturday we of the hungover species headed to Maranui for breakfast and some more wind. The enormous breakfast was maybe not wise in such a fragile state but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

It was also Renata's birthday that day so went up to Wadestown for the afternon and for dinner. A nap sorted me out while the boys watched the rugby. Irena and Michael came over for dinner as well and it was a lovely night all round.

When we got back to the farm it seemed as though we'd been away for weeks! Somehow, once again, all the plants had tripled in size and there was a red tinged tomato on one of our 'cherry tomatoes'. We have since eaten it and it was super yum. And we had 2 ears of corn which were delicious as well. Now I am worried about the tomatoes because I know as soon as one ripens all the others will follow at great speed and we will be overrun with the buggers. I shouldn't say that as it is actually all my fault for planting so many in the first place. But still... buggers they will be.

Our chillies are doing really well. We picked the first of our sweet banana chillies and the wildfire are days away from being ripe. I think we will dry most of them to keep for later use.

This weekend Mum and Richard are up and there has been a massive effort put in around the Solomon Seals. There is a walkway being constructed and views are being developed around the garden. As Mum and I wandered around to look at the fig tree earlier I saw something jump and plop into the water. It was a frog! his name, of course, is Kermit. He is awesome! Who knows where he's come from but he is here and that is all that matters. I will get some more tadpoles so we can keep the frog population going. I'm not sure how he'll fare during the icy winters up here but he's obviously survived so far so I'll leave him to it.

Anyway, we have just watched the Hurricanes lose to the Waratahs and it was quite disappointing. The Super 14 is off to a bad start. Grrr...

Ok, chau,

K :)

Back in Action

The continuous stream of visitors has come to an end for now. This week is oging to be busy for me with work and then this weekend we will be in Wellington. It's been a while since we've been down so will be nice to have some time away.

Since my last post a few things have happened. Marley has been shorn and looks like a completely different sheep, Dino has been working really well (minus a run in with some cows that he wasn't happy about), all the ruminant animals are in the same paddock and the goats keep escaping and Mono and the pheasants are still growing rapidly. And, yesterday, Marty found a sick magpie in the back paddock which we took in and it is now well on it's way to a full recovery. It's pretty vicious now and we've been warned to wear sunglasses around it and, in my view, some heavy duty gloves. He's going to be releases tomorrow morning but eh bird rescue centre said we should keep him over night again just to make sure he was ok. I think he is fine. He is now destroying the laundry bathroom and eating soggy puppy food.

I think Marley is quite relieved to have her masses of wool removed. She was bounding around like a new lamb the other day. The 4 legged bounce which was a bit gammy because she's too big to do that now but it was quite amusing. Marty is going to make a 'simple canvas jacket' lined with Marley's wool. I am looking forward to seeing the final product.

Before...

And after...

Mono has been enjoying the hot weather particularly because it has turned the ground to dust so it was easier for him to dig. There is obviously something exceedingly interesting just under our front step because there's no stopping him. I think he may be trying to dislodge the house from its foundations.

We've had a resident hedgehog snuffling around in the evenings as well. He's got a sore back leg and I actually haven't seen him in the last few days so I hope he's ok. He likes potatoes. He's very cute. Tiny little thing...

And the big living room smells like a brewery at the moment because I am in the process of making my first batch of cider. It's only been there for 2 days and it's already frothing away. So far all I've done is pulp the apples and put them in water. I haven't added any sugar or anything yet so the result could be quite potent. I will let you know how it goes. And I'm going to get an alcohol measuring gauge so at least we will know if it is drinkable!

The amount of apples is astounding. And eggs. For the past couple of weeks we've been getting 40 eggs a week and the apples are being used for various things. I successfully sun dried a whole lot of apple slices over 2 days and Marty made apple crumble. And a significant amount have gone into the cider. The rest we will probably puree and freeze for winter puddings. I'll dry some more as well to have as snacks. Very yummy. The horses have had their fair share too. They have also eaten half our almond tree, I noticed today. Luckily it hasn't done anything this year so they didn't destroy any produce.

I have resurrected my diary as well so I'll try and keep that up as well as the blog. Often I find myself repeating things though which diminishes my motivation but I will try.

Our mini white and crystal apple cucumbers are all producing now and I picked a jar of gherkins the other day. The canellini and borlotti fire tongue beans are almost ready and the tomatoes are steadily swelling. The 'Tiny Tim' tomatoes are not what they say they are - they are now almost like Beefsteaks rather than cherry tomatoes! I need to pull up the albino beetroot and goive them to someone because neither Marty nor I like them. Silly to have planted the really. Maybe we'll try one grated into a salad. And we need to start planting our winter veges. I'm excited about parsnips!

Dog has gone crazy and is moments away from electrocuting himself on the computer cord so I better go.

Chau!