Hello, goodbye and welcome home.

It has been a week of coming and going and some welcomes and farewells.

First up since my last post the chick count went up from a lone Ziggy to a total of seven babies. Two dud eggs and some unwanted guests. We welcomed a Ziggy look alike, four fluorescent yellows and a little black. Little black Sambo didn't seem like he was going to make but after a tense couple of days he pulled through. Only to be snatched by a hawk or a rat or stoat. All I know is one minute he was there, the next there was a lot of squawking from the whole gang, and then he was gone. Also a little fluro got sick while I was away, my lovely neighbour Liz took care of the little fella but he didn't make it.

One of the teen chooks decided to run right underneath Ella on Thursday afternoon, which inevitably ended in him getting trodden on, fortunately it was just his leg that got pinned beneath the hoof of half a tonne of horse. He very audibly said 'ow, ow, ow, ow, ow' as he hopped away. I had to chase him to catch him, queasy at the thought of little broken bones sticking out but somehow he managed to come away from the whole ordeal with only two little scrapes and a purple, swollen leg. Thank heavens I had a load of ice in the freezer, I filled a bowl up with icy water and put his leg in it for ten minutes, he stood perfectly still and blinked his very wide eyes. I tucked him into bed and was pleased to see that the next day he was hopping around chasing his brothers and sisters. Now, less than a week later his limp has almost gone, that was one fortunate little chook! 

I've painted the posts in preparation for the netting roof to go on, I decided not to do it before I went away in case some escape artists got tangled in the netting, better I'm here to sort out any teething problems. So that's on the list of things to do this week. Also, I'm hoping to drop Larry off to Kim later this week. He is becoming more and more boisterous towards the other and with that Nigel is picking on him more as well. He needs to go.

Friday was a bit of a disaster, I'd ordered a truckload of water to be delivered and I waited and waited but no water arrived. There had been a bushfire in the gorge and it was closed meaning all the traffic was being diverted to Clevedon/ Ardmore so my water delivery was held up until Saturday. I didn't have enough water to fill both troughs until the water had been delivered so I had to transfer the water from one trough to another, I must say, the water pump has worked wonders. All the hose is laid out now, I just need some more fittings and some posts to be put in the ground to finish the task off. I've been told I'm not to use the post hole borer on my own, probably good advice but it means I have to wait for my lovely man to assist me.

Speaking of that lovely man of mine, he took me away for three awesome nights to Red Beach, just north of Auckland. It was exactly what I needed. It was so nice to spend some quality time with him, relaxing and reading, getting up late and basically just doing what we wanted, when we wanted. We had dinner at a great little Mexican restaurant called 'Hola' in Orewa, I had a delicious vegetarian soft taco with rice and salad and I even had dessert of almond cake and vanilla ice cream. After that we went to the movies to see Django, a typical Tarantino film with lots of blood and fighting. We went to a lot of beaches but only swam once, I haven't been in the surf for years, it was so much fun. 

On the dieting front I went astray for the last three days, you can't be in a seaside town and not have ice creams, milkshakes, bread and chips 'n dip. But today I'm back on board and this heat is making it impossible to be hungry. My weight can go up and down a kilogram overnight (frustrating hormonal changes) so I haven't completely given up on reaching my goal of 63kg by the end of the month but I must admit it is going to take a bit of work over the next couple of days to achieve it. I have been craving slushies lately, the ones you buy are usually a cup of artificially flavored, sugary goop but my slushies are much healthier. I've got the trusty blender out an here's my one for the day Cranberry and Ginger! Blend a 1 cm stick of ginger, 1 cup of Cranberry juice, ice cubes and water and there you have it.


Well that's my lunch break over, this morning I brushed the horses and spent some real quality time with them. I also took Hoby for a walk in the bush paddock and cleared a heap of nikau fronds out and pulled out more of the dreaded ragwort. It is great having the shade of the native bush in the heat of the day, it means I feel like I've done something productive without suffering heatstroke or sunburn from being out in the midday sun. Hoby is enjoying the shade too.........

Lets hope all the little chooks survive until the next post. 

Bottoms up!

It's that time of the year again, holiday time. Well, it's called a holiday but I'll be doing plenty of work on this holiday. The lifestyle block is getting a makeover! There are so many things to do and not enough hours in the weekend to do them. So, another long stint off work and time to catch up on all the odd jobs. I hope this year I'm more successful than last year. I walked away from last year's break pretty emotionally wrecked. There have been lots of very positive changes since then and I'm rearing to go. 

So first, I feel a sense of deja vu. This time last year I was surrounded by a bunch of adorable feathered friends and this year I've got last year's bunch plus some new arrivals. 

I still have Nigel and Larry, Mildred, Matilda, Maggie, Violet, Xena, Pippi and Berlina. Unfortunately Buttercup passed away. I've also acquired Barney, Bruce, Ralphie and Rosa from the side of the road. And Pippi hatched a little chick last year, called Little-Jack (female). The other new arrivals were hatched by Maggie, she's a great mum and originally there were 13 multi-coloured little bundles but now we're down to 12 after the neighbour's cat snatched one. Then yesterday I discovered another newbie, Rosa's been sitting on 9 eggs and one hatched while I was away, I've called him/her Ziggy. Gorgeous markings. 

So, back to the makeover of the block. Today was trough time. The water level of the tank is very low which means the tap doesn't gravity feed anymore. Out comes the 12 volt pump I've had for years but never got around to using. I took a trip with Hoby to the farm supplies shop and purchased 150 metres of 15mm water pipe and several fittings.
 Then to the feed shop to get some chick crumble for the newbie. Finally, after all the shopping for the animals was taken care of it was time to go food shopping for me, at which time Hoby saw his cue to rip open the bag of chick crumble while I was in the shop, I'd even given him a dried pig's ear to munch on. That dog will never change, gotta love his interest in food. 
 
So I arrived home, unpacked the car, had some lunch, did some yoga and then set to work. I made new alligator clip connectors using wire from the cord of an old laptop charger, why is it I always forget something? 

Several loads of washing, lots of snipping, boiling, connecting and hours later I had created this..........
and thank heavens it worked! The trough filled in record time, the horses were very impressed.

I also leveled some ground for one of the baths that will be used as a trough in the paddock and lay all the hose out, I'll need some help moving the super-heavy cast iron bath. I just have one more 50 metre length of hose to run to the new goat paddock (more about that later) which I'll do tomorrow. I'm very pleased that I don't have to endure the backbreaking task of carting water this summer. I wish I'd done it years ago.

So, on the horses front Tarka and Ella are doing well. Both recently had a visit from the farrier and dentist so they're like new ponies now with tidy toes and smooth chompers.

 
They're not gorse-eating-horses though so I have a hill paddock with a LOT of regrowth. After all that effort last year with the chainsaw the stumps have started to regrow. Which led me to my cunning plan of getting goats. Goats love gorse and basically everything horses don't. They're great company and full of personality. So, imagine my excitement when I saw an advert for miniature goat kids for sale. I've registered my interest with the lady that re-homes the kids and I'm hoping that I get a call in the next week or so. I probably won't be quite so enthusiastic when the reality of the 3 hourly night time feeds kick in. Buy hey...I'm on holiday!

Hopefully tomorrow will be as productive as today.




 

I'm still here

Heavens it's been a long break. I've been trying to remember my last post and I can't so I'll wing it and try to fill you in on what's been happening. Well I'm back at work and I've just completed a week of house and animal sitting at my parent's house. It was so nice living 5 minutes from work but the responsibility of three tanks of tropical fish, a turtle, bird and two disabled dogs + my own Hoby and three horses and nine chickens meant that there was never a dull moment. I have been flat out but they say a change is as good as a break and I do feel rejouvenated. I started to look forward to going home, my cool house was much more appealing after a week in a hot house with glass everywhere and sun beating in through the closed windows. I slept in next to nothing most nights with windows open and I was still hot. Since getting home though I've slept in winter woolies and a hot water bottle and I've been just right. I think a cooler climate makes for a better sleep. The horses are doing well, the chooks are growing and none of them are laying eggs. Katie my new horse still hasn't been ridden because I haven't had a saddle that fits, I did get one on Sunday but the weather has been rotten ever since I got it. I was up at 5.45am this morning so that I could leave early and ride but it was raining so that eliminated that option. Now before you think I'm a big wuss at not riding in the rain, ordinarily it wouldn't bother me but when I have to go straight from the horse paddock to work the idea of sitting the whole day in wet underwear and sporting a sopping hairstyle doesn't appeal. So here I am finally catching up on work after a hectic week last week and I'm back home with my fur and feather family and life is starting to regain normality. I do feel myself getting the winter blues in Autumn which isn't healthy. I think it comes from not having had a summer to speak of. I have resigned myself to the fact that the wet weather gear needs to be dusted off and brought out ready for the weekend. I'm going to walk in the rain again too, I used to love it but for some reason I stopped doing it for a while. I printed a neat saying out and framed it "Anyone that says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain." Nice. On that note, I'm off to do some work.

First day back at work done and dusted!

So my first day back at work has come and gone and with it I feel relief. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I thought I would be exhausted and everything would be turned upside down but I wasn't and it isn't.

I decided that I'd drop Hoby at my parents in the morning and then spend lunchtime with mum. After work I visited Katie and looked for prospective future winter grazing spots for Katie that are close to where I work but aren't the 7 acres I'm currently grazing as it is too much for Katie on her own and the landlord has recently doubled the price.  I saw a few promising spots, I'll keep them in mind and make calls to the owners when I can.

After work I took Hoby for a walk and had a nice long shower. Then I drove home and was thrilled to find the horses still in their paddock and all the chooks (including Nigel!) asleep in their house. There was even a snuffling snorting little hedgehog in the paddock.

I hit bed before 11pm glad that the day had gone well. The only qualm I had was that my assistant who had been working with me before I left and who is due to leave shortly to join her husband in the south island has suddenly become very nasty and made some very cruel remarks in the afternoon. I have no idea what that's all about. The new employee is lovely and she is organised which is a huge bonus. I think she'll fit in well. I enjoyed spending most of the day working with her, even though it did seem a little odd and intrusive peering over her shoulder for a lot of the morning. I was 'observing' apparently, but it just felt weird. I don't have use of my computer just yet so I'm a bit of a hobo sitting wherever I can, tieing up whatever loose ends I can.

Much of the same tomorrow although I'll visit Katie at lunchtime and brush Tarka and Ella after work and I might even manage a walk with Hoby too!

The calm after the storm.

Well, I don't know how you could call it a storm anyway but I was greeted with the most stunning blue sky and sunshine twinkling through my curtains. I had breakfast and checked Facebook, the V-LDL was online so we online-chatted for a while.

I fed the chooks and got straight into the remaining side of the vege garden fence. It didn't take too long and I'm pleased with the result. Now I need to get out there one evening and sew it with fishing nylon like I did the other side. I cleared out the big metal manure cage and the compost bin. I'd forgotten about the rotten eggs which were very whiffy. I piled up the compost into a square bed and I've covered it with some black plastic so it can continue to age while I figure out the layout for the area. The chooks now have a nice new flat area to play in. I hope with the lack of props Nigel won't be able to escape any more.

Sis brought around some muffins she made. Banana chocolate chip with choc icing and some mixed berry with berry icing. Yummy.

The 3D movie last night was good, I found it pretty exhausting to watch so I'm glad it was only a short movie. I like the other Underworld movies but this one didn't seem to go anywhere, I was waiting for it to get really good but it ended before it did.

I brushed the horses in the evening and moved their electric fence tape so they could have some more grass, then the fencing unit gave up, I shook it and fiddled with it until it worked again, I'll have to check tomorrow in the daylight that it's still going.

Tomorrow is my first day back at work, I'm not looking forward to it and I'm not dreading it I'm just neutral. I think the early start is what I'm dreading. Well, I'm off to bed now. Dishes before bed (I'm trying to get into good habits and stop procrastinating!).

Weather bomb....really?

So the weather bomb has hit apparently. Its just some short sharp bursts of rain, a bit more wind than usual and it is very cold for this time of the year so I'm dressed in winter clothes.

I put the horses in the shed area so they could shelter if they wanted to, once they were dry enough they got a brush, I love how their coats feel so soft after a good rinse in the rain. The chooks have been hanging out on my picnic table again, they got a whole bucket of scrap, they seem to like picking through things, it must be more interesting for them than grain. . 

When the weather got too much outside I went back indoors and cleaned out my pantry and fridge, made some lychee jelly and a pasta salad and had several cups of chrysanthemum tea. I love the occasional rainy day, it is good to stay inside and potter around every now and then.  Just before 4pm I made a dash for it and picked up some timber and hardware for the gate I need to build for the chook enclosure. I had Hoby with my and although it was windy there wasn't any rain so we stopped at the botanic gardens for a walk. It was great fun, we almost had the place to ourselves, not a lot of people were game to go out in the wind. The gardens look good there were some new features that I hadn't seen before like the edible garden with a brick wall around it and espaliered fruit trees. There were also some new fruit trees in a paddock that were neatly planted and surrounded by a cocoon of windcloth, I might need to do that with mine too.

Tonight I'm going to the movies with my sis and my ex, odd combination I know but it seems that they spend a lot of time together these days. It is my first 3D movie, it's the latest installment in the Underworld series. I missed a call from the V-LDL, I think he's made it to Norway in one piece.

Is it possible to eat until you explode?

I nearly got to that stage today. I went out for lunch with my mum to Yum Char at a fabulous little place and I'm proud to say I tried a few new things but perhaps a few too many because my stomach got to bursting point but I still couldn't quash the hunger. It is an odd feeling eating and eating and then eating some more and knowing you're full but still being hungry. It is a concept that is pretty new to me, I used to be so afraid of eating especially in public. The fear was so great that I shrunk to a size nothing apart from my large behind which has always been out of proportion to the rest of me. Now I'm not large but I do feel slightly sluggish at present, I've felt better but I've felt worse too. I think I eat a little more than I should at certain times of the month (hormone driven!) so that's something to work on but I do stay active doing purposeful things like running around after the animals and I enjoy walking. I doubt I could ever spend hours in a gym running on a treadmill, for a start I'm way too busy and the idea of it just doesn't appeal, well not in my current situation. I had a discussion with my dad today about weight loss. I think for the majority of us if we halved our meal size and doubled our exercise we'd see results faster than any fancy diet.

I had a pots and pan holder, one of those hanging types that I'd had lying around for year that I decided to modify and put to good use. It is wrought iron with hooks and cut-out silhouettes of farm animals, just what I need to hanging things in my kitchen. I also brought home two of the kitchen cabinets and struggled carrying them down to the house but managed in the end with only a bruise on my knee to show for it.

There's a weather bomb hitting us this weekend. I'm interested to see just what that means/ what that brings. Rain, wind, low temperatures? Sounds like a few of the days we've already had this week. I'll take the horses out tomorrow for a spell in the shed to dry out a bit, this rain on the roof sounds quite persistent.

On another positive note I visited Katie the new horse today and attempted to lunge her but due to the knee deep grass in the paddock it proved harder that I expected. Just keeping my balance was a challenge, and she leapt about excited at the attention. In the end I just wandered around with her on the end of the lunge lead while she whuffled her nostrils with every step. She is very sweet but she's also huge width-wise and urgently needs to go on a diet. I tried a saddle on her and the girth which is the longest on I have was about a foot too short. The Lunging roller also didn't quite meet around her middle. She's what I call a "bunter", which means she bumps you with her nose at every oppostunity she gets. I am not used to this, Smarty used to do it and it certainly catches you unawares and you get a sore chin, nose and get winded when they land a good one in the guts.I'm sure it'll subside overtime, once she gets attention and riding on a regular basis.

This rain is devine, I'm off to bed soon. Just some dishes to put away, and I must add that I am doing remarkably well with the dishes, I've done them more than once this week, that must be a record. Early night for me, a bit of reading and then we'll see what this weather bomb brings.