I've found the queen bee!

Now, I may have done a good job of hiding it but for the last few weeks I have been really worried that my colony of bees was without a queen. I'd inspected the hive on three occasions and hadn't spotted her. I was seeing lots of signs of activity - honey and pollen stores, comb building - but no sign of the queen and no babies. All the books and websites try to comfort us newbies (or is that new-bees?) by reminding us that we have untrained eyes, it is overwhelming at first, the queen likes to remain illusive, yada-yada-yada but to think that you've been gifted this fantastic colony of bees and you're going to have them fail soon because you have no queen is a worry.

Today I was going to open the hive in the mid afternoon but a thunderstorm started rolling in so I donned the white suit of cracked open the hive. There was a lot of comb being built on the hive mat again so I had a close look and lo-and-behold, there was queenie strolling around on the hive mat. What a fluke! She crawled onto my hive tool and I put her on top of a frame and she dove down into safety. After that sighting it was impossible to find her again.

I did see a lot of activity. There was only one frame at the far end of the box that didn't have a lot happened. I removed it as we were taught at the course that beginners should leave one frame out to ensure that you don't squish your bees when placing the frames back into the hive.

The honey stores have increased significantly, the frames are really heavy when filled with honey. There are also lots of cells containing brightly coloured pollen, cheerful shades of yellow, orange and brown. And perhaps the most exciting discovery of all was the frame containing pearly white larvae. I found it hard to contain my excitement. Sam was standing at the fence and asked to see them so I took a frame over to him and an angry been went for him getting stuck in his hair and delivered a sting to his scalp, ouch. I quickly checked the last frame, smoked them and put the lid back on and raced down to the house to check on Sam. He'd managed to remove the sting and had a thumping headache. It is a very painful place to be stung. I gave him an antihistamine, a couple of pain killers and a cold flannel for his head. We didn't get anything else done but the thunder storm arrived and with it some odd rain / hail. In the house I could hear the odd tap on the tin roof like a pebble being dropped on it. I took Hoby up to have a game of ball in the paddock. Tallulah came over for a back scratch so I sat on the ground and as I did an ice cube fell out of the sky in front of me with a thump. Just one. It was the size of the ice cubes that come out of our freezer. I went over and picked it up and marvelled at its beauty. Then enormous rain drops fell, few and far between, I could side-step them if I was quick enough, they were huge and heavy and the sky was the colour of concrete. Hoby and I retreated to the house with the ice cube sized hail stone to show Sam. The strange spattering of rain and hail carried on for about 5 minutes before the cloud suddenly burst and rain, normal rain, fell from the heavens. It was so nice and soothing and given the sweltering hot morning we'd had the drop in temperature was a relief. The animals seemed to like the rain, even the goats stayed out in it for a while. There was one flash of lightning to accompany the almost continuous rumble of thunder we'd had all afternoon. And then it was over and the birds started to sing again and I made a batch of corn fritters with beetroot chutney for afternoon tea.

The animals are doing good. Ella and Tarka had their hooves trimmed a couple of days ago. The farrier commented on how good they're looking, they are probably are the slimmest they've ever been at this time of the year. It has taken a lot of restraint on my part as I have a beautiful grass laden paddock up at El Ranchero that I'm dying to let them loose in, all of the animals actually but I seem to have a family of fatties that gain weight at the sheer sight of grass. Sheamus is back to his old self, full of smiles and laughs, Sam captured this fabulous photo of Shamey in full giggle. He really is happiness personified or should that be 'pigified' or 'porcinified'?.

 

Tallulah is growing at a rapid rate in both size and personality, oh, and attitude. She bosses Sheamus around now and Shamey had developed quite a soft spot for her. He loves her snuggling with him at night, if we lock her away in her sty he sleeps outside the gate until we give in and let her out. We only lock her away for her own safety when we're going out because she can get out of Shamey's enclosure as she pleases due to the slats on the gate being spaced at Tallulah sized intervals, I would hate her to wander up the driveway and out onto the shared driveway.

The chooks are doing well, one little baby has been taken, possibly by the hawk, or a ferret or the disgusting cat from next door. I hope it didn't suffer. Mother hen is guarding her remaining three with extra vigilance.

Lucifer and Mabel the goats are making a transformation from timid little creatures into willing members of the herd. They love Tarka to pieces and are never far from his side. They've ventured very close to the action lately, it is lovely that they feel safe and comfortable around us now and actually come to us when called. Only Mabel calls back when I yell out to her, Lucifer is the quiet one. They've both started playing in the evenings, kicking their heels up and playing the 'wild goats' game. I love watching them play, it brings a smile to my face even when everything seems to be getting on top of me. As much work as all these animals are, the rewards are tenfold. To see them happy and content reminds me that my best is enough and the perfection that I'm always aiming for (and seeming never achieving) can be put to one side for now.

Off to see the Christmas lights tonight in town. Franklin Road in Ponsonby and also a house in Karaka which we've heard a lot about.

The bees are settling in and the garden has taken off.

Another 'four seasons in one day' kind of a day today. A dentist appointment saw me up early and out the door, Sam wasn't feeling too well so he took the day off work and accompanied me. After the appointment we went over to get some money out from the machine in the mall and by the time we got back outside it was pouring with rain. It rained all the way home and when we pulled onto Hunua Road I saw a little chaffinch in middle of the road, alive so Sam had to turn the car around so I could pick it up. It clutched my finger with its left foot but the right foot was tucked up and in a fist. Its beak was closed, it breathed normally and seemed phased but nothing else. As we drove it sat in my cupped hand and didn't move or make a peep. Once home we called in to see our neighbours and finch came in too. By this time Sam had taken over cuddle duty and it looked tiny in Sam's big hand. After about an hour it fluttered out of Sam's hand and onto the neighbour's wire fruit bowl where it sat happily. Sensing that it was ready to go, Sam picked it up, it didn't object. He took it outside and released it, it flew with vigor over the gorse bushes and into the sky which had cleared up.

We went home and pottered around with the animals for a while, I waited for the wind to die down and then we cracked open the hive so that I could again look for the queen bee and also check on their progress.

There was a lot of activity in there. The hive mat was adorned with scattered clusters of wax so I scraped that off first and stuck it in a jar. Next I smoked the bees and started at the quietest end of the hive. On the left were the three 3/4 depth frames that seemed to have the most activity on the right were my full depth frames with not much activity. I removed one completely so that I could work easily on the frames without squashing any bees. The first three new full depth frames had small sections of drawn out wax, they had been busy. By the time I got to the seventh frame there were already cells being filled with honey and others with pollen, fantastic. I thought I saw the queen on the third frame but it may have just been a drone amongst workers. I took a photo but then when I got to the first frame I saw another few that similar to what I thought was my queen so I felt a pang of disappointment, I'll look over the photos and compare it to the beekeeping bible.

After that I was feeling a bit peckish so I collected 11 eggs from the coop and raided my vege garden. Lucifer and Mabel helped me and were very happy to be given a broccoli plant that was going to seed. The potatoes have shot up, I need to add another tyre and some more manure to the pile. The spearmint needs picking and drying for tea, my stores are empty of tea now so I'm drinking store bought blends at the moment, missing my home made tea like crazy. I picked broad beans, kale, sage, parsley and coriander. We bought a yummy loaf of foccacia bread from the market this morning and we toasted slices of it on the cast iron skillet, I used the broad beans to make a dip to go with the bread. Broad beans are delicious, they're easy to grow like most beans. They are wrapped in a waxy pod, when you break through that you find a fluffy duvet-like inner that the beans nestle in wearing a leather jacket protecting a sweet, bright green inner.

Broad Bean Dip
1/2 cup of fresh broad beans, removed from the pod, leather jacket left in tact. 
Pinch of salt
1 cup of water
2 cloves of garlic
Cracked pepper to taste
2 fresh mint tips
1 small handful of parsley
2 sage tips
Olive oil
2 tablespoons greek yoghurt

Boil beans and two whole cloves of garlic in salted water until tender and some of the beans start to shed their leather jackets. Drain and rinse with cold water. Transfer beans and garlic to a blender, add cracked pepper and herbs and cracked pepper to taste. Add olive oil as needed to ensure a fine blend. Finally add the yogurt, blitz quickly to combine and serve with crusty bread or toasted foccacia.

Monsoon season?

Perhaps I spoke to soon about it being so dry. I woke up to hear rain pelting down, and then a whopping crack of thunder rattled the house. I got all geared up in my wet weather gear and went up to see the family. Hoby came with my too in his raincoat, side stepping all the puddles. There was no noise coming from the pig pen so I peered around the corner and found the sweetest sight...Sheamus and Tallulah spooning in Sheamus' big bed. Tallulah was snuggled right up to Sheamus with her back against his warm belly. I tiptoed around but their hearing is so good that my gumboot-ed shuffle was not going to go unheard. There were a few grunts but no squeals of being squished from Tallulah which was a relief.

All the chooks came out to see me except Slick's babies. I looked everywhere for them, I listened for them but they were nowhere to be found. Poor Slick she looked very lost and kept peering over at the other babies, perhaps wondering where hers were. I suspect the neighbour's revolting cat was the culprit as I found a mangled bird body up the driveway later in the day but it was wet from all the rain and I couldn't tell if it was one of Slick's. The cat had beheaded one of my young chooks before and left it up the driveway in about the same place. I not a huge fan of cats, for a start I'm quite allergic to them but they also seem rather sadistic.

The goats sounded very unimpressed and called out to me as if to say "mum, its raining, do something!" I let them out and fed everyone undercover. Tarka called out to me too, I saw him standing in the paddock trembling with no sign of Ella. I walked through the paddock calling her and found that she'd jumped out of the taped area and was right at the top of the gorse paddock waiting to be struck by lightening. I called her but she was more interested in being up in the wind and rain. Tarka was freezing cold, his knees were knocking together, literally. I chucked a halter on him, put him in a stall, made him a warm bran mash and rubbed him down with a towel. Then I draped an old dressing gown of mine over him and tied the arms around his neck, it fit him perfectly. I left him in the pen with the goats and chooks and Tallulah who'd gone in there to escape the rain and nibble at the dropped mouthfuls of bran mash. I called Ella down, she finally listened and carefully made her way down. Sheamus was happily grazing out in the open paddock, obviously not worried about the rain, with that thick covering of fat who could blame him.

I took some sugar syrup up to the bees, worried that they'd be hungry as I wasn't sure if they'd have any honey stores to keep them going for the day or week if the weather continued. They were all tucked up in bed with only a couple of guard bees at the entrance. The buzz coming from the hive was encouraging. I just hope there is a queen in there somewhere.

When Hoby and I got back to the house Tallulah was there to meet us at the front door, grizzling. I found that she too was trembling with cold. I stripped off my wet outer clothes and Hoby's and wrapped Tallulah in a towel and took her inside, I lay down on my bed (yes, with a piglet wrapped in a blanket) and hugged her. She sighed and snuggled in. We got comfy, Hoby jumped up on the bed too and rested his head on my leg and we all fell asleep for about half an hour. When I woke up Tallulah was heavy breathing and no longer shaking, Hoby was out like a light and looked very happy, the rain still steadily beat down on the roof. I sent Tallulah back outside gave in to the copious domestic tasks that I'd been putting off for a rainy day....well here was that dreaded day!

Farewell baby bunny.

I arrived home from work tonight to find one of the little bunnies beside the driveway looking very sad. I picked it up and gave it a snuggle and checked it out. It looked fine but breathed with little enthusiasm and had no objections to me holding it which is odd for a wild animal. As it has been pretty dry I thought perhaps it was a bit dehydrated so I tried to eye dropper some water into its mouth but it wasn't interested. Off to the cardboard box lined with a flannelette sheet to recover hopefully.

I checked on it throughout the evening and it seemed ok, just resting. Then at 10.30pm I gave it one last check before bed and I thought it had passed away. It was stretched out, eyes wide open. When I stroked it the little hind legs started thumping. I picked it up and cuddled it, hopefully having it close to my chest hearing my heartbeat would be some comfort and the thought of it not being alone certainly gave me some comfort. I went inside and sat down with it. Sam came in to say goodnight and found me hugging this bunny on its way out. It hadn't moved for a while so I asked him it had gone and as he touched it suddenly its head thrust back and it let out the most heartbreaking squeal. And then the cries continued, its little body in spasms and the terrible squeals. I was reduced to a sobbing mess and I begged Sam to do something to stop its suffering. Sam took bunny outside and very heroically 'assisted' this little being depart. He wrapped bunny in the sheet and performed a burial in the graveyard at 11 pm while I showered and washed away my tears.

There is nothing more horrible than seeing a creature suffer, I just hope it was in pain for a long time. I will miss seeing bunny on the driveway. I know, like possums, they're considered a pest but they are living beings, just like us, that have every right to being on this planet and, if compared to what we do to our planet, leave less destruction in their paths than we do.

Where's that buzzing coming from?

Well, the answer to that question today was the boot of my car!

Yes, I finally got some bees. A lovely lady called Jennifer that I'd met at a club meeting a couple of months ago sent me an email saying that she had collected a swarm and they were in a nuc box at her house on the north shore. Sam and I were already heading over that way to collect some trade-me purchases so we jumped at the chance to add bees to our list of collections. I was a bit apprehensive about Sam coming because I know he's not too keen on bees but he assured me that as long as there weren't any flying around in the car he'd be ok.

So off we went, me armed with all my gear that to date (other than the hood) hadn't been used. Jennifer had written me a great list of instructions and I followed them to a tee. The nuc had a entrance with a turndial (similar to the lid of a salt shaker) that Jennifer had closed the night before. I donned my hood and picked up the box. There were about 30 bees that hadn't made it home, perhaps after a hard night on the town. They got left behind. We brushed the 30 'dirty-stopouts' onto the grass and carried the box to the boot of the car, Sam did his containment and safety check and we popped the buzzing box in. I was so nervous all the way home that they were going to die of heat exhaustion as it was a roasting hot day and we'd been held up in the morning so it was mid morning when we picked them up.

Once home I was excited and relieved to hear the deep, contant buzz coming from the box, phew, they made the journey. I sited the nuc box in the pet cemetery and left them there while I transferred all the hive components to the site and got suited up and fuelled my smoker. The site has good fencing, easy access for me and it is out of the way of people and pets. There is a lot of Japanese Honeysuckle and Gorse growing on the neighbouring land which we call no-man's land so I'm sure the bees will find plenty of nectar.

Whilst transferring the hive components the horses, especially Ella became interested in the activity so came over to watch, as did Sam. I went in all suited up and Ella and Sam stood at the gate and watched while Tarka stood a bit further back on the hill and also spectated. Jennifer had 3/4 depth plastic frames in the nuc, my boxes are full depth so the aim was to transfer as few of the 3/4 frames into my hive as they'll build additional comb onto the base to fill the void. I would have to inspect each frame to see if the queen had layed anything. With my smoker lit for the first time I opened the box expecting for a mass evacuation of bees but to my surprise only a couple flew out, all the rest stayed put. And when I say all the rest I mean ALL the rest. It was a huge colony, I was thrilled. I smoked the bees and they retreated down the frames into the box, carefully I removed the first frame laden with bees and inspected it. They'd begun building comb in the corner but it wasn't significant enough to warrant transferring to the hive, I also couldn't see the queen so I shook the bees into the hive and put the frame to one side. The second frame contained more bees and more depth to the comb, I couldn't see the queen but I decided that they'd worked hard on this frame so they deserved to keep it. On the third frame which had come from the centre of the nuc box, a good section of comb had been built and the frame was heavily laden with bees, I thought I might see the queen here but my untrained eye missed her. I identified a few drones in the mix though. I transferred this frame to the hive and realised that the 3/4 frames were a blessing for nervous little me as I wouldn't squish any bees under the new frame. I checked the remaining three frames for the queen and then brushed the scattering of bees from the frames into the hive, I gently slid the frames into place and brushed the remaining bees from the nuc box into the hive, gave it a light smoke and then put the mat and lid on and secured it with a strap. When I looked up Sam was still there, smiling from ear to ear and taking photos and Ella had decided it was boring and wandered off. There were bees buzzing around but they weren't angry, they were very quiet and compliant.

I think I inhaled more smoke from the smoker than a 60+ a day cigarette smoker so I'll need to be more clever in the placement of my smoker in future. All in all I was thoroughly pleased with the whole exercise and more than just a little impressed that I didn't get stung.

It is funny how the universe works, it was only late last week that I'd replied to an email about some nucs for sale, I missed out on them but I was directed to lady selling nucs for quite a bit more than I could afford to pay. I decided to think about it over the weekend and that's when I received the email from Jennifer. I was very fortunate, Jennifer gifted the bees to me and here is what she wrote: My payment will be that you enjoy learning and having bees (and look after them). And one day you help someone else out in some way. That way we all win.

So, my aim will be to keep you all updated on the progress of "Cleopatra's Colony" and provide you with some useful links.

The course I completed was the Introduction to Beekeeping course run by Auckland Beekeepers Club. I couldn't recommend it highly enough, I came away feeling well informed and couldn't wait to embark on this exciting pastime and get some bees of my own. The club meetings are also fantastic, there are plenty of knowledgable people willing to answer questions and you get to see a range of different hives at the club.

If you have a hive it needs to be registered, more about this once I've completed the process.

Littlies everywhere.

The feathered family has taken a significant leap in numbers. We have Violet babysitting one of our neighbour's little chicks. Rosa has a trifecta, one each - a black, ginger and yellow chick. Boots is such a great mum to her four chick, two gingery and two yellowy. Pippi continues to foster the late Ovaltine's baby Little-Bit, although Slick hatched her she soon realised it wasn't her baby so she abandoned her and that's when Pippi was able to redeem herself as a mother. Slick became broody again a few weeks after the abandonment and set up house in the old tackroom after we removed the door and put it on the gypsy shed. This gal really likes big houses, first the gypsy shed and now the tackroom, anything without a door and she's in! Anyway, she's just hatched five, one dozy little one didn't make it but the other four are doing well. Interesting colours, a yellow, a greenish-black, a ginger and a cream coloured one. They're so tiny. She would have had another two but they got stuck in their shells as they were hatching and died. They received a compost bin burial, it is starting to look like a mass grave in there now.


While I was out and about on the farm I also noticed that our resident wild quails have a string of cotton wool sized chicks too. Quails are hilarious, they have a feather dangling in front of their faces and it seems to throw off their ability to run in a straight line, they run, swerving all over the place looking quite intoxicated. The babies run straight and then veer off to follow their wonky parents, it is quite entertaining. How these tiny little bundles survive is a miracle to me, they look so vulnerable but boy are they fast and they cover a lot of ground in a day, they're on the fenceline of the bush at one end of the farm in the morning and by the afternoon they're at the opposite end.

We also have baby bunnies, two of them. They live in amongst the woodpile under the upturned dinghy. They spend a lot of time out nibbling on the driveway and in the Jenny Craig paddock. They mix and mingle with the chooks every day. I can get within a metre of them before they turn and very slowly hop away their little white tails flashing with every hop.

There's a huge, colourful cock pheasant hanging around at the moment, he's quite stunning. I've heard that pheasants are creatures of habit and like take the same route on their journeys, I can't remember where I read it but the theory was proven when I noticed tracks in the grass and stumbled upon a few birds at the same place whilst on my morning walks. I remember years ago when a new motorway was cut through a piece of farmland, on the week that it opened a pheasant was struck and killed and lay on the side of the motorway for weeks. Every night that I was stuck in traffic I would creep past this lifeless little body and feel so sad, such a beautiful creature wasted, killed because of this motorway. I feel ashamed to be a human sometimes, a member of a race that has so much to answer for. So destructive and flippant about this planet and all of it's inhabitants.

I decided to make a purpose built large a-frame maternity unit. The maternity ward is proving to be a bit of a problem with all the little chicks going into a frenzy at feeding time and overprotective mothers pecking anything that isn't their kin. I cut the timber to size, assembled the apexes but before I had a chance to put the retangular base together I was rudely interrupted by the most intense rain shower I've encountered for a long time. It started with a warning of a couple of rain drops and then launched into a full downpour of epic proportions, the icy cold droplets seemed to aim down my butt-crack and neck of my t-shirt, before I knew it I was drenched.

Best buddies?

Today was my day off work. I'm still feeling green around the gills so I woke up early and needed to get up and do something. So I visited all the animals early and let them out. Sheamus and Tallulah wandered out, and then as I was walking down the driveway to feed the chooks with Tallulah trotting along behind me I heard the 'click' of Sheamus's gate, I went back and opened the gate and saw Sheamus was asleep in his wallow. A little while later I heard another click and looked over to see Sheamus walking away from his gate back to his wallow, and then something went click in my head.

Lately I've found Sheamus asleep in his house in the afternoons, locked in with the gate shut. I thought that it was a case of him getting locked in first by accident, then getting bored and falling asleep but it seems I'm wrong. Tallulah isn't scared of Sheamus anymore, she knows when to stay out of his way but now she also knows that if he's laying down she can poke him in the tummy with her nose, climb around him, push at his legs and if he objects it takes him a good 3 seconds to get up and chase her away. In that time she's well out of the way and hooning across the paddock squealing in delight. Turns out that Sheamus realises he's been beaten so, as a testiment to the intelligent creatures they are Sheamus devised his own plan. He closes his gate so that Tallulah can't get in and torment him so he gets to lay in his wallow in peace and quiet. Tallulah is quite a determined wee thing so after realising that Uncle Shamey was locking her out decided to breach the 7 strand wire fence, while she's still little enough to fit through the gaps in the wire, and continue her tormenting game. Now, here's the other interesting bit, Tallulah can also shut her gate, I often ask Sam why he's put her away so early and he says, 'She did it herself', I wonder if perhaps she does this when she's pushed Sheamus too far and he's out to get her.

Having said all of that, it seems there are times when they get on well and this afternoon was one of those times. My neighbour Liz came over and the excitement was all a little too much for these guys...

Grumbles, tumbles and new bundles.

Last week we ran out of water so we got it filled and ever since I've been waking up at the crack of dawn with a rumbly tummy, a panicky feeling and nausea. It has been awful. The very thought of food before lunch time makes me want to hurl and before you start jumping to conclusions, no, I'm not preggers.

And now, Sam's feeling it too.

A call to the local farm services people and we think we might have solved the issue. Giardia. Yuck. Apparently it is rife in the district at the moment with the higher than average temperatures the little devils aka bacteria have been multiplying in our water tanks. Gross. Now I'm thinking, can I brush my teeth with it, should I wash my hands with it, are the animals safe? The guy assured Sam that the animals will be fine and he'll come out tomorrow to test and treat the water.

We had a great weekend, we didn't achieve as much as we'd have liked but we did spend a LOT of quality time with the family. Most evenings we take some 'ground' time with the littlies like the goats, chooks and pigs. We literally sit on the ground, at eye level with them and they love it. Usually they come over for a tummy rub, a nosey or a cuddle. The chooks use us as human perches too.

To recap on what's been happening lately.

Horses:
Tarka is sore on his feet again, seems this wee guy is destined to spend spring in lock up, poor fella, I know he hates it but the results are dramatic. His last bought of laminitis saw him staggering around so I took him out of the paddock, fed him a sachet of bute and two days later he was waltzing around as if I'd imagined the whole thing. Ella is gaining weight but she's not suffered with laminitis yet, hopefully we can keep it that way. Both of them spend a lot of time free-ranging on the driveway and following us around, it is really sweet. The goats have been keeping Tarka company when he's oin lock up, going over completely voluntarily and spending time in his pen and paddock with him. Ella's taken quite a shine to Tallulah and yesterday Sam and I watched in horror as Tallulah wove in and out of Ella's legs, Ella kep and eye on her and made sure not to stand on the little ginger. Sam was especially nervous knowing first hand the pain that Ella's hooves can inflict, she cleanly removed Sam's big toenail the day after we got engaged, and the worst thing is, I think it was intentional. Since it didn't scare him off and he continued coming back to the farm and eventually moved in, Ella's admitted defeat, realising Sam's tougher than she originally thought and she's been building a relationship with him ever since.

Pigs:
After the scary introduction [where my heart was in my mouth, terrified that Shamey would hurt Tallulah] they've been getting on just fine. Sheamus is the boss but Sam tells me that Tallulah is memory banking all of Shamey's grumpy outbursts and in years to come when she's grown into a big, moody young lady she'll get her own back. I think he's got a good point and Sheamus is probably trying to get his way while he still can. They're very cute together, Sheamus is monstrous next to her, he's so much more relaxed now, we built her an enclusre within Sheamus's enclosure and Shamey spends so much more time in his enclosure now that she's there. She is a trooper, taking everything in her stride and she's quite a speedy little girl, she runs and jumps and at the very sound of Sam's voice she's at his feet, she loves her daddy-man. I love brushing her, that's our special one-on-one time together.  Most evenings Tallulah and Sheamus go off into the hill paddock together and as soon as its dusk Sheamus comes running home leaving Tallulah at the top of the hill on her own, Sam is usually the one that carries her back and she objects with some grizzly little whinges and then snuggles into Sam's arms and enjoys the transport back to her house where she has pellets and a bedtime apple waiting for her.

Goats:
Mabel and Lucifer have been going further afield on their daily expeditions. I'm thrilled to see they're confident enough to head over to the open paddock and graze on the hill without any shrub protection, they must be feeling safe here now. At the slightest sign of trouble Lucifer belts back to the vege garden, whips around the fence post and onto the roof of the maternity hutch and into his enclusure and onto his wooden cable reel. He calls to Mabel and she dutifully wanders over but without the drama or urgency that Lucifer displays. Late last week we had a little sunshower and afterwards Lucifer leapt onto the roof of the maternity hutch and his feet went out from under him and he fell clean off the roof. He picked himself up and seemed fine but I vowed to trim his hooves which I did this weekend. Both Mabel and Lucifer got their hooves trimmed and their dandruff and clumps of winter coat brushed out, they looked a million bucks when we'd finished but neither of them enjoyed the event. They've finally started the leaping, jumping and bucking that all happy little goats should do, I love to watch them.

Chooks:
Nigel still has his head, he's mellowed a lot. The other roosters have left him alone too. Its the season for broodiness and we've had our fair share of broody hens. Little Boots' hatchlings are adorable, she's got four left now, Mumma Rosa has three - a white, a ginger and a black, Pippi is being a fantastic adoptive mum to Little Bit and Little Bit's biological mum Slick is sitting on eggs in the old shed/ tackroom. The latest large hen to go broody is is Violet who hasn't had littlies before. She got terribly upset every time I removed our eating eggs from under her. So, to solve the problem, our neighbour Liz had 25+ eggs under her hen Oprah. Oprah hatched two and then left the eggs. Liz was certain that there were more babies in there so we put them under Violet. A day later there were two health happy newbies and one that got stuck departing the shell, they got collected by Liz. After that another one hatched and sadly got squished in amongst the eggs, then a day later another which survived and this one Violet wasn't letting go. She's been a great mum but the little one needed to get out and about so I moved her and baby into the maternity ward with Slick, Rosa and their babies. I put the eggs under Violet and some others under Matilda the most amazing mother in the world who hatched a clutch of 13 babies in one go and abandoned one egg which was a dud anyway! The maternity ward is looking fantastic, there's a plan to extend it a little.

Introducing Tallulah

Our little piglet finally has a name. Tallulah. We were throwing names around and this was actually one of the first ones we came up with.

She's adorable, becoming more and more a part of the family every day. I'm sure she misses her brothers and sisters and her mum but she has a very doting new family.

We introduced her to Sheamus today, he was a bully but she's a tough little cookie and didn't let his grumpy attitude deter her affections. She even went up to inspect his underside for milky boobs and was quite disappointed when she didn't find any.
 

Our little family is complete....for now.

Today we completed our family with another bristly member. She remains un-named but I'm sure it won't take long for us to figure something out.

Lately Sheamus has been lonely. He has been relentless is trying to befriend Hoby, we come home and find him asleep against Hoby's enclosure. He'll stand in front of Hoby's cage bobbing his head from side to side as if playing a game of peek-a-boo, Hoby barks at him completely enraged, Sheamus thinks its a great game.

We decided on a girl, for a few reasons. Sheamus is castrated, I don't like the idea of breeding animals, other than the chickens that take matters into their own hands, I haven't ever bred anything, choosing instead to adopt, usually a rescued animal. All little boys get the chop, testosterone is a powerful hormone without the satisfaction they seek I'm sure they'd go mad. All our other inhabitants have the company of someone of the opposite sex - Ella and Tarka, Mabel and Lucifer etc. Also, to castrate a male pig they need to go under the knife, it isn't a simple docking ring procedure, I don't feel we have the facilities at the moment to ensure a happy recovery in a secluded area without dust. And because I'm working full time and travelling 2 hours to get to and from work I can't dedicate the time I think is needed to nurse a little fella back to his happy self, having just lost the family jewels.

The first point of contact was obviously the SPCA but there weren't any pigs available so we found a few people advertising in the Auckland and Waikato areas. The first place we tried was just down the road and, well, it made me feel sick. The property was very nice, beautiful gardens and house, nice paddocks, very little grass but the animals seemed content enough. And believe me there were plenty of animals, they were everywhere, every nook and cranny. It was a breeding factory. There were little piglets, goat kids, foals everywhere in pens and small holding paddocks. There was a goat with a plaster cast on its leg, a foal with a raw shoulder and scours a sow with a new litter of piglets. They seemed well enough taken care of but the place was over populated, terribly. The lady was a business woman, wanting a sale above all else. I walked away from there not wanting to buy into her scheme, I have had nightmares about that place ever since. Our second phone call was to a lady also down the road who admitted also to having an overpopulated property, I couldn't even bring myself to go there, instead we headed to a place in Huntly, the man was a farmer and his daughter had always wanted a pig, so she got Suzie a kunekune sow. When the daughter moved to Australia agreed to look after Suzie, the farmer already had a boar called Grunter the inevitable happened when Suzie and Grunter shared an amorous moment together. She'd had a total of two litters (if that's the correct term, I'm not sure). Her babies from February were still there and looked like alert well rounded little critters, the new babies too were all healthy looking. They grazed the farm or 50 acres and were in a paddock with adequate shade, plenty of grass and a trough full of the most revolting stinky slops I've ever smelled. There were black and white ones, black ones and orangutan orange ones, all cute as buttons. Our little girl caught my eye because she wandered up to the trough, spotted a bobbing orange in the trough, climbed into the stinky mess, bobbed for her prize and then when she had it in her tiny little mouth wandered off with it looking for a safe place to consume it. He siblings all huddled around mum and suckled and bickered with each other. The older litter occasionally came in for a visit and mum was very rough with them, tossing them out of the way like they were ragdolls amidst shrieks of dismay. The little girl mixed with her older siblings and happily ate her orange under the tree. When she'd finished she wandered back, I put my hand through the fence, she came straight up to me and chewed on my finger. We asked the farmer what gender she was, he picked her up (very unceremoniously by the front legs) and presented her belly to us. Grab her Sam, I instructed, poor Sam grabbed her and held her close, I held her little face in my hands and soothed her protests. She quickly stopped her screaming, little black eyes staring out from ginger eyelashes. Then I held her and she snuggled, no protests at all. Sam had his eye on a black male from the same litter but this little guy was very clingy to his mum and screamed continuously the whole time Sam held him, there was no consoling this little guy. We put the little girl back, she didn't run off instead she hung around. It was a done deal, sometimes you just feel a connection and I did with this little ginger....oh my, another ginger for the family!

We decided to take her there and then, I wrapped her in some hessian and plopped her on my lap, no sooner had we driven down the driveway she wriggled out of the hessian and duly plopped ON my lap, and arm, in my hair followed by a pee. We emergency wet wiped the mess which added to the rancid slops smell that was ingrained in her coat. Sam suggested we pop in to see Kimberlee and give her a hose down...the pig not Kimberlee! So we dropped in to see Kim and the family and used little James' paddling pool to give her a rinse, Kim brought out some animal shampoo and a few towels so we gave her a really good clean up.

On the way home she snuggled and slept. We even popped into Pokeno for an ice-cream, little piglet finished my ice-cream cone with gusto, maple walnut ice-cream left on her nose. After her impromptu meal she found a comfy spot looking up at me, head between my boobs and reached up to chew on my chin before falling asleep until we got home.

Sam really had to put his foot down to me as I pleaded for him to let me keep her in the house for the night. We settled on her staying in the halfway house which is Hoby's kennel which seems to house new arrivals because it is secure, in the middle of everything and snuggly and warm, it is also beside Sheamus' enclosure so they would be able to get acquainted through the fence. As soon as we pulled up, Sheamus came over chewing on a bone or a stone and frothing at the mouth, he was hungry and had missed our company that evening. When little girl grunted, Sheamus grunted a reply back, they 'talked' for about a minute, it was quite profound.

We settled both porcines into their lodgings, Sheamus looked through the fence at little girl but quickly moved to his feed bowl when Sam dished up a dinner of apples, cabbage and lettuce. Little girl grunted hungrily too so I fed her some apples which she relished. Once she'd finished I let her wander for a while on her own while I put the goats to bed. By this stage it was 9pm but the goats still wanted a cuddle so I obliged, it is really hard not to want to spend time with such cute, interactive little beings. Then, before I too went to bed I put the little girl into the kennel and she settled down for the night. Sam checked her half an hour later and she was asleep, so too was Shamey.

Seeds everywhere.

Over the years I've built up a collection of seeds. My dad's always been a seed saver, keeping bean, pepper and lettuce seeds to regrow year after year. In my first garden in my suburban home I collected my chilli seeds, parsley and a coriander. The coriander seeds ended up in curry and dukkah (oops) and I'm not sure where the chilli ended up but I still have the parsley.

Then I collected beans from my crop here at the farm, beautiful dwarf plants with yellow, buttery pods containing purple beans. I shucked them later in the season once the pods became too stringy to eat.

Now I look through  my collection of seeds that I've purchased and some that I gained from a seed saving box that had done the rounds of New Zealand. I joined a lifestyle farming forum and they had a seed saving box that you could subscribe to. I received the box and signed my name, I took seed and put some of my own seed in. What a fantastic idea these seed boxes are.

Here's what's in my own collection at the moment.

Gaillardia Pulchella - Indian Blanket - a wild flower from central America
Cineraria - I've always loved these, my parents had them pop up everywhere in their garden. I'm not sure what colour flowers these seeds will produce.
Sunflower Skyscraper
Nasturtium Mini
Californian Poppy
Garland Chrysanthemum
Calendula - Daisy Mix
Parsley
Pak Choi
Leek
Tomato Sweet 100 - I love this tomato, it did fantastic in my garden, I roasted the whole trusses in the oven with rock salt, pepper and olive oil.
Heirloom Tomatoes - Black Russian and Black from Tula
Turnip - Tokyo White Cross
Kohlrabi - Early Purple Vienna - two packets.....why?
Mini Pumpkin
Pumpkin | Gourd, elongated and fleshy (another collected by me...like my description?)
Squash - Buttercup
Lovich - a herb which is a great addition to soup apparently, this was collected by my dad.
Coriander
Chicory - Witloof - now this is so exciting because I have always loved the forced sprouts of witloof,
we slice them and dress them oil and vinegar. They're bitter but delicious.
Chicory - Fancy
Coriander - slow bolt
Radish - Easter Egg
Radish - Gourmet Blend
Heirloom Carrot - Nantes Scarlet
Carrots - Early Nantes 5
Lettuce - Fancy Leaf mixed
Heirloom Broccoli - Romanesco
Melon of some description
Onion -  Pukekohe Long Keeper
Parsnip - Supersnip
Radicchio - Palla Rossa
Beetroot - Boltardy
Cress
Salad Mix
Rocket
Mesclun
Courgette - Green Bush
Black Corn
Popcorn
Red & Yellow Corn
Yard Long Bean
Black Navajo Corn
Soya Bean
Long John Green Dwarf
Broad Bean - Red
Purple King Climber
Sugar Snap Bean
Runner Bean
Dalmatian Beans - Climbing
Beans - Yellow Runner (collected by my dad)
Dwarf Butter Beans - yellow pods with purple beans (collected by me)
Dill
Lemongrass
Celeriac
Cape Gooseberry


Quite a collection isn't it.

To ensure that there's room for all these lovely new plants I needed to expand. I turned over the narrow garden strip beside the covered garden. Sam made me some mesh covered frames to protect the plants. I thinned out the covered garden by taking half a dozen of the cabbages out and replanting them in the newly prepared bed. Unfortunately during my lunch break the goats discovered the cabbage plants and nibbled away all the large leaves which has left me with a few pathetic corpse-like plants which may or may not survive.

I sewed some of the radishes and all the beetroot. Mmmm, I'll be having Borscht (Russian beetroot soup) in no time!

The globe artichoke is looking really good, it had about four heads on it, can't wait to steam them and drench them in garlic flavoured olive oil.

In the covered garden the weed laden, gravel path has always bothered me, it is horrible to stand on and harbours weeds so I weeded it for the final time and poured a couple of wheelbarrow loads of wood chip, it is now a much nicer surface to walk on and looks great.

The outside paths also got a few loads of wood chip, the mountain of wood chip is finally starting to diminish. I emptied and moved two of the compost bins, filled some tyres with compost and potatoes. Found a nice spot for a tee-pee frame for my large collection of beans and shoveled a few loads of horse and pig poo into to the newly placed compost bins to anchor them. The garden is takin shape, I'm thrilled with the new narrow garden and the frames that Sam constructed. I made a dinner with loads of herbs from the garden, always a rewarding experience.  

Bees, bees and more bees.

I awoke nice and early this morning excited at the prospect of collecting my first swarm of bees. A lady from work has had a swarm collect in her palm tree. They were living in the neighbour's roofspace and had been swarming in her front yard for the last day or two. She had called the swarm control person in her area but hadn't had anyone come out yet. So I offered to come out and take a look.

First thing I needed was a hive, so after feeding the family I headed to the beekeeping supplies shop and was estatic to see that they were open on this long weekend. I purchased an assembled beginners hive which contained a floor, two full depth boxes, a hive mat and weatherproof roof. I also purchased full plastic frames with wax coating. I headed over to the beekeepers club meeting next and sampled some delicious honey and chatted to fellow newbies (new-bees?). I purchased a book I've wanted for ages - Practical Beekeeping in New Zealand by Andrew Matheson & Murray Reid. I observed the inspecting of three hives, a langstroth, a long hive and a top bar. It was really interesting and I came away with some really good advice. I also purchased a nuc boxwhich means I'll be all set for collecting a swarm. Unfortunately the swarm at my friend's house never formed a cluster and by the time I got there I only saw a few bees. Their home in the the ceiling of the neighbour's house looked like a 'hive of activity' though, ha-ha. So, no bees for me yet.

On my way home I purchased some test pots of bright paint from Resene and a litre of white, I figure if I paint each brood box a different colour I'll always keep track of who is who. I mixed I researched names of Roman, Greek and Egyptian goddesses too so each hive's queen will be named. Name animals is just a thing I do, can't help it.

The hives turned out really well, a single coat of primer and two coats of colour and they're ready to go. I even had a lone bee come in for a visit.

Good morning sunshine.

The morning started with pristine blue skies and not a single cloud but soon the cumulus sweeps over and the wind picks up. I take an indulgent moment to sit with my family and observe.

I feed the goats and the chooks and open the door to their enclosure. They eat all the grain and then slowly wander out. Pippi comes out with her adopted baby Little-Bit. So far Pippi has launched attacks on Sheamus and Lucifer for getting too close as they wander past. She is quite a force to be reckoned with, puffing herself up, fanning her wings out and squawking angrily to anyone that dare come near her precious bub. Of course all that bravado flies out the window at night when she climbs the ramp to the coop and leaves Little-Bit at the bottom as he/she is unable to climb.

I look up the driveway and see that Mabel and Lucifer have finished their grain and they're ready for a day in the open. Mabel's front feet are obviously feeling much better since I trimmed her hooves, she leaps up in the air, swinging her head from side to side, headbutting imaginary goats. Bouncing up and down on all four legs she makes her way up the driveway spending extra time in front of Ella showing off with her bucks, rears, spins and butts. Ella watches out of the corner of her eye, Mabel seems happy with this level of acknowledgment so preforms a grand finale with a gracious bow at the end of it and then toddles up the driveway after Lucifer.

I call them back, Sheamus decides to see what all the excitement is up the driveway, halfway up he realises nothing is happening so turns around. The goats career past him down the driveway sending him into a panicked run. I sit on the upturned bathtub hoping for a cuddle with one or both. Mabel doesn't disappoint, she lets me pick her up and brush her, chewing her cud the whole time. Sheamus stands at my feet watching with interest as I lavish this little creature with attention, attention that I'm sure he believes should be his. Lucifer comes to investigate and climbs up onto the bathtub next to me and sniffs at Mabel. Lucifer loves to nibble my fingers, he particularly likes a silver and turquoise ring I wear on my right hand, he is constantly biting it.

When she's had enough Mabel climbs down and stands on the driveway with Lucifer and they plan their next move. Sheamus walks straight up to them and grunts in their faces sending them scattering in different directions.

I inspect Sheamus's mouth, his tusks are forming and getting bigger with every week. I hope he never uses them against me! 

Mabel's little stub horns are getting bigger, Lucifer's have doubled in length. I've seen him try them out on Mildred the mean chook. I love the dynamics of the relationships here. When Lucifer and Mabel arrived at the farm Alicia the ginger chook had a broken toe after Ella trod on her. She was feeling very miserable and as outcast by the flock. Mildred picked on her terribly and none of them would let her eat grain near them. Along come Mabel and Lucifer they took Alicia in, the three of them would share a bowl of grain with Alicia nestled nice and safely in between the two goats. Alicia spent her days at the top of the enclosure with the goats, basking in the sun with them.

The goats also formed a bond with Tarka when he was penned up with his sore feet, he is so gentle with them but won't tolerate the chooks.

Ella has a great agreement with Barney and Bruce the two wild roosters, she flicks her head when she has a feed and distributes food for them away from her bowl so she can eat in peace. At the end they clean up all the spilled grain, bran and chaff that she's left behind and she watches them.

I notice Little-Jack and Sheamus also have an arrangement. Sheamus lets Jack feed out of his bowl and pick out the little scraps of chewed up food that he spills. Jack makes happy noises and often Xena will come into Sheamus's enclosure for a visit too.

Sheamus wants to be friends with Hoby more than anything. Hoby hasn't a scrap of interest in him. Occasionally when the barking becomes frenzied and I go to investigate I find Sheamus tormenting Hoby, his piggy-snout pressed up against the mesh of Hoby's enclosure he darts from side to side blowing snot all over Hoby and generally having the greatest one-sided game of tag ever. When Hoby plays fetch he'll drop the ball in front of Sheamus's face and then watch for a second and then snatch it, while Sheamus allowed this behaviour for all of two minutes he eventually gave the pompous little ginger dog a shunt in the shoulder with his snout sending Hoby tumbling. Sheamus doesn't spectate during the games of fetch anymore but Tarka does, he seems miffed by the objective of the game. I'm sure he says in his very masculine Tarka voice ....the human throws it away.....far away.....the ginger dog brings it back.....get a clue dude....she doesn't want it! Ella will watch the games of fetch too and seems especially entertained by Hoby's massive wipe-outs, the ones where he tumbles head over tail down the hill and then gets up and walks around in a circle completely disorientated.

The sun has come out again, Berlina chicken has come over to me and lays down on the sheet of hot roofing iron on the ground beside me, she lays to one side spreading out her body to gain maximum sun exposure.

I take my laptop and sit at the top of the stairs of the path leading to my house. At this time Ella is standing dozing in the sun, her hind foot resting and tail swishing gently from side to side. Sheamus nibbles at grass and weeds close to her. Already this morning they've had 'words'. It seems funny that that first thing Sheamus and Ella do each morning is find each other. It is as if gravity pulls them together, they can't live with each other but they can't live without each other.

Little-Boots is sitting on a clutch of eight eggs under a shrub, she takes some time out to stretch her legs, pick around in the dirt, show her general disgust at anyone that tries to come near her and then when she's alone, except for the human that sits three metres away from her next (me!) she lays down in the sun. I see the look of sheer pleasure on her face as she has this moment to herself, in the sun, without a care in the world. She soaks up the sun for about five minutes before diligently returning to her eggs.

Sheamus comes over and lays down behind me, I roll him over so his back is against mine, quite a comfortable back rest even with all those coarse bristles. He makes noises of bliss as I scratch his pink tum while he snoozes in the sunshine. I write until my battery goes flat. What a wonderful day.

Not much achieved today.

I woke up and was in agony with my leg. Such pathetic superficial wounds but my foot was numb and then pins and needles, it felt like there was glass in my knee joint and I got a shooting pain from my ankle right up to my thigh. It took me a good half hour to be able to place any weight on it at all, then I hobbled as badly as Hoby had a week ago. I managed to feed all the animals, albeit slowly. Ella was very concerned and followed me around, gently touching me with her velvet nose. Nigel was in fine form and chased me yet again, I fended him off but it hurts my feelings that he continues to be like this. I know he is a chook and I'm a human but I would've thought he'd have a tiny scrap of loyalty in that body of his.

I then did a very responsible thing....I went to the doctor. He prescribed some antibiotics and confirmed that I had an infection in my knee, nothing more sinister like nerve damage (which I ad feared due to the shooting pain). He suggested a chicken meal for dinner and I considered it but Nigel lives to see yet another day.

Ella made a quick dash for freedom in the afternoon when Sam opened the front gates to drive out. Ella wasn't even up the driveway but decided to gallop past him, the car and the trailer to the nice juicy grass on the un-mown verge outside. It took a LOT of delicious morsels to convince her to come back home. Obviously the diet isn't that popular with her.

I must admit my diet wasn't so successful today. I'm sure I consumed two days worth of calories and didn't exercise at all. My leg is very painful, I've had two doses of anti-biotics and taken it easy today which has been good for my body but not my mind.

Thanks a lot Nigel.

We have a problem. Tonight Nigel launched another attack on me, worse than the last. Again on my left leg, this time he sunk his beak into the side of my knee and hooked both his spurs into me too. I was so shocked and had a bit of a stumble around and then the blood soaked through my leggings and I noticed he'd actually torn holes on my pants. A puncture wound on the side of my knee, another behind my knee and a scratch across the front of my knee and the feeling of being hit by a wrecking ball in a small feathered form. Sam asked me if he should assume to role of executioner which sent me into a state, bawling my eyes out for about 2 minutes. You see I'm scared of Nigel now, he is strong and very vicious and I'm worried for myself but also for children, his beak could take out an eye. He could have a go at Ella too which wouldn't end well for him. So I'm considering his future, being practical and trying not to cry. I suppose it is the way of the world isn't it, if you pick on someone bigger than you eventually they will fight back, I'd rather he be dispatched quickly and efficiently by Sam than pumbled by Ella and have to endure the trauma of being injured.

So now I'm off to treat these injuries properly this time with disinfectant and antiseptic cream and plasters!

Shimmies and shovels.

This weekend was a mixture of things. On the one hand I was shoveling loads of horse poo, pig poo, chook poo and the other general unglamorous elements of lifestyle block maintenance and on the other hand I was sewing sequins, selecting jewellery and getting costumes ready for a dance show.

I am a belly dancer, have been for 9 years now, and I love it. I used to be a professional dancer and get paid (quite well) for dancing in restaurants, at weddings, parties, community events and even on telly! I decided to let professional dancing take a backseat as it started to become more of a job than a hobby and I had never intended it to be like that. So I 'retired' from professional dancing but I kept my foot in the door by continuing to attend weekly classes making the effort to do the 101.2 km round trip to class every Friday night. Every two years we have a show and this Sunday was show day. I was performing in a record-low three items, two were duos with my friend Jo and one was a group item with my shimmy sisters as I call them. They're the reason I make the trip every Friday, I love to catch up with this fun bunch of ladies. Sure we dance but we also laugh, cry, laugh 'til we cry, chat and generally have a blast in each others company. We've seen a lot of faces come and go but this bunch has been pretty consistent for the last few years.

The show finished at 4pm, I was home a couple of hours later (after a leisurely drive home and an ice-cream...oops, what happened to that diet?) and then I donned my scruffs - leggings and gumboots - whilst still wearing full stage makeup and false eyelashes and cut gorse, mowed grass and weeded out the front of the property until 8.30pm. What a great, varied day, the perfect balance of glamor and grunt! My diet isn't going too bad, other than the ice-cream, I'm feeling less bloated and I'm enjoying measuring my food.

My leg is also healing since the Nigel attack, the swelling has gone down and the bruising is showing now.

The final Beekeeping class done and dusted.

I'm actually pretty sad it has come to an end. I can't believe I've completed 7 weeks and I'm still just as enthusiastic as when I started, what has changed is my aim for keeping bees. To start with the honey was the main reason I wanted to keep bees but now I'm more excited about observing the behaviour of bees in the hive. They sound amazing and I've got a new-found appreciation for the teamwork required by these interesting little creatures to keep a healthy hive.
 
In perfect timing I received an email from a friend of a friend who is a commercial beekeeper giving me a phone number for someone that might give me some much needed experience in working hives. I'm hoping to have a hive by the end of the year, I'm currently lacking a bit of courage, nothing that a bit of hands on experience won't combat.

The animals are all great. I have been putting Little-Bit to bed under Pippi's wing each night.

Tarka is great but now Mabel is showing some signs of having sore feet, I'm sure her little hooves just need a trim so I'll get to that after some research on how to trim goats hooves. Hoby is back to his old self and Ella is being very compliant with the dieting rules. Sheamus is having tantrums about being on a diet, poor fella. He's loving roaming free as are the goats, I love that they're one big happy family and I wonder what they get up to when I'm not here. Shenanigans galore I'm sure.   

Another 'Mother of the Year' prize removed.

Is it possible that I jinxed things by mentioning that Slick was in the phase of motherhood where she couldn't really care less about Little-Bit? Tonight, I discovered that Slick had put herself to bed up in the tree with her siblings, parents and uncles. Forget the little bundle of feathers that is her baby peeping around on the ground with no way of getting up into that tree! So, after watching the whole flock go to bed I chased Little-Bit around and boy is he/she fast, and then popped him/her under the wing of Pippi, ironically the 'bad mum' of Little Jack. Perhaps this is her chance to redeem herself?

Nigel attacked me this morning - big time! Not just a warning or funny dance suggesting that I should scoot but fully fledged attack. He sunk his beak into my left thigh, just above my knee and it gave me a dead leg feeling for the whole day, so he's going by his alias 'Asshole' for now.  

Ella and Tarka were tucked into the triangle fatty paddock with a bran mash to help digest all that hay they've been eating. I collected a wheelbarrow load of manure for the heap and took Hoby for a little walk. I'm so glad that Hoby is feeling better, he's got another two days left on antibiotics and this morning was the first morning he's walked on all four feet since last week. I was getting used to the three-legged gallop with the left front foot in propellor mode, cute but tragic at the same time. 

Tarka is also feeling much better. He trotted, soundly, up and down the paddock when he saw Ella so I decided to reunite them for the evening.

Sheamus seems to be getting into the routine of veges for breakfast and a cup of nuts for dinner. The horrid roaring of frustration has stopped now that he's left to free range all day. His diet is now made up mainly of grass and veges with a side of nuts rather than the other way around, although I don't think he's a fan of the new regime I think he's come to accept it. As he and Ella have spent a lot of time together over the last couple of days I see their communication methods have also changed, everything is much more subtle. Ella doesn't need to kick him anymore, instead she hovers a foot in front of him and he promptly moves and Sheamus no longer squeals instead he has a quiet little grunt that Ella immediately understands as 'get out of my way'.

The goats appear to have bonded more with Tarka, probably due to his smaller size and his vicinity to their safe haven. I find them mingling with him without a care. They've become more adventurous and venture into different places - up on the bank, in the drain, on the edge of the bush - always keeping close to their home. When I went to let them back into their enclosure this evening it was already dusk and Mabel's sounded very exhausted and pleased to be going home. They wait by their gate, I open it and they toddle off inside and up to their a-frame house, simplicity at its finest.

So, as I head off to bed knowing that everyone is feeling better, no longer in pain (except me - my leg's killing me!) and accepting their fate as diet-bunnies I begin to contemplate jumping on the bandwagon myself. 10 kg is my aim, I want to get back to 58 kg and a size 10 which is when I felt my best. If I can weigh, measure and control the feed for all my companions surely I can make the time to do it for myself too? I'll try it for a week and see how I go, starting on Saturday!

The results are in.

I woke to the sound of rain on the roof, pelting down and cringed at the idea of more mud but relieved that the family is on the mend. The wind was the strongest we've had in a long time.

The update on the health of the animals:

Tarka is suffering (yet again) from laminitis with the left hind being more affected than the others. There is a slight crack in the sole of the hoof which could be attributing to the favouring of this foot as opposed to all-round discomfort. He was given a shot of bute and is on 2mls of bute paste once a day. With the sachet I gave him in the morning and the shot in the afternoon he was comfortable by the evening on Monday which was a relief. The verdict from the vet is NO GRASS for two weeks and he should be penned for two weeks. Whilst I agree that spring grass is the problem I don't feel that penning him in a woodchip stall is completely necessary. I have bought some nice new hay and will feed hay daily in conjection with a little bran mash every couple of days to loosen things up and also allow him free range of the triangle paddock that adjoins the pen area. It is mostly mud but does have the odd blade of grass which I don't feel will be detrimental to his recovery. Both Tarka and Ella had a tetanus vaccination, Ella was thrilled, she's always happy for attention from strangers, even strangers with sharp prodding items. The vet commented on Ella's fatty bum and was most amused by her cellulite. I don't find mine amusing at all, depressing - yes, amusing - no.

Hoby has an infection in his paw from his snapped nail. Just bad luck really. The remainder of his nails have been trimmed right back and his ears were checked with no visible cause for his deafness so it is as we thought, deterioration of the inner ear from old age. They did warn me that dogs can become senile too in their old age so watch for changes in his behaviour. He was given a shot of anti-biotic and ant-inflammatory and he is on a course of  amoxicillin twice daily for five days. The sedative knocked him for six and he's done very little other than sleep since Monday. He's coming right now and hopped on three legs with a significant amount of vigour.

Lucifer's 'dangly bits' have been banded with a docking ring. Sam was assured by the vet that it was ok even though the small animal vet that saw him for his eye infection a few weeks ago (from the same clinic) said they were too big to band. He appears in good spirits although he's a little uncomfortable. Sam felt like Judas.

I went to the clinic and collected a worming drench and vaccination boosters for both Mabel and Lucifer. I feel weak at the knees at the sight of the needle but my neighbour is a nurse so I'm sure she can give us some tips on how to administer it as painfree as possible for both me and the babies.

The vet also had a look at Sheamus and has deemed him 'too fat' also. He's on a strict diet of 1/3 of the greens (cabbage, lettuce etc.) he's currently getting, his grass intake needs to be upped and he should roam free the majority of the time. He can have a mere half-cup of pellets each day. Oh dear, I will not be popular. She prepared a booster Lepto vaccine for him too, again, to be administered by us....this, I'm really dreading!

All the chooks are in fine form. Little-Bit and Slick are roaming around the property, they're adorable, she's in the "that's the last time I sit on an egg for a month" phase of motherhood. No longer does she run to investigate Little-Bit's every tweet, instead she casually walks the other way hoping someone will answer the call. The challenge for the day was staying upright as the wind gusts ripped through with extra tenacity. Little-Bit had trouble staying on her feet but I would guarantee she slept very well that night.

Pippi is getting broody and is sitting on eggs layed by anyone and everyone in the Cluck Inn. Even though I remove the eggs from her twice daily she still sits on the porcelain egg growling at me. I know this is a controversial subject, most would suggest letting her sit on a few eggs (some might prescribe handing her from a tree in a barren cage with the wind blowing up her bum to dispell the broodiness!) and I might let her hatch a few but given her track record and significant boredom with motherhood three weeks after hatching Little Jack Sparrow left me withdrawing the mother of the year award from her and vowing never to let her hatch any more. Yes, she was dedicated enough to hatch the first little chick we've ever had on the farm but she certainly had no intention of raising it. If it wasn't for Berlina stepping in to nanny the wee chick to adulthood I hate to think what would have happened to Little Jack Sparrow. Listening to Jack's tweets of dispair when she realised her mother had abandoned her was horrible. I still think of that as being Berlina's dream come true, she was totally chuffed sitting on this little peeping creature and teaching it the ways of the world without putting in the weeks of starvation. What a great surrogate mum she turned out to be and what a fabulous hen Jack has become.

The on-going struggle for storage space has eased slightly. Sam realised the need for a door on the gypsy shed which contains the feed bins, after Sheamus' theiving session. And with his newly appointed diet I expect his scavenging to get worse. So, Sam removed the ailing tackroom's door and fitted it to the gypsy shed. I transferred all the gear over and hey-presto a new, bigger storage shed. The doorless old tackroom certainly isn't being wasted, I came home to find Mabel and Lucifer asleep inside after a huge rainstorm ripped through.

There's still so much to do around the place I wonder if I'll ever find the time. With the door on the gypsy shed I feel like that project is now a little closer to being finished. The roof still need to be replaced, I have all the iron I just need to cut and fit it. Once that's done I can line the inside with plywood and mount my racks and hooks and get things up off the floor. In conjunction with this the old tackroom needs to be demolished and then foundations laid on the old site and then the gypsy shed can be craned into place. Again I have all the material for the foundations. It is a nice thought knowing that once it is dine I'll gain a nice, dry storage shed for all my horse gear and a feed station and the carpark will be much more spaciaous without the gypsy shed in the way.

With all that said I'm now really motivated to use Saturday to get the new roof on the gypsy shed!

The favoured left foot.

What a morning!

Got up nice and early, found Tarka still laying down so I got him to his feet and very slowly led him to his stall. He couldn't bear any weight on his left hind but seems tender on his left front too. Poor little fella. I 'locked him up' for the day and gave him a small feed with a whole sachet of bute (pain killer) to keep him comfortable until the vet arrives this afternoon. He likes to stand in the stall when his feet are sore, the wood chip is quite springy and must be a nice surface to stand on. It breaks my heart leaving my babies when they're like this, fortunately with the hours that I work and the hours that Sam works the family is only on their own for about 5 hours a day. It is a catch 22 situation, you have to go to work to earn the money to pay for their care but at the same time you just want to lavish them with attention and sympathy when they're not feeling 100%.

When I stepped into the gypsy shed I was met with the horse feed bin on its side and grain all over the floor. I cleaned it up as much as possible and then carried on with the morning ritual.

As things always seems to go wrong all at once I soon discovered that the combination lock on the tackroom had given up and wouldn't let me in, so after several minutes of cursing I decided to prop the lock up on a rock and smack it with a sledgehammer which granted me instant entry!

Next I checked everyone else outside and they all seem ok, thank heavens.

Went back down to the house to see how Hoby was getting on. Last night's late night hobble to the house broke my heart. Hoby is such a trooper, he hopped on three legs to the house and presented his swollen left paw for me to look at. Straight away I knew the problem. He'd snapped a toenail off pretty close to the quick on Friday night, it wasn't close enough to bleed but it must have been close enough to let some nasty bugs in. He'd not favoured it at all over the weekend but being so muddy around home at the moment it was inevitable that he was going to get mud in it, so an infection has broken out in the 'toe'. It took a few tries before I got hold of the vet to book Hoby in for the day and Tarka in for the afternoon. Hoby needs to be sedated for anything medical related, he's become quite intollerant of poking and prodding in his old age.

I got ready for work, shovelled in a spoonful of chocolate gateaux birthday cake (and I wonder why I'm not skinny!) before grabbing Hoby and loading him into the car. I opened Sheamus's gate on the way past and he made a beeline right for the gypsy shed to take care of the horse feed spill. No amount of persuasion could get him out of there so I secured the other bins as best I could, wondered when he'd learn't how to climb into the gypsy shed and rushed off, now running late. In all the excitement I completely forgot that I'd grabbed the horses' halters and had them in my car, what a ditz!

On the drive to the clinic there was a road block and a policeman standing in the middle of the road asked me if I had any children. I replied with a simple 'no' but felt like saying, I have pets and sometimes I wonder which are more work.

Hoby went into the vet clinic without any reservations and I had to sign a form that said I understand that Hoby might cark it whilst under sedation/ anaesthesia, that's always a sobering moment, I felt such a massive sense of detatchment from my boy as I drive away from the clinic chocking on tears.

Happy Birthday to Ella...and Me!

Today is my birthday, and Ella's. When I acquired Ella 11 years ago in July I was told she was 9 months old, so I did the calculations and realised that if their predictions were correct she was born in October. I bestowed upon her the lucky number 13 as her birth day. Hey, it means I never forget. My animals don't get the birthday cakes or spoilt treatment that some other people put their pets through on their birthdays. I'm thrilled that they were born but I prefer to show my gratitude for having them in my life every day.

I must admit that I had a very lazy day, I lay in bed reading until midday, was presented with breakfast in bed and Sam did the majority of the feeding chores. I decided that everyone could have full run of the property so all the gates were flung open (except the entrance gates!) and everyone mingled. Even Slick and her little chick explored the big wide world.

I pottered away inside doing some sewing and then had cuddles with the fur, feather and bristle family in the afternoon before getting ready for my birthday dinner with my human family.

Shamey (Sheamus) as I affectionately refer to him, met me at the top of my pathway for a big cuddle. You can't help but smile when we walks towards you with his happy face rolling from side to side as he steps in his stilletto-high-heel style walk. His latest trick is to roll over so that you can scratch his big pink tummy. I was interested to see that he and Ella have come to a mutual understanding. She came over to say 'hi' walking next to him and he gave a quiet squeal that almost sounded like a 2 year old saying 'Ellllaaaaaah, its my turn' and Ella stopped and went 'alright-alright' gave me a look and wandered off to eat grass. Her enthusiasm still freaks him out but he doesn't run squealing with her in hot pursuit anymore. He went through a phase of stopping suddenly and facing her head on and grunting very forcefully and blowing boogers at her in the process, she got the message pretty quickly that he wasn't interested in being friends. Since then a very emotionally hurt and rejected Ella has gently kicked him in the rump on one occasion just for the sake of it. Sheamus didn't even acknowledge her beligerant spite but instead continued to appear jovial about digging wallows in her paddock. It is nice to see that they now have a language they both understand although I'm still not sure who is the boss of who.

Mabel called out to me when she heard my voice, she was on the edge of the bush nibbling at all sorts of delicious things. She had found a patch of honeysuckle with brand new sweet little leaves and was happily tucking in, bragging about it to me in between mouthfuls. Lucifer was a good distance away from her and seemed much more on edge. I called him and he hurtled towards me down the driveway and then as if he realised mid gallop that he wasn't actually supposed to let on that he was pleased to see me he stopped, turned around and went the opposite direction for a couple of steps before deciding that the cat was out of the bag, he liked me and he wanted to see me, especially to nibble on my sterling silver and turquoise ring that he's so facinated with.

The getogether at my sister's house was lots of fun. We had a great dinner. Egg salad, mashed potatoes, steamed peas, carrots, brocolli and cheese sauce with vege schnitzel for me and beef schnitzel for everyone else. My family all pitched in to buy me some beekeeping equipment including a veil, overalls, gloves, a hive tool and smoker. Now I'm all set, I just need a hive and some bees.

It was a great evening until we got home to find Tarka laying down with heat in his hind hoof and Hoby hopping on three legs. There was nothing I could do so late at night that wouldn't send me completely broke (ie. call the on-call vet for Tarka and take Hoby to the after hours vet) and irritate the animals so I decided to let them get a night's sleep. I went to bed knowing full well I'd have a restless sleep worrying about my boys but at least I could come up with a plan for the morning.

Safe Haven

I have long known that my home is my safe haven, and I don't just mean the four walls of my house, my home extends to the bush and pasture, that's home to me. Today I discovered that Lucifer also has a safe haven. I got up nice and early, it was a beautiful day, perfect blue sky.

I took to the horses to the grass verge out the front of the property to their taped area and carted up some water. Then I heard a mischevious 'maaaaaa'  which is Mabel's catchword, emitted in several different tones I can often tell when she's up to no good or in dire straits or just plain contented and today it was a 'maaaa [look where I am!]'.

There they were, not just Mabel but Lucifer too, out in the gorse paddock, close to the goat house- cum-chicken run enjoying the lush grass. So proud was Mabel that she had to come and tell me all about it, Lucifer on the other hand realised that something was up so he dove back under the fence into the enclosure. My heart swelled with love for this little guy, he knew he was safe in there. Of course my heart always swells for Mabel when I see her walking towards me or calling out to me, albeit for food. Perhaps that's the driving force behind my animals' happiness to see me but hey, when there's no food on offer and they still hang around I like to think it is for the company!

So I picked up little Miss Mabel with a huge bloated tummy and reunited her with Lucifer. His eye is back to normal again thank goodness, it is horrible seeing your favourite companions with health problems. They spent the rest of the day laying on the safe side of the fence chewing their cud and generally enjoying life.

Sheamus came out for a wander, we went for a wander around the perimeter of the paddock which was horse free, no pesky ginger pony to stalk him. When we reached the drain he stopped and made a wallow for himself. The drain collects all the run off water from the paddocks from the neighbours it flows contantly in winter but tends to be boggy in spring and summer. Sheamus was delighted to find this natural treasure, his powerful snout turned over the weeds and grass and dug around in the mud, then he flopped himself down and made noises of utter bliss.  I left him basking the the sun and walked to the top of the gorse paddock. Yikes, the gorse has really gone crazy this year, I'm going to dedicate a bit of time to cutting it down. It would only take a full weekend with loppers and a chainsaw.

Sorry for the lack of commitment!

Oh dear, my commitment to this blog has been lacking a little hasn't it? I have so much to update you on, I will update it and backdate the entries so that they appear correct chronologically.

Today I had a great morning (after such a disaster of a weekend). I completed the morning feeds in record time, with my faithful assistant Sheamus. We've formed a real bond and I feel he is privy enough in the lay of the land to come out for little wanders with me regularly now. He has his favourite spots to visit such as the plateau in the bush paddock, the long patch of grass on the hill in the moonlight paddock and beside the drain by the vege patch. I'm so glad I used the 'shakey tin' from day one, if you haven't heard about the shakey tin is is basically a lidded metal tin containing some pebbles, I shook it before every feeding time for the first week. He didn't have a name he knew when he came to live with us so until he learned his name I thought it would be good for him to have something he could associate with. Now, as soon as Sheamus hears me shaking the tin he comes running, he gets rewarded with a scratch behind the ears or if it is feeding time he'll go into his enclosure and be fed. I use the tin very rarely though because he now knows his name and the tones in which I use his name he often comes when called. We're quite strict about feeding, he only gets fed in his enclosure from his designated bucket and occasionally Sam will hand feed him but he has to sit before the food is given to him (dropped on the ground, not placed in his mouth) and our reasoning behind this is that he is an extremely heavy and strong animal that could bowl over anyone with enthusiasm. So we make sure that we show him love by spending time with him, scratching him behind the ears, on his back, tummy etc, cuddles and lots of talking, he loves to be talked to. He rewards my affections with contented grunts, following me around like my shadow and generally being great company. He is quite independent at timesbut seems to fret when he is out and about and can't see us. I hope that in time he'll be able to stay out a lot more but that means we need to make some Sheamus free zones such as near any rubbish bins or boxes that might possibly contain delicious morsels but 99% of the time don't.

Slowing down.

Slowing down is probably one of the most difficult instructions for me to follow. My lovely Sam keeps telling me to slow down, the doctor has told me to slow down, my family tells me to slow down. Slow down and please don't take anything else on.

Why is it that I have to stay so busy all the time to feel content? I look at my life the way it is at the moment and I'm imploding. I have so much to do but I don't have the healthy body needed to do it all. I puff when I walk from the house to the car. I feed the animals and I just need a sit down. They all call out to me, my horses whinnying and my little pig squealing with excitement, I haven't seen the goats for two day but Sam has and says they're fine. My body aches and I wonder if this feeling will ever go away? Somewhere in the depths of my practical self I know that I am just being dramatic and I'll be over this flu and getting on with things in no time but I do get down when I'm feeling this way.

I have had a week off work. I have had a week of basic interaction with my pet family and I miss them like crazy. In my mind I have let them all down and I feel awful.

This morning and many others started at about 6.50am which is when my body is naturally waking right now, in a bit of a jumble because the days are getting longer. So, with my body clock tweaked into this odd pattern I lay in bed and try to doze but instead I think. The rain pelts down on the roof, I think of the guttering that I have been meaning to install on the back of the house and then I think of the bathroom roof that needs sweeping of rimu branches. I think of having to brave the weather to feed the animals. I need to go out to buy more chook food and fill my car with petrol. Then the call of nature gets my out of bed, I take the dog out and as I'm clipping him up to his zippy line, all the while I'm thinking, thinking, thinking, I put my boot on a muddy patch of clay and slip in an award winning fashion, my right thigh's pajama leg soaking up the morning's torrential rain, it soaks into my underwear now and my shoulder. I attempt to get up, this is easier said than done. I flail on my back like a turtle the wrong way up, the dog stares at me, no doubt wondering what I'm up to. I still need to answer the call of nature and I'm now in fear of either bursting into tears and pissing myself or laughing out loud and pissing myself. So, I roll onto my hands and knees into the muddy path, my palms now covered in kanuka leaves and clay and march down to the dunny. So, that's how my day started and how my thinking abruptly stopped. Now, I'm really awake and any chance of going back to bed is lost. I switch the heater on so I don't catch my death of cold....oh wait, I'm half way there already. What the heck, at least I'll have a warm room should my death of cold be caught.

There's a goat shoulder roast thawing on the bench that needs to be cooked today, my kitchen is a shambles due to the worlds longest renovation.

I go out, feeding little pig before I do and saying hello to everyone. I pick up all the supplies and come home and feed everyone. My conscience feels better for knowing they all have full tummies. I retreat to the house to feed my own and put on the roast. I pick some fresh herbs for the roast vegetables and a sprig of rosemary for the meat.

This goat meat is the only meat I'm eating at the moment. Although I don't like'labels' I'm survive on a pescatarian diet most of the time, this means that basically the only flesh I eat is seafood mainly because I have been gathering shellfish and fishing since I was a child, the whole day would be dedicated to catching dinner and if I can kill it I deserve to eat it, that' my theory. However in this instance the theory of waste-not, want-not came into effect. When a representative from the large corporation next door called me to warn me of the hunters scouring the area for the purpose of goat control I immediately asked what they would do with the carcases. I obtained the hunter's phone number and asked if I could have one of the goats and he very kindly obliged with not one but two pygmy goat carcases that had been gutted and were minus heads and tails. Sam skinned and butchered them and we were left with an astonishing amount of meat which went into the deep freeze. So far we've had it roasted, curried, in pies and in the slow cooker. My favourite method so far is in the slow cooker which creates a melting tenderness that is delicious. I love goats as pets and I love seeing them in the wild but they need to be controlled and I would much rather this control method than the one that they were using when I first moved here which was poison. It was horrible, every day the smell of rotting goat carcases would fill your nostrils, every day they would be in various stages of decay. The banks of the stream were littered with them, it was heartbreaking. I would much rather the skill of a hunter with a silenced rifle shooting dead these little creatures before they even know what is going on than a slow and lonely death by poison.

I couldn't imagine having an animal here and not forming a bond with it, and then once I've bonded with it I certainly couldn't destroy its trust by killing it. That is just my opinion and I'm not that enthusiastic about meat these days but one day I may see things in a different light. 

Evening 2 of the Beginners Beekeeping Course

Wow, bees are amazing. Tonight we did bee biology and I am blown away by these incredible little creatures. More info to come.

Evening 1 of the Beginners Beekeeping Course

Tonight was day one of the course and what a fantastic bunch of people we are, even if I do say so myself! Such a variety of ages and interests that brought us to the class. We introduced ourselves and then gave a little spiel on why we're doing the class and what we hope to achieve.

I mentioned my love of mead and my walks past the hives next door at Watercare.

We were jolted into the reality of beekeeping and all the risks in tonight's lesson. The law and requirements regarding registration were the hot topics. I had no idea that you had to register beehives, it all makes sense now as to why this is so important. The varroa mite was discussed and so was American foulbrood which I'd never heard of, this is a bacterial disease that spells imminent fiery destruction of the affected hive and all its occupants. So sad.

Also, allergic reactions to bee stings and products were discussed. I think an epipen might be a good investment at some stage. I'd hate to be with someone suffering anaphylaxis and be unable to help them.

Welcome home Sheamus, Lucifer and Sheba.

They arrived safely! Sheamus the pig and Little Lucifer & Sheba the goats.

We passed!

Yay, we passed the inspection! Three new furry family members will arrive tomorrow, I'm so excited. Lots of photos to come.

Gearing up for the new arrivals.

Construction of the pig pen is coming along nicely, finishing off the fence tonight and building a gate and a goat house. Picking up wood chip and wood shavings tomorrow. Hope we can get it all done in time for the inspection on Friday. If we pass we'll be picking up two little goats and a pig from the SPCA on Saturday. So excited and nervous.

Ella goes nude.

Ella's new synthetic cover has lasted all of two months before she ripped the arse out of it, so I currently have a very naked and miserable pony.

A seed of possibility was sewn today.

I could have a pig. The SPCA has a few of them and my lovely sister suggested one which looks a little bit big but there is another one on there that might be more suited to us. It got me thinking though....

Sick again!

Well I'm sick, off work for four days and to combat the boredom I'm watching Seasons 1-3 of Downton Abbey. Awesome show. Love it.

I miss my outdoor animals. Hoby is great indoor company though.

Stay tuned for.....Bees!

Today I signed up for a 7 week beekeeping course. I can't wait to start on the 4th September. I also joined the Auckland Beekeeping Club.

Books, where would I be without them?

Something that I’m really enjoying at the moment is ordering my books from the library online. I love being able to search through all the books in all the libraries in Auckland and then select and order the ones I want, to be delivered to the library of my choice to collect. I’m an old fashioned girl, I don’t think reading from a tablet will give me the same sense of excitement as opening a book and smelling the sweet aroma of ink and paper. Also, choosing to read paperback books before bed is more for my own health and safety as I usually nod off and end up bopping myself in the nose with the book, a tablet might do a bit more damage!

Obviously the sleep in yesterday did Hoby a world of good, this morning he did a little dance for his breakfast, I love to see him so excited about his breakfast-biscuits. The horses got their much awaited hard feed and I got to work on time.

First Wednesday back at work.

Work on a Wednesday just seems so ‘against the grain’. It was a bit of a struggle; to start with I had a technological programming malfunction. I tried entering in a repeat alarm in my phone but ended up repeating it for the day before and therefore enjoyed a lengthy sleep in with Hoby when it failed to go off. I got to work only 10 minutes late which isn’t too bad I suppose. As I keep reminding my boss, “you never complain when I stay late so you can’t complain when I show up late!” and I have put in some long hours over the busier times.  

The horses got a feed of hay, not hard feed. The chooks were happy as usual to see me emerge from the Heidi-house.

The weekend is almost over.

I spent a lot of time with my lovely Hoby this weekend, it was just what I needed, I miss him so much during the week days when I'm at work.

Sam and I dug over out new garden bed today. It was littered with gravel so the traditional spade method was abandoned and a fork was used to great effect. The clay was so thick and rank in some areas it smelled of sulphur, not ideal for a vegetable garden. It will have sand and compost added to it soon.

Along the back bed beside the caged garden I added two half drums of rotted down horse poo laden with big, fat, healthy garden worms. I made sure the chooks were locked away as worm don't last long with chooks around. I planted a heap of blue flowered borage plants and a globe artichoke and some lemon balm.

I found a very sad looking rhubarb plant too, I doubt it will survive the chickens love the leaves, odd as they're highly poisonous to humans.