Wild goats. Love them or not they've always been a part of my life here in Hunua. Whether it is a glimpse of a lone goat on the side of the road in the gorge or a herd of 30-odd blocking our driveway they're around and probably always will be. I love them. In fact any creature that can fend for itself is admired by me. Who are we to point the finger and say they're destructive and wrecking our native bush....look what we as humans do to this fine world of ours. So, destructive or not I do enjoy seeing these little creatures roaming around. If humans were more resourceful and exercised their right to a carnivorous diet by hunting their meat instead of buying it on plastic trays would we have the problem with goats, possums and rabbits? Food for thought isn't it?
At the moment there's a herd of about 10 magnificent wild goats that are coming over from the army land. A huge billy with impressive horns accompanied by does and kids. They are very inquisitive and Sam managed to get pretty close to them yesterday to take photos. They seem to show up without fail at about 5pm each evening and graze the long grass at our property El Ranchero and our neighbour's too. The kids frolic and play with so much zest for life, oh to be so carefree!
At home our own goats have been creating quite a fuss lately. Lucifer loves to leap onto the bonnet of our cars, of course we tell him off and chase him down but he is a goat and goats to love to be up high. It isn't as if he hasn't got plenty of other places he could play but the cars are his favourite play-things right now. I came home last week after going out to lunch with a friend and as I was collecting my things together in the car Lucifer leapt onto the bonnet and then onto the roof to do a tapdance. In turn I leapt out of the car and grabbed him in mid dance and lifted him off the roof, taking time for a quick cuddle. Then I lowered him to the ground, as he felt the earth beneath his feet he threw his head back, catching his horn on my dangley earring, and took off. My earring half tore, half pulled out of my ear, and in true Heidi fashion I was fine until I saw blood. I had to sit with the pigs and regain my composure, then Sam came home and inspected the damage. Luckily it wasn't torn all the way through the earlobe so I may be able to salvage the piercing. I'd already had visions of sporting the single pirate-style gold earring, to which an eye patch would be an absolute necessity.
Today I went out to let the animals out of their sleeping quarters, all except for the horses who had remained out overnight. The pigs usually have a quick tummy rub and snuggle before wandering off. The goats try to intercept my travels back to the house by cutting me off mid stride, leaping up into the air and galloping sideways endeavoring to convince me that it would be way more fun spending time in the sunshine with them. And don't I know it! On this beautiful morning the goats and pigs followed me up into the paddock while I checked on the horses. Ella was laying in the sunshine with Tarka standing over her. As I reached her, Sheamus went up to her for a sniff, she didn't mind, Tallulah nudged her, she protested with pinned ears but continued to lay there, then Lucifer arrived. He sniffed Ella's bum and leapt onto her rump, I expected Ella to hate this blatant disrespect but she didn't bat an eyelid, as if this happens every day. Lucifer, looking quite smug atop his horse-rump mountain spun around and sprung up kicking his heels into the air. Ella just looked at him, not minding this playing at close quarters, then she rolled a couple of times and got back to her feet. With the whole family complete they wandered off to graze together.
How lucky we are to have such a fabulous four legged family that co-habitate so well. It is these moments of interaction between species that remind me how closed minded we are to think that spoken words are the most effective method of communication. They have a language they use with one another and it is something they all understand. Of course no language will suppress mischievous personalities or boundary pushing exercises (of which Lucifer and Ella are prime examples). I remember how kind Ella was to Tallulah when she arrived as a tiny little piglet with no mum or siblings to keep her company. Ella would 'kiss' Tallulah's back with her nice warm muzzle, she did this often, as a form of comfort. She had a motherly look of concern on her face for this tiny little creature that made such a lot of noise. It was a similar story with the goats who took a long time to gain confidence on the property, they took an instant liking to Tarka....possibly due to his colouring and height and stuck to him like glue, now the goats roam all over the property and they're never far from their Tarka, or God as I'm sure they see him as.
We have a few bunnies back at the farm, they look healthy enough but I wonder if they'll get sick like the others. For the time being they're enjoying interacting with the chooks and one even sneaks up on our neighbour's chick Squirt who we're fostering and plays a game of peek-a-boo. Which Squirt still hasn't grasped the concept of and suffers a small moment of heart failure with every BOO.
Last week we spent a small fortune on fencing rails for our new three-rail pig proof post and rail fence. So far we've fenced the culvert and installed a gate which has become our new front gate. The original entrance has a double gate system , it is quite a handful to co-ordinate the two when it is windy. The new entrance is fantastic, Sam did a stellar job of getting the gudgeons perpendicular which has resulted in a beautifully hung gate. I love the new entrance way.
As the weather becomes more stable and the rain stops falling I look up into the clear sky and think I really am lucky to have such a beautiful home. Now I'm off to buy 22 metres of cord to repair my two broken blinds so that I can let the sun shine in.
Time alone.....or so I thought.
This is the weekend of the Kumeu car show and Sam decided to camp there on Friday night. Now, I've been a solo life-styler for years but in the last eight months Sam's been on site and there's barely a day that goes by that we don't see each other. Strange but I thought I'd really miss him, his company, them I remembered the rest of the family. I walked Hoby and then stayed out with the farmies (goats, chooks, horses and pigs) until darkness fell. I read a book, watched a movie and had a yummy dinner. In short, I barely noticed Sam was gone.
I got up early this morning and went out to see my friend and graphic designer at a really cut cafe called Garnet Station. Then I popped in to see Mum and Dad.
When I got home all the family came to meet me, you'd have thought I'd been gone for a year! I felt very special. I played a game of flinger with Hoby and then had tummy cuddles with Tallulah and a tummy rub with Shamey. Tarka came down for a brush and some special one-on-one time. Ella eventually left the top corner of the paddock (where she'll stand for hours talking to Dexter across the road) and because I'd fed half of the carrot to Tarka and the other half to Tallulah trying to teach her how to sit (failed) I had to pinch a radish from the garden, Lucifer nicked a few of the long prickly leaves and Ella snaffled the rest.
Mabel came over for a cuddle with me while I was in the stall with Tarka and Lucifer licked the pink-rock-of-deliciousness (a.k.a pink rock salt block). Lately Lucifer has been extra inquisitive and friendly but still freaks out when I touch him. Actually when I say freaks out, what I mean is he has all the attitude of a ten year old boy, basically if I touch him he runs off and I get the feeling he's saying to himself "ew, girl germs, girl germs". Today however Lucifer was extra brave and perhaps a little jealous of the attention everyone else was getting so he put on a leaping and balancing show for me. He is quite talented. He leaped over a metre onto the horse poo pile, then he walked along the 100mm rail on top of the gate. Once he was there he looked me dead in the eyes and dropped his head a little which means "PLAY?" I answer his question by holding up my fist, he pushed into it with his head. Then he rubbed his head all over me. Took a step back re-assessed the situation and realised that it was fun having a playmate. He's tried playing with Ella and butting her between the eyes which ended in him being chased the whole length of the paddock by the 500 kg redhead. He knows better than to mess with Tarka, because in Lucifer's eyes Tarka is god-goat. He's no doubt messed with Sheamus but again, I doubt that was much fun. Mabels boring. So far Tallulah's been his best bet but she just screams in terror as he runs up and t-bones her the guts but she can't run as fast as he can so he gets a few good shots in.
Poor little Disco Batman has gone missing, I'm sure he has either been snatched by a hawk or the disgusting cat from next door. Little Mohawk has drowned (in the trough that I rescued Nemo from a few months ago) so that just leaves Robin, Nemo and Squirt, one baby for each mumma. It is sad but there's not much I can do with free ranging chooks, there's always going to be natural predators and dangerous situations. The troughs are either very high or if low they've got the minimum amount of water to ensure the animals can get to them but still these accidents happen. Farewell little beings that don't make it, they're all sorely missed.
Minus the departed souls I've had a lovely couple of days and I feel so lucky to have such a neat bunch of furry, bristly and feathery companions.
I got up early this morning and went out to see my friend and graphic designer at a really cut cafe called Garnet Station. Then I popped in to see Mum and Dad.
When I got home all the family came to meet me, you'd have thought I'd been gone for a year! I felt very special. I played a game of flinger with Hoby and then had tummy cuddles with Tallulah and a tummy rub with Shamey. Tarka came down for a brush and some special one-on-one time. Ella eventually left the top corner of the paddock (where she'll stand for hours talking to Dexter across the road) and because I'd fed half of the carrot to Tarka and the other half to Tallulah trying to teach her how to sit (failed) I had to pinch a radish from the garden, Lucifer nicked a few of the long prickly leaves and Ella snaffled the rest.
Mabel came over for a cuddle with me while I was in the stall with Tarka and Lucifer licked the pink-rock-of-deliciousness (a.k.a pink rock salt block). Lately Lucifer has been extra inquisitive and friendly but still freaks out when I touch him. Actually when I say freaks out, what I mean is he has all the attitude of a ten year old boy, basically if I touch him he runs off and I get the feeling he's saying to himself "ew, girl germs, girl germs". Today however Lucifer was extra brave and perhaps a little jealous of the attention everyone else was getting so he put on a leaping and balancing show for me. He is quite talented. He leaped over a metre onto the horse poo pile, then he walked along the 100mm rail on top of the gate. Once he was there he looked me dead in the eyes and dropped his head a little which means "PLAY?" I answer his question by holding up my fist, he pushed into it with his head. Then he rubbed his head all over me. Took a step back re-assessed the situation and realised that it was fun having a playmate. He's tried playing with Ella and butting her between the eyes which ended in him being chased the whole length of the paddock by the 500 kg redhead. He knows better than to mess with Tarka, because in Lucifer's eyes Tarka is god-goat. He's no doubt messed with Sheamus but again, I doubt that was much fun. Mabels boring. So far Tallulah's been his best bet but she just screams in terror as he runs up and t-bones her the guts but she can't run as fast as he can so he gets a few good shots in.
Poor little Disco Batman has gone missing, I'm sure he has either been snatched by a hawk or the disgusting cat from next door. Little Mohawk has drowned (in the trough that I rescued Nemo from a few months ago) so that just leaves Robin, Nemo and Squirt, one baby for each mumma. It is sad but there's not much I can do with free ranging chooks, there's always going to be natural predators and dangerous situations. The troughs are either very high or if low they've got the minimum amount of water to ensure the animals can get to them but still these accidents happen. Farewell little beings that don't make it, they're all sorely missed.
Minus the departed souls I've had a lovely couple of days and I feel so lucky to have such a neat bunch of furry, bristly and feathery companions.
Happy New Year
My first post in 2014 and there's so much going on.
I hope you enjoyed the festive season as much as I did. I love Christmas and the lead up to Christmas and Christmas music, oh how I love the music. My favourite carol of all time is O Holy Night, I listen to just about every version every artist has put out and Andrea Bocelli is still the winner in my opinion although Josh Groban and Celine Dion do pretty good versions also. So with the Christmas music blasting the kitchen goodies that Sam and I made this year were Lemon Curd, Apple and Plum Jelly and Ginger, Pistachio & Cranberry Biscotti to give away to friends and family. We used up our stockpiled free-range eggs, picked a tree of lemons bare and scoured the many aisles of fruit markets to find our ingredients. Then we scrubbed, zested, peeled, chopped, juiced, stirred, boiled, re-boiled and bottled our creations. We bought our jars from Arthur Holmes Ltd and dressed up the final product with cute coloured hessian fabric and stickers. It was a great bonding time for Sam and I and a chance to slow down from the busy-ness, you have to go slow and be patient when doing these things, I found out the hard way by burning a batch of lemon honey...not that Sam complained as he ate the yellow (with black freckles) goop every day for the next two weeks! The lemon curd made many a lemon meringue pie, pavlova, toast and biscuit topping and has now become my memorable taste of Christmas 2013.
Next Christmas I'll have a go at candied peel and fruit cakes I think. I now have a fabulous biscotti recipe that I'll definitely use again and probably adapt to be just a plain almond biscotti which is my favourite.
On the animal front I managed to get Ella and Tarka's hooves trimmed just before Christmas, thank goodness. Their waistlines are looking great, they have free run of the place at the moment although I do lock them up overnight sometimes especially after they've spent a day out the front on the grassy-grass verge. The chooks are good, the babies are growing and there are still a few broodies sitting diligently on egg so we'll have some more additions in the weeks to come. Nigel attacked me again, while I was wearing shorts and gave me another hole in my knee. This time I washed it out straight away and dosed it with anti-biotic ointment (that the doctor gave me after the last injury) and covered it with a plaster. That exercise helped as I didn't get the major swelling or pain like I had with the others.
Sheamus and Tallulah are the best of mates, they go for a mid-morning and an afternoon siesta every day, side by side in Sheamus's bed, Tallulah's purpose built house will be donated to the chooks now as she never uses it.
Mabel and Lucifer have been the real show-stoppers lately, their bravery astounds me. They are very interactive little critters now. Every evening we spend time with the animals, piggy tummy rubs, games of fetch with Hoby, horsey cuddles, being a human-jungle-gym fer the chickens and all this with the goats looking on from a distance. But now they join in. Mabel loves having the base of her horns scratched and her tummy tickled and will even let me wrap my arms around her in a bear hug, Lucifer likes to stand on his hind legs, put his front hooves on my tummy and chew on my index finger but he won't allow me to lay that chewed index finger on him. He's the instigator of all the attention but pushes Mabel up to me for cuddles and watches on fascinated. When I lay down in the grass he always comes over to sniff my elbow or put his little black velvet muzzle millimetres from my face. He's interested in me but lacks the courage to let me scratch him behind the horns. When I put them to bed I take cabbage leaves from my garden and we cluster around the cable reels, I sit on the low one and they jump up onto the tall one, they love this time. They frolic and chase each other and torment the other animals, poor Tallulah cops a few butts to the side when Lucifer is in a playful mood, she squeals loudly but that's about the extent of her objections. Ella on the other hand got a nudge in the guts the other evening and in true Ella style squealed in disgust and in a rolling thunderous canter chased Mabel and Lucifer down the hill and out onto the driveway, and then stopped and snorted as if to say 'get out and stay out!' then she turned and wandered back up the hill to resume grazing. Lucifer's eyes were gleaming with mischief as he mulled over his options of who would be his next victim.
Tallulah has become, unfortunately, a human-house dweller. Not intentionally nor a welcomed house dweller I might add. The famous line of the day on Christmas Day was "why is there a piglet in the kitchen?" Yep, she'd wandered in through the front door and was tucking into the bag of apples I'd designated for the Christmas treat for the animals. She just didn't want to miss out I guess. But since then any time we're airing out the house or if we come in armed with a bag of groceries and put them on the floor she's hot on our heels and has her little piggy snout in the bag before you can say "what's this pig doing in the house?" usually in a loud, high pitched voice. She's also become a master tummy-cuddler, in the sense that when I'm laying in the grass she'll climb onto my tummy, lay down and snore in my face, protesting with squeals every time I move to get up. A ten minute tummy-cuddle usually suffices. One day it was pouring with rain so we didn't get up to spend out evening time with the animals and Tallulah didn't get her tummy cuddle for the day, that night at 10.30pm she turned up at the French doors to my bedroom and pushed her nose up against the glass. We tried ushering her back up to the sty but she kept coming back, squeezing through every gap in the fence she could find. In the end I gave in, wrapped her in a towel and lay on my bed cuddling her for 10 minutes with grassy burps and piggy snores coming from her. After that she put herself to bed with Sheamus. I suppose I have to remind myself that she's still just a baby and mummy cuddles are a precious thing at that age.
I hope you enjoyed the festive season as much as I did. I love Christmas and the lead up to Christmas and Christmas music, oh how I love the music. My favourite carol of all time is O Holy Night, I listen to just about every version every artist has put out and Andrea Bocelli is still the winner in my opinion although Josh Groban and Celine Dion do pretty good versions also. So with the Christmas music blasting the kitchen goodies that Sam and I made this year were Lemon Curd, Apple and Plum Jelly and Ginger, Pistachio & Cranberry Biscotti to give away to friends and family. We used up our stockpiled free-range eggs, picked a tree of lemons bare and scoured the many aisles of fruit markets to find our ingredients. Then we scrubbed, zested, peeled, chopped, juiced, stirred, boiled, re-boiled and bottled our creations. We bought our jars from Arthur Holmes Ltd and dressed up the final product with cute coloured hessian fabric and stickers. It was a great bonding time for Sam and I and a chance to slow down from the busy-ness, you have to go slow and be patient when doing these things, I found out the hard way by burning a batch of lemon honey...not that Sam complained as he ate the yellow (with black freckles) goop every day for the next two weeks! The lemon curd made many a lemon meringue pie, pavlova, toast and biscuit topping and has now become my memorable taste of Christmas 2013.
Next Christmas I'll have a go at candied peel and fruit cakes I think. I now have a fabulous biscotti recipe that I'll definitely use again and probably adapt to be just a plain almond biscotti which is my favourite.
On the animal front I managed to get Ella and Tarka's hooves trimmed just before Christmas, thank goodness. Their waistlines are looking great, they have free run of the place at the moment although I do lock them up overnight sometimes especially after they've spent a day out the front on the grassy-grass verge. The chooks are good, the babies are growing and there are still a few broodies sitting diligently on egg so we'll have some more additions in the weeks to come. Nigel attacked me again, while I was wearing shorts and gave me another hole in my knee. This time I washed it out straight away and dosed it with anti-biotic ointment (that the doctor gave me after the last injury) and covered it with a plaster. That exercise helped as I didn't get the major swelling or pain like I had with the others.
Sheamus and Tallulah are the best of mates, they go for a mid-morning and an afternoon siesta every day, side by side in Sheamus's bed, Tallulah's purpose built house will be donated to the chooks now as she never uses it.
Mabel and Lucifer have been the real show-stoppers lately, their bravery astounds me. They are very interactive little critters now. Every evening we spend time with the animals, piggy tummy rubs, games of fetch with Hoby, horsey cuddles, being a human-jungle-gym fer the chickens and all this with the goats looking on from a distance. But now they join in. Mabel loves having the base of her horns scratched and her tummy tickled and will even let me wrap my arms around her in a bear hug, Lucifer likes to stand on his hind legs, put his front hooves on my tummy and chew on my index finger but he won't allow me to lay that chewed index finger on him. He's the instigator of all the attention but pushes Mabel up to me for cuddles and watches on fascinated. When I lay down in the grass he always comes over to sniff my elbow or put his little black velvet muzzle millimetres from my face. He's interested in me but lacks the courage to let me scratch him behind the horns. When I put them to bed I take cabbage leaves from my garden and we cluster around the cable reels, I sit on the low one and they jump up onto the tall one, they love this time. They frolic and chase each other and torment the other animals, poor Tallulah cops a few butts to the side when Lucifer is in a playful mood, she squeals loudly but that's about the extent of her objections. Ella on the other hand got a nudge in the guts the other evening and in true Ella style squealed in disgust and in a rolling thunderous canter chased Mabel and Lucifer down the hill and out onto the driveway, and then stopped and snorted as if to say 'get out and stay out!' then she turned and wandered back up the hill to resume grazing. Lucifer's eyes were gleaming with mischief as he mulled over his options of who would be his next victim.
Tallulah has become, unfortunately, a human-house dweller. Not intentionally nor a welcomed house dweller I might add. The famous line of the day on Christmas Day was "why is there a piglet in the kitchen?" Yep, she'd wandered in through the front door and was tucking into the bag of apples I'd designated for the Christmas treat for the animals. She just didn't want to miss out I guess. But since then any time we're airing out the house or if we come in armed with a bag of groceries and put them on the floor she's hot on our heels and has her little piggy snout in the bag before you can say "what's this pig doing in the house?" usually in a loud, high pitched voice. She's also become a master tummy-cuddler, in the sense that when I'm laying in the grass she'll climb onto my tummy, lay down and snore in my face, protesting with squeals every time I move to get up. A ten minute tummy-cuddle usually suffices. One day it was pouring with rain so we didn't get up to spend out evening time with the animals and Tallulah didn't get her tummy cuddle for the day, that night at 10.30pm she turned up at the French doors to my bedroom and pushed her nose up against the glass. We tried ushering her back up to the sty but she kept coming back, squeezing through every gap in the fence she could find. In the end I gave in, wrapped her in a towel and lay on my bed cuddling her for 10 minutes with grassy burps and piggy snores coming from her. After that she put herself to bed with Sheamus. I suppose I have to remind myself that she's still just a baby and mummy cuddles are a precious thing at that age.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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