Spring Sprang, Summer Fizzed, I wonder where the Grasses Iz!!!

 HAHAHA, Spring did leap into action, got more fertiliser on paddocks, but it ended up being a bit of a fizzer in the hay cutting area this year!  Never mind, we keep ticking along getting the soil right, do what we can and suck it up till next season.  We would have had JUST enough to get us thru this winter if it was just like last winter so I wasn't toooooooo worried about it.  Jemima went in with all the cattle end of September as she was trying hard to dry herself off milk wise and beginning of October was the last time I saw Cookie the bull calf interested in her, so hopefully she's successfully brewing a baby!  Kept milking the tiny amounts out of her till January when we found a 2nd house cow, Rosie!!!    Rosie is a Jersey and is 5, she had her own calf with her and another one she'd had mothered on to her.  We didn't want or need 2 extra calves here so found a buyer for the wee girl (as a potential house cow in a couple of years) and dropped her off on the way home from picking up Rosie and babies.  BIG day for the poor girl, massive, stressful trip for her, but she came thru it OK and is the sweetest, best natured girl.  Just the biggest love heart packed in a little body.  She stands the same height as Cookie the 16mth old bull (who still looks like a midget baby beside Jemima!) so she's only a little thing, and a typical Jersey, fine boned, skinny looking toast rack style build, and of course we're smack in the middle of a drought here so not a piece of green grass anywhere!  Had to buy some baleage in for her (lucky for contacts from spreading fertiliser for people eh?  Managed to score several ripped bales of baleage for free and some nice cheap good bales, hay, and lucerne bales, so have stocked up on some extras as we're not usually having to feed out over summer and couldn't affoard to be using up the winter hay already!!!

Met a lovely Brazilian guy at a trail ride on the horses who was there taking photos so I got him to come out and take some photos of the critters and got some lovely ones of horses and cows and Doc the ram (who's gone off up the road to practice making babies before he has to step up and make some here LOL)  Not such good ones of the dogs, but we'll get some good ones of them too, he hasn't finished taking photos for me yet LOL (so updated pics to put in YAY!!!  And very NON professional shots of the new girl Rosie) 

                                            Please read the sign!!!!  LOL

               Doc, the dorper cross ram, with the younger Damara cross ram lambs in the background

                                            

                                            My gorgeous Jemstar

                                       Sweet gentle natured GIANT Big Boy, Jemima's boyfriend
 

 

Little Cookie Monster my bull 16mths old

 

                                        Nova 15mths and Tai 26mths down at the Wairau River

 

 

                                                                    Little Miss Rosie

 Christmas was a nice quiet one at home as usual, Marcus has finished his school time and has joined the adult world of having to work for a living now, just waiting to sign the dotted lines for an apprenticeship as an electrician so that's exciting and watching him grow up and flourish away from his computer is lovely!!!

I'm still having fun and learning heaps bcoming a "homesteader" LOL.  Our self sufficiency journey is developing more and more and loving it.  Still not good with planning what needs to be planted when to keep the garden ticking over well, but learning to reduce our food waste even more with using the dehyrdator more and more to just get nutritious things stored long term in the pantry.  Growing onions and garlic from old "bits" and drying and powdering onion skins and scraps and having plenty of onion powder on hand, drying and powdering the stalks and young leaves, and going to seed greenery, silverbeet, spinach, cauli, broccoli, leeks, celery etc etc etc, now have a BIG full jar of Green Vegie Powder to add to stews etc and know if vegies fail in some way, we have the nutrition they supply covered in one jar that will last for years happily.  The last pumpkin that started rotting around the stalk and I still had pumpkin soup in the freezer, got dried and powdered and fits into one old vegemite jar!!!  Again, nutrition safely stored!  Have been using the Apple Cider Vinegar I made last year, giving it to the cows and the horses in their feeds.  Have some homemade Vanilla Essence smelling devine 4 mths down the track, only another 8 mths till it's brewed properly for use!  

Had a thunderstorm the day before my birthday, short lived, only heard about 4 or so thunderstrikes, but each roll of thunder lasted a good full 15-20 seconds each and was right on top of us, rattled every window in the house each time, better than any earthquake has done! The morning revealed 3 horses up the top end of the paddock eating all the grass they shouldn't have access to and one very sad and sore Woody who lived up to his old name of Lucky (in one sense!!!  He was VERY lucky the injuries he had were pretty superficial!!!  Unlucky in the fact none of the other 3 had a scratch on themselves LOL)   Photos below a bit gory looking, but it really wasn't!  VERY lucky, MOSTLY just shallow tears, one small and not deep puncture wound under his chest and he spent the next 5 days taped off from the other boys for tending and feeding all the goodies into.  Didn't get the vet to him, so here is the progression of that healing journey for him.... 

 

Freshly done, simply puffed antiseptic powder into all the holes to try to dry them out and get a crust happening, to make sure everything was going to stop weeping OK.

 

          MOSTLY just scrapes and scratches, puncture up under his chest on the left side of the photo

PHEW!!!  Lucky escape with infection, that leg was like it had elephantitis the day before!!!  Swelling on it's way back down now, Feeds containing Vit C, E, ACV, turmeric, coconut oil and devils claw for pain.  Manuka honey cream on over night when flies aren't around, Emu oil cream during the day to help keep the flies out of it.  Had some whole yarrow plants drying in a mesh bag, he got access to those too over 3 days and some fresh stuff too.  God send!!!  Scoffed the first days worth like they were lollies!  2nd day he still ate it but stopped to actually taste it, and 3rd day he was even less interested.  That was all he needed of that!

Day 3, healing REALLY well!!!  Swelling on it's way down, no external signs of infection happening.

Once the swelling went completely down 24 hours after it ballooned!  He started getting ants in his pants to get thru the tape keeping him from the other boys so he was let out on day 5 and thats it!  Feeds knocked back to every other day with less and less goodies in them.  Cream put on them maybe 3 or 4 times out in the paddock and now everything is just itchy as it's all healing up 2 1/2 weeks down the track.  First time using the yarrow medicinally like that, really happy I had that knowledge about using it!!!!  Need to get some more dried to replace what he used.

Winter Brings more Changes!

And I don't mean climate change!  Altho it has been a nice mild, dry winter to date compared to last year!

We went out for Marcus's birthday in April and got to meet his girlfriend when she joined us for dinner, and it's now end of July and they're still together so that's cool!

 Sadly we said good bye to Vada in May :(  Heart breaking but he was ready, just like that, and he's now buried out on the driveway, first one to greet me when I get home.

Found a new horse I wasn't even looking for!!!  His name WAS Lucky, it's now Woody (his choice not mine!) and he's a gorgeous clown.  Officially he'll be 6 tomorrow, but he's still a reasonably green broke TB, but an adorable nature and once we learn about each other and do our bonding we're going to have a lot of fun together!  Even gone back to having dressage lessons!!!  He's now been here 10 weeks so he turned up mid May, love at first sight <3 

Found a couple of lumps around Smokey's bum, typical grey horse type issues :(  But since Woody turned up, Smokey has firstly gotten a bit jealous of sharing the load being ridden, which is GREAT, because now he can have his halter off out in the paddock because he actually WANTS to be caught LOL.

We have 2 new chickens as Bernie the Barnvelde went clucky again and she'd laid about 4 eggs in there so I got 2 of her own eggs and popped them under her and mid winter she hatched those wee babies out!!!!  They are about 6 weeks old now and already one is as big and one slightly bigger than my wee bantam cross old ladies.

And exciting much?!  Our first 2 lambs were born this morning!!!!  Sadly Ramsses, the Damara ram, was killed by the steer (2nd bloody ram they've done in!!!)  Had just let Ramsses out of the paddock with the ewes, he wanted out and back with the big boys, he was done!  And the next day I found him unable to move lying in the paddock, the man came down with the gun and did the dead and checked out what had happened.  He had a broken back :(  So these are special little lambs from him and we'll potentially keep a ram lamb intact to replace him, same as we have a ram lamb from the old Dorper ram still entire too to replace him when he died, between the 2 of them we should be able to split the girls into 2 flocks and keep the boys away from their own mothers and sisters easily enough.  Just really need them to be fully self shedding, don't want to have to be stuffing round sharing a couple of lambs when the mothers are all self shedding.  The 2 newest Damara cross lambs look like their dad, very long legs and more of a goats hair type coat rather than a woolly sheep's coat, and one is the exact same colouring as dad with similar markings, so VERY cute!

 I've been working a few days a week at a local vineyard up the road doing a bit of pruning and tying down, been nice to get out of the house, but sucked because it would be fine while I was working and then crap over the weekends and I have a new horse to ride, so very happy that their is only another 2 days work left to do, especially now babies are arriving!

And the last week has been stunning weather!!!  What I shifted to Blenheim for, sunny days, frosty mornings, no mud!!!!  So this weekend was beautiful, got Woody and Smokey ridden yesterday and took Woody for a hack down to the river with Tracy and her boy Max and neither of them set a foot wrong, was a lovely ride just to get out of the paddocks and no pressure of working Woody like the lessons have been. Good for the soul today's ride was!  And bless Tracy got her phone out and took a pic without me even knowing so I have something to remind me of what a stunning day it's been <3  Cute lambs, healthy and happy, wonderful ride on an amazing horse with good company, just a perfect day!

 

 

Days are Shortening, is the Solar Set up Worth It?????

 Oh hell yes, it so is!!!!  My power bill is in credit over $450 now and we haven't paid a cent to a power company since we went on line in July!  Even if we don't work the system well over winter (thinking off grid mentality) it still won't cost us when we use the grid over the cloudy days with a nice credit like that waiting in the wings!

Mornings are cooler, sun rises later, sets earlier, Jemima the cow is getting hairy titties LOL.

The pups are growing so fast!  Well Tai, is 16mths old in a couple of days so he's not, but he is such a gentle soul, lives to please, HATES being growled at, my gentle (but youthfully exuberant) old soul, wee Nova has just rolled over 5mths and weighs in at 35kgs, Tai is 65kgs.  Vada is now 10yrs and 9mths and is wearing his claws out on a back foot dragging it, so he's back on Devils Claw fulltime, along with Turmeric and his trusty fish oil, try to loosen that back and hip joint up a bit and he's now got some booties to protect those toes!  Bless my darling old man.  We had Roger the oldest horse put down last weekend, he was rising 28yrs and dropped all his weight very quickly, couldn't eat his apples, even tiny ones so figured now before the bone chilling cold of winter hit him would  be a good time.  Charlotte from Epona Vet is wonderful, does Reiki too so has that intuitive sense with animals now and had a wee chat to Vada while she was here, she agreed he's not ready to go yet, still hanging around for me (if that's the case, he'll be hanging around for many years to come, Vada is a treasure and I'll never be ready to give him up!)

 

Had my nana's engagement ring and mum's eternity ring and a wee ring mum gave me when I turned 16 (and passed School Cert AND got my C+ certificate with horses) that had a little diamond and ruby in it remade into something I could wear in rose gold, the jeweler added a garnet I had as well (my birth stone) and the result is something completely different but tying 3 very special things into one that I see every day, that I love every time I see it just because it is both my nana and my mum there with me.

And we are ticking away being as self sufficient as we can be, tidying up the garden beds ready to get the autumn seedlings in (I hate that organising what needs to be planted when part LOL) been harvesting a ton of tomatoes which we don't actually eat a lot of, but we all LOVE tomato soup, so I've discovered a super simple recipe that is absolutely divine!!!!  Got 4 icecream tubs in the freezer now and we've consumed about the same fresh and the tomatoes are still ripening!  Then the pumpkins will come in and it'll be pumpkin soup for winter!!!  Sadly we're about 4 pumpkins down on what was out there, (we won't mention the one the man decided to harvest months too early because he wanted some pumpkin for dinner and then the pig ended up getting it all!!!!  He won't do that again in a hurry!) But darling Jemima has discovered she can jump!  EEK!!!!  We got up one morning and the bitch was in the garden munching out on the beefsteak tomatoes and the pumpkins!!!!  She completely demo'd 2 of them, and mauled another 2 more so we're a few pumpkins down :(  Luckily she didn't see the butternuts (which I much prefer over pumpkin for dinner!) so they will be plentiful and the pumpkins can ALL go to be soup.

Jemima also has a boyfriend now, the biggest brute in the paddock who was supposed to go when the homekill man first visited us but allowed me to touch and scratch him and cried at the gate and saved his own life, he is called Big Boy or Bubs and is the smoochiest bloody critter out!!!  He and Jemima are thick as thieves and he is a joy to have around so if I don't want her jumping out to go to the steers I just keep Bubs in with her and they're as happy as larry.

Gosh I just realised I haven't really down an update since the chickens hatched or anything have I?!

So far I'm confident out of the eggs that hatched back in December that at least 2 are roosters, so you know what's going to happen to them right???  They're ready to go now, it's just convincing the man that it's time to do the killing, he knows it's his job to do, but it doesn't mean he actually wants to do it, bless him.

Lambs are growing happily, calves are gorgeous and still friendly as, the ram is out with the ewes it's all wonderful here!

I've finally figured out why my homemade yoghurt wasn't working, you need to use full cream milk, got that perfected now and at the moment altho we didn't get many peaches on the old peach tree here, we've got a dozen or so and they're falling off one at a time to get added to the yoghurt for breakfast.  I've tried to make sour cream without a proper starter, don't think it worked very well, but we'll sort it out LOL.  The thousands of little apples are ripe and Smokey is living the dream getting apples thrown over the fence into the paddock for him daily, bloody apple junky!!!  Finally have nearly run out of dehydrated apples from about 3 or 4 yrs ago which he gets to eat off season so the solar is running the dehydrator for me now to get some more stored for him and I'm making Apple Cider Vinegar!!!  Just started the 2nd lot today, first lot is 2 weeks down the track, I know I know, who cares... but it's exciting for me!!!  And, no, I don't use it for anything at this point in time, but in truth it'll replace the animals using all the Himalayan Crystal Salt, so we'll keep using that (tastes much nicer!) and the animals can be using the ACV.  It's so simple to make but I've never known how (or had enough apples to make it worth doing before) so I'm loving learning all these new things, finding simple recipes, playing with all the abundance we have and not wasting it (not that anything is wasted with a pig, chickens and a cow who eats more variety from the garden than the pig does!)

And lastly before I go and find some photos and try to get them in the right places, Marcus has a "proper" job at KFC on weekends and a night or 2 after school and a girlfriend!!!  My little baby boy is growing up!  His first girlfriend and he's only just got her hehehe, now, how to guilt him into arranging a "meet my mother" thing...... hmmmmmm.... :) 

oh oh oh, and last but not least!!!!!  I found a side car for the dogs!!!!!  WOOTWOOT!!!!  Thought I'd never find one!  Will put the pics up, haven't done the adjustments needed to actually take the dogs comfortably yet, but only got it a couple of weeks ago!  Exciting!!!!  And the puppies have their goggles already, they're ready to go!!!  LOL

What will 2023 bring?!!!

 The second that ticks over from midnight to a new year isn't really celebrated here.  What makes that second so special?!  

And every year is what you make of it.  Every moment is likewise....

And here we are one week into the "New Year" already and next weekend I'll be picking my 12 yr old niece up from the airport as she comes down from Auckland for a couple of weeks!  The 3 kids up there clash, at time mightily, and Eila is an absolute animal lover and old enough to come here on her own, so she's coming down for a "holiday" (working holiday BWAHAHAHA) and everyone gets a break from each other and I gain someone of like mind for a short time!  Hopefully she won't want to go home and I'll just keep her! LOL.

Marcus and I finally got the bikes sorted out with new battery for one, after way too long not being ridden, and we gave him his first ride on the bike into town to get new WOF's on them, stopped at Mitre 10 cafe for a celebratory snack and he decided he wanted to go alone to his wee hour long job at Renwick and then home from there on his own too!!!!  THAT wasn't in the plan, he's supposed to need me riding with him a bit longer than one 30km ride to town!!!!

And he was off!!!  Without a backwards glance!  (Just as well, he may have fallen off LOL) and then again the next day from home "can I take the bike into work?"  "Do you want me to come with you?" "No, I'm OK.  See ya!"  LOL

Loving his independence!!!!  Bless my wee man child.

And yesterday was mum's birthday.  Two years since she died, so her 3rd birthday not here, altho I hadn't been able to celebrate anything with her for a while as her brain disintergrated.  I think the last Christmas with her in her own home was about 6 yrs ago now.  

I go thru patches of remembering dreams and I dream of mum a LOT.  I used to dream about her almost every night, and certainly have dreamed about her a bit again lately, 2 nights ago it was a pretty typical dream where she was "OK" again and could talk, and remember and was "normal" again.  I remember asking her in the dream, "mum, you're OK again?  You're healed?  What was it like when you couldn't talk and your brain wasn't working like that???"  and she said "I don't know, I didn't know there was anything wrong with me, I don't remember that at all!"  LOL.  It's always nice to be able to talk to her again, even if it's just in dreams.  Happy Birthday mum, I've missed you for years now, before you even died you left us, so it's nice to visit with you all the time while I'm sleeping.

I wonder if I can rename this blog.... who gives a fig about FB.... This is just my life and I'm always thankful for it and those who have been a part of it, colouring in the picture with different shades and textures and adding depth to the picture with their input.

Welcome 2023, another moment and another string of moments to make my own and colour in as I want to.

Merry Christmas!!!!

 And what a wonderful Christmas it was.  Quiet, just the 3 of us here, but it was divine!  I don't usually take "food photos" but I'm so proud of where we're at, everything on that plate came out of our garden or our paddock! I'm not a green thumbed person at all, so the fact that the vegies even grew well enough to eat is still just a buzz LOL and I'm learning more and more as I go.... Even the butter was made by us and the icecream for desert too!  Proud of our efforts :) 

Then my wood art arrived that I'd ordered back in July, the man put them on a white background and we put them up at the gate way.  It might be my property but it takes 2 names to make it our home, so that is what that is, a combination of our names LOL.  LOVE the horse!  Love our entrance way!

And this little beauty I found on Trade Me and we picked up while we were up north, a vintage chaff cutter!!!!  So cool!  Just need to sharpen the blades up and it's fully operational and no more buying chaff for the animals!

Which leads beautifully to hay season, 2 paddocks we got in before we headed north, the last one we got in 2 days after Christmas and that is all we need to see us right thru winter, so no having to buy hay in!  Excellent!  Thought we might have gotten a bit more which would have allowed us to recoup some costs by selling some, but I'm sure we'll get more off those paddocks as the fertiliser starts balancing things out.

Weather has been "typically" unsettled for this time of year.  It seems spring is starting and continuing later and later, so summer certainly hasn't really been in evidence yet, but still plenty of time to go and while it's not scorching hot and burning the grass off, we are living up growing more grass for the critters.

It's our 2nd Christmas here, but really our first one settled in and having made it OUR home and it's been wonderful.  Very blessed!

Hope your Christmas enabled you to count your blessings, if you can't do it at Christmas at least, it's a bit of a wasted opportunity! 

Introducing Casanova of Lolaslanding. Welcome Nova!

 After a lot of "non" communication I finally got confirmed a 2nd Blue Great Dane!!!  So on the 16th December Marcus and I headed north to collect him from Auckland and see the family again!  (first time since mum died 2 years ago.) 

He's a cruisy yet confident boy who will be the dominant dog here (yes, could tell that at 8 weeks old! LOL) He traveled phenomenally well driving back from Auckland to home, he doesn't like to sleep alone, so he'd let me know when he needed a toilet break, and he'd let me know when he needed sleep LOL.  Marcus has his learner's now so he did a fair chunk of the driving and was a star, very proud of him!  (In a manual too.)

From the second Tai met Nova he has been so gentle and devoted to him, I am so glad I got the wee man, those 2 are going to be inseparable, which is good because Vada has aged in the last year and won't play with the new kid like he played with Tai.  

I admit having more than one dog is actually a lazy way of raising puppies, because the puppies follow the older dogs and learn very easily that way, BUT, first Tai and now Nova have just been an absolute breeze (so far!) compared to many I've had over the years! Tai had a perfect recall from day 1, he ALWAYS comes when you call him, even if he's been naughty. And he has matured MASSIVELY as soon as Nova turned up, I cannot believe how incredibly gentle and patient he is with Nova! He has a fear base in his personality which means we are taking care to socialise him well, but the best thing is, I am his safe place, so if in doubt he returns to me for guidance. Nova at 10 weeks is starting to take himself out to the toilet over night (thank god for that, I HATE broken sleep!) well.... I may be a bit premature, but last night he took himself out twice to the toilet before I got up to take him out, a good start! Now this boy is a cruiser BUT he's also gonna be a dominant dog, he's already at 10 weeks doing all the dominant posturing to Tai (and Vada who gets pissed off with him LOL) but he too is QUICKLY learning his commands, he's learning them quicker than the man!!! 

 

I hear a "Tai! Tai!!! TAI! TAAAIII!!!!!!" and I have to (every bloody time) yell back, "he knows his fucking name, tell him what you want!!!!" This morning it was little Nova who had followed me thru the gate into the paddock this morning and the man was calling him back, except he wasn't.... "Nova. Nova! Come on get inside, come on, get in here! Nova!!!" And Nova is standing there looking at me. I say "What is the command?" He says "Nova! Come!" with a joyful look in his eye as he KNOWS the pup won't turn round and come to him yet with that, but lo and behold, 10 week old puppy turns round and trots back to him at the gate. I turned around and headed to the cow with a very smug smile The puppies are most awesome! The people, not so much! BWAHAHAHAHA

 

 This was a pitstop in Taupo on our way south again.  Such short little legs!  (Not Marcus LOL)

Tai 13 mths and Nova 9 weeks.  Best buddies already.  My little Blue Angels <3 

 

Becoming Self Sufficient...

 I have always prided myself on being "sensible" so I like to think I prepare for anything, while not getting overly caught up in lingering on negatives and there are certain things I've WANTED to do for years!!!!  I WANTED to put solar on the barn on the 5 acres when we built it, but it was way too expensive.  I WANTED a hybrid (to help with fuel costs, not to save the planet) from the time they came out, I WANTED a glasshouse because I hate picking bugs out of my broccoli over summer, and I had ordered a glasshouse back in 2021, and when the decision was made to relocate I just got the company (shameless plug for Wintergardenz) to hold onto to it and not ship it til after we'd shifted, so that got put up January or Feb and planted out ready for winter growing!  I priced up solar and we now have 20 solar panels and the appropriate other bits and bobs we need and while it would take careful planning over winter to be "off the grid" over summer it's not only easy but we're sellling so much back to the power company we have over $200 credit on our powerbill and that's only for 4 and a bit months.  The hybrid was decided on when my little Honda Fit (most economical car EVER!) ticked over 250K kms and fuel was rising big time, so Marcus had just turned 16 and could go for his license any time (come on kid, when you're ready..... geez he only kept me waiting 6 mths before he did it!) and he said he'd buy the wee bomb off me.

 

So we're making our own power, growing our own food, making our own milk, have our own meat with beef, lamb and will be chickens (and eggs) less reliant on the whims of our absolutely useless government.  It's a bloody good feeling, and again, if it hadn't been for my Scrooge McDuck of a mother, it would all be a dream really, so I know I'm VERY lucky (lucky?  because she knew how to work her ass off and save but then never got to spend her own money? I don't think "lucky" is the right word...) very BLESSED to have what we have and be able to do what we're doing.

Oh and we have some beehives on our place too!!!  Not our own, just letting a honey company park them here, but they pay us cash for that and give us $250 worth of product each year too (and the honey just arrived today!) 

The Family Grows!!!!

 So, with a bigger property, there is room to expand the animals!  And so we began LOL.

First came Paragon Little Boy Blue who flew down from Masterton 3 days after my birthday in January, another "meant to be" in that I wasn't even on the waiting list for a puppy out of the litter born 30th November until when the pups were about 5 weeks old, one of the potential buyers pulled out and got a black dane from another breeder, leaving one spare and I was next on the list!  

A blue great dane.... the dream I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever see fulfilled!!!

Tai, is his home name, recycled from my 2nd black great dane, as Tai in Chinese means Great/Grand/Supreme.  He has just turned 1yr old and is the most amazing dog.  GREAT guard dog!!!!

Anyway, since I'd chucked my resignation in in January with all the fecking around with the mandates, I was able to be at home and watch him grow!  It's been a dream come true. 

Vada is now 10 1/2 and I thought we were going to lose him a couple of months ago, but he's rallied again and is hanging in there, he will suffer terribly with the heat of summer (he did last year!) so we will just have to see how he goes....

Then we got some more chooks.  The other half likes Orpingtons, so we got 2 pullet hens and a young rooster to add to the 3 older bantam cross wee girls I already had, and then got a Wyandotte and a Barnvelder too, so the family expanded there....

 

 

Then in July we got some BIG rains, and we found were we get flooded!!!  Right thru the hay sheds for one thing!  LMAO oh dear, fun and games, thankfully most of the hay was already up on one layer of pallets, so we didn't lose tooooooo much, and that that got wet and then started rotting, the cattle were happy to eat their way thru!

Also in July I found my darling little Jemima thru FB, a rising 2yr old heifer who slipped her calf and then presented an opportunity for her owner to sell her as a house cow as she'd been obviously pretty much hand raised, so a mad dash drive down to Canterbury with the horse float to pick her up and got her home in the wet and wild weather!  Poor darling!  She was still only producing colostrum at this stage, didn't know us from a bar of soap and she was STILL a super star!  She had mastitis in one teat she hadn't passed all the afterbirth, so she was put onto Activated charcoal, Vit C, D3 and we cleared up those 2 infections within a couple of weeks and then we got our first calf from the dairy farm up the road... If Jemstar was Jemima (because her horns reminded me of the plaits/pigtails from Playskool's Jemima, then the first calf HAD to be Little Ted LOL....

And then came the 2nd calf.... Carlos, AKA Cookie (cause he looks like he's been dunked in milk LOL.  Cookie is THE most placid, laid back, do anything to, calf, so calm and collected, we decided to leave his nuts on him, to be a daddy to any future calves out of Jemima....

And around the time of the 2 calves, our Dorper ram died, and we bought a Damara ram since all our girls are self shedding already, so Ramses arrived .... 

AND the ewes started lambing .... and last of the Wiltshire/Dorper crosses, so we will probably keep one of the 3 ram lambs entire to father some babies too, and split them into 2 flocks.  And yes, the one that will be keeping his nuts, made himself known to me the same way as Cookie showed me he'll be staying intact and long term (ie not destined for the freezer!) so Doc (like Doctor Seuss) made himself known to me too... Doc being the one on the right.

And then came the last calf Spot who should have been a racehorse!  Not at all touchy feely and very "energetic" not sure I even got any photos of him when he first arrived LOL.  All calves have just finished being weaned now, Little Ted being 4 mths old, and Spot the last to arrive just gone 3 mths old, and knocked Jemima back to one milking a day, and knocking the quantity back to half what she was giving so she can keep some of that calcium for her own growing body.  And I'm making yoghurt, butter and icecream and really need to learn to make cheese now cause we have so much milk!!!

And now, lastly (or nearly lastly!) the rooster has been doing his job well and 4 chooks went broody and all of them have hatched chickens! The first couple of chooks abandoned the eggs once they had 2 hatched, so the left overs got shoved under the last 2 still broody ones, and when they get off the remaining eggs the left overs will go into the incubator to see if we can get any more, but so far we've got 6 babies out of it, very cute!!!

And now, lastly!!!!  After having had Tai for nearly a year another breeder I'd contacted prior to getting him, messaged asking if we'd gotten a pup as he knew of some that weren't spoken for.... so hey presto on Friday Marcus and I are heading up to Auckland to pick up another blue great dane puppy!!!  Already named Casanova of Lolaslanding, he'll be known as Nova (also a recycled name from a dog we had the same time as the first Tai)  Merry Christmas to us!

That is the animal catch ups done for the year.  It's so wonderful to have the space to be able to "collect" them and decide there is room for some keepers, and absolutely blessed to be able to spend my days with them at home!