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