absent to present

 I have been absent  (see the bottom of the post for a brief explanation). Here's what I've been up to over the past few weeks.

Beach walks and enjoying our balmy summer evenings, although there should have been more walking.

Enjoying the company of our animals, especially Mumbai.

Mr Frizz (our rescued frizzle rooster) still hasn't regrown his feathers. But he's the loveliest, kindest rooster we could ask for, and he keeps the girls under control too.

The alpacas lost their winter coats.

Shiraz wondering what's about to happen to her.

Rounding Shiraz up again after her escape, while she's wondering what just happened to Chardonnay.

Telling her it's going to be alright, and will be over before she knows it!

I stopped to take photos of the wildflowers (from a packet!) that grow in a spot along the road from us.

I've not had much time in my studio since the Open Studios at the beginning of November  (which I still want to share in a separate post, along with my long overdue giveaway!)

After what seemed like non-stop sewing for six weeks in preparation for two craft markets (one of which I helped organise) it was nice to make something for myself. Although I do have to make sure how I display the cushion otherwise it can look quite rude!

Wishing you all the best for the season. A special thanks to my faithful followers who brighten my day with their much appreciated comments. Sorry I haven't been so good on the commenting lately.

Pohutakawa flowers - New Zealand's Christmas tree.

Footnote:  There's been a little grey dog called anxiety nipping at my heels. I've had to admit I'm not as tough as I thought I was. I've had to seek help - not something that comes easily. I'm trying to take things easy, which is not easy to do in this "silly season." We need to remember be kind to ourselves as well as others. xx

autumnal

Today I woke up with a stiff neck and headache, probably due to stress and not drinking enough water or cups of tea over the last three days (* see the bottom of the post for explanation). But despite the slow start the fine weather (after a very wet weekend) lured me outside and with the kids we went down to the bottom paddock to check the pond after all the heavy rain.

We took our goat Mumbai over to the other side of the pond and chained him to a line for a change of pasture. He doesn't really like being chained up, but with us nearby he didn't bleat too much!

 

In the paddock and shelter belt there were lots of different types of fungi, including a orange coral like one which I'd never seen before.We are still getting a few field mushrooms too which I eagerly pick before the animals knock them over. After I'd taken some photos I did some pruning and weeding with The Teenager (yes that was a recent occurrence!) in the garden around the pond. Miss L took some photos with my camera. I think hers are better than mine. What do you think?

And yes I grubbed the thistles in the paddock too - that was the only one that was flowering.! Hopefully the alpacas appreciate what I do for them.

 

* Today actually  felt like the first day of the school holidays, because the first 3 days (plus the Friday night) was spend at the local dancing competitions with Miss L. Now don't get me wrong I couldn't be further from a "ballet mum" but when your child has a talent you have to support them the best you can. For me this involves having dreams/nightmares about her hair falling out while I'm trying to get it into a bun!! Being so stressed about making it to the venue on time, and getting her hair and make up looking perfect - something I've never perfected with myself! But the most stressful time is actually when I'm in the audience and know that she's on next, and I'm waiting for the music to start, my greatest fear is that the CD won't work. I no longer worry about her forgetting her moves, as she's now old and savvy enough to keep going regardless.

Despite all my anxiety Miss L is pretty relaxed. She was a bit nervous for her first two dances, but then she got into it. We (yes the royal 'we'!) finished the weekend with three trophies - firsts in her demi character, barefoot and barefoot impromptu (in case there are any other ballet mums out there you'll know what I'm talking about!), a second in her classical ballet and a highly commended in her jazz/modern. Now I can relax and enjoy the school holidays until we do it all again in June!

 

feathery friday

I'm taking a leaf out of Tammy's book, she has a regular feature on her blog Our Neck of the Woods called Feathered Friend Friday, and devoting a post to our feathered friends.

We have kept chooks since we moved back to Nelson 7 years ago. It's been a bit ironic as both of the kids are allergic to eggs. Miss L sometimes watches us eat a fried egg and asks us what it tastes like. Now that's hard, as I don't think there's anything comparable.  Hopefully one day they will grow out of the allergy, but at 10 and 12 years old now I'm not sure if that will happen. At least she has grown out of her dairy and peanut allergies.  

When we lived in Brightwater there was a council restriction of only having 6 hens and no roosters.  Since our move to the country we now can keep as many as we like, including roosters! We brought 5 chooks with us, two gold-laced Wyndottes who are four years old, so are getting on a bit and don't lay every day. Two Light Sussex who are three years old, and slightly more regular in the laying department, and are also very good at going clucky (broody). And Molly, a buff Silky, who we got for Miss L to have as a pet, but unfortunately she never became friendly, probably due to the bigger bossier girls chasing her a bit.

 That's 4 out of the 5 on the nesting box!! Molly the Silky can just be seen in the bottom left as a few fluffy feathers poking out! They all use the same box, I've never had any luck with getting them to use more than one so have given up. It's not usually this crowded, but the Sussex were clucky again! I could have got some fertile eggs for one of them, but I'm not to sure how they would be as mothers, as I've always had a bantam as a mother.

We were waiting for Molly to go clucky and get some fertile eggs, but that hasn't happened this summer yet. On Sunday while setting up my stall for the Christmas Fair I had a wander around the other stalls and a lady was selling two hens with 2 day old chicks, so we thought we'd avoid the 21 day wait and buy a ready made brood! We chose the Dorking-Araucana cross mum with 7 chicks, 4 white leghorns and even more exciting 3 Orpingtons - two blue and one black.

 Here they all are tucked under mum in their new house, which is an A-frame coop we have inside the main chook run. I usually use it for locking up anyone who has gone broody. After a few days of not having a nest box to sit in they usually un-cluck and get ready to start laying again.

 The mum is quite a large sized bantam, not much smaller than our other chooks which hopefully means she won't be bullied by them. Although we are planning on keeping a rooster if one of the Orpingtons is that way inclined.

I was going to write this earlier in the week, but thought no I'll wait till Friday.  But boy can things change over the space of a few days (stop reading now if you don't like sad-endings!). Yesterday morning while I was having my shower Miss L went to feed the babies, and came running back saying she could only see three of the seven chicks. So I grabbed some clothes and ran down to see what had happened. Yes there are now only three, 2 leghorns and the black orpington. We found two others dead in the coop and no sign of the other two. So I think a stoat or ferret must have killed them. We never had any problems with these horrible predators at our old house, but here there is lots more space for them to live in.  Its all been very sad, and especially as the kids were going to surprise their dad with them when he returns from two weeks away on Saturday. So now each night we have to catch Mum and the chicks and put them in a large pet carrier box for safety. Something she doesn't seem to appreciate, as she is very protective of her remaining babies, but it's the only way to stop this happening again. We will now get a trap to try and catch the culprits.

So as not too end on too sombre a note, here's Mumbai not wanting to miss out on anything in the chook run. He is constantly trying to break in as he likes to eat their pellets and also the plants growing through the fence. We had to make the pop hole for the girls to go out into the paddock, as we couldn't leave the gate open. What a silly goat!

departure time

Just rushing in to tap out a quick post. I should be packing! Today we drive to Christchurch which will take over 5 hours, plus stops! It's just me and the kids as the hubby has already gone across the ditch to Australia. On Friday we will get up very early and fly to Brisbane to join him for a week. There is much excitement ..... and a bit of trepidation on my part. Travel is a bit of a mixed bag for me, I love it when I'm there but the getting there I don't enjoy. It's the first time we have left the animals for such a long time, hopefully our new neighbours will cope!

There will be new sights and sounds, that's one of the joys of travel. I probably won't get a chance to blog while away, but will definitely be instagramming. If you want to follow along, pop over here.

spring

It's officially spring, and we've had the 6th wet Sunday in a row (well it took almost all day for the gray clouds to turn to rain) but apart from that we've had lots of sunny days, and even had a couple of nights when we haven't lit the fire.

 Mumabi and the alpacas are happy it's spring as there's fresh, green grass to eat.

 The netball season is over, and I managed to take these photos of Fiona Sutherland's sculpture at Saxton Field near the netball courts.

A Father's Day latte with pretty retro china, at the cafe at World of Wearable Art.

Three more weeks until the end of term 3 and then we are off to Brisbane for a week, yippee!! Any Brissie sightseeing and op-shopping tips gratefully received!

Linking up with {tinniegirl}

winter wildness

Well winter has come, especially to those further south than us. Christchurch had it's coldest day in 130 years (which is as long as records have been kept), and is covered in snow. There's a great satellite image of the South Island almost entirely covered in white here.

But first I'd like to go back a couple of days to Tuesday. When I heard there was a heavy rain warning, I headed straight to the beach after dropping the kids at school. I don't think I'd been to the beach for a week or more and needed to have a wander before it rained.

It was all rather gray and ominous looking, wth spots of rain on the stones, but thankfully the weather held off and I had quite a long walk. For a change I walked the opposite way I usually go, which is in front of a number of houses that look out over the beach.

I always walk with two bags, one is for rubbish and the other is for my "treasures" which are also rubbish, but are things I take home as I have an "idea" for a few art projects. I am always amazed and saddened at how much rubbish I pick up along this stretch. Maybe the people who live here don't think that it matters that there is rubbish in the oceans. I was very cross to find one home owner had dumped a pile of lemon branches over their wall and onto the beach. They may be biodegradable but it's still an eye sore.

Anyhow enough preaching from me, as it was such a gray day I found some colour in the semi wild flowers that were growing above the high tide mark. Although a number of the plants were not happy about the lack of sun either!

On the way back I came across a very angry little dog that barked and followed me menacingly. I was too scared to stop and take a photo of it! Thankfully a small flock of sea gulls didn't mind me and were very busy preening themselves as the waves lapped over their feet.

We did get the rain later on in the day, but Wednesday was very wet and cold. Winter had arrived. This morning when I opened the curtains we saw snow on the mountains. The sky was a soft pink from the sunrise in the opposite direction.

Those two photos were taken straight after each other, one looking west and the other north east. Our animals were also very happy to have a fine day, and to see me with the hay!

Mumbai

"Shiraz" or "Razzy" as she prefers

"Chardonnay" or "Chardy" as we prefer

And yes the alpacas are strange and snooty animals! But they do a good job of keeping the grass down in the paddocks and keeping Mumbai company!