Friday 29 April 2011

The day started with..

 A roaring fire. It was 3 degrees- which for us, is starting to feel colder.

 I think Salsa felt a bit better today. Her face is not quite as swollen. Today she slept alot in the sun, which,  as often happens, follows a foggy morning. She ate grass I cut for her and she is drinking ably enough. And she is SO GOOD about her injections and I think she likes her homepathics.

 This is Star, but I took this so you can see how low the fog is. Tommorrow I'll get the same view in Sunshine and you will see a hill.
Went to see Muzz today and brushed him. Forgot to use my camera. At least I remembered to bring it. (There there you slow new older blogger.)

Today..in the sunshine.. I finished painting a shed at the local farm park that was designed and started by my year 10 class last term. When I say 'finished' it was really only outlining everything in black.  The picture kind of sums up how today turned out. Rather nicely.

Thursday 28 April 2011

Happy Birthday to Michael and Isaac

While searching my albums for photos of You Two I found no good ones of you but....
this little monkey I made for a school rugby fundraiser popped up right next to and bearing a striking resemblence to...

                                                            someone you both know!




Have a great day, a party even- this is our School Principles office mid Baloon Bombing- hope you have more fun times than the balloons in this room and....

get up to some monkey business!(Ask for Olivia's help if you are having trouble!) xxxx

                                                          What's this photo? Don't ask.

How is Salsa?


This is the sad swollen sweet girl. She is drinking but can only mouth and suck on food. Today to deliver some of her homeopathics I had to pull a wad of grass and hay out. Still it must be a comfort. Also enduring 3 injections a day at present. Anti biotics, anti inflamatories and pain relief. We are covering all bases. But while I was out there....


 Who should sashay (I know I've misspelt that) by but Boo, who actually owns the back garden. 'Hi Nicky come on let me show you around, it's so great to have you stop by!'  There were more shots of each spot he took me, rolled over, rubbed against but two will do..and.. he never looks at the camera!
'Hey Boo, I was actually here for the horses.'

 Here is Star, the beautiful, Mum of Salsa, just lifting her head up from a drink. Today we had them out in the big yard together and Salsa didn't even think about sucking. Star's udder is minimising nicely, so that is good.


Horses? No bi (uni!)cycle and Barbeque


 These are two of my favourite young horse handbooks- sorry can't rotate it seems. Michael Schaffer and Tom Roberts. Saw Muzz today, picked up poo in his paddock and said hello.
Next week.... I promise Muzzy!

And this is the jacket,almost finished. Buttonholes are made, just have to sew 5 buttons on. I'll do that tonight while watching a movie. I really wanted to show you a great soup Bob made last night- Pork and Beans- Anyone know and love Old Crow Medicine Show?They did a song with the words 'tastes like pork and beans'. But I thought about it as I was finishing it off todayand my camera was not at hand AND an amazing-even Bob liked it **** you don't know how amazing that is- Baked Vanilla Cheesecake from a Donna Hay magazine. I treat myself to those once in a while for something to read in the loo. I love the photos as much as the food. I only ever seem to make sweet things? The cheesecake looked better in my opinion than their photo!

A Couple of Mokes

 The Shine on Baron's neck.
 Baron (Bazz is what we call him) our stallion with Mo (short for Kokimo) popping out the side of his head. None of these pics show how beautiful he really is. They look like a couple of old mokes. Is that a particularly Kiwi/Austalian term for scraggy horses?

 Mo with her foal belly beginning.
Bazz with a foal belly beginning too!   Bob and truck... always together. Stormy weather.... (What?)

Wednesday 27 April 2011

Why Go to America?

 Bob and Warwick erecting a hay feeder. Cowhands at work...
 Dogs at play.....
 Horses grazing amid the pines... Why go to America?

Worries.

Here's the Salsa girl the day after her ordeal. Not a great shot of her. She doesn't actually look as boggly eyed as that! But she's greeting me on a frosty morning. You can see the drain popping out under her chin. If I hadn't eaten for nearly 24 hours I would be miserable... I think. She on the other hand is looking bright eyed and bushy tailed. I worried about her every time I woke up last night, and then I worried about her recently weaned brother, and then I worried about my son, 19 and not close by....he's weaned but I'm not....worried about Bob's imminent departure. Hey what else? Oh, Mum, well she's often on my worry list...but not last night. Apart from that a good sleep was had by all in the bed, Me, Bob, Short (he turned up about 4am) so sweet three heads on the pillows, and Boo who turns up again and again and again on the end, on the head, on the side. That's cats for ya. Bet he doesn't worry.

This is not how our day was supposed to go.

 Found our foal 'Salsa' like this. She'd found a bolt behind a post. This is under her jaw. Plans changed today as you can well imagine.



 This is Mike our vet from next door- handy eh- stitching the girl up. Nil or minimal damage in her mouth, but sore and swollen and can't eat or suck. Might be hungry for a couple of days.

Bob laying her head back down after stitching is done. I'll post again tomorrow and tell you how she's doing.

Monday 25 April 2011

Mum and Shorty Doing What They Loves Best


Sorry people, couldn't rotate it! But the sound is good. Also here is our Murchison War Memorial.


My sister!

 This is my sister Jan.. on a mule!! How great is that! She looks very comfortable especially as the back two mules have apparently ditched their riders! (Bugger carrying them up the stairs they thought)I think she can ride a horse next time she visits. Hey I wont hold you to that Janny. Sorry folks can't remember where this is. Crete?
 This is Jan and her husband Phil somewhere near where the mule lives. The caption said something about a birthday. Happy birthday Phil xx. Must be Phil's because Jan's is December- same day as Walt Disney's- (not the same year I think?). Jan and Minnie Mouse have some things in common. (You can't see Jan's shoes in the picture.)


Hey that's my sister's finger! She's pointing at the site of our Dad's guns on Crete. (Battle of Maleme?) I'll probably get that wrong. Can't tell exactly if the site is at her finger tip, or somewhere off the side of the picture. I guess it's the far clearing by her finger- looks like a likely spot, up a little. See I've inherited gun placement savvy from Dad.

Saturday 23 April 2011

More on mess and unfinished business.

Dog devistation.
The short dog has a stuffed toy obsession, fed by us with virtually giveaway stuffed toys from the recycling centre. I imagine his stuffed toy hunting has allowed us a practically 'unchewed slipper' puppyhood.

 Moving right along.This is a bag I made out of a jersey I knitted. I knitted the jersey in response to a dream I had in which I made a REALLY yellow jersey. In reality I couldn't bring myself to knit it totally yellow so one side was almost all yellow and this side was not. I like the bag. I keep my material bits in it.
 This is the first coat jacket I have ever made, well am nearly finished making. I love it already. It is fully lined- with three different fabrics and has self covered buttons. I'll add a pic of it when it is fully finished. I have really enjoyed the mix of machine and hand sewing. Such different kinds of energy/focus required.
 This is an unfinished picture. I've been painitng it for probably over a year. No end in site, but I like just looking at it and living with it and thinking about it.

This is a new unfinished painitng, probably about two months old. Wabi sabi. Know what I mean?
And MUZZ? And my fat fitness? Took Muzzy back to his paddock yesterday. Got busy driving for Bob  delivering a horse float to some people who hired him to pick them up at the end of a big ride and it rained and I sewed and I ate and I slept and I cooked a really nice pasta dish for dinner.


Thursday 21 April 2011

What a happy messy life I lead

 Yes I do lead a happy messy life, sometimes a miserable messy life, but always messy. No doubt about it. I have rare days of order and they are enjoyable but  also  complete in a nowhere else to go way.
The horse in the pic above is MUZZ! Yay Muzz features again. I had such a good time yesterday getting him out of his paddock and down the road to here. He was so funny and clever and giving- giving in the end. In the beginning he told me he couldn't jump out of his paddock over the ditch/creek and up the bank. No way. So we waited and I kept offering him the feel of where I wanted him to go and pointing him in the right direction and then all by himself with no help from me he went ok, so the other side of the creek is where you want me and he gathered himself onto his hind and lifted his front up up up and over he popped. Poor guy he seemed sure his life would end once over or on the way, but it didn't, and now, after meeting for the first time drains and curbs and white lines, workers welding and a kids playground he's in his yard next to Sass- who you can't see and tomorrow no doubt we'll have fun again when I take him back.
Autumn harvest, pumkin, last of the tomatoes - we had a really good tomato season, and pine cones (from our land sniff sniff).

 Look what I made at 5 in the morning! Warmed the kitchen and kept the doors shut, fell asleep for an hour while they rose, didn't have a 'short snort' of some sort of alkihol like Pa would have done, but none the less, these are the best hot cross buns I have ever made- today is Good Friday and pretty much every year my Dad would bake bread or buns on Good friday. I often but not always carry on the tradition, and these ARE GOOD. Dad would be proud. I did a crossed batch and an uncrossed batch.
 This is an uncrossed bun with butter. Tender... faintly sweet, spicy and warm. Perfect. And coffee.

Back to messy, here's a little autumn jewel hiding in the tangle on the South side of our house.
Snapshot of our back doorstep. Messy, busy, practical. I love the volunteered Sage. We are good friends. On first name basis. And look below my vege plot! You can't see the details but there are leeks, cabbages, kale, carrots, spring onions, radishes, broad beans, silver beet, celery, runner beans and a couple of other things too.

Happy messy life.

Wednesday 20 April 2011

North Island Trip

 Leaving the South Island...
 Heading towards the North Isalnd....
 Rachel, Charlie and Grace
 Cloud over Wellington...
 Cannon up Mt Victoria...
While waiting to leave Wellington- sailing delayed 2 hours.