Muggles

I can't believe it but Muggles my house rabbit is dead. What's worse is that I was sitting posting here and didn't even realise he had gone as he looked as if he was resting. The first I knew was when I went to lift him out of his cage to clean it- he was even warm. He didn't appear to be ill at all so will keep fingers crossed that it's not RCD although he was vaccinated against this. I am so upset as he was a lovely rabbit and I enjoyed his antics. I don't know perhaps it was his heart? He was so small when he was born that in a larger litter he would have died but with there only being two kits and having a great mother he survived. I've buried him in the front garden and disinfected his cage and all this by 6.30am. Needless to say I'm completely stunned.

Goodbye 2006

Haymaking has finished here on the farm with all the bales safely stored in the barn in the paddock next door. However one was left in the baler- not a good idea I thought when I discovered one fat donkey stuffing her face yesterday morning.

Red is the largest horse amongst the three here. By the look of him he is an ex racehorse as these are often sold on as hacks once their racing career is over. The three horses aren't ridden very often at all, in fact the Kaimanawa seems so wild that no one can get near her. I would love to try and give her some one on one training just to tame her down but she's not my horse. I will really miss them all once we move as will Briar.

Yesterday morning Gypsy brought a thrush in the house with nothing but bad intentions. The bird managed to get away from her only to be caught by Peaches but I managed to free it again by shaking her. When I finally caught it I was rewarded by a severe bite. It appeared totally stressed with a bloody wound on the side of its head. Not expecting it to survive I placed it in a box in the darkness and warmth of the hot water cupboard. The aftermath of the chase was feathers and spots of blood all over the place with the bathroom the worst hit with blood and poop on the floor and up the walls.

An hour or so later I heard scratching coming from the hotwater cylinder cupboard so took the box into my bedroom. The thrush sat looking up at me for a minute before taking off out the open window and flying into the manuka tree on the edge of the front lawn. I hope it survived its terrifying ordeal. I don't think I'd like ending up as Gypsy's plaything. At least now I know how she lost part of her ear when she caught the other thrush two weeks ago- that bite was pretty hard.

Today is New Year's Eve and I for one won't be sad to see the end of 2006 with all its dramas. Fingers crossed that next year will bring some positive changes. Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

The week before Christmas raced past much more quickly than I expected. I managed to complete two jobs that were worrying me: washing the outside of the windows which were covered with muck from when the cottage was waterblasted prior to painting and also cleaning out Chocolate's outside hutch and removing her long coat. She looks so funny now but at least she's cool for the summer.

I came in a few days ago to find feathers all over the floor and the skeleton of a thrush in the bottom of the bath with blood up the walls of the bathroom. The only animal that plays in the bath is Gypsy and when she appeared a minute later she was in a terribly good mood plus missing a small chunk out of her ear so looks like the something had fought back. When I took the body outside I found it to be the beautiful thrush that has been keeping me company for the past few weeks. Or so I thought as when I went out to feed the chooks in the afternoon the body of another thrush was laid neatly in the laundry. My cats rarely catch birds so I have no idea what this massacre was all about and feel badly that these lovely creatures met with such a terrible end.

Anyway it is Christmas morning here in New Zealand so I'd like to wish everyone a happy day and hope you're sharing it with loved ones. I'll be having a rest and veging out after all the hussle of the past few weeks. The painting to the left is one I completed as a Christmas swap a couple of years ago- the original went to America. Merry Christmas!

The Search Begins

My rural rental adverts in the Friday Trader and Wednesday Mover brought two replies. One was an offer to live in the Ormmondville School which is situated near to Dannevirke and therefore is too far away. The second was for a 100 year old farm cottage with one acre of grazing at Maraekakaho, west of Hastings. It was part of a family farm that has been slowly cut up for lifestyle blocks. The landlord told me he felt that there wasn't enough grazing, especially as Maraekakaho is extremely dry and hot and doesn't have much grass growth. However I felt I would regret it if I didn't take a look so Tuesday morning my brother Richard, his friend Lorraine and I drove out to see what the property was like.

We met the landlord at the cenotaph in the middle of Maraekakaho and followed him down a little winding shingle drive amongst other houses to this tiny cottage. I couldn't see that there an acre with this place- maybe a quarter and although they had a lot of rain recently the grass that was there wouldn't have lasted two days for Briar. The remaining farm land is leased out to someone else so no more grazing available. The promised double garage turned out to be a series of woodsheds. The house was rough but livable- by the sounds of it they had only recently moved the toilet inside as it used to be in the wash house (which was outside and darkly depressing consisting of only a tub behind a door). Afterwards Lorraine gave her opinion that the place wasn't worth $185 rent a week and she was right. It had some things going for it but there was a lot against and by the sounds of it the landlord has a high turnover of tenants in there.

I came home, rewrote my advertisements to be more specific and placed these back in the trade magazines. I am still waiting for a reference from my current landlord- even put a message on their answerphone a week ago with no success. The Tenancy Tribunal advised me to give prospective landlords Ken's phone number plus show my bank statements which will demonstrate that I pay my rent regularly. The guy I spoke to heartened me by saying that I have strong record as a good tenant as I have lived here for eight years- a bad tenant would have been thrown out long ago.

I have begun going through all my unopened boxes of stuff sorting out the rubbish to be thrown away from things I need to keep and items that I can put up for sale on Trademe (I have added a permanent link to my auctions to the left of this blog). Hopefully I will be able to earn money to pay for the move so I don't have to take a loan. I am now extremely determined to buy my own place so I have some security in life.

Kingfisher

Yesterday afternoon I found a kingfisher hopping around at the back of the cottage. Demelza was extremely interested but every time she went to pounce on it the creature jabbed its long beak at her. Unfortunately it didn't recognise someone who wanted only to help so I was bitten a few times before I donned gardening gloves and finally managed to pick it up. The kingfisher gripped onto my left hand while I came inside and tried to ring my friend John, fount of wisdom on all subjects to do with nature and farming. Unfortunately he was outside but Marg promised she'd get him to call once he finishing tinkering with his rover.

I made up a little box with a towel and took the bird into the Widdly Room (the bright yellow storage room at the end of the cottage which is a repository for empty boxes and spinning fleeces) as this was quiet and sunny. After John rang and told me try it on some chicken mince I mixed up a mushy worm of meat with water and tried to get some down its beak with little success. When I checked on it later in the day it had perched on the edge of the box and was looking around with some interest (I managed to get a couple of photographs while it was doing this).

Before heading to bed at 9pm I checked on it but it had disappeared. After some frantic searching I found it had hidden itself behind a canvas board leaning against a basket. As kingfishers apparently burrow into river banks I didn't feel this was strange and left it alone.

This morning it had died. Not a shock as it obviously had some severe injury which had prevented it flying. I know people feel kingfishers are bad luck and bring death into the house but I couldn't help marvel at the sheer beauty of this wild creature. As an aside as I write this there was an advertisement on the radio for an eatery called the Kingfisher Cafe....

Merino Yarn

A cold snap blew in yesterday bringing a little rain to settle the dust. I have been finishing off some spinning to sell. Merino needs to be spun finer than most other wools as it really fluffs out when plied (a bit like angora). I still have nearly a whole fleece left to work with but have gone back onto core spinning for The Shearing Shed. At the moment I am picking through the white angora, getting rid of second cuts from shearing and fluffing up the fibre ready for spinning. I missed working for them so am happy that business is doing so well Heather was able to take me back on.

Got a little advertisement placed in the Creative Fibre magazine Friday and the hits on my website have been phenomenal. The problem is that angora is a specialist fibre and at the moment alpaca is "in" and bunny hair "out".

Song thrush

Every time I go outside there is a thrush which comes and sits on the fence and watches whatever I happen to be doing. Sometimes it even flies down and lands within four feet of me. The common and garden thrush would have to be one of my all time favourite birds both for its song and also for its personality. Some people believe that birds are spiritual messengers. Whether or not that is true I find the bird's presence strangely comforting at this time.

DIY Fly Trap

The heat has set in and brought the flies out in large numbers, especially around the hen house. My friend John uses a Gordy Fly Trap (left) which is a clean pesticide free way to kill flies by trapping them. He taught me how to make a DIY version to use here which consists of a 3 litre juice bottle with a small fly sized aperture cut halfway up the bottle. You drop meat (lamb mince is the best I've found) into the bottom and then cover with an inch of water. To finish it off you cover with clear plastic and secure with a rubber band so that the flies aim to climb up to the top of the bottle rather than out the hole again. Hanging the trap in a semi sunny situation you watch as the flies first feed on the rancid meat and as more and more meet their end, on each other.

I put a bottle out two weeks ago and already there is a thick black inch of flies dead on the bottom. It sounds a gruesome activity but flies not only carry disease they can cause flystrike within a few hours which is an incredibly painful experience for any animal. I don't like using pesticides which is why I still have the bottle of flyspray I bought eight years ago. These DIY flytraps really do reduce the fly population.

Looking

I've spent two days ringing anyone I know with rural connections asking them to keep their ear to the ground about a cottage. Registered with a couple of land agents, asked my mailman to talk to his clients, Bart the equine vet is asking around and Doug my other vet is allowing me to put a sign up in his office. I've put adverts in trader magazines as well. There is a free country newspaper that comes out monthly so will wait for the next issue and see if they allow classifieds. My cousin Margh spoke to a real estate agent friend of hers whom I rang first thing yesterday. She said she has places come through every so often but it might take her a few weeks to find somewhere for me. After speaking to her I felt so much calmer and able to do a few things round the house rather than just sitting stressing.

I managed to find a home for another of my bantam roosters on Tuesday evening. A gentleman from Middle Road chose the more colourful of the ones I am rehoming (a screamer who made out I was murdering him if I picked him up). He'll be running free with his new women and altogether living a very happy life. I did ask the guy if he knew of any empty houses in his area and he said Mt Erin Station has several cottages but they're all tiny, more for shearers really so wouldn't be suitable. However he did say he and his wife would keep an eye out for me and as a last resort if I'm stuck for grazing for the donkey they would look after her till I am settled somewhere.

I am so fed up with all the work being done here. They're still waterblasting so the hose is tied up all the time so each day I am carrying 25 litres of water from the house to the chickens. They pulled out the pink hollyhock plant in a pot my sister gave me three years ago which was looking so beautiful next to the east wall. It is shriveled up and I can't revive it. I had two seedlings from this by the garage which were in bud but I discovered these weighed down with stones on the ground yesterday. Everything is covered with paint- the plants, my plant surrounds, my pots. They even used my brand new garden trowel to stir paint. By they I mean the back packers as the landlord and his partner haven't been near since delivering the news although I am hopeful they will deliver a reference soon at least.

The Joke's On Me

Yesterday I was coming back from taking letters out to the mailbox when my landlord walked into the backyard saying he had something unpleasant to discuss with me. I immediately thought that after all the work they've been doing lately he was going to increase my rent but instead he told me his partner's father needs to come and live here and I'll have to move on. I have until April to find somewhere else to live as they want the place vacant by winter. However he did say that at least I would have the place looking nice for the summer!

Spent the remainder of the afternoon ringing everyone I know with rural connections, leaving messages to keep their ear to the ground for any properties for rent. This couldn't come at a worse time for me financially either. I never recovered from my last two moves in 1998 and I haven't any savings to fall back on as I have been coping with disaster after disaster since then. I have already been listing auctions on Trademe so will continue doing this throughout the summer to try and raise some cash.

I am devastated to say the least but need to keep going and find a safe place for the animals and myself.

Thyme For Work

It's been pretty busy around here so I haven't had time to update the blog. The garden has had a major shock for a start. My landlord has finished the east garden by chopping down the remaining shelterbelt trees and removing their roots with the tractor before putting up a new eight wire fence to replace the three wire "abstract" edifice that was there before. He also finished chainsawing the wattle tree that fell down last Autumn and chopped back the shelter belt on the south side and dug out the toi toi bushes at the back of the rabbitry with dire consequences for part of the south wall which cracked and fell to bits. I am hoping he will find something to repair this with before long. He also brought in the tractor and dug out a huge flax bush at the front fence.

The cottage has been washed, water blasted and primed and is now being painted. The walls are cream again, the roof fire engine red and the foundations deep green. The backpackers are currently working on the shed doors which are no longer Karitane yellow but the same bottle green as on the cottage. Unfortunately a downside to all this activity was that at some point someone put a hole in my garden hose and cut twelve feet off it so I can no longer get it round to the hen house. This means I carry 25 litres of water out there by hand every day.

Last week when I was feeding the bunnies I noticed that Pip, my old Harlequin angora buck, wasn't interested in his food and kept looking round at his rear end. When I flipped him on his back I noticed one extremely enlarged testicle. Early 2005 he had this problem so was half castrated and we had hoped that the cancer wouldn't move into the other one but unfortunately that was not to be. I booked him in for an operation on Wednesday the 15th and got him to the vet's at 8.25am. I had already informed the vet's receptionist that I would have to change his nickname from One Hung Lo...........

Pip survived the operation and the trip home in 29oC heat. I kept him inside overnight and next morning washed and disinfected his cage before taking him back out to the shed in the afternoon. After being quiet and depressed Pip perked up soon as he saw the other bunnies and began cleaning himself once he was back "home". Since then he's been eating normally and seems quite fine again. Hopefully that will be the end of his adventures.

Although the garden is extremely bare now I still have some plants flowering. There is a lovely deep pink hollyhock growing up beside the east wall of the cottage and three more plants beginning to flower along the garage. My thyme plants are also looking good and I was pleased to discover that the cuttings I took a week ago have taken. As thyme seems to grow fast I should soon be able to transplant these.

More chaos

It's been a hectic week with more work being done round the cottage. On Monday Ken sent one of the backpackers in to sand down all the window frames and sills. Then Tuesday both young men came in with one hacking out the blackberry threading its way through the trees and agapanthus plants by the front fence. He then went on to scrub down the rough cast cottage walls ready for painting. It was a terrible job as in some areas ivy had been growing and when this was pulled away it had left leaves and stems embedded into the paintwork.

I had already gone out at 8.30am in order to do some more gardening but because of all the hard work going on around me felt impelled to stay outside a lot longer than I intended. So although I completely weeded the three gardens along the front of the cottage by the next morning I could barely move. Not quite bent like a human pretzel but getting there.

Tuesday they began waterblasting the cottage while Ken came with a chainsaw and cut down the stumps he had left in the winter along the drive. Pulling down the fence on the east side of the property (Toby goat was shifted to the front paddock so he wouldn't come in) he later came back in the early evening with his big tractor and dug out roots and the troublesome ivy that was smothering everything. There are still three or four stumps needing to come out which will leave big holes needing to be filled with dirt. While he was over here Ken also cut back a few trees on the southern boundary and removed a dead silver birch in the backyard. He also began pulling apart the rotten windowsill on the east side of the cottage. This only had two inch rotten area when I came here eight years ago- now the whole sill is crumbling away. After he finished I could see the wirenetting holding the concrete walls together but fortunately the rot hasn't extended into the window frame.

Wednesday morning one of the backpackers came in and continued waterblasting the walls. What a job! The ground is covered with flakes of cream paint and the cottage looks very shabby chic with its bare patches.

Thursday it dawned cold and grey and soon afterwards it began pouring with rain so no more work was done. The place looks so bare now- no shelter from the east and no privacy either. I guess though that I'm going to have a lot more garden to play around with. Just a shame I'm so broke at the moment and can't afford to buy anything to plant in it!

The Big Clean Up

Once a year my hot water begins to dwindle to a dribble which means that there is a build up of lime or gunk in the ajax valve of the water cylinder. This is an unpleasant job involving much mess and water so I tend to procrastinate for a long time before I ring the landlord. However when it takes half an hour to run an inch of water into the bath you know you have to do something soon.

Thursday I rang Ken to give him the bad news. The next morning he arrived with a drill and also one of his backpackers whom he set to weedeat the three foot high lawn which has been unmown since May. Then another backpacker came over and they began clearing the garage out of all the previous tenant's rubbish that was left here eight years ago. While they were filling up a huge trailer I took out my dead vacuum cleaner, heater, two deceased mops and the base of a rabbit cage that Cheezels my departed house rabbit used to chew through while I was out so she could play with the dog and cats. I can't believe how big the shed actually is now all the boxes of crud are out of there.

After Ken finished with the water he set one of the tourists to mowing the lawn. We had a hell of a job shifting two of the hutches due to the grass growing through them and the mesh floor came off the bottom of one of them. However it was wonderful to see the grass being cut. Ken cut back a fushia in the driveway for me and discussed the next chore of pulling out all the stumps in the driveway garden and filling the holes with dirt so I can put in a new garden. To this end he took his truck and collected dirt which is now in a pile in the paddock next door. He also gave me a bale of hay for the rabbits.

After lunch one of the backpackers came in and washed down the cottage walls and scrubbed the spouting so it's no longer green. By the end of the day the place was looking respectable again- just a shame about its inhabitant who brings the whole tone of the area down. :o) After all this activitiy I have a sneaking suspicion my rent is going to go up soon- either that or else it's an early birthday present!

And if you want to know why so many backpackers stay here you just need to look at this photo of the Tuki Tuki Valley where the farm is situated. We're to the left of the river up in the hills. Unfortunately since I moved here quite a few new houses have been built in the area which not only have taken up good farm land but are blights on the landscape. But when you're a millionaire you can do what the hell you like in Hawkes Bay as long as you grease the right palms. Just goes to show that money doesn't automatically buy you good taste or a conscience.

RIP BWB

When I went out to feed the hens first thing Wednesday morning I found Bloody White Bastard lying dead by the garden by the back door. Looked like he was waiting to be fed and had a heart attack. Buried him in the garden with all state honours. Ten years was a good age but I really miss him following me around the place.

The farrier braved the rain Tuesday morning to trim Briar's hooves and came to tell me she was limping quite badly. She had been fine Monday so he felt she'd either been kicked or else had an abscess. He suggested I leave her a few days to see if it burst on its own. By Thursday Briar could barely hobble around so left a message with Bart Thompson the local equine vet. He returned my call in the evening and as luck would have it he was going to be seeing a horse on a farm down my road at lunchtime Friday.

He arrived dead on time and we braved Tobermory goat to get to Briar who was standing near the tack shed with the Kaimanawa horse. She had an abscess deep in her right hind hoof which Bart lanced before giving her a huge injection of penicillin and a shot for tetanus. He says it's the time of year that caused the abscess- we have days of rain and then it becomes hot. He left me four packets of painkillers but I have to say that after only one day Briar is nearly walking normally again. I had only just sent a cheque for the last of Demelza's vet bill so am not happy I'm back in debt again but you can't watch an animal suffer like that and not do anything.

I have been busy upgrading and revamping my menagerie website and now it has all my stock uploaded I'll hopefully get some orders before Christmas. I am also hoping to complete more spinning for the handspun yarn page and have asked my sister for help getting me back knitting so I can make small items from my angora fibre. Haven't knitted since I was about eight or nine and it's true- if you don't use it you lose it. I think I can vaguely remember how to cast on and cast off.

Bye Bye Birdie

The big Plymouth rock that was hanging round the hen house and making overtures towards Cordelia the black Aracauna decided to take on one of the smallest bantam roosters. He lost! That Game Fowl blood way back in the background still comes through when it comes to defending one of their women. Despite this when I put them to bed after their forage the big rooster followed them into the shed. To his horror I picked him up and carried him back outside. Shocked and traumatised he took to his heels (do chickens even have heels?) and ran all the way home. However he was back over here later on when he perched in a tree by the back gate and proceeded to crow loudly all night. The next day he was gone. I assume his vocal exercises had annoyed his owner and she moved him on.

Last week I advertised a few of my small unnamed bantam roosters free to good home. Had a call from a lady wanting three but she never got back to me. This is the third time this has happened and I'm so fed up with it. I hate tyre kickers and time wasters. Perhaps I'm being too tough and she's only lost my phone number. Anyway will readvertise them this week and see how I get on. They've been sprayed for lice etc. so they're ready to go.

Since my eastern shelter belt has been cut down I have been able to see the lovely specimen trees growing near the big homestead including a colourful Kowhai. I remember one in my parent's garden and how it would attract the tuis. This is a lovely time of year apart from the terrible nor westerlies. The other day they got up to 120 kms and I thought the roof was going to lift.

After three weeks my nettle and thistle programme is showing results. I've nearly cleared all the scotch thistles next to the hen run and have removed two thirds of the nettles and thistles near the back boundary. Once I get these under control I can get into the garden out the front which is pretty overgrown. The fact is it's hard to see the weeds as my lawn hasn't been mown since Autumn and is nearly three feet high in places. I asked John if he could keep an eye out for a couple of lambs I could run on the lawn but I don't think he realised I was serious. If he were still alive my Dad would be appalled. He mowed our lawns once a week in the warm weather and perhaps once a month in winter and God help anyone who made a mark on them.

Mills and Boon in the Henhouse

The local electricity company cut off our power all day yesterday to repair lines somewhere down the road. Made a thermos so I could have a couple of hot drinks through the day and tried to cope with the silence. It's weird how acclimatized you become to having noise in the background.

Not that it was too quiet with my landlady's Plymouth Rock roosters are crowing fit to bust. The other afternoon I was getting ready to have a bath when I saw four out the front attacking Bloody White Bastard. By the time I hauled on my clothes again and rushed out they were strutting away leaving a white heap of feathers on the grass. Appalled I picked his limp little body up in my arms and cuddled him to my chest as I came back up the drive. Halfway along he lifted up his head and looked around as if to say "Are they gone yet?". Little bloke was playing dead! I frightened him even further by giving him a huge hug before feeding him some grain as a reward for being so clever. I guess you don't reach ten years of age without learning a trick or two!

One of the roosters has taken up residence in my backyard however. I have chased him out repeatedly but he just keeps returning. I was so worried when I let the chickens out yesterday but he ignored my roosters and zoomed in on Cordelia the black Aracauna. Doing the broken wing dance around her he tried to round her up only to be attacked by Widget, a bantam rooster about one sixth his size. Surprisingly the small bird intimidated him and he backed off. However half an hour later he was following Cordy around clucking at her, even following her when she walked into the hen house. He acts like a rooster in love whereas she has no interest in him whatsoever. That's my girl- treat 'em mean keep 'em keen.

After our cold snap last week a strong norwester has brought temperatures of 28oC (82.4oF). I knew the hot weather was coming as Angel disappeared two days ago...........

Cold Snaps Blows In Visitor

Freezing weather has blown this way from the South Island bringing rain and a bitter southerly wind. Put paid to my "five-a-day" programme that I began on the weekend- digging out five thistles and five nettles every morning to try and get the jungle under control.

My sister was up from Dunedin this week and came out to see me Monday. Naturally Angel (her cat) was still away on one of her expeditions. I always joke how that cat leaves with the warm weather and returns with the cold. Sure enough last night there was a noise at the window and Angel had come home. Starving hungry and pretty grumpy but strangely pleased to see everybody (except the dog). I assume she'll stay as long as the weather is rotten. She's better than any barometer!

Bloodbath!

Last Saturday night was definitely made for fighting. Firstly there was a crash in the kitchen and found Peaches had "played" with one of my hen salt and pepper set and smashed it onto the floor. Then Demelza chased Gypsy up into my bedroom and by the time I got there Gyps was behind the curtain and there was a pool of blood on the sill. There were spatters of gore up the curtains and about thirty drops of blood all over the carpet. Gyps then followed me into the bathroom, smeared more on the walls and then got in the bath which was soon covered with blood. Checked and she was bleeding from under her tail. Was up till 10pm trying to get the blood out of the curtains and carpet and me as she sat on me at one point and bled over my night attire.

Haven't seen anything as gory since the great Three Blind Mice Massacre of 1999!

Cobwebby Morning

It's getting light at 5.30am at the moment so the thought of Daylight Saving Time beginning tomorrow is welcome. Since all the trees on the eastern side of the driveway have been chopped down the sun has begun shining in the back yard and this morning when I glanced out the back door there were 15 perfectly round cobwebs suspended between fence wires or amongst the undergrowth. The spiders have also been busy building all round my windows but may be in for a nasty surprise as I am about to wash the outsides of these this weekend.

It's been an interesting week. A few days ago coming home from an appointment in Napier I saw a couple of wire cages sitting on the grass verge at the side of the road. Called in at the nearest cottage but no one was home so drove across the paddock to the house next door which still owns all the land. Met a very nice guy called Olly who said he used to keep angoras twenty years ago. He had nine banks (each with three cages) and also took us to his old rabbit shed where he had a roll of brand new floor mesh as well. Named a price and my brother paid straight away (I just have to pay him back now).

Last Thursday friend John arrived out with his ute and trailer piled high with the cages and mesh. A couple of banks have no bottoms and a couple had slight rust but the rest being perfectly preserved even after all these years in the open. He piled them down the back of the property so we can get to them when we start to replace my old ones.

It has been an interesting few months as angoras suddenly seem to becoming popular again. I have had quite a few enquiries about buying stock with a shocked response when I say that I no longer sell my animals. Firstly you get people thinking they're going into breeding angoras and are going to make a fortune with their fibre. I am very open with them as to the fact that the market is tiny and ever decreasing since alpaca has become so popular. So many rabbit farms went down in the 80s and 90s after China flooded the market with inferior fibre and the market will never return. Unfortunately people think I'm deliberately withholding information from them, that I'm making a fortune on the quiet and just don't want to share my spoils. In 19 years of keeping angoras I have yet to make my feed bill!

The other kind are the people who say they only want an angora as a pet. I and other breeders find these are the ones that say the same thing to a couple of breeders so they can get a pair which they then burn out breeding for the pet market. The offspring of these are then sold on to pet shops and after the new owners discover how difficult angoras are to keep the poor animals end up in the RSPCA or at vets. I have had several come through here in a bad way. Sometimes they have such severe blockages from wool they expire within a short time. Angoras are not a pet for the faint hearted and I applaud the breeders who vet prospective owners as to their intentions although many of us have still been conned. The bunny mill breeders are one of the lowest forms of life and have no regard for their animals- only the money they can make from the unsuspecting public.

Cats Feeling The Joys Of Spring

Kind brother spent a long time Wednesday trying to get the TV amplifier repaired. Finally succeeded by completely taking it apart and redoing all the wiring. Turns out the booster part is actually up on the aerial and the box down here is just a power pack. Anyway he got my TV reception back after 11 days.

Yesterday Demelza turned up with a baby rat. Fortunately it was dead but despite this she still wanted to bring it inside to "share". My cats never take on rats so the only explanation for this aberration is that Melz thought it was a very over grown mouse. I am amazed she even killed it as she usually plays with her prey till she loses them. She spends most of her time looking bewildered wondering where they've gone while (I assume) they sit under a tuft of grass giving her the proverbial finger.

Piper has done a disappearing act this morning. She was lying asleep by the back door last night when next door's cat attacked her so I brought her in. However she proved so restless that at 10pm I let her out again as I had given her her heart medication. Looking at her you'd never think there was anything wrong with her at all as she seems so fit and well.

The phone went out again yesterday morning. Told Telecom I didn't want to be without it for seven days like last time so they actually had it repaired within six hours. When you live in an isolated position the phone takes on mythic importance as it is your sole contact with the outside world.

Suddenly the weather is warming up. It was 25oC yesterday and the temperatures are set to be as high today. All Winters mud has dried up which is wonderful.

I Hate Technology

I am seriously beginning to think there is a great god of technology sitting up in the sky periodically deciding to dump his issues on this household. So far this year my computer monitor has caught fire, the washing machine and vacuum cleaner died, the stereo plug caught fire, my car failed its warrant needing new brakes (plus it needed another battery and requires four new tyres before its warrant in December), then it was vandalized in July. Eleven days ago the TV signal amplifier died so no TV ever since then and yesterday my three year old video lost its picture. Ringing my brother he informed me that it "sounded really bad news" and that it would probably be cheaper to buy a new machine rather than get it repaired. Like a good brother he is lending me one of his videos as he knows I can't afford to buy another at the moment (what with the $300 vet bill and four new tyres thing).

Demelza is continuing to improve. All the oedema disappeared last week and now she is ravenous to the point she tries to steal food. Hopefully she'll soon put more weight on. Angel is still AWOL after six weeks.

It took a week but I cleaned my way round all the windows inside the cottage. Trying to get to the outsides but the Spring Equinox has hit here with gale force winds so not bothering to clean anything out in the elements as it's a waste of time.

We're still getting a few frosts. I finished my nicotinic acid tablets last week and so yesterday right on cue painful chilblains reappeared on my right hand. Will buy some more pills when I next go to town and take them right through to summer. I know I should take the attitude that life is giving me the opportunity to make lemonade out of lemons but honestly when a run of bad luck lasts so long you just feel like a sour old piece of fruit!

First Egg and Demelza Is Back

Well my little chick who hatched in April has done the deed and laid her first tiny egg. Strangely (since she's a brown hen) she's laid a white egg with pale speckles. Have a couple more bantys broody at the moment. You can tell this by the screams if you approach anywhere near where they're nesting since they prefer to hide their nests under bushes and amongst grass. Always a sound that can get your heart rate up though not in a good way!

I have cut Demelza's Homeobotanicals down to three drops twice a day. All the oedema has dispersed so now I can see how thin this unexplained illness has made her. However her old personality is back, she even ran forward to greet me yesterday. I don't think we'll ever know what was really wrong with her (although I think she has had a toxic reaction to something) but I feel confident that she's over the worst. Just a matter of feeding her back up now. Just over a week ago I would have guaranteed that I was going to lose her.

Also been doing a little spinning each day. Did a skein of merino over the weekend which I posted on Trademe. It sold the next day so frantically trying to finish some more. Have also finished up some left over angora blend and plied it 50/50 with merino. Only got about 30 grams out of it but posted these for sale on Trademe as well. More a novelty yarn though.

The signal booster on the TV has finally died so I have no reception at all now. Watching old videos while trying to save up for a new booster as they're around $61. Has given me more time for my spring cleaning. At the moment slowly working my way around the cottage cleaning the inside of all the windows. A very boring job but always satisfying when you find you can see outside again.

Back To The Vet

My fortnightly trip down to town yesterday so had quite a few chores to do including dropping Demelza into the vet's for a check up. Originally she was going back for another blood test to see what her protein levels are now but since receiving a $258.20 vet bill on Monday (of which $120 was for the bloods) I have been in shock so have been cutting down on expenses so I can pay it.

Doug kept her in for the morning and when I returned at 11am told me that Demelza is a weird cat. Her backside is still full of fluid but only one side of her body is now swollen. This makes no sense whatsoever. He has prescribed anabolic steroids to try and get her appetite up (with a promise that she won't end up a muscle cat) and we'll see how we go from there. The receptionist said there are probably only about ten clients in their practice who really love their animals and would do anything for them and I would be one (the vet agreed with her) but I think this was to soften me up for another bill. I did mention giving herbs to her but Doug just grinned as he's used to this. He did ask if one was a diuretic which I confirmed and he seemed happy.

When I was chatting to the receptionist while Doug dispensed the steroids she said what an unusually marked cat Demelza is. She should have seen her when she was a kitten! What a little sweetheart she was.

Shedding The Thermals

The warm weather has finally arrived. Must have as I got rid of the thermal vest and two jerseys on Thursday! My plum tree by the garage is in full blossom now and absolutely stunning to look at, especially when you gaze up at the sky through the branches.

Trying to spend at least an hour and a half per day working outside catching up with rabbit work and doing a wee bit of gardening. Not easy as I'm still recovering from the head cold I caught a week ago.

Demelza is holding her own after having a particularly bad week. My usual vet was away when I rang last Monday to report that she was slightly off her food. The Locum felt it was constipation and recommended CatLax which a friend collected for me the following day. This is a brown paste which you squeeze like toothpaste onto the cat's front paw so that they lick it off. Well it did the trick and the following day two dried up little offerings were left displayed in all their glory in the litter tray. Two more doses helped Dem get back into the rhythm of things.

However on Friday her feet had swollen to twice their size. She slept all day and whenever I looked at her she was shivering. When she woke late afternoon she could barely walk and I was concerned that she might not last the night. Rang the vets' and the receptionist was very cranky and berated me for leaving my call till so late in the day as the locum had left early and I would have to leave my enquiry till after hours when she switched the phone over to the vet's mobile or else come in the next morning. I came off the phone very tearful. That sort of attitude is the last thing you need when you're already upset about your pet. Then I got angry as I've poured alot of money into that practice over the past 15 years.

Anyway hauled out my Homeobotanical Remedies which are so past their use by date it's not funny. Cut some of Demelza's fur and dowsed over it a selection of remedies until I found a decent combination. Showed up she needed diuretic herbs as well as some for blood, bowel and allergies of all things. Hardly had any herbal water left but mixed up a potion, succussed it and just squirted it down the cat's throat. That night she cuddled up to me and everytime I touched her began purring. The next morning Demelza was very interested in her food for the first time in a week.

Yesterday Dem's face was very swollen but she wandered outside and sat in the sun for a couple of hours. I noticed when I carried her in that her feet weren't so swollen and by this morning they had gone back to normal. I have her on ten drops of HbtBDQU twice a day and will keep her on this till all the fluid has disappeared from her system. Just goes to confirm my belief that natural remedies can be extremely effective in helping conditions that have conventional vets scratching their heads.

Deflating Demelza

Demelza walked in Tuesday night with a swollen rear end. By the next morning she also had huge saddlebags on her thighs so off to the vet she went. Doug "deflated" her by putting an incision in the base of her tail and she leaked fluid from this for three days. This was full of glucose but strangely enough her blood glucose was normal. He sent bloods away and these showed up that both her small and large proteins are very low. However she is still eating and perky which he feels rules out kidney, heart or liver problems. She has no bare of itchy patches so no allergy either. Which leaves the gut so it looks like she may have ingested something toxic. If she loses her appetite, gets diarrhea or swells up again then she has to be hospitalized for a biopsy.

Quakes and Ancient Hens

After all my excitement about the rabbit cages I fell back to earth when friend John went to check them out and discovered the cage I saw was the only good one. All the rest were battery hen cages (small) and mostly rusted. However yesterday he drove out with the one good cage and two others that I had stored at his place.

It had already been a bit of a traumatic morning as one of my white hens had died. I can't remember which clutch she came from but she was aged between nine and eleven years old. Pretty good life span for a laying hen (not that she has laid many eggs recently). She was only a bit wobbly for one day and died in her sleep. As the mornings are light by 6.30am these days I had her buried by 7am. The majority of my hens are now geriatric ranging up to Peanut (a game fowl cross) who is the great grandmother of them all at twelve. Her daughter Suki is eleven and her granddaughters are all around eight or nine. Most are still laying but I am going to have to think about bringing in new stock at some point. My landlord's partner is raising Plymouth Rock poultry at the moment. Can't see them but can hear the roosters in the morning.

Had three smallish earthquakes late Sunday afternoon- the largest measured 3.7 on the Richter scale. Just a jolt each time, no shaking at all. Apparently they were centered at Hastings which is just twenty minutes away from here. At the moment we're waiting for a cold snap to travel up from the South Island. Just winter's last fling before the warmer weather arrives (she says hopefully).

Chocolate

We're in the midst of another cold snap at the moment so too chilly to do more than essentials outside. I have lots of work to do out in the sheds which is frustrating. Also Chocolate who lives in a hutch on the lawn needs some maintenance. She is such a hardy rabbit and seems to thrive in the outside environment although I think she misses her brother Snowflake who died of RCD/RHD (calicivirus) right beside her last year. She is very small even for an English angora but apparently, according to her previous owners who brought her up here, both her parents were rexes. For some reason two angoras were thrown in the litter although the other one died. You can definitely tell there is crossbreeding in the background as her coat is just rubbish but she has such an adorable face you forgive her anything.

Angel Flown and Thumb Update

Angel has gone walkabout again (early this year as she usually waits until September until she begins disappearing. When she's here she tends to take over the cottage. She's either asleep on a chair you want to use, sitting in front of where you want to walk or else sitting (or cleaning her rear end) on your drawing board where you want to work.

My thumb is slowly recovering from being eaten nearly two weeks ago. The skin has grown in and filled in the hole but the bite marks are still visible and painful so I am still bandaged up. Muggles is back to hopping round and helping himself to toast crusts at breakfast but now I throw them on the floor rather than risk feeding him by hand. I definitely want to keep the rest of my fingers attached.

Piper Poses

Piper has good days and bad days with her cardiomyopathy. A good day she'll get up early and eat all her breakfast, she'll supervise me when I'm outside working and plays with the water coming out of the hose when I'm filling up bottles for the rabbits. A bad day I have to wake her up, she doesn't want to eat and it takes her all morning to come right. I don't know why this is as she regularly has her heart medication (twice a day).


Recently I had a film developed and discovered I'd taken quite a few photos of Piper (before I knew she was so ill). Here she is posing in my bedroom window which is the first room to get some sun in the morning in the winter. As you can see it gets so damp here even the windows cry.




This is the reason I often can't sit in my armchair- no room! Piper is sharing with Peaches and Gypsy. In the evening the young cats take over while Pipe lies at the base of the chair so she can get the full benefit of the heater.

Biting the Hand Who Feeds Him

Had an interesting day yesterday. Was having breakfast with five cats, dog and Muggles the house rabbit who, as usual, was getting rather excited as he loves eating the crust off the bread. Well he mistook my thumb as part of the toast I was offering him and took a chunk out of it. I knew the wound was bad as it began spurting blood immediately. I got Mugs back in his cage while rearranging the room which has to be partitioned when he's out. By the time I got to the bathroom I began hearing buzzing in my ears and realized I was going to faint so came back out, grabbed the phone and lay on the floor. My friend John was the only person I knew would be up at that hour so rang him and told him I was likely to pass out and began crying like a big sook. He was coming to a meeting in Hastings so told me to leave my door unlocked but after ten minutes the faintness passed and I could sit up. All this time I was pressing my thumb with my finger but the bleeding wouldn't stop.

Anyway we discussed that I should ring my other friend Judy as she's a trained nurse. She suggested pressing a sanitary pad into the thumb to take pressure of the finger which was getting tired. She rang back in an hour and it still hadn't stopped bleeding. It didn't stop for two hours!

Afterwards I put on my Homoeobotanical Golden Healing cream and nearly went through the ceiling with the stinging. I put on a band aid and after ten minutes the pain subsided. GH actually prevents tetanus so I guessed it would deal to any staph germs in Muggle's mouth. I ended up feeling so shaky yesterday but drank alot of fluids right through till evening so hopefully my hand has filled up again! ;-)

I'm going to rename Muggles Dracula.

Phones

More rain came last week causing more flooding as the ground was already sodden with water and couldn't take anymore. An unexpected twist was that it took out the phone lines and I was without a phone for SEVEN days. Since I am on dial up this also meant no internet. Talk about frustrating. Telecom will be receiving a letter of complaint as they didn't bother to divert calls through to my mobile until last Wednesday when I was in town and phoned them from my brother's place. I have missed several calls apparently as when people rang they wouldn't even get a signal which also meant my message service wasn't able to do its thing. Considering the obscene profit this company makes every year you'd think they'd have adequate maintenance staff on the job. I object to paying the monthly rental I do if this is the service I receive.

Also I've had three days in the last week and a half when I've had no water. Happened again this morning so waiting with dirty hair for the landlord to do something to rectify the situation.

Grrrrrrrrrr

Bastards of the human and feathered variety

Had an upsetting phone call on Saturday morning when my brother called to say that my car had been broken into Thursday night. Richard drives my car which is why it was parked at his house but unfortunately that particular evening he didn't hear the thieves smash the window to get in. They demolished the ignition barrel, switch and turning lock so the car now can't be driven at all and as a parting gesture emptied the ashtray over all the car seats!

The police didn't bother to come until Saturday morning by which time Rich and his friend had had to push the car round to the back of the house for protection. This meant that there were no fingerprints that could be taken so no one will be punished. I've spent time on the phone trying to organize insurance and the company arranged for the car to be towed to a panelbeaters yesterday and have said they'll try to get it back on the road as soon as possible.

The weird thing is nothing was stolen out of the car at all which I guess means I have really have nothing worth stealing! I guess I'm lucky that the morons didn't manage to steal the car and go joyriding as it would have ended up as a burnt out shell on the river bank. It just infuriates me that they trashed the scruffiest car on the street- could they not tell it belonged to someone permanently broke? I just hope my belief in Karma holds true........

Onto more pleasant topics once upon a time there were three little boys. Well three little white roosters. One was unnamed as he would be going to live near the beach at Waimarama, one was called Spiderman but he unfortunately was killed by my landlords dogs and the third was known as Bloody White Bastard. Now BWB didn't start off with that nickname but he was such a pig to the hens (hiding behind bushes to ambush any unsuspecting pullet minding her own business) that I found myself constantly yelling out "Leave her alone you b****y white b*****d!" so it stuck.

His halcyon days have passed however as BWB is now ten years old and apparently can't cut the mustard anymore. Yes the hens actually threw him out of the hen run. He now spends his time sunning himself in the garden or else hanging around waiting for me feed him. I have become fond of him as he has turned into a pleasant bantam rooster who minds his own business. No more lust in the dust for him- now he only has me his "bud in the mud".

Waterfalls, Wet Fowls and Thunder Thighs

I loathe having to go to town in the rain. That feeling of water running down your neck every time you get out of the car, having to scurry from shop to shop and the mad dash to get all your purchases into the house before they turn into pulp is not pleasant. However Thursday I needed to go to hospital for heart tests so had to brave a terrible rain storm.

The shingle section of our road is now just one long succession of pot holes. If you try to go round one you just drive straight into another. The rain had gouged great chasms across the dirt which saw mini waterfalls pouring into the paddocks. Even the sealed section wasn't much better as the water began creeping right across making driving quite dangerous. The road beneath Te Mata peak was obscured by four or five slips where the clever powers-that-be had decreed all the trees holding the banks together along the roadside be felled. Bet they're feeling a bit foolish now considering all the times workmen are called out to clean up landslides.

We didn't suffer as badly as the Wairarapa though who are still cleaning up after extensive surface flooding. Today we are expecting 120 km westerly winds but I for one will welcome them as we need something to dry up the mud.

In the midst of all this I decided to shift the mother hen and her three month old chick into "the big house". This proved quite simple as I just held the chick while Mum followed me yelling abuse. Unfortunately the chick wasn't too sure if she should be in the shed with the others and I found her standing bedraggled at the hen run gate Thursday morning. I washed out the old plastic rubbish bin that was in their hutch in the hope she would recognise it and stand in there out of the rain but she didn't want a bar of it preferring to get soaked instead.

Fortunately she's settled in a bit better now. When I let the chickens out at lunchtime I catch her and put her in the shed where I feed her. I will do this for another couple of days till she realises that is her new home so that she'll happily return there in the afternoon when I put everyone to bed.

Piper is doing well. Her "Thunder Thighs" have gone back down to a normal size so the heart pills are definitely working. She gets annoyed with me for keeping her inside at night and sits on the window sill looking out at all the mice, rats and other prey she'd normally be catching as they file past giving her the finger in defiance. It's a tough life being a cat!

Mud......but no way is it glorious

I remember a few years ago listening to the radio programme "My Music" where a panel of four wits answered questions about music through the ages. They would always finish up singing a song and Frank Muir (a well known comic writer) would often finish with a Flanders and Swan piece that went "Mud mud glorious mud/ Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood/ So follow me follow/ Down to the hollow/ And there let us wallow in gloooooorious mud!"

Well mud isn't glorious. It smells, it gets everywhere and it doesn't matter how much I try to convince myself it is actually chocolate it still just remains wet dirt. I'm not the only one complaining as a visitor yesterday said she'd never known it so wet and horrible at her property. This is exacerbated by the cats who come in with muddy paws and decide to "take the high road" along the furniture. Officially we have had the coldest June in 15 years and at this rate July may turn out to be the wettest.

The only cat not giving me grief at the moment is Piper who is fast becoming a house cat. She has finished her antibiotics and is feeling better if her frisking around the cottage at 3am is anything to go by. Sometimes I notice her breathing is quite forced but her heart pills seem to be keeping that in check. When I go outside first thing in the morning she sits watching me before accompanying me inside for breakfast. In the afternoon she spends an hour outside with Demelza before coming back in for the night. This is the complete opposite of what she used to be like.

The other news for the week is my landlord coming in to removed the gum tree branches from the backyard. What a job that was. I think the whole top of the tree had broken off in the bad south easterlies we had a couple of weeks ago. I have no idea what else to expect this winter- I just wish it were over.

Southerlies and Other Storms Ahead

The weather this week has been terrible. On Monday we had such strong south easterlies that the entire canopy off the top of the gum tree fell into my backyard. It was disconcerting as I had been in the exact spot an hour earlier. I spent the entire day rushing outside trying to keep the tarps on the hutches on the front lawn. Weighing them down with bricks didn't do the trick and in the end I had to tuck the edges under the hutches themselves and this seemed to do the trick.

I was already tired from traumas the night before. Piper cat began meowing at 9pm and licking her lips before she vomited her entire afternoon meal all over the carpet. I cleaned this up and we all headed to bed but instead of getting up on the chair beside me Piper sat at the foot of the bed. Round midnight I awoke to a weird sound and found she had had "an accident" so out of bed to clean this up while she sat facing the corner. An hour later I woke to the sound of vomiting and found her in the litter tray surrounded by undigested food. An hour later she was still there.

Monday she didn't want to touch her food and ran into the garage for the day, only coming inside later that afternoon. However Tuesday she began eating again so I surmised that she'd caught a stomach bug and that it had righted itself. Wednesday though she began having episodes of diarrhea and this was bloody so I rang the vet for an appointment.

After a thorough examination he came up with the terrible news that Piper has cardiomyopathy. Her body is filling up with fluid and her heart is beating very fast. The vet thinks in her case it is hereditary. He prescribed antibiotics for the diarrhea and heart meds but would not give her the first dose as he felt the stress of him forcing the pills down would cause a heart attack. He did say that it was lucky she got sick as usually cats with this condition show no outward signs but just drop dead!

Instead of leaving her with the vet we put Piper in the back seat and covered the carry cage with a sheet so she'd feel secure. It made for a very nervewracking morning as we kept checking to see if she was still alive.

Two days later I have managed to get the medication into her and Piper has begun to eat again. Last night it was so cold I made sure she was covered up where she lay on the chair. From what I have read it depends on what part of the heart is affected by the cardiomyopathy as to her prognosis. It could range from as little as six months to a few years. It seems so unfair as she is only two and a half years old and already dealing with having been born with a deformed tail.

Meanwhile we all huddle inside while this terrible storm freezes the country. I thought it was actually snowing here yesterday as the rain began coming in sideways. After receiving a huge power bill yesterday I am mindful of running the heater but there is no alternative. I hate winter!

Cages

Last Wednesday I finally managed to get out to see the lady who had offered me free wire rabbit cages at the Creative Fibre Festival. We were running late as the car took an hour and a half to start due to a dying battery (to go along with the brakes and tires that also need replacing) so I ended up there at 10.59am instead of 10.30am as promised. However the lady had pulled a double cage out and I was able to view it without getting out of the car which saved time.

They are double ones and look like old poultry brooder cages. Despite having been outside for ten years they haven't got a touch of rust that I can see. The wire is thicker than in my present cages with a double thickness coming up the side for strength. Added to that they're slightly larger than my present wooler cages plus they come with feeders. The lady says I can have them all- all 100 of them!

I spoke to my friend John who by coincidence lives round the corner from her, in fact his family passes by her property when they go into town. He has a trailer and will bring as many cages out as he can in stages. We'll pile them up under the trees at the back of this place after replacing my two banks of rusted cages which he says he will take away to the dump for me. I am extremely relieved as I have been trying to replace my older cages for so long now. I can't believe how providence led this lady to me!

Antarctic Blast

It was only 8oC (46oF) here yesterday but the wind chill made it feel even colder. Heading down to town I noticed heavy grey/brown clouds hanging low over the valley and I was certain we would get some snow. It was a four cat night as we all huddled together to share body warmth.

I have been rereading a book about Hannah Hauxwell the genteel daleswoman who was discovered by a documentary film maker in 1972 and immortalized in the programme "Too Long A Winter". This lady was living alone in a remote Yorkshire farm in Baldersdale with no electricity or water. In fact her circumstances were so dire she was living on about five English pounds a week and that included animal feed. The winters were so severe she would sleep with all her clothes on.

Despite being forgotten by the world (all alone since her father died aged 37 and her mother and uncle had died years before) Hannah was not bitter about what had happened and instead become a humble stoic individual whose chief delight was her cattle whom she regarded as her family.

Hannah became an instant celebrity after the TV documentary aired and two more were made plus three best selling books written. The attention didn't faze or change her one bit and the public's generous gifts actually made her life a little easier. In the late 1980s she moved from her farm due to failing health and now lives in a small Yorkshire village. Low Birk Hatt Farm was sold in pieces including couple of fields that were full of rare wildflowers (due to Hannah's family being too poor to use modern fertilisers) that were acquired by a conservation trust and renamed Hannah's meadow

After reading how Hannah lived so stoically despite great poverty and hardship I don't think I ever have the right to complain about my own circumstances again. Unfortunately being human I know I will!

Mad Goats and Cranky Cats

Winter nights always find me heading to bed early with a good book and three of the cats end up there with me. Demelza takes her place at my right shoulder and Peaches usually further down the bed. With Gypsy there is a huge drama as she makes "the big entrance". First her head pops round the door to check we're watching before she makes a mad dash across the floor and up on the wicker basket at the opposite side of the room. From there she walks across the dressing table and onto a chair before climbing up on the bed beside me and burrowing under the sheets to cuddle. However this past week she has decided to sit on my chest so I can't read which is also nervewracking as she is within striking distance of Demelza.

I don't know why these two don't get on but suspect it's all to do with jealousy. Usually Demelza has the younger cat bailed up on top of the furniture but lately Gypsy has begun fighting back which is what happened Saturday night and unfortunately I was caught in the middle. I felt my head being lacerated by her claws and yelled which frightened her into falling off the bed taking my face with her. On examining the damage I found scratches on my chin, a deep one on my forehead and a fine laceration over my right eyebrow and in the side of my mouth. I applied disinfectant before getting back in bed feeling sorry for myself. Gypsy did her usual routine but just ended short of the bed on the chair with her back to me. We all went to sleep but I was woken an hour later when Gyps began wailing and crawled into bed for a cuddle- her version of an apology I guess.

I thought that was all the excitement I'd be getting for the weekend but when I opened the curtains yesterday morning at 7am I saw that Tobermory my cashgora goat was on my front lawn. On further investigation I discovered someone had left my back gate open. I snuck out with the dog for protection and managed to replace water in some of the rabbits' bottles before Toby spied me and charged, pirouetting with his horns down read to headbutt my knees. I only just managed to go backwards up the ramp and get the back door shut with him in hot pursuit. I turned off the light till Toby wandered back down and then let the dog in. Some help he turned out to be!

I rang the landlady managing to wake her up and she promised that once the landlord had come back from doing something up at the woolshed she would pass on the message. Up to then I would remain a prisoner in the cottage. For an hour and a half I worried that I hadn't fed the chickens or the mother hen and her chick out front. Plus the tarp on the outside rabbit hutch was flapping loose and it had begun to rain.

By 9am the donkey had also wandered in and was cheerfully eating the garden. Looking out the kitchen window I couldn't see Toby at all so decided to go out again. Taking an alkathene pipe with me to hit him over his horns if he attacked I shakily went to the hen house and fed the ravenous fowls before sneaking out front to feed the mother hen and chick and weigh down the flapping tarp. All the while I was looking over my shoulder expecting the manic goat to charge out from where he was hiding but also hoping that if he did Briar the donkey would defend me as she hates him with a passion.

At 10.30am the landlord arrived with one of his hunterways, another Toby. He admitted to me that he had taken the catch off the gate while trying to fix it last week and never returned to replace it which is why it had sprung open. He couldn't find Tobermory or the donkey so decided they'd gone back out and was just about to leave when he saw them hiding behind the hen house. Sending Toby dog to get them out instead they made a break for it and ran round to the front. Reappearing from round the cottage Briar came trotting past me and went through the gate with the dog after her. Unfortunately he became so wound up he began chasing one of the horses out in the paddock. Meanwhile Toby decided to head back to the hen house with Ken running behind him. When he saw the dog worrying the horse he yelled "Get out Toby!" and Tobermory being an intelligent animal thought he was referring to himself, changed direction and trotted out the back gate.

Life is never dull in the country!

Return of the Prodigal

Last night I was dishing myself some ice cream while watching American Idol when I heard a small knock at the back door. Couldn't see who it was through the glass so turned on the light and it was........Angel! After five and a half months away she is in pretty good shape, not too thin but not fat either and very very foul tempered.

I fed her twice and kept her inside all night by locking her in the laundry. When I opened the door at 5am she was asleep in the litter tray as she used to do (must add it had clean kitty litter in it) rather than sleep in the clothes hamper like the other cats would have done. Gave her a huge breakfast and she has just gone outside.

I am worried that she is so bad tempered. She'll smooch around my legs one minute and then turn on me if I go to pat her. If she is still around by Wednesday when I'm due in town I'll take her to the vet and get Doug to give her the once over. Haven't had a vet bill for six months so I guess it's time to break my run of luck.

Other news is that the farrier finally turned up on Tuesday morning two weeks after he was actually due. Didn't even have to tie Briar up as she stood with her head right down Eeyore-like while he trimmed her hooves. He always says he wishes all donkeys were like her as most are real horrors to work with. Unfortunately his prices have gone up again (second time in six months) due to the rising costs of petrol so it's now $30 a hoof trim. I've booked Briar in for another pedicure in July.

Belle the Terrible

The landlord has five dogs here at the moment including "Belle" a hunterway who apparently came from an abusive home as a younger dog. She is a nasty dog, pack leader to the other sheepdogs and the only one that has bitten me (twice). Belle leads the other dogs into all sorts of mischief including worrying cattle and the horses which she backs into a corner. She absolutely loathes my Sheltie Mishka and takes every opportunity to sneak onto this property, defecating in front of us to establish her dominance.

Thursday was a balmy warm late Autumn day so I decided to give Mish a bath. To do this I fill two buckets with warm water and have a hose running nearby while I wash him on the patio at the front of the cottage. We'd finished and I tied him to the front wrought iron railing while I went inside to find the blow drier to finish him off. As I went past the front window I noticed Belle come in over the front cattlestop. The next thing Mish had slipped his lead and was trying to chase her out. By the time I got out she had him pinned onto the front lawn and was taking a chunk out of his back. When I yelled at her she ran out the front gate with Mish behind her- I am hoping he took a piece out of her leg as she was limping as she ran away.

So Mish had to be washed down yet again as he was covered with dirt. I spent a good twenty minutes drying him off despite being shaky. Couldn't find any wounds on his back so looks like his thick coat saved him yet again.

A few years ago Belle and another dominant bitch called Jess bailed Mish up on the front lawn. Jess bit Mish in the jugular and Belle in the back. What got me was this was witnessed and I never received an apology. Instead I had a $50 vet bill for antibiotics.

Time has marched on and Jess has gone to that great dog kennel in the sky and I'm hoping that Belle won't be long following her. The other dogs here are all friendly with Mish so she's definitely a problem dog who is out to establish her superiority. Frankly I would never keep an animal that worries my stock as this "game" can so swiftly change to something more dangerous.

Timber!

My landlord came in over the weekend to say that he would be removing the wattle tree that fell into the backyard during the big rain a couple of weeks ago. I asked him to start the chainsaw up away from the rabbit shed so they're weren't startled and I would sit in with them for the duration. He also mentioned wanting to cut down all the trees on the eastern boundary (along my driveway). This was pretty startling as it meant I would lose all my privacy but on the plus side some sun would come into the end of the cottage.

Sunday morning work began but stopped almost immediately when the chainsaw broke. Resuming at lunchtime Ken took nearly two hours to chop down the wattle and remove it. I sat with the angoras who were absolutely terrified. I put my hand on Cadbury who was nearest to the noise in order to keep him settled.

After finishing with the wattle the shelter belt along the drive was the next to go including twenty foot high bottlebrush trees and a few native shrubs. I asked for the smoke tree and a very tall native tree that I don't know the name of to be left. Also two silver birches and a gum down the end were left as they really don't take any sun from the cottage (the photo is an old shot showing the gum tree near the gate- you can see how dark the backyard was from the shelterbelt). Ken then got his tractor and pulled the branches into the middle of the paddock and these will later be burnt.

Yesterday was the moment of truth- would the sun come into the cottage? The answer was sort of. Yes it is lighter in here but there is a shelterbelt of tall pines on the northern boundary of the field next door and this is what is stopping the sun coming in here during the winter.

Farriers

Farriers have become as scarce as hen's teeth here in the Hawkes Bay over the past few years. Part of this must be blamed on the lack of young people going into the profession and who can blame them? It's back breaking work (literally) plus you have to bear the indignity of dealing with the horse fraternity- not all of whom are polite or used to dealing reasonably with other people.

My first farrier was a tall guy from Napier who was hard to get hold of unless you rang him late at night (he worked on the wharves). The last time I saw him was in 1998 before I moved out here. His back was so painful he was having to give up farrier work. I then was told of a local man who lived slightly south of the farm. He didn't like working with my donkey at all although she really only got cranky when he touched her left hind foot. Also he would only come several weeks after you'd called him so I ended up ringing him before I needed to so that by the time he arrived the horse and donkey's hooves were ready to be trimmed. In the end he got a full time job and gave up his farrier work.

Finally I was told about Darryn a young farrier based down Central Hawkes Bay. Unlike many people he was happy to travel out here as he worked as far north as Tutira. What's more Briar the donkey adores him. He doesn't even have to tie her up to work on her feet. Goes to show what a good judge of character animals are. Sometimes he talks about cutting down his workload but I always hope that he won't as he is an important part of our equine friends' lives. Lately I have had trouble getting hold of him and was worrying that he had finally retired but last week managed to call him on his mobile phone and he's coming on Monday to trim Briar's feet.

Oh and another benefit of farriers- they know all the gossip and can fill you in about anything happening in the horse world!

Webbed Feet

Two things I am wishing for at the moment. Webbed feet and a digital camera so I could show the devastation caused by all this rain. Had two lots of visitors over the weekend and they couldn't use my driveway in from the road as the culvert has washed out. Instead they drove round to my landlord's gateway and then made a shortcut across the paddock in front of his place into mine. Hard to explain without a photo but at least they were able to get in here.

Today is meant to be sunny which will at least mean that I can do some washing before the rain returns for the rest of the week. It's also nowhere as cold as usual for autumn which for me confirms that our climate is changing. Last year was a warm wet winter and this one looks like it's going to be even worse.

My chick is four weeks old now. She is brown with a few white speckles on her back so lets hope she is going to turn out to be one of the painterly chickens. Cordelia's wheezing was non existent yesterday so am wondering if the pile of garlic I threw into the henhouse late last week helped. I have given all the other animals apple cider vinegar and garlic in their drinking water to help build up their immune systems.

Otherwise my life consists of mud, mud, and more mud.

Building a boat...........

The rain storm we had last weekend lasted three days and dumped ten inches of water (the wettest it's ever been up here on the farm apparently). If it had stayed at that it would have been ok but after only one day of sunshine the rain came back in a big way. The soil being too sodden to hold anymore moisture caused my henhouse to go under water and the rain even ran into the rabbit shed and flooded that although the bunnies were safe and dry as their cages are suspended. But the worst part of all was that when I came home from town on Wednesday afternoon (yes mad dogs and kiwi women go out in the teeming rain) the large wattle tree at the southern boundary of my place had fallen into the backyard. The ground was so wet that the roots just pulled free so now it's lying on top of the lemon tree.

The road is also in a bad way and someone who was heading out here to see me ended up bogged down in the shingle in the new section of road my landlord is constructing to bypass all the winding sections. She did free herself but turned round and went straight home for a shower as she was drenched. Now she says she won't come out here for another week and only if it's sunny!

Yesterday was sunny and warm so there was frantic reconstruction of the drive by the landlord in his tractor while I did the washing, dumped dirt into the holes in the henhouse floor to mop up the water and worked with the rabbits as their coats are beginning to web after all this damp. And the weather forecast......yes more rain coming from late today.

Show Over

It has taken over a week to recover from the Creative Fibre Festival held over the last weekend (21-23 April 2006). Shared the stand with a lovely lady who breeds Gotland sheep which was great. Had photos of some of my bunnies up on my stand's back wall to show people the type of colours you can get in angora plus a couple of examples of scarves knitted in the fibre. Everyone enjoyed stroking these to assess the softness.

Gave away 30 business cards and 55 spinning instruction sheets and sold enough fibre to pay for the feed over the autumn and winter. Agouti and sooty fawn were the most popular colours but if I had more than two small packets of the apricot (orange) I think this would have surpassed these as people loved the shade. Surprisingly the cream didn't sell as well as I thought but then I think colours have fashions and the darker shades are in at the moment. The third grade didn't move at all on the first day until I put a sign on the basket stating what you could use it for. After that some people bought it to try in felting and dying. One lady also bought a couple of packets to put in her artwork.

The blend I had done came out beautifully- a subtle shade of pearl grey at 25%angora to around 75% fine wool. I sold several smaller lots of this but the 200 gms didn't move. I should have broken these up halfway through the festival but then hindsight has 20/20 vision. I floundered a bit when talking to knitters which made me realize that I really do need to get back to knitting so I know what I'm talking about. Also I think I would have sold lots more to the public if I had spun yarn and knitted items there.

Did get lots of people who had had bad experiences with angora. I explained about the disadvantages of shorn fibre (sounds like they were using badly clipped angora from backyard pets) but some had already made up their minds on the subject. One lady also told me that angora is out of fashion. Good news though is that a local person who used to farm angoras has offered me some old cages she has sitting at her son's place. She doesn't know what state they're in so will have to go along and have a look. Perhaps they'd even be suitable for cannibalizing to repair some of mine.I also spent some of my money on two packets of alpaca (grey and brown) and a Gotland fleece from Irene to spin up with my fibre.

It annoys me how new people come and think they'll buy a couple of angora rabbits, breed them to death and then make a fortune at selling fibre and animals. The reality is that it is definitely a cottage industry and interest amongst the spinners needs to be drummed up. It's an uphill battle and you never ever make a profit. You either need to have a passion for the breed or be a little bit crazy!

All in all it was an interesting weekend and I hope that I've made enough contacts to get me through the next couple of years. I was asked to attend the next festival in Taranaki but told them I can't but would be willing to send my stuff along if they can find another trader willing to sell on my behalf. I did come away inspired by all the wonderful fibres and fashions I saw on display but oh so tired!

Bird City

I haven't had much time to post the past week as I have been preparing for the Creative Fibre Festival here in Napier next week. Spent two weeks of evenings going through fibre I bought from a lady early last year. Much of it was clipped and ungraded so I had to painstakingly go through every bag and pull out second cuts and webbing. Ended up with 9 ounces of first grade white and blue fibre.

After the disappointment of Cordelia's clutches not hatching I was surprised and pleased to hear cheeping in the hen house when I went out to feed the chickens late last Sunday afternoon. The same hen who produced one solo pullet late November had gone and done it again, hiding in the broken plastic rubbish bin that I have in their run. I quickly scrubbed out an outside rabbit hutch and then carried the bin, Nutmeg, her one chick and three eggs there. Unfortunately the eggs were already cold so I think she abandoned them as soon as the only survivor hatched out. This seems to be a pattern with Nutty. Anyway a week on the chick's first pin feathers are showing and their dull brown colour seems to indicate another pullet. Very lucky break!

Happened to glance out the window yesterday afternoon to see a strange beady eye looking through the wire fence from the next door paddock. At first I thought it was a stray hen but as it cautiously moved into the open I saw a female pheasant. When I first came out here in 1999 there was a beautiful male pheasant who would come and walk across my front lawn. Unfortunately he disappeared (I guess due to the farm dogs) so I hope the same fate doesn't happen to this little hen.

With the days closing in the bird life is increasing again with the end of their breeding season. Yesterday I saw my first male chaffinch of the year plus there is a bellbird that comes and sings in the trees along my driveway. The fantails are returning and one cheeky one comes in the rabbit shed with me. They are my favourite native bird as they're so full of personality.

The baby sparrow I raised a year ago has gone strangely silent over the past weeks. Finally I noticed he was sitting in the corner of his cage and wouldn't even move if I wanted to clean it out. Suddenly it occurred to me that the weeks of tearing his cage cover and collecting grass out of the dried flower arrangement next to him had a purpose- he was building a nest as he thinks he's sitting on eggs! He is still completely unafraid of my cats which is a huge worry and the reason why I was unable to release him as I had hoped. The other day Demelza was sitting up beside him and turned round when I told her off. Suddenly Tuppence saw his chance and began pulling the fur out of her tail- obviously to make a nice soft lining for his nest of invisible eggs. He used to be completely enamored of Gypsy who, as a kitten, would sit beside him. He was forever reaching through his cage and trying to kiss her while she would rub him. Unfortunately or fortunately depending what way you look at it, Gyps grew out of her fascination with the sparrow and now completely ignores him.

Baby Photos

Finally got my latest film developed with shots of the last litter. Although they're now five months old and have just had their first adult coat harvested in these shots they're just ten weeks old.

This is Giselle and Sherbet in all their glory. Sherbet is the buck I had to revive in warm water at age three days when he got out of the nestbox one night. This was not a one off experience as he was constantly trying to get to his mother for a sneaky feed. He is a huge character. Giselle has a stunning coat now, beautiful and silky. Like all sooty fawns she is extremely outgoing.

Harmony and Goblin are both gentle and a bit more laid back. I had forgotten how incredibly white angora coats can be.

I am having problems obtaining a fine white fleece for blending so will have to put some white into a pale grey one I bought last winter. I have some grey fibre I was given but this was clipped and third grade was thrown in with the first. Have spent three nights painstakingly picking through the bags removing substandard fibre and second cuts. This has reduced the amount of first grade fibre quite drastically and there is not enough for a blend. Note to self: contact the wool buyers a couple of months before you actually need the fleece to give them time to source something good.