Willow

Willow died this morning. Over the past couple of weeks she had slowly gone off her food but not in any alarming way but I knew she was about to leave us when yesterday she became quite blue around the mouth and I could see her heart fluttering. However she seemed quite peaceful and happy to be beside Pip, another elderly bunny who had become her best friend over the past months. I dug a grave under the cottoneaster by the front lawn with Briar donkey, Mishka and Kit Cat looking on as I lay her to rest with some lavender flowers.

Willow was bred by my friend Mekhaela who gave her to me in late 2001. She always loved her food to the point that she was disqualified for being overweight from the only rabbit show I ever attended. When young she used to hum whenever I went near which is a sign of being "interested" in the rabbit world. I did try breeding her a few times but only one buck managed to get her pregnant and that turned into a disaster as the kits were too big and she ended up being rushed to the vet for an emergency caesarian. All babies had died inside her and the vet I think spayed her despite my asking him not to as I was left with a nearly $300 bill and Willow never hummed again.

However she lives on as my friend Judy acquired a "foodle" (fox terrier x poodle) puppy a couple of weeks ago and she asked if she could name her Willow. I hope she becomes as big a character as her namesake.

Happily Fleeced

Starting the day with a laugh is probably as important to your health as eating an apple a day. I think my immune system got a great boost this morning when someone rang Solid Gold radio station complaining about a certain lady politician who is prone to introducing bills that will cause more government interference in people's lives. He not only called her an idiot but remarked that he'd seen "better legs on a crayfish"! Very un-PC but hilarious all the same.

Yesterday Gine and I washed the walls near the front door where the trees had been growing. Some of the dirt was so ingrained that Gine's repeated scrubbing did little to remove it but despite this the cottage looks much cleaner. Finished up by hosing down the front steps where the chicks have been living in their cage. They were enjoying the afternoon in a large cage positioned on the lawn under the trees where it was breezy and cool whereas Gine and I were soon little melting grease spots.


Gine also delivered my fleece from Waddle Inn. My friend John had given it to me after shearing his Perendales a couple of years ago and it had sat in a sack waiting for me to get round to sending it for processing. What was surprising was how this dark grey fleece turned a beautiful white after washing and how fine and silky it was. Now I am guiltily thinking of all the fleeces I already have stored in wardrobes plus all the greasy ones needing washing. I used to mock spinners with their ever growing stashes of fibre but I am just as bad.

My Favourite Room

At every place I've ever lived my favourite room has been my bedroom. It's a peaceful place which is why I don't allow a TV in there. The last two places I've lived have been rentals so I have limited potential for decorating but happily this room is blue and that's a colour that matches practically everything so all my hand-me-downs fit perfectly. It's a dark room and only receives morning sun in the summer although the afternoon light streams in through the little window to the south/west. This makes it lovely and cool on these hot days which is why Demelza cat loves spending so much time asleep in here.

Since my fall I have been forced to take it easy. I have some lovely bruises developing shades to match the walls although most of them are deep seated, especially on my back. The best you can do in this situation is to see the positive side and that is that I am catching up with my reading and sleeping. Also I am noticing little things happening outside through the sitting room window. Last night I saw a hawk circling in the paddock next door before swooping on something in the long grass. Immediately four magpies began dive bombing him before a second hawk flew in as back up. A huge hare bounded along and then stood up on his hind legs to see what all the excitement was about. There are usually five magpies scrapping next door so it will be interesting to see if one of these were the hawk's snack last night.

Ouch!

I've been tossing up whether to apply for a medical alarm which I'd wear constantly and could use in case of emergency. Decided after today it might be a good idea to apply for one. Since the weather was sunny and warm I decided to be uncharacteristically efficient and wash all my bedding and while I was waiting for it to dry I pulled a few weeds and somehow managed to have a bad fall. Ended up on my back staring at the sky in surprise. Now very sore left arm and back so goodness knows what I'll feel like tomorrow. The garden looks good though.

Gwendolyn

My cousin Gwendolyn and I have been extremely close since I was a child despite the fact that she is about 15 years older than me. Although she has lived in Australia for over twenty years we have always kept in touch and she always makes an effort to visit when she's in New Zealand. So it was a great excitement that she came to stay with her mother in Waipukurau on Christmas Day for three weeks as it meant we'd be able to phone each other more frequently and have a couple of get togethers.

Last Tuesday was muggy and pouring with rain but in the afternoon Gwendolyn drove out with her niece Melissa. It was so wonderful to see her after two years and I showed them round the cottage before we ended up in the sitting room looking through drawings and photos and having a great old chat. I had made tea and we were about to drink this when Melissa remarked that she felt faint. Gwen sent her outside to sit under the back carport as she thought it was just from a lack of fresh air. A couple of minutes later we heard a crash and found Melissa had completely passed out on the concrete. Gave us both a terrible fright let alone Melissa who was covered with dirt and very disorientated.

Gwen helped her into a chair while I fetched a glass of water. Melissa's face was clammy and grey and her lips blue and I thought she had had a hypoglycaemic attack, especially when she admitted she hadn't eaten anything that day. Gwen managed to help her inside to the sofa where she lay for an hour until she felt better. Despite this is was a wonderful three hour visit and I was so sad to see Gwen leave but she promised to meet me again in Waipukurau the next day where I had an appointment.

Sure enough we met in town at 2pm the next day and after my appointment had a quick look at Electra Gallery before Gwen, my brother Richard and I went to have afternoon tea at Cafe Nourish round the corner. We ended up staying there for nearly two hours chatting about family stuff. Rich also asked her about her spiritual work which amazed me as he doesn't believe in such things but Gwen pulled out some beautiful angel cards from her purse and we spend a good long time looking at these. The artwork was amazing. Too soon it was time to say goodbye and although she doesn't leave till Sunday I won't be able to get to see Gwen again until her next trip home.

The Clerk Of Works

It's official- I can't take hot temperatures anymore. Yesterday it was 33oC (91.4oF) in Tikokino and humid with it. The only thing that saved us here was it kept clouding over throughout the afternoon and a cool breeze came down from the mountains. Late afternoon Gine finished chopping back the tropical plant from the front door which let in much light into the sitting room and a small amount into the office next door. We piled all the branches on the lawn before barrowing/carrying them out to the front gate and putting them on the grass verge. Didn't want to leave them in the paddock as I'm unsure as to how safe they are as stock food. Hopefully they'll rot down fast before anyone wants to graze the long acre again.

Mishka tried to help with all the work but the heat was too much for him plus the flies are following him around and giving him heaps. As per usual Kit sat and organised the proceedings with her usual aplomb. She is Chief Clerk Of Works when I garden insisting she knows everything there is to know about horticulture. In reality her only contribution is to lie right where you're trying to weed or else to leap out at you when you least expect it.

The Cat Wrangler

I can't understand people who hate cats. It's especially difficult as I have a few friends who fit into that category (excuse the pun) and they're really nice people who normally wouldn't hurt a fly yet advocate terrible punishments for the feline population. Names like "sneaky", "cunning" and "murderers" are used to describe my lovely fluffies and although half the time it's passed off as a joke in my heart of hearts I realise that they're deadly serious.

HOWEVER.....I have to agree with one thing they say and that is we do have a growing feral cat problem in the country. There are individuals who can't be bothered to take an unwanted litter of kittens to the RSPCA so dump them by the river or by the roadside and leave them to fend for themselves. Those that don't die a miserable death not surprisingly grow up to mistrust humans and live a wild life feasting on whatever they can catch.

The Friday after Christmas I was coming out the back door when I saw a small tabby form scooting across the back gate and behind the hedge. When I peered down I saw two gorgeous little striped faces with blue eyes looking folornly up at me from behind the wirenetting. I spent the rest of the morning trying to encourage these kittens out but they sat shivering miserably behind the water tank. I was unable to get to them as there were still piles of hedge cuttings along there so I spent a good twenty minutes pulling these away before positioning two carry cages at either end of the water tank blocking their escape. This is when I discovered there were actually three little kittens who had lost their mum (obviously at home knitting mittens) and were terrified.

I couldn't get them to move towards a cage but I knew my friend Denise was driving out for a visit and when she arrived I positioned her at one side of the tank with a broom while I was at the other waiting to usher them into a carry cage. Yeah well the best laid plans of mice and desperate house goddesses go astray when Denise started yelling that a rooster was pecking her bum. I had to manoeuvre myself out from behind the hen house, between the hedge cuttings and round the big tank to where Denise was only to find it was Artemis Fowl the brown shaver saying hello as she's wont to do. I swapped places with Denise and sat in the dirt wiggling the broom along the ground towards three very scared animals. Two ended down beside Denise but wouldn't go into the cage and a third made its way down to me. I went to pick it up and put it into a cage when it turned into a tiger. It ripped the hell out of hand and arm and three attempts to get it into the cage and shut the lid failed as it flew at me. By this time I was bloodied and yelling so had to let it go and it disappeared over the horizon along with its siblings. I doubt it had ever been touched by human hand before. It took a good 15 minutes to clean myself up and bandage some pretty bad scratches.

Last night I saw two of the kittens dancing in the paddock next door. They looked so adorable but these animals are going to end up killers feasting on the local birdlife, breeding like crazy until one of the farmers shoots them. As I sit here with Gypsy calmly asleep beside me, a happy cat whose hobby is sitting in the bathroom window watching a rat watch her up in the carport rafters, I finally understand something of where my cat hating friends are coming from. However like stray dogs it's not the cats fault- it's ours. Once again humans taking the easy way out and dodging their responsibilities.


Rant over. The garden is beginning to look tidy as Gine has had another chop back of the big tropical plant at the front. The chicks and their mother in the front carport are enjoying the extra sun in the morning. I have begun cutting back the heartsease along the front as well as they've become very long and leggy. I still have some to do but they've still got lots of flowers on and I want to press these. I dragged out my presses Monday and filled two large ones with Queen Anne's Lace heads. I've also finally dug out every thistle, blackberry plant and stinging nettle along the side of the drive so I don't have to worry about getting nipped when I weed there. Being organic is a tough way to go as spraying would be so much easier although not as good for the environment plus it annoys the fairies!