Tuppence

It's now two years since Demelza brought in a tiny baby sparrow she'd caught. Fortunately being a highly inefficient hunter meant that as per usual she "lost" her prey. As I had no idea where she'd found this bird I was unable to put it back into a tree for its parents to find so put it in a cardboard box and convinced myself it would probably die of shock. However when I checked a while later it opened its beak so I mixed up some chicken mince with warm water and fed it. To cut a long story short Tuppence survived and grew into a pretty male sparrow with attitude. Originally I was going to release him back into the wild but unfortunately he has no fear of cats, even pulling their fur and tweaking their tail if they sit beside his cage (which they tend to do if they think I'm not in the vicinity). He always flies back to you when he's out exercising and pulls my hair and chats away to me. He has an ongoing love affair with his mirror and bell which he periodically bashes. Strangely though his song has altered and you can hear him whistling the cats (as I do) as well as saying hello on occasion.

Piper has spent the past four nights inside which is unusual. I have been worried as she has lost some weight but put that down to her cardiomyopathy. However yesterday she was absolutely drooling and unable to eat. Of course I managed to convince myself she was going into renal failure but when I offered her some meat mid morning she was interested but only seemed able to pick chunks out, placing them beside the dish. I had some soft cat food which I put out and she scoffed this with relish so I think she may have a tooth problem. I had a look but couldn't see anything but will keep an eye on her for the next few days to see how she goes. The drooling has eased today and she managed to eat her breakfast today so hopefully it was only a minor problem. This is the latest photo of Piper and she was relaxed enough to allow me to show her stumpy tail.

Flight Of The Wasp

Packing is on hold at the moment since I've run out of boxes. Have completed tearing my bedroom to bits though, taking down all the nick nacks I usually have to dust. Still have alot to do with just nine days till the move. Have lists of lists of tasks and am feeling really stressed.

In the middle of all this Sunday I was moving all my potted plants from the patio when something black flew into my face. Next moment I was in excrutiating pain-turns out I was stung in the nose by a paper wasp. Don't recommend it as you end up feeling like you've been hit by a bat.

Had a trip back out to Tiko last week to see the place again and meet a couple of the neighbours. The landlady is leaving a few things behind including her aquarium of fish and some items of furniture which I can use. She is moving out about the 28th but says I can begin shifting things in before then. It's just a matter of finding people willing to help as it is an hour's drive from my current home to the new place.

Oh and yesterday the current landlord and landlady came over with a tradesman to measure the cottage for carpet and lino. Looks like the whole place is going to be renovated once I'm gone. C'est la vie!

Giving Up Dusting

I'm giving up dusting for Lent. Well not so much making a sacrifice but coming to the realisation that it's foolish dusting the furniture when I'm packing everything anyway. The whole shifting business is so daunting- I'm trying not to think about it. I do have moments of satisfaction though like Sunday when I managed to condense 14 boxes of items into three. Well most of the boxes only had a couple of things in the bottom anyway so really it was no great feat. When I moved here over eight years ago I only had my bedroom furniture and had to borrow chairs and a couple of tables. Storage here is at a premium so much of my "stuff" has been sitting in the boxes they arrived in. My sister once asked when I was going to unpack but the truth is that I had nothing to put anything in so what was the point? However sifting my way through a lifetime of accumulated dross has forced me to be a bit ruthless- if I haven't seen things in eight years are they really that important? The problem with inveterate hoarders like myself is that you always convince yourself that something is going to "come in handy one day".

I have been awake since 3am today. Tried to get back to sleep only to have Peaches leap across from the bed onto the dressing table sending two pictures and all my crystal figurines (given to me by family and one now deceased friend) crashing down behind the chest of drawers. 4am saw me reaching behind trying to rescue things and trying not to freak about all the spider's webs I could feel. Amazingly the only things that were broken were a crystal duck's tail which had separated from its body and a tiny rabbit who has lost its ears again. Managed to find all the pieces and will try and repair them again before packing them for safety's sake. I have a feeling it's going to be a long long day.............

Another miracle

I spoke to Doug the vet yesterday and he confirmed that Piper would definitely be dead by now as she hasn't had her medication for a week and her cardiomyopathy is severe. So I can state that another miracle has occurred since Piper turned up at 6.45am today. Thin, her voice pretty much gone and her heart doing a tap dance, but alive. After giving her a relieved cuddle I got some propranalol down her and dished out a big breakfast which she scoffed down. At the moment she is sitting up on top of the fridge with her feet neatly tucked underneath her as if nothing has happened.

Goodbye Piper

It's now a week since Piper disappeared so I must come to terms that she is dead. I contacted the vet earlier this week and the receptionist had a word with him before ringing back to say that he felt her meds were now out of her system and she was extremely ill and hiding away. They both felt the prognosis was poor. I know Doug didn't think she would survive the examination he gave her way back in June and refused to give her any medication at the visit as he was worried her heart would give out from the stress of administering it. The propranalol pills brought Piper back to her old self, she was even frisky and playing with the water out of the hose like she did as a kitten. She had eight months more life than we thought she would and although I knew her life wouldn't be long I am still so sad that it was cut short as it was. Piper was only three years old.

Spinning, Sorting the Crap and the Pu Birds

What is it about this place that makes the cats want to leave? Angel has been walkabout for three months this time and now Piper has disappeared. It's been two days since she last came for a feed so I'm hoping that she's lying bloated somewhere with paws all over the place full of roasted rat. Wouldn't worry half as much if she didn't have cardiomyopathy and need medicating twice daily.

I have half got the job spinning alpaca for the place down south. However my sample although perfectly even and weighted (whatever that means) was over spun which apparently is a by product from spinning angora for so long. They're sending another sample for me to mangle and if I can get the tension right while remembering to spin finely and ply properly I'll have the job! Fortunately I'd bought some alpaca from the Creative Fibre Festival in Taradale last year so hauled this out to practice. Result was a skein that hangs down straight and is fluffy so hope this solves the tension problem. Skein for sale on Trademe for $12.

Just heard a noise and looking out the front see five pukekos feeding outside my place. Obviously a family unit out for their version of a Sunday drive although I can't tell if there are any kids whining "Are we there yet?" Three paradise ducks are having a row further out in the paddock and one has bravely flown in to annoy the pu birds. Gypsy cat is sitting beside the cattle stop utterly bemused by the whole scene. Even she has to admit they're too big for her to catch!

My friend Tanya rang last night as she had been trying to get a friend who works for a local removal company to move me for free. A no goer apparently although the guy has offered his personal services for one morning (woo hoo!). Was able to report that I've made quite an inroads into the crap (um sorry) treasures stored in the Widdly Room. Even rediscovered my perfume bottle collection and a metronome. Am trying to downsize by cramming the contents of two boxes into one all the time. Sometimes it works but more often than not I find some sentimental item I can't possibly throw out despite not having looked at it for nine years. In particular every school exercise book from my childhood, eighty year old copies of The School Journal and two inch long pencils. I mean they might be worth something someday!

Outages Of The Electrical And Ihugal Variety

A little white bantam hen died yesterday morning. She'd been growing a nasty looking "thing" on her leg recently (not scaly leg) and I had decided to have her put down when she beat me to it. I only have two white hens left out of the seven I once had. They're completely mad and at the moment rather a pain as they're so stuffed with windfall plums from the tree in the backyard that they don't want to go into the hen house at night with the others. I watch them sunbathing in the garden in the afternoons although they keep their feathers on unlike their poor cousin to the left.

Since the cold snap last week there has been a distinctly autumnal feel in the air despite the warm temperatures. We even managed a little rain storm last night. I know this as the washing machine began turning itself on and off at 3am. Getting up to check I discovered the power was fluctuating so decided to pull the plugs on all electrical appliances. While doing this the electricity cut out completely so had to feel my way back to bed praying I wouldn't squish a cat in the process. Everything is back on this morning though except Ihug my ISP who is having yet another melt down and not delivering any email. They still advertise themselves as being voted New Zealand's No 1 provider- I can only assume that the voters were the mothers of the staff as I don't know anyone who doesn't find their service frustratingly inadequate.

Miracles Happen!

After months of searching a place came through the internet last Thursday. I didn't ring at first as it was way down in Central Hawkes Bay where I'd never thought of moving. However apart from the location it sounded it had everything I needed so I rang for an appointment to view.

It was a cold grey morning last Saturday when my brother, sister in law and I drove up into the hills. The cottage was easy to find and as soon as we went inside I found myself in a peaceful sitting room looking over the fields with two beautiful cats lying on the chairs as the welcoming committee. The kitchen was twice the size of mine with a large sunny picture window and masses of bench space which I'm not used to. There are three bedrooms, one is presently a computer room and the wardrobe in this has shelves for papers (in fact there is masses of storage throughout the house). One small bedroom gets the afternoon sun and like the much of the cottage is painted blue. There is a Lady Kitchener Stove in the sitting room attached to a wetback to heat the water and apparently the whole house is lovely and warm in the winter which will be a great change for me.

Right at the back door is a large covered in car port which would be ideal for the rabbits (it's larger than where they are) and so the only thing I'd have to think there is about manure as it's a concrete floor so I may need to get trays with dirt or shavings. There is also a single garage and tack room and one hectare of grazing with Smedley Station surrounding the property. There is a cottage garden and lovely big trees on the western boundary and on the front lawn.

After looking round Cathy (the owner) invited us in for a cuppa at 11am- we finally left at 1.30pm after talking animals all that time with a cat sitting on each of us (watching Richard cuddling an Abyssinian was something else!) As we left Cathy looked at me and said "It's yours if you want it". Well we talked ALL the way home about the pitfalls but they were all insignificant compared to the fact that this is a place that seems so "me" so in the evening I told Cathy I would take the place. She said several people were after it but she had really wanted me to have it. After all the recent experiences I had with negative landladies telling me no one would want me as a tenant I nearly cried.

Now it's very COLD in Tikokino- in fact sometimes it snows. This is going to take some coping with for a woman who wears jerseys in the middle of summer. However although it feels isolated out there I am only 30 minutes from Hastings, 20 from Waipawa and 25 from Waipukurau. I'll just continue shopping once a fortnight to save petrol. So to cut a long story short at the end of next month I will be moving.

Alpaca

I have applied for a job spinning alpaca fibre with a company that makes scarves etc. Received 10 grams of carded fibre last week to spin up a sample as they want to see if I can make the yarn very fine with nine twists per inch. Sincerely hope mine is up to scratch- will send it off this afternoon.

Cheyenne

The hot weather was knocking my chocolate angora doe Cheyenne around so I removed her coat in early January to make her comfortable and get her back on her food. This seemed to work for a while but a few days ago she became weak in her hind legs and her kidneys began to fail. She passed away yesterday morning aged four and a half years. The symptoms were very similar to those her grandmother Morticia who had a kidney infection at the same age. The vet had treated her with antibiotics but one night three weeks later she passed away as well so obviously there was a weakness there. Morticia was the first of my new batch of angoras bought in as a baby in 1999. What is strange is that I still have Cheyenne's parents who are now elderly but still going strong. The photo shows her at eight weeks with her brother Cadbury.

Meadow has been having problems with her left eye so last week I took her to the vet. Dye was put in the eye and it showed up a corneal scratch from a piece of hay. An infection had developed so I had to administer Tricin eye ointment for a week before she returned to the vet yesterday. He was really pleased as the inflammation and the lesion had gone so now she is having steroidal drops and tricin three times a day just to get the eye fully back to normal. Obviously it's not my favourite job as Meadow has a temper on her if you're doing anything like that. As her cage hasn't got a hay rack I will pull one from one of the other cages and wire it on to stop her pulling hay in with her and rolling in it!

A woman who had answered my ad for a cottage two weeks ago (she didn't like cats or the sound of my dog so I wiped her from my mind) decided to ring me back Monday. It wasn't to say she had changed her mind but to say her husband says I have too many animals. She finished the conversation by saying no one would want me as a tenant. I was floored by such a nasty comment. I am fast becoming one of those people who prefer their pets to people.

This week I emailed the real estate agent who sold my parent's place nine years ago. He replied saying he'll alert all his rural agents to keep an eye out for a place. I'm not too hopeful as I find landlords don't usually put their places through agents but it was worth a shot. I've also put an advert in Hawkes Bay Today for Saturday. $26! Kereru school replied to an email I sent a month ago saying yes they do have a newsletter and I'm welcome to advertise in it. My mailman came in late afternoon and mentioned the tenants in the other rental down the road were moving and I should ring the owners. He gave me their name and I tentatively called the farm. The owner was very nice and said they'd found a new tenant weeks ago but they have another cottage coming free in mid April although it would only be for a couple of months. She did take my phone number though and said she'll ask around for me which I thought was very kind. Restored my faith in human nature a bit.

I have also been told RHD is back in the bay. In short it's raging through the areas where I'm hoping to move. Although my bunnies were vaccinated in 2005 and I was told it was life long I keep wondering if I should get a booster shot done. I hate that virus.

Peaches

I love Peaches with all my heart but there's no denying the cat has a huge problem with flatulence. Imagine my horror then to wake up the other morning and find she'd moved position from sleeping halfway down the bed to my pillow. The first I knew about it was when I turned over and found my face buried into a hairy posterior.

Last night I put Mishka out for the last time at about 9.30pm and was trying to entice Demelza into the cottage when Peach ran outside. I always try to keep her in at night so felt quite sick to the stomach at the thought of trying to catch her. Finally I went out with a box of cat biscuits and by rigorously shaking them managed to get within grabbing distance. Of course she knew what I was about and darted away at the last minute plus Demelza decided to pick a fight so every time Peaches came near me. Finally I went down the driveway and as she went to dash past made a running grab at her tail. Realizing the gig was up Peaches didn't put up much of a fight as I brought her inside.

Then of course Demelza didn't want to come inside as she was certain her nemesis was still roaming around in the dark. I finally caught her by scattering dried biscuits up into the house. Not a good way to find sleep so I read till 10.45pm.

The weather has cooled down slightly with misty drizzly days. Makes it easier on the rest of the animals and I'm not so exhausted either. Only two months till I have to move now. Rang one place out at Maraetotara and the landlady said there was no grazing with the cottage. Had just hung up from her when the phone rang and it was the lady who owns the jack Briar went to visit two years ago. I had left a message asking her to keep her ear to the ground about a rental. She hadn't heard of anywhere but told me she's staying in Wellington over the winter and I could mind her property for six months from the end of April. She is way way out in the countryside and of course I'll have to put my possessions in storage but at least it's somewhere to live. She said if I was willing to look after her animals we would come to some sort of arrangement.

The following day a woman rang from west of Hastings after seeing my advert in the Thursday Trader. She had a cottage to rent but my mentioning my cats and the dog seemed to curb her enthusiasm as she's had bad experiences with previous tenants' animals. I did assure her that Mishka is not a sheep killer but that didn't seem to help. She said she had other tenants to review and she'd keep my details but I won't hold my breath. A real estate agent I know is marketing a place outside Hastings at the moment and said she'll ask the eventual buyer if they'd consider renting it out so that's another option. Also John has spoken to farming friends of his who have their finger on the pulse out at Puketapu. The whole summer feels taken up by the worry of finding somewhere to live and trying to convince total strangers to trust that I would look after their property.

Melting

It's sweltering hot here at the moment. Monday the TV weather stated it was 34oC but friends reported it as being 40oC (100oF) at their place. It is a worry with the rabbits as some are in full coat although I have been working to remove fibre to cool them. Cadbury was especially stressed so I threw a container of ice into his cage for him to lie against although he seemed to enjoy pushing it around instead of resting.

Darren the farrier came out at 10am that same hot day. He had actually been here the week before but Briar had just been been moved with the horses into the back hill paddock and although he spent 30 minutes up there looking for her there was no sign and no one was home at the homestead to tell me where she was. Fortunately he didn't charge me for wasting his time but told me to ring him when she came back down.

Darren was very pleased with the state of Briar's hooves but I guess this hot dry weather really suits her since she is a desert animal. After he finished trimming her hooves we sat out front talking for an hour while he had his usual mug of coffee. Very interesting to hear all the goings on in the horse world. It's hard to believe that these photos of Briar were taken by a friend on the 23rd December as within a week that lovely green grass had turned to brown straw. Many of the poplar trees are turning yellow from stress as it's been ages since we had decent rain.

Over the weekend I was trying to finish some spinning for The Shearing Shed when my spinning wheel broke. Well to be strictly technical it was the green thingy that connects the stick thingy to the treadle thingy. After searching the net I discovered it was called a Conrod Joint. A quick search on Trademe turned up someone who sells spinning wheel accessories and I managed to pick up a new one from this person for $1.50! One of the fastest trades I ever had too so now just have to wait till the joint arrives so I can spend an enjoyable time swearing while trying to attach it.

All quiet on the house hunting at the moment. A week ago I got keen on a place I heard of out at Crownthorpe but the landlady wouldn't even let me look at the cottage as she didn't want a tenant with animals (I had the distinct feeling though she really didn't want a single female living on her farm). Last night a man rang from Kahurangaki saying his wife had left him to live in Gisborne so he was looking for someone to board with him on his ten acres. Ummm noooo thanks. Meanwhile I do some sorting each day, throwing out alot of the dross I tend to hoard so that I won't have so much to do when a place does come up. It's a very nervewracking time.

Fiber Femmes Geek questionnaire

Check out Fiber Femmes website. It is a real treasure trove of information!


1. Do you raise fiber, animals or plant, or are a fiber user only? If you raise animals/plants...what do you raise?

I have kept angora rabbits for twenty years. Would love to expand my fibre animals to sheep or an alpaca but finances dictate no at the moment.

2. What's your favorite fiber & why? Which fiber do you like the least & why?

Angora is my favourite fibre as it is so silky and soft. I haven't found a fibre I dislike using because I haven't really explored all the possibilities.

3. What's your worst habit relating to your fiber?

I keep buying in more fleeces than I can possible spin and they sit in the corner of the spare room looking reproachful.

4. In what ways does your fiber habit make you a better person?

I think working with natural fibres makes you more aware of nature and the environment. Also just sitting spinning calms the spirit.

5. How would your life be different if you had to give up fiber?

It would be quite depressing and a bit purposeless.

6. What tools, yarns, books or gadgets can't you live without?

My traveler spinning wheel is the most important piece of equipment I own.

7. What was your first fiber project?

I remember my mother teaching me to knit a scarf when I was a small child. Like Topsy it "growed" into this long ratty bottle green and orange monstrosity.

8. Do you have any fiber mentors? Who are they and why?

My sister Carolyn who taught me to spin and also Heather Kearins of The Shearing Shed in Waitomo.

9. Are you a member of any guilds? If so, which one(s)?

I belong to Creative Fibre (a national group of spinners and weavers) here in NZ.

10. What's the most exciting fiber project you've undertaken?

I want to take up knitting again which will mean going back to basics as it's been so long since I last held a pair of needles. So the most exciting project is the one I am yet to undertake.

11. How many people have you mentored? In which fiber arts?

None- I do however try to educate people to be less afraid to use angora. It's had such a bad rap here in New Zealand because a lot of substandard fibre has been sold.

12. Do you consider fiber crafts to be functional or artistic?

Both.

13. What, mainly, do you make? Do you keep, or give away, most of your projects?

I mainly spin yarn for sale.

14. Are fiber crafts an avocation or vocation for you?

It's strange but had it not been for my rabbits I would never have thought of learning to spin. However I guess the crafts have become a vocation and I genuinely want to improve at what I do.

15. How many people are you committed to being a mentor for in 2007?

I wouldn't be so cheeky to suggest I could mentor anyone as I really know so little!

Notice To Leave

This morning I found a website listing all the schools in Hawkes Bay with their email addresses so I contacted seven and asked if they have a newsletter and allow outside advertising explaining that I need a rural rental. Despite the fact that it's the school holidays I had one reply from Puketapu School affirming that they do publish an occasional newsletter and allow adverts as well as suggesting I send a notice to the local country store. Felt on top of things and went outside and collected my empty pots ready to propagate cuttings from my garden when friend John turned up with a ute full of boxes and packaging so I will begin packing stuff I don't use often.

After he'd left my landlord arrived and gave me official notice to leave by the 31st March as well as a good reference so hopefully this will impress a prospective landlord.

Tuis

There have been a couple of tuis in the garden this week feasting from the flowering flax bushes. My grandfather used to call them by their nickname of The Parsonbird for the white feathers adorning their throat. Their beautiful throaty warble is so lovely to listen to and if you're good at whistling a tune (which I'm not) you can have a bit of fun with them as they'll try and imitate you.

It is now a week since Muggles died and there have been no deaths amongst the other animals so it seems it was nothing contagious. When I think of how he looked at the end I am now convinced that he died in his sleep. I miss having him running around the place although the cats seem relieved to not have him pushing them off their pieces of toast at breakfast time.

With the changeable weather I have been spending time inside catching up on projects. I have also been trying to do more spinning and completed a couple of skeins for The Shearing Shed this week. Did get excited about a potential rental but it turned out to be only short term so had to let it go. It was a real shame as it was in an area I like and was much closer to family and friends. I hope this year brings me positive changes as all this uncertainty is very stressful.

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....