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....

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.