Here’s where I found Summer this morning. She would like it known that she disagrees with management’s plan to ration grass as a precaution against drought later this season. As a result she made a unilateral decision to dine at the All You Can Eat… Continue Reading
Sorry New Zealand, it seems I jinxed the weather this summer by planting a little Mediterranean garden corner. Who knew I had such contrary meteorological power? For the month before the rain came, this sad little north facing corner behind the pool… Continue Reading
Rain on New Years Day! I feel very happy sitting inside with my cup of tea watching those lovely droplets falling on the orange grove, irrigating the orchard and the paddocks, and filling up our water tank. The grass here has been drying out and… Continue Reading
Hope you’re having a splendid day wherever you are and whatever you are doing. Happy Christmas from all of us here at the farmlet. It’s been very relaxed here. Darling Daughter is visiting from Auckland. She came with me for a… Continue Reading
Not to be outdone by the old dog in the vermin reduction stakes Kitty-Pop has been running a parallel operation from her base amongst the tack shed hay-bales. Yesterday she was spotted on the driveway with her mark. If you’re sensitive to the sight of… Continue Reading
I finished work at my salaried job a bit over a week ago. From here in I’ll be counting on the income from one day a week of self-employment in Auckland, and a similar gig — though at a fledgling stage — in Whangarei. There… Continue Reading
It worked! There is one less rat under the chicken house, and this old girl is the reason. See, it’s true, good things do run into the mouths of dogs who wait. I was going to post a photo of the dead rat, but on… Continue Reading
We didn’t want a pool. In fact when first viewing this property I believe I said something to the land agent along the lines of ‘Damn, how much do you reckon it will cost us to fill that in?’. I did… Continue Reading
Just a couple of weeks ago I was showing you blossoms and bees, and now look — here are next years’ oranges on their way. We think the orange grove was planted in the mid 1980’s by the people who set… Continue Reading
I’m as big a fan of baling twine as the next wannabe farmer, and always have a couple of lengths in my pockets ready for the next farm incident. The resource that arrives holding your hay bales together comes in mighty useful:… Continue Reading
