Riverton….

Riverton, was a lovely little village, we had pretty awful weather but made the most of any break in it to get out and about The beaches were amazing, (see above), and going back in summer needs to be added to our list of places to go. Arty, bohemian vibe, cool shops and cafes (delicious food)….

Luca found one of his favorite songs on record and it was played multiple times the moment we got home ,(yes you are reading that right, Luca has very eclectic taste!)….

The record/tape/cd/radio contraption we got Luca for Christmas last year has proved a great buy!

The “book a bach” we stayed in was great deal and perfect for us 3. The bad weather meant board games and reading, (I finally got to finish my latest book)…

Luca’s asthma played up while there and we did not have his inhalers with us, so this necessitated a trip to Invercargill (30 minutes away). Invercargill gets a very hard time from the rest of the country! It has come a long way in the last few decades and we like it, it does not deserve the reputation it has!

We only have one kid home tonight, Aria, she is studying for exams at the kitchen table, Luca is away with friends. They were all here last weekend camping out. I suspect this lot below, will end up living together at some point. Luca cooked them up breakfast, I feel at least they will be able to feed themselves, not so sure about how tidy the flat will be though :).

Our little farmyard is all settled in and happy. There is definitely a pecking order, with the ponies at the top.

Sophie and Secret

Kevin and Wilbur

Tahi, Rua, Toru and Wha

Ilene, Raylene and Marilyn

They are all getting lots of attention….

and integration seems to be going well…

The barn Rich build is amazing, the pigs love it, they snuggle in early and don’t wake until late

We hooked up a system so they get fresh water all the time at their height (the old bath we turned into a trough is too high for them)

Winter is here, we hang out for the shortest day to come and go! Actually for the most part we cannot complain as the weather has been settled, so those hours that are light we make the most of, the rest of the time it is like this 🙂

It was duck shooting season, ( a HUGE deal in NZ), and a friend I do some trading with, gave us some. I cooked the first lot in the slow cooker for a few hours and added the one pumpkin I managed to grow last season (have to do better with the pumpkin growing!!!)

It was absolutely delicious, the meat fell off the bone! The boys are sold, neither has had wild duck before, there are more in the freezer luckily…

The same friend also gave us some homemade vege soup. I do feel I get the better side of the deal here and need to up my game! My vege garden has been sorely neglected as I have been distracted with the animals. I am making a concerted effort to rectify that!

I got to here last night and got distracted, Rich, Aria and I got into a game, (post study stress relief 🙂 ), then Luca and Sam turned up home for the night. We are aware these days of a full, busy house are limited, all the kids will be off doing there own thing in a few short years so we cherish this time.

When the boys came home they both went to the fridge to grab stuff, then plonked themselves down on the sofa filling us in on their day and evening. It reminded me of when I posted this a few years ago:

I feel like we made it and it fills me with joy ❤️