Otago Anniversary Weekend…

Dinner is the only meal of the day we sit around the table. All the kids that spend time here know this is a common event. When Luca was little it was a good chance to really listen to him talk about his day and discuss his thoughts, these days it often means discussions around current world events including politics. Given everything going on in the world right now, the following really struck me and I hope, if nothing else, this is what we have messaged….

Our little piece of paradise is currently bursting with colour and food, I love this time of the year so much!

The last two weekends have been perfect for hiking. Rich and I discovered 2 news ones. The North East Valley we usually look down on as we hike the other side often. However we found this one in the NEV, which meant views of where we live from a whole other angle, so incredibly beautiful…

Then yesterday we headed off to do the Pineapple Track only to find it was closed for maintenance, so we took a chance and found a little used trail that turned out to be a wonderful find!

It was Pica’s 10th birthday this week, she had a great time yesterday, but is feeling it today so will a restful one for her 🙂

The paths were a little difficult to find and so we had to leave things to find them again when veering off to look at the views. We had sliced carrots as snacks so left as a “flag” to find the trail back, worked surprisingly well 🙂

Views of Dunedin from the top were lovely!

When you have this many animals there is usually something going on with at least one. We lost Natu this week, (one of our chickens), no idea what happened, she seemed fine in the evening and Rich found her dead in the morning. Raylene too has been unwell, walks around like she is drunk, there are many things that cause this. I have had mareks disease in a previous flock and I was so worried this was it, but I don’t think so now, as it has been a couple of weeks. She is in the wash house and I will keep her there for a couple more weeks to see if she comes right. Her appetite is good and seems quite happy in there, clucks away to me as I renew her food, change her bedding etc.

Last winter was the worse we have had rain wise and the top paddock was very muddy as I had stripped it back to be able to improve the pasture. During those months I was worried the sheep would have problems with their feet, ( scald and foot rot a problem in NZ), so I was super vigilant. Summer came and the front paddock is lush, green and dry and ironically as we head into the Fall they have started to have issues. We had been putting together a make shift corral to be able to sort their feet, but that got to be tiresome so Rich has made a permanent one, so much easier! They have got the hang of going in now, the first few times was quite the palaver ! Me yelling out heading dog commands to Luca and Rich must have sounded hilarious 🙂

Having farm animals brings a lot of joy, but also means an ongoing commitment to their welfare which can be challenging at time. Even if growing them for meat, ensuring they are living a happy healthy life while they are alive is a top priority for me.

The last cruise ship of the season arrived overnight, of course after a stunning day yesterday today is raining and I have put the fire on! I always feel sorry for visitors when they are not seeing this area at its best.

It is a long weekend here ,(Otago Anniversary), kids are still in bed, the house feeling very cosy with the fire roaring, Pica snoring in front of it and Rich just suggested a movie afternoon, brilliant idea! 💕