April 2025

Autumn ,(Fall), has officially arrived and along with it, the best of the sunrises. Each morning when they are like this, I stand on the deck for a moment to take them in.

It has been a super busy few weeks since I last wrote, with all sorts going on.

Finding a vet who deals with large animals is difficult to find, like human healthcare workers, vets are thin on the ground. It is law in NZ that a vet needs to have seen your farm within the last 12 months to be able to prescribe anything. Up until recently, I had kinda winged it with what I could put together when it came to treatment for different things. However I knew that with the sheep I needed a specific antibiotic and I had totally run out of options for treating Raylene. I had been trying to find a vet for months, in case I needed one and the need had become more urgent. The majority of vets are part of franchise type set ups, and the only independent one close one to us, is so overwhelmed, that getting her here, was just not going to happen.

I then came across a vet cooperative, about an hour away from us. It had been set up in 1908 by local farmers and has been going strong ever since. Like any co op you become a member. I love the concept of a co op, the business model sits well with my values. Instead of a few people owning the bulk of a business, ownership resides with the people who use it, in this case the farmers, perfect! I joined and a vet was here 2 days later.

The girls now know what is expected and go into their pen easily for us to take a closer look at them. Rich has done a fabulous job with the set up!

The ponies area is now fenced off and they have sole use of the barn, which they go up into each evening. They have a bowl each for their evening nuts and I can store all the hay up there now too, this will mean much less work over the winter months. The vet checked them out while here. I can do the day to day, but have found a barefoot farrier that I have coming in 4 times a year, the vet commented on the excellent state of their hooves, (a big issue with horses if not done correctly), I was relieved about that, as again finding a good farrier incredibly difficult!

The sheep Rich tells me, when it rains during the day, all go into their shelter looking out waiting for it to stop. We have added gravel to the outside and bark on the inside flooring so they have an opportunity to dry their feet and it is super easy to keep clean

Anyway, the vet came, agreed with what I needed, and treated the girls. Raylene, he too was perplexed, he gave me a ring a couple of days later with some suggestions, (after consulting with colleagues), but unfortunately nothing was working and her quality of life was not good at all. Suffering without a good outcome is not OK, and so I made the hard call to end it. It clearly was not infectious as the rest of the flock are fine.

The sheep are now all good, here they are grazing the drive, If you look closely you can see the pigs grazing too in the background (behind the beehive).

A couple more shots of the property on a particularly lovely day….

I do at least 500km a week for my job and this has taken its toll on the car, which is also a big work horse around here. Some costly repairs were needed. It is a good vehicle, and we want to hold onto it, so needs must and she is now running well again. It has however made me look more closely at what I am doing, and how I can cut down on the hours I spend on the road.

The first term is over school wise, and the kids have two weeks off. The weeks disappear in a flash, as does the food, hard to keep up with stocking the shelves to keep them all full Here they are in food prep mode, they are great at working together, all good practice for flatting! 🙂

There have been a few projects going on here that we have been meaning to get to for the last 6 years. A fan for the bathroom, lights that needed rewiring as not code compliant, and a new step for the deck (so that that area does not turn into a muddy mess over the wet months). Fans and lights done, and Rich now working on the step…

This weekend is full of gorgeousness and all the windows open with the sun streaming in and all the bedding is outside airing. I used to love in Europe how all the apartments on days like this had everyone’s bedding, pushed out through all the windows onto balcony’s and on those tiny little lines taking advantage of the sanitizing effect of the crisp air and UV rays. I too do this often, such a lovely smell and feeling to get into bed at night when this has been done.

Last week however the days were cold and miserable and we had the fire roaring. So welcoming walking in the door in the evenings after work to a warm cozy home, it is such a privilege!

Pica very happy to soak up the heat too (its a hard life for her 🙂 ) ….

On the cold wet days the flowers out the kitchen window add some cheer. The cyclamens doing so well this year, thriving, and the geraniums always add a year round burst of colour, an easy.choice for the baskets. The BBQ gets used weekly even over the colder months, $15 well spent!

We have as a family been talking more and more about the cost of living which has really skyrocketed over the last 5-6 years. Food is a good example, our grocery costs are nearly 3 times the price of when we first arrived in NZ. Having the ability to grow our own fruit and vegetables helps and being able to grow our own meat would be another cost saving. Luca has never been keen to do this but as he has got older he understands this more. If you are going to eat meat, where it comes from, and how it has been treated while it is alive, is something I want us to be more mindful about. It is easy to not think about this, as you eat the plastic wrapped portions you find in the supermarket.

To make our farm sustainable we have also come to the difficult conclusion we have to process our own meat and pork is the obvious first choice . The home kill rules in NZ have changed significantly since I was a kid, (when this was a routine part of everyday life ). It has taken me a while to source someone whose practice I was happy with ,where respect for the animal the top priority. It all went very smoothly without either of the pigs aware of what was happening. The most work done by Rich digging the very large hole for the offal pit. This meat will get us through winter and we will get more piglets in the Spring. I will also be looking to get the ewes in lamb for the same reason. Kevin and Wilbur are missed, we do know they had a very happy content day to day life, and we are grateful to them for what they are now providing us.

Luca not home this weekend, he and Lemon out with Ted and his girlfriend for Ted’s birthday dinner last night, and Luca now at Lemons until next week.

Rich and I about to go on out regular weekend hike on this beautiful day, I think the weather is about to turn again so will make the most of it…