Hello all,

Kids in bed & some Blog time. I read stories to Genevieve & Lizzie. Innes & Zoe pretend to be too grown up for stories but can't resist chipping in with comments which gives the game away. Hot water bottle has gone in, losing the battle to keep warm at night.
Very busy day today, lunged the neddies, mowed the lawn did 34 loads of washing but nothing I haven't already told you about so I thought I would describe the farm & surroundings to you.

The house is a huge timber-built structure with a verandah on 2 sides.
There is a large lawn around 3/4's of the house which I mow.
Beyond the front of the house are 3 large paddocks.
I don't suppose hectares will translate very well so think 3 football pitches.
The 1st 2 contain all the gees.
The last 1 houses rude shagging ram lambs & Hereford steers (castrated bulls).

The ram lambs are v.entertaining to watch because every time you drive past they are all frantically humping 1 lamb.

I can't work out if it's the same one, in which case, why do they all fancy him ?

If not, do they all take turns at being girly-lamb ?

In any event, they know they are up to no good because as soon as a car approaches they stop what they are doing & whistle nonchalantly whilst you drive past.
They resume their behaviour as soon as your head is turned.

At the end of those 3 football pitches is the road to Seddon.
Around the house & on the same level is a shearing shed, a segregation paddock for dividing ram-lambs from ewe lambs, the pig enclosure (more about those in a minute) the paddock where the Anderson ponies Vic & Penny live (they are the ones I lunge every day) a couple of ramshackle enclosures containing hay, lawn-mover, various lethal farming implements, 2 large containers of fuel, 1 unleaded, 1 diesel and numerous landrovers scattered artistically in varying degrees of decomposition.

It is Lizzie's job to feed the pigs every day & they are fed on a mixture of table scraps & dried peas soaked for 24 hours.
I help Lizzie because she cannot lift the pea bucket high enough not to get a belt from the electric fencing around the pigs.
On the 1st occasion I saw the pigs they had kicked their trough over.
I was about to enter the enclosure to right it when Lizzie grabbed my arm & explained that they would attack me.
Something about her expression convinced me this wasn't kids drama so we hatched a plan to feed them a bit of food away from the manger & then I could dash in & right the trough.
Ben Johnson's got nothing on me I can tell you.
Despite the wellies I was in & out like a flash.
When I explained to Lizzie that our pigs back home were docile & liked having their ears scratched she said 'But don't you feel bad when you eat them?' I explained they were pets not food & she looked at me as if I were making it up.

Back in the house I asked Chris what the pigs would have done if I had entered their enclosure. 'Take your fingers off, most likely' came the unequivocal reply. Rightho.

Back to describing the farm. It is on 3 levels altogether. Around the house is very flat & relatively wind-free.
From the house you ascend a very steep zig-zag path to the upper ground.
This stretches for many hectares (imagine about 40/50 football pitches) & includes the x-country course.
It is very lovely (when not windy enough to take you out of the saddle) all softly undulating green hills.
(The fences are fantastic Linda, there's even a little water complex, still haven't been able to jump it, Jess is losing a rear shoe, there seems to be no hurry to have her shod) Up here live the twins ponies which are turned away at the moment plus 2 other geriatric retired ponies.
One of these is the previously mentioned Coco.
The hunt declined to take her so the vet is coming to put her down tomorrow.
They are then going to cremate her to save digging a hole.

Have to say I hope I don't get asked to help.

It was interesting to see how Trish approached telling the kids about Coco.
For the benefit of the youngest, she said tonight at dinner quite casually that she did not think Coco would survive the winter.
Genevieve asked if she was going to die & Trish said yes.
The next comment was one of the other kids asking for the mussels to be passed.
They breed 'em tough in the country.

All along these fields are more sheep & more cows.
The lower level is about 100 feet lower than the farm.
Again it stretches for many football pitches but is narrower (about 2 pitches wide) & flat as it runs alongside the river which is the Awatere.
The river looks a bit sad after 3 years of drought. It is a slightly muddy colour & in many parts the river bed is visible.
It gets prettier further down but I have to say is nowhere near as lovely as English rivers & is not a patch on Linton Falls Mum !

Clare wasn't kidding when she said the farm was surrounded by vineyards, there are 3 within close proximity & as you come off Seaview road into Seddon they dominate the valley.
Very pretty at this time of year as all the vines are dying off & golden.

Trish's Dad I discovered today is 'Mal', not 'Mel' (say it out loud & you'll see why I thought it was the former)
Q, this guy could talk you under the table.
He cornered me with an armful of hay today & very proudly showed me the original 1916 handbook for the chaff-making machine (chops up hay into ickle bits for stock to eat) He didn't only show me it, he read aloud from it & frequently tested my understanding with probing questions.
I really like Mal, he is a true gent.

When I went to town today Chris asked me to take the van rather than the Holden because he 'Didn't know if I had noticed it but he thought it might be handling oddly ?' No kidding.
We both discussed the 10p 2p moments we had enjoyed in it & decided it needed looking at properly.

Whilst at the supermarket today decided it was time to get my own margarine & semi-skilled milk (copyright. Granny)
delicious as butter is every day I find the taste of full-fat milk quite revolting now (oh, how I loooathe)
Doubtless the kids will be cheerfully splashing it on their cereal tomorrow morning, despite me explaining why I had bought it.

Bad news today.

Spoke to Geoff (lovely RENZ co-ordinator @ Rangiora) to advise him I had paid my $ in for my South Island Trip.
He told me that it is looking dubious that he will get the numbers required to make the trip feasible. He went on to tell me not to worry bcos all my money would be refunded. I told him he had better get the numbers bcos I needed a break. I went on to say that if he doesn't take us away anywhere I will be visiting anyway even if milking is at 0445. I think he thinks I'm joking.
There is a Summer trip which will go ahead as it is always well-subscribed but it is still a huge blow as I have been very much looking forward to speaking to growed-ups.

Going to investigate why a moggy is meowing plaintively - stand by ...

Just pressed ctrl instead of shift, whilst trying to type a capital & wiped a whole paragraph - poo.

If it duplicates sorry but will re-type anyway ...

Mog was ginger mog hiding & hopng not to be thrown out.

Today's quickies

Agent Rampart & anyone else who doesn't have it.

My address is 'Marfell Downs' Seaview Road, Seddon, Marlborough, South Island, NZ.

Q - Impressed you found the Mastiffs. They are a fighter not a lover.
Any joy with J.Froud & pay ? ( Ed she says it should have been sorted )
Going to read H next. ( Ed _ Chuffed )
Like the Siamese in 'Hallmarks of Felinity' beautifully drawn.
How's the de-tox going ?
Are you craving starch ot nicotine the most ? ( ED - My Logic is if I don't drink Alkeehool then me no want Nicoteen , I can still eat starch but not wiv Protein )
VK sounds awful, don't miss it one jot.
Couldn't break the Blog code - clue please.

Di - Saw ickle feral moggy the image of aoooah today. V sad. Did the hug thing, made myself giggle holding out my arms as per
instructions.

Bill - U were in such a hurry to send without spell-checking that you spent 3 hours reading my Bog. made me laugh.

Mum - How's it going with Granny. Good/bad/indifferent ? Caught myself holding underwear (my own) to my cheek to see if it was
dry when bringing in the washing today. Is there no hope for me ?

Off for an appointment with the sandman & a hottie now.

Big up to ya,

Cx