Hi guys,

Sorry about the delay for those of you who may be wondering just what exactly it is I have been up to since Saturday.
I plan to backfill those days during the 'downtime' I hope to have soon. As it is I haven't had time to s my a in the last 2 days. I will do it all properly soon but a brief intro about where I am & who I am with ...

I am staying on a farm in a VERY dry part of NZ, so dry in fact that aside from the farm which is fully irrigated the land around here resembles tundra. The scenery is breathtaking as expected, the wind is also breathtaking & that wasn't.

I am staying with Chris & Trish Redwood. He is very nice & totally manic. He explains everything at a run & his catchphrase is 'We haven't got around to that' Today he explained the working of a petrol driven mower (woohoo) complete with fuel, oil, gears, brake, clutch & blades which could take your hand, off in 30 secs flat. As he left he shouted over his shoulder 'You can't go wrong with it really' Mmmm.

Trish is lovely too & fiercely proud of her kids.

Onto the kids, Genevieve is the youngest at 7 & is very sweet & has latched onto me already.
Lizzie is 11, she is a very good kid & stunningly pretty, although I am not allowed to tell her as too many people already have.
Think Elizabeth Taylor in National Velvet.
Innes, a boy, is 13, he has a shock of untamable red hair & looks like neither parent. He thinks a lot & says some very funny things.
Zoe is 13, going on 33. She is extremely opinionated. She said to me this morning 'If they ever find Saddam Hussain they should drill a hole in his head to release the demons'

Other people around the farm are Mike, a shepherd who I wateched round up 100 sheep today with 3 dogs & a motorbike -cool.
Mel, Trish's Dad who loves to yarn .. I have learned already not to stop when I speak to him but to keep moving, if I stop, he has a wealth of stories to tell & I find 30 mins has slipped by.
Troy (honest) is the skipper of one of Chris's boats. Chris farms saltwater green-lipped mussels up in Marlborough Sounds.
Troy helps out around the farm when the mussel business is slack. It is slack at the moment because the US are hacked off with NZ's lack of support over IRAQ & the Americans have stopped buying NZ mussels.

The aminals are 'Boy' v.old mutt 'Waiting for God' in Trish's words, 'Don' a collie & three cats called, wait for it,
'Ginger Tom' 'Black & White Cat' & 'Black Cat' They think the ginger one is brain-damaged because he likes to be cuddled. I shudder to think what they would make of how much time I spend cuddling Jeeeefffrey & aoooooah.



I rode for the 1st time today, Linda, following detail is for you, the rest of you can skip this paragraph.
The neddy I am being loaned is 'Jess' she is a 15.3 bay mare, kind of Sable's build.The 1st ride today was pretty hair-raising, partly due to the wind which threatens to take you out of the saddle & partly because after UK horses she feels like sitting on a fence. However, apart from being a bit spooky, because she hasn't been ridden for a month she behaved pretty well. She apparently loves hunting but hates x-country & they have said I can hunt her. (hares overe here!)

There is more to tel about the horses & stuff in general but reporting restrictions apply until Q has explained a short-cut to me. say no more.

After riding I was let loose with the mower & spent about 3 hours cutting about 3 acres of lawn. Bliss.

After that, picked the kids up from school, took them to their private tutor about 20 mins away in Blenheim then brought them all home for tea. The journey home was what can best be described as lively and about 10 minutes from home, Lizzie's plaintive cry came 'Please can you all shut up ?, I have a headache'

Bought not 1, but 2 adaptors today & returned home, very pleased with myself to find that I have left my phone charger in Rangiora - bugger. Still can't use my phone. Q-can't retrieve my Mum's no as I said I would until phone is charged again. Will forward it to you as soon as charger arrives.

Phone call from Q today. Lovely to hear a familiar voice but took a few minutes to compose myself after putting the phone down. I try not to think too much about where I am, or how far away but although calls from home are a lovely surprise they can make things temporarily hard.

Must sign off for now, queue to use the pooter.

Will include more detail & touchy-feely bits tomorrow.
Bye for now.

Cx