An Old Image of Hay Baling on the Causer Farm in Maungaturoto

My good friend Allan Flower is now in his eighties and is a descendant of several of the earliest settlers that came to the area during the early 1860's. Alan had kept a collection of early photos from his boyhood and asked me to digitise them just in case any ever got damaged. He also asked me to share them with other people so they could enjoy these precious images too. This one is of hay baling on the Causer family farm possibly during the early twenties.

Yes This is the Real Me

Obviously no was not an answer so fine - you lot (and you know exactly who you are) win. Here is my mugshot- my hair was not sticking out that day. Please hide the mirrors - I don't have public liability insurance to cover the cracks. LOL!!!!! BTW I still think my gumboots are more attractive.

Crazy Chris

My friend Chris is a talented potter and he's completely off the wall. He's really into african art work and Picasso which have been a strong influence in the sculptures he creates. I love his stuff it's awesome. Hope you like his work too.

Ulterior Motive

Anyone would think from this picture these two little cats just love each other. They're sisters fine and that's about it. Only one reason Dream is cleaning Emerald and that's to get in a damned good bite - then it's war. I get it every morning - my own cat war ground. Oh the joys of having animals.

Jailed!!!!

Pet Day today - or at least it was supposed to be. The weather though decided to spoil everything for the kids and it was postponed until next Friday. 7.30 am this morning just in case Pet Day was going ahead Inaya got the cat cage and captured the dumb chicken. Actually her name is Feather a heritage breed Golden-laced Wyandotte we raised from a day old chick. But she is thick as in so dumb that last year half of her feathers were eaten by our then three calves. One of the calves had even grabbed her by the leg one morning and had carried her still hanging half way across the front lawn before dropping her. I don't think bovines are supposed to be carnivorous. On the subject of herbivores being carnivorous check out this brilliant post "Do Giraffe Hunt in Packs" by African Safari Stories its just too good not to read. Returning to the subject at hand. As I was saying Inaya captured the dumb chicken, put the miffed chook into the cage all ready to go for the big day. Amy's daughter needed a pet for the day to take so I offered her the Dumb chicken which went down really well. Big day dreams slightly shattered with the disappointing news today wasn't happening. Imaya gave the dumb chicken a huge piece of bread to shut her up and I got this photo of her attempting to swallow the impossible. Behind bars on bread and water - do the crime serve the time.

Mr Screech

Mr Screech turned up today. Mrs Screech obviously wasn't taking the hint to shift her giant pink feet and get on over to hack off the idiot humans living in the box thing in the middle of their turf. A rock chucked over Mr Screech's way soon had him heading back down to see the missus and her little brood of black hairy chicks with giant pink feet. For once I had some peace and quiet after that. Most afternoons the Screech Clan come up to the house to terrorise the cats and the Terrorist who should be terrorising them instead. Not with those great big beaks snapping her way she wasn't. Here's a photo of Mr Screech. Nice birds to look at the Pukeko - but don't get fooled they can be nasty. They are now supposed to be trendy and quirky - ah...okay. I'll stick to calling them screeching nuisances for now. The trendy stuff I'll leave for New Zealand Tourism and their wierd ideas.

A couple of shots taken in the evening on the farm

Klatu Barada Nikto - Gort did not come

The Earth did not stand still and Gort did not come to rescue the space kitties from the despicable human that took them to the vets to get fixed. Gort is fired.This means more lawyers we must call. Please do not recommend those Turkey Bush lawyers - too much gobbledy gook.

Guess What Came From Kentucky USA Today - Yay!!!

I got a wonderful package in the mail box today!!! Sent all the way from Wilmoth Farms in Kentucky USA. The most divine smelling hand made goats milk soap made by Rae. Inaya and Michelle couldn't stop smelling them, and my Mum just LOVES them. As for me.....I am spoiled and I am going be a greedy smurf and enjoy them. So just to prove Wilmoth Farms Hand-made Goats Milk soaps have been sent as far as New Zealand I took the photos to prove it. Check them out!!!THANK YOU RAE YOU ROCK!!!!

This is just too clever not to post about

Thanks to Timespanner this showed up in my email inbox it is just too good not to put up. Brilliant!

My Beautiful Girl Inaya

Inaya turned eleven at the end of August and now she is starting to grow up. Just like her Mum she has a serious flaw. She just loves animals and has decided she is going to become a wildlife vet. I was sitting here at the computer one afternoon late last year. We had the calves eating the grass behind the house and Inaya decided she was going to go and cuddle her calf Ocean. Ocean is Friesan-Jersey cross. She's now fifteen months old and still very tame. Yet another one that won't be leaving, since she is Inaya's special pet. It seems all of our calves are named after water. River though our first hand raised calf was named after the character River from the TV series Firefly. Yes I know we really are a little wierd around here. Must be all those possums we keep knocking off.

From the Apartment block in the hill next to our house

We have a huge rabbit warren dug into the hill right near our house. Rabbits here are pests but I still like them anyway. They taste nice as well. Springtime and baby rabbits go nicely together here's a couple of shots I took.

Caught Sleeping on the Doorstep

Maggie May got sprung tonight sleeping on the doorstep. The chicken house obviously wasn't providing her proper accommodation. The hosts will need to be sued - we'll call our lawyers on the morning.

Josh

I love dogs but for the last eleven years I haven't kept any. This is Josh we had him until he was thirteen years old. He was a mixed breed dog Half Irish Wolf Hound and Half German Shepherd. Everyone in our street used to call Josh The Carpet because he was so hairy!. Sadly we had to have Josh put to sleep which was really hard on all of us. This photo of Josh was taken in 1988 at Muriwai Beach on the West Coast north of Auckland City. He was a neat dog.

Art Stuff - Wildlife Snow Leopard -2003 - And he needs a nose job desperately

I made my first attempt at doing a big cat in 2003. Not bad - but the head was all wrong. Someone suggested it wasn't big enough, so I changed it and later regretted ever having done so. Look at a real snow leopard I doubt he has a snout like this fella has! Well I've learned a heck of a lot about cat anatomy since this one was done. Snow Leopards are stunning animals ,which is way I chose to attempt drawing one in coloured pencil. I am going to redo this again when I can - the next version will be way better.
You can read all about Snow Leopards on:
Cats Blog - Of Cats has really useful and interesting information on the snow leopard and every kind of cat you can think of. Worth a read which is why I follow it. Thanks Cats your blog is awesome.

A Momento from my Grandpa's Special Box

My Grandpa Kinniburgh was 93 years old when he passed away many years back now. Left behind amongst his things was a small wooden box. My mum forgot all about it and handed it over to me not realising what was inside it. Some old photos and Grandpa's notes plus a some cartoons he had done sometime in the 1920's or so. Amongst the images was this postcard. An early view of Picton in the South Island. Sadly it is falling apart and needs to be conserved properly. On the post card it reads " TE RANUI NEAR PICTON - BOWDEN" What era it was photographed is the mystery. All I have found so far is Te Ranui Bay Queen Charlotte Sound. Who Bowden was is unknown. Clearly the guy was a photographer and since my Grandfather grew up in Wellington it would make sense that he would have crossed the Cook Straits to visit Picton and somewhere along the line picked up this postcard. I'll keep digging and somewhere along the line I will find out.

Kowhai Flower

I love Kowhai trees and the beautiful flowers they produce each year. They have become popular as garden plants with a miniature variety called Sophora "Dragons Gold" also being grown along with several others. These beautiful trees are endemic to New Zealand. We're lucky enough to have one or two on the farm here. I took a couple of close-up shots of the last remaining flower on the tree.

A Brief Botannical detour with Mum and Inaya

I had to move the cattle, then decided the back fences needed checking as well. Inaya came with me and carried the camera while I hunted around looking for any loose wires. As those in farming all know. Bad fences means stock getting out usually into the wrong places. Since we were down in the back of the farm Inaya asked if she could take a photo of a young nikau palm (Rhopalostylis sapida) These palms are the world's most southerly palms. This shot is hers.

Get out of It!!!!

Mama Turkey was not pleased to be disturbed when she had some serious egg sitting to do. This hen was nesting in one of our paddocks. The chicks didn't survive the onslaught of hawks and stoats. We have heaps of them roaming around across the neighbouring farms. Last hunting season the boys next door blasted away over fifty of these big birds. Rule is if you want to eat Turkey shoot them in a month without an 'R" in it otherwise their flesh tastes like the crickets and snails they eat - yuk! Turkey's were imported in the 1800's by the local settlers to control caterpillars eating their crops. The caterpillars lost out but not the turkeys. No spring is here the turkey's are back together for the breeding season. We won't be having Turkey for Christmas Dinner - much as I'd love to. We'll see about next year maybe

Born to be Wild!!!!

My kids have decided to get on the road hit the highway and go cruising. And of course I am kidding. Alley showed up with her Suzuki 1100 and of course the kids just had to climb on and have their photo taken. I love motorcycles great on a summer's day but not in winter thanks. Quite a few years back the term for someone that rode a motorcycle was "Temporary Kiwi" enough said about what that implies.

Off the Farm - Hokianga from the South Head Entrance to the Harbour

Mummy's Baby - River

I took this photo of River this morning after shifting her and the others to new grazing. Two years and two months. Hopefully next year River will have a baby of her own. Micah is now in with the heifers - fingers crossed!

Spotted in the garden this morning

Inaya saw this lovely Grey Heron wandering around by some of our palm trees. I'm glad it's not in our fish pond!

Correction: Thanks to "Grey Heron" who suggested this bird is in fact a White-faced Heron I need to make a correction on the bird species. Grey Heron is a generic name rather than the correct species name. Grey Heron you are absolutely right

My First Baby Calf

I thought I would post something up about my first hand raised calf River. She came to me on July 10th 2006 the same day she had been calved and she wasn't doing well. Ten days of touch and go little River made it. The photo shows her at six weeks old in 2006. She's still my baby - even if she does go Moo!