A bit of this and yeah a bit of that kind of post.

Now I have a new computer to use after the old one died I can finally catch up with the long overdue regular blog posts I used to do once a upon a time. I'm sitting here with the new laptop enjoying the view of our newest addition Shadia just outside my door grazing on the lawn. The dog got a new kennel today after the old one was finally destroyed because he decided the horned horror needed a reminder she was not welcome in the garden. And so life goes on. I made a memory book out of an old cardbook box, bits of scrap paper and a digital copy of a photo of my great grandfather with two of his brothers in the township of Dargaville sometime back in the 1920's. Something that's fun to do on a rainy day.

Back on the 23rd of March we had Earth Hour 2013. This year the kids and I left our lights off for one hour. I did this little picture to record what we planned to do for the future here on the farm. Our stream has been badly affected by the drought and our stock damaging the edges and banks. The drought affected not only the wildlife around the area, but also to our shock and surprise a whole heap of native fish, freshwater crayfish and eels in our stream as well. Michelle rescued several crayfish and native fish. We identified the two species of native fish Michelle found. One is Inanga and the other we identified as Banded Kokopu. We released them all into a deeper part of the stream and thankfully it looks like the landlocked population has survived. We want to make sure they continue to thrive by restoring their habitat as it used to be. So that's our pledge for Earth Day 2013. First step will be to fence the stream off from the stock and then go from there.

 I've had Emerald sleeping now and then in the art cupboard. I was sat at the computer one afternoon and the temptation to draw her was just way to much to resist. Hey it was a bit of fun. There she is sleeping on the art books oblivious to the human that was quickly sketching her into the visual diary. On a sadder note we lost Dream recently so now we only have one cat left here. I'm very hesitant at the moment to get any more cats. After losing three to the road in the space of just four short years is a little too much to bear.

Our latest addition Shadia has been here now for almost a week. She's improved vastly since the first day of arrival. No more kicking and biting and we haven't had to do a thing to her. Just lots of praise, a good telling off by Ranger and the old man and she is a different horse already. She was on my door step this morning waiting for a carrot. Just shows you how kindness, and gentle but firm handling can turn even the most difficult of horses around. She's coming when she is called and loves being around the girls. She was even grazing happily along side Tempest without any problems at all. Happy horse for once and it's made us all smile.

Meantime my youngest daughter Michelle has joined as a member of our local repertory theatre crew and is involved in the rehearsals for one of their productions call Suessical the Musical. Dr Seuss would be very proud of this group of very talented people from the Otamatea Repertory Theatre. They're just fantastic and a lot of fun. I can't wait to see the show when in comes out at the end of July this year. 

Autumn is now here, with winter just around the corner. It's getting gradually cooler and darker much earlier. Well that's me for another post. If you're looking for some good reading around the blogs check out the latest posts on the fabulous Timespanner Heritage blog. Lisa visited Dunedin recently and came back with a heap of wonderful photos. You should see the church she photographed  it's just wow! Meantime self confessed stirrer and former broadcaster Phil over at Yardy Yardy Yardy has plenty to say about the ongoing impact of the Rena shipwreck on our coastline. Farmer, author and Mum Kathryn  has an interesting take on Advertising Media on her blog Crystal Jigsaw and Jennifer and Zacharry over at The Goings on are continuing to find some really interesting things this time Pelicans are the subject of their latest blog post.