Creaking back to life

Yes that lot in the picture there must have wondered if I had curled my toes up or something. they haven't seen me for almost two weeks. Why? Well we know why that rather bent story was told in the last blog post I did. Back problems being what they are - but I'm slowly creaking my back to life here. Inaya was staying out at a friend's place out at Matakohe. I had to go and pick her up. After that I decided we could do with a family drive.

So we ended up out at Tinopai, and being such a beautiful winter's day, someone was out on the water with a sailboat. I makes for a nice picture when all we've had for weeks on end, is you guessed it - rain. Nothing but rain. Still, who is complaining. It beats the drought we had.

It was sad to see the Tinopai store and cafe had shut down. The place used to be buzzing in summer, but like all things when an economic recession looms, the owners couldn't sustain the business and closed their doors for good. The day was so clear we could see right out to the Kaipara heads and the sandbar at the entrance.

The Tinopai Wharf is a cool place to walk out on and throw out a line if you're into fishing. I like fishing, but it's been a while since I've taken a line down to the beach and cast out into the Kaipara to see if I could score a good snapper for the fry pan. I'll wait until the weather is a little warmer, and then try my luck down at Batley.

On the way back, I had the sudden urge to go, and visit the historic Methodist Cemetery at Paparoa, and take some photos of the grave stones. There was one, that took my interest you can read that story on my Back Roads blog. I think the kids and I needed that time out today. Well it was different and fun with it. Not exactly about the farm, but more about the area we live in. And a great area it is.

Taking a look around the blogs this week:

Bridget at Cabbage Tree Farm is having fun with four new piglets (destined for the table)

Self termed 'Stirrer' Phil over at Yardy Yardy Yardy writes about the Spanish traditional wild horse round up and decries what he views as outright cruelty (worth a read).

Tom, a New Zealand dairy farming consultant based in the UK has a great Dairy Farming focused blog called Pasture to Profit. It's an extremely well written and informative resource for anyone interested in the industry.

Lisa at Timespanner has put a multitude of fantastic posts over the last few weeks. Her latest post has incredible photos of the North Western Motorway from the air. Check it out here

Jennifer and Zachary at the Goings On blog are busy renovating their new home in Florida. Jennifer and Zachary are former dairy farmers from Wisconsin.

Well that's me for now. Yes I know it wasn't about mad cows or evil little horses making my life hell. I can't even creak fast enough yet to get them back. Well keep on creaking folks.