Perambulations of a pony mad, bad musician.

The End of the world is Nigh

2010-09-06T08:51:00.000+12:00

Or something...
Dreadful earthquake in Christchurch on Saturday. Then they have had to cope with 130kph winds, with a Southerly front approaching.
Now the Manawatu is flooding.....
I have moved again - now at Linton.
I sleep like a log and have woken up to being surrounded by water with the garage awash.

This is nothing compared to what my friends in Canterbury are having to deal with. Part of me would like to head down there to help, but realistically there is not much point. I would only be yet another person needing to eat, wash and defaecate....

Start of the new semester today

2010-07-12T11:08:00.000+12:00

The sun is shining, the birds are tweeting - and I am inside on the computer. Something 'wrong' with that picture somehow ;) Would a great day to be playing ponies.

I have just finished doing some preliminary work on the survey that I am writing. Next on the list is the readings I need to do for 'school' this week.

Had a lovely time at the cafe on Saturday, baking up a storm. It really is great fun - had forgotten how much I used to enjoy baking - and this is even better because I am not faced with having to consume the product before I can make more.....

Yesterday Sunday, I went and busked at the local Farmer's Market. Didn't make my fortune but still better than a kick in the teeth. The goddamn 'remember' let me me down though and I had to bluff my way though the left hand in some of the pieces. Still I don't think the punters really cared that much and the sign of a 'good' performer is being able to make people think that the mistakes are meant, haha.

The Official Results are out

2010-07-07T19:07:00.000+12:00

and I passed all my papers.
I was not expecting not to, if you get my drift but it is really great when the official notification drops into the mail box.

I have also now been accepted officially for the Bachelor of Veterinary Technology class of 2010. The fact that I am 'part time' and will finish ahead of the class of 2010 is neither here nor there.

The coming semester I am doing equine repro and a business paper. Also starting the prelim work on a research project which I am a-hoping will result in some income over the summer break.

Not much else to relate as living here in Palmy in the house sit is comfortable and warm but it does mean that I am existing in an animal free zone, sadly.

Have been playing some music though, so that is an upside.

Toasty Warm in Palmy :)

2010-06-28T17:26:00.001+12:00

Have a house sit for 2 months. The incentive was being able to keep warm without having to worry myself sick about trying to find the $$s to pay the power bill.

Also means that I can get some part time work, the money from which does not get totally annihilated by the travel costs to same.

Those that 'know' me from many years ago will not be too surprised about what I am doing to raise some dosh. (No, NOT that, haha!!) Doing the baking for a cafe. Long time since I did any serious baking - the last time I think was when I was still cooking for the shearers way back in the late 80's. But surprisingly I am really enjoying myself. All the 'produce' is selling OK, which is the true assessment of the quality I guess. When people come back for seconds or ask 'have you any of the *whatever* you had last week' you know that you have something 'right'.

Other than that, I like many others, am awaiting the results from 1st semester exams.

Off helping to scan ewes tomorrow. It would be 'nice' if isn't raining (fat chance). Haven't really seen the sun for over a week now. I am like any self respecting merino - grey skies make me depressed (not really as far as I am concerned, but true for the merinos).

Already had two music sessions since I have been here (5 days). Having to work the callouses up slowly or I will be unable to play for a while. Hope to get in some busking to augment the commisariat, which is barer than Mother Hubbards these days.

Exams all finished for this semester

2010-06-15T18:28:00.002+12:00

Last one was on Saturday.
Will be off house sitting for a couple of months, next week. At least I will be warm, which has been a problem over the last while - not being warm that is. There is no heat source in this flat and I don't have the funds to buy a heater, never mind pay the resultant power bill. Also have a wee part time job lined up for while I am in PN as the travel costs will not kill the point.

Those of you who are email buddies I will send you the details and contact ph number as well, then you can ph me up (haha).

Two exams today, phew

2010-06-09T19:21:00.003+12:00

Six hours of writing has really strained the wonky finger - the one that Bridgie munted.

Hard brain strain especially the first exam which was Cell Biology.

Piked out on one whole question in the second exam - required the use of formulae and algebra and maths. Decided there was NO point in even going there...The time was better spent doing the other questions
Thought that this might appeal - very topical :)
cartoon

Pics reposted so the blog is not so boring :)

2010-05-21T12:45:00.004+12:00

Here is where you will find my pics Pics More pics here more pics Then I remembered about my first trip to the UK which I put up on livejournal livejournal which I have managed loose the password for, which is why I started up the blogspot one :) Having changed my ISP I no longer have the email address for livejournal to send me the password. Fun, eh?o

Chemistry is dead - Long live Chemistry

2010-05-01T15:50:00.002+12:00

Decided that there was no point in failing papers because the Chemistry is so much hard work that I was neglecting the other papers. So pulled the plug on chemistry for this semester and signed up to do it in Summer School, where it will be the only thing I have to worry about.

As a consequence of this momentous decision I am now really enjoying all of the other papers. This enjoyment is showing in the better marks.
Interestingly enough I was congratulated in my taking a mature look at what I was comfortable dealing with and acting accordingly. Joking aside, I would like to think that I am capable of making 'mature' decisions :)

So busy working on an essay at the moment. Has just started to piss down - while to the north there is still bright sunshine. One of the interesting vagaries of Manawatu weather.

Brain Farts notwithstanding

2010-04-18T12:53:00.002+12:00

I talked about Bridgie going to AK on Tuesday - but at no time have I said that Isla went the week before Easter. She has gone to a family with two keen little girls and a mother who is into harness. Seeing Isla head off was really hard. She was just so keen to get on that float. Always has been one to want to find out what is around the next corner - she will be a brave and enjoyable pony. One who would have been wasted sitting in my paddock. She deserves a better life than I could have given her. But so sad to see her go :(

Semester Break is nearly over

2010-04-17T21:07:00.002+12:00

Sadly.
Because next week I have two semester tests and a lab test. The week after I have the dreaded Chemistry.

I have worked steadily with my study over the break and have made a lot of progress but I am so aware of the large gaping holes in my knowledge. I really do not know whether age is creeping up with my capacity to remember stuff or I am already on the steady downhill slide to dementia....
Please someone, if it is the latter a bullet would be a good thing.

I spent the past week back with the goats. Sue hurt her back so I went over to do the goats for her. I actually enjoyed it. Funny thing the milk yields went up again - with quite a bang - even Sue remarked on it. She thought that I was feeding them more. But I wasn't - feeding them differently, but not more. Hmmm. Doubt that will lead to any changes though. The reality is, that it is nothing to do with the feeding - it is something much more fundamental than that; you that know me will need no explanation.

Bridgie heads off to AK on Tuesday. I sorted out her covers and bridle today and took them all up to Liz's. Went and had a commune with Bridgie in the paddock. Why does doing the right thing hurt so much?
That gets pretty close to what is the meaning of the world, eh?

Better get back to brain strain 101.

Today it rained - just a bit

2010-04-06T21:48:00.002+12:00

I have been enjoying the lovely weather - sunny, warmish and not windy. The downside of course is that it has not rained productively for quite a while.

Hence the tank water is welly low....

Still battling on with the Chemistry - a long way to go. Not helped that I let myself get severely side tracked today.

Not much else has been happening.

Whatever made me think going back to Uni was a good idea??

2010-03-23T19:35:00.003+13:00

She asks.....
Nearly a month since my last post.
My brain has been in meltdown mode for the past month.

Had the first semester terms test today - and have another tomorrow night.

The big bugbear is chemistry - not just for me but for most of the peeps. I need a full one on one tutor so if there are any volunteers out there....

Bridgie is leaving me in a couple of weeks and heading up to Auckland. This decision was not easy to make but ultimately I have to do what is best for the pony. Now I am even considering that Isla would also be better going off to a new home. Realistically I will not have the time or the $$s for the next couple of years and what is best for the ponies has to be the ultimate factor in making decisions. Sigh

BUT for all the bleating above I am really enjoying getting the brain working again notwithstanding the odd brain fart, lol.

Worked another night at the races last Sat. Was good to get out and do something different.

It is a tiring life being a student....

2010-02-28T14:01:00.002+13:00

First week in at Massey as a student. Tiring just getting to grips with the whole deal. Am pleasantly surprised at just how good my knowledge base is - except for the bloody damn maths components of the papers.

First lab we had to do mean, median and standard deviation. Right, I don't even have a calculator - I mean they cost money!!!! So I started laboriously doing the calcs the old fashioned way. Interestingly enough by the time one of the supervisors took sufficient pity on me to lend me one it was more a case of checking my answers... As I pointed out who the hell uses a calculator for s/d anymore? That is what the formulae in exell are for!!

In the process of packing up the flat - to move once again.

Ponies coming home on Wed. Isla is now wearing britching quite happily. Really need to bite the bullet and make arrangements for her to go onto a place of 'higher learning'.

Don't expect much in the way of updates for a bit; being bogged under with study is not conducive to vast quantities of erudite prose.

There has been a lot of ponies and not much music of late.

2010-02-18T11:10:00.005+13:00

But thanks to the ponies (or rather horses specifically) I was totally stoked to be able to go to a harp concert last night. It was in St John's Church in Feilding and featured Robin Ward.

Robin is a Palmy guy now living in Bedfordshire in the UK. He comes back each year to see family and does a tour at the same time. What makes Robin so different from other harpists (and puts him into a field of his own) is that he plays the 'triple harp'. You can find out more should you wish, by going to Robin Ward.

I first met Robin at the Wellington Folk Festival in 02. By neccessity Robin has learned to make his own triple harps. The one he played last night is made from Jarrah picked up from the side of the road as he travelled about Aus. The triple harp is much lighter strung than even my minstral harp so much lighter over all weight wise and so easier to transport.

Of course I 'had' to buy a CD as well (which I have playing on the computer as I write this).

All of this 'financed' by horses. When does anything get financed by horses? Ususally you can consider them to be a bottomless hole down which you choose to throw money (especially the stuff you don't have),

Answer: when you are in the 'crash' car at the races. I was asked if I could do it, and to my amazement was nicely recompensed for my time. Thankfully it was a quiet night - when in the crash car a 'good' night is when nothing happens.

Ponies are well. Weather has been somewhat agin doing much more with Isla - that and lack of time as I deal with and to all the tasks requiring my input at Sue's, as I look after all her animals.

Massey starts next week, so time will be at an even greater premium, sigh.

Well the blood rushed to the head

2010-02-08T20:48:00.002+13:00

Yesterday we had a good day. Bridgie and Marije went to the Pleasure Horse Nationals at Tielcey Park. They had a good day and both went really well. I crazily put on a post entry for the 51 years and over best rider class (hrrrrmmmph I hear you say!!). Fortunately they called a canter to trot transition just before I blew my foo foo - but I was gasping :(

Have to confess that this is only the second time I have ridden in well over a year - my bad. But bugger me days Bridgie did me proud and we got second out of a class of 5. I think I was the oldest too. First time in my life I have ever won anything in a rider class....

Marija and her friend AnaMarie painted Bridgie for the Fancy Dress. The theme was Kiwiana. They used facepaint and Bridgie had full colour pukekos, kiwi, jar of vegemite etc - all this things which the girls have found to be totally NZ. They didn't get called in - the standard was very high - but Bridgie did look really good. Have pics on the camera but no USB cable so you will have to wait until I trundle back to Foxton (prob Wed) to check all is well with the flat and Liz.

What with all the prepping for the show Isla has been 'neglected' for the past few days. She will 'keep'.

Am presently farmsitting for my years ago former landlady. One of the joys (and I use the word very tongue in cheek) is milking her herd of toggenburg dairy goats. This morning it took me 1/2 an hour to get them through the shed BUT it took me nearly 2 hours to get them in the bloody shed. Undisciplined rabble; nothing has changed over the intervening years. Actually enjoyed the milking part. Sue's poodle, Sunny, enjoyed being turned into a herding dog. With a bit of time and skillful handling he could be quite good. Ditto for the goats actually - I will just have them all toeing the line by the time Sue gets home.

Working at the Manawatu Raceway tomorrow. I think I may be up for some fast rides in the crash car; will keep you posted.

Seeing as I am at Sue's if you want to talk to me then give me a ring.
Having to cope with dino dial-up, but at least I do have 'in home' computer access here :)

Talking about Liz she has put some pics of her bellie up on her picasaweb site, if anyone wishes to go have a look.

Isla has a meeting with the farrier

2010-02-04T11:37:00.002+13:00

Yesterday Isla had her first appointment with a farrier.

She was very well behaved and what is more took to balancing on a hoof stand like a pro.

Even allowing for the fact that the hoof stand was actually too high for a pony with duck's disease she managed very well.

Isla wasn't worked yesterday as it was the great WASH DAY (1st one) for Bridgie prior to her outing on Sunday. IF I have a sufficiently bad rush of blood to the head (AND it is not too bloody hot) I just MAY enter the geriatric rider's class!!

All the work horses were also foot trimmed which is why there was no time for doing anything with Isla.

Trixie and Katie are coming 'home' tomorrow and Cas will gain a live in girlfriend (Trixie) which will surely make him happy.

For reasons known only to Blogger

2010-01-30T11:49:00.004+13:00

Getting pics up as I want them to appear along with the appropriate text seems to create a major mess. So rather than muck about, here is a teaser pic of Bridgie, with Maria the visiting Dutch vet student up, plus a link to the rest of the pics my picasa web album

Because we are all just a little nutty, Maria and Bridgie are off to the National Pleasure Horse Show next w/e.

Finally I have some pics :)

2010-01-30T11:30:00.005+13:00

Here she is, all 13hh of her.

Yesterday was not one of her 'best' days. Maintaining a halt was not at the top of her list of priorities. All because Bridgie was still in the yards and honking out her displeasure at the situation.

Funny ponies, they do not mind not having a horsey friend but they do dislike being left on their own. Once Maria had finished the clean up and came out to groom and saddle up Bridgie, quietness and sanity once more prevailed.

I really DO need to get some pics of Isla

2010-01-15T12:58:00.002+13:00

She looks one spunky pony with the gear on, I tell you.

Today we were out and about on the long reins. First day in the harness saddle (complete with crupper). Took her into the arena to trot her around a bit in case she was a bit antsy about the crupper but no problems.

Thought she may have been a little toey because she was hollering fit to bust when all the other horses left the complex. I decided to leave her tied up until she got over it. Funny little pony she wants company, not necessarily that of other horses. She stopped calling out (she has a hideous voice that could easily be mis-interpreted as being a 'tanty' voice - as I amongst others thought that it was to start with) so I went out to do something with her. Only to find that she had shut up because she had 'company' in the form of two students who were busy washing down the yards with the high pressure hoses. Now that would make most horses want to leave........

I forgot to mention that today was the first day on the long reins. Isla was going so well that we left the arena and I proceeded to drive her down the race and back up, then up the race the other way, through the complex and out to the carpark, round the carpark several times (Dover was a bit of a distraction there, through the hayshed a couple of times, round some logs, trees and the caravan which is parked up by the hayshed. The only time she stuck me up in anyway was when she was giving Dover the trampy glad eye the first time round, but she got the message quick enough with no hassles and didn't even look at him the second time.

So all good so far.

Still no pics of Isla

2010-01-09T16:12:00.002+13:00

But I have to report that Isla has now graduated to a bridle and lunging roller.

She is also OK about her hind feet and I can clean out the lot with her just tied up ans she doens't miss a beat. All good :)

Had a rush of blood to the head yesterday and attacked Bridgie's feet. I got two done before my foo foo started to blow so conned one of the visiting Dutch vet students to do the other two. Not the tidiest job in the world, but much better than not being done at all.

Amazing what having a set of high quality nippers to use, can achieve.

I have a new pony :)

2010-01-06T16:09:00.003+13:00

Or the original one recycled...
Seriously though I have been working with Isla for just four sessions and she is now confident with her forefeet and getting there with the hinds. Believe me that is a great progress for me with my wonky balance when I bend over.

Today she was tied up while there was mare teasing going on, horses being moved about etc, while I groomed her and cleaned out her front feet.

Went into the arena where I worked quietly with her for her to lift her hind feet. All the panicky reactions were defused by not letting her move her front feet, putting her back to position when she moved without permission. A bit like doing dog 'stays'.

I am really beginning to 'like' this pony. She has a really good brain on her, enough spunk that she will not be stodgy; pity she is so small. (I think I would break her if I hopped on).

mmm promised some pics, didn't I?

Must put that on the 'to do' list.

BIG THANKS to Liz who is supervising me, I could not have done this without her.
.

Attitudinal Re-adjustment 101

2009-12-31T10:09:00.002+13:00

Isla's, not mine!

Two days into her formal education and she will now stand quietly to have both front feet picked up and her legs moved about. That is, completely free with no halter or rope on her.

What a difference having access to a safe arena makes. What a difference having good supervision makes (for me that is.) If I turn turtle there is someone about to pick me up. Does wonders for the confidence level.

Putting in the hours working on a trial for no personal financial gain has turned out to be much more valuable to me, than a bit of money ever could be. Help and facilities, the value of which can never be quantified, in my humble opinion.

Might even get to take some pics of the little wench to put up here on the blog. Sadly, she is little - must have been behind the door when the height fairy was around, because compared to her two half sibs she is tiny. Will try and get a measuring stick over her at some stage - if only to confirm what I already know :(

One of the ponies (actually she is a hack) bred from good old Twizel recently won a Reserve Champion at the Waihora Pony Club Show. Her name is Kohatu Harvest Gold and she is by Sun'n'Air of Summer Valley (aka Dover). Harvey's half sister, Kohatu Windsong (by Lonsdale Moonwind - aka Rebel) is presently for sale on Trade Me. A great pony, if anyone is looking...

Busy, busy, busy

2009-12-22T11:12:00.002+13:00

When most 'normal' people are having the week end free, that is when I get to do things.

Two days (well mornings really) helping with the trial and also putting up the larval cultures - and then taking them down again the next day...

Yesterday I ended up (by default) in the wool lab helping a post-grad put samples through the wool scour. It is a neat, scaled down version of a commercial set-up. Theoretically you could put a whole fleece through, but I wouldn't want to. The 'mangling' part of the process would be a real killer....

Anyway in the wool lab there is lots of 'shiny toys' so I was given a demo of the computerised system for measuring micron and medullation, amongst other parameters. There are also lots of fleeces so I grabbed a few samples, estimated the micron and medullation by 'handle' (the old fashioned way) and then ran the samples through the system. It was a very interesting exercise; the results were very consistent between my rating and the system. Goes to show that I have not lost my skills over time. Would like to put some mohair through.... will have to look in my bags of fleece and see what I can find.

Now I had better go off and check ponies and the water.

Nothing to report

2009-12-18T15:07:00.002+13:00

but just thought I would put the link up for the photo album again so people don't have to sift through months of drivel to find it

my photo albums

Nothing particularly exciting

2009-12-07T11:26:00.001+13:00

But, I have passed my exam with a 'B' pass.
I did get to play at the Christmas Fest on Sat - the organisers arranged a ride for both me and the harp (not much use without the harp!)
And I did some more trial work yesterday - my IV technique is now as good as it ever was - not bad after a good 8 years of not doing it.

22 Sleeps until Christmas - UGH!

2009-12-03T13:13:00.002+13:00

Now in full Christmas avoidance mode; except I have to front up to the local Christmas Fest on Sat and harp on a little.

Maybe, just maybe, they will offer some koha???

Fingers crossed but I am not holding my breath.

Better go and do some more practice.

How disgusting, no post for three weeks!

2009-11-30T11:24:00.002+13:00

What has been happening?

Not much really. The weather has been pretty crap on the whole - where has it NOT been pretty crap.

Actually managed one ride on Bridgie - but the other week ends were either weather crappy or I was busy helping with some trials. Have been the gofer for equine frozen AI; got to help with a foal post mortem on Saturday and had an 'overnighter' to help with a 2 am frozen AI scan.

The car is now illegal - failed the WoF because the rear brakes need the shoes replaced. Also have to find the $$s to pay for my licence renewals. That is the two 'P' classes and the 2 HT classes. One year is $160 odd, which will have to suffice as the 5 yr cost is about 300 for the HT plus 400 odd for the P's. Bleat, bleat, moan.

Ponies are well. Not getting any fatter but sadly not getting any thinner either. All wearing their 'instruments of torture' aka grazing muzzles. Really must get a pic of them all.

Exam is all over

2009-11-07T13:05:00.002+13:00

And I either creamed it or have bombed out totally... A bit unnerving when other victims voiced their opinion that it was harder than what they expected and I didn't find it hard going at all (not that I voiced my opinion at all)-must be learning tact at long last? So either I missed the point completely and the markers are going to laugh themselves silly about my answers or I am brighter than I thought I was.

Have to confess that I did not do as much study as I 'should' have.

Went and busked at the local market this morning. There was hardly anyone there, so certainly did not help the very sad state of the exchequer. However another busker came along and he invited me to join him on the whistles. I had a ball - don't know about the quality of the music, but it was good fun as I was having to improvise a lot because of not knowing his music. Did get the chance to do a lead break on 'Summertime' (in C). I have never played that with anyone else - just one of the many tunes tucked away inside the head which pop out occasionally..

Bridgie is stinking in season, so obviously not in foal. Would have been very interesting to see what she would have had to Brennan, but certainly not the end of the world that she is empty. Now I have no excuses not to get on and ride her. B was being totally awful to poor Puku, so they have been separated for the duration. The rest of the troops are well.

The Day that I went to the dogs

2009-11-04T10:24:00.002+13:00

Went to the greyhound races on Monday as a tag along with the supervising vet. Hmmm, interesting, learned quite a lot of stuff about greyhounds and racing.

More than I really wanted to I guess. ANd the overwhelming smell of dog pee did not do it for me.

Sunday was entertaining as helped 'sedate' three large sows for nose ringing, using a combination of out of date ace and reasonable quantities of gin. Worked a treat - and the sows were very 'happy'.

Job all successfully completed.

Three down and one to go - feet that is

2009-10-30T11:44:00.002+13:00

Decided that I would have to get rid of the girl's blouse and do something about Isla's feet. For those that don't know, I had a run in with a little virus which attacked the balance mechanism in my left ear (also has affected my hearing). Consequently bending over and dealing with pony feet has been fraught with some difficulty. So long as all stays steady there is not a problem but if I have to move suddenly - to follow a wayward hoof for example, then things can all go to hell in a handbasket very quickly.

Isla is a tit with her feet because she did not get the right handling when young (partially because of me and above mentioned). However being the old fashioned horse person that I am (no warm fuzzy stuff from me) I had taken the time to rope her and done it properly.

So today I used a legstrap to make it possible to actually trim her feet. If she wanted to snatch her foot, she still couldn't get it down and then create an argument. Just to show she really is a well adjusted soul, she stood in the paddock with halter and lead on, surrounded by three other very nosey and smoochy ponies, on three legs without a whimper. I just ran out of puff to finish the off hind. Tomorrow is another day.... and I only fell over once. Isla very carefully (on three legs) stepped away from me. That pony is a gem. The number of times she has had to avoid standing on me when I have gone arse over tip is pretty impressive (and she does not panic). Bridgie now, has managed to collect me two out of two :(

Not a very tidy job, but at least it is done and I do not have to wince and feel guilty about not being able to pay a professional to do the job.

Liz has been steadily working her way through the rest of the troops but her bump is severely getting in the way now. I sure would not have let her try and work her magic on Isla as she has to sit on a bucket to do the job. All of the others have been really great with the 'sit on bucket method', even the little yearling. This is tantamount to the excellent handling Liz has given them from the start.

Now I am off home to try and get the kinks out of my back....

Electric fencing gives one Power & the visitors from Hell (not mine)

2009-10-26T12:11:00.002+13:00

Labour Weekend. Three days to get lots of work done on the 'ranch'. Important things like get the electric fences working and hooked up to the mains unit before the whole place is totally destructed by ponies giving themselves full body massages on the paling fence around the house garden. And getting the water reticulation set up for pigs.

Wot 'appens? Townie friends decide that it is such nice weather it would be really, really good to go and visit their friends who live not far from them, in the country. Unannounced of course, and having in tow grotty, little tantrum throwing, idjits.

I escaped (thems what know me will understand totally and thems wot don't, it doesn't really matter). Poor LIz, how she didn't bang some heads I really do not know.

I escaped to the back paddocks, and the fencing is going 'enough', if somewhat jerry rigged at this stage, but now I will go out and finish what didn't get done yesterday. It is a 'while' since I did any fencing on a regular basis - the skills have not gone, but I certainly have slowed down rather. Not having any fencing tools other than a chain link strainer didn't help though. Had to make use with what I could locate in the garage. However I am the 'queen' of make do and substitution.

The pig water is also 'sort of working', but also jerry rigged. (Liz did that) And better than what was going before, so that is a little progress.

Busked at the market on Sat. Made a whole twelve bucks, still that let me indulge myself with a packet of toffee pops (they were on special at the NW).

The Windmills of Your Mind

2009-10-21T11:07:00.003+13:00

Things have been very quiet on the pony front since the 'pony instruments of gastronomic torture' have been sorted (aka as grazing muzzles).

Now 'we' are just waiting until some more arrive in store so that the rest of the troops can be fitted out.

Yesterday I investigated 'the' windmill demolen to check out the internal access.

On Dec 5 the local Christmas Fest is in the Main Street in Foxton and I have been asked to play some carols on the harp, from up on the landing on the windmill.

The staircase inside is very, very steep, not that many degrees off the vertical so there is no way that the harp can go up that way. To get the wheat up into the mill area and the flour down there are trapdoors in all of the floor levels, with a pulley system. This would seem the only way in which to get the harp up. I am just a tad wary of that....

It will probably be raining anyway, which will stop the whole idea dead. In the meantime I am busy learning and practising carols....

The great Escape

2009-10-14T13:02:00.002+13:00

at 10.30pm around Liz's garden.

Of course no one was going to co-operate and be caught.

Cannot blame the fat ladies, they are content with their muzzled consumption.

This escape was the field of the adolescents - looking for trouble - Sadly I suspect that the perpetrator will have been Isla, doing her usual full body massage on the post and palings fence. Funny how gates come off the hinges when faced with such treatment.

So the escape was more likely to be serendipitous than planned. The little boys went AWOL a little further than the girls. Liz said that the neighbouring horses all shat themselves because of the mini monsters hoofing about.

Sanity prevails - or is food the ideal bribe?

2009-10-09T11:48:00.003+13:00

Arrived to be met by three very enthusiastic mares, all of whom volunteered their heads for the application of grazing muzzles. Yes, even Bridgie!!!!

A fast sprint up the paddock (as fast as I can sprint that is) being followed by thundering of hooves.

Three very happy mares relocated into the lovely long grass - mmmm.

All that is needed now is more muzzles for the rest of the troops. Sure beats thrashing the paddocks by over grazing, in an effort to reduce calorific intake.

Maybe a solution to the 'human obesity epidemic'? Lots of people walking around looking like Hannibal Lecter (yeah right). The feeding muzzle being the 21st century equivalent of the medieval chastity belt? More bonking, less eating??

Talk to the muzzle!!!

2009-10-08T14:15:00.002+13:00

Like hell, says Bridget....

Katie and Sue a 'happily' sporting grazing muzzles. After all wear one of those and you get out into the paddock with all the long grass.

Bridgie showed her disdain in no uncertain terms. It took me the time that it takes for the washing machine to do its thing, to catch the witch.

We both had quite a bit of exercise in the process. B's effort being much more energetic than mine. Tart!!

She is moving very well, best I have seen her move for quite a while in fact ;) Need to get the gear out, I can see that

Now in pursuit of further instruments of pony torture for the rest of the pony population here.

I think Liz is going to pass by the Saddlery warehouse in the near future.

Talk to the Hand - or in this case the curry comb

2009-10-06T11:15:00.002+13:00

Yesterday I made the comment that I was not sure whether Bridgie was hanging close by while I was poo picking because she wanted skitches or food.

There is now incontravertible proof that it is the skitches which is the attraction. Yesterday I went out poo picking without brushes in hand. Ponies (all of the fat ladies and Sparrow) rocked up for a smooch.

Very quickly, once it was noted that I was not dispensing coat massages they all pissed off and ignored me for the rest of the afternoon.

Nice to know when you are wanted. The world runs on ulterior motives.

Bloody cold here today. Still snow on the tops of the Tararuas.

Well people will not read, if I don't update... so says liz

2009-10-05T12:35:00.002+13:00

Which is all very true

But it is hard to update when not much has been happening. I mean who really wants to know about the minutiae of other people's lives? Don't we have enough of that in our own? It isn't like I have been doing anything exciting, out of the ordinary, dangerous or....?

Purely Ho hum, that be me these days.

Work has been very off again - but tomorrow it will be on again (not sure for how many days though). Not much work means not much $$s which means not much happening.

Tie that to not having my own internet connection and I am doing things hard :(

My last assignment was a real dog (as in I wrote a real dog). I will be happy if I actually pass that one. I wrote the damn thing and then went to Massey and did an internet search for references which supported my thesis. Mmm, definitely NOT the way to do the job. But the whole thing was due over the time I was busily packing, carting stuff and unpacking. Didn't organise that too well. Slight logistics problem, wouldn't earn any brownie points for project management there.

Ponies are well. Bridget is supremely grumpy (grumpy is 'normal', supremely grumpy is not) because she is of the opinion that her diet is insufficient to meet her expectations. Isla is in with the other Kohatu youngstock, harassing them into playing with her. They have much better social skills than she has. I just wish they would give her a set of heels more often. At least Bridgie hasn't got the demon filly to worry her now. B has been really nasty to the other grumpy mares in the jenny craig accommodation, so she cannot use Isla as her grump excuse any more. She is really funny when I am poo picking - B that is - just about superglues herself to me. No idea whether it is because I supplying routine grooming to alleviate the itches caused by moulting or because she is convinced that being smarmy will weaken my resolve to reduce her waistline and that I will let her through on the grass.

Have done some busking at the Foxton market - as a result I have now been booked for a gig on the Foxton Christmas parade day. The idea is to put me (and the harp) up on the decking on the windmill so the lovely music will waft across the 'whatever'. Will all be totally weather dependent, that.

Also made it into the PN Folk Club on Friday night. Met up with some old cronies. There was a, new to me, woman there, who also plays the harp. It is a little 27 low tension nylon strung one. She let me have a play on it. It was really quite difficult as I was over stressing the fingering, it needed a much lighter touch that I could even think about having with the high tension, gut strung, instrument that I am used to playing.

See told you that my life was boring. But I have updated the blog. ;)

Long time No post

2009-09-15T12:38:00.002+12:00

Well I am relocated.
Back up in the Manawatu, somewhat employed (casual contract with Estendart) and living in Foxton.

Bridgie and Isla live a k and a half or so further north on SH1 at Liz and Aaron's new place.

At some stage I will get some photos up of the ponies. I mean who would want to see pics of me???? haha.

No home ph (and therefore no internet - what a strain that is) so reliant upon the local library.

All things will happen in the goodness of time and when I get the horrible balance on my credit card dealt too.

Well, it is now Official

2009-07-30T18:03:00.002+12:00

I am on the move once again.
Two ponies, me and all assorted junk to be heading to the Manawatu sometime in August.
Now I just have to pack and sort out the logistics.

Ponies well. I am well. It has been bloody cold but there is a tinge of green coming through the ground. Hope it is not a false spring as the frosts here can kill all the growth completely if it greens up too early.

This is just an 'update' :)

Mid Winter and there is snow is all around

2009-06-30T14:09:00.004+12:00

Ponies are OK though as I moved them to one of sections around the holiday houses I look after. Plenty grass (prairie grass) which is long enough to poke through the snow. The frosts have been pretty good too. They are not interested in any hay so their pukus must be feeling full :)
Finally managed to get a pic off the camera.

Update 8 July: many days of grey sky coming in with the dawn whilst there has been a hard frost overnight. Cold and depressing :(
Fighting off the lurg - massive doses of Vit C seem to be working. Girls are back in their home nest, with hopefully a visit from the farrier tomorrow (definitely weather dependent, that task). Then they will be going around to chew out the long grass in sis's goat's paddock while I am away in ChCh for the weekend

Some pics are up

2009-06-24T18:52:00.005+12:00

If you flick over to photos you can see what I have put up already. About half way through I think.

Bridgie and Isla are both home again. Isla put herself on the float while I was still tying up Bridgie. Smart tart, she is, but rather have that than something with a 'nuh' attitude... Picked them up today, so now back on the daily water carting ritual.

Back to the trip. Glenda and I stayed in Dufftown for the Keith festival. Dufftown is approx 10 miles away from Keith and part of the road runs through some 'woods'. On the first trip to Keith there was some road kill on the road in the woods. I said to Glenda that I thought that it was/had been a badger but without actually stopping and closely investigating (and that would not have been wise as I would have had a chance of also ending up as road kill) it was just a 'guess'.

Anyway that night as Glenda drove home (well after midnight I might add) low and behold a badger ran across the road in front of us, not far from his flattened friend. That really excited the both of us, to see a badger (live).

We nearly went into paroxysms of delight when suddenly there were two more badgers crossing the road in front of us. They run sort of like possums, but more smoothly, and of course are much bigger than pesky possums. That sighting confirmed the provenance of the furry patch of tar seal the next day, as the facial stripes showed up quite clearly. Glenda wanted to see squirrels but that didn't happen.

I saw two foxes round Edinburgh. One was dead on the side of the road and the other ran across the road not far from one of the big round-a-bouts where the by-passes all pass each other. The mobile one was surprisingly big; suspect that it was a dog-fox.
While I was in Edinburgh a fox went into one of the banks. Cause quite a commotion, as you can understand. Of course the problem is the automatic doors opened for the fox which was probably looking for food, and it marched straight into the bank. There are whole colonies of urban foxes now. You get stories about (sadly usually misguided, middle aged women) feeding the foxes. Trouble is you feed one and 6 move in. They can get quite aggressive evidently, to the point of banging on the back doors of the houses where 'their' food comes from.

To continue the bank story, 'they' (whoever 'they' may be) closed the bank as in no business, and then over rode the auto doors to keep them open and proceeded to try and 'coax' the fox out with food. I know what I would have been tempted to do, but that would have been so frowned upon....

In Inverness there was a market on the Friday. One of the stalls was fundraiser for 'birds of prey rescue'. They had two big barn owls (I think that this is what they were - definitely owls) sitting on perches. Glenda took pics of them so I will see whether I can get copies of the pics to put up, when she gets home.

Enough of a ramble, will write more as I remember it.

Yeah I am HOME

2009-06-20T15:38:00.002+12:00

Flew into AK at 4.45am, caught a connection to Dunners at 7.30 and then completed the journey on the Taieri Gorge train. Irene picked me up from Pukerangi.

Priorities of course, mean that the first thing I had to do when I walked in the door was boot up the puta and check my emails. And update the blog. Unpacking? What is that??

Quite a difference to fly in on a 747 and finish the journey on a train, vintage 1931. Janice (my bus boss) picked me up from the airport and took me to the train. (Thanks Janice :) ) This was a fallback position organised via Irene because my expected ride has a family infested with norovirus (there being yet another outbreak in Dunners) and there seemed little point in uneccessarily exposing myself to contagion. Quite apart from the consideration that said intended driver wouldn't be feeling up to driving anyway....

I will bung this up for now, so you know that I am back.

Pics will follow over the next couple of days :)

The rest of the story (I hope)

2009-06-17T22:00:00.002+12:00

Well Keith Music Festival was quite an eye opener. It is run on a completely different system to that which we are used to in NZ. The system works in a little place well but not likely to in spread out NZ. You buy a ticket for an evening concert (£6) and the acts move from venue to venue while the audience stays put. The turn around time for the acts to set up and knock down is phenomenal. The organisers in NZ could surely learn from it.

So the punters have a list of who is playing at what venue and you choose accordingly.
Also there are Trad music competitions run with an awful lot of silver ware handed out. They have big classes too.

One of the comments which we fielded in Inverness, which we din'ae oonderstand at t' time was that we would not be able to understand the lingo in Keith. This area does not have the soft Highland accent which is associated with Inverness and the Western Isles but still use Doric which is the dialect in which Rabbie Burns writes. There were a number of poets who recited in Doric - some of which I could pick up but some was well beyond me. It was totally beyond Glenda, needless to say. So we started her a phonetic 'dictionary' on the back of one of the concert sheets. It was getting mighty full by the time we left.

If you heard the words 'quine' and 'loon', what you think they meant? Answer at the end of the post (haha).

But this is the sort of thing I am meaning about the dialect. There is a push for it to be taught in the schools, so that it does not get lost. It is different from the Gaelic and would be the Scottish equivalent of speaking 'Irish' as opposed to Irish Gaelic.

During the day there were sessions going on all over the village. The musicians moved around from one pub to the next so you could either follow the musos that you liked or you could just stay where you were to wait and see who turned up next.

Accordions and fiddles ruled supreme. The accordions players were mostly all young guys, and boy could they really make the music bounce. The tradition is a live, well and assured of success in this area at least. The fiddlers were from the very young to antique and everywhere in between. The were great and enough to make you spit, so to speak. Only one melodeon player and he came from above Newcastle. Guitarists of course, a couple of banjos and one mandola. Two of the groups had keyboard players. They were doing the trad piano accompaniment found with Scots ceilidh music. They were both good, but one guy was truly excellent - and his claim to fame is that he is actually last year's winner of the Glennfiddich Fiddler of the Year. If his keyboard skills are only his 'second fiddle' so to speak then his fiddle playing must be totally awesome.

There was also a harper there who also sang as she played. She did quite a few songs in Gaelic. Interestingly enough she spent several seasons singing with Scottish National Opera, so she has a beautiful, trained voice. After her family left home she went back to Uni (she already had a music degree) to do a one year course in Gaelic, so that she could understand what she was actually singing about. Instead of just doing the one year her arm was twisted and she stayed on to do a Masters for which she translated/wrote current music theory into Gaelic. Sadly she does/did not have a CD :( She performed an absolutely stunning rendition of 'Call the Ewes'. Oh, but to dream....

On the Sunday there was an outside concert in the village square. Fortunately for all, not only did the rain stop but the sun came out and helped the sales of the ice cream van.

By the last night Glenda and I were absolutely tired out. It was so worth the effort of going. We created quite a stir - being the first people to ever go to the Keith Festival from NZ. Indeed I suspect that we were the first people to ever attend outside of the UK.

As one of the organisers said the festival tends to be a little incestuous in so far that the performers are all very local to the venue and they all front up each year. The performer from furthest away is the guy with the melodeon. AND they do not get paid. They do get free accommodation and food but that is is.

So we were asked many times 'have you really just come to Keith for the festival?' The answer to which was 'yes'. This really gobsmacked quite a few.

On the Sunday afternoon there was after the outdoor concert, a session which was a Chorus Competition. It was really neat fun, something which I am going to suggest would be worth looking at in NZ. The 'judging' is on the level of audience participation in the choruses as opposed to the actual performance quality. The guy who 'won' it sang a song to the tune of John Brown's Body, the chorus went:

I am a week end caravanner
I am a week end caravanner
I am a week end caravanner
And I am driving on a road near you

The verses were really funny and very relevant to the chorus.

The 'judges' were also open to 'bribes'. It made for a great, fun afternoon. Most of the singers were unaccompanied. In fact all of the real trad 'Bothy Ballad' singers sang unaccompanied as is traditional. Heard some exceptional singing. Just reinforces the level of crap in the media.

Headed back to Inverness on Monday morning as we had to get the car back for 2pm and to the bus station by 3. Inverness was really, really busy so I drove to that car hire firm and their driver took us and our bags to the bus station.

The bus station was absolutely packed to the gunwales. Rockness had been on the previous 3 days (an outdoor Rock Concert at the top end of Loch Ness) so there were people everywhere with their packs and camping gear all trying to get buses back to where ever. The cafe obviously didn't see the influx coming as there was no food left by the time we got there. I had to make do with a packet of crisps and a twix bar.

The bus trip down was great as the road travels much higher than the train lines so I was able to see much more of the countryside. There is also a big road works happening on the A9 so the driver took us on a diversion which took us through some very narrow winding roads which I would not have wanted to try taking a bus through. I found out when we got off in Edinburgh that the bus also had back wheel steering, which explained everything.

Glenda went off to her hostel for the night and I made my way back to Bonnyrigg to Cousin Drew's place.

Yesterday I met up with Glenda and we went on the free walking tour of Edinburgh. Very interesting and extremely entertaining. Our guide was a young guy from Melbourne. It would appear that all the guides are from 'other countries'. Job doesn't pay enough for a Scot to do it I suspect. I don't know whether the guides are out of work actors, or just excellent performers, but great, great fun.

Glenda is now on her way to Glasgow. This will be my last post until I reach home, when I will be able to put my pics up, unless there is free Internet access at the various airports I transit. Somehow I doubt very, very much that LAX is likely to have any Internet access in the transit lounge - after all there could be a conspiracy afoot....

Quine is a female (girl or young woman)
Loon is a male (boy or young man) and has nothing to do with being 'looney' as in madly influenced by lunar aspect, although I have no doubt that looney loons are a regular occurence.

BTW they have boy racers in Inverness as well.

Long time no post, and my legs are aching

2009-06-17T05:56:00.004+12:00

Too much walking on hard pavement does that to one...

now back in Bonnyrigg at the library. Have not long finished a three hour walking tour of Edinburgh with Glenda. It was fun and well worth the time and effort. The guide comes from Melbourne quite funny really.

Glenda is back off to Glasgow tomorrow, she is over here for another 10 days or so, so we parted company on the Waverley Bridge (very significant, that). Anyway to return to the saga in the right order :)

The castle at which we did not get to stay at is Carbisdale and is near Bonar Bridge.

We headed back to Inverness and booked into the Youth Hostel there. No way were going to go back to the grotty place we had been at before. Went back into town after having something to eat but the music which was on was all head banging stuff so decided to head back to the hostel for a relatively early night.

Next morning we prowled around the book and music shops in Inverness before heading off in the general direction of the Keith festival. I insisted that I wanted to visit Culloden, not quiite sure what was actually going to be there. Thanks to Glenda's Historic Places Trust membership (mine has expired but I still have the card which looks OK if not peered at too closely) we both got in to the actual National Trust building where there is an interactive museum. You also get handed a PDA which is hooked into GPS so that you can walk about Drumossie Moor and get told what happened where. There is also audio re-enactments from letter written by various people. It was very interesting and well done BUT I have to say that I would not have paid £40 for the experience. That is more or less $120/person!!!!!!

Glenda's membership and my expired card quickly flashed also got us into quite a few other things for nix. Remember all who venture over here join the NZ Historic Places Trust and the YHA - it will save you heaps of dosh.

From Culloden via a Tesco's in nairn we headed to Morven B&B in Dufftown to meet our hosts Glo and Rene Ramon. We were welcomed at the door by a very hearty 'Kia Ora' which was a surprise, but a very welcome one.

We dropped off our bags and headed off to Keith to suss out the music situation.

And that is where I am going to leave you for now, before my time on the computer runs out.

Will update tomorrow, which will be my last full day in Scotland. Only two more sleeps to go before head back. From what I have been told, I am heading into a hell of a lot of snow. :(

Now in Dufftown

2009-06-13T20:58:00.002+12:00

Dufftown is in the northeast, the nearest place with accommodation to Keith which is where the music festival is.

It has been a busy last couple of days...
Thursday we headed off towards Ullapool. There are main roads which are green on the map. These are for the most part either motorway or at least dual carriage, so having decided that one motorway is very much like another we decided to head off 'cross country', or at least on the lesser roads.

The journey took us up around the western seaboard and into country which is far more like that of Central - except for all the lochs that is. But the area is remote and empty compared to what we had seen before.

Of course when on the lesser travelled road, comfort stops do become a concern :) Glenda was at the wheel and I was becoming somewhat desperate when we came across a wee place next to Loch Bran so a rapid stop was called for. There is also a craft shop (with a jewelry workshop) and Post Office there.
We both had a pokey nose - and I had walked out to the car when Glenda called me back to have a look at some 'heelan' coo' stuffed toys. They being so ugly that they were cute. Well I did something very uncharacteristic for me and bought a heelan' coo to bring back. He has been named 'Bran' and has now had his pic taken at a number of locations. Sadly Bran was made in China (cannot escape that invidious situation here either) rather than being a genuine inhabitant and I probably will find that his herdmates are cheaper somewhere else.... However I have to pull in my discretionary spending now; just goes to show what spontaneity does (haha).

The weather was alternately sunny and absolutely chucking it down with a light smir of drizzle in between. The road was very narrow - single lane with frequent passing places. Also lots of tight bends with restricted visibility. Not exactly what one would call relaxing driving.

We also stopped at Gairloch (pics to come). There was no option about going to Gairloch as that is where the one and only road took one, but we chose to stop and have a look about the harbour. This used to be a be a big fishing port, but like so many other livings this too has disappeared.

Ullapool was much smaller than what we both expected it to be. Believe it or not - we couldn't - there are two really high class, non aligned to chain stores book shops, in Ullapool. The place is very tourist orientated but not crass or twee in anyway. The ferry to Stornoway came in while we were there. There was a horse float (with horses aboard,) waiting to load as well as some B trains and private vehicles. The ferry was smaller than the Cook strait ones, but not a small boat by any means.

We headed off from Ullapool to what we hoped to be an experience of a night in a castle. There is a Youth Hostel (name I will have to look up) which is in a real castle. Glenda had rung ahead and left a message on the answerphone. We finally made it (took some interesting navigational detours in the process) to find out that the whole castle had been rented out for a wedding and there was no 'room at the inn'. However we were invited in to have a look about and take some pics.

Anyway I am using the computer in the office of the B&B and feel I need to knock off for the moment. I will continue the tale later.

Up in Inverness

2009-06-11T08:02:00.002+12:00

Came up yesterday on the late train. Found the hostel (which is a private one and a real dive, sadly), found some food, and THEN found a pub which has sessions (Scot's Trad) every night.

Got to bed rather later - slept well. Glenda and I went out this morning and bought some food and then picked up the rental car and headed down to Aviemore, because that is what Glenda wanted to see. From there we went 'cross-country' to Fort William.
Saw Ben Nevis - the mountain - and the ski area. In the summer it is a mountain biking track. The bikes go up on racks on the back of each gondola. This is serious rough mountain biking stuff. The part of the track visible from the car park was \ as. Have pics but they do not really show what I mean.
Went slightly the wrong way and on retracing our steps came across (literally) the Caledonian Canal. So we went in to have a look at Neptune's Staircase which is a series of 9 locks. Takes one and half hours to get through. While we were there there was a trailer sailor coming through so we waited because the road bridge and the rail bridge both had to be closed and swung from over the canal to let the boat through. All very interesting and I have lots of boring video to prove it. Road barrier come down to stop the traffic. In the time it took for the bridge to swing in, the boat to go through and the bridge to get back into position there was a back up of in excess of 60 cars and 6 motorbikes (Glenda counted them). This was not on a 'busy' road.....

While waiting for the lock to fill a woman came along on a pony so I went over and asked whether it was a Highland (and also got a little animal/pony fix). Yes - true 'mouse dun' - even has the primitive markings - I have pics. 7 yr mare Moshy (phonetic there) of Burnham. I gave the lady one of my spunk cards so hopefully she will email me and I will be able to get the pony's proper name ;)

Right fed and watered, off to the pub for more music.

Dear ol' Glasgae toon

2009-06-09T05:10:00.002+12:00

Feeling somewhat knackered - that is what being a tourist does to one. Came through to Glasgae yesterday afternoon and met up with Glenda. We then found and lost our way, a couple of times to the Youth Hostel in Park Terrace which is on the hill above the Kelvingrove Gardens.

Across the park is the University buildings and the Kelvingrove Museum.

The lovely receptionist in the YH showed us on the map where there was a pub which on Sun and Thurs has live Folk Music. The pub is called Uisge Beath (the water of life - ie whisky). So if any of you get to Glasgae toon this is the place to go on a Sunday night. It was PACKED.

Today Glenda and I hopped on the double decker tourist bus and took a tour of the city - including going down to where the docks used to be. The guy giving the commentary said that the popn of Glasgow used to be 1 & 1/2 million but is now down to 600,000 as the closing of the shipyards, and hence the steel mills and the mines which fired them all led to people moving away in an effort to find work and/or a better lifestyle.

Where the docks used to be is now being built on. There are still a few high rise housing estates rearing their heads above the sky scape. Evidently these building have a multitude of problems to do with air circulation (lack of) and condensation because of the moist air here. The councils have now declared that no buildings over 4 stories are to be built and as the new housing is built to replace the tower blocks, the people in the towers move out and they are demolished.

WELL, ACTUALLY THEY GET BLOWN UP! The same things is also happening in Edinburgh. Cousin Drew knows a guy who was the first person to move into his tower block and the last person to move out. This guy was given the 'honour' of pushing the button on the charges which then demolished the building by controlled explosion. Evidently these explosions have become something of a crowd puller - better entertainment than the last public hanging in Glasgow which attracted an 'audience' of 60,000 people. Doubt most of them would have seen anything anyway, but rather gruesome when you think about it......

So back to the bus ride. It was good, worth the £8 as we learned a lot more than what we would have wandering around on our own. Like about the new bridge across the Clyde, which about 3 months after it was opened, there was a loud bang and the metal supports had exploded. The bridge was then closed for a year and a half while all the Chinese steel was replaced with British steel. The Chinese steel was not sufficient quality to withstand the stresses. Luckily this happened late at night and no one was on the bridge at the time.

We got off the bus at the Kelvingrove Musuem and had a good look through - but not nearly long enough - however the museum closes at 5pm so there was not option.
There was an exhibition on a guy called ? Rennie Mackintosh and his wife Margaret. Art Noveau Glasgow style. I recognised some of the work from books but had not connected it with anything in particular.

Glenda found the Dali but I was wandering about looking at other stuff and the close up came while I was tracking Glenda down. Close up consititutes staff walking through the galleries shepherding people out - bit like herding cats..

We also visited the 'Tenement House'. This is an 1890's tenement which although it had been modified through to the 1950's the original fabric of the place had not been altered. It was donated to the National trust and so has been preserved.

Last night (Sun) we went to the local Sainsbury's to get food to last us until tomorow. That was a laugh in itself as we tried to find some fresh, unadulterated, unprocesed food! Also had a real laugh when we asked the security guard why there was a security guard in a supermarket. Understandably he could not comprehend why we thought that it was so funny. He is there 'to keep the customers safe'. Rather like a Tui Ad - I really doubt this guy would be able to do much to keep the customers safe, but he was nice and friendly and also very helpful. Actually have to say that I have found the people here much more helpful and friendly than in Edinburgh. The whole city is more 'something'.

While I was waiting for Glenda's bus to get in I sat in a big concourse which is part of the Buchanan Galleries - which is nothing more than a giant shopping mall/complex - all pedestrian. There was a piper busking there. He was playing the Galacian pipes (in the key of C) and came from Portugal. He was really HOT too. His English was much easier to understand than the people born and or brought up here, I tell you. He didn't have any trouble understanding me either - something which cannot be said for some of the natives.

Forgot to mention in context, that after we left the Kelvingrove we walked back through the gardens and came across the most amazing skateboard park. It made all the ones I have sen in NZ pretty pathetic. It was just great sitting there and watching what ALL ages were getting upto on their bikes, skateboards and rollerblades. A real eyeopener. Some of the manouvres that were being down were amazing. Blooming camera batteries faded out so have no pics :(

Ok off to book some accommodation for tomorrow night up in Inverness. Catching the bus back to Drew's collect some stuff and then to catch the train north. Glenda and I have decided to do things in somewhat reverse order to what we had originally planned. So will be back in Edinburgh from Monday 15th which will give me 2 days to do family stuff and walk Glenda around Edinburgh.

Off tae Glasgae tha morrow

2009-06-06T22:01:00.003+12:00

to meet up with Glenda. So so not expect much of an update for a bit. Glenda has booked us into the Youth Hostel there for a couple of nights.

The Ramsay hooley is tonight - kick off 6.30pm. I hope that Drew has a pair of vice grips or a small socket set because the borrowed harp did nae coom wi' a tuning peg. Aye, 'tis a problem that...

Not much else to report - life has been very quiet. Thank goodness for the library :)

I missed the Library yesterday as it closed at 1pm

2009-06-04T21:45:00.004+12:00

Do not have that much to report. The weather has cooled off and the natives are all now quite happy, but it is a bit parky for me.

Went up to Edinburgh on Tuesday afternoon/evening looking for the sessions which were listed on a the local website. To say that the webiste needs updating would be an understatement. I resigned myself to just heading back to suburbia unfullfilled and then noticed that at one of the bus stops out on the way back to Bonnyrigg that there was a notice for 'live folk music tonight' in a pub window, so quickly leaped off the bus. Scottish session music is not played at 90 miles an hour like what happens in Ire. I know what I prefer :).

I now have a harp to play thanks to Marian Sargison. It is one of the local high school student instruments so is a little battered but plays all right though. A pilgrim, it seems very small and I am reaching too far but I will get there. It is tuned in E flat and the sharpening levers are set in the opposite way to those on Roselind, however just having something to play for a week will do wonders for my composure :)

Sue has sent me some pics so I have uploaded them for your edification (haha) The first one is of me taking a photo of the pub where we had lunch, The Duck Inn. I didn't realise that Sue had taken that one. I have my own pics of the Duck Inn but you will have to wait until I get home before I bore you with them. Oh, how I will bore you all :)....

The second pic is om me and and the lady from the long boat coming through the lock. She was on a canal holiday and is from Ireland. You can see the second longboat in the canal behind the one in the lock. I will be boring you with video of all that!!

This one is at Bicester (Bisster) hopping on the bus to go to Milton Keynes where I then joined the national Express bus to Edinburgh

The library didn't open today until 1.pm

2009-06-03T00:13:00.003+12:00

and the computers are running slow...

Still warm but the high cloud has come in - or rather I should say that there was high cloud which has now, to some extent, burnt off. Locals are still complaining about it being too hot.

Haven't been doing much of anything - have finished all my books and returned them. Tomorrow I hopefully will have a harp to play and the withdrawals will subside (haha).

Sue Gillingham's Spinway Worth Waiting had a filly (buckskin and will probably grey) on Sunday night. Both are well. Pity that hse hadn't gone of a little earlier - as it was she went off early anyway as I would liked to have seen he. Sue was talking about naming a filly 'Sheila' - hoping for the sake of the filly that she finds a better name for her :)

Not much other news to relate - how sad is that?

Will head into Edinbugh tonight and sample the experiences of 'The Tron'. It is singer songwriter night. Tomorrow night is Edinburgh Folk Club night..

The Heatwave is still going

2009-06-01T22:36:00.005+12:00

It has been decent weather since I arrived in the north last Wed. 5 days of glorious sunshine and not a cloud in the sky. The locals are all starting to melt. Am sitting here in the library and they have all the fans going - it is not THAT hot. However I bought myself a pair of sandals this morning because that is one thing that I did not pack as I really did not think that I would need them.

Walked down to Dalkeith with Vivien this AM as she had to go pay the mortgage. Caught the bus back as it is a reasonably steady up hill walk and V does not walk up hills. I went on the top deck of the bus because I like travelling up high but I was on my own up there.

I find the lack of 'can do' outlook in a lot (certainly not all) of the people extremely stultifying - lots of moaning about what needs doing but it seems that it is up to someone else to make it happen, any suggestions are met with multitudinous reasons as to why not. Some are undoubtably valid but some totally bemuse me. And the kids are scared of all sorts of ordinary life experiences; sad, sad.

Anyway enough of social commentary.

Saturday we went to Galashiels which is down on the borders. Interesting driving. most of the way there is an abandoned railway line - as in ripped up 40 odd years ago but the rights of way and the viaducts, bridges etc all still there and complete. It would be a really superb place to get the likes of a Rail Trail going but I doubt that it will ever happen because the will to do something just a little different just isn't there. Whoops back into the social commentary - again.

Trip a round Galashiels was a real un Sheila like afternoon, as I really, really do NOT DO SHOPS. However even in Scotland amongst the suburbs, shopping would appear to be the recreation of choice :( Guess that is not so different from suburban NZ.

I went to buy some stuff at Tescos (food of choice) and not so surprisingly I guess, things which I consider to be basics do not even register here. Something as normal as Balsamic vinegar - no idea as to what it is. In Sainsbury's they have a Balsamic Vinigraitte made by Paul Newman's outfit but that is full of crap. It would seem that the basic building blocks of cooking are just about non existant in the supermarkets and to get stuff like balsamic you have to go to specialty shops which are needless to say, expensive. Everything (and I mean everything) is prepackaged, pretreated, or pre cooked. Buying loose fruit and vege? Forget it.

You would be pretty hard pressed to cook what could be loosely called Pacific Rim cuisine here...

Yesterday afternoon we went to a 'barbeque' at Drew and Vivien's daughter's place. Please note the 's' around the barbeque. All the kids and adults thought that it was really good and enjoyed being outside - things which we so take for granted.

In the morning V went to visit her mum in a nursing home down at Leith so Drew and I went to look at the Britannia which is now permanently moored there as a tourist attraction. Of course is cost lots of ££s to go ont he boat and the whole thing is set up that you cannot get to the wharf etc to have a closer look. However we went up onto a balcony (which one has to go through a shopping mall to reach) and therefore were able to look up the Firth and across to Fife on the other side. At least I was able to stretch my perceptions and have an infusion of 'space' which i I badly need. I am really hoping that when Glenda and I get up to the Highlands next week that there will be enough space and few enough people for me to be able to really enjoy.

Vivien has given me a couple of pairs of summer trousers which are now to big for her, for which I am very grateful, as I packed one light pair of tidy and one pair of casual and with the lovely weather my wardrobe has been somewhat lacking.

I see from 'Stuff' that the weather back home is really crap. Hope you are all OK.

Marian Sargison has managed to borrow a Clarsarch for me (Scottish harp) to play on Sat. (From the music dept of one of the schools where she teaches) so I get to try it out on Wed. I think that in return I get to go along to the school and give a wee talk on NZ :)

Not much else happening today - am going to now do some research on the internet for D&V and then walk back to their house.

BTW the sun is rising here about 4am and it is still light at 10pm. Neil said that up in Keith when the sky is clear it does not actually go totally dark at all at this time of year. This will be an interesting experience - not quite light all night as in the Antarctic but getting there.

Scotland is having a heat wave

2009-05-30T20:40:00.002+12:00

And no, I am not personally responsible :)

Quite funny really - it is just nice as far as I am concerned but the number of sweating people in Edinburgh yesterday was quite phenomenal. Put it this way if we saw people sweating like that, at the same temperatures, in NZ we would be a-thinking that there was some sort of mass heart attack deluge happening....

Anyway after leaving here I caught the bus into town - well that was the intention but I quickly realised that I could go unlimited distance on my one way ticket so long as I did not get off the bus - so rode the bus to the far terminal and then back into the centre where I hopped off and trundled into the gallery. The bus went right through to 'the Jewel' which is further on from Leith and Portobello. By the number of Miner's benevolence society buildings in the area this must have been a mining centre in days of yore.

The gallery was quite amazing. I am not really that much into gazing at paintings but I did find it interesting. Some of the paintings (bad me I did not make a note of which ones) had a luminescence about them which is totally lost in any form of reproduction. This was in the Italian gallery. Also the size of some of the works is just amazing. So are the humongous gilt frames, come to that.

There is a recent new acquisition in this gallery - a Titian - the gallery (and other collective benefactors) has recently just paid £50million for it. It was evidently a 'bargain' which came on the market because of the credit crisis - someone needed lots of dosh fast. Since then it has now been revalued at £100mill, so the gallery has just 'made' a 100% profit. Philistine that I am I commented that I would be selling it on and using the money for something 'useful'. A comment that I could get away with because I am a visitor I suspect - but the sentiment was shared by the other people there, they are all just too wussy to speak up.

Anyway I found (or rather 'relocated') the wonderful CD shop on The Mound that relieved me of a lot of my $$s last visit. I will wait until Glenda hits Edinburgh and go back then. She will be blown away...

Also went into the museum of the Bank of Scotland - they have a million pounds on display so that people can see what it looks like. The notes are ones which were printed especially by de la Rue and have never been in circulation - and have 'cancelled' printed right across them. One million pounds in £20 notes weighs 9 stone. Information like that is the type of irrelevancy that will stay with me forever (sigh).

Met up with the Sargisons last night. Neil came and picked me up from cousin Drew's and took me back to their place in Pennicuick for tea. It was so nice weatherwise that we ate out on the lawn. Then Neil , Marion and I headed back into the village for the concert.

The concert was held in the North Kirk - turns out that this is the kirk across from where Uncle Roy and Aunty Grace live (Drew's parents). The kirk is also used for community stuff such as this concert as well churching; it has the most amazing acoustics which were basically being stuffed up by whichever dolt was interfering (under the guise of working) with the sound system. Ho Hum. Nothing I could do, but I was not the only one who was commenting. The second half Marion and I went up into the gallery where the sound was fine as we were getting the unadulterated acoustics without all the mids rebounding and muddying the sound.

However that little thing aside the quality of the playing made up for it. The main bill was a group called Fantoosh; the classic Scottish trio of piano, violin/fiddle and cello. Think Chris Duncan or Catherine 'Whatsername' (Spencer?) on 'Presence' and you will get the idea. The Beeslack String Orchestra (the local high school) were the sub bill. The musicians from Fantoosh work with the schools about the place so some of the pieces they played were ones which the kids and musos have been working on together. - like 'da Slockit Light'. The trad side of things was mostly Shetland and the rest of the bill was classical.

I have an autographed CD. I said that it would be the only copy in NZ but evidently the nephew of one of the partners in the trio's, parent's-in-law live at Waitomo - so I guess I can say mine will be the only copy in the South Island. It is really a very small world...

Drew and Vivien are taking me out for a drive to Galashiels this afternoon and tonight Drew will take me out to meet up with Unk and Aunt, me thereby escaping from the invitation to a 'Body Shop' Party at Drew and Vivien's daughter, Maureen's place. Can you imagine me at something like that??? Gah!!!!!!

Well better log off and head back up the road. There will be no report tomorrow (Sunday) because the library is closed. Doubt that there will be much of great import to relay anyway, but still don't despair; like the Terminator, I will return.

Not much to report today

2009-05-29T21:15:00.002+12:00

back in the Bonnyrigg library.
have done my emails and will shortly hop on the bus and head into Edinburgh. There is a free lecture on in the National Gallery which I want to catch. Other than that nothing much on the agenda for the day.

Neil and Marion Sargison are picking me up this evening to take me to a concert that Fiona is playing in. Will be good to catch up with them all.

Finding cousin's idea of what constitutes good food a bit of a challenge. The only fresh stuff in the fridge is the limited rane of veges I have bought. The entire fridge seems to be filled with biscuits, chocolate and other types of lolly. Takes all sorts I guess.

Grrrr

2009-05-28T21:48:00.002+12:00

Had a post all typed up and it disappeared into cyberspace.

Synopsis:
at Bonnyrigg library - now a guest member for a month with free internet access - yeah.

Staying with cousin Drew and his wife Vivien

The keyboard set up is different and slows down my typing plus lots of typos.

Scottish farmland is looking neater than that from down south - probably because the Scottish farmers are giving DEFRA the hairy eyeball with regards to when they trim the hedges. Now hedegs are only allowed to be trimmed between certain dates. If the ground is to wet the farmers cannot get in to trim so the hedges are going rampant this year as the winter was so wet. There is no discretion permitted in such circumstances.

Has fun sussing out the locks on the canal next to Oliver's paddock. Videod two long boats coming through.

Catch you all later.

And I just realised that the times were all wrong

2009-05-27T05:35:00.003+12:00

So I have adjusted the settings to GMT.

Have no idea whether this will stuff up all the previous posts or not. However it is Tuesday, 6.30 pm and I just finished writing 'Catching Up' before changing the dateline.

Catching Up

2009-05-27T00:48:00.004+12:00

On Saturday Sue had not planned anything as I had no idea whether I would be particularly compus mentis. As it happened I was up with the lark and sparking on most cylinders...

So on Sat afternoon we went over to visit (and drop off the show schedules for the Chiltern and Thames Valley Connemara Show) with Lynda and Elliot Carson who have the Tucker daughter, Braemar Bridie (Churchway Daybreak - Gatcombe Amy).

The Carsons live and work at West Wycombe Park which is now a National Trust administered estate owned by Lord and Lady Lucinda Dashwood. I was absolutuely stoked to be given a drive around part of the estate. The main house was the film set for the film "The Importance of Being Ernest" which starred Judy Dench. The whole estate is often used for film shoots but although Elliot was able to give me a whole list of films done there, that was the only one which meant anything to me (duh!).

The Carsons live in the converted stables for what would have been the riding and the carriage horses - the working horses would have been stabled up the farm somewhat and which is where the horses are now kept.

They have four spaniels, one of which is due to whelp in a couple of weeks.

Up the estate we went past a 'thing' which look like it should have been a folly but was/is in fact the water tanks for the big house (at least) and underneath there is an icehouse. The water is all gravity fed and the icehouse afforded refrigeration way back in the 19Cth.
From up on the hill by the water house and looking to the hill on the left (sorry I have NO idea as to orientation N/S) is a church with a very large gold ball on top of the spire which evidently is big enough for people to sit up in there and party, party.
For those of you with an historical bent, this gold ball above the church is one of the meeting places of the secret 'Hell Fire Club'. Next to the church and easier to see on the side of the hill is the Dashwood family mausoleum. Across the road from where we were standing on this part of the estate is the Hell Fire Caves - which of course one has to now pay to go and gawp at. Although realistically to go in there in times past one would have been paying - one way or another anyway....

On the way to West Wycombe Sue took a detour to RAF Halton, which is where she works to take a spin past the Officer's Mess which is the Halton Manor house. This 'house' was built by the Rothschild family back in 18 oatcake. It is built on the top of the hill - on line of sight (and this line of sight would not have been obscured a lot of the vegetation and other stuff as it is now) in various other directions are other Rothschild mansions. Because they were all on line of sight they were able to communicate with each other although seperated by many miles. No idea whether they used semaphore or lamps or whatever.

As an aside where Sue's property is now there is a BIG shed. This big shed was built over the emplacement for a an even bunker and searchlight emplacement which was used during WWII to act as a decoy from RAF Halton.

SUNDAY - was an arranged day over to Henrietta Knight of the Lockinge Stud. Henrietta is a National Hunt Trainer (Steeplechasing to us). Their season is of course finished for the year so there were only a couple of horses to be seen, but during the season she has a stable of 60 odd. Lockinge is near Wantage in Oxfordshire

From there we went to Sarah Hodgkin's of Spinway Stud at Leafield in the Cotswolds. I don't think that there is likely to be any Morris Dancers reading this BUT went through Duckington and saw the signposts for Bampton and a few of the other 'familiar names'.
Saw Spinway Comet and Atlantic Ace, mares and foals and youngstock - and 'yes' I do have pics (lousy ones of course, but..) Sarah lives near a place called Minster Lovell. The place is unbelievable (or rather the lanes are). I was so gobsmacked that I videoed from the car, just to show people. There is NO room, one lane only, no where to go if it all turns to custard and people regularly ride down these places. Have to say though that on the whole the drivers are a lot more respectful than the NZ ones.

MONDAY we went off to the Surrey County Show. Now this is a 'little' county show - it is a qualifier for the likes of the HOYS and Olympia. It would have to be bigger than Canterbury Show as far as the number of the punters wandering about is concerned but the class sizes and the range of classes is much smaller than what would be standard at say a local NZ A&P show. This may have just been this show of course though.

Sue had never been to it before, so it was a new experience for her. We went on the ring road around the west of London and then on the A3 (I think) to Guildford which is where the show was held. It started out cool and cloudy and we had both taken jackets and a brolly because the forecast was for rain. In the end it was strip off time and the brolly made a sunshade.

The number of people was just 'whew' and I am sure that for every 10 people there was a dog.

The sheep section was virtually all heritage/rare breeds and apart from the Texels and a couple of Southdowns (which did not look much like what we now call Southdowns) there were not what I would call 'sheep'.... Oh there was a Leicester of some sort too but it seemed to have the most enormous ears - much to much roman nose to be a border, so no idea exactly what it was.

The reason why we went to this show specifically (as there was any number of horsey things happening closer to home because of being Bank Holiday) was because one of Tucker's daughters was being competed there. The filly (a two year old) ended up Reserve Champion Connemara.

One of the things I found really weird is that the riders and handlers clip the rosettes to their exhibitor number waist tie. And there they stay, even when they go back into the ring for further classes. Sort of throws the concept of the judging each separate and subsequent class being devoid of preconceptions.

ALSO the bahaviour that went on with some of the stallions was inppropriate, back in good ole' NZ they would have not been 'excused' from the ring - they would have been chucked out, in no uncertain terms.

Today Tuesday I have helped Sue to move ponies about the place. She has three separate blocks from the home block (this is 'quite normal'), Canal Farm, Cow Common and the Old Orchard. So I led Amy (Gatcombe Amy) from 'home' to the Old Orchard which is at the other side of Bucklands village, so I got the chance to walk through the village and have a good pokey nose. Then Sue and I led a yearling and Maisie from Cow Common to home, which meant we had to walk past Canal Farm which is where Oliver lives. Not that this is a problem going past Oliver just that it is in the opposite direction from Old Orchard.

And we also put up a feed break electric fence down at Cow Common for the two remaing two year old fillies to move onto tomorrow. The yearling is off to Cornwall on Thursday - Maisie is going as baby sitter. Sue will drive and meet the new owner somewhere outside Bristol where the gelding will move floats. Sue has a neat wee 2 horse truck, side loading. Be great to have but I have no doubt that there would be some laws agin it in NZ.....

Plus went to poke about in the two local saddlery/feed outlets - just pokey nosing. The place up on the top of the Aston Hill (and this is the hill where the guy Martin who designed and made cars, used to use as his trial track back in the olden days - so guess it - Aston Martin!!!!!!) had a pony club camp going on, so we went and had a llok at that also. Bad, bad, PC mothers present, poor kids. They are the world over sadly it seems, the mothers I mean.

Also say a very interesting noseband (on one of the horses) which none of the people in the saddleries had any idea as to what it is. I was only being nosey as to wanting to find out..

Off to Bicester (pronounced Bisster) earlyish (because of the traffic congestion one does not leave things to chance) to catch a bus up to Edinburgh tomorrow.

And as you all know I am NOT a TV watcher, however the big thing at the moment is the semi finals for the Britain's Got Talent. They are on live all week with the final on Sat. The big soccer cup is on in Rome tonight too. Anyway have been watching the BGT. What you guys will not be aware of, is that some of the acts are, hmmmm, shall we say quite bizarre?

I will put the final results up for you, if you are interested and ask nicely :)

ciao for now

Safely Landed

2009-05-23T22:55:00.003+12:00

Now at Sue Gillingham's and have met Oliver and his harem. Will get around to some pics, but it will not be today :)

Fine and warm, but the sky is really hazy compared to what we get in NZ. With all the trees with leaves on, it is not anywhere are grey and monochromatic as when I visited in 06.

Not far from Luton Airport here and as the crow flies not that far from Heathrow either. The skies are just contrail after contrail. There is a by pass cutting through just at the bottom of the property here and so there is the continuous rumble of the traffic - yet this is 'country living'.

Archetypal English village with two storied thatched cottages with roses around the doorway. Sue and Albie's house is a 'normal' New Zealand type place. The stables and farm sheds are, of course something else altogether. In the stables the bedding is a mixture of shavings and straw and comes in compressed plastic wrapped bales - and has lavender and eucalyptus oil impregnated in it.
The mares come into the stables at night and out during the day. The stables have vid cams set up, rather than using actual foaling alarms. Neither of the two mares are due just yet.

I have been really surprised about the fly problem too - more like Aus as far as the flies are concerned - especially around the ponie's eyes. These are just 'normal' type flies, as opposed to the midges which cause sweet itch (which I have also met now).

Sue is having a few problems with my accent (hehe).

Transit in Hong Kong

2009-05-22T11:36:00.002+12:00

Very hazy, 27Deg and muggy as all get out, and that is in the airconditioned terminal. Not my place of choice with temp and humidty like this....
Flight good, bit bumpy on the tail of that dreadful storm which hit Brisbane.
Using Glenda's lap top, so short and sweet :)

Flying high

2009-05-21T21:44:00.001+12:00

At Auckland domestic and now off to AK International...

Road was 'interesting' driving to Mosgiel. Will be closed by now I suspect.

Signing off now untilI get to UK :)

The Sun is brilliantly shining on the snow - Day 0

2009-05-21T10:30:00.002+12:00

Brilliant day here in the thriving metroplolis of Middlemarch. The road is open (if not clear) so all good there.

I am heading to Dunners (Dunedin) this afternoon in my bus which has to go in for a COF, then my boss will take me to the airport.

Bags all packed, if I have forgotten anything, too bad. Still have to get my little tube of toothpaste and load $$$s up onto my cellphone. Being Prepaid, I cannot put credit on it in the UK. In the unlikely event that it works out cheaper to by a UK Sim card I will post the 'new' number on here.

If 'anybody' wants 'anything' (within reason) brought back with me, put the $$s into my account or prepay with your own credit card and I will bring it home. Email me, because I will be rocking into internet cafes/libraries on a reasonably regular basis to get my fix. I have a 20kg one bag allowance going over but a 2 bag allowance coming back so will have the room and weight allowance to bring stuff back.
To get account details phone Sis.

ciao for now

Sheila

Yup, it has Snowed. Day 0 + 1

2009-05-20T09:08:00.003+12:00

Both SH 87 (Outram to Middlemarch) and SH 85 the 'Pigroot' are closed until further notice because of snow. The motorway north out of Dunedin is marginal.
No snow here on the valley floor though. Cannot take a pic of the Rock and Pillars at this stage because the cloud is right down the mountain......
Whoo Hoo, looks like I will be going out on the train tomorrow (minus my 'less than 100mls' tube of toothpaste!)

Day 0 + 2

2009-05-19T17:15:00.013+12:00

And it is persisting down..... Had a pick up from Pukerangi to do this afternoon. The people are heading off on the Rail Trail tomorrow; hmmmmmmm - hope that they have lots of suitable clothing. One of the things that I am doing is taking a 'Wedding Ring' quilt, that Irene has made especially, over to Edinburgh as a gift to the extended family. They can fight over who actually gets to keep it :) This quilt (and another I have in my bag which I am supposed to try and sell over there) are made from Kiwiana Theme fabrics. Sadly the pics do not show that detail but I thought you might be interested to see what my big sis gets up to. So this is the wedding ring quilt - so called as the whole thing is sewn with the intersecting 'wedding rings'. The rings are kowhaiwhai. The centre right panel is a mob of merino sheep with a heading dog sitting on their backs.
The second quilt has Keas as the central panel with possums on one side and hedgehogs on the other.

Any quilt orders can be sent to Big Sis....

Paula reports that Bridgie and Isla are now happily poking about in the 'Creek Paddock' with Valentine. For the pony people 'out there' Bridgie and Valentine are actually half sibs (out of Canningvale Bonnie Sue) but have only met today for the first time.

Weather down on the Taieri Plain today is as bad as it is up here, by all accounts. The big difference being that although when wet here usually mud is not a problem, unlike the flood plain of the Taieri, the converse of course is that drought is often a problem in Middlemarch.

No snow yet. If it does really snow I will put a pic up. I hope that it doesn't because it could make getting out of here 'eventful'.

Day 0 +3

2009-05-18T10:51:00.003+12:00

Ponies are now down at Paula's. Beryl phoned and said that the weather forecast for tomorrow was not good. Snow level is forecast to be way down and would likely close the road out, if not from the snow, then from ice. So the decision was made to head off asap.
So Bridgie is now 'grumping' in the loose box (with plenty hay of course) and Isla is in with Valentine (aka Rose Moon), as Paula wasn't home.
Isla took some persuading to cross the creek but she finally plucked up the courage and splashed across. There has been heaps and heaps of rain the last couple of days so the creek is a little higher than 'normal'. I don't think Isla has ever had to cross a creek before in her life so she was a pretty 'brave' pony about it all. Very sensible, just needed time to 'think'.

Last seen, Isla and Valentine together were fooling about very happily, while the people next door's horse (looks like a dizzy TB) was going right off. Being Connemaras, I & V really were not impressed with the shenanigans going on next door.....

Day 0 + 4

2009-05-17T15:57:00.002+12:00

Have all my documentation, my little bit of money and my bag has made it inside from the workshop.
Ponies off to Paula's on Tuesday.
Batteries for various electronic toys all charged and ready to rock.
Now just keep fingers crossed that they weather doesn't turn to crap and close the road out of here....

Day 0 + 7

2009-05-13T22:05:00.002+12:00

Hard to believe this time next week I will actually be having to pack my bags ready for the 'off'.
Spent today doing necessary tasks such as getting a WOF for the car (was due to run out while I am away) and buying some decent clothes. My usual slack bumming around gear was just so not going to 'cut it'.
Nothing else to report. Will log back in when there is something interesting happening.