Friday, October 4, 2013

Wednesday, October 2- The Southern Cross

The New Zealand night sky is breath taking, especially here at Mohaka River Ranch. To the west lies a 45,000 acre farm, 45 minutes to the east lies the small ocean town of Napier to the North is open wilderness and the south sheep and deer farms. This is all to say that when I stepped outside tonight there it was nothing but me and the stars. Even the moon took the night off. Straight above me was the milky way shining so brightly I could have sworn it was city lights reflecting off clouds.

My eyes scanned for any constellation that looked familiar. There was one that looked vaguely like the little dipper but apart from that I was starting from scratch. I felt like early man staring up at the night sky and having the opportunity to name that which he saw. There was the shepherds crook, the square, the pitchfork, the Dalek and so many others, and that's when I saw it. The only constellation I knew before coming. The one I had searched for with a constellation app while in Hawaii by pointing it straight at the ground and magicing myself to the night sky on other side of the planet. The Southern Cross and the pointers. My breath caught in a sharp intake. It was more beautiful than I imagined. It was HUGE. My eyes turned to gum drop buttons and in that moment I dropped 24 years in a split second and squealed like a kid at Christmas.
 

Sunday, September 30- Hunting, Cinnamon Rolls and Moonlight Adventures

Gosh what a packed day. :-) Today I got to try my hand at rabbit hunting! Actually It was more like a game of hide-and-go-F-yourself. The bunnies were quite content to hang out in their burrows giggling at us as we passed by, guns in hand trying to be quiet. I felt like a Native American but probably sounded like a dwarf. I wasn't exactly keen on shooting one of the furry types but the exercise and sun was fabulous.
 
Since our quarries were being quiet we set up pumice stones on a log down by the river and had some target practice.
 It was far more satisfying watching them burst into bits. I also got to try my hand at fishing. I've concluded that it's like knitting for boys. It's repetitive, you can zone out while you're doing it, and you get really excited when the project is done and you have something to show for hours of tedious work. See? Knitting.
 
So our outing was about to be a bit of a bust. We had gone out to find bait for an eel trap and were coming home empty handed. But as luck would have it, on our way up the driveway to the house the boys spotted it. A brown rabbit. Mikey stalked up the driveway, got to one knee and shot it through the eye. Boom. Eel trap baited. It really was a masterful shot.
 
While Mikey got to work skinning and baiting the line Brendan and I went in to catch the All Blacks rugby match. I got an education on scrums, wings, forwards, and this awesome cheerleader move they use to snag balls that are thrown in from the sidelines. Needless to say, rugby may be my new favorite man sport. It's super bad ass.
 
During all of this I was working on this batch of cinnamon rolls. Here's the recipe. Try it. But maybe use Martha's recipe for cream cheese frosting instead. I couldn't hold myself back long enough to take a completed picture. As soon as the frosting was applied all bets were off. Here's what they looked like before they got frosted. Prepare yourself for yummy noises.
 
The game was winding down and Mikey was still MIA. What happened to him? It doesn't take that long to bait a trap does it? Then we saw him. Punk was getting us dinner.
 

Evidently he threw in the line and two minutes later this guy went Golum on that rabbit. Wham bam thank you ma...bam! Bam bam...wham! *Ahem...Mam. (Evidently the monster didn't go quietly into the night and got bashed a bit.)
 
The game was abandoned at that point and the boys had fun skinning the buggar and smoking it in the shed. There are entrails in the yard now next to my garden. At least Sam has some company.Yum yum.
The boys did a good job. The eel tasted eely, which is to say, pretty good. :-) It was chewy! I had a small pile of partially masticated meat on my plate at the end of the meal that I tried to hide with other foods. Such a lady...
 
You would assume that would be enough for one day wouldn't you? But no. :-) Smith adventures take hold at all times of day. And after dinner Mikey, and I jumped onto the 4 wheeler with Craig and went zipping down into the gully in search of...bum bum BUM...Glow worms!!! There is a damp hillside down there with heaps of ferns that is ground central for glow worm habitation. They were so cool. And bright! They bioluminess in a bright shade of green. There weren't a ton all grouped together, more like individual stars shining in deep space. It was amazing. It was like being in a planetarium with starts all the way around you. That's my cup of tea.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Day 11- Compost bin

So now that my garden is planted I am going to try my hand at building compost bins. Here is the model I am going to attempt. The ultimate compost bin. Wish me luck!

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Day 9 - New arrival

We had one heck of a storm yesterday. It started around 1:30 pm and raged all night. When we woke up to feed the babies this morning, low and behold what did we find but that one of our pregnant mums have given birth sometime in the night! Ladies and gentlemen meet Fem!


"Fem" translates to "five" in Danish. Named thusly because she had
an unmistakable 5 on her forehead when I went out to visit and also
because her mum has 5 teats instead of the standard 4.
She is still getting her land legs but she is such a sweetie. She just had to come and say hello.
Also today, I finished my first round of planting! My strawberry box, that I built with my own hands using a hammer, nails and a table saw, turned out beautifully. :-) My rows are more or less straight, and I only killed one courgette, and really I think that was more due to the storm than my black thumb. So now I water and wait. I think I'm going to tackle compost bins in the near future since I seem to have a certain inbred knack for the table saw. Here was the plot at the end of the day.
Strawberries, 3 types of peas, broccoli, 3 kinds of cauliflower,
green cucumbers, courgette (squash), peppers and celery.

 


Monday, September 23, 2013

Day 7- The planting begins

Gosh! I am so stoked. I actually got to plant today. After several days of laboring over the soil and trying to even out the left side of the garden which was significantly lower than the right I finally got the plot to a point where I thought, "Yep. This is as good as it's gonna get." (Though I'm sure I will labor over it again tomorrow once I've had all night to think about its flaws...)
I erected and staked the tomato teepees that I made yesterday first thing this morning. They turned out so well! I feel like a mom. Look at them standing so proud and tall!
 
I'm still sorting out my set up. I cleared a pathway all the way around this morning and started mapping out a keyhole design this afternoon. Thanks for that idea Tobi. It seems to be working fabulously well.
 
Beginning of the day.
End of the day complete with Sam in the background.
 
Look! Tomatoes! 6 of them in 5 different varieties! I can't wait to give them a taste! If I'm still around during harvest time maybe I will have the opportunity to try my hand at canning...
 

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Day 3- The Goat's Head Garden

I started my garden today! Yee haw!  I hoed. A lot. It was brilliant. Here is my little plot.
On one of my breaks I went down to pet the cows and low and behold, what did I find hanging in a tree, but a goat's head! Complete with horns, teeth and fur. It was amazeballs! Look! See for yourself.
After a bit of recon I concluded that it must be the head that Blair, Craig's friend, had found because there was no body and I highly doubted that the thing struggled hard enough to take its own head off. 

After basking in horrified fascination I took it down by the horns and, using them like a set of handlebars, steered myself with appropriate sound effects back to my garden. After looking around I hooked it by it's horns to my fence and dubbed my plot " The Goat's head garden."

I have high hopes that Sam will be just as effective as a scarecrow.

Day 4- Ahhh Shoot!

I got to shoot guns today! 4 of them! And I got the nick name "Annie Oakley." They tell me this is good. -big grins- It was on my 5th round of 5 shots.
5 shots at 20 meters
I was using a BRNO bolt action 22. (And I totally know what all of those random words mean now!) I think maybe I like shooting.

Oh and here was the sunset today.

The road onto the farm. The house is behind the trees on the
left and the quarters are to the right.

The farm vehicles.