Saturday 31 May 2014

Rusty the Rooster


A couple of months ago I bought 7 chickens, young ones that still had a lot of growing to do and would start to lay in winter hopefully.  My daughters named them and all was right in the chook house until one started growing big tail feathers, big feet and a bigger body.  She had been named 'Rusty' but has turned out to be a 'he'.  Luckily that name seems to still work!



This is Rusty with some of his ladies.  In the past I haven't been too keen on having a rooster - they can be a bit aggressive and I can do without that.  Rusty seems to have a lovely temperament so far, but he hasn't started to cock-a-doodle yet so I will hold judgement on his personality until all his manhood kicks in.



The chickens are sharing the orchard with a few sheep at the moment and my very photogenic boys decided they should get in the pictures too.



He is certainly becoming a handsome looking bird and I do have a bit of a soft spot for him, so hopefully he will stay nice and friendly and remember that I am the boss!


Friday 30 May 2014

Frosty morning


The last week of autumn and we are starting to cool down.  We had a good white frost this week, but it gave way to a beautiful blue day.


The sheep aren't silly, they head to the high spots to stand in the sun and enjoy the start of the day.  Most of the sheep are up on the sky line except for the few that wanted to know what I was up to.


Monday 26 May 2014

Sculpture Spotting

Last week when we were in Auckland I spotted these sculptures in the Auckland Domain.  I found out later that there are 8 of them but we only went past 3 on our route back from the Museum.



Arc - made from Granite and Bronze.  Inspired by an ancient European petroglyph, which probably depicted upright figures in a boat - an appropriate symbol for the many voyages of discovery that lead to the settlement of New Zealand.



Promise Boat - made from Bardiglio Marble and Basalt.  It depicts a vessel tipped on its side for visual interest and also the beached craft of immigrants who arrived on the shores of New Zealand.



Numbers and the Language of Nature - made from Bronze.  The repeated elements remind us that all organisms have an underlying geometry that is part of the universal laws of nature, and the growing, changing character of nature and the rhythms of life.



Monday 19 May 2014

Yellow Autumn

 Yellow and gold are everywhere as autumn does her thing and the leaves fall.



The oaks join in with a bit of orange and red.



A very pretty time of year, especially when the back ground is a clear blue sky.




Friday 16 May 2014

May Sky



The last leaves on the Poplar trees are hanging on, but will soon be gone.


Late autumn and a lot of the trees are bare, we have had so much rain lately but today is a beautiful blue sky day.


Wednesday 14 May 2014

Eastern Rosella



This parrot was introduced to New Zealand from south eastern Australia early in the 1900's.



It has breed very successfully in the North Island and has become quite a pest to grain farmers and in orchards - both commercial and home ones.  They have created a lot of damage in my orchard from time to time, and although I love to see the colourful noisy groups flying around, I wish they would keep well clear of my trees.



I spotted this Rosella on a foggy morning walk on the farm.  They are usually too fast for me to capture, but this one was happy to pose for a minute - and then he was off.



Saturday 3 May 2014

Puppy vs duck

Give your puppy a stuffed toy, I was told.  One with a squeaker, she will love it.



The toy duck was received with much enthusiasm, and the duck sounds coming out whenever she squashed it got her even more excited.



It was off to the safety of the bushes to check out this new toy.



Alas within an hour the duck was in pieces, unstuffed and the squeaker removed.  With a bit of bribery I got all the bits off her.  I think we will stick to tough rope toys or big sticks from now on.



Thursday 1 May 2014

Beach Wall for Good Fences # 6

A wall rather than a fence but it achieves the same goal.



We spotted this beauty on our walk along the beach last weekend.  I can only imagine how much time and effort went into collecting and building this wonderful barrier between the property and the sea.



Views of the farm

It's an awesome blue sky day today so I couldn't resist taking my camera for a walk.


 Autumn has been kind to us, with plenty of rain while the ground was still warm.  There is lots of grass for the animals heading towards winter.



One of my favourite spots, when you are sitting up here, nothing can bother you.