Our Best Friends

Dogs.  Said to be mans best friend and to be honest on some days I agree and on others I don't.  We currently have two dogs.  One a beautiful pedigree golden labrador called PAL who is just over 14 year old with arthritis and JOSEPH, a cheeky fox terrier.  Both dogs we inherited from my parents and to cut a very long story short ... we offered to look after PAL one weekend and he hasn't gone home.  Five years later my parents inherit JOSEPH then four years after that my parents bring JOSEPH to the ponderosa and he hasn't gone home since.  


Good thing we like dogs :-)Although I know many people who don't like dogs and I can't see why not. I was bought up in a whanau who always had dogs and like everything, the dogs had a purpose, which in my whanau was hunting and protecting the house.


My grand parents had LOTS of dogs throughout the years with the first dog I remember being my nana pops sausage dog called CHEEKY.  He was beautiful and definitely cheeky.  After he died I remember my grandfather's dog which was a golden labrador called BEAUTY.  She was such a good dog, hunted well, good protector and loved children.  You knew she was a good hunter and did her job well because she lived so long she turned grey and eventually wondered away one day and never returned.  My grandfather told us that that's what animals do when they know they are going to die.  


Last week we thought that was exactly what PAL had done when we discovered he wasn't at home.  I had been home all day and he slept most of the day in the sun but by the time my daughter came home he had gone.  We were desperately driving around a 5 km radius to see if he had fallen into a ditch or something because we knew his arthritis wouldn't get him very far, however no success.  I rang both the Waikato District Council and the Hamilton City Council to see if they had picked him up, but without success.  Because labradors love water, I went to bed that night thinking he wondering into a drain somewhere and was stuck because his arthritis couldn't get him out.  Fair to say I didn't sleep well that night.


In the morning I discovered my daughter had announced on facebook our dog was missing and everyone was concerned about his wellbeing.  Our fears turned into relief when I received a called from the WDC saying they had found him.  Excited I got in the car  to go and pick him up, with thoughts of joy that he was safe, but that quickly disappeared when I got the bill for $340.  WTF???  


Since then PAL has cost another $70 when he was picked up at 10.30 pm .. and JOSEPH $60 when he was nabbed racing cars.  Keep telling yourself it's a good investment I kept saying.  


I don't like tying the dogs up 24/7 or 12/7 for that matter because like all animals, they aren't made to be tied up, but I thought we had to do something or they'll cost us a fortune.  Then I learnt a couple of neighbours had been broken into, so I reminded myself, it is a good investment PLUS they provide hours of entertainment with their strange ways, like rolling into something dead just after you've given them a bath.  Or playing with a honey bee and getting stung.  Or trying seeing them walk through the paddock and then collapse in the water and be contented to stay there forever.


Whatever the reason, our two dogs are the best and I can't wait to see what other adventures they take us on in the future :-)

JOSEPH after he decided to play with a honey bee

PAL deciding he wasn't going any further

Have a great night!!

Bosco vs The Sheilas - Round One

Living the good life is really starting to ramp up in terms of stocking the land with sustainable products for a healthier life.  It's nearly two weeks since the new additions arrived to the Ponderosa - 5 beautiful Hereford cows.  The idea is to raise them until they are at least 2 years old, sell some to make money and eat some to save money and "The Sheilas" have settled in quite well ... NOW.  

I say now because they arrived all squashed up on the back of my brothers tandem trailer after a 5 hour drive from Maropiu to Hamilton.  Yes, they arrived Clampett styles :-) towed behind Dad's Prado in the dark at 9 pm.  I could only imagine how traumatic that experience would have been for them, especially after my husband told me they had just come off their mothers.  Poor babies.  My husband placed them in the stock yards over night with some hay to try and settle them during the night, with the plan to move them into the paddock in the morning.

I awoke the next morning to the sound of "the sheilas" mooing and I remember thinking to myself how therapeutic it was, although looking back now I doubt that was the emotion they were trying to achieve.

I wasn't there to experience them being moved as Ness and I went off to take care of another job I do in the winter time - netball.  Whilst we were finishing up for the morning, Ness received a text from her husband Bung who I can only imagine was excited by the fresh air and experience of being on some land.  The text read "Better buy a nice bottle of wine on the way home".  Giggling to herself Ness told me "something must have happened" and read the text out to me.  I wandered off engrossed in finishing my netball jobs for the day when Ness popped up and said "oh no ... Bosco (their Boxer puppy which is the size of a small cow), was so excited he chased "the sheilas" and made two of them bolt through the electric fence.  The boys (our husbands) had to round them up from the neighbours property and put them back into the paddock".  I commented that my husband must've been livid.

To be honest, I didn't quite register the significance of what had happened until we got home and the boys explained it to us.  They had to repair the neighbours fence from the damage it had caused.  Fair to say my husband was not very happy, but he got over it pretty quickly and poor old Bosco was securely tied up on the verandah wondering what was happening, especially since our two dogs - PAL and JOSEPH were casually roaming the land.  Little did Bosco know, their introduction to cows was a little more traumatic, each happening on separate occasions many years ago.  Its kind of like an initiation to farming life when our dogs wonder the land and think "oooo whats that big friendly looking beast?  I'll wander over there and show my authority" ... only to be kicked profusely by a mother protecting their babies.  Fair to say our dogs do not enter the paddocks when we visit the Maropiu farm anymore and stay well away from any cow .. NO EXCEPTIONS!!

I wandered over to the paddock fence to see if the sheilas were okay and watched them roaming on the perimeter of the paddock.  Day two, and still traumatised by their move to the Ponderosa.  Poor things.  

Later that day we joked about the events of the morning and I have a vivid image of the boys wondering excitedly over to the stock yards, forgetting that Bosco was even more excited trying to enjoy the fresh air and 9 acres to run around in. (I think he takes after his owner Bung)  5 cows (animals Bosco had never experienced) was something new to play with ... in fact he was that excited, the electric fence couldn't hold him back either - but like I said, he is the size of a small cow :-)  I'm not sure which animal I felt more sorry for - The Sheila's or Bosco?

It took 4 days for the sheilas to settle in and feel safe to wander close to the fence for us to talk to them.  The girls have named them after the One Direction group ... which to be honest is fitting considering the cows look more masculine than the boys in the singing group.  Niall, Zayn, Liam, Harry and Louis

They seem extremely fascinated with "the gals" or chooks and most mornings I awake to see them all grazing in the paddock together.     Aaaaah, this is the life alright.  

We are so pleased with The Sheila's that I've asked my dad to bring two more from the farm in Maropiu to join them this weekend.  That should be interesting to see how they integrate with The Sheilas ... plus Bosco is due to come back down this weekend too so we'll have to be extra careful so that we don't have the same episode we had a few weeks back ... although that would be funny :-)

The Sheilas - Believe it or not, they have just come off their mothers

Bosco ... in his fierce hunting environment of the North Shore in Auckland

Have a great evening people.

Homemade Magic Face Cream

I am a avid supporter of Natural remedies - now.  I say now, because in the past it was only natural to go to your local GP or doctor when you weren't feeling well and trusted their advice and the medicine they would prescribe for you.  Of course, back then, you had a very intimate relationship with your local doctor - not in a sense that you were getting down and dirty with them, but more in a sense that you trusted them with your life, therefore needed to feel comfortable with them at all times.  

The other side of the coin at that time was the fact that the yucky bugs weren't as destructive as the ones nowadays therefore going to the doctors wasn't something that happened a lot.  In fact, natural remedies was something built firmly into family life because we descend from forefathers that didn't have the luxuries of a local GP readily accessible.

I have been enjoying reading the book "A Home Companion - My year of living like my grandmother" by Wendyl Nissen.  In essence it's purely about her life when she decides to be self-sufficent for a year.  I thought it interesting when she writes about her experience with the medical experts of the world regarding her breast infection and after over two years of trying everything and anything they diagnosed, their advise was simply "It's not life threatening, is difficult to treat, therefore you will just have to live with it".  Her answer was to resort to natural therapy, and after experimenting with turmeric root, the infection cleared up within a week and has not returned.

It instantly reminded me of my experience as a young mother with baby twins, one of which was struggling to settle and sleep more than 2 hours straight. After numerous visits to the doctors, being given many different medicines that didn't work then being told "your baby has colic, and you just have to live with it".  I too resorted to a naturopath.  Their diagnosis?  My baby's skull was not growing fast enough, therefore was having major regular headaches.  The cure?  6 x 5 minute cranials.  After the first cranial, my baby slept for 10 hours straight and after the 6th cranial, she was sleeping for 8 hours at night.  From that point onwards, I have been open about my skepticism of main stream medicine and have no issues recommending natural therapy.  

There is alot of money in medicine therefore the more the doctors prescribe, then more money the drug companies are making. There is also a lot of money in cosmetics and most businesses are about making money, I began to think what actually goes into my face cream, or moisturisers and whether they are actually good for me.

I performed the ole "Mcdonalds cheeseburger test".  I placed my face cream on the window sill without a lid for over 2 weeks.  If it contained more natural products than chemicals then it would start to grow it's own community of living organisms.  Result?  It looked just the same as it normally does, just like the McD's cheeseburger.

I was pleased to see Wendyl Nissen had a recipe within her book in which she called it "Magic Face Cream" so I decided to give it a go.  It's a little strange because it generally was like making a salad dressing with some essential oil (I used vanilla but you can use pretty much any fragrance you want), but in saying that it was fairly quick and easy to make.  After the first application I was pleasantly surprised at how soft my skin felt. My husband even gave it go, although he said he didn't notice any difference, but it smelt nice which is a bonus :-)

4 ingredients of 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil, 3 teaspoons of cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon of water and about 3 drops of essential oil.  That's it!!! Store it in the fridge and give it a good shake before applying it.

Have a great night!!!