Sunday 14 June 2015

Peacock Feathers

I used to have a large bottle filled with peacock feathers. A few years back when we had our lease block, I was quite enthralled with them, such beautiful colours in them! I say I used to have them, simply because my darling Pippa (who is now about 5 months old and a complete angel *coughs* demon *coughs*) has destroyed them, and is continuing to do so now.
This has been going on for about the past month, when she first discovered them. It began with just the one, and then one by one she has picked them off. Breaking the long stems in half a million times, carting them all around the house. I have one that is still standing, but she has it in her sights, uh, no, sorry it's gone with the rest of them, as I speak! :O Rubbish day is next Thursday, so I'll have to pile up the whole broken mess and throw them all away, lest she injure herself on them somehow...

I guess it's just as well that I see no interest in them anymore, otherwise it would be kinda sad.

We went along to the Mystery Creek Fieldays on Friday, we seem to go every two years so off we went. Nick happened to be on his one week holiday, so he was there Thursday and Friday and stayed with friends and family. So it was pretty odd, with just the three of us.
I think we left home at about 4:30am (yes we are a weird lot!) and got there before the gates had even opened - a first for us! We must have stood for another 20 odd minutes with a few hundred people waiting for the gates to open, and we crashed (not literally) into a family friend almost instantly. Otherwise throughout the rest of the day, we saw no-one we knew in the crowds of punters. Later, on the way home when we stopped for dinner, Mum read online that the Friday lived up to it's typical standards, bringing in the most people - 38,000 + to be in fact! No wonder it was so jolly busy! We'd usually go on Wednesday or Thursday for that particular reason...

It's crazy to think that with a tough year ahead for farmers, how many were still out and about buying things, we were looking at all the sheds on offer, as we're hoping to sometime soon build a two or three bay on our section for all of our work equipment to go in, however after looking at the prices of them, it'll be a while I imagine before it even goes ahead...the most exciting thing for me was....ummm. Honestly, I didn't really enjoy it this year, possibly because I was so tired and it was so jolly cold.
Get this, on the way down it was 11 - 12 degrees, it doesn't change at all. Mum and Dad comment that it's gotten much colder, but I said, actually, it hasn't because the temperature hasn't changed. But, they say, waikato temperatures are different to Northland temperatures, therefore it is much colder....I'm ashamed to admit I'm related to them, quite seriously!!

Back to the most interesting thing for me, the robotic milking machine, if I can I will post a new post with the video of it - it's so cool! I'd seen plenty of pictures but never actually seen one in action, and then hearing of all the things it does - golly gee, nobody will need to even think anymore with all of this technology they're bringing out.
The police tractor was also there, so I jumped in for a picture - which I would post up here but I'm not too fond of putting my photo on blogspot...Oh! And I tried an American hotdog for the first time ever, like, why have I never had one of them before?! It was super yum.

And the implements that were there, why? I'll post a couple pictures to help you understand, one has me in it, to demonstrate the size of it, if you want to see, I'll email. But they're so jolly huge! I know that the idea is to have big implements and machinery to get the job done faster, but not in New Zealand - this is the sort of thing you'd have in America or Australia - you wouldn't even get it through a typical gateway or race - I honestly don't get it.
Perhaps they're just trying to show off the new technology and equipment in general, but it seems kinda crazy to pay to get it there, and then pay for the site that it needs to sit on...obviously they're not as realistic as myself, but hey, each to their own I suppose.


Twice the size of a normal seed drill




Now this, was kinda interesting, it circles around so you can place a post almost anywhere...








A quick snap from the top of the hill, this is only half of it, for those who have never been. And imagine this area being filled with tiny tents, thousands of them. That's what you see at Parachute, or Festival One as they now call it....



We've had a busy week, and more are to come. Milking this weekend and a friend in YF had his 30th birthday last night. We had dinner at the usual meeting place with his family and friends. Four of us were from the YF club, so I guess it was a privilege to have been invited.
However, on the way there we had a bit of excitement, although not the kind that I want to have to see or be involved in again.
A couple were having a very heated argument outside the local pub when I went into 4 square opposite. It was just, you know, throwing the arms around in the air, him telling her to do this and do that, her refusing to. I saw him grab her and shove her a couple times, then she managed to walk away, so I continued into the shop for a minute or two, grabbed what I needed then came out to discover the argument had turned really nasty.
A few people were sorta hiding behind their cars, watching. I stood there too for a minute, while he continued to yell at her, and then he grabbed her. By this stage, I'd run to my car and told Nick to call the cops - the one time I didn't have my cellphone physically on me.

It wasn't very nice watching him attack her, grabbing her around the throat etc and eventually knocking her down. There were about 15 of us in a bit of a circle on both sides of the street witnessing it, some just standing there with their groceries, frozen, not quite sure what to do. Then a car suddenly pulled in and another couple got out and pulled him away from her - now many others are also getting involved while Nick is on the phone to the dispatcher, saying what's going on. The guy must have noticed him on the phone and took off in his car, quite drunk, but at least we'd gotten the Rego details before he left. Then the female stumbled on up the street. Thankfully the cops had arrived and followed her up there before she disappeared too.
It was flippen freaky, I'm still thinking, did I actually just see that happen? And I'm also thinking, why on earth did it take a random vehicle to stop as soon as they saw what was going on, yet people had been standing watching for a while.
I know I wouldn't have gotten physically involved, it's just too dangerous, and the other people were probably thinking along the same lines, but far out. I guess I expected that it wouldn't have been just us calling 111, but obviously it was. I definitely do not want to ever see that again, and I really hope that if that was her partner, she's not going near him again. But one can only hope.


We're having a sort of mini meeting at my brothers place tonight to go over some finer details of my fundraising dinner for YF, I've sold about half of my tickets, which isn't bad but I kinda wish more would come. I'm hoping that even though I've stated "no door sales" people will still randomly turn up on the night, but hey, 30 people plus the YF who come along to help, you know at least I've sold some tickets!

23 comments:

  1. Aaaah, the good old field days... Brings back memories... :P Actually, most memories are of Edna cartoons, you know, emtpy truck and trailer, going to the fieldays, him saying "I don't care what the accountant says, there are going to be some awesome specials at the fieldays!", all that stuff... :P
    That post driver is just going too far. What ever happened to a spade and rammer? And even still, you couldn't actually use it round here... Just called cheating... :P
    Wow, sounds like you've had fun too!!! Pub fights are never very fun to be around... Hehe, I do find it funny, though, how everyone stands around and watches, one person jumps in, then suddenly everyone helps out... :P Just need that first person...
    Well done on the tickets!!! What'd I tell you??? :D

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    1. Haha yep, that's the fieldays and farmers in a nutshell! lol
      Yep, it sure is! You can always buy it if you want, so long as you have 30 thousand dollars...like, why would you? For some of the work we do, it would be pretty helpful - especially along banks and such where having the side post banger is great, but you still can't quite get close enough without putting the tractor in a dangerous position. We often have to use a hole borer, so we pull out the spade and hand rammer for that :P

      Yeah yeah, you did I know. It's nice to have sold some, :)

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  2. You left home at 4:30am?? Okay, you're officially crazy :P

    Blame it on humidity haha ;)

    Your FIRST American hotdog?? lolz :P yeah they're good all right! ;)

    And Police tractors? Haven't seen one of those before! Funny that :P

    Mmm that fight doesn't sound like fun :/

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    1. Yep! 4:30am! We left for Wellington one time at midnight, got there in time for lunch. When we're doing bigish trips, especially like fieldays when we're heading back the same day, we tend to leave early so we don't get caught in the Auckland 6am rush hour, and then at least we don't get there in time to turn around and head back home.

      Humidity, haha yep!
      Yep, it was and was super good :D lol
      They've only just come out, I don't quite understand the logic behind them - basically they're painted in police colours with lights and siren. Possibly to advocate rural police requirements? Definitely a lot of crimes happening on farms these days, lots of animals and machinery have been walking out the gate quite often lately :(

      Nope, it definitely wasn't...

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    2. lol 12 hours the Wgtn!? lol my parents have done it in 7 :P (before the had children tho lol)
      umm 6am rush hour? Dunno, I'm asleep then ;)

      Wow random! Don't reckon I'll be seeing any around here :P Walking machinery sounds interesting ;) hahaha

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    3. Hmm, perhaps it was 10 hours? I don't know now, I was only 10 at the time :P
      Yep, every time we go through Aucks, it tends to be super busy inbetween 6 and 7, all those people trying to get to work? Oh, yeah, of course I forgot you stayed up late and get up late ;) hehehe

      Hmm, perhaps not :P Yeah, it's pretty incredible how they do it aye...just take themselves and off they go, gone without a trace.

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    4. lol okay, that was a while ago :)
      Fun lol... yeah exactly :P

      pfft :P

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    5. Haha, Bee, I suggest you don't join an emergency services-types then... Take LSAR, I can't think how many times Dad has been called out at about 2 in the morning, that's it, you're up and gone!!! :P

      And the police tractor... They are calling it the crowd a-tractor, basically to raise awareness of rural theft and such. There has been a huge increase in rural crime in the last few years, there's articles in the rural papers almost weekly now. And the guys that do it will do things in pure daylight and everything, it's just unreal. Setting up Telecom tents in the middle of paddocks, over phone lines, no one investigates, but once they're gone, hello, there is a pile of animal guts left behind... And then there's the professionals, got a winch built into a horse float, just shoot something, let the ramp down over the fence, winch it in, gone in 5 minutes. Or the one that had a special thing of firewood, making it look like a full truck of firewood, but underneath is 9 lambs...

      Also, Kayger... You went, to the NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURAL FIELD DAYS, and your highlight, was eating an AMERICAN hot dog??? Seriously, I bet it wasn't even a real dog...

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    6. Oh have you heard about Bee Andrew? She's the type who will stay up past midnight and do things like schoolwork or write letters (sometimes to me) and will get up around lunchtimeish. That's a normal schedule, right Bee?? hehe I honestly don't know how you do it, but hey! Gotta be unique somehow!

      Yep, that's what I thought. It went around the internet for a while back in Jan/Feb when it first came out, and people thought it was an internet hoax, but sure enough I've seen it twice now, and sat in it. It's as real as anything else. Yep, the rural theft they're getting pretty clever at it aye...I can't remember when, but was recent, when about 600? (Correct me if I'm wrong) sheep walked out the gate, overnight in the SI. No one saw anything, just cos the farmer noticed he had a very small flock all of a sudden. Thing is with sheep, is the different ear markings, so you'd think that they could be found pretty quickly, but apparently not. Or people have been walking onto farms and injuring stock, just cos they can. Heaps of dairy farms have found a few cows with bullet wounds, laying there dead, with missing limbs or heads. Sometimes they're still alive with brutal injuries. It's not fair, and I don't know how these people sleep at night - not only is it cruelty to animals, but they're killing a living investment. Makes my blood boil :(

      American hot dog, I dunno! It was just what I wanted, nice warm meat, perfectly soft bun with ketchup and mustard. It was cold, and I was hungry, and I shouldn't have to come up with an excuse darn it! lol
      Sometimes those fake sausages can be quite nice, even if they're made of plastic and not the normal, uh, essential ingredients like you'd get from a homekill.... :P Oh AND I didn't say it was the only highlight!! hahaha golly gee. :P

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    7. Shh Kayger, no one gave you permission to share that :P

      Talking about daylight hours, some guy was carrying a gun around in the middle of the afternoon on a street like five minutes away from here :/ But wow that crime sounds pretty well thought-out! Disgusting what people do these days :(

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    8. Haha, riiiiiight... You know, Bee, if you do it because you suffer from insomia, I suggest watching parliamentry replays. Works every time... :P
      Hehe, even If I've been up till half past midnight, I still can't sleep past 8. Just doesn't happen...

      Yeah, it's pretty annoying. Especially since farmers can do nothing. Did you hear about the most recent case? A guy arrested for stock rustling, he'd shot one, and been firing in the direction of a house. $3000 fine, plus repaying damages. Farmers ride a 4 wheeler without a helmet, $18,000. Go figure why rural crime rates are decreasing. Farmer catches thief, puts a bullet through the back of their car. Gets charged with dangerous use of a firearm. Stock rustler still hasn't been caught. I know a few farmers that if they caught a stock rustler, would probably kill him, and not really care...
      Something like 600, yeah. More than you'd just lose in a bad muster...
      Too easy to cut the ear off, or simply get all sorts and say you buy in stock, for the earmarks unfortunately. Same with NAIT Tags, the supposed "saviour of farmers" when it comes to rural crime, get cut out and replaced...

      Haha, it worked, it worked!!! She's feeling guilty, and trying to excuse the totally acceptable!!! :P Haha, they are pretty nice though aye?

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    9. hehe Bee, it's all good, you're secret's not completely out :D

      Really?? Scary!!

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    10. I know aye? It's impossible for me to even consider sleeping in past 8:30 or around there - as much as I want to, I just can't make myself do it - even if I've been up super late...

      From what we've heard, those expensive fines for 4 wheeler riding with no helmet are going to stop, I can't remember exactly how dad worded it. Something to do with worksafe being taken to court over it.
      Yep, those NAIT tags, it''s like the people who made them were living in an ideal world, they're so easy to cut out. Our calves used to catch them in fences and lose them, they're not unbreakable. Yeah ok, if it became mandatory to DNA test all of your animals, that would be all well and good. But only a small percentage do that. You kinda wonder why you bother huh? Like Hamish, who I worked with this morning said, it's hard to not be skeptical these days...

      Darn you, of course they're totally acceptable! That's the only thing about America that I like lol. Yep, they're really good :)

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    11. Oh yeah, Worksafe is going to court or worksafe is going to join WINZ, a few people are suspecting. Like at Fed Farmers meetings, Worksafe guys are showing up to try and reassure people, but they are getting a pretty hard time. No violence yet, but definitely getting abusive. I mean, I hope no one gets shot, but from attitudes I've seen, I think some farmer is just going to blow their top.

      Yeah, and talking about acceptable... How's JFJ going? 'cos you heard chocolate is healthy and helps stop heart attacks aye??? ;P

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    12. Hmm, I do feel sorry for them, cos they are just trying to do their job and do what they've been told. As per normal, it's the lower down guys who are doing the work who are getting the rap for what the big guys implement. But still.

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    13. Yeah, I agree. The guys at the bottom are the ones being hit, the guys at the top with the cushy jobs are the ones that never have to face their victims... Hence they reason they can say things like they've never heard ay complaints about it and people need to just get on and do it...

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    14. Haha Andrew I bet! Mostly I just like my crazy nocturnal life, and after everyone else is asleep is often the only time I can study in quiet and without interruptions. lol

      Lol Kayger, what are you talking about?!

      Yeah, not sure there's anyone around here with a good reason to have a gun!

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    15. Hehe, yeah, I totally agree with that... I tended to get my best study done between 8-10, but after 10 it was getting a bit late, I mean, I did have to start work at about 8 the next morning... :P

      Hehe, yeah, well, round here, EVERYONE has a gun... I don't know, people in our immediate area probably wouldn't take things into their own hands, but the ones that are already on the shady side of the law with certain *ahem* crops might be a bit different...

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    16. lol I never had a "time" for study, I still don't. Just whenever it got done, so long as it got done. But I would understand with you having all your siblings Bee :)

      Somehow I think in your area having guns would be the norm? So long as they were used for good that is - well, shooting animals when needed and such. Prowling around the streets of an Auckland suburb probably wouldn't look all that flash :P

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    17. Haha, yup, definitely the norm. Hang, they hold firearms courses at the local primary school, since that is about the only building suitable for public gatherings... :P
      But yeah, not everyone uses them safely, like *coughs*, but yeah, mostly just for hunting and homekill... We have a WW2 (Or was it WW1) .303 that we still use... :P Trying to go round Auckland with that (Even attach the bayonet, no? Except we don't actually have that any more, one of my great-uncles does I think) might not be the best idea... :P a .22 for the possums would be good, except for pretty much every one of the firearms rules... :P

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    18. 8 to 10 is chaos lol, little people seem to get super noisy and bouncy when they have to get ready for bed! :P

      Lol Kayger. Pretty sure most of the animals around here are pets! :P okay maybe a couple of hedgehogs and sparrows sometimes... :P

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  3. NO, not the peacock feathers!!! *cries*

    I miss going to Field Days. We used to leave at five, even when we lived at Tokoroa, because otherwise, you are stuck in standstill traffic just trying to reach the carpark (as has happened to us a couple times). Also, you never ever want to go on the Friday or Saturday, because all of the fashionable townies in their "high fashion gumboots" are there, screaming when an animal moves or screwing their nose up at animal waste. Don't like it? Don't come. We muddy-boot, checkered-shirt, friendly farmies are very happy to browse the streets without your interruptions, mini skirts, and leopard-print boots.

    Yeah, it's sad how that happens. It's the group mentality. Scientists say that when there are more than five people in a group, then everyone just thinks that someone else will do it, so nothing ever really gets done. I can understand your reluctance to get back into such a situation, though. I can't see how professionals can manage always having to deal with that.

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    1. Hmm, those poor feathers are in quite a state, believe you me...

      Dunno about checkered shirts but I agree, don't like it, don't come! And the friendly farmers, definitely! You know, I dunno this may sound weird haha, but when you're out and about in town and go places, hold open doors or jump out of people's way, they're generally really rude. But here, like, there's all these doors to get into the actual bathrooms inside the pavillion, and you hold doors open or people hold doors open for you. Everyone is smiling and thanking each other, not glaring at you for possibly being in their way! Farmers are definitely a friendly bunch, in their own environment, that is...

      And regarding animals....I didn't get around the entire site, I never do, but the only animals I saw were the four or so Friesians inside the robotic milking pen, a couple of sheep inside this pen to advertise portable yarding units and that's it. Usually you see quite a few beef cows just chilling out and you have a guess at their weight and such, or some goats and sheep, a few alpacas, but nope, nothing like that. Not even at our local fieldays up north. It's pretty sad really.
      Farming is generally based around animals, yet they seem non-existent and forgotten now that technology has taken over...especially at places like Fieldays

      Hmm, but the issue is nowadays that you hear so often of people running in to stop a fight, and the perpetrator pulling a knife, or the woman being attacked turns on you all of a sudden, it's not a very safe world we live in, and everyone knows it, so we all stand back until someone has the guts to do something. :(

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