What can I say? I'm finished my course! Yippee, level 4 Dairy/Ag all done and dusted, finally after this year long course it's nice to see myself getting a break for the next couple months. Yep, I probably could've gotten it finished sooner, but procrastination is my best friend - or frienemy? And leads by a bad example. Anyway. It sure was nice to put the last two assignments in the post box today, yep there might be a chance they might not quite pass, they were probably the most confusing assignments I've done but if they need modifying in a couple weeks when they come back, they do. I'm not too worried.
In the meantime, this is like recess! I'm giving myself a couple months of "me" time, no study just anything. My plans? Well Bee got me this really neat CakePop maker thing for my birthday that I've seriously been meaning to try out, but just haven't had any spare time, so next week sometime that is going to be on the list of "to do's"! That and those recipe books Mum and Dad got me for Christmas, all on baking and chocolate - Mum and I need to rally together and get into some baking and try out some new recipes. Should be fun :)
Mum's recently been down to Rotorua, Dad and I did the trip down there on the 15th, basically got down there at about 9:30pm and turned around and went back home again straight away after dropping Mum at Nana's. The idea was for her to be down there for Grandad's anniversary. So she was down there a few days until Dad picked her up again on Thursday.
The trip back was, interesting. Dad was super tired but obviously I couldn't drive - after not having driven a 6 speed manual before, let alone that ute, I wasn't too keen on taking over - not that he was going to let me, or ever will! But, we got lost in Auckland! At midnight! There was a detour as they'd shut the motorway, which was all well and good. They'd put out detour signs and saying what direction you wanted to go in for north, south, or west - until the signs just, stopped. Gee, thanks guys for assuming everyone passing through will know inner city Auckland like the back of their hand. -_-. So, around we went and somehow managed to get ourselves on the southern motorway again. Simply looking at google maps wasn't helpful, so Dad called up Siri - the iPhone assistant. "Take me home, Siri!" She's figured out our address, who knows how, I'd hate to think?! :/ and can direct you when you're lost, so that's helpful. Except that she doesn't factor in roadworks or detour signs. SHE was the one who got us onto the southern motorway.
Once we got back onto the detour, dearest Siri sounded pretty sarcastic with her directions as if she thought it was a marvelous joke, the detour signs had ended probably because there was writing in certain lanes, directing you to specific motorways. What's wrong with overhead signage or something?! Anyway, it took us a good half an hour to get back onto the motorway at the right place, and we must've gotten home about 1:30, quarter to two. Thank goodness I wasn't milking the next morning....
But things have been busy, work is coming out of our eyeballs, which is good. But it is a slightly uncomfortable situation, you know, posts have a bad habit of splintering and having them go through one's eyeballs isn't pleasant...Dad has recently redone/built/upstyled one of our trailers which took a good week worth of work between him and Nick. I have to say, it looks blimmen awesome! Much more useful than the previous one and much more user friendly too. To think, that originally my parents got an Auckland trailer building crowd to build this 4.5m trailer for them - but it was basically made of nothing, I've no clue how it has hauled as much as it has over these last 8 years or so...Only problem is, the first day using the upgraded one, Dad almost broke his leg!
The sides are framed up and half the height has ply, but the top half is open - a perfect size for a leg even. He and Nick were unloading posts, while Dad stood on some strainers that were also on the trailer, something happened, Nick dropped the post, Dad tried to catch it, the strainers rolled and then suddenly his leg was hanging out the side of the trailer. Oops, ouch, couple pulled muscles but thankfully nothing broken... o.O Better not be doing that again, I think he's gonna make a few amendments...
I'm getting plenty of milkings to keep me happy, all this week coming in fact, are only once a day milkings as many farmers have gone once a day, regrettably but I don't mind not having to milk in the heat and I'm sure the cows aren't too concerned either! Although that is good in itself now that I've finished my study I'll be back into helping with fencing, tomorrow I'm battening with Dad. Yay! Hopefully I'll be able to help speed them up a bit, even slightly. We've got so much fencing work it's not funny and get more phone calls every day...I think we're booked until mid April. Fun stuff!
In other news, I've decided to join the group of Young Farmers from our region and head on down to the Grand Final Young Farmer of the Year competition. This year it'll be in Timaru about mid July for three full on days, so I'm booking five days off to allow for the traveling down. From what I've heard of Grand Final, for the spectators it's pretty cool. There's lots of additional things, not just the typical competing of the competitors, there's a few other competitions too, like a photography competition that I'm entering a few photos in, and a tug of war competition, fencing competition, claybird competition etc etc etc, even Agri Kids and Teen Ags are competing too, the best teams from each region just like the Young Farmers. There's all sorts of stuff to do, Mystery bus trips, big black tie dinners, all sorts of cool stuff that you just need to go to if you wanna be a full on Young Farmer member. That, and they're also planning some major changes, so I want to experience the original experience before missing the boat...much like the flag debate. Hmm.
Showing posts with label Bianca. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bianca. Show all posts
Thursday, 25 February 2016
Monday, 4 January 2016
Diving Head First
Into a sleep in. Yep. I got New Year's day off, and the day after. I'm talking two sleep ins, over the holidays, in summer, during a blimmen rain storm. But heck, at least I didn't have to go to work and get wet! It gave me more of a chance to get over this cold I've miraculously picked up over Christmas, it's still hanging around. Still get a squeaky voice during those odd occasions when I need to speak in public, but hey such is life, no?
Quite a bit has been happening around here, as of late. Dad has taken the Christmas/New year week or so off work to get some things done around here. The idea is that we get some things done before Nick's 21st party that we're holding here on the 16th. But, you know how it is. Everything just turns into a domino effect and yes a fair bit has been happening but it also involves a fair bit of unimportant things too, which is frustrating when you stand back and take a look.
Basically we hired a 5 tonne digger and Dad has done a lot of ground work in our new small section, cutting out a driveway and shifting dirt around etc. While at the same time we've cut off the front driveway/parking area from the lawn by digging in retaining which had a lot of added extras included as we went along - as per normal around here, someone comes up with a new bright idea about the project during the project itself.
So we've now got a retaining wall, and in front of that is a raised boxed garden that we've planted the roses in, and on the back side of the retaining on the lawn side is another, lower garden that will eventually have standard roses in when someone buys the odd one here and there for birthdays and what not, so things are progressing along nicely. It looks interesting, being there. There's always something different to look at around here - that's for sure.
Earlier on we pulled out our old boundary fence and quite literally, shifted it across the paddock to the new boundary and popped some battens on, it looks quite nice. And on Monday when Dad and Nick were playing with the big boys toys, I attacked the small section of old road fence with the ezi-pullers and a bucket, pulling off the battens and rolling up the wires so when Dad was ready he could pull the posts out. Nick and Dad thought I was sick, doing fencing of my own accord. Little do they know, I don't actually mind a small amount of destruction fencing! Little did they also know, that I was in fact sick and that night it seriously took over me!
Why am I always the first and often the only one to get sick in my family? It's super odd.
Now fast forward to New Years eve, the big rain storm was coming in so Dad, Nick and even a neighbour got on the big boys toys to shift all the dirt before everything turned to a slushy mess. Mum and I spent part of our New Years eve day together, painting windows. I really do treasure this time I can spend with Mum. Painting windows is a real pleasure that I wouldn't pass up on joining in with, any day. lol. Actually, the windows look quite good with only one new coat of paint, they need two more in later weeks, and the whole time we were doing it we joked about how we never get any "mother-daughter" time, always going our separate ways in life. haha
I spent part of my day stirring trouble with Dad. I'd been invited to a new years party by one guy I know - I never was going to go, with work and it being during the day and all that. But that didn't mean I couldn't cause trouble about it, asking Dad if he was OK with it, didn't matter anyway I was still going. This guy may be nearly 25 but age is only a number you know, etc etc etc. Mum and I were in stitches when he left the room.
Although, over the recent week with many conversations on similar topics about other people, Mum, Dad and Nick have all managed to blurt out at some stage - 5 years isn't a big age gap. And I just smile to myself, wondering when in later years I might need or want to use that to my advantage. It's quite amusing! ;)
The rain came at about 6am New Years day, over about 3 days of endless rain we managed to get 100mm and as expected, everything has turned to slush that you would somewhat expect in winter, but also not. The whole, the ground-is-too-dry-to-soak-the-water-up issue so it just-sits-on-top-and-stares-at-you problem got a little annoying. The water tank overflowed and I rebelled with the opportunity of two showers a day on my days off, simply because the water was going down the drain anyway, why not?
It hardly rained much yesterday and today we got pure sun so most things have dried out again. Dad jumped in the tractor yesterday to fill the plant boxes with a bit more dirt and dug massive tractor tyre holes all through the back lawn. SO currently, in the wake of attempting to tidy up before Nick's 21st in less than 2 weeks time when we have people here, there seems to be more mess. Things have been done, yes, but there's lots more to clean up now. Brilliant.
Otherwise our New Years "celebrations" weren't anything spectacular, not that they ever are. We actually managed to get some sleep those nights because the big music festival that is held in the next town was hushed from the wind and rain. Usually you see the strobe lights in the sky and the sound travels for miles, banging of the drums, people cheering; I think they have to shut it down at 2am? It would take a good 15 minutes to drive there, but for a crow it's just over the hill, it was pleasant not being able to hear it for a change - although I reckon I might go to it next year. Just for the excitement of it all.
On Saturday I had the pleasure of catching up with Bianca and going out to Chantelle's with her. We went to one of the local museums, had lunch, got ripped off at lunch (I'm positive I was overcharged, but you never quite know at cafe's). Had dinner at Chantelle's house afterwards and came home again. It's nice to be able to get together, and it's also good for there to be three people. I find with just two it's hard to keep a conversation going but at least with three there's always an easy topic going!!
Jackson is getting bigger and bigger, causing more and more trouble. Slowly he's getting to the stage of sleeping through the night and accepting his fate quite quickly, rather than screaming for hours and he and Pippa seem to be getting along OK - chasing each other around the house and such forth which is good. It amuses Pippa where I think that she thinks Jackson is absolutely ridiculous, while at the same time it keeps Jackson occupied, he hasn't accomplished climbing the stairs yet, other than the ones in the kitchen - thank goodness, it will be staying that way for as long as possible!
Although Pipsqueak gave me a scare yesterday when I came home to find her drooling, quite literally, everywhere. I thought she might have a tooth problem and expected a trip to the vets tomorrow morning, when they're open again. But after asking Chantelle (who's a vet nurse, convenient!) she suggested it's more likely my Mip-squiggally-squeak somehow poisoned herself, or at the very least had something stuck in her mouth. Her eyes were still bright, she was still her usual self happily eating and drinking, except that when she slept she couldn't control what stayed in her mouth and what didn't. However today, she seems fine! Thank goodness! Not even a dribble can be seen which is a relief. I'm not sure what happened and if she did eat something, what it could've been but I'm just glad she's OK...I would be gutted if it were otherwise.
Quite a bit has been happening around here, as of late. Dad has taken the Christmas/New year week or so off work to get some things done around here. The idea is that we get some things done before Nick's 21st party that we're holding here on the 16th. But, you know how it is. Everything just turns into a domino effect and yes a fair bit has been happening but it also involves a fair bit of unimportant things too, which is frustrating when you stand back and take a look.
Basically we hired a 5 tonne digger and Dad has done a lot of ground work in our new small section, cutting out a driveway and shifting dirt around etc. While at the same time we've cut off the front driveway/parking area from the lawn by digging in retaining which had a lot of added extras included as we went along - as per normal around here, someone comes up with a new bright idea about the project during the project itself.
So we've now got a retaining wall, and in front of that is a raised boxed garden that we've planted the roses in, and on the back side of the retaining on the lawn side is another, lower garden that will eventually have standard roses in when someone buys the odd one here and there for birthdays and what not, so things are progressing along nicely. It looks interesting, being there. There's always something different to look at around here - that's for sure.
Earlier on we pulled out our old boundary fence and quite literally, shifted it across the paddock to the new boundary and popped some battens on, it looks quite nice. And on Monday when Dad and Nick were playing with the big boys toys, I attacked the small section of old road fence with the ezi-pullers and a bucket, pulling off the battens and rolling up the wires so when Dad was ready he could pull the posts out. Nick and Dad thought I was sick, doing fencing of my own accord. Little do they know, I don't actually mind a small amount of destruction fencing! Little did they also know, that I was in fact sick and that night it seriously took over me!
Why am I always the first and often the only one to get sick in my family? It's super odd.
Now fast forward to New Years eve, the big rain storm was coming in so Dad, Nick and even a neighbour got on the big boys toys to shift all the dirt before everything turned to a slushy mess. Mum and I spent part of our New Years eve day together, painting windows. I really do treasure this time I can spend with Mum. Painting windows is a real pleasure that I wouldn't pass up on joining in with, any day. lol. Actually, the windows look quite good with only one new coat of paint, they need two more in later weeks, and the whole time we were doing it we joked about how we never get any "mother-daughter" time, always going our separate ways in life. haha
I spent part of my day stirring trouble with Dad. I'd been invited to a new years party by one guy I know - I never was going to go, with work and it being during the day and all that. But that didn't mean I couldn't cause trouble about it, asking Dad if he was OK with it, didn't matter anyway I was still going. This guy may be nearly 25 but age is only a number you know, etc etc etc. Mum and I were in stitches when he left the room.
Although, over the recent week with many conversations on similar topics about other people, Mum, Dad and Nick have all managed to blurt out at some stage - 5 years isn't a big age gap. And I just smile to myself, wondering when in later years I might need or want to use that to my advantage. It's quite amusing! ;)
The rain came at about 6am New Years day, over about 3 days of endless rain we managed to get 100mm and as expected, everything has turned to slush that you would somewhat expect in winter, but also not. The whole, the ground-is-too-dry-to-soak-the-water-up issue so it just-sits-on-top-and-stares-at-you problem got a little annoying. The water tank overflowed and I rebelled with the opportunity of two showers a day on my days off, simply because the water was going down the drain anyway, why not?
It hardly rained much yesterday and today we got pure sun so most things have dried out again. Dad jumped in the tractor yesterday to fill the plant boxes with a bit more dirt and dug massive tractor tyre holes all through the back lawn. SO currently, in the wake of attempting to tidy up before Nick's 21st in less than 2 weeks time when we have people here, there seems to be more mess. Things have been done, yes, but there's lots more to clean up now. Brilliant.
Otherwise our New Years "celebrations" weren't anything spectacular, not that they ever are. We actually managed to get some sleep those nights because the big music festival that is held in the next town was hushed from the wind and rain. Usually you see the strobe lights in the sky and the sound travels for miles, banging of the drums, people cheering; I think they have to shut it down at 2am? It would take a good 15 minutes to drive there, but for a crow it's just over the hill, it was pleasant not being able to hear it for a change - although I reckon I might go to it next year. Just for the excitement of it all.
On Saturday I had the pleasure of catching up with Bianca and going out to Chantelle's with her. We went to one of the local museums, had lunch, got ripped off at lunch (I'm positive I was overcharged, but you never quite know at cafe's). Had dinner at Chantelle's house afterwards and came home again. It's nice to be able to get together, and it's also good for there to be three people. I find with just two it's hard to keep a conversation going but at least with three there's always an easy topic going!!
Jackson is getting bigger and bigger, causing more and more trouble. Slowly he's getting to the stage of sleeping through the night and accepting his fate quite quickly, rather than screaming for hours and he and Pippa seem to be getting along OK - chasing each other around the house and such forth which is good. It amuses Pippa where I think that she thinks Jackson is absolutely ridiculous, while at the same time it keeps Jackson occupied, he hasn't accomplished climbing the stairs yet, other than the ones in the kitchen - thank goodness, it will be staying that way for as long as possible!
Although Pipsqueak gave me a scare yesterday when I came home to find her drooling, quite literally, everywhere. I thought she might have a tooth problem and expected a trip to the vets tomorrow morning, when they're open again. But after asking Chantelle (who's a vet nurse, convenient!) she suggested it's more likely my Mip-squiggally-squeak somehow poisoned herself, or at the very least had something stuck in her mouth. Her eyes were still bright, she was still her usual self happily eating and drinking, except that when she slept she couldn't control what stayed in her mouth and what didn't. However today, she seems fine! Thank goodness! Not even a dribble can be seen which is a relief. I'm not sure what happened and if she did eat something, what it could've been but I'm just glad she's OK...I would be gutted if it were otherwise.
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