Categories: From the Farm This Week
      Date: Mar 28, 2013
     Title: 28 March 2013

Another busy week, lots of family things. My sister was down from up north and stayed at my mothers. It was Ben's birthday party it was a great get together. For me the highlight was the cake Neha had sorted. It had a photo in icing of myself and Ben when he was 3 or 4 with the first fishing rod I gave him. It was just like any photo. The following night we had Sam's house warming, I think everyone was impressed with his buy and it was a good turn out. He is already planning a new fence with next door and getting the sleepout completed.

We have had a visitor on the Farm - Andrea a German friend of Beate. She really loves the farm, the food, the view, the animals, the whole bit. Yesterday Beate and her drove off to Rotorua and intend to travel for 3 or 4 days.

Ruth has done most of the hemp single-handed. Greg and a mate came out and a few others helped. Myself and Beate cut a bit but mostly Ruth kept at it. Twice daily she is turning it and collecting the dry seed.

Ila has had her braces completely removed this week. What a fantastic job Betty has done. In her spare time Ila has cleaned out and sorted her fish breeding ponds and working on the 3 unbroken ponies. They are going well, two now can be haltered and tied up and she can sit on one. The youngest is a colt and has that male teenager attitude. She is winning but he will take more time.

In the meantime Ila and I have been shifting stock around, pulling young manuka, fixing broken rails and the like.

I have been doing long hours, up to 16 hours a day sorting the buyers group and catching chooks for the abbatoir on top of my usual work. I was very pleased when Ruth and Beate offered to do the drive down the line so I got up at 3am got them packed and got a bit of sleep until Jess's alarm went off at 4am and a bit later well a hour later ...HIT ... I've slept in. And more than an hour late for work he drove off waking all the dogs and me. Got my head down for 10 more minutes and the phone rang. Beate here can you ring down the line we are in fog and we will be very late. ARRRRR.

Its been a pig sorting week. Ruth and Beate spent most of one day catching and sorting the Canterbury blue only to find as fast as they were locking them up they would jump out of the high pens we call the dungeon as nothing can get out of them. They were both very hot, red and flustered coming to see me. John WE NEED MORE PIG HOUSES and high ones. Right I will put it on the list.