Categories: From the Farm This Week
      Date: Jun 14, 2012
     Title: 14 June 2012
Well its morning and cold, very cold, white outside. Ruth has fed the chickens and Beate the pigs. But nothing has had water as all the pipes are frozen. I have had to put the Gipsy on charge as it won't start so i can't feed out to the sheep, donkeys and cattle, etc. Apart from freezing in the office its good really, as wherever you drive on the frost the grass dies.
For the same reason Beate holds the pigs in the shed and gives them a run later in the day. This is becoming a bigger and bigger job as now not only Bella with the Iron age litter is let out with her piglets to graze and forage for feijoas but Greta the Canterbury blue sow has a litter of 7 and both of them go everywhere. Anyone else would be totally frustrated but Beate loves it.

I spent a day doing GST - only 6 weeks late and got a fine so i will be doing it again in a week or so. Blooming heck it would help if they sent me the form. The whole thing is a total waste of time, one two months I pay them, the following two months they pay it back. If you want to see me grumpy call on GST day. I spend half my time in the office.

Went into the garage to get the window in the ute fixed as i had i propped it up with a bit of timber. Got a warrant at the same time as all the numbers for reg and warrant were wrong and i had to go up North.  So a good road trip. Rudi, a good customer at the market, sent me an e mail - Trade Me Display Freezer Wow just what we need $350 buy now beats $800 for the part to fix the other one. So since we had some Dorset Horn ewes to cart up to the King Country we had leased for milking I pushed Buy Now ..Next day loaded the ewes and Beate and i set off at 6am. Dropped the sheep off on the way up, picked Robin up at Pio Pio, off to Te Kuiti to drop Beate off to meet Barbs (lucky undy lady -- have you ordered-- )
and Robin and i set off to pick up the freezer and call in to the outfit that took the sheep milk for cheese. Wow we were blown away, i have known these people for a while and thought they only did sheep cheese BUT they do everything and top of the line as well. So we will add them to our buying group list. Picked up the freezer, a bright yellow you will see it at the market. Picked up Beate and home by 7 for tea.

Ila found a half bucket of horse mushrooms while out on her pony Tim checking the sheep. Some 8 inches round and we have had a meal or two. Great as there has been none of the normal ones this year.

Saturday we had Dee's organic course visit for a walk and talk, managed to cram 6 workshops into one. Weather was good and so were the people.

Have been ringing pigs as lots have lost their rings and we can't afford them ripping up the grass this time of year.

So thats the week, I'm off to try the Gipsy see if she will go as i reckon the livestock will be thinking i run off.