Tuesday [that's original eh?]

OK here's a" must"..the latest Michael Moore movie called 'Capitalism: a love story"...
rent it today ! don't worry that he is grossly overweight ,prone to hamming it up ,may exaggerate a bit ,ignore all that ,just listen to the message and ask yourself if NZ is far behind ,remember that they, [the states] have 300million people and we have 4!!!!
Fortunately the sun shone today and the world was beautiful ,I had afternoon tea with the" Tiger on the hill" in Omakau and dinner with my neighbours ,a very social day
I took these shots of Mt St Bathans on my way home ,the light was fantastic and the mountains incredible ,I love this place .

Water ,water everywhere

Very wet in Cambrian at the moment ,2 inches in the last 48hrs ,that's a lot for us ,but at least we will go into the spring damp .Thank the lord for snowdrops they really do lift my spirits when I can't get into any other outdoor work . I finally decided that my face was just getting a bit TOO woolly,so I employed an Aussie shearer to go to work on it ,must say it does make me look a little tidier [not too much I hope]
Off to Waihi next Thursday for Mums 97th birthday ,she's going to referee a girls rugby game to celebrate !!! All the siblings will be there ,might have a party !
The snowdrops are probably at their peak now ,they look best just after the sun has gone down . Happy spring all round .......

Photos

Warm day :cold beer

Great day in Cambrian today ,got up far too early to go to Alex but that fell through ,so donned our work clothes and got into another patch of scrub ,marvellous fire .Took a break to pull a couple of old geezers out of a mud puddle ,their van that is ,not themselves ,long cup of coffee and back to the fire ,lunch outside with the paper and back to the fire .Finished the day with a lovely cold home brew and a Vietnamese dinner
Sat by the fire and read ,what more could a man want [don't answer that !!!] cheers

WWOOFing laws

There's an unwritten law that says that when WWOOFers arrive it's bound to rain ,and although we don't work in the rain [union rules] we still eat in it !!and the last couple of days have been just that ,but today the sun shone ,and it was great ,my two WWOOFers, Mariko and Tuan, and I cut traks through the broom to make spaces for ten sweet chestnut trees given to me for my birthday by Bruce-Halina-Sarah and Philip .I'll enjoy planting them especially if they grow as well as the limes that I got previously .One of the great benefits of hosting WWOOFers is all the interesting meals that you get ,I never stop anyone practising in my kitchen ,at the moment we are having one night asian, the next night kiwi,[not that we are EATING any asians or kiwis !!],it all makes life very colourfuland satisfying ..hope the sun shines tomorrow . cheers

Wet Underfoot

Hi All,
beautiful day in Cambrian today ,quite unlike Pakistan ,China ,Moscow ,Bay of plenty and probably Auckland ! but it IS wet underfoot with all the winter moisture rising .As you can see the snowdrops are presenting themselves beautifully again ,they never cease to impress me ,and each year more ,they even sat in a bath of water for part of the winter .Two new WWOOFers arrived this afternoon ,Tuan ,a Vietnamese/French
and Mariko a Japanese lass,so they should make for a fascinating week or two .Sometimes I just meet the most interesting people passing by ,this evening there was a "Wicked" rental van alongside and out came a bona fide Rastafarian , Jason ,what a cool guy ,there was even a picture of Jimmy Hendrix on the van .Interesting days ,he WAS a little nervous with the lack of people about ,as he's living in New York at the moment ,can't get much more of a contrast can you .....cheers

"The sting in the tail"

Yesterday morning I officially declared it spring,there was no frost ,by two in the afternoon it was snowing ,so much for MY weather forecasting !! But we have had a good week ,a few bonfires burnt ,a couple of school projects completed and lots of pleasant discussions .I have Ricky Toogood staying with me at the moment from Sth West Devon ,but he's been in the country so long that he may as well be a KIWI .All the ice has gone now and my three Khaki Campbell drakes have taken over the pond ,much to the anoyance of the Paradise Ducks .Lots of snowdrops are out in the woods and I've even seen a couple of grey herons fly over ,so spring MUST be quite close .
The picnic table and the fireplace are obviously in the old school ,and the red hat is self made on Rickys head . All the best to everyone .......

"world trip "

I had a great trip around Otago last w/e ,spent Friday night with the Queen of Windsor and Clarkie the Sparkie,attended Manus exhibition opening on the Sat afternoon ,dined with Cam and a thousand students in an Indian restaraunt in Dunedin ,felted for five in a wool shed in Raes junction on Sunday afternoon and had dinner in Clyde with Chris and Debbie on Monday ,finally arriving home at lunchtime on Tues .What a fabulous round trip ,my thanks to all involved ,especially Barbara at Tally-ho Wools in Raes junction ,that's a mighty fine operation going on there .
I have Ricky fron Devon here at the moment ,courtesy of Andranika,and tomorrow we are going to install an outdoor table outside the school ,much excitement ,photo tomorrow .