The importance of living the life you love.

There is so much to be thankful in this life for: there are good friends, who, even if you only see them every few months, the conversation and fun times are always guaranteed.

We had our annual Mid Winter party at the Zoo on Friday and that is exactly what happened. Familiar faces, fun times, Mickey taking and most of all, just feeling really relaxed and happy in each others company...

Back to the Motherland:

We are both getting quite excited as next Monday we head off to visit family and friends overseas.

We are off to Hong Kong first to see Miss Ivy Knight and her Mum and Dad. We have never been to Hong Kong and what a start to our overseas trip...little Miss is now 2 years old and looking wonderful.

After Hong Kong it's London for 2 days to visit my nephew Christopher and his wife Gemma. They were here in glorious February for the fab honeymoon. They are being our tour guide for a couple of days then we all hop on the train up to Glasgow to see the rest of the family. They all stay about 5 mins from each other which makes seeing everyone so much easier. Can't wait to see Mum, Dad and Sisters...it's been a long 7 years since we were home.. I will keep my blog going over there.

Back to the Farm for updates:

Our friends Justine and Mark in Christchurch posted a photo of their early spring lambs, I just had to share what may just be the cutest lamb I have ever seen. he name is Panda lamb. How cute.

                                            

Dr Karyn and how to reset broken lamb leg:

Our friend Karyn called in to ask us if we could help her put a new plaster cast on a baby lambs broken leg. Sure we said and off she went to pick up the baby. Back she came 20 minutes later with this wee cute thing. 

          First she had to remove the original cast as the lamb had grown out of it.

                                          

Dr Karyn very carefully snipping away the old cast

20 minutes later and star is born!

Who would even know this wee thing had a broken leg? Finn was fascinated with it and duly followed her everywhere, she was very motherly to her...

And that was it really....it all went smoothly and little "fracture" (that's her new name) all fixed up for another few weeks until she outgrows this cast.

        

                                        Some of my fab pics to share with you

                                         Double Rainbow over the gardens...

                                          

        

        

Well me friends, next time we catch up we will be in another country, how exciting....

Thanks to our amazing house sitter Lou, you're a star...

The importance of appreciation

 

Isn't it heartwarming when you are in that wonderful place called appreciation of the here and now?

It's also far too easy and often too convenient to leave the moment you are in and drift back to the past where experiences have been had, some will have been fantastic and some that, if you think about them too long, you recreate the pain or negative feelings you had. 

It's also so easy to leave the moment and take your mind to 'what's next'. Why is that? Why do we spend so little time just savoring the moment. I remember watching a programme  and a Monk was being interviewed, she said something that's really stuck with me.

" No one just has a cup of tea anymore". I was thinking, I just had one and I had one yesterday. I didn't get it, because I was too busy trying to get it! 

She was simply saying, no one is just having a cup of tea, they are either talking, reading, thinking, doing something else along with it. That's so true, and now I do get it. It's about taking time to be in the moment and shutting out everything else.... Being mindful is the term.   Try it, try doing something and only that, if you catch yourself drifting, come back......it feels pretty sweet.

So this job of mine: It is pretty special, there are plenty of those magic moments when your whole being is right in the now. I got the pleasure of being part of the test team, who are going in to meet our Red Pandas who are being conditioned to accept visitors. Our customers can pay for a behind the scenes experience where they get up close to our majestic animals. It's the perfect opportunity for Zoo staff to share their knowledge and passion for our animals, it's also an ideal time to connect visitors with our vision and mission...oh and it's an amazing experience for everyone who attends.  

                                                        Meeting little Bo.

Appreciation for our beautiful Chickens is highlighted every day when we head out to their house and they have left us a whole bunch of gifts. We are receiving about 5 or 6 eggs a day at the moments and they are pure gold. My work mates are loving them, and we are in heaven with their amazing look and flavour. Pure fresh and pure-organic. 

The North Garden is about to begin:

We are now seriously planning the North Garden, to date, we have talked about it, bought some trees and plants and drawn some basic plans. We now know what the outer shape will look like, we also know what we want it to deliver. I think it's important to have the idea or outcome in mind as you seriously look at a project. Otherwise how will you know if you have achieved your dream.

I give you the Pure Blank Canvas and invite any suggestions or do's and don'ts.

We will be putting a large deck on side of the house and it will have steps down into the garden,, we will have a Pergola at centre back where friends can gather to eat and relax and vines will take over it as the years go by....

This image looks back up to the house. Imagine the deck up there and a lawn full of lush plants and trees....

This image looks from that centre window down the garden....dead centre, to the left of tree is where the pergola will sit...

Can't forget to keep access clear for septic tank cleaning...

Appreciation....epitomized.

And finally, I found this image in one of our storage boxes, it's all 4 of our babies paw prints...

I really do invite ideas and suggestions for the New Garden..if you've been there, done that,we would love to hear from you...

Stay well friends..and remember the saying

Yesterday's history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift...the present is where it's at folks...

What happened to Winter? Welcome in Spring time.....

Kia Ora friends,

Well it's been a wee while since we got together. I do hope you are all loving this amazing weather, hasn't it been kind to us?

We have been busy setting up our wee piece of paradise for the spring season. Brooke has been laying her magic compost onto her veggie gardens and bedding in her beautiful summer veggies.

I've been building our sheep holding pens and raceway, I even managed to build the gates.

We have been practising bringing in the sheep and getting them familiar with the set up. Last weekend we managed to get them in and drench them. We even managed to trim Miss Marmajuke's hoofs. We saw her limping and realised she needed a trim. She actually remained really calm throughout the whole process which may have been that she was thankful, who knows.

Chicken update: We have some new girls... we purchased them locally and they are shaver crosses. They are laying already and Harry has already welcomed them into his brood. It's just magic watching them all free ranging around the place. We are getting between 5 and 6 eggs a day. We have standing orders at work for these golden beauties which really helps with buying feed.

Back to Bonnie Scotland: In a few short weeks we head off overseas to visit family. First stop is Hong Kong for 3 days to catch up with Brooks sister, her hubby and our wee niece Miss Ivy Knight. Can't wait to see them and the mighty Hong Kong. Next we head to London for a few days to catch up with my nephew and his wife (they were here recently on their honeymoon), then it's a train ride to Glasgow toon for us all. Family time for a few days then heading to Rome for a weekend and back to hang out with family for the rest of our trip...It's been 7 years since our last trip home...I'm excited and nervous about seeing my family again. May even shed a wee tear or two. I'll keep you posted on our journey.

Some photos of progress, but as usual you gotta go through the woolly gate first..

                                  Preparing the garden for spring time.

                     Harry and his 13 girls having a wander through their garden.

       Brooke  loading the 'secret weapon' to successful veggies... The magic compost.

     Kale, Kale oh wonderful Kale..juice it, steam it..whatever you do, just eat it!

      Broad beans taking off, ready in September...yum yum ...