Category: New Zealand

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The new normal…

We would like to think the world will go back to ‘normal’ once the virus is eliminated (or contained) but I think we need to be prepared to accept that things will not go back to the way they were. New Zealand has taken a cautious step out of level 3 to level 2; that means we can visit family and friends and perhaps do some of the things that we use to do. For us things will be the same; we socialise with friends and family and have small gatherings in our homes and clubs.

We hear now that in the last week of June we will probably go to level 1. I will look forward to seeing my friends at the Spinning and Weaving club and seeing more of my family in the weeks to come.

The isolation period – March 26 till now (26 May) has been been an interesting time on the farm. The first week we had problems with the septic tank, the second week issues with the electricity, then in the ensuing weeks, the tank had issues again, the oven decided to breakdown – we have had more problems during this time than at any other time.

June and winter…

With the colder weather coming we are gearing up for lambing in the coldest winter month – August. I will pack a birthing kit with the necessary equipment in case we have trouble with any of the mums or lambs; unlike the last lambing season (2018) when I did not have anything and luckily we did not have any particular trouble. I have grown in confidence around the sheep and they accept me in ‘most situations’ but of course birthing brings its own challenges. I intend to create a ‘birthing-holding’ area inside the sheep barn so that the mothers can come and go, and I can contain a mother with their lambs if I need to. Luckily Gotland Pelt sheep are very good at birthing on their own and raising their lambs, but I need to be ready in case things go bad.

I am hoping that we will have a quiet winter period with time to clean up from autumn and prepare for the colder winter months.

I hope you all continue to be safe and well…

The next time we chat it will be winter and all the glory that the season brings…… maybe snow…… definitely frosts……new ideas for spinning…..new plans for the farm…..news on what Nico the ‘shepherd’s cat’ has been doing…

Take care ….

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My last project in level 3 is finished, what will I do now …

The projects I started during the lock-down have been many and varied; the finger-less gloves, the jersey, and the grey cushion for the house.

I have now completed a dark grey cushion cover in a basket weave. This fleece is from one of the foundation ewes, Chocolate. She was the only dark grey sheep at the time and I liked the soft fleece, so had it spun up commercially back in 2018 and recently decided to knit it up into another cushion cover because of its colour and texture. I am very pleased with the results; it compliments the house very well.

My projects continue to grow – no pun intended – as I have many more 2019 fleece to either sell or knit up into items. Soon it will be time (July 2020) to shear the flock again, pre-lambing, so I need to keep going with the fleece I have in storage.

I intend to try my hand at felting and also dyeing soon, but that will have to wait until I can return to the Spinning and Weaving club in Christchurch.

The other fleece I have started to spin is Bob #3, he has the lightest coloured fleece of all the flock, he is also the largest of the sheep, but a real sweetheart to be around.

As the spinning gets underway I will post a photo of the wool, and the results of the knitting project (as yet not sure what I will do with this wool).

Cheers for now and look forward to chatting with you all again soon….

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Monday 11 May… a light is on and someone is home

We had some good news today….. New Zealand is going to our level 2 at the end of this week. For us, this will not mean a great change in our life, as we are isolated by the fact that we live in a remote area away from the city. It takes us 45 minutes to drive into the city of Christchurch, 45 minutes to our local supermarket and 30 minutes to buy our milk from the farmer. We have approximately 300 people living in the settlement of Springfield, Canterbury, and although we have neighbours around us, we do not see them on a daily basis; but they are there if we need them.

Level 2 for most of New Zealand though, means that they will be able to go to the malls, church, shops, movies and cafes etc. For me, I will enjoy getting a hair cut and maybe a coffee or takeaways, other than that nothing much will change for us, as we do the farm stuff anyway on a regular basis and only go out occasionally. I will though, look forward to seeing family and friends again.

This has been an interesting time, and I know a lot of you will have experienced similar things. Last weekend, with the lifting of some restrictions, we went for a drive to the beach (still 45 minutes for us) and took a picnic coffee with us. The people out walking passed by and we talked about the beautiful day, the weather, or other mundane topics, but we all felt a kinship with our common issue. I hope that in the days to come we do not lose that sense of camaraderie. It would be nice to think that we had more sense of community than perhaps we did before.

Of course farm work continues….. the ram, Tuppence, went back to the owners as he (hopefully) has done a good job and we will have lambs in the spring. The flock are settling down again after his stay. It is good to be able to hand feed them all again without worrying about him being the aggressive little ‘boy’ that he had become.

Nico continues to help with the farm, keeping an eye on the sheep and lazing in his bed afterwards as he’s ‘tired’ from all the farm work he has to do, (well checking out the stockyards to make sure there are no mice is hard work, talking to all the sheep to make sure there are none missing is tiring…. no wonder he wants a nap, all that counting makes me tired too).

Take care everyone, and in the days to come, I will show you what else I have been doing on the farm.

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The shepherd’s cat -Nico out on the farm

It’s been a while since I’ve talked about Nico, our Manx kitten, so I thought I’d give you an update on what he’s been doing lately. Nico is now six months old and has adapted well to farm life. He loves to visit the flock every morning – or night – depending on who is feeding them any particular day (I feed them in the morning and Leigh feeds them late afternoon) and since there is plenty of nice grass at present we have gone to feeding them once a day.

So Nico will follow us out to the workshed to help us get the bucket and the nuts; he has to check out the workshed as well, to make sure no mice have appeared since he was last in there. The routine is then go out to the main gate and open it, call the flock by rattling the bucket (which they know is ‘nut time’) and they all come running over to the ‘breakfast bar’ (a piece of grass cut so that the nuts don’t get lost in the long grass).

Nico, as a good shepherd’s cat, either climbs on the fence or squeezes under the fence into the paddock to ‘visit’ with the sheep too. He will go right up to them and hunker down while they have a look at him and sniff him. He is very brave, as they are sooooooo big, but they are also gentle and just nose him.

He loves to walk around the paddock as I check the water troughs, fences, pick up any rubbish blown in from the main road, and generally look at the sheep and give them a scratch and talk with them. This is the time when I look at how the flock are moving, see if any of them are limping, got sores or anything; this has been a routine now for 2 years and it means I can keep on top of any unusual health issues (hopefully) before it gets too bad.

Anyway back to Nico, sometimes he will stay in the paddock for an hour or so, looking for the mice in the long grass (he caught 3 the other day) and then will come back and look for me in the garden or house.

Nico has also ventured out at night……… As a worried parent, I was not happy about this but as a cat, he thought it was his right to go out exploring, so now we let him stay out for a while after dinner. He usually comes inside about an hour after dark and then we shut the cat door for the night. He can’t get out until I get up in the morning and open the flap. I know I am a little paranoid, but we lost Pippin in the night because he crossed over the main road and got hit by a fast car/truck.

Well that’s the adventures of Nico for today………….. come back and visit soon, and I will have more stories to tell…………………………

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Project # 3…. well actually not sure what number this is

I was having ‘withdrawal’ symptoms with not having anything to knit since I completed Leigh’s jersey and did a quick pair of fingerless gloves, so, as you do, I jumped onto the internet to see what else I could knit that would be a challenge.

Challenge accepted…. I decided to give this cushion cover a go. I don’t take credit for the idea, this came from Pininterest, but I liked the pattern and so thought I’d try making it myself but without any instructions it was going to be ‘hit and miss’ as to whether it would turn out the same.

On looking at the picture I though that the ribbing started off the sequence, but after knitting it up I have realised that for me the rib could be done last as the edge is very neat and looks like a cast off knit-wise stitch.

Anyway although my finished effort is not quite as big as this one, (wool quantity was an issue) I am happy enough that I will try the pattern again, with more wool this time.

The other issue was that the wool was meant to be triple knit but I only had double knit so I knitted two strands together; next time I would ply both strands before I knitted the item. See how the cable stitches are not close together, I think that the needle size for the wool was wrong.

Bye for now, and any comments on how I could improve this knitted cushion would be welcome.

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… why we decided to live in Canterbury and buy a lifestyle block

Continuing on from our time on the coast, https://thebirchesspringfield.com/2020/04/07/who-we-are-who-am-i/

Our discussion turned to ‘What do we want to do for the rest of our lives?’ I decided that I needed a new direction now that full-time employment was no longer necessary and Leigh was happy to go along with my plan to raise sheep, and especially the Gotland Pelt breed.

It took us all year (2017) to find the block we wanted; it had to have good pasture (as the Gotties need free-draining ground), good structure for the farm (high fences for sheep that are escape artists), a good size house that was nicely appointed and well maintained,(Leigh wanted a house, I wanted a farm) and not too far from Christchurch, where extended family live.

Of course there was the discussion ‘why are we buying a farm to retire to instead of buying a nice house in the suburbs’ but as we both grew up on farms, had enjoyed our west coast farming time with the two sheep and because I was interested in learning some new skills (wool spinning, dyeing and crafting) we decided that we were NOT to old to start a new venture.

When we have the opportunity to stop and admire the view from the window, we realise that we made a good decision to move here. I find quiet pleasure in walking around the farm to see the little changes we have made since we shifted here. It might be a new planting structure in the garden, or it might be visiting the sheep on a cold fresh frosty morning to give them some nuts from our hands, whatever it is, I am thankful that we took the risk.

Thank you for reading. I look forward to talking with you again soon.

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Who we are ….. who am I?

When I first started this blog the aim was to tell you all a little about our journey through living on a lifestyle block. That aim hasn’t changed, in that I wanted to tell people about our life, our farm, the flock of Gotland Pelt sheep and why we decided to buy a farm in our retirement. What I now realise is that the ‘journey’ to this particular lifestyle started a long time ago and so I thought I’d share my story. “Why?” you ask, well because I want to promote New Zealand and its story and as I am an avid photographer thought you might like to see some of the wonderful scenery we have here (since we can’t visit new places at the moment).

The beginning of the lifestyle farm idea started with Leigh and I renting a property on the West Coast of New Zealand, when I was working for the West Coast District Health Board.

The place we rented was called ‘Moonlight’ (isn’t that a cool name), which had a house and some land and because I have been interested in raising sheep for their wool a friend gave me a couple of orphan lambs who needed a home.

This started a serious discussion into what we wanted to do when we retired, and when we could afford to buy a house of our own.

We stayed in Moonlight for only a year unfortunately and when we shifted we had to find a place that would let us have the two sheep, Mintie and Rosie (Suffolk sheep). We had bottle fed the sheep and continued to feed them with sheep nuts, hence they were very friendly.

Our move to Runanga was a good move but still in a rented house and land. That stay lasted for about a year, then we decided to move back to the Canterbury region. We had to leave the sheep with the property as we were going to move back to the city for a while. Luckily the person owning the house and land was happy to include our two sheep into their flock, so Mintie and Rosie had a new life with a big flock.

One year later and we had the means to look for our own property in Canterbury and because I wanted to purchase the Gotland Pelt sheep it was necessary to find somewhere suitable for the requirements of the breed.

We found West Coast Road after about four months of looking at more than a dozen properties. So that is the beginning of the story with the lifestyle block.

Next time I will tell you about New Zealand and why we decided to live in Canterbury on our retirement lifestyle block…….

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First week of New Zealand isolation.

Well the week has gone ok, and we are getting use to staying home. Much of what we do is the same whether we are in isolation or just getting on with our normal daily routine except we can’t pop out for a coffee at our favourite shop.

Nico has been house-bound for a couple of days because he is a ‘woosey cat’ when it comes to rain (I don’t know why because he is fascinated by water from the taps or any water in the basins). Well anyway I thought I’d make him some toys to play with and to entertain him. Here is Nico at play.

Our first venture to the grocery shop yesterday meant that we had to be inventive with our shopping; 1 person 1 trolley so we split the list into two and did the shopping as individuals. Leigh is good at the stocking of the pantry shelves, so he did that and I got the vegetables and the meat plus good things to eat oh and I found some ping pong balls for Nico to play with.

We had to space ourselves out prior to entering the shop and so when we got there the line was quite long. So our shopping which usually takes 3/4 hour took us half hour to get to the front of the line and then another hour to do get the goods, pay for them and put them in the car. We shopped for two weeks so we wont have to do that again for a while. People were very polite, we chatted with the people in the line but everyone was ‘subdued’ and a little worried; but I have to say the shop assistants were great, no fuss and they were polite and well organised.

We can do this; world!!!! We will come out of this again.

The sun is shining today and that always makes me feel better. Take care all; 

Na prosécheis
Cuídate
berech' sebya
se cuida
Prenditi cura di te

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Day 5 – New Zealand’s in ‘stay at home’ mode

Good morning, my friends. So far this first week of isolation we have had a good start and to celebrate a good week I made a yummy breakfast yesterday morning.

Day one – the septic tank decided to make a very foul (not fowl) smell around the garden and so thinking of the health issue, I called our friendly ‘drainage/septic tank’ person to come and check it for us. All good he says, (thank goodness) we just aren’t filling it fast enough,”it’ll settle down soon” he says.

Day two – had to go down to the local dairy (not the shop but the farm that sells us our raw milk from the cows) as we had run out of milk and it’s something that I need as I am intolerant to the normal milk. That was a weird drive, not many cars – counted about 10 in 30 minutes travel – and they were all work cars, i.e. farmers, tradies; and the streets were empty except when we got to Oxford (where the milk farm is situated) and the local grocery shop was ‘full’.

Day three – four was quietly staying home and getting on with projects like gardening, feeding sheep and of course, playing with the kitten, Nico.

Take care all. Back soon.

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March – autumn is here – 3rd March

Welcome to my website -
Bienvenue sur mon site web
Bienvenida a mi sitio web
Kalós írthate stin istoselída mou
Dobro pozhalovat' na moy sayt
Willkommen auf meiner Website

I am very pleased to be able to welcome visitors to my website. I have been talking about our lifestyle block for nearly 2 years now and I am always amazed at the folk who ‘call in’ to see what we are doing. Thank you all.

March 20, 2020

We are all facing some unpleasant situations with this world-wide virus and my thoughts go out to all who are reading my blog and I hope you and your family are safe.

As far as I can, I am being positive in my approach to a change in lifestyle. I still have sheep to look after, the garden to tend and I am trying to grow fruit and vegetables but this is an ongoing issue as I really don’t know what grows well here yet.

The sheep are doing well, and have a new ‘friend’ in with them – Tuppence is living up to his name and getting on with the job of ‘befriending’ the girls. Hopefully we will have some lambs in the spring.

Nico, our young Manx kitten has now been with us for a month so he’s five months old now and adjusting to our life as well as us adjusting to him.

He continues to learn more about his surroundings and loves to visit the sheep in the morning. He has a bit of a habit of climbing up the trellis and onto the roof of the house when he’s excited and then of course he can’t get down, so we have to climb up the ladder and get him down. And what’s with the toys, who’s gona pick up all the toys when you’ve finished playing? “I’m hiding, not me!”

You may not know the story in New Zealand but a lot of people have been panic buying things like toilet rolls, hand sanitiser and now plants, potting mix and seeds. To lighten the mood a little, my husband decided that we need something other than those items so he went out and bought a new car; a Mercedes Benz, 1999 hardtop convertible (I’ve always secretly wanted one).

Today we decided to take a small road trip to the Bealey, in the middle of the Southern Alps, Canterbury, between the east coast and the west coast. We were away from people, had a picnic by ourselves and enjoyed the great outdoors.

Be safe, be happy and I will write again soon.