Mustering Cats.

Hello Blog Chics.

We've been busy round here with a lot of small people and some large people.

The large people have come very intermittently to build the shed.

Intermittently because the weather has been so bad.

Spring has really been wet, wet, wet, and very windy so far.

But that is far from unexpected, and thoroughly unremarkable, unless you are trying to build something with scaffolding!

The small people have been and gone now.

We had one sunny afternoon the whole two weeks they have been here.

The youngest two did manage to spend a lot of time doing outside things though.

All the games involve cattle, stock whips, yards, gates and fences.

Mustering cats on tricycles is a new string to their bows.

The shed provided quite a lot of entertainment as well.
Especially the machinery involved.




We did the customary trip up Mt Taranaki and the walk to Dawson Falls.
It wasn't actually raining, but it was very muddy on the track,
so a thoroughly good time was ha by all the small people in gumboots.






I showed off my photos of mountain fauna and boys climbing the bushline track to the Wozzle.
He said he would like to have the ones of the shed under construction please!!!!
Should have known!
His little brother interpreted one of the Woozles's drawings for me.
It went something like this...
"these are the cattle yards and these spots are the cattle waiting to be mustered into the yards."
And here was me thinking it was a butterfly!!

Life's a Box of Chocolates.

... "You never know what you're gonna get" - Forrest Gump.

This post is especially for my Auntie Doreen,

who has been waiting to see what pops up in my garden this spring.

These gorgeous blue irises are my favourite so far.

They are just the most amazing shade of purpley blue.

This week my nephews are visiting from Queensland.

We've had all the bikes and skateboards out,

lots of rugby tackles and chasey on the lawn, and making scones with Granny.

The cats have been conspicuous by their absence during the day.

Everything is coming into leaf and bloom.

Rainy Day Truce.

Sunday spent by the fire while it rains outside.

I'm stitching in the ditch in red embroidery cotton on this cot quilt.

I want it to look vintage and handmade, and cuddly, which is why I'm hand quilting it.

The Tail Cat and Marigold have called a truce for the day because they both felt inclined just to sit by the fire.

So if you pretend the other one isn't there it all works perfectly!

And when you nick off out to the kitchen to see what's available, someone else gets your posie!

Two in a basket is even cosier.

Graham's idea of phone a friend perhaps?

Oh Marigold you have such a dirty face! I am affronted!

I found some Brambly Hedge china on Trade Me, which was very exciting, because I've always wanted some.
This one is "Winter."

And this one is "The Meeting."

Spent the evening climbing over engines, ladders and various gear box parts with Hubby measuring up the Granny HQ kitchen.

Brain storming solutions for hiding the electric fence controls, and the water filtering system,

while still keeping enough bench space and keeping the look that we want.

We have come up with a cunning plan, which I won't bore you with, but I think it will work very well.

Watch this space.

Yes it is finally spring!

And hasn't it been a long time coming!

The winter seems to have gone on and on here, but at last things are starting to bud and flower and pop up!

This popped up like a mushroom in the paddock last week.

I've been very busy supervising and worrying about where the septic tank breather was going to end up and weather the cows would get in while the fence was down.

I've also had very minimal internet access (probably due to weather) so no blogging from me.

The Granny has been very busy making scones for the builders so that they will do an excellent job on the Granny Headquarters in a few months.

But first we must get the big shed built in the paddock so we can move all the racing car stuff down there, freeing up the garage to become Granny Annexe.

So here are the darling buds of September at the Magpie House.(No, not these blokes in high vis gear and boots - the green stuff!)

The Granny is overhauling the pottager and has made good use of the cow poos available.

The other projects going on around here are all baby related, as we prepare for a new nephew in Australia.

Cot quilt by me (vintage, just squares and stitch in the ditch),

Teddy and crochet edged bib by the Granny.

With assistance from the Tail Cat!

A Bit About Cats.

This week it was time to say goodbye to an old friend.

It became time to call the vet out for my old ginger marmalade cat.

The Magpie Cat went peacefully to heaven on the nice vet's knee, cuddled up in her blankey.

I didn't want to put any pictures of her here, but I did have these lovely ones of the Tail Cat helping me trim the lavender hedge a few days ago.




I had to choose a day when I was at work to have the vet come out.
The Granny was good enough to supervise it all and to tell me all the details later,
because of course, I wanted to know, even though I didn't want to be there.





All I could think of that afternoon was that she wouldn't be there on her spot on the couch , asleep in her blankey when I got home.
And I felt wretched.

But the vet said it was well time.

Her kidneys had failed and her blood pressure had gone up so much that her retinas had detatched and she was completely blind.

She would have just wandered off into the paddock and died if we hadn't watched her so carefully.

As it was she had a lovely life, and a comfortable and stress free old age, and there isn't a lot more you'd wish for them.

But I still find myself rationalising it here because I wish it wasn't so.

R.I.P the Magpie Cat.