Supper time!

It's been a stressful week: worrying about the people of Christchurch, my brother-in-law and his family and very good friends in particular and waiting to be able to talk to them.
Having the kids at home with colds, coming down with one myself and trying to maintain a sense of calm and control despite wanting to break down in tears any second of the day.
OH ("other half") getting ready for the start of the uni year AND his product launch! AND his birthday!

So, today, after a quiet and fruitful day the family is having a round of herbal teas: Peppermint for the boys and Chamomile variations for the girls! For some inexplicable reason I find that totally cute and worth treasuring.

And here's the cake, my version of Black Forest Gateau:

Mixed Feelings

In the last 12 hours I received three phone calls from my family checking we're alright after the earthquake.
My family operates on the principal that if we don't hear anything from you we assume you're doing fine! It's taken a major natural disaster for them to pick up the phone and call.
If the situation weren't soo damn scary, frightening and sad, it would be funny. But as it is, I feel sad, because in the case of a disaster hitting us, they wouldn't be able to get hold of us for ages. And would miss out on all the latest happenings in our lives.
I suppose writing here will give them a chance, but still, it's kind of second hand.

Despite the added pressure of being sick myself, I feel kind of relieved to have the kiddies at home because of colds. Feeling very clucky and wanting to keep them close. We've gone through emergency procedures, and checked on the medical emergency kit. So, doing what I can to be prepared.
And waiting for the Big One for Wellington.

Note to self:

watch the girls in 29 days.
And get the cages ready with clean dry hay.
All three had escaped, we think a feral cat might have pushed the run open, and spent I don't know how long in the open. And we have a resident wild rabbit, called Trevor/Trevorina.
BUT, eventually we caught them all and they're back under lock and key.
I don't really want to have babies from the wild, they don't put on as much meat, but I suppose I just will have to wait and see.
At least they are not in the wild anymore, I would feel absolutely atrocious contributing in this way to the rabbit plague.

Out for today, trying to cope with the helplessness following the latest big earthquake in Christchurch, fortunately all family and friends seem to fine for now.
And having sick kids at home, which is actually kind of a blessing: life goes on as far as they are concerned, food needs to be prepared and battles mediated. And boredom alleviated! Not to mention all the animals on the farm of course still want their share of food and attention.
As a friend said: "Surreal"!

All my best wishes for the people in Christchurch and their families.

Relief is....

...when the elbow brace arrives in the mail.
...when the kids are off to school, animals fed and a hot cuppa waiting.
...when an escapee rabbit is spotted AND caught.

Now the ultimate relief would be to walk into the kitchen and see it magically done.

A nightmare morning turning into a blissful evening.
 

Napier harbour view at night.

Oooops!

I've got a pet rooster!
Literally.
He's one of the last batch of unexpected chicks, 13 in total, and despite me not having handled them much, he's sooo friendly. Just now, I was leaning against the fence watching the chickens, he jumps up on the fence, eyes my patterned shirt and then jumps onto my hands. Kind of settles down and lets me pet him , and even has a little kip!!!

How on earth I am going to send him over the rainbow bridge in a couple of months I have no idea.

I'm kind of hoping he will be a gentle, quiet rooster, and not be in competition with dad. Maybe he could then settle at the other end of the property with a girl or two of his own?
Not much hope though, so far our main rooster has passed on his very dominant character traits: all his boys had to be eaten sooner rather than later.

Wait and see I suppose.


And for the bunnies, I've done another three today, only four more to go.

Life ...

... can be way too much for me, my heart, my brain and my soul to cope with.

Right now I'm suffering from a major anxiety attack, and know that only a good night's rest and carrying on with the jobs will prevent another bout of depression. And I just don't feel I can do it. I'm not so sure about writing this down, in the public domain, but on the other hand I feel if I keep it bottled up my head will explode. The worst is, I don't even know why or what has brought it on, so can't even exorcise the demon by talking about it.

Anyway, had a couple of awesome weekends, trying out my homemade foods, mainly rabbit roasts, and this weekend I managed to get a few more post holes dug, which means during the week I'll be closing a bit more in.
And tomorrow two of our bunnies are going to a new home, and the rest will get prepared for the freezer. By the end of next week we should be down to six from 19, which should make the feed bill less, and the work as well.

And then just waiting for the ducks to mature: find hopefully new homes for them, either as breeding stock or in the freezer too.
And when that's all done, we should know whether either of the girls has had a successful meeting with the buck  (when they were still at home). By then the fence and the barn should be ready and life will quieten down.

Well, so the theory goes, let's wait for what kind of curve balls we get thrown in the mean time!

The Pretty!

Critters