Today is the 10th, and the 100th post winner is.....

The pot was held high, I  balanced the camera in the other hand, and Hugh did the honours.
And the winner is
Linda at Razzle Dazzle Quilter.








Congrats Linda, your parcel will be in the mail on Monday. Enjoy.
 We have had a stunning day here, all sunshine, little wind, and may this continue for the following 16 days. I have ordered fine weather,  not too cool  nights, no frosts, and just enough wind to dry the washing. The machine I use for that is a 2-handed one.
Photos to follow when I return home.

Quotation of the day, author unknown

"Friends are threads of Gold in the quilt of life"

Cheers from Jean.

Posts, Photos and Pets

I have had problems with these videos, the You Tube words have remained,
the replay button does not go away until I click on the shrink,enlarge icon at the corner.
Then the words echoed and were played twice!!!
The  steepest part of the track starts before the quad comes into view, and then it goes on forever.

Hugh, slowly, slowly, then speeding away.

These cows and maybe the four horses were at the top of a large paddock, the one place that I did sit on the back and ride, the hill was long, and a bit steep at the end. The cattle were so quiet, they hardly moved to let us through.

This cow was in the next paddock to where the A Frame is, she is not in calf,
but is that fat always. The funniest thing is she looks lopsided, so goodness knows how big she will be later on.


The early morning fog cleared away later in the day, and to join in with others around the country we had a red cover and black tyres, as we remembered Christchurch.

    
      
          
Back home, I am learning to use my new camera. It is superb. thanks to Bruce Watt Photography and the wonderful staff there. Everything was explained, options of each model thoroughly described, and my choice was a Canon 550D. Yes, I really have one.Wow!! Wow!!! What can I say !!! So over the next two weeks with no internet,
no phone, no TV, and only generator power, surely I will get to learn more , I will have  so many  choices for good shots, and no distractions. Knitting, books and some stitcheries will fill in the other time I have left.
The 550D seems to capture the different shades of green so well, and this is without
any practice.







Last year we stayed at Piropiro Flats  for a week, and one hunter and his dog became separated.
Another young man found Jake, and he ended up with Ritchie, after a ride back to our camp on the quad.
He listened so carefully to every truck, vehicle and quad for 2 days. Then the next afternoon he sat up, ears up straight, then was so excited.
we couldn’t hear the car, but he knew who it was. Yes, his Dad had got the message and was so happy, thankful and relieved that Jake was found.
Grateful does not even begin to say how they both felt. Jake did circles, jumps, his tail nearly wagged off. Here he is in  a sad pose, still waiting.
Who will we find this time?

Quotation of the day, from W H Davies, 1871-1940

“What is this life if,full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare”

Cheers from Jean

50th has gone, 100th, is here.

Here we are, the 100th post.The planned handmade  giveaway has not been finished
I have been to the hills, and didn’t take the machine up there!!! You know why.
So here it is, a selection of buttonhole threads and  fancy buttons,
Some applique pins and a Mother Goose  tin for pins , or anything else
And ,  handmade, but by Hugh, a note board with notepaper,with ample space to fill in a lengthy list under the words
“Things To Do”.
This is for any reader in New Zealand, as I cannot post the wood so easily overseas without doing complicated declarations.
The overseas giveaway will be a little later, and will be made by me, yes truly,
and will be able to be posted anywhere in the world.
So, all you bloggers who live outside of good old NZ, keep looking.
I am away again from next Tuesday for 2 weeks, again there will be generator power, BUT, no internet access, no cellphone signal, we  will have a GPS, a PLB, and will be in the Pureora Forest Park area.(p.s. flat roads in and out, via the 4WD, all safe )
So your giveaway will be after that time away.
Our wonderful gem, Janet, will be here for the home, garden, and most important of all, the 2 feline family members.


Please leave your comment and your name will go into the draw, and the lucky person’s name will be drawn out of the box/hat/basin/,  on Saturday 10th  March,  well before the 15th, which is known as “ The Ides of March” in the Roman Calendar.

Quotation of the day,  author unknown

“Friendship is like a quilt, lives pieced together over the years,

Stitched with smiles and tears,

Coloured with memories, and bound with Love”

Cheers from Jean.

A Short Holiday and Home Again

I am a calm sea, flat road, safe trip, kind of girl. I had already mentioned that  I would prefer to walk in most of the way.But maybe I should have shouted, instead of saying it in a quiet kind of way!!! So it should not have been a surprise when I said I would walk down the first difficult part of the track  in, it was steep and had very deep tracks. Well, it was all my fault, as the trailer was loaded allowing for my weight on the back of the quad.The trailer pushed the quad sideways, one rear wheel was a long way off the ground, and we could not lean on it enough to get it back again. Tracey could  see the next part of the track from the woolshed, and as dagging was on the day’s work list, Tracey was working hard.Her words “ Txt me when you get there”, so after we set off, she did one ewe, looked up at the track, did another, looked again, and so on, until she decided this ewe was the last and she was coming down to  see where we were and what had gone wrong.!!!. THEN, there we were, going up the next hill. Whew!! What a relief.   Dagging continued, without a need for a constant look out.now I know why  Tracey suggested a txt on arrival!!!
Yes, that is Hugh down the bottom, we had to unhook the trailer, and reload it.Not a good start!!!
And in the green grass on the far hill, that is where Tracey looked for us.

I did manage to get on again, but the white knuckles were there for a good part of the ride.






This is the view, and on a fine day is stunning.Produce from the land is shown in abundance. One mushroom was a meal all by itself.







The barren land of the Waiouru Army Camp, brown and dry in the summer, and frozen with ice or covered with snow in the winter.
Perfect to train the men in difficulty conditions.







There is a quad track in the centre of the grass, it winds down, around, and can be seen again at the top of then hill.
It goes a bit further and this is where Hugh stood on the rocky part.I am so glad we walked there that day.












Here is the night sky, looking to the west, from 1005 metres above sea level.
And here are the boots. just to show I did actually walk to the end of that track.







Back home, and that was our 50th Wedding Anniversary Holiday,flowers were delivered,
and there were many  memories of that day  those  years ago.

 

Quotation of the day, from  William  Shakespeare, sonnet 116

“ Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments.

Love is not love when it alteration finds”

Cheers from Jean