... unless you want to be sprayed.
We've been spraying weeds (that's spraying weedkiller on weeds, in case my expression's not entirely clear...) for weeks now. Some paddocks are very badly infested with thistles. There's hardly any grass to be seen. So we take the tractor with a tank of weedkiller and spray. Or I take the herd manager's bike (if he's not using it) with a small container of weedkiller and, guess what, spray. Sometimes if I only have a couple of minutes or I'm driving in a paddock and I see a lone thistle, I just chip them. And a lone thistle very often turns out to be not so lone after all...
They follow me everywhere. They grow on the roadside where I can see them when I'm biking home. I can see thistles when I close my eyes. If I have a dream about them, I'll consider it a nightmare...
30 October 2008
Sweet dreams
I had a dream about the European school. It was very amusing.
Warning: this might sound disrespectful, but it is not meant to be that!
In brief, it went like this: In this dream, in order to get out of the school during the school day, it was necessary to complete a form saying why you wanted to get out of school. I had nothing to do and wanted to cause outrage, so I decided to walk up to the guards with a form. I filled it in with the reason to exit as "it is unnecessary for me to stay at school because my next lesson is useless and I won't learn anything" (sorry, teachers). Of course, the guards didn't let me out, but looked shocked at my mockery. Anyway, it did turn out that it was a good thing I had to stay, because the lesson afterwards was Chemistry, where I certainly did learn things.
Warning: this might sound disrespectful, but it is not meant to be that!
In brief, it went like this: In this dream, in order to get out of the school during the school day, it was necessary to complete a form saying why you wanted to get out of school. I had nothing to do and wanted to cause outrage, so I decided to walk up to the guards with a form. I filled it in with the reason to exit as "it is unnecessary for me to stay at school because my next lesson is useless and I won't learn anything" (sorry, teachers). Of course, the guards didn't let me out, but looked shocked at my mockery. Anyway, it did turn out that it was a good thing I had to stay, because the lesson afterwards was Chemistry, where I certainly did learn things.
25 October 2008
Otorohanga - Hamilton - Cambridge - Hamilton - Otorohanga
I'm having a weekend off again. I caught the bus to Hamilton on Thursday and stayed with a couple I met at the genuine Kiwi party. Their friends had a netball match that evening, and they were short of a female player, so my hostess asked me if I wanted to play. I said yes.
Netball is a serious sport in NZ. Not quite as serious as rugby, but serious enough. And I'd never played it before.
The team members were very understanding, and I ended up not being too bad after all. I didn't even cross the middle line (I was playing defense and had to stay in my half) or pass to a member of the opposite team or make any other mistakes like that. And my team said it was the best game they'd played this season. I don't know if we won or lost, apparently it was a very equal game, but it was only a fun game. The team we should have played in the tournament didn't show up, so we won by default. Yay!
Yesterday I went to the inspirational Hamilton Gardens. Fantastic. Then I went shopping and bought some lights for my bike and a guitar. I'm very pleased with myself about that.
Today, I went to Cambridge. It's a pretty town, I wouldn't mind living there for a while. I was supposed to go see the Horse Magic Show, but the show was cancelled due to a race, and so I just went on a tour. The Thoroughbred Lodge was 6kms from Cambridge city centre, so I - shock horror - hitchhiked there. The man who picked me up was very friendly; on his way to Taupo. I got a ride back to the city centre from some other people on the tour. Will go back for the real show one day.
NZ has a weak coach network, but I've found that Naked Bus works well enough and is - mostly - cheap enough. They sometimes have $1 fares, which is always handy.
Oh yes, and on Wednesday evening my boss' family (boss, wife and older son) drove to Auckland to see the Phantom of the Opera in the theatre and took me with them. We met up with their younger son and his flatmates, of whom one came with us to the show. The musical was brilliant. The music was dramatic and powerful, as were the actors and actresses, the decorations detailed, the costumes gorgeous, the singing voices 100 times better than mine (i.e. awesome), and did I mention that the music was powerful? Left me in a trance for the rest of the night.
And I've finished the diary I started on the plane from Brussels to London on the 3rd of September. Need to start another one. Now.
Netball is a serious sport in NZ. Not quite as serious as rugby, but serious enough. And I'd never played it before.
The team members were very understanding, and I ended up not being too bad after all. I didn't even cross the middle line (I was playing defense and had to stay in my half) or pass to a member of the opposite team or make any other mistakes like that. And my team said it was the best game they'd played this season. I don't know if we won or lost, apparently it was a very equal game, but it was only a fun game. The team we should have played in the tournament didn't show up, so we won by default. Yay!
Yesterday I went to the inspirational Hamilton Gardens. Fantastic. Then I went shopping and bought some lights for my bike and a guitar. I'm very pleased with myself about that.
Today, I went to Cambridge. It's a pretty town, I wouldn't mind living there for a while. I was supposed to go see the Horse Magic Show, but the show was cancelled due to a race, and so I just went on a tour. The Thoroughbred Lodge was 6kms from Cambridge city centre, so I - shock horror - hitchhiked there. The man who picked me up was very friendly; on his way to Taupo. I got a ride back to the city centre from some other people on the tour. Will go back for the real show one day.
NZ has a weak coach network, but I've found that Naked Bus works well enough and is - mostly - cheap enough. They sometimes have $1 fares, which is always handy.
Oh yes, and on Wednesday evening my boss' family (boss, wife and older son) drove to Auckland to see the Phantom of the Opera in the theatre and took me with them. We met up with their younger son and his flatmates, of whom one came with us to the show. The musical was brilliant. The music was dramatic and powerful, as were the actors and actresses, the decorations detailed, the costumes gorgeous, the singing voices 100 times better than mine (i.e. awesome), and did I mention that the music was powerful? Left me in a trance for the rest of the night.
And I've finished the diary I started on the plane from Brussels to London on the 3rd of September. Need to start another one. Now.
13 October 2008
Black water rafting
I went black water rafting in Waitomo caves last weekend! Bloody freezing, but cool! Abseiled down, scrambled over rocks, took a flying fox, jumped into a river, floated down on a tube, then floated without the tube, saw glowworms, had hot chocolate, climbed a few waterfalls, crawled on hands and knees in the water... Amazing!
Then a hot shower and hot tomato soup and bagel. Mmm.
Then a hot shower and hot tomato soup and bagel. Mmm.
09 October 2008
Photos from work
This calf had just been dehorned the previous evening. If you know where to look, you can see the hole where the horn should grow on the right side of its head.
Sign of affection? No. The calves just need to suck on something for a certain number of minutes a day. If my fingers are not around, another calf's nose, ear or navel will do.
Interested in the ATV? Its owner wasn't too happy.
What do I have to say? Look at that view.
Wonderful
I wanted to tell you something, but I've forgotten what it is now. My working week is over, I'm off for four days. We dehorned some calves, fed them every day, did a herd test, I milked three mornings (had to get up at 4AM, it was pitch black outside), weighed some calves, life goes on as usual, every day is different, and exciting.
But all this has been dimmed by the way I'm feeling. I'm feeling great. Relaxed. Free. Happy. I'm feeling accepted. More determined, more self-confident. Braver. Wiser. More competent. I'm feeling wonderful.
But all this has been dimmed by the way I'm feeling. I'm feeling great. Relaxed. Free. Happy. I'm feeling accepted. More determined, more self-confident. Braver. Wiser. More competent. I'm feeling wonderful.
01 October 2008
Bloody stories
Today, the boss decided he was hungry. He had a cow shot.
Surprisingly enough, I didn't feel disgusted, or faint, seeing a dead cow. But I did feel faint the day the vet came and dug a hole in the sides of six cows to take liver samples. I had to scoop up the sample into a test tube (I was wondering whether people did that in lab bio at school?). That wasn't too bad. But looking at the cows was. And the same afternoon a collegue cut two bits off each cows left ear, to distinguish them. There was blood all over the place. It was difficult to believe it wasn't a butchery.
Today, I didn't look that way when the butcher shot the cow and slit its throat. The shot gave me a fright despite knowing it would come (although my boss didn't tell me he was going to have a cow shot before we drove around to the other side of the farm. I would have taken my camera). Fortunately the butcher was very quick and neat. (And his number plate was "I CHOP"!) The dog licked up some of the blood, then licked my overalls. Yummy.
Surprisingly enough, I didn't feel disgusted, or faint, seeing a dead cow. But I did feel faint the day the vet came and dug a hole in the sides of six cows to take liver samples. I had to scoop up the sample into a test tube (I was wondering whether people did that in lab bio at school?). That wasn't too bad. But looking at the cows was. And the same afternoon a collegue cut two bits off each cows left ear, to distinguish them. There was blood all over the place. It was difficult to believe it wasn't a butchery.
Today, I didn't look that way when the butcher shot the cow and slit its throat. The shot gave me a fright despite knowing it would come (although my boss didn't tell me he was going to have a cow shot before we drove around to the other side of the farm. I would have taken my camera). Fortunately the butcher was very quick and neat. (And his number plate was "I CHOP"!) The dog licked up some of the blood, then licked my overalls. Yummy.
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