s e v e n i s a j o u r n e y

So after Stephen’s lament about the lack of free weekends, we had one ! We used it to drop off one of the kennel cages at Matt’s place, for Beverley’s planned cattery, and to drop in at a new saddlery that’s opened up in Paraparaumu (got a couple lead ropes, a manure scoop, some hay nets…).

On the way up Stephen (not me, *Stephen*) spotted the “Moving Sale” sign in front of the garden place in Mana, so we stopped in a loaded up on fruit trees. We’d been meaning to get a little orchard started — how could we pass up a half-off sale ? We got two pears, an asian apple-pear thing, two plums, two oranges, two hazels, two currants (red & black), an apricot, a nectarine, and a lemon. Oh, and a kumquat, because it’ll give us more excuses to say the word “kumquat”. Hee. Oh, and a protea, because proteas are funky and alien and it was on sale and it’ll go with our other one.

Sunday, we put the pears and plums in, tied and mulched them. The rest are tied to the fence so they don’t blow over.

Whee !

Also accomplished: we built a shelter/shed in gallop. Well, we got the roof on it, which was the tricky bit. And we haltered up Jim and Pointer and took them for a walk to go check it out, and also to try walking over some poles on the ground — old hat for Jim, but new and weird for Pointer. What a trooper !

Prince Charles just strolled by.

Because, you know, New Zealand is still technically part of the Empire, don’t'cha know. They had him shearing a sheep yesterday (it had pretty clearly been well crutched, dagged, and tipped before going under the Royal Shears — whitest sheep I ever saw).