New Zealand Life

April 2013

This month seemed to go by really slowly. Why? Because I’ve been anticipating our trip to the US in May. Anyway, here’s what happened in April!!

Starting off with the work done this month… I was studying for my SAT Subject Tests, so I couldn’t really pitch in on the work. None-the-less, Mom sprayed 800L of herbicide, and I painted herbicide around the pines. Mom, Dad, and I also ear-tagged 7 of our calves. We missed one of the calves, so we’ll have to do it next time. Belladonna was really big and feisty, so it was really hard to ear-tag her. And to make things worse, Mom’s ear-tagging machine wasn’t working properly! She might have to get a new one.

Now, on to the animals!! Firstly, the Silkie breeder told us that we have three roosters! Just perfect, right? Well, we were not happy about having three roosters. Luckily, Jenny (the breeder) said that she would swap the roosters for hens. So, we did just that! It turns out, that telling the difference between the roosters and hens is really easy: you look at their wattles. The hens have almost no wattles, while the roosters have really big ones!! I named the hens Opal and Crystal, and we kept Topaz as our rooster, since he’s the handsomest. He also happens to be the meanest, but oh well. My kitties are now 7, going on 8 months old and we are hoping they will get pregnant soon! Why? Because they cry/call extremely loud when they’re in season—nonstop! No sleep allowed during these times! None at all.

The house is being built slowly but surely. The pad has been dug out, and every time we go to the construction site, Mom and Dad have to walk through, saying “And this is where your bedroom is…. And here’s the kitchen…” etc. It’ll drive me insane very soon. The workers also built themselves two sheds. They’re pretty nice, and one had a full-on toilet included! And finally, they put the “pods” in. they’re basically Styrofoam boxes, and the concrete will be poured around them.

And lastly, my garden it pretty empty now. I pulled out my monstrous tomato plants, and picked all the green tomatoes off. Mom used the green tomatoes in breads and cakes, and make delicious pickles and an outrageous curry!

That’s basically everything!! It’s not very long, because not much happened. Next month we go on our trip to the US! I’m all packed up and ready to go. Can’t wait!!

J L Stephens