The Flightless Writer

Mother's Little Helpers

2009-06-06T11:07:00.004+12:00

As most of you know, we keep hens. Six brown shavers who have never been named - they're simply referred to as "the girls". I like to let them out of their run most days so they can have a peck around the lawn and garden at what ever takes their fancy.

They do make a mess scratching mulch away from where I've carefully put it and taking dust baths in the middle of some cherished plant. But I like that we rescued them from what would have been a life in a battery cage.

They live as hens should live. Bit of company, bit of sun, bit of dust - it isn't much to ask.

Snow at Whakamaru

2009-05-24T21:19:00.004+12:00

Well - snow on the top of Kaahu really but it was a grand sight to wake up a couple of mornings back and see a sprinkle of snow on top of the hill out the back of us.

I realize this is a total non-event for most of you who trudge round up to your armpits in snow for half the year but, for us, this only happens about once a year.

We do have decent snow falls in many places in New Zealand but not in my back yard!

It had been a very crisp frost earlier but once the sun came out was beautiful. Winter is upon us.

Swans - we have swans!

2009-05-17T11:43:00.005+12:00

At last the issue with my camera is sorted. If you want to read the whole story I made a Squidoo lens out of it which you'll find here at Cannot Detect Camera. (That is just my cunning ploy to give my newest lens its first link in! I have just under 30 lenses now under several different "names".)

The solution was as simple as buying a cheap memory card reader.

Anyway - the images finally got transferred.

There we have the mamma swan and her four babies. The father is just out of shot.

And another shot showing their more general setting. You can see that most of the ducks that arrived for the beginning of the duck shooting season have now moved on.

So we're back in business folks!

Can you imagine?

2009-05-10T21:49:00.005+12:00

Can you imagine two black adult swans and their entourage of gray fluff balls?

Mmmm?

Well, you have to - because my computer and camera are still not talking to one another. I've given up fretting about it. I have so much going on at the moment that it seems like a waste of energy to worry about what's happening with the images. I'll sort it out "later".

So there was going to be an image of the swans and their 4 babies - but there isn't!

I've been following their progress for a few weeks because these babies have hatched WAY too late. We're going into winter and the rest of this season's ducks and swans down by the dam are indistinguishable from their parents. Not this lot.

Four little gray balls of fuzz bobbing along behind mom and dad swan. They appear to be thriving and although there are many extra beaks at the dam at present I have no concerns about feed running out. I see the adults lifting lake weed to the surface so that the little guys can bob their heads under and fish for bugs or weed or whatever they eat.

I'm sure they're going to do just fine.

The dam is a busy old place at the moment as duck shooting season started about a week ago and many out-of-towner ducks have arrived for a visit. It always amazes me how the first few arrivals start turning up before the hunting season has started. They some how seem to know that "that" time of the year has arrived. Every morning I'll see a few more ducks swimming about.

I have to confess that my images - the ones you can't see - aren't that great. Very distant. So perhaps you're better off with your imagination!

Okay you digital camera experts!

2009-05-04T20:39:00.003+12:00

Tell me what I'm doing wrong. Please!!

It's most frustrating. My digital camera is refusing to download onto the computer. It is hoarding its images like a miser.

Normally, I just plug the camera (a Cannon) into the computer and hey presto a screen pops up in ZoomBrowser and I download the images.

Now, all I get is a polite message in ZoomBrowser saying "cannot detect camera"!

Does anyone have any idea what's going on? Ever run into this sort of thing before? Do I need to go to my local computer guy - or digital camera guy?

I have images - I will blog - but first we need to beat this camera into shape!

Anzac Day

2009-04-25T16:30:00.004+12:00

It's Anzac Day here in New Zealand and I've spent much of the day watching remembrance services and documentaries on the Gallipoli campaign. It is a time for remembering our soldiers.

The poppy represents the fallen - it is, I believe, an allusion to the blood soaked fields in Europe during the first World War.

Photo courtesy of FreeFoto

Many thousands of New Zealand and Australian soldiers lost their lives on the beaches of Gallipoli during an ill fated landing in 1916. And many Turkish soldiers lost their lives in the campaign that followed.

After the battles were all ended, Turkish General Kamal Ataturk made this moving and gracious speech about our soldiers who had died there.

"You are heroes who spilled your blood and lost your lives.
You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country.
So, rest in peace.
There is no difference to us between the Allied soldier and the Turkish soldier.
They lie side by side in this country of ours.
You, the mothers, You sent your sons from far away countries.
Wipe away your tears.
Your sons are now lying close to our hearts and are in peace.
They lost their lives on our land.
So they have become our sons as well."

Matai Bur

2009-04-24T12:32:00.005+12:00

This matai bur resides in my garden and I love it. It's an honored guest. So much character in that knotted face.

You may know it as a bur, or a burr, or a burl. All are accepted spellings in various parts of the world of this type of knobbly overgrowth of wood.

The matai tree it came from would have been maybe 800 years old and we found the bur in an area where the native bush was logged about 40 years ago. It had been cut from the trunk when the log was milled and left lying on the ground as an unwanted waste product. How could anything so lovely been seen as waste? The area was then replanted in pine trees for timber and pulp where once again this fabulous matai burr was covered with scrub and blackberry until it was re-exposed when the pines were harvested. This time, the land is being converted to dairy farms.

So I'm happy to offer a home for this "old-timer" in my garden. He doesn't deserve to be buried or burnt or have cows poo on him!

The matai tree is a New Zealand native and can grow up to 25 meters tall and live for over 1000 years. A bur is usually the result of some injury where the tree responds by making too much growth. This one is about knee high and is the biggest we've ever seen.

Times have changed and now he is of value to people like wood turners. But he'll grace my garden with his wonderful presence until I shuffle off!

We have a number of matia burrs about the garden but this old man is our pride and joy.

Hello

2009-04-21T13:35:00.005+12:00

It's me.

What do you mean "who am I?"

I haven't been gone that long - have I?

I shan't embarrass myself with excuses. It was the thought of coming up with a decent sounding excuse for my long absence that has delayed my return to blogging even further. Somehow I just couldn't get a story about a lengthy bout of yellow fever or black plague to sound convincing!

I shall simply say thanks to one of you for commenting on Facebook "Get back on the blog horse, Dawn. Please. You are missed."

UPDATE: Followed half an hour later by another person writing "You are missed in blogland! Good to see you here, though."

Luckily Facebook tells me when folk comment on my page because I'm never there either! But obviously all of you are! And the reason I was spotted on Facebook is because another one of you lovelies found my name and invited me to be a friend and it was while I was responding that my blog presence was suggested.

All of you lovely people know who you are.

So I've broken the ice and I'm back. Tomorrow I shall be able to nonchalantly carry on as if I've never been gone!

I shall leave you all with a lovely photo of our three dogs. That's Diesel in the foreground, and his 2 sons, Jem and Bruiser in the background. Diesel has been retired from pig hunting now and the two "lads" have taken over.

Diesel gets to stay home with me and whilst he still misses going out, he is getting used to it.

Morning Walk

2009-01-01T17:03:00.005+13:00

I try to get out for a walk more or less every morning.

This summer I have an additional reason in that I intend to climb several mountains this year. These are, I hasten to add, mountains that one tramps up rather than attacks with pic ax and crampons!

Every year I TALK about wanting to do these mountain walks so this year I'm doing it. No more talk! Am just over a week away from the first tramp and doing everything I can to ensure I'm fit enough and that gammy knee is going to hold together for the process.

So I take the road that leads to the foot of the dam (that gray structure is the dam) until I come to ...

... the first flight of the 160 steps (I counted them once) that lead up from the bottom of the dam to the top.

At the top there is this fabulous view of Lake Whakamaru with the small mountain Kaahu in the background. The white line is a float that keeps any weed from going through the turbines.

And then out over the dam and back again, and return via a little track through the bush rather than the 160 steps again.

It's a beautiful walk and I do feel privileged to live where I can keep fit without having to breathe in city smog and exhaust fumes.

Usually see rabbits, ducks, swans, and swallows. And cows, of course! This is dairy country! I'll show you them on another post!

Piglets

2008-12-29T17:19:00.005+13:00

This morning a friend of hubby's stopped off with two intrepid young travelers on the back of his ute.

They were actually traveling inside the drum for safety but made a brief appearance for publicity!

These are two young pigs about 2 months old, fully weaned and ready to venture forth. In their case, this means being released into the wild where they will take their chances as to what life holds for them. These two little boys were smaller than they looked in the pic.

This is something that many New Zealand pig hunters do - release pigs into the wild. Some will grow to a ripe old age and father or mother many youngsters. Others will be caught and killed.

It's the luck of the draw.

Their release point will be a quiet place where by common agreement no one will be hunting. As they mature they'll roam further afield. One day, they will likely run into a pig hunter and his dog.

I wished these two young fellows rapid growth, long legs and a wily brain. If I ever see them again, I hope it's dashing up a steep hill, laughing at the dog laboring behind them and escaping back into the bush.

I love Santa!

2008-12-27T11:14:00.006+13:00

Well, I did hand out a few clues as to what Santa hid under the Christmas tree for me this year.

That is a photo of our deck.

In case you still haven't guessed - let me throw in another clue. Below is a view taken from the deck of Kaahu.

You got it! Santa bought me a digital camera. This is so great because it has been such a pain having to get film developed and put on to disk.

The camera is a Cannon A2000IS and is a joy to operate. I just have to remember not to keep raising it to my eye! Old habits die hard! It takes wonderful pictures - I'm impressed with the quality.

So prepared to be inundated with snapshots of my life from now on.

Hope every one had a wonderful day yesterday (or the day before - depending on just where you live). Time to start preparing for the new year now.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T17:44:00.004+13:00

Here in New Zealand it is Christmas eve.

I'm rather excited because I got a sneak look at what Santa has in his sack for me - and I like!

My lips are sealed BUT there will be no more waiting for me to get film developed!!

Anyway, have a wonderful Christmas. To everyone who bought Ripples on the Lake during the year - thank you. You made a penniless writer very happy!

To readers of Ripples who emailed me with your thoughts, I truly enjoyed basking in your praise. You'd be surprised to know how insecure we writers can be. It is your support that keeps us going.

And to the people that have contributed to my blog, whether by adding your comments or simply by visiting and reading - thank you. I enjoy the contact that the world of the web provides. I feel as if I've developed real friendships all over the globe.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

and if you don't celebrate Christmas, have a lovely holiday anyway.

I'm on YouTube

2008-12-18T19:35:00.005+13:00

I really am quite excited.

I'm on YouTube - or at least my little probiotic website is.

You may or may not be aware that I started a raw food diet a few weeks back. I like to try and eat healthily and this seemed like a good way of losing a few pounds and getting a healthy diet as well. Now I don't eat 100% raw or anything like that, but I am eating a raw food breakfast and loving it and usually another meal too.

And I've lost almost half a stone in under a month and so me and Probiotics LoveThatBug are featured on this video clip about raw foods diet. (It's quite save to click through without being press ganged into eating raw nut cutlets for life!)

Now one or two of you will be wondering just how this raw food diet fits in with my obsession for cream filled apple donuts! In fact THAT temptation has been totally eliminated by the little shop down the road changing hands and no longer having them on the menu! Haven't had a cream filled apple donut for months (although I dream about them!)

The latest temptation is ice cream. We have raspberries galore and they are just so nice with ice cream. Not just any type of ice cream. It has to be Tip Top's vanilla.

I try not to yield to often and must be doing fairly well because I AM losing weight. Mostly, I mix a handful of raspberries in with other raw fruits for breakfast. Sometimes, I eat a plate full with yogurt. And occasionally - I confess - I do have them with ice cream!

But most days I eat two raw meals a day and have cut right down on the amount of meat I'm eating - much to hubby's horror. He's one of those men that thinks you die of lack of protein if you don't eat meat every day.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the video clip.

Ripples on the Lake Revisted

2008-12-15T13:54:00.003+13:00

I received such a lovely email this morning about Ripples on the Lake.

"I read your book over a year ago now and I am still finding the story-line and characters slipping into my thoughts quite a bit! I think it would make a really powerful film. Is a movie on the cards at all?

I have never written fan-mail before, this book has just hit a nerve I think, it is not just a fictional story, there seem to be parts of all of us as New Zealanders in it and I feel it should be shown to the world."

Sometimes - because life flows on - I forget what a powerful things this story was in my life. I lived and breathed with those characters for several years as the story came into being.

And it strangely moves me when I hear from someone who feels the same way.

Whilst the reviews were mostly positive there was the odd one who just didn't "get" the story at all. (Remember the one who said it suffered from "excessive schmaltziness"!) So it is both humbling and moving to hear from people who do "get it".

There was a brief moment of excitement when a movie director made contact about possibly filming Ripples but it all faded away to nothing in the end. My HarperCollins editors assure me that is almost always what happens. But I live in hope that one day it might make the screen - as I'm sure do most writers.

I don't think about Ripples on the Lake so much now. It is as if the act of writing the story and it being published brought closure to it for me.

Ah - but that crappy first draft of the next story -the one I gave up on and moved on to do other things like build websites - ah, THAT story lives with me constantly. Have absolutely no idea how to turn it from a series of wonderfully visual "made for the movies" scenes into a logical story - but I do know that one day I must return to it and try.

So thank you to the lovely lady who sent me the email today. It meant more to me that you could have imagined.

Jam Doctor

2008-11-29T19:17:00.003+13:00

How many people out there are lucky enough to live over the road from a great band?

I do!

Which is how I came to be listening to live music this morning as I breakfasted out on the deck.

Jam Doctor is a 4 member kiwi band. Classic rock, I guess you'd call it - great numbers like Sweet Home Alabama and Play That Funky Music. The sort of music that gets your body moving whether you mean to or not.

John Trueman is the lead vocalist and also on rhythm guitar, Daniel Trueman is on drums, Raymond Tahu is on lead guitar and Chris Matthews on bass. Daniel, Raymond and Chris all come in on backing vocals.

These guys likes to support local events so were going to be performing at the Mangakino Christmas Parade later today which explains how I was able to enjoy their music as I munched my way through my wheaties.

You'd pay a fortune some places to have live music while you breakfast!

Later in the morning, hubby and I went to the Christmas Parade and heard Jam Doctor again - this time belting out those familiar numbers that I get to hear them rehearsing. They keep things turned down a little in rehearsals so it was great to hear them turn the volume up and let it rip!

I know Jam Doctor are fully booked over Christmas and New Year but if anyone out there has got a function coming up in '09, you really should grab these guys. They rock!

What do you do?

2008-11-19T18:45:00.003+13:00

The trial against the people who tormented little Nia Glassie finished yesterday.

You'll remember about a year ago I posted about the death of this little girl - killed at the hands of the very people who supposedly cared for her. Her mother was convicted of man slaughter and her boyfriend and his brother of murder. Two other supposed adults in the house were convicted on lesser charges.

New Zealand has an appalling record when it comes to young children. We have the 5th highest child abuse figures in the developed world.

I don't know why. And I guess no one else does because this is one problem we haven't fixed. Every time this happens we get upset and say it must never happen again - but it does.

There do seem to be a few common elements in these cases, but other countries have similar problems.

This was a dysfunctional household. A small child should never have been left there. A few neighbors heard or saw things that they knew were not right and yet no one called the police or authorities.

Cases like this bring out the worst in me. All my tolerance and humanity goes out the window and I just hope that the offenders get picked on in prison so that they get a taste of what it's like when people treat you unkindly and there is no one around who cares enough to stop your tormentor.

That poor little girl was treated appallingly until finally a kick to the head killed her.

It just leaves me feeling so sad and helpless - hell, I'd dob someone in at the drop of hat if I believed they were ill treating a child - but I never see anything.

How do we help these littlies? They're invisible until one day you switch on the television and hear there has been another Nia Glassie or the Kahu twins or ... any New Zealander can recite the list going back.

It saddens me so much to live in a society we're any one of us can treat a helpless child like this.

Twitter

2008-11-03T20:36:00.004+13:00

I'm a recent convert to Twitter.

Oh, I HEARD about it a long time ago and took a brief look. People answering the question "what are you doing right now". It seemed like an awful waste of time.

Why would anyone want to now what I was doing? And more importantly - why would I want to know what they ate for breakfast or whether they were trimming their toenails? Not for me, I decided.

But about a month ago I was reintroduced to Twitter and this time I took to it like a duck to water, like a partridge to a pear tree, like a ... you get my drift.

I was atwitter with enthusiasm!

(You'll remember I was always a sucker for the widgets!)

So - if you cast your eyes to the right (and probably a little or a lot down) you'll see my Twitter widget, embedded there so that you too can share the excitement of every trivial detail of my life!

The thing that I like about Twitter is that it only takes a moment and yet (if you keep your list of people followed on the small side) you do start to get to know those folk.

Some people have lists of thousands but I'm keeping it small for the time being. It seems a bit pointless if all the Tweets disappear of my page within seconds - which is what must happen if you have gazillion people tweeting.

So if anyone out there has wondered about Twitter - whether it was right for them - give it a go.

It is actually fun and I can see some sensible uses for it. It's almost like a blog in giving that connection between people and yet you can do it so quickly that even on a busy day you can find time for a quick Tweet.

And there is nothing quite like a quick Tweet I've always thought!

Roses and Hens

2008-10-24T18:24:00.003+13:00

The Race of the Roses has been won and minor places awarded with stragglers still finishing.

I have an entire film of garden shots so will save the official announcement for when the film has been developed (which as were heading into a long weekend won't be until some time next week.)

Let's just say that the first and second places were no real surprise but the third placed rose came out of nowhere.

Did I tell you that we have hens again?

Hubby rebelled last year when we were buying pellets to feed the hens AND eggs on the same trip to the supermarket. I had be warning the girls for awhile that I didn't know how much longer I could hide the truth of their lack-lustre performances.

Some of them had been good layers - in the past. One hen had laid one egg in two years!

But - as hubby said, as he picked up his .22 and headed out towards the hen run - "this is not a retirement home for hens."

So we had a winter without hens and this Spring I bought 6 lovely little brown shavers. They are one of the breeds that are used for commercial egg production. In the past, I've liked getting hens that have spent one season in the battery cages. It's such a good feeling introducing them to all the things hens should be able to experience - sunshine and dust-baths and room to move and a place to perch.

It isn't much to want out of life.

But couldn't find any older hens so bought "point of lay". I tell myself that I have saved these 6 from going on to the battery farm but it isn't quite the same.

Anyway -when the film is developed - there will be pictures of the girls too.

Bet you can hardly stand the excitement!

Race of the Roses

2008-10-18T10:47:00.004+13:00

Everywhere I go on the web I'm seeing reports on the last rose before winter.

Here in New Zealand, we're galloping towards early summer and I have my annual race on to see which of my roses will be the first to flower.

So far, the educated money is on Madame Gregoire Staechelin, sometimes called Spanish Beauty, who has two buds that are showing color. She is indeed a beauty with lovely pink wavy petals.

But she could yet have competition.

Not from Madame Isaac Pereire, of course, who threw in the towel early by going toes up over the winter. No idea why. Rugosa roses are normally as tough as they come. I did think last summer she didn't look quite her old self - I guess I should have taken more notice. The only thing I can think of is that, when we were in Australia a few years back and rented our place out, that she got hit by the lawnmower and rot got into the wound.

But the wild rambler I have crawling over the hen run (and who I think is American Pillar) often makes a late run for this title to be the first. She can be looking as if there is nothing but tight little buds one day and the next she's draping great swathes of crimson down into the hen run.

Hubbie and I argue about this - the wisdom of letting a rambler hang it's branches down into the hen run. He refuses to go in to feed "the gals" or collect eggs because he gets caught up in them. But I think it looks pretty. And I'm sure our 6 brown shaver's enjoy a touch of beauty.

Crepsucle has one bud that could surprise me, and being against the warmth of the house does give her an advantage, so she can't be totally ruled out. She did win the race one year.

Still haven't got my digital camera yet but I will certainly treat you to a photo of the winner.

Nothing to do with roses but if anyone uses a Salton yogurt maker would appreciate hearing your views on it. I'm going to writing a a review page on this brand.

Did a page on the EasiYo yogurt maker which was easy because I love that brand. Everyone in NZ uses it - probably because it was invented here!

Anyway, I'm off out into the garden now to see our my contestants are going today!

Help required - apply within

2008-10-14T17:10:00.004+13:00

Reclaiming the blog from Saffron has certainly made the entire blogging process much faster. She did protest a little when I told her she couldn't be Blog Administrator but she relented in the end.

(For anyone who is totally confused, Saffron is the heroine in my novel and about a year ago, in the process of giving her her own email address, I managed to lock myself out of the blog. Since then, I've had to sign in as her.)

But I've taken control again and life is much simpler.

Now, if you cast your eyes upward - yes, right underneath the Flightless Writer bit, you'll notice that I am "the founder of Probiotics LoveThatBug." Does that make it sound like Microsoft?

Is there a better word I could use? Nothing is springing to my mind but there a number of folk here who have a way with words and you might see what I'm missing. I don't like "founder" but I don't know how else to say it.

Don't lie awake tonight puzzling it out but if something instantly springs to mind, then please put it in the comments.

Hello World

2008-10-12T13:51:00.004+13:00

This post seems a little like a new beginning.

I'm changing over to using my own identity in the blog world.

Not that it has ever been a secret who I am but I started using the "Saffron avatar" right at the beginning of my blog-life. I've always loved that image from the cover of Ripples on the Lake but as the publication moves further and further into the past, it seems less relevant to use the "Saffron avatar" in my wanderings on the web.

And on my web site Probiotics LoveThatBug I have the cutest little bug which I've named GoodBug. I was tempted to use him simply because I have to change identities every time I blog and my computer is, quite simply, the slowest in the known universe. So I've figured out (ie I read the help page) how to co-join my identities .

And I'm just going to be me!

I know the done thing is to have separate identities for your different "roles" on the web but it seems to me that we're in danger of losing our "realness" in the process.

So here you'll find me talking occasionally about my book - and if you look as if you have dollars to spend on a great paranormal adventure novel I will shamelessly steer you towards my Squidoo lens - and occasionally talking about the probiotic web site, but more often than not, just waffling on with a cream filled apple donut in hand and not a whole lot on my mind.

I've met people through blogging that I've enjoyed sharing cyber-time with and it seems the easiest way to get that back into my life is to just be the real me which means allowing the writing me and the probiotic me to cohabitate.

Over the next few days there will be a few changes here at The Flightless Writer as I redesign it as a multipurpose blog. I won't be chasing readers to lure them back here and will probably not venture much further than the group that has stuck with me through compulsive stat counting and unexplained absences over the last year.

So hopefully, Saffron is going to let me add this post to what she believes is "her" blog. You'll remember she locked me out of it about a year ago, but my time as come.

Move over Saffron Delaney.

I'm taking the blog back!

Tales from a tardy poster

2008-10-01T07:30:00.003+13:00

I'll just sneak in to my blog and have a quick flick round with the duster so that no one will know I've been absent.

Yikes - look at all those cobwebs hanging from the ceiling and the potted palm is almost dead! Is it really almost 4 months since I last posted.

Cyber-friendship is seeing that old blog buddies still have you listed in their blog rolls even with a shameful "4 mnths" beside your name. Bless you, guys.

Hubby's operation has been a partial success. The back pain is much reduced and his mobility has increased but he has been left with a "dropped foot". We're hoping that it will improve over time as the swelling round the nerves in his spine decreases. Very disappointing as he still can't do the things he loves.

The fishing season starts this morning and he had gone off fishing with his brother. Just before he left he said "hope I can get into the boat" and I have this sad vision of him being left on the jetty because he couldn't get aboard.

So I'm hoping like mad that he can get on the boat too. It would be awful if he coudn't. He's put up with so much over the last 6 months that I feel he has "earned" a days fishing with his brother. He'll be home tonight so, fingers crossed, he comes home with a big smile and a bag full of fish.

My little internet business is taking almost all my time. I'm just coming up to one year and traffic is steadily increasing. Have not made my fortune yet! but I can see the potential. I am getting cheques from here and there most months now. My hope is that in a few years time it will add to our income. It is one of these things where you put the work in now and reap the rewards down the track.

Sounds life life, doesn't it!

Sleeping with dogs

2008-05-09T18:46:00.003+12:00

It could almost be the title of a book, don't you think?

I've given up my claim on our double bed and leave hubby to sleep alone at night. He's able to shift himself around more freely to try to get comfortable and I miss the worst of the snoring when he's on his back! It suits us both!

So, I've put a mattress down on the living room floor, and of course, our old pig dog thinks this is wonderful. We let him sleep inside - because he's old and as he is part greyhound his coat is very fine.

Every evening, after I've helped hubby from the couch back to the bed, I return to the lounge to find Diesel curled up on my makeshift bed on the floor.

You'll remember that Diesel was the father of the puppies. And having mentioned puppies, Bruiser and Jem are now 7 months old, great gangling teenagers, full of energy. I feed them up on the deck so that hubby can see them out the window. Luckily we have an orchard they can be left playing in during the day so that exercise is not a problem.

Anyway, Diesel and I bunk down on the mattress on the floor together. As I said, he's old and his breath isn't quite as sweet as hubby's so he has to stay down the lower half of the mattress. He's loving it and will probably think he deserves a mattress for life after a few weeks of this.

Hubby and I are both hoping that the date for surgery comes up soon. Pig dog is happy to postpone it indefinitely!

Fame at last!

2008-05-05T18:57:00.005+12:00

Saffron Delaney and I have achieved super stardom at last! Yes - proud mothers are naming their babies after us!

And if you haven't seen these two gorgeous babies, pop over to Bag Lady's Blather to inspect an array of calf-cuteness.

Oh - did I forget to mention they're calves!

Saffron is a feisty little blond whilst I am a more sedate darker calf. Which more or less sums up Saffron and me anyway.

Hubby continues to suffer. It just makes me feel so helpless when he's in such pain and there is nothing I can do for him. We've got morphine which helps with some pain but not the sort that he gets when he tries to move.

I'm struggling to find time to do anything other than see to him. I know it sound silly but by the time we get through the daily ablution and such like tasks, half the day is gone. I'm champing at the bit to get back into my internet business and blogging but obviously he comes first.

Anyway, for anyone who wants to see a variety of cute calves pop over to the BagLady before they get turned into a casserole or something! And before there are any smart comments about the name, the BagLady is named thus because she makes some truly neat bags for supermarket trolleys.

Book Club Queen Interview

2008-05-01T18:48:00.003+12:00

The last couple of weeks have been seen me drop almost everything to take up the role of nursing my hubby, so it has been a lovely break from rounds of emptying "bottles" to have my interview with the Book Club Queen.

I really enjoyed the Book Club Queen interview because this was the first interview I've had with a non-New Zealander (the Book Club Queen is actually two lovely American ladies.) That meant that the interview approached things from a different angle to a kiwi interview where both interviewer and intended audience are familiar with New Zealand history.

Most of The Flightless Writer regulars are American and Canadian so I think you'll enjoy the interview. It very much concentrates on the story (and not how many times I've stuck pitchforks into my foot!)

And the review of Ripples on the Lake is not simply a rehash of the publisher's blurb which they sometimes are. This is one reviewer who definitely read the book - I have had reviews where I wondered! And I love that she used a quote from Big Wal who seems to be almost everyones favorite character.

And ...

Yes there's more!

And - they're giving away a signed copy in a Book Club Queen competition so if you are that one person that I haven't already pressurized into buying a copy - this is your change to grab a freebie! I don't think you even have to do anything tricky to be in to win!

Hopefully, I'll be catching up with everyone's blogs over the next day or so. Hubby's back, (prolapsed discs) which has been a problem over the last year, suddenly took a major turn for the worse after some "new" physio treatment. He really is literally stuck on his back. Saw the surgeon this week and hopefully we won't have to wait too long.

Got to go. Another full bottle awaits me!