Clevedon - Days 7 & 8

Sunday 3rd September.

Had a lovely slow day today. As Kate is off at the weekend Sheena and I let the horses out today and yesterday. Unfortunately Sheena has also come down with a horrible cold so had been bed bound for most of today and yesterday. Therefore after she dealt with Fugato (the stallion) Neil and I dealt with feeding and moving the others out to the paddocks. Dermot is down at the farm from last night and so after horsey duties he took me along to the local farmers market! It was fantastic!! It was so busy and there was a really great selection of produce on offer, although some say that it's over priced I really appreciated the amount of locally grown and produced products and the amount of small businesses that were still selling to a local market.

We also bumped into Kate and Nacho at the market so it was really great to see a face I recognised among the sea of strangers :)

After a quick pit stop at the farm to make up some sandwiches and get changed Dermot and I headed off for a hike! We went to the Hunua Falls and followed the Cossey Gorge track which is a good 3/4 hour hike. This was extended to a 5 hour hike when we had to double back 2/3rds of the way round when part of the track was closed down due to storm damage. The walk took us up through the New Zealand bush land and along very well maintained paths. There were some great lookout points over the dam and over the beautiful native forests. Many of the trees are protected native species such as the Kaori tree, and the park follows very strict rules so as to not let anything destroy these species; there are boot scrubs and detergent sprays that are to be used upon entering and exiting the path routes. 

Dermot and I had a great day out 'Tramping' (apparently thats what you call hiking in NZ) and we get home in time for me to help Neal with the Horses and to later enjoy the GREAT steak and baked tattie meal that Pippa had prepared for us! 😍

Monday 4th September:

Back to a semi-normal routine with Kate back to work today. I'm really getting long so well with her, she has a similar cheerful outlook on life and has a great hard work ethic that is bob admirable and motivating :) I'm not sure that I mentioned before but Kate is originally from Poland and with her degree specialised in breeding, specifically horse breeding. She's been in NZ for about 5 years now (I think) and she's she's been with Sterling Warmbloods for about two years. We've quickly become good friends :) 

Anyway, back to my day. I woke up to a light rain shower but by the time I got to the kitchen this was the view 😍

So of course, I had to have my toast outside on the patio (yes Catriona, that is peanut butter 😮!! Lol!) I mean it would be rude not to when this is the view!! I'm making the most of it!!!

By 7am I was out at the stables with Kate getting everything sorted for the day, he horses had another day off today as poor Sheena is still unwell and we worked them on Saturday so hire allowed two days off a week. This was the view from the yard at 7:30am.

You see Nacho and Sami and Frankie the horse being backlit by the low NZ sun. 

For elevenses we were treated with a delicious coffee from Neil and an applied pie made by Kate! 😍 it was amazinggg!!!!

Petra the vet was back again middayish to scan Ella again to see when she could be inseminated, and it looks like I'll be able to see this being done on Wednesday before I leave! Exciting! 

I don't have any photos of Allan yet as he doesn't seem too eager to stand for a photo but I liked this pic of him looking over at Nacho barkin at the cows!

Later in the afternoon I filled some hay bags and cleaned some tack. Luckily I only had 3 bridles to clean and not the whole wall!!

I grabbed this pic of Major as he guarded Pippa putting out the washing and only after did I notice how seriously epic this view is! You almost get used to it wen you see it every day but seriously, wow! And the weather today was ace, look at those dreamworks clouds!

About 4 Kate and Neil attempted to do another collection from Fugato. It's such a tricky and dangerous job when dealing with a strong 4 year old stallion. He was so much more aggressive today than he was last week and yet just didn't seem happy with how all the apparatus was working. 

 

Kate, Neil, Nacho and I then chilled with a beer in the sun after a good hard days work (not bad for a Monday!!)

In the evening I helped Pippa make dinner again! We had a scrumptious Thai dish withheld port mince and salad leaves that I'll definitely need to get the recipe for!! I also needed to get a pic of Pippa kitchen because I just think it's great!! :)

  

After dinner Sheena (who is feeling a lot better after getting some drugs from the doctor) and I snuggled in to watch a good chick flick. It was fun and silly and left us both in a good mood!! Anyway that's it from me tonight! Speak soon x