Saturday, April 15, 2006

we've been away

but we are back now. And it is nice to be home and find everything and everyone present and correct.

We've been on a wee road trip to Christchurch.

We had an exciting time. In fact one afternoon we were so energised, enthused and motivated by our surroundings we went and bought tyres for the car.

Actually we did do some good things, we had dinner with Loopy Lou and Nick (and the adorable and very chatty Amy) in Masterton. We took my mother in law out to dinner (okay so I had more fun with Lou and Nick but it was alright). We took the kids and their girlfriends out to dinner, luckily to a cheaper resturant than the one we took the mother in law too as we paid for that too. We had dinner with friends with a new baby so got in lots of cuddles (and pleased to hand her back) and played games with their three year old too, so we reinforced the fact that small children are for suckers LOL. And we bowled in and surprised our old neighbours in Nelson yesterday afternoon.

My husband who is a confirmed non shopper finally got some new clothes, but the cost of the first foray into a shop scared him too much to get shoes or the jacket he needs still. I pointed out that it was cheaper than the tyres.

We went to the Antarctic Centre which we had been meaning to see for years but never got round to. We shouldn't have bothered with that.

So with the credit cards groaning under the expenditure I think we could have had a week in Cairns for less.

But it was alright.

Monday, April 03, 2006

Blood and gore and the insides of cows

Not for the squeemish. The homekill man came and dispatched two cows this morning. Now as a meat eater I actually don't get too wound up about animal killing as long as it is done humanely. When they drop like a stone with a bullet in the head I reckon it is humane enough for me. And having held lambs down while they have had their throats cut I can cope with the bullet between the eyes for the cow. And once dead she is no longer the silly moo that tried to kiss you when you gave her hay - she's just a carcass.

(any readers run heaving and screaming from the thread at this stage...)

Okay so I'm a farmers daughter, and grand-daughter. I'm maybe a bit more pragmatic about the whole deal. I eat meat so something has to die. If it had a good life and shuffled off the mortal coil with a full belly and no idea that it was going I am happy enough. Neighbour wasn't so blase about it. He left home - leaving his wife to organise the slaughter of the sheep they wanted done - cos he didn't want to know what they did to the cows (or the sheep).