A long overdue trip to visit the family in Kiwitea was made in the weekend. We’ll be there for lunch, we advised, and what a lovely lunch we had. The weather was warm, and most surprising, not in the least windy. The Manawatu region is known for wind – after all, that’s where a whole lot of wind turbines are situated on the surrounding hills, turning all that turbulence into electric power for the national grid.
The family lives on a lifestyle block in a house which could only be described as vintage. There was a whole lot of hammering going on and we went around the back to see Dave the builder hard at work. The old timber had been replaced with new boards and a bay window was currently under construction. Over the course of the day the holes started to be filled in.
There’s a hole in the house
Working from the inside
By the time we left, the roof was on, the bevelled edges were in place, but the bottom boards still needed to be added, and everything was watertight until the next working bee. The bay window with pretty stained glass top panes will make a lovely feature in the room.
As in every trip up to Kiwitea, there were new animals to meet and greet who had arrived since our last visit. Young pup Noodle tried hard to boss Patch around, but was soon put in his place by the older dog.
Grand-daughter Megan with Noodle and Patch amongst the building debris
Megan’s young cat Chicken hiding from the grand-parents
With two new foals born on the property a wee while ago I had to change footwear and pull my hardly worn gumboots on my feet. That raised a laugh – “look at Nana, she keeps her gumboots in a fancy bag”, Megan chortled. Of course I do, they are all zipped up safe and sound to keep any nasty big spiders from climbing inside to lie in wait for my unsuspecting feet! Suitably shod in the obligatory country style, I walked across the paddock to say hello to chestnut foal Luna and darker hued Maddie. These youngsters hadn’t been handled much so wanted nothing to do with stranger like me. But with a bit of “horse whispering” from Megan, they sidled ever closer so that I could give Maddie a quiet pat.
Young foals Luna and Maddie
Patting Maddie – note the townie gumboots
Grand-daughter Emma arrived home and I was dragged across another paddock to say hello to her pregnant horse Sonata. These girls both love their horses and take part in competitions and the local hunt.
Emma with Sonata
All saddled up and off for a ride with a friend
Life in the country can be tough, as we found out later in the afternoon. Two horses on a neighbouring property were being fed some hay side by side when one took exception to his companion and lashed out with a kick. A loud “crack” was heard on several adjoining properties and people rushed out to the road to see what had happened. The smaller horse now had a broken leg and sadly there could be only one outcome – there can be no sentiment as far as a horse with a broken leg is concerned. Our son-in-law Robert and the other neighbours went over to offer their help in taking care of the problem. On that sad note we said goodbye to the family and headed back to suburbia.
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